Greetings, everyone. This is the third fanfiction that I will add here. This story is already hinted in one of my first stories here - Starlight, Starbright. Unlike other stories in which the Other Characters either join Ash and company or have adventures of their own, this one has my OC being part of Ash's pokemon team. You will understand what I mean at the end of this chapter.

For those who read Flight of the Intruders, this is actually a divergence from that story in which William did not end up in the Vandread universe with Wing Zero, but ended up in the Pokemon world instead.

Thus I ask that you read and enjoy the prolouge of this tale entitled...


Prologue – This Ain't Kansas Anymore, Toto

Light Rail Transit – Central Station, Manila – 7:35 AM, November 26, 1994

"Dammit, I'm late."

A black-haired young man of eighteen years was just getting out (more like he was pushing his way out of) the elevated rail transit car that he had ridden on his way to his 7:30 AM Analytic Geometry class in MIT.

The said college is located in nearby Intramuros, a good thirty-minute trek from the station.

The young man had either snaked past or roughly shoved his fellow riders out of his path on his way towards the concrete steps on the other side of the elevated station's side going down.

After running down the stairs, his quickened steps startling the other people going the same way as he, the said young man also snaked past the aluminum bar type revolving door exit.

All of this was done because he was trying to make it to his first class in only fifteen minutes.

As fate would have it, a sudden earthquake registering an eight in the Richter scale had rocked the whole city.

Nearby buildings were shaken with some windows being broken through while nearby trees shook off their leafy covers.

A crack, big enough for a full-grown man to fall through, had opened in the concrete sidewalk, just meters away from the LRT station.

It just his bad luck that our hero was just skidding to a halt right at edge of the gaping void.

Our hero had vainly tried to hang onto anything strong enough to keep him upright and in one place.

The sudden vibrations of the immediate aftershock had pushed the already unsteady young man into the hole and he had disappeared in the darkness of the abyss.

-oOo-

After what seemed to be ages, the young man had woken up from his dreamless sleep.

Having been through what he could only describe as forces akin to a tornado that not only sucked him in but seemed to be throwing him in random directions, William was lucky to have only fallen unconscious.

After opening his eyes, William had noticed something strange. Firstly, he was in an open grassy field with snow-capped mountains in the horizon.

Secondly, he had noticed that something that looked like a cross between a plant and a lizard seemed to be looking back at him.

"Are you alright?" The said creature said in worry. "We were worried when you suddenly showed up in the sky last night? Luckily, Snorlax was able to catch you before you hit the ground."

"Yeah, I'm ok." William answered as he had tried to move his hands to wipe the dirt off his face, only to belatedly realize that something else moved instead.

Our hero had seen what had moved instead of his hands and immediately panicked.

A very loud neighing was heard a moment later. When Professor Oak and his assistants had arrived eight minutes later, they had seen a ponyta that was knocked out through Sleep Powder.

"Oh, what seemed to have happened here?" The experienced pokemon scholar was saying as he had rubbed his square and wrinkled chin. "You don't suppose that this ponyta had gone berserk earlier as I don't think that bulbasaur would have even tried to battle it."

"I'm not so sure," one of the assistants said while scratching his head. "There seems to be no indication of a battle and that bulbasaur is still alright, no burns or scratches."

"I agree with Dirk here, Professor." The other assistant said as he had knelt down beside the downed pokemon before looking at the smaller one that just walked away. "It's best that we give 'im a place to call home in the meantime until he's ready to be released."

A good distance from the congregating humans, the bulbasaur said to himself. "Strange, that ponyta seemed to go crazy upon seeing his hoof. I wonder why."

-oOo-

The following day, William was starting to let his instincts guide him on how to walk, eat and use his special abilities in his new form.

The first ability that the former human had learned was Tackle, a normal type move according to the other pokemon in the ranch. Following his new friends' advice, William then used Tackle many times on old tree trunks in order to master it.

At first, the pokemon in what William had learned to be Professor Samuel Oak's ranch could not believe that their new neighbor was once a human. William himself could not believe that he now looked like a small white horse with a fiery mane and tail with some flames coming from the back of his hooves.

They did hear rumors of pokemon in other dimensions afforded by the pokeballs that go on adventures in what they call Mystery Dungeons with a pokemon or two also being found out to be former humans as well.

As such, William was asked about humans including how they eat, why they need such furs (clothes) and other things.

