Chapter 2: Something might go wrong

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NOW – ALOLA

Kukui called back Lucario, just in case, and beckoned Ash to come with him.

Ash followed Kukui back into the house. He sat down on the very edge of the sofa, and Kukui went into the kitchen to get a glass of water for him. When he walked back, he saw Ash with his head bowed, running a gentle finger over the Z-ring on his wrist. Pikachu was halfway on his lap, ears twitching nervously.

"Do you know what that is?" Kukui asked softly.

Ash raised his eyes and shook his head. "No idea! It's kinda cool, though!"

Kukui chuckled. At least the enthusiasm was the same.

"Oh, it is", he replied. "It's a Z-ring, a special equipment for pokemon battling, most commonly used here in Alola."

"When'd I get it?" Ash asked, curious. He brushed a hand down his shirt, frowning slightly. "When'd I get into these clothes?"

Kukui didn't have any answers.

"What did you think you were wearing, then?" he asked instead, setting the cup down on the sofa table.

Ash shrugged. "You know, just my normal clothes. My hoodie and jeans." He looked at his bare hands again. "And my gloves…"

He frowned deeper, an anxious look passing on his face. "Actually, I was wearing Sir Aaron's gloves…"

"Pikaa…"

"Do you have a mirror?" Ash asked suddenly. Kukui nodded, pointing towards the bathroom near the corner of the room.

He watched silently as the boy walked into the bathroom, turned on the light and leaned against the sink to stare at his reflection. He had an almost comical look of confusion on his face, and he ran a searching hand through his hair.

"I do look a bit different", Ash eventually said, thoughtfully, almost like he was trying to convince himself of something. "My hair is kinda weird." He poked at his cheekbones. "I don't think my skin was this tan. And…"

He turned to look at Pikachu, who had planted itself on his shoulder.

"Do you think I look a bit older, Pikachu?"

Pikachu tilted its head. "Pika?" It leaned over and peeked into Ash's ear, scrutinizing, like it thought it could check if his brain was still in there.

"If I look different…" mumbled Ash, not noticing this or just not caring. "Then it means I didn't teleport here. Mew must have done something weird…"

He turned back to Kukui. "Hey, have you got a video phone?"

Kukui was once again taken aback by the sudden change in topic. "Uh, yeah, I do", he replied numbly, waiving a hand. "But I really wanted to talk to you about-"

Suddenly, the front door slammed open, and Burnet stormed in like there was a hurricane at her back.

"Kukui? Ash!" she yelled, before stopping in her tracks as she took note of them standing in the living room. Her eyes were wide, baffled. "You- you're okay?"

Ah, damn, thought Kukui. She must've been worried sick after the message he sent earlier.

"We are okay, Burnet", he sighed, glancing at Ash, "more or less…"

Her whole body deflated, and in few quick steps she was standing inches away from Kukui's face.

"You asshole, answer you phone!" she shouted, teary-eyed. "I tried to call you! Ten times! I thought you were in serious trouble!"

Kukui took hold of her face, gently, and kissed her on the cheek. "Listen, Burnet", he whispered, and she calmed down instantly. "There's something wrong with Ash."

Burnet stilled, turning to look at Ash who was still standing on the bathroom doorway, looking at her curiously.

Burnet stepped away from Kukui, leaning down slightly with a soft smile.

"Ash, honey. What's wrong?"

Ash scratched the side of his head. Pikachu was now poking at his ear, and Ash pushed it away absentmindedly with the same hand.

"Who're you?"

Burnet jerked back like she had been slapped, color washing away from her face. She pressed a hand against her mouth and Kukui grimaced.

He snaked his arm around Burnet's, hoping to give her some consolation. "Ash, this is Professor Burnet. She's my wife."

Ash nodded politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ash!"

He turned back to Kukui, and Burnet let out a small broken sound behind her hand. "So, Professor… um, mister Professor? Can I use your phone?"

Burnet, with a badly concealed look of dread on her face, caught Kukui's eye. He shook his head minutely at her before turning back to Ash and shrugging pointedly.

"I guess you can. Who would you like to call?"

Ash grinned. "Brock! He'll know what the heck is going on!"

