Author's note:

Hello all, and welcome to the rewrite of the story 'Like No Other', the new product of four or five years of improvement upon the writing abilities of my thirteen and fourteen year old self.

A brief note: this story is currently considered a 'gen' fic, and romantic relationships will only be considered once Ash is older and it becomes a part of normal teenage experience- at which point romance will still not become the central feature of the story. Some serious themes will be explored, more so as the story progresses, so please be aware of your own limitations and pay attention to any future warnings for heavier subjects.

I do have a lot of things to say about this, lest of all about the lateness of this post, but instead of putting it first with the expectation that people will stop to read the top authors note rather than skip to the story, I'll put all that at the bottom for when you've finished.

Thank you for your time, and please enjoy.

Begin

Time. Space

Threads woven together to create the world we live in. Together, it's a single, fragile thing. So easily changed, with but a single thought. A single word. It's never certain, destinies changing every moment, at every action.

A promise dances along the strings of time, and the reverberations cascade into the path of a young boy.

"Ah, this is it for me… I've done my part, though. This world will continue for a little while longer. Until the next one arrives- he'll have a hard time of it, so watch over him for me, would you?"

"Mew…"

The world would never be the same again.

This had been decided a long, long time ago.

Age 4 - Early winter

Rest didn't come easy for the young boy. The room's air had the barest chill, warm in comparison to the sharp nip of the winter's night outside. Yet it was still enough to send him burrowing into the warm comforts of his blankets.

His soft whine broke the still air.

He couldn't get warm enough. The night's serenity was drowned out by the low throb in his heavy head, the meagre insulation only barely consoling the aching in his limbs and the shaking that rattled his bones. The moonlight, a soft caress, highlighted the outline of his damp, clammy skin, spilling through the window and onto his bed, to pool on the floor. It turned into a glaring haze before his lidded eyes. The world tilted a little, and he turned his face to into the pillow with a sniffle and a shuddering breath- wishing for his mum but trapped by his body's complaints.

He barely had the will for broken keens and whimpers- pulled from his throat by the waves of nausea sweeping through his body. Any greater movement would turn his stomach sideways.

There was a sound. He froze.

It was like a sharp gust of wind, but softer and lighter, maybe like someone was 'shhhh' combined with letting out a big 'whoosh' of air after holding their breath for a long time.

'Whoooosssshhhhhh!'

He sniffled, a raspy noise with his blocked nose, and tried to focus outside to see what was making the strange sound. He caught a glimpse of distantly twinkling stars before his view was interrupted by a small form. He startled back slightly, shrinking into his blankets. Wide-eyed gaze matched wide-eyed gaze, and the boy saw his own flushed features reflected back in the depths of endless wonder.

"Mew?"

The strange tension broke, and he shivered a little as he remembered the inescapable chill and stiffness in his body. The being before him, cut off from his little world by a frosty pane of glass, tilted their head in concern. They blinked for a moment, looking curiously at the little latch on the inside of the aperture, hovering buoyant in the air for a moment before a soft pink light settled around the contraption.

The two halves of the window swung open with a slight creak, the creature rocking back to avoid being hit. He flinched back at the sting of icy air on his face, and pulled up his wollen shield further.

The little feline- with pointed ears and a whip of a tail extending far from their rounded body- drifted in, much more sedate than the hasty gust of wind. The window shut behind them, slowly with a groan and a squeak, and they settled on their hind quarters to peer at the dazed child. He stretched out a feeble hand towards the being. They tilted their head again, and lifted one of their little front hands and met him palm to palm. He faltered, and they pulled their paw back.

"Mew?"

The same chirped query, but he didn't know what they wanted.

"Mew!"

In a burst of movement, they flew to his shelf and picked up his favourite red ball, dirty from tumbling along the damp ground. They came back to hover in front of him, holding the ball out for him.

He sniffed again and shook his head. They dropped the ball onto the floor and looked around. They tried again, picking up a little book with lots of pictures and only a few words. He shook his head again.

They slumped, floating down onto his bed with all the weight of a feather. He feebly pulled the blankets around him to fight off another shiver, dropping his head onto the pillow in a bout of exhaustion. He peered at the curious pokémon, wondering what they would do now- but the world was starting to dim, and a choking feeling crept up his throat as a little cough shook his chest. His head felt too heavy to keep watching the other, so he gave in to the slight sensation of falling, eyelids slipping shut.

He didn't have the energy to be startled at the feeling of pressure next to his chest. There was the feeling of cotton-candy strands tickling his chin, his arm being lifted slightly to make more room under the blankets.

They were warm. It washed over him, tingling and fizzy like a drink he'd had once, and something tight and stifling in his chest eased.

He drifted off to windchimes.

Age 6 - Mid summer

"Come on, Ash! The sooner we get to the lab, the sooner you can play with the pokémon!"

He scrambled, trying to force the shoe onto his foot faster. He finally managed to pull the velcro straps across the top, before pushing himself to his feet and taking off at his fastest run to the front door.

He looked up at his mum, saw the amused smile there, and knew that today was the day. Everyone in town knew about the famous pokémon Professor, Professor Oak, who lived in the big house with the windmill on top, and the endless fields full of pokémon behind that. But, his mum actually knew him. She was even taking Ash to meet the old professor, and more importantly- she was taking him to play with the pokémon on the ranch.

Ash had never played with pokémon before. He'd seen the wild ones that sometimes got close to the houses, and even got to meet a few that a trainer had showed them at school once, but he'd never been allowed to play with them before.

They walked down the long road from his house to the Professor's, his mum clasping his hand in hers. It anchored him to her sedate pace, and no matter how much he tugged or asked her to hurry up, she just chuckled and told him to be patient.

"The pokémon aren't going anywhere, Ash! We'll be there in a few minutes, okay?"

He pouted. She may as well have said 'it'll take forever'.

"Hey Mum, what pokémon will there be?"

"I don't know, Ash. You'll just have to see when we get there."

"Will I see a battle?"

