ASH AU

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)

"Ho-oh! Mew! What is the meaning for bringing two humans here?!" A very angry sounding Zapdos demanded glaring at Gary and the still unconscious Ash.

"One of the humans is Arceus's newest, frailest, and supposedly last Chosen One Ash! He was hit hard by a Thunder from his Chosen Pokemon and left for dead along with his adopted brother Gary Oak." The Squirtle responded in kind as it shifted from being a Squirtle to being a small pink cat like Pokemon that Gary recognized as the legendary Mew.

"WHAT?!" The roar of outrage and shock came from all of the Pokemon assembled as several flew over to help heal the unconscious boy. Gary recognized Articuno, Mew, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Entei, Suicine, Raiku, and Ho-oh but that was it. He couldn't even try to begin guessing who the other Legendries were.

"Do not worry young one. They are healing your friend and soon he will be as good as new. Still frail and small compared to you and other normal trainers but much more durable than any normal human. I'm afraid that all that electricity would have made his body even frailer however." Suicine said walking over to Gary and nuzzling him slightly when the water Beast noticed how worried the boy looked for his small friend. Gary just nodded slightly, barely hearing the Pokemon's words as he wrung his hands, staring worriedly at his small friend.

"I don't care how much frailer it makes him, I'll carry him piggy back style around Kanto and any other region he wants to go to if I have to, as long as he'll be okay." Gary said watching as Ash slowly seemed to regain color and breathing, much to his relief.

"I am happy to know that there are still kind hearted trainers like you and the young Chosen One around. It keeps me from losing faith in humanity as a whole." A large black Pokemon with blue rings on its body and red eyes said earning nods from some of the other Pokemon gathered around.

"There he is healed as much as we can heal him." Lugia said as most of the Legendries that were doing the healing moved away from Ash, except for Mew, Ho-oh and a green fairy like Pokemon that seemed to take up guard around him.

"So he'll be okay? He'll live?" Gary asked hesitantly causing the Legendries to look at him and either smile or nod, which caused him to nearly collapse in relief.

"Good. And if I ever see that Pikachu again, it's going to be a roasted mouse." Gary said sighing in relief while his words caused many snorts of amusement or agreement from the Legendries assembled.

"Get in line kid." Moltres said sounding surprisingly calm for a fire type.

"I'm afraid you'll all have to get in line. I've already dealt with him for abandoning the Chosen One." A powerful male voice said causing Gary and the Legendries to whip their heads around only to see a rather intimidating white and gold Pokemon.

"Lord Arceus." All of the Pokemon immediately bowed or curtsied, or gave their version of it at least, at the sight of the regal Pokemon while Gary blinked.

"Greetings young Protector Gary. I am pleased that you are a protector and care so much for my Chosen One. I am Arceus the God Pokemon. It is a pleasure to meet my Chosen and his Protector but I wish it were under better conditions." Arceus said causing Gary to gape before nodding mutely much to the other Pokemon's amusement.

"Why do you keep calling me Protector and Ashy 'Chosen One'?" Gary finally got his vocal chords working, causing a few Pokemon to snicker at what his first response to being addressed by the God Pokemon was, while Arceus merely smiled and nodded his head.

"A good question Protector. You see once every few dozens of years the other Pokemon you humans call the Legendary Pokemon and I gather and consider who to pick as a new Chosen one and a new Chosen Protector in case things so Pear shaped so to say. When Ash was born he was born with a frail body but a powerful mind, Aura, a strong will, and a pure heart. The kind of person that only comes around once a millennia and trust me we know. Upon Ho-Oh and Mew's suggestion of him as the Chosen One we all agreed and thus that was taken care of." Arceus explained causing Gary to blink but nod slowly.

"Okay makes sense you'd like to have someone on standby in case things go sour but you can't intervene yourselves, and I can understand why you chose Ash even if I don't really like it since that means he's likely to attract trouble and danger. So why do you call me 'Protector' and why was that electric rat called a 'Chosen Pokemon'?" Gary asked his natural curiosity taking control as he pulled out a notebook and wrote all of this down for future reference.

"I'll answers the Chosen Pokemon question first. You see the Chosen one always has several friends, rivals, and plenty of Pokemon no matter where they go, because they always travel to keep an eye on and out for things happening that shouldn't or being out of place. The one constant companion they have from the very start of their journey is a Pokemon Chosen beforehand by the Council of Legendries. We do not pick the exact Pokemon merely the species, and all Pokemon know from the moment they're hatched that there is a chance they could be partnered up with the Chosen One and are told to never abandon the Chosen One once he's found or else it could bring about the end of the world." Arceus said causing Gary to nod as he wrote it all down using shorthand.

"Explains why you all were so angry and shocked at the Pikachu abandoning Ashy. Now what's this 'Protector' business?" Gary asked not looking up from his notebook.

"As the title suggests being a Protector means you are chosen to protect and take care of the Chosen One. This usually happens in one of three ways. One is the one that would have happened had Ash been born with a healthy body, a voice of his own, and no active Psychic powers except perhaps for empathy. In that situation you would have been Ash's best friend and rival but you would have been arrogant and constantly put him down to toughen him up." Arceus said causing Gary to look shocked but write it down.

"In a reality where Ash is a girl, either as he is now or as the healthy counterpart you would be protective, a best friend, a rival, and eventually a lover for her as well. While that could have happened in both the healthy male scenario and in the current scenario it is not the most likely occurrence. As it is his Chosen Mate is already picked out but he has not met her yet." Arceus said watching as Gary blushed, then paled, then looked shocked, then blushed again, and then looked thoughtful.

"Ignoring the mental scarring from those thoughts…I'm guessing the third scenario is the one that played out so far. Ash isn't completely able to talk nor can he talk without his Psychic abilities so I became a protective brother type, overprotective at that, who travels around and openly protects and takes care of him." Gary said causing Arceus to nod.

"Yes you have noticed that you're stronger and faster than most others your age? That is a boost you get from being a Chosen Protector, one of three. Another Protector has strong psychic powers but at the moment no control over them, rather they control her, and the final Protector is actually a set of three. A pair of humans, a guy from a wealthy family that never let him be himself, a woman who wanted to be anything else but who's dreams were crushed when she was forced to become a criminal, and one Pokemon who is see as weird and freaky by others for being different. The three of them are all one soul that was accidentally split into three different bodies, which is why they are all Protectors and yet only count as one." Arceus said causing Gary to look surprised but nod as he wrote down the information.

"Once they are chosen each Protector is given a 'bonus' which is something they get for being a Protector. It can be anything from physical prowess like you have, to a special power like the female protector, or something such as being adaptable and having a weird quirk or being particularly stubborn like the one Split Protector. It is randomly gifted, usually at birth like the females and Splits, or it can be given as they age like yours." Arceus enlightened the boy, causing his eyes to widen but he nodded as he wrote everything down. Gary looked up and opened his mouth to ask another question when there was a small shuffling sound behind him. Turning around Gary scrambled back onto his feet and over to the other boy, his notebook thrown to the floor in his haste.

"Ashy! Thank goodness you're awake!" Gary exclaimed helping his small friend sit up as the boy looked around confused, seeing the Mew and Celebi climbing all over him playfully and happily before looking up at the other Legendries wide eyed. He jumps at the Psychic message from a happy sounding Arceus.

"Ah Chosen One! I'm glad you are awake again! Now come we have much to discuss!"