It took Ash exactly a week for his Aura powers to settle down in his body and quite a few changes had occurred in that week. His hair had become messier and had a blue tinge to it, his bone structure changed slightly and became denser, but the most startling change was his eyes. Where they were once the same shade of brown as Delia's they were now a startlingly bright blue. Aura had evidently been the reason for these changes. He had had an enlightening conversation when he got home with his mum. Hearing more about his dad and how he was an aura user made him feel a lot better about his task and hearing about her conversation with Riley and how she knew him left him both confused and bitter. His meeting with Riley had evidently been staged and he didn't like that and the fact his mum had been accused of being a bad parent by Riley just cemented his opinion of the man. Aura Guardians were supposed to be honourable but honour, it seems, was only followed when it suited someone's agenda.
Telling his mum about Arceus, Mew and the task they had given him had left her speechless. He assured her that she was the only one he was going to talk to about his role. Hugging him and reassuring him she would always be there for him they came up with a plan and a diet that would help him. Five years was not a long time really to prepare for a world changing event, but it was what they had. Over the next few months Ash became even more of a loner, seeing other children his age playing with each other still didn't interest him. His role in the world was greater than anyone else could ever perceive and his training was very important. Every morning the inhabitants of Pallet Town would see Ash jogging around the town, doing pull-ups on various tree branches, and following a training regime that would make most people wince. But Ash followed it through.
Ash had also asked Professor Oak for his help in understanding Pokémon more. He was determined to become a Pokémon master and he had discovered over the last few years by reading various accounts that if you wanted to be a voice of change then you needed to be someone who could stand up and be respected. Oak was THE authority on Pokémon throughout all the regions and his word was valued. Ash saw that and wanted that. So, under the guise of becoming a Pokémon master he asked Oak for help. Sam was only too happy to oblige, partly out of guilt for what had happened but mainly because Ash was clearly interested in learning.
Ash had used his newfound power to develop a deeper connection with the various Pokémon that appeared on Oak's ranch. Being able to converse with them certainly helped him understand their needs a lot better and over the next few years Ash wrote many essays about what Pokémon really felt and needed. He left them with Sam to read and get his opinion on them. Ash never thought much of his scribblings, but Oak secretly kept them and planned to publish them and Ash never knew that his research was becoming so important worldwide in understanding Pokémon. He decided to let Ash know when he started his journey what he had done.
Giovanni was also around more often. Ash never really knew the man, there was something off about him but as he was a stranger, he put it down to that. Over the next few years, as he conversed more with him, he found out that he was extremely intelligent and an absolute fountain of knowledge about the league and the inner workings of being a gym leader. Ash shared Giovanni's disgust about the news that some of the Indigo gyms were becoming a laughingstock, handing out badges like they were candy.
After months of back-and-forth Riley had also been able to come up with a compromise with Delia. Ash wanted nothing to do with him but as he needed a tutor it had been agreed that a Lucario from the kingdom would come every few months and stay for a few weeks to tutor Ash. As he could understand Pokémon the language barrier was non-existent and Ash's abilities soared from the teachings of the Lucario. So much so that it wasn't a strange sight to see Ash and Lucario sparring in the streets. Ash was quickly becoming formidable and could even do the most basic of Aura spheres. It was only the size of a golf ball so far but usually grown adults struggled to do this. His Aura usage exhausted him, but he was told it was like a muscle, the more you used it the stronger it became, and the more output could be achieved. The Lucario had tried to teach Ash about the moral code of the Aura Guardians, but Ash barely listened. He was determined to not be shackled by the rules that the guardians normally went by and he certainly wasn't going to adhere to some old code that was vastly outdated. Ash already knew his destiny. He served a higher power than some Queen who sat on a throne doing nothing with her life.
The years passed by very quickly, his training had progressed very well to the point Ash could now manipulate Aura into various shapes. His favourite was Aura spikes as they were harder to deflect and could do more damage. Ash and his mum had discussed at length the moral uses of using Aura in such a way. Ash had retorted that to fulfil his destiny then the chances of him having to kill someone was very likely. Delia wasn't happy with this, but they had come up with a compromise that the person had to be guilty beyond doubt and that he had to ring her immediately to discuss why he had taken such an action. Ash agreed without hesitation, he didn't want to become a murderer, but he also knew it may be necessary to carry out Lady Arceus' will.