"Haha! No Ash, probably not. I don't think anyone will be battling today."

He huffed, before looking up to see how far they were from the ranch. To his surprise, it was just there- they stood at the bottom of a sweeping concrete staircase, trees and bushes standing sentry on each side. They'd gotten so close, with the ranch just beyond his reach. Excitement swelled in his chest, and he was seized by the impulse to rush towards his goal. With a jolt, he pulled his hand away from his mum's, charging forward to challenge the step's attempts to hold him back. Behind him, his mother's call was ignored, unnoticed in his desire to finally get to the top. He took off at a stumbling run, feeling the hard thump of his sneakers on the hard ground, the force reverberating through his whole being. His hands became studded with little stones and dirt as he pushed down on the steps the few times he nearly tripped.

He was so focused on getting up the staircase, eyes aimed down so he didn't accidentally miss a step, that he didn't realise when he actually reached the top. He saw the legs a moment before he collided into them, falling back with an 'oomph' from the impact.

"Oh, hello! This is unexpected."

Ash blinked up at the man, after a moment recognising a face he'd only seen on educational videos at school, in a photo frame on the wall at home, and from a distance on one trip to the local market.

"You're the Professor!"

"That I am, young man. And who might you be?" He said, chuckling at the boy's unfazed enthusiasm.

"Ash!"

He turned, and saw his mum reach the top of the stairs behind him. He paused, wondering if he was going to be in trouble for running off like that. He only did it because Mum was going too slow.

"Delia! It's been a while!"

"It has been, hasn't it? It looks like you've just met my son, Ash. Ash, this is my old mentor, Professor Oak. Professor, this is Ash. He's been really looking forward to playing with the pokémon today, haven't you Ash?"

"Uh-huh! It's nice to meet you sir! Can I please go play with the pokémon now?" He said, trying to straighten up and use his manners like his Mum had said. People liked to do things for you more if you asked nicely for it.

"Well, I don't see why not, Ash. How about you and your mum follow me and I'll show you where the pokémon are, okay?" He said with an indulgent smile, before looking to Ash's mum for approval.

"That would be lovely, Professor. Thank you so much for this." She said, beginning to follow the man and her son into the combination of a laboratory and a home. Ash trotted along with little bouncy steps, twisting his head around to look at the room he was in. There was the faintest scent of dust in the air, which still had the clean feeling of the open air outside. He could see more windows open than closed, and countless towers of paper on any available surface.

"My apologies for the mess, I was just sorting through some old records and forgot to clean up in time. If you'd give me a moment, Delia, I'll show Ash outside and then shift some of this to make room for us to sit…" He said, shuffling around some papers as he spoke. Ash poked a nearby stack and squeaked a little as it wobbled slightly.

"Oh, that's fine Professor- I'll give you a hand, if you like. It's been some time since I sorted paperwork, but I'm sure I still know where it all goes."

The old Professor sighed, placing down his small stack. "That would be wonderful, thank you. Now, Ash, why don't you follow me and I'll take you to where the pokémon are?"

"Yes please!" He said, jumping on the spot in excitement.

He was shown to a set of glass sliding doors, so clean he could barely see the glass itself. The door frame seemed more like a picture frame for the mesmerising, rolling landscape beyond. It was luscious and green, leaves tousled by a slight breeze and clear blue reflected on the sparkling surface of rivers and ponds and lakes.

And no matter where he looked, there was some kind of pokémon there. He stood a moment, struck into stillness by the most amazing view he's ever seen, while the elder man stepped forward and slid the door open.

"Okay now Ash, the ranch is divided into several areas, but there's no fences to show that. So I want you to stay close to the lab, but you're free to play with any of the pokémon in this area. None of them will hurt you, but you still have to be nice to them. Alright?"

Ash blinked. The Professor Oak looked down after a moment to see the speechless expression frozen on the boy's face. He chuckled.

"Ah, yes. It's quite amazing, isn't it? It's nice to see that this place hasn't lost any of it's impact after all this time," He placed his hand on the child's shoulder. Ash looked up, still trying to process everything. "Go on, Ash."

Ash looked forward again, and hesitantly stepped through the door. He heard the door slide closed behind him, but he didn't pay any attention to it. There were so many pokémon here, he didn't even know where to start. Even though he could hear a lot of distant calls, the ranch felt oddly quiet. Peaceful. The warmth of the sun had brought even the most reluctant of creatures out to enjoy the day.

He took another step, and started to look around. He couldn't see any pokémon nearby, except a lumbering cream and dark-green giant underneath a tree.

With a bit more confidence, he moved further out from the lab. Closer over to a little pond, he saw three pokémon chasing each other in a game of tag. A little Eevee tapped a purple Nidoran on the side before taking off at a sprint. The poison type shouted off an indignant 'Nido!' before rushing after his assailant. Behind them, a periwinkle blue Nidoran cheered and bounced after the duo. He slowed to a stop a few meters from them, wondering if they'd let him join in. The Eevee, seeing his approach, paused in his dash, watching the boy with a little caution. The two Nidoran halted behind him, nearly crashing into their smaller friend.

"Vuie?"

Ash gulped, taken by a sudden bout of nervousness. "Hi! My name's Ash. Can I play with you?" He said. The words had come out funny and rushed and for a moment he thought they might laugh and run off-

But they don't.

Eevee runs forward and pushes gently at his legs for a moment, before darting off ahead of him. Ash looks after the brown pokémon, unsure, but the normal type pauses, looks back at him, and gestures his head in the direction he's running.

"Eebuie!"

Getting what the other was saying, the brunette breaks into a big, startled grin, laughing in delight and running after his new friend with something greater than even joy singing in his heart. The blue Nidoran, knowing the game, darts around her purple counterpart and joins them, the three running to the full extent of their little legs, hearing the alarmed cry of Nidoran as he realised he was still 'it' and had to chase after them. They just laughed, nothing else on their minds other than enjoying the now, this carefree game on a perfect day.

Age 7 - End of autumn

This was a bad idea.

