Okay, if you're wondering why I'm still uploading new stories, I give up on even telling myself I don't know. I do this because I want to get my ideas out there, make them known to the public. Also, SAO is one of my favorite shows right now, so I just can't hold this in my head anymore.

I don't own SAO or Pokémon and credit goes to their original owners.

2020, 2 years before SAO's release

A young boy stood right next to his father's bed where his father was sitting. He was happy when he heard that his own father got to be a Beta tester, he couldn't believe it ether. His father was a programmer and has been known to test technology of all sorts, but when he heard he was also preparing to test the one of the most best games they might have, Sword Art Online, he couldn't be any happier.

"Hey dad, when Sword Art Online releases, can I get to play it." The boy asked his father.

"Heh, sure thing kiddo. I promise that when comes out, I'll head straight to the store to get it okay?" The man said patting his son on the head.

"Hehe! Okay, dad!" The boy said.

And with that, his father put on the Nerve Gear, activated it, laid down and looked at his son one last time seeing that smile on his face before saying… "Link Start!" Unfortunately, on that same day, something tragic happened.

*Electric burst*

"FAATTHERRRRR!"

On that same day, the power at their house went out… and the boy's father, has met with a terrible fate.

2022, SAO's release date

"Hey there, time for this week's MMO Stream! You just saw a promo of today's featured game, and this is what last week's launch date looked like. Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? Sword Art Online!" A live feed video was playing on a desktop computer as a young boy was going through some articles about the Nerve Gear, and how there were several incidents back then.

He knew one of those incidents was the one thing that destroyed his life up until now. Not only that, he also too the time to read about the creator of Sword Art Online; Akihiko Kayaba. Ever since he heard about him creating the Nerve Gear, he looked up to him and is the reason he has it today, is one of those reasons.

Not only that, he remembers that Kayaba didn't invent such an amazing technology by himself. And because he knows who helped him by testing some of the rigs for the Nerve Gear and who helped him with tweaks here and there.

"Alright, time to get going." He said as he shut off his computer then set up the rig.

Two years he's had it and has only played so many games on it. But now, that was going to change. He put on the helmet, turned on the system, and laid down on his bed. As he was about go into the virtual world, he smiled, hoping that someone was watching down on him with the same smile as well.

"Link start!"

(Entering Virtual World)

Touch: OK
Sight: OK
Hearing: OK
Taste: OK
Smell: OK

Language: Japense
Application: Sword Art Online
User: ******
Password: ******

Character Registration: Ash(M)
Use beta-test data?: Yes

Welcome to Sword Art Online

And with that, the young man had entered the virtual world. He opened his eyes and looked around, he was in a town of some sort. Not only that, but it seemed other players were logging in as well. He looked down at his hands and closed them into a fist. "It's been a while hasn't it?" He said in a different, more older voice.

His avatar was a tall man with spikey black hair (Think of Natsu from Fairy Tail but black instead of pink) and his face was very different compared to his normal one, along with the standard outfit for starting players and a standard sword at his side. "Well SAO… I'm finally here." He said as more and more people keep coming in and from that moment on, the greatest game, was now officially released to the public.

Chapter 1: World of Swords

Ash was about to start moving and looking around, until some girl appeared in front of him which he got startled by a little. "Welcome back, would you like a tutorial?" Then a box appeared in front of him.

Replay the tutorial?

Was what it said with a yes and no option on it, this girl was probably an NPC for all he knew. He never got to play the beta so, he picked yes just for an explanation on how to play. "Great, let's get started with the basics."

(About an hour and a half later)

It was a pain, but he finally managed to figure out how to do most of the stuff that would help him in the game. Ash learned about some of the basics to sword fighting and figured out how to work the menu in a little bit of time. The menu was probably the most important thing he'd need, and the way to activate it is to swipe your hand down, pretty simple.

After the whole tutorial experience, Ash decided to take a look at his characters stats from the beta account. They were pretty high, and this was impressive that he had such high stats, although they wouldn't exactly make you invincible they were amazing.

