Ron the True Fan: In regards to the rage, still there. In regards to the Gible focusing it? (Gible attached to head warbling in righteous musing fury) …You REALLY made him mad…
Takeshi Yamato: And that reviewer from the last chapter who wanted depictions of the OCs REALLY put me on the spot because Ron forced the problem on those of us who MADE the OCs! For that matter, here's mine, this list concocted ON THE FLY over a span of less than five minutes (I hope you're happy, Reader0007!):
Robin - As the review said, easy enough to depict, just use Fem!Robin from Fire Emblem Warriors
Kyril Pernon - Robert Downey Jr. AKA Tony Stark
Rin Uzumaki - Sort of a hybrid of Pepper Potts and Lunamaria Hawke, with upsized breasts, somewhere in the D-DD-E range.
Hitomi (Rising Tides) - ...She's a 00 Quanta MS Girl with black hair.
Jorn is still Poke'd out, so don't expect his list any time soon!
(CHOMP!)
(Rage Gible warbles on Take's head)
Ron the True Fan: …THEY'RE MULTIPLYING!
Center of the Tree of Beginning, Kingdom of Rota, 1424 hours local time, Day 192 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
"You seem surprised to see me." Sir Aaron said as he walked over, unheeding of the weapon pointed at his face. "I know it's been some time, but I thought they stopped that stupid tradition of not telling them about me."
Ash cautiously tilted the pistol into a ready-but-safe position, having a feeling there was no point in pointing it at him.
He'd dealt with enough ghosts in his life, even if Aaron seemed more material then any other.
"You're not really dead, are you?" he asked, looking at the legendary figure. "And not really alive, either."
Aaron chuckled. "That was quick." he said. "It takes a lot longer for my grandchildren to figure it out."
"I've been around the block a few times." Ash said dryly. An extreme understatement.
Kanto and Johto combined took 21 months to traverse, including that three-month detour in the Orange Islands that, in hindsight, he really should've avoided had it not been for Shamouti, Charizard learning to trust him and all that, Hoenn's swampy land took him a full year, Sinnoh's mountain range make him take the same amount of time…
At any rate, time travel, alternate universes, gods and monsters: he'd done it all.
In less then a decade.
'Any wonder you're still sane.' the dark voice in his mind said, before quickly vanishing.
Aaron paced the chamber, no sound coming from his footsteps. Ash was not a ninja, but he'd been trained by one.
"You're his soul." Ash said. "An aura construct."
"Not far off." Aaron said. "When I poured all of my soul into the Tree to force an end to the fighting, my body was drawn into the Tree. I became one with it, for better or worse."
Ash suspected the latter and voiced it.
Aaron snorted. "Immortality is not what it's cracked up to be. Especially when you're stuck in a massive oversized tree-shaped mountain." he said, agreeing. "Especially when you only get to meet your descendants once every century or so."
"Conversation must be exceptionally boring." ash deadpanned. Dry observations and sarcastic quips came too easily.
Well, he had no real plans to change that. Other then 'stop Cyrus', he really HAD no plans.
He had been called a Pokemon Master, so THAT life-long goal was achieved. The anticlimax was outright depressing.
He really didn't need to catch more Pokemon, so…yeah.
Ash had no idea what the hell he'd do after Cyrus was dead.
'Take a walk off a short, tall cliff?' snarked that dark voice in his head before he felt something smack it.
He'd have to talk about it to Gaffery later.
Aaron nodded. "It always goes the same way: disbelief I'm here, veneration as a living ancestor, then learning how to use their Aura to regenerate the Tree." the ancient being said before palming his face. "It's monotonous. You have no idea how pleased I am that you actually broke the pattern."
Ash's eye twitched.
"Pika." 'Oh, HELL.' Pikachu said before Ash started laughing. And not in the amused way.
"Monotonous? MONOTONOUS?!" Ash yelled, surprising the knight of Rota. "Do you have any idea how much I would like 'monotonous' for ONE YEAR of my life?! In my first year as a Pokemon Trainer, I died when trying to stop two legendaries from killing each other - I obviously got better - discovered I was key to an ancient prophecy involving saving the world from the hubris of a madman and that was just the FIRST year after I left Pallet. It got SO much worse from there."
Aaron stared blankly. "You are an odd one." he said after a moment.
Ash's stress laugh returned. "You, fundamentally, have NO idea." he said before a not-exactly-smile appeared on his face. "Maybe I should enlighten you."
Rota/Kanto Border - 1458 hours local time
Getting his parents to sign all those papers was a pain in the butt. But it was worth it.
A modern, living legend, conqueror of Orre, restorer of the balance of Shamouti!
And his teacher!