The former human had answered as much as he could, but he was still as lost as they were when it came to potions, antidotes, and pokedexes.

William did try to use terms that were used on Earth when it came to the medicines and such and explained as much as he could.

The former human was glad that leaves and berries could also be used to heal wounds and such since they could also be done back home. He was doubly glad most berries could be eaten too as he could not eat human food at all in his present form or at least he thought he could not.

"I'm impressed, young one." An older rapidash said as he had witnessed the barren tree that William was presently training on to fall down on the grass and vine littered soil after it was bumped by the ponyta's tough head at a trot. "You finally managed to bring down that tree with your perseverance and patience."

"Thank you, Wise One." William said in reply with a slight bow and some shaking of his head to rid himself of the pain and slight dizziness. "I'm just glad that I did manage to bring it down that time. I still need to build up myself better to actually do decent damage."

"Oh," the old rapidash said in surprise. "And how would you know?"

"One of those tauroses had tested me by hitting him on the side with a Tackle," the ponyta said with a slight brush as he finally sat down. "I did and he said that in a real battle with a ratata, I would barely win in a contest of tackles."

"I wouldn't say that your tackle attack is weak, my boy."

"And why do you say that, Wise One."

"Ratatas regularly train by doing the same thing you do…" the wizened unicorn like pokemon said. "They only use trunks of younger trees to thicken their head or shoulder muscles as Tackle is one of their main moves to either knock out their prey or daze a larger predator to escape."

"Oh."

"Still, I could have one of my friends assist you in improving your tackle."

"Really?" the ponyta's eyes had widened as he heard the spoken promise. "Thank you."

"Just be in the field next to the lake tomorrow morning," the old timer said with spirited neigh. "Oh, I'm sure that you would learn Growl next."

"What's Growl and how did you know?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out, young 'un." The veteran pokemon said as he had trotted away.

After doing some more training that left even more dents to the stripped old tree trunks beside the one that fell down, William had gone back to his lair and lay down.

He was too tired to eat the tin full of pokechow that he had grown to love for the past two weeks.

-oOo-

The next day, he was awakened by none other than a boy who wanted to meet him after hearing about his exploits from the good professor.

The boy was a natural blabbermouth with a dream. William was very careful on not speaking a word as he had learned not to do so the hard way not too long ago involving a certain assistant who gave him some pokechow.

The boy, who William had learned to be named Ashton Ketchum, was actually a nice kid if a bit too opinionated about pokemon and battles.

Not that the out-worlder would have wished that Ash should get out more, but rather he should also think about things other than pokemon.

Even then, Ash would be considered as a pokemon's best friend as William had found out himself as the boy was carefully combing his white barrel with his bare hands.

"You know, you're the first ponyta I've seen with such a serious attitude about training." The raven haired nine-year old (soon to be ten in two and half months' time) said with awe. "It makes me wanna be just as serious as a trainer."

The ponyta had only nodded his head as if he could understand the human boy sitting next to him and leaning on his exposed off-side. Inwardly, he was slightly impressed with the boy in keeping his dream alive by doing what is required to achieve it.

"Still, I'm not sure if I could ever be a Pokemon Master." The boy said as he had absentmindedly rubbed the band-aid on his left arm, a result of tripping on a vine while enthusiastically running after a scared ratata, a half hour earlier. "I mean, the former Pokemon Master had left for parts unknown, probably Mount Silver."

The fiery pokemon only looked at his companion with knit eyes as if perplexed at the given statement. In truth, that is exactly what William was feeling at the moment even though he should not translate his feeling into words…yet.

"I know what you're thinking," Ash said with a sigh and a head that was now leaning towards the ground. "Being a Pokemon Master is every kid's dream and here I am saying that I may not be one."

Seeing the slow nod from the still standing pokemon, Ash then continued. "I wish I knew what was going on in Master Red's mind when he left all of us in the lurch and left Dragon Master Lance to take over the Kanto Champion role for the time being since it was his role once he was dethroned by Master Gold who was the Johto champ before becoming master after defeating the other regional champs then Red. I was only five at the time and it nearly made me quit my dream, but I now think that if I am the Pokemon Master, I'll be a much better Master than he was."

A more discernible nod was seen in the fire horse pokemon, before he nudged his nuzzle on the boy's face.

Ash was giggling as he tried to push the white nuzzle off his cheeks. "Stop it, William."

Upon hearing his name, the ponyta immediately stopped nuzzling and moved his head back closer to the ground, his eyes wide the whole time.

