DISCLAIMER: I do not, and will not (maybe), own Pokemon.

EDIT 7/3/18: I have edited this chapter almost completely! I hope you guys like it a bit better, and I've taken away a fair amount of cringe that I didn't notice I had written before. And also, you know, a war. That's new.

Sunlight gleamed warm and bright over the sleepy Pallet Town, the sun barely slinking over the edge of the horizon. A pidgey fluttered over from the small clump of trees in one house's backyard, flapping its golden brown wings. It started up a pleasant trilling sound that buzzed through the air, singing cheerfully without a care in the world.

Ash Ketchum, self-proclaimed best ten-year-old of them all, glared darkly at it.

He had pressed snooze once on his alarm clock and somehow didn't wake up until the third time it went off, putting him at waking up fifteen minutes later than he had prayed for. Now he had ten minutes to eat, change, and get his shoes on and five minutes to get to Professor Oak's lab.

The lab that was ten minutes away.

Growling, he finished slipping on his blue jeans and then ripped off his pajama top, throwing on the first shirt he could find. His socks were grabbed from the floor, each a different color. He could change them later, after he got his pokemon.

He had turned the amazing age of ten only three weeks ago, and had been ready to run off on his adventure at the drop of a hat. Though he didn't know too much about the technicalities, his mother wouldn't shove him out in the world as it was now with no preparation.

The world was still reeling from the war that had struck it across the face fifteen years ago. The whole thing had started so small, perhaps that was why no one had noticed the turmoil rising in the world of Kalos.

Team Flare was a minor problem, similar to Team Rocket, which flickered beneath the surface of Kanto's own problems. They harnessed the power of power plants for no apparent reason, but the equivalent of ACE trainers there were able to handle and chase away the grunts. No one knew why they stole power, but it was considered to be a minor inconvenience to the people of Kalos, who had multiple backups in order to keep them safe.

But then an ACE trainer was found murdered outside of Lysandre Cafe, words carved into the corpse. For no longer will this world be sad and cold and dead.

The culprit wasn't caught, the body was taken as evidence before being sent back to their parents, and Kalos was confused. At least until the ACE trainer's partner, stricken with grief, crept into the cafe and found a secret passageway into a basement below the street. Dozens of stores were connected, the openings hidden behind walls and paintings and locked doors, and they all led to an immense underground facility with a size larger than the base of the largest mountain. Inside were horrible things.

Mutated pokemon, forced colorations, hundreds of rock types. From the notes that were found, it was discovered they were trying to unlock immortality for themselves and their pokemon, and rock types were largely considered to be immortal as none had died except for in battles or starvation.

The owner of the cafe, Lysandre, went missing and wasn't found again except for as the leader of Team Flare, harnessing the power of an ancient device that none had ever seen before.

Kalos panicked and called for help, sending messages to all regions over the world. Kanto was one to send their assistance, first with researchers that were going to help figure out the strange power Team Flare had with the device their leader used. Thirty high class researchers each with several pokemon to defend themselves and the guard or several ACE trainers.

The boat never made it to Kalos. Lysandre appeared on the back of a gyarados, spitting out a Hyper Beam that destroyed the boat's camera. Thirty researchers, twenty ACE trainers, thrown beneath the sea. Their pokeballs were never recovered.

Kanto got serious. Two hundred trainers, all immensely powerful, nearly the entire cast that had participated in the Conference the previous year. The well-known Lt. Surge was part of that crew, armed with his powerful electric types. All of them wielded as many pokemon as they could possibly have, limits disregarded. Kanto watched them grimly, hundreds of other trainers from other regions coming to assist Kalos in their time of need.

Half didn't last past the second week.

Lysandre's power was revealed when people screamed out for their legendaries to save them, only to find out that Team Flare had spent over fifty years creating the device from ancient times in order to tap into Xerneas' inert power while it was in dormant sleep. The fairy type power crushed entire towns without seeming to need to take breath, Lysandre flying above the world with power behind his back.

In the end, Team Flare's undoing was the ACE trainer they had murdered. The partner, still stricken with grief, searched for a year until they found Xerneas' sleeping location. They and their pokemon sacrificed their lives in order to wake the legendary up, stopping Lysandre's draw of its power. With a shrieking rage, the fairy type crushed Team Flare and left Lysandre's bleeding body in front of his old cafe.

The world was shaken. Legendaries were known for their power but they had been dormant for decades, not showing their face in the slightest. Now one had both destroyed and saved Kalos.

The surviving trainers were sent back to their regions. Kalos couldn't spare any reward for their service with the destruction and in fact closed their sides to the world for ten long years, rebuilding as best they could.

Kanto suffered. Over seventy five percent of their current trainer population was dead. They dangled as many carrots as they could in front of trainers' noses in order to build the world back up again. Longer training time for the League. Increased number of tournaments with better prizes. The Safari Zone. And of course, immensely high prizes for any trainer that captured anyone from Team Rocket.

It wasn't enough, but it was a start. Team Rocket sank down even farther and while they couldn't crush it completely, it barely showed its face in the past fifteen years.

But now trainers were better, the generation gap was fading, and the immediate aggression most pokemon had after the war was almost completely gone. Ten years old, and Ash Ketchum knew he was ready to go.

At least until Professor Oak had called his mother the night before he was ready to go, saying that it would be better for him to wait until both Gary and Leaf had turned ten as well. Ash had overhead that little tidbit and begun to fight it immediately, but his mother just held up her hand and continued listening. Professor Oak had brought up a few more points: a cold front was passing through as the bare dredges of winter fought for life, a spearow flock was migrating over, they were friends and probably wanted to fight each other. Anyway, the three starters he had were rebellious at best and weren't quite suited to the travel yet.

He had still been ready to go until his mother stopped him and made him wait the three weeks. Oh, how he had sulked and whined and complained, but looking back, it was the right thing to do. His original plan had been to run out the door the second he had gotten his pokemon without even heading back home, just off to see the world to make sure he beat Gary in every way possible and became the Pokemon Master. But he had been woefully unprepared.

His bag consisted of two sets of clothing, a water bottle, a single blanket he had rolled up tight, and then two entire boxes of travel bars. He wouldn't have made it through half of the Viridian Forest, probably stumbling back to Pallet hungry and cold.

So instead he and his mother had sat down for those three weeks and planned. His goal was to go to the League and cream whoever was the current champion. Delia Ketchum - his mother - had winced but said nothing, idly asking him what badges he was going to get to be able to go there, and in what order.

He had just stared at her blankly.

What pokemon are you planning on capturing? You'll need either a well-rounded team or several types that are your strong points and then a few pokemon that can tackle their weaknesses.

He blinked several times.

Ash, please tell me you even have a map, or a plan on what cities you are going to.

Not a response.

For the love of Mew, do you even know what starter you want?

It hadn't taken him a while to understand that if he had left as soon as he could, there was no way that he could ever have beaten Gary or Leaf or the League. He would have sputtered up dry within the first couple of weeks, probably only making it to the first city by sheer luck. No, whatever he had been doing for those first years hadn't been what he needed to actually train pokemon.

He winced even as he searched his room for his hat. He knew exactly what he had been doing.

Watching old pokemon battles and always cheering for Lance. He could tell you every pokemon and move they had used, but ask him for even the first three moves from a pidgey's moveset and there would be nothing.

Gary had studied under Professor Oak, his grandfather. He probably already knew everything and anything that had to do with pokemon.

It wasn't fair, he had whined on the second day of the three weeks. He already knows so much.

So then beat him, Delia had said firmly. Beat him all the way to the league.

There wasn't much time, but two weeks was enough to gather the proper supplies and make a map of the general idea of where he wanted to go. His mother had stopped him from listing the pokemon he wanted, which he understood, to keep him from getting disappointed or only hunting down those. The final week was spent researching pokemon and battling strategies.

He had started with the starters - they were the most important thing he could learn right now. In three weeks, he would be lucky to have some ideas about the starter's best battles and what pokemon he could take down with them.

Bulbasaur were rather curious. Grass types didn't always have the best defense, and it didn't take much for fire types to rip through them, though their partial poison typing helped somewhat. But they would have to get close, and that was a feat within itself. Their vines, coming up from the bulbs on their backs, could block opponents even without moves and only became more powerful with things like Power Whip. They could use spores to slow down, weaken, and even put other pokemon to sleep, and then throttle them to unconsciousness. They were even the best for capturing, if you didn't mind doing it rather differently. It was standard practice for bulbasaur to hold the wild pokemon with their vines and launch attacks at it, setting it up for an easy capture. Their fully evolved form, venusaur, was enormous and while it wasn't fast, its vines were, and they were a beast on any battlefield.

Squirtle weren't very powerful with attacking in their first evolutionary stage, but that didn't mean they were weak. Their shell was tougher than any metal and only grew thicker with age, and so by the time a squirtle was ready to evolve, they could shrug off pretty powerful moves with Withdraw. They had the highest defense of any starter and could hold their own against even super-effective types. Using mainly weakening attacks, they could get a pokemon down low and then bash it in with their thick skull or thicker shell. If their trainer trained them with a barrage of assisting and status moves, they would be ni-unstoppable in battle. And their final evolution was an absolute monster. Standing taller than an average man with full-sized cannons on its back, blastoise were pokemon to be feared. Their Hydro Pumps could cut through solid steel and if trained right, they were tanks that could hold their own in any battle.

Charmander would go down with two hits from a water-type, but that was if the other pokemon wasn't already unconscious on the ground. Charmander were filled to the brim with insane speed and strength, leaving the other two starters behind. They focused all of their power on insanely strong attack moves and even when they were weak, their ability Blaze took over and made them stronger. Their speed allowed them to run across the field and strike before the other even knew what was happening, and with moves like Agility they were nearly uncatchable. As they evolved they got rowdier and rowdier, often not listening to their trainers as their lust for battle rose higher. But if a trainer could get the behemoths to listen to them, charizard were a force to be reckoned with, and even Lance, the Champion of Indigo, had one. It wasn't his strongest, sure, but he had raised it from the start and many a time had it taken out Lance's opponents.

But Ash didn't want a charmander or a squirtle for his starter. No, he wanted a bulbasaur.

They were rather weak with attack and defense at the start, as grass wasn't the hardiest substance out there. But they had the largest variety of moves to draw from. Any move they could get their hold would be only amplified and strengthened if they got their opponent in their vines, and it would be almost too easy to catch another pokemon for his team with a bulbasaur. Yes, he loved speed and bulbasaur didn't have much, but if he could get his starter to only run sprints every day then that would be an advantage he could snatch up. And bulbasaur, while they weren't mellow in battle, were often more calm and relaxed outside of it, allowing trainers to be able to spend time with their other pokemon instead of having to devote all of their energy trying to keep their charmander from burning down the forest.

His only problem?

Leaf.

The girl had smacked down on all of them if they even tried to say they wanted the little battler, and while she much preferred fighting types bulbasaur was her next choice. Gary had long-since laid claim to the squirtle, but if he got to the lab first then he could grab up the bulbasaur and be out of there before she even realized. Bulbasaur even had the advantage over squirtle, so he could beat Gary if they decided to do a battle right after.

His second problem?

He was late.

His mom had promised to cook breakfast for him and he could smell the wafting scent of pancakes drifting up to his bedroom, which was perfect. If he wanted to be there on time, he could grab three or four and run with them.

He'd be back after he got his pokemon, and then they could sit down and have a real breakfast. She'd like that more, and they could talk over his new bulbasaur and come up with strategies and everything like that.

His shoes were by the door. He leapt down the stairs like a man possessed, just in his pants, shirt, coat, and socks. His hat was gripped in his hand.

Delia looked up at him, eyes curious and head tilted to the side. "Well well, sleepyhead! I thought you'd be up before this!"

There were two plates stacked with three pancakes. He lunged for them even as he kicked his sneakers closer to him.

"I'm really sorry, Mom! But I'm late and if I don't get there then Leaf will take the bulbasaur-"

She raised a hand to stop him. "I understand. Go quickly, Ash!"

He grinned at her, finished slipping on his shoes, and bolted out the door.

As he ran, he ripped into each of the pancakes. His stomach was rumbling and bubbling like a million butterfree had made it their home, and he kind of wished he had grabbed his bag so he could take a sip of water.

Pallet Town melted away under his feet as he ran, even though he wasn't really in shape. But that was what being a trainer was for - he would definitely build muscles traveling across the land of Kanto and training with his pokemon.

He would be even more strong than Gary when this was all over, as the boy had slipped in enough hints about him possibly getting car rides from friends through heavy forests to save time.

They had met just yesterday and Gary had told them that he already knew exactly where he was going. Ash thought back to his plans and winced, but he knew he was more prepared this time around. His mother had stuffed hundreds of ways of dealing with pokemon into his mind and cooking wasn't necessary at the point he was at now. He'd probably just survive off of berries and bars, and the League had several companies that provided pokemon food of great quality. For his plan, well, that wasn't as stable as the rest of his ideals, but his was easy to adapt. He was going to follow the routes from town to town and make detours to any place that looked interesting. There was always the chance he would change it all up, tackling Blaine right after Brock, but he didn't have any time restraints like Gary, who had planned to make it to a breeder's store in only three months, right after they released their newest batch of eggs for sale.

