Chapter Text
Deep within the recesses of his personal realm, Arceus observed the events taking place on Earth. And the Alpha Pokemon was not really enjoying what he saw. He watched as Ash Ketchum, the boy who had accomplished so many deeds, faced off against Cyrus, trying to stop him in the Distortion World. The man had caught them off guard by revealing a third Red Chain, one he was determined to use on the Renegade Pokemon.
Unfortunately, something was very wrong. As he watched, he realized the boy was, for lack of a better term, incomplete. A portion of his being; his mind, personality, his very essence...it was missing! If Arceus had the physical capability, he would have frowned at this. This should not have happened. “Hm, probably explains why he hasn’t aged in so long, plus being so oblivious to girls.”
He quickly extended his senses, searching for what had happened to cause this. Following any lingering trail, he delved through time and space, scanning through the boy’s journey for whatever might be a clue. “Getting close, I can feel...there!” Reaching the day Ash began as a trainer, he carefully scanned the scene, until…
“I should have known…” He sighed, watching as Ash unknowingly made a wish when he saw Ho-Oh. Shaking his head, he proceeded to make contact with the legendary. “ Ho-Oh! We need to talk!”
The Rainbow Pokemon squawked in alarm, falling several feet before she regained her composure. “M-Master Arceus, sir!? Is that you??”
“Yes. Sorry about the shock, but I have something of importance to ask you. A few years back, when you were in Kanto, did you grant the wish of a boy, around eleven years of age?”
“Now that you mention it, I did pick up something while over a little place the local pokemon said was called Pallet Town. It was faint, but I heard it, can even quote it; ‘Kinda hope my travels never end’.”
“Okay...and how exactly did you grant it?”
“Oh, well, I was in a bit of a hurry to get to Johto, so I asked Palkia to lock his age. He said something about having to extract something from him, but I didn’t catch it all.”
Arceus sighed. “Ho-Oh…” He knew she meant well, but she had a habit of making knee-jerk reactions in regards to wishes, especially if it was made when she was just passing overhead. “Did you consider that he may not have been serious about it? I mean, he didn’t even know what kind of Pokemon you were when he saw you.”
“But...but most wishes I get are for riches, or becoming famous...it was so innocent compared to those!”
“I know, and I’m not holding it against you, but I’m afraid your method of granting it was rather flawed. To lock his age, Palkia had to remove the part of him that would allow him to grow up, to mature as a person, to notice girls, recognize love. He is almost literally half a boy right now.”
“Oh...I...I didn’t know…I didn’t mean…!”
Sensing she was getting up upset, Arceus quickly moved to diffuse the situation. “Ho-Oh, calm down. I know you meant well, you just need to double-check on those wishes to be sure they’re serious. Also, his condition IS reversible.
“I-it is?” The relief in her voice was damn near tangible.
“It is if I have anything to say about it.” He stated. “Just, be a little more aware with your wish-granting, ok?”
“I-I will, Master Arceus! I promise!”
“Good. Now, I believe it’s time to have a talk with someone else.” Invoking his will, Arceus forced time to come to a halt, freezing events in place. Once that was done, he focused on the Red Chain holding Palkia, shattering it. He wanted to do the same for Dialga, but couldn’t use his power like that without sufficient justification. “Palkia!”
“Who!? Wha!? Arceus-I mean, Boss??” Palkia looked around, stumbling to regain his balance after being released.
“Yes, Palkia. It’s me. Listen, do you remember helping Ho-Oh with a wish? Concerning locking a boy’s age?”
After a good deal more questions and explanations, Arceus decided he needed to sit down. “Let me get this straight; after placing a time-lock on Ash Ketchum, you took the part of him you had to extract and gave it a body of its own in a mirror reality.”
“Well…yes. I mean, just destroying it didn’t seem right, and I know you would’ve been pissed if I’d done it anyway. If it helps, I’ve checked in on it every now and then. Apparently it goes by the name Red and seems to have had similar encounters to Ketchum. However…”
Arceus sighed. He hated that word as much as humans did in moments like this. “What is it?”
