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Oh and by the way, if some of you aren't all that into the first few chapters of a Self Insert, then I'd suggest jumping straight to the fifth chapter. I mean, I'm proud of my work, but I can understand the wish for an immediate immersion.
Chapter 1 – Life After Death
"Memory… isn't but an internal rumor." - George Santayana
729 nautical miles north of Cinnabar Island
"Mum!" A kid wailed not too far from where I was, which meant I needed to find another empty corner. "When can we go out of here?" He asked.
"It's 'when can we get out of here,' sweetie." A feminine voice corrected not unkindly. "And I'm afraid I don't know either." Her voice took a slightly worried tone at the end.
"Aww shucks… I thought pokemon were good, Mum. Why are the jerk pellipers so mean?" He asked with a nasally voice.
"Timothy, look at Mommy," I heard clothes ruffling, probably her kneeling to his level. "What would you do if a stranger with a really big car crashed into the living room and drove out without even saying sorry?" Wow, that's a weird analogy if I've ever heard one. "I'm sure you would be upset at the jerk in the car, yes?"
"Uh… Yes! It's our house, duh!" Legendaries… can't you be a bit louder, Timmy?
"Well, it's the same for the pellipers. You see, they think of the place where they live as their territory – their home. So, if someone comes near their home, they will try to defend it. Do you understand?"
"Um, I think?" Timmy told his surprisingly level-headed mother. "Well, I'm not chicken! When I'm big and strong, I'll go out and beat up all the mean pokemons." Heh. You'll need that bravado out there, kid. I'm sure ursarings will appreciate the cannon fodder.
"Hey, you! What's so funny?"
What? Oh, no… He must have heard me snorting. Aaand he's got his mother in tow.
With a final spit, I got my head out of the paper bag clutched in my hands and took a good look at the bane of my existence for the past five minutes.
And I had to say I was not impressed. A mop of brown hair stuffed under a white-rimmed blue cap, blue eyes and an impossibly aggressive stance loomed over my floored form.
The woman behind him had on an unassuming and conservative yellow sundress which fitted her dead-anime-mom-styled hair quite nicely. That made me cringe at the thought of my own mother having it done the same way.
"Well, what's so funny? I heard you laugh, you jerk!" The ball of hostility before me said that in such an entitled tone I'd be hard-pressed to find similar in a convenience store's holiday part-timer.
I raised my gaze to his mother who gave me an apologetic smile and tried to usher Timmy away.
"Timothy, stop bothering this young man, there's a TV over there." She said while tugging gently at his shoulder. "Oh, look! There's Dedenne & Glameow on. You like that show, right?"
"Muuum," Timmy whined, still glaring at me. "That show is for little babies. I'm nine and three quarters. I'm big, now!"
'Nine'?! That last line struck me hard. This brat was nine?
I stopped paying attention to the back and forth taking place a feet away in favor of rethinking every decision I had taken for the last four years of my life. I was literally the same age as Timmy when the dreaded decree 130-13 passed through the Kantoan Elite Four oligarchy.
The mortality rate for rookie trainers had been steadfastly increasing for years until 991, where it reached 12.1% for Kanto, and a historic high of 18.9% for Unova. That was the metaphoric last straw for the Pokemon League, who imposed on the seven regions it oversaw a series of programs to follow and approve of by the end of the year 992 under threat of political overhaul by Sinnoh, Kanto and Hoenn's united front.
Such an alliance, however temporary it was, proved to be enough for the ever elusive and neutral Galar to adhere to the treaty. Same for the antagonistic Unova and the eternally tussling Kanto and Johto, who for the first time since the Sevii treaty, rallied under a shared decision. The embargo needn't be anymore.
After the first two years of resetting the debut training age to twelve, results had been registered. Positive results – stellar in fact. Enough that the average mortality rate for the six regions plummeted down to 10.79; for a Sinnohan lowest of 7.3, reflecting their progressive methods, and an unsurprising Unovan highest of 13.6; a tragedy dreadfully veiled as a factual improvement.
Which naturally prompted a couple additional increases in the debut trainer age until it unfortunately capped the previous year at fourteen. Unfortunately, because it meant at the time another year of waiting for Ash who had to witness before his eyes every single one of his peers leave Pallet Town until only him was left.
There he was, a twelve and a few months old boy in a town filled with elderly and retired people, now empty of any kindred soul he could have called his friend. Naturally, he cursed any and all God known to his inexperienced mind.
He could hear his mother talking with Samuel and her friends on the phone, he wasn't deaf and a house bought by a single mother couldn't conceivably have thick enough walls for him to ignore what was said when they thought him asleep.
They'd say he had something called dysthymia or something. A search on the internet and an auto-correct later taught him it was supposed to be a prolonged period of sadness. He wasn't sad, he was angry! Angry and bitter. Bitter at his mother for not birthing him 3 months earlier so he could have gone out in the world with his friends. Bitter at Samuel for giving him those eyes full of pity when he thought he wasn't paying attention. Bitter at the league for reporting his journey by four years. Bitter at the world for him being sad and angry and bitter and weak enough to let those tears running down his cheeks.
They thought him depressed.
… Whatever.
