Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

I was floating in the middle of some ocean, waves broiling around me as the wind howled overhead. I couldn't move my arms or legs, forcing me to submit to whim of the waves as they threw in every direction.

This continued until I was forcefully dragged under the water, a void of darkness in which there was seemingly no end. Surprisingly, I was apparently still able to breathe as I was dragged down deeper, and deeper into the darkness.

Soon there was no difference whether I closed my eyes or kept them open as the water became completely and utterly black, making it feel as if I had been sucked into an infinite void.

"..."

Some kind of rumble stirred me from the nothingness, before something began to glow amidst the darkness.

Whatever it was, it was massive. Large enough that it could swallow me in a single gulp if it felt so inclined.

And as I floated here before it, I saw it turn it's attention towards me.

"Thank you."

The words rumbled within my head, like when Mewtwo spoke to me, but in a manner similar to the rumble of a coming storm.

I was unable to speak back, but apparently it was unnecessary.

The glowing eyes of the figure intensified for a moment, and then I felt my entire body being filled with energy as I started to glow as well.

Immediately afterwards the light died down, and the figure before me faded back into the darkness. As they did so, I also felt myself fading into darkness that had nothing to do with the ocean around me.

***

When I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was the ceiling, of course, before I glanced around to see several of the girls all slumbering around me. It was a lovely and heartwarming scene, until I looked and saw my mom slumbering on a cot nearby, with some man looming over her intimately.

My vision turned red as I quickly removed the instruments attached to me, and leapt out of the bed without disturbing any of the girls at the man.

The man apparently sensed my approach as he threw an elbow back at me, which I caught before grabbing the back of his shirt and throwing him away from mom, up into the ceiling above.

*CRASH!*

The man smashed into the ceiling before falling back down to the ground, hard.

The noise was enough to begin waking everyone, but I didn't care. I was going to throttle the creep.

As he tried to get back up I grabbed his shirt once again and threw him into the wall, where he tried to throw another elbow back at me, but I just caught it again and twisted his arm to lock it into place. I then grabbed the back of his head, pressing him up against the wall, and snarled at him,

"I don't know who you think you are, but don't you EVER lay your filthy paws on my mother!"

"Ace!" Mom exclaimed as she and others saw what was happening. I could even feel Ash getting ready to fight as well if need be.

"This creep was looming over you." I told her plainly.

"That 'creep' is your dad!" Mom exclaimed.

"..."

""Huh?"" Ash and I both uttered as confusion filled us.

"Uh... Hello boys?" The man I had pinned to the wall groaned out awkwardly.

"Red?"

"I would prefer dad..."

"Nah, cause MY dad is a lousy deadbeat who left to go get milk, and never came back." I said, even while letting him go.

"Well... I can't quite refute that." Red replied while rotating his arm, probably trying to get the feeling back into it.

There was a beat of awkward silence for a second, before I suddenly felt myself being embraced by someone, and then several someones.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Joy said, while I could feel the same sentiments from the rest of the girls.

"Hey... You know I won't die, even if I'm killed." I told her playfully, but Joy just hugged me tighter.

"I'm serious Ace. It really did look as if you were going to die..."

"..."

I didn't say anything to that, I couldn't, so instead I just rubbed Joy's back reassuringly since I knew she was the most informed regarding my physical state after I was shot.

"By the way... How are you up already? The nurses said they didn't know when you would recover, but that it would take quite a while." Misty asked, breaking away from the group hug slightly.

"Hm? I'm pretty sure Lugia healed me." I told them.

"""..."""

"""HUH?!"""

"What? It's not too strange since I freed Articuno, and she's one of his subordinates." I told them.

"Hold on... Why do you think Lugia healed you?!" Misty demanded with a tone of urgency.

"Well, I did have a dream about being tossed around in a stormy ocean right before waking up, and in that dream I saw Lugia as he thanked me. So I think its safe to say that Lugia healed me to show his gratitude." I explained.

Numerous incredulous gazes centered on me at my explanation, while Misty, May, Dawn and Joy all just started to shake their heads in exasperation.

