Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by Game Freak. I do not own and am merely borrowing without permission. I promise to give the characters back after I'm done with them. They won't be too messed up, hopefully.
AN: Ok. This is probably going to end up a Mary-Sue fic, fair warning. This idea has just been bothering me so much that I had to get it down in print and thought I would put it out there for all of you. Also on a note, Arceus in my mind is an "it" rather than male or female. It can be both or neither depending of how it feels. It is referred to as "Lord Arceus" by the Legendaries.
Prelude to Change
Arceus had not seen this coming. Hell, no one had thought it possible. The Chosen One, the one who was fated to unite the world of man and mon, had died in the womb. A miscarriage through no fault of his mother.
"Lord Arceus, what can be done?" Lugia spoke up from the gathering of Legendary Pokemon. The True Legendaries, the firsts of their kind and thus responsible for their individual spheres of influence, had felt the bright soul of the Chosen reenter the afterlife. Darkrai had confirmed that the soul had already been cleansed and thus could not be placed back in mortal flesh for a number of mortal years.
"Nothing. We must wait until the Chosen's soul is ready for rebirth," the Alpha Pokemon sighed and bowed its head. Many of the gathered grumbled.
"That's impossible. Too many plans and prophecies have come to this point. Without the Chosen, the world will die," Giratina warned solemnly. The ghostly dragon shook his head and settled next to his arguing brethren. The others began to mutter and argue amongst themselves. The voices raised in a low roar. Only Mew remained out of the verbal arguing and settled beside Arceus.
"Lord Arceus," Mew squeaked, her soft voice barely being heard over the shouts and snarled that had erupted between the Legendary Beasts and the Swords of Justice. The Alpha Pokemon turned its attention on the psychic pink feline and gave a soft noise of acknowledgment. "The other child, could something be done with it?"
All arguing in the room stopped. "Other child?" Celebi asked from his position on Kyogre's head. "What other child? The Chosen was always meant to be a single child. No siblings."
"The Chosen had a vanished twin," Mew explained. "I thought everyone read that part of the report."
Arceus nodded sagely then frowned. "The twin has no soul, though perhaps. Darkrai."
"Yes."
"Can you locate a soul strong enough for the Blessings?"
Darkrai snorted derisively. "Not among the souls in my domain. The souls either aren't strong enough or so weighed down by corruption that the Blessings would destroy it."
"What about a soul from another world?" Giratina suddenly spoke up. "Could an outside soul take the strain?"
Darkrai thought the scenario over. Every eye of the gathering rested unblinkingly on him. "It is...possible, but there might be issues with a foreign soul taking to a body from this world."
"Then go, Darkrai, Giratina, and find a soul that can bare the weight of the Chosen's destiny," Arceus ordered. The two Legendaries, the Lord of Nightmares who watched over the dead and the Renegade Lord of the Distortion World, rose together and made their way from the Hall of Origin.
"Perhaps we have a chance," Reshiram, ever the optimist, stated with a hopeful grin.
"Don't get too excited. Darkrai did say their could be issues," Zekrom snarked and snapped at the fiery member of his trio.
"Enough!" Arceus roared. "We deal with what comes. Everyone, dismissed to your duties."
And thus did the story of Ash Ketchum end and the story of the foreign souled trainer begin...