1 I choose....to wait

It was late evening, and a downpour was currently pelting against the window of a certain bedroom. Within said bedroom was a 17-year-old boy, Kyle Astra, sitting at his PC with his headphones around his neck, leaning towards the screen, his posture just enough bad to represent the "true gamer position".

Currently he was playing one of his most masochistical pleasure-inducing and hateable hack roms, Radical Red. As he went on to challenge the same late-game gym battle for his millionth time, he found himself rethinking his life choices over and over. Soon enough he faced yet another defeat, causing him to cuss out like a sailor and "invoke the heavens" like a good venetian would.

As if on cue, a lightning struck near his window, causing him to jolt up. "AH! Fucking hell! That scared the hell out of me ain't gonna lie" he commented, walking up to his window after getting up.

"Damn, the weather has somehow become even shittier. At this rate i wouldn't be surprised if there was a flood. Oh well, better for me. Less reasons to go outside and socialize.... It sounds even more depressing when said out loud. What the fuck ever" he observed, staring intensely outside for a few moments before walking back to his desk.

As he sat down and stretched his legs, a loud lightning fell nearby, hitting a light pole, causing the light in his room to flicker.

The combination of the sudden sound and brief darkness caused Kyle to jump from his gaming chair, one of his bare feet accidentally making contact with a poorly plugged and somewhat worn cable.

Upon contact, a huge amount of electricity aided by the storm surged into Kyle's body, electrocuting him heavily. As soon as the electricity entered Kyle'a body, his muscles twitched heavily, yet he barely had the time to process it, as his mind had gone completely blank only after a few seconds.

On the gaming chair now lied Kyle'a body, his eyes wide open while a few of his muscles were still twitching, slumped on the chair as his body froze completely, not even breathing.

A few minutes afterwards, his heart stopped moving as well, his body now truly still and unmoving, both on the outside and on the inside. The brain quickly joined the other two vital organs, ceasing its function too, going past the point of no return.

A deep silence engulfed the room, with its only signs of life being a turned-on computer monitor and a flickering ceiling lamp. Kyle Astra had died in the 20th of April 2024, leaving the world of the living in the blink of an eye, without any way to process his own death.

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[Kyle's POV]

After the light in my room flickered a few times, complete darkness engulfed my vision, and for some reason i felt oddly numb, soon becoming completely unable to feel my body after a few seconds, and i couldn't figure out why for the love of me.

Since i had nothing better to do at that moment, i stared blankly at the darkness in front of me for a few minutes, trying to figure out what the hell is happening, unable to process just what the hell was happening.

The few minutes soon turned into hours for my perspective, or at least what i considered to be a few minutes did, since not only i had no way to figure out how much time actually passed, but the darkness itself completely fucked up my perception of time.

At some point that sheer blackness in front of me started to feel suffocating and claustrophobic, and a falling sensation started to course through my whole body, making me panic.

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS HAPPENING?!" I tried to voice out, yet my body made no sound when my mouth opened to scream, leaving me paralyzed from shock. Noticing that it didn't work, i simply closed my eyes and sighed frustratedly.

When i opened my eyes again i saw it, the reason why i was in that hellish void, or what i believed was the reason on why i was stuck in here, trying not to spiral even more into insanity.

In front of me stood a colossal creature, a behemoth so large that it made moountains look like a joke in comparison.

Said beast looked like a more equine qilin without draconic features and with white fur and a vertically-striped gray underside at its face, front from the neck under, mane and tail. Its tail and mane were pretty long, thick and flowy. It didn't seem to have ears, instead having tall, upward-pointing triangle-like protusions of the same color of its fur coming from the sides of his head. Its body also had various golden parts, namely at the tip of its sharp hooves, in the middle of its forehead, and in the form of a huge cross-like wheel attached to its abdomen. Its eyes were green, just like the circular pattern below them and the 4 oval gems nestled inside each end of the cross, its pupils on the other hand were red.

I almost instantly recognized the creature floating in front of me,and as soon as i did, i froze up completely, my face becoming extremely pale when its eyes met mine. My mind on the other hand started wondering if i had gone insane, and the more that divine being looked at me, the more said idea cemented itself.

In front of me stood Arceus itself, looking at me intensely as i started to sweat profusely and breathe heavily, scared out of my mind.

"No...t-this must be some sort of nightmare, o-or my mind playing tricks on me with hallucinations. Yes! That must be it! IT HAS TO BE! WHY CAN'T I WAKE UP FROM THIS DAMN FEVER DREAM?! TELL ME!" I yelled out at Arceus, stuttering in disbelief as i tried to convince myself that all of this was a dream or a mind trick, to then lash out at the pokemon god itself, growing more and more frustrated with each second, until i reached the point of pure and unrestrained hysteria, glaring at the deity before me, clenching my fists tightly as tears threatened to roll down my cheeks.

