Mia Blaze
I'mma gonna Deku in the face, Kacchan
From X to Y is a random idea I had whilst re-watching the Team Flare arc of the anime as a what if. This what if is if Lysandre actually destroyed the universe instead of creating his beautiful new world.
This story is a mix of anime and games, but mostly with a more mature game plotline. It is a Teen story so there will be some language, I will try to cover it up, and violence but sexual themes will be few and far between. It also contains the subject of Genderswapping, so if you do not like that sort of thing, then this story isn't for you.
This story is also on the Bulbagarden Forums so you many have/may not have heard of it before. Anyway, let's begin.
Perfection, Then Nothing
“Finally, I have the power I need.” A voice, one full of malevolence cackled. “Z-1, Z-2… Land’s Wrath!”
“NO!!!”
Footsteps, pounding at a fast pace. A hand reaching out for the one who had ordered the attack. Too late, it was too late.
Light, lots of it…
Screaming, lots of it…
Death, lots of it…
“NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Mew cried as she watched an entire universe explode in a bright light, tears welling up in her normally cheerful aqua eyes. She looked up at the Creator with despair and sadness. “Papa, you have to do something, all those people…”
“There is nothing I can do.” Arceus replied apologetically, just as upset about the situation as she was. “Even if I did remake and give that universe life again, everything would change and the many souls that have died would not return; it won’t start from the way it was before the end.”
“But, Papa…” Mew realised there was nothing that could be done when she was silenced by a shake of the head. With a loud sigh, she looked down at the ground of the Hall of Origins, her heart heavy with a crack growing as time went on.
“I am sorry, Mew. There were many there of which I also cared about.” The Multi-type pokémon turned to leave, to announce the end of a certain universe, Mew following behind sadly when a quadrupled pokémon entered, huffing and gasping as if they had run a marathon.
“Father, another universe is in danger!” Xerneas yelled; her tone refined even though she was yelling at him. “A counterpart to the one that just caused total devastation is about to go down the same path!”
“You know about the big boom?” Mew asked before being given a reprehending glare.
“Of course, we all saw it.” The pure fairy type snapped back. “Latias and Meloetta are in bits over there whilst Mewtwo, the male one, wants to rip apart every single Lysandre ever created.”
“I see.” Arceus knew what would be able to beat and change the future for Universe GX but, would it really be alright forcing two souls from one universe to live alone in another? It was a choice that had to be made, extremely easily. No pokémon should die due to the actions of a selfish human, no human should die that way either. They were needed right now, they hadn’t moved on yet and were the only hope for GX. “Have the lost souls of the AO Universe moved to the afterlife yet?”
“No. Some have made their way to other universes as ghost types, the horrible ones, that is. All the others are still there but we don’t have much time.” Xerneas replied, before looking happily at her creator. “Would you like me to extract their souls for you?”
“If you could, that would be extremely helpful. Thank you, Xerneas.” The fairy type galloped off towards the void whilst Arceus remained behind with Mew, who was looking up at the beast with both fear and admiration.
“Will it work, Papa? Bringing them two back, I mean?” She inquired, noting the determined expression she was bearing witness to.
“I believe so. They will succeed this time, I am sure about it. That power of theirs is no laughing matter, especially to someone who wants to destroy the world to make it in his own image, which causes the explosion of an entire universe.” Arceus had a glint in those red eyes which spoke leaps and abounds about the atmosphere of the current situation. “If they had only mastered it earlier, then stopping this from happening would have worked, no one would have died in vain.”
“No one should have died at all.” Mew said with a heavy heart, still not completely over the end of billions of lives from one universe that her father created. The history, the future was gone, another universe would take its place one day, but those who lived on the old one wouldn’t get a chance to return.
“Father, I found them.” Xerneas had entered again, looking extremely proud of herself. Around her legs, two white figures stayed, floating in the air. They were both humanoid in shape, with the taller one having the shape of a specific pokémon. The smaller one was shaking; black streams of tears ran from their eyes with white, pinprick pupils, the other trying to comfort them.
“It’s okay!” Mew flew over and hugged the human soul, rubbing their head with her paw. “Everything is gonna be okay, right papa?”
“Yes, It is. We need the both of you right now, another universe is about to go through the same thing that your one has just been through.” The Alpha pokémon looked at the two white figures with a total lack of emotion, showing the severity of what was about to come. “This universe needs you to stop their Lysandre from making the same mistake again. No one else can but you, with your unique power.” The two souls looked back in the direction of the void, causing Xerneas to shake her head softly.
“They’ve moved on.” She explained with a hint of sadness to her voice. “Once I had taken you two out of the void, the afterlife became their home. The void does not like our interference; it only keeps its guests for as long as it wants to keep them.”