“Well, he’s not exactly what you’d call the sociable type. I guess the proper term would be ‘ruthless loner’.” Palkia chuckled sheepishly. “He seems to have garnered the attention of the same girls as Ketchum, and he’s aware, but he’s more interested in batting gym leaders and other trainers. That and he’s a bit on the cold side when it comes to the prospect of actually making friends.
“So one half is sociable, nice, yet oblivious to anything aside from pokemon and has been Eleven for far too long. And the other half is aware, yet doesn’t give a damn and would rather just thrash others in battles.”
“Oh, heh...when you put it that way…”
“Let’s just get them both here so we can fix this for now. While you do that, I have one last Pokemon to speak to.”
“ Thank you for coming, Mewtwo.” Arceus said after the Genetic Pokemon took the offered portal to his realm.
“Well, it’s not everyday The Original One asks you for help.” Mewtwo replied calmly. “Though, I admit I’m rather curious as to why.”
“Your answer lies right over there.” Arceus turned to look at two figures floating nearby. Mewtwo quickly recognized one.
“Ash?” Mewtwo floated over to the unmoving boys. “Why is he here? And who’s this?” He looked at the other. This one was a few years older and noticeably taller, wearing attire similar to Ash back when they first met, except his coat was red, and open to show his black t-shirt. What hair was visible was less spiked than Ash’s, but still a mess, with a metal plate bolted to the front of his cap.
“That is Red, and to put it bluntly, he is the rest of Ash.”
“What?” Mewtwo looked back at him. “If this is a joke, then I fail to see the humor.”
“I assure you, this is no joke.” Arceus proceeded to explain what happened. By the time he was done, if Mewtwo was surprised, he didn’t show outside of a raised eye.
“Huh. I’d wondered about…” He shook his head. “Just one question; why me? You’re certainly powerful enough to rejoin them.”
“True, but without a Mind Plate and Psychium Z, I’m still a normal type Pokemon, regardless of strength. What psychic techniques I do have lack the finesse needed to safely remerge the two minds without causing irreparable damage.”
“Point taken.”
“Also, you doing this will provide ample justification to help you regain something you lost a long time ago.”
“What I lost?” Mewtwo frowned in confusion. “What are you-?” He froze when Archeus touched his mind, and he felt something unlock, something that had been sealed away from him for a long time.
He stepped back, eyes widening as the memory of a small girl, wearing a pale yellow dress, appeared. His shoulders started to shake, remembering when they first met while he was still in that test tube, before he knew who or what he was. The little girl who became his first friend, only to lose her just as fast.
He slammed his eyes shut, his breath hitching some. Gritting his teeth, he choked back something as a tear formed in the corner of his eye. Despite his attempts, Mewtwo sank to his knees, tears now falling freely. “A-Ambertwo…” He sobbed.
“I can bring her back, Mewtwo.” Arceus said softly, stepping over to the weeping form. “But I need your help. Help me fix Ash, and you will see her again, I promise you.”
It took him a few minutes to regain his composure, but once he did, he looked Arceus dead in the eyes. “I’ll do it.”
“Excellent! Now, we get them ready. The merging will go a lot smoother if they’re aware. Plus, I intend to get them up to snuff with using Aura.”
Ash groaned as he finally came to. “Mm..?” The last thing he remembered was trying to stop Cyrus before he used that third Red Chain on Giratina, then everything abruptly went black. He rubbed the the blurriness out of his eyes and looked around. Instead of the Distortion World, he was greeted with a vast expanse; stars, planets, and even galaxies surrounded him.
However, no one else was there. Cyrus, Giratina, even the Team Plasma grunt and the other Pokemon...they were all gone. “W-where is everyone!?”
“Nnnghh…” Another voice spoke up from behind him. He whirled around to see the other guy who was there as well. He didn’t recognize the guy, but something about him felt familiar. “Hey, you all right?”
“Ugh...who’re you?” He asked when he saw Ash, right before he looked around. “And...where the hell are we!?”