Max Maple had to walk halfway from Pewter (Brock was a nice enough guy to give him a lift after Sabrina teleported him from Hoenn to Pewter - 'Note to self, NEVER go through mass teleports ever again.' - before enduring an Onyx ride to keep him away from the wild Pokemon near Mount Moon) and now he was on the cusp of beginning his career as a trainer.
All it took was a fight with his parents.
One week earlier - Petalburg City, Hoenn
"Absolutely not." Caroline Maple said to her son. "You're far too young for one-"
"And smarter then most of the people in my class. Twice over." Max drawled. He'd skipped two years because of his emotional maturity and his intelligence. His parents were getting desperate on that front and he knew it.
"And even with the Orre Purify Chamber thing becoming widespread-" his mother continued before just yelling in worried anger.
"Son, I understand how you feel, but shouldn't you take this a LOT slower? I know I suggested him as your teacher-" Norman sighed. "You do know we worry."
"I know. After what happened to May…" Max paused as he looked at the stairs leading up to the second floor of their home…where his sister was still hiding.
"Ash will protect and teach me." Max continued. "You know there's no better option."
"And that's another thing!" Caroline started, motherly worry so very evident. "He gets into so much trouble! Team Rocket was constantly after him, the whole Sabrina thing, whatever happened on New Island, the attack on Indigo Plateau-"
Norman loudly sighed to cut off his wife's concerned yelling. "We can't talk you out of it, but we do want you to know the risks." he said, rising a hand to keep his wife from continuing her worry-induced ranting. "There's a good reason Pokemon Trainers start at 14 now."
"And I feel like I'm being crushed by everyone around me not being at my intellectual level!" Max snapped back, surprising his parents. "And the worst part is, I know it's NOT their fault! I can't blame the teachers: they're doing their job. I can't blame my classmates: they're who they are."
It sucked having a child that seemed to grow up too fast.
But Max was always a quick learner: he was reading high school texts when he was five.
"I wanted MAy to be your watcher." Caroline said, sighing.
"So did I." Max said, equally as morose. "But she's not going anywhere for a long time. And Ash Ketchum is the best option! Plus if you're worried about me accidentally-"
"I regret letting you anywhere near a biology book." Norman deadpanned. "You'll need to get to Kanto. I know Professor Oak will sign the papers, but…Just please be careful. And-"
"I know you worry." Max cut off. "I can't get mad at you for THAT, either."
Not 7 days later, here he was.
And in spite of everything, he was looking forward to hands-on experience.
Max was young, but not naive. At least not completely. He knew two things: one, Ash might not have his IQ, but was A LOT more experienced and Max was well aware that field experience was more valuable then reading about it. There was always SOMETHING different. It was like baking. May always told him…
'Don't think about her. One, there's nothing you can do and two, it'll ruin the moment.' Max rebuked mentally.
As for the second, age. Max could've requested to be taught by any Gym Leader in Hoenn, Johto or Kanto. The psychics were only barely older then he was, Roxanne was a schoolteacher and she would've stuck him in her classroom, everyone else was a lot older and some would've rejected the application outright. Johto's Gym Leaders, for example. Clair was acting shogun of Blackthorn in Lance's absence and had no time for teaching, same with… EVERYONE in Johto.
Kanto had more issues and EVERYONE was wanting to avoid Sabrina. Even after the Ashening (his father's term for what happened, not his) she was on the top of Max's 'NOT HAPPENING' list.
Ash, on the other hand, was only four years older and probably knew EXACTLY what he felt. There was talk about how… adult-like he was, but it worked to Max's benefit.
As mature as Max was, he still had a child's enthusiasm. It wasn't healthy, after all, to be dour and depressed.
Tree of Beginning - Same time
The first time, Ash used it out of desperation. A hope to save the world from the stupidity of Kidd Summers and Mew.
And ever since, he had actively been suppressing any attempts for it to flare up. The first time he used Aura, Lucario died.
Aaron noticed Ash's now-instinctual clamping down on his Aura. "Not exactly healthy, son." he chided. "Bottling up your life force is never a good thing."
"And expending it didn't exactly go well for Lucario or you." Ash snarked back. "How long have you been dead again?"
"You are rather jaded." Aaron noted once more.
"Dying more then once and being forced to relive all my worst failures makes a man feel more then a little cynical." Ash replied. "If Arceus didn't see fit to make me his little problem solver, I would've stayed dead on New Island."
"And yet things have already gone far better then before!" Aaron protested.
"How? An old grumpy man in my old past turned out to be a tyrannical nutcase here and was eaten by a school of Basculin when I knocked him into a pond filled with them, I took a bullet to the chest in Saffron, Sabrina was possessed and now she thinks I'm her dad, Anabel was dead for a solid minute and took a month to recover, Mewtwo's mind BROKE when he was forced to look into my head and I REALLY don't want to think about what happened in Orre." Ash ranted. "Better? I keep saying it and it might as well be my catchphrase: I Hate This Timeline."
