“Eight o’clock!  Eight o’clock!  Time to wake up now!” screamed the Pidgeotto alarm clock on Aoife Ketchum’s bedside. 
Aoife opened one of her green eyes, then the other, and glared hatefully at the mechanical Pidgeotto.  “Shut up,” she muttered at it, smacking it with her hand.  She then rolled over and went back to sleep.
The Pidgeotto clock still wouldn’t give up.  “Wake up!  Wake up!  Eight o’clock!” it screeched.
“Okay, okay.”  Aoife gave in to the alarm clock, not wanting to hear it annoyingly scream at her any more.  “Not a very realistic alarm clock.  Pidgeotto don’t really talk, and if they did I doubt they’d say ‘Time to wake up now.’” 
Aoife dragged herself downstairs, but halfway down her brother’s Voltorb-shaped tennis ball hit her on the back of the head.  She turned around to see the aforementioned brother standing at the top of the stairs, smirking.  "EOIN!”  She charged after him, but tripped on the stairs.  Eoin laughed and disappeared into his room.  “I’ll get you for this!” Aoife yelled at his closed door, shaking her fist. 
Still angry, she proceeded downstairs to the kitchen.  Her father, Ash Ketchum, was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the “Pallet Post”, the local newspaper.
“Dad, Eoin threw one of his Voltorb balls at me,” Aoife complained.
“Hey, Aoife, quit telling on me.”  Eoin had arrived in the kitchen and sat down across from Aoife.
"Eoin, don’t throw things at your sister,” Ash said, not bothering to look up from his paper.  “Hmm, so Team Rocket is still active, eh?” he mused to himself.  “I haven’t heard from them in a while.  Wonder if Jessie and James are still there?  No, I doubt it, they probably got fired.”
“Morning, kids,” Misty Ketchum, Aoife’s and Eoin's mother, greeted them.  She set a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast in front of Aoife and Eoin, and at the other end of the table she put a bowl of fruit for Ash’s Pokemon, a Pikachu.
“Misty, did you see this in the newspaper?” Ash asked, showing her the article about Team Rocket.  “They’re still here,” he said as Misty read the article.
“Team Rocket…” Misty read.  “I never thought I’d have to hear that name again.” 
Misty and Ash had met Team Rocket earlier in their lives, when Ash was going on his Pokemon journey.  Ash eventually became a Pokemon master, as he had hoped, but he decided to retire and start a family with Misty.
“Dad, what’s Team Rocket?” Eoin, who was only 7, asked.
“You idiot, don’t you know anything?” Aoife asked, rolling her eyes.  “They steal Pokemon, and they try to take over the world using Pokemon.”
“Aoife!” Misty reprimanded her.  “Don’t insult each other, okay?”
Ash looked over at the bowl of fruit Misty had put on the table.  “Pikachu’s late today,” he commented.  “She usually comes running as soon as she smells the fruit.  It’s not like her to be late.”
Aoife stood up from the table.  “Want me to go look for her, Dad?”
“Finish breakfast first, dear,” Misty said.
Aoife did as she was told, and as soon as she and Matt were finished they hurried off to find Pikachu.  They looked all over the house, but the electric mouse Pokemon was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, what’s that?” Eoin asked, pointing to a light coming from under the door to the basement. 
“It looks like electricity,” Aoife said.  “Pikachu’s probably down there.”
They ran into the basement, and they did indeed find Pikachu there.  But not just Ash’s Pikachu, there were two others with it.  The other two Pikachu were only six inches tall, just babies.
Aoife’s eyes widened at the sight of it, and she ran out into the kitchen yelling, “Dad!  Dad!  Pikachu had babies!”
“Aoife, what’s going on?” Misty asked as Aoife and Eoin scrambled into the kitchen. 
“Mom!” Eoin cried.  “Get Dad, and tell him we found Pikachu in the basement!”
Misty went off to find Ash, and Aoife and Eoin went into the basement.  Ash and Misty arrived a few minutes later.