“Your companions are fine.” Arceus spoke up, grabbing their attention. “They, and both your timelines, are currently immobilized. Otherwise they are unharmed.”
“Arceus?” Ash’s voice dropped to a whisper as he looked up at one of the strongest pokemon in existence.
“This is my realm. From here, I observe the comings and goings on Earth. That is--” He stopped briefly to lightly bat away the pokeball the other one had thrown at him. “Do you mind? I’m trying to explain something here.”
“What are you doing!?” Ash snapped at him.
“I’m never seen a Pokemon like this before!” The other boy responded, drawing another that Ash recognized as a Master Ball.
“Before you throw that, you may want to consider the fact that I said you two are in my realm. As in, I have total control of what happens in here. Besides, you really think trying to catch me without wearing me down, even if you use that Master Ball, will work?”
He looked ready to throw it anyway, but relented.
“Well, as I was saying, That’s how I made a rather unexpected discovery.” He paused. “Perhaps the ones responsible will explain it better. Palkia! Ho-Oh!”
“Palkia…?” Ash’s eyes widened. “Cyrus! The Red Chains!”
“Ash, calm down.” Arceus spoke up as the two Pokemon in question, along with Mewtwo, appeared nearby. “He can’t do a thing right now.”
“Mewtwo?? Y-you’re here too??”
If he was surprised that Ash remembered him, Mewtwo was able to hide it, though he did show a bit of exasperation as he saw the Master Ball flying his way. “...seriously?” He asked, catching it in his psychic aura and giving the other one a mild glare.
“Y-you can’t do that!” He blurted out, looking honestly shocked at the sight.
“Why not?” Ash asked. “He is the most powerful psychic type in existence, alongside Mew. Seen him catch energy attacks, so I doubt a ball flying towards him is that much of a challenge.
“But...but Pokemon aren’t supposed to stop Pokeballs!” The other boy almost yelled
“Arceus…” Mewtwo tossed the Master Ball aside. “...are you sure Ash needs this part back?”
“To get back his ability to age, yes. Besides, you spent half an hour ranting about how he managed to not even notice all the girls interested in him.”
“Well, I had a right to!” Mewtwo replied. “You saw how many yourself. By Darkrai, he even had three girl pokemon with crushes on him!”
“Crushes…?” Ash asked, looking a little confused.
“You heard me, Ketchum!” Mewtwo pointed at him. “Seriously, why do you think Misty always wore those tight shorts and that crop top even after meeting you!?”
“Misty? W-what…?”
“I’ve even peeked in that horndog Brock’s mind, and even HE could see she had it bad for you! Think that’s the only reason he never made a pass at her. I mean, the guy actually WEPT when he figured out how many girls were interested in you!”
“Mewtwo...” Ho-Oh spoke up, a slightly chiding tone in her voice.
“Right, right…” Mewtwo sighed, taking a second to regain his composure. “Ash, this is Red. And...despite how odd this sounds...he’s a fragment of you.”
Both boys stood there in silence for a second. Untill…
“Say that again…?” Ash asked, before Red started yelling.
“A ‘fragment’!? Of this runt!?” Red pointed at him.
“Look who’s talking, jackass!” Ash snapped back. “Who’s the idiot that threw pokeballs at two legendaries like they’d just let you catch them?”
“I bet you haven’t found the Vermillion City gym yet!” Red sneered.
“That was his third gym, actually.” Mewtwo replied. “That was what, four years ago? He’s currently in the Sinnoh region now.”
Red looked at him like he’d just turned into a Mr. Mime. “What's that?”
Arceus raised an eye. “That’s Ash's current region. He went there after Joto and Hoenn.”
“The hell are those!?"
Arceus paused, and Ash could swear he heard the sound of a record scraping for a second. “Palkia...has he even been out of Kanto yet?”
“Does now count?” The Spatial Pokemon somehow managed to look sheepish.
Arceus shook his head and sighed. “Let’s just explain things. Ho-Oh, you get to explain things to Ash. Palkia.” He pointed to Red.
