Hey ladies and gentlemen! Long time no see. Thank you for the 50+ reviews, 120+ follows, and 80+ favorites! I couldn't be happier to see that so many people enjoyed the story.
As for now, the poll will be closed. I have selected four more pokemon from the top 11 to make it onto Ash's Kanto team, but then, after Ash is done with the Kanto Region, I will resubmit the poll so you guys can have another chance to add a pokemon that you like to his team.
So if you don't see the pokemon that you wanted, don't worry, you have another chance to vote on the pokemon that you want Ash to have. I know I have increased the number of choices on the poll and people feel like they've been cheated out of a few votes, so putting up another one later will compensate for that.
Here are the pokemon that are definitely going to make it onto his team (keep in mind that not all of them will be on his Kanto team though):
Tyranitar, Lucario, Gengar, Garchomp, Metagross, Sceptile, Gardevoir, Eevee, and Milotic.
There will be another chance to add more pokemon in the future, but now, let's enjoy The Wanderer!
Ages
Ash: 10
Misty: 11
AU. Instead of receiving a Pikachu as his starter, Ash Ketchum is only given an empty pokeball and a sheepish grin from Professor Oak. Anger and spite clouding his soul, he sets out only to find a ray of hope in the form of a small, injured Bagon. It's funny how a tiny twist of fate can change one's destiny forever. Dark, smarter Ash – various shippings included.
The Wanderer
Chapter II
"Alright, Starmie, let's kick this kid's butt back to Pallet Town!"
Misty grinned, staring at her opponent across the battleground from her. He may have been good, but she is a Gym Leader after all, and there was no way that Misty was going to let her sisters give him a Cascade Badge just for trying.
Ash sent out Bagon, the obvious choice, since the entire gym was a water type's fantasy and a fire type's worst nightmare. The battleground was a massive pool the size of a regular, League-approved field with small islands here and there. Any water type would have a serious advantage with the abundance of water.
"Alright, challengers first," Misty called, cracking her knuckles with ease and an air of confidence around her.
Right now, Ash didn't have a great strategy in mind. Bagon knew a lot of moves for a pokemon that has only been training for one month, but none of them were effective towards water types. He'd have to wait and see what Misty was capable of doing until the perfect opportunity to strike comes.
"Focus Energy," Ash commanded, his voice calmer than usual. His pokemon glowed slightly before the glow subsided, signifying the use of the move. "Double team twice."
Immediately, Bagon disappeared from sight only to reappear as four different Bagons, each a perfect copy of one another save for a tiny detail that only Ash was able to notice. Misty looked annoyed, but Ash could tell that she expected this strategy.
"Water Gun 'em down." Misty had a thoughtful look on her face. "Then Harden and Rapid Spin towards the real Bagon."
The star pokemon didn't give any notice of it heeding Misty's command, but Ash wasn't shocked when it suddenly dove under water, disappearing from view. "Bagon, get ready to dodge and use Dragon Breath."
There were a few moments of palpable silence before Starmie burst out of the water and sprayed down the Bagon, forcing the fake copies to evaporate into nothingness and the real one to get doused by a little bit of water. Although Bagon didn't receive a lot of damage from the attack, she was forced to wipe the water away from her eyes. That gave Starmie the time to glint and start spinning rapidly towards Ash's pokemon.
Bagon recovered just in time to roar and breathe a blue beam of energy at the spinning pokemon. Ash found himself pleasantly surprised when the attack bounced off of the rapidly spinning Starmie, its spinning arms batting away the attack like it was a ball.
"Wait for it," Ash murmured, watching as Starmie spun closer and closer to Bagon… "Now! Use Iron Head."
Bagon cried in affirmation and her black dome grew white with energy before bringing it forward and smashing it into Starmie's attack, effectively stopping the Rapid Spin. The two pokemon were at a standstill, Ash relying purely on Bagon's abnormal strength that was associated with all dragons, before Bagon grunted and sprang forward on its hind legs, sending Starmie flying back into the water.
Misty's pokemon instantly resurfaced, showing that not a lot of damage had been taken in the attack. The water reflected beautifully off of its purple skin and red jewel, indicating that it was a pokemon born to battle in the water.
"Focus Energy," Ash instructed once again, watching as Bagon glowed with energy. He wouldn't have a lot of opportunities to attack, so when he did, Ash wanted to make sure that Bagon could take out Starmie or at least cripple it. "Hone Claws."
"Wear him down with Water Gun!"
Ash watched as a spray of water smacked Bagon in the back, causing her to stumble a bit. But Ash knew that the water attack wouldn't hurt Bagon the slightest – dragon types were resistant to water type attacks. It would be hours until Bagon would fall to Water Gun.
Misty seemed to realize that, too, and her face darkened. "Rapid Spin and Swift, go!"
Starmie popped out of the water and started spinning before activating its Swift attack, spraying bright, star-shaped pellets of energy in wide circle as it close in on Bagon, the dragon pokemon's claws glinting with suppressed power.
"Crunch, now."
Misty's face showed her horror. Ash knew that Starmie was a water and psychic type. Crunch, a dark type move, would tear straight through its defenses.
"Starmie, get out of there!" Misty cried, her hands flailing pointing at the water to emphasize her point.
Her pokemon hesitated, stopping its rapid spin before attempting to dive back into the water. But that hesitation was its downfall. Bagon leapt forward with surprising speed, clamping its jaws down on a few of Starmie's arms. Starmie cried in pain, suddenly detaching itself from Bagon.
Ash frowned. Starmie had willingly dropped off a few of its triangular arms to get away, and he watched with fascination as the star shaped pokemon's missing arms slowly began to regrow, snapping into place with painful-sounding cracks. He had heard that Starmie had the ability to regrow limbs, but this was the first time that he had seen it in action.
"Bagon, before it's too late, Dragon Claw on the center of Starmie's chest." Bagon roared, her arm glowing under the influence of Dragon Claw, and leapt forward, seizing Starmie's momentary lapse of attention. Starmie struggled to get away, but it was already wounded from the attack it had suffered from Bagon earlier.
"I forfeit!" Ash's opponent called, the Gym Leader retrieving her pokemon with a flash of red light. Bagon's strike ended up hitting the sand, blasting up a cloud as a testament to how powerful it would've been had it hit the wounded Starmie.
Misty walked around the battlefield, sighing a bit as she presented Ash with a Cascade Badge. She was clearly upset at being defeated so quickly, and apparently her Starmie was her strongest pokemon. Ash pocketed the shiny badge as he retrieved Bagon, storing a mental reminder in his brain to add it to his badge case later.
"You know, if we had a full battle," Misty began, leading Ash out of the gym, "I would've beaten you."
"You wish," Ash responded, a confident grin on his face. Then, he turned around, giving one last look at the domed Cerulean Gym. "Are you sure your sisters are going to be okay managing that thing?"
The girl beside him nodded. "Don't worry about them. They're fine without me." Then her eyes narrowed. "Eventually I would've taken out your Bagon. Then Charmander would've been an easy victory."
