A Master By Any Other Name

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So, hey guys. This story I was inspired to write through playing Reborn. It's an Ash-centric story that includes the 'Different Starter' Challenge and has Ash more or less beginning his journey in the Reborn Region, although I did play around a bit with the mechanics of the region and made it into a renamed Orre Region more or less. No offense to Ame intended, I just find it easier to write that way.

Speaking of Ame, all the kudos here goes to her for her amazing work with Reborn. Seriously, that is one talented and creative girl.

Story Summary: Meteor descends, Rocket ascends. Magma will blaze while Aqua submerges. Galactic controls, Plasma persuades and Flare destroys. A world where a few are never born leaves the wheel shattered and the string cut. The beginning of the end, chaos swallows the world. Tipped from the golden throne, god prays for salvation. "One by one the legends fall, and thus the world turns to Ash."

A Master By Any Other Name - Chapter 1

"I'd hate to be out on a night like this." Ash Ketchum commented to himself from his seat on the couch within his house. He stared at the window, the view outside a complete blur thanks to the mass amount of rain water pelting the glass. The winds outside howled so fearsomely loud that he could have almost mistaken it for a massive enraged Pokemon, maybe a Dragonite or Tyranitar.

Ash was a young boy of 6 years old, he had messy black hair that spiked towards the fringe and the nape of his neck and vibrant amber eyes.

Standing up, Ash lifted the empty plate he'd just plucked clean of food. "Better wash this before mom gets back." The young boy said to himself as he began making his way towards the kitchen, "Don't want her scolding me for being a slob again." He continued, shuddering slightly in remembrance of the last time that incident had occurred. He'd finished eating and left food stained dinner plates laying the end table next to the couch, all the while running back outside to go on another 'adventure' with his best friend Gary Oak.

He remembered the lesson well, because when his mother had caught up with him later that night when he returned home from playing with the Pokemon at the Oak Ranch he'd been grounded for two weeks and forced to do all of the house cleaning every single day of those two mind numbing weeks.

For an active kid like him it was torture. He didn't know how his mother could stand doing it day in, day out. He'd have went stir crazy long ago.

Entering the kitchen, Ash set the dirtied plate down inside the sink and turned the tap on, letting the water heat up and run over the plate.

Looking to the side, he gave a sigh when he saw that the trash bin they kept in the kitchen was filled to the brim, meaning that the trash would have to be taken out to the garbage cans outside the house... in the torrential rain storm.

Ash sighed once again in annoyance as he looked down at his attire. He was wearing a pair of sandals on his feet, a pair of blue shorts and a thin yellow t-shirt. Shrugging in a 'what are you gonna do?' manner, Ash walked over and tied the tops of the garbage bag together to keep the contents locked inside and gave a grunt as he lifted the rather heavy – for a 6 year old – bag up and began making his way outside.

If he was a normal 6 year old kid, he could have ignored it and left for his mother to clean up when she returned from having dinner at the Oak Laboratory.

But he wasn't a normal 6 year old kid, he was an aspiring Pokemon Trainer. Those who aspired to become Pokemon Trainers were expected to show a level of maturity, in that they had the ability to take care of themselves and their Pokemon. More and more Trainers nowadays had been getting rejected at the age of 10 because very few of them actually showed the maturity needed of a Pokemon Trainer.

And so, when they were given their first Pokemon at the age of 10, instead of heading out on their journeys these rejected few were sent to one of the Pokemon Academies situated around each region. And until they could pass the needed tests, were not allowed to graduate and continue on in their chosen Pokemon Trainer profession.

By the time he was 10 it was expected that only the extremely talented children would be allowed to start out on their journeys normally and all the others would be sent off to one of the academies.

Ash had heard about it on the news a month ago, and was determined to prove his maturity and the level-headedness needed of a Pokemon Trainer.

It was why his mother had finally conceded to leaving him home alone, even though he was only a 6 year old child.

It was the first step on him proving his ability to take care of himself, and any Pokemon he would catch on his journey.

… Now he just needed to learn how to cook. Yes, that was kind of a basic necessity for any Pokemon Trainer. He didn't even want to think of what a Pokemon journey would be like without the ability to cook form himself.

