Ash the Research Fellow Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Pocket Monster parody: Tier 1/Bad Day

So not only lost power, 24 hours later lost net and won't have a tech available until friday. Using my hot spot as best i can but its tricky. 

Ash the Research Fellow

Ash Ketchum wanted to be a Pokemon Master, but in order to do that he needed to learn more about Pokemon. To do that he signed up to be a research fellow at Professor Oak's lab. Here he learns about Pokemon and even gets a Pokemon of his own Poliwag.

Chapter 1

Ash Ketchum has lived in Pallet Town since he was small. Before he turned 10 he had a friend named Gary who went away to a private Pokemon school. They made a promise splitting two halves of a necklace that they'd meet again as trainers and enter the Pokemon League!

His mom couldn't afford to send Ash to school but suggested he try and become a research fellow to Professor Oak. She taught Ash what she could at home, giving him chores to train his body, teaching him how to cook and care for himself, but she didn't know a thing about Pokemon.

Ash wanted to become a Pokemon Master, he wanted to meet and learn about Pokemon. Trainers got to catch and train Pokemon, battling them in gyms and even the official Pokemon league. Coordinators got to catch and raise Pokemon entering them in things like contests and grand festivals. There was so much about the world of Pokemon it was exciting and Ash wanted to experience all he could to become a master!

So why not start as a research fellow. Professor Oak was looking for assistants. He went to Oak's lab and it was a bit of a mess. 'Jee no wonder he needs assistants…' the place was cluttered with all manner of research documents.

Ash saw six monster balls in a case by a computer. 'What are these?' He got closer to inspect them.

"Hold it right there!" Oak burst out shocking Ash, making him stumble back. He hit a stack of papers and it all fell like dominos. "Oh…it's you Ash…sorry for startling you."

"It's okay, sorry for the mess." Oak sighed.

It was bound to happen. He was so busy lately his projects and research have piled up. "I'm not as young as I once was, and many of my assistants have gone off to gain their own doctorates."

Ash pounded his chest. "Well I'm here to help. I'd like to apply for your research fellow position."

"Are you sure Ash?" The boy nodded. Oak was offering a Pokemon as payment so after a quick search he found the mons he had set aside for this. "Here you can have this Pokemon, raising it will also be part of your job."

Ash took the ball and called it out. "Poli poli!" It was Poliwag. The young man's eyes sparkled at having his own Pokemon. Usually you couldn't have a Pokemon at 10 or younger without special circumstances.

"Hey Poliwag, I'm Ash, I hope we can be great friends." Poliwag tested his new trainer and sprayed him in the face with Water Gun. Ketchum was knocked back on his butt.

Oak was about to scold Poliwag but Ash just laughed. "That was a pretty strong move, I can tell you are gonna be super strong one day, lets get strong together okay Poliwag?!" The monster was impressed with Ash's spirit.

So it went, Ash trained his body and skills at home, and trained his knowledge and Pokemon at Oak's lab. He took care of the monsters at the lab, trainers from all over left Samuel with monsters to care for and study. The carry limit was 9, but not all trainers had somewhere to send their Pokemon.

It wasn't odd for experienced trainers and breeders to simply give their Pokemon away to a good home after raising them. Heck some made their money catching Pokemon for others, using their skills and Pokemon to make a living. Even if one wasn't great at gym battles and tournaments one can find work in this world. Catch experts were a thing.

Some trainers hired renowned breeders with ranches to look after their excess Pokemon. Trainers did try to carry more but the weight of the balls, the food costs, and just upkeep for Pokemon was a lot. There were some richy-rich type trainers who got special permission to carry more as they could support them.

Oak sponsored a few trainers offering his lab and estate to care for Pokemon. In exchange he got to study them. Ash and Poliwag helped with the care, bringing the Pokemon their food, checking their health, making rounds. Ash noticed that the Pokemon would interact with their fellow types but mostly remained with their trainer's click.

Ash and Poliwag got to do some patrolling, as wild Pokemon would sometimes sneak in and try to steal food or cause trouble. Poliwag helped defend the ranch.

Ketchum was having a lot of good experiences, he was learning about different types of pokemon, their moves, their abilities, their personalities, the kinds of food they liked, their types. Sometimes he got to just relax and watch them interact with each other, it was fascinating.

He learned about level scaling when it came to moves. When Pokemon are born they have 1-2 moves, unless they inherit moves from their parents. As they grow and increase their power level, they learn new moves. When a m on reaches level 25 they can know 5 moves, at 45 they can know 6 moves, 7 moves at 65 and 8 moves at 85. When a monster reaches a power level of 100 they can know and use up to 9 moves!

With Ash helping out with the pokemon, Oak was able to get caught up on his research.

Ash even cooked for him. His food was…unique ..while it always looked a mess it tasted good. Oak was really happy to have Ash around. The years passed with Ash and Poliwag growing a lot.

Sometimes Daisy would swing by with her Clefairy. She was Gary's older sister and was an aspiring Coordinator. Daisy would update Samuel on how Gary was doing as he sent letters. Hearing about Gary, got Ash excited, thinking about their promise and rivalry when they came of age.

He liked Daisy's visits as they often got to battle. It was good experience for them both. It actually sucked for Ash when Daisy came of age and left on her journey. She was 3 years older than them after all. "Don't worry, three years will pass by in no time, and if you want to be a Pokemon master, then you should take on the Contest Circuit as well." She poked his nose and winked at him. "Then we can be rivals too!"

Ash agreed watching both battle tournaments and contest shows on TV. He was inspired and Oak even gave him a notebook to jot his notes down in them.

