(De)Age of Innocence

Disclaimer: I really don't own Pokémon, I promise. Wish I did, cause then I'd make Ash older as the anime went on. Haha

"PIKAPI!"

Pikachu's alerted cry was pretty much the last thing that Ash Ketchum of Pallet town comprehended consciously before blackness overtook him that moment. His body felt paralyzed, unable to respond to cries of alarm. Everything was beginning to feel fuzzy, almost as if he was in endless oblivion.

He felt like he was floating for a long time after, unable to move as voices swarmed through the fuzzy sea of darkness for him.

After what felt like days' worth, his body kick started as a jolt of pain shot through him. What was that? Ah! There it was again! Ash squirmed, desperate to get away from the electrocuting, crushing pain sensations that was growing throughout his body. It started in his chest, growing as each jolt happened, pulsing with a pain that rivaled a thunderbolt raking through him. Stop! It needed to stop!

He tried in vain. Ash found himself screaming loudly moments later before he was unconscious once more…

"The plan succeeded, sir."

"He's certainly smaller than I imagined… How old is the boy now?"

"Around four years old. His memories should be vague. They are there, but they will be harder to access most complex memories that a normal four year old cannot comprehend. Still plausible to access, but the odds are higher than they were before."

"Such as...?"

"He'll remember, no doubt, the Pokémon he has encountered or captured, but the memories behind them might be harder to attain for him. He will surely remember getting Pikachu, but not so much the adventures the two have shared."

"That's what I wanted to hear. Get him sent to his new living quarters. Get that Pikachu of his to an electric proof cage. The training begins when the Pikachu sees the boy."

"Yes sir…"

What was going on…? Lusciously chocolate-like brown eyes slowly opened to find himself in a room he'd never seen before, that he could remember. Where was he? He searched until his eyes settled on a mirror opposite the bed that he resided in. Black ruffled hair was his first notice. His hair framed a cherubic face with baby-fat cheeks and wide eyes. He couldn't really voice what he was wearing, except that it was bland. Nothing but a black shirt that covered a small part of the jeans he was in. He couldn't see anything else, the heavy green duvet covering the rest. He frowned thoughtfully.

"So you're awake, Ash," spoke a masculine voice, deep in tone and carrying a note of interest. Ash turned his head, looking at the man before him with wonder. Had he been in here this whole time? The man stepped up to his bed, looking down at him silently. Ash felt it was safe to ask. After all, the man had said his name. He clearly had to know him, and therefore not a stranger. So he could talk to this non-stranger.

"Who're you mister…?"

"Me? I am…" The man looked sharply at the boy before him for a moment before he continued. "You can call me father from now on."

"Father?" Ash asked, confused. He remembered mommy telling him that daddy had passed away when he was very little… Was his mommy lying then? Or was this man lying to him? He didn't get much chance to question this strange man before someone with a gray shirt and a bold red 'R' came hurrying in.

"Giovanni? The Pikachu is awake sir."

"Excellent. Ash, come along," beckoned his 'father'. Ash obeyed, believing this man really was his father. He followed behind the man, Giovanni, into a room where a yellow mouse-type Pokémon was shocking the cage and making various noises of distress. The room was bare except for the cage and a few crates of mysterious contents. Ash wondered if his 'father' would be annoyed should he investigate them. The Pikachu suddenly noticed them.

"Pikapi!?" Pikachu cried when it looked at him directly. Ash looked at Pikachu, eyes widening a little. Was this his Pikachu? But when did he even catch one? He narrowed his eyes, brain racing… A piece of rope and rubber gloves came to mind… An orange-haired girl…?

"Pikachu?" He questioned, about to step forward when Giovanni placed a hand on his black hatless hair. Ash looked up, eyes pooling in confusion. He felt something was missing when the hand had been on his head. As if he normally wore something there.

