AN: Hello, and welcome to In a Future of Ash! This is something that I wanted to get out, and also something to replace the story that I took down, because it could technically violate the guidelines. That... would not be good. This is a much more serious story than Fire Before Ashes, as it deals with the darker future of Ash and Red, and as anybody who has read part of FBA knows, there is character death. It's not a pretty world, and I can tell you now-
-The ending is not happy. However, you cannot take this as a spoiler for FBA, since this was caused by Ash and Red not existing for about ten years while the plans that led to this were put in play. However, this is a way to judge how dangerous the group that caused this is.
Lastly, TC will not make an appearance here, he has other things to do. So, I invite you to read and review. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything else that makes an appearance in this fic, nor do I make any profit from this other than enjoyment. As this can be considered a parody, this is protected speech under the First Amendment. Please, do not sue me.
What Occurs When You Mess with Celebi
A What If for Fire Before Ashes
Celebi's forest
Present
Ash and Red looked in dawning horror as Celebi sent a bright light at the group, the light of time travel. For an instant, Red thought that they might be saved, but that was quickly extinguished as the light enveloped them. The four shimmered for an instant, and were removed from that time.
Celebi, suddenly realizing what had happened, fell to the ground in horror. He had just sent away the chosen one and the one who was feared by legends to the future, along with another legendary pokemon! He was so dead, he should just kill himself now.
Looking around, he found a bush with the berries known as nightshade, and fatalistically swallowed them. He died within seconds, sending the memories to the real Celebi, who realized the same thing as his image. However, the real Celebi was near the curious Lugia, who was... displeased... to learn that his chosen one had been sent many years into the future. He expressed this displeasure in many ways to Celebi.
However, this did nothing for the four who had been sent to the future. They were to enter a place that was not as happy as the world they left.
Passage of Time
The four fell through a blue light-streaked passage that sucked them into a circular non-space. They were in a place that had been journeyed before, however they were entering a future that was infinitely worse than the one that was visited by the others. The other future was known as the Future of Darkness, this was to be known as the Future of Ash.
"Wah!" Ash cried as he was sucked into the vortex of light and sound. Red was in disbelief at what was happening, and made no sound.
Mewtwo made a quick strike at the time around him, hoping to do what had been done before and change it from a time vortex to a vortex that passed them through space. He knew that if he did so, he would lose his memory, but was willing to pay that price. He felt a shudder, but just did not have enough time to charge enough power to disrupt the flow, and so fell into the center that did not exist.
The Passage of Time felt that it was approaching an end, but it was far too early for when they were supposed to go. It shrugged, and let them go as far as it could, not wanting to be eliminated by trying to go where there was nothing.
Future
Ash
The foursome fell to the ground, feeling a soft powder welcome them and prevent them from damage, as they fell unconscious. They had no way of knowing what was to happen, or what had happened in the past ten years.
It would be a week before they woke, just before they would have been captured by a group roaming the ash for resistance to the new regime. And the four that had been deposited on the ashy ground that defined the world were soon to be the most highly sought of those resisters.
And in a chair far away from the location of the group, a man who had the world in his hand shuddered, and wondered what was to happen. He looked at the vast wasteland that he ruled, searching for his beast in the sky. He saw the cloud of white in the grey air, and sighed in relief. After all, his pokemon had defeated Arceus. He had nothing to fear.
Undersea Sky Chamber
The green dragon screamed in rage, and charged the two others, the red dinosaur and blue whale. The whale shot a beam of freezing ice at him, while the creator of land shot a beam of energy at the blue counterpart. However, the dragon and master of air was not fooled into thinking that they had an alliance, just that any of them would take any chance they got to attack.
Briefly, Ray broke free from the influence that kept him in this stalemate, and sometimes managed to defeat the other two for a short time, but by then that damnable orb would enslave him again. How he hated it!
He also knew that the other two had no fortitude to break free or resist, but he did not wish to kill them, as that was forbidden by the late Lord Arceus. The sane part of Rayquaza thought it odd that the world had lasted so long without breaking apart, but didn't dwell on it. He also wondered at not being captured by one of the executives or by one of that circle, but he supposed that that would break the haze the orbs put on them, and none of those people wanted that.
The dragon type snarled, shooting a hyper beam at the ground type and water type, before he charged back into the fray. The last thought of Ray before the green fog put him to sleep again was 'Something has changed. I wonder if it will result in the defeat of my most bitter rival?'