[ALERT: I POSTED TWO CHAPTERS AT THE SAME TIME! TO NOT GET SPOILED OVER THINGS, GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 28! THIS IS CHAPTER 29! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!]

.

.

.

Switch Up! A Tale of Multi-Verse Ash Ketchum!

"So what do you have to say for yourself?"

OS-Ash turns to look to the ground, trying to avoid the piercing stare of Arceus "I… I don't know"

"The consequences should have been obvious for anyone to see"

OS-Ash sat in a lone chair surrounded by darkness, where a spotlight illuminated him from above.

"I don't know! It seemed like a cool idea at the time!" OS-Ash looks up at Arceus, immediately regretting it "But… the battles we did… the good we did for our Pokemon… I'm not taking that back!"

-o-

"Battle after battle… somehow it felt good to win for once… and knowing that we weren't meant to win…" Sinnoh-Ash crosses his arms in thought "The effort out Pokemon made… wasn't in vain like all past times"

"Even if by doing that satisfactory act… you tore apart another meta-universe?"

"It's not like we knew what was going to happen" Sinnoh-Ash defends himself, standing up from the chair "How can out actions change so much how other worlds work?"

"There's so much you don't know…"

-o-

"The consequences… Honestly I feel frustrated enough that for a chance to win…" Hoenn-Ash shakes his head at that thought "I don't wanna go there, but it's just so unfair… what you told us…"

"Life hardly is fair"

"I know, but seeing so many of me… failing… it was really disheartening"

-o-

"If we were so important to the world, I mean the whole Chosen One thing…"

"Its destiny what chose you as such, not the legends" Arceus looks down at Alola-Ash.

"Wasn't it too much to ask? A little bit of success? As a reward for everything all of us did"

"We did… in your timeline. You even had a Mythical Pokemon"

"At the time this started it wasn't certain!"

"I'd ask you to not break the fourth wall"

-o-

"The theory behind multiple universes that need balancing is truly fascinating" Professor Oak looks up to Arceus, a nervous smile on his face "But let's go straight to the point. Why are you doing this?"

"I want to determine what made everyone participate in this endeavour" Arceus closes his eye in resignation.

"Personal satisfaction" Professor Oak nods in understanding "May I take the chance to satisfy some questions of my own?"

"I suppose I can indulge in some"

"That's great! I have some questions… let's start with how can a Zubat carry a Squirtle if it has not arms or legs?"

"…Pass"

"Well then, how about why Arcanine is considered a Legendary Pokemon if it's easy to obtain one?"

"…Next one"

"You wouldn't happen to want to answer why Kangaskhan doesn't count as two Pokemon, and the child isn't counted as a Baby Pokemon?"

"…The next Ash is waiting for me"

-o-

A figure looms under the light. It's curled in the ground, not even using the chair. Its clothes were tattered, enough to only cover his private parts, and his body looked terribly wrong, hunched. It twitched from time to time. Its eyes looked a bit bulbous and it barely had hair.

"What happened to him?" Arceus looks toward the side where Palkia, Dialga and Giratina sat.

Palkia was the first to speak "It… it was hard to find him considering what happened"

"Time and space broke in that timeline, so we had to get Giratina to look in among the darkness, the in-between worlds" Dialga was the next to speak, eyeing the thing.

"When I arrived, the darkness… the darkness can rot normal legends. It is not a place meant for humans…"

"What happened?" Arceus seems impatient.

"The world ate his sanity and deteriorated his body and soul" Giratina concludes with a sigh.

The creature lifts his head and the barely recognizable face of Ash Ketchum stared at the legends "I'm… gonna… be… A… POKEMON… MASTER!"

"So… we dispose of the thing?"

Arceus sighs in frustration… "Dispose of the Gollum rip-off"

"Can I keep it as a pet?" Giratina looks hopeful at the prospect.

"Sure"

And so, Unova-Ash was condemned to being a pet to Giratina…

-o-

"It's funny that you get bold lettering while I don't" Mew looks up to Arceus, a silly smile on her face "I'm a Mythical Pokemon as well!"