"Yeah, you DEFINITELY need to tell my dad and sisters when you see them." Misty stated with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I asked her.

"Because, as water specialists of the Kanto region, of course we're devoted to Lugia. We just aren't an active part of the main cult!" Misty explained, which actually made sense now that she said it. After all, Lugia was the guardian of the ocean in Kyogre's absence, so it was only natural that someone like Hudson, who was a sailor, would be devoted to him.

"They all went down into Team Rocket's hideout, so they'll probably still be gone for a while." Red told us.

"Really? They went without me?" I whined sarcastically.

"Yeah, well there isn't much down there for them to find. I already cleared out the rest of Team Rocket when I got here." Red replied.

"You did?"

"Yep. As soon as I got into town I sensed them below us, and had my Charizard use Dig to get to their hideout before they could do something stupid."

"Huh." I uttered as I realized that the first major hurtle of my second life, was gone.

Granted Giovanni wasn't much of a threat anymore, since we destroyed his forces, freed Articuno and the true alpha Beedrill, and almost all of his assets and wealth were stolen by Giana and Ariana. But a beast was always the most dangerous when it was cornered, and I kinda wanted to test myself against Giovanni personally at least once.

"So did you kill Giovanni as well?" I asked him, just to be sure.

"Of course. He was the main mastermind behind everything, so there was no way I was going to let HIM get away. But I also didn't do a thorough inspection of their hideout either since I was in a hurry."

"Wow... I guess that means we can take it easy for a while and just focus on collecting Gym Badges until the conference." I said while still processing that Team Rocket was done for.

"Wait, really?" May asked curiously.

"Of course. I don't want to jump right into conflict with ANOTHER criminal organization RIGHT THIS SECOND. So let's just focus on traveling Kanto and Johto before the conference starts. I think its in a few months." I said while sitting back on my hospital bed.

"Well thats good. Now I don't need to worry about you getting hurt any more." Mom said with a relieved look on her face.

"Alright Aniki! Let's both get as many Badges as possible before the conference!" Ash declared as well, getting fired up at the idea of us all battling it out.

"Kanto AND Johto?" Red asked me curiously.

"Yeah. I got a Badge from Morty, of the Ecruteak city Gym a while back, and managed to get three more from Johto while we were on the SS. Anne. So I figured why not go and collect the rest as well?"

"Well the conference is only in three months time. That's a LOT of traveling to do between now and then, especially if you still have Kanto Badges to get." Red told me.

"Don't worry. If nothing else, I can fly on... PIDGEOT!"

I could have kicked myself as I only JUST remembered the state Pidgeot was in before.

"Ace! It's ok!" Joy quickly said while grabbing me by the arms. "Pidgeot is fine...ish."

"What do you mean by fine'ish'?" I demanded, probably more harshly than I should have.

"I mean that Pidgeot is ok now, but it will be a while until he fully heals. The other Nurses stated that he needs to be grounded for a month."

"..."

I relaxed myself slightly after hearing he was ok, though I doubt he'd say the same if he was grounded for a month.

"Where's he at?" I asked Joy.

"They're keeping him in the Heal Ball to speed up his recovery, but he has been getting let out a couple times a day to walk in the courtyard and visit with your other pokemon." Joy explained while also pointing out the window, from which I could see several of my pokemon gathered around Lucario.

"Lucario has been training with your other pokemon almost non-stop for the last three days. Something about how he felt so useless during the battle this time." Dawn told me while also pointing down to my partner.

He apparently felt us looking down at them, because he looked up at us and gave a quick nod of his head before focusing on my other pokemon once more.

"I have to say, you have a lot of good-looking pokemon there son." Red said as he joined me by the window.

"What about mine?!" Ash immediately asked, showing his Pikachu to Red.

"Pika?"

"That is a very excellent Pikachu Ash. Incidentally, Pikachu was the first pokemon I ever caught, while my starter was a Charizard."

"Huh." I said from the interesting coincidence. After all, my starter was Charizard, and Pikachu was Ash's.

