Chapter 2: Another Day!
Over the two and a half years he'd been travelling, Ash had grown somewhat desensitized towards unusual situations. Or, rather, they were so common to him that it didn't quite occur to him that he had experienced a very unusual journey.
When he woke up the same day Luigi arrived, the first thing that he noticed was not that he'd suddenly gotten shorter, or that his trophy and medals were missing, but that Pikachu wasn't in his room with him.
The only logical explanation was, of course, Team Rocket, because there was no way his best buddy would wake up before he did. So Ash did the only reasonable thing, and jumped out his window to slide down the tree outside.
As soon as he was on the ground, he started running towards Professor Oak's lab, thinking Team Rocket would probably head there next.
By the time he reached the Professor's lab, he was panting heavily. It had been a while since he was home, he'd only returned from Kalos yesterday morning, but he definitely didn't remember the run being this tiring.
The big Meowth balloon was nowhere to be seen, but Ash wasn't sure if that meant Team Rocket wasn't here yet, had already left, or were in some sort of disguise. It was probably best to check here first, just to be sure.
He knocked on the door, to be greeted by a rather tired-looking Professor Oak. "Ash? My boy, you're late! It's nearly noon!"
"It is?" Ash hadn't noticed. Pikachu… might have snuck off to find some ketchup, if it was really that late. "Sorry, professor. Is everything okay? Has Team Rocket been around? Do you know where Pikachu is?"
"Team Rocket? Pikachu?" The professor asked. He seemed rather nervous, oddly. "I'm afraid I don't know of a 'Team Rocket', and I don't know which Pikachu you're referring to."
"Team Rocket, that's always following me around, trying to steal my Pikachu," Ash said. "… He's been my best friend for … Well, forever, ever since you gave him to me when I started my journey."
Professor Oak's eyes widened. "… Celebi… Oh, gosh… Ash, come inside. Now."
Professor Oak insisted on getting Ash some tea before talking to him about anything. After fixing tea, he came into the lobby and sat down on a couch across from Ash, placing a familiar Pokéball on the coffee table.
"Hey, that's Pikachu's ball," Ash noticed. "What's that doing here?"
Oak sighed. "Ash, have you had any encounters with Celebi recently?"
"About eight months ago in Crown City," Ash said. "I called you about it - The thing with Kodai, and that Zoroark…"
"… That can't be it…" Oak said. He sighed again. "Ash, I think you've somehow travelled back in time, or at least your memories have... Today is the day you're supposed to start your journey."
"… How's that work?" Ash asked.
"I honestly don't know. Nothing that happened with Celebi was anything like this…"
"Not Dialga, either," Ash said. "… Wait, you know Celebi?"
"… Er, yes." Well, looks like Ash might have figured it out. "I… may have travelled with Celebi to the future about forty years ago."
"… Huh. Alright," Ash said, oblivious to the implications. "… Well, I'm glad you got back! Dunno what anyone would do without you."
"…Right." It was often difficult to gauge Ash's intelligence, and this sort of thing was one of the reasons why. "I realized… You mentioned Dialga?"
"Oh, yeah! I kept running into it in Sinnoh."
"… Only you," Oak shook his head. "So, Dialga can't do that, either… Very strange. I'll need to look into this."
"And I'll go on my journey again!" Ash exclaimed, jumping up and striking a pose before calmly sitting back down. "… We should probably let Pikachu out of his ball, he doesn't like it. The first time, he was really angry about it."
"Really? This Pikachu?" Oak asked. "It's normally quite mellow… I'll let it out, then." He released Pikachu onto the coffee table, ready for anything…
Pikachu was still asleep as he came out of the ball. Ash immediately nudged him to try and wake him up.
"Be careful Ash, it won't remember you."
Pikachu swatted at Ash's hand, grumbling something about it being too early to get up. He stood up anyway, rubbing his eyes. He took one look at Ash, and jumped backwards in shock. "Pikapi?!" He started panicking, and it just got worse when he got a good look at himself. He poked his stomach, and started freaking out more.