“Please!” Mew cried; tears flowing from her own eyes now as everyone’s attention was drawn to her. “We can’t let something like this happen again. More people will die all because of one selfish man. You will have a new life, both of you. Please just say yes…” She continued to cry, face hidden behind her paws. A small amount of time passed before she felt a light weight on her shoulders, looking up she saw the souls nodding, almost smiling at her with no mouths. “Oh thank you, thank you!” Mew picked them up in a sweeping hug, twirling round and round causing extreme dizziness to those watching, and those involved in the hug. “Hear that papa, they’ll do it!”
“I knew they would, they are pure hearted souls.” Arceus’ expression turned back to serious in a blink of an eye. “Right, we have no time to waste. I will send you to Universe GX at once. There may be some… differences to what you were used to back on your own universe but, I believe you should get used to it over time.” The two souls were enveloped in a glowing gold light. “Good luck, I fare thee well!”
“See ya soon!” Mew waved as the two began to disappear.
“I will see you down there, I will help you!” Xerneas added, yelling as loudly as she could. “Do not worry, everything will be fine!” As she finished speaking, the souls were gone and the three legendries were left alone in Arceus’ Private Viewing room. Mew looked up at the alpha being with a curious expression on her face.
“Papa, do you really think this will work?” She asked again, noting the sudden downcast look on Arceus’ face.
“I believe so, but we really have no other choice.” The creator looked into the viewing pool for Universe GX and sighed. “Let us hope we made the right decision.”
Screams… pain… lots of pain
Crying… Yelling…
Death… and light… lots of light
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” A human was jolted from their sleep, a nightmarish sleep as they relived the pain of death for the second time. Their breathing was laboured, heavy and sweat poured down their face like rainwater. It took a few moments to regain bearings but, after that came a more serious issue.
‘Okay, do I remember who I am… yes, my name is Ash and I swear to Arceus I died… but then why am I alive… and if so, where are the others? Whose room am I in and why do I feel so weird…?’ It was an unusual thought process but when you’ve died yet wake in a room you’ve never seen before is weird enough as it is. Ash sighed as he pulled back the covers and got onto his feet; wobbling slightly due to the unusual feeling it graced him with, almost as if this body wasn’t his.
The room he was in was pink in colour, surprisingly, although the floor was made with a dark brown wood. A large circular fluffy rug, dark pink of course, was covered by the bed, a gaming device of some kind, a bed side cabinet with a lamp on top, a lone white pillow and a desk with storage and a laptop. At the far end of the sideways L shaped room was a set of drawers and a pole to hang clothing off of that was currently empty for some reason. Behind the bed was a couple of shelves containing books, a picture of two people and a plant, the same type of shelves hung over the desk, jammed full of different coloured books. However, what caught his attention was the mirror leaning against the wall next to the wardrobe like piece of furniture. Wondering why he felt so weird, he walked over to the mirror and looked at it, jaw dropping at what he saw.
Staring back at him was a girl with large sienna orbs and a tanned complexion. Her hair was long but scruffy; possibly due to the tossing and turning during the nightmare, and also raven black in colour. She was wearing a short sleeved, blue t-shirt and navy shorts as some kind of pyjama set. He blinked, the girl blinked back. He touched his face, the girl touched hers. Even though some would call him mentally challenged, Ash immediately knew what was going on, paled, and screamed loudly.
“What’s going on up there?” He froze as a female voice called up the stairs leading to his room; it got even worse as footsteps followed. Slowly, a woman appeared in his doorway, staring at him sceptically with her arms folded. “Hair disaster? That’s not like you. You wouldn’t scream over something like that.”
The woman had paler skin than his with bright sky blue eyes and peach lipstick covering her lips. Her dark brown, short, hair roughly styled whilst her fringe was clipped back with a yellow, triangular hair clip. She wore a greenish grey racing suit, the top half tied around her waist revealing a dark blue to, the pockets of which were the same red colour as her slip on pumps. He knew the woman as Serena’s mother, Grace, however… that meant he was in Serena’s room, but due to the way he was being spoken to, it was almost as if he was her daughter.
“Uh…umm…”
“Stuttering? That certainly is not my Ash.” Grace placed both her hands on her hips and shook her head. “What’s gotten into you sweetie?” At least the name was the same. Thinking about it, trying to tell this woman about the whole end of another universe and now being a girl thing wasn’t the best idea. By the looks of things, nothing was going to change anytime soon so he’d just have to accept that he was now a she. As for the question…
“Oh, I had a nightmare! A really weird one!” Ash winced slightly at her new voice but continued anyway. “Two pokémon were using a move for this really bad guy and they destroyed the world! Boom! Gone!” She watched as Grace simply nodded with a smile growing at every passing second.
“I see your wild imagination at work. Glad to know it’s nothing serious then.” The older woman chuckled slightly before walking over to give her daughter a hug. “Look if you really want then mummy will tell you everything’s alright and sing you a lullaby.”