Professor Oak had warned him two, three, four, times not to go wandering off into the forest by himself, because it backed onto the surrounding hills, and it was wild territory and he could get lost and it was dangerous.

He'd honestly only meant to go into the edges- because he'd checked everywhere else and the Rattata they'd been playing with wasn't hiding anywhere. Ash thought that maybe the little pokémon had snuck under the scratchy bushes that could be found along the outskirts of the forest and once he'd found Rico they could go straight back to the lab and it wouldn't be a problem. He had to go home soon, it was getting late.

At first he just pushed around the leaves to see if Rico was there, but then there was a slight rustle in the bushes a little further in and he thought that he should probably check those, just in case.

Rico wasn't anywhere he looked. It was getting dark.

About to turn around and wade back out of the foliage and to the fields again, his heart leapt into his throat at a sudden flurry of movement behind him. A half-aborted scream escaped him and he blindly bolted ahead, trying to escape whatever monster had decided it was late enough to crawl out of the shadows. Hardly able to see through the chaos of leaves whipping against his arms- brought up to shield his face- the root went unheeded until it snagged onto his foot, turning Ash head-first into the damp, heady soil with a half-roll. He tried to stop his fall, but only felt a sharp jarring sensation shoot up through his arm from his wrist, forcing him to bring the abused limb to his chest as his shoulder took the brunt of the fall.

He groaned, feeling the throb of his poor wrist, and the sting of his knees, and along the side of his legs. The dirt was gritty on his skin and tasted like dead leaves in his mouth. The cool evening air caused goose-bumps to form along his bare arms, and he curled up a little in a pitiful attempt to conserve some of his warmth.

Peeling his eyes open- having been clenched shut almost painfully- he looked up at the sky through the trees and saw that the last of the Sun's light was steadily draining away from the endless expanse. The canopy resembled more of a jagged roof than any individual leaves, and something akin to dread settled heavy in his stomach as he realised he'd taken a long time and hadn't gotten back to the lab yet. His mum was probably frantic with worry.

Turning, he forced himself to his feet, wrist still cradled gingerly to his chest. Looking around, he tried to figure out which direction the lab was in, but to no avail. But, he figured that if he turned around and walked straight back where he came from, he should get out.

He brushed himself off, trying to get some of the dirt off his clothes. Reaching up with his good hand, he ruffled his hair to do the same, but blinked as a small feather drifted down from the mess. He picked it up. It was tan and light brown, both soft and smooth. It reminded him of the pidgey he'd seen perched around town and the ranch, small birds that mostly just pecked around the ground and flew off if you tried to approach them.

Oh, he must have- it must have just been a pidgey that he scared when he was bashing through those bushes before. It probably wanted to get away from him really quickly.

He laughed. Just a pidgey.

Calm again, if a little sore, he carefully turned around so he was facing the exact opposite way, and he started walking in his best straight line. It was a little wonky, because he had to go around a couple of trees, and he had to duck under branches that he barely saw until they hit him in the face, but the direction should be about right.

In the growing darkness, with no light to guide him, there was no way for him to see where he was going. The only way he could tell the sky from the trees was the occasional star if he looked straight up, but as he kept walking even those strangely started disappearing.

After about ten minutes of walking, the bravado he'd summoned began to waver. He'd only gone a little bit into the forest, and it was taking too long to get back out. He must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because obviously this way wasn't getting him home.

He was about to pick a new direction to go when the first rain drop hit.

It was a little spit of a thing, and we wasn't even sure if he'd actually felt it for a moment, but then the next one hit, and then the next one after that, and sure enough like someone was pouring a bucket from above- or had turned on a shower tap to full blast, the clouds above began to fall to the Earth with a mournful hiss. The leaves above hardly spared him, and he felt the sudden sting of icy drops on his shoulders, back, and head. He had to continuously blink to get the water out of his eyes, and suddenly he had to breath through his mouth because he kept breathing in water rather than air through his nose.

He let out a shuddering breath, suddenly wanting to cry. This was all his fault- he knew he shouldn't have gone into the forest but he didn't listen. And now he was lost, and cold, and he could barely feel his arms any more with how much the chill had numbed them.

He'd heard a story, once, of someone who got lost in the wild one winter's night and died because it was so cold. The other boy in his class has looked pretty gleeful at the horrified attention that everyone was giving him, but Ash thought that it didn't seem like such an interesting story anymore. It wasn't winter, but with this rain on such a frosty night it may as well be. His clothes had been soaked within seconds, and there was no sign of the downpour easing its relentless attack.

Maybe he would die from cold, too. He sobbed a little at the thought.

When he'd told his mum about the story, she'd said that as long as he got inside before it got so dark, he wouldn't have to worry about it.

When he told Professor Oak about it, the man said that the best thing to do in that sort of situation was to find any sort of shelter, curl up, and try and rest until morning.

In the dark he could barely tell one shape from another, but he reached out and tried to feel around for something that might keep him safe until the sun rose. His sore wrist protested at the pressure, but it wasn't hurting as bad as it was before, and he needed both hands to feel around properly.

It was hard labour. The rough bark tore at his scraped hands, his body shook violently and he had to force his stiff legs to move as he realised there was nothing helpful in this spot for him.

He struck gold with one particular tree, though, feeling a hollow opening just big enough for him to crawl into. He couldn't feel anything in the hollow, so he give it little more thought and hastily dragged his small aching body into the sanctuary with the desperation of someone who didn't know what death was yet but still clung to life with an instinctual terror.

The hollow was a lot bigger than he initially thought it was, and he could easily curl up in the far side with plenty of room to spare. The blissfully dry enclosure was soiled slightly by the water and mud he dragged into it, but he wouldn't have cared even if it was half-filled with sap and rotting from the inside out. The viciousness of the rain seemed tempered by his enclosure, reduced to an almost benign 'tap tap tap' by the sturdy wooden walls. If he hadn't just been out under the onslaught, struggling to breathe or even move, he might have found himself a little more open to its soothing rhythm.