"Oh I really hope so", Kukui mouthed at Burnet. She also opened her mouth, closed it after a second, and turned back to worriedly stare at Ash.

"Alright", Kukui then said to Ash. "Follow me."

He showed Ash to the phone and waited. Ash stood by it for a minute, just staring at it, brow furrowing with thought. Eventually, he threw his hands up in frustration. "Oh man! I dunno where to call! If he's at the Tree, there won't be any phones nearby!"

Not even bothering to react to that, Kukui stepped up and planted a contact book on the desk in front of him. He pointed at the number Brock had left them during his last visit.

"Look, here's Brock's current number. He visited you just few months ago! You two also talked on the phone yesterday about your league victory."

Ash turned around, his eyes as wide as plates.

"My what?"

Kukui wanted to slap himself. What a way to tell the big news to the possibly amnesiac kid. But, well, what was done was done.

"That's right, Ash", he said, gentler now. "Two days ago, after many difficult and wonderful battles, you became the first Champion of Alola."

Ash blinked. Then he blinked again.

"No way!" he yelped. "Really? Oh man, and I don't even remember that? Can you believe it, Pikachu!" Pikachu looked at him through squinted eyes. Ash paused, frowning. "Wait, if I'm in the future or something… Then I don't wanna know anything!" He pointed at Kukui, vibrating from head to toe. "Alolan Professor don't tell me anything! I want it to be a surprise!"

Kukui stuttered: "O-okay-"

"Ooh, I wonder what pokemon I got in my team?" Ash continued, stars in his eyes, before shaking his head again, glaring at Kukui. "No, don't tell me!" He crossed his arms, pouting. "Okay, I'll call Brock, and hopefully this all will be sorted by then."

He copied Brock's number from the book without any further fuss and waited patiently for the call to connect.

Taking the chance, Burnet stepped in front of Kukui and made her most demanding 'what the fuck?' -face at him. Kukui shrugged again, really hoping he had any answers.

"Memory loss?" he whispered. "Possibly time travel?"

Burnet's eyebrow twitched.

Brock's voice got their attention then: "Oh, hey Ash, what's up?"

"Brock!" exclaimed Ash. "You won't believe this! I think I time traveled, but not with my body? I was just in Kanto – you know that place where we met Sir Aaron's Lucario? The city with the big tree?"

Brock nodded slowly. "Uhuh, the Cameran Palace and the Tree of Beginning."

"Yep! I was there, and we were just about to save Mew with Lucario, but the bam, I was here! But it's not like when Celebi sends you to another time. It wasn't like teleporting either. I look different, right? Older! But I'm sure I'm not going crazy or anything. The last thing I remember is Mew touching me…"

Kukui studied Brock's expressions. What Ash was saying sounded… insane, just absolutely ridiculous, but Brock nodded along like he found nothing particularly strange about the words.

"Mew sent you through time?" Brock asked, his brow furrowing. "That's unusual. It's not really known for that kind of power…"

That was it; Kukui couldn't take it any longer.

"I'm sorry", he said, leaning into Ash's space to get on the camera. "Can I just – hi Brock! – can I just ask this. You believe this is true? That Ash's mind got replaced by his, uh, his younger self? Wait, how long ago did these events happen to you, Brock?"

Brock shrugged, smiling. "Time is a bit of a hard concept, Professor. But I think it's been at least a couple of years since then."

What? What does that mean?

"What do you mean?" cried Kukui desperately. "And don't you remember what happened? Did – did Ash time travel or…?"

Brock frowned, more seriously now. "I… don't really remember what happened, exactly. I remember us getting to the Tree, and the Tree being sick, but after that my memory is pretty much gone. Next thing I properly remember is us wandering around in Kanto, trying to find the Battle Factory for Ash's Battle Frontier challenge."

Pikachu jumped on the table, leaning close towards the camera in a way that must've blocked anything else from Brock's view. Ash giggled and picked it up to put it back onto his shoulder, out of the way.

"So… do you think Ash might be right about this?" Kukui asked hesitantly, after he managed to make eye contact with Brock again.

Brock nodded, glancing warmly towards Ash. "Yes, I think him time traveling is more probable than him having a mental breakdown, if that's what you're asking."