"Professor Oak gave me that name as it was the one that you always respond to," Ash said with a slight grin. "Personally, I'd go with Sea Biscuit but William seems to be more suited for you. Mom once told me that William is a noble name and it fits your noble character."

A slight nickering was heard from the pokemon as he was glad that he was not called Sea Biscuit. A good rear kick in the head would convince anyone not to call him that, for sure.

"Maybe if I could have a second pokemon as a starter, I would have wanted it to be you, boy." Ash was trying to keep the blood from reaching his cheeks once he said so.

The same could be said for the ponyta who was lucky that his white fur could hide his own blush. William had neighed gently in response, a sign of his being glad to be hearing such words.

"Maybe I could get Mom to keep you as she sure is lonely since Dad had gone overseas years ago," the lad was now talking to himself with a faraway look in his eyes and his fists supporting his chin. "Then again, our house is too small for a free spirit like you and Mom would hate you eating the vegetables in our garden even if I don't mind."

Both human and pokemon had shared a laugh in their own way, a couple of kindred spirits that fate had brought together with more of them waiting in the wings of the future.

Ash had stayed for an hour more, telling his adventures and misadventures that he could not tell his own mother – Delia Ketchum for fear of getting scolded or worse, being spanked in the backside.

After both had noticed the setting sun, Ash had stood up and dusted himself off. "I'll see you tomorrow, William. Maybe I'll study some more about pokemon while you train even harder, alright?"

William had responded with a high-pitched neigh as if telling the lad – "Yeah".

The now gladdened ponyta then accepted his portion of high grade pokechow before licking his water trough clean. He then planned his activities for the next day as his mind was beginning to form something about growling cutely.

-oOo-

The next day, William had walked to the small meadow that was bounded by the lake and a small forest. Waiting for him was one of the biggest Snorlax that he had ever seen.

The big blue pokemon had also seen him and waved his right paw as if telling the young ponyta to come to him. William had done so before stopping about a meter away and craned his head as high as he could.

"Hello, young ponyta." The Sleeping Pokemon said as he sat down, his voice rumbled like tuba. "My friend had asked me to further your training in the normal move - Tackle, am I correct?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Well then, come here, Tauros." The blue bear like pokemon said with a louder voice to his right, his left paw waving for someone to come.

The bull like pokemon had emerged from the forest after clearing a path through it, literally. Trees, young or old, could not stand up to the four-legged bulldozer that brought them down with its horns.

"Yes, old friend." The Tauros said while shaking away the bark and branches that were caught up in its horns. "Where's the calf that is much more level headed than his fellow calves."

"T-that would be me, Sir." William said with his head a little low.

"Ah, a ponyta that likes to prove himself rather than wasting his youthful energy on frivolous things." Tauros was saying as he had walked around the anxious ponyta as if studying him. "Good, good. His whole body seemed to be ready for the rigorous training ahead of him and I think his mind is just as ready."

After returning to his default position, Snorlax then asked the grizzled wild bull pokemon. "So, is he ready for the world outside?"

"No," the veteran tauros said with a shake of his head. "He still needs to strengthen his body and mind even more as well as learning some more attacks as the pokemon outside has two to three move sets in their arsenal already. Putting this calf out there this soon is tantamount to homicide."

"I'll try to get better, Sir." A small voice was heard from the ponyta whose head was still down. "One day, I may have to be sent out either to be free or at least help out in the local community."

"It's not your fault, William." Tauros said with a grunt, as he had turned to the youngster pokemon. "The world just works that way. Even then, your attitude towards training is actually admirable to other youngsters within the ranch."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Just drop the Sir and call me Tauros," Tauros said with a bit of a grin somewhat discernible in his face. "I'll train you to the point that tackle would be as natural to you as breathing. So, let's get started."

"Yes, Mr. Tauros."

"I like you already, Calf."

-oOo-

An hour later, William had galloped at full speed towards a dirty white sack of soil that was tied to a large boulder that was partly submerged to the ground.

Rather than his head, Tauros had told him to use his shoulders to slam the already beaten sack's front as hard as he could. William did so and he did not get as dizzy as he did before, and could even see the target clearly before impact.

His scapula did hurt though and the ponyta had trouble breathing the first few times thus the requirement to have longer breaks.

"Again," Tauros was a bit concerned with his charge, but he kept his voice and expression gruff. "Most ponyta had stopped using Tackle upon learning Ember because they were babies and stupid. You, on the other hand, use your noggin', there's a difference."

