"Ash!" Serena shouted from the bottom of the stairs. She listened as Ash groaned having just woken up at that moment. 

"Give me a minute!" Ash replied, stretching up. Pikachu yawned and looked up at his trainer. "Time to go, Pikachu"

"Pikaaa..." Pikachu slowly got up and climbed onto Ash's shoulder. They made their way down the stairs, like any normal day. Serena had gone into the kitchen, the clinking of glasses and plates being put away audible from the bottom of the stairs. 

"What's for breakfast?" Ash asked, scratching the back of his head as he stepped through the main room and into the kitchen.

"Good Morning Ash" his Mom smiled, before turning to the plate of pancakes. "This is for you"

Ash waited as she put the pancakes on the table and he smiled, already anticipating the taste of the pancakes in front of him. 

"Thanks a lot, Mom!" Ash sat down, Pikachu sitting on the table beside him as they shared the pancakes.

"I was thinking Ash. We should go and catch Bonnie a Pokemon, as a gift for when she becomes a trainer" Serena continued to help out with cleaning up while speaking. Ash swallowed down a chunk of pancake and turned his head to Serena. 

"That sounds a like a good idea, but doesn't she have Dedenne?" Ash thought for a moment if there was any reason to catch a Pokemon for her so soon. 

"Well, yeah, but she hasn't learnt how to catch a Pokemon yet, like all the basics" Serena reasoned and Ash got an idea. 

"Why don't we let her catch one herself? We could help her but she would be the one doing it, for extra experience early on" 

"That's great. Once we are ready, let's head out to meet up with them again" Serena closed the drawer she was putting cutlery in and went to go upstiars.

"Wait" Ash stopped her, getting up from his seat with an empty plate. He headed to the sink while talking. "How do you know where they are staying?" 

"Easy, they got the same lodge as last year" Serena headed up the stairs without another disruption.

Once Ash was ready and an impatient Serena didn't have to wait any longer, they set out to meet Clemont and Bonnie.

"Why are you walking so fast?" Ash wasn't willing to keep up with Serena in the early hours of the morning, so he continued to keep his own pace.

"I guess I am a little excited. Come on, slowpoke!" Serena laughed and grabbed onto Ash's hand before running down the path, Ash being literally dragged along. 

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu had a sudden burst of energy, jumping off of Ash and running behind the pair.

Once they stopped at the path zig-zagging towards the lodge, Ash took a moment to recover.

"You are so cruel sometimes" Ash moaned, stretching like he had just woken up. 

"I know I am" Serena winked and kissed Ash on the cheek, before twirling away and down the path.

Serena knocked and an excited Bonnie answered almost immediately. 

"Serena!" she felt just as excited as the day before, leaping into Serena for a hug. 

"Where's Clemont?" Serena looked over Bonnie's head, but Clemont wasn't in sight.

"He is still getting ready, my lazy brother didn't wake up early enough" Bonnie looked at Ash, who was yawning into his hand.

"I had the same problem" Serena couldn't help but smile. 

"Pika Pi..." Pikachu clambered back onto Ash's shoulder and decided to take a momentary nap. 

"Clemont hurry up!" Bonnie yelled through the open door. Footsteps rang out along the wooden floor as Clemont stepped outside, shutting the door and locking it.

"I am here, no need to worry" Clemont smiled at everyone in greeting.

"So, what are we doing today?" Bonnie asked, to which Serena couldn't help but grin.

"Ash and I thought you could catch your very first Pokemon and learn the basics on how to catch one" Serena proposed the idea to Bonnie, who almost leaped into space with joy.

"That sounds great! That's okay Clemont?" Bonnie turned to her brother, having changed a little over the past year. Her usual attitude stuck at times, but Clemont was her mentor as well as her brother, so everything depended on him until she became a trainer. 

"It sounds like a wonderful idea, we could go into the forest and try and find a Pokemon for you to catch" Clemont suggested and everyone agreed, with Bonnie impatiently running off into the forest. 

