"Go for it, Ash! Never give up on your dreams!"
"Yeah, Ash! Just… make sure Natsume doesn't accidentally become a fugitive this time!"
As Ash waved goodbye, beaming with pride, cheers and well-wishes filled the air. His heart was pounding with excitement—this was it. The beginning of his journey to become a Pokémon Master.
Beside him, Natsume adjusted his backpack, tossing one final look over his shoulder. The setting sun painted the sky in gold and red, stretching their shadows across the dirt road as they left Pallet Town behind.
But the second they crossed the horizon and disappeared from view—
The crowd dropped the act.
A unified sigh of relief rolled through the town like a wave.
"He's gone! The menace is finally gone!" someone cheered, pumping their fist to the sky.
"Praise Arceus," a woman muttered. "My Ponyta hasn't slept through the night since that man moved here from Sinnoh."
"My Oddish!" another shouted. "He kept feeding it its own compost! Called it 'nutrient cycling'!"
A man shuddered, rubbing his face. "I ate his 'experimental berry bread' for a year. A whole year! You don't want to know what was in it."
"My Geodude won't go near a Pokécenter anymore. He kept running diagnostic scans on it. Said something about 'mineral deposits and renal calculi!'"
The grumbling quickly turned into a full-blown uproar.
Professor Oak, standing at the lab entrance, wisely said nothing and pulled his coat tighter.
Even the Pokémon in Oak's fields were celebrating. Pidgey launched into the sky with glee. A group of Mankey produced cymbals from who-knows-where and began slamming them together like a marching band from hell. The racket rivaled a Hoenn summer festival.
—
Viridian Trail – Somewhere Between Dreams and Disaster
The sound of celebration faded behind them, replaced by birdsong and the crunch of gravel underfoot.
Ash sniffled, eyes glistening. "They… really didn't want us to leave."
He thought of his mom's smile, the neighbors' cheers… all of it played in his head like a warm, emotional montage.
"Natsume, maybe we should go ba—"
He stopped, turning to share the moment.
But Natsume was just staring at him. Blank-faced. Like Ash had just declared he wanted to marry a Magikarp.
Right. Ash was still ten. Very ten.
Natsume gave him a friendly slap on the back. "No looking back, Ash! A real trainer charges forward!"
—
Natsume mulled it over as they walked.
Ash's Pikachu had always been an odd case. Every bit of research pointed to one conclusion—it wasn't special. His Rotom Phone had scanned it six times already. Stat-wise? Painfully average. No hidden abilities. No abnormal typing.
And yet this rodent had casually nuked legendaries in the anime timeline.
Something didn't add up.
He tapped into his log:
Pikachu: Average stats. Zero anomalies.
Conclusion: The variable must be Ash.
Question: But how? Is Ash a luck magnet? A divine error? A narrative construct?
Before he could overthink it any further—
"Natsume! Focus!"
Ash's voice cracked through the air like a whip.
Ahead, he was wrestling with two Pikachu: his own, and a second one Natsume had brought along as a "control subject."
Natsume's Pikachu had a middle-parted tuft of fur and sat perfectly calm, trusting its strange new "trainer" with pure, naive loyalty.
"Pika?" it chirped softly.
Ash groaned. "Your Pikachu's picking up bad habits from mine!"
Natsume shrugged, eyes already scanning the nearby grass.
That rustle.
Something was coming.
A Spearow burst from the brush, wings spread wide, screeching with territorial fury.
Ash lit up. "Wild Pokémon!" He whipped out his Pokédex.
Spearow. The Tiny Bird Pokémon. Notoriously aggressive and territorial. Known to attack with no warning.
"Perfect!" Ash grinned.
His Pikachu stared into the void.
Ash looked around, clearly searching for something.
Then he pulled out a pair of pajamas.
Natsume raised an eyebrow. "What… are you doing?"
"I'm gonna net it!"
Before he could make a mistake with cotton sleepwear, Natsume handed him a smooth, palm-sized stone.
Ash frowned. "Natsume, this is a brick."
"Ahem. Higher knockout chance means easier capture probability," Natsume said like it was obvious.
Ash blinked. Then nodded like it made perfect sense. "Right!"
He threw.
The brick soared.
THUNK.
Direct hit.
The Spearow staggered. A fat lump rose on its forehead.
"YEAH!" Ash punched the air.
Then the Spearow's eyes snapped open.
They were glassy with rage.
It let out a furious screech.
And then, the trees exploded.
Dozens of Spearow swarmed out in a spiral of feathers and fury.
Ash turned pale. "N-Natsume? What do we do now?"
He turned.
Natsume was gone.
Middle-Part Pikachu? Also gone.
Only his Pikachu remained.
It looked at Ash.
Disappointed.
Betrayed.
Ash opened his mouth to scream—
"RUN, ASH!"
Natsume's voice echoed from somewhere far away.
And so Ash ran.
Ran like he'd never run before.
As the shrieking Spearow bore down, claws flashing and beaks snapping, Ash finally understood.
He finally understood what Pallet Town meant when they told him to "watch over" Natsume.
"NATSUME, YOU TRAITOR—!"
***
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