As weird as his words were as it came to comfort, Kukui still felt immensely relieved.

He shared a pointed look with Burnet. She peeked behind his and Ash's shoulders, waiving quickly at Brock.

"Hi Brock! Anyway, uh, what do we do now? Can we let this, erm, Ash, wander around? Do you know if there's… if something might go wrong?"

"Hey!" yelled Ash indignantly. "You don't get to decide! I can take care of myself anyway!"

Brock sighed. "It's pointless trying to keep him in one place. Just… watch his back, try to stop him from doing anything the current Ash wouldn't do. Which isn't that much, to be honest."

He smiled at Pikachu. "And Pikachu, even if it's been a while, this is still your Ash. Take care of him, alright?"

Pikachu nodded solemnly. "Pikachu pika."

"Come on, Brock", whined Ash. "I'm not a baby! Didn't you hear I won the league?"

Brock laughed. "Uhuh, the Orange League. Great job with that!"

Kukui raised his eyebrows. He didn't know about that.

"I don't mean that!" yelped Ash. "I meant– uh… Man, I guess I haven't won the Alola one yet…"

Burnet put a gentle hand on Ash's shoulder, calming him down slightly. "So, Brock", she said. "Can we expect things to go back to normal on their own? If this is Mew's doing… Will it return Ash back to his own time eventually?"

"I'd think so, yes", Brock replied. "There's probably something going on in the past that required current Ash's help. That's just how it usually goes." He sighs with some humor, tilting his chin. "When that's done, and the world is saved, everything should get back to as it was."

Kukui and Burnet looked at each other, and then at Ash. Ash put his hands behind his head, stretching his back nonchalantly.

"Man…" he breathed. "Fine. I guess I'll just wait here, then. Thanks Brock!"

"No problem! Take care now."

They disconnected the call before Kukui or Burnet could get another word in, and the room was left in a heavy silence.

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THEN – KANTO

Kidd stared at Ash, her face paling rapidly.

"Hunter J? That Hunter J?" she asked, and Ash nodded numbly.

"Yes, that Hunter J", said the person in question, smiling smugly. She gazed curiously at Ash from her vantage point. "I'm impressed you recognized me, brat. My face isn't that known, not like my name is."

Ash glared at her with his hands balled into fists. "Like I would forget you."

She had gotten between him and his pokemon way too many times during his time in Sinnoh. He had almost died or gotten hurt so many times because of her and her cruel plans. And then during the battle against Team Galactic, her ship had been destroyed, and she had never been seen again.

But Sinnoh would be only after Battle Frontier, after all this, thought Ash. So she didn't know him, not yet.

And as it was, Hunter J laughed condescendingly. "Oh, did I steal one of your precious pokemon, little one? Must've been a while back, since I have no recollection of you. Do you still cry to your mommy about it?"

While she talked, one of her goons sent out a disc that trapped the petrified Mew into a glass container. It was then lifted into the air and transported back towards the aircraft.

"What'd you do to Mew?" cried Kidd, stepping forward, her hand reaching for her poke balls. "Stop that! Let it go!"

"Kidd", said Ash, a warning in his voice. Pikachu was at his feet, back bent and eyes as thin slits, and Ash waved his hand towards it, silently telling it to hold on.

"But Ash!" Kidd exclaimed. "We can't let them take Mew! If something happens to it, the Tree will die!"

"I know that!" barked Ash. "This Tree and Mew are symbo- uh, symba…iotic creatures, I remember that! But she's super strong, Kidd, and she captures pokemon for money – if we're not careful, she might…"

He stopped himself before he could say anything else.

Hunter J laughed loudly. "Well, brat, you're not as stupid as you look, are you?" she said to Ash. "In fact, I only did come here for Mew, but just looking around now I can spot some remarkably interesting pokemon with you. Your pikachu for instance… and that lucario."

Ash stepped in front of Lucario, whispering hastily, "Don't say anything – she can't know…"

Lucario nodded sharply. She can't know that Lucario can speak telepathically; that Lucario is the lucario from a thousand-year-old legend.

"How did you know that Mew was here?" demanded Kidd, turning J's attention to her.

