This choice: Ash and Goh just defeated Eternatus • Go Back... "Goh and I defeated Eternatus with Zacian and Zamazenta's help. Goh captured it, then everything started to disappear," said Ash as he remembered how relieved he was when the battle was over, then an earthquake happened, and Rose Tower toppled over. As he fell while trying to reach Lucario, he saw huge chasms appear all over Wyndon, and the buildings along with people and Pokemon fell into the abyss before disappearing. At the same time he saw the sky become the same black abyss, but it was like the sky was scraped away like paint.
"I see," said Celebi as she stood beside Ash, and hugged his head against her chest. She ran her right hand over his messy hair, and that helped him calm down.
"What happened?" asked Ash, his rising panic disappeared.
"Eternatus' power can distort time and space, but spacetime is able to handle a few distortions. Unfortunately, Eternatus woke up too early, and the fabric of spacetime was weakened by the numerous incidents that happened in the previous years," said Celebi, then she sighed, "Their effects reached all around the world, and caused much damage to the timeline. As a result, the world collapsed, and was replaced by a new one since the local multiverse can only handle 256 universes."
"Damage to the timeline?" asked Ash, confused.
"Ash," said Celebi, then she paused. She didn't want to hurt Ash, but he needed to know what happened, "Do you remember Cyrus?"
"The leader of Team Galactic? Is he the one responsible for this?" asked Ash, rage and confusion evident in his voice as his eyes gained a dangerous glow, and a faint blue outline appeared around his body.
"Eh!" yelped Celebi as Ash grabbed her left arm.
Ash stopped at the sound of Celebi's voice, looked up, and saw that she looked uncomfortable. Next, he realized he gripped her left forearm, and was squeezing it. He bit back anymore questions and took a deep breath as he used his willpower to clamp down the emotional turmoil he was feeling right now.
"I'm sorry," said Ash with regret as he let go of Celebi's arm.
"It's ok, I'm stronger than I look. I was more surprised than in pain," replied Celebi after she shook her head, then she resumed her motion of running her fingers through Ash's hair, and continued her explanation, "Cyrus' attempt to create his ideal world was stopped but it damaged the Fabric of Time and Space. Dialga and Palkia were doing their best to repair it, but subsequent events proved to be too much and your reality ended up unraveling."
"What happened?" asked Ash, his voice was cold but with a dangerous edge to it.
"Cyrus learned how to use natural spacetime fluctuations to his advantage. This would have driven any ordinary mortal insane, but his mind was warped, just enough that he was able to comprehend the spacetime forces that naturally occur to ensure the world does not fall into entropy. Unfortunately, the substantial changes he made remained," explained Celebi as she recalled how Dialga, Palkia and Giratina were busy doing damage control. She suspected that would've occurred if Zero managed to do as he pleased in the Reverse World.
"Changes? What do you mean?" asked Ash, confused.
"Have you ever wondered why you haven't grown yet?" asked Celebi.
"I just figured I was just short for my age," replied Ash, not understanding what they were trying to say.
"How old are you, Ash?" asked Celebi, it hurt her to see the boy that saved her from Kodai have a existal crisis, but he needed to know the full extent of what happened.
"That's easy, I'm… I'm…" asked Ash as he thought about his age, only to come up with contradictory answers. As he focused on his memories he also noticed certain events that didn't seem to line up. He remembered beginning his journey when he was ten years old, the day being the first day of the new school year for those that didn't go on a Pokemon Journey.
Putting aside all the minor inconsistencies that could be easily explained by Ash not having the greatest memory when it came to details, he recalled being sixteen years old when he went to Sinnoh, but he also remembered being thirteen. However, the strangest part was that he also remembered being ten years old when he went to Unova, and that strange desire to feel the newfound feeling of wonder he felt when he first set out on his journey was stronger than ever.
Looking back, Ash could tell that would never happen, no matter how much he wanted, but it was that desire that led to him leaving his Pokemon in the ranch. His journey through Unova was particularly suspicious, he was acting like a total newbie, and now that he truly stopped to think about his own actions he could see how out of character they were. Hell, there even some really stupid mistakes that he and everyone around him seemed to make, which could easily be avoided by using a bit of common sense.
Despair overcame Ash, he felt everything he was, everything he accomplished was a lie.
"Your life, the bonds you forged, the emotions you felt were not a lie. Your past was tampered with, the events and context changed, but your bonds remained. You're the same kind hearted boy that wanted to explore the world and had a powerful will to change it for the better with your actions," said Celebi as she felt Ash's despair.
"You saved me, Chosen One. Now is the time to return the favor. Do not despair, there is a way to save your loved ones and the world you and I cherish so much," said Celebi, her voice was like a mother trying to comfort a child.
"I...I can't," stuttered Ash, still in shock from everything that just happened, then he exclaimed, "I can't save the world!"
"But you already did, so many times. New Island, Shamouti Island, Greenfield, Mount Quena, Ilex Forest, Alto Mare, Forina, LaRousse City, the Tree of Beginning, the Temple of the Sea, Monsu Island, Alamos Town, Gracidea, Michina Town, Crown City, Spear Pillar, Eindoak Town, New Tork City, Roshan City, Roshan City, Dahara City, Azoth Kingdom… Do I even need to go on?" asked Celebi as she looked at the stunned human.
Ash was just flabbergasted, had he truly been in so many places? Had he truly helped the world this much?
"You not only avoided disaster by simply offering help, but you also changed so many lives for the better," said Celebi as she waved her hand around, the air cracked and the myriad of shards started showing images of Ash's journey so far, even the ones that he didn't seem to remember correctly.
"There's no other human that can say that they made the world a better place like you did simply by being yourself," said Celebi with a smile that express how proud she was of the boy thay saved her. She felt Ash's resolve return, no human embodied ambition and willpower like the Chosen One.
Most Pokemon think that human ambition was a bad thing, and it was most of the time if it was selfish, however, it was this very ambition that allowed Ash to change the world in such a short time. Is it such a surprise that Arceus chose someone with that same ambition but a kind and pure heart?
"What should I do?" asked Ash.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to start a new journey," said Celebi with a sad expression.
At the mention of his journey, Ash looked around, then he spotted a calendar with most of the days of the month crossed out, and he recognized the mark counting down to the beginning of his journey.
"My friends, my team! What about them?! Did you save them as well?!" exclaimed Ash.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author