Arceus looks at Mew and sighs "Next"

-o-

Celebi looks up to Arceus with puppy eyes…

"Next"

-o-

"I've been with Ash so long that I know that he can't be that unlucky. No one has to be like that I think…" Brock looks up to Arceus, his narrowed eyes conveying some of the determination to help his friend.

"The choice is in your hands, it always was"

"Maybe, but considering everything Ash has done, some leeway must be given!"

"Wasn't this enough chance?"

-o-

Darkrai glares at Arceus, not wanting to give an opening for the origin Pokemon to take "I'm not regretting a thing"

"You knew the consequences"

"I didn't"

"You could have taken a guess"

"I didn't know about Macroverse or anything related!" Darkrai's glare intensifies at that "You hid many things from us, Arceus"

"I hid nothing you should know about"

"Being part of a pair of balanced universes is a big thing for us legends and myths to not know" Darkrai crosses his ethereal arms "I could have better traits in another world and I don't because I have to balance my better half"

"As a Darkrai you had to business doing this"

"You mean to tell me other know!?"

"Those relating to space, time, dimensions… they would have perceived it on their own eventually"

"I don't like it… this status quo"

"What would you do to break the status quo, Darkrai?"

-o-

Kalos-Ash takes a seat on the chair and looks up to see Arceus "So… what will it be?"

"You know the answer"

It was true, Ash knew very well…

-Flashback-

Both Charizard and Regigigas tried to stand, struggling as if they would fall if they stopped pushing. As Regigigas had to perceivable trait that gave away its state, it was a hard read. But Charizard looked pained, eyes glazed as if they would roll around into unconsciousness any second.

Their respective trainers couldn't breathe as they watched the Pokemon try to stand.

The referee manages to get a stand point close enough to both to determine who the winner will be.

Charizard glares at Regigigas, but respect is clear in his eyes as well. He really wanted to win… He fell to the ground unconscious and the ground shook with small tremors…

In front of him Regigigas also fell, at the same time as Charizard, completely unconscious.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle! The winner will be determined by who was the last to fall to the ground" The Referee announces for everyone to hear "Please replay the feed on both Pokemon in slow motion!"

The giant screen that usually shows the trainer's teams, fades to black as a new video starts. A split screen that shows the very moment that both Pokemon fall in slow motion…

It's for a millisecond, but the winner is clear for everyone to see…

Regigigas fell later than Charizard…

"The winner is Regigigas! And so victory goes to Tobias!"

The world seemed to go silent…

-Flashback End-

Ash chuckles mirthlessly at that "Yeah, I know… but I want to know how"

"In truth, I'll simply vanish you with Judgment"

"That sounds painful" Ash sighs in surprising calm considering the situation "I guess we battled… we had our fun. I won't be able to be a Pokemon Master…"

"…Do you know what being a Pokemon Master entails?"

"Honestly… with how long I've travelled… how much I've seen. I really don't know" Ash looks sheepish at that "I guess I'm too afraid to think of something"

"Being a Pokemon Master is not about catching them all and certainly not about defeating your so called Champions and Elite Trainers. Neither it is about knowledge, because everyone can know things others don't" Arceus decides to give this Ash the answer about his apparent journey "It's about understanding. Relating with Pokemon means that you can actually understand them. And with understanding comes enlightening. Bonds ties humans to Pokemon and makes both of them develop beyond what they could have been"

Ash looks surprised by this piece of information "I-I… I don't know what to say"

"Your bond with your Greninja or your Infernape show just how much you can push a Pokemon towards its potential as much as they did for you" Arceus closes his eyes and looks to the pitch back sky "In truth… you might be one of the few humans who got close to achieving that title, a Pokemon Master…"

Suddenly more lights appear around them, all the Ash sitting under them… All of them having heard the last part. Kalos-Ash looks towards Alola-Ash who, despite the situation has a big grin on his face.

"It's not the journey, but what you do in it" Alola-Ash's smile seems to grow "And I really enjoyed our journey!"

The other Ashes look at their Alolan counterpart and can't help but smile as well.

"You're right…" Hoenn-Ash smiles as well, tears glistening in his eyes "We met many Pokemon that changed our lives…"

"Many friends that I'll remember forever" OS-Ash smiles thinking of Brock and Misty.