Cutting out my musings, I looked back up to see that Timmy and his mother already went back to sitting on a couch near one of the TV of the vast ballroom, accommodated for entertaining the passengers until we could get out of the pelliper zone, as the captain had jokingly called it.
Those two led me to consider once again. Was I really like that kid a few years back? If so, I could understand, maybe even condone the actions of the League. I was so angry for the past four years at the world for not giving me a chance to prove myself. But maybe they were right?
Maybe I could put all this whining behind me and enjoy more of what the world had to offer. My eyes trailed off of their own accord to my mother, who was coincidentally looking in my direction as well, her eyes meeting mine. Her smile always seemed to cheer me up before the League took everything from me and I became angry.
Maybe I should cherish what I have indeed.
I got up to my feet and realized I wasn't feeling nauseous anymore, even though the whole trip until now was ruined by sea-sickness.
I skipped a step and approached my mother, a beautiful woman who had given me everything I have and made me everything I am.
It felt as if a dark fog was cleared out by a swarm of cutiefly using Defog. As if the boulder chained to my ankles was rock smashed by a fluffle of buneary. I could finally see the beauty of the world again.
Maybe spectating the tournament taking place later in the afternoon would be a good place to start for our previously lost bond to be forged back?
"ASH!" Mom's cry of alarm ejected me out of my musings again.
Maybe I couldn't do any of that.
Her horrified visage and an excruciating pain in the back of my head were the last thing I remembered… as Ash Ketchum.
Delia's arm was still outstretched in shock. One second her son was walking her way, looking happier than she'd ever seen him be for so many years. She thought blowing all of her savings and missing two weeks of work for this cruising trip to Cinnabar Island had finally paid off; her baby boy finally seemed fine – dare she even say, relieved, as if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders – after puking his heart out for the past two days.
Then, a Hypno popped out of the very air behind her son and knocked him out with what seemed to be a Confusion attack.
Except, humans don't get knocked out by psychic pokemon unless it is by Hypnosis. Confusion scrambles the brains of under-developed humans and less intelligent pokemons.
She oh so desperately hoped for a case of Hypnosis, but her years as Samuel's assistant left her with enough understanding of psychic forces to recognize their most distinguishable moves.
Ignorance was bliss, as they said. She could have shared Ash's last instants at his side if she had thought him merely unconscious. But no, she could do nothing but stand still like a statue while what looked like men in black and gray uniforms barked orders around the room.
It was total chaos.
And… was the man in front of her screaming something at her?
She wouldn't know. A foreign and bizarre sensation of brisk chilliness invaded her skull and she collapsed, frothing at the mouth and seizuring.
Crack
Thunk
Cra-K Crack
Good, this one makes it… fifteen? Should be enough for now.
Picking up the bundle of saplings, I began my trek back to the clearing on top of the cliff, where I had begun making camp. Perfectly located, an easily remarkable landmark, overlooking the whole island and far enough from the surprisingly clear and clean looking pond at the base of the hill. Boiling its water was inevitable, but it was as close a silver lining as available in so murky a situation.
Waking up to the feeling of coarse sand roughing up every single inch of my skin wasn't what I imagined to be waiting for me beyond that blinding light.
The deluge of foreign memories following my… awakening certainlywasn't it either.
And the uncontrollable sobs wrecking my once again adolescent frame were equally unwelcome.
Don't get me wrong, I could understand Ash's sorrow at seeing his own mother get a bullet to the head, through the eyes of a stranger possessing his very own body, no-less. Even more so when it was the last thing he would recall and bring up with him to the afterlife.
Sadly, I could only stall the breakdown rising up. I doubted the dark clouds looming over the horizon would be courteous enough to give me the reprieve I needed, after all.
Pinning six of the sturdier young bamboos into the ground, I considered that being stranded on an island might have been an even better option than drifting to a populated beach or such, as I needed time alone to sort out the mess that was my head.
The flexible saplings went next, stuck together with the bamboos by long filaments extracted from some of them. Hopefully they would be sturdy enough to survive the oncoming storm.
I couldn't help but hum 'On An Island' by David Gilmour as I flexed and tied together the three opposite pairs of saplings with another bunch of wood-string. Maybe I could have learned the correct terms for all this stuff, but I never was the best of students.
The bundles of palm tree leaves came next. What a relief it had been to see that the variety native to this island were relatively close to ground-level. It still took me around two hours to collect enough thatch for what I had in mind, but it could have been much worse.
My train of thought eventually led me to questioning everything that seemed to go well for me until now. Even though I was still fucked well beyond repair in this situation, there was no denying some measure of luck.
I had survived a shipwreck – or at least, getting thrown out of a ship – and miraculously made it ashore to a non-hostile island. An island, I might add, with a large and cleared out beach even at what looked to be its highest tide level. An island which, by all means, shouldn't have existed if Ash's dim knowledge of Kanto's geography was anything to go by. An island with a conveniently easy of access source of seemingly potable water. As well as what was a really close approximation of the vegetation I was used to see back home.
Shaking my head, I began splitting the large leaves in two and finished 'building' the roof at just the right time to get shelter from the rain. I then began the arduous task of lighting a fire.