Opening his front door, Ash sighed in annoyance as his face was blasted with a large amount of cold rain water and a rather powerful gust of wind that almost send the young boy stumbling backwards.

"...Just... great." The child grumbled when he looked down and saw that the pathway outside of his home was flooded with a large puddle of water, enough that it would reach just around his ankles.

Grumbling once again, Ash stepped out into the rainy night, his feet sinking up to his ankles in the cold puddle of water.

Shivering, Ash braved on, ignoring the cold chill of the wind and quickly made his way down the path. Just outside his garden fence he came to a stop beside the six garbage cans. Pallet Town was so small it was near enough a village, so public services like Garbage disposal men were rare, only occurring once every two to three weeks, sometimes even monthly periods. So, generally, the average sized Pallet house had around five to six garbage cans so that trash didn't end up overflowing the streets.

Pulling the lid off of one of the garbage cans, Ash hefted the bag of trash in his arms up and dumped it inside the garbage can, his arms shaking slightly from the effort as well as the cold from the harsh winds and rain.

Sticking the lid back on the garbage can, Ash turned on his heel and was about to make his way back inside the house to dry himself off and sit in front of the warm fire to watch TV and await for his mothers return, when he was stopped in his tracks by a low keening whine.

"Grooooowww..."

It was a small, weak and pitiful noise but it put Ash on guard regardless.

"The heck was that?" Ash hissed to himself quietly, balancing on the balls of his feet ready to make a mad dash back into the safes confines of his house if the noise threatened to be malicious in intent.

Ignoring both the cold harsh rain soaking him to the bone, and the common sense blaring in his mind to 'run away'. Ash slowly stepped around he garbage cans and peered cautiously at the source of the noise.

"Is that a Pokemon?" the young boy muttered to himself.

Laying in a crumpled heap behind the garbage cans was a small canine like beast. Its reddish with cream at parts fur was soaked so thoroughly it looked black in places.

Crouching down, Ash hesitantly reached out and patted the matted fur of what he assumed was a Pokemon.

He jerked back when the Pokemon surged to it's feet upon the contact, growling pitifully at him and swaying as it leered at him dangerously.

"Groooooowlithe!" It managed to grit out, as threateningly as it could.

But it did not deter Ash in the least when his 6 year old mind managed to piece things together. 'It's a Growlithe!' He realized, 'But it's a lot smaller than the Growlithe I always see up at the Oak Ranch.'

Steeling himself, Ash reached out and gently ran his hand along the side of the small Growlithe. It hissed at him, but he ignored it because in attempting to calm the Pokemon down he could practically feel its bony ribs sticking out from its skin.

'Why is it so thin?' Ash questioned himself, puzzled. Looking the Growlithe over from head to toe, the answer dawned on him, 'It's only a pup!' He managed to piece together when he finally compared its size with the many Growlithe packs led by the giant Arcanine at the Oak Ranch.

Retracing slightly, Ash looked at the canine Pokemon thoughtfully as he continued to ignore the rain pelting against his small frame.

From what he could remember from Professor Oak's lecture about Growlithe when he and Gary covered the topic of said Pokemon in their studies a few weeks back, Growlithe were sociable Pokemon tending to stick with their packs until they became Arcanine or were confident in their ability to live alone.

'There's just no way a Growlithe this young would have left its pack willingly, it must have been separated.' He concluded.

That was when he realized something else. Growlithe were Fire Type Pokemon and they were currently situated outside in the middle of a torrential rain storm. The thought alone made the young aspiring trainer surge to his feet.

"I've gotta get you outta this rain!" Ash exclaimed hurriedly to the Growlithe pup. His loud voice must have scared it though because it took a few weak paces backwards.

Ash would not be deterred though. The young boy, sprang forward and before the Growlithe could even respond Ash had bent down and promptly scooped the young pup into his arms.

"C'mon!" He said as he reached his full height again. Turning on his heel, the young boy practically sprinted up the flooded path and rushed back into his home, kicking the door shut behind him as he did so.

