Indigo Episode 2: To Viridian and Beyond
Ash marched down Route 1, Pikachu perched on his shoulder, holding on to the straps of his backpack.
"Man, I can feel the memories coming back!" Ash remarked as he spotted the Pidgey that had escaped from him in the original timeline, "Maybe I'll actually be able to catch that Rattata this time."
"Pika?"
"I'm going to try and catch Pidgeotto in Viridian Forest," Ash reminded his partner, "We're going to want a diverse team if we're going to stop Eternal."
He placed his bag on the ground near a tree and crossed his arms.
"Although I can't help but wonder what Serena is doing here," Ash remarked as he wracked his memory.
In his memories of the future that once could have been, he met with Serena later that year, during his Journey into Kalos. While he could recall the Summer Camp where the first met in that timeline, he couldn't remember meeting Serena at that point.
In his memories of the new timeline, he could clearly recall meeting Serena in the Summer Camp. He could remember seeing his and Serena's mothers chatting amicably when the Summer Camp ended, and the two becoming pen pals.
He remembered a trip to Kalos he had not taken in the original timeline, and various meetings he and Serena had while growing up.
"Okay, this is weird," Ash remarked as a Rattata approached his bag, "Hey, Pikachu, anything weird going on with your memory?"
"Ka? Pi…" Pikachu crossed his arms and closed his eyes, ears twitching occasionally as the Rattata stuck its head in the bag.
"Guess the time travel didn't affect your past as much as it did mine," Ash remarked, "Ah well. Mind using Thundershock on that Rattata for me?"
"Ra?"
"CHUUUU!"
The Mouse Pokémon jumped away from the bag as the Thundershock hit the ground where it had been standing.
"Quick! Try an Electroweb to keep it from escaping!"
"Pika…" Pikachu jumped into the air, gathering electricity into a sphere at the tip of his tail. The sphere sputtered, smoked, and pulsated. "Chu?"
BOOM!
Bits and pieces of the electroweb flew off in various directions as Rattata scurried into the grass, one hitting an avian silhouette.
"SPEAGH!"
"Pikachu!" Ash called, unaware of the simmering rage of the nearby bird, "Are you okay?"
Pikachu shook his daze off.
"Pikapi!" the Electric Mouse declared with a thumb's up.
Ash let out a sigh of relief.
Then he took a Wing Attack to the back of the head.
Dawn sighed as she walked out to Lake Verity, her mother's Umbreon following closely behind her.
"I guess this is my new normal now," the future Coordinator remarked as she sat down at the shore of the lake, "This wasn't anywhere near as nervewracking or disheartening the first time around."
That's because you didn't know what was missing, a voice inside her whispered.
Dawn thought back to her journey, of the places she went, the friends she made, and the Pokémon who had traveled alongside her.
"I don't know where Piplup is, Ambipom won't remember me," Dawn noted, "Cyndaquill doesn't even exist yet! Z-Zoey…"
Dawn thought of her rival, and the bond that had grown between them since the Grand Festival. The bond that had been wiped from history in a single moment.
"They're… They're all gone," she realized, tears rolling down her cheeks, "What am I going to even do?"
The child hugged her legs to her chest, curled in on herself, and sobbed as the aching in her heart grew too large for her to ignore.
Dry your tears, child of Twinleaf, a voice whispered to Dawn's mind, All will be well.
"Huh?" Dawn's head tipped upwards as a shimmering; transparent shape floated over the surface.
We have much to discuss, the shape broadcasted to Dawn's mind, And now that we're in the past, there's no real urgency.
Ash ducked under another Wing Attack as Spearow divebombed him.
"Pikachu! A little help here!"
Pikachu used Thunderbolt.
Spearow drifted out of the way, leading to Ash getting zapped instead.
"… Okay that tears it," Ash decided, "Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!"
"Chuuu-Pi-Ka!"
CLANG!
Pikachu was unable to lift his metallic tail, leading to said tail embedding itself in the ground.