Kalos-Ash grins as well, thinking of the many friendships he had "That we helped and they helped us in return…"

Sinnoh-Ash nods his head "No matter if we won or we lost… everyone had our backs and…"

"Our Pokemon grew for that!"

"You certainly did" Arceus looks over the congregated trainers "Brock Harrison and Samuel Oak have been returned to their own timelines… those timelines were fixed to what they were before, placing copies of yourselves. As for you five… I'll be erasing from existence"

"It was the battle of my life" Kalos-Ash looks up to Arceus a smile on his face "I don't think I'll regret anything… even the consequences"

"Your last words were given and I'll make this decision effective now…" Arceus wheel starts shining, its spikes extending to the sides "Farewell, Ash Ketchum… time will let us meet again"

With that said, the light on Arceus' wheel coalesces into an orange ball above him. The ball shots to the sky where it splits in five beams that impact on each Ash.

"Judgment"

All of them had smiles on their faces…

As soon as it fell, it was gone, leaving five floating balls of energy in their place.

"It's done" Arceus looks down to see Darkrai, Mew and Celebi "Mew and Celebi… you both go to the Hall of Origins"

Both Pokemon practically vanished off the void, not intent on disobeying Arceus twice in a day. That left Darkrai next to Arceus, who visibly let the frustration show on his face.

"It had to be done"

Darkrai looks up to the Alpha Pokemon and shakes his head "You know it's unfair"

"It had to be done"

Both Pokemon turn around to see another Arceus trotting towards them. Arceus relaxes seeing who it was "Sister"

"Brother" The other Arceus greets her brother "I can already feel the balance returning to my Macroverse"

"At the cost of our own" Darkrai mutters, glaring at the newly arrived Pokemon "It's easy to say it like that I guess"

"I suppose this one caused everything" the female Arceus looks at the Pitch Black Pokemon with disdain "I trust he'll be dealt with"

"He is going to be dealt with, at least he was until you arrived, Sister"

"I see" The Pokemon turns around and creates a new portal "I'll be off then… I'll see you soon, Brother"

With that Arceus' sister left, leaving them alone.

Darkrai shakes his head and looks up to Arceus "I see why not many know of her"

"She's my sister" Arceus looks at Darkrai warningly "Shall we continue as agreed"

"Yeah, yeah… don't want to live thinking all I did was for nothing"

"You'll be changing greatly this universe, but it'll be balanced with what you're going to do"

"I know" Darkrai mutters irritably "Just get over with it"

"The extinction of a species… is truly something I don't condone to" Arceus shakes his head "Specially a child of mine"

"It's for something that is right"

"That it might be… but it still is a selfless action… strange coming from you"

Darkrai didn't deign it necessary to reply to that, so he simply stepped up and crossed his arms "Do it"

"Judgment"

Just like that Darkrai vanishes completely, nothing left behind.

With that done, Arceus moves onto the energy left by the Ashes and starts manipulating it. The energy balls merge together, pieces of soul meshed as one.

The bigger energy ball formed by its union starts taking shape of a young boy who looked exactly like…

"Ash Ketchum… you'll be known as Prime-Ash… the sacrifice of Darkrai allowed me to do this little thing for you… you destroyed each and every expectation I had of you… now all your efforts will bear fruit"

The world shifts around, pitch black turning into a cityscape. The streets forms as buildings rise from the ground. People start sprouting around, as if phasing into existence. A building in particular comes into existence…

An idea is created…

-o-

Daiki Tomiyasu (Pokemon Anime Director) looked over at the staff of the Pokemon anime with narrowed eyes "So your plan for Satoshi (Ash) is to go to Galar a year after Alola, having grown up since, catch Pokemon, have Hop, Mary (Marnie), Beet (Bede) and Kibana (Raihan) as rivals, challenge the Gym Leaders travelling with Sonia, who travels to become a Pokemon Professor and develops a crush on Ash forming a triangle with Dande (Leon), and Makuwa (Gordie) who seeks to become a rock type Gym Leader despite his mother's wishes… is that correct?"