With that all settled, he decided to take a look around Floor 1's map, the Town of Beginnings. He was doing some things with the col, which was money in SAO, that he had like buying some food and even getting a different sword with more reach, though it was a little heavy. He didn't want to go crazy and spent all of his money from the beta, so he just bought simple things.

All and all, he ran past a man with dark brown spikey hair as well as catching his attention. (Think of Grey from Fairy Tail but brown instead of dark blue) He then went running into an alley way, before someone began calling out to him.

"Hey, you! Wait!" A voice shouted as he stopped and turned around to see the same guy he ran past earlier.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I saw that avatar in the livestream for the beta test. Are you a Beta-tester?" The guy asked him.

"Well, sort of. Actually, my father was a Beta-test, this is my first time in this game." The man replied.

"Oh, well, do you at least know how to play this game? People say you should have had a lady appear telling you a tutorial or something, but I never had one pop up." He asked again.

He was taken aback from hearing this but thought that it might just be a bug since the game just released. "Well, I sort of know how to fight and stuff. But if you're looking for some tips, then…" He didn't get a chance to finish as he was cut off.

"Aw, come on man. I'm not asking the impossible, I just wanna know how to play. If it makes you more comfortable, my name is Gary." The guy then told him.

He glanced at the guy now known as Gary for a second before smirking. "Okay, then you can call me Ash."

With that, they headed out into the west field to do some training, or in this case grinding. But when Gary tried to take on a Frenzy Boar, he got knocked down in seconds. Holding his guts in pain and groaning as well, Ash sighed at how bad he was at this.

"Dude, this is a video game, the pain isn't that bad." He told the noob.

"Huh? Oh, yeah right." The guy then said realizing that pain wasn't that bad in a world that can't hurt you IRL.

"You know what I said about the first move being important?" He asked.

"Easy for you to say, that thing won't stand still. It keeps moving around and stuff." The noob complained.

"Listen, you just got to hit it where it counts. If your initial motion is done right, and if you activate a sword skill at the right time…" Ash said as he picked up a rock then threw it straight at the boar knocking it on its behind. "Then you're guaranteed to hit your target." He stated as the boar got ready to charge.

"Initial motion." Gary said as he tried to figure out what it meant.

"You want an easier way to look at it?" The man stated as he drew his sword and blocked the boar coming at him. "Give it a while before attacking, and when you get the skill beginning to activate, go for it." He explained.

"Um, okay." The brown-haired guy didn't quite understand most of it, but he thought he got the idea as he got into a stance and held his sword high beginning to activate a skill.

Ash saw this and smiled before throwing the boar off him and send him charging at the noob. "Go for it!" He yelled over.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Gary shouted as he attacked the boar and completely annihilated it, as its health dropped to zero, it shattered into shards and a victory text box appeared telling how much money and EXP he got. "Wohoo! I did it!" He roared in victory.

"Good job." Ash said as he walked over to him and gave him a high-five.

"It was thanks to you." He complimented him.

"Yeah well, have you played games where slimes are enemies? That boar is as weak as them." He explained.

"Wait what? I thought that was thing was some kind of mini-boss or something." Gary said a little freaked out.

"Oh, please. These things aren't close to those. But at least you're getting the hang of it." The black-haired guy stated.

"No kidding." The noob said as he did some movements and activated his sword skill again, amazing himself.

"It is pretty addictive, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, these skills, they're awesome." The brown-haired kid stated. "Hey, are you sure you weren't in the beta test? You seem to know what you're doing." He then asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't in the beta test. I just read a bunch of articles days after my dad gave it a go." He explained.

"Hmph, well must be pretty cool that your old man allowed you to get a heads up, right?" Gary then asked him which took him aback.

He looked like he was thinking about something, as his head dropped a little with his bangs covering his eyes. When he got reminded of his dad, he remembered the incident that happened years ago.