"Yes," William said as he had slowly walked back to the starting point, his breathing had gone back to normal. He then charged towards his target, his legs bent and his head also lowered as the ponyta had gone from standing still to a full gallop in just five seconds.

Other than pokemon cries in the distance, only the numerous thumps made by the ponyta's hooves hitting the dirt was heard.

The sack had crumpled inwardly a few centimeters further at the point of impact while the ponyta had bounced slightly at the recoil of its own attack, making him skid back a quarter of a meter before he had gotten his hooves to gain traction and thus gain his balance.

"Better," the Tauros had noted with a slight grin that had managed to escape his gruff expression. "Again."

With a sigh to banish the pain from his shoulders, William had slowly turned around and walked back to his starting position.

He did mutter some profanities in human language that an unexpected visitor had nearly heard from his hiding place in a nearby bush.

Tauros had briefly seen Ash sneak up behind him and hide within the bush near the boulder that William was practicing, but could not do anything that would not disrupt the session.

Ash had remained in the bush, as quiet as he could be while watching the ponyta stare at the sack five meters in front of him before charging once again.

As before, the ponyta's chest had collided with the sack with the said pokemon again bouncing off from the sack only to get his bearings and balance back nearly instantly.

The only difference was the sack's inward crumpling was much deeper and some holes had sprouted through the sack's fiber threads with soil sliding out of it.

"Much better," Tauros said; his battle to keep his face stoic was beginning to show signs of defeat. "Again."

Unlike the previous times, William had smiled as he walked back to his starting position. He was finally beginning to show improvement in his training to which he was proud of.

The ponyta had repeated the process a good twenty times before the older pokemon had stopped him.

"That's enough, William." Tauros said upon seeing the panting young pokemon. "We will do this again tomorrow. Come back here when the sun is already up."

"Yes, Mr. Tauros." The ponyta replied with a nod before heading back to his den. Ash had followed him as quietly as he could even though William's sharp hearing was enough to alert him of the trailing human boy.

-oOo-

After arriving at his den, William had simply waited until his human friend had arrived. Ash did, his mouth had been kept open in shock at his earlier discovery.

"Keep it closed unless you want flies to get in," the ponyta said in his real language.

"Y-you, you can talk." Ash finally stammered out after closing his mouth. "All this time, you never told me. What are you, really?"

"First things first, shut up and sit down." William said in reply as he remained standing despite being tired from all that training earlier. "I was actually born a human from another world called Earth but due to something that I still could not understand, I had become what I am today."

"So, you had understood what I said perfectly," the boy had suddenly interrupted after sitting down. Only a tired nod was his answer as William thought it would be better to lie down instead.

Ash had become silent for a few minutes before adding. "Could you tell me how it happened?"

Seeing that he did not have much of a choice and that he trusted Ash, William then told his story that he also told to Professor Oak and some of his assistants before.

After finishing his short story, the ponyta then waited for Ash's reaction. He was not disappointed when he saw a variety of emotion from Ash's face and body language – from disbelief to acceptance.

"I think it would be better if you remain here," the boy finally said with a tone of regret and determination. "If you were to be caught by bad trainers or outlaws, it would be bad for you."

"I know, but this ranch would not change things if there are organized crime organizations that would know of my ability to speak human."

"Maybe I could get you to join me so that I could at least protect you," Ash then said with even more determination to protect his new friend. "Besides, I actually need someone to talk to besides my starter and you could actually talk back."

"Well, I could actually play translator as I could also understand pokemon language." William then said after a moment. "But would your mother mind if I go with you?"

"I don't know."

Both pokemon and human then talked about other things before Ash had to go home.

-oOo-

For the next week, William had gotten much better in using Tackle. He was even able to crack the rock behind the sack after Ash had helped the assistant remove the busted sack for it to be replaced by another.

By the end of the week, the sack had again burst at the impact with soil flying and even hitting the rapidly backing up ponyta and falling down to the ground.

The rock behind it had also split in two at the force as a sort of energy shield had developed from ponyta's shoulders to protect it from the backlash.

Tauros had explained that pokemon moves require a strong mind along with a strong body. It is said that a pokemon could actually emit energy that is classified as either Aura or Psychic, but only temporary and it is not even controllable.

Seeing the energy shield emerging was enough proof that William had fully mastered Tackle and was now ready for his next move – Growl.

