Unknown location
For an unspecified amount of time, all that Nate was seeing was an infinite reach of pitch-black darkness. Finally, an unknown force compelled him to open his eyes.
He gasped and stepped backward in shock: he was standing at the peak of a mountain. Surrounding the mountain, completely obscuring the landscape below, almost encircling the area, was a vast blanket of wispy fog, which left behind an eerie whisper as it moved. Nate exhaled calmly, a cloud of frosty air exiting his mouth, but for some reason, the atmosphere wasn't cold at all, contrary to what the Trainer was seeing.
"Where...Where am I?" Nate asked, beseeching no one in particular. His voice echoed through the air, growing fainter and fainter with every unnerving repeat. After a few minutes were spent without any response, he called out, "Hello?! Is anyone out there?! Anyone?..."
"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning," a voice suddenly said, echoing through the cold air, just like the whisper of the swirling fog. Nate twirled around, expecting to see someone behind him, but he saw no one, and yet, the voice continued to speak, with a soft and somber, yet sagely tone that seemed to indicate the foreshadowing of death. "-lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash."
"Who's there?!" called Nate. He reached for a Poké Ball. "Show yourself this instant, or else-" However, he was cut short when he realized that he had no Poké Balls. He growled in defeat, realizing that he was completely defenseless. The Trainer decided to just stand his ground, hoping that the speaker would reveal himself...
"Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash."
At that point, Nate swore that he saw a shadow move across the fog.
"O Chosen One," continued the voice, "into thine hands bring together all three." At this point, the voice grew louder and mightier, and the speaker seemed to be nearing closer. Nate braced himself for any impending attacks... "Their treasures combined-"
Nate clenched his fists and gritted his teeth; he was getting tired of this mysterious air. "SHOW YOURSELF, NOW!" he roared.
Suddenly, a Pokémon emerged from the mass of the fog. It bore the physical traits of a dragon and a bird, colored primarily in silver-white with blue undersides. It also had a beak-like mouth; a pointed head; eyes with pointed dark-blue horns on them; a long, slender neck; and a smooth, streamlined body, with two sets of dark-blue protrusions that resembled spikes, which ran down its back. Its large wings ended in flippers that greatly resembled hands.
"-Tame the Beast of the Sea."
Nate immediately recognized the Pokémon from ancient drawings. "Lugia?..." he asked.
"Thus concludes the Trial of the Soul."
Then, another voice spoke, this one speaking with a booming, mighty tone that nearly knocked Nate off of his feet.
"Quell not the discord of evil, malice, and malevolence, lest its weak state expose its true strength in actuality. Though the sky's great guardian shall arise to restore the balance, alone its power will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash once again."
Nate watched as a second shadow began to form in the immense fog. The second voice continued.
"O Chosen One, into thine heart accept your ultimate fate. Your brought sacrifice-"
The Pokémon from which the second shadow belonged to emerged through the fog. It was a phoenix-like bird colored predominantly in gold and red. It sported yellow tail-feathers, a white underside, and green feathers at the tip of its wings. It also had a green stripe on its neck, a yellow beak, black rings around its red eyes, and a feathered crest. Nate recognized the second Pokémon as well, again from ancient drawings.
"-Tame the world."
"Ho-Oh?..."
"Thus concludes the Trial of the Heart."
Then, Lugia and Ho-Oh spoke simultaneously, their voices entwined into one, its booming tone forcing Nate to fall over onto the peak. Light broke through the fog as a bright sun began to shine, illuminating the two Legendary Pokémon until they were nothing more than pitch-black shadows themselves, their physical features almost unrecognizable. Nate squinted his eyes and shielded them from the fierce sunlight as he tried to hear what the two Pokémon were saying to him...
"O Chosen One, look into your heart and soul, seek what is underneath, discover the true spirit that constitutes you... Perils await, and all must be done with due process... Do not hesitate, do not doubt, do not regret... Do not dwell in the past, merely look forward to tomorrow..."
Just then, Lugia and Ho-Oh both exploded into blinding flashes of light... Nate screamed and closed his eyes as he felt a searing sensation...