Rushing into the living room, Ash set the Growlithe pup down gently in front of the warm fire, the orange flames flickering gently from the pressure of wind his rushing had sent its way.

Looking at the pup, Ash grinned as he saw it warily watching him for any sign of violence.

Turning on his heel again, Ash walked straight out of the living room and into the hall. Opening the storage cupboard that ran underneath the stairs to the upper floor of the house he reached up onto the shelves that held the bare towels and selected a dark blue.

Taking the towel, Ash closed the cupboard door behind him before heading back into the living room and moving towards the Growlithe pup that was still taking in its new surroundings in a fascinated confusion.

Chuckling at the dumbfounded look on Growlithe's face, Ash knelt down in front of it and gently cupped its face with the blue towel.

"Grooow?" The small pup barked in confusion, tilting its head to the side curiously.

Ignoring it, Ash continued to chuckle lightly as he began to gently rub the towel through Growlithe's fur. First gently drying of its face, then he moved onto its back and stomach and then finished off by gently drying off its legs.

When he pulled back, Ash grimaced at the dirtied towel. It was damp, smelled of staleness and was covered in grime and muck that had covered Growlithe's red and cream coloured fur.

Growlithe gave a start when he pulled away, shaking its small body to get rid of the puffiness in its fur. It sniffed curiously for a moment before giving a startled sneeze and then yipped at Ash.

"Who's a good boy?" Ash cooed at it gently with a soft smile. He wasn't really sure if the Growlithe was a male or female Pokemon. Unlike a lot of species of Pokemon, Growlithe did not have any marks that differed between genders. It was more than likely a male Pokemon though, as the Growlithe family had a seventy-five percent chance in being born males.

The only other things he could recall about the Growlithe line from his lectures with Professor Oak were that they were incredibly loyal, had diverse and powerful move pools and...

"Groow!" Growlithe yipped once more, before halting in front of Ash and visibly wilting, giving another low whine.

….When they were young they tended to have to eat a lot, so the flames inside their young bodies could keep burning bright, empowering and and keeping them healthy.

Ash snapped his fingers in realization, "Oh, you're hungry!" He exclaimed with a grin, before turning thoughtful a moment later, "Well, I suppose that makes sense since you've obviously been separated from your pack, and you're too young to have learned to hunt yet." The young black haired child mused thoughtfully.

"Lithe!" The small pup barked, nodding its head vigorously.

"Right!" Ash told it with a smile, getting to his feet. "I'll be back in a flash little buddy, just wait here and be patient!" He declared.

Turning around, the young boy rushed through the door to his kitchen. His living-room and Kitchen being one of the conjoining kind.

Entering the kitchen Ash swiftly moved over to the sink and opened the cupboard below it. His mother was a kind and gentle woman, and she tended to feed any stray Pokemon that seemed to need some help.

As far as he knew, she used to be a Trainer but gave up after a while. She had released her only Pokemon, an Espeon, back into the wild just before he was born because it had found a mate.

His mother was very happy when the female Espeon and its mate, a male Umbreon, decided to live in the forests at the Oak Ranch. She would go visit them every now and then, like she was doing tonight. He'd heard her fussing over the video phone to Professor Oak about them having a litter of Eevee Eggs.

That was all he remembered though, he was too occupied watching the latest battles at the Indigo Plateau when the discussion was going on, so he had ignored the majority of it.

Shaking his head, Ash rid himself of thoughts of his mother and grabbed the large bag of Pokemon food. It was designed to be edible for all types, because during the swarm seasons Pallet Town attracted quite the variety of different Pokemon.

He'd seen all kinds of Pokemon depending on the climate. He'd seen Aron, Shinx, Murkorw, Houndour and even one rather rowdy Magmar leading a group of young Magby.

The Pokemon food wasn't designed to be more in tune with one type and therefore better tasting to them, but instead was designed to be edible by all Pokemon, regardless of their types or personal preferences.

Ash wondered if it tasted bland though. It couldn't taste like anything in particular if it was for everyone, because some Pokemon didn't, or even sometimes couldn't, enjoy the same tastes as others.

Grabbing a large black bowl from beside where the bag of Pokemon food was positioned Ash set it down and opened the bag of food before he began pouring a sizeable amount into the bowl.