It was a bit after resolving myself to endure the starting smoke in exchange for not getting drenched outside that I concluded none of this was coincidental. If me being 'reborn' as Ash Ketchum of the Pokemon franchise wasn't enough to make it clear, then all of the succeeding coincidences were obviously enough to hit home.
After an exhausting day of collecting resources à la Minecraft to put a roof over my head, I felt I deserved a reprieve and finally let my thoughts come back to the issue at hand.
God, were those few seconds of shared consciousness with Ash unsettling. I'm sure nothing in this world would ever top that in term of sheer bizarreness. It was disturbing enough that I decided to bury it deep inside my mind and act like the adult I was close to become in my… in my past life?
And wasn't that weird? I lived longer than what my second set of memories told me. Older enough that I could recognize which set was the original.
Though, what really let me know for sure was the detachment I felt while watching Mum dyi – Delia. When I watched Ash's mother – Delia – die.
For fuck's sake, I have nothing to gain from this angst. Let's think of something a bit more exciting.
I focused for a moment on the embers crackling under the fire and the gentle pitter-patter of the rain gradually evolving into a crescendo of water bullets, which would effectively destroy my slapdash job if the storm lasted beyond dawn.
I was in Pokemon.
I absentmindedly reached for the pile of fire wood and pushed it to a corner that wasn't getting soaked in errant raindrops.
As in, there were pokemons in this world. And pokemon battles were a thing here.
And they weren't like simple animals of my world, no. You could bond with them. A few of the more developed ones could even understand human speech.
I used to be an avid consumer of fanfiction and had read my fair share of stories depicting pokemons as nothing but animals with extra conception steps, like electric sacks, or nitroglycerin creating saliva glands.
Here, they were supposed to be of equal overall intelligence to humans, with some psychics and ghosts even managing to surpass them.
Sure, the wild ones representing the majority of the pokemon population ranged from barely docile to immensely dangerous and feral, with a consequent inclination towards the latter. But that wouldn't stop me from trying my hand at training.
No… No, I wouldn't just try. I would excel and go beyond anything this world had ever seen or will ever see.
I have no idea how, why or who, but I've fantasized too much about this situation for me to let such an opportunity slip.
I've lost everything I had; a loving family, friends, a pretty good future in sight. Sacrificed all I had, but not all I was. Only to gain the opportunity to fulfill an ambition I would never have dared to even think possible before this day.
I've lost everything I had, just as Ash did on this very day – or was it yesterday?
Delia seemed to be an exceptional woman, who chose to sacrifice her own well-being to assure a good future for Ash. A boy who mourned her passing.
I did no such thing.
No, I felt disgusted at myself, but I was relieved. I always hated having to lie, and always strove to at least be honest with myself. And that honesty forced me to acknowledge the woman as nothing but a potential burden whom I would have had to deceive and pretend to be her long-dead son.
I owned nothing. Except maybe a house which I would eventually try selling to finance my journey and get officially emancipated.
From Ash's recollections of his days fawning over the various regions' Conferences, The Indigo Conference last took place six months prior. That should leave me about a little more than a year and a half before the next edition.
I was currently 13 years and nine months old. Three months before I would be allowed to take the test which would grant me a trainer license.
Ash, for all his numerous faults, was really passionate about his prospective career. He worked as hard as to know the two previous curriculums by heart. It did left me feeling tremendous guilt over the unfairness of the situation, but that uncertainty was easily quashed by greed.
Greed? No… It was more than that. So much more than that.
Avidity.
I was avid for glory, I wanted to set records impossible to break for thousands of years. I wanted my legend to be portrayed and told to future generations until the end of times.
Yes, I cloud see a plan taking form.
I needed a starter. Samuel was really close with Ash, enough to be considered a grandfather figure by him. If I played my cards right, I could perhaps even make him cover the totality of the costs of my debut.
I also needed gear. As in, proper traveling gear. Delia still hadn't bought any for Ash. I could take a guess and imagine she intended to take a loan just before Ash's departure. Her meager salary wouldn't have possibly covered the costs of feeding them both after such an expensive purchase. Meaning she had waited until the right moment. Again, a smart woman she most definitely was.
I neede- I can't hear the rain anymore? I quickly shuffled out of the primitive hut. Only to be greeted by the first of many marvels this world had to offer
A torrent of falling stars were galloping through the starry sky, celestial bodies intertwining in an ephemeral dance I was branding in my memories, but such idyllic beauty was too much for my mind or my eyes to fully register, as I could only gaze upon the spectacle before me, mouth agape, and failing to put words on the alluring and enchanting meteor shower.
It was minutes later when I came back to and realized I had unconsciously moved to the peak of the cliff. Situational awareness returning to me, discerning two f the meteors detaching themselves from their brethrens' path, rapidly making their way to my position.
Rooted on the spot, I gradually spied startling details about the seemingly sentient projectiles. One blue, the other red.
The blue one reached me first and abruptly stopped its course some twenty feet above me, sending me crashing on my backside. Seconds before the red one did as well, without any air displacement whatsoever.
Embarrassment flooded my veins as I realized I fell not due to a gust of wind, but startlement.