He rounded the corner and saw Professor Oak's lab, gleaming large and white before the enormous fields behind it. Splotches of pokemon danced and ran across them, nearly every species imaginable. Most traveled in herds, as they did in the wild. Pokemon trainers sent over the pokemon they didn't have on their team, and Professor Oak took care of them. Most slept in their pokeballs during the night but his automatic recall and release system allowed them plenty of free time. A nidoran herd, headed by an enormous nidoqueen, lumbered past the back of the house. He ran closer, taking the steps to the wooden door three at a time.

Taking a second to catch his breath, he straightened and knocked as powerfully as he could. There was a pause before the door swung open, revealing Professor Oak.

His posture was a bit slumped and exhaustion glittered in his eyes, but he still smiled and waved Ash in. He trotted inside, blinking twice to adjust to the darker inside.

"Welcome! Ash, you're right on time, though is that a bit of pancake I see in your hand?"

He blushed and quickly popped the rest in his mouth. It had been a delicious pancake.

"Wel.." Professor Oak cleared his throat and spread his arms, standing in the front doorway as if a boulder blocking entrance in a valley. "This is the pokemon lab of me, Professor Oak."

Ash grinned. "I know."

Oak laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair. "Of course you do. Your mother isn't here, I hope? There's no need for her to work today."

He shook his head. "No, she stayed at home."

"Well, be sure to talk to her before you go off on your journey," he hummed, walking to the other room.

Ash nodded though he couldn't see. "I will. I'm not leaving here until noon, and I'm spending all of that time talking with her."

"That's good. Come along."

And then they were in a slightly smaller room, one that was dwarfed by an enormous circular table in the middle. It was glossy and silver, the design etched with furrowed lines to pull energy across its surface. The table was one of the most modern things Ash had ever seen, but he knew if he went into Professor Oak's actual labs in the back he would probably keel over from sheer amazement. It held three pokeballs sitting in the middle, arranged triangularly.

"Now, before you choose your pokemon, Ash, I'd like the make an apology. I'm sure you are well aware of the regular three starters, but through a terrible chain of events the only two I have available this year are bulbasaur and squirtle. There was a slight problem-"

Ash ignored everything he was saying and lunged for the pokeball with a peeling green leaf sticker on top, cradling it in his hand. It was the regular weight, though pokemon turned weightless when sucked inside. A red and white sphere he had been craving ever since he turned four years old-

Please please let Leaf not have gotten here before me, he prayed.

And then he threw the pokeball.

It bounced once along the floor and clattered emptily to the ground. There was no pokemon inside, not a bulbasaur, not anything.

Professor Oak bent and picked it up, glaring at Ash with a steely eye. "If you would be so kind as to let me finish, please!"

He blushed and shuffled his feet, but even his guilt couldn't stave off the empty feeling in his chest. Though his mother had told him to be prepared for disappointment, he had been so sure that he could get his bulbasaur. So positive. So ready.

"As I was saying, I've had a few problems. As normal, I received three new starters a month ago to mellow them out and make them prepared for starting trainers. The bulbasaur was annoyed by its pokeball's existence and the squirtle a bit of an insomniac, but I was able to get them ready."

"But the charmander… it was wild. I've never seen anything like it, and it nearly torched down my lab on the first day. Of course, I merely thought that it was the restlessness of starters getting out of their nursery for the first time, but it was much more dangerous than that. It was only supposed to know Ember, but with the strength it was using, I wouldn't be surprised if it was well on its way to learning Flamethrower. I took it out to my charizard to see whether he could teach it some manners, but the charmander attempted to attack him! A fully grown charizard, his elder."

He narrowed his eyes but the annoyance wasn't directed at Ash. Professor Oak steepled his fingers and sighed, heavily. "The breeder the League sets me up with made a terrible mistake. As you know with pokemon, they get their species from their mother and, if the parents spend a large amount of time with the developing egg, the father can pass along an egg move or several. But the issue comes int he fact that the father passes down its temperament as well, whether it spends time around the egg or not."

"And the charizard father of the egg was one that had fought in the Great War. Even fifteen years later and it was battleready, born into a time period where it never had a time where it wasn't preparing to fight, recovering from a fight, or fighting. And now it doesn't know how to live without fighting - its a miracle they managed to breed it in the first place. But the baby charmander came into the world wanting to fight people it didn't even know, and that trait came out in unsustainable, unstoppable aggression."

"I decided then and there that it wasn't suitable for any starting trainer and was forced to give him to a different, more experienced trainer, one whom I'm hoping will be able to curb his anger. While she's focusing on entering the Conference, she's been training for almost five years and can handle the extra worry."

Ash blanched. That had never happened before, Professor Oak not being able to prepare a starter for them. "Then what about the third starter, sir?"

Oak sighed. "Well, Gary took the squirtle around fifteen minutes ago and Leaf took the bulbasaur at the same time."

Ash cursed inside of his mind. Now he didn't even get one of the starters, the ones he had planned and studied for. And with his apparent luck, he would probably end up with a rattata or a pidgey, pokemon that were already found in high number around Pallet. Gary's squirtle, while wasn't strong now, would swell in power as a starter, because they were specifically bred to be strong enough to keep their trainer alive for the length of their journey.

"What's left for me?" He asked, quite proud of himself that he sounded perfectly calm. His mind was anything but that.

"Well." Professor Oak frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm required by law to give you a pokemon - oh Ash, don't look at me like that, you know I'd give you one either way - but as I have made the decision to not give out the starter pokemon they sent me and I was the one to order three for the three of you this season, the League can give me no pokemon and I can't give you a pokemon another trainer has. I've captured a fair amount of wild pokemon, and these are the ones I think might be the best. This first one has a few issues - one glaring major one, really - but if you connect, I'll be willing to give it to you."

He grabbed the third pokeball, one that was unlabeled. He gently tossed it on the table, and it split apart with a burst of brilliant red light. The two halves popped back into his hand as a pokemon appeared on the table.

It was small, only slightly higher than a foot tall. It blinked up in the bright light with black eyes, no pupils in sight. There was a current racing over its thin golden fur, jagged tail twitching. It was shaped almost like a lightning bolt, which was how Ash was able to identify it. A pikachu, one with bright red cheek pouches already sparking with electricity. Strong for its apparent young age-

It finally focused on him and shrieked angrily, crouching defensively. Professor Oak winced and stepped back. Ash tilted his head, before carefully lowered himself to be not scary. He hunched his shoulders, looking softly into the pikachu's eyes. It stared back, black eyes narrowed.

"Hey there," he murmured. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise-"

The pikachu barked furiously and fired a Thundershock attack.

Lightning crackled through his body. It stopped after a second, leaving his hair standing on end and the faintest smell of burnt hair. He gasped out a thin trickle of smoke.

And the pikachu snickered once before crouching again, static crackling. There was another furious shriek.

"Recall it!" He yelped, and Professor Oak quickly clicked the button on the pokeball. The pikachu disappeared with a squeak of protest, fading out in a burst of red mist.

"So." Professor Oak sighed. "I had expected you not connecting, I'm afraid. He's only been in my care for two weeks and has been furious that entire time, picking fights with every pokemon he comes across. But he's actually rather strong, right on the edge of what I allow for starters. Would you like to try with him?"

Ash paused. His first pokemon…

Pikachu were electric types, which would cream Gary's squirtle. While he was pretty sure they had a more limited moveset, he wasn't positive, and for all he knew it could learn incredible amounts. But while their body wasn't made to take hits, their speed could prevent most of them while blasting their opponents with electric type moves. They had an immensly powerful evolution that was even rumored to have a special form when evolved with a Thunder Stone from in the newest region, Aloha.

But that would be if he could even get the pokemon to listen to him. If he was out in the wild and attacked by a wild pokemon, would the pikachu even think twice about him? Would it even attempt to save him?

As much as he wanted it, his mother's words flitted through his head. Your safety comes first. "I'm sorry, professor, but I can't take this pokemon as my starter."

Oak sighed. "Well, I saw that coming. It was beyond a long stretch to see whether you two would connect, and I knew that it wouldn't happen after the first second. I actually caught him chewing on some power cables, completely wild. He definitely didn't like me."

"I'm sorry," he offered again, but Oak waved it off.

"Don't be. I'd have been surprised if it worked. Give me around ten minutes to pull up my second option."

And then he disappeared into the back of the lab, shoes clicking. A door pushed open, revealing a second's glimpse of endless rows of counters filled with machines and devices that he couldn't understand. Then it swung shut and left him alone.

Ash stared at the table, narrowing his eyes at the pokeball that held the pikachu. Would he have wanted that at all?

The answer came to him.

He did the right choice in not choosing the pikachu.

Maybe now he would get the pidgey. At least they were easier to train and couldn't kill him with Thundershocks.

Professor Oak appeared from the door again, brushing his shock of white hair back over his skull. There was a grin on his face, happy, clutching another pokeball. It also didn't have any form of marking, just a clean red and white surface. He carefully stepped forward, though he didn't throw it at once. But there hadn't been the tenseness that had been in his shoulders as he held the pikachu's pokemon. He seemed much more confident about this pokemon than the other one.

"He's been in my care for a rather long time for a starter, as I caught him more than four months ago bugging someone's garden. He may have a few more moves than normal, but he won't have very good control of them." Professor Oak turned more forward to him, pinching the pokeball between two fingers.

"The reason I showed you pikachu first despite him being angry at all humans is that this pokemon doesn't start very strong. A starter pokemon's first role is to defend its trainer from wild pokemon and the pikachu held enough strength to be able to do that. But this pokemon won't stay weak if you train him right and therefore has more potential to grow. He still has many more moves to learn."

"May I see him?" He asked as politely as he could. This could be his pokemon.

Professor Oak instead offered him the pokeball, and he took it gently, cradling it in his hands. It was smooth to the touch but not cold, let most metal one. He could almost feel the heat from the pokemon inside of it, a heartbeat tight beneath his fingertips.

He lobbed it as softly as he could. It rolled out of his hand and thudded against the ground, breaking open. The two halves snapped close before flying back into Professor Oak's hand.

The red light stretched out, elongating and curling thinner. Scarlet mist trickled over the floor as it hardened, atoms reforming and creating themselves again. In a second, it had made a pokemon.

It - he - was dark purple and about five feet long. He recognized him instantly. An ekans.

The poison-type snake pokemon hissed once, but in confusion, not anger. He pulled himself up, arching a third of his body of the ground. There was a thick band of dark golden around his neck, and his rattle was the same color.

Ash stared at him as he curled around himself, coiling into a small spiral. He turned to face him, head tilted to the side.

"This is ekans, the poison pokemon. He'll definitely make up for his lack of strength with sheer determination," Professor Oak chuckled.

Poison types. They didn't have many weaknesses and left devastating status conditions that were often a finishing move even if they couldn't last long enough to see the results. Bulbasaur were part poison type and he had done research on the basic moves and strategies. Kneeling, he stared closer at the pokemon.

Ekans were snake-like pokemon, which meant they were predators. Hunting pokemon that were stealth animals, striking like a whip before coiling up. In battle, he guessed they couldn't take the most hits despite their purple scales - their body was thin and light, able to be launched easily across a field. But they held a deceptive speed, somethign he greatly admired in pokemon.

He hissed again, flicking his tail. Golden eyes fixed onto his face, slitted pupils gleaming in the light. When stretched out, he would actually be almost a foot taller than Ash but he didn't feel threatened by the snake as it stuck a pale tongue out, tasting the air.

Ash slowly stretched a hand out, keeping his movements slow. The ekans looked at him curiously before sticking his head forward, his tongue brushing against his fingers. Ash barely held back a giggle.

"Hey, ekans," he said softly, drawing the pokemon's attention to his face. "I'm going to be going on a pokemon adventure across the world." The snake perked up, head tilted to one side as he slithered a few inches closer.

"I'm going to be a Pokemon Master, I've been dreaming about it since I was five years old. My greatest wish is to be the strongest I can become, which means I have to have strong pokemon. If you want, you can be my starter pokemon, and I'll train you to be stronger than any ekans ever. And then you'll be the strongest arbok out there, and we'll take down Lance together."

The ekans flicked his tail and hissed as soon as Ash mentioned strength, and at the name of his evolution he visibly straightened. This was a pokemon that wanted to be strong and Ash was going to give it to him, no matter what. "Do you want to come with me and become strong?"

There was only a moment of thinking before the snake hissed and nodded his head, violet scales catching the light and gleaming.

"I'll take him," he said quickly. He hissed up at him, still curious.

Professor Oak perked up, smiling wide. "Perfect! I know that he was going out of his mind, being trapped up in here. He's not the biggest fan of just wandering around on a ranch, and I was about to give him as a gift to a trainer just to get him out of here. I'm sure he'll enjoy this adventure more than you will."

He reared up even higher, falling still. His tail danced lightly, mouth popping open. He began to trill softly.

Ash frowned. "Isn't that a pidgey's-"

"Yes. Ekans have learned to mimic pidgey noises to attract them for food, and I've guessed that it probably means he's hungry. Now, for you to catch him."

Ash blinked at him. "What?"