On Ash's tenth birthday Giovanni showed up with a grim look on his face. Waiting for Ash to arrive from his morning routine he sat with Delia and prepared how to say what he was about to say.
"Ash," Giovanni started, "you once asked me how your father died. At the time your mother and I came to the decision that you were far too young to understand or comprehend what we could tell you. Well, we have been talking about it again and have deemed you old enough now to know what happened."
"Your father was an honourable man," Delia said taking over. "I still do not believe he is dead, but I have no proof he lives either. He was an amazing Pokémon trainer. He achieved the status of Pokémon master at the age of 21, the youngest in centuries at the time. I hear there is a trainer in Sinnoh who achieved Champion at 23 a few years ago but usually people are in their thirties when they attain that rank so that should tell you how gifted he was. Anyhow he was also a part of a group of people called the G-Men, they were basically gifted trainers selected by the champion or leader of the elite four who worked alongside the police but had more executive powers and less red-tape than they have. One day Blue Oak discovered the leader of a group of Pokémon thieves called Team Rocket was holed up in Viridian Gym and he went after him. He misjudged just how many trainers there were protecting him and your father was sent in to help rescue him."
"Now from the transcripts of witnesses and the video footage recovered at my gym," Giovanni said, "we have managed to piece together the last few minutes of action before the feed shuts off. Likely due to the building falling apart. Blue Oak was your father's best friend, they were thick as thieves. Red beat Blue to become Pokémon champion less than a day after Blue achieved that position. They were rivals but they were also friends. Now, Blue stated that Red ordered him to leave the building to go and get help while he confronted the leader of Team Rocket, and when he returned with the police the building had collapsed and all that remained was Red's hat. No body was ever recovered, neither Red's nor the leader. We still have no idea who the leader was or is. We also have no idea what happened to Red or his Pokémon. He was declared dead by Charles Goodshow and Lance Wataru after a week's worth of investigating. Now I am not saying they were part of a conspiracy, but that was an awfully quick timeframe to declare the Pokémon master dead. Something is off about the whole situation. The funeral was held two weeks later.
"Your mother has always told me she can feel that he is still alive somewhere. I have always gone along with it to humour her as it's been ten years but recently there have been rumours of Team Rocket returning and you needed to know as in a year's time you will be travelling with your own Pokémon. Should that be true then Red Ketchum's son will be one of the main targets. We wanted you to know the actual story and not piece things together over time and come up with false facts. I'm aware this is a lot to take in, but do you have any questions?"
"Can you leave me the transcripts?" Ash asked. "I know it's been gone over many times but maybe I can find something. Also why was your gym being used?"
"Yes, I can. I'll let you have them when I leave," Giovanni answered. "As for the second question, I have no idea. I suspect that Red and Blue chased him into there, the leader could have also been someone I knew but no one has gone missing from that time who I had close contact with. I was in Johto at the time having a meeting with the head of the radio tower and as there was no known psychic type that could teleport me nor a flying type that could travel that fast, I was rightfully cleared. It remains a mystery." Standing up he clapped Ash on the shoulder and took his leave saying goodbye to everyone. Watching him leave Ash picked up the transcripts and read them over. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. His mother seeing his face asked what he was thinking.
"Giovanni said Team Rocket are on their way back, and that no KNOWN psychic type was around at that time. Arceus and Mew told me that a group have tried to clone Mew using a Mew. What if they succeeded? Mew could also be powerful enough to do multi teleport jumps. Or what if they have already created a clone years ago but it escaped and, in its rage, destroyed the building it was held captive in along with all their research, so they have had to start from scratch? And what if that psychic Pokémon took dad away?"
"That's a big leap Ash," Delia said, "but I can see where you're coming from. Let's keep this to ourselves for now. It seems your time is nearly up for training Ash. The next year will fly by so, we'll use this time to prepare. We'll start on cooking and sewing tomorrow, Ash as it's high time you learned to survive in the wild, so we'll be taking several trips this year under the guise of holidays."