"Actually, the more Bagon battles, the more powerful she becomes," Ash revealed, tapping Bagon's shrunken pokeball thoughtfully. "With each victory, she only grows stronger."
"As do all pokemon," Misty huffed matter-of-factly.
"You know what – " Ash began, but when he saw Misty's already red and annoyed face, he decided not to push it. "… never mind."
They traveled in a strained silence to the Pokemon Center to check up on Misty's Starmie. There were no major wounds suffered during the battle, but it would have to rest for a while before resuming battling in order to regrow its arms healthily. Then the duo went to the blue-topped Pokemart, where Ash bought a few potions and pokeballs with the limited resources that he had made from defeating a few trainers on the road.
Before the two headed out for Vermillion, Ash halted right outside the gates of Cerulean. Misty gave him a weird look, but he ignored it and pulled out his pokeballs. He opened them, revealing Charmander and Bagon after a bright flash.
"What are you doing?" Misty asked, itching to get started on their journey already. She had two pokeballs by her side and a bunch of empty ones in her pack for catching the water pokemon along the way.
Ash gave her a look saying, you'll see, as he pulled out his Pokedex. He quickly scanned Charmander to find that it was a male pokemon with a mild nature and the powerful ability Blaze. His move set was pretty good, but nothing too impressive, since Damien failed to train him properly: Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Tackle, and Fire Fang.
The trainer was surprised to find Smokescreen, a non-damaging move. Damien had ridiculed the mere thought of using a statboosting move in battle, so why would Charmander have Smokescreen? Ash shook off his confusion, deciding that it was a lucky break that Charmander had Smokescreen. The move could be powerful if used correctly.
Later in the journey, Ash would get Bagon to teach Charmander some new moves to expand his move set. It would help his versatility, and Ash knew that, if raised correctly, Charmander could grow to become a behemoth of a powerhouse.
But for now, Ash commanded Bagon to use Rock Tomb. Despite Misty's loud protests, Bagon slammed its foot into the ground, sending rocks flying up. They landed heavily on the ground, some large and small, and immediately Ash set to work. He retrieved some rope from his backpack, tying the larger ones onto Bagon's back, arms, and legs. She stood perfectly still, used to this unorthodox technique. However, when it was Charmander's turn, he hissed and backed away from Ash.
The trainer expected this to happen. "Look, Charmander," he said, deciding to come up with a nickname for him later, "this is the first step to becoming strong." At the words 'becoming strong' the lizard pokemon perked up, growling a little and swiping at the ground with its tail. His eyes shown with excitement, and from there on Ash knew how to motivate this specific pokemon.
"So you want to become strong, huh?" Ash chuckled, patting the fire pokemon on the head. "I don't think you have what it takes."
"Char!" came his indignant reply, immediately followed by growling.
"Yeah, well, look at Bagon," Ash muttered, knowing exactly how to play his cards. Charmander stared at the dragon pokemon and how easily she moved around even with such a heavy load on her back. "She carries around over twice her weight without trouble. And she's smaller than you."
The look on Charmander's face told Ash that he had struck a nerve. Charmander may have been a pokemon, but he did have the pride and ego of a man. That was going to work to Ash's advantage.
"I bet she could destroy you in a fight," Ash thought out loud, stroking his chin. "After all, she trains hard and you don't seem so willing to do so. I did tell you that the journey with me wasn't going to be all rainbows and sunshine. So if you really want to become the greatest Charizard to ever walk this planet, you'll have to strap on these rocks and get your move on."
By the end of Ash's well-aimed comments and speech, Charmander was all but begging him to strap the rocks to his chest. Grinning, Ash attached the smaller rocks to the lizard pokemon's body in a similar fashion as Bagon, knowing that although that Charmander was half a foot taller than Bagon, he was nowhere near her level in strength.
Bagon were notorious to train, as are all dragons. They may be small at first, but they are extremely dense. Bagon was barely a foot and a half tall but she was so thick and packed with muscle that she was easily a hundred pounds. According to the Pokedex, Charmander was two feet tall, the average height of its kind, but weighed slightly less than average at just fifteen pounds.
With his two pokemon strapped into their weights, Ash began the trek to Vermillion. It wasn't long before Misty started asking questions.
"What's up with the weight thing?" she asked, shoulder to shoulder with him as they walked at a fast pace.
"It helps them become stronger," Ash answered, shrugging slightly. "You admitted that Bagon was an extremely strong pokemon. That is why. No other conventional trainer would do something like this."
"Yeah," she breathed, her annoyance at her loss in battle not quite gone yet, "but no other conventional trainer would do this because it's cruel to the pokemon."
Ash didn't even bat an eye at her obvious jab. "Trust me, those two want to train. You saw Charmander all but beg me to tie those rocks to him. And it's a good thing that he wanted it, too. I wouldn't force him to put them on, but I'm glad that he did."
The girl beside him grumbled something unintelligible, possibly admitting her defeat. But by now, Ash knew enough about Misty to know that she would never admit defeat or apologize easily.
"Hey, it's worth it in the end," Ash assured. "They'll only become stronger and faster when they take them off."
A silence overtook them as they walked the well-worn path, passing a few travelers on the way. Bagon and Charmander earned a few curious glances because of the rocks piled on their backs, but they trudged on. Charmander was obviously tiring, but his pride forced him to keep up with Bagon, who was briskly jogging in front of Ash and Misty.
Vermillion was a few days of travel away.
– Ω –
"What do you mean, we can't pass?" Misty demanded, anger flaring in her voice. She jabbed her finger into the chest of the much taller League worker, who obviously seemed uncomfortable.
The worker swallowed, eyes darting around nervously. "Route 5 beyond here is in shambles, Miss Waterflower," he answered, scratching his neck. "The storm a few days ago has caused huge mudflows and sinkholes to pop up, and it doesn't help that the flooding – "
"Don't give me that useless crap," Misty sighed, and Ash watched with fascination as she took a deep breath and the anger seemed to dissipate. Although somewhat volatile, Misty improved on keeping her temper in check. "Just tell us how to get to Vermillion."
"You'll have to go through the Rock Tunnel just east of here," the man replied, still somewhat on edge. "Make sure to follow the signs lest you end up in Lavender Town… then you'll really be in trouble."
"What's bad about Lavender Town?" Ash wondered, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started.
The worker shook his head. "There's been bad stuff going on there. The ghosts are crowding around the place, so much that some of the residence has been relocated and word's on the street that the Elite Four has sent one of their own to work out the problem."
"The Elite Four don't do anything unless it's serious," Ash deadpanned. "Thanks for the information. We'll be on our way."
After heeding the worker's instructions and heading east, Misty grumpily trudged along Ash. The past few days were uneventful, the two making slower progress due to constant detours since some parts of Route 5 had been damaged by the storm. Ash and Misty crashed at darkness and woke up at the first crack of light, conserving food just in case they had to lengthen the journey.
He found traveling with a companion comforting. Although Misty and Ash's conversation were mostly pointless quarrels, it was nice having someone there to watch his back. Ash found himself trusting Misty more and more and enjoyed the time they had together no matter how often their personalities clashed.