This time, Tauros had gotten a machop and an Ivysaur to make a net full of leaves that was suspended on a thick tree branch about the ponyta's height where he was to train the young ponyta.

It was also beneficial to the soon to be trainer who was shuttling between reading notes and books about pokemon and cheering his friend.

Even Delia was there as she was bored with doing household chores along with work in the restaurant and having being told on how William was special had also watched the ponyta's training methods.

Unlike before, William was instructed to unleash a Growl strong enough to lift the large net a few feet by making it swing up.

The ponyta's first attempt looked more like a cute growl that girls would fawn over and actually suffocate the poor pokemon through their tight hugs.

It actually worked with Delia doing the hugging with the rest either slapping their legs or rolling around the ground in laughter. The ponyta himself was frozen in shock at the intensity of the hug as well as how embarrassed he was at the time.

After Delia had let go and returned slowly to the log where she and her son sat, William had tried again with the same results. The ponyta had tried it five times before the desired effect – a low pitched growl that had emitted sound waves powerful enough to move the net a few centimeters away.

The humans were amazed at the attack with William feeling relieved that he was not hugged anymore.

"Good, you're finally able to make a good attempt." Tauros said with relief. "Again."

William had gotten a break around lunch time while the Ketchum family had gone home for lunch with the assistant giving him his large bowl of pokechow.

For the rest of the afternoon, William had tried again and again with little to no change in movement in the net.

At first, the ponyta was disappointed but he was told by his mentors that being able to move the net a few centimeters were already progress. William had slept with the thought that he would perfect the move in the next few weeks.

-oOo-

Professor Samuel Oak had found himself in a conundrum. He had divulged his knowledge about William Zapanta to his fellow professors around the world even as far as Galar and had asked for their opinions. He did learn of a second ponyta (a female) that was the same as William but she was safe in the Laramie Big P ranch for the moment.

Their opinions were as varied as the regions they lived in, professors Elm and Rowan had asked that William (and the second poyta as well) be kept in a lab and examined to determine exactly what made them special.

Others like Professors Ivy and Juniper had disagreed and said that it would be better to let William join a trainer and have them report in occasionally as did Magnolia. Professor Juniper Sr. had agreed along with his daughter in which research in the field is much better than in the lab. Sycamore had sat on the fence, but later changed his mind and agreed with Ivy and the Junipers.

Professor Birch had also agreed with the Junipers as a lab could only gain so much knowledge compared to the field as did Kukui.

With that settled, Samuel would give William either to his grandson – Gary or the child of his famous friend – Ash.

-oOo-

Professor Oak was not the only one who had gotten interested in the ponytas. A certain group of thieves were also interested based on long range observations from nearby forests.

Their spies had gotten some scuttlebutt about a certain pokemon that trained his body with little to no human supervision and was actually getting stronger with each passing week along with another that while having human supervision was rumored to speak like a human.

Their head only known as Giovanni Patriachi had suspected that the ponytas' arrival had coincided with a flux on the space-time continuum that was usually reserved to the entrance of the cosmic trio – Dialga, Palkia, and Gratina.

Giovanni had told his spies to continue their surveillance, but this time it was to be more active than passive. He thought that the second ponyta was not as impressive as the first one in terms of her entrance and thus was given a lower priority.

To him, a ponyta that acts differently from other ponyta and may even speak the human language was nothing compared to the ongoing project he had his top scientists were working on but it would be intriguing enough for another project.

"Report to me any progress on the subject," the head of Team Rocket was telling the admin in charge of the surveillance. "If he is as rumors would make him out to be, we may have another potential project in our future. Also, keep Magma and Galaxy out of the loop as we don't need their meddling here in Kanto."

"Yes, Boss." The admin replied with a salute. "Petrel out."

Giovanni then turned off the communicator as its screen blinked out while it was slowly rotated downwards.

With a hand on his precious persian's head, the brunette head honcho then said to himself. "Hmm, we may have to thank the legendaries in bringing us an alien that would be of use to us."

Persian only purred in response, himself intrigued by the image of the ponyta practicing his growl attack on a suspended net full of leaves.

-oOo-

Going back to our friendly neighborhood ponyta, William was actually slowly but surely pushing the leaf laden net made up of vines farther up and away from him.

Of course, it was doing a number on his vocal cords and lungs thus he had to breathe deeply after each attempt and that he could barely speak after the training for the day was over.

