A Champions Beginning

Your Voice

Ash stood with Serena, Bonnie and Clemont in Viridian City facing his mother and friends from Kanto.

"Well Ash," Brock smiled, "It was nice seeing you. And it was great to meet you three too."

"Yeah!" Bonnie grinned at him, "And I really enjoyed our battle!"

Everyone chuckled a bit at the young trainers enthusiasm before Misty spoke up.

"It was great to get a chance to see you after so long." the redhead nudged Ash in the arm playfully, "Be sure to call us all sometime."

"Will do Misty." Ash smiled at her before turning to Gary as he spoke up.

"Well Ashy Boy," the spiky haired teen began, "What's your plan then?"

"We're gonna go through Johto and then Hoenn," Ash explained, "And then we'll go to Kalos and Bonnie's gonna get her badges so we can both compete in the Kalos League!"

"Kalos League huh?" Gary smirked playfully, "You know what then? I'll see ya there."

"Huh?"

"I'll head out in a week or so to get my badges, then I'll come compete in the league." Gary explained, holding out his hand, "Rivals again?"

"Always." Ash shook his friends hand firmly, a wide grin on his face.

Professor Oak spoke next, "It was nice to meet everyone and see you again Ash." 

The older man reached into the pocket of his lab coat and retrieved a pokeball, "However, I have a gift for Bonnie. This was a gift from my cousin, a variation of our own Vulpix, this Alolan Vulpix is an Ice Type."

Bonnie beamed as the professor kneeled down in front of her, "This pokemon is very young, but after seeing hearing about some things from your brother; I've decided to give it to you. Can you take care of it for me?"

Bonnie grinned, "Of course!"

Oak smiled at her, "Thank you Bonnie."

Delia was the last to say something, a smile on her face as she hugged Ash, "Good luck out there again sweetie. Be safe."

"I will..." Ash hugged her back.

Delia gave the blonde siblings a hug before giving one to Serena, "Take good care of Ash, and good luck with that crush of yours; I'm rooting for you."

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Johto awaited the friends and their pokemon as they crossed the border to the neighboring region. The air was ever so slightly cooler towards the eastern area of Johto since it was by the ever cold Mt. Silver. Passing through New Bark Town was easy enough, nothing really happened in the small town anyway.

"I'm gonna go grab the Pokegear my dad left me." Ash told his friends as he walked off with Pikachu and Fang in the direction of the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Center, "I'll be back in a few."

The automatic doors slid open to reveal a very quiet day at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy however stood ever watchful as she waited for trainers.

"Ah!" the nurse greeted Ash as he entered, "Welcome!"

"Thanks," Ash smiled, "My name is Ash Ketchum, I was told a Pokegear was waiting for me here? My dad dropped it off."

"That's right," Nurse Joy nodded as she reached behind the counter, "Here you go."

She held out the device to Ash and he grabbed it before smiling as he walked back outside. When he saw his friends, he saw Bonnie playing with her pokemon happily while Clemont worked on the Aipom Arm and Serena was grooming her pokemon. They were all doing so by the exit from Cherrygrove, "Hey!"

"Hey!" Clemont waved to Ash as he ran to the group, "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's get moving!" Ash grinned as they all started walking along the dirt path ahead of them.

"So," Bonnie spoke up as they walked along the path, the sun slowly going down in the west, "What gym is first?"

"Should be in Violet City." Ash replied, "Falkner's the name of the Gym Leader, he uses flying types I think."

"Dedenne should do well then." Serena commented, "Being an electric type should give you the advantage."

"Not necessarily," Clemont interjected, "If it can't reach the pokemon it can't do much."

"It could always just grab on right?" Bonnie thought, "Or maybe..."

"No need to worry just yet." Ash chuckled, "After all, it's still a couple more days until we get there so you've got plenty of time to practice."

"Right!" Bonnie grinned, "And then we can win!"

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"Presenting!" Clemont held up his backpack to the group that evening, "The new and improved! Aipom Arm Mk.II!"

The blonde boy slid the bag onto his back and activated it, the mechanical arm shooting out quickly and maneuvering towards the sky, showing off the improved length. It then wrapped around a tree branch and lifted Clemont up off the ground as it pulled, showing how much stronger it was, then it set him down before Clemont retracted it a bit and shot out a pokeball at a high speed.

"Wow!" Ash grinned, eyes sparkling, "Science is so amazing!"

"That''s actually really cool big brother!" Bonnie exclaimed, proud of her elder brother, "Maybe it can help find a keeper!"

"Bonnie!" the older boy yelped, "No!"

Everyone laughed at the siblings before Clemont finally decided to turn in for the night. Bonnie soon followed, leaving Ash and Serena alone once more.

"This happens a lot huh?" Ash mused, glancing up at the girl across from him; her face illuminated by the flames between them.

"Yeah..." she smiled at him, "It does, doesn't it?"

"I don't mind though." Ash told her, "I enjoy spending time with you."

Serena felt a faint blush creep onto her cheeks, but quickly forced it down, "So uh, how's Fang been doing?" Serena motioned to the sleeping Riolu that was beside the fire.

"Training wise?" Ash asked and Serena nodded, "Really well actually, its young but pretty tough. I'm proud of it..."

"You're a good dad..." Serena said quietly, when she realized what it was she had said; she quickly began to hope Ash hadn't heard.

"I guess," he smiled up at her, a warm feeling in his chest, "But you're a great mom to it, always making sure we don't overdo it."

Serena once more blushed a bright red before hopping up from her log, "T-thanks, I'm gonna get some sleep. Night Ash."

As she walked by him, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his head as she gave Fang a scratch on its own head, "Get some sleep soon."

With that, she walked into her and Bonnie's tent; leaving Ash out by the fire with a faint blush on his own cheeks.

"Am I getting sick?" the boy muttered to himself as he shook his head before pulling out his Pokegear; a single though coming to his mind, "I guess it might not be a bad idea..."

He tapped the contacts icon, pulling up the page that held the single number in it.

Dad

It was such an easy thing to do, and he tapped the call button.

"Son?"

"Dad?"

"That's who you called, so yeah that's me. It's great to hear your voice."