As for his pokemon, Bagon and Charmander didn't get any real training in. Charmander still only knew five moves and didn't have any chance to expand his move set, yet the constant carrying of rocks helped him grow some muscles, although he was nowhere near as packed with muscles as Bagon was. However, it was evident that improvements were being made.
After an hour's walk, they found themselves at the base of a cliff, where above a lone mountain jutted out proudly from the ground. They followed the cliff line deeper into the mountain, where eventually a massive, gaping hole in the side of the mountain presented itself.
Misty's hand drew near her pokeball, itching to release her Starmie. "Rock Tunnel is notorious for its dangerous pokemon. They say that wild Onix roam the caves."
Ash nodded before untying the rocks from Bagon and Charmander, storing the ropes back in his pack and giving his starter an affectionate pat on her black dome. When Charmander whined at the lack of attention, he tickled the pokemon's arm, earning a small yelp.
"Alright guys," he told them, gesturing at the massive cave entrance ahead of them, "we're taking a slight detour to Vermillion, and I'm going to need you two on high alert. Apparently wild pokemon prowl these caves, looking for battles."
Charmander perked up at the mention of battles and he thumped his cream-colored chest with his hand and unleashed a small breath of flames, showing his willingness to prove himself to his trainer. Bagon just snorted, unimpressed by the attempt, before unleashing a Flamethrower deep into the pits of the cavern, lighting up the inside before fading to darkness.
Ash grinned at his two pokemon battling for his attention. He spared a look at Misty and said, mockingly, "Ladies first, Mist."
At the mention of her nickname, Misty scowled. "Then I'd be after you, Ashy-pie."
Huffing, Ash stepped into the cave and ignored Misty's snickers and celebration of victory. His pokemon followed after, trailed by Misty who still had a smirk etched onto her face. Eventually, Charmander took the lead, lighting up the way ahead as Ash and Misty followed behind, with Bagon staying behind and making sure nothing followed them.
Small pockets of natural light flowed from cracks high above them, and when Charmander let loose a blast of flames to warn away some Zubats and Golbats, Ash could very briefly see how large the tunnel was. It stretched out high above him and wide around him. Ash saw many different paths, each winding deeper and deeper into the mountain.
"Do you know where you're going?" Misty hissed, finally breaking the silence. The only other sound was Charmander's cackling flame, which burned merrily on his tail, and the occasional squeal of a Zubat using echolocation. "I haven't seen a sign in forever."
"No," Ash admitted, feeling fear creep into his system. His voice trembled a bit. "We should retrace our steps."
"For once I agree with you," Misty teased, trying to throw humor into the situation. It was met with a dry chuckle. Ash turned around in a perfect 180 degrees, going back exactly the way he came. As long as he didn't loose sense of direction, he'd be fine.
"Char!" Charmander suddenly cried, blowing a large swath of flame at something Ash couldn't see. The hissing sounds of Zubats and Golbats filled the cave, and the light from the flame illuminated hundreds of small, wiry bodies with long, twin tails.
"Bagon, Flamethrower!"
His pokemon didn't even need the command. Instantly, it was spitting a scorching trail of flame straight towards the group, knocking and burning a few of the smaller Zubat down. It wasn't enough. The pokemon flew straight into the group, sending Ash and Misty tumbling down. What seemed like thousands of the Zubat family started screeching, the incredibly loud and high-pitched sounds invading his senses, battering his eardrums. Countless of small, furry bodies pressed themselves against them, biting him, before moving on only to have more take their place.
It seemed like hours until the torture ended. Ash had curled up into a fetal position, absorbing all the cuts and attacks into his back. He stood up on shaky legs, ringing in his ears as he took off his pack with shaky hands and pulled out some potions. A few feet away, he could spot Charmander curled on the ground, numerous gashes across its orange body, causing him to cringe.
Still unable to hear anything due to the loud ringing in his ears, Ash sprayed his Charmander's wounds, emptying the vial of liquid. The trainer watched with fascination as the smaller cuts instantly mended and the larger gashes sealed up, causing the lizard pokemon to stand up, eyes blazing with resilience. Then Bagon found the duo, skin littered with small cuts but far better off than Charmander, and received her own dose of the magical medicine.
The ringing in his ears subsided and an uncanny silence cleared the cave, save for Charmander's cackling tail flame. Then, Ash heard tiny sobs and his name muttered over and over again. Instantly, Ash found Misty, curled up into a tiny ball, her hair a mess and tears streaking down her face as she rocked back and forth. No words were said as he pulled at the medicine kit from her backpack and wiped her wounds with medicine, covering the large ones with bandages and leaving the smaller ones to close up on their own.
Pulling out his Pokegear, Ash saw that it was only seven, but he had enough of traveling in one day. Procuring some dry wood from his pack, he ordered Charmander to light the pile of wood on fire, resulting in a cheerful blaze that lit up the cavern they were in. It wasn't as large as the one they had been in before, but it was pretty big nonetheless, with a tall ceiling and many different tunnels leading to Arceus-knows-where.
During the attack, Ash had completely lost his sense of direction. He admitted this to Misty, who said nothing as she continued to rock back and forth, basking in the heat of the flame. Her eyes had a tormented look to them, and Ash didn't push her to say anything else.
Too tired to take this opportunity to train, Ash sat down next to Misty and wiped the wet tears from her dirty face, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in an innocent gesture before falling into a nasty nightmare.
He was alone, at the top of a mountain. The sun was shining brightly, and Ash basked in its glory. It was nice and warm until the Zubat came. The bat like pokemon came by the millions, flooding out of crevasses in the rock and blocking out the sun, viciously attacking him until Ash was nothing but a pile of bone –
Ash woke up, panting and shivering. The fire was gone, and Charmander and Bagon were both asleep. A lone beam of light came down from the ceiling, signifying daytime. Cramped and aching, Ash was about to stand up when he noticed Misty's head lying on his chest, the girl in a deep state of slumber.
She too looked like she was having a nightmare. Ash shook her out of her dream, only to have her scream and lunge at him, tackling him and sending them both to the ground. Ash cried out in pain, feeling the cuts on his back become aggravated.
"Sorry Ash," she whispered, rolling off of him. Misty was still trembling, and her voice was soft and scared. "Are we moving?"
Ash stamped out the embers of the fire pit, rousing his pokemon. "Yeah. I don't want to spend a lot of time in this tunnel."
His companion nodded in silent agreement, her green eyes darkened by trauma. Ash wouldn't be surprised if she had a life long fear of Zubats from now on. Immediately, anger flared up within him. I'm supposed to protect her, he thought, mentally choking himself, and look at how that turned out.
Ash glanced around, noticing that one of the tunnels had light in it. He jerked his thumb towards the passage, and Misty nodded hollowly. Charmander took point, scurrying along as if the Zubat attack had never happened, and Bagon kept vigil behind them, much more careful and cautious than the day before.