"Pikachu! It's alright, buddy!"
Pikachu turned to Ash, and demanded to know what was going on.
"… Well, you see, I… Uh, travelled back in time, I guess."
Pikachu stared for a few seconds, before placing a paw on his forehead. "Pika…"
"Remarkable…" Professor Oak said. "… It seems it does remember you. And… You can understand it?"
"Well, not exactly…" Ash said.
"Pi," Pikachu affirmed.
"It's more like I just get this feeling what he means…"
Pikachu rolled his eyes, and said something about Ash selling himself short.
"Regardless, you two have remarkable communication," Professor Oak stood up. "Now… You should probably head home and finish getting ready. I'll prepare your Pokédex, and get a X-transceiver, so we can keep in contact while you're out. Normally, I wouldn't give those out, due to costs... but considering your unusual situation, I think it's necessary."
"Oh, thanks, Professor!" Ash said cheerfully, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder as he stood. "I'll be back before you know it!" He ran out the door with his longtime partner.
Right now, Ash reminded Samuel Oak a lot of the boy he'd admired in his youth, but even the boy he knew reminded him more of the Ash of yesterday than the one of today.
… Just how much had Ash travelled, and how much had he experienced? The way he talked about meeting Dialga, of all Pokémon, like it wasn't anything big or unusual, suggested there was a lot more going on than he'd imagined.
A few reminders about underwear and a lot of laughter from Pikachu later, and Ash was dressed up and on the road again.
Once he'd stopped laughing, Pikachu asked Ash if he should've told his mother about this whole mess.
"I don't want her to worry, buddy," Ash said. "I mean, I know she's awesome, but still… I can take care of myself."
Pikachu scoffed.
"I can! You've been there with me the whole time."
Pikachu sighed. Then, he thought of something, and asked Ash. "Pikachu-pi? Pika-chu?"
"… Huh. Well, I guess we'll probably run into them again," Ash said. "I don't know if they'll remember all of our adventures together, though. Man, that'd be weird… What if you never ended up frying Misty's bike?"
Pikachu insisted that wasn't his fault, they were being attacked by a huge flock of killer birds.
"We should try and avoid that this time…"
Pikachu did, however, agree with that. He didn't exactly need Ash to prove himself again.
They walked down the road a while longer, in relative peace.
"It's a lot nicer this time."
"Pi," Pikachu agreed. "… Pikachu-pi!" He pointed excitedly at a figure down the road.
True to Pikachu's words, Misty was, indeed, some way down the road, quickly riding her bike towards them.
"Ash Ketchum!" She yelled, just before bringing her bike to an abrupt stop just before them. "What did you do?!"
"Hi, Misty! Well, you see…"
"Never mind, I know it's going to be some crazy story involving legendary Pokémon that couldn't happen to anyone else, sending us back in time for some vague reason! Let me guess, the world is in danger, and you have to save it? Well, not without me, mister! Now, tell me what we're doing!"
"Oh, um…"
"Pika…"
"We actually aren't really sure what's going on," Ash admitted. "It just happened, so…"
"You're just going to do your journey again, hoping you'll stumble on the reason all this happened?" Misty guessed. "… Considering everything that happens to you, that'll probably work, but it's not really the best plan.
"Oh… You know, I actually hadn't thought of that," Ash laughed. "So, how's everything been going?"
"Well enough," Misty said. "The Gym was just starting to regain some of its reputation after my sisters ruined it… Brock came by to help out a lot, and I met your other new Gym Leader friend, Cilan. He's an… interesting character, but a nice enough guy. I forgot how boring life is when not being dragged on yet another adventure by you, but I was still pretty happy. I'm glad to be back to travelling, though, at least for a little while. I could use some excitement." She (somehow) managed to fit her bike into her bag, and began walking towards Viridian City at a brisk pace.
"I think you're exaggerating how much stuff happens around me. I mean, weird stuff happens to trainers, that's just how it works, right?" Ash asked.
