Bonds

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

The sun was shining, the pidgey were chirping and Ash Ketchum was sprinting across the modest roads of Pallet Town to the bottom of a hillside. On top of the hill was a lab, with a large corral behind it. This was the magnificent lab of Professor Samuel Oak, a former champion of the Indigo League and more importantly, a world-renowned scientist who had revolutionised the world of pokemon trainers with his inventions and discoveries.

As the glistening windows of the building and the sounds of countless pokemon drew closer, Ash's excitement, anxiety, and the small amount of fear all skyrocketed. The next few minutes were going to be one of the most important few minutes in his life. Ever since he had watched the finals for the Indigo Conference when he was small, Ash had desperately wanted to train a team of his own to face the best of the best. 

However due to the many dangers of Pokemon training and travelling through the wilderness, the legal age permitted to officially register as a Pokémon trainer was 12.

Now though, having graduated from the Pokémon Trainers course as well as turning 12 a month ago, nothing could deter Ash from achieving his dreams. Arriving at the base of the hillside, Ash found his way blocked by a lot of the townspeople who had already congregated there.

"Ash my boy! The others are already there!" yelled out one of the townspeople.

Ash hastily waved thanks before hurriedly skipping up the granite stairs that winded up the hill. Reaching the top, he gave the magnificent entrance, two large oak doors with a chiseled stone arch, a quick appreciative glance before opening the doors, with not a little amount of effort. Stepping inside the magnificent lab, the whiny voice of Gary Oak reverberated through the entrance hall and Ash mentally prepared himself for the insults.

"You're late Ashy-boy! Though I shouldn't be surprised. Losers will be losers after all, am I right?" called Gary from one of the many couches dotted around the entrance hall.

Ash bristled, but opted to ignore him, instead focusing on the other two people in the room, who had turned around to look at him. One of them, Ash noted with a smile, was Leaf Underhill, a spirited girl who had moved into Pallet Town when she was seven. She looked the same as usual, with her short red skirt and the baby blue tank top that she was fond of. In addition to that, she had her favourite sun hat adorned on her messy brown hair.

"Oh be quiet Gary," Leaf rolled her eyes. "Hi Ash, have you met the new kid?"

The new kid, who's manner of dressing eerily resembled Ash's own, turned around and waved.

"Hey," he said with an unsure smile, "I'm Ritchie, Ritchie York." He played with the hem of his shirt, "I'm from Celadon City."

"Hi Ritchie," Ash responded with a bright smile, "I'm Ash."

Ritchie nodded and pulled out a device from his baggy turquoise pants - A Pokégear? - and started tapping away at the screen. The rest of the occupants of the hall sat there quietly, with the occasional cough or tap of a foot resounding through the tall hall. Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Soon, the four of them would be choosing their very own starter!

There was a problem though. There were three traditional starters, the fire lizard Charmander, the flower bulb Bulbasaur, and the turtle Squirtle, but there were four new trainers. Would there be two sets of starters? That seemed a bit unlikely. Starters were hard to order as they had to be raised and trained to be obedient. Then perhaps there was an extra Pokémon that the professor had on him.

Who would have to pick the random Pokémon then? Every single person in the room had already chosen who they wanted to pick. While Ash didn't know about Ritchie, he knew both Gary and Leaf wanted a Squirtle. He himself wanted a Charmander, which would go on to evolve into the powerful and popular Charizard. If one of the new trainers had to give up their dream starter, would they do it?