They walked for an unknown period of time, the glimmer of light so hauntingly close yet so far away. Everything started to loose meaning. Ash felt his grasp on time slip away, and with it, his remaining vestiges of sanity as the darkness threatened to overwhelm him. He felt something grasp his arm before realizing that it was only Misty, and for his own sanity's sake, he kept her close.
Each step felt like he was going backwards. The light seemed to grow dimmer and fainter with each step he took. The passage grew narrower and narrower, eventually forcing the party of four to walk in a single file line. Suddenly, the light disappeared, darkness taking its place, and Ash let loose a strangled scream of panic.
No, he thought firmly, shoving his panic back down his throat, I'm not going to let some cave defeat me.
He thought he felt a breath of fresh air. He could almost feel the breeze, tickling at his senses and fanning lazily across his body. Charmander squealed and scurried forward at such a rapid pace that Ash lost sight of him. His slow walk turning into a dead sprint, Ash weaving his way through the tunnel as the walls grew tighter and tighter, even having to crawl through a few places, before finally bursting into open ground, a beautiful light basking him with warmth and a wonderful breeze bringing the fresh smell of pine and the forest –
Ash fell down the side of a slope, tumbling to a stop at the bottom of the hill, bruised and battered, face up to the sky. He lay there, panting, as he heard Misty's cry of joy and pitter-patter of feet, indicating that she was soon by his side. His ever-loyal pokemon came to his side, with Charmander nuzzling his face into Ash's ribs, earning an affectionate pat from his trainer.
"We made it," Misty breathed, taking in huge gulps of fresh air. "I thought… I thought…"
"I thought it was over," Ash finished for her, standing up. He could see a few small houses ahead. Although it didn't look like the big city of Vermillion, any civilization after that night in the tunnel would be welcome. He returned his pokemon, wincing slightly as he bent his arm.
"Ash," Misty said seriously, looking him over, "did you forget to patch up yourself?"
His muscles screamed and groaned, but Ash forced a pained smile. "I'm fine. Nothing a night's rest on a nice bed can't heal."
She looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead bit her lip and looked away. Ash took this as her cue to begin walking again, heading towards the small town. He turned around, looking at the small, unsuspecting cave entrance above them, before turning back towards his journey with an air of finality. He would never travel through Rock Tunnel again.
After a thirty minute walk they were finally at the small town, limping and torn up but very much alive. The townspeople were wary of them and avoided them, and their cold attitude was mirrored by the atmosphere, which, although there was a cheerful sun, seemed to chill Ash to the bone.
They spotted the familiar Pokemon Center, with its gleaming red roof and well-maintained, pristine white walls. The glass door slid open effortlessly and instantly a nurse was with them, offering them water and food without a fee. Before anything else, Ash got his pokemon checked up, revealing no harmful injuries although they did suffer from a large number of tiny cuts.
"Arceus, it looks as if you two were attacked by a thousand Zubats," the nurse remarked, handing them a glass of water and a steamy plate of food.
Instantly, Misty dug in, gulping down the water like her life depended on it and scarfing down the whole meal. Before doing the same, Ash muttered a quiet, "You have no idea."
– Ω –
They were in Lavender Town.
"Just our luck," Misty snarled, feeling a little bit more energetic after taking a nap. Unluckily, her anger and annoyance resurfaced with her energy. "Make it out of hell just to be thrown to where the ghosts go out for Friday night fun."
"It's not that bad," Ash offered, attempting to placate the angry ex-Gym Leader. "Lavender Town will just be a pit stop."
The water trainer rolled her eyes. "Sure, that's what you'll say. Then you'll hear that they have Ghastly and Haunter in the Pokemon Tower, and next thing I know, you'll be heading over – "
"There are Haunters in the Pokemon Tower?" Ash had a dangerous look on his face. His lips twitched upwards. Misty immediately regretted saying anything. "Mist, can we – "
"No."
Ash frowned at her. "It'll be a good addition to the team and add some diversity."
"I don't want a ghost traveling with us," the girl reasoned, grimacing at the mere thought of it. "Plus, the Pokemon Tower is dangerous. You heard what that League guy said. There's been a lot more ghosts than normal. Half of this town was deserted when we came in."
"Fine," Ash stood up, leaving Misty alone on the comfy couch. "I'll catch it by myself."
She glared at him, annoyed at Ash for disregarding her dislike towards ghosts. "Be that way. When you come back with as a vegetable, I'll be the one laughing."
An old lady looked at them with interest before returning to her magazine. Ash stuck his tongue out at Misty before crashing out of the doors, clipping some empty pokeballs to his belt. The Pokemon Tower loomed over him, the only impressive landmark in the entire city.
Half the town seemed to empty, Ash observed, walking towards the tower. It was actually in the center of town, standing high and proud over the surrounding hills. The closer he moved towards it, the colder it seemed to get. A chill went down his spine as he heard childish laughter, only to realize that nobody was in sight.
A harsh, grating sound occurred somewhere to his right, but he ignored the phantom sound and carried on. He heard the whistle of a blade and felt an odd, tingling sensation in his stomach as the sound of metal entering flesh muddled the quiet atmosphere, the drip of blood too realistic for his liking. Ash shook off his unease, his drive as a pokemon trainer too strong to be thrown off course by a few ghostly sounds.
The houses grew bigger towards the tower, each abandoned with shuttered windows. He could've sworn that there were faces staring at him, lifeless, red eyes glaring at him before disappearing from his view.
He wasn't even in the tower yet and already Ash was about to pee his pants. But his iron resolve to catch a ghost type overrode his fear, and he strode through the large doors of the Pokemon Tower and into the lobby inside.
It was deserted. Graves seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see, but Ash saw through the illusion. There were massive mirrors for walls, adding to the distorted image. There were stairs leading higher into the tower, and Ash, growing cautious of the graves, continued upwards. It was now chilly, goose bumps rising on his skin as he ascended to the next level.
When he ascended to the next level, the mirrors were gone. Old, rusted walls stood in its place, and there were fewer graves than the first floor. There was nothing of interest, so Ash continued upwards, only to find the exact same thing on the third floor.
Strange, he thought, ascending a few more floors. I haven't seen a single ghost yet. I wonder where they are.
It was on the sixth floor when anything truly remarkable happened. He had just walked up the stairs, slightly panting from the effort, when he heard a voice call his name.
"Ash! Please, save me!"
The voice was instantly recognizable. It was his mother. Wild fear clobbered his veins and he suddenly grew a thousand times colder. "MOM!" Ash screamed wildly, horror and panic clouding his judgment. He spied a pair of legs being dragged up to the seventh and last floor and instantly followed it.
After hopping up the last few steps, Ash was greeted with a large, spacious yet empty room. Empty except for one thing.
"Mom?" Ash cried weakly, staring at his mother's frozen figure. She was facing away from him, her long hair falling to her back.
"You never called," she answered, in her sweet Delia Ketchum voice, "you never called…"
"I'm sorry mom," Ash sobbed out, collapsing to his knees. Emotions poured out of his heart, pulling at his mind and escalating his blood rate. He couldn't think straight anymore. The Pokemon Tower was driving him insane.