He shivered again. Even in the relative warmth of his shelter his clothes felt frozen and waterlogged on him, his arms like ice under his equally frozen fingers. Ash tried squeezing out some of the water, thinking that it would probably help him warm up, but he couldn't pull together the dexterity to wring them out properly.

He curled up. He shivered again. Morning was too far away.

All the energy in him drained out, like the light out of the sky earlier. The gnarled inside of the tree didn't really make a good pillow, but it seemed good enough in that moment- and Ash figured that maybe, if he just waited here, he wouldn't die from the cold.

Everything dulled in the background as the numbness pulled him into a light doze.

The rain and wind seemed to whirl around in a distant ebb and flow. The leaves brushed against each other with a hushed whisper and amongst the strange, muted commotion there was the loud echo of a periodic drip, sharp against the consonance.

He drifted off into a sort of murky fog, the sounds of the world blending into a bizarre, whirling refrain.

Occasionally, a note would stick out- little curiosities deviating from the round. There would be a rustle, a chitter, a scrape. They faded in and then back into the darkness again.

Some of the sounds felt close. Resonant in the way the water drop was. Something whispered just beyond his ears and something in the world changed a little bit.

He drifted off again.

He hovered on the edge of sleep, only peripherally aware of his own breaths, hearing when the weather settled but not having the presence of mind to acknowledge it. Ash came into consciousness with the perception of someone who knew they hadn't slept, but had no clear memories of the night. He shifted his leg, trying to stretch out a little bit, but froze when he felt something leaning against him. The world came into sharp focus in the moment he opened his eyes fully, and he absently noted the dim faint spots of light filtering into the hollow, the sap-streaked patterning of the rippled walls, and the lush green foliage that dominated the view outside.

But it was his silent companions that lit something bright in his chest.

(Something like hope and determination and gratitude but nothing less than devotion-)

He counted them.

One little rattata, two pidgey, a spearow.

One caterpie, one weedle, three oddish.

There was a pikachu there, as well as a pokémon that held a resemblance to the electric type but smaller and in pale yellow and pink.

One pokémon that was round, with stubby little wings, and two luminous, intense red eyes.

The hollow had felt perhaps cavernous in the shadow of the night before, but now there was nowhere he could move without disrupting someone. He was half buried underneath the pokémon, most of which he noticed were still asleep. The only one sharing the stillness of the morning with him was the strange bird pokémon, which alternated between staring him down and glancing outside.

Ash shifted, not sure what to do now. He thought that, maybe, he should be frantic, rushing to get home and see his mother and Professor Oak and all his friends at the ranch- because they'd be panicking so much, and the longer he was gone the longer they'd be looking for him- but he was stuck in an alien sense of calmness that just washed away everything else.

He didn't have to wait long for the others to stir.

The little pidgey nestled against his side lifted her head and blinked blearily at the world, taking a few minutes before her eyes opened and she saw that the boy was awake. She crooned slightly.

"Pidge?"

The others began to shake themselves awake, stretching and yawning and shuffling around in the cozy space. Ash watched with a sort of awe as he realised, for the first time, that he didn't feel cold at all. He was still slightly damp, caked in mud, covered in scratches, with more than a few bruises, but curled up here with pokémon tucked in around him like this, he didn't even feel the morning chill.

"You all...helped me?" He said.

The pidgey chirped again, tapping his arm lightly with her beak. After only a moment of hesitation, he gently began to run his fingers through her crest, giggling when she closed her eyes and leaned into it slightly.

After a moment of the caress, she pushed herself onto her talons and spread her wings slightly, giving them a slight flap before resting them back against her sides. Turning to the other pokémon, she began to nudge them towards the hollow opening, clearing the way for the brunette boy to crawl out. The little yellow pokémon grumbled before being shuffled along by the pikachu, while the other three flying types took off for branches just around the tree. The rattata scampered to wait on the ground, and the three oddish jumped out with a cheery progression. The two bug types, already on his shoulders, just seemed to hold onto his shirt a little tighter so they didn't fall off.

The bossy pidgey was the last one to hop out before him, and he pulled himself to sit on the edge of the hollow so he could drop to the ground a short distance below. He wobbled slightly as his feet hit the muddy earth, but he quickly steadied himself against the tree. A slight breeze danced through the area and he rubbed his arms at the sudden cold; the pokémon were no longer shielding him from it and he had to make do without the living blanket.

The rain brought out all new scents from the forest, bringing out the fresh leafy smell of the plants and the cloying richness of peat into the air in a potent, earthy, mix. There was still the light patter of water droplets lazily rolling off leaves every few seconds, and he thought there was a kind of rough beauty to the wind-torn wilderness after the torrent of the night.

The pidgey gave his leg a light peck to draw his attention back to her. When he looked down, she titled her head then pointed off into the bushes with her wing.

"Pidgey? Is that the way back?"

She chirped.

He nodded. Right. He really needed to get home. Even though it was morning now and he was fine, his mum and Professor Oak and all his pokémon friends didn't know that.

When he really started to think about it, his gut started flipping and he realised that his mum was probably really upset right now. He had to get home.

Their rag-tag band began their caper through the undergrowth, either branch-hopping or darting around his feet as he watched where he was going to avoid tripping over anymore roots. They were trying to be careful, but they still made a lot of ruckus as they rushed through bushes and pushed aside branches to get through. Ash had to compete with his stinging cuts and wrist that was somewhere between stiff and aching, but they made decent progress when he first heard the sound of distant voices.

Head jerking up in the direction of the sound, he bashed through the foliage with a little more frenzy, all but throwing himself in the direction of salvation.

"Ash! Ash?"

"Groooouuuwwwww!"

He didn't know who the voice belonged to- it was feminine, like his mum's, but still different, unfamiliar- but they were still looking for him and that was enough for him to break into a mad, stumbling dash towards whoever this person was. The pokémon beside him scrambled to keep up and the two bug types on his shoulders squeaked and held on tighter.