{Breathe, my child. I don't wish to cause you any harm, nor do i wish to see you go through such mental pain. I assure you that my presence is not the fruit of a dream or any kind of mental instability. Instead, i am here to gift you something that most wouldn't even condiser of receiving in their deepest dreams, and it is retaled to the reason on why i am before you, and why you cannot return to your body.}

Arceus calmly explained, his voice echoing through that void, sounding divine and authoritative, yet carrying a genuine and soothing tone to it as well. Those words didn't calm me down in the slightest,instead they enraged me even further.

"The hell do you mean?.... WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT EVEN MEAN THAT I 'CAN'T RETURN TO MY BODY'?!" I yelled out at him, my frustration reaching new heights as i stared at the god with reddened and almost bloodshot eyes.

"GIVE ME A DAMN GOOD REASON ON WH-.... The storm...." I suddenly muttered out in realization while i took my fury out on him, connetcing the dots on how i ended up here "....this has to be a fucking joke... Of all the ways i could have been taken out, it had to be a damn lightningbolt. Heh. Now i'll have to stay in here for what may be years because of a damn coma.... Maybe i'll wake up in time for my 50th birthday, ay... Probably still better than death..." I trailed off before finishing my sentence, feeling a strong sense of doubt and fear fill my body.

My eyes widened as i started to sweat profusely, slowly looking back up at Arceus to meet his eyes, as if to mentally ask him to tell me that my fears are baseless. But when i saw the serious and rather guilty glint in his eyes my arms dropped limp, and various tears started to slowly stream down my cheeks, my lips quivering as i looked at him with pure disbelief and desperation.

"N-no.... I-i can still come back...i..i'm still alive..r-right? P-please...please tell me that...that i can make it..." I asked out stutterly, my voice extremely shaky from the pure amount of desperation that was plaguing my mind.

.....

{I apologize, my child}

Those were the only words i heard, before having a mental breakdown, crying my eyes out as i fell on my knees, terrified and pained like never before, constantly muttering out "why" over and over to myself.

Despite the pitiful and pathetic scene before his very eyes, Arceus patience and compassion didn't waver or decrease one bit, instead waiting for me to vent out my emotions until i felt good enough to continue our conversation on my own will.

A long while later i was finally done crying, so i wiped my tears and looked at him, even if my face and eyes were still reddened.

{I am aware that your current situation is extremely dire, but i still wish for you to listen to what i have to say next.}

Arceus told me, making me curious on what he had to say, so i got up and walked a little closer, somehow standing and walking within the void.

{This may sound absurd or mocking due to the current circumstance, but i brought your soul here right after you died to hand you a gift. The gift that i want to give you is the possibility to live again, to start over a brand new life in another reality. On top of that, i will grant you a few additional gifts that shall help you out greatly in your new life.}

He explained to me, and as soon as i heard that, my mind pulled a Windows on me and crashed, requiring a reboot of a few seconds, or to process those words if you prefer.

When i did process his words, i looked at him with wide eyes, shocked to the core, staring at him with disbilief and a hint of excitement, debating wether i should be grateful or not, since i will get out of here and live again, the only issue was that i won't go back to my original body, which did suck quite a lot.

{The world that your soul will inhabit is the Pokemon world, and you'll be starting from Kanto just like the game series thanks to which my reality is known to yours. As for the additional gifts, i shall grant you psychic abilities, the ability to bend and exert control over flora, earth and water, the ability to naturally generate and utilize draconic energy, control over spectral forces and part of the soul realm, an empowered version of Viridian Forest's Blessing, and an enhancement to your new body's pre-existing amount of aura and potential. Lastly, i will stay in contact with you throughout your journey through an object that you should be familiar with. I'd suggest keeping it hidden to avoid akward explanations or to not seem insane to others.}

Arceus explained, making my jaw drop from the sheer amount of things that he left me as compensations for my randomic death.

As if my already sheer stupor wasn't enough, Arceus casually summoned a small object in front of me, a phone with a cover themed after himself, the Arc Phone (the one of Legends Arceus for those who didn't know).

The moment i laid my eyes on the godly phone, i was left left in a daze, slowly reaching out with my hand to grab it, gently moving my hand over the screen as if to check that it was real.

{The one you are holding is an upgraded special version of the Arc Phone that you know from Hisui, i will go over its functions after you will be in your new body.

I need to warn you that the Kanto you will be sent to is a lot different from the versions you may know of. The same goes for the rest of the world, which you could consider a mix between the anime and the manga for the most part, minus its own original elements and changes here and there.} Arceus said as he gave me the heads up.

"Got it" I said slowly, nodding in agreement.