Fuck, why is Red getting even closer?! I quickly scrambled back to my feet and took a step back. An idiotic reaction I cursed myself for, they obviously could have crushed me if they so wished.
With bated breath, I stared at the creature as it slowly made its way to where I stood, ready to bolt at the first sign of hostility.
Once it was close enough for me to accurately see its features, I focused on its eyes. And my breath caught into my throat.
The smiling pair of warm amber orbs gazing back instantly filled me with peace and made me feel safe. The aerodynamic white head they were connected to stretched into a long neck meeting the bright red fur of a bird-like squat body ending with a pair of jet-like wings.
A closer examination of the ear-like fins on top of her head revealed the previously assumed fur to be feathers instead.
Her, for it was a female indeed. A Latias more specifically.
A Latias.
Which meant the blue one still sharply examining from afar was a Latios.
Fuck, this is surreal.
Yeah, I have to get something out of this. It's too good an opportunity to pass up.
I plastered a smile onto my face and warmly addressed the legendary in front of me. "Hey," I greeted. "Are you real Latias and Latios?" I asked, channeling my inner Ash. Left unsaid that he probably wouldn't have recognized them.
A tilt of the head from Red was the answer I got back. Idly, I likened it to being left on read by someone you waited for a text back from.
"Err," I began uncertainly. "Yeah I suppose that was a dumb question, yeah..."
I stepped to the side and beckoned them with a hand to my pseudo camp. "I guess orange juice or something would have been ideal, but I could get you some water if you'd like." I didn't let myself dwell on their reactions and scurried back to the camp.
At this point, I had no idea what I was doing. Maybe trying to throw them off their game before they could do the same to me?
A sudden chill ran down my spine. They were psychics, what if they could read minds? I would truly be beyond fucked if it was the c-
"Actually we can."A cheerful voice resonated into my skull, making me cringe for a brief moment at the foreign sensation.
I stilled for a beat, then kept my stride up. "Oh?" I began without facing them, lest they see my panicking. "And how much did you get to see, exactly?"
She began giggling in my mind, a weird tweeting sound its physical equivalent. "It's much more fun to leave you guessing," she teased.
I said nothing for a moment, then plopped down on a soaking wet tree trunk conveniently found laying around.
Collecting my thoughts once again, I looked up to see the Latias floating a safe distance away, her eyes still glinting mischievously. Her brother… mate? Her something a few lengths behind her, giving me an impossibly disgusted look that made the hairs of my neck stand on end.
"Ah…" My posture slumped and my eyes moved to the mud stuck on my not-so-white-anymore sneakers. "So you already know." I stated more than asked.
None of them said anything.
Not wanting to dwell on this, I opted for a more direct approach and looked the Latias dead in the eye, ignoring the antagonistic Latios for now. "I guess Blue doesn't do sympathy all that much, huh?"
She smiled at me, then brought up a paw to her mouth to laugh. "He's not really the talking type, is he?"She relayed, throwing a fond look back at Latios, whose features softened for an instant.
"Now, don't you have any questions for us? We're only messengershere, but I'm sure we can answer some of them." Latias said, turning back to face me.
I mulled over that for a bit and went with the most pressing concern I had. "You're the first pokemons I've met, you know?" I got up and began to pace around without realizing it. "I've been on edge all day, waiting for an Ekans or something like that to pounce on me." There was a rant coming up. "I mean, it's cool of your employer or whoever to have kept me alive from the tentacruels and to have left all those handy things around the island and all, but I'd have preferred an earlier confrontation, you know? And what the fuck am I supposed to do around here?! Are you here to give me a ride to civilization? If so, I'd be fucking mad to have built all this crap only for you to come and get me out of this shit-ho-
"No," I stopped dead in my tracks. I could feel my eyes bulging and my lips peeled back into a snarl.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a few moments. When I came back to, I could see Latias peering at me with a comprehensive gaze and Latios still glaring at me, but with admittedly less intensity than before.
Finally exhaling through the nose, I decided to keep on delaying the inevitable breakdown. "Sorry for that." Air filled my lungs again. "I'm not really in the best state of mind right now, it kinda makes sense for you to give me time to take it all in."
Latias gave my deflated form a kind look. "Yeah, the big boss thought so as well. I mean, we didn't realize you had replaced Ash until halfway through the ride but he still said to go through with the plan until he thought of something."
I perked up at what she said, "What? You're saying there was a plan for Ash before I- before I… took over?
"Well ye-" She clammed up out of the blue and I could only guess she was having a telepathic conversation with Latios.
After thirty seconds or so, she gave me wry smile, "Sorry, he likes his strong and silent persona."I snorted at that. "Anyway, I might not be supposed to fill you in, but you don't give me any bad vibes at the moment."
It was enough to make me let out a breathe I didn't know I was holding.
"Yup, that's me. A beacon of light in this world of darkness." My lips naturally tugged up into a coy smirk.
She smiled at me and threw her head back in good natured laughter. "And a transcending expert in humility as well, I see. You might need to get that ego under leash, kid."
"Oh don't worry. I would never call myself an expert in any field. Well… other than being born." I scratched my temple with a finger, smiling disarmingly. "I'd say I did exceptionally well, managing to do it twice before eighteen."