"You never called," his mom repeated, shaking her head. "You never called…"
Tears came to Ash's eyes. "Is something wrong, mom? I'll make it up to you – "
"SOMETHING IS WRONG!" his mother screamed, an ethereal sound smashing reality to pieces. The plain room turned into his personal hell, pits of fire lighting up a darkened sky. He was kneeling in blood, slushing around lazily like ooze, and twisted version of trees, blackened and charred, dotted the landscape.
His mother's head spun around, but the rest of the body didn't follow. A painful, spine-chilling snap was heard as it faced him perfectly. Ash's mouth fell wide open. His mother mimicked his gesture, laughing demonically as Zubats flew out of her mouth and her eyes glowed pure red, blood breaking out from pores all over her face as she tore her own ears off, sending larvae and insects crawling from within –
Ash hurled, his vomit splashing into the bloody ground, a mixture of undigested human eyes, hands, and feet washing up to greet him. He stared at his own hands in disbelief, noticing his fingers stitched together like crude flippers as he glanced back at his mother, only to find her a foot away from him, a horrifying, toothless smile etched into her pale, bloody face.
Ash's scream tore his throat open, and he could feel his throat slashed open by the sound, thick ooze pouring from the wound. It sluggishly flowed down his shirt.
His mother's knees snapped the wrong way, bent at a horrifying angle as her elbows did the same, crawling towards him like a demented spider, grinning and licking her lips as if preparing to feast on his flesh. Millions upon millions of purple ghosts flew in the sky, hellfire starting to rain from the ashen clouds as screams of death and destruction finally tore its way through his ears as he felt his inner ear explode, the sensation of blood oozing out of his ears making him feel faint.
"Here, darling Ash," the demented version of his mother cooed, "let me give you a kiss!"
Her tongue, long and serpentine, slowly closed the distance between them, coming closer and closer and closer…
With a massive roar, Ash punched his mother's face and shut his eyes, telling himself that it wasn't real it wasn't real it wasn't real it wasn't real and that it would all be over soon. The cackling of fire and sounds of death disappeared into nothing, and the red glow from behind his eyes dissipated into darkness.
Trembling like a baby, Ash opened his eyes. He almost cried in relief when the plain room of the Pokemon Tower presented itself to him again. On shaky legs, Ash managed to stand up and glare at a single purple pokemon suspended above the ground.
A Haunter stared back at him, its gaseous form somehow managing to imitate a smirk.
"Interesting," a voice behind him said.
Ash snapped around, mouth agape at the intruder: the old woman from the pokemon center. Still shaking and shivering all over, he could barely manage a "who are you?"
"Nobody you need to know," she answered cryptically. She hobbled towards him and the Haunter on a cane, observing him with a critical look. "What's your name?"
"Ash," the boy answered, still shivering uncontrollably. He glared at the gas pokemon, watching it stick out a long, serpentine tongue oozing with poison out at him. It laughed hauntingly, a strange, lady-like giggle. His arm twitched, fingers lashing out randomly, completely out of control. "What's wrong with me?"
"This Haunter here licked you," the lady responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Haunter could've sucked the life straight out of you, but something obviously stopped her."
"You?" Ash didn't know what this lady was capable of, but she had a few pokeballs dangling from her waist. "Did you save me?"
"Oh, lil' old me?" she laughed, waving her hand. "No, you saved yourself. Ghosts typically pass right through humans. It was… shocking, to say the least, when you managed to punch that Haunter right in the face."
"I thought that was an illusion," Ash drawled, extremely confused.
The old lady laughed once again, covering her mouth. "No, you were hypnotized and Haunter here was eating your dreams. How you managed to pull yourself out of the dream interests me and our mutual friend here."
The Haunter giggled airily, swirling around and doing flips. Its ghostly hands brushed pass him, but instead of going straight through him, the Haunter collided into his shoulder, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. The ghost was insanely cold, and Ash flinched when Haunter licked him happily.
"Haunter's interested in you," the old crone observed, "that's the only reason you're still alive."
The ghost floated off of him, spinning and flipping around the air. It screeched and hissed something unintelligible, but somehow the woman understood it. Ash started shivering again, most prominently around where the ghost had licked him. He watched as the pokemon flew through the woman like she was thin air and then crash into Ash and bounce off of him, hissing in confusion and curiosity before continuing its path through the air.
"It wants to travel with you." There was a small smile on her face, and she studying him with seemingly young eyes. Her entire body was that of an old lady's, but her eyes portrayed youth and strength, still a brilliant shade of gray. "But, you have to prove yourself first."
Ash didn't need another hint. Haunter wanted a battle, and he was going to get it.
"Go, Bagon!" Ash threw out his pokeball, revealing the dragon pokemon in a flash. She glanced around a bit, before shivering slightly at the cold. The old lady seemed surprised at the shiny pokemon, but said nothing at all, content on observing how the little boy fought. Haunter grinned deviously, shadows around it swirling into existence, shooting towards Bagon without any warning.
"Bagon, Double Team and then get out of there."
His pokemon instantly complied, disappearing briefly before two copies of the shiny pokemon popped into existence, both diving out of the way before the shadows struck them. The shadows exploded, raising a black, inky cloud of darkness that briefly obscured Ash's vision.
"What's going on?" Ash cried, trying to peer through the darkness. He heard a shriek of pain and a draconian roar, the smoke clearing to show a seemingly angered Haunter and a victorious looking Bagon.
Interested with how Bagon fought on her own, Ash decided to let Bagon duke it out with the Haunter.
Haunter screamed as it dove forward, its detached arms glowing with darkness as it flew towards Bagon at amazing speeds. Ash's pokemon countered with a quick burst of flame, the jet of fire going straight through the ghost and leaving a gaping hole. Haunter seemed to take some damage, but it easily refilled the hole in its head with some more gas.
Bagon didn't give Haunter a chance to rest, instantly springing forward with Dragon Claw, aiming for a quick knock out, but Haunter had some quick reflexes. Its arm glowed with shadows at the last second as it countered Dragon Claw with Shadow Punch. Not relenting, Bagon's black dome glowed brightly and slammed it into an unsuspecting Haunter's face.
Recognizing the use of Zen Headbutt, Ash clucked in admiration, noting how Bagon was smart enough to use a psychic type attack towards a ghost type. Haunter's form flickered, disappearing before reappearing a few feet away, a new look on its face. No longer was it playing games.
Shadows streaked towards Bagon, and the pokemon, recognizing the attack, braced itself for the hit. The shadows exploded underneath Bagon, throwing her forward towards Haunter. Then Ash saw Bagon's strategy – take the hit, use the power from the explosion to propel towards Haunter, but now what?
Ash winced when Bagon latched onto Haunter, using Crunch to bite down hard on the ghost's mane of purple spikes. The dark type move was super effective, causing Haunter to screech and dissipate, Bagon's mouth snapping together with a mighty crunch. It reappeared a few feet away, looking like it had taken quite a beating. For a pokemon with only a head and hands, it did a great job of looking like it was slumped over with fatigue.