"Relax, the Pikachu is fine. Go with James over there. He'll show you to your play room." Giovanni instructed. Ash looked at a blue haired man with a giant R like the other man from earlier on his shirt before nodding, following James out. He looked back at Pikachu who gave a distressed look back, little eyes pleading and distressed. Why was that Pikachu so sad?

"Mr. James?" Ash asked, looking up at the man who was leading him away. The man looked surprised and froze, looking down.

"Y-Yes twe—er—Ash?" James stumbled. How odd. What was he about to call him? Nevertheless, he needed to find out something. His head was hurting as it was. Tears began to work their way into formation at his eyes as he looked up at the man.

"Am I… How old…I can't… remember… Pikachu… Didn't I get… 10?" Ash couldn't even comprehend what his original question should be. Wasn't he 10 years old? That's when he got Pikachu. He got Pikachu… where? Where did he get the Pokémon? Memories tried to force their way into his head, he knew. This man had to know the answers, right? He would trust what this man would say, as he felt familiar to him.

James knelt down, eyes searching the confused child's brown ones. The boy before him was nothing like the twerp who countlessly beat him and Jessi to oblivion. This was… Giovanni's successful plan. The twerp that could never stop foiling evil, would become the product of evil itself. They'd discovered the lack of father in the boy's life. A de-aging serum created by one of the Rocket doctors, and they'd uncovered a splendid plan. A plan that the twerps couldn't defeat, because the twerp was the target of the plan this time.

Erasing Ash Ketchum.

On the upside too, Pikachu would never flee its owner, nor would it let the boy get hurt, as they'd threatened the mouse Pokémon with to ensure Pikachu came along. It would battle for Giovanni for Ash, no other reason. Pikachu had already shown this to them in a battle against other Pokémon while Ash was unconscious, still a teenage boy at the time, in a cage that Pikachu had been able to see. Giovanni had told it that it could be rewarded with seeing Ash more often, unharmed, if it listened. A good motivation, James reckoned. Especially since Pikachu couldn't escape. Not without wanting to save the boy.

"Why the confusion? You're only four years old. Let's not worry of such things!" James insisted, feeling wrong for doing this to the boy, but he was a bad guy. He wasn't supposed to feel remorse for the young boy's lost memories. He was evil and lived to create problems.

Wasn't that his job?

Ash nodded. "Right."

The playroom was vast, with Pokemon-styled toys everywhere. James glanced down at his current charge, having been tasked to watch the child until a permanent caregiver could be assigned. He had been, after all, the reason for Ash's capture and de-aging.

Kidnapping the boy and Pikachu while everyone lay asleep. A simpler plan with better results than they've ever had. A subtle plan had worked far better than their previous ones.

"You're to stay in here until… until your father returns. Understood?" James said, trying to be stern like he'd remembered his butler being with him when he was but a lad.

"Okay," Ash said, a childish smile, so full of ignorant innocence. James frowned to himself and nodded, settling himself by the door as Ash bounded over to an Arcanine-shaped slide. Little giggles of delight floated through the room.

The boss wanted Ash to be raised here, a tool of manipulation in the future, and a constant reminder to his new prized Pokémon that escape would be futile. In a few years, would this boy be cold-hearted and the image Giovanni wanted. Or would he grow to be the boy James constantly cursed all over again?

Time would tell, he knew.

He wasn't sure what his opinion on this matter was, entirely.

It was the end of Ash Ketchum. He would be searched for by his family and friends, something Jessi had been tasked with to deceive them. She would be traveling about, setting up false clues of his whereabouts and soon death, no doubt. James looked back at the little four year old who was having an active engagement with a stuffed Charmander. He shook his head.

Ash Ketchum was no more. Team Rocket would make sure of that.

Author's Note: So there you have it! My first time in the Pokémon fandom. This is only a one-shot, sorry to disappoint. I could extend this... maybe. But I don't know. I'm not that knowledgeable about every episode and whatnot. I've watched a lot of them out of order. All well. This can take place really in any season, since Team Rocket is NEVER gone. Hope you enjoy it.