Her smile got a bit crooked at that. "I wouldn't technically count one of those as a valid one, you know?"Practically all mirth drained out of her face following that, replaced by a contemplating look. "It's actually one of the things we're supposed to get out of you."
A sense of foreboding crashed over me when the Latios began approaching as well. I felt another of those tingly feelings to the back of the head before a rich and deep voice assaulted my mind, much harsher than Latias' warmer, feathery touch.
"Boy," He rumbled. "The Light-Bringer demands you atone for your crimes."
Feigning confidence, I reared up as tall as I could. Raise your voice, act like you knew exactly what you were doing and that you damn well had every right to do it, and most people tended to believe you.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Uh-oh one of the worst ways to start an advocacy. "I mean, I don't know either. Like, I think I know what you have in mind, but I really am as much in the dark as you here."
Seeing the stare-down Latios and I were having – well it was more him glaring and me fidgeting in place – Latias took the reigns back. "Haha… Yeah, I guess it's not everyday you get resurrected after dying, huh? Talk about weird..."
Here, she gave me a comprehensive look and added, "Still, we really do need to find how and why you're in this situation."Her features turned contemplative and she began rambling to herself. "Mew might have messed up when she tried to shield him from that hypno's attack. Awww, I can't come back empty-handed this time, not again."
"Hey," I interrupted her, confusion rising. "Are you saying your boss wasn't the one sending me in this guy's body?"
She started and looked up at me. "Well, that's what we were going for initially, but something broke Mew's connection with Ash's mind for a split second and -"
"Latias!" TheLatios barked out.
The Eon gritted her teeth and frowned at her blue counterpart. "What! Stop being so rude, yo-" She then adorned a sheepish smile and somehow reached with her stubby arm to scratch the back of her head. "Yeah, yeah sorry. Shutting up now." Again, in an impossible show of dexterity, she mimed zipping her mouth.
Captivated by the surreal sight that was a Latias looking embarrassed, I didn't react fast enough to distance myself from the Latios who came down to tower intimidatingly over me.
"Now boy," he spat. "You will tell us everything we want to know, or -"
"You'll what?!' I snarled, feeling the most angry I felt since a long time. "Or else, you'll what?! Huh?! You're gonna get it out of me? Fucking jackass, you already read my fucking mind and I didn't even throw a fuss since it's already been done! And now that I tell you I don't fucking know what happened to me going to hell or heaven or wherever the fuck, you threaten me into what, exactly?! You gonna pull a third set of memories out of your ass?! All this shit was totally out of my control, just as you having to fart for flying was out of yours!"
"Hey!"Latias hastily jumped between us. "We haven't read everything, only surface thoughts and a vague idea of who you are. We can't do that without you not trying to defend your mind."
"Yeah and what about it? Do I have to roll over and wag my tail for you?!"
"No, no! You just have to let us in without making us use force. It's really either that or your mind turning into scrambled eggs." I would have lost it if it had sounded like a threat, but she was genuinely stating facts.
I scowled at them both and considered my options. I could let them in, as I honestly didn't know about my untimely fate, all for not pissing off two legendary dragons. On the other hand, I'd have to relive my death and lose a fair bit of dignity, revealing everything fucked up about me.
Call it pride, call it idiocy, call it whatever you'd like. My personal favorite was hubris. But I didn't give a damn and refused.
At that last thought I saw the two Eon pokemons getting grim and determined before I hurriedly waved my hands in front me.
"Wait, wait wait! I just thought it would be funny to see you reacting to my thoughts, I'm okay with it." They both relaxed, Latias holding both paws over her maw to stifle her laughter, prompting me to do the same.
Not even Latios' thunderous expression made me stop for a good moment. There was something hysterically funny in making fun of certain death.
"Alright," I wheezed out, "Oof… That was unreal. Sorry for that, Blue. I just had to do it."
Nope, he just kept glaring at me. It frankly wasn't as intimidating as he probably thought it was.
Latias gave me the equivalent of a sigh telepathically..
"Cool," I began. "So, I don't really want to know how you'll do your thing. Just… Don't judge me too harshly, I guess?" My voice cracked a bit at the end, making me cringe.
A sympathetic nod was the answer I received. "Don't worry, we might be the youngest of our siblings, but we've seen enough evil not to be surpris-"
I didn't hear the rest of her sentence as it was drowned out by a growl of frustration before my vision turned black.
Coming back to consciousness, I realized I had yet to open my eyes, nor did I overtly move. It was the perfect occasion to try and eavesdrop on any conversation.
…
…
"Yeah, you can't talk out-loud and I just wasted time looking stupid, didn't I?" Getting up, I took time to once again inspect Latias' cheerful countenance and Latios' stoic one. It never got old.
"Since I'm still alive, I can only assume you didn't found anything inculpatory?" I dusted my jeans and button up shirt. Yep, they were definitely ruined.
At that, Latias stopped. "Yeah, you get off with a slap on the wrist this time young man, althoughI'd suggest leaving trans-dimensional travel to professionals,"she playfully admonished, though I could detect a certain warning in her tone.
