Pocket Gray Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Pocket Monster parody: Tier 1/Bad Day Fic

Pocket Gray

Ash overslept on the day he was to get his Starter Pokemon from Professor Oak, this meant he wouldn’t get one and would have to wait three months before he could go on his journey. Delia pulls some strings and contacts an old friend for help. Giovanni arrives and agrees to sponsor Ash giving him his first pokemon.

Chapter 1

Ash was sulking, the young man had finally come of age and could start his adventure. There was just one problem, he was so excited the day before he overslept and missed out on getting his first Pokemon from Professor Oak. To add insult to injury, he had bumped into Gary Oak, who mocked him and boasted how he got the best Pokemon out of the bunch.

After a few more jabs at Ash, Gary left, his uncle having got Gary a car and hired a whole cheering squad to boost his nephews ego. “My uncle is sponsoring me, he knows a winner when he sees one.” He laughed as he drove off, his cheerleaders cheering his name.

“Ugh, that’s the last thing he needs an ego boost!” Ash wanted to get his starter and go on an adventure, but to his dismay there weren’t any left.

“Don’t worry Ash I’ll get some new starters in a few months.” Oak told him making Ash dismay.

“A few months!?” He sulked.

It may not look it, but Ash had been working hard for this day. His mother’s chores had helped tone his body making him impressively strong and building up his stamina. While he picked up some cooking tips from his mother. “Now Gary’s gonna get even further ahead of me...three months…” he groaned.

Sure Oak gave Ash his Monster Balls and Pokedex, but they weren’t of any use unless he had a monster to start with.

Delia felt so bad for her boy. She talked it over with Oak, and there was nothing he could do. “Unless Ash gets a sponsor who’s willing to give him a Pokemon.” It wasn’t that uncommon for Elite Four members or even Gym Leaders to sponsor a trainer.

“Hmm, there maybe is one I can call!” Delia exclaimed.

-x-

Giovanni was a busy man, he was the newest Gym Leader in Kanto, but his strength made him quite known. He took up residence in Viridian City and became famous as one of the toughest Gym Leaders in the region. While gym work kept him mostly busy, his efforts as the Leader of Team Rocket filled his time.

He had some admins to pick up the slack, and a few competent agents to run missions for him. His organization was looking for powerful Pokemon and sought to obtain them, even if it meant stealing them. His group was becoming infamous as being an Evil Team. Not that he cared, his goals were bigger than people gave him credit for.

The man had just finished a meeting when his secretary, Matori, stopped him. “No more calls for today.” He said and tried to wave her off.  His Persian was resting nearby.

“Sir, you have a call on hold on your other line.” She reported.

“Who is it?” He couldn’t ignore the main line if it was a call from a League Official, he had to retain his Gym Leader status. “Is it someone from the League Committee?”

“I’m not sure, it was a woman’s voice.” Giovanni stood up. “She said her name was Delia Ketchum.”

“Delia…” Giovanni paused, he remembered her. Delia was once a skilled trainer and the two had some history. He was surprised to hear from her at all. “I’ll take the call.”

Matori nodded, surprised as she never saw her boss look like that before. He fiddled with his tie and straightened himself up. “Hello Delia…”

-x-

Giovanni headed towards Pallet Town, it wasn’t a long trip, so he closed the gym for a week. ‘Of all the things she could have asked me for, how interesting.’ He looked down at the ball in his hand.

The two had caught up a bit over the phone. Delia had settled down with a man from Pallet and had a kid. The father was currently off trying to chase his dream, Delia had loaned him her Pokemon. Giovanni recalled Delia used to be an Ace Trainer. After the conventional pleasantries were out of the way, Delia got to the point of the call. “I’d like to ask you a favor.” Delia hadn’t lost her passion when it came for going after what she wanted. If she wanted a favor from him, it certainly stroked his curiosity.

“I must say you have me curious but I’d certainly be willing to hear out an old friend.” He said with a charming smile.

“It’s for my son, he wasn’t able to get his starter Pokemon. He really wants to go on his journey, and I was told that if he got a sponsor he could get a Pokemon from them.” That was true, Giovanni hadn’t really thought about it, but the possibilities could prove interesting. “I know this may be asking a lot. We haven’t spoken in ages.”

“It’s actually nice to hear from you, I consider it a blessing.” He wasn’t gonna agree to anything over the phone, so he agreed to meet with Ash and if he was good enough he’d sponsor him. It was only fair.

So he was off to Pallet, to see if the young man had it in him to be a good trainer. He had his file pulled up. In school he had some issues with tests, but in practical exams he shined. ‘He has a talent for bonding with Pokemon...I wonder…’ He’d see soon enough as he arrived.

They lived in a small house, there was a garden, and a back yard for training. Delia came out with her son Ash. Giovanni eyed him, he was tall with black hair, and thin bolt marks on his cheeks. Ash was toned from the chores he did. Giovanni was somewhat impressed. “You must be Ash, Delia told me a lot about you.”

“She told me you were coming, are you really one of the Gym Leaders?” Giovanni chuckled.

“Indeed I am.” He showed Ash his badge. “You can earn this by defeating me at my gym, though I don’t give these badges away easily.” Ash got excited.

He had been watching the Pokemon League Tournament on tv for years. Giovanni had some questions for Ash, to see what kind of trainer he wanted to become. “I want to become a Pokemon Master, I want to know all I can about Pokemon and discover even more things!”