"Well, a new feature added to pokeballs was ownership, to prevent stealing. You have to register pokeballs with your pokedex to have the pokemon inside to count as yours. The pokeball ekans is in is my pokeball. So here you go."

He turned around and grabbed a pokeball from a counter. Tossing it to Ash, he settled back and pulled out a machine.

"This revokes ownership," he explained, slipping his pokeball into a slot. "The other option, of course, is to break the pokeball, but that's not only expensive but wasteful - there's no reason to do that if you want to release a pokemon for whatever, just call me up." There was a beep and the pokeball flashed a bright white, shaking slightly in its confines before stilling. "Go ahead, Ash."

Ash stiffened, staring at the ekans. He blinked at him with brilliant yellow eyes.

He thought about tossing the pokeball but set it aside, kneeling about down again. He held up the pokeball and, letting the pokemon see it, tapped it on the tip of the ekans' nose even more gently than he thought he could have. The second it was pressed against scales it snapped open, scarlet mist billowing out and swallowing the pokemon. It flew back to Ash's hand, perfectly sized to fit in his fist.

There was a pokemon in his hand. He had a pokemon.

"Okay Ash, here's your pokedex and five more pokeballs! I would suggest scanning Ekans there. Just hold the pokeball next to the scanner, although you could also use it when he's released."

He did that, holding up the pokeball. There was a scanner on the back and he held the button of the pokeball against it, flicking the power switch. His pokedex blinked to life, humming softly as the scanner worked.

Ekans, the poison pokemon. Ekans often sneak into the nests to eat pidgey or spearow eggs or wait in the grasses to eat the pokemon instead. They coil upon themselves when they sleep to be able to strike in all directions, and often use their fangs and speed to their advantage.

This ekans is male with no held item. He knows the moves Wrap, Leer, Poison Sting, and Poison Fang. His ability is Shed Skin, which allows him to recover from poisoning or burns.

"Sweet," he murmured, staring at the pokeball.

"He has one egg move - Poison Fang. You can see that if you toggle the button right there- I will guess that he doesn't have much experience with it, as ekans are solitary creatures and he presumably wasn't trained by his parent. His first three moves will be much more powerful."

"How rare are egg moves?" He asked.

"Only uncommon, as in the wild many pokemon breed with those outside of their species and as such the father has many more opportunities to pass on moves. Now, of course, I'm not just giving you those for free," Professor Oak warned. "I know you are one of my chosen few I sponsor every six months but there's a reason for that. I believe you can help me just as much as I have helped you - that pokedex is made to scan every pokemon in the Kanto region, and I expect that you will find many of them and record their data so I can study it. You don't have to capture every pokemon or even scan them all - just your select team and maybe a few extras will be enough."

Ash nodded and grinned.

"Just make sure to stock up on potions and other supplies, and you should be free to go. Off to explore the brilliant and grand Kanto!"

Still grinning, Ash hugged the pokeball tighter to his chest and started the run home.

He got there in record time, feet kicking up dirt and dust. Leaf would probably still be at her home, but he hadn't seen Gary at the pokemon lab, so he had probably already gone off on his adventure.

Finally his house came in sight, and he finished his sprint up to the door and burst inside.

Delia blinked once before breaking into an enormous grin as he trotted through the door. "Ash! Did you get the bulbasaur?"

Catching his breath, he shook his head. "No, Leaf already snatched it. Gary took the squirtle."

She smiled, stepping forward to put a hand on his shoulder. "Charmander are still incredibly powerful pokemon that will serve you well, Ash. Can I see it?"

He grinned. "I didn't get a charmander either, Mom. The one Professor Oak had was too wild and angry to be given to a starting trainer. So I got something even better."

She raised an eyebrow, eyes flicking to the pokeball in his hand. "So? Show me!"

He lobbed it, catching it and watched as his pokemon sprang into existence.

Ekans hissed once, looking around. He rattled only once before Delia got on her knees, holding out her hand. The pokemon brushed the tip of his snout over her fingers, rumbling happily.

"A poison type," she cooed, leaning to look over the entire pokemon. "And look - his scales are the darkest purple I've ever seen on one! His gold is bright, so he's healthy, and look at those fangs! He's definitely seen some action."

Ash grinned, kneeling beside her. He had long since gotten used to his mother's crazy knowledge about pokemon.

She stood back on her feet. "Does he have a nickname?"

He blinked. "Um…" Turning to face Ekans, he clicked his tongue to get his attention. He turned to him, head cocked.

"Maybe Toxic? Or Ivy? For poison ivy, of course. Or what about Sting?"

He shook his head on all of them.

"He's more dangerous than that," Delia added in. "His fangs are cleanly developed and are bright white. Ekans only get that through biting."

Frowning in thought, he ran ideas through his mind. One struck him. "Apep? He's the snake god who wants to swallow the sun. Although I hope you won't be that evil."

The rattling hiss was definitely laughter, but he nodded. Apep now had a name.

Delia stood up, shaking off her hand. "Come bring him to the table, then. I've still got some pancake batter and a jar or two of food for Apep there."

The snake hissed at her happily before starting to move, slithering over the ground.

He was fast. No legs or arms but he twisted around furniture and sliding over the ground in the blink of an eye.

Delia whistled. "He's got some speed on him. You should use that in battle, Ash."

He nodded. "I will."

They sat together, munching on the warm pancakes she flipped out every minute or so. Apep curled around Ash's chair, brilliant yellow eyes falling closed.

But soon they finished and Ash ran up to his room, grabbing his bag from where it was on his bed. He had made sure to pack everything he needed or could ever need.

Though he knew he wanted TMs - even though the ones he had planned for his bulbasaur were worthless now - he hadn't bought any before getting his first pokemon in order to prevent not being able to use it. So he had a reasonable amount of cash left, not enough for a TM, but enough to get him out a tight spot if he needed.

But he had potions and revives and antidotes. Plenty for Route 1 and enough to last him through Viridian Forest as well, and he had also packed enough food to get himself and three pokemon through.

He would be fine, and significantly better than if he had just traveled without letting his mother anywhere near his bag.

Apep hissed at him from the bottom of the stairs, head tilted. Slowly he tapped the step in front of him with his tail, eyes flicking over the height.

He started to climb, twisting his body. In a heartbeat, he was at the top.

"That was cool," Ash told him happily.

Apep gave a snake-like grin before pressed forward, slowly starting to climb up Ash's leg. He froze.

But in a second the snake was curled around his torso, head resting on his shoulder. Ash could feel his muscles, tight beneath his scales, flex over his waist, keeping the snake tight against his sides. The weight wasn't bad but he would definitely have to get used to it.

"That's fine," he said to Apep. "But you're going to have to do some training of your own that will involve you moving by yourself."

There was a sleepy yawn by his ear before the pokemon squeezed a little tighter. Ash sucked in a deep breath before trotting down the stairs, keeping both hands on the rails. He was not used to him yet.

Delia laughed as he tottered into the kitchen, and Apep hissed a laugh into his ear. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, holding the rather heavy bag in his hand.

"You have everything you need?" She asked, head tilted to one side.

"Yeah. There's nothing else I need to go out into the great big world of Kanto," he teased back, struggling to put his backpack on with Apep's heavy coils.

"That's good." She smiled at him. "Because Gary's waiting outside to battle you."

"What?" He yelped, jolting. Apep snapped his fangs in annoyance. "Why didn't you tell me?"

There was a smug grin on her face. "I just did. Better not keep him waiting."

"But I don't know his moves! Apep! Get down here!"

The pokemon blinked twice before Ash carefully peeled him off, setting him on the table. He pulled his pokedex off from where he had attached it to his belt and quickly pulled up Apep's chart, sliding over his moves.

Wrap. The pokemon wraps itself around its attacker, squeezing tighter to inflict damage while preventing the opposing pokemon from attacking. This move is physical.

"That's awesome," he whispered, eyes flicking over the page. He knew Leer already, it was one of the most basic moves.

Poison Sting. The pokemon launches hardened poison to the opposing pokemon. This move has a low chance of poisoning. This move is ranged.

He flicked to the next move, the egg move. The one that Apep wouldn't know as well.

Poison Fang. The pokemon attacks by biting the opposing pokemon and injecting venom. This move has a moderate chance of poisoning. This move is physical.

"Okay okay okay," he muttered, glancing from the confused Apep to his equally confused mother. "If I- yeah- then-"

"Ash Ketchum!" She finally exploded, shocking the boy into alertness. "Just go out and battle him already!"

He straightened his shoulders. "Come on, Apep. Ready for your first battle?"

Apep hissed, happily straightening. His rattle flicked over the ground, producing a dry crackling sound, like dead leaves. He looked more excited than ever before.

Ash straightened. "Wait. I'm going to recall you. No reason to give Gary a chance to prepare."

He clicked the pokeball and watched Apep disappear.

Ash marched to the door, throwing open the door.

And 'lo and behold, Gary stood there, casually leaning against the porch post. He looked like he hadn't been waiting at all, tossing a pokeball up and down. Slowly, he looked over at Ash, like he hadn't even been expecting him. "Hello, Ashy boy."

Ash grinned. "You finally got your pokemon, Gary?"

The boy grinned back. "You bet I did. And Leaf even snagged your precious bulbasaur, so you're going to have a type disadvantage. "

"No, I'm not. The charmander was too wild to be a starting pokemon. I got something different."

Gary frowned. "Well, I'll still win. Let's battle!"

Delia's voice echoed from inside the house. "Not on my front porch, boys. Go to the road!"

"Yes, Mom." Ash pushed Gary out the road, where they both walked ten feet apart on the stone cobbles. They grinned at each other.

"Ready to lose?" Gary readied his pokeball.

"You wish." He grinned back, and then they both launched their pokeballs.

Gary's squirtle was average sized but its shell was heavily ridged, even from a distance. It pounded its fists together, obviously having been briefed on what was happening.

Apep dropped down on the ground, exploding out with a hiss. His purple form curled over the ground, tail flicking over the ground. The threatening rattle rang through the air.

Gary whistled. "An ekans, eh? Not bad. Neither of us have the advantage. But I'm still going to win!"

Ash grinned. "Oh, you wish."

He quickly ran through what his battle plan was. While he knew how bulbasaur fought, ekans were a new style. The pokedex entrance said they struck out, biting powerfully, but he knew they couldn't take a lot of hits. How did a snake fight?

Sneaky. Well, it was hard to be sneaky in an open battlefield, though he had an idea of how he could use that. In the time that he was figuring out what he wanted to do, Gary smirked and struck first.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!"

There was a moment of hesitation before Squirtle opened its mouth, blue light flickering in the back of its throat. It shot out a thin stream of water, clear and shining in the sunlight. It raced through the air.

"Dodge it, Apep!" Ash hurriedly shouted.

Apep lunged to the side, but he hadn't been prepared enough. The water slapped against his tail, flinging his form backward just a few inches. He hissed furiously, coiling in on himself.

Gary smirked. "Water Gun! Keep it guessing!"

Apep only had one long range attack, and other than that he had to get close. Ash crossed his fingers. "Apep!" The snake focused on him. "Keep dodging the Water Guns, and try to get in a Poison Sting."

Apep hissed and shot out of the way of another Water Gun, only to have to dodge another that splashed where his head had been. He slunk around Squirtle, slithering in a circle, moving faster to avoid the Water Guns.

But then Squirtle paused to take a breath, and Apep reared back and spat something dark and purple. It snapped through the air and hit Squirtle's face.

It squeaked, shaking furiously. There were around ten thin needles, a shining purple, all made to inject a powerful poison. While none of them had actually stuck in Squirtle's skin, but maybe he was lucky? Ash watched with keen eyes and cursed when Squirtle didn't wince - he wasn't poisoned. And the move didn't look like it had fazed Squirtle too much.

"New strategy, Apep!" He called. "Get in close and use Wrap!"

Squirtle smirked and fired out two Water Guns, each aimed for Apep. But the snake just slithered under one and around the other, moving quickly toward Squirtle.

Gary narrowed his eyes. "Tackle while it's close!"

Ash cursed. "Apep! Jump!"

Apep froze before angling lower. Thumping his tail against the ground, he pushed himself up to just barely skim the head of the charging Squirtle.

"Wrap!" Ash shouted.

Apep's tail curled around Squirtle's shell, and in another second he had his body on it quickly lashing his tail and torso around Squirtle's shell and available skin. It shook itself furiously but Apep started to curl deeper. His muscles flexed and Squirtle grunted furiously, reaching up with stubby arms to punch and claw at the purple scales, but the power of Wrap was already weakening him.

Gary clenched his fists. "Roll on the ground! Get it off your back!"

Squirtle grimaced and threw itself to the side, squishing Apep under its weight. The snake grunted.

But he was wrapping tighter and tighter, scales twirling around Squirtle's shell. He wouldn't ever get tight enough to cut off breathing with the shell in the way, but it had definitely started hurting, and Squirtle was getting mad. It leapt to its feet and then jumped backward, slamming Apep into the ground.

He fell back, stunned. Squirtle tore his tail off and then jumped back.

"Water Gun!"

"Poison Fang!"

Apep twitched once before flipping back onto his stomach, hissing furiously. That had hurt, and bruises lined his back. Squirtle, still smug, opened his mouth and started to fire an enormous stream of water, larger than any before.