"Hmm, what kind of Pokemon do you want?" Clemont asked Bonnie, who was looking around with an overload of anticipation. 

"Well I don't know...hmm...." Bonnie continued to look around every crack and corner for a Pokemon of her liking, but nothing came up. After half an hour of searching, everyone started to get bored, but Bonnie ran around everywhere still, wanting to find that one Pokemon that she could keep.

"I think we should call it a day, I am starving" Ash groaned, his stomach roaring in response. Pikachu mimicked Ash, wanting to eat as soon as possible. 

"You guys said I am catching a Pokemon today, so I won't stop until I find the perfect one!" Bonnie continued to walk on, much to Clemont's dismay.

"You don't need to wear yourself out in the process, catching a Pokemon is all about patience" Clemont advised Bonnie, who turned to her brother with a straight face, hands on her hips.

"We have been out here all day, I think that's enough patience" Bonnie turned around once more and headed out of the forest.

"I bet your Pokemon is super weak!" a voice shouted just over the hill. Everyone ran to the top of the small hill, to see a group of kids bullying another kid who was on the floor

"Well, I just got Charmander this morning..." the other kid replied, with a look of concern. 

"Well, it's my Charmander now!" the main kid who had spoke first went to grab the kid up off the floor, but Bonnie stood in his way.

"Leave him alone" Bonnie stared at the big kid, who looked around the same age as Bonnie. 

"Oh looky here boys, Alex has found himself a girlfriend!" the main kid snickered and his friends joined in. 

"You can't just take peoples Pokemon" Ash interrupted them, staring at the kid who was victimising Alex. 

"I can do what I want, just because you're older than me doesn't mean I should listen to you" 

"Well, no, but you can damn well listen to me!" Bonnie snapped, fire in her eyes. 

"I can, can I?" the kid smirked. "What are you going to do or say, huh?"

"I challenge you to a battle!" Bonnie looked at her brother, whose face dropped in response.

"Fine then, let's do it!" the other kid stood back and Bonnie turned around.

"You okay?" she held out her hand for Alex, the kid with the Charmander. 

"Thank you, I'm okay" Alex took her hand and rose to his feet, brushing down his pants. 

"Bonnie, do you want one of my Pokemon to use?" Clemont asked, with his backpack ready.

"Duh, that was part of my plan, smartie pants" Bonnie winked and then smiled. "I mean, please!" 

"Of course" Clemont smiled, before getting out what seemed to be a specific Pokeball.

"Did she not want anything specific?" Serena asked Clemont, who could only continue to smile.

"Just wait," Clemont said to Serena before they all focused on the battle that was going to begin.

"Squirtle, I choose you!" the kid threw out his Pokeball and his own starter Pokemon, Squirtle, came out with his arms folded, instantly replicating the kids attitude. 

"Bunnelby, let's go!" Bonnie did a weak throw and the Pokeball awkwardly bounced, before Bunnelby came out.

"Bunnelby!" 

"What is that?" the kid got out his Pokedex and studied Bunnelby, before preparing to battle. The rules were set by Clemont who was being a stand-in referee and then the battle began.

"Squirtle, water gun now!" 

"Bunnelby, use dig!" 

Bunnelby used his ears to drill straight into the ground, making the water gun useless. The kid waited, clearly having no battle experience. 

"What's going on?" the kid asked, completed dumbfounded by the situation. Bunnelby came flying out of the ground, straight under Squirtle, sending the Kanto starter flying into the air.

"Bunnelby, now use double slap!" Bonnie continued the assault and Bunnelby was as sharp as ever, using his large ears to slap the dazed Squirtle in the air. Squirtle landed next to his trainer and instantly got up. 

"This isn't over, use tackle!" the kid sounded desperate, he knew he was going to lose but continued to show determination. Ash couldn't help but smirk, noticing the kids spark and drive to win.

