It was a chilly spring night in Pallet Town, it was also eerily quiet as it was currently 3:30 in the morning since most of the Pallet Town residents were asleep including the certain raven in the body of a 10-year-old boy in the Ketchum household.
Or at least, he was asleep until he woke up from what seemed like a nightmare.
"Aaah! Pikachu!" He screamed as he woke up, panting out. He then blinked, looking around in his surroundings as he noticed it was dark and now peaceful. The raven haired boy knew that he was by himself, and his mother should be asleep.
'If this is the right time period, this would be the night before I would have gotten Pikachu the first time around.' Ash thought to himself, slowly sitting up from his bed. 'What should I do? I don't think I'd be going to the professor's lab until the morning, at least I'd be late…'
He glanced at his alarm clock, only to notice that he had accidentally smashed the alarm clock against the wall from the nightmare. The raven-haired boy gave a long sigh, chuckling softly.
"At least nothing changed about that…" He muttered quietly to himself, he had a lot to think about and process. Why did Celebi and the Sinnoh legendaries duo want his Pokemon to evolve in order to unleash their full power? He wasn't sure, but he knew that the threat must be pretty serious if they were warning about the importance of the full power.
'I should at least get myself a glass of water, then figure out what I need to do next.' Ash thought to himself, as he slowly got up from his bed. As his feet touched the floor, the raven haired boy gasped out as he suddenly became dizzy which made him hang onto his bed frame for support. 'What's going on…?'
Then a burst of memories flashed through his vision, causing the teenager in a 10 year old body to exclaim loudly. "What the?!"
Ash found himself in the first flashback, where he was 5 years old facing an adult male with black hair and blue eyes. He noticed the adult was wearing what looked like an Aura Guardian uniform.
The raven haired boy's eyes widened as he recognized that it had been Riley whom he met in his Sinnoh adventures, and he could see that his Lucario was standing next to him - listening to the two humans to converse.
"Ash, make sure that you remember your aura training." The dark-haired adult spoke to the 5 year old Ash Ketchum. "You're the Chosen One, and you will need to use your aura training one day."
"I will?" The younger Ketchum boy asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yes, I sense that the world will be in peril within years." Riley explained with a long sigh. "I've been sensing things being off and it worries me. That's why it's important that we continue with your aura training."
"Okay, I will do my best!" The younger Ash nodded, grinning. "I want to keep everyone in the world safe from danger one day."
"I'm sure you do." The adult male chuckled softly, ruffling young Ash's hair. "Now, let's continue."
The first flashback ended as it slowly faded away before the second flashback started to appear.
Ash watched the second flashback with caution, not sure what to expect next. He knew this timeline was different, maybe this was why he was getting flashbacks.
He then found himself in the second vision, where he was 6 years old exploring the nearby forest. He had snuck away from Professor Oak who had been busy analyzing the group of Ivysaurs to notice that the raven-haired child had slipped away from his line of sight.
The younger Ash hummed to himself, admiring the wild Pokemon from afar. Although he could use aura decently, he still had to be careful around the wild Pokemon as they could still attack him. He suddenly stopped as he heard cries in the nearby bush, he could sense that the Pokemon was in trouble.
"I'm coming!" The 6-year old child cried as he ran over to the bushes where the source of the crying had been. When the raven-haired boy finally got towards the source of the crying, he found an injured Pichu shivering in fear as the wild Spearow was glaring daggers towards the baby rodent.
The teenager Ash's eyes widened as he watched the flashback scene. Was that Pikachu?! He held his breath as he continued to watch, worrying about his younger self's safety and the little Pichu who could be his partner.
As the younger Ash noticed the Spearow, he immediately knew why the little Pichu had been injured. While he didn't have any Pokemon on him, he still wanted to make sure that the little electric mouse got help.
"Get away from that Pichu!" The raven-haired child cried as he shot an aura ball towards the Spearow, causing the tiny bird Pokemon to fly away in a panic.
"Speow!" The tiny bird Pokemon cried, flying away from Ash and the little Pichu. It seemed like it knew that it did not want to mess around with the child who had the aura capability.