Apep couldn't dodge. It slammed into him right at the tail and threw him backward, but he reared up and flung himself at Squirtle, mouth open and gaping.

Squirtle couldn't dodge, either. Apep caught him right on the arm and bit down, sharp fangs piercing neatly past the blue skin. Squirtle grunted with pain as Apep unloaded waves of venom, stumbling a step back and opening its mouth.

"Get back!" Ash called, and Apep let go quickly, jerking back. He slithered away, eyeing Squirtle carefully.

But Squirtle was wincing heavily, the bite mark clutched in his other hand. He had been poisoned, and that meant that things were finally going Ash's way.

Gary wasn't so kind. He almost said Tackle but then his eyes widened as Squirtle straightened, eyes glaring a bright blue. He pounded his fists together and actually roared, the sound deep and gravely.

Ash stiffened. Torrent. Every squirtle starter had the ability to boost their water attacks when they had low health.

"Get out of there!" He yelped. Apep started to move, but he was more sluggish than normal, scales dark with bruises where the attacks had hit.

"Water Gun," Gary said with a smirk.

Apep hurtled toward the edge but Squirtle leaned back and fired a literal wave of water that he had no chance of dodging.

It slammed into him and Apep flopped to the ground, eyes snapping shut. He was unconscious, knocked cleanly out.

Squirtle stumbled once, wincing heavily. He was still poisoned.

Gary quickly pressed the button on his pokeball and recalled him, attaching it to his belt. "Oh, there you go, Ashy boy. I won our first battle!"

"Yeah yeah," he sulked, but there was still a grin on his face. "You know I'll win the second."

Gary scoffed playfully. "Ha! As if. Next battle, it'll still be your ekans versus Blastoise, and we'll see how well you do then!"

"We will," and with that, they shook hands and marched their separate ways. They had an odd relation, a love-hate to say the best. Each wanted to win, to be the superior trainer ever since they were very small, being the only two young males in the town. Sure, Leaf came in and butted heads with them, winning every scrabble they got into. But she often stayed with her family on the other side of town, and that cut their fights in half.

Strange to think that once crossing a town had seemed too long to go play with a friend. Now they were traveling an entire region just to fight one.

And Leaf had his bulbasaur. Oh, he was taking her down next time they met, and he couldn't help but feel a grin slip onto his face.

But Apep was still there, and the only healing center in Pallet Town was in Professor Oak's lab, and he kind of didn't want the man seeing how he lost his first battle, although no doubt Gary would be heading off there to heal up Squirtle.

So instead he rooted around in his back, pulling out one of his six revives. It was kind of a waste but he believed in Apep more than he believed in the bug and grass types of the forest. Breaking open the diamond package, he dropped the powder in Apep's mouth.

After only a few seconds, he came back to consciousness, shaking his head and peering around. Ash quickly found a regular potion and sprayed it on the bruises on his back, using only half the bottle. The attacks were mainly special, so there weren't as many wounds to heal.

Apep was sulking, and Ash didn't even try to fight when he slithered up his body and curled around his torso. "I'll carry you for a little bit," he said, poking Apep's snout. "But then we're going to start your training in the forest, mark my words."

The pokemon yawned and went back to resting his head near Ash's neck. His scales were smooth, made for sliding over grasses and dirt. They weren't cold but with every passing moment against his skin they were warming up, settling at a comfortable heat.

He trotted back over to his home, slipping through the door. Delia perked up, finishing putting away the pancake plates. "How did it go?"

Ash sighed. "I lost. But not by much! I'll be able to cream him next time!"

She laughed ruffling up his hair and knocking his hat off. He grumbled but picked it up, jamming it back on his head. It had been over a hundred and some change cereal packages in order to win the League pokeball hat and he wasn't losing it for absolutely anything.

"You ready to go, Ash?"

He nodded, and she sucked in a deep, deep breath. "Well, you're calling me at every town you get to. Every one! I don't want you to think that you can let a town go by without-"

"I won't, Mom. I promise."

She chuckled and hugged him, mindful of Apep. "You'll check your pokedex for rare pokemon coming through, I know you can check the news on it. I know you won't let Apep be hurt for no reason so you have all of your potions, right? Make sure you don't just capture a pokemon just for capturing it. And make sure they all have food and so do you, you aren't going hungry just because you don't want to eat berries-"

"I promise, Mom! I promise."

"That's my boy." She stepped back, flicking her gaze over every part of his body. His shoes were new and just bought, with thick soles for hiking over Kanto. His clothes were loose and light, made for the mild spring weather they were having. His bag practically bulged and his pokeballs and pokedex glinted from his waist.

"Then off you go, and make me proud."

He laughed and then turned to the door, pushing it open. Here he was, off to a brand new adventure across the region.

Walking through Pallet Town, he pointed things out to Apep. The snake lazily looked around, the hot sun beating down on his scales. He was practically falling asleep no matter how jerky Ash's walk was.

And Ash was planning.

He had a poison type. They had only two weakness, ground types and psychic. Their poison moves didn't work on steel types, but that was fine. They were strong against grass and fairy types, which were really powerful. But the best part was that they resisted bug, fighting, grass, poison and fairy type moves!

But he needed to teach Apep many more moves for him to be able to do well. Ekans couldn't learn any moves that would be super effective against ground types but from what his mother had told him, Apep would do well to learn Bite, a dark type move that would definitely hurt psychic types. But he needed some sort of either flying, grass, ice, or water type pokemon to fight against ground types.

He hoped. The only flying type pokemon around were pidgey and spearow, and there weren't that many grass or water, and ice types were practically impossible to find in Kanto.

But Apep had very limited moves, ones that would hurt him more than help. He had to get very close to hurt the opposing pokemon, and that could be dangerous for him. Ekans didn't have very high health, and it was devilishly hard to increase them. The easiest way was through evolution and healing after battles, but that would take a long, long time. So what he had to do was get Apep ranged attacks and ways to protect himself.

Shuffling his arm around Apep's coils, he grabbed his pokedex and pulled up his chart. What moves could he learn?

His eyes immediately lit up upon seeing two moves. Acid and Acid Spray.

They were two very similar poison type moves, so Apep's type would boost their damage. Acid was the simpler version, while Acid Spray was more advanced.

Acid. The pokemon launches a thin stream of acid toward the opposing pokemon. This move erodes the opposing pokemon to lower defense. This move is ranged.

Acid Spray. The pokemon launches a wave of acid toward the opposing pokemon. This move erodes the opposing pokemon to lower defense greatly. This move has a moderate chance of poisoning. This move is ranged.

Both good, ranged attacks that would be devilishly useful to keep Apep away from other pokemon while still letting him attack. They weren't the most basic moves, that was true, and Ash didn't have the foggiest idea about how to help increase Apep's toxicity in order to be able to use those two moves. But they were powerful and found definitely be able to keep him from a bit of a distance while fighting.

But he also needed to learn Bite to defend himself from psychic pokemon, one of his weaknesses.

And he only had around half a day on Route 1 and two weeks before he was out of Viridian Forest and in Cerulean City.

And Pewter City's gym used rock type pokemon. While that wasn't a problem for the most part, there were many rumors that the leader, Brock, used an onix and a geodude, which were both rock and ground, which resisted poison moves.

But the bug type pokemon of the forest were weak to poison moves, which would make it easier to train.

Oh, this was so difficult!

Apep rattled his tail against his back, bringing his head up to poke Ash in the side of his face. He relaxed and stroked over his head scales, and Apep rumbled happily under his touch.

"I don't quite know what move to teach you, bud," He said, bring the pokedex closer to his face. Apep perked up. "There's a lot that would make you very powerful but I think what we need to do is teach you is a move that would be able to defeat rock and ground types, okay? So when we get to Viridian, we'll call up Professor Oak and see what he thinks."

He could have talked to the man right now, but he wanted to see how Apep trained just regularly before throwing a new move int he mix. Apep hissed happily, and Ash grinned.

Ash clicked his pokedex close and slipped it back onto his belt. "We'll start training your other moves when we stop for the day, okay?"

And then he was on the very edge of Route 1, staring at the looming trees. It was a wide dirt path that didn't go very far before reaching Viridian City, home of Giovanni's gym. The man was an absolute monster, and Ash didn't want to think about even going to his front door with one untrained pokemon.

Once Professor Oak told him what moves to do and Apep learned that, he'd work on teaching him another effective move. His best shot were Bite or Mud Bomb. They were the only two attacks that Apep could learn without TMs that weren't poison types. Bite would be taught first, and then Mud Bomb, just so that they could have some diversity on his moves. His only other attack that wasn't poison was Wrap, and Ash seriously doubted that a tiny ekans could do that to an onix.

He bet that the two moves would take every other moment of training in the Viridian Forest. And he also needed another pokemon, one that could help him on his journey. But there were barely any that appealed to him, and few would help him in the battle other than flying types, as ground type moves couldn't hit them.

But rock types were twice as effective.

Apep roused as he slowly unwound the pokemon off of him, setting the not light snake on the ground. He rattled his tail once, head tilted to the side.

"You'll be traveling beside me," he said. "This should work on your endurance and speed. Stop me if you're getting too tired, but you are going to be the strongest ekans ever before you even think of evolving."

Apep shot straight up, nodding quickly. Wild pokemon were filled with the desire to become strong, as they needed to be to be able to survive in the wild. Starter pokemon often didn't have that instinct, as they were bred and raised in nurseries. But Apep didn't have that - he started out in the wild, living off anything he could. He wanted to be strong, and by Arceus, Ash would make him.

Ash slowly started to walk along Route 1, Apep slithering next to him. Every so now and then, Apep would stop and simply rest in the middle of the path. Ash had immediately stopped on the first one and turned to face him, but he had flicked his tail in a 'go hither' motion.

A few moments later, Apep sped forward with ferocious speed. He did it over and over again, seemingly to not get tired.

Ash almost stopped him before grinning softly. The little pokemon had no idea they still had around four hours left of travel before they would arrive at Viridian City.

He stopped only once, eyes catching a glimmer of blue berries. Diving toward them, he pulled his backpack off and grabbed a large sack, currently empty. Apep curled up next to him, head tilted but eyes hungry.

Tossing him an oran berry, he got to work. Of course, he had brought food, but there was no way to carry a month's worth of food for some of the longer routes. So he brought basic and also collected berries whenever possible, as they were edible to every living pokemon and human. It didn't take much to fill up, and mashing them together in a paste and letting it harden overnight created perfect bars for munching on over a long day. Soon he had plucked all but five berries, leaving the rest for wild pokemon. The bag wasn't even a quarter full but Ash still hitched it on the back of his bag to prevent from squishing them.

Apep slithered forward and stole another berry from the bush.

And then they were walking again, and Apep had long since stopped his little sprints. He was nearly lagging behind, not even focusing on lifting his head above the ground. If he could have, Ash bet his tongue would be out and panting.

But the snake kept going, kept traveling next to Ash. He kept a close eye on him, not willing to have his pokemon pass out in the middle of a route. That was far too dangerous.

Finally, Apep stumbled one last time and Ash stopped. The pokemon dropped instantly, breath escaping a muffled hiss. He was still trying to pretend he was fine.

"Come over here, you great lump," he said, offering an oran berry. That would heal his pokemon from some of his exhaustion, enough to last him through the hour and a half they had left until they got to Viridian City.

Apep snatched it up, eating it faster than anything else. Ash carefully picked up the pokemon, guessing him to be about twenty five pounds, maybe thirty. Apep willing latched onto his torso, tail curling around his waist and head on his shoulder.

"But eventually you're going back in your pokeball, you got me?" He threatened, though by the skeptical look Apep shot him, the pokemon didn't believe him at all.

And it was true. He needed to train himself to travel long distances, and the combined weight of his backpack - which he already trained him by running laps around Professor Oak's lab with it on - and Apep would get him strong in no time.

So they started walking again, and Ash started to talk to Apep. Meaningless stuff at first, just empty babble about what he knew about pokemon. But then it dissolved into his plans for the adventure and the pokemon he wanted to capture.

There weren't many. Every kid wanted a dragonite and he was no different, but there were more he was interested in. Ice types were fascinating and so were fire types, the latter much more common. Dragon types were known for their immense strength, and it was easy to see that through their moves. But with the first addition to his team, poison was far more interesting.

He had the wish list every starting trainer had - eevee, dratini, and scyther. Other than that, he quite desperately wanted a growlithe, as the puppy pokemon were known for being agile, powerful, and very loyal.

Apep listened to it all, making soft, trilling laughs when he admitted more private things about how he used to stay up all night trying to catch a pidgey with a broken pokeball he had stolen from his mom.

But finally, just as the sun began to sink below the horizon of trees, Ash caught sight of Viridian City at the end of the route. Apep perked up as Ash began to trot the rest of the way, stumbling through the front gates.

The town was quiet at night, but people still buzzed and hummed as they walked around, chatting happily. Apep hissed happily, twitching his rattle.

But even as they started to move, a rather tired looking Officer Jenny appeared in front of them. Ash jolted, Apep hissing angrily in his ear.

"Hold on, you. Do you-" she stifled a yawn "-have any reason why this ekans isn't in its pokeball?"

"Um, yes. I was training with him but he got tired and I still wanted to talk to him about our plans." He babbled lightly, a blush working its way up his neck.