"Bunnelby, wild charge!" another move that seemed to confuse the kid, who was not aware of any of the different moves that Pokemon could obtain. Bunnelby showed off his increased speed from training, speeding across the field with electrical energy surging around his body, like a large aura. Suddenly, a wild Caterpie was in the middle of the battle, a Pokemon Bonnie had never noticed before. Within seconds, Bonnie was covering the Caterpie and Bunnelby stopped just in time.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie looked down at the Caterpie in her hands, the bug-type Pokemon staring back, before tilting its head slightly to nod. "What is this Pokemon?" 

"That's a Caterpie" Ash explained, walking over to Bonnie. "Its final evolutionary form is Butterfree, look" 

Ash showed Bonnie the picture and her eyes grew wide in amazement. 

"Wow, it is so pretty!" she smiled, looking down at the Caterpie. 

"I guess the battle is over then, huh?" the kid who was losing looked around awkwardly. "Hey, I'm sorry for being so mean, I will try my best to become a stronger trainer and win the league!"

"Now that's the determination you should all have" Ash nodded at the kid, who awkwardly raised his hand, before heading off with his friends.

"Thank you so much" Alex, the kid who was being bullied looked down at Bonnie.

"No problem...Alex?" Bonnie waited for him to nod. "I am Bonnie"

"I am Clemont and this is Bonnie's friend, Dedenne" Clemont was holding Bonnie's bag and Dedenne popped his head out.

"Dedenne!"

"My names Ash Ketchum" Ash smiled in greeting at Alex.

"And I'm Serena" Serena took her turn to introduce herself.

"Bunnelby is from the Kalos region, right?" Alex inquired.

"Mhm, it's my brothers. I haven't started my journey yet, but I am very close to obtaining my starter Pokemon" Bonnie got up and held the Caterpie in her hands.

"You want to catch it, right?" Serena knelt down and looked at the Caterpie. Bonnie nodded her head, with a big smile growing on her face. She set the Caterpie down as it stared back at her, seemingly unwilling to challenge her wish. Serena handed the pokeball to Bonnie.

"Just press the button on the middle and then throw it by the Caterpie, that should work" Ash explained, just behind Serena. Serena got up and stood by Ash, with a big smile on her face.

"It feels strange, teaching Bonnie like this, huh?" she said, putting her head unconciously on Ash's shoulder.

"It feels great to experience a new trainer learn new things, in my opinion" Ash replied without thinking about his answer, looking to Bonnie. "Make the catch, Bonnie"

"Okay then..." Bonnie took a deep breath and then pressed the button, before throwing the Pokeball towards the Caterpie who was anticipating the catch. Caterpie entered the Pokeball, before it rolled around for a few seconds. There was a tiny spark to indicate the catch and Bonnie jumped for joy.

"Yes!" Bonnie cheered and everyone smiled. She picked up the Pokeball. 

"Press the button again so the ball becomes smaller and place it in your bag" Clemont said, holding out Bonnie's bag. She pressed the button again, took her bag and then put the Pokeball away.

"Again, thanks a lot Bonnie" Alex took a step back and then waved slightly. "I might see you all around sometime"

"Goodluck on your journey!" Serena shouted as Alex walked away.

"Goodbye!" the others said in unison. There was a moment of silence as they briefly looked into the sky, the sunset causing the sky to go a dark orange colour, with hints of an unmellow yellow across the borderline of the orange, the Sun setting over the horizon. A slight breeze picked up, the trees swaying in its wake, before everything settled down again.

"The sky sure looks great tonight" Serena commented.

"It sure does, but I am starving!" Ash mentioned food again, with an eager look in his eyes.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu, who had been silent during the battle, jumped off of Ash's shoulder and raced down the path.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash laughed, following after Pikachu. Everyone else ran after them.

"Why do we always run?!" Clemont yelled, trying to keep up with them.

With a new friend by her side, Bonnie is ever so close to starting her journey, while Lance continues to study Ash and his Greninja, to try and see their strength in various scenarios, waiting for the right moment. Lance didn't know it, but that moment was about to appear right before his very eyes.

With the sun setting over the horizon, a new journey for Ash and his friends rises, with all of them unaware of the situations that will unfold.