A Trip to Kanto - A Pokemon Story

Chapter 1: Trip And Xenophobia!

*Third person POV*

"Man, ain't it a lovely day!", Iris remarked, gazing up at the baby blue sky, as a flock of Pidove flew over the group. 

Ash, Iris, Cilan, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, Trip, Georgia, Burgundy, Dawn, Virgil and Luke were sitting and chilling near a lake after competing in Tag Team Battles for some good training. Ash, Dawn and Iris were admiring the sky, Cilan was cooking, Luke was recording with his trusty camera, Bianca, Stephan and Cameron were chatting, Burgundy and Georgia talked about how much they hated Cilan and Iris, and Trip... well, he just stood against a tree alone, hands folded, not wanting to talk to anyone. 

All of their Pokemon were out of their PokeBalls, playing with one another and eating the delicious delicacies cooked by Cilan. "Pika Pi!", came a voice of the electric mouse, none other than Ash's most trusted partner and best friend, Pikachu. "Pikachu! What is it?", Ash asked his buddy, who hid behind his trainer. "What are you scared of?", Ash asked. Pikachu pointed at another Pokemon, Dawn's Buneary, who was blushing and running towards Pikachu. "Oh, I get it. It's Buneary again, isn't it?", Ash smiled. "Buneary! If Pikachu doesn't want to play with you, it doesn't mean you'll force him!", Dawn scolded her Pokemon. "No, no, Dawn, it's alright. Pikachu isn't the best with the ladies, you know!", Ash defended the bunny Pokemon. "Buneary likes Pikachu?", Iris asked. "Yeah, my Buneary kind of has a crush on Pikachu... Though Pikachu doesn't seem to like her back!", Dawn laughed, as everyone else except Trip giggled along. 

"So, Dawn, why did you choose to go to Pokemon Contests?", Iris asked the blue-haired coordinator. "Well, my mother used to be a coordinator, just like me. I started taking interest in Contests because of her.", Dawn explained. "Oh.. And Ash, why did you go for Gym Battles?", Dawn turned to her Kantonian friend. "Well, as I told you, my goal is to become a Pokemon Master. And to do that, I should battle Pokemon of different kinds to gain more experience. That's why, I prefer Gyms to provide me exciting challenges!", Ash enthusiastically answered. "Only a kid would get excited over battling a few Pokemon..", Iris teased. "What was that?!", Ash snapped back, but they both laughed it off.

Just then, Cameron's Riolu came over to Pikachu to show him a cool move. Riolu signaled Pikachu to use any move, for which the electric mouse chose Iron Tail, smashing a rock with the power. Riolu used Copycat and studied Pikachu's movements while using Iron Tail, and copied the exact move, breaking the rock into tinier pieces! Pikachu watched in awe, so did the other Pokemon and their trainers. Cameron looked proud. "Riolu can copy other Pokemon's moves?! That's such a cool move! What's it called?", Bianca asked her clumsy friend. "Copycat. That's the name. I am proud of Riolu for learning it all by himself!", he said proudly. Then, she noticed Ash staring at Riolu with a glimmer in his eyes.

"Ash? You okay?", she asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just that Cameron's Riolu reminds me of a Riolu I met back in Sinnoh... Remember, Dawn?", Ash asked. "Yep! I remember. The same Riolu we met when we faced off against Hunter J and the others, alongside with Kellyn and Solana?", Dawn guessed and Ash lightly nodded. "What are you two talking about?", Cameron asked out of curiosity. 

"You see... When Ash, Brock and I were traveling through Sinnoh, we came across a Riolu who was also one of the targets of a heartless Pokemon hunter, Hunter J. She treated Pokemon in a very inhumane way, which always got Ash really mad. Riolu was really close to the man who raised him, he always kept a small wooden Riolu figurine with him which was a gift from that man. Later on, we learnt that Ash could sense Riolu's feelings through an energy called aura. Kellyn stated that Ash's aura and Riolu's aura is a perfect match. So maybe, your Riolu reminds Ash of the Riolu he once met.", Dawn told. "That's deep.", Cilan commented. Iris took a short notice that Trip was also listening to Dawn's words. 

"Riolu is a pretty rare Pokemon, I must say!", Stephan said. "Overall, it's rare, but Pikachu is even rarer in my eyes!", Cameron argued. "Pikachu may be rare in Unova, but trust me, it's not the case in Kanto. Pikachu are very common over there!", Ash explained, petting Pikachu on the head. "I kinda wanna go to Kanto, not gonna lie-", before Iris could complete her sentence, Trip barged in. "Kanto is a place for boonies! For people who don't even know the basic stuff. You want to go THERE?", he snapped. Everyone else first looked at Ash and then at Trip, whose face displayed hate for Ash's home region. Ash didn't give a verbal response.

He got up, went up to Trip and said, "I will take you to Kanto. I will show you what my home's made of. Kanto's the abode to my brothers, sisters, relatives and friends. No one can say so about my home and get away with it. So, what do you say, Trip?", Ash said with a stern face, but Pikachu sensed the tension his trainer was having. "I don't want to become a weak trainer myself, thank you.", Trip answered, turning away from Ash arrogantly. "....What if I tell you that I've been on more adventures, caught more Pokemon, met more people than you ever have?", Ash said, looking at Pikachu. Trip didn't answer for a moment, but he smiled sarcastically. 

"Alright. Take me there, and let's see if what you said is true.", he dared. "Wait! But isn't the Unova League around the corner?", Iris reminded. "We'll be back long before the league takes place. Besides, it's in the Vertress City of Johto. Not so far from Kanto. So it won't take much time for us to return.", Ash said. There was silence for some minutes after so.

"Ash?", Cameron called, catching everyone's attention. "Would you mind if we came along?", he completed the question. "I wanted to see what Kanto's like too!", Iris added. "Count me in!", Bianca chirped. Soon, everyone except Luke and Virgil agreed to have a tour of Kanto before the Unova League begins. "Luke? Virgil? Would you like to come?", Ash asked them with a smile. "I wish I could.. But the thing is, I need to prepare for another movie along with Zorua. It's a very important one. Sorry, Ash..", Luke said with a gloomy face. "And I have some missions to accomplish... My brother, Davy, said that Team Eevee would be very busy the next few days since the other Pokemon teams have met a horrible accident and have been injured. So, Team Eevee and I would have to handle the rest of the missions and rescues non-stop. I wish I could take a trip to Kanto with you, Ash... But my luck..", Virgil mourned. "Hey, hey, it's fine, you two. If you people have a busy schedule, there's no need to stress yourselves! I'll be sure to send you letters and pictures upon reaching!", Ash smiled and suggested, which bought a smile on Luke and Virgil's faces. 

"So, when do we leave?", Cilan asked. "If we want to have the entire day to ourselves tomorrow, then we need to leave early in the morning. I'll book a flight of 6:00 AM, if that's okay.", Ash said and everyone else nodded. "So it's settled then. Tomorrow, we meet at the airport at 5:55 AM sharp, and then board the plane.", he finished and looked at Trip. 

'I'll show you the reality of Kanto, Trip, I will.', he wondered in his mind.

To be continued....