Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Rebirth

Just as Sir Aaron quickly informed him before Arceus just up and send him away without giving any warning (impatient much?), reincarnation was not what it seems.

Because he was able to retain his consciousness, he experience - first hand - at how it was like when he was given birth to by his mother, Delia Ketchum.

It was weird. He was first surrounded by a liquid that was closed on all four sides, and he couldn't move his body at all - nor can he see.

So you can't really blame him for starting to hyperventilate.

What would you do if you suddenly wake up, can't move your body, and you seem to be drowning?

Panic. That's what.

That was his first reaction, but when he felt himself being squeezed out, he had second thoughts.

Yeah, he does not want to go through that again - well, when he's actually conscious of it anyways.

And another thing, an undeveloped brain with the consciousness of a 32 years old adult does not mix at all.

Let's see, try imagining a flimsy table, and an anvil. When too much weight is put on it, it collapses without a moment's notice.

And it hurts like hell.

His infant brain just couldn't support all of the information he carries, which led him to many headaches. Delia Ketchum had thought that he was born with brain damage.

Thankfully, all he needed was sleep - and a lot of it. He can't do much as an infant anyways. What with the fragile body, an overprotective mother, and a headache whenever he tries to think.

He couldn't believe that he has to be a kid again after 32 years of his life. And now, he realize just how annoying it is to be this defenseless and underestimated.

Age 3

Ash was now freely able to think as much as he wants without some inducing migraine threatening him around the corner. And he spends a lot of time doing that, which was mainly for what he plan to do once his journey starts. The do's and don't's so that he could avoid doing the unnecessary things and to prevent others from turning out how they did in the anime. Just thinking about the many times that the world falls into chaos gives him the chills. And he have to be there to fix it.

He has to make sure that he follows what he knew of the future. But seriously, just how fragile is this world for it to be going chaotic every year? He can now sympathize with Arceus for the want of dumping he responsibility onto someone else... he was wondering if he should also avoid it by dying again...

Nah. He'll see just what this world has to offer first.

He also learned what Sir Aaron meant when he told Ash that he was coming with him.

"Ash."

When the knight started to suddenly speak to Ash in his mind, he couldn't help but jump from his seat.

Ash shot the transparent Sir Aaron beside him a glare - or the best that a toddler could do without looking all cutesy.

Yeah… apparently Sir Aaron is now residing in his head. It's kind of like Yugi and Yami in Yugioh. Ash just hoped that he wasn't going to get possessed anytime soon - but he would rather prefer Sir Aaron than some ancient evil spirit...

He shivered, just thinking about the prospect that he will get possessed by said evil spirit in the name of a certain king. Dear God - err… Arceus.

... He'll try to look for a way to avoid that without curving too far from the original future. He have to admit, he'll have to do somethings differently if he wants a different result. Like actually knowing how to use Aura.

"Why can't you give me a warning when you do that?" Ash mumbled, looking around and saw his mother outside gardening.

"... How?" The knight echoed back.

"Never mind." He shook his head and looked down at his notebook filled with mathematical equations and physical laws that a 3 years old shouldn't even be able to learn. Actually, even if a majority of the people take a glance at the various scribbles, they would think that it was nonsense, just what a toddler would write.

And so began another theoretical lesson in the way of Aura. His body is too fragile at the moment to even start experimenting so he starts by learning all of the theories and proofs behind Aura. That way, it'll be easier in the future with applying it to the field.

Having a package deal of knowledge all about Aura in the form of a ghost was also most helpful.

Oh, and another thing. Ash has confirmed that Sir Aaron is his ancestor. Shocker, right? It would explain Ash's abilities and his quick comprehensions…

"Sir Aaron?" Ash began after their lesson. He always have a few questions to ask, so that his mind was clear of what the situation actually was.

"Yes?"

"I been meaning to ask but why did Arceus decided to go on strike?"

"Oh, easy," He chuckled. "He was complaining about not getting paid for his job."

"... didn't even know Gods cared about getting salaries." Ash muttered, shaking his head at the ridiculous thought. "Though I would have went on strike too if I wasn't paid for my work. And how did you get pulled into this?"

The astral body hovering slightly above the floor besides Ash chuckled again. "We're friends, that and he promised me a brand new satchel after this."