The Rocket Blimp
Several miles away from Ketchum City
Nate's eyes jerked open, and he sat up on his sleeping bag, panting as sweat dripped from his face. He looked around in the blimp, realizing after a few seconds that he was back in the room that he shared with his mother, Kelly, Cheren, Hugh, Carrie, and Rosa...
Only...Cheren wasn't in his bed... And the door was slightly ajar, with light breaking through the slight crack... People were speaking worriedly...
Intrigued, and partially wanting to get his mind off of the strange nightmare, Nate decided to get out of his sleeping bag and tiptoed towards the door. He leaned close to the door, sticking an ear into the crack. However, his eardrums couldn't register what the speakers were talking about. Nate knew he would have to get closer...
He opened the door, unfortunately with a slight but sickening creak. The Trainer stopped short in his tracks, hoping that no one heard it. Judging by the uninterrupted conversing, the sound fell to deaf ears. Nate fully opened the door and stepped into the hallway. At that point, he noticed that the new light was coming from the living room the blimp offered, where it appeared that a small crowd of people were seated at; Cheren, Hilda, and their friends, most likely.
Nate quietly tiptoed down the hallway. He could now hear the talking...
"-Just doesn't make sense as to why we can't tell him," May said. "I think he-"
"Do you have any idea how it will affect him?" interrupted Cheren. "He's better off NOT knowing it! I've seen him over the years, guys. He's fully immersed in his life..."
"Will y'all keep ya traps DOWN?!" Meowth demanded. "Wobbuffet's trying ta steer here!"
"I really don't trust a Pokémon like Wobbuffet behind that wheel-" Khoury began.
"Well, we've been in the air for almost twelve hours, twerp," snapped Jessie. "We haven't had a single blastoff, now have we? Anyway, back on the topic, would it not matter at all if we continue to keep the truth from him? It'll be a matter of time before he stumbles upon the truth!"
Nate had already gotten to the end of the hallway, and was now peeking his head slightly into the living room. Everyone was either seated at a sofa or standing up; in Cheren's case, he was leaning coolly against the opposite wall. There was a TV screen that was activated; Nate could see that it was displaying a live broadcast with a split-screen, which showed three different recordings of different people. He recognized one of the people in the TV as the famous Professor Gary Oak of Pallet Town.
"I think we should tell him the truth," suggested Hilda. "He's gonna start questioning what's been happening to him recently. I mean, he started asking me questions as to why I battled him back at Alto Mare, and he really did seemed to doubt my answer."
"I think he also saw me in his suite room," Dawn added. "All of that, plus the whole Genesect Army fiasco on the ship, will warrant questions from him. Any boy around his age would see all of these recent events as strange and start asking questions. Besides, we don't know what's gonna happen after we reach Ketchum City-"
"Still, he's gonna take it hard," replied Cheren, shaking his head. "Really hard. Nate's very convinced that Kelly is his mother, but we know otherwise..."
Nate had to restrain himself from issuing a gasp. Was everything that he was hearing...true? The woman he looked upon as his mother was not what she kept claiming she was? He shook his head in desperate dismissal, hoping that they were talking about a different Nate...and yet, they were obviously talking about him... He gulped and continued to listen, all the while beginning to regret leaving his room in the first place. He knew that what he was about to hear next would be gut-wrenching...
"I think we have to tell him," Hilda insisted. "Whatever we'll experience in Ketchum City, it's obviously gonna be trouble. The more prepared he is, the better for him."
"I second that," one of the people in the TV, an orange-haired woman with bluish-green eyes, said.
"Me too," Dawn, May, Lyra, and Tory said simultaneously.
"I vote for it as well," added a man standing beside the orange-haired woman in the TV, who was tan-skinned with squinty eyes.
"If you guys are going for it," Professor Oak said, shrugging, "then the same goes for me."
"Well, it looks like we're outvoted, so I might as well..." Hilbert added.
"...Does it look like I have any other choice?" asked Khoury as he looked at Lyra, who stared back with a forceful expression.
"If you can't beat 'em," Meowth said, "join 'em."
"Agreed," Jessie and James replied simultaneously, shrugging.