“Right…”
Ash looked at the Rainbow Pokemon blankly after the explanation. “I’m WHAT ??” He finally yelped.
“It was reflex!” She waved her wings around frantically. “I just heard a wish that wasn’t for money or fame or anything and acted without thinking!”
“But...but why haven’t I noticed that I’ve been ten for four years?? For that matter, why hasn’t anyone else noticed!? Brock, Misty, Pikachu! MY MOM! One of them should’ve!”
Palkia was the one to answer it. “Well, I had to put a mnemonic dampener on you to keep anyone from acknowledging it. Figured that’d be easier than having you all worry.”
“Palkia! You know dampeners can be risky to use!” Ho-Oh squawked “One mistake and you could’ve made them all forget he even EXISTED!”
“So, you just yanked away my ability to age and HID it!?” Ash glared at him, quickly remembering Mewtwo’s rant from earlier. “And my not being observant! You have any idea how many times I could’ve gone on a date.” His eyes widened. “Or Team Rocket! All those cheap disguises!”
“It was last minute!” Palkia tried to defend. “I didn’t have a lot to work with at the moment!”
Growling, Ash quickly pulled out a pokeball.
Mewtwo sighed, transmuting it to an apple. “Ash, I don’t blame you for being irritated, but trying to catch him isn’t--”
“I’m not looking to catch him. I wanna clock him, but I’m not tall enough to punch his head!”
“Look, we all know he goofed up there, but getting angry isn’t going to help.” Arceus cut in, motioning to Red. “Just...just get him up to date.”
While Palkia, with a little help from Ho-Oh, tried to do that, Mewtwo informed Ash of what they were going to do.
Ash scratched the back of his head. “So, you really think you can, well....put me back together?”
“Recombining you will be the simple part. However, letting the two halves blend back together will take a little while.” Mewtwo gave him a contemplative look. “I have to admit, Ash, You’re taking this a lot better than I expected.”
“Kind of feels par for the course, after you, Lugia, Deyoxis, Celibi, Darkrai, and now this.” Ash shrugged. “I mean, learning I’m missing a chunk of myself is a shock, but I’m more angry about the rest of it.”
“Which is why I’ll be putting you back when you first started. When you recombine, both your world and his will mesh as well, to a certain extent. Since the wish is where things branched off, that’ll be the safest spot for reinsertion.”
Before Arceus could respond, an inarticulate noise of frustration caught their attention. “Will you stop that!?” Palkia yelled after smacking away the pokeball Red hurled at him. “It didn’t work with Arceus, it didn’t work with Mewtwo, what makes you think it’d would’ve worked with ME?”
“You really expect me to believe all that junk!?” Red shot back. “Pokemon other than the hundred and fifty? The runt being friends with TWO gym leaders? What a load! He gets points for getting a pikachu as his first, but if you think I’m gonna buy the rest…” He took a second Master Ball. ”OR leave this place without at least one legendary-hey!!” Red yelped in protest when he suddenly found himself immobilized. “Put me down!”
“Speaking of meshing, will that apply to Ash’s family?” Mewtwo asked, calmly pointing over his shoulder at his currently struggling victim. “From what you’ve shown me, I can’t help but think that dampener’s affected his mother to some extent.”
“A what?” Red called out.
“A dampener, it kept-”
“No, the other thing. Fam-whatever.”
“A...family?” Ash piped up, not sure if he should believe what he just heard.
“Yeah. The hell’s a ‘family’?” Red looked at them all with annoyed confusion.
“A family…” Ash pressed on. “Our mom, Delia Ketchum. Hell, even Professor Oak’s a bit like an eccentric uncle.”
“Oak...? Oh, that’s the guy who gave me my starter.” Red blinked. “What else is he supposed to be?”
Ash just looked at him incredulously.
“Palkia…” Arceus slowly turned to the other pokemon. “Tell me you didn’t forget to give him a background before he became a trainer.”
Palkia found a nearby planet quite interesting all of a sudden. “Well…”
Arceus would have facepalmed if he could. “Do you even have friends?” He asked, looking Red’s way
“I have more important things to do than make friends!” Red snapped, trying to work his way loose of Mewtwo’s telekinetic grip.
“A girlfriend?” Mewtwo joined in. “If I read things right, you had a quite a few girls chasing you.”
“Why the hell would I need those!? “
Mewtwo facepalmed for himself and Arceus. “So he has no history, relatives, friends, and only cares about going after more Pokémon…”
“I don’t think he has enough ‘being’ to qualify…” Ho-Oh shook her head. “He’s just a manifestation of what Palkia took out.”
“If that’s the case, then it’s a wonder he’s as stable as he is.” Arceus muttered. “Probably best to go ahead and perform the fusion.”
“Right.” Mewtwo moved Red near Ash. “Are you ready, Ash?”
“I...I think so.” Ash let out a long exhale, ignoring the shouting beside him. “Should I be worried about any possible side effects?’
“Aside from any minor changes to your appearance and maybe a slightly less energetic disposition, you’ll be fine. Though you’ll have some new memories to sort through.” The Genetic Pokemon began to draw on his power, levitating Ash into the air. “Let’s do this.”
“Put me down, dammit!” Red hollered at the top of his lungs. “I am a tournament champion! I will not be sidelined like this!”
“Will someone please shut this jackass up!” Ash yelled. He sighed in relief when Ho-Oh, not even bothering to hide her glee, shoved Red’s own hat into his mouth. “Thanks”
“Ditto.” Mewtwo smiled a little as he steadily focused on the two, encasing them in spheres of nearly blinding light before slowly pushing them together. “Steady...steady…” He muttered.
“Starting new is going to be an experience for him, especially re-meeting those he made friends with.” Mewtwo commented, watching a figure sprinting their way in the distance, faint but visible flashes emanating from each step. Given that time was a little wonky in Arceus’ realm, he didn’t really know just how long he’d been there, but it’d been long enough for him to learn that Ash Ketchum could be dangerous if he truly wanted to be, thanks to Arceus’ training.
Arceus nodded. “More like a reunion; since they'll be keeping those memories, as well as the ones from their alternate selves. To Ash, it'll be a fresh start. To them, they'll feel like they've woken from a realistic dream.”
“That'll be interesting to see, especially if what Palkia said about the girls' attempts in Red's world carries over.” He stifled the chuckle that almost came out as he thought about how different things would be.
“It will, since you'll get to see it first-hand.”
Mewtwo’s head turned towards him fast enough to make his neck crick. “Say that again?”
“While I work on reviving Ambertwo, I want to go you to go with him. It'll give you something to take your mind off it, and you can help him fine tune his aura abilities. Plus he's going to have a lot of changes waiting for him, and he could use someone to talk to about it.”
“Not that I’m against the idea...but, why me, exactly?”
“You know him the best. Besides, it’ll do you some good to get back out in the world.”
“Perhaps…” Mewtwo could tell the Prime Pokemon knew he did want to see how his human friend’s life would be this time around, but he wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction. He turned back in time to watch Ash leap high into the air, leaving a faint trail of bluish-white light behind.
He flipped a couple of times before landing in front of them. “And he sticks the landing!”
The Prime Pokemon chuckled a little. “I believe it’s safe to say you have a good grasp of Aura now, Ash.” He sighed. “You’ve definitely come a long way since starting. However, I’m afraid this is the moment we must part ways.”
“Time for me to head back, huh?” He asked, scratching the back of his head. “Kinda feels like I just got here, and already gotta leave.”
“Don’t worry; you may be heading back, but I’ll be calling in on occasion to see how things are going. Mewtwo, are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Mewtwo replied, moving to stand beside him.
“Y-you’re coming along?” Ash asked, surprised.
“I’ll explain once we get there.”
“Good luck, you two.” Arceus said. Picking an appropriate moment to put them at, he once again invoked his will and transferred both human and Pokémon back into the new renovated timeline. “Well, that’s that.” He looked around at his realm, once again in solitude. “Hm, wonder if I should get some poffins for the show.”