Before Bagon could advance, Ash threw an empty pokeball at the Haunter, watching as it was sucked into the ball. Ash held his breath as the ball rocked back and forth, once, twice, thrice –
It dinged, signifying a successful capture. Ash beat his chest and pumped his fist high into the air, letting loose a whoop of excitement as he celebrated over the new catch of his team. He clipped it to his belt, retrieving Bagon and staring at the old lady that he had forgotten about.
She had an approving smile on her face. Ash glanced at her uncertainly, a shy smile seeping onto his face. "Now what do we do?"
"I don't know about you, but I came here for a reason," she informed, a harsh tone drifting into her voice, throwing all of her pokeballs in the air. Five powerful pokemon appeared after a flash, looking around at their surroundings. After noticing they were in the Pokemon Tower, they all started cackling happily.
There were all ghost or poison types; an Arbok slithered around hungrily, sticking its tongue into the air, a massive Crobat flew around, sending shivers down Ash's back as he thought about the Rock Tunnel, an exotic pokemon from Sinnoh called a Misdreavus, and two powerhouses of Gengars. Sure, the three pokemon seemed powerful, but the Gengars just floated around with such confidence that the air significantly cooled down to nearly freezing temperatures and the light seemed distorted around them, the ghosts bending the plane of the physical world just by existing.
Only one person in Kanto had a team like this. "Lady Agatha of the Elite Four," he breathed, watching as the woman's lips curled up into something dangerous. He bowed respectfully.
"Took you enough time, kid," she murmured, shrugging. "Glad to see someone still has some manners in this day and age."
Now that her 'nice old lady' façade had dropped, Ash could easily see the biting sarcasm and the harshness that made her famous. "Thank you," he replied uneasily, feeling underpowered in the presence of such a powerful team of pokemon.
The two Gengars observed him curiously, one of them walking up to him and poking Ash. He shivered at the incredibly cool touch, and the Gengar flinched, surprised that its hand didn't pass through his body.
"I'm surprised that you even came here," the old lady admitted, her gray eyes darting around, "especially with all of those horrifying rumors flying around."
"Aren't the ghosts coming back to the Pokemon Tower?" Ash remembered the League worker saying something about this.
Agatha nodded, a tense gesture. "I'm not sure if you saw it, but the floors were all full of ghosts, flying around the skies in the Pokemon Tower."
He shook his head. "The only pokemon I saw was Haunter."
The elite trainer laughed sharply, a stark contrast from her polite chuckle earlier. "Why am I not surprised? Here, take a look through this." She handed him a strange device, something that closely resembled a telescope. Silph Scope, it read. Ash peered through the golden scope and nearly yelped in terror.
Thousands of pokemon floated in the room and skies outside. Their purple, gaseous bodies glowed dimly in the reverse world that he saw. Unable to continue staring through the scope, Ash quickly removed it from his face, handing it back to Agatha. Shivers were racketing down his spine as he suddenly became aware of the feeling of hundreds of little ghosts pressing themselves up against him, leaving their ghostly trails across his body as they stumbled around in confusion at not being able to pass through him.
"I feel violated," Ash admitted, wrapping his arms around his body. With a shock, he realized that he couldn't feel his fingers.
Agatha seemed to notice. "Get out of here," she ordered quickly, pointing at the stairs, "the ghosts have spotted you. They know you're here."
Ash didn't need to be told twice. The trainer sprinted down the stairs, leaving the elite ghost trainer alone. She's there for a reason, Ash told himself, she'll be fine. He was on the fifth floor when a massive explosion rattled the entire tower, throwing him off his feet as he tumbled down to the fourth floor. He quickly scrambled back up as the tower shook with more explosions and the floor started crumbling.
Jumping down the last flight of stairs, Ash ran harder than he had ever ran before to get out of the area. He burst out the front entrance of the Pokemon Tower, shrieking in terror as the sky swirled with darkness, the sun distorted by thousands of ghosts. Ghastly and Haunters screamed through the air, moaning and groaning as massive flashes of light exploded from the tip of the tower on the seventh floor.
That escalated quickly, Ash thought, panting. A harsh sound of metal on metal grated in the air as ghosts burst out of the empty mansions, screaming and crying with a horrible vengeance. They rushed at him, knocking him to the ground, before rushing back up to the masses of ghosts swirling through the sky. Another mass explosion took place, the shockwave causing one of the large pillars at the base of the tower to crumble.
Getting back on his feet, Ash thought about Agatha alone in the Pokemon Tower. Elite Four or not, there was no way that she could face all these ghosts alone. The choice, to him, was obvious. Ash, guided by his hero complex, sprinted back up the stairs. The higher and higher he got, the more ghosts appeared in the rooms and the more dethatched he felt from his body.
Strangely, Ash could feel his heart beat heavily in his chest as he lost the feeling in his legs. He tripped and fell but didn't feel pain, immediately getting back up and continuing up the stairs. The more ghosts there were, the more numb Ash became until he felt as if he had completely lost control of his body.
Ash randomly grabbed and threw his pokeballs, relying on muscle memory and sight to ensure that his pokemon were released. The flashes of light was warped by the surrounding ghosts, and when Ash commanded them to clear a path to the center of the room, he couldn't hear his own voice. A dull roar of thousands of ghosts pervaded his senses.
Charmander, Bagon, and Haunter did a good job of clearing out the weak Ghastly that were blocking their way, using jets of fire and Dragon Breath to cut a path to Agatha. She was standing around a strange shrine that Ash hadn't noticed before, shimmering back and forth between the physical world and the ghost world.
She seemed shocked that Ash returned and glared at him angrily, her mouth moving but no sounds coming out. The physical world and the ghost world blended together at the shrine of the Pokemon Tower, and Ash felt more and more lifeless as each second passed. Agatha had a hollow look in her eyes, and there was an odd shine around her that was being sucked away by the ghosts.
Then Ash looked around him and realized that the same thing wasn't happening to him. Even Bagon and Charmander looked like they were affected. The massive amount of ghost types were trying to suck away his life force, but something stopped them. Ash, now completely deaf save for a dull roar behind his ears, watched Agatha point wildly at something behind him. He turned around and had a double take.
The physical world was gone. Ash stood at the top of a massive mountain, black, phantom clouds raining fire onto the ground below. Twisted versions of trees sprang up from the dark soil under him, millions upon millions of Ghastly and Haunter swirling in the fields below him, slowly crawling up the mountain like a disease.
At the peak of mountain, Agatha stood next to a shimmering shrine. There was a massive, godly shriek in the sky, the first sound Ash had heard since reentering the pokemon tower, which dwarfed all other sounds in comparison. The sheer power behind the roar sent shockwaves through the air, knocking Ash off of his feet and scattering all the ghosts in the area. The mountain rumbled, gurgling with hidden power.
"Ash, what are you doing here?" Agatha demanded, her voice sounding distant and detached.
Getting back up with a groan, the absence of ghosts returning feeling to his body, Ash answered with a simple: "I thought you needed help."