"Nah, I'd definitely do it again if it meant I could do what I have in mind." I waved her off snobbishly, trying and apparently failing to mask how lost I felt.
Fortunately, Latias put a stop to my inner turmoil with a disarming smile and a paw on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for this, Ash. Really."
I simply nodded and stayed silent for a minute.
"What did you think, though?" I looked her dead in the eye.
She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
I snorted self-depressingly at that. "I think you know perfectly what I mean. You read my mind." I stated, feeling a my throat clamp up. "You know literally everything there's to know about me. Maybe more than my own mum."
She shuffled closer to me, and I could see Latios tensing up from the corner of my eye.
"You don't have anything to prove, you've been given a second chance. I don't know how or why, but you have. And to be honest, I kinda like you. We haven't had too much experience extracting memories before, but you're the first I didn't outright dislike after doing so."
Here, the mischievous glint in her eyes brightened her features back. "But if you really want a genuine answer, I have to say you sucked real good out there."
A wry smile overcame mine at that. "I have no idea whether to interpret that as good, bad, both, or just plain perverted?"
That led another bout of hilarity, this one sprinkled with a hint of despair for me.
"You're so silly," she strained to say.
"And don't you ever doubt it," I said with my chest puffed out.
After calming down, we shared a companionable silence before it dawned on me. They were going back where they came from, and they would leave me here. My first thought was to try to bum a ride to the nearest populated area from them.
And I would have, if not for the apologizing look Latias gave me.
"I'm really sorry," she said. "If it was up to me, I'd get you to your home, but we have orders."
I couldn't drop this just like that. "Is there really nothing I could do to convince you? I've got a mean pizza recipe, if you'd like?" I asked hopefully.
"Haha, I'm sure it would be delicious but we really can't." She obviously felt uncomfortable but so was I at the idea of having to stay here any longer.
"Please, I'm already sick of this shithole and it hasn't even been a full day yet." I pleaded, insisting.
Latias looked conflicted. Good, that was what I was going for. Only a little push and-
"Enough!"
I reflexively took a step back and stood on the balls of my feet, ready to bolt at a snap. Well, I tried to anyway. The blue shimmering outline trapping my movements clearly wouldn't go away even if I asked nicely.
The cause of my restrains came up to my face and loomed over my frozen form – wow, those are some serious muscles he's packing.
"Be careful what lines you cross, Deceiver."
His hot breath washing over my face stank of blood and death. I was only then reminded that these were apex predators I was trying to haggle a ride out of.
Nonetheless, I pushed back with a snarl and summoned all the confidence my gut could spare.
"My apologies then," I started. He seemed surprised at the apology. If he had indeed seen my memories, one thing that jumped out would have been my compulsive reject of any form of apologies.
I loathed empty platitudes. Whenever I did something that I felt deserved me being sorry, I would try and do better the next time. I would owe a favor to the person wronged or do something to make up for it, but I wouldn't apologize.
"You know, I've always found that metaphor a little unfitting," I continued as I knew I had his attention once he lifted the constricting force on me. "The thing about lines, in the sand or otherwise," I picked up a discarded wet branch and dramatically traced a line between us.
"… yeah. Once you cross over them, you can actually step back again without any problems." I demonstrated as much, to the confusion and then rage of the flying blue dick in front of me.
I matched his frown with a shit-eating grin of my own. "That wasn't the case when you've fucked with my brain earlier you limp fucking areo-dick. I might one day end up forgiving Red, but you… You've been nothing but a bitch to me even before you had any idea of what kind of guy I was."
A glaring contest took place after my rant. One I was sure of winning since he apparently couldn't kill me without upsetting whomever their boss was.
An intense stare-down which I won after an ethereal mirthful laugh from Latias made him look her way incredulously. An expression I matched after patting myself in the back for technically making 500 kilos of dragon back down.
What made my dumbfounded expression morph into a full blown dropped jaw was Latios joining her in laughing at a still unknown reason.
After a few breaths, Latias promptly turned back to me. "I think you'll do just fine," she said, further confusing me. "Alright, I'll be back soon with something." She turned her back to us and a light began shining from her… well I certainly hoped those were reactors of some sort and nothing else. "So, if I'm not back in an hour…"
I think she was trying to say something cool or maybe it was important, but I felt obligated to cry out, "I'll wait longer!"
Her loud coos – probably laughter – were drowned out by what I later realized was a sonic-boom. Point being, it left my ears ringing from it.
My eardrums would have probably burst if not for the blue shimmering shield erected by Latios. I tried to nod thankfully to him but he wasn't even looking in my direction, preferring to get lost in the breathtaking picture painted by the ever changing shades of sunlight appearing on the horizon.
True to her words, it took Latias a little less than an hour for her to reappear into view.
Relief flooded me at the chance to get away from the awkward and tense silence between us two bros. Not that I didn't try to rectify the situation, but Blue was simply that asocial. It was frankly unsettling.
Looking back to my favorite of the pair, I noticed a small, vaguely round object at her side, held in a red outline of what I assumed to be Latias' doing.
She floated to me again and brought the oval thing before my arms.
Impulsively, I reached up to it with both hands, the red light disappearing after having grasped it, and finally allowing me to perceive more of its details.