"Huh? Hey man, are you okay?" The brown-haired guy asked concerned.

"Wha… Oh, yeah I'm good." He replied with a smile.

Then they heard the sound of someone yelling out in victory and they turned to see another beta-tester avatar from the livestream with another noob as well. "Guess you're not the only one giving tips here."

"Yeah, looks like it." They watched as the other noob did the same thing. "There's not really anything wrong with the game, but there's no magic here." He explained.

"An RPG without magic!? Whose stupid idea was that?" Gary then asked annoyed.

"Well, I guess it's so they could try something new. I don't think it was a bold decision." Ash explained.

"I don't think wasn't just not a bold decision, I think it was a completely stupid decision." The brown-haired guy said, still a little ticked.

"Well, it's still fun to say the least. Ready to move on?" The black-haired man asked.

"Hell yeah, man!"

(About hours later)

Ash and Gary seemed to have come close, this was both their first time playing SAO and they've gotten their levels at a good height. It was getting late, and there was a beautiful sunset.

"When I look all around this place, it's hard to believe this is a game." Gary stated while also feeling the grass below him. "It looks and feels so real." He said.

"Yeah, makes you feel jealous that people from the beta got to try it first, doesn't it?" Ash asked

"Yeah, well I'm more jealous because it's the first time I used the Nerve Gear." The brown-haired kid stated. "I didn't have one because of how much money they cost, so when I got more than enough I decided to buy this game with it." He explained. "Hey, how far did your old man get in the beta? I can't really remember how far he I saw that avatar go."

"Well, not very far. After floor seven, he couldn't go any further and… well, had couldn't stay there." The black-haired guy stated. "But, one thing's for sure is that I'm gonna surpass him. Cause I'm ready to go for even floors higher than that, and hope that he'll be proud by how far I've come." He told him. "And whether this is a virtual world or not, it's real to me ether way."

Gary smiled because of his little talk, but then his stomach began to growl. "Hey man, I'd love to stay and do more hunting, but I'm kind hungry right now." He told his friend.

"Yeah, too bad the food here can't fill your stomach in the real world." Ash stated.

"Nothing to worry about, I ordered delivery to come by my place around 5:00 to 5:30." The brown-haired guy stated as the son of a beta-tester just looked away. "Hey, I was gonna meet up with my friends from another game. So, I was hoping that maybe we could send you a friend request and you can join our group." He asked him.

"Well, uh…" Ash said as he looked away again.

"Alright, I'm not forcing you. Maybe some other time." He stated.

"Yeah, sure. Some other time." The black-haired guy said.

"I promise one of these days, I'll pay you back for the help… virtually, but I will." Gary said placing an arm on his shoulder. "Still thanks, for everything. Til' I see you again." He said holding out his hand.

"Until we meet again." The son of a beta-tester said shaking it.

Then Gary opened his menu and was gonna log out. But when he tried, the log out button was gone. "Hey, Ash do you have a log out button?" He asked his friend.

"Huh? You don't have one?" Ash questioned. Then he looked at his menu and found that his log out was absent as well. "That doesn't make any sense, it should be right here." He stated.

"Well, it's the first day, so. Guess there are some bugs. People have to freaking out right now." The brown-haired man said out loud.

"Yeah, well you're gonna be as well. Cause it's 5:45." The black-haired guy told him.

"You serious!?" At that point Gary tried calling the game master for help. "Come on, come on, pick up! Come on! Ash, isn't there any other way to log out, like some kind emergency log out or something?"

"… No, the only way out is through the menu."

"Are kidding me!? Fine, I'll just rip the Nerve Gear off!" Gary then grabbed his head and looked like he was trying to pull it off.

"Don't even try. Once hooked inside the game, you can't move your real-world body. The Nerve has an interface built in, so it takes commands from brain and uses them to move your virtual body."

"Arges created a virtual world to dive into, made one exit to said world, and didn't create ANY BACKUP EXIT, in case something like this happen!?"