“Mum! No, just no!” In the back of her mind, Ash wondered if Serena had to deal with this constantly as she was growing up and pity was instantly sympathised.
“Yes, I’d forgotten you’ve grown up. Just last week you were telling me ‘I’m fourteen, not four! Give me some space.’ such a pity, I really wanted to sing.” The grin Grace had on her face was nothing short of cheeky yet terrifying at the same time.
“I didn’t want you to.” The male turned female replied with a look of annoyance, causing her mother to burst out laughing.
“You are just like him in so many ways. Too bad your father had to stay back in Kanto before we moved.” Grace looked towards the wardrobe. “It was nice of him to get you some new clothing, oh and Grandpa’s gloves should be in there too. I know how much you loved them as a kid. Once you’re changed, get down for breakfast, okay?”
“Okay mum.” However, the realisation that getting changed meant, strip off to nakedness and put some other things on would mean that the change in body may be a bit of a problem.
“I’ve gotta get used to that.” She said her thoughts out loud as she brushed her hair, now Ash was glad that she had travelled with at least one girl through each region. Because of that, the knowledge of styling hair was implanted but never used, until today. Although she had managed to achieve something like her old style, the excess long hair hung down her back, easily reaching the top of her legs. With one last brush, she reached for the pink fedora with a black band around the middle and placed it atop of her head, missing the feeling of a good old cap. Apparently, what Grace meant by outfit was a red pleated skirt with a dark grey sleeveless top that had a black collar. Oh, and grey OTK socks with black high tops that had a pink Poké Ball design on them.
So far the gloves hadn’t been found, that was until a check of the bedside cabinet revealed a pair of long, white, middle finger looped gloves with red cross threads around the wrists for tightening, just in case. Finally, a red messenger back was pulled out and placed on the bed, just in case there was any need of it. And with that, it was downstairs for breakfast.
“There you are.” Grace smiled as she put down a plate of toast for her daughter. “I thought you’d gone back to sleep again. Nice do, new style?”
“I thought I’d try something different.” Ash took a bite and looked up. “Is that okay with you?”
“It’s perfectly fine with me.” The older of the two grabbed her own plate and sat opposite the other. “Just noting it, Ash. I said it was nice. Anyway, glad to see you found the old man’s gloves. Where were they anyway? I couldn’t find them in your wardrobe.”
“Bedside cabinet.”
“Ah, somewhere safe, gotcha kiddo.” Grace took a sip of her coffee before placing it down on the table. “So how are you settling in? I haven’t had a chance to ask you that yet.”
“Room’s a bit too pink.” Although she was trying to grumble under her breath, Ash was a bit louder than she was supposed to be.
“I knew you wouldn’t like that part.” Grace chuckled as her daughter dropped her piece of toast with a gaping, shocked mouth. “I’m sorry we brought the place fully furnished but we can repaint your room to blue if you want.”
“It’s okay mum.” The girl picked up her toast and took another bite. “But thanks for offering. I’ll get used to it… maybe.” Grace simply rolled her eyes whilst shaking her head.
“So that’s a yes then. I’m glad you’re normal now, that scream really scared me earlier.” She took another sip of her coffee before continuing. “I thought you actually cared about your hair for once after sleeping.”
“Ha ha, very funny. My sides are splitting.” Ash laughed sarcastically. “When will I ever care about my hair after sleep, or for that matter, wear skirts?”
“Your father wanted you to get in touch with your missing feminine side.” Grace replied, simply smirking at her daughter’s sass.
“Oh did he now? I will destroy him when I next see him.” Considering that she had just been magically thrown into another world, Ash was surprised how much this girl, the one whose place she was taking, was like he was back in his own world. By the way Grace was reacting to all of the weird moments and how seemingly calm she was showed that the mother daughter relationship was a solid one, one that couldn’t really be replicated but yet, it was almost as if this girl and him were the same person, just slightly different in their own unique ways. It was extraordinary, but chilling at the same time.
“Yep, I know you will. I warned him about your future punishment against him but no, he wouldn’t listen to me.” Grace picked up her now empty plate and mug into the sink and turned the tap on to rinse them off. “You are exactly like him in that remark but I am glad to say you’ve inherited your sarcasm off of me.”
“What an amazing thing to be proud of.” Ash said snarkily whilst twirling half of her toast around with one finger.
“It is, isn’t it?” The mother paused mid scrub of her plate and gasped. “Oh shoot, I forgot.”
“Forgot what mum?” The sudden change of tone caused worry, as it should do when someone you’ve only really known for an hour or so but have supposed to have known for your entire life does something drastically different.
“The neighbours’ kids are coming over today to meet you. They should be here at any moment actually…” Now there were two reactions to this announcement that Ash could have taken. One was to be calm and sensible about the subject, the other was to go on a full out panic mode. Guess which one she chose.