The feeling of smooth and warm and quivering ceramic greeted my firm but gentle touch as a wonderful surge of happiness and joy rushed through my veins, encompassing my very being.
An egg.
A pokemon egg. A real one.
I examined it closer and eventually registered the sparsely spread red and blue intertwined triangles, crisscrossing into a beautiful patchwork of cubist and abstract brushes.
"It's ours," I heard reverberate inside my head. "Us Eons are prohibited from raising our youngs, you know? We planned to leavesomewhere called the Grampa Canyon. A friend of ours predicted someone who could make it happy would find it there, but it never really sat well with us to simply leave it unsupervised." Went unsaid that they now thought me worthy of raising it.
Overwhelmed by emotion as I was, I was still clear-minded enough to pick up on something she said that I should have clarified way before. I decided to take a shot in the dark.
"Yeah, Ash- Ash knew about the Grampa Canyon," I ventured. "A coal mine where they recently excavated fossils, right?"
She appeared a bit startled at that. "Uhm, yeah. It's… weird, I don't remember Ash having ever heard of that in any of his memories."
I got a shade paler at that. Did that mean they weren't aware of my meta-knowledge? That… that totally changed the game.
Abruptly, my train of thoughts were interrupted by what felt like a sledgehammer punching clean through my rib-cage.
A snarl was heard from somewhere on top of me. "What was that? What did you do!"
"Wha- I- I don't-" I wheezed out.
"I will not repeat myself. Your mind was clouded in darkness for a moment. How did you do it?"
That was unreal. Something was encrypting my thoughts to psychics, apparently. I could only hope it was extended to any thoughts that could potentially cause my demise and not the meta-knowledge oriented alone.
The Latios towering over me took my silence as defiance and sent me skidding on the ground until I was mere inches away from the precipice.
"This is your last chance, Deceiver. Your mind has been veiled ever since earlier. It was no mere coincidence. Explain yourself!"
I hurriedly backpedaled away from the fall, only to be met by the rancid and meaty breath of the other hazard to my health.
"Okay! Okay! Stop!" My heart was beating faster than ever before, reaching a rattling staccato in my ears.
The monster in question wouldn't have complied if not for Latias once again coming to my rescue.
"My love," she soothed. "Let him explain himself, please."
So they were mates, not brother and sister. That was reassuring to hear.
The Latios seemed to deflate at her tone, but still hadn't strayed his angry glare away from my own wavering one.
Taking a couple of calming breathes, I tried to come up with a way to come out alive and whole out of this mess.
A glance at Latias told me she wasn't on my side for this one; understandable. I had to sway the Latios this time.
At the end of the day, two choices were presented to me; Coming clean, or bullshitting my way out of this once again.
The truth meant a higher chance of living and perhaps dusting my hands off of the fate of the world. If I kept the knowledge of the future dangers the world would face to myself, I would have to take up the responsibility of preventing anything too cataclysmic from happening. Something that would admittedly bring some serious glory points to my curriculum vitae.
It was oh so tempting to go with that option, but I didn't know how their "Light-Bringer" would react to someone with the potential to destroy the planet with his actions, or rather inactions in this case.
It was with that reasoning that I took a left and chose my go-to pick.
Assuming a frightened and shaken countenance once again, I murmured. "I- I… I've been feeling something strange ever since I've… entered this body."
I tried not to look at their no doubt skeptical faces and ruin the act, choosing instead to peer dubiously at my left hand. Idly noting the egg still cradled under my right arm, probably what kept Blue from throwing me over the edge.
"I wouldn't know how to describe it, but… I see the color blue for a moment, then I feel… Then I feel stronger, more perceptive. Even- even more confident.
"I wouldn't have been able to defy Latios if not for it. I guess I was too pumped on adrenaline to realize something was amiss."
I know I was pulling at straws here, but it's what I've always done when I wanted to get out of something. Put the onus for the decision in their hands, use guilt whenever you can.
I was hoping for Latias' compassion to overwhelm whatever the fuck Latios had against me. At least enough to lead them on down the Aura route or such. I knew Ash was supposed to have it, even if it was left dormant.
Looking up with the most defeated expression I could muster, I stared between them both; evading either of their gazes. Yep, they were starting to feel guilty.
"I guess even when I'm courageous, other forces are at play." Shoulders slumped, head hung down, posture hunched. And they said I didn't have any talent acting.
After a bout of silence on both ends, I saw a light blue color enveloping me and looked back up to be met by the unsettling sight of Latios' eyes glowing the same ethereal blue encompassing my body. No- It wasn't only my body, he was staring straight at my… at my soul?
"At such a young age…"I heard.
A glance back at the embodiments of the East and West winds let me witness them having a sort of rapid fire internal debate.
A debate that seemed to be lost by Latios, if the conflicted look he sent me was anything to go by.
I felt like a child watching two parents arguing over the custody of their kids. Punctuated by appropriate growls and whimpers from Latias and Latios respectively.
It was minutes later that their argument ended with Latios shooting me a glare full of resentment and blasting off in a burst of pressure that would have sent me flying if not for a brilliantly red shield, courtesy of Latias.
