Chapter Text
CW: Blood/Violence, harsh language, mentions of suicidal thoughts (in later chapters)
This is a part of the Journey series. While knowledge of the other fics in the series is not required, it may enhance your reading experience.
The Hero, From Another Story
The First Loss
Footsteps echoed down the long, cold hallway. The prisoner's head perked up at the approaching sound. It had been days since he had last heard that distinct gait, listening intently for the barest trace of a limp present in his nemesis' steps.
He knew who was coming, but what he didn't know was why. The man had already asked him half a thousand questions, none of them making any sense to the raven-haired boy. He put the incessant questions from his mind, steeling himself for the encounter.
He would make an attempt to escape this time. He was the chosen one. He was Arceus' true hero, a knight of aura and an avatar of vengeance in a cruel world. He had never been denied his will until his transportation to this strange place, but he would change that today.
A tall, imposing figure turned the corner. He approached the cell slowly, as though he knew the prisoner had been agonizing over this moment and was intent to draw it out.
The figure stopped at the bars of the cell. The prisoner remained blankly focused on the wall, giving the tall figure nothing.
"Ketchum," said the man. "I would have words."
His gaze never shifted from the point on the wall. Ash Ketchum tightened his fists, reaching for the well of willpower within him that fuelled his power.
Ash Ketchum glanced down at his fists, hoping beyond hope that the azure flames of Aura's power would be burning on his fists.
Stubborn darkness greeted him. No fire danced in the dim light, no inner power answering his desperate call.
Ash Ketchum felt his shoulders sag and his spirit waver. He glanced up at the tall figure, scowling at his captor. "Go fuck yourself, Giovanni."
The tall figure sighed deeply and Ash suppressed the urge to try to grab him through the cage. He wanted to bash the Rocket Boss' head in and enact one of his patented escape plans, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that the idea was doomed.
"You continue to address me in this manner," Giovanni began, unperturbed by his prisoner's harsh mannerisms. "And yet, as I have told you, I have no clue who you are."
Giovanni unfolded his arms from behind his back and flipped open the folder he held there. "As far as my considerable resources have been able to tell, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town does not exist."
Giovanni closed his file folder with a sigh and looked up at the teenage trainer. "At least, not in this universe."
"You said that before," Ash replied curtly. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Do you remember how you came to be here?" Giovanni asked cautiously. "Anything at all?"
Ash was quiet for a long moment. His fists tightened and hard lines set into his face as he remembered the fateful battle that had landed him in this cell with his pokemon massacred.
"You beat me," he said quietly. He shook his head and corrected himself. "No, you didn't win. I lost."
Ash pressed through Giovanni's team, his own pokemon creating a path through the madness. His lucario was locked in battle with an armoured Mewtwo, and his pikachu fended off an arbok with ease.
The room rippled and swam for a moment, then the scene shifted almost imperceptibly and Ash caught a flash of gold interspersed with bands of violet light and thick bands of smoke that dissipated as soon as they appeared. He landed on one knee, steadying himself on the ground and fighting the urge to vomit.
He glanced up, at the small bunker that he'd traced Giovanni to. He was so close to finally killing Giovanni after what the Rocket Boss had done to him. After he'd turned his friends against him and forced Ash to kill them all in a desperate race for survival.
"Giovanni!" shouted the chosen one. "I'm here to kill you!"
His hand dove into his pack, pulling out a full restore. Ash emptied the bottle into the back of his injured shiny lucario. His black hair was matted with sweat and blood and his team of fearsome pokemon stood with him. He couldn't feel the fire of Aura flowing through him, but battle had been joined and there was no avoiding it now.
Ash's golden lucario rose from his feet, facing down Giovanni. Mewtwo was missing and he would have no better chance than this. The crime lord had changed into some sort of bulky exploration suit. None of his pokemon were present, just a massive brute of a pokemon with golden rings banding each limb.
A trio of golden rings spun into existence, leaking thick smoke and violet light. Three gods emerged from the strange rings, their eyes blazing the same violet as the ringed creature behind Giovanni. Twisted apparitions of the Bird trio screeched their cries in unison, no doubt twisted like Mewtwo had been.
Ash stepped forward, raising the skarmory steel feather that he had long used as his blade. "Stand down and prepare to be—"
An red-orange blur slammed into his charizard's throat, snapping the fire drake's neck with the suddenness of its attack. Charizard toppled, limp limbs and wings splayed out at an awkward angle. The Zapdos skidded to a halt, glaring down at Ash with malevolent hate.