Aaron paused for a moment before commenting. "You're right, this history IS abhorrent. But you have already undid a major aberration. It will resemble what you remember soon."
"Resemble just means 'look like'." Ash said dryly. "A Ditto can look like a Pikachu, that doesn't mean it IS one."
"Pika." 'I resemble that remark.' Pikachu quipped.
Aaron sighed. "You want your old timeline back." he said. "Even if you know it's impossible."
"I watched them DIE. I watched green blood bleed from a friend's eyes as the universe collapsed." Ash said, guilt in his voice. "And what happens? I'm sent back when I could have and SHOULD have died with them."
"And prevent you from stopping what would happen again." Aaron retorted. "You have faced adversity and triumphed a thousand times. Why is this any different?"
"Because I've faced it before. And I sure as hell don't want to face it AGAIN." Ash snapped. "ONCE was enough. It's why I sent everyone to head off all those little problems in Kanto before they happened."
Oh, he ENJOYED hearing about the downfall of the Mirage Pokemon project. He might've preferred a fair fight, but with a nut like Namba? Fuck him.
"So you won't do it." Aaron accused. "And damn all those to a fate you could easily avert?"
Ash's rage flared at that accusation. "Just because I don't WANT to does NOT mean I WON'T." he snapped. "I'm just well within my rights to complain about having to do it ALL OVER AGAIN, all my hard work, all the suffering me and mine have endured being for FUCK ALL because a supposedly emotionless asshole decided to be spiteful and END THE UNIVERSE!" He stopped as he thought about something. "…You're making me vent."
"And I hoped you wouldn't realize it until I explained later." Aaron groused. "You are ANGRY. Rightfully so, but angry. If you don't release it before using your Aura, the Tree will absorb it. And we do not want that."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "And you would know this…" he trailed off.
"Personal experience. It's why I'm still here." Aaron said, Ash nodding in understanding. He didn't want to be trapped here for all eternity either.
He DID have a madman to deal with.
"I won't take it personally." Aaron assured. "Even by MY lofty standards, you have not had a good life."
Oh, those were fightin' words.
Hiding was NOT something they wanted to do.
But if they didn't want to be erased from existence via excessive amounts of pain and suffering, they had to.
And Ketchum was doing something they didn't want him to do. Their plan was to feed him self-doubt and weaken his resolve.
Allowing him to vent his frustrations, to relieve the stress he was under, so someone would UNDERSTAND what he had gone through.
This was not good. It would undermine all their efforts, all their work over the last six months to BREAK him.
And they couldn't do a damn thing to stop it without revealing themselves. They watched as the stress fractures they caused in his mind lessened. They did not disappear…but they did shrink.
"Goddamn it." the King spat, scowling.
So much hard work, most of it in Orre, WASTED!
Well. There was always Johto.
Always Altomere.
Back with the group - 1536 hours local time
Gible's maw clamped onto a Tree crystal with a CHOMP, Taggard glaring at the shark for his impudent chomping.
Then the land shark glowed a bright green, the light within being a brilliant blue.
"Praise Arceus, he's done it!" the old man said before shielding his face from the light. "OVER done it; FUCK that's bright!"
"Looks like Gible turned into a lightbulb." Neesha quipped.
"Gible!" cried the land shark, eyesmiling.
"He likes it." Kyoji said, confused. "He's completely lit up and he LIKES it."
"Well, maybe he's getting a zap from it." she said, remembering his typing.
"You're pouring too much into it!" Aaron warned.
"Sorry, no idea WHAT THE HELL I'm doing!" Ash snapped back. "I wasn't exactly trained in this and your gloves aren't exactly making me MORE enlightened!"
Ash, indeed, was wearing Aaron's gloves, which had some mystic nonsense inscribed on them to make Aura channeling easier.
He wasn't an expert and he couldn't read what it meant. 'Nonsense' was the most polite term he could use.
"If you keep that up you'll-TAKE OFF THE GLOVES!" Aaron shouted, Ash falling to his knees mid-sentance.
"Pikapi!" 'You are NOT dying again, Ash!' Pikachu declared before grabbing the left glove with his teeth, pulling it from the middle finger to tug the death glove off, flinging it away before repeating the process.
Aaron groaned as he facepalmed. "I am going to have to teach you the basics of aura manipulation, aren't I?" he said, Ash groaning as he came back from almost literally pushing his soul out of his body.
Almost only stopped by Pikachu.
Ash coughed as his body and soul regained equilibrium. "Thanks, buddy."
"Pika." 'Thank me with Ashlings.' the mouse replied, getting a death glare from his trainer.
The Regis stared at the green Gible, who was a little too happy to be green.
"SOMEONE grab him." Iris asked. "That cannot be healthy!"
Kyoji shook his head, walking towards the land shark before the Titan of Lightning blocked his way.