"May I see its pokeball?"

Ash grabbed the one pokeball on the left side of his belt, lifting into the air. With his other hand, he grabbed his pokedex. "And here's my identification."

She peered at it for a second, narrowing her eyes. And then she leaned back and stretched, blue hair curling around her shoulder. "All right. You're free to go. I was just checking."

Ash started to walk away, Apep hissing furiously and rattling his tail warningly at her back. He hid a snicker.

But the next second, Ash sped toward the Pokemon Center, panting harshly as Apep's weight finally started to hit him. But he pushed open the doors emboldened with the pokeball symbol, walking quickly into the room.

Nurse Joy, pink locks bouncing, looked up at him and smiled. Her lips quirked at Apep sleepily yawning on his shoulder, but Ash trotted up toward her and she greeted him warmly. "Hello! Welcome to the Pokemon Center. How may I help?"

"Do you think you could heal my pokemon? He's not hurt - I think - but he's pretty tired."

She nodded. "Certainly. But you may want to recall him first."

Ash blushed but pulled off the pokeball, holding it up to let Apep see. The snake rattled his tail once before Ash pressed the button, turning him into red mist.

He snapped up straight, Apep's weight disappearing off of him. A breath hissed from between his clenched teeth.

Nurse Joy laughed and extended her hand, and he offered his pokeball. She took it, holding it up to a scanner on some machine next to her counter. There was a beep and then she looked at the results, licking her lips.

"I should have your ekans out in only ten minutes, Ash. And yes, before you ask, the scanner shows ownership, so no, I didn't read your mind."

She said that with dull tones of someone who had to say it many times over again. He blushed again. "Thanks!"

He wandered off, quickly rushing toward the Pokemon Mart in the back of the center. It was rather small, mainly filled with every type of medicine known to mankind. But there was also a short aisle that was filled with circular disks.

Ash's eyes lit up and he practically ran toward them, very consciously aware of the money in his bag. He didn't have much, but was it enough to even get one?

It wasn't.

Most TMs were the same amount of money, though the ones like Hyper Beam and most dragon type moves were more expensive. Of course, reusable ones were even more money, but the cheapest one-use ones were well beyond his price range. He would have to battle every trainer in this Pokemon Center to be able to afford one reusable one that would let him stand a chance against Brock's pokemon.

His eyes narrowed.

But no, he needed more pokemon to be able to do that. And he also needed a powerful pokemon that would be able to let him survive even just the geodude.

Oh, why couldn't he find a perfect pokemon waiting for him on the next route!

Bug types wouldn't hold a candle to the rock types superior defense, and ground types were no different. So if he only found a rare pokemon that wasn't normally found in the Viridian Forest, then he would be fine.

His breath quickened in his chest. Oh, he was never going to make it.

He touched the Earthquake TM, one he knew that Apep could learn. It would even be super effective against rock types and wouldn't make Apep have to get close to the other pokemon.

But it was too expensive, and he dropped his hand. By the time he got to Pewter City, he would have enough money to buy a TM, and then he would be able to take over Brock's team of pokemon.

Confidence boosted, if only slightly, he turned to stare over the room of trainers. There were only a few, the rest either having left or gone up to their rooms. Maybe six, including one bright-eyed boy that couldn't have been any old ten. Probably had gotten his starter in this town and was coming to the Pokemon Center after a day of battling, preparing to set out his journey. He probably only had his starter.

And then Nurse Joy's voice echoed across the room. "Ash Ketchum, please take your pokemon!"

He trotted dutifully over to her, smiling wide. She handed over Apep's pokeball, smiling back. "Take good care of him, Ash. He seemed feisty even through the pokeball. And are you aware that he had bruises along his back?"

His brows furrowed before he remembered. "Ah! Yes. We had a battle in the morning, but I thought I healed them with a potion."

She pursed her lips. "Often, superficial wounds disappear while she hurting the pokemon. Make sure to use a little more potion than you think you need just to be safe, as you don't want your pokemon to be hurt during training or another battle."

He nodded. "Thanks for that, Nurse Joy!"

She smiled and he left, holding the ball tight in his hand. It wasn't that late, but it was too late for anyone to start traveling anywhere.

Ash just about ran toward the other trainer, a wide grin on his face. The boy looked up at him.

"Hey! Do you want to battle?"

Ash grinned, pocketing the rest of the money he had won from the kid. He had a bellsprout, and Apep was made to take out the slow leaf pokemon. The kid had a pretty powerful Vine Whip that had hit Apep cleanly in the head and another by the tail, but by that time Apep had landed several Poison Stings and managed to get a Poison Fang in its leaves, and the pokemon was knocked out.

It hadn't been much money - they were both just starting their journey, after all - but it was enough to get him hopeful. He had heard many stories about the endless bug trainers of Viridian Forest, gathered there by the also endless bugs of the forest.

He had no idea why they all stayed there, not growing much stronger and being defeated by trainers that passed through. But he didn't judge them, he wasn't that type to do that. Maybe he'd ask why they did what they did when he came across one.

But he also remembered what pokemon he had been planning on getting, and how he had spent nearly three day worrying over the forest.

Bug types had the type advantage over bulbasaurs, even though bulbasaur had a partial poison type. Their moves still injured them if they managed to break past their skin, especially since bulbasaur didn't learn any poison type moves early. So he would have been getting creamed every time he tried to walk down the path.

But he had Apep, and if he managed to hide his pokemon and look suitably innocent enough, he would be challenged by every bug trainer from here to Pewter City, and there wasn't any way that he would be losing except to very expert trainers, or if Apep was too tired.

And he had oran berries for that. This was going to be brilliant.

Apep looked up at him, blinking golden eyes once. There had been several bruises on his body but Ash had already taken him in to Nurse Joy, who had quickly fixed him up with one raised eyebrow and a low chuckle.

He had blushed furiously and scampered off.

But now he had more money, and money was what he desperately needed.

Yes, Apep was powerful. But he didn't have that many moves that he could just learn. His egg move was useful and would compliment his fangs nicely, but other than Bite and Mud Bomb, it was only poison type moves. He didn't have a lot of range to spread and grow as an ekans.

So he needed TMs, but that had already been decided.

But he also needed new pokemon, and new pokemon needed food and training supplies, so he still needed money. At least Professor Oak had given him five more pokeballs. He wasn't planning on catching more than six, but plans always changed - but eight at the maximum. He didn't want to catch one and then never seen it again, letting it sink into Professor Oak's ranch like many of the other pokemon he had seen. There were hundreds of pidgeys and rattatas that Oak had had to revoke ownership of after getting the trainer's permission and release them back into the wild because their trainer hadn't said a word about them in years and they were too hard to take care of. That led to Route 1 being full of pidgey and rattata, and guess beginning trainers caught on their first trip out? A vicious cycle that wasn't able to be beat by Professor Oak alone. When he caught a pokemon, he wasn't going to just give it up to the lab.

Ash didn't want to be like that. If he was going to be capturing pokemon, it was going to be because the pokemon would be part of his team, no matter its strength or evolution. It was his family.

His little mind boost session over, he shuffled his backpack into a more comfortable position and looked down at Apep, who stared unblinkingly up at him. "All right, you lazy snake. Come on up."

Apep gave a happy hiss punctuated by a rattle and slithered up Ash's leg, twining around him once again. Ash grinned. By the time he got to Pewter City in around two weeks, he was going to be more fit than Gary and Leaf put together. Well. Maybe not Leaf. But Gary definitely.

Apep may have been fast and quick and powerful, but he wasn't light.

He had gotten a room key for room 14, first floor of three. But it was only eight o'clock, and there was still something he needed to do. Shuffling over to the back of the Pokemon Center, he dodged one of the last trainers heading up to their room and sat down at a phone booth. He held his pokedex up to the scanner, waiting for it to beep brightly. A second later, it lit up with the free setting trainers were allowed to use. Quickly dialing in his mother's number, he sat back and waited.

It only rang twice before the screen popped up, showing his mom.

Delia smiled warmly at him, bright white teeth shining. "Hello, Ash! Did you make it to Viridian City?"

He nodded, grinning back at her. His mom was a relaxing presence no matter where he was, all warm eyes and soft smiles.

Although he wouldn't mind being closer to her to have some of her delicious cooking. He would never mind that.

"How are you doing? Caught any new pokemon so far?" She laughed loudly as Apep leaned forward, head tilted in confusion. He poked his snout at the screen only for it to stop him before he could reach Delia, and he hissed uncertaintly.

Ash stroked his neck, feeling a soft rumble under his fingers. "It's fine, bud," he murmured, before speaking louder to his mother. "No, nothing yet. I'm trying to figure out a strategy for Brock's pokemon but I haven't come up with anything yet! There's no good pokemon unless I can find a pond or a grass type clan, and you know those aren't very common around Viridian Forest."

She shrugged. "It's fine, Ash. I know you'll find some pokemon. It doesn't matter whether you're on a disadvantage or not, because if-"

"-if I train my pokemon strong enough, that's all that matters," he finished. "Thanks, Mom."

But she snapped her hand up to stop him from disconnecting. "Oh, not yet, Ashy. I'm not going to be talking to you for two weeks, and I've got some things you have to do."

Ash barely bit back a groan. "Of course."

"Have you checked the news yet?"

He gaped at her. "Mom! It's been only one day!" He paused. "Actually, it hasn't even been that! Nothing could have happened in the incredibly short half day since I left Pallet Town, surely you know that…"

But her glare stopped him short. With a heaving sigh, he pulled out his pokedex and flicked it open. "Fine, fine."

"That's my boy."

He flicked through the tabs, eyes narrowed. Finally he struck gold on Pokemon News, clicking it quickly.

At first, nothing popped up. He rose up in a mocking smile, prepared to tease his mother when something pinged. His eyes shot back down to see a new announcement, released only twenty minutes prior.

Delia smirked at him.

Rolling his eyes, he pressed the announcement and watched as a small paragraph blinked into existence.

Trainers around Cerulean City, keep your eyes to the skies! A freak storm in Johto has pushed a flock of noctowl flying over the city, and they should be there for several more days while they regain their bearings. After that, they fly back to their homeland, so if you want one, go quickly! Noctowl are normal and flying type, and are a wonderful bonus to any team! Head there quick!

"See, Mom? It doesn't affect me. I'm not even in Pewter yet!"

She just raised an eyebrow, head tilting. "But what could happen tomorrow? 'Large amounts of oddish in Viridian Forest, but only if you take this special path?'"

"Yeah, yeah. I swear I'll check it every day. I don't want to miss some super effective pokemon that come by me. I really need another pokemon to defeat Brock's pokemon, because Apep just won't be able to do it alone. And even if he can, I don't want to put him through that."

There was a smile on her face. "Good thinking, Ash. Yes, I would say that it would help you tremendously to have another pokemon to train. But there's something else, Ash."

Her smile slipped into a frown, eyes flashing. "Don't you dare only choose a pokemon on whether it'll be helpful to you in the next gym. If you find a baby electric type who battles you with the strength and ferocity of a gyarados, you capture that pokemon and train it in every move that will take down Brock's team. You don't turn it down just because it won't help you right now. Don't you dare."

He gulped. "I- I promise, Mom. I wouldn't do that. Anyway, an electric type would be amazingly helpful in the Cerulean Gym. I'd be happy to capture one."

Her face cleared up like the sky after a storm. "Perfect. I can't wait to meet your new member on your team. I would suggest doing more research on Apep there, though. Poison types have a lot of strengths, and it would be nice to plan out what gyms you might want to take a shortcut to."

Ash grinned. "Thanks, Mom. I'll call you the day I get to Pewter."

"I know you will. Have fun, Ashy!"

And then the connection clicked off.

He stayed staring at the black screen, a smile still glimmering on his face. It was a nice chat, no matter how he had gotten scolded. She was his mother, and nothing in this world would make him not adore conversations with her.

She had an honest point, though. He had been turning down every pokemon in the forest so far, just because they wouldn't be super effective…

As a type. He hadn't even though about just moves! What about finding a pokemon that could use super effective moves? That would be perfect!

His best bet would be calling up Professor Oak and then seeing what he thought, both about good moves in pokemon and more information about Apep. Perfect! The man knew everything both inside and out about Kanto pokemon, so he'd for sure know something that Ash could catch.

He pressed the screen again, flicking to trainer contacts. There was a League number, a list of pokemon researchers, and an emergency contact with Professor Oak's name. Apparently he wasn't the only trainer to call Oak about his pokemon. The screen hummed once before starting to ring.

This time, it rang out considerably longer, long enough for Ash to switch his attention to scratching Apep's neck. The pokemon rumbled happily, stretching his head up to let Ash at it easier. His scales were softer on his stomach and neck, less defensive. But also itchier, and Ash happily scratched him to his heart's content.

The screen hummed again before blinking on, showing the lab. And Professor Oak's hair. The bright white shock of hair bounced as Professor Oak perked up, presumably smiling into his screen.

"Hello, Ash! What do you need?" The man was still bright and warm in his personality, bouncing around from topic to topic, even through a screen. Ash would miss him a ton on his journey, even though he'd probably call him frequently for more information on his pokemon and things.

"Can you turn around, Professor?" He asked with a smile.