The younger Ash watched carefully as the Spearow flew away, ensuring that the tiny bird hadn't called for enforcement. Once he was confident that the Spearow wasn't going to retaliate against the two, he looked down at the tiny Pichu as he carefully got down onto its level.
"Hey, are you okay?" The raven-haired boy asked the little mouse Pokemon as he moved closer with caution. He wasn't sure if the Pichu had belonged to someone, or if it was a wild Pokemon. Then again, it wasn't common for a Pichu to be in the Kanto region.
"Owww…" Pichu mumbled quietly, whimpering from his injuries. He then slowly looked up at the child who had saved him with his chocolate eyes. "I…I think so… I'm still really hurt, but thank you."
The younger Ash gave a small smile at the Pichu, he was glad that the little mouse seemed to be friendly. He knew that the little mouse was still scared, judging by the shaking that was happening.
"Come on, let's get you some help. I know someone who will be able to heal your injuries." The child gently explained as he carefully picked up the baby mouse. "Just hang on there, we'll be there shortly." He knew he had to be calm, as he didn't want to worsen the Pokemon's panic.
The second flashback slowly faded away, the teenager Ash couldn't help but to wonder if the Pichu would happen to be his Pikachu. Though, he was shocked that he could already understand Pichu. Was it a talking Pichu? He wasn't sure.
"Ash!" a voice called out, snapping the teenager in a child's body out of daze. He quickly turned to see the source of the voice, before recognizing that it was just his mother, Delia who was currently standing by his door. "Are you okay, sweetie? I heard you screaming in your sleep." The woman asked in concern.
Ash gave his usual grin, nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay, mom! I just had a nightmare, that's all." He attempted to reassure his mom. "I was just processing it, that's all."
He wasn't sure if it convinced his mother, as he noticed that Delia still had a concerned look on her face. Ash knew that his mother worried more than she needed to at times, but he knew she couldn't help it.
"Okay, if you're sure about it…" The woman responded softly after a few minutes of silence, giving a small smile over at her son. "Would you like for me to get you a glass of water?"
"Yes, please!" He nodded, he had intended to get himself some water. He figured that he might so well take up his mother's offer.
"Alright, I'll be back." Delia's soft voice spoke as she exited the room, leaving Ash in his thoughts once again.
'So, there are already some changes in this timeline…' He thought to himself. 'I learned Aura at an early age and I met a Pichu who could be my Pikachu… What else is out there?'
He looked out the window, letting out a soft sigh as he smiled slightly. 'At least it's pretty peaceful.'
"I'm back, sweetie." Ash turned to look over at his mother, who had a glass of water in her hand. "There you go." she smiled as she handed the water over to her son.
"Thanks, mom." He grinned, taking the glass of water from his mother before taking a sip. "I sure can't wait until I get to start my journey!"
Delia couldn't help but to giggle at her son's response.
"I hear that Pichu is excited to be going with you." His mother responded with a slight smile. "I'm really happy that you chose him. You two are very close."
'So it's Pikachu, but as a Pichu..' Ash thought to himself as he smiled over to his mom. "You betcha, mom! Pichu and I will be the best team that you've ever seen."
"I can't wait to hear all about your adventures." Delia sighed contently, looking over at her son. "I'm so proud of you, I just wish that your father was here to see this."
"Me too, mom, me too." He responded softly before the two fell into silence. He wasn't sure what to say to his mother, but he knew that Delia wouldn't remember anything since he was in the past. After several minutes, his mother let out a big yawn as she stretched.
"Well, sweetie, I'm going to get back to bed." She responded softly, giving a small smile over to Ash. "Make sure you get some sleep, you don't want to be late for your first day of Pokemon journey."
"I will, mom." The raven-haired boy grinned. "Wouldn't want to be late for anything." He watched as his mother left the room before sitting down onto his bed once again, looking out of the window.
'Where do I start after I get Pikachu?' He thought to himself in silence, debating whether he should make a plan or just go with the flow. 'I probably should make a plan, I really don't want to mess with the Spearows, especially if Pikachu is now a Pichu.' He cringed at the thought of being attacked by the Spearows, they were dangerous even if they weren't robotic tiny birds.
