Disclaimer: I do not own Ash Ketchum from Pokemon nor do I own characters from Square Enix, Disney, Biohazard, or any other company.

Fandom: Pokemon/Kingdom Hearts

Title: Where They Wait For Him! The Trial of Awakening: Now It Begins!

Character (s): Ash (18)

Genre (s): Angst/Tragedy/Hurt & Comfort

Rated: T

Word Count: 2,988

Pairing (s): Ash/Aqua, Ash/Cynthia, One-sided Ash/Harem, and One-sided Other Pairings

Summary: Ash's world has fallen to the darkness due to the Heartless and now fate has taken him onto an adventure where he must save many worlds from the forces of evil. But at some point, fate will lead Ash to the one he first loved, Aqua. He will encounter new friends, new foes, and new worlds! Can Ash handle it? We will have to wait and see if he is capable of doing so!

Where They Wait For Him! The Trial of Awakening: Now It Begins!

目覚めの試み:今これが始まる!

Darkness…

All he can see is…the darkness….the same darkness that swallow up Mother Earth and stole everything from him.

His world…

His master…

His mother…

His friends…

His best bud in the world…

And most of all…the one who loved him with all of her heart…Cynthia…

They were all gone. Everything that was precious to him…gone from the existence and it is all because of him. It was his fault….it was his fault that he let everything happen before his eyes. There was no way he could ever forgive himself. Forgive himself for letting those close to him down. He was a sorry excuse of a person. He was so weak. Not even the god of his world could ever forgive him. His duty as the Chosen One, the protector of all living things was a failure. He let every single soul down, including himself. He was a sad disappointment. Maybe he should just let the darkness consume what's left of his miserable life and that way his existence as…

a champion…

an Aura Master…

a hero…

a savior…

a human being…

and best of all… Ash Ketchum…

…can no longer be alive.

As he slowly drifts into the dark void of emptiness, the last thing he can whisper out of his mouth was…

"I'm…sorry…Cynthia…"

Slowly and slowly, the former trainer drifts further into the depths of darkness. While the broken young man continues to float within the dark void of emptiness, there were hints that Ash was in a major battle before he was dragged into the void by a dark swarm known as the Heartless. His young face, cheeks, and arms were all scratch up. Little trails of blood were leaking out from them. His sleeveless, blue and white hoodie with a golden Poke' ball in the center, was rip and torn from different places. The same goes with his grayish pants. They were torn and ripped as well. Even his traditional cap looks battered and torn. It must have been an intense battle if he looks like crap.

Things did not look too well for the former prince of Radiant Garden. His pupils were all cloudy, hinting that was no sign of life within Ash's entire body at all. As if he has lost the will to live on. His emotionless expression tells it all. All seems lost for Ash.

Just as all hope and light was leaking out from Ash's soul, a spark of miracle appeared. In the mist of darkness, a small ball of dim light with something inside lowers itself towards the fallen hero. What was it? A sign of hope? Maybe.

Slowly and slowly, the mysterious orb of light makes its way to the broken Master of Aura. It is unknown if the former prince was paying any attention to orb of light or what. One thing was for sure and that was…Ash was not making any effort to move a muscle.

As the strange orb was hovering a few inches above the fallen prince's body, something unexpected happen.

"Ash…"

What the? Did that orb of light just spoke? More or less, did it just call out Ash's name? Weird. The young hero would have thought the same thing if he was not in a terrible slump right now. There was no sign of Ash responding to the strange orb.

"Ash…" The orb of light spoke up yet again. "I'm sorry…" Sorry? The ball of light must be giving the young teen some sympathy for his grief and sorrow. But why? "I'm sorry for everything that happen to you…"

Still no response.

"I know you can't hear me and I don't blame you." The orb of light was trying its best to get through the broken soul's mind. "I know that you are in pain, but…this isn't the time to give up."

"…"

"It's unlike you to give up. You are too stubborn to do so. I should know because I was there with you long ago to witness your stubbornness at first hand." The orb of light told Ash in a slight muse tone. However, that did not change anything. Ash still refuses to make any contact with the shiny ball of light. This slightly disappointed the orb.