“WHAT?! NOW?! I’M NOT READY!” She wolfed down the rest of her toast and went bounding up the stairs to the bathroom to make sure that her teeth were brushed and her face clean. Grace shook her head yet again.
“That’s my girl, yet… I’m sure they won’t arrive for another half an hour yet but they may still be early after all.” She remembered her daughter’s reaction and began grinning. “I love being a mother.”
After making sure there was nothing on her face, her hair was slightly tidy and that there was nothing on her teeth, Ash rushed back downstairs, this time with her bag, almost falling on the last step. Of course, her new mother simply laughed before telling her to get up and brush herself down as she had obtained worse injuries from falling off a Rhyhorn when she was younger, much different from the way Delia reacted whenever she tripped over.
Inside, she missed everyone and couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one left after what happened with Team Flare. Maybe someone else survived, or at the very least was brought back to life. Maybe… Pikachu? It felt weird without the small yellow mouse sitting upon her shoulder, heart wrenching at the very least. A part of her knew that he was gone forever and that they would never see each other again. Out of Grace’s line of sight, she shed a tear at the loss, hoping that he was gifted with all the ketchup his little heart could ever desire. A sudden ringing of the doorbell brought her out of her thoughts as she looked up from where she sat.
“Could be those kids, why don’t you go and answer it?” Grace suggested, still slightly worried about her daughter’s silent moment earlier.
“Sure.” Ash stood up and walked over to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. Standing outside were two people, one male and one female.
The male had midnight black hair that reached the top of his neck and deep grey eyes. He wore a blue turtle neck jacket with a silver zip running down the middle and white strips down the sides of the clothing item. Tight greyish blue trousers disappeared behind grey boots with blue lases that were buckled down with a strap to stop them from coming undone. Across his shoulder was a black and blue messenger bag, similar to her own red one.
The female had a more tanned look to her with cheery green eyes and brown locks which curled over the top of her medium sized pigtails. Her t-shirt was pink with three black bows as a decoration and black bands around the ends of the sleeves. Black ruffles, similar to the one around her right wrist, were sown into the bottom of her denim shorts, pink strappy shoes contained high heels to add to the colour coordinated outfit. Her shoulder bag was smaller than expected, with a black bow on the front and a pink Holo Caster hanging off of the side.
“Hi there! You must be our new neighbour!” The girl, who Ash identified as being the spitting image of Shauna from the past world, grinned happily. “I’m Shauna, nice to meet you… and this is…”
The boy stepped forwards, went down on one knee, grabbed Ash’s hand and planted a light kiss upon it. “Calem is my name, M’lady. I am privileged to make your acquaintance.” He stood up and smiled at her. Noticing the frozen look of their new friend, Shauna budged in front slightly, only to make things more comfortable.
“Calem’s a gentleman, he does that kind of thing all the time, don’t worry.” She then turned to him and frowned. “Dude, she’s from Kanto… they don’t do that kind of thing there, they bow!”
“Well I am introducing her to our Kalosian customs.” Calem replied elegantly. “Now, M’lady, what might your name be?”
“I’m Ash, nice to meet you.” The ravenette answered, tipping her head slightly. “So you two are the ones my mum told me about.”
“Exactly!” Shauna grinned happily. “And guess what? We’re all going to get ourselves a starter pokémon today, you included, at the request of Professor Sycamore!”
“Professor Sycamore…” Ash had a feeling this professor and the one she knew weren’t going to be the same guy, of course. However, a more pressing thought voiced its opinion. “Wait, starter pokémon?! But my mum hasn’t given me permission to go!”
“Go wherever you want sweetie,” Grace called from the living room, engrossed in a movie that was playing on the big TV screen. “Just don’t go off with any strange men, common street sense is needed.”
“Okay! I won’t follow any perverts!” She couldn’t help but giggle at the faces both Shauna and Calem were making as she turned back to them. “Alright, I can go. So where are we going to get our starter’s from?”
“Two people are bringing them to Aquacorde Town; they have received pokémon from Professor Sycamore as well.” Calem answered back to her question. “It’s not too far from Vaniville so there is no need to worry about bumping into wild pokémon off the bat.”
“And they should be there waiting for us right now!” Shauna grinned with excitement written all over her face. “So let’s go and meet out new pokémon partners!” She pushed forwards and grabbed her new friend by the wrist and began pulling her out of the doorway towards the gate leading to Aquacorde Town.
Rhyhorn lazily opened one eye, watching as his master’s daughter was dragged away from the house stuttering and making weird noises, like normal, the girl doing the dragging looked extremely naïve and innocent. Ah, humans. No wonder all pokémon considered them the weirdest things on this planet. As the boy ran after them, all after shutting the door, he sighed and snuggled back down into a sweet sleep under the spring sun. One day he would understand humans but, until then, he would chuckle at their antics like they did to cat pokémon videos on the interweb… or whatever it was called.
