AAAAND We are back, ladies and gentlemen! Last time, we left with Celebi revealing Dragon's wife and life to the legendary council. Shall we see the effects of it?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything! If I did, I'd be investing in biotech labs to create real Pokémon!
Hall of Origin
The entire Legendary Council was thrown into a state of uproar. A human mating with a Pokémon!? It was outrageous! Poor Celebi was sure that the Sinnoh region was experiencing the worst natural disasters since its creation. Somewhere along the lines of earthquakes, blizzards, draughts, floods…
"QUIIIIEEEET!" Arceus's deep voice boomed over the raging voices of his fellow legends. Intense silence followed… broken by Mew's childish giggling.
"Hihi… Do it again, Arcy! That was fun!" Arceus was finding it hard to resist the urge of knocking Mew into the ground.
Mewtwo sighed from his spot, leaning against a wall. He and Genesect had decided to back away the second Celebi said Latias was the wife of the other Ash, and just in time too. The spot they'd been in had been frozen by Regice. "Celebi, would you please explain before the others blow a fuse?" Mewtwo said, calm as ever.
Groudon whipped around to face the clone. "Shut up, you freak! Why are you even.." Any words the giant beast wanted to say were drowned by Mew's hydro cannon.
"No insulting me two!" She admonished Groudon, angry that someone dared insult her "Little brother" as she liked to call him.
Arceus stomped with his front left… appendage. "Mewtwo and Genesect are members of the council. I will not tolerate them to be insulted. Is that clear, Groudon?" Groudon growled, but knew that if he disagreed he'd get a water-type Judgment to the face. He nodded and stepped back to his place between Kyogre and Rayquaza, both of which were laughing quietly at him. "Now, Mewtwo is on the right path. Celebi, explain." Celebi gulped.
"Ooook… I'm gonna borrow this for a moment." Celebi flew up to the Viewing Orb in the middle of the Hall. Placing his hands on it, he focused on a memory. "First, I'll show you the point in which the timelines diverge." An image shimmered into the orb…
MEMORY
Ash, Brock, May and Max walked out of the Victory Route, Ash looking sullen from his loss at the Hoenn League, and was walking far behind his friends. His most recent defeat at the hands of Tyson had left him wondering many things. What the Distortion World was he doing with his life? All he did was go into a region, fight and lose in their respective Leagues (with the notable exception of the Orange Islands). He honestly didn't mind losing all that much. What really got to him was the damage his Pokémon suffered with each match. Poor Pikachu, his best friend, was seriously injured during the fight with Tyson…
… and then there was the Void…
It was the reason Ash fought so much and tried to catch so many Pokémon. Whenever his mind wasn't busy with something, he'd feel this intense, horrible feeling of pure emptiness within him. It was like a part of him was missing. Worse still, it felt like it'd been there for a while – he'd go as far as to say since the day he was born, but was only aware of it now. He honestly had no clue what it was…
"Hey, Pikachu?" The yellow mouse uttered a confused "Pika?" as he turned to his trainer. "Would you mind walking with the others for a while? I… I kinda want to be alone for now." Pikachu looked worried, but nodded and scurried towards the rest of the group, settling on May's shoulder. The electric rodent thought his friend really needed to find a mate, if only to help him with times like this. Meanwhile, Ash looked at his right hand, remembering one of his adventures. Specifically, the Tree of Life. With a little effort, he managed to create a tiny sphere of aura in his hand. He knew he had the power to harness his life force, but had never really trained with it. It made him wonder just what he could do with this power…
"…nounce the evils of truth and love!" Ash looked up to see that Team Rocket had appeared. He really wasn't in the mood to chase after them. He absentmindedly flicked his hand towards them… and the little Aura Sphere in his hand flew straight up to their balloon and popped it, sending them flying away before they could even finish their motto. Ash looked at his hand, surprised at what he'd just done, when he noticed a small item had dropped from the Meowth balloon. It looked like the average Team Rocket smoke bomb, likely to be used in their escape.
'I need some time alone to think about things…' The Chosen One of Lugia thought grimly. He knew that if he just said he'd go traveling alone, his friends would go looking for him and would, eventually, find him. Something he didn't need. Instead, he formed another Aura Sphere in his hand. 'They won't look for someone they think is dead…' and with that, he threw the sphere at the bomb, creating a large explosion of black smoke. All it took was an over exaggerated scream of pain as he placed down his Pokéballs to make the others believe he was in danger. With that done, he ran into the nearby foliage, quickly getting out of sight…
MEMORY END
The Council stared at the orb, confused.