"Mum," Ash asked suddenly, "why aren't you angry at Blue for abandoning Dad?"
"I was for a while Ash," she said sitting down and sighing, "but I also knew how stubborn your father was. If he told Blue to leave, then Blue had to leave. He was Blue's boss in that incident. And as he said he was the only one with a psychic type that could teleport to get help quickly. Blue is still feeling guilty over what happened, don't forget he grew up with your father, he was his best friend and he feels that he should have died alongside your dad and nothing anyone says will ever change that. It took Blue several years of therapy to get past that guilt. It's difficult to be angry at someone when you know they're hurting just as much as you."
Nodding Ash left to go to his room and think over what had been said today. He had a lot of mixed feelings. And Giovanni still felt off to him, it was irritating.
The next year indeed did fly by. Ash continued to train every single day and learned as much as he could in that time. It was during this time that he met someone who would change his life. Running at the side of a stream one day he saw a Pokémon being attacked by a few Spearow. Running at them and shouting at them he scared them away and saw that it was a Pichu holding an apple. He also noticed it was a lighter shade of yellow than they normally had been described as. Taking little notice of that for now he knew it needed to be healed as soon as possible. Oak's lab was about half a mile away so that was the only option for now. Without thinking he picked it up and was immediately electrocuted. It was only a mild shock, but it was enough to make Ash fall down to his knees and pulse his aura out to shield him as much as he could.
"Stop Pichu, I'm only trying to help you!" Ash said startling it. "You need to be healed."
Calming down a bit Pichu looked around and saw who had picked him up. He immediately knew this child was different from normal. He could visibly see the aura pulsing from him and knew he was special. Reining in his electricity was difficult given his condition but he eventually succeeded and not a moment later the Pichu passed out. Ash quickly stood up and ran all the way to Oak's lab, bursting into the healing room he shouted for the professor to help him. Oak came running into the room, saw what the issue was and immediately acted. "I'll have to capture it Ash so it can be healed in this machine. I promise I'll release it once it's healed." Without waiting for an answer Oak brought out a Poké Ball and captured the Pichu. It didn't even shake. Placing it into his healing machine he turned it on. "It'll take about three hours to heal Ash. It was very nearly too late. Where did you find it?"
Ash described where he found it and what happened. "Well, it seems your aura has helped you today, Ash, so good job. If you want to stay here for the next few hours waiting you may as well make yourself useful. Charizard has just arrived with his mate and a clutch of eggs. Come and help me do some checks on them. One of them is likely going to be a new trainer's starter Pokémon in a few months when they hatch."
The next few hours flew by but Ash had to really concentrate on the eggs as he knew how important they were to not only Charizard but his mate too. Seeing nothing wrong he placed the last one in the incubators Oak had provided and made his way back to the healing room. Seeing the machine turn itself off he waited for the professor to come back. It may have only been a five-minute wait, but it stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. Walking back into the room Oak saw that Ash was waiting and chuckled. "Let's have a look at Pichu then, shall we?" Opening the machine he took the ball out and called the Pichu out. Ash could immediately see it was much better judging by the little bolts of electricity coming from its sac pouches. "Wow, a shiny Pichu," Oak exclaimed. "We don't often see many of them around here. Whoa!" Oak shouted as he jumped out of the way as it launched a Thundershock at him. "He has such great control already? That's unheard of in a Pichu." Jumping out of the way of another Thundershock he quickly recalled it. "Wow. I think I better release it outside. Ash I may need your help." As suddenly sparks were seen to be coming off the Poké Ball. Running as fast as they could they rushed outside. Just in time it seemed as the Poké Ball burst open, shattering it into many pieces. The Pichu burst from inside panting, obviously it had taken a lot out of it to be able to do that.
"Well Professor," Ash said turning to him, "it clearly doesn't like Poké Balls." Walking over to it he knelt ignoring the warning from Oak. "As for you little one you might show a bit more gratitude to the man who saved your life. I got you here just in time. And the professor was going to release you as soon as you were healed so that little show was unnecessary, so I believe you owe him an apology."