"Ah, Kidd Summers", she said with amusement. "I didn't get the change to thank you yet. You see, I've been following you for a while now. Listening in as you spew all the secrets you come across to that commander of yours."

Kidd's face paled, her eyes widening in horror.

Seeing this, Hunter J smirked. "So, when I heard you mentioning that you had found Mew – well, I couldn't just let that go. One of my long-time clients has been asking for a Mew for years now. But it's quite the difficult one to find, don't you agree?"

"You… you have a wiretap in our system?" Kidd asked hoarsely. Ash could see the devastation on her face as she looked past J, into the aircraft where Mew had now disappeared into.

"Soon, we don't", smiled Hunter J. "You better take those glasses off your face, or you might get zapped."

Without delay, Kidd grabbed her glasses and pried them off. Not even a second later, an electric current ran through them, and Kidd was forced to let go, yelping in pain. The glasses fell to the ground, charred black.

"You…!" she snarled.

Hunter J shrugged. "We won't be needing your assistance anymore, Summers. Now, there has been some interesting stories regarding this place, and all of them mention a lucario." She turned to her goons and pointed at Lucario, still covering behind Ash's back. "Let's take that one with us too."

Ash could see her Ariados appear behind her, and he instantly knew what was about to happen.

He yelled: "Kidd, get away!" just as Hunter J commanded: "String shot, Ariados."

Ash grabbed Lucario's arm and dived to the side. The string missed him by a hair, and he landed hard on the floor, elbows scraping against the rock. Lucario landed next to him, and he pushed it up ahead of him.

"Run!" he shouted. "Lucario, run, you can't fight against her beam!"

He scrambled up, searching desperately for Kidd and Pikachu.

He spotted Kidd leaning against the crystal rock, struggling against a string that tied her to it. Pikachu was still facing J, its cheeks sparkling with anger.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash cried. "Run away!"

One of the goons tried to grab him but he ducked under his arm and sprinted across the room. Lucario was nowhere to be seen, and when he got a moment to look around, he spotted Hunter J still standing on the aircraft steps, pointing her device all over the cavern in search of it.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled again. He didn't see it anywhere – didn't hear it anywhere.

Three men were running towards him, and he dashed away, heart in his throat.

"Pikachu!"

He was desperate now. Where was it? Where was Lucario? Was he all alone-?

"Pikach-!"

"Heads up, Ash!" he heard Kidd call, and he avoided another string shot just in time. He rolled across the floor and scrambled behind one of the crystal pillars for cover.

He was breathing hard, chest tight and painful and hands trembling. He felt woozy – the room swam around him, and he rubbed his hands hard across his face. His palms stung afterwards, and he stared at his tattered, stained gloves with a disconnected feeling. He had no recollection of hurting himself.

Like through a haze, he heard Hunter J say: "Forget about the kid, let's just take the rodent and search for the lucario elsewhere."

Ash stomach dropped.

Pikachu. Pikachu!

He jumped up and looked towards the voices, just in time to see few of the goons closing in on a small, petrified figure on the floor.

His body was numb, cold with fear, and his head drained of any sensible thought. The only thing he could focus on was–

Pikachu!

"No, stop!" he screamed, sprinting towards Pikachu's frozen form. He pushed his way past the goons, leaping over Pikachu just as one of the men flung out a container to capture it. The flying device hit him hard on the small of his back, and he curled around Pikachu on the floor, groaning.

"Get out of the way, brat", snapped J, and Ash got some satisfaction from hearing how annoyed she sounded.

He got up again, his arms tightly wrapped around his little friend. "You won't get Pikachu!" he shot back angrily. He started backing off, ready to dash.

If they wanted Pikachu, they would have to take him too.

"Drapion", called J, releasing a poke ball, and the large pokemon appeared in front of her. "Poison sting!"

Ash yelped, jumping away. He managed to barely avoid the poison needles, and he ducked his head between his shoulders and darted off.

He didn't quite reach the cavern entrance. Something hit him between the shoulder blades, and he was thrown off his feet, landing shoulder first on the ground and sliding ahead with the momentum. He groaned, squeezing Pikachu's form tightly against his chest, protecting it with his body.

Not letting go; never letting go.