This story is a mix of anime and games, but mostly with a more mature game plotline. It is a Teen story so there will be some language, I will try to cover it up, and violence but sexual themes will be few and far between. It also contains the subject of Genderswapping, so if you do not like that sort of thing, then this story isn't for you.
This story is also on the Bulbagarden Forums so you many have/may not have heard of it before. Anyway, let's begin.
Perfection, Then Nothing
“Finally, I have the power I need.” A voice, one full of malevolence cackled. “Z-1, Z-2… Land’s Wrath!”
“NO!!!”
Footsteps, pounding at a fast pace. A hand reaching out for the one who had ordered the attack. Too late, it was too late.
Light, lots of it…
Screaming, lots of it…
Death, lots of it…
“NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Mew cried as she watched an entire universe explode in a bright light, tears welling up in her normally cheerful aqua eyes. She looked up at the Creator with despair and sadness. “Papa, you have to do something, all those people…”
“There is nothing I can do.” Arceus replied apologetically, just as upset about the situation as she was. “Even if I did remake and give that universe life again, everything would change and the many souls that have died would not return; it won’t start from the way it was before the end.”
“But, Papa…” Mew realised there was nothing that could be done when she was silenced by a shake of the head. With a loud sigh, she looked down at the ground of the Hall of Origins, her heart heavy with a crack growing as time went on.
“I am sorry, Mew. There were many there of which I also cared about.” The Multi-type pokémon turned to leave, to announce the end of a certain universe, Mew following behind sadly when a quadrupled pokémon entered, huffing and gasping as if they had run a marathon.
“Father, another universe is in danger!” Xerneas yelled; her tone refined even though she was yelling at him. “A counterpart to the one that just caused total devastation is about to go down the same path!”
“You know about the big boom?” Mew asked before being given a reprehending glare.
“Of course, we all saw it.” The pure fairy type snapped back. “Latias and Meloetta are in bits over there whilst Mewtwo, the male one, wants to rip apart every single Lysandre ever created.”
“I see.” Arceus knew what would be able to beat and change the future for Universe GX but, would it really be alright forcing two souls from one universe to live alone in another? It was a choice that had to be made, extremely easily. No pokémon should die due to the actions of a selfish human, no human should die that way either. They were needed right now, they hadn’t moved on yet and were the only hope for GX. “Have the lost souls of the AO Universe moved to the afterlife yet?”
“No. Some have made their way to other universes as ghost types, the horrible ones, that is. All the others are still there but we don’t have much time.” Xerneas replied, before looking happily at her creator. “Would you like me to extract their souls for you?”
“If you could, that would be extremely helpful. Thank you, Xerneas.” The fairy type galloped off towards the void whilst Arceus remained behind with Mew, who was looking up at the beast with both fear and admiration.
“Will it work, Papa? Bringing them two back, I mean?” She inquired, noting the determined expression she was bearing witness to.
“I believe so. They will succeed this time, I am sure about it. That power of theirs is no laughing matter, especially to someone who wants to destroy the world to make it in his own image, which causes the explosion of an entire universe.” Arceus had a glint in those red eyes which spoke leaps and abounds about the atmosphere of the current situation. “If they had only mastered it earlier, then stopping this from happening would have worked, no one would have died in vain.”
“No one should have died at all.” Mew said with a heavy heart, still not completely over the end of billions of lives from one universe that her father created. The history, the future was gone, another universe would take its place one day, but those who lived on the old one wouldn’t get a chance to return.
“Father, I found them.” Xerneas had entered again, looking extremely proud of herself. Around her legs, two white figures stayed, floating in the air. They were both humanoid in shape, with the taller one having the shape of a specific pokémon. The smaller one was shaking; black streams of tears ran from their eyes with white, pinprick pupils, the other trying to comfort them.
“It’s okay!” Mew flew over and hugged the human soul, rubbing their head with her paw. “Everything is gonna be okay, right papa?”
“Yes, It is. We need the both of you right now, another universe is about to go through the same thing that your one has just been through.” The Alpha pokémon looked at the two white figures with a total lack of emotion, showing the severity of what was about to come. “This universe needs you to stop their Lysandre from making the same mistake again. No one else can but you, with your unique power.” The two souls looked back in the direction of the void, causing Xerneas to shake her head softly.
“They’ve moved on.” She explained with a hint of sadness to her voice. “Once I had taken you two out of the void, the afterlife became their home. The void does not like our interference; it only keeps its guests for as long as it wants to keep them.”