Giovanni laughed, which upset Ash a bit. “Forgive me, I’m not laughing at you. That’s an impressive goal you have, to become a Pokemon Master means to surpass the strongest trainers, to master all this world has to offer. Very ambitious!” The leader smirked at him.

Ash smiled. “I heard you missed out on getting a starter pokemon.” The young man hung his head.

“Yeah…” He didn’t want to get behind. Giovanni could see it in his eyes, the passion, the desire, and the frustration of having to wait.

“While patience is a virtue, I can understand the frustration. You just might have what it takes.” Giovanni reveals a monster ball. “In this ball is a recently bred Pokemon, we haven’t had a chance to study it yet, so it may be a bit wild. If you can bond with it he’s yours and I’ll sponsor you.”

“You mean it?” Giovanni nodded, and Ash got excited. He was given the ball and Ash called it out. “I choose you!”

A rhinoceros-like monster appeared, he was gray, covered in rocky plates. The underside and rear are smooth, it has four short legs with two claws on each foot. It has a triangular head with red eyes, and two fangs protruding from its upper jaw, it had a large horn showing it was male.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex. “Let’s see…”

Dexter: Rhyhorn the Spikes Pokemon; Special Ability Lightning Rod. Strong, but not too bright, this Pokemon can shatter even a skyscraper with its charging tackles. Its massive bones are 1000 times harder than human bones. It can easily knock a trailer flying. Rhyhorn runs in a straight line, smashing everything in its path, it has trouble turning because of its four short legs.

“Hey Rhyhorn, I’m Ash, I’m gonna be your trainer and you are gonna be my partner.” Rhyhorn eyed him, not sure what he meant. He wasn’t sure about this human, and looked ready to charge. Rhyhorn stomped on the ground.

“Be careful Ash!” Delia exclaimed.

Giovanni had Persian waiting in the wings to attack if things got messy. Though that wouldn’t be necessary.

Rhyhorn didn’t know if Ash was a threat, but that was about to change. Ash took a deep breath and smiled. “It’s okay Rhyhorn I want to be your friend.” He stood boldly and confidently; his aura shifted.

Giovanni felt the pulse in the air. ‘So he does possess the skill!’ Rhyhorn felt the pulse, Ash’s aura reaching out to him. It washed over the monster and helped sooth his confusion. In moments Rhyhorn felt his trainer’s strength and determination.

While not the brightest monster in the world Rhyhorn knew what he wanted. It went to Ash and nuzzled him, Ash rubbed his horn softly earning a monstrous purr.

Rhyhorn could be very aggressive monsters, tending to tackle first ask questions later. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“I just kinda picked it up.” Ash really loved Pokemon, but monsters could be defensive.

‘He learned to control his aura like this on his own?’ Aura was a rare ability on its own, but control of it took time and training. By adjusting his aura he could connect with Pokemon easily. Giovanni even heard of Aura masters bonding with Pokemon in such a way they are in perfect sync, even able to snap Pokemon out of confusion and slumber by calling out to them.

Rhyhorn licked Ash, who giggled and pets his new companion. ‘Studying his abilities could strengthen Team Rocket greatly.’ Giovanni hid a wicked smirk. “Alright Ash, I’ve seen enough, I’ll sponsor you!”

“Yes!” Ash exclaimed, he was so excited. Giovanni was prepared, making Delia think he was always gonna sponsor Ash, but he was testing him.

He gave Ash a red and black jacket, it matched his black undershirt. Next was a set of gray and black finger-less gloves that matches his gray pants. His last gift was an upgrade to his Pokedex. “As my sponsored trainer you can carry up to 9 pokemon with you at a time.”

“That’s so cool!” Giovanni gave him a bag of Pokeballs, with the six he got from Professor Oak, that gave him a total of 36 empty balls. “Do I really need so many?”

“Not to worry.” He gave Ash a Battle Dex. “This will record your battles against other trainers, when you win I’ll have money deposited into your account which you can use to buy supplies, however if you lose I’ll have money taken from your account, understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“As for this number, while you should focus on a core team, you can practice catching monsters. Monsters you wish to keep beyond your nine you can send to Professor Oak by pressing this button.” Giovanni showed him on the Pokedex. “Monsters you’ve caught for practice, you can send them to me by pressing this button. Consider it like catch and release in fishing.” When Ash ran out of balls, Giovanni was willing to give him an allowance so to speak so he could continue catching mons and training. For the ones he releases to Giovanni, in exchange, he would send Ash special candy for the monsters he keeps on his team.

Ash had heard of these and saw them advertised on TV but they were very expensive. There were generic ones said to strengthen pokemon in different aspects, type candy which pokemon of the given type would enjoy, then there were species specific candy that were blended so perfectly it gave monsters of that species a wide boost. The generic candy were so expensive Ash never thought he’d be able to get them, but Giovanni was offering him more than that.

It was seen as a win-win as battling and catching wild monsters was good experience for both trainer and monster. Plus the mons he wished to bond with would be kept safely at Oak’s lab and help the man’s research. So Ash was even more gung-ho! “I’m expecting big things from you Ash!” He patted his shoulder.

“I won’t let you down sir!” Poor Ash had no idea.

“Thank you Giovanni!” Delia said with a bow.

“Not a problem Delia, I’m so glad you called me.” Ash may benefit from the sponsorship, but were unaware of Giovanni’s full intentions. Giovanni was playing the long game, and he just gained a new piece.

To Be Continued

Giovanni gives Ash some tips for his journey. Ash sets off and catches his first Pokemon. After some issues with Spearow, Ash accidentally becomes a Rhyhorn racer.