He burst into the clearing just ahead and froze when he saw the stranger. Teal haired, wearing a dark blue uniform with dirt-stained pants and a growlith padding along beside her.

For a moment, neither of them moved, or even blinked, as they stared across at each other. He just stood, surrounded by wild pokémon and looking like fought a tree and lost.

She came back to herself, though, and her jaw dropped.

"Ash, Ash Ketchum?" She said, taking a step forward.

He swallowed, before replying. "Uh, yeah, I'm Ash." He said, still unsure about the woman.

She almost sagged in relief, letting out a great sigh as an unnoticed tension drained out of her shoulders.

"Oh, thank goodness. Everyone was so worried- I'm so glad you're okay. Come on, let's get you back home and you can get cleaned up and have something to eat, how does that sound?" She said, a tired smile on her face.

Ash made to walk forward, because he'd only just realised how hungry he was- there was a gaping hole place of his protesting stomach, he was sure- but then he stopped. He looked around at the new friends he'd made, not sure what they'd do now. The rattata, seeing his look, nudged his leg, before chittering out a goodbye and scampering away. The three oddish, as well as the two yellow pokémon followed in similar fashions; kind farewells before disappearing into the dense plant-life. The weedle and caterpie both gave his chin a small nuzzle before inching down his shoulder, arm, and taking the small leap onto the ground. Aside from the pidgey that had been guiding him, the flying types glided down in turn to perch on his shoulder, preen his hair for a moment, before taking wing and breaking through the canopy (even the funny round one with short wings and frantic, labouring flaps).

When all was said and done, the last pokémon came to a rest on his shoulder, but instead of saying goodbye she settled down and gave his ear a little nip when he had the gall to look confused. Deciding to just accept it, he turned and finally walked up to the lady in blue.

She looked vaguely astonished by the spectacle, but moved on with a respectable amount of grace and amusement.

"You ready to go home, kid?"

He nodded eagerly, almost desperate to have a warm bath and a big breakfast and apologise a hundred times for wandering off where he shouldn't have. He felt like he could sleep forever in his warm, soft bed, but most of all he just wanted to get a hug from his mum. The whole ordeal had worn him down to the bone and whenever he thought about the night before- cold and dark and wet and he couldn't breathe properly and stories of death from the cold- it sent goosebumps down his spine.

The remaining walk back with his escort wasn't so bad. The nice lady had introduced herself as Officer Jenny, and her pokémon Growlith was a joyous ball of energy that wagged her tail when he was allowed to pat her. The forest they had to go through wasn't actually that thick anymore, so the Sun heated their path a little, and it kind of felt nice when Pidgey occasionally ran her beak through his hair. Officer Jenny helped him over any tricky parts and he didn't trip on any more roots. They fell into a calming rhythm where Ash got lost in his thoughts on what he'd do when he got back home.

Mentally sidetracked as he was, the sudden shift from forest to field startled him back to reality. They'd ended up on the edge further from the lab than where he'd been playing the night before, and there was a big hill they had to get over before they'd be back at the household.

They began their trudge up the slope, and if Ash had energy to spare he might have sprinted up it. But instead he had to settle for dragging his feet and climbing it at a painfully slow pace. It took them over five minutes to finally get over the crest, but the sight of his mum at a distance, turning, and seeing him there was worth it.

"ASH!"

She took off at a full sprint towards him, sweeping him up in an exultant, crushing embrace. His lungs creaked and he couldn't breath but it was fine because Ash was trying to squeeze her with all his strength, too. If he just held on like this forever then he wouldn't ever be able to get lost again.

As he was whisked away in a whirlwind of hugs and scoldings and baths and breakfasts and yet more hugs- the little pidgey effortlessly getting drawn into the pandemonium as if she were always there- he finds that he keeps getting distracted by the thoughts of those pokémon lending him their warmth out of nothing but kindness, and the sheer adoration that bloomed whenever they crossed his mind.

He decided, then, that pokémon were probably the most amazing creatures to grace the world with their existence.

Age 8 - Start of spring

Ash moped on the rug of Professor Oak's sitting room. It may have been early spring, but winter still hadn't released its grasp on the weather. Aaron, his eevee friend, rolled over next to him, similarly despondent.

They sighed.

Normally Ash would be more than happy to be at the ranch, and able to play with his friends, but with the miserable weather hanging over everything like a wet blanket, there was no way they could play outside. Dora and Doran the nidorans, as well as Rico, were cozy in one of the many shelters dotted around the ranch, while Cara the pidgey had gone with Mum to deal with business at the Pallet House restaurant, so that left him with Aaron at the lab. Of course, Professor Oak was a really busy man and Ash couldn't bother him for something to do because his work was really important.

The firm flooring hadn't felt too uncomfortable at first- the rug was pretty soft- but it was starting to press against his back now and the feel of the tiles was starting to become prominent through the carpet.

Ash's internal huffing was interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room in with a slight grumble and footsteps heavily tapping on the floor. Ash looked up, not sure who to expect, but he was greeted by the sight of a lanky teen (young adult?) heaving a stack of old books into the room, barely paying attention to where he was going. The teen looked up towards the shelves along the wall, but caught sight of him as he did so.

"Huh? What's a kid doing here?" He said, blinking at the two sprawled forms. "Are you the Prof's grandson or something?"

Ash looked up at him, frowning. Although the teen was wearing a lab coat over his more casual clothes, he'd met all of the assistants around the lab by this point and hadn't seen this one before.

"Who are you?" He said.

The teen's eyebrow twitched. "No way, brat. I asked you first!"

"Yeah, well I was here first!"

"I'm older!"

They both glared at each other, eyes narrowed- Ash had gotten up at some point and was trying to make up for his short stature with the weight of his glower.

The teen leaned back. "Hmph. Whatever. Do you know where the books on habitat variation are? The Prof asked me to move them all."

"Oh- I think they're on that shelf on the right." Ash said, scratching his head.