The Growlithe pup, while thin and obviously very hungry, did not seem to be a starvation victim, because it still had quite a bit too much strength in it to be one. So he had no need to worry about over feeding it and making it sick.

Pokemon, he'd learned recently, were all imbued with a special type of energy that protected them and healed them. So all he needed to do was fill the small pups stomach, allow it to rest and the energy that circulated its body would take care of the rest. Seeing as it had no injuries to speak of it would likely be its regular hyperactive self after a good sleep and a nap.

'It's scary.' Ash thought to himself, slightly dazed. 'Just a month ago before hearing that news report I knew nothing at all about Pokemon, I hardly even knew the type match-up basics, yet now here I am feeding a young stray Growlithe...'

Ridding himself of his thoughts once again, Ash lifted the bowl and stood back up and made his way back through to the living room.

Walking over to the fire, he smiled softly as he saw Growlithe sitting quietly, basking in the heat of the warm fire blazing right beside it. No doubt finding some kind of comfort in its natural element being so close.

Flopping down in front of the Pokemon he saw the stray turn to stare at him curiously as he sat down. Ash grinned and placed the bowl down in front of the Pokemon, "Eat up and enjoy!" He declared grandiosely.

He watched intently as the Growlithe pup stood up and curiously smelled at the bowl of brown bite-sized treats of Pokemon food before tentatively inching its head forward and eating one of the small bites from the top.

It chewed quickly and then swallowed before following up with an excited bark once again before digging in, devouring the bowl of food with a vigour that reminded Ash of when he himself ate.

Ash watched the small Fire Type Pokemon intently, he could swear the Growlithe was becoming healthier and healthier as time slowly passed by while it ate ravenously. The red of it's fur seemed to shimmer slightly with small embers and become a more vibrant red the more it filled its stomach.

The living room was deadly silent except for the noises made by Growlithe as it ate. Ash was content to watch the Pokemon.

For as long as he could remember Pokemon had fascinated him and he'd dreamed of one day becoming a Pokemon Trainer. He dreamed regularly of defeating other Trainers, gaining recognition, playing with his future Pokemon, and yet for some weird reason even when he dreamed about flying around on one of the Flying Types backs, their faces and most redeeming features on their bodies were blurred out as if someone had made a shading mistake on a water painting.

It was as frustrating as it was exhilarating. He had a desperate urge to see what these Pokemon were, but an even larger need that tugged at his heart-strings each and every day to find the Pokemon that were destined to be his and capture them

He was broken from his musings by the Growlithe pup barking happily and walking over to him. Standing on its hind legs, it placed its front paws on his chest and began to lick his face happily.

Ash laughed, "H-hey, I see you're a happy pup now!" He said loudly, his voice rumbling with happy laughter.

Reaching up, Ash began to scratch Growlithe behind the ear, "Who's a good boy!" The young amber eyed boy gushed.

Growlithe tumbled slightly back to the floor, kicking one of its legs happily against the carpet as it whined in pleasure from the ear scratching, "Groooow..." The small pup allowed to leave its mouth, and Ash noted its eyes fluttering slightly and slowly closing

Chuckling, Ash pulled back and stood up. Walking over to the couch he grabbed the black throw over hanging over the back of it before making his way back over to Growlithe and gently covering the lightly slumbering Pokemon with it.

"There's a good boy, you rest up now." Ash cooed softly as he picked up the empty food bowl and headed back towards the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Ash placed the bowl in the sink before running the tap of hot water and filling it to the brim and allowing it to soak.

Before leaving the kitchen once again, Ash grabbed the Pokemon food he'd left out in his excitement over feeding Growlithe and returned it to its place in the cupboard below the sink and then he headed back through to the living room.

Plopping down on the couch, he grabbed the TV remote and turned it off, allowing the screen of the TV to blink and fade black.

Instead, he watched the slumbering Growlithe intently. The young Fire Type Pokemon was now estranged from its pack, and with nowhere else to go - because travelling packs of Arcanine and Growlithe never stayed in one place too long. Would it want to stay with him and maybe, just maybe, become his very own Pokemon?