Lugia spoke first. "Why, in the name of all the seas in the world, didn't he just leave behind a letter or something?" Celebi turned to the lord of the seas, a deadpan look on his face.
"What would you answer if I asked about Ash's intelligence or ability to think ahead?" Lugia thought for a second.
"I'd say he's very intelligent and always one step ahead…"
"Outside of Pokémon battles." Celebi cut him off. Lugia hung his head.
"… I see your point…" Celebi nodded, satisfied.
The little green sprite turned to Arceus. "So yeah, Ash wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed back then. Honestly, a simple letter saying not to look for him would've been far more than enough. He just didn't think about it." The entire council sighed. While the kid might've been the Chosen One of Lugia, Ho-Oh's Champion, Mewtwo's savior and even Mew's favorite human, he really was a tad bit dim witted. "Anyway, after the whole fake death fiasco, he went to that castle near Lady Mew's home." Mew, who was floating upside down over Dialga, tilted her head.
"Huh? He went to Cameran? Did he stop by the tree to say hi at least? Oh, I think I'd have a few toys for us to play!" Sometimes, no one could believe that this childish little Pokémon held more power than most of them combined. Celebi coughed.
"Yes, Lady Mew, he stopped by to say hi. He knew you'd just kidnap him if he didn't." The other legends chuckled at that. "He spent around two years there, training his Aura while he tried to figure out what to do with his life. I'll just skip to the day he went to Altomare" The orb shimmered again… (1)
MEMORY
Ash stood in front of the gates of Cameran Palace. It had been two very, very long years for him, training his Aura. He was far from being an Aura Master but he was well above the average practitioner. He was willing to bet he could go up against Riley right now and win. After all, Riley didn't know about Prime Techniques, now did he?
Ash gave the castle that had been his home for the last 2 years one last look as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. No longer was he a scrawny little kid. His harsh training regime had led to him gaining a lot of muscle mass and he'd even hit a growth spurt, leaving him around as tall as Brock when he last saw him. And since he'd 'graduated' from Aura Adept to fully fledged Practitioner, he'd been given robes much like Sir Aaron's, including the hat, which now replaced his usual attire and his long since worn cap (although it was still in his duffel bag as a keepsake)
"Farewell, Cameran. I'll come back someday…" He turned away, heading straight to the nearest port. "… but for now, I have to go meet someone." And with that, he set out.
Finding a ship heading to Altomare was harder than he thought. After the incident with Annie and Oakley, which led to what could only be described as chaos, the island had lost much of its tourism. Sailors muttered amongst themselves that the island was now cursed by the spiteful spirit of the Latios that once protected it. Ash paid them no heed, and managed to convince a man to take him to the island, with no small amount of money to sweeten the deal. After all, with all the battles he'd won and the tournaments he'd participated in, Ash had plenty of money at his disposal.
The boat ride itself was rather dull. The sailor refused to speak to Ash, only muttering that he must be crazy to go to a cursed Island. It took a lot of willpower from Ash to avoid hitting the man with his personal technique: Strength of the… well, the name was a work in progress. It took around 5 hours to get to the island he had longed to see…
… and it was worse than he'd imagined.
The cheerful folk he remembered from his last visit were not cheerful at all this time around. The people weren't dancing and singing, or talking happily with one another. There was no music from street performers, or posters stating when the next water race would be. The canals had litter in them, and the gondolas that once transported awed tourists around the city now laid still in the murky water, rot taking over the woodcraft. Ash felt sick at what he saw, but he pushed on, heading to the only place he knew would have all the answers: The museum.
It didn't take him long to get there. It was a rather large building. The man selling the tickets was asleep in his station, letting Ash slip in. He noticed that all the displays were covered in dust. He walked forward, heading straight to the DMA. By the looks of it, they'd managed to get the two Rockets out of there…
"Hm? OH! A visitor!" The young Aura Practitioner turned to the source of the voice, his hat covering his features. It was none other than Lorenzo, the same man that had given him the tour when he first came to Altomare. "Welcome to the Altomare Museum! I am…"
"It's good to see you again, Lorenzo." Ash interrupted him, taking of his hat. The portly old man gasped when he finally realized who it was.
"A-ASH!?"
MEMORY END
Rayquaza, Mewtwo and Genesect were trying their best to console Latias. Her version of Altomare hadn't been that bad… but on the other hand, it hadn't been as long as it'd been in the other timeline.
"T-that was Altomare?" She asked, pain in her voice. Is that what her island would become in the future?