"Well we could wait for someone to get it off us in the real world."

"Yeah, well the problem is I live with my grandfather and he's away right now."

"… Well, I live with my mother, so she should notice that when I'm not there for dinner something's up."

The two just stood there thinking of what to do now. They couldn't get out of the one game that everyone's been dying to get their hands on, not only that, one little bug like that could ruin the game's reputation for sure. What's also fishy, there wasn't an announcement that something like this would happen.

Then they were snapped from their thoughts as they heard a bell ring. Then all of the sudden they got engulfed in a bright blue light, before they knew it, they were back at the Town of Beginnings. Not just them, everyone else in SAO. Then one of the warning signs appeared in the sky catching everyone's attention as more of them filled the sky.

Then a red liquid poured out of the sky forming a floating cloaked being, freaking out some players. "Attention, players. I welcome you to my world." The being announced. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

After hearing what he said, Ash had a flashback to all the articles he read about him, some of the players couldn't believe it was him at all. "I'm sure most of you have taken notice that the logout button is absent from your menu. And I'm here to tell you, this is not a bug. This is how Sword Art Online was meant to be." Kayaba announced. Shocking almost everybody.

"Wait, is he serious?" Gary had to ask.

"There's no way for you to log yourself out of SAO. No one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear and if someone were to do so, the transmitter inside the system will emit a powerful microwave signal into your skull, ending your life by burning your brain to a crisp." He continued to explain.

By now, some of the people were freaking out, some of them just thought he was full of himself. "Okay, he's gotta be joking about that, right?" Gary asked Ash. He didn't get an answer, so he looked at him and just saw him staring at the creator. "Ash?"

"He's not… the transmitter's signals work like microwaves, if they safety were to get disabled, then you're as good as dead." He explained.

"Wait, can't people just unplug it or something?"

"No, it won't work because it also has a backup after the incidents that happened years ago." Hearing this, Gary was not having the best time.

"Despite my warnings, families and friends tried to remove the Nerve Gear. As a result, 213 have already met their fate. Being deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba explained before showing the news and proving that those players were confirmed dead. "As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. It's safe to assume the Nerve Gear is unable to be removed. Hopefully this will help you all focus on clearing the game."

Ash heard it all, he didn't want to believe it, but he knew this wasn't some joke. "Remember, there is no longer any way to revive someone, so once your heath drops to zero your avatars will vanish. And the Nerve Gear will activate its microwave signals, meaning it's game over."

Once he heard that, flinched. His heartrate increased drastically, sweat forming on his head, and his breathing becoming heavy.

"You only have one chance of escape." Kayaba stated as he showed a hologram of Aincrad. "Make your way to the 100th floor and beat Sword Art Online." He announced, causing everyone to freak out at everything he just said.

"No way, all 100 floors? Not even the beta-testers got that far." Gary said in pure shock.

"One more thing, you have all been provided with an item in your storage. See for yourselves." He said as everyone opened their storage to find a small mirror.

The moment it was taken out, everyone around began to get engulfed in the light again. And when the light died down, something felt different.

"Hey, you okay?" An unfamiliar voice asked him.

"Uh, yeah I'm o…" Then he realized that his voice changed as well.

He turned around and where Gary was standing, was a totally different person. He had the same hair color his hair was spikey, but the hair was slicked forward, and he looked so much younger now. When he looked into the mirror, his hair changed as well. It was spikey but a different style, and his face was so much younger. Not only did he look different, he looked exactly as he did in real life.

"No way… but that means…" He looked back at the kid and figured it out. "Gary?"

"Wow, no way, Ash?" The guy said as he put two and two together. "Hold on, I thought you were much older." He was shocked.

"I think I know. The Never Gear has a high-power signal device, as such it can see what I look like. But my height and body type, it can't do that." Ash stated as he wondered what was going on.