“Pikachu…” Ash said, running over to hug his Pokemon.  “Congratulations.”
“Pika…pika…” Pikachu gasped, exhausted from having just given birth.
“Mom, can me and Aoife have the baby Pikachu?” Eoin asked.
“Well…I don’t know,” Misty said.  “It’s up to your father.  Pikachu is his Pokemon, and neither of you have your Pokemon licenses yet…”
“It’s okay,” Ash said.  “Aoife’s old enough to get her license, and Eoin can have one of them as his pet, not for fighting since he’s not old enough yet.”
“Yay!” Aoife cheered, picking up one of the small mouse Pokemon.  “I’ll take this one.”  The little mouse wagged its lightning bolt tail, saying, “Chu, chuuuu!”  “And I’ll name it Chu-Chu,” Aoife decided.
“Dumb name,” Eoin remarked, picking up his Pokemon.  The baby Pikachu squirmed and said, “Pikka!”  “I’m gonna name mine Pika,” he said.
Then Aoife got an idea.  “Mom!  Dad!” she said, turning to her parents.  “Can I go show Chu-Chu to Fawn?  I bet she’ll be jealous.”  Fawn Oak was Aoife’s friend when they were younger, but when they grew up Fawn had become competitive and felt she had to always be one step ahead of Aoife.  Anything Aoife did, Fawn had to do something better.  “I bet Fawn will be so jealous when she sees my Pokemon, she’ll turn green!” Aoife thought, snickering.
“Go ahead, but be back by lunchtime,” Misty said.
Aoife darted out the door and ran down the street to Fawn’s house.  Hopping up and down with excitement, she rang the doorbell.  Fawn’s father, Gary, answered the door. 
“Hello, Aoife,” he said.  “Here to see Fawn, I suppose?  She’s in her room.”
“Thanks, Mr. Oak!” Aoife blurted before pushing past him and bounding up the stairs.  She flung open the door to Fawn’s room and announced, “Fawn Oak, eat your heart out!” while holding out Chu-Chu for Fawn’s examination.
“Cute,” Aoife heard Fawn say.  Aoife lowered Chu-Chu and looked at Fawn, who was sitting on her bed (which had a Wigglytuff bedspread).
“What do you mean, ‘cute’?” Aoife demanded.  “It’s a Pikachu!  I got my first real Pokemon!”
“That’s nice, Aoife,” Fawn said, sounding bored.
“What’s the matter with you?” Aoife muttered, annoyed that Fawn wasn’t showing any signs of jealousy.
“I’m unimpressed, you see,” Fawn explained, “because I already have my first Pokemon…and then some.”
“WHAT?!”  Aoife’s eyes nearly fell out of her head.  “What do you mean?  And how did you…”
“I got my Pokemon license from Great-Granddad,” Fawn said.  Noticing Aoife’s look of shock, she said, “You did know that my great-grandfather is Professor Oak, didn’t you?”
“The Professor Oak, the one who gives all the young trainers their Pokemon licenses?” Aoife asked.
“That’s right!” Fawn said.  “I’m old enough to get one now, and I went out and caught six Pokemon.  Great-Granddad gave me an Eevee as my first Pokemon, isn’t that nice of him?”
“Yeah, nice,” Aoife said, disappointed.
“You have a Pikachu?” Fawn said, looking closely at Chu-Chu for the first time.  “Those are supposed to be real hard to tame.  Not very strong either, unless you evolve them.  They evolve into Raichu…I have a Raichu already, by the way.”
“Yeah, sure you do,” Aoife muttered under her breath.
Fawn scrutinized Chu-Chu.  “Its coat is kind of dirty, and it looks like you don’t groom it very well,” Fawn observed.  “Where’d you get it from?”
“My dad’s Pikachu had babies,” Aoife said.  “It’s dirty because it was just born!  You don’t really expect it to come out of its mother all clean with its fur perfectly in place, do you?”
Fawn shrugged.  “It’s small, even if it is a newborn,” she commented.  “Guess it was the runt of the litter or something.”
Chu-Chu, sensing it was being insulted by Fawn, defended itself by going, “Pika!  Pikachu!”
“Anyway, I’m going to go get my first badge,” Fawn went on.  “Then I’m going to get all eleven badges and enter the Pokemon League!  I’ll be a Pokemon Master.”
“Good for you,” Aoife said.  “I’m going home now.”
“Don’t you want to see my Eevee?” Fawn asked.
“No,” Aoife replied.  “See you later.”