"... You were bribed? By a fuc-"

"Language." Sir Aaron scolded. "Children shouldn't speak vulgar words."

"What." Ash gawked at the person who's supposed to be of good moral. But then again, this was the person who suggested picking a random person from another world by the eeny meeny miny moe method, then to flip a coin when it was down to two people.

Heck, he and Arceus were debating whether to chose him, or the drunken man who killed him.

Ash was getting more and more enlightened about these… great(?)… figures.

Well.. like they said, the stronger someone is, the more abnormal they get, right?

"Wait, why would you even need on when you're a -" The sound of the door creaking open had Ash shutting up.

He looks towards it, alert that his mother just finished gardening, and quickly shut his notebook and covering it up with a coloring one.

"How you been coloring Ash?"

Said boy nodded.

Delia smiled warmly at her beloved son. "Can mommy see it?"

Ash wanted to nod but froze when he realized something about what he has to do.

He was now faced with the biggest dilemma at the age of three.

Should he show his mother this horribly colored creature? It looked worst than Frankenstein, that was for sure.

He was never good a coloring within the lines...

Age 4

Delia was quite worry because of Ash was so pensive for his age. Kids shouldn't be this quiet should they?

When she asked him questions, the little boy answered as little as possible - preferring nods and shakes to actually wording a "yes" or "no." He also didn't bounce around as much as she expected of a child - she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

From what she have read in raising a child and from seeing the other children, especially that Gary kid, they're quite energetic. Did something went wrong with the way she was raising him? Was she not a good mother?

… Maybe she should introduce him to some friends.

And that's just what she did.

"Ash," Delia smiled brightly, pushing her child towards a boy with spiky auburn hair. "Meet Gary Oak, Gary, this is Ash Ketchum! He's going to be your new friend!"

Ash stared.

She wasn't sure if that was a good reaction or a bad one. But from the way that he's widening his eyes and trying to get out of his grip, she was sure that her little Ash was excited to play with his-soon-to-be-friend! Whether she was ignoring Ash's obvious dread in meeting Gary as if he was some contagious disease was anyone's guess but hers.

"Hi!" Gary greeted with a boyish grin. He was quite friendly unlike how Ash imagined; that is, until he had on his trademark smirk. "Ashy-boy."

Ash replied with the only way he knew how.

"Shut up Gary!"

Delia smiled, greatly satisfied that Ash managed to reply after all this time. And childishly too. Though, to be a good mother, she wouldn't have Ash being rude now, would she?

"Ash."

"Gary."

And both kids got scolded by their respective parent. It was that one warning look that all mothers have. The one that when their kids see it, they immediately clam up obediently.

It works wonders.

Despite that off-putting first meeting, Ash and Gary got along quite well and that put a lot of weight off of Delia's shoulders.

Ash was aware of his mother's worries, that was why he had to revise how he should act and be more like a kid… except that's more difficult than it seems. Except around Gary. That kid always manage to bring out the childishness in him. Must be that stupid smirk when they were first introduced to each other. He thought his mother was off her rockers for trying to lat him and Gary be friends...

From what he knew of the anime, Gary was... unbearable. Too inflated with his own ego that Ash thought that all it needs is a good poke with a needle, and Gary will be flying to the moon!

But the kid Gary wasn't bad at all. Quite friendly, adventurous, and obviously more intelligent than other kids their age because he's the Grandson of the famous Prof. Oak.

"Hey, do you wonder why the sky is blue?" Gary had once asked. A typical 'why' question that a three year old would ask, but to Ash...

What kind of a stupid question is that? He thought as he stared up at the sky absentmindedly. It reminded him of when he found out that the sky isn't blue because of the refraction of the ocean towards the sky in his science class. That was the first time he actually got interested into science.

"Because blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves - what?"

Gary gaped at him.

Ash have to take a minute to review what he had just said and wince. Right. That was not how a three to four year old kid was supposed to think.

"... Blueberries."

"What?"

"I was just thinking how if we throw Blueberries up in the air, we can make our own Blueberry muffin sky that we can get eat off of!"

"..."

Okay, that makes no sense whatsoever.

"You're saying you're hungry?"