But after a week of hard training, the ponyta had finally managed to push the net up a meter in the air. With a grin, William finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At least until Tauros had told him. "Good, you finally managed to make enough force to move the net full of leaves. Now you will do it again with the net filled with leaves and branches."

With his head laid low, William then began to repeat the process once again. This time, he would have to up the ante on his Growl attack.

It took him another week to get the net to rise up by a meter again. This time, everyone was actually seeing the difference from before – William was now able to speak a little clearer and louder than before.

"That could only be attributed to William's developing vocal chords as he continued to master his attack," Tauros said in explanation to the puzzled humans who had to close their ears at the low rumble of William's newly mastered attack with the said ponyta translating it for them. "I was thinking of adding stones in the net to develop his attack further, but I think that would be pushing it."

"I agree," Delia answered to her son's shock after it was translated for their benefit. As for the rest (except for William obviously), they had remembered a younger Delia training her pokemon in this very field years ago.

William had simply neighed in happiness upon the given break; he would improve upon his attack much later when he gets much stronger. In the meantime, he had felt something twitch in his hind quarters while training to improve his Growl attack.

Snorlax then told him that the attack – Tail Whip was now ready for use. The ponyta then swished his fiery tail only to be hugged tightly once again by a certain woman just because it was too cute. William could only sigh that was mirrored by Delia as the former had sighed in defeat and the latter in bliss.

As for the rest, they were once again rolling on the ground in laughter, poor William.

Sometime in the afternoon, William was once again called by Tauros to do another training exercise. This time, the ponyta was to use his Tail Whip on a boulder almost as tall as he was and break it.

For the ponyta in question, he thought that it would not be as painful as the other training sessions and thus later regretted it as he had felt the pain from swatting his fiery tail at the rock thirty times in only an hour with only chipped rock and a cracked boulder surface to show.

After a brief rest, William had tried again with nary a difference in damage potential. It was then that the training was halted for another day.

-oOo-

Meanwhile in yet another space and time, three huge pokemon were talking about two certain visitors that were transformed into a pokemon.

"Lord Arceus, was the changing of that boy's fate really necessary?" A white dinosaur like pokemon was telling with his head down and currently genuflecting. "In doing so, did we not sacrifice precious lives in the process?"

The white horse like pokemon simply answered. "I understand what you are thinking, Palkia. But it is also their fate that they have to suffer and die in such consequences."

"My lord, my brother is right." The black sauropod–like pokemon was saying with some difficulty as he too was kneeling on one knee. "For once, that is."

Ignoring the glare from Palkia, the said pokemon then continued. "My lord, did we not cause yet another paradox in the other dimensions by bringing the boy here?"

"That is true…" Arceus said quietly. "Even then, paradoxes are always confined to one universe and rarely disrupt another. In this case, we need him to help the Chosen One as Lugia would put it to prepare for his later role. At the moment, without a father figure to guide him, the Chosen One is lacking in purpose even with his mother's best efforts."

"I understand, my lord." Both dragons replied at the same time. "It would be of great help to him and to our other guest who had come here without our assistance."

A portal had opened on the wall behind the dinosaur like pokemon overlapping two pillars with a third of their kind emerging from it.

Before the three enormous pokemon would react, the third had transformed to its Altered form then knelt down on its six legs and also placed its head on the floor.

"Lord Arceus, please do not attack as I come in peace."

"Well then, Gratina." The Original Pokemon said with a nod to his two subordinates. "Speak."

"My lord, I had brought the young woman here as she was lost in limbo between life and death and had wound up in the Reverse World." Gratina said with a slight rise of his head. "She was feeling sorrow for her past sins and was hoping that she would be reborn with a new purpose and if possible, a new mate that would accept her for what she is. The young man that you had brought here and who is fated to become her mate in another universe would suffice for her wishes upon their meeting here in the future."

"Then so be it," Arceus said with a nod. "You may return to your realm in peace."

"Thank you, my lord." With that said, Gratina had left the Hall of Origins in the same way he came in (by making a whirlwind emitted from his mouth onto the wall opening the portal leading to the Reverse World's entrance) then transforming to his Origin Forme once he was inside the Reverse World, his home.

Both the Spatial Pokemon and Temporal Pokemon had their mouths open at the actions of the third pokemon of their trinity as they would call it.

"This is weird," Dialga told his brother in a near whisper. "Gratina had helped a human cross over to our world, just because he pities her."

"Stranger things had happened recently," Palkia answered in the same manner. "The world has become peaceful after its last conflict and the beasts and titans are not fighting each other either."

"Yes, but we still need the Chosen One and his companions to pacify them when they do turn on each other along with ourselves if it comes to that." Arceus then told both his subordinates. "For now, it is best to leave them alone until it is time for us to intervene."

"Yes, my lord." Both Dialga and Palkia said before leaving for their own pocket dimensions leaving Arceus alone for the time being.

"Yes, in order to save this world, another one has to be sacrificed." The Original One said to himself before returning to his own place of rest. "Such is fate, such is destiny."

-oOo-

Back in the Oak Ranch, William had shivered at the rouge breeze that had passed him and nearly sneezed as well. The same could be said for Ash thus his mother had asked if her only boy would need a sweater.

After getting his bearings and concentration back, the ponyta then continued his training at improving his Tail Whip attack.

Somewhere in the Laramie Ranch, another ponyta had sneezed before continuing to practice her routines for the practice races later in the week. She was also taught by her trainer on how to use her attacks (including new ones brought about by using Technical Machines and Technical Records) effectively to which she was grateful to along with a rapidash that served as her older brother of sorts.

A group of people had sneezed as well with some as far as Sinnoh or as near as the Oak laboratory with all of them either wondering or just giving a half-hearted explanation as to why they had sneezed.

It had taken yet another week before William had finally mastered the move - Tail Whip with the boulder now broken in two by the said attack.

Seeing that he had mastered three of the basic attacks that a ponyta could learn early on, William then spent the rest of the weeks in mock battles against various pokemon from the newbies such as caterpie to a highly experienced Pidgeot.

This in turn, had taught the ponyta on how to defend himself from various enemies of different types and even different tactics. William did not want to start fights, but he would be more than happy to end them.

The humans composed of Ash, his mother, the Professor, and his assistants were also learning a lot about battles as well.

By the time Ash and his fellow trainers were ready for their pokemon journey, William was now told by Professor Oak to join either his grandson or Ash. Of course, Ash also visited William after sneaking out of his own birthday party to spend some time with him with the fire horse also greeting him a happy birthday in the late afternoon after Oak had left William alone.

"Well, not to be disrespectful Professor but…" William was saying as he stood up from the ground of his home. "I don't think Gary would need a pokemon for transportation."

"And that you also don't want to be hugged and prodded by cheerleaders, right?" The experienced professor replied with a short laugh.

"That too."

"Well then, my boy." Samuel said with a slap on the ponyta's back. "Ash would be more than happy to have you as his guardian."

"I thought I'll be his pokemon?" William's ears had twitched at the thought of him getting the young raven-haired boy in line through his voice and facial expressions.

"Officially, you will be his second pokemon but in truth, you will be his guardian."

"Gee thanks, Prof."

"You're welcome, William." Oak said before walking back to his lab. "You're already a big brother to him anyway."

-oOo-

At around ten in the next morning, our favorite ponyta was standing in front of the Ketchum house surrounded by its occupants.

"Isn't that Pikachu cute?" Delia was cooing over the starter pokemon that Ash had ended up with. "Yes, you are. Oh yes, you are."

The young man was still in his green pajamas and slippers, a little muddied after a futile battle with Gary's Squirtle.

The look on Ash's face was priceless as a perfect example of mortification and William did wish he was human again and that he had a camera to capture the moment for posterity and maybe a bit of blackmail as well.

Pikachu had first hated the attention, but quickly fell prey to Delia's charms. William himself had kept a straight face at the scene before him, thanking the deities above that Mrs. Ketchum would not be with them for the whole journey, given how she acts around Pikachu.

"Mom, would you please let me through." Ash said with pleading eyes. "You could cuddle with Pikachu if you want."

"Of course, dear."

Ash then went around his mother for a quick bath and a change of clothes. By the time he had returned, Ash was ready to go on his adventure...after they had lunch, that is.


Like I warned, the divergence from canon is already starting, albeit slowly. Like the other chapters/stories that I have posted earlier, the next chapter would have to wait until I had posted the remaining chapters/stories. In it, Ash would be meeting new friends and enemies while slowly exploring the world outside of Pallet town. It would be a wild ride for sure.

But first, I have to post the final story out of the four for this year in which high school students fight other high school students with tanks. At least, it isn't card games on motorcycles. See you next month.