"I guess," Misty conceded. "But trust me, you're the weirdest of the weird."
"Pi, Pikachu," Pikachu agreed. "Pika!"
Misty looked up towards the sky. "You know, it's kind of weird. I could've sworn there was a thunderstorm around this time the first time, but the sky's totally clear, except for…" Misty gaped at the sky. "… That… rainbow… and the bird…"
"Oh!" Ash looked up, seeing the same beautiful sight he had his first day as a trainer, the legendary bird Ho-Oh flying through the sky and creating a stunning rainbow. "Yeah, wonder why that is."
"Ash. That's Ho-Oh." Misty said. "A legendary Pokémon from Johto."
"Yeah, that happened last time!" Ash said.
"… You know what, I'm not even surprised."
"I'm kind of sad I never got to meet it… I bet it's really cool!"
"… That's actually really surprising. You saw a legendary Pokémon, and didn't end up befriending it?" Misty laughed. "And I think you mean it's really hot, Ash!"
"… Pika…" Pikachu groaned.
"No, wait, you're the Not-So-Sacred Ash!" Misty laughed at her own joke. "The only legendary Pokémon that's never come up to meet you!"
"Hey, that's not true. Raikou never did."
"Raikou? You'll have to tell me that story. And all of your adventures since that whole mirage thing! Seriously, you need to tell me more stuff, gym-sitting is boring and tough!"
"Uh, okay," Ash said. "What do you want to know?"
"Just tell me everything. It's going to be a few hours before we reach Viridian, anyway."
A young man with lavender hair and a young woman with implausible magenta hair, along with their friend the talking cat, were staked out on the roof of the Viridian City Pokémon Center. With them were two more, a small purple snake, and a floating ball of gas and cheerfulness.
"Dis is real screwy, guys," Meowth said to his companions.
"Indeed… We have somehow come back in time…" James replied, taking the development in stride.
"Somehow, this is the twerp's fault, and I can't even think of a rhyme!" Jessie yelled, as her resolve had failed.
"Just remain calm, I'm sure it'll work out," James said. "At least Abrok and Weezing… Or Ekans and Koffing, are back."
"True…" Jessie said, hugging her snake. "Oh, my sweet little Ekans, how I've missed you so! It's been so long…"
Ekans hissed something.
"He's glad ta see you too, Jess," Meowth translated. "Da real question is, why'd this whole thing go down?"
"Koffing!"
"Well, yeah, it's probably somethin' ta do with the twoip," Meowth admitted. "But what do we do about it?"
"Follow the twerp!" James said, posing.
"Catch Pikachu!" Jessie added, joining in.
"Of course, dat's true," Meowth agreed. "What else would we do?"
Author's Note
Second Chapter! So, Ash and Pikachu, of course. If Ash jumping out of a window because of Team Rocket seems weird... He's actually done that before, in the episode he first meets Alain, I believe.
Pikachu used to be kind of pudgy... Which is a bit of a shock to a Pikachu that doesn't know it's coming. Ash can't understand him perfectly, but he's very good at it.
Misty! ... I don't really have any strong feelings towards her one way or another, and I hope that she's alright.
Anyway. Any and all instances in the series referring to time passing, or not passing, are promptly ignored. Roughly one year passes for every eight years of real time. Ash, starting his journey on April 1 and turning eleven on May 22, comes into Kalos having just turned thirteen, and is still thirteen on his return.
While I was working on this story, Nintendo actually announced crossover merchandise for Mario and Pokémon. Mario Pikachu! ... In Japan only. Pikachus wearing outfits of the Mario Brothers. It's both cool and kind of cute.
I don't think I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow. I'll probably want to make some revisions, and possibly write Chapter 6 before posting it, as well. I will say that the focal character next will actually be Pikachu, at least for most of it.
Also, these guys. I can't tell who they are, they're wearing sunglasses.
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Fanned: Thank you! I hope this goes along well, then.