Instead, the Pichu looked up at Ash, muttered a few "Pi's" and ran away into the nearby woods. "Well professor it seems the fun is over for today. I have to say though I like that Pichu's spirit. Whoever gains him for a partner will be a lucky person."
"Indeed Ash," Oak said shaking his head still looking at the woods. "I would have liked to study it some more, a Pichu with a perfect Thundershock and no recoil is almost unheard of. That was a very rare specimen. Anyway Ash, onwards with the day."
Time rushed forwards and before he knew it there was only a month left before Ash was due to set out. It was during this time that he sat down with Delia and Sam to discuss what starter he wanted to have. Usually, Sam would just get one of the three starters and have the newbie trainers pick one but given what Ash had achieved over the past five years Sam offered to pull some strings for him.
"The thing is professor I plan on capturing all the starters for my team during my journey anyway so I'm at a loss on which one to pick as my starter," Ash said.
"Ah ok Ash," Oak said thoughtfully knowing he couldn't tell Ash what he knew about him due to his activities with Celebi. Sam very clearly remembered seeing Ash with a Pikachu, he even had sketches of the event amongst his many drawings. Would they change if Ash chose a different Pokémon? Would Sam even remember the original drawings and memories. Ash's voice interrupted his musings.
"I keep going back to the Pichu we met eight months ago professor. My mind keeps being drawn to him, wondering how he's doing now, if he's someone else's partner yet."
"That was a very interesting and unusual Pokémon Ash," Oak said. "As you said though we'll likely never know. Do you want a Pikachu to start with then?"
"I don't know," Ash said frowning. "It just won't be the same though will it?"
"No dear it won't," Delia said. "Why don't we think on it some more then? How much notice do you need Sam?"
"At least three weeks Delia," Oak replied. "There's a lot of paperwork that comes with it that I must fill out as a new trainer's sponsor."
"Then Ash will give you his answer by the weekend. If he doesn't then he'll have to go with the starter Pokémon you usually offer," Delia said standing up. "Come on sweetie, let's go home. Thank you for the meeting, Sam. It's much appreciated."
Ash had taken nearly a week to decide and had come up empty handed. Deciding to train in a clearing he had found years ago he relaxed into his fighting stance and went through his morning routine. Shadow fighting was an artform, having no opponent you had to rely on your imagination to believe you had an opponent. Throwing Aura spheres and spikes at the various trees he was about to finish up when all of a sudden one of his Aura spheres was batted back to him. Ash automatically opened fire from where it had come from with more spheres into the trees, seeing them come back at him alarmed Ash but was also fun. After a minute of this Ash stopped. "Ok whoever you are, you can come out now. That was fun but I don't want to hurt either of us."
After thirty seconds Ash was ready to give it up as a bad job when a golden Pikachu walked out of the trees. Ash gasped, this was the very Pokémon he had been talking about to Sam. "You evolved? Wow, look at you. How have you been Pikachu?"
"Pi," came the reply. "Pi Pikachu Chu Pika."
"Ah ok, well you look very well Pikachu," Ash said shocking it. Chuckling he carried on. "Yes, I can understand you. I have the gift of Aura, given to me from Lady Arceus herself to aid her in the future."
"Pi Pika pichu?" Pikachu asked coming forward.
"Yes, that's why I've been training here every day," Ash said. "So you've been watching me have you? I knew I felt a familiar presence at times but yes, I have been given a task by Arceus, one I can't talk about just yet. But it is vital to her so I won't be around here much longer though. I start my Pokémon journey in a few weeks' time and I was just here today to clear my mind and to pick a starter to travel around with."
"Pi pikachu Pi?" Pikachu asked.
"Yes, but I can't pick one," Ash said. "Ever since I met you many months ago, you're the only one I could think of to pick but I had no idea where you were anymore. I was offered another Pikachu, but it just wouldn't be the same. And I'm never going to force you to come along with me Pikachu so I'll have to choose a normal starter. Well, it was nice seeing you again Pikachu. I'm glad."