Aya Matsui (Pokemon Head Writer) looks at Daiki with a smile "That's not all, Satoshi's Pokemon team in Galar will consist of a rotating group with his old Pokemon and new ones"

"Oh, that sounds interesting"

"His Pokemon will be Hibanny (Scorbunny) that will evolve all the way to Aceburn (Cinderace), a Kajicchu (Applin) that will evolve into an Appryu (Flapple), Sonia's Wanpachi (Yamper) which will be traded due to its battle tendencies, a Beroba (Impidimp) that will evolve into Ohlonge (Grimmsnarl), a Barrierd (Mr. Mime) that will evolve into Barrikohru (Mr. Rime) and a Dakuma (Kubfu) that will evolve into a Wulaosu (Urshifu), the water and fighting type one"

"That will team will please fans"

"Also many of his Pokemon will evolve as well" Aya looks excited at this part "His Fukamaru (Gible) will evolve into a Gabite, his Bayleef will evolve into Meganium"

"What else?"

"There will be cameos of some past characters, mainly Serena who will butt head with Sonia for Ash's heart, who will remain oblivious, obviously. Also Gary will make an appearance to cheer up Ash in a down moment after losing his Gym battle against Raihan. Brock and Misty will appear again as well. And during the whole Isle of Armor arc where Dakuma evolves, Takuto (Tobias) will return to help Ash with its evolution. After that Wulaosu will battle Takuto's Darkrai closing the arc" Aya picks up a paper and hands it to Daiki "Finally, after winning the Pokemon League, battling Dande and losing barely, he'll meet his father and battle him, winning by a hair. He'll end up with a kid who'll have his hair and traits to leave everyone guessing who her mother is. After that, Satoshi will retire leaving way for new characters to shine and a possible Pokemon Special (Adventures) Anime adaptation"

The director looks at the paper, which had basically what Aya said. He only had to sign it and it would be done… probably the best series ever…

And right then, as if possessed, Daiki shakes his head "No, we'll do a series where Satoshi travels around as a Pokemon researcher with a friend called Go, who will want to catch Mew. Ash won't be reset and he will participate in the Pokemon World Championships (World Coronation Series). And make as many references as possible of past seasons"

Aya looks horrified by that "But that doesn't make sense with the character! And all the time I spent diagramming the new series! I had even a name for it "Pokemon Hello World!" isn't it cool?"

"No…" Daiki stands up roughly, scaring Aya a bit "We'll make the series fans wanted! Give him a '600 club' (pseudo-legendary) from the get go! Give him a Riolu!"

"But that breaks tradition of only new gen Pokemon!"

"Also Ash's rival will be a Champion!"

"We can't do that sir!"

"He won't have a female companion as well!"

"But-but what about the merchandising!? We won't sell enough if there is no waifu material!" Now Aya looked terrified.

"We will! It's the start of a new Journey!"

"Can I at least name the series…?"

"No!" Daiki turns around as he walks out of the conference room "It will be called Pocket Monsters!"

"And for the English version!?"

The man turns around and smiles at her "Pokemon Journeys!"

Chapter 29: The End of the Journey…

…Is the beginning of a new one!

Ash looks up to the sky, feeling as if something just happened…

"Everything alright, Ash?"

The Pallet Town trainer turns to look at Go, his friend and fellow Research… fellow. Yeah that didn't sound so good… "Yeah I'm fine… just felt something"

"Lu"

Ash looks down to see Riolu, who also seemed to feel something "I'm not crazy then!"

"You're forgetting your lunch!"

"Yampa!"

Ash and Go turn to see Chloe running at them, lunch boxes on her hand. Ash takes his with a smile "Thanks Chloe! I didn't even see it!"

"I made an effort with those!"

"Sorry!"

Go takes his and smiles at his childhood friend "Thanks Chloe… why don't you come with us? Galar is a really great place!"

"Pika!"

"Even Pikachu agrees!" Go turns to his friend, hopeful of her accepting.

Chloe meanwhile shakes her head "I can't, I've got homework to do for school… you two really" Here she pouts at them "Skipping school! You should be at school, not travelling around the world!"

"Oi I already graduated!" Ash here looks at the camera and winks "Well, your loss! We were going to watch a Master Class battle!"

"That sounds interesting…" Chloe mutters sarcastically "Have fun!"

"We will!"

Both trainers leave the Cerise Laboratory and head towards the airport "I'm so excited to see this battle!"

"So I am!" Go pulls out his Rotom Phone "But I want to try catching as many Pokemon as I can while there!"

"That's so like you!" Ash laughs heartily "I want to see how Leon battles! Maybe catch a new Pokemon as well!"

With that, both trainers run towards their destiny, where their Journey will continue…

-The End-

So… is it safe to say that I'll get flamed by this ending? Maybe.

So what the hell happened here?

Easy, Ash lost and in a very Evangelion like interview he's interrogated about the happenings of this story. Even Unova-Ash makes an appearance, even if he's a Gollum like creature (wink-wink total drama fans).

Brock and Oak are saved due to not really doing anything more than stay at the void. The Ashes in essence, die. But Darkrai being erased completely tilted the balance of the Macroverse towards the Game verse, leaving Arceus the chance to create an Ash synthetized from all his versions.

Ash from Pokemon (2019) or Journeys, now known as Prime-Ash, the best Ash.

Does that make sense? No, I don't think so. But it's the ending this thing has. I like it though.

People asked me about using PM2019-Ash but I didn't really reply because it was my intention that in the end, the Pokemon Journeys Timeline would be created due to all the Ashes' actions.

So in a sense, can Pokemon Journeys exist due to this fanfic…? In the multiverse maybe.

-o-

So that's all folks! I enjoyed this journey (No pun intended) as I initially started this for fun, really it's very crack-ish at the beginning, but it somehow turned into something serious. I didn't think I would get this far, I mean I have a problem with finishing things, not only in fanfiction, but in life, so I'm proud of getting here and long last!

I can see that the battle scenes are quite better than when I started, I attribute that to how much I wrote and rewrote the battles until I liked it (standards of each time). Very few times I posted chapters I was not comfortable with, but somehow you people liked it, so I write it down to me being insecure.

I have to ask you people! Did you ever see a more wacky idea than this one? Don't look at the execution, because it may leave much to be desired, but the idea of different Ash with different teams re-doing the leagues battles where he lost is certainly original. At least I think so. I would like for people to give it a hand at new and fresh ideas, the fandom needs it. Kanto redo are overused and tiring. I mean, how many times you can read Ash's origin that it gets boring? Yeah nowadays I mostly skim over origin stories (no matter if Ash has aura, different partner or whatever). It's vexing that many cool stories that don't start there don't finish them, and that makes it all the more sad I think.

-STATS OF THE STORY AT ITS END-

Twenty-nine chapters, 80.000 words (most of it reviews), 244 reviews, 242 favs, 259 follows and 82.000 views. This is my longest and most successful story as of July 4th of 2020 (The shittiest year I've had). So this is not only a milestone, but a good thing in a bad year, really.

Thanks for your patience with this, many of you I kept waiting for close to four years for a story that's not that long really. But well, this story now joins a very exclusive club, the Pokemon Finished Fanfics club. It's not nearly as populated as it should, really. But this is the end. I hope you guys liked this story and if you didn't then please you have the review section for that.

As there won't be any new chapters, I won't reply to the reviews of the last two chapters, but I'll do by PM. So those who are guests and want to talk to me or simply get a reply to a review, I suggest you create an account (It's not even that difficult, unlike Ao3). (I'm talking to youdude)

For the future, I have a few ideas in mind. One of them is a new take on Alola that I'm working on for close to a year now. I have twenty chapters written, but I want to have more in case I go on full writer's block. Also I have a One Piece Movie-like fic in mind and a Harry Potter series that diverges at the end of OotP. Also a Bleach/Star Wars three-shot. Also a Naruto/Pokemon fic. Also a Digimon crossover fic.

But first I need to finish my Digimon/Bleach crossover, which I invite you to read. Also I invite you to read the Pokemon one-shot I made. Also I have to finish my Silent Hill/Bleach fic…

Too much Bleach no? It's the hype for Burn the Witch and Bleach 2021 :s

I also have a Naruto/Dissidia crossover… but who's counting projects that I don't release?

Anyway you're free to tell me which are you most interested in and I may consider rushing their process.

That's all people, see you later!