"Oh, come on, Ash. Don't tell me you don't know who this is?" A girlish giggle escaped from the strange orb. Oh, so a female voice has been talking to him this whole time. Figures. Not only that, the voice sounded a bit familiar.

"…"

Now, a sigh escaped from the orb. "It's a shame…It's too bad I cannot come in person and refresh your memory, but maybe I can do something else much better." What did the female orb thing mean by that?

Suddenly, the orb of light flashed brightly for a couple of seconds before the beaming light disappeared. Soon, a familiar, white star-shaped charm took the ball of light's place. That charm…it was the same charm that…his first love, Aqua made for him. This cannot be. What does this mean? Ash's cloudy eyes suddenly show a small glimpse of life. Maybe this was still hope for him after all.

As the former trainer continues to stare at his floating charm before him, a warm sensation of hope and light started to reform within his soul. The more he stares at the star-shaped charm, the more good fond memories of his past about Aqua started to resurface within him. Ash can remember those words she told him when she gave him that charm.

No matter how far we are from apart, this charm symbolizes our connection. Our hearts are connected.

Those were her final words to him. Remembering her last words brought back some shrine of emotions into him. His golden-brownish eyes started to tear up. Small trails of wet tears started to flow down from his eyes. Was Aqua right? No matter how far they were apart from each other, their hearts was always connected. Does that mean her spirit was with him this whole time for the past twelve years? Maybe. Either way, Ash cannot stop crying because he was happy that he was not alone at the moment. He thought he lost everyone he cared about, but hearing her voice made him reconsider about that.

"Aq-Aq-…Aqua…"

"Finally!" Aqua's voice giggled from the floating charm. "Took you long enough." Her voice teased her first love.

Ash did not say anything at first. He was so happy to hear her lovely voice. But why now? Why did he suddenly hear her voice at a time like this? Was he being delusional? Maybe.

"Sorry if this isn't a happy reunion for us both, Ash…"Aqua's voice brought Ash back into reality. "I wish I was there in your time of need, but I can't. I'm a little preoccupied at the moment." A sad sigh escaped from the charm. "However, the least I can do for you right now is to be with you in spirit." Her tone was filled with warm and comfort.

The former prince did not know what to say. He cannot think of anything to say at this moment. However, there was one thing that's been bothering him since the moment came to him and that was… "H-How a-are you-…."

"How am I speaking to you?" Aqua's voice finishes his sentence with a soft giggle. Ash slowly nodded. "That's easy. As I said before, our hearts are connected. The charm I gave you had a portion of my life source in it. Thus, in a way…allowed us to connect to each other in spirit."

"H-Huh?"

"Don't worry. You will understand it someday, Ash." Another giggle escaped from the star charm. "But for right now, it's not important." Suddenly, the tone of her voice shifted into a different tone, a serious one I might add. "Ash, don't lose hope just yet. It is unlike you to do so. Do not give into the darkness of despair. There's a way to fix everything."

A light of hope beamed into Ash's soul. "R-Really?"

"Yes…but first…you need to promise me that no matter how bad things look, don't ever give into the darkness, all right?"

"I-I…promise…"

"Good. And besides, the darkness does not fit you. I like you just the way you are." Aqua's voice echoed with a giggle, causing her first love to slightly blush.

After a brief seconds, Aqua or her voice for that matter shifted back into the serious matter at hand. "Now that you promised. It's time to get down to some serious business."

"W-What do you mean, Aqua?" The descendant of the Aura Masters asked the voice.

"It's time to awaken your true self, Ash." Aqua's voice told him in a smoothing tone. Ash blinked confusedly. He still did not quite follow on what she meant by that.

"M-My…true…self?"

"That's right. Sure…you might be a descendant of the Aura Masters where your aura powers and abilities are still in the progress of evolving, but sadly, it will not be enough." The young raven-haired teen looks kinda offended by her words. What did she mean his aura abilities will not be enough? For that matter, not enough for what?

