Universal: Kanto Adventure

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The puppy Pokémon gave her a teasing growl and then licked her hand unexpectedly, making her giggle at the feel of the tongue. Ashley gingerly picked the Growlithe up in her arms and gave the Professor a wide smile.

"Thank you, Professor. I promise to take good care of Growlithe no matter what." She promised him. He gave her a smile and then handed out a small box with five other Poké Balls and a badge case. Ashley took her Poké Balls and put them in her bag, along with her badge case, and took the wrapped box curiously. " What's this, Professor?"

He gave her a smirk. " Why don't you open it?"

Curious along with Growlithe, they both looked inside the box, only to see a Fire Stone. She gasped. "Wait, Professor Oak, why are you giving me this?" Ashley asked him, shocked. Growlithe barked excitedly.

"This Fire Stone is, of course, an evolution stone. Growlithe requires said stone to be able to evolve into Arcanine once it finally reaches its potential." He explained.

Ashley made sure to gingerly put it inside at the bottom of her bag where it can't easily fall out and bowed to Professor Oak. "Thank you. I promise that you won't regret this gift to me."

He chuckled and patted her on the head. "Don't thank me. Thank your mother, Ashley; she used her savings to make sure you had this special request for protection."

She gave him a wide grin and shook her head. " I will, Professor."

Ashley giggled when Growlithe gave her a lick on her chin as they continued down to her mother's. "Say Growlithe..." The girl started, catching his attention. He yipped at her curiously. "My dream is to become one of the top elite Pokémon trainers. I was hoping you'd be right there with me along with any other Pokémon friends we get along the way?"

He barked at her in agreement, making her smile. " Alright then, that's our dream. After we go see my mum, we'll go catch at least a Pokémon or two on our way to the Pewter City Gym, which specializes in Rock type Pokémon. On our way out, we'll train for a few weeks until then." He barked in agreement and wagged his tail at the word training.

Ashley finally made it to her mum's house thirty minutes later and walked inside, Growlithe looking around curiously. "Mum, I'm back!" Ashley called. She heard footsteps from the kitchen and her mother came in with a smile.

"Oh Ashley, I'm glad you made it in time. Did everything go okay at Professor Oak's?"

Ashley nodded to her mum and gave her a hug. "He told me what you did to get me Growlithe. Thank you so much, mum. I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure he's grown to his potential." The girl then bent down to Growlithe's level to explain. "Hey Growlithe, this is my mum. She's one of the reasons I want to become a good trainer."

Growlithe wagged his tail happily at seeing his trainer's mother and gave a long sniff around her legs, memorizing her scent. Delia knelt down a bit and gave Growlithe a rub behind his ear, making him wag his tail excitedly.

"Well mum, I got to get started on moving if I want to beat Gary." She gave a wave to her mother as her and Growlithe started walking.

Ashley smiled widely when her and her starter Pokémon entered route one. She gave a happy giggle which prompted Growlithe to bark. "So what would be good to have on our team is a Water type and perhaps a Flying and Fighting type. What do you say Growlithe to getting some new friends?"

The trainer asked the pup who wagged his tail in agreement. They continued to walk around until finally what looked to be a Pidgey flew to a stop in front of them and started pecking around the ground curiously.

Ashley immediately took her Pokédex out. "Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokémon. A rather common sight in the forests and woods, it flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand to protect themselves from others." Ashley grinned at the bird, as it was watching her since the Pokédex made a sound.

"Alright Growlithe, let's catch it and make it our first battle. What do you say, buddy?" She asked her starter. He barked out a challenge and jumped to stand in front of the bird in a battle stance. The bird squawked a challenge of its own and fluffed its feathers, facing Growlithe and flapping its wings in the air.

Ashley could see the bird was preparing for what seems to be a powerful gust. "Growlithe, don't let that Pidgey use its gust and use Ember!" She said firmly. The pup barked an affirmative and breathed in deeply. He blew out small balls of fire that quickly hit the bird, making it squawk out in pain. It started moving forward fast, its beak flashing white as a sign of it using peck. "Dodge and use Tackle, Growlithe!" Ashley instructed.

The pup did as commanded and started running, effectively dodging the peck. With his running start, he rammed into the bird with a solid hit. It lay a bit dizzily on the ground, making Ashley grin in victory. She took out a Poké Ball and threw it in Pidgey's direction, with the ball flashing red as it hit the bird head on.

It shook, once, twice, then a third time it pinged and it was still. Ashley gave a wide grin and bent to take her Poké Ball and bent down to Growlithe's level. He was breathing heavily but, otherwise, he was fine she realized. She took out two bowls and filled them with water, giving one to Growlithe who happily lapped up the water.

Ashley threw the Poké Ball in the air and Pidgey came out with a chirp. it had some scratches on it, but she noticed it didn't seem to be in pain. "Hi there Pidgey, my name is Ashley. This is my friend and starter Growlithe. I was wondering if you would be willing to join my team to hopefully one day become an elite trainer in the world." Ashley asked the bird hopefully.

The bird observed the human girl, before it eyed the Growlithe and saw it seemed it be in a good shape. It remembered the battle from before and knew the girl was good. Having decided, the bird chirped yes and flew to the girl's shoulder.

Ashley grinned happily and rubbed the bird's chest. "Thank you, Pidgey. You have no idea how much that you agreeing to be our friend meant to me. I was wondering, if I could scan my Pokédex to see what moves and what gender you are?" She held out the device to show Pidgey what she intended to do.

Pidgey gave a nod and sat still as the girl pointed the Pokédex in its direction. "Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokémon. This Pidgey is female and has the moves Peck, Sand Attack and Gust."

Ashley put the Pokédex away and gave the bird a gentle rub, smiling when she cooed happily. "You know, I should give you guys some names. I'd like to be able to call you out in a crowd without getting confused." She clarified as Pidgey and Growlithe looked to her. "Alright, for Pidgey, I have the name Esther. It's the meaning of a beautiful star that lives outside of our home planet. What do you think?"

Pidgey was quiet for a bit before giving out a chirp indicating she liked the name Esther.

Ashley grinned and faced Growlithe. "Alright, I got Caleb; it means dog in Hebrew." Growlithe looked thoughtful for a minute before shaking his head no. Ashley frowned and continued to think up names she knew of. She snapped her fingers, making her starter look at her. " I got it. How about Conall? It means strong as a wolf in Irish."

Growlithe tried out the name and barked in agreement, liking the name very much.

"Alright, Esther and Conall it is. I'm so happy that you guys like the names. Now, we'll move on a bit more and find a lake that we can camp next too. We'll be looking for a Water type Pokémon for our first Gym in Pewter City, which specializes in Rock types. So we'll be training for a few weeks until then."

Esther and Conall nodded at the plan and followed their trainer onward.

Pokémon in this story will level up as they either battle or they're catching a Pokémon or when they train. This story is a bit different, but it'll follow the canon of the anime soon. The starter choice is a bit different, which is exactly what I'm hoping for. And yes, this is a female Ash Ketchum story; no gender bending or anything of the sort, she was born as a girl. Though this story will not follow the canon all the way.

Yeah, she has a different starter, but she'll be smarter, sensitive and more protective than anything else. I'm thinking of pairing her with someone in the Kanto region, but I have no clue who I should pair her up with, so please review if you want someone in particular. There won't be any sex in this story if you're wondering: the relationship will be much more innocent. There'll be dates, a few shy kisses here and there, cuddles and such. Oh also, Pikachu will be being caught later on.