Sighing to himself, Ash stared at the sky through the window. He had a lot to process, and he hoped that his aura ability to talk with Pokemon that he managed to figure out that he gained will help him figure out what's the best course of action as he started his journey for the second time.
"G…Gah… f…finally here." a voice spoke out as it panted out, capturing the raven-haired boy's attention and causing Ash to turn towards the source. Standing by the door was the one and only Pikachu who was currently in his Pichu form.
"Pikachu!" The Ketchum boy whispered, he was relieved to see the electric mouse even if he was a Pichu at the moment. "You didn't have to come all of the way over here… I was going to get you in a couple of hours."
The baby electric mouse laughed softly as he grinned at his trainer. "Ash, if you think I'm going to be in the damned Pokeball and wait in there. You're sorely mistaken." He then moved towards his trainer after he had recovered slightly from his travels. "You out of all people should know how much I hate being in a Pokeball."
Ash couldn't help but to chuckle at his starter's response, moving to ruffle his head gently. "Yeah, I know that you hate being in there." he then shook his head with a smile. "You do know that the professor is going to freak out when he realizes you're not in the lab?"
Pichu sighed at the Ketchum boy's response, knowing very well that the Pokemon professor would freak out. "He'll be alright." He smirked. "Remember? He knows that we're very close already, so I'd assume that he'd check our house first."
"Oh, that's right." The raven-haired boy mumbled to himself. "I'm not used to having two different memories of our lives. Especially since it's already different, since I already know Aura and I met you earlier." He then picked up the baby electric mouse before placing him onto his shoulders, looking out of the window. "I was thinking of where we could start first when we finally go on our journey."
"Maybe we should start with making a list of what Pokemon you had during the first round." Pichu suggested thoughtfully. "Just to make sure that we don't forget anyone, or accidentally miss someone that we shouldn't."
"That's a good idea." Ash grinned at his starter's response. "We can get started on that, then we can see about getting you some ketchup for breakfast."
"Hell yeah, I could go for some ketchup!" This caused the raven-haired boy to chuckle softly as he dug around for a notebook and a pen, figuring that he might so well get started on the list as they had time.
With that started, Ash and his partner, Pichu got started on the list and put down the list of the Pokemon that Ash had obtained the first time around before they were sent back into the past which took a while. As they were wrapping up, the baby electric mouse's ears perked up as it picked up the sounds.
"PICHU! Where are you?" The voice cried out, causing the boys to peer over the window to see what was going on. The raven-haired boy immediately recognized that it was the Pokemon professor, Samuel Oak. The said professor was panicking, peeking into bushes and mailboxes as his lab aides attempted to help the older gentleman.
Ash glanced over at Pichu, raising his eyebrow as the baby electric mouse sweatdropped at the professor's panic.
"Ok..maybe you're right, he was going to freak out." The Pichu sighed quietly, looking up at his trainer. "Maybe we should let him know that I'm here?" He suggested.
"Not a bad idea, I don't think we want to cause too much stress on the professor." The Ketchum boy chuckled before he leaned out of the window. "Professor Oak! It's okay, Pichu is here with me!" He hollered over to the professor, capturing Oak's attention.
"Oh thanks goodness!" The professor sighed heavily, seeing that Pichu was indeed with Ash and unharmed. "I was worried about how I was going to break it to you about your Pokemon going missing."
Ash laughed softly at the professor's statement, nodding. "I get it, but we're fine." He reassured the professor with a grin. "Pichu just wanted to hang out with me before we started our journey, is that right, buddy?"
"Yes! Of course!" Pichu cried out, even though it was clear to Ash, all Professor Oak heard was a "Pic, Pichu!".
"Very well then." Oak nodded thoughtfully as he looked up at the two boys before grinning. "Since you two are already up, why don't you come down to my lab and I'll get you ready for your journey?"
"That sounds great!" "Yeah!" Ash and Pichu exclaimed at the same time before the raven-haired boy hurried off to get his shoes on so the duo could go down into the lab.
"Children…" The professor chuckled as he went back into his lab with his aides, shaking his head on the way.
It did not take Ash too long to get his shoes on before he hurried downstairs and straight outside with Pichu on his shoulder. Even though he wasn't late nor alone this time, it didn't mean that he was not going to run all of the way to the professor's lab.