Before Ash could say anything about that, his first love's voice cut him off. "However, this is one good down side to all of this since it's you after all." Did Aqua find this slightly amusing when she said this? Maybe so. Ash, on the other hand, did not.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked, frowning at floating charm while ignoring the pain of his battle wounds in the progress.

"Just think of it as a compliment. After all, you are the Chosen One." Aqua's voice told him with a giggle. The young man still did not look too convinced. "But anyway…you were born special. Not only gifted with the power of aura and its dark counter part, but also gifted in hopes to become a Keyblade Master."

"A Keyblade Master?" Ash looks bewilderment in hearing this. Ash did know a little bit about them. After all, his dear mother and his aura master, Riley, did mention about them before. From some point, his mother did mention that Aqua was one of them. "Just like…you?"

"Eventually." Aqua's voice quickly gave him a quick answer. "And maybe sooner than you less expected." A giggle escaped from the charm yet again.

"What?"

"There's no time to waste. Other people from other worlds will need your help to battle against the Heartless sooner than I expected."

"Other worlds? Heartless?" Ash still looks kinda baffled. Sure, he might have been from a different world, but he did not expected to be others out there as well. And what is the deal with the Heartless business?

"There's no time to explain. We need to start your first trial of awakening immediately. Save your questions afterwards." Aqua's voice told the dumbfounded candidate.

"Oh, uh…o…k…"

"Good." Suddenly, the star-shaped charm erupted in a blinding light. The light was so bright that causes the wounded and battered teen to shut his eyes.

Soon the shining light subsided. Once it did, Ash slowly opens his eyes. As his vision becomes clear, the former prince almost had a heart attack when he came face to face with Aqua…? No, it was not exactly Aqua herself. It was more like a ghostly spirit form of her since he can actually see through her. But still...spirit or not, her sudden appearance really surprised him. The gap between them was inches apart as the spirit was floating in front of him, face to face.

Their eyes locked at the moment. Ash could not believe it. The spirit took on the appearance of Aqua when he first met her when he was six. "Aqua…"

The ghostly girl smiles warmly at her soon-to-be successor. Before Aqua's spirit can say anything, she did a quick scan at the young man before her. Ash was pretty in a rough shape, but at least he is still conscious. Apart from that, the ghostly form took notice that her first love's raven hair was shorter now, but slightly messy with his torn up, traditional cap on top. His eye color was now more golden brown instead of being blackish brown. He still has those cute little Z's on his face. On his right ear was his small, blue crystal earring that was slightly cracked. Along with that, his outfit was clearly torn and ripped all over the place. It was pretty sad to see him in this condition. However, not for long.

The spirit form of Aqua returns her attention right back to Ash with a warm smile. "Don't worry, Ash…" She cooed, extending her right hand towards his right cheek and stroke it gently. The former prince could not feel her touch, but somewhat her action caused him to blush. "You'll be as good as new soon, but for right now I want you to rest. Once you open your eyes again, your first trail of awakening will soon begin, ok?"

"O-Ok…"

The female spirit looks pleased to hear his response. She stroked his cheeks a few more time before giving him a small kiss on the forehead. Before long, the former trainer's eyes slowly gotten heavy and then everything went black.

A/N: How do you guys like it so far? I know Ash has it rough, but at least Aqua's spirit is there to guide him through. I hope you guys like the small moment between Ash/Aqua. IntertwineFateShipping all the way! I still like Ash/Cynthia shipping as well. Along with any Ash/Harem pairings, too. If you were curious, this story takes place one month after Two Who Were Never Meant To Meet's epilogue. Now then, thanks for everyone who suggested ideas for the three remaining worlds. I really appreciate it. After looking over each suggestion, I have finally chosen the three worlds that will be added into the story along with Resident Evil 5. Just wait and see which suggestions did I picked. For now, I hope you like the first chapter. Please R & R! The second chapter is being work on as I speak. Until then. Peace out! ^_^

P.S. Remember the whole Aura Scar and the other whatnots from Two Who Were Never Meant To Meet? Well, it is going to be in this story as well. So be ready!

Johan07!