Cheren blinked, and then sighed, shaking his head as he realized that everyone else was voting for the decision. "I guess it is unanimous. We tell Nate the truth of his bloodline. But now, my main concern is how and when we're gonna tell him that Ash Ketchum is his actual father-"
Nate gasped loudly before he could stop himself. But he didn't care if he got noticed; he had just overheard the most shocking thing in his entire life. The man that he looked up to as the paternal figure that had been absent for most of his life...was indeed his father? And Kelly, the woman he thought was his mother for his entire life, wasn't the person she said she was? The shock of all of these revelations was so overwhelming that he didn't notice when Cheren, having heard his gasp, appeared in the hallway, his arms crossed, his tight-lipped face reading an expression of absolute guilt.
"Hello, Nate," he said.
"How...What...When..." stuttered Nate. He then shook his head and stared at Cheren defiantly. "Please tell me this is a JOKE!"
"I'm afraid not, honey," said Hilda as she appeared in the hallway as well. "It's the truth, and we all knew all along."
Nate shook his head disbelievingly, taking a couple of steps backward as the rest of the group appeared. "I...I...I don't believe it! This CAN'T be true! Please tell me this is all just a joke! SAY IT!" When he saw Cheren shake his head, the tears flowing from Hilda's eyes, the look of sadness on May and Dawn's faces, the apprehension on everyone else's faces... He knew... "N-No... This...This can't be... This can't be happening to me..."
"I'm sorry, Nate," said Hilda. "We were gonna tell you when you were ready-"
"What's going on here?" a voice asked. Nate turned around and saw Kelly, Hugh, and Rosa standing behind him, looking tired and confused.
"M-Mom?..." Nate asked. "Am...Am I your son?"
Kelly's eyes widened. "What...What do you mean, honey?! Of course you are!"
"Kelly," Cheren said somberly, "we know the truth about his lineage, and now, so does he."
Kelly's eyes widened even more, and they began to glimmer with tears from the shining light. Realizing what that meant, Nate felt his insides drop, and he felt inclined to collapse on the floor in disbelief. Hugh and Rosa, sensing the seriousness of the scene, both stepped away in apprehension.
"It's...It's true, Nate..." Kelly said, almost in a whisper. "You're not my son..."
"...Why, Mom?" asked Nate, taking a step backward from her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was afraid the truth would devastate you. So, I hid the truth from you, all those years. And now, the day that I feared would come is now today..."
There was a brief silence as Nate absorbed the truth. Finally, he asked, "What happened? How...How'd you find me?..."
A single tear fell from Kelly's eye. She took a deep breath, and began her explanation...
Aspertia City
The Unova region
Nine months after the death of Ash Ketchum
It was the beginning of a bright summer day in Aspertia City. The first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon, bathing the city in its warmth and radiance. Inside one of the many houses, Kelly Brown's eyelids fluttered open as the light reached her face. Moaning, she sat up on her bed, letting out a deep sigh as she reminisced.
Just nine months ago, the world was nearly obliterated into nonexistence by a force of darkness and destruction, only for this force to be thwarted by the bold, selfless sacrifice of Ash Ketchum, who courageously exchanged his life for the sparing of the planet. After knowing that her life, and the lives of billions of others, nearly ended, Kelly now treasured her life more extensively, and promised herself that she'd spend the rest of it to the fullest.
But so far, she didn't know where to start. For most of her adult life, Kelly lived alone in this simple house that she inherited from her late grandmother. She didn't have a husband or a boyfriend, nor any other family members, and the kindness given by her neighbors was simply not enough to fill in the cavity that was her lonely life.
Kelly stood up, walked out of her bedroom, and traveled down the stairs, still deep in her thoughts. Thinking about her neighbors, she remembered that the next-door neighbors, Hank and Carla, just had a baby son a couple of weeks ago. Hugh, she believed the name was. Remembering the happiness in their faces as they cradled the small infant and doted over it, Kelly began to wonder if she should have a baby of her own to extinguish her loneliness. But she didn't have a husband to grant her such a gift, and she couldn't just pray to Arceus and ask him to drop a baby from the sky...
She reached the front door and opened it, expecting to see a rolled-up newspaper on the stairs.