Oak stiffened before the screen flickered black, coming back to with Oak facing him. "Ah! Wrong camera. No matter. Why are you calling me? Did you catch a pokemon?"

Ash shook his head. "Not quite. I was wondering whether you could help me out a bit."

He nodded, sitting down in a chair. "What do you need?"

"Are there any super effective moves that Apep could learn for Pewter City? The only one I can think of is Mud Bomb, and that doesn't do that much damage. I don't want him to be out there without any way to defend himself."

"Apep?"

The pokemon perked up at his name, tilting his head to the side. He had learned not to hit the screen but he still seemed very confused.

Professor Oak nodded his head. "Ah. Give me a moment." He stared off into space, eyes flickering rapidly. He was always interesting to watch when he started to think about pokemon - he knew everything about them, but he often had to search deep to find specific details. Ash had amused himself by finding rare Kanto pokemon in books and asking about hidden abilities and watching the professor sink into his trance.

But all too soon Oak snapped back to attention, smile on his face. "Tutor moves. Ekans can learn several moves that would be very useful, but I would suggest either Iron Tail, Giga Drain, or Seed Bomb. Do you know why they're put under tutoring moves despite the fact that trainers are able to teach them the moves?"

Ash shook his head, but still guessed. "They don't master the moves until a tutor teaches them?"

Oak leveled him a look. "Well, that would hardly make sense. No, it's because that these are some of the most difficult moves the pokemon can learn. Tutors have to use a combination of TMs and training to teach the pokemon in under two days, which is useful for quick effective moves for a gym battle. You will be able to teach Apep one of the moves, but it will take a significant amount of time and patience. I would recommend Iron Tail, however. While I know that the grass type moves will be very useful in the next gym as well, mastering another element is very difficult, and Iron Tail is very easy to master without fully understanding and mastering the steel type. Just have Apep constantly hit heavy rocks and boulders with his tail until it starts to harden, and you should teach it to him in maybe a week or longer if you bring plenty of potions."

Ash blinked. "I promised to teach him Acid…"

Oak raised an eyebrow. "But now you're going to teach him a super effective move that will help him survive in the Pewter Gym, I hope?"

He sighed. "Yes, Professor. But I also have another question - what pokemon has some more super effective moves around here? I'd like a new member for my team."

Oak frowned. "Well, there's-"

The power cut off.

Ash blinked. "Professor?"

He rose to his feet, staring around the suddenly dark Pokemon Center. The lights had all switched off, each one dead and dull. The soft hum from machines were also off, and even the cheerful lit-up pokeball symbol on the front door was grey.

Nurse Joy stood up as well, eyes dark and calculated. "Hello? Is there anyone still down here?"

"Just me, Nurse Joy," he called back. "Ash Ketchum."

She nodded, carefully walking around her counter. "This shouldn't last more than a few seconds - we have our own pikachu generators. Please stay calm."

And in the next instant, lights flickered back on, noticeably not all of them. The brilliant overhead lights were as bright as ever, but the small, basically useless reading lights on couches and tables were off. He guessed it was to conserve power.

"There we go," she said happily, walking over toward the phone screens. "I'll just call up the town hall and see whether there's been an issue with the power supply-"

The overhead glass ceiling shattered.

Ash watched it in slow motion, millions of glass shards plummeted toward the ground, falling as if rain. It was when one bounced off of Apep's tail that he reacted, throwing the snake underneath the desk and crawling in under him. The glass shattered everywhere, shards recocaying off of everything. A bright pain surfaced somewhere in his lower back, and he winced.

But there wasn't time to think about that, because something was coming through the roof.

It was round, grey, and had a rather happy face carved onto one side. He recognized it quickly. A koffing, one much larger than the average. It hovered in midair, most likely having been the one to break down the glass ceiling.

"Koffing, smokescreen!" A male voice barked, and the pokemon obeyed, shaking itself rapidly. Black smoke, thick and roiling, burst from its body. It filled the air, covering everything in sight. There was a thump not far in front of Ash of something landing on the ground, the sound of broken glass scratching against the ground.

Apep suddenly sharpened, his tail rattling ever so lightly. Ash lunged backward and held it still, breath short in his throat. They were under attack.

The Pokemon Center was under attack, and he had one pokemon. Apep might be able to take down the koffing, but it was also his starter and the koffing looked absolutely enormous and probably well trained.

But there was a growl from beside him, and he looked over to see Nurse Joy baring her teeth and pulling herself from under the desk, where she had also been. "You think you can just attack my Pokemon Center and get away with it?" She bellowed into the smoke.

There was a pause, before an obviously female voice trickled back through, coated with smugness. "Well, yes, obviously. Now, if you just surrender your pokemon and every pokemon in this center, we might let you go unharmed."

Nurse Joy scoffed. "You have three pokemon and don't sound over twenty. I, on the other hand, have been trained to defend this place, and I even have another trainer!" She turned to him, eyes unbelievably sharp. "Ash. You have an ekans?"

He nodded, eyes wide.

"Well, then you can't be poisoned. If you can take out one of their pokemon, I'll do the rest. I think I can take the koffing and the meowth, you get the other."

And then she stood fully up, the smoke beginning the fade around her. "Chansey! To me!"

The egg pokemon darted over to stand next to her, looking fiercely powerful in that moment. He had always thought that they were just nurses, caretakers for injured pokemon. This Nurse Joy was anything but in this moment.

And finally, the smoke cleared fully.

There were two - no, three pokemon. The koffing floated above, a man with purple hand standing behind it with a confident expression. A meowth stood next to the man, hissing with claws raised. An ekans slithered below. Ash stiffened. Ekans versus ekans?

He could do this. His Apep was absolutely furious in battle, despite what Gary had thought. He had taken the bulbasaur in record time. All he had to do was use his ekans speed, which his mother had said was uncommon. And this ekans was a lighter purple, and its yellow was almost dark. Close to evolving, which meant it would always be slightly off balance as it tried to evolve but couldn't muster the power yet.

There was a woman behind the ekans, holding nearly three feet of brilliant red hair that curled behind her in an arc. It was quite impressive, but her face was horribly smug and motivated. Her eyes widened on seeing Apep, but they narrowed quickly.

The pair of attackers opened their mouths, striking a pose. They looked like they were about to sing.

Nurse Joy didn't give them the chance. "Chansey! Pound!"

The pokemon lunged forward, heading toward the koffing. The man yelped and barked out a command.

The woman reacted faster. "Ekans! Wipe this twerp out and use Bite!"

Ash bit his lip. The one damaging move that Apep had needed to learn. Maybe his pokemon could learn from it.

Apep rattled his tail furiously, and Ash snapped back to attention. He had to focus.

"Use Leer, and then get out of there!"

The charging ekans slithered with its mouth wide open, black energy coiling on the edge of its fangs. Apep merely coiled in on himself, baring his fangs and narrowing his eyes. The ekans flinched, shock working down on its scales and loosening its muscles, making it easier to injure.

And then Apep turned around and fled up the side of the desk.

He ended up on top as the other ekans, screeched to a stop to avoid slamming its head on the desk. Glass crunched beneath its scales as it peered up at Apep, who hissed at him.

The woman tsked. "Acid, Ekans! Keep it going hard!"

Ash frowned. Poison types couldn't be poisoned. He knew that it wouldn't do much in damage, so what was the crazy lady's strategy? "Apep, don't let it hit you. Launch Poison Sting!"

Ekans reared back and spat something brilliant orange and red toward Apep. It sizzled in the air, chock full of damaging venom.

It splattered against the desk not a moment too soon, hissing and bubbling against the wood. Apep had shot backward but now he attacked, slithering forward to fire Poison Stings over the edge of the desk.

Ekans hissed. Apep didn't stop.

Not all of them hit, but he just kept firing more and more of them. Again and again and again, Ekans flinching more and more with each hit. It kept launching Acids at the woman's demands, most of them splattering on the desk. But one connected, and Apep nearly flinched, it hurt him so badly. The woman's ekans was strong, but Apep kept going. Poison Stings rained down on the poison type.

At least until Ekans growled with fury and leaped upon the desk.

Acid sizzled against its scales, but it lunged forward, cheered on by shrieks of "Bite it!" Its mouth glowed darkly, shadows flickering across its fangs.

Apep did the snake equivalent of a yelp and tried to jump off the desk. Ekans slammed its fangs into his tail.

He shrieked in pain, furiously thrashing around. Ekans bit down harder, a scale cracking under its fangs.

"Wrap! Wrap around it!" Ash bellowed, fists clenched. The woman cackled happily, shouting encouragement to her pokemon.

Apep, fueled by rage and pain, flung himself forward and threw his head onto Ekans' back. It flinched, and Apep furiously wrapped himself around the other snake. It worked - partially. Ekans' scales were more ridged, ready for evolution, and Apep was able to lodge himself in and start squeezing.

Ekans' head was ripped off of Apep's tail, spitting angrily. But its hisses soon turned to fear as Apep started the move that had nearly won him the battle against Gary's squirtle. His muscles bulged as he slowly tightened around Ekans.

Ash bit his lip. The move was perfect for ending the battle, but Ekans was too powerful. It had taken nearly ten Poison Stings and now this, and it was still fighting back. Ape didn't have much longer until he couldn't squeeze any longer, and then Ekans would be able to fight back.

"Poison Fang! Bite its tail!" He shouted, and Apep reacted. He lifted his head and sank purple stained fangs through the scales on Ekans' tail.

The pokemon roared, even though Apep hadn't perfected the move. It thrashed again.

"Don't use venom!" Ash barked. "Just keep biting!"

Apep reared back and struck again, even while performing Wrap. Ekans hissed. Again.

And finally, finally, Ekans went limp.

Apep nearly collapsed on the ground, flopping down and letting Ekans slip out of his hold. He was panting harshly, rattle twitching lightly.

Ash immediately recalled him. The woman raged in a fury, holding out her pokeball. "You fucking twerp!" She roared. "Let's see how well you can do once I do something else." She snapped her fingers, eyes narrowed. "Meowth!"

Nothing happened.

Her eyes widened, and she looked around, fear trickling onto her face.

Nurse Joy walked onto the scene, holding a struggling meowth in one hand. It hissed furiously, and to Ash's surprise, didn't just hiss.

"Let me go, lady! I'm a powerful pokemon dat will trash your whole team - ow, not the ears - if you don't let me go! Me-owth!"

There was a pokeball in her other had, and Ash saw the man cowering with chansey standing over him. The pokemon pounded her fists together, snarling.

The woman squeaked, looking between her ekans and the meowth and the man. Her feet twitched, arms flexing. She tensed her shoulders.

And then her decision was made for her as the front doors blasted open, Officer Jenny speeding in on her motorcycle. Her eyes widened but then she was leaping off her bike, grabbing at the handcuffs on her waist. The man instantly shot his hands into the air.

"Ash," Nurse Joy said.

He turned to her, pale with eyes wide. "Yes?"

"Please go to your room. I will take care of your ekans and will talk to you in the morning."

Ash nodded slowly, feeling both jittery and sluggish. "Here's his pokeball."

He slowly handed it over, his palms sweaty. Wiping them on his pants, he turned slowly on his heel and walked toward the back of the Pokemon Center, where a door stood that led to the rooms.

"Oh? Ash, please wait a moment."

He turned around to see Nurse Joy approaching, the squalling meowth in Officer Jenny's grasp. She circled him, eyes narrowed.

"You've got a bit of glass in your back, dear. Please hold still."

And then there was a soft pain from nothing. "Not too bad. Should finish healing in the morning. Off you go."

He turned back around again.

Glass shards crunched under his shoes. It was grating and loud and strange in his almost daze.

He had taken down an adult's pokemon. An adult ekans, to be precise. His Apep had taken it down.

After only one day of training.

Sure, now that he was looking back, the pair of them hadn't seemed that strong. He didn't remember completely, but Nurse Joy had taken down the koffing with barely any moves from her chansey. The ekans had only used a couple of overpowered moves, moves that Ash was planning to teach to his starter. It didn't use Gunk Shot or Mud Bomb, which were only slightly more difficult moves to learn and would have seriously hurt Apep.

But still.

An adult's pokemon.

As if in a daze, Ash wandered over to the room 14 and withdrew his key from his bag. Clicking the door open, he wandered inside. He didn't notice anything, eyes sluggishly moving toward the inviting bed.

He reasoned he was probably in shock.

But he peeled off his clothes, shutting his door first. His bag was set off to the side, pajamas quickly thrown on. His dirty clothes were dumped down a laundry chute, where they would be returned to him in either the morning or midday.

But then he shuffled toward the bathroom, brushing his teeth quickly. The cold water he splashed on his face helped slightly, but there was still clouds hovering over his eyes. It was hard to think clearly.

But the bed called to him, and before long, he was asleep on top of the covers.

The next morning, he changed at the speed of light and ran out of his room, slinging his backpack over his shoulders. There was a crowd of rather confused trainers, maybe ten of them. Not many, but they all had wide open eyes and gaping mouths. As he finished pushing his way back to the common area in the Pokemon Center, he saw why.