With a heavy sigh, Celebi turned to her. "After the DMA was used, sailors believed Altomare to be cursed. They stopped taking tourists there and, with time, the people of Altomare became miserable. Without tourists, the economy slowly grinded to a halt, and people stopped caring. Streets and canals had litter, crime increased, people moved away…" Arceus shook his head, regretting that such a thing had happened. Kyogre then spoke.
"Until Ash came in."
Celebi scratched his head. "Weeell… sorta. Lemme finish this memory, 'k?"
MEMORY (Cont.)
"A-ASH!?" The man couldn't believe his eyes. Partially due to the kid now looking completely different. His eyes no longer held the same innocence they'd had before. He was barely 14, judging by how long it'd been since they'd last seen each other, but he seemed mature beyond his ears.
Ash chuckled at the man's surprised tone. "The one and only, Lorenzo." While the old man stuttered, Ash looked around. It was hard to believe this was the same museum he'd been in around 4 years ago. Everything was in a state of disrepair he never would've dreamed would happen. "I'd heard things here in Altomare had gone bad, but I never thought it'd be THIS bad. How are Bianca and La…" He saw a few locals walking around the museum, well within earshot. "… Laura. Yeah, Bianca and Laura?" Lorenzo noticed the same thing Ash had, and decided to play along the name change.
"Well… They've been better. Bianca hasn't been the same ever since La…zlo died. Those two were always so close…" Lorenzo said sadly. ("He had no idea" Celebi commented). "As for La…ura, well…" The old curator aged 10 years at the least. Ash looked at him, worried.
"Lorenzo, how is Latias?" His worry made him forget about the name changing. Luckily, the people around them had moved on to another exhibit. Lorenzo sighed.
"… She took Latios's death very hard, and your leaving hurt her even more. Even now she's…" The man had to sit down. "… We don't know what to do anymore. Every day, Latias slips deeper and deeper into depression. She lashes out at anyone that enters the Garden. Every night we hear her crying throughout the whole city… I… I just want her to be happy…" The Void within Ash grew with each word. HE had caused this. If he had stayed after Latios died, Latias wouldn't have been so bad.
"I… I have to go." Ash said quickly, running out of the Museum. He heard Lorenzo call out to him, but he couldn't stop. He had to see her. He had to right the wrong he'd created 4 years ago. There was no excuse for it. He may have been young, naïve and inexperienced in the ways of the world, but even his childish self should've seen the sadness in her eyes.
He ran through the twisting paths of Altomare, letting his Aura guide him. He could see it as plain as day, the deep red aura with little specks of blue in it. He ran after it, eventually coming to a dead end.
Which he ran through.
He entered straight into the Garden of the Lati, which stood seemingly unaffected by the decay of the city around it. Not three steps in, the alarm system kicked in, making all the little baubles and chains around rattle. 5 steps in, he was assaulted by what was likely the most powerful psychic blast he'd ever felt. He felt sadness, anguish, pain and… a Void, so similar to his own that it was like two pieces of a puzzle.
"I said LEAVE ME ALONE" An angry, female voice echoed in his head. Doing his best to ignore the pain, he trudged forward, deeper into the Garden. The wind picked up, and out of the corner of his eye he saw something shimmer and braced himself for impact.
*WHAM*
His back hit the dirt harshly, forcing the air out of his lungs. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the shocked expression of the one he had yearned for during the last 2 years.
"A-Ash?" The young Aura practitioner chuckled.
"Good to see you again, Latias."
MEMORY END
And that was Ash's return." Celebi finished. "Things afterwards were pretty interesting. I was sure Ash was going to be unable to eat solids for the rest of his life after the slapping he got from Bianca." The sprite laughed quietly at the memory. "The two dated for about a year before Ash proposed. Granted, the first month or two was awkward as hell as they both tried to overcome the language barrier. Telepathy isn't good for prolonged conversations."
Rayquaza crossed his stubby arms, looking skeptical. "And how, pray tell, did they overcome it? As far as I know, humans can't exactly learn to speak Pokémon." Mewtwo stepped forth.
"I believe I know the answer." The Clone of Mew announced. He knew he had to be careful since, aside from Arceus and Mew, none of the other legends were fond of him and Genesect. "I was reviewing some papers I found in New Island, locked away in a safe very deep underground. Apparently, a Psychic Pokémon can create a sort of automatic translation in a human's brain. The name of the technique is… unknown to me, sadly." Celebi nodded.