The teen dropped his armful of books on a side-table with a thump, before walking over to the indicated shelf. Seeing that nothing interesting was happening any more, Ash flopped back down next to Aaron, who hadn't moved at all during the previous squabble. He was still bored.

They sighed.

"Geeze kid, what's your problem?" The lab assistant said, pulling a book off the shelf.

"We're bored."

"Vee."

The teen rolled his eyes.

"If you're so bored, then come and help carry some of these books or something. Then maybe it might only take three trips and not five. When he said 'move the books', I thought he meant three or four, not twenty of the damn things…" He said, grumbling as he started to pull more books off and stack them in his arms.

Ash decided that there were worse things he could do with his time, especially when he had nothing else to do. He rolled over and climbed to his feet, Aaron doing the same next to him. Walking over to the shelves, he held out his arms so the other could give him some books.

The teen raised his eyebrows.

"Huh, I was joking, but I won't complain." He said. He then grabbed the top three books off his pile and placed them in Ash's arms, one after the other. Ash had to quickly curl his arms up and around the tomes, shifting awkwardly so they didn't fall- squeaking slightly when the top one slipped a little. Leaning back to brace them against his chest somewhat, he absently noted that the top book was titled 'A Comparative Analysis of the Forest Pokémon of Kanto and Johto'. The text was probably as dense as the book itself.

'Euck.'

The lanky teen then strolled out of the room with enviable ease, while Ash hurried after him in an attempt to keep up with the strides. Behind them, Aaron trotted along without any burden to weigh him down.

They were led down a hallway- passing a number of other doorways- around a corner, and then into another room that was filled with bookcases. Ash hadn't been down here before- even though he was allowed, he hadn't seen much point in coming down here. The books were all heavy in technical terms that he didn't have any understanding of, and while there were plenty of diagrams they didn't make much sense without the information to go with them.

They approached a shelf that had a section clear of books, and the teen put the books on the tiled floor in front of it. The brunette followed the example, carefully dropping them down so they wouldn't be damaged.

"Thanks, kid. Though, there's still a heap more. C'mon."

The lab assistant began walking out, and Ash made to follow him, but he paused; looking around, he saw just how many books there were.

'All these books… are they all about pokémon?'

"Vuie?"

Ash looked down at Aaron, seeing the question there.

"I'm okay. There's just a lot of books," He said. Whatever though he had, it slipped away before he could chase after it. There wasn't much point in worrying about it any more. "Come on, Aaron. Let's go."

They rushed out to catch up with the teen.

True to his guess, it took another two trips before all the books were moved to the small library.

They were on their way back down the hall, after the last trip, when they passed one of the open doorways. It was to the front part of the main lab, and served as more of an office than anything else. Coming up to the doorway, Ash heard two low, solemn tones conversing with a sort of heavy severeness that made him feel tense just walking by. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he knew- from every instance of being shuffled out of the room to let the adults talk- that it was serious. Bad serious.

Ash turned his head to peer into the room as he walked by, and the voices paused. He saw Professor Oak raise his head and catch sight of them. His eyes settled on the teen next to Ash, and he called out.

"Ah! Lyle, have you finished moving those books?" He said, walking over to meet the two. The person he was talking with followed after.

"Yeah, with help from the kid here. I just need to sort out the books in the living room, now." He said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of said room.

"Well, Ash, thank you for helping. Lyle, don't worry about the rest of the books, I can take care of those. However, would you be able to go let the others know that we'll be bringing in the pokémon at six instead of seven-thirty, for the foreseeable future?" The professor said. Ash heard something like exhaustion in the way the man said it. Looking up beside him, he saw Lyle frown, his brows creasing.

"Professor…? No, nevermind. Alright- I'll get right onto that," He turned to Ash, ruffling his hair. "See ya later, kid." He then left, leaving Ash to futilely run his hands over his head in an attempt to fix his hair. Someone chuckled, and the voice vaguely stirred something in his memory- he looked up to see the woman Professor Oak had been talking to just before approach.

"Hey Ash, long time no see." She said. He blinked, suddenly recognising the teal hair and blue uniform.

"Officer Jenny!"

"Haha, that's right. How have you been? Gotten lost in anymore forests lately?" She said, teasing him. Ash crossed his arms.

"No way! And I didn't mean to- it was just once!" He defended himself- 'It was just an accident, it's not like I tried to get lost in the forest.'- but she just laughed again. He decided to just ignore it. She was making fun of him, but it wasn't mean and he wasn't really angry about it. "Where's Growlith?"

"Oh, well, it was easier to keep her in her pokeball while I was here. Do you want to see her?"

"Yes please!"

She pulled the pokeball off her belt, holding it up with a note of mischief in her eyes. Stepping back to make room, she gave the ball a light toss in the air and let the energy inside loose. She caught the ball as it fell back down with a casual ease, watching as the light began to resolve itself into a solid form.

Ash waited a moment for the light to shrink down into the size of the fire type pokémon, but after a moment he realised that it didn't. The large, maned being stood at even heights with Officer Jenny, and while it was the cream, orange, and black that Ash had expected to emerge, the pokémon stood on massive paws, and had strength coiled in her body- ready to spring into action at any moment.

"Arcanine!" He couldn't help it- he was somewhere between gaping and grinning, and he could almost feel his wide eyes beginning to water from the strain.

Aaron, standing beside him, craned his head back as far as he could to see the pseudo-legendary's face, only to fall on his back when he couldn't tilt his head back far enough.

Arcanine, upon seeing Ash in front of her, sat down and leaned her head down and touched her nose to his forehead in a friendly greeting. It shocked the brunette out of his stupor and startled him into giggling at the cool, damp touch. Reaching up, he gave the sides of her face a rub, laughing louder when he heard the thump-thump-thump of her tail hitting the ground as it wagged.

After a moment of this, he stopped, turning to the pokémon's trainer.

"She evolved!" He said. Her paws were probably bigger than his head now- before she was barely as tall as his thigh, while now he didn't even reach her shoulder.