"Give up already", snarled J. "Drapion, grab them."

Ash rolled onto his back and saw Drapion's looming form standing over him. Its claws rose, ready to strike-

And that's when a blue ball of energy – of aura, Ash realized – struck it right on its head and it fell backwards with a loud screech. Ash rolled onto his knees and saw…

"Lucario", he gasped. It had come back. It stood at the cavern entrance, fury in its eyes, and it prepared another aura sphere between its paws. Ash crawled towards it, breathing hard, pearls of sweat stinging his eyes.

His felt his hair plastered against his forehead – his hat was gone, lost somewhere at some point.

Lucario's sphere hit Drapion again, pushing it even farther away from Ash and Pikachu.

"Lucario", panted Ash. "You were supposed to go!"

Lucario didn't answer him. Instead, it leaped over his kneeling form and attacked Drapion with an aggressive move that reminded Ash of close combat. Drapion hissed in pain and it tried to cover itself under its claws with not much luck. Lucario attacked it ruthlessly, not giving it even a second to counter its attacks, and it was winning, fast.

Lucario was strong, noted Ash with some awe. Really strong.

"Drapion, return", ordered J coldly, and to everyone's shock she called back the pokemon, leaving Lucario to fight at nothing. It was left standing in the middle of the big space, and Ash knew it was too late.

They had lost.

Hunter J calmly raised her arm, aimed her weapon at Lucario, and turned it into stone.

Ash didn't even have the strength to shout anymore. His mouth opened, his hand reached towards Lucario, but no sound came out. He sat back on his heels and watched numbly as the goons sealed Lucario into a container and transported it towards the airship.

"What about the pikachu?" asked one of the men, waving his hand towards Ash. "I don't think that boy's gonna be much of a problem any longer."

"Ah, forget them", said J dismissively. "We got what we came here for, and I think I heard someone approaching. Let's leave before there's any more needless hindrances to our mission."

"You cowards!" screamed Kidd from the crystal rock where she was still bound to. Ash couldn't see her from where he was, but he was happy to hear her voice – to know that he wasn't completely alone.

"How dare you do this – and for what? For money?" Kidd continued, her voice seething with anger. "You're truly the lowest of the low, Hunter J!"

"Oh, shut up", said J pleasantly. She stood at the threshold of her ship as the doors began to close. "Now, goodbye, Summers. We'll never see each other again."

The doors slammed shut, and the sound reverberated around the cavern with a suffocating finality. Sealing their fate.

Ash took Pikachu's petrified form between his palms and looked down at it, tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

Why was he here? Why was he here when he couldn't even protect his best friend?

The engines of Hunter J's ship turned on, and through the deafening noise Ash could suddenly hear someone shouting his name.

"Ash! Ash, you here?"

"Ash! Kidd! Everyone!"

Ash raised his head, blinking. That was Brock and May.

"In here!" yelled Kidd, somewhat rousing Ash from his stupor. "Hurry up!"

And then, their group of friends rounded the corner and arrived at the cavern. It was surreal, seeing Brock and May and Max, exactly as they had been years ago. Ash was closest to the entrance, and they stopped few meters away from him and looked at him with concern.

"Ash, you oka-" started Brock, before he really saw him and flinched. "Is- is that… Pikachu?"

Seeing his friends awakened something in Ash, some last pocket of strength he didn't know he had anymore. He stood up again, took a few steps and handed Pikachu to Brock. Too stunned to resist, the young man took it in his arms, gently, worriedly.

"Take care of it, okay?" Ash said softly.

"What-?"

Ash turned to May and Max.

"Hi guys, nice to see you again", he greeted with a slight smile, taking in their faces. His dear friends.

"Wait, Ash-"

He started jogging backwards, waving his hand.

"If you don't hear from me tomorrow the latest… Go to Sinnoh, okay? Regigigas can use its hidden power to restore Pikachu."

He didn't wait around to hear their answers. He turned on his heel and sprinted to the aircraft, now already off the ground and gaining altitude. He ducked under it and squeezed himself between the folded landing gear, holding on for his life. The aircraft took off, and Ash locked eyes with his friends, with Brock and the petrified Pikachu, and didn't look away until they were just tiny dots far, far below him.