Instead, Kelly saw a simple straw basket, which held a small infant that was sleeping. A blanket decorated with lightning-bolt patterns was draped over it, protecting it from the cold. Tucked under one of its arms was a single sheet of paper. The baby sported a tuft of spiky brown hair...
Kelly gasped in shock and surprise, retrieving the baby from the basket and cradling it in her arms. It cooed softly and nuzzled its head against her chest. The woman felt a surge of warmth fill up inside her as she softly looked down at the infant. Then, she, with some reluctance, looked at the walkway, staring at both directions that it went, wondering if the basket was left behind by accident. However, no one of importance was on the walkway; the only person she could see was the nice elderly woman living a couple of houses down on the opposite side of the walkway; she was knitting another sweater for her Lillipup.
She then looked back down at the baby, which had just awakened and stared up at her with its brown eyes. Kelly was afraid that it would cry and that she would now have to spend hours finding a way to calm it down...but it didn't. Instead, it smiled widely and laughed.
Once again, Kelly stared at the walkway, wondering if there was anyone who was gonna claim the baby. And again, there wasn't anyone of the sort.
Then, she remembered the paper and took it from the baby's arm, hoping that it would provide a clue.
It only read: 'His name's Nathan. Take good care of him.'
There was no signature, not even a set of initials, nothing to indicate the writer's name. Kelly's grip on the letter tightened slightly, and her jaw hung open in shock as she realized the truth. Whoever the baby's parents were, it was obvious they didn't want him. She looked down at the baby, whose name was Nathan, as it laughed again before looking up in the sky, his eyes glimmering in awe. Kelly followed his gaze, and her eyes widened at the sight.
It was a rainbow, suspended in the sky, although it didn't rain last night. She could also see a trail of golden sparkles...
Kelly looked back down at the baby, smiling. She didn't know what circumstances led to this fateful encounter, but it appeared that her prayers had been answered.
"Don't worry, Nathan," she said. "I'll take good care of you..."
She picked up the basket and went back inside the house, Nate in tow. The door closed with a slight creak.
Present day
"I still have the note, just in case..." Kelly reached into her pocket and pulled out an aged, torn sheet of paper and handed it to Nate. Straightening it out, the Trainer read it, notes dripping from his eyes and onto the paper as he read the handwriting of his true parent...
'His name's Nathan. Take good care of him.'
In shock, Nate released the paper, letting it flutter to the floor. He looked up at Kelly.
"You...You never had a husband in the first place?" he asked. When Kelly nodded sadly, he said, "But...But I remember there being a dad-"
"That was just a friend who took a great liking to you," interrupted Kelly as she struggled to hold back her tears. "When he died, I told you that he died as your dad..."
Nate was beyond comprehending now. He prayed to the highest heavens that this was a joke, or a mere nightmare fabricated by the likes of Darkrai, but after seeing the expression on his mother's face, he knew that it was something even the Pitch-Black Pokémon couldn't emulate. It was all...real...
"No..." he moaned. "...No... This can't be real, it just CAN'T!"
Before anyone could stop him, Nate burst into a run, sprinting past Kelly, Hugh, and Rosa. He quickly went into the bedroom he shared with them and closed the door on them before sitting against it, burying his face in his arms and crying silently.
"It's not true..." he moaned.
The Hall of Origin
Arceus's Dimension
Arceus opened his eyes and stared out into the vast reach of stars and nebulae that surrounded the Hall. He had just sensed an emotional disturbance within Nate. It was obvious that the ten-year-old Trainer had learned the truth of his actual lineage.
"Now," he whispered, "it begins..."
A/N: GASP! Ash is Nate's father! WTF?!
All joking aside, this was an idea I had from day one. I don't know how it came to me, but it just clicked, and I decided to go with it. Besides, since Nate never made an official appearance on Best Wishes, it gives a big leeway for a lot of good opportunities.
I'd like to thank those who reviewed (cannot answer reviews right now):
iwannaread000
Alpha B. A. 7
woodland59 (guest reviewer)
BlueLightningXD
Just four reviews? What happened to everyone else? Maybe there will be an offshoot once everyone reads this, though...
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!