Officer Jenny gave her partner a pat on the back. "Yep! We trained really hard, and then when we decided she was ready, I went out and got a firestone for her. Although, she had to go off duty for a while afterwards while she got used to the change. But, she's fine now- happy to be back on the job, definitely!"

Ash blinked. 'She had to train after she evolved?'

Before anyone could say more, one of the lab assistants walked into the room.

"Ash? Your mum's here to pick you up."

Ash sighed. He only just got to see Arcanine and Officer Jenny again. Turning to Arcanine, he gave her one last pat, before crouching and giving Aaron a quick pat too.

"Bye Arcanine, bye Aaron. Bye Professor Oak, bye Officer Jenny."

"Goodbye, Ash. I'll see you next time you come visit, alright?"

"Yeah, see you!"

"Bye, Ash," Officer Jenny said. Ash turned to walk out of the room, but he was shortly interrupted. "Ash- wait." He turned to her, unsure about the serious tone she was suddenly using. She was looking at him with something of a frown on her face, almost looking concerned. She kneeled down on one knee, meeting him on his eye level.

"Officer Jenny…?"

"Be careful, okay? There's some really bad people nearby. They're really dangerous, so be careful around strangers and keep a lookout for anything suspicious for me, alright?"

Her words hung in the air as Ash held her gaze. He thought that maybe this was like what his mum sometimes told him- don't go with strangers, stay with her when they went into the marketplace, don't touch things that aren't his- but at the same time he knew it wasn't. It was in the way the words felt heavy in the room, how his stomach twisted a little and how he could feel his heartbeat in his ears. Her tone was grim and he thought that this was the first time anyone had used it when speaking to him.

"I promise, Officer Jenny."

The crowd roared at the spectacle, brought alive by the brilliant display of raw strength and the skill of an experienced trainer. This was the closest anyone had gotten to claiming the title of champion from the dragon-type trainer, but within moments no one was holding their breath for the outcome- it'd become obvious that no matter how far the challenger had come, they were still leagues behind the man who stood unquestionably as the strongest trainer in both Kanto and Johto. For all the champion showed kindness in the way he defeated his opponent, the display of Lance's mastery over the battle enamoured the audience with all its flair and liveliness.

Watching the clash of titans- no matter how outclassed one may seem- Ash knew only too well how those in the stands must feel. If he felt energy rush through him, just watching the battle displayed through pixels and speakers, how must it feel to be there, as heat washed against your face and electricity snapped through the air?

How did it feel for Lance, standing so close, with the power to change the tides of the epic dance through a single command alone?

To know that what took place before him was the result of so many years of hard labour and effort?

What had it taken to get to that point?

End of Spring

"Professor Oak!"

The man looked up from his work as Ash ran into the room, taken by a slight sense of urgency at the abrupt, loud intrusion.

Ash just stood in front of him, staring him down with an intense look on his face. He felt like his entire body was vibrating from the rush of determination he was experiencing.

"...Yes, Ash?" Professor Oak said, confused.

"I'm going to become a pokémon trainer!" The boy said, not moving from his tightly coiled stance. The professor nodded.

"Yes, Ash. You've mentioned this before."

Ash shook his head with a kind of frustrated furiosity. The thoughts were slippery in his mind, but he had to explain them. Even if he wasn't quite sure what was bothering him so much.

"I'm going to be a really good trainer."

"Well, Ash, I'm sure if you do your best you'll be able to go very far as a trainer." Prof. Oak said, rather blandly. He was still unsure about what the boy was trying to say, and likely more focused on the work he'd just been doing than Ash's sudden outbursts.

Ash huffed, trying to put everything into words. It'd just hit him this morning, and he wasn't sure what it was but he knew he had to talk to someone about it before he lost it again.

"Professor, how do I become a good trainer?"

The professor paused. Looking at Ash, he noted his stiff, almost shaking posture, the single-mindedly focused gaze and the clenched fists. He hummed.

"Well, Ash… I would say that if you're able to understand your pokémon's needs, and know how to best use their individual qualities to help them become strong- and if you study battles that you encounter to understand how different trainers win, learn from your own mistakes, and work alongside your pokémon to grow stronger… Those qualities are what allow some trainers to stand out, above others."

Ash grasped onto the words with fervour, turning them over in his mind again and again as he tried to put the advice into some kind of context within his experiences. Narrowing his eyes- focused at the wall and yet into some unseen distance- he nodded resolutely before turning and bolting out of the room to chase an idea.

"Thanks Professor!" was thrown over his shoulder at the last moment, only the memory of politeness to remind him at the last moment.

Blinking, Professor Oak stared out after the fleeing child, curious about the strange interaction and questioning what thoughts were tumbling through the boy's mind.

"Well, he certainly seemed rushed about something."

The man's eyes trailed along the lines of the bookshelves, seeking out a specific collection of essays that he had his mind on- it was the experiences of an explorer in the forests of many different regions, and he was eager to cross-reference it with some more recent information he had received from an overseas research partner. The reports of regional variants found in forests was going to be of massive input into the investigation into the connection between pokémon evolution and the long-term effects of habitat on a species population.

He passed another row of shelves, keeping track of where he was up to- there was no efficient labelling system, for how organised the books were- when he stopped short.

Sprawled on the tiled floor, Ash lay ensconced within a small fortress of books, puzzling over a thick-papered volume with what seemed to be diagrams dominating one of the pages, and thin lines of writing practically shading in the other page. His brows were heavily furrowed above his eyes, tongue poking out in concentration and legs kicking in the air behind him. Professor Oak noted that the wild nest of hair on his head was rife with the aftermath of frustration, small fingers having run through it too many times to let it settle again.

"Ash? What on earth are you doing in here?" Professor Oak said, all thoughts of essays slipping from his mind.

Ash jumped as the question jolted him out of his intense focus.