"… Chu," Pikachu cursed.
Spearow used Aerial Ace, knocking Pikachu off the ground.
"Pikachu! Hang on!" Ash called as Pikachu's tail demetalized. He dashed up to Pikachu and grabbed his forepaws as the wild Spearow circled back for another hit. "Use Iron Tail again! I think I have an idea!"
"Pika!" Pikachu affirmed, before using Iron Tail a second time.
The Spearow's Aerial Ace drew closer.
Ash grunted as he lifted his partner off the ground.
"Take this!" he spun around and swung his partner at Spearow's head.
CLANG!
The Iron Tail collided with the side of Spearow's head, knocking the Tiny Bird Pokémon off course.
Thud!
Spearow hit the tree, leaving it to stumble across the ground in a daze.
"Now! Thunderbolt!"
"PikaCHUUUU!"
Pikachu released a powerful bolt of electricity, blasting Spearow before it could recover.
Ash grinned as he unclipped a Poké Ball from his belt and clicked the button to expand it.
"Now! Poké Ball, GO!"
The Poké Ball collided with the slightly crispy Tiny Bird Pokémon and opened up, drawing it in.
It hit the ground and the button flashed red.
It wiggled once.
Twice.
Three times.
Click!
Spearow was caught.
The time-displaced Pokémon Trainer grinned as he walked up to and picked up the Poké Ball.
"Yes!" he declared as he held up the Poké Ball, "I caught a Spearow!"
"Pi-Pikachu!"
"Spear!" the hundreds of voices of the Spearow flock chorused.
Ash paled.
"Uh oh, we caught the boss!"
"Pika…"
The flock surrounded the duo, each individual Spearow circling them in different routes.
Then, one of them used Gust, and all hell broke loose.
Brock stepped out of the dining room as soon as the last of his younger siblings was seated and eating.
"I almost forgot how hectic that was," he noted, "Now I just need to figure out how to track Dad down and talk some sense into him." He brought a hand to his chin. "Of course, there's the possibility of scaring him off. He probably still thinks we're better off without him, so I need to figure out some way to show him that's not true."
"Uxie!"
Brock jumped and whirled around to see the Guardian of Lake Acuity floating right behind him.
Link reestablished, Uxie remarked, Greetings, Brock Harrison. Me and my ilk have also received memories of the erased future. With Arceus unable to intervene, we shall be in charge in keeping everything on track until the timeline passes the point where the previous iteration abruptly stopped.
"Uh…"
I see that you are overwhelmed, Uxie noted, Perhaps it would be best to clarify that I am here specifically to ensure that you are properly informed on the permanent anomalies caused by the form of time travel Arceus employed? Memories are a part of my domain, after all, so I am the most qualified Pokémon in the world to relay this information to you.
"… I'm sorry, I'm still not following," Brock admitted, "How long have you been able to use telepathy to communicate?'
Since my birth at the beginning of the universe, Uxie answered, I have elected to use language to communicate this time as words would be more effective at communicating this phenomenon than images or sensations would. Speaking of, I should probably get to the point, you do seem to be a very busy man, Son of Pewter.
"Yeah…" Brock admitted as the sheepish Legendary floated over to the sink, "I kinda have a lot of time sensitive things to do today. And that includes helping my Steelix adjust to being an Onix again."
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Coming!" Brock shouted, "Sorry, that might be important."
Wait! If that is who I theorize it to be-
Brock was already halfway to the front door.
-this is telepathic. Distance matters not! I can continue to explain to you while remaining in the kitchen! This anomalous phenomenon will probably make your life easier!
Brock opened the front door to see an unexpected face.
"Dad?"
It's like this, Mesprit explained as xhir astral form floated around Dawn, Those specters you saw in Arceus' pocket of existence were made up of the echoes of thoughts and feelings of your friends. And when you passed through the rift, your bonds pulled those echoes through time after you.
"So, will they remember everything?" Dawn asked.