“Please!” Mew cried; tears flowing from her own eyes now as everyone’s attention was drawn to her. “We can’t let something like this happen again. More people will die all because of one selfish man. You will have a new life, both of you. Please just say yes…” She continued to cry, face hidden behind her paws. A small amount of time passed before she felt a light weight on her shoulders, looking up she saw the souls nodding, almost smiling at her with no mouths. “Oh thank you, thank you!” Mew picked them up in a sweeping hug, twirling round and round causing extreme dizziness to those watching, and those involved in the hug. “Hear that papa, they’ll do it!”
“I knew they would, they are pure hearted souls.” Arceus’ expression turned back to serious in a blink of an eye. “Right, we have no time to waste. I will send you to Universe GX at once. There may be some… differences to what you were used to back on your own universe but, I believe you should get used to it over time.” The two souls were enveloped in a glowing gold light. “Good luck, I fare thee well!”
“See ya soon!” Mew waved as the two began to disappear.
“I will see you down there, I will help you!” Xerneas added, yelling as loudly as she could. “Do not worry, everything will be fine!” As she finished speaking, the souls were gone and the three legendries were left alone in Arceus’ Private Viewing room. Mew looked up at the alpha being with a curious expression on her face.
“Papa, do you really think this will work?” She asked again, noting the sudden downcast look on Arceus’ face.
“I believe so, but we really have no other choice.” The creator looked into the viewing pool for Universe GX and sighed. “Let us hope we made the right decision.”
Screams… pain… lots of pain
Crying… Yelling…
Death… and light… lots of light
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” A human was jolted from their sleep, a nightmarish sleep as they relived the pain of death for the second time. Their breathing was laboured, heavy and sweat poured down their face like rainwater. It took a few moments to regain bearings but, after that came a more serious issue.
‘Okay, do I remember who I am… yes, my name is Ash and I swear to Arceus I died… but then why am I alive… and if so, where are the others? Whose room am I in and why do I feel so weird…?’ It was an unusual thought process but when you’ve died yet wake in a room you’ve never seen before is weird enough as it is. Ash sighed as he pulled back the covers and got onto his feet; wobbling slightly due to the unusual feeling it graced him with, almost as if this body wasn’t his.
The room he was in was pink in colour, surprisingly, although the floor was made with a dark brown wood. A large circular fluffy rug, dark pink of course, was covered by the bed, a gaming device of some kind, a bed side cabinet with a lamp on top, a lone white pillow and a desk with storage and a laptop. At the far end of the sideways L shaped room was a set of drawers and a pole to hang clothing off of that was currently empty for some reason. Behind the bed was a couple of shelves containing books, a picture of two people and a plant, the same type of shelves hung over the desk, jammed full of different coloured books. However, what caught his attention was the mirror leaning against the wall next to the wardrobe like piece of furniture. Wondering why he felt so weird, he walked over to the mirror and looked at it, jaw dropping at what he saw.
Staring back at him was a girl with large sienna orbs and a tanned complexion. Her hair was long but scruffy; possibly due to the tossing and turning during the nightmare, and also raven black in colour. She was wearing a short sleeved, blue t-shirt and navy shorts as some kind of pyjama set. He blinked, the girl blinked back. He touched his face, the girl touched hers. Even though some would call him mentally challenged, Ash immediately knew what was going on, paled, and screamed loudly.
“What’s going on up there?” He froze as a female voice called up the stairs leading to his room; it got even worse as footsteps followed. Slowly, a woman appeared in his doorway, staring at him sceptically with her arms folded. “Hair disaster? That’s not like you. You wouldn’t scream over something like that.”
The woman had paler skin than his with bright sky blue eyes and peach lipstick covering her lips. Her dark brown, short, hair roughly styled whilst her fringe was clipped back with a yellow, triangular hair clip. She wore a greenish grey racing suit, the top half tied around her waist revealing a dark blue to, the pockets of which were the same red colour as her slip on pumps. He knew the woman as Serena’s mother, Grace, however… that meant he was in Serena’s room, but due to the way he was being spoken to, it was almost as if he was her daughter.
“Uh…umm…”
“Stuttering? That certainly is not my Ash.” Grace placed both her hands on her hips and shook her head. “What’s gotten into you sweetie?” At least the name was the same. Thinking about it, trying to tell this woman about the whole end of another universe and now being a girl thing wasn’t the best idea. By the looks of things, nothing was going to change anytime soon so he’d just have to accept that he was now a she. As for the question…
“Oh, I had a nightmare! A really weird one!” Ash winced slightly at her new voice but continued anyway. “Two pokémon were using a move for this really bad guy and they destroyed the world! Boom! Gone!” She watched as Grace simply nodded with a smile growing at every passing second.
“I see your wild imagination at work. Glad to know it’s nothing serious then.” The older woman chuckled slightly before walking over to give her daughter a hug. “Look if you really want then mummy will tell you everything’s alright and sing you a lullaby.”
“Mum! No, just no!” In the back of her mind, Ash wondered if Serena had to deal with this constantly as she was growing up and pity was instantly sympathised.
