This story is much darker than most that I write... it seems that I
start fanfiction for each series with something serious, then work on
the humorous aspects for a while, and finally settle into dark themes.
Of course, the darkest of this story has yet to be written, but I have
the whole story plotted out. It's just the details that take a while to
get out.
But enough about me. I hope you enjoy the story. The first chapter sets
up the backstory, as well as the divergence point of this story from the
anime.
My name is Ash Ketchum... It sounds so insignificant now, after all
that's happened to me and to my friends since we found the portal. It's
not a name I'm proud of anymore. It reminds me too much of the way I
used to be, back then. In those days, all I wanted was to be a Pokemon
Master, but now every day is a fight for survival. Every so often, I
think about those days before we found the portal, and even what might
have happened if we hadn't gone through. For one thing, Gary Oak would
still be alive, even though he would still be spending his entire life
trying to beat me at everything, instead of becoming the Gary we all
came to know after we passed through. And as for what happened to
Misty... well, let's just say that many better things have happened in
the past. But even with all the hardships this life has brought us, I
don't think we could ever wish that it had never begun...
POKEMON: The Portal - Chapter 1
It's been a long time since I last called myself a Pokemon trainer.
I still train Pokemon, of course. Without magic, it's the only way to
defend myself in this world. But I am now a warrior by nature, and
Pokemon have become little more than weapons at my belt - except
Pikachu, the first Pokemon I ever received. She's been my best friend
through thick and thin, and even now that we're separated by more than
just being members of different species, she's still just as good a
friend as ever. In fact, even though I don't care for them as well as I
once did, any one of my Pokemon will defend me to the end... just like
she did.
All of that is in the distant past, of course, but in order to
understand my story, you'll probably want to know what happened before I
found the portal, so here goes. I started my Pokemon journey when I was
just entering adolescence. How old was I then, ten? Twelve? Professor
Oak would probably be able to tell you, because his grandson Gary
started his journey on the same day. We hadn't ever been very good
friends, but when we set out to prove to the world that we were true
Pokemon masters, we became bitter rivals. And, to tell you the truth, he
was always a step ahead of me. Everywhere I went, he had already been.
Every Gym Leader I fought had already given Gary a badge. But there was
one thing I had done that Gary hadn't - I had destroyed a bike.
Pikachu and I had found ourselves in dire straits after tangling
with a flock of vicious Spearows, when we came upon Misty Waterflower of
the Cerulean Gym. She'd been fishing for some good Water Pokemon near my
hometown of Pallet when she caught me instead. I borrowed her bike with
every intention of returning it, but after it had been crashed and
melted (it's a long story), Misty wasn't very keen on accepting it back.
She followed me after that, hoping to extort enough money from me to
replace her bike, but we soon became very close friends. We fought a
lot, of course, because all boy/girl pairs at ages too young for romance
tend to fight a lot. But it was good-natured fighting, and we knew we'd
always be together.
We also found a great friend in Brock Stone, the leader of the
Pewter City Gym. After I defeated him and earned his badge, Brock's
estranged father returned to take control of the Gym, allowing Brock to
travel with Misty and me as I sought the other seven badges that would
grant me entrance to the esteemed Pokemon League Tournament, where the
greatest Pokemon Master in the world is crowned. Brock's dream was to
become a great Pokemon breeder. A simple dream for a shallow fellow,
some would say; most of that proverbial "some" are female. Brock was a
womanizer in those days, and we never understood why because we were so
young. He was almost five years older than Misty and me, old enough to
appreciate the finer points of women but not quite mature enough to
attract them. When I think of how far he's come... It's ironic that he
wanted more than anything to become a Pokemon breeder, and ended up with
children of his own.
I've just looked back over what I've written, and in retrospect, it
seems quite confusing. I'm sure you've probably had to read the last few
paragraphs several times to make any sense out of them. I won't change
them, though... they do an ample job of capturing my state of mind since
I've found myself alone here. Even Pikachu, who has been with me, in a
way, ever since the change, has vanished completely. I haven't heard
from Brock for days, ever since he went with Dominic to - what was it
they were doing again? There's so much I can't remember... my mind has
been fading so rapidly that I'm afraid if I stop writing now I'll forget
to finish. The effects are worse than I could have imagined...
Something tells me that I should start at the beginning. The
beginning... it should have been the end. By all rights, this adventure
should have ended years before it began, at the Pokemon League
Tournament. Gary and I were both there, and we had both beaten the Elite
Four to advance to the final round. It was the final showdown, a
six-on-six battle for the title of Pokemon Master. I wouldn't have
wanted the title so much if I'd realized the price that would come along
with it...
It was a spectacular battle - Gary and I were both undeniably
skilled trainers, and as I think back on that tournament, I think we
probably were equally skilled. We'd met once in an earlier round of the
tournament and had tied, so the audience had no way to know which way
this battle would go. I'd started with the Pokemon who is still my
greatest fighter: Charizard. There was a long period when Charizard
wouldn't obey me, but the care and compassion I show to my Pokemon
touched his stony heart in the end, and he learned to obey me. Gary
countered with his Golem - a questionable choice, Ground being strong
against Fire but weak against Flying. Charizard took to the air, and
Golem launched a Rock Throw. I'd hoped Charizard could handle the
attack, but Gary's Golem was too powerful, and my best fighter was
already out of it. I recalled Charizard and sent out my recently evolved
Wartortle.