No, Mesprit answered, They have only the echoes of memory, after all. But you'd be surprised how powerful an echo can be.
"Still no bites," Misty groaned as the bobber continued to float on the surface of the creek, "Today might've been a waste."
"Pikachupi!"
"Hmm?" Misty turned her attention to an excited, if not slightly battered, Pikachu, "Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing!" She picked up the Electric Mouse Pokémon with both hands. "If only the local Water Types were as eager to greet me as you were."
"Pikachu, wait up!" a boy shouted.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu replied as it jumped out of Misty's arms and ran over to his trainer.
"Ash? What're you doing here?" Misty asked, then blinked, "Wait, how do I know your name?"
"Uh…" Ash froze in place, "Okay, Misty, this is going to sound really weird, but this is actually my second time living through today."
"… What?" Misty replied.
"Okay so uh… What can you remember?" Ash asked, "Because if you remember more than my name, that might make things easier.
Misty paused and brought a finger up to her chin.
"I don't really remember any- Wait a second…"
"Yeah?"
"You stole my bike!" Misty declared as she pointed at Ash.
"… It was for a good cause?" Ash defended.
Misty growled, gathered up her things, and mounted her bike.
"There's no way I'm letting this thing get destroyed again!"
"Wait is that all you-"
Misty zipped off down the path, kicking up a trail of dust as she vanished into the distance.
"… Remember?" Ash dropped to his knees as Pikachu walked up to him.
"Pikapi?"
"Let's go, Pikachu," Ash droned as he rose to his feet and trudged towards Viridian, "Even if those Spearow were too busy fighting each other over leadership of the flock to care about us, there's still going to be a pretty big storm here soon."
"Chu…" Pikachu scampered after his trainer.
Cynthia walked down the wooded path, her nose buried in a map.
"Let's see," she noted, "Lake Valor is closest to me, but Lake Verity is closest to one of the Guardians' chosen ones. But Lake Acuity is located near ruins that might hold some answers." The Champion sighed as she lowered the map. "I could barely decide what to have for breakfast this morning, why did I think this was a good idea?"
"Why, is something troubling you, miss?" a voice asked. Cynthia sighed and turned around to see a man who was nowhere near as smooth or suave as he clearly thought he was.
"Oh, I'm just making plans for a trip," Cynthia replied as she put away the map and kept the hand close to Spiritomb's Poké Ball, just to be on the safe side, "I just need to figure some things out and I'll be on my way."
"Oh, why worry your pretty little head over these things?" the man asked as he put an arm around Cynthia's shoulder, "Just leave it to me, and all your worries will go away."
"You… You have no idea who I am, do you?" Cynthia deadpanned as she expanded Spiritomb's Poké Ball, ready to let her Ghost/Dark Type get "creative".
"C'mon doll, I know you're the pretties girl I ever laid eyes o-"
"GUNK!"
"GAH!"
Thud.
"For the record, I'm the Champion of the Sinnoh League," Cynthia deadpanned to the groaning man on the ground, "If that Croagunk hadn't intervened, I'd have done something far worse to you."
The man groaned as Brock's Croagunk chuckled.
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Croa."
"I'm guessing you'd like to get back to Brock as soon as possible?"
"Croa," Croagunk croaked with a nod.
"Okay then! I'll stop by Lake Verity first and then we'll get on a boat to Kanto!" she stepped over the man and knelt down to get on Croagunk's eye level, "Then we can get you to Pewter City and reunite you with your trainer! Does that sound good?"
"Croa."
"In that case! Let's get going!" Cynthia declared as she picked up Croagunk jumped to her feet, "I just need to pick up Togekiss and we can fly straight to Twinleaf Town!"
She dashed down the road with a spring in her step, the man who'd been hitting on her completely forgotten.
"… Doll?" he weakly called, "Babe, you're not just going to leave me here, right?"
It started to rain.
Ash and Pikachu stepped out from under their cover as the thunderstorm died down.
"At least neither of us needs a trip to the ICU this time," Ash noted as the clouds parted.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu pointed up to the sky.
"Huh?" Ash glanced up to see a familiar sight.
Ho-oh flew across the now clear sky, over the rainbow.
Ash grinned and flipped open his Pokédex.
"There is no data," it declared, "There are still Pokémon yet to be identified."
"That much hasn't changed," Ash commented as he closed his Pokédex and put it back in his pocket, "Dang it, I was hoping for something new."
Shimmering shape flittered down from above.
"Huh?"/"Pika?"
Ash held out a hand, and the rainbow-patterned feather gently landed in his palm.
"Okay, that's new," he commented as he held the feather up to Pikachu, "What do you make of this?"
"Pi?" Pikachu shrugged.
"Figures," Ash pocketed the feather, "C'mon! Let's head to the Pokémon Center."
Good news, Uxie announced, I have reestablished my link with Brock Harrison. The Hero of Knowledge is now in position.
The Heroine of Emotion… Could be doing better, Mesprit stated, Most of her friendships were wiped away by the paradox, including one bond that was very dear to her heart.
And I just had a chat with Ho-oh that may have peaked its interest in my chosen one! Azelf boasted with a grin on their face, Let's see how this interloper handles one who is chosen by multiple Legendary Pokémon.
Azelf, you're a genius! Mesprit praised, With your psychic link, you could even provide him guidance when he strays from the path.
Azelf's smug grin vanished.
You forgot to form the link, did you not? Uxie questioned.
Shut-it, know it all.
Mesprit sighed.
Judging by what most of your chosen heroes have in common with you, I can't help but wonder if you're the embodiment of stupidity instead of willpower at times.
HEY!
Misty sighed as she reclined in the Viridian City Pokémon Center's waiting area.
"At least I beat the rain," she noted, "But… What's missing?"
She checked three of her Dive Balls.
"I've got my Goldeen, my Staryu, and my Starmie…" Misty noted, "All three of my personal Pokémon are here, but… Ugh!" She shoved all three Poké Balls back into her bag. "Ever since I ran into that stupid boy everything's felt weird!"
And there was still that ache telling her that something was missing.
"I can remember Ash's name, and I can vaguely recall him stealing and wrecking my bike," Misty reflected, "But… Now I miss him. Why would I miss him?"
The automatic door opened as she heard someone else step through.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center, how may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked.
"My Pokémon just need to get patched up," the boy (Ash Ketchum, that same part of Misty's brain that kept telling her something was missing reminded her) said, "Could I use the phones to call home during the check-up?"
Misty glanced over her shoulder.
"Certainly!" Nurse Joy stated, before pointing to the east of the lobby, "They're right over there!"
"Thanks!" Ash commented as he placed a Poké Ball on the counter and his Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and onto the desk, "Uh, bit of a head's up. I just caught that Spearow, and it's pretty temperamental."
"Don't worry, I've treated Pokémon with bad attitudes before," Nurse Joy assured him as she placed the Pokéball and Pikachu onto a tray and handed it to her Chansey, "We'll let you know when the check-up is complete!"
"See you in a bit Pikachu!"
"Pikapi!"
Misty immediately turned away from Ash and picked up a magazine on the table to pretend to read as the trainer from Route 1 walked right past her.
She kept her nose buried in the interview with a "Todd Snap" until she was certain that the potential bike destroyer hadn't noticed her.
"Maybe I should see about claiming a room for the night," Misty pondered.
Goh ran home as night fell over Vermillion City.
"Just what am I supposed to do?" Goh wondered as two red eyes opened in his shadow, "I can't go to Galar to catch Cinderace, wait, he's probably still a Scorbunny... But no matter who he is right now, I won't be able to be his Trainer until Cerise Labs opens. And Cerise Labs isn't due to open until later in the year!" The Mew Chaser sighed. "Just what am I supposed to-"
"GAR!"
Goh jumped as Ash's Gengar cackled.
"Very funny," Goh deadpanned, "Do you have any idea what we could do to pass the time until Ash gets here?"
Gengar sank back into Goh's shadow.
"… I guess it's just you and me until Ash gets here," Goh noted, "However long that is."
Ash called home first.
"Hello Ash!" his mother greeted, having already gotten ready for bed.
"Ash is there?" a familiar voice asked from offscreen.
"Hey Mom! I made it to Viridian City!" Ash greeted, "I even caught a Spearow on the way there!"
"Oh, look at you Ash!" Delia replied as Serena zipped into the room behind her, "It took your father a whole week to get to Viridian when he was first getting started! And he burned through all his Poké Balls without catching anything!"
"Hi Ash!" Serena greeted with a wave, "Me and Mom are going to be spending the next few weeks here while Mom makes some big plans! She said something about a race…"
"Serena, please don't bother Delia when she's trying to talk to her son."
"Sorry!"
"Oh! A Pokémon flew overhead and dropped this!" Ash added as he took the rainbow-colored feather out of his pocket to show her.
"That's such a beautiful feather!" his Mom replied as Serena tried to sneak a peek over her shoulder, "I can only imagine how beautiful the Pokémon it belonged to must have been."
"It wasn't in the Pokédex," Ash remarked as Grace pulled her daughter away with an exasperated sigh.
"It must've been pretty rare, then," his Mom commented.
You have no idea, Ash thought to himself.
"I'm about to turn in for the night," his Mom continued, "You should let Professor Oak know about that Pokémon you saw! I bet he'd love to hear about it!"
"I'll call him next," Ash promised, "Goodnight Mom!"
"Goodnight Ash, don't forget to change your underwear in the morning!"
Call ended.
"… Did she have to say that in front of Serena?" Ash groaned, before dialing a second number.
The screen clicked on to reveal Professor Oak's back.
"Good evening, Ash," the Pokémon professor greeted.
"Professor, the wrong camera's on," Ash noted.
"Huh?" Oak glanced over his shoulder at the camera, "Oh!" The Professor typed at his Keyboard until the proper camera was turned on. "Now, did you make it to Viridian City in one piece?"
"Professor, I'm calling you from the Viridian City Pokémon Center," Ash pointed out.
"Ah yes," Professor Oak remarked, "I suppose you'd only be able to do that if you had safely made it to Viridian City."
"I also caught a new Pokémon on the way," Ash commented as he opened up his Pokédex.
"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon," Ash's Pokédex recited, "Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans."
"Now, when you say a 'new' Pokémon…"
"It's almost completely new to me," Ash replied, "If you don't count all the trouble it caused me in the other future."
"Well, that's all very interesting, but don't rest on your laurels quite yet," Professor Oak cautioned him, "Remember, that masked man isn't going to just sit back and twiddle his thumbs. You're going to need to be at your very best to stop him."
"Yeah, and that's going to be a bit of an issue until we can figure out what's wrong with Pikachu's moves," Ash commented.
"What do you mean?" Professor Oak asked.
"Pikachu can still use moves like Iron Tail and Electroweb, and he knew how to use them before we were sent back," Ash explained, "But when he uses Iron Tail, he can't lift his tail, and the one time we tried to use Electroweb, it blew up."
"I think I see the issue," Professor Oak remarked, "Ash, only your memories traveled through time. The bodies you and Pikachu returned to haven't gone through all of the training you'll have no doubt put yourself through in the future. If Pikachu relied on strength he had built up over the course of your journey or was so used to Electroweb that he could fall back on muscle memory to use the move, then he's going to have trouble using those moves now that both are lost to him."
"Huh…" Ash remarked, "I guess that makes sense."
"Are there any other changes to the timeline you're aware of?" Professor Oak asked.
"Well, Ho-oh dropped this while flying overhead," Ash remarked as he held up the rainbow feather, "I'm not sure why it was molting this time, though."
"… Ash…"
"Yes Professor?"
"That is a Rainbow Wing," Professor Oak stated, "According to legend, Ho-oh only bestows them upon humans it has taken an interest in."
"Huh…" Ash said, "Wonder what I did differently this time?"
"It might have been something you'll do in the future that'll affect my past," Professor Oak suggested.
"Yeah, getting sent nearly a year back in time is going to make all of this very confusing."
"Yes, I suppose that would… Wait…" Professor Oak paused, "What do you mean 'nearly a year'?"
"Well, over the course of this next year I'm going to compete in the Indigo Conference, save the world and hopefully conquer the Orange League, go to Johto and run into several more Legendaries before competing in the Silver Conference, head over to Hoenn and save the world a couple of times before entering the Ever Grande Conference, then come back to Kanto for the Battle Frontier, then go to Sinnoh and save the very fabric of reality before taking on the Lily of the Valley Conference, and after that I'm going to drop by Unova and hopefully make less of a fool of myself than I did last time, then drop by the Decolore Islands a little after the Vertress Conference, then it'll be off to Kalos to compete in the Lumiose Conference, which'll be followed up by a much needed trip to Alola and a semester in the Pokémon School that culminates in the Manalo Conference, and then I'll get to enter the World Coronation Series and-"
"Ash, it is physically impossible to pull all of that off in a single year!" Professor Oak interrupted, "Are you certain your math isn't off?"
"What're you talking about?" Ash asked.
"Ash, none of those League Conferences line up in a way that allows you to enter multiple in a single year!" Professor Oak pointed out, "Are you certain that you didn't have a Celebi with you?"
Ah! So that space-time distortion wasn't just my imagination! a voice noted inside of Ash's head.
"Huh?" Ash turned around to see Azelf floating behind him, "Woah!"
Don't worry, me and the others will have this fixed by sunrise! Azelf promised, before blinking out of existence.
"… According to Azelf, apparently a space-time distortion might have something to do with it?" Ash remarked.
Professor Oak remained silent.
"… Ash," he said after he finished processing that statement, "Next time we meet face to face-"
An alarm went off.
"Sorry Professor, that's probably important!" Ash said, before hanging up.
"What's going on?" Misty asked.
"Someone broke in!" Nurse Joy answered, "If I don't act now, who knows what they'll steal."
"Let me come with you," Misty requested as she held up a Dive Ball, "You're going to need someone to watch your back."
"Hang on!" Ash ran up to join them, "My Pikachu and Spearow are back there."
"Your Pikachu should at least be able to defend himself," Nurse Joy replied, "And your Spearow isn't even in the room with the tripped alarm."
"I'm their trainer," Ash replied, "That means it's my job to look after them."
Nurse Joy nodded
"Right then," she replied as she turned to the door to the hall, "Both of you, follow me!"
"Why are you so responsible all of a sudden?" Misty whispered to Ash as they followed Nurse Joy through the Center.
"I uh… Learned a few lessons the hard way," Ash whispered, "You only remember the bike, but Pikachu was in a lot worse shape when that happened." He leaned in a little closer. "Any particular reason you didn't immediately call me crazy or a liar when I brought up the whole 'not my first time living through today' thing?"
"The fact that I recognized someone I had never even heard of before, knew your name, and the fact that it sounds like something you'd get yourself into," Misty deadpanned, "Do you have any idea how weird this is from my perspective?"
"Someone who I wouldn't even get to know until way further down the road suddenly became my childhood friend overnight," Ash replied.
"… Do you at least know what we're up against?"
"Yeah it's-"
"What do you three think you're doing?" Nurse Joy asked the intruders, catching Ash and Misty's attention.
.
"Prepare for trouble!" a red-haired woman replied.
"And make it double!" a lavender-haired man added.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth! Dat's right!"
"… Team Rocket," Ash finished.
"Looks like the twerp did his homework," Jessie remarked.
"I disagree," James added, "He's nowhere near scared enough."
"We'll just have to teach 'im the hard way!" Meowth added.
"… I'm sorry, did that Meowth just talk?" Misty asked.
"You get used to it," Ash waved off, "These three aren't that bright anyway."
"Hey!" the trio protested.
"I'll have you know that we have a genius plan to steal every Pokémon in this building!" Jessie insisted.
"And you're the ones holding a casual conversation in front of a bunch of criminals!" James added.
"And what does it say about you that we can get away with that?" Ash asked.
The trio growled.
"Maybe you shouldn't provoke them?" Nurse Joy suggested.
"Oi! Don't forget our plans you two!" Meowth cut in as Ash whispered something to Misty.
"I didn't," Jessie replied, "Ekans! Kill the lights!"
"Ekansss!" the Snake Pokémon lunged for the generator.
"Starmie! Tackle!" Misty ordered as she threw one of her Dive Balls at Ekans.
The Dive Ball opened, and a ten-armed seastar slammed into Ekans, knocking it away before it could strike the generator.
"Follow it up with a Water Gun!"
"Koffing! Use Sludge on that washed up starfish!" James ordered.
"Kof-fing!" a Koffing floated out from behind James and spat out a ball of sludge.
"GYAH!"the sludge covered the gem at Starmie's center.
"Staryu, help out Starymie with a Water Gun!" Misty called out as she threw a second Dive Ball.
Staryu hosed off the gunk with a stream of water from its top leg.
"Now Starmie, use Psywave on that Koffing!" Misty ordered as Nurse Joy sent Chansey off.
"HYAH!" Starmy fired off a blast of psychic energy from its core, blasting Koffing in the face.
"Of course, they had a Psyhcic type," Jessie growled.
"Looks like we'll have to resort to plan b," James noted, "Koffing use Smog!"
"Koff!" Koffing spewed up a cloud of toxic gas.
Misty and Nurse Joy shielded their faces and coughed, allowing the trio of thieves to bag armfuls of Poké Balls and bolt, leaving a trail of balls as they dashed around Misty, Nurse Joy, Starmie, and Staryu and into the hallway.
"So much for the stealthy getaway," Jessie growled.
"We've still got the prize!" James noted.
"Wait a second…" Meowth noted, "Where'd that mouthy twerp disappear to?"
"Pikachu! Use Quick Attack on Ekans!"
"PIKA!" Pikachu slammed into Ekans at top speed.
Static activated, Paralyzing Ekans.
"Ekans! Use Wrap on that petulant rodent!" Jessie ordered.
Ekans' paralysis made moving difficult.
"Koffing use Sludge!" James ordered
"Jump on Koffing!" Ash ordered, and the Sludge struck the floor as Pikachu landed on top of Koffing. "Now! Iron Tail!"
CLUNK!
It's super effective!
"Good job, Pikachu!" Ash declared as Pikachu hopped off of Koffing.
"Dat tears it!" Meowth declared as he deployed his claws, "Eat Fury Swipes!"
"Thunder Bolt!"
"GYAH!" Meoth screamed as he was engulfed by lightning.
Misty, Staryu, and Starmie dashed into the hallway.
"Psywave barrage!" the Gym Leader ordered.
"HYAH!" Starmie's core glowed, and fired off several Psywaves, sending Team Rocket and their Pokémon flying down the hall, spilling their pilfered Poké Balls across the floor.
"Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.
"Tackle! Both of you!" Misty ordered.
Pikachu rammed into Meowth, sending him tumbling into the lobby, while Staryu and Starmie knocked Ekans and Koffing into their trainers and sent them stumbling after Meowth.
"Now! Double Water Gun!" Misty ordered.
The automatic doors slid open as a high-powered blast of water knocked them out into the street.
.
"How did everything go south so quickly?" Jessie questioned as she squeezed water out of her ponytail.
"It's almost like they were expecting us!" James growled as he wiped his drenched hair out of his eyes.
"We've got another problem!" Meowth shouted as he pointed at Pikachu.
"Pika, pika," Pikachu pikaed menacingly as his cheeks sparked.
Team Rocket gasped in fright, an echo in their memory screaming at them to run.
"Koffing! Do something!" James shouted.
Koffing used Smog.
"Piiiika-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu used Thunder Bolt on the trail of water.
Sparks danced across the water trail and ignited Koffing's smog.
BOOM!
Team Rocket's screams echoed through Viridian City as they blasted off into the night sky.
Ding.
"Sorry about the windows, Nurse Joy," Ash said as he scratched the back of his head, glass shards decorating the front of the lobby.
"Better a few windows than the Pokémon in the ICU," Nurse Joy assured him as Misty ran out of the lobby, "At least nothing important was damaged.
"My bike!"
"OH COME ON!"
The following morning, Ash purchased a few more Poké Balls and headed out to the North of the city.
"Ready to take on a whole new world, buddy?" Ash asked his starter.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed with a pumped fist.
"Alright!" Ash replied, "Viridian Forest, here we-"
"WAIT!"
Ash stumbled ahead a few steps as Misty ran up to him.
"Look, I'm really sorry about the bike," Ash opened as he turned to face her.
"This isn't about the bike!" Misty shouted, "Well, it kinda is, but it's not the main issue!"
"Then… What is?"
"I want to know what's so special about you," Misty stated, "Knowing you without knowing you, knowing exactly which Pokémon I had on me, the fact that I can't bring myself to doubt your crazy time travel story! What exactly is going on with you?"
"Some masked man from the future tried to stop me and Pikachu from meeting for some reason," Ash answered, "He calls himself Eternal, and Arceus threw the memories of the six nearest people back in time in order to stop him from destroying all of space and time!"
"Then why do I only have the vaguest idea of what's going on?" Misty asked, "Why do I miss people I can't remember?"
"I don't know!" Ash defended, "I'm just playing this by ear and trying not to mess up as badly as I did the first time around!"
Misty growled, but closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Sorry, this is just…" she sighed, "Really scary and confusing."
Silence fell between the two.
"Maybe it's better if we went our separate ways now," Ash admitted as he turned to Virdian Forest, "My journey's going to be pretty dangerous."
"Oh no you don't!" Misty interrupted as she grabbed the hood of Ash's jacket, "You owe me both a few more answers AND a new bike!" She smirked. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
Ash chuckled as Misty released his hood, a tear falling from his eyes.
"Alright, just try to keep up!" he challenged as he dashed for the woods.
"Hey!" Misty called after him as she gave chase, "You still haven't explained what happened last time!"
Ash laughed as he forged ahead, looking forward to the bright future ahead.
a/n: So if you were wondering why I mentioned all those weird memory phantasm things in the prologue going through the rift after our time travelers, that's why. Think of it like a sort of phantom memory. They don't really remember the old timeline, but they can feel that something isn't right. Additionally, Ash will no longer be an eternal 10 year old, so he's going to grow up over the course of this journey now, along with a few other changes thanks to the ripple affect.
Believe it or not, Ash did actually catch that Spearow in the Electric Tail of Pikachu. Look up "Ash's Fearow" on Bulbapedia for the full story behind that.
Misty's Starmie also knows Psywave in the Let's Go games, thus why it knows it here. I plan on giving Misty's ace from the games a bit more respect than it got during its brief tenure on the show.
Don't worry though, not every chapter is going to rotate between six separate POV's, but these early chapters have a lot of getting people into position to do. The next few chapters should be a lot less cluttered.
And now for reviews:
SonicKing42: The thing with changing Ash's future at this stage is that it also changes Professor Oak's past. Add in the other instances of Ash and friends traveling through time, and it's only natural that Ash's own personal history would be altered as well. In this case, Grace and Serena stayed in touch with the Ketchums. And I've got plans for Grace that'll come up later.
Next time, Ash and Misty take on Viridian Forest as Cynthia and Croagunk go on a road trip.
See you then!