(Who's that Pokemon?  It's Pikachu!)

 “Mom, I gotta ask you something,” Aoife said to Misty, who was setting the lunch plates on the table. 
 “Ask away,” Misty said.
 “Well, I’m 11 years old,” Aoife began.  “The legal age to get a Pokemon license is 10, so…can I go get one and start my Pokemon journey?”
 “I think you should,” Ash said.  “I started when I was 10.  Pikachu was with me even then.  By the way, how’s Chu-Chu getting on?”
 “She’s fine,” Aoife answered.  “Can I get my license?”
 “I don’t see why not,” Ash said.  “You’re definitely old enough.  Don’t you think so, Misty?”
 “Well…yes,” Misty said.  “But Aoife, being a trainer takes a lot of responsibility, and you’ll be on your own, and—”
 “I can handle it, Mom,” Aoife interrupted.  “After lunch, I’m going to go to Professor Oak and get my Pokemon license.  Then I’ll go on my journey.  I…I want you both to be there and see me off, okay?”
 “We’ll be there,” Ash smiled; he was so proud of his daughter.  She looked just like her mother when she was that age.  He was glad that she was going to be a trainer, just like he had, and wished for her to become a Pokemon Master and to surpass his feats.
 “Thanks,” Aoife said, rising from the table.  “I’m going to get my license now, be back soon!”  She left the house and hurried across the street to Professor Oak’s house.  Professor Oak was the leading expert on Pokemon, and Ash had gotten his Pikachu from Oak.  He was also Gary Oak’s grandfather, and Gary was Fawn’s father and had been Ash’s rival when he was on his journey. 
 Aoife rang the doorbell of Professor Oak’s house.  When he opened the door, Aoife showed him Chu-Chu.  “Professor Oak, look!  My dad’s Pikachu had babies, and I get to keep one!”
 “Aoife Ketchum?” the Professor asked.  “You mean…that little Pikachu is Ash’s Pikachu’s baby?”  Aoife nodded.  “Well, it’s about time,” he said.  “His Pikachu is almost 20 years old!  It’s not going to be fertile much longer, so it’s good that she’s reproducing.  Is that what you came to show me?”
 “Well, yes…” Aoife said, “and no.  See, Professor, I’m 11 years old now, and—”
 “And you want your Pokemon license, is that it?” Oak finished her sentence.  “Yes, you may have your Pokemon license.  Come with me.”  He led her into his laboratory and handed her a Pokedex.  It was a small red computer, the size of a small notepad, and it had information on all the known Pokemon.  Aoife recognized it because her father had one exactly like it.  Hers was a bit smaller though, and probably contained more information since technology had developed quite a bit since Ash got his Pokedex.
 “Wow…a Pokedex,” Aoife breathed, staring at the little machine.
 “It’s yours, Aoife,” he said.
 Aoife took it gratefully.  “Thank you so much, Professor Oak.”
 “And here are some Pokeballs,” he said, handing her six red-and-white plastic and metal balls with buttons on the front.  “Let’s see…if your Pikachu is anything like your father’s it won’t want to go into one of these.” 
He tossed one at Chu-Chu, who repelled the ball with her tail. “Chuuu!” it said defiantly.
“Guess it doesn’t like it,” Aoife commented.  “Oh well, doesn’t matter.  I can carry it around; I don’t need a Pokeball.”
“Oh, but you do,” the professor said.  “You need these to catch any wild Pokemon you find on your journey.”
“Professor Oak?” Aoife asked.  “Has Fawn gotten her license yet?”
“Now, don’t you worry about what Fawn’s doing,” he said.  “You go at your own pace, all right?  And don’t compare yourself to other people.  There will always be people who are better than you, and people who aren’t as good as you.  If you dwell on this you will become jealous or vain, so don’t.”  The professor was very old, Aoife thought, but still very wise.  This thought was immediately contradicted when the professor grinned and said, "I learned that one from a fortune cookie I got with my Chinese take-out last night!"
“Thank you, Professor Oak,” Aoife said again, sweatdropping.
“You’re welcome,” he replied.  “Good luck, Aoife.  And, most importantly, have fun!”
Aoife smiled as she left his house.  Standing outside the house were Misty, Ash holding Pikachu, and Eoin holding Pika.  “Got your license yet?” Ash asked.
Aoife held it up proudly.  “Here it is!”
“So you’re leaving now?” Eoin asked.  “This sucks.  Now I don’t have anyone to use as moving target practice for my throwing.”  Aoife laughed, and so did Chu-Chu.
Misty and Ash both hugged her.  “Good luck,” they wished her. 
“I’ll miss you all,” Aoife said.
“We’ll miss you too,” Misty said.  “Goodbye.”
“Bye, everyone!” Aoife said, walking off down the road and waving goodbye to her family.
“Pikachu!” Chu-Chu said.
With that, Aoife set off down the path, heading towards Viridian City, with Chu-Chu on her shoulder.  She was going to have the adventure of a lifetime, catching and training Pokemon and earning badges from the gym leaders.  Of course, she would miss her family, but she knew she would be reunited with them when she was finished with her journey and she finally became a Pokemon Master.
 

Author's Notes
Wow, wasn't that last scene sappy? ^_^ Heh.  I know it was kinda boring, but hey, first episodes of anything usually are.  The next ones will be better, promise.  Also, I'll mention what the heck is up with the names.  Aoife is a Gaelic name, no particular meaning, I just like it.  It's pronounced Ifa, like leaf-a without the l.  Funky, huh?  And Eoin is weird too, it's pronounced like Owen.  Then why didn't I spell it that way?  Because it's Gaelic too.  Who knows why Ash and Misty would name their kids Irish names.  Also, when Fawn said she was going to get eleven badges, that wasn't a mistake.  I made up some new gyms for this story.
 
Pics:
Aoife
another better pic of an older Aoife

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