“Yes, I’d forgotten you’ve grown up. Just last week you were telling me ‘I’m fourteen, not four! Give me some space.’ such a pity, I really wanted to sing.” The grin Grace had on her face was nothing short of cheeky yet terrifying at the same time.
“I didn’t want you to.” The male turned female replied with a look of annoyance, causing her mother to burst out laughing.
“You are just like him in so many ways. Too bad your father had to stay back in Kanto before we moved.” Grace looked towards the wardrobe. “It was nice of him to get you some new clothing, oh and Grandpa’s gloves should be in there too. I know how much you loved them as a kid. Once you’re changed, get down for breakfast, okay?”
“Okay mum.” However, the realisation that getting changed meant, strip off to nakedness and put some other things on would mean that the change in body may be a bit of a problem.
“I’ve gotta get used to that.” She said her thoughts out loud as she brushed her hair, now Ash was glad that she had travelled with at least one girl through each region. Because of that, the knowledge of styling hair was implanted but never used, until today. Although she had managed to achieve something like her old style, the excess long hair hung down her back, easily reaching the top of her legs. With one last brush, she reached for the pink fedora with a black band around the middle and placed it atop of her head, missing the feeling of a good old cap. Apparently, what Grace meant by outfit was a red pleated skirt with a dark grey sleeveless top that had a black collar. Oh, and grey OTK socks with black high tops that had a pink Poké Ball design on them.
So far the gloves hadn’t been found, that was until a check of the bedside cabinet revealed a pair of long, white, middle finger looped gloves with red cross threads around the wrists for tightening, just in case. Finally, a red messenger back was pulled out and placed on the bed, just in case there was any need of it. And with that, it was downstairs for breakfast.
“There you are.” Grace smiled as she put down a plate of toast for her daughter. “I thought you’d gone back to sleep again. Nice do, new style?”
“I thought I’d try something different.” Ash took a bite and looked up. “Is that okay with you?”
“It’s perfectly fine with me.” The older of the two grabbed her own plate and sat opposite the other. “Just noting it, Ash. I said it was nice. Anyway, glad to see you found the old man’s gloves. Where were they anyway? I couldn’t find them in your wardrobe.”
“Bedside cabinet.”
“Ah, somewhere safe, gotcha kiddo.” Grace took a sip of her coffee before placing it down on the table. “So how are you settling in? I haven’t had a chance to ask you that yet.”
“Room’s a bit too pink.” Although she was trying to grumble under her breath, Ash was a bit louder than she was supposed to be.
“I knew you wouldn’t like that part.” Grace chuckled as her daughter dropped her piece of toast with a gaping, shocked mouth. “I’m sorry we brought the place fully furnished but we can repaint your room to blue if you want.”
“It’s okay mum.” The girl picked up her toast and took another bite. “But thanks for offering. I’ll get used to it… maybe.” Grace simply rolled her eyes whilst shaking her head.
“So that’s a yes then. I’m glad you’re normal now, that scream really scared me earlier.” She took another sip of her coffee before continuing. “I thought you actually cared about your hair for once after sleeping.”
“Ha ha, very funny. My sides are splitting.” Ash laughed sarcastically. “When will I ever care about my hair after sleep, or for that matter, wear skirts?”
“Your father wanted you to get in touch with your missing feminine side.” Grace replied, simply smirking at her daughter’s sass.
“Oh did he now? I will destroy him when I next see him.” Considering that she had just been magically thrown into another world, Ash was surprised how much this girl, the one whose place she was taking, was like he was back in his own world. By the way Grace was reacting to all of the weird moments and how seemingly calm she was showed that the mother daughter relationship was a solid one, one that couldn’t really be replicated but yet, it was almost as if this girl and him were the same person, just slightly different in their own unique ways. It was extraordinary, but chilling at the same time.
“Yep, I know you will. I warned him about your future punishment against him but no, he wouldn’t listen to me.” Grace picked up her now empty plate and mug into the sink and turned the tap on to rinse them off. “You are exactly like him in that remark but I am glad to say you’ve inherited your sarcasm off of me.”
“What an amazing thing to be proud of.” Ash said snarkily whilst twirling half of her toast around with one finger.
“It is, isn’t it?” The mother paused mid scrub of her plate and gasped. “Oh shoot, I forgot.”
“Forgot what mum?” The sudden change of tone caused worry, as it should do when someone you’ve only really known for an hour or so but have supposed to have known for your entire life does something drastically different.
“The neighbours’ kids are coming over today to meet you. They should be here at any moment actually…” Now there were two reactions to this announcement that Ash could have taken. One was to be calm and sensible about the subject, the other was to go on a full out panic mode. Guess which one she chose.