"If you boys want, I can give you some tips on how to train them to become even stronger." Red offered with a hopeful smile.

"No thanks." I immediately declined, to which Red adopted a sad look.

"Ace!" Mom said in a voice that sounded like she was about to scold me.

"What? I just have my own way of doing things. Plus if he helps train my pokemon, then everyone will give him the credit instead of me. I just want to make my own way instead."

Though he still looked a little sad at my refusal, I also noticed pride in Red's eyes when he heard my reasoning.

"Speaking of training..." I began while removing my hospital gown, under which I was only wearing a pair of briefs and my bandages. "After some food and a quick 'warmup', I should probably go and join my pokemon in training."

"Really?" Red asked incredulously. "You already fight like a Machoke..."

"Yeah, really. If you want, YOU can join us when I head down there." I offered him instead.

"I think I'd like that." Red told me, apparently happy I decided to include him. Just wait until he sees what my training consists of.

"Before you do anything, I need to give you a check up! You ARE still supposed to comatose and bedridden after all!" Joy declared sternly, pushing me gently to the bed once more before grabbing her tools.

"Ah. The tedium of hospitals." I said dispiritedly, to which Joy responded by putting her freezing stethoscope against my chest.

"I'll go get you some breakfast!" Daisy offered suddenly, while the rest of the girls followed her so they could fix themselves up, and eat as well.

"Come on Pikachu! Let's go get something to eat!" Ash declared, with the idea of food taking over his mind as he and Pikachu took off after them.

"Quite the girls you've got there son." Red said as he and mom sat back on the cot.

"You don't know the half of it. And then there's the girls who aren't even here right now." I told him.

"There's MORE?" He asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"..."

"Son, I think you may have a problem..." Red commented, making mom giggle lightly.

"I think you're right Mr. Ketchum. Ace's libido is WAY too high." Joy commented jokingly.

"I don't even wanna know." Red hurriedly replied.

"Ace, you're not being too hard on these girls, are you?" Mom asked in a stern voice.

"Of course not mom. I know their limits." I told her without going into detail. Our time on the SS. Anne aside, I was usually the one most unsatisfied every night thanks to my aura boosting my stamina.

"That's good. I don't mind how many future daughters you bring me, as long as you're treating them right." Mom told me.

"Don't worry. I know all about how to treat women from my old man!" I said while looking pointedly at Red, who looked confused. "You pump and dump them, leaving them to raise your kids on their own! Right?"

"..."

"Before you keep throwing that in my face, can I explain myself please...?" Red asked in a pitiful voice.

"I suppose, when Ash gets back so he can hear it as well. I just hope you have a REALLY good reason why you left us for all this time." I told him.

Red looked appreciative at my answer, and we dropped the subject temporarily until Ash and the girls came back. Daisy with a plate piled HIGH with food for me.

"Give me!" I roared playfully as she offered the food to me, before I began shoveling it into my mouth.

"Alright... Can I talk while you boys eat?" Red asked, to which I nodded with my mouth full while Ash just looked up curiously.

"You two know about aura, right?"

*Gulp.*

"Of course." I answered after swallowing my food.

"I'm self-taught, but I also tried to teach Ash everything I know. Unfortunately his skills seem to revolve around just reinforcing his body for strength and defense. Whereas I think I'm just an all-rounder without any specialties."

"That's good. It saves me from having to explain aura and it's types. As for me, I'm a sensing type. I've always been sensitive to the world around me to the point of a sixth sense, and at times it can even resemble forsight. In short, my instincts are REALLY good, and I've learned to rely on them throughout my life. An example is a few days ago, when I felt an impending sense of doom revolving around one of you, though I wasn't sure which one specifically."

"That's why you called Lance..." I uttered in realization.

"That's right. I told Lance to protect you two, or that I'll return to Kanto with fury."

Red paused his story briefly when he said that, and I felt his aura sharpen intensely as he seemingly recalled the conversation. For a moment he wasn't a loving father, but the man who could make even Champions quiver in fear.