In the day, the break in the ceiling looked much more impressive. There was a gaping hole smashed directly in the middle, much larger than the koffing had been. It was jagged and enormous, but Ash could see the faint blue glimmer of psychic powers protecting it from breaking more or letting rain in. And indeed, there was a kadabra sitting in the corner, spoon pulsing faintly.

The glass shards had all been cleaned up, though the desk Apep had fought on was irrevocably damaged. Splashes of acid from Acid Spray were still there, protected by the kadabra.

Apep.

He looked around the room quickly, searching for Nurse Joy. Finally, he caught her pink hair bouncing as she consoled a rather panicked trainer. He trotted closer, staying back while she talked soothingly to the boy.

And then she finished, and he practically ran over to her.

"Nurse Joy?" He asked, fingers knotting themselves together.

She perked up, looking up to stare him in the eyes. "Ah! Ash. Right this way, please."

He followed her as she walked back to her desk, withdrawing a pokeball from a slot under the front counter. She handed it over, smiling. "He should be completely healed and very proud of himself. Please be sure to congratulate him - he's quite the powerful ekans to take down one older than him."

He grinned happily back at her. "Don't worry. I will."

"Then please head to the police station as soon as possible. Officer Jenny wants to speak to you about the attack, and I've heard that she has a reward for you."

Ash perked up. "A reward?"

Nurse Joy chuckled softly. "Yes, Ash. A reward. You took down a dangerous criminal's pokemon and helped to imprison them. You will receive something for your work."

"Bye, Nurse Joy!" He shouted, booking it out of the Pokemon Center. She waved before turning to the next trainer.

He ran down the street, dodging the people who were stopped on the side of the street and pointing at the building. The break was even more visible from here, a jagged cut carved across the curve of the dome. He hoped they got it fixed soon - the poor kadabra would probably start to get exhausted soon, protecting an entire ceiling.

But there wasn't any time to focus on that.

He was getting a reward!

Tucking Apep's pokeball closer to his chest, he ran on. He didn't really know where he was going, but at the speed he was running, he would find it sooner rather than later.

And find it he did.

It was a rather blank building, grey with blue highlights. Viridian City Police was stamped across the front of the roof, glinting with shiny metal. The door was propped open, and Ash could already see a mass of people inside, most likely talking about the attack.

He wandered in.

It was dark, but he adjusted quickly. Officer Jenny was standing behind a desk, even larger bags under her eyes than the last time he had seen her. There was a man talking to every person walking in, sending most of them back out on the street. Ash wandered over to him.

"Why are you here?" The man asked, looking him over with a steely eye. There was a power in his arms and legs that Ash did not doubt he could use.

"Um - Officer Jenny sent for me."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really? Name?"

"Ash Ketchum."

His expression cleared. "Ah! Please go to her - don't mind the other people. We'll keep them in line."

Ash didn't doubt that they wouldn't. "Okay, sir."

He trotted past the line, ignoring the angry shouts of those he was cutting. Officer Jenny glared at him as he arrived before her face cleared. "Ash! Good. Come here, please."

She pointed toward an office off to the side, and he meekly walked behind her to it. The door swung closed to cut off angry mutters.

Collapsing on a chair, she sucked in a deep breath before composing herself. She turned to him, face serious.

"Ash Ketchum. You helped to take down a pokemon owned by a member of Team Rocket. There was a reward on that certain member - her name is Jessie - and the League has decided that you should be able to claim it."

His eyes shot open wide. "W-what?"

She smiled at his gobsmacked expression. "She's part of Team Rocket, and Kalos has already taught us about ignoring criminals or letting them escape. There's a reward on all of their heads the second they put on the uniform. To be fair, its a rather small reward because she only bugged us and failed in their every mission, but a reward is a reward. You aided in their capture, therefore you get the reward."

Was this really happening? He nodded quickly. "Yes. I accept it."

Jenny smiled brighter. "Perfect. Let me just grab it real quick."

She reached under her desk, pulling out an envelope. It didn't look like much, especially nothing that came from the Indigo League. His heart quivered at the very thought.

The League was rewarding him!

Jenny slid it across the desk, and he picked it, hands steady despite the fact they felt like they were shaking.

"It's not much, as all she really did was annoy and attempt to steal things. But I feel that for a beginning trainer, this might help you greatly." There was a smile on her face as he struggled to get the top open before finally succeeding.

Ash reached in and pulled out a slim grey card. It had lines and numbers carved over it, Indigo League stamped right on the top. He shot her a confused look.

"That there is a gift card. On it is three thousand dollars, redeemable at any Pokemon Center."

He gaped at it, flicking his gaze from the card to her.

Jenny chuckled, slapping her desk. "Every time! But seriously, spend it wisely. I know that's enough for a reusable TM or a ton of potions and revives, but make sure you also have food for your journey."

He nodded weakly, and she yawned once more before pointing to the door. "Off you scram. Nurse Joy might take a while to be able to redeem it with the chaos, but if you can be a bit patient you can spend it soon."

Ash walked to the door, left the office, left the building, and whooped for joy.

He had enough money to buy a TM! Any TM that he wanted would be his, except for the too expensive ones like Hyper Beam. But Earthquake would be plugged into Apep's pokeball in under an hour.

He froze.

Apep would be learning Iron Tail, which was super effective against ground types. But Earthquake wouldn't do much of anything beyond that first gym, maybe only helping him against the electric type Surge.

It wouldn't do him much good to buy it now, or any TM for that matter. He had one pokemon - it would be just his luck to buy a reusable TM and only have one pokemon able to use it. He had to wait until he caught another pokemon.

But he consoled himself by thinking of Apep blazing onto the field with metallic energy building around his tail.

Next pokemon, he would buy a TM that both of them could use. And he would be unstoppable.

But for now, he would be heading off to Pewter City immediately. He had enough potions and revives if Apep was ever overpowered, and he had already checked to make sure he had enough food to last him through Viridian Forest. And in the slim chance he ended up with more than three pokemon in the journey, then he could use all of the berries he would find.

It would work perfectly.

Mind made up, he started toward Route 2.

Someone stopped him.

A hand thumped onto his shoulder, almost enough strength to push him to the ground. It retracted instantly and an apology trickled to his ears. He winced, tapped the hand on his shoulder, and turned around. "Hello, Leaf."

She grinned back at him, pulling back her hand. "Sorry 'bout that, Ash. Forget you're a wimp sometimes."

He laughed and pushed her shoulder. "Ha ha. Enjoying my bulbasaur?"

Leaf was a girl that looked like she should have gone into wrestling instead of pokemon training. Ever since she was young, she had tackled martial arts with a ferocity that had scared both her parents and her friends, though she always made time for them to play. Medals and ribbons decorated her room from all of the competitions she had won, including one where she battled a machop and managed to pull a victory, though the pokemon hadn't used any moves in order to avoid hurting her. She had been bruised for days but that medal she won was right in the middle of her shelf.

Her shoulder looked more like basketballs and she had arms capable of punching through wood. He had been kidding himself if he thought that lifting Apep would make him stronger than her.

"Yeah, he's a kickass little guy." She patted her first pokeball, drawing Ash's eyes to the second one perched by her hip. His eyes flew open.

"What? You already got a second pokemon?" He asked, feeling suddenly protective of Apep.

She grinned. "Well, I didn't capture it. My parents made a promise to me that if I behaved for like seventeen years they'd get me a fighting type when I started my journey, which is all I wanted. Too many mowed lawns and clean windows later, and they gave it to me yesterday. She's the feistiest machop I've ever seen, and though she's a bit too short we've been able to battle pretty well now."

"That's awesome," he said, and he meant it. All Leaf wanted was to become a fighting type Champion, and Bruno was more her god than Arceus. He worried about anyone who stood in her way.

"No battles though, Ketchum. I've got three days here in Viridian before I start on my journey, and there's no way I'm stopping my training."

He was a bit disappointed, but accepted it. "Alright. I wish you luck, Leaf. Though you didn't have to steal my bulbasaur," he teased.

She swatted his arm. "Ha! You wish. He's already smacked down my machop when I let them loose - there's no way you'll take this fighter from me."

They traded a few more goodbyes. Neither told any strategies and since she didn't ask what pokemon he had gotten he didn't tell her - they were rivals now, fighting to be the best in the world.

But he was sad to see her go. Leaf was a good friend, though not as close as Gary and he were. The next time he'd see her, she'd probably kick his butt all the way to the Conference if he didn't get stronger.

His resolve strengthened, he turned back to Route 2.

It was a dark and dreary place from the moment he stepped in. The forest, while pretty, hid the light and let only filtered shadows stretch across the path, and the rustle and scratch of dead leaves in a wind was particularly unsettling.

But then he was a safe enough distance away from the town that he didn't worry about Apep getting attacked for possibly being the Team Rocket woman's pokemon, and he chucked his pokeball at the ground.

Apep appeared in a burst of red light, not even hesitating before springing right into a battle coil, hissing furiously.

And then he blinked and looked around, noticing only trees and Ash, who was currently doubled over laughing.

"Good job, Apep," he gasped, almost breaking out again at the snake's disgruntled expression. "If that ekans was still there, it wouldn't even stand a chance before you knocked it clean out of the sky."

Apep relaxed, slithering slightly forward to let his back hit a sunbeam. He rumbled happily.

Ash knelt next to him. "Look at me, Apep. You know what happened? You took down an adult's pokemon, an ekans, no less. You took it down and didn't even let it recover before attacking again. I'm so proud of you, bud."

Apep rattled his tail before stretching his head up, and Ash chuckled before starting to scratch under his jaw. He continued talking.

"We got a reward, bud. Three thousand dollars. That's enough for a TM, but we're going to be waiting a bit until we catch another pokemon, okay?"

He nodded.

"But now we're going to train. Rock and ground types are slow, really slow, so you need to be fast to not get him. I know you wanted to learn Acid, but we're not." A furious hiss came from the snake. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Instead, to help you survive in the gym battle, you're going to be learning Iron Tail, which is where- wait, give me a second…"

He pulled out his pokedex, quickly flicking to the moves section.

Iron Tail. The pokemon hits the opposing pokemon with its tail, charging steel type energy through it. This move is physical.

"It's super effective against Brock's pokemon, okay? So when we aren't moving, you'll be learning that. When we are moving, I'm not going to pick you up unless you're really exhausted, okay? You need to get really fast."

Apep leveled an extremely unimpressed look at him.

"I know, it's hard. But think how'll strong you'll be!"

The only response he got was an annoyed tail rattle before the snake began to move, slithering over the ground and pointedly staying in front of him. Ash chuckled and trotted to catch up, walking as comfortable as he could. They'd be stopping around six in the afternoon to train and rest, and he guessed that Apep's smug attitude would have melted away as soon as they reached hour three.

It was an hour before they met their first trainer.

A small girl, in tan trousers and a blue shirt, wearing a League issued pokemon hat. Her's had a dratini on it, cooing happily at an invisible audience. Two pokeballs were on her waist.

Her eyes flew open immediately upon seeing him. She couldn't have been more than eight years old.

"I challenge you to a pokemon battle!" She squeaked, falling into an obviously practiced pose. "Two on two!"

Ash blinked, looking down at Apep. The pokemon wasn't tired, not close yet, but even he probably couldn't take down two pokemon, especially if one was a starter.

Wait.

This girl was below ten years of age and was in the Viridian Forest. She was one of the bug trainers that he had been so worried about. Her two pokemon were probably nothing more than weedle and caterpie, and if her appearance was anything to go on, he didn't guess that they would be too strong or well balanced.

And Apep really, really, really needed to get stronger. Though he hadn't even started to learn Iron Tail, his other moves needed to be strengthened.

"I've only got one," he said slowly. "But I'll take on your two."

The girl smirked, stretching out a hand. "My name is Riley! I'm going to be the best bug trainer in Viridian Forest!"

He smiled at her. Her enthusiasm was catching. "Why are you trying to be a bug trainer?"

She shot him a look that said everything. "Really? I'm only nine. I can't get a starter yet, but I can train using the easiest pokemon to train."

Ash blinked. He hadn't thought about it like that. "But you're wasting money."

Riley shrugged. "Not really. I don't have to give too much away, and I've been winning more and more battles. A lot of bug trainers actually make money by the time they start their journey."

He perked up. Well, now he would feel a lot less guilty about creaming them all with his ekans. "Then let's start the battle."

She grinned and took several steps back, blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. Grabbing her first pokeball, she threw it out on the field.

A caterpie, bright green and obviously well cared for, appeared with a brilliant flash on the field. It shook its head before tensing up.

Ash almost casually snapped his fingers. Apep, who had curled protectively behind his feet, slithered forward, hissing furiously. His dark purple scales glinted in the light, golden ring and rattle shining just as brightly.

Riley's eyes widened. "That's not one of the starters!"

"Professor Oak was out. Apep! Poison Fang!"

Apep lunged forward, almost like a speeding bullet. His mouth gaped, beads of venom slipping down his fangs.

"Avoid it!"

Caterpie shot a String Shot above its head, the white, sticky strand landing a hit on a branch. In a second, the string was pulled taut and Caterpie was lifted into the air, swaying slightly. Apep flew by underneath. The snake growled along with Ash, who narrowed his eyes.

"Apep!" He barked. "Push off the ground and get a Poison Fang in its tail."

Riley yelped and started shouting, fists clenched. "Drop and Tackle!"