"Hold on, didn't it have some kind of calibration thing, where it asked you to touch every part of your body?" Gary asked. he was making a point, it was how it probably gets physical data. "But, why is he doing this? What's going on?" He was beginning to freak out.

"Calm down. I don't think he's done, yet."

"Right now, you all must wondering why. Why me; Akihiko Kayaba would do such a thing." Kayaba stated. "My goal was simple, to create and control the fate of world of my own design. And now, that goal has been achieved. This is the end of the tutorial and is the launch of Sword Art Online. As for the remaining players, I wish you the best of luck." He explained one last time before vaporizing into red smoke and going back up into the sky before the red disappeared.

Everyone stood there, frozen in fear. 9,787 still remained alive in the virtual world. For Ash, he didn't know what to think. After everything he just heard, everything Kayaba just said, he didn't want to believe. But he had no choice, he was trapped in a death game, and he can't convince himself that he wasn't

"FAATTHERRRRR!"

Then just like that, every began screaming, shouting, and freaking out altogether. He couldn't stay there, not any longer. He grabbed Gary's hand then began running off with him. In a good amount of time they managed to get out of the crowd and were on their way to who knows where.

"Hey, hey! Hold on!" Gary yelled as he yanked his arm away forcing them to stop. "What are you doing, where are we going?"

"Gary, I'm gonna head out to the next village on this floor and I want you to come with me." He explained.

"Wait, you want my help?" He asked confused.

"Well, if what he said is true, the only way we're gonna survive is to get as strong as we can." Ash explained as he opened a menu of a map. "In MMORPG, the money and EXP you can earn is limited. Once the game starts up there's only so much to go around. Pretty soon, the fields around the Town of Beginnings will be wiped clean, so heading to the village now will allow us to have an easier time grinding." He explained.

"Yeah, thanks but… remember when I said I was gonna meet up with some friends earlier? Well, they're all probably still back at the plaza. I can't leave them behind." Gary told him.

The black-haired boy just stood there looking upset, he couldn't bring his more than one people to die for him, if it was just Gary it'd be okay but a whole guild... "… I understand. I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Don't worry about it, I was in a guild in the last game I played. Plus, with everything I've learned so far we shouldn't have a problem." The brown-haired boy told him.

"I see… well in that case, I'll be on my way."

"Wait, Ash… You look better like this." The brown-haired boy said to him. "That spikey hair goes better with you than your avatar."

Ash just stared at him before saying… "Yeah well, that look fits you as well." He said to him before taking off.

(Ash's P.O.V.)

As I was running ahead, I stopped for a second before turning back to see that Gary was gone. I flinched for a second… a somewhat tear forming in my eye as I just took off and headed down the trail to the next village. I wasn't gonna let this game beat me… no matter what, I will survive and get back to the real world.

(AmaLee/SAO: Crossing Field)

I was never right,

For the hero type of role,

I admit it.

With my heart,

Shivering in fear,

I can see today's reflected

In each past tear.

Even so,

It has been calling

The heavens, to me,

But I cannot hide

All the emptiness inside

My fleeting heart.

Once in my dreams

I rose and soared!

No matter

How I'm knocked, around,

Or beaten down,

I will stand up

Restored!

All of my love

Has yet to wake,

I know your strength

Is what, I lack,

You've got, my back,

And now that I've got yours!

I have you to thank for lighting up the dark,

Because you're here with me

Our dreams will soar free

Forever!

I wanna always be with you,

I give you everything I have!

In case you're wondering if there's gonna be a pairing there is… KiritoxAsuna.
I know, I know, but if you want an actual pairing with Ash, take a guess as to who it is. I announced that Kirito was going to be with Asuna, because come on, you seriously think I'm okay with putting Asuna with anyone else? I mean I guess Sachi would work with Kirito, but I can't put anyone else with Asuna.
I know my challenge is to prove I can pair Ash with any girl, but Asuna can't be one of those girls. There're four other girls in the SAO series, who do you think is gonna be with Ash?