Wartortle's Water Gun made short work of the Golem, and Gary
released his Jolteon. Wartortle managed to hold his own for a short
time, but long before I would have been allowed to recall him, a Thunder
Wave paralyzed him and Jolteon finished him off quickly. I surprised
Gary by sending out Kingler, a Water type which was just as weak against
his Electric type as Wartortle. Kingler slowed down the Jolteon with a
Bubble and then hit it with Guillotine, knocking it out.
Gary returned with a Nidoking. Since Nidoking was weak against
Water, I thought I would have an easy fight. However, I had forgotten
that Nidoking can learn Thunder from a Technical Machine, a proficiency
on which Gary had capitalized. Bulbasaur was my next choice, being
strong against Ground and Poison, Nidoking's types, as well as
Electricity. One Solar Beam later, Gary had to reach for his belt again
and send his Arcanine into the fray.
Bulbasaur was no match for the Fire type, but I didn't have any
Pokemon left that were strong against Fire. I decided that it was time
to call out my champion, Pikachu. Although she didn't have an advantage
over the Arcanine, Pikachu's Electric attacks defeated it in short
order, and Gary sent out his Sandslash. The fierce Ground type was
immune to Electricity, and I had Pikachu use her Agility moves to dodge
Sandslash's attacks until I could recall her and send out my last
fighter. However, Sandslash scored with its Poison Sting, and I knew
that Pikachu wouldn't last to the end of the battle. She charged
headlong at Sandslash, finishing the Ground Type with a series of Quick
Attacks.
Gary simply smiled as he casually tossed his last Pokeball into the
ring. My worst nightmare emerged... an Alakazam. As I feared, Pikachu
collapsed even before the Alakazam could attack, forcing me to call out
my last Pokemon, a Muk. I knew that Alakazam's Psychic power would make
short work of the poor Poison type, but I wasn't about to give up after
coming this far. Muk used its Minimize technique to shrink so small that
Alakazam couldn't target it, and I still had a fighting chance. Knowing
that Psychic types have very little defense against physical attacks, I
ordered Muk to attack with Pound, hoping that the single attack would be
enough to finish off the Psychic Pokemon. Muk had fought powerful
Pokemon before and scored one-hit KOs, but this time might prove to be
the exception...
...and it did. Muk's reduced mass wasn't enough to finish off the
Alakazam, and it knew where to aim as soon as it felt the blow. A
massive Psychic attack was all it took to finish off my last Pokemon. It
was all over so quickly that it took the audience several minutes to
realize that it was time to cheer. Gary's usual crowd of cheerleaders
surrounded him, cheering him on in their own airheaded way, and the
spectators began to storm the field, seeking to shake the hand of Gary
Oak, the greatest Pokemon Master in the world.
But I was the first one to reach Gary. Before he could open his
mouth to insult me, I grabbed his hand firmly and shook it. "That was a
great match, Gary," I said. "You're definitely a better trainer than I
am, and you deserved to win. Congratulations." I turned and walked away
without giving him a chance to reply. Misty and Brock met me on the way
out of the stadium, but none of us said a word for the rest of the day.
Just like that, my dream was shattered. Gary Oak had once again come out
on top.
Of course, my loss didn't destroy me as completely as I had expected
it would. Rather, it gave me a more mature perspective. As I
contemplated my defeat, I realized that there were more important things
in life than winning tournaments. Misty went out of her way to be polite
to me during that time, while Brock kept his distance from the two of
us. It was then that I began to notice how cute Misty was... that short
red hair always worn in a side ponytail, the jean shorts and T-shirt
that didn't hide what little figure she had back then... A week without
fighting gave the two of us a new feeling for each other, and even
though that feeling didn't become true love for several years, we knew
that we'd discovered each other for the first time then.
I never really gave up on my dream - not completely. I kept training
my Pokemon for the day when I would face Gary again and defeat him. But
the next year, I didn't think my Pokemon were up to the task, and my
feelings hadn't changed by the year after that... and as the years went
by, I grew more and more certain that Gary would defeat me no matter how
long it took me to build up the courage to face him. I began to wish
that there was something I could do to make myself more confident, but
not even Misty's assurances were enough. Our romance deteriorated in the
face of my self-pity, and she began to drift away.
It was while I was in one of those moods, nearly ten years after the
tournament, that I stumbled across the portal for the first time. Brock
and I had had a little falling out, and I decided to walk into the woods
to allow myself time to cool down. Pikachu was sitting on my shoulder at
the time, which was fortunate, because without her help, I would never
have survived my first trip through. Her ears flattened against the
sides of her head at about the same time that the hairs on the back of
my neck began to stand on end. I saw the outline through the trees and
walked toward it, unsure of what might lie ahead but confident that it
would help my mood - or at least, not make it any worse...
As I neared the portal, I realized that it was not a part of this
world that I was looking at. The odd outline in space framed a picture
of a world that was bright in color, but had an odd, sinister darkness
to it that I couldn't quite place. I was reluctant to step through it at
first, but my disbelief more than any other factor provoked me to step
through into the other world.
As soon as my feet touched the ground on the other side of the
portal, I heard a strange noise from behind me. I looked toward the
voice to see a short man wearing a brown robe addressing me in a
language that I'd never heard before. Without thinking, I raised my
hands to indicate that I meant him no harm, but he apparently
misinterpreted the gesture. He raised his hand and a bolt of lightning
arced from his outstretched palm to strike me, and then everything went
black.
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Welcome to "Whose Line is it Anyway?" where we make things up as we go
along, whether they make sense or badger.
JOHNNY BRAVO: *sigh* The only woman I ever really loved... and she's
gone. I wonder if I'll ever get over - Hey! Nuggets!
JACKIE CHAN: Oh, sorry. I broke your spy camera! (pause) SPY CAMERA?!
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp