Ash: Changing Times

AN: Been a while since I made a Pokémon challenge, eh? I accredit this idea to two of my favorite Pokémon story authors, Dragonsrule18 and Saphroneth, whose own works inspired me to make this challenge. This story takes a new spin on the idea of Ash being able to change into Pokémon. Most stories have Ash secretly being a Pokémon all along like Mew or Zorua, while others have Ash kidnapped by a criminal organization like Team Rocket or something and experimented on. My idea goes like this:

When Ash was six, he got into an accident that would leave him paralyzed from the neck down, but the doctors offer Delia an alternative. The science department has been working on an experimental procedure where they inject Ditto cells into a human and the cells transform to take the place of the damaged cells, healing the subject (like stem cell research but with Ditto cells instead). Reluctantly , the mother agrees.

Months later, Ash is released from the hospital when he discoveres that he can now understand Pokémon thanks to the cells. Later on, Ash plays with some Butterfree and wishes he could fly with them. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Ash transforms into Butterfree! By injecting Ditto cells into Ash, he becomes a human with the move Transform!

During his Pokémon journey later on, he tries to keep his abilities on the down low to avoid unwanted attention save for his travel companions. Ash uses his abilities to help train his Pokémon and to better bond with them, making his way to become the best Pokémon Master!

This challenge is more based on the anime, and as such I would like to keep certain elements the same such as having the same traveling companions and enemies as well as the same Pokémon though he can have more and a closer relationship with them all. Naturally, Ash's team will be a lot stronger since he'll be able to help them train in unique ways and be able to talk to them as equals. Now, Ash won't be all powerful like being able to Transform into Latios and one-shot MewTwo or something. Like with Ditto in the games, Ash's strength will needed to be worked on over time and will increase with training, like say when he starts his journey he'll be at level 10 and by Unova he'll be level 50 or something. Further details can be discussed when this story is adopted.

Just as a reminder, this story is up for adoption, so unless that happens it will stay in limbo forever. Please make sure that doesn't happen and ADOPT! In the meantime, enjoy the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

A young mother sat in the hospital waiting room, anxiously turning the hat she held in her hands as she waited for news either good or bad. After hours of waiting, a nurse finally came into the room and gained the woman's attention.

"Mrs. Ketchum, the doctor will see you now," she gently told the mother and led her to the doctor's office.

She was greeted by Dr. Pine, who asked her to take a seat across from his desk that had an open file placed on it, it's contents spread out. After the woman was seated, the Pine cleared his throat, "Now, Mrs-"

"Is Ash going to be alright?" she blurted out frantically. Normally she was a much more composed individual, however the last several hours had successfully broken down any barriers she had in place.

Pine didn't look overly annoyed at the interruption and merely took his glasses off to polish them on a handkerchief before placing them back onto his face. "Mrs. Ketchum," he said in an even voice, "your son has received several injuries across his body from the accident. Most of the damage is superficial and will heal easily enough with time and the proper care. That being said, however, the point of concern is the damage done to his spine."

With that, the doctor held up one of the papers from the file on his desk and Delia saw it was an X-Ray of a human skeleton, presumably Ash's. "As you can see," he pointed to the spinal area, where two of the upper most vertebrae were misaligned, and continued, "the first and second cervical vertebrae were knocked out of place. While we can realign them...I'm sorry Mrs. Ketchum, but when Ash recovers, he won't be able to feel anything from the neck down."

Delia felt the world drop out beneath her at these words. She barely paid attention as the doctor carried on, thinking on everything that had happened. While she was relieved that her precious baby boy was going to live, the world he would enter was neither kind nor merciful. And what was worse, as a quadriplegic Ash would never be able to live his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master. She just knew that it would break Ash's heart to hear that, and that itself stabbed her deeper than any knife would. She still couldn't believe the chain of events that led to this moment. The previous day, Ash had asked her to go to the town fair that had arrived in Pallet Town. Naturally she agreed, as the chores had been taken care of thanks in part to her new Pokémon, Mr. Mime. The mother and six year old boy had spent most of the day having fun at the fair, doing things like playing games (Ash had won her a plush Bulbasaur at he PokéBall toss), eating treats like cotton candy, riding the rides, and admiring the Pokémon brought from far and wide.

Near the end of their stay, Ash had seen a Ponyta ride, where the children were placed on fireproof saddles and taken around the premise of the park. Ash had gone on, however halfway through a Rattata had darted out of the grass to get to the fair's garbage cans. The sudden movement spooked the Ponyta Ash had been riding, causing it to jerk to a stop. The sudden movement was too fast for the ride attendant to react, and wasn't able to stop Ash from being thrown from the saddle. She had been told that Ash roughly landed on the ground and that he had apparently smacked his head against a passing Geodude. Delia had been at the starting point at the time, but as soon as she saw people and Pokémon rushing towards the path in a panic, she had sprinted to her baby's side like a Houndoom. While she understood it was all an accident, it didn't make the situation any easier. After all, her Ash, barely six years old, had had his entire life flipped upside down all in the span of a few seconds.

Pine saw the mother's distress and mentally cursed this part of the job. It was particularly difficult breaking the news to mothers about anything happening to their children. A large part of him wished there was something he could do!

…

…

Wait, maybe...no, it'd be too risky. However...but the danger...No. Delia needed to be informed of the option, where she would make the final decision.

"Mrs. Ketchum," Pine called out to gain Delia's attention. "There may be another solution."

"What is it?" she asked in a similar tone to when she had asked if her son was okay.

Taking out a key, Pine unlocked a safe hidden into the floor under his desk. From the safe he pulled a case and from the case he pulled a test tube. This test tube was filled with a pink substance neither solid or liquid and seemed to be moving on its own. "This," Pine declared as he held up the tube so Delia could see its contents clearly, "is a sample of cells taken from a Ditto. It has been noted in the medical community that a Ditto's cells are blank, most likely due to their transforming abilities. The theory is that, if implanted into another living being, the blank cells will essentially prompt the formation of healthy cells to replace the damaged ones. Eventually, the injury will be healed and the patient is expected to make a full recovery.

"However," he continued, "this procedure is highly experimental. It hasn't even left the labs yet as we haven't discovered if it works or if there are any potential side-effects. If you are willing to sign a consent form, however, I believe I can pull some strings to have Ash be the first human test subject to this procedure. The choice is entirely up to you."

Delia sat for what felt like an eternity, pondering her options. On the one hand, a potential cure for her son's paralysis was sitting not three feet from her. On the other hand, the risks of doing an untested procedure can be life threatening. The two sides of her maternal instincts were at war with each other, when she heard Ash's voice in her mind. Back before he got on that fateful Ponyta ride, she had asked him if he was sure he'd be okay with it. His response was, "Don't worry Mom! If I wanna be a Pokémon Master someday, I gotta be ready to take risks!"

'That's just like Ash,' the Ketchum matriarch thought fondly, 'ready to jump into anything with little worry about the danger. If he had the choice, there's no doubt in my mind he'd accept without a second thought. And if he ever learns that I passed up a chance at healing him just because of the risk...'

Determination renewed, Delia looked Dr. Pine in the eye and said with no hesitation, "I accept your proposal."

And like that, the future of Ash Ketchum was changed forever.

Three Weeks Later…

Ash was lying on his hospital bed with various wires and tubes hooked up to him. While he still couldn't fully move anything below his neck, the entire area felt like pins and needles. According to the doctor, him feeling anything at all was a good sign for the procedure he underwent. Throughout several hours of the day, the six year old would undergo a whole battery of tests to see if there has been any progress with his condition or any potential side-effects. So far, the doctors seemed pleased with the results. Dr. Pine especially thought that with Ash's current rate of progress, he'd be able to leave the hospital in only a few more months, and have a full recovery by the end of the year. In the meantime though…

'I'm bored,' Ash thought glumly as he stared at the blank ceiling. Being literally confined to your bed 24/7 wasn't exactly an exciting experience. What's worse was, until he could move his body, there was little he could do himself to alleviate the boredom without the help of a nurse or his mother.

As luck would have it, one of the nurses chose that moment to walk in with a Chansey following close behind. While the pink egg-shaped Pokémon were more often seen in Pokémon Centers, some hospitals also hired them to help with the workload, especially children's hospitals like this one.

The nurse smiled kindly at him as she went over his charts. "Well look who's up! How's our brave little trooper doing today?" she asked as she pulled out a thermometer and started taking his temperature.

As soon as the thermometer left his mouth, Ash said, "I still feel all prickly."

The nurse hummed as she wrote something down on his chart. "Well, like the doctor said any feeling is better than no feeling. So if feeling like a Cacturne means that your getting better, then you better hold on for the long haul."

"Cacturne?" Ash questioned, never hearing that word before.

The nurse blinked before gently bopping her head with a grin. "Oops, forgot you've been in Kanto your whole life. Well, a Cacturne is a Pokémon from the Hoenn region. It looks like a mix between a cactus and a scarecrow."

Ash's eyes seemed to sparkle at that. "You've been to Hoenn?!" he asked excitedly, having heard of the other regions but never being to any outside his own.

The nurse laughed at that and proudly pointed to herself with a thumb. "Sure have! When I was training to be a nurse, I traveled close to all the regions out there for my studies. While I mainly focused on medicine, I was able to learn quite a bit about each region and their Pokémon." She then gave an thoughtful look before smiling. "Tell you what, little man; I'll tell you what I know about the other regions and you promise to behave yourself while I'm doing all these tests. Deal?"

"Deal!" Ash readily agreed. It would be a great break from the boredom and it's not like he could cause much trouble as he was now anyway.

So the tests went by with the nurse explaining each region and how they are similar and different from each other, as well as some of the Pokémon located in each region. Ash, meanwhile, listened in rapt attention as he absorb all he was being told like a sponge. As the two humans interacted, the Chansey went about the room and tidied up. At one point, the Egg Pokémon started working on the bed sheets on Ash when something amazing happened.

As the pink Pokémon went to get his pillows, Ash heard, "Chansey, Cha-move your head, dear."

Ash was startled by that and ask aloud, "What?"

"I said that while the Orange Islands are great in the Summer, you better pack a rain jacket in the Spring," the nurse stated, thinking the boy was taking to her.

Bewildered, Ash said, "Sorry, but I thought I heard your Chansey say something."

"Probably just saying her species name like all Pokémon do," the nurse shrugged as she went over her charts again.

"No, I mean I understood what she was saying like a person," Ash clarified.

Both nurse and Pokémon exchanged worried looks as the nurse took out an ear scope and said, "Maybe we should check your hearing next."

"Maybe he has a bit of tinnitus?" Chansey asked aloud as she emptied the waste basket in the room.

"There!" Ash cried out, "I heard it again! She asked if I had tinnitus...whatever that is?"

The nurse turned towards the Chansey and gave a questioning look, to which the pink Pokémon gave a shocked nod in response. The nurse in turn started running a few more tests on the boy, mainly focused on his hearing. After a while, the nurse called the doctor in and they talked in hushed voices. The doctor then turned to Ash with an encouraging smile as he brought out a tape recorder from his pocket.

"Ash, could you tell me what each of these voices are saying?" he asked the boy as he pressed the play button on the recorder.

The young Ketchum nodded before reciting what was being said word for word. By the time the recording ended, the doctor had a look of deep contemplation on his face. "What's wrong, Dr. Pine?" Ash asked in worry.

Pine gave the boy a pensive look as he explained, "You see Ash, those weren't people talking. Those were recordings of different Pokémon sounds."

"What does that mean?" Ash wondered nervously.

The doctor gave a thoughtful hum as he eventually said, "Well, this is just a theory mind you, but I think that the Ditto DNA we used in your surgery may have affected your brain to an extent."

Noticing Ash's frightened look (as even at age six, Ash knew that ANYTHING messing with your brain wasn't a good sign), the doctor quickly comforted the boy. "Now don't you worry about a thing, Ash. If any of the tests we have run are any sign, you are as healthy as a Tauros the minute your spine finishes healing. We'll just keep an eye on things and you'll tell us if anything else happens, all right?" Ash gave a hesitant nod as the doctor then smiled at him, "Think of it this way Ash; you have an ability few people can compete with and actually understand what Pokémon say word for word! I remember someone saying that they wanted to be a Pokémon Master? Well this will definitely help with that goal!"

Ash smiled as well at that and began thinking of all the cool things he'd be able to do with his newfound ability. Pine meanwhile left the room and told the other staff to keep an eye on Ash to see if any more developments occur. In the meantime, he was going to have the fun task of calling Mrs. Ketchum.

Six months later…

"Hey, wait up guys!" Ash laughed as he chased after a trio of Pidgey.

It has been three months since he had been released from the hospital, and one month since he was given the all clear to do any kind of 'strenuous activity', which Ash translated as doing anything fun. While he was still expected to make bi-monthly checkups to see if his situation had changed at all, for the most part he was free to do whatever he desired. One of the big things the aspiring Pokémon trainer wanted to do was go out and explore his wonderful new ability to understand Pokémon. Of course, when Delia had first found out that there was some side-effects from Ash's procedure she was, to put it mildly, upset (some say that her yelling at the doctor was heard all the way in Unova). However, after learning that there hadn't been any negative consequences to Ash's health and that he enjoyed his new ability, the worried mother backed up a decent amount.

"You better keep up, Ash!" one of the Pidgey chirped.

"Last one to the tree is a lazy Slowpoke!" a second added.

"So...basically a regular Slowpoke?" the third one asked teasingly.

That got a chorus of laughter from the four friends as they raced to a tree at the furthest end of Professor Oak's Pokémon Ranch. The three bird Pokémon naturally arrived first, with Ash arriving soon after out of breath but smiling widely. Ash plopped down at the base of the tree while the trio landed gracefully on one of the overhanging branches. Reaching into his pocket, Ash pulled out several berries that he began to snack on, occasionally tossing one up into the air for his Pidgey friends to enjoy. He always made sure to throw them close to their intended target, least they'd get confused on whom it was for.

Ash found out through his new Pokémon friends that apparently, most wild Pokémon don't have names of their own, only distinguishing each other through sound and smell. Apparently, Pokémon don't put much stock in names as humans, though they do accept any nicknames their trainers give them if caught (though it is a major fear of receiving a horrid name like Fluffy or Spot). Which was good for them but difficult for humans like Ash to differentiate in a conversation. Ash was still learning the ins and outs of Pokémon and what they talk about, however he was sure to report all his findings to Professor Oak, who was one of the few people the Ketchums told of Ash's new ability. Needless to say, the Pokémon Professor was most intrigued by this development and had Ash down at the lab frequently to ask him questions which Ash eagerly answered on the condition he could play with the Pokémon there.

The friends chatted until the sun got close to setting, where the Pidgey had to go back to their roost for dinner time with the rest of the ranch's Pokémon. As he waved goodbye to his bird friends, Ash leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes while letting his young mind wander.

'I wonder what it's like, being able to fly like that?' he wondered. While Ash considered himself lucky to walk at this time, there was that small voice of childish curiosity to ask questions like that. Ash could just picture himself as a Pidgey, flying through the sky with few worries. The wind rustling through his feathers, his Keen Eye being able to spot every last detail on the ground. So engrossed in his musings that the young Ketchum didn't even notice his body starting to emit a golden glow. He did notice, however, the tingling feeling his body was experiencing, but brushed it off as just sitting for too long. He sat like this for several minutes daydreaming before realizing he'd have to go home himself.

The trainer to be got up and began walking, only to stumble over himself on the first step.

"Huh? Are my shoe laces untiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEK!" Ash trailed off with a scream of terror as he looked down to check on his shoes, only to find his feet had changed!

No longer were they normal (if somewhat short) human legs, but the taloned feet of a Pidgey! Going to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, Ash was shocked to no longer feel his fingers and instead found his arms replaced by feathered wings. Placing said wings to his face, Ash found out that his mouth had also changed to that of a beak. The human turned Pokémon gave a distressed cry as he found himself as a Pidgey! Stumbling over unfamiliar legs, Ash made his way over to Professor Oak's lab in a panic, hoping that man could either tell him what was going on or wake him up from this nightmare.

Later

"How in the world did this happen!" Delia all but shrieked at Samuel Oak, the man holding his hands in front of himself defensively in case the woman decided to get violent.

"Delia, please calm down!" he pleaded.

"Calm down?! MY SON TURNED INTO A POKEMON AND YOU'RE ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN?!" she roared as she gestured to the examination room which Ash was resting in.

After having practically dragging himself back to the lab, the transformed human had nearly run into the sliding glass doors and proceeded to beat on them with his new wings while crying out for help. Samuel came running, and was shocked to discover a Pidgey talking in Ash Ketchum's voice. At first he thought it was some sort of joke, that Ash was practicing ventriloquism or had a speaker planted on the Pokémon or something, but dismissed this idea when the Pidgey latched onto his pant leg and began to sob and babble uncontrollably. When he accepted the fact that, yes it was Ash, Sam had quickly taken the boy into his lab and tried to get him to calm down, which he did after nearly an hour of having a hysterical breakdown. The professor tried to get Ash to explain what had happened, only to discover that the former human had no idea. He had taken Ash to the examination room and began running some extensive yet harmless tests on the boy after calling Delia to come down to the lab ASAP, which led to now as the two waited for the test results as Ash rested, exhausted from his ordeal.

"I understand your worry Delia, truly I do. Imagine if this had happened to my own grandson? But panicking isn't going to solve anything. We need to remain strong, for Ash's sake if nothing else," the Pokémon Professor explained calmly.

Delia took a shuddering breath and nodded firmly. If it was for her son, she'd willingly take on an Onyx barehanded. The two waited in anxious silence for a few minutes before the computer they were standing in front of beeped to life as it finished processing Ash's test results. Oak looked over the results with his mind working a mile a minute while Delia stood by nervously. As he reached the end of the results, Oak hummed in contemplation.

"Well, what does it say?" Ash's mother asked worriedly.

"...These test results I would think were for a normal Pidgey except for several oddities. I've never seen readings like this except..." he trailed off.

"Yes?" the elder Ketchum pressed.

Oak looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "It's uncertain, but I think I may have figured out what happens. I need to do one more test to be sure." And without any further explanation, the older adult walked into the examination room with Delia following close behind.

"Mom? Professor Oak?" Ash called out as he was startled from his rest by the sound of the door opening and saw who had entered. Clumsily getting to his taloned feet, Ash asked with worry clear in his voice, "Do you know what's wrong with me?"

Oak smiled gently as he lowered himself to Ash's level on the exam table and said to him, "I think I may know what has happened, but I need you to do exactly as I say. Can you do that for me, Ash?"

A hesitant but determined look entered Ash's eyes as he answered back, "I'll try."

Oak nodded before standing back to his full height and stating, "Now Ash, I want you to picture yourself how you look as a human. Try and think of as many details about yourself that you can remember."

Ash did as he was told, closing his eyes and thinking about how he looked. With the image clear in his mind, Ash felt the tingling from earlier return while Delia gasped as his body took on a golden glow. The light encompassing Ash's body seemed to stretch and grow, taking on a humanoid shape. After a few seconds, the light faded and a human Ash was now sitting on the exam table with his eyes still closed.

"MY BABY!" Delia cried out, wrapping Ash in a hug tighter than an Arbok can squeeze.

After giving the mother and son a moment to celebrate Ash's return to normal, Oak cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Professor, how did you know that would work?" Ash asked.

Oak held up the test results from earlier as he explained, "You see Ash, while going over your test results, one would at first think you were a normal Pokémon, no different from any other Pidgey. However, there were several irregularities I found that I had only seen during one particular instance." With that, his face became serious as he finished, "They are the same irregularities I found while testing a Ditto while it was transformed into a different Pokémon."

Seeing the two gasp in understanding, the professor confirmed their suspicions. "Yes, I hypothesize that the procedure that gave Ash back his ability to walk and allowed him to be able to speak to Pokémon had another unforeseen side-effect. While still technically human, Ash now has the ability to use the move Transform!"

The two Ketchums sat in stunned silence for a minute before Ash finally found his voice and innocently asked, "How...how did you know how I could turn back into a human?"

At this Oak smiled. "Fortunately, I have had several trainers show me their training method when it came to raising Ditto, and their explanation for getting them to use Transform mainly focuses on visualizing the form. The better the image they have, the better they can transform. While Ditto normally only change into their opponents, they can change into Pokémon they have changed into before if they have a clear enough memory on them."

Delia finally managed to get out, "What are we going to do, Sam?"

"Well, first of all I think we all need to get some rest. It's late and this has been a trying day for us all. Then in the morning, we can run some more tests to figure out what all Ash here is capable of. However," at this his face became serious again, "I must advise discretion in light of these events. There is no telling what could happen if the wrong person hears about this. You can stay here in the guest rooms tonight so we can have an early start tomorrow."

The mother and son nodded in understanding, all three of them getting ready for bed with a common thought running through all of their heads:

What will the future hold?

AN2:The entire premise of Ash's injury and accident are based off the real life injuries of actor Christopher Reeve, who broke his spine horseback riding. Additionally, the cure of using Ditto's cells are a homage to the use of stem cell research, which Reeve was an avid supporter of because of the potential benefits it had in regards to spinal cord injuries. And before ANYONE gives me grief over this, I want to say that I am not expressing any of my personal opinions in regards to stem cell research. I am merely using the idea to form the premise for my story. I also ask that no one gets into a flame war on this story over stem cell research. This is fanfiction, so all the writings are done for fun. Don't taint that with hate.