"Elecki." 'You go no further.' Regielecki said.
"I'm just grabbing Gible!" Kyoji protested. "I can cross the line, pick up the land shark and walk right back. Reasonable, right?"
"Lecki." 'Our mission parameters do not permit flexibility.' the electric titan retorted.
"…This is just because he's GREEN, isn't it." Kyoji deadpanned. "I mean, he was a yellow Gible before, now he's GREEN!"
"Regi." 'You… are not wrong…' the mechanical monster replied.
"You bother me. You bother me a lot AND GIBLE'S STILL GREEN!" Kyoji shouted. "LET ME GET MY SHARK!"
CHOMP!
"Gible!" 'Hi!' cheered the land shark, latching onto his head.
Kyoji just responded by scratching the land shark's fin, getting a happy warble out of him before Ash appeared out of nowhere with a Mew, which then warped away back to the Tree.
"Have fun?" Kyoji asked, getting a pointed, angry glare from Taggard.
"Fucking Ranseians, no respect-"
"I nearly died." Ash cut off. "I'll talk about it later."
"My lord, with respect, NO ONE has even spoken of their experience in the Tree!" Taggard continued.
"Too bad I don't care for tradition." Ash replied somewhat dryly, but having less stress then before.
"You must've had a party." Kyoji noted.
"I vented. A LOT." Ash replied.
It was decided Natu-porting would be the best option. The Regis looked ready for another musical.
They left the old man behind. He was protesting the breaking of 'tradition' and all that.
"Sir Aaron is in the Tree and STILL ALIVE?" Misty asked. "I kinda feel sorry for him."
"I'd send him to Giratina myself if I could." Ash confirmed before looking at Mei. "You're a spirit channeler, right? Can't you get in contact with big and grimy?"
Mei looked offended at Ash's description of Giratina. "Big and grimy?" she parroted.
"I've seen that orb and 'griseous' sounds grimy." Ash replied, sounding more like his pre-Altomere self. Everyone knew Ash met Sir Aaron, so he must've vented his problems.
ALL his problems. Aaron must've been one hell of an understanding guy to have Ash scream out all his stress for a few hours.
Mei just stared. "Griseous means 'streaked' or 'opaque'." she said, as if disappointed in him. "It's a way of describing how we will never comprehend his realm. It does not mean he is dirty!"
Ash gave her a look. "And I don't claim to be an expert on every word in every language ever spoken." he said evenly. "I just understand them really quickly." It took Mei a moment to realize he said that in Ranseian, not Kantoan.
He casually swapped from his native tongue to something very different and she barely noticed.
Regardless…
"It is not that simple." Mei replied in answer to Ash's question, deciding to put his knowledge of language or lack thereof out of view for now. "I must be totally focused, there are rituals, rites and such to make. I cannot simply…phone Giratina, if that's what you are implying."
"It'd be nice if you could." Ash replied. "He's been there for… Arceus knows how long. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
"Cyrus." Kyoji said. "He'd deserve it."
"He'd ENJOY it. Monotony, spiritlessness, that sort of thing." Ash retorted. "I think he has more issues then I do."
"And I think it's about to get worse." Misty quipped before pointing at the castle gates, revealing… a surprise.
"Max?" Ash asked. "What's HE doing here?"
"He's May's little brother, isn't he?" Iris asked. "Shouldn't you meet him in Hoenn?"
"I think the butterfly's broken THAT chain of events already…" Kyoji quipped as Max approached, a smile on his face.
"I hope you don't mind me showing up again!" Max declared, extending a hand to Ash, who took it in confusion before Max shook it, still smiling. "And sticking around."
"…I'm sorry?" Ash said, thoroughly confused.
Max then produced a paper. "I would like to officially inform you I am now your apprentice!" he declared.
Ash blinked. Well… at least now it was OFFICIAL. Last timeline, he effectively WAS Max and May's trainer instructor.
But… this was two years early.
'Shamouti.' Ash thought in annoyance.
It ALWAYS returned to Shamouti.
Entry 87: Max Maple
Youngest child of the gym leader of Petalburg, Max Maple is unnaturally intelligent and mature for his age, retaining the enthusiasm of his peers his age.
This has caused friction with his fellows, however, as he is too intelligent for his own good. To the point where he was forced to be considered for apprenticeship in spite of his youth.
The best option was Ash Ketchum, who seemed to be the greatest trainer to ever be.
Arceus help us all.
Ron the True Fan: Yes. Arceus help you all.
Takeshi Yamato: Yep. Especially those of you who keep harping on Ron for more content, and those of you who harp on essentially ALL of us for those character lists! I gave mine at the top of the chapter, the rest of the OCs are Jorn's!
Ron the True Fan: I'll get him to do his eventually. (Pets Gible) For now…well, I have to plan.
Ja Ne!