Turning back to my savior, she sent me a wry smile.
"I'm sorry for him," she consoled. "It's not that he hates you, it's… well…"
"Don't worry, I think I get it." I sent her one back. "I've been making his job harder for him since the beginning. You also seem to have taken my side for most of the disagreements we had. And to top it all off, I literally got custody of his child."
At the last line, my good mood died and I had to ask. "I mean, if you still think I'm worthy of it?" I gripped the egg closer.
Her face seemed to brighten at that. "Haha," she giggled. "Nah, it's calm. It actually was one of the few things he seemed to agree with, you looked like you would have given your life for the egg with how close you were clutching it. He was mortified when he blasted you back and realized you had the egg in your hand. Only for you to roll yourself under it to cushion the fall."
I- really? I guess I must have done it reflexively?
Clearing my throat, I sighed dramatically. "Mr Steal your girl strikes again. What can I do? What can I say? I'm just irresistible."
We obviously doubled over in laughter and all that.
At least, that was the plan until the egg began wiggling in my arms and glowing a bright white.
Latias sent me a panicked look I distractedly picked up on and blurted out a panicked "Oh shit, it was good to meet you. Live a long life."
Stunned, I sent an incredulous look to her rapidly shrinking form. Was she a dead-beat father?
Fuck, what am I supposed to do? Being a dad without having ever went past second base with a girl?! Where were the producers of 'You Are Not The Father' when you need them?! Bunch of usele-
My inner turmoil was suddenly replaced by a blissful sense of serenity I had never experienced the like of before.
Smiling down at the bundle of joy in my arms, I was hit with a light brighter than even the sun.
Yet I wasn't blinded.
It was mesmerizing.
It kept fluctuating between sun-levels bright and dim enough to see the vague oval shape of the egg.
After a good few minutes, the glow went incandescent and surrounded everything around me- around us.
Blinking the spots out of my eyes, I looked down and was greeted with the gorgeously small, white and round body of a togepi, still encased in his eggshell.
The egg part had conserved its red and blue shapes, even though they seemed to have converged to the front.
His stubby little hands – wait how can I be sure it's a he? – and round feet had two toes each. And oh my god, are those cat pads on the soles of his paws?!
My urge to squee killed dead, I came back to attention at just the right moment to see him open his sparkling dark brown eyes.
Once he caught sight of me, he adorably reached for my eyes or nose or hair – I didn't know what, but I'd let him have absolutely anything this world had to offer and beyond even that.
Lo and behold, he decided to go for the hair, and grasped a strand to climb my face, using my nose as a grip for his chubby little paws.
It was with extreme caution that I guided him until he sat on top of my head.
And of course, I forgave him the pain he caused me the moment he trilled his first 'Togepi!'.
Thus I found myself, on top of a beautiful cliff overlooking a gorgeous tropical beach – location unknown – a cool and gentle breeze caressing my skin, with a ball of sunshine on top of my head – where the hell did the rest of the eggshell go? - gazing together at the rising sun where I could spy a Latias turning back one last time to nod at me – how could I have seen that at such a distance?
"Eole," I blurted out.
Regaining my bearings, I continued once I got the small togepi's attention.
"Your name… Eole."
I couldn't be sure, but I thought he had accompanied his confused trill with a tilt of the head.
"Your name will be Eole, buddy. That's supposed to be the god of wind in an ancient civilization," I clarified.
"I have big dreams, you know?" I continued. "And to accomplish them, I'll need to rise to the pinnacle of this world and go higher than even that. For that, I'll need a partner who can stand beside me for the whole ride."
I briefly winced at the idea of further imposing my will over a newborn.
"I suppose I'll have to wait until you grow up to let you take the final decision. But I'd be really happy if you end up choosing to follow me."
The little togepi obviously didn't get everything, but I felt he had grasped the broad strokes, or most likely he did not, and I was simply too caught up in my selfishness to grasp it.
My hand snaked down to my pocket and fished out a red and white marble sized device. A simple click on the central button enlarged it to base-ball size. One of the few amenities I could salvage from the duffel bag I had found conveniently laying on the sand, when I woke up.
I looked at it for a moment and addressed my newly hatched charge. "This is a pokeball, Eole. I would like to capture you with it so you can be my pokemon."
I felt genuinely ashamed at my omitting a good part of its uses. This wasn't fair to him and yet my greed and desire to own him overcame the disgust at myself.
Not to be deterred by my now somber mood, Eole made a sound I understood as him asking to be lifted up from my scalp.
Obliging, I got him down into my arms. He then turned to me, looked me resolutely in the eyes and tapped the pokeball without wavering.
I was expecting that, to be honest. I snorted and swore to myself I would never catch a teammate again without getting its explicit agreement beforehand.
A long sigh escaped me.
…
Now, how the fuck do I get out of this island?
A/N: Before anything, I would like to give you all my thanks for sticking around until now. I hope it was worth it.
So, hello I guess. And welcome to my first attempt at fanfiction.^^
Actually, I don't really have anything more to say, but I don't want to delete the A/N at the beginning. I like the professional vibe it gives off.
Uploaded on: 06/08/2019