"... Yeah." An excellent observation by the future researcher!

"Then let's go! My mom makes really good Blueberry sandwiches!"

Ash scoffed but chased after Gary's back with a fist pumping the air. "Probably not as good as my mom's Blueberry ice cream sandwiches!"

"Nuh uh! You should try my mom's apple pies!"

"Why would I if I can have my mom's berry tarts?"

In the end, Ash thought that being a kid again wouldn't be that bad after all. At least, if the most serious arguments he'll ever have is which of their moms' cooking is the best.

On another note, whenever Ash say something queer, Gary - at their age - would always conclude that he was hungry. He would even scale the fences at the daycare just to get him something to eat!

What an understanding friend.

Age 5

Fearing that he would forget, Ash went and took one of an extra notebook to start writing down as much as he could remember from what he knew from the anime. He didn't want to forget later on, because his adventure doesn't actually start until he was ten, which was still a few years away.

He didn't want to do anything that would change the plot, or he'll miss one of those end-of-the-world events that he was supposed to be at because he's on the other side of the region or something doing who knows what.

Doubts cloud his mind more often than not. What if he made a mistake? What if he goes off track and everything is up for grabs? He was but only one person after all. What can he do for the world.

"Freaking Arceus and his laziness..." Ash mumbled whenever he started to stress after how the world's balance was in his hands. One wrong move and it's all for naught. "... Pushing his work... me of all the f*c -"

"Language." Sir Aaron warned again, appearing out of nowhere.

Ash jumped again. "Oh for God - Arceus's sake! You don't care that I'm cursing at the Pokemon God, but about my choice of words?!"

The Aura adept shrugged noncommittally. "You're only five."

"I'm mentally 32!"

"You're speaking in front of a group of children. In a daycare."

"... Oh." Ash looked around to see kids from babies to toddlers staring at him. Some curiously, while others freaked out about how he was talking to himself. "Sh*t."

"Ash Ketchum, what did you just say?" One of the adults at the daycare looked at him, eyes filled with horror.

"... Sh*t." This time, he was wise enough to mutter underneath his breath, but that didn't save him from the adult tattletale to his mom. Said mother fainted on the spot.

... And he was grounded for three months afterwards.

Meanwhile

"Ah..." Arceus sighed in relaxation under the rays of the sun. "That's more like it."

In that white space of his, he managed to create an entire beach resort with a very scenic view of a sparkling ocean. Ever since went on strike - err... vacation, he's been able to relieve his stress.

.

.

.

.

"Okay, I'm bored." The PokeGod decided on a whim and summoned on a few surprised PokeGods - though lesser but still forces to be reckoned with.

"...What's going on?" The Antimatter Dragon looked around, then at his brothers, then at Arecus. "Lord Father, why are you -"

"Vacation." Arceus answered simply, then a huge board game came crashing down from the sky. "Now... let's play monopoly! I always wanted to try that game."

"Oh! I want a top hat!" The Space Dragon immediately followed the flow. "I always wanted to wear one!"

"DONKEY!" The Time Dragon jumped up and down at his choice.

Girantina looked at his two brothers as if they were having a few screw loose. Well... being alone in their own dimensions might have something to do with that, and the fact that they're almighty PokeGods.

"... I'll take the boot." He ended up participating as well, though he wasn't sure what would happen is they were to left their posts. THough his doubts vanished as he took a look at his feet. All six of them.

"... can I get six?"

"No." Arceus answered while creating the pieces of their choice.

"Aw..."

"Oh... so the Edo Period is when..." Ash learned that the the geography of this world is not much different than his previous one. Kanto being the geographical area of Honshu in Japan but heck, he already knew the relationship between the regions and the world map. He also noted a few similarities between the two histories as well, such as how the governmental system of the Pokemon League is established based on the one first created in the Edo Period; of a national leader being the Champion and the regional leaders being the Gym Leaders.

What made it more interesting was the usage of Pokemon even in the early periods. Wars were fought with human and Pokemon alike, one especially notable one would be the reign under Oda Nobunaga in the late Sengoku Period. One where the efficiency of a Pokemon's abilities were made most prominent that would have allowed him to reunite all of Japan if not for that back-stabbed by Akechi Mitsuhide.