"You're on the right track. The Technique is called Mental Activation. In fact, the you from their timeline gave Dragon and Latias those papers. It's how she learned to do it and gave Dragon the ability." Arceus tilted his head.
"Dragon?" It was the question on everyone's minds, and Arceus was only the first to say it. Celebi shrugged.
"After a few years as the Guardian, Ash abandoned his name and became Dragon. Only Latias and his children call him Ash anymore." Everyone nodded at the explanation.
Regigigas looked at the image of Dragon for a few moments. "This has yet to explain his transition from innocent child to a man who kills in the blink of an eye." Once more, Celebi sighed.
"That is a bit of a painful story. In reality, it wasn't until his daughter was born that Ash took a serious role in protecting Altomare. He helped restore the city a bit, and with his help tourists started coming again. And even then, it took a particular event for him to truly take up the mantle of the Guardian." He placed his hands on the orb, but hesistated. "What I'm about to show you is not for the faint of heart. Ok?"
MEMORY
Ash stared at the man in front of him. He had just saved a girl from being raped by this… this monster. He'd seen him on the news. Anthony Pompadour, recently released from the Kanto Regional prison. Worst part was… he didn't seem to care he was caught. He simply grinned at the man in front of him.
"Well, you caught me," He said cheerfully, a smile on his face, "I was trying to have my way with that girl. Nothing to be done now," He put his hands in front of him, parallel to one another. "Take me in. I'm sure my buddies in prison miss me." Ash continued to stare.
'He doesn't even care… he was going to do something… something unspeakable to that little girl and… he doesn't even regret it…" He thought, his sword forming in his hand. All he could think of now was "what if that had been Ritias?" and "What if I hadn't gotten here in time?".
The man paled at the sight of the sword. "H-hey, come on now, let's not get too hasty. I've got a problem man, take me in!" He sounded desperate now. Ash started breathing heavy, rage coursing through his entire being. He slowly raised his sword. "Come on man, TAKE ME IN!"
"Men, are arrested…" Ash muttered, fury burning in every word. His sword came down swiftly, splitting the man's head in two. "… Dogs… are put DOWN…"he chopped at the corpse's head a few more times, rage guiding his hand.
MEMORY END
Not even Arceus could contain his horror at what he'd just seen. The man deserved death, sure, but what Ash did was just brutal. It did help, in a way, to see him retreat to his home, trying to contain the bile rising up his throat. He'd just taken a life, and the significance of that action was dawning on him.
"Ash never did forget that kill." Celebi commented. "He hates that memory. He'd do anything to forget it. But at the same time, it keeps him human. The feeling of having taken a life is dreadful… but he knows that there are times a person has lost their humanity. I took the liberty of checking the timelines in which Dragon let the man live…" Various disturbing images appeared on the orb. "No matter how many times he was imprisoned, he never changed. In the end of all the timelines, he gets killed, either by Dragon or death penalty." Arceus shook his head. How had humanity fallen to such depravity? "With the Guardian of Altomare becoming a fully-fledged vigilante, safety in the city skyrocketed and the prisons were full of the people that made it dangerous. He became such a public image that the Mayor of Altomare gifted him the Key to the City and he is, unofficially, a member of the police."
"I don't know why, he seemed pretty murderous to me…" Xerneas was wary of the man. As a being of life, the wariness was justified. Yveltal seemed to love him.
"Yeah, a little, but look at the people he's threatened so far:" Celebi pulled up the images. "The Team Rocket goons, who, let's all admit, have been one hell of a thorn at Ash's side since the day he started his journey." The Legends all muttered some sort of agreement. "But he let them go on purpose. As for the guys his team DID kill, now those guys were real bastards in his world. The King's Hunters would hunt down and kill any human that mated with a Pokémon and would conduct lethal and highly illegal experimentation on aura capable people. It was nasty, really." Everyone nodded, realizing that they may have judged the man too soon. Deoxys was looking around, however, checking every corner of the Hall of Origin.
Arceus took notice. "Deoxys, is something the matter?" The biomechanical DNA Pokémon turned to the Alpha Pokémon.
"Noting, sir, it's just that…" He pointed to the spot between Rayquaza and himself, which was now empty. "… Where did Latias go?"
AND THAT IS ALL FOLKS. I hope you enjoyed, and see you next chapter! This is BladeOfThePoet, logging out!
(1): This was a taste to whet your appetite, so to speak. I want to know if you guys and gals would like to see a prequel, detailing Ash's training and slow conversion from Ash to Dragon. Please leave a review or drop a PM with your thoughts on the matter!