A Different Route ✓

Chapter 1

(Hello everyone!
Pokemon is not mine! I would have been rich if it was.
The art is not mine, found it on Pinterest without any artist name so if anyone knows the artist please comment so I can credit them properly. This is an au!
"talking"
'thinking'
-pokespeech-
Enjoy!)

Ash gave a happy sigh as he and his Pokemon sat under the shade of a tree after leaving their first gym. Two weeks into the journey and he had won just one badge so far, which is the Marsh badge, which was a good progress in his opinion. His Pikachu, Pidgeotto, two Butterfrees, a male and a female, and Beedrill had gained quite a lot of experience and strength from the battles on the road back to Pewter. Going straight to Saffron gym after catching a few bug types was a great idea after all, as Sabrina could not guess what his two Butterfrees and Beedrill were thinking and putting Abra, Kadabra and Alakazam to either sleep or paralysis had given him three easy wins.

Ash, 'Should not have underestimated me ~'

Ash giggled remembering the befuddled expression of the man who had first told him not to battle Sabrina, especially when he saw him win all of a sudden. Most trainers who challenged Sabrina, according to him, used Ghost Pokemon not bug type Pokemon to fight in the Saffron City Gym. Sabrina had been impressed and thanked Ash for showing her another weakness, she didn't realize she had. Ash had simply smiled and thanked her for the badge, prize money and the TM, he received as a thank you from the gym leader.

Ash took out the TM, "Butterfree, come here both of you."

The two Butterfrees looked at him curiously as he explained, "This TM is the move confusion, it's a psychic type move that you can learn. Well, I saw on TV actually, one of the coordinator battled using a Butterfree who used confusion to defeat their opponent."

The two looked intrigued and pressed the TM, glowing for a second before turning around and using confusion on a rock. The other Pokemon clapped in amazement as the two learned a new move and Pikachu chirped a question to Ash. Ash hummed as he took out three more TMs, it was Iron tail, steel wing and solar beam which he had brought with the prize money and gave it to Pikachu, Pidgeotto and Beedrill. The three Pokemon used the steel and grass type moves successfully getting a happy grin from Ash. Unknown to him, he was being talked about during the weekly online meeting of the Kanto leaders.

Lance was staring, "You cannot be serious, Sabrina. Are you really telling us that a child who just started the journey defeated you? You, who is actually the strongest human psychic in the world."

Sabrina looked at Lance exasperated about repeating herself, "Yes that is what I'm saying."

Lt Surge, "How did he do it?"

Sabrina hesitated, "..... He used his two Butterfrees to put my Kadabra and Alakazam to sleep."

Red spoke after a while, "What?"

Green, the Viridian City gym leader laughed, "Who is this kid? I want to meet him, he's got some balls, going up against one of the strongest gym leaders as the first gym."

Sabrina looked at him warily, "He is from Pallet town, just like you and Champion Red, his name is Ash."

Koga, "Hmmm, sounds like we have another prodigy."

Green, "Ash? As in Ash Ketchum."

Green snickered when Sabrina nodded, "Gary and another kid called Serena has a crush on little Ash. Wait a sec, I have a picture of the three of them."

Red looked intrigued when Green showed them the picture, "The dark haired kid in the middle that my little mini and the blond girl is holding on to for dear life. That kid is Ash."