Caterpie dropped, dully growing a pale white around its head and torso as it landed directly in Apep's open mouth.

Apep recoiled from the Tackle attack but crunched down, fangs slicing cleanly past Caterpie's skin. Venom pumped from his fangs.

But even as Caterpie slid dully from his mouth and passed out, it didn't wince. Not once. It hadn't been poisoned.

Ash whistled, eyes wide. Apep shook himself, almost preening. His scales caught the light perfectly.

Riley sighed as she recalled Caterpie, a frown on her lips. But then she brightened again like it had never happened. "That's all fine. I only caught that caterpie about a week ago, and all I've mainly done is train him on dodging. Even you have to admit that him catching the branch and jumping into the air was pretty neat!"

Ash nodded. It was. But he did have a question- "Why didn't it get poisoned?"

She leveled him a raised eyebrow. "Shield Dust. His ability. Status conditions from regular damaging moves don't affect him because he really isn't made of very much - beneath his skin is a layer of something like dust that keeps him from getting poisoned or burned and stuff, which is great!"

Ash nodded, the information storing away. Good to know.

Apep was still raring to go, rattling his tail lightly. The sound was dry and rough, and that meant he was quite far from evolution. Arbok lost their rattles as they evolved, and it would start to sound smoother and softer as he grew stronger.

But then Riley grinned, back straightening. "But my other pokemon is far stronger. I've had her for nearly three months, and she won't go down as easily as my Caterpie!"

Ash raised an eyebrow, but it did worry him a bit.

He didn't have much time to think about a strategy before her pokeball landed on the ground and a beedrill exploded from it.

Red eyes glinted darkly in its angular head, and its transparent wings buzzed with a sharp humming sound. Its needles, dagger sharp and glinting, flashed through the air.

Ash stilled. The beedrill looked powerful, yellow bright and black shining in the air. It wouldn't be taken down as easily as Caterpie. And it was poison type as well as bug type, so it couldn't be poisoned and he didn't have the type advantage.

Riley grinned. "Ready? Bug Bite!"

Beedrill's mouth snapped open and it sprang forward furiously, wings buzzing. Apep crouched low and flung himself to the side, eyes narrowed. His tail thumped against the ground, sounding out in a warning rattle. Beedrill didn't even flinch.

"Poison Sting!" He bit his lip. What would his strategy be against this fully evolved pokemon?

Oh, why couldn't he have gotten a charmander!

The purple sludge flew through the air and landed against Beedrill's back, but it only shook itself and growled. The poison slipped off its body and landed on the ground, crackling.

"Bug Bite again!" The girl was looking far too smug, and Ash didn't even have a strategy yet.

The pokemon was fast. He had to slow it down.

"Apep! Use Wrap and get around those wings!"

The snake gave a low roar, the loudest sound Ash had ever heard. He kicked off the ground and soared through the air even as Beedrill's mouth glowed a pale green.

His tail smacked against Beedrill's chest and it went downhill for Riley from there.

Apep's head snaked from Beedrill's thin neck, who spat and clicked in a terrible fury. But by then, his torso was wrapped around and his tail was curling around the back of Beedrill's wings.

The pokemon wasn't light, and Beedrill was definitely feeling it. Though it had been confidently flying only a few moments before, its wings faltered as Apep continued to press his tail against the left one. One of its needles flew up and stabbed at Apep, but it bounced off his thick back scales. The other was pinned between Apep's body, though it twisted and tried to break free.

"Beedrill! Twineedle on that snake, now!" Riley shouted, fists clenched and raised in front of her. She didn't look happy.

Ash, however, was. Apep only had to worry about one needle, and he had plenty more than he could squeeze. "Keep going with Wrap, bud! Don't let up!"

Apep rumbled and tightened his grip. Beedrill let out a pained hiss and fell even closer to the ground. Its hind leg skimmed the earth even as it slammed its needle into Apep's back, pounding harder and harder.

There was a pained hiss from the snake, but he still kept tightening.

Ash grinned. "Poison Fang on its neck!"

Apep hissed and bit down sharply, and Beedrill's eyes finally fluttered closed.

"Yes!" He crowed, watching Apep carefully untangled himself from the downed pokemon. He slithered up to Ash, eyes bright. "You did it, Apep! Two pokemon in a row!"

Apep hissed happily, coiling into a ball and rattling his tail.

Riley groaned, stretching a hand over her eyes as soon as she recalled Beedrill. "Ah man. I was really hoping that she would take you down."

Ash just grinned at her. "Apep took down an adult ekans just yesterday, and he's only getting stronger."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Brag about your fancy pokemon. Here's your winnings."

There was a small roll of money, maybe fifty dollars. He was consciously aware of the three thousand card in his bag, but that fifty could buy him a regular potion or a good meal at a restaurant. Every dollar had worth.

He accepted it, slipping it into his bag, nestling it next to the card. "Thanks for the battle."

She gave him a real smile, clicking her pokeball back on her waist. "Maybe I'll see you again. I turn ten in only six months!"

"Sure."

And then they shook hands, Apep coiling underneath them. He got a stroke on the head from Riley before the girl started to march on the path back to Viridian City, eyes narrowed.

The second she had left, Apep instantly looked up at him pleadingly. He rumbled sadly, opening and closing his mouth. The same trilling pidgey sound escaped from him, light and airy.

Ash rolled his eyes. Digging through his bag, he pulled out an oran berry and tossed it to him. Apep snatched it up, swallowing it as fast as water. It was down his gullet and he started to look up at him again.

"We've still got around five hours of traveling, Apep," he warned. "And then right after that we're going to be training you up for Iron Tail. And we're also going to be trying to catch another pokemon, okay?"

With every word that came out of his mouth, Apep curled in on himself more. Ash snorted.

"Oh, you're not that lazy. I've seen you battle." He paused. "Tell you what. Every time you beat a pokemon we come across, I'll give you an extra berry, okay?"

Apep rolled his eyes, but turned back to the path. Ash laughed and started to move.

They only had five hours left before Ash wanted to stop, but it was the busiest five hours Ash had ever seen. Bug trainers came to him seemingly every thirty minutes, and he must have faced at least eight on just his first day.

Apep took care of most of the bug types, though weedles and their evolutions gave him some trouble with their poison typing. He only lost once to an obviously skilled beedrill that used Fury Swipes without end, but Ash called the battle off before Apep could faint. He gave the trainer fifty dollars and quickly healed him up.

The snake sulked before perking back up as Ash reminded him they only had twenty more minutes until he wanted to stop.

When they did, Apep was disappointed as Ash kept walking for another fifteen minutes until he found a small alcove off the side of the path, close enough he could still see the open dirt.

The clearing was small, but there was one more reason Ash had chosen it - a large boulder pressed against the side of a tree.

Apep stared at it mistrustingly.

"Okay. Apep. This is a bit difficult to understand, but I want you to hit the rock with your tail."

The snake stared at him.

Ash sucked in a breath, trying to remember the strategy he had thought up. "The trick is how you have to learn how to hit it with your tail to learn how to hit it hard, and then steel type energy will start to gather around your tail. But for right now, I just want you to hit your tail against the rock. Don't worry about the jump or anything yet."

Apep now looked moderately panicked.

"I've got potions and oran berries a plenty, so don't worry about being in pain. We've got to learn this move, buddy."

After an extremely long look, Apep finally slithered over to the rock and just stared at it. But eventually, he started to hit it with his tail.

Ash took the time to make the camp, unfurling his blanket and spreading it over the ground. It was warm, even in the early spring, and he didn't need anything over himself. He brought out food and nibbled while he watched Apep train.

He hadn't made any progress, but it was the first night. With every hit however, though there wasn't any steel type energy, the rock grumbled and cracked a little more. The night came and passed without any energy, but Ash just healed him up and told him how proud he was, and gave him a little more food than he had planned.

"Do you want to go back in your pokeball?" He asked, holding up the object in question.

Apep fixed it with an interested look, tilting his head to the side. He lifted his head up and sniffed it once before leaning back, hissing at it. He shook his head, and there was a definite no for that question.

Ash shrugged, though inside he was happy. "Suit yourself. I've got a blanket if you want to…"

And when he laid down, scales curled against his side. Apep had laid parallel to him, tail flopping over his legs while his head balanced on his chest. The snake quickly warmed up against his skin, scales a comforting heat. Every breath he took, Apep's head rose slightly and with every breath he took, Ash could feel his chest swell. It was incredibly comforting to feel his pokemon, to feel another living creature next to him as he flung himself across the great land of Kanto on just the hope to become the Pokemon Master, the same hope that so many other trainers also held.

But he believed in himself, and he believed in Apep, and as he looked up at the stretch of stars he could see, he believed in the hope, as well.

The next day passed much the same. They woke up and took around an hour to fully wake up, blearily yawning and trying to pack up the blanket several times, never getting it tight enough. Food was handed out and Apep wrestled a berry out of him as well, and Ash made sure to remind himself to keep his eyes peeled for more. Apep would eat out the entire Pokemon Mart if he could.

But then they were on the path and moving, and bug trainers came like a swarm. More and more came and went, and as each passed Apep grew in strength.

He had finally at least mastered Poison Fang, even if he hadn't perfected it. Every bite he gave shot loads of venom into his prey, and the move poisoned nearly every non-poison type pokemon they came across. He had guessed that Apep was actually quite newly hatched, as he didn't know how to control his venom amounts very well yet.

But that was the joy of him being a poison type. If a different pokemon had Poison Fang as an egg move they hadn't perfected, it would take them significant amounts of time and changed diets to be able to produce enough venom to master it. Apep naturally produced poison with nearly everything he did. By Mew, even his blood was partially poisonous, though he didn't know that as a fact.

But he had read it on the pokedex that night as Apep slammed his tail onto a much smaller rock. There still wasn't any steel energy but Ash didn't care. The rock had nearly broken in half by the time he called it quits, and Apep was needing less and less healing after every night.

It went the same for the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that, until they were on the last day of their first week in the forest.

It hasn't been a bad day, as there had been a bug trainer with a particularly wily venonat that had been quite fun to battle. Apep was complaining again, letting off hisses every now and then. His voice was growing deeper, his rumbles sounding like thunder.

Ash had spent the entire morning and last night celebrating because finally, for the first time, Apep had summoned a tiny bit of steel type energy while he was hitting a rock. It had flickered, a dull grey in color, over the end of his tail for only a second but it was there.

Apep was nearly force-fed an oran berry and sent to work on it again, and on his third try it came back again. Ash knew that since he had now touched the element, its moves would come much easier. That was why it was so important to master the simple elemental moves before going to more difficult ones.

But Ask was confident. If anyone was going to learn a tutor move in under two weeks without a tutor, it would be him and Apep.

It was about then, when they were happily strolling down the path with Ash walking and Apep slithering, that something darted in the bushes right n front of them.

Ash blinked.

The little bugger had to have been rather large. He had seen many wild pokemon, and he and Apep had battled some of the stronger ones, but he hadn't found one that he wanted to capture. The bug types fell too easily to Apep and their evolutions, while easy to train, were not very strong. Pidgey flew often across the path in front of them, but he hadn't found one that had more attacks than Tackle and Sand Attack. Pidgeots were insanely powerful raised right, but the ones he had come across so far were lazy, relaxed creatures.

So this pokemon, the one large enough to shake a few leaves from a tree and send a bush shaking, spiked his interest.

"Come on, Apep!" He hissed, turning and jumping through the woods.

The snake rumbled but slithered after him, hissing at the rocks that scratched his underbelly. They didn't have to run far before the trees melted away into grass and underbrush, and Ash victoriously stopped in front of the pokemon.

It was a nidoran, male by the purple coloring. But the thing was enormous.

Normal nidoran only reached up to ankles, maybe calves as they started small in their first evolution. This monster was only a little beneath his knees, and though its legs were still stubby he looked powerful. His horn was small and there were no forming spikes on the back of his legs, so he wasn't that close to evolution, either. He was just incredibly huge.

And Ash wanted him.

A second poison type but one that looked like it could take on a steel type and dominate. He didn't even know his moves, but the way the thing growled and crouched lower, horn dipping a bead of poison, he wanted it.

"Apep!" He called. "Ready for battle?

Hey everyone!

Pokemon fic with smarter Ash and hopeful competentness. So Ash will go about on this Anime/game mix that will eventually get him to where he needs to be, with a better attitude and better team!

But here's the thing. Updates are going to be kind of far and few in between, because the chapters are so long. I mean, ten thousand words. That thing ain't exactly going to be popping out every other day.

So yeah. Sporadic updates, but nice long juicy ones you guys can read for a long time. I have no idea how long this fic will be, but I'm hoping a pretty decent length. Pushing a hundred thousand, I'm hoping. Maybe more like two if I'm lucky, and if my fingers can support themselves for that long.

But hey! What do you guys think of Apep? He's pretty fun to write, a lazy but battle ready snake with some awesome moves. Ekans doesn't really have a lot of moves to learn, so he'll be pretty limited to TMs once he peaks.

Although I don't really plan on him catching more than seven, maybe eight pokemon. A smaller team that he can train awesomely. I don't know whether he'll specialize or not.

Anyway! Please read and review!

Frost OUT!