A purple bird that radiated psychic power floated forward ethereally, freezing the rest of the intruder's pokemon in place as the discoloured Zapdos speared Ash's beloved leavanny from behind with a pointed beak.
The Zapdos tossed his loyal bug into the air where the third bird, a reaper of black with sinister flames roaring off its wings, skewered the immobilized leavanny and swallowed it whole.
Ash felt the psychic force hold him lessen and fell back in shock, the rest of his team still frozen in place. His lucario made it a few steps before midnight fire smote it where it stood. His espeon glowed with psychic light, but the purple Articuno wiped it from the earth with a flick of its mind.
Pikachu finally shook off the effects of Articuno's immobilizing gaze. Ash's starter glanced back at him, the same determination filling his eyes that had driven the little electric mouse to victory over every foe that the pair had ever faced.
"Pikachu…" he started, his voice faltering for the first time since the horde of spearow had descended on him during the first days of his pokemon journey.
His starter nodded once and turned back to face the bird trio with the betrayed hero of his universe at his side. Ash hefted his feather-blade, intensity burning in his stare. He struck the pose that his pikachu could use to channel the Z-powers contained within them both.
"Gigabolt Hav—"
Pikachu leapt up before Ash even finished his command. White hot electricity surged from the little pokemon's red cheeks, bathing the chamber with the sky's fury. Pikachu let loose with everything that the little mouse had.
Ash felt his hair stand on end as lightning bathed their foes. He tasted ozone and shut his eyes to block out the impossible light. Then it faltered. The retribution of the storm died and Ash felt his heart drop as he dared to look. The birds hadn't even been scratched, let alone knocked out by the most powerful attack that his pikachu had ever used.
An orb of yellow electricity crackled to life above the Zapdos. The purple Articuno conjured its own orb of chilling elemental energy as the midnight Moltres did the same with a ball of fire.
Pikachu leapt up in a last desperate effort to shield his trainer from certain doom. The assembled gods loosed their power as the little pokemon lit up with one last thunderbolt.
Ash closed his eyes, shutting out the quiet shriek of pain before his starter was silenced for good.
He heard a muffled command come through Giovanni's suit and opened his eyes to see the trio of gods disappear through the same golden rings as before.
A pair of blast doors beneath a small viewport, a dozen armed soldiers bursting through and training their rifles on him. Laser dots painted his chest, but none dared to fire. The implication was clear.
Giovanni reached up and unsealed his helmet. He held it at his side, regarding Ash with newfound curiosity. "Surrender," he ordered. "Before the same happens to you."
Ash let his feather-blade fall useless to the floor. He looked inwards, for the well of Aura that had always burned inside of him. Arceus had called it his blessing, an endowment made to aid in his chosen one's quest for good. But now, the well of Aura was silent and dead.
He reached for the power anyways, fighting to draw on every ounce of willpower within his soul. Ash Ketchum willed it to the surface, letting his emotions run wild in a vain attempt to draw more of his Aura loose.
Still, the well remained silent and empty. No azure flames came forth, no supernatural strength and speed filled his limbs. Ash Ketchum let his arms fall to his sides in defeat, his gaze falling to the floor.
He didn't speak. Not even when the soldiers kicked his feather-blade away and cuffed him. For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum had truly lost. He had lost everything.
"I was conducting a test upon the multiversal capabilities of the creature known as Hoopa." Giovanni folded his arms across his chest. "And in return, the multiverse spat you back at me." He sighed and leaned against the wall beside Ash's lone cell. "I am at a loss as to why."
"And you think I'd be able to shed light on that?"
Ash asked incredulously. "You're my greatest foe, the reason my life is in ruins." He rose to his feet and stepped up to the bars of the cell. "What are you trying to tell me? That you aren't Giovanni?"
He tipped his head. "No. I am Giovanni Sakai, to be sure." He reached out with a key in his hand and unlocked the cell, swinging the door open. "But it might be more accurate to say that I'm not your Giovanni Sakai."
Ash warily stepped towards the open door. "You mean to say that you aren't my enemy?"