"And what type of help do you think a rookie trainer can be of to me?" she snapped, waving an impatient hand at him. "Upstarts, thinking that they're so heroic…"
Ash, not catching the last part, grinned sheepishly, mentally checking on Bagon, Charmander, and Haunter. They were all fine. A little worn, but fine nonetheless. "What's going on?"
The old woman sighed, obviously annoyed. "Welcome to the realm of ghosts," she smiled crookedly, waving her hands in a grandiose gesture. "The Pokemon Tower was built at the point where two worlds, the physical world and the ghost world, met. This place is a crossroads, allowing spirits to travel back and forth. But the number of ghosts allowed back out has always been regulated."
Ash nodded, semi grasping the concept. "Something must've been wrong with the regulator then." He shuddered, remembering the thousands of ghosts surrounding the Pokemon Tower.
"Yep, this old thing." Agatha kicked the shrine, which shimmered angrily under her touch. "I've only seen it once, when I was very young. I chanced upon the Pokemon Tower at the wrong time, and the ghosts took me in. Long story short, I managed to escape by sealing the portal with a key."
The trainer blinked, not knowing about this side of Agatha. He wondered why she was telling him this. "Why would you tell me this? I'm a complete stranger."
"It's not like we have long to live," the woman revealed simply, her voice a resigned tone to it. "But I'm not going down without a fight. The last time these spirits took me…"
For the first time, Ash saw fear lace through one of the Elite Four, causing the strong woman to shake slightly. "We'll do it," he asserted, rubbing his cold hands together. "Where's the key?" Agatha wasn't paying attention, however.
"This is where the fun starts." With a shaky finger, the woman pointed at something beyond his vision. "I know you can't see it yet, but we've stumbled right into its kingdom."
"Into whose kingdom?" Ash squinted his eyes, trying to see beyond the phantom clouds. Thunder crackled in the distance, red lightning shining beyond the clouds of ash. "What is this place?"
"In Kanto, we call this the ghost world, but halfway across the world in Sinnoh, it's known as the distortion world, or the reverse world." She laughed hollowly, rubbing her eyes. Her pokemon and Ash's Haunter seemed to cower in fear, sensing something that he couldn't. "And its king is a powerful pokemon that we know only as Giratina, the renegade pokemon."
"Never heard of it," Ash admitted, still scanning the clouds. The absence of ghosts or sound worried him. "Sinnoh always had those fake, crazy creation myths."
"Crazy? Sure," the elite trainer conceded, shaking her head slightly. "Fake? I think not."
A draconian roar, a million times the might of all of Lance's dragons combined, shattered Ash's eardrums, causing him to clutch his head in pain as it started ringing, collapsing to his knees. The mountain rumbled unforgivingly, clouds blasted away by the aerial shockwaves generated from the devastating roar.
A terrifying pokemon emerged from the clouds, a gigantic gray serpentine with six huge shadows streaming behind its main body. Its underbelly had thick black and red stripes; sharp and deadly spikes protruding from its sides as its angular head, shadowing red eyes that screamed of hatred, turned to stare at the two intruders.
A small, strangled noise came out of Ash's throat as he stared at the king of the ghost world, or the distortion world, or the reverse world, or whatever – all he knew was that he needed to get the hell out of there. The legendary emanated terror in its purest form, thick tendrils of darkness streaming from its body as it pulsed with barely suppressed rage and power.
Suddenly, Ash felt very, very small, like an ant staring at a Gyarados. Here was a pokemon that was probably capable of destroying the world, and it was staring at him.
"We need to get out of here," Agatha whispered, not daring to move. The beast circled the location in the air almost lazily, daring them to do something.
"Where's the key? Don't we need a key?" Ash hissed, remaining frozen. He warily watched the monstrous king fly in the air only to land gracefully, resting at a mere hundred feet away from them.
Agatha remained silent, and Ash, not able to handle the silence for any longer, turned around to look at her. Following her eyes, he spotted a bright, blue orb just underneath Giratina's massive serpentine body. Slowly turning back around, Ash looked at the shrine, now permanently in the ghost world due to the presence of its ruler, and saw that there was an empty slot just for a sphere to slide in.
"Distract it," Ash ordered, steeling himself for what was about to come. He didn't want to sit around in the ghost world for the rest of his life. "I'll get the orb. Guys," he said to his pokemon, "listen to Agatha here. Follow her instructions to a 't'.""
Nodding solemnly, Agatha whispered instructions to his and her pokemon, all of them seemingly terrified in the presence of one of their gods. She stared back at Ash, her wide gray eyes conveying a certain amount of respect. "If we die, it'll be a shame, because then the world will be rid of a beautiful woman and a stupid, brave hero like you."
Ash grinned in appreciation, knowing that was about as close as a compliment that he was ever going to get from Agatha. Then, after flashing her a thumbs up, ran straight towards the renegade pokemon.
At first the king of the distortion world had no idea what was going on. Then something clicked in its mind and a devastating orange ball of energy began to form near its mouth. Ash never halted his sprint, hoping that blind luck would save him from the Hyper Beam. Then, beams of energy struck the forming attack, causing it to explode in the renegade pokemon's face and forcing it to recoil before taking off to the skies.
Ash scooped up the blue orb and it glowed at his touch. It was about the size of his head yet seemed incredibly light, feeling about ten pounds. A massive roar shook his stance, almost causing Ash to fall to the ground, but the boy held firm and sprinted back towards Agatha, adrenaline forcing the fatigue away from his body. He couldn't see the battle between Giratina and the pokemon, but there were cataclysmic explosions everywhere, the powerful ones temporarily blinding him.
Before he knew it, the shrine was right in front of him, shimmering under the brunt of the attacks. Agatha had used the ancient stone as cover, but her pokemon were devastated, only the two Gengar left standing. Ash saw them fire one last Shadow Ball before collapsing, enough to temporarily distract Giratina. His own pokemon were knocked out as well, Haunter and Charmander were unconscious but shivering, and Bagon, the lone survivor, looked like she was barely clinging onto consciousness.
After giving Agatha the orb, Ash returned all of his pokemon. They had earned their rest. With a flash of red, the elite trainer's unconscious pokemon returned to their pokeballs. It was a stroke of luck that they had all survived, but Ash didn't know the severity of their wounds.
With a surprising amount of strength, Agatha lifted the orb up and it seemed to gravitate towards its keyhole, sliding in with a final click. Ash held his breath, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.
Giratina returned, roaring its fury to its heart's content, whipping up a cloud of ash and dispelling it all with one sound. Ash realized that the combined efforts of his and Agatha's pokemon didn't even lay a scratch on the legendary, and it was just getting started. The middle of the pokemon's head crest glowed blue as its body turned nightmare black, instantly disappearing.
For a brief moment of silence, the world was still.
"GET DOWN!" Agatha screamed, the two diving to the ground as Giratina suddenly appeared out of nowhere, barely missing the two. A part of Giratina barely managed to clip Ash's shoulder, just a measly inch of the pokemon hitting his body, yet he was sent sprawling, nearly falling off the side of the mountain.