"Anyways, my ability even extended to the two of you after you were born. When either of you started fussing, I could always tell why, and anytime either of you were hurt, the pain also transmitted to me. Even just the other day Ace, I could feel the bullets tearing through your body as if I had been the one shot instead. I had also felt every single second of the surgeries you went through, even the blade of the scalpels as they cut the wounds open to pry the bullets out."

Red's expression darkened as he recounted his experience, and I realized that he must have felt all of the major injuries I experienced in my second life, the Houdour attack, the X-Scissor I took from Vespiquen in Veridian forest, and so on.

Wait a second...

"Wait a second... If you could feel all of that, then does that mean you could feel....other things as well?" I asked Red cautiously, and I noticed several of the girls widening their eyes in realization.

"No. After I left, the first place I went to was Rota for some proper training on how to control the link between us. After all, I couldn't really do what I had set out to do if I started bawling my eyes out every time you or Ash were hungry, or had a dirty diaper. The only link I left active was the pain, so that I could know if something were wrong.

"Now, as for the actual reason I left. On the day you two were born, I felt a 'premonition' the likes of which I had never felt before. It was a feeling akin to the end of the world.

"I stayed for a couple months after that day, hoping the feeling would go away. But it never did. Eventually I made my decision, that I would go out and try to find the source of my premonition to deal with it myself. Even if doing so claimed my life.

"So I set out, and spent the last seventeen years exploring every single ancient ruin and text that I could get my hands on. Anything that might help me determine what may cause the end of the world. The only one who knew the reason why I left was your mother, who gave me her blessing since I was trying to give you two a world without hardship to grow up in.

"Of course, it was only last night that I realized that I should have stayed instead of leaving."

As he said that, Red looked at me pointedly to make his point clear.

"Professor Oak told you, didn't he?" I asked them.

"Yes..." Mom answered, before she rose to her feet and approached me. She then smothered my face in her breasts as she hugged me and asked, "Why didn't you ever say anything? I would have sent word to your father, and he would have some straight home..."

"Because no one would have believed me." I answered plainly. It was a reasonable excuse, as who truly would believe someone if they started talking about the end of the world? Much less a five year old.

"I would have!" Mom declared.

"But he does make a good point Delia." Red spoke up. "A kid would just assume that no adult would believe them, or that they only had a bad dream."

"But-"

"But nothing, mom." I cut her off as she tried to protest.

"We can always debate what we could have and should have done, but hindsight is ALWAYS 20-20. Instead, let's talk about what we're GOING to do."

"I agree." Red stated.

"I already challenged Lance for the position of Champion over Kanto and Johto. Team Rocket may already be wiped out, but that doesn't mean we can't prepare for any other future threats."

"Didn't you give up the position of Champion like twenty years ago?" I asked him.

"WHAT?!" Ash exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, I did." Red confirmed. "I still don't want the position. But Lance showed himself incapable of doing his job properly, and my son paid the price for it. Plus, knowing what I do now, taking the position will put me in the best position to support my sons. The battle will be in a week."

"Huh..." I said while debating on whether or not to watch the match. Obviously I won't be there in person, as the Indigo Plateau was a LONG way out of our way.

It was right as we entered a lull in the conversation...

"???"

I looked up at the window as I felt a group of people approaching the hospital.

"Ace?" Mom asked worriedly, even as both Red and I stood at the same time to see what was going on.

Outside, I could see a ring of people surrounding the hospital beyond the courtyard where my pokemon were staying, and another group of people approaching.

"Who are they?" Ash asked curiously.

"Don't know, but it doesn't look as if they're here for something good." I told him.

"They're the cultists of Ho-Oh." Lyra suddenly said as she walked up behind us.

"Fuck." I immediately swore, which I'm pretty sure mom was about to scold me for if the guy leading the cultists hadn't suddenly started speaking.

"BRING US THE THIEF ACE KETCHUM! HE WHO DARES TO CLAIM THE MESSIAH OF HO-OH FOR HIMSELF!"