"Professor Oak! You said that I needed to understand my pokémon, so I came here to learn more about them. And then I found some books on pokémon battles, so I thought I'd read those too- but, none of them really make much sense to me…" He slumped, morose over his lack of success. He looked up again when he heard the professor chuckle, curious when the man walked up to him and sat down on the floor, before shifting around the books he'd collected to see what their titles were.

"'The Ecology of Pokémon of the Kanto Region'? 'The Nature and Structure of Special Type Pokémon Attacks'? Ash, these are all very advanced texts. I'm not surprised that you don't understand them- they're all far above what you've been doing at school." Prof. Oak said, stacking them to the side and out of the way. Ash nodded, still feeling sullen over his failed self-appointed task.

"I know, but it's going to take forever to learn everything else first. I figured that I could skip to the harder stuff and push through it, but it just made my head hurt," he sulked for another moment, before springing upright. "Professor Oak! You know all this stuff, right? Could you teach me?" He begged, looking up at the man with imploring eyes.

Prof. Oak scratched the back of his head awkwardly, unsure.

"Well, I'm not sure- I suppose, maybe, I could, but-"

"Yes!" Ash said, punching the air.

"-however, I am very busy. I normally don't take on students anymore, Ash." The professor finished, frowning apologetically.

"But Professor, please! I really want to become a good trainer!" Ash said, pushing further.

"Oh dear- okay, fine. I'll help you learn more about pokémon- but only on two conditions." He said. It was a semi-reluctant surrender, but he could see the way Ash pursued this goal so tenaciously. He thought that it was often best for trainers to learn through life, to find their own way through their careers and build their personal conventions out of experience, rather than books. In a way, he thought that this applied to Ash most of all, and wondered if he was stepping in somewhere that he shouldn't be- but the sheer elation that washed over the boy's face at his acquiesce smothered his hesitation in a moment.

Ash nodded, eager to get the help he wanted to become a great trainer.

"First, we talk to your mother. If you're going to be visiting the lab more often, she has to agree to it."

"Right!"

"Second, in exchange I want you to help around the lab on weekends. This means helping look after the pokémon, and helping with whatever other tasks the other lab assistants need to do."

"Right!"

"You don't have any problems with this, Ash?"

"Nope!"

"Well, then perhaps we should pack up here now. After all, you'll only be here for a couple more hours and I'm sure your friends are wondering why you're not out there playing with them." He said. This spurred the child into pushing himself off the floor, brushing himself off before leaning down to start gathering up the books.

With the professor's guide, they took care to put the books back where they belonged, leaving Ash to rush out to go outside when they finished.

"Thanks Professor!"

It was the same as a few days ago, when Ash had come to him with a question; looking back now, he wondered if it had been weighing on the boy's mind with far more gravity than he had first assumed. Yet Ash had just now lost the quiet tension that had hung over him, seeming more lively than ever after the Professor's agreement.

In the quiet aftermath of the brunette's exit, he reminisced on the events that took place many years ago, and a friend he had once met in a fight against one person's greed and hunger for power. There was the concern that his interference would change things, perhaps for the worse, but he couldn't go back on his word now.

With a nod to the memory, he decided that if Ash was so determined to strong-arm things in this direction regardless, then he would do his best to support the aspiring trainer in his climb towards greatness.

In the crisp morning, as the world renewed itself under the sun's tender light, she took a moment to look out over the landscape bejeweled with frost and draped in wisps of fog. The crispness of the new day gave her a feeling of brightness, the idea that it was good to be alive.

As the life of the town below stirred itself into languid action, she knew it was time for her to leave. As she flitted towards the distant mountains, her thoughts strayed to both a young boy and a friend from many years ago- and she remembered the words her friend had spoken.

"I can only do so much because of the people that have helped me reach this point- otherwise, this world is too much for one person to stand for alone. But when we stand together, that's when we're truly able to go far."

"Mew."

So, first thing first, welcome all new readers to this story and hello to any who followed on from the original work.

Next, I do apologise for the lateness of this post; however, I will not apologise for the reason it was late. It was only recently confirmed, but I've had depression and anxiety since before even starting the original version of this story. It's because I couldn't cope well with it that I stopped working on the original, and it's thanks to the slight improvement in my ability to cope that I was able to work on this at all. Progress has been slow because I've more recently been focused on managing my health than any extra activity.

Another reason it took longer than I anticipated was because I ended up doing more than just editing the old chapters for minor improvements. Regardless of the popularity this story initially gained, in hindsight it became obvious that while I had some viable ideas, I'd written nothing more than a Mary Sue that is always in the right, with the world accommodating for Ash's every whim. While I think that if I'd continued on the way I was, I would have rectified this somewhat, my current standards are much higher than that and I needed to do nothing less than reform the majority of the story's beginning.

Because of this, the prologue doesn't cover the same time period as the original prologue. Instead of covering up to Ash's tenth birthday, I've put more detail into the time leading up to his decision to work hard to become a trainer, and the time spent preparing for his journey will be in the next chapter. And, yes, since the prologue is still nearly 10 000 words long, I thought it was time to clean it up.

Admittedly, with what I changed, I was somewhat nervous about uploading this. But, reading through it again, I think it reads a lot better, and it feels better to read, too. So, I hope that I'm not the only one who's satisfied in the improvements I've made as a writer.

Now, here's what I have to say to the readers of this story; I will not be accepting any suggestions for the story's future. At the age of 13, I made the mistake of thinking that this was a good thing to do, but it's no longer something I can abide by. I will not acknowledge any pressure to include other people's ideas into this work, regardless of what those ideas entail. I'm sure that if you honestly do have a good idea, you will find much more satisfaction seeing it develop through your own efforts, or at least pose it to people who are interested in taking up different ideas.

Nonetheless, your time spent reading my work and any constructive feedback you provide are greatly appreciated.

Finally, I cannot guarantee a next update time. Chapter one is in progress, and the next several chapters after that are at least partially planned, but a release date is currently out of my abilities. Regretful as it is, it may be another month before I can update again, but I'll work on the next chapter as I'm able and then post it once it's complete.

Until next time, everyone.

MidnightFedora.