His shoulder screamed in pain, and Ash was more than certain that it was completely broken. His head became woozy, the pain being semi neutralized by the fact that he couldn't feel the left side of his body anymore. Ash couldn't even move his hand. When he stood up, his limb just hung there uselessly.
"Ash, come on!"
Ash reluctantly tore his gaze away from his appendage, noticing that a large portal had opened up. Agatha was already on the other side, her form flickering and voice distant. With an iron will, Ash forced himself to slowly limp towards the portal, his legs feeling like lead. Thunder and red lightning flashed and screamed from the ashen clouds as it began to drizzle fire, burning Ash's skin in the places where they touched.
But now he was numb to the pain.
The trainer trudged onwards, not for his own survival, but for the sake of his pokemon. Bagon, Charmander, and even Haunter, none of them deserved to become slaves to the ghosts of the distortion world and the tyrant of a king that was Giratina. Speaking of which, where was the pokemon –
Another ground shaking roar sent Ash to his knees, the sharp rocks in the soil digging into his skin. Returning to his feet, Ash saw the portal flicker and disappear.
"No…" he all but sobbed, the disappearance of the portal spelling out his doom. "Come back!"
Something clicked inside of Ash. In a blink, the portal was back again, with Agatha waving frantically, her mouth issuing words that he couldn't hear. The words were dead to him. He was already dead.
Taking to his feet again, Ash leapt between the boundaries of two worlds, the portal beginning to flicker again. The distortion world and the real world blended, the bland of the Pokemon Tower mixing with the hellish landscape of the distortion world. His jump seemed to be stuck at its zenith, slowly gravitating back towards the ground.
He was so close, so close, to being back in the real world.
Agatha reached for him with her withered hand, but he felt something else grab him from behind and start tugging at him. Shadows tethered him to the distortion world, grabbing at him, leaving searing marks across his skin and burning through his clothes where they touched. One especially large tendril of darkness bound itself around his waist and started squeezing, slowly pulling him back to Giratina. The king wasn't going to let the intruder go that easily. Ash heard the elite trainer scream, but it was muted, distorted. Perhaps he had lost too much blood.
Here he was, stuck in between the real world and the reverse world, slowly being drawn back towards the reverse world by Giratina's obedient shadows. The last thing Ash remembered was releasing his pokemon into the physical world before blacking out.
– Ω –
"Dad, what's it like to be the very best trainer in the world?"
"I don't know about the best. There are certainly trainers better than me out there."
"But you're the Kanto Champion. Even if you gave the title back to Lance, we all know that you're better than him."
"Being a pokemon trainer isn't all about being the best. A pokemon trainer, at heart, cares for and trains his pokemon. Becoming strong is just a side effect, basically."
"But how did you get so strong?"
"Hardcore dedication, intense training, and an insurmountable level of love, kiddo. Remember, keeping your pokemon healthy comes before winning."
"What if I'm not as good as you, daddy?"
"Don't you worry about that. Follow my advice and your heart and soon your name will be even more popular than mine. They'll start comparing their little children to you instead of me."
"You bet it, dad. I'm going to beat you one day."
"Sure you are. We'll battle one day at the top, don't you worry about that."
– Ω –
Ash jolted awake, tearing some medicinal equipment off of him by accident. Immediately, a rush of pain hit him full force, multiple burns, bruises, and cuts aggravated by his sudden movement, screaming in protest. Raw agony tore through his veins like fire eating away at grass, promising endless pain until it was gone.
His vision was blurry and his hearing was screwed up. There was no feeling in his left arm. Sinking back into his incredibly uncomfortable position, Ash realized that he was in a hospital.
Soft hands ghosted over him, a soothing-sounding voice coming from a blur that was completely unrecognizable. Ash shut his eyes, whimpering at the pain, feeling someone inject him with something. Painkillers instantly entered his system, slowly leaving his body tingling and numb. It didn't feel good, but it didn't feel bad either.
All he knew that he was alive. In the physical realm. Tears pooled in his eyes as Ash marveled at his own luck. The last thing he remembered was Giratina slowly pulling him back into the distortion world with its deadly shadows…
A sharp pain burned his sides, and Ash let out a shameless scream. The tendrils of darkness, where it had gripped him, had left long, black scars, and thinking back on the memory brought back such great pain that even painkillers couldn't stop the brutal onslaught. In response, the scars glowed a dull red.
Ash could've been killed. It would've been so easy for Giratina just to end him. And then what? Would he be doomed to roam the distortion world as a ghost, living in that hellish version of the physical realm? Is that what awaited everyone in the afterlife? Nothing but a vast, ashen landscape that rained fire instead of water… the disparity of the situation was starting to dig into Ash. If that's where everybody ended up, what was the point of trying to live if everyone ended up in the distortion world?
A stinging pain on his face brought Ash back to reality, ending his hysteria. His vision eventually sharpened, showing a furious, orange haired girl with swirling oceanic eyes screaming her head off at him. With a vengeance, his hearing returned as well, although Ash wished that it hadn't.
" – do you even have an idea of how much worrying I had done for your stupid butt in the past day? And now, after you returned from being a freaking vegetable, the first words coming out of your mouth is what's the point of living in this world anymore? Are you kidding me? I can't even begin – "
"Mist," Ash began weakly, realizing he must've voiced his thoughts out loud, trying to get her to stop, but the ex-Gym Leader didn't stop her rant.
"Don't you 'Mist' me, Ketchum!" Ash gulped, knowing that she was extremely mad when she used his last name. They both agreed on using Ash's last name only when it was absolutely necessary, avoiding any unnecessary attention. "You said that you were going to catch a pokemon…" her voice lost its rage, becoming exponentially smaller, "and I told you that when you came back as a vegetable, I'd be laughing, but…"
"That wasn't a challenge," Misty finished lamely, a temporary slip in her tough façade showing her soft side. "I didn't actually want you to come back with Agatha – gosh, Ash, the Elite Four? – carrying you like a little baby, both of you looking like you've come from hell and back."
"Maybe because they did," a deep voice answered.
The outline of a man stood in the doorway, his great height rather intimidating, but after facing Giratina, Ash didn't find himself as scared as he would have been. The man stepped forward, and as he did, Ash could make out more features of the stranger, like his red hair that was spiked backwards, or a similarly crimson cape hanging from his broad shoulders.
Recognition laced through his unfeeling veins. Ash knew who this person was. All of Kanto did. But it was Misty who spoke, her voice softer than a whisper, shrouded with awe.
"Ash, say hi to Lance."
Well, hopefully that chapter was good enough for your expectations! Little Ash here will be getting himself into all sorts of trouble while collecting badges and pokemon due to his little hero complex. This won't be the only time Ash sees the distortion world and Giratina.
I hope you guys didn't mind my connection of the distortion world and the ghost world. It seemed original, in my mind at least.
If you guys like it, leave a follow. If you loved it, favorite it. I worked pretty hard on this chapter, so a review would be nice.
The poll will be reposted when the Kanto storyline is complete.
Have a nice day.
Poll is up for Charmander's nickname!