"The multiverse seemingly thought so, and I believe that it spat you here as a sort of counter to myself." Giovanni frowned and stepped away from the cell. Again, Ash saw the cold calculation in his gaze. He had the same unfeeling and chilling glare that Ash had seen a thousand times before. "Whether you are my enemy still remains to be seen. You did attempt to kill me upon your arrival here."
Ash remained silent. He'd meant to kill Giovanni. He'd wanted to do it himself, run the older man through with his feather-blade and leave him in a puddle of blood. He'd have done it too, if his Aura hadn't failed him.
"I know that this must be confusing for you. I went from your mortal enemy in one instance to… this, in a span of seconds." Giovanni turned his back and motioned for Ash to follow. "I would feel much the same, especially if I had spent as much blood as you had. But if you stay here and allow me the chance, I can show you that you are not my enemy."
Ash Ketchum stepped out of the cell, following Giovanni down the short hallway into a small kitchen. He stopped suddenly, staring at the man with some suspicion clearly on his face. "You mean to say that you aren't an evil crime lord in this universe?"
"I am a gym leader and founding member of the Indigo Aces." He turned and tried to offer a warm smile. "I have resorted to some less honourable methods in the past, but I am trying to save humanity. I am not an evil man."
Giovanni turned and gestured to the kitchen. "Please, you will be my guest here. I apologize for the way we treated you at first, but you did not give us much of a choice."
Ash frowned. The kitchen was small and spartan, like it was only intended for the use of a small group of people. He glanced at the heavy metal door that reminded him of the bars of his cell. This was still a cage, even if it was more comfortable than the cell.
"My Giovanni was a gym leader." Ash looked back at the Rocket Boss. "He was obsessed with control, much like you appear to be."
Giovanni chuckled, and led Ash down another hallway and away from the kitchen. "I would wager that he also had an underground facility that looked decidedly like an evil-lair." He turned his head with a grin. "We are likely often reflected in our multiversal selves. It is important to note that we are not likely to be perfect mirrors of our alternate selves. The multiverse is a window into possibility, where things can be different in a thousand minute ways."
They walked in silence as Ash sourly contemplated the meaning of that. If this Giovanni was telling the truth then he had thrown his friends' lives away in vain. If that was the truth than he was no hero at all.
He felt the resolve build in his mind. That could not be the case. He was the Chosen One. He would not have been punished like this in vain. He could only assume that this world had need of him. Even more than the world he had been torn from.
Giovanni broke the silence and interrupted the train of thought as he pushed open the doors of the small living quarters. "You'll find these much more accommodating than your previous room." He ushered Ash through and let the door shut behind them. "This is where you will be staying until you've satisfied my caution."
"You're allowing me to live?" Ash said, still having difficulty believing that Giovanni was content to let him live here unmolested. It was a cage still, but he had expected an executioner's block.
Giovanni nodded slowly and Ash saw the same calculating gaze that his Giovanni was all too prone to. "Another version of myself may have been your enemy, but you are not my enemy."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "You said that already."
"Then ponder it," Giovanni replied. He turned toward the door. "I have business I am needed for in Indigo. I will be back in three days time."
"And what am I to do?" Ash asked in response.
Giovanni stopped at the door for a moment. He glanced back and for a moment Ash saw a glimpse of something dark and angry inside of Giovanni. He wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if his Aura powers were struggling to re-emerge. "There is a large library down the hall. I would suggest that you educate yourself on your new home."
Giovanni turned and strode from the room, leaving Ash alone. The Chosen One listened to the footsteps lessen and then disappear entirely. He heard a heavy metal door slam a few minutes later and then nothing at all.
He sat down finally, letting the tension leave his body. His shoulders sagged and his eyes fluttered as exhaustion washed over him. He'd been running on adrenaline during the entire conversation with Giovanni and now he was crashing.
Ash laid back in the small bed. He didn't fight the sleep, praying to Arceus that he would find peaceful dreams rather than the hellish nightmares of death that he had been having. He could learn about his new home once he had gotten some rest, and just maybe he could find a way home.
Hello there and welcome to the world of Journey.This fic came to me as a sort of fun concept during the writing of a one-shot (What We Do For Our Children , also found on my profile). I really liked the idea of looking at what happens to a "Chosen One" when they're transported to a place where they are no longer that.
So while the initial inclusion of Ash into the world of Journey was initially somewhat of a joke, I really enjoyed this and hope you all find the concept as fun as I did!