"Wow," Ash blinked. "This is pretty similar to the history of the country of my previous life."

"Parallel universes does that." Sir Aaron explained in his lesson on Pokemon history. "Like how our world is only a T.V. show in yours, but what happens there is what will happen here. For real. Main difference is the impact that Pokemon have during critical events. Powerful Pokemon such as the Legendaries or of the similar tier are enough to turn the tide of a Great War, or a World World in your term."

"So the Legends exists not only to govern nature's laws but also reside in each country to become something like a Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement?" Ash inquired.

"Correct," Sir Aaron smiled at how Ash was absorbing ll of this. "If a country is able to get the favor of one Legend, then that will signal for other Legendary tier Pokemon to act as well. Just think of what will happen if Legends are pit against each other, with the lands, the seas, and the skies as the war zone."

Ash shivered at the thought. It would be totally catastrophic with future conflicts being fought with sticks and stones - if humanity survives. Worse yet, those levels of dangers are lurking right around the corner, with all the criminal organizations trying to catch their share of Legendaries.

And again, he was the one to straighten out this whole mess.

"Goddamm - Arceus dammit." Ash muttered as his head fit the table in his room.

"Ash Ketchum, did you just said what I think you said?" Delia asked in a disapproving tone from downstairs. She was glad that her son was more lively than before but she did not teach her son such vulgar words!

"No, mum!" Ash hollered from his room, wondering how his mom was even able to hear him with the door closed.

Delia huffed and returned to cooking dinner. "You better be Mister. Or you'll be grounded for a year! I don't know where you learn these vocabularies when I certainly didn't teach you..."

Ash listened silently as his mom started rambling about his pool of vocabulary. He restrained from using his colorful word choices from then on.

It doesn't mean that he won't find loopholes around it though.

He has started practicing on his Aura - in secret of course. And as of now, he can fully materialize an Aura Sphere; albeit, a small one. And unstable. Okay, he'll have to keep working on that. Who knew that it would be so hard?

Sir Aaron also pops into existence to check up on him, or aka "I'm bored and there's nothing to do," after teaching him all the theoretical backgrounds.

When he had asked the knight to give him some tips, he disappears to leave me to deal with my own problems. Some tutor he turned out to be. Well... Ash also somewhat remember him saying like "finding oneself through trial and error"... whatever that means.

Sometimes, he come at the most random times when there are people around, which result in the bystanders thinking that Ash was talking to his imaginary friends. Other times, it scared the heck out of him. And he still wasn't used to how he just pops up when his guard was down! Was this a part of a strange training of his or something?

"Ash, I'm bored!"

"Wah!" Ash cried out in alarm, dropping his cake onto Gary's head. Correction, the birthday boy's head.

"Aaaash…." Gary seethed, looking readying to commit murder. A pretty realistic one, Ash noted, despite the boy only turning five.

"Oops. Sorry..." The boy, who was about to get his head bite off, laughed nervously. "It was an accident Gary! By the way, pink suits you."

He ran away after that, with Gary in pursuit and frosting learning how to fly.

Sir Aaron snickered in his head.

"Ha. Ha, laugh it up." Ash mumbled dryly. "It's your fault that I'm going to get killed!"

"Oh, so you still have time to talk to your imaginary friends eh?!" Gary screamed, which made Ash wondered jsut how sharp his hearing was to hear from that distance.

"I said I was sorry!"

"Say it like you mean it!"

"You're asking for the impossible!"

Being a kid has its up and downs, but Ash was enjoying his new life as a kid at the moment, where everything is just fun and games. Nothing too serious. Don't have to deal with problems of an adult. And definitely don't have to deal with life's curve balls that keeps him deep in the mud (Though he will have a world to save starting age ten, but that's filed for later).

If this was a dream, he wouldn't mind never waking up for it. Why?

Because ignorant is bliss.

I'm swiftly going through some events during Ash's early childhood - which I made up - since I can't really just start him up at age ten. That's one heck of a time skip.

And also show how Ash is slowly integrating his adult mind into the life of a kid/Pokemon World, as well as his relationship with Gary.

Oh... Monopoly was the first thing I thought of so yeah... Not sure if I want to show more of what the all mighty Arceus will do during his self-proclaimed vacation.