{Would you like to go to your new world? Or would you like to refuse?} He asked me in a pretty gentle tone, making me smile as i could tell from his tone that he would gladly support either of my choices.

"I would like to visit this 'Altered Kanto'" i replied with an eased tone, a small smirk tugging my lips, while my eyes reflected my readiness.

{Very well, my child. I shall grant your request.}

As soon as he finished those words, i started to feel really dizzy, and my vision soon became blurry as hell. Within a few moments i lost consciousness, succumbing into a way more serene and peaceful darkness.

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I soon felt a familiar sensation that in normal circumstance would have caused my annoyance, but in this one it brought me joy, the sensation of sunlight hitting my closed eyes. I opened my eyes and sat up with abnormal eagerness, especially for a teen, as i then took a good look at my new bedroom.

My new bedroom wasn't really large, but it was still pretty cozy, and filled to the brim with pokemon themed decorations. The most notable ones that caught my attention were a spoink piggyback on my desk, a fake zubat hanging on the ceiling, a bellsprout desk lamp, a huge kangaskhan doll, a magneton carpet, a lampent ceiling lamp, and a voltorb themed alarm clock, which showed that it was 9 AM.

For some reason when i stared at that voltorb alarm, i felt a really strong sense of deja vu, so i grabbed it and took a good look, realizing that among other things i still have to hit puberty in this world thanks to one reason, the complete lack of a morning wood, something that happened to me way too often.

I then noticed a calendar on the wall, with one of its days marked by a red X, said day was the 22th of may, which didn't tell me much by itself other than the fact that it was my birthday.

But what told me a fundamental information was the note written above the x, which read the following "Ash's bday!!". That note made my eyes widen and my jaw drop, making me realize just who i have become, now realizing the sheer maginute of this implication. I had become Ash fucking Ketchum himself.

Before i could properly think on how to tackle this situation, someone knocked on my door, and i already knew who it was.

Needless to say, a soft voice soon made itself known "Ash, are you still asleep?" Said voice asked out, clearly beloning to Delia.

To my surprise, a second voice spoke up, making me roll my eyes and grow a tick mark on my forehead as i instantly realized who it was "Oi! You better wake up now, Ashy-boy, or i'm gonna take your future starter before you even see it!" Someone yelled out, that being none other than Gary Oak.

"You take that back, Gary!" I protested, trying to sound as annoyed as i could, mostly to avoid their suspicion. Right after i said that, the door opened, and a boy and a young woman walked it.

Both of them had mahogany hair, while their eyes were of different colors, the boy having black eyes, while the woman had amber eyes, obviously being Gary and Delia respectively, the latter holding up a birthday cake with 10 candles on it, pretty much telling me what i needed to know, while the former crossed his arms and gave me a mocking smirk while raising his eyebrow.

"You seriously need to start waking up early if you want to even try to compete with me, Ashy-boy. Because i'm not gonna wait for a sleepyhead like you." Gary commented, making me glare at him while one of my eyes twitched.

"Happy birthday, dear."Delia chimed in, quickly defusing the situation as she put the plate with the cake on it on my bed. Gary meanwhile looked away, looking a little embarassed. "Tch, happy birthday, i guess." He congratulated, albeit a little reluctantly.

"Thanks mom!...And you too, Gary" I thanked them, giving Gary a teasy look, making him grunt to himself to prevent us from realizing that he did care, failing to do so. I then blew out the candles, getting a few claps from them, making me smile in gratitude despite the fact that Gary's claps were more of sarcastic ones.

"Now that you're up, get changed and head downstairs. We're gonna head to Professor Oak's lab to get your own starters." Delia explained, making my eyes widen in shock since i was already encountering a big change to the original timeline. Thankfully both her and Gary interpreted my expression as one of surprise from the great news.

"She's right, Ashy-boy, so you better get changed quickly, i don't want to wait all day for you. Be thankful that i've already waited for you to get up instead of picking my starter right away, otherwise my journey would have had an even bigger headstart than it being its protagonist." Gary told me impatiently, turning smug as he threw in a brag about his supposed greatness. I, on the other hand, looked pretty pensive, causing both Delia and Gary to look at me in shock, since this kind of behaviour is the polar opposite to the canon Ash's personality.

"Is there something wrong, Ash?" Delia asked me, extremely worried about my sudden shift in mood.

"Yeah, what's gotten into you, Ashy-boy?" Gary added, looking extremely surprised and a little worried too, staring at me as if i were someone else, which is actually right since i'n not Ash, at least mentally and spiritually.

"Yeahhhh, about that, i.... Want to wait a few more years before starting my journey." i said with a sigh, breaking the news to them.

The moment those words left my mouth, they stared at me in pure shock and disbelief.

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