“WHAT?! NOW?! I’M NOT READY!” She wolfed down the rest of her toast and went bounding up the stairs to the bathroom to make sure that her teeth were brushed and her face clean. Grace shook her head yet again.
“That’s my girl, yet… I’m sure they won’t arrive for another half an hour yet but they may still be early after all.” She remembered her daughter’s reaction and began grinning. “I love being a mother.”
After making sure there was nothing on her face, her hair was slightly tidy and that there was nothing on her teeth, Ash rushed back downstairs, this time with her bag, almost falling on the last step. Of course, her new mother simply laughed before telling her to get up and brush herself down as she had obtained worse injuries from falling off a Rhyhorn when she was younger, much different from the way Delia reacted whenever she tripped over.
Inside, she missed everyone and couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one left after what happened with Team Flare. Maybe someone else survived, or at the very least was brought back to life. Maybe… Pikachu? It felt weird without the small yellow mouse sitting upon her shoulder, heart wrenching at the very least. A part of her knew that he was gone forever and that they would never see each other again. Out of Grace’s line of sight, she shed a tear at the loss, hoping that he was gifted with all the ketchup his little heart could ever desire. A sudden ringing of the doorbell brought her out of her thoughts as she looked up from where she sat.
“Could be those kids, why don’t you go and answer it?” Grace suggested, still slightly worried about her daughter’s silent moment earlier.
“Sure.” Ash stood up and walked over to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. Standing outside were two people, one male and one female.
The male had midnight black hair that reached the top of his neck and deep grey eyes. He wore a blue turtle neck jacket with a silver zip running down the middle and white strips down the sides of the clothing item. Tight greyish blue trousers disappeared behind grey boots with blue lases that were buckled down with a strap to stop them from coming undone. Across his shoulder was a black and blue messenger bag, similar to her own red one.
The female had a more tanned look to her with cheery green eyes and brown locks which curled over the top of her medium sized pigtails. Her t-shirt was pink with three black bows as a decoration and black bands around the ends of the sleeves. Black ruffles, similar to the one around her right wrist, were sown into the bottom of her denim shorts, pink strappy shoes contained high heels to add to the colour coordinated outfit. Her shoulder bag was smaller than expected, with a black bow on the front and a pink Holo Caster hanging off of the side.
“Hi there! You must be our new neighbour!” The girl, who Ash identified as being the spitting image of Shauna from the past world, grinned happily. “I’m Shauna, nice to meet you… and this is…”
The boy stepped forwards, went down on one knee, grabbed Ash’s hand and planted a light kiss upon it. “Calem is my name, M’lady. I am privileged to make your acquaintance.” He stood up and smiled at her. Noticing the frozen look of their new friend, Shauna budged in front slightly, only to make things more comfortable.
“Calem’s a gentleman, he does that kind of thing all the time, don’t worry.” She then turned to him and frowned. “Dude, she’s from Kanto… they don’t do that kind of thing there, they bow!”
“Well I am introducing her to our Kalosian customs.” Calem replied elegantly. “Now, M’lady, what might your name be?”
“I’m Ash, nice to meet you.” The ravenette answered, tipping her head slightly. “So you two are the ones my mum told me about.”
“Exactly!” Shauna grinned happily. “And guess what? We’re all going to get ourselves a starter pokémon today, you included, at the request of Professor Sycamore!”
“Professor Sycamore…” Ash had a feeling this professor and the one she knew weren’t going to be the same guy, of course. However, a more pressing thought voiced its opinion. “Wait, starter pokémon?! But my mum hasn’t given me permission to go!”
“Go wherever you want sweetie,” Grace called from the living room, engrossed in a movie that was playing on the big TV screen. “Just don’t go off with any strange men, common street sense is needed.”
“Okay! I won’t follow any perverts!” She couldn’t help but giggle at the faces both Shauna and Calem were making as she turned back to them. “Alright, I can go. So where are we going to get our starter’s from?”
“Two people are bringing them to Aquacorde Town; they have received pokémon from Professor Sycamore as well.” Calem answered back to her question. “It’s not too far from Vaniville so there is no need to worry about bumping into wild pokémon off the bat.”
“And they should be there waiting for us right now!” Shauna grinned with excitement written all over her face. “So let’s go and meet out new pokémon partners!” She pushed forwards and grabbed her new friend by the wrist and began pulling her out of the doorway towards the gate leading to Aquacorde Town.
Rhyhorn lazily opened one eye, watching as his master’s daughter was dragged away from the house stuttering and making weird noises, like normal, the girl doing the dragging looked extremely naïve and innocent. Ah, humans. No wonder all pokémon considered them the weirdest things on this planet. As the boy ran after them, all after shutting the door, he sighed and snuggled back down into a sweet sleep under the spring sun. One day he would understand humans but, until then, he would chuckle at their antics like they did to cat pokémon videos on the interweb… or whatever it was called.