He knew his mother would never turn down allowing such a young and cute Pokemon to stay with them. That was just the kind of woman she was, she wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing she turned such a young defenceless pup away and forced it back into the dangerous wilds without anything to protect it.

It would still be alone if they took it up to the Oak Ranch to live. Pokemon were not very accepting of Pokemon from different packs, even if they were of the same species, and the Growlithe line were no different. If anything they might even be more harsh. If they saw the stray as a pup he would be welcomed with the other young pups, probably, unless they just didn't like him for whatever reason, but if they saw him as an adult the pack leader might consider him a threat. Ash didn't want to consider the beating the giant Arcanine would need to visit upon the little Growlithe to teach him his place in the pack.

The only species of Pokemon that he knew of in his limited education that would accept other Pokemon of their species regardless of what pack they belonged to was the Pikachu line. Surprising, considering how prone the species was to producing the independent lone wolf types, but they were still, at their core, rodents, so it made sense they would be more accepting so they could band together against bigger predators.

The young raven haired boy was so deep in thought he didn't notice when seconds turned to minutes and minutes, which eventually turned to a full hour. So deep in thought was he, that he didn't even notice that his new house guest had awoken until the young Growlithe leaped up onto the couch beside him and gave a loud happy bark.

"Grooowlithe!" The small pup barked out, nudging his shoulder with its nose.

Ash blinked as he noticed the Pokemon before smiling. Impulsively, he reached over and scooped the small pup into his arms and deposited it on his lap and began to gently pat its furred head.

"Did you have a good sleep Growlithe?" He inquired with a smile.

"Lithe lithe, Growlithe!" Growlithe responded energetically, before leaping up slightly and licking his face happily.

"I get it, I get it!" Ash laughed, managing to calm the small puppy Pokemon down somewhat. Although it continued to nuzzle his small hand with its nose.

Weird though, a quick glance at the clock on the wall told him while he'd been thinking only twenty minutes had passed. Nowhere near enough time for a good rest.

Eh, whatever. It was probably just a pokemon thing.

"Hey, Growlithe?" Ash said softly after a moment of petting the small Fire Type.

Growlithe stopped nuzzling his hand and turned its head to look at him curiously, "Grow?" It responded, puzzled.

Tucking his arms under its front paws, Ash lifted the Pokemon up and held it eye level with himself, "How would you... like to stay here? W-with me?" Ash asked, his voice somewhat timid from a sudden bout of nervousness that enveloped his core.

Growlithe titled its head and looked at him curiously for a moment before giving another happy bark, "Growlithe!" And with that happy bark out, it began to lick Ash's face vigorously causing Ash to laugh again.

Ash laughed in relief, joy and a whole bucket full of other emotions he couldn't have placed at that moment if someone asked him to.

All he knew was that in some unorthodox way he had gotten his first Pokemon.

Growlithe, his new partner and a lifelong friendship that would only strengthen as both boy and Pokemon aged.

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Ash's Pokemon - As Of Chapter 1

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I realize Ash is entirely too intelligent here, especially for a six year old. When I'm writing pokemon fanfiction though, I tend to make it that they mature faster and trainers are considered adults. So trainers can fight in wars, have sex, drink, own property and even get married if it suits them at any time.

Granted. it's rare that trainer have sex or get married so early on since those that start at ten haven't even hit puberty yet. But there are some early bloomers out there.

Anyway, so that was chapter 1. It won't be around until chapter 3 that Ash arrives in the Reborn Region.

Edited December 9, 2015 by 0 Jordinio 0

[TF2000]

It's only the first chapter, and already, I can't wait for more. Having Growlithe be his first Pokemon is quite interesting, though I do wonder if Ash will get a Pikachu, somewhere down the line.

[0 Jordinio 0]

It's only the first chapter, and already, I can't wait for more. Having Growlithe be his first Pokemon is quite interesting, though I do wonder if Ash will get a Pikachu, somewhere down the line.

Nope, no Pikachu for this story. In this universe, he doesn't exist.

Anyway, I've got chapter 2 more or less finished so I'll be posting it within the next few days.