Oak watched over Ash, taking note of his strengths and weaknesses, sometimes he did forget things like moves, ability effects, and type match ups. It could be confusing as some people got Rock and Ground type mixed up. With the discovery of Steel and Dark types it was also a game changer. The boy also had test anxiety, Oak gave him what he learned today quizzes, which Ash didn't do the best.

Except…when he went home he told his mom what he learned and did today with such comfort and ease it was striking. Ketchum was the type that was better with hands on learning, and with repetition he could hone his skills well. He could still be oblivious to some things, he had no idea his mom's chores were making him so strong and tough.

Oak didn't know many trainers who could stop a rampaging Tauros with their bare hands. He couldn't bench press a Snorlax or anything but Ash was still deceptively strong.

When Ash was battling he was in his element he could be so creative. Samuel felt he would excel in contests that looked into improvised and combo moves more than gyms did. ‘If he finds a way to combine them, he’ll truly be an amazing battler.’

The bond he had with Poliwag was great; the two were really in sync. Samuel realized that Ash's greatest strength was his ability to connect with Pokemon. Even wild Pokemon started to come to the ranch just to see Ash and Poliwag. They'd play, have a battle, and eat and off they went. Ash didn't catch them, but they still bonded, it was fascinating. (Partly it was because he had no monster balls)

With the extra battle experience lately it was no surprise that Poliwag evolved into Poliwhirl. "You evolved!?" He hugged his new friend who cheered happily. He also gained his fifth move slot, learning Bubble Beam!

Poliwag had a solid variety of moves, Water Gun, Hypnosis, Pound, and Mud Shot before.

-x-

Each yeah Ash had to watch new trainers come and get their Kanto starters. Daisy had picked Charmander for her starter. The starters for Kanto were Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, each of them were unique in their own way. Samuel usually left Ash out of that, but this year, he had a conference to plan for and research to complete. Plus the man had added to his work load by starting Pokemon Poetry.

Ketchum was observing the eggs, they were about to hatch soon and then they’d be put into balls to wait for their trainers to pick them up. Ash was excited, as he was finally old enough to start his own journey. ‘One of you could be my starter!’ He thought happily.

The time came and Charmander and Squirtle hatched from the egg. “Hello there, welcome to the world.” Ash greeted them warmly. They were met with a friendly face. “Hmm?”

Bulbasaur hadn’t hatched. “Looks like we got a late bloomer.” He rubbed the egg. “It’s okay, you hatch when you are ready!”

Ash gave Charmander and Squirtle a check up and they were both perfectly healthy. “Let’s get you two something to eat.” He brought out the bowls and filled it with the Pokemon food, the two dug in happily filling their bellies. As Ash fed them Bulbasaur’s egg hatched.

“Bulba?” He looked around.

“Hey there Bulbasaur!” Ketchum came over, and the Grass type growled. “Welcome to the…” Wham!

Bulbasaur hit him with Tackle. “Poli!” Poliwhirl rushed over and tried to chew out the Grass type.

“Saur!” He unleashed Vine Whip and smacked the Water Type away.

“Hey!” Bulbasaur ran off, dashing out of the lab. “Bulbasaur stop!” Ash scrambled.

“Ash, what’s happening?!” Oak came in.

“It’s Bulbasaur, he freaked out and ran off.”

Samuel gave Ash a monster ball. “Here, use this to bring him back. The new trainers will be here today.”

Ketchum nodded. “Right, let’s go Poliwhirl!”

Poliwhirl followed him. “Poli Poli!”

Oak stroked his chin, the Bulbasaur line could be a proud pokemon, but this was new. Charmander and Squirtle were just chilling.

It wasn’t long before Gary showed up. He was back from his schooling abroad and was ready to start his journey. When he saw Bulbasaur was missing he figured another trainer came and got him first. So his choice was between Charmander and Squirtle. He was leaning towards Charmander. “Hehe, your sister also got Charmander.”

Gary visibly paled. “Squirtle definitely, Squirtle it’s the best one!” The two had issues as siblings do. Oak sweatdropped. He got an empty monster ball and caught the tiny turtle monster. ‘My journey begins now…I wonder if he’s also starting his journey?’

Samuel gave his grandson some monster balls and a Pokedex. “Later Grandpa!”

The next trainer was a boy named Damian. He picked Charmander and went on his way. Damian was a rich punk, he had a car and a whole entourage.

-x- With Ash -x-

Ketchum was chasing Bulbasaur and found him up on a grassy hill. He could have just thrown the ball or battled him, but instead…

“Bulba?” He came over and laid beside the monster. “Saur!”

“This is really relaxing isn’t it!” Ash smiled at him. “Welcome to the world Bulbasaur, pretty cool isn’t it!” Bulbasaur looked back out at the world, it was such a beautiful scene.

The two relaxed, with Poliwhirl making three. They had a nice time. “Just you wait Bulbasaur, when your new trainer comes they are gonna take you all over the world, you’ll battle and grow, make new friends, it’ll be great!”

His stomach growled. “Hehe, we got you covered.” Ash brought out the food and they had a picnic.

They came back to the lab together. “We are here Professor…where’s Charmander and Squirtle?”

“Their trainers already came and collected them.” Ash grabbed the ball.

“Here, for the new trainer.” Oak smiled at him.

“He already has it.” Oak said, and Ketchum blinked in confusion. “I think you and Bulbasaur make a fine match.”

Bulbasaur nuzzled against him. “Saur, saur!” Ash’s eyes sparkled and he hugged the grass type. He caught Bulbasaur, got his monster balls and his Pokedex.

“I think you are ready for the field, you can travel and work to become a Pokemon Master, while also helping with my research.” He gave Ash some extra monster balls. “Consider this payment for all your hard work over the years.” Ash put the balls in his backpack. All of this was so exciting.

To be continued