Chapter Text
One moment Max was falling into the earth and chasing a light he hoped would lead to the way out.The next he was bumping into something. someone? Knocking them a bit before quickly catching themselves.
“Oh I'm sorry I didn't see-” Max began to say before looking at the stranger, They stood slightly taller, back a bit hunched due to the crutch they were using for support , but other than that there were no discernible features
Getting unsettled, Max started slowly backing up from the figure not getting too far before they started speaking “You're going to look upon a pedestal that will change your entire life path” they said cryptically
That caused the 10 year old to pause,
“but that could change~” the person continued in a sing-song tone
“What does that even mean?” mumbled Max
“It means!” They said loudly startling the boy “well,you'll just have to figure that out“
“So what do you say? Wanna see the future“
they asked sticking out their hand
Max was silent from the whiplash of the last 30 seconds or so, processing the words.
“On one hand this person is really suspicious and he doesn't even want to know how in the Distortion Realm they got down here, but on the other…this person could be his only way out of here and he'd be lying if he said his curiosity wasn't the tiniest bit piqued” so against his better judgement they shook hands.
He didn't realise the next thing he'd be greeted with would be a gigantic tree with sun rays shining through it,looking around Max saw he was on a small hill overlooking a sprawling meadow.
Venturing out he released Treeko and Mightyena incase any wild pokémon attack, strangely though there doesn't seem to be any no rattatas rustling the grass,chirps or squawks from the tree,nothing just his pokémon padding beside him and the sound of the whistling wind.
Suddenly Mightyena's ears swivel he sniffs the air briefly before speeding in the direction
“Mighty-!” he heard his master begin to say before being drowned out by his focus
When he eventually slowed,his master and his new green friend were still trailing a bit behind him,winded.
When Max caught up to the bite pokemon, he saw something out of place.A door,a gold plated one at that with a silver handle, seemingly untouched.
Before Mightyena leaned on it. trying and failing to open it, only succeeding in giving the door and handle scuff marks
“Mightyena wait! ” Max insisted “we don't know what could be on the other side,plus you can't open it anyway”
Mightyena stopped, going back down onto all fours and stood a bit away from the gold door ,Treeko going up to him,seemingly interrogating him
Taking a breath Max approached the door grimacing a bit at the slobber the pokemon had left on the handle ,rubbing it off before finally turning the handle
As he slowly pushed the door,Max started to hear some muffled voices “-don't know-” “doesn't make sense-” “maybe a pokémon?”
“but then why are we he-
When the door was fully opened, he was greeted by 6 people in a dimly lit room
Max stood quietly taking in the room he now found himself in,it was quite large with laminate wood flooring and orange walls
Two blondes he didn't recognise standing across from each other mid-argument, a muscular man at the side of them his back to him ,seemingly preparing to stop it escalating if need be and three figures discussing something farther away.
“Max?” one exclaimed suddenly stepping into the light spilling through the open door
“oh good, you're here” came a gleeful voice, before the room suddenly brightened up ,briefly blinding everyone
“I can finally explain what's going to happen here ” They continued
Everyone in the room turned to where the voice came from.
“You are here to witness what has yet to come,the ups,downs and everything in between” they said, making their voice more gravelly “Any questions, before we begin?" they asked,clearing their throat
One of the people farther away stepped forward; Ash along with Pikachu in tow on his shoulder. Max recognised though he thought Ash looked younger “I have one, where is Bonnie's dedenne ” he said quickly glancing towards a blonde that looked around Max's age.
“She checked her bag earlier and said he wasn't in it,so where is he” Ash asked seriously
The figure had a look realisation dawn on their features, “I knew I was missing someone” snapping their fingers. They looked at the young girl “check now”
Just then the sound of rustling was heard,Bonnie hastily undid her bag's clip , a small head peaked out with a confused “Denne?”
The girl gasped “Dedenne you're okay! Thank arceus “ she said, holding out her hand for the small pokémon to jump onto.
“Alright, any other questions“ the figure asked
“Why does my little brother seem taller?!” Someone Max definitely recognises shouted
“Oh that's because-” “What do you mean seems taller!?” Max yelled, “I mean last time I saw you,you were the size of a damn Breloom” ”I was not that short “ "yes you are and you know it
”it's BECAUSE “ the figure cut into the siblings back and forth.
“Some of you are from different periods of Ash's journey,you are from the end of his time in Hoenn, Brock is from the end of Sinnoh” they directed their hand to the man who had his back to Max earlier “Were as Ash himself, Serena and Clemont are from Kalos. Finally, Max and Bonnie are from 4 years after Ash's journey came to an end. They finished.
Almost the entire room took a moment to digest that until one excited voice exclaimed “so I finally became a pokémon master!“ another one chiming “pi pikachu “
The figure made a so-so gesture “Anywho how about begin hm? It's a bit empty in here anyway “ when they said that 7 comfy looking chairs materialised along with 2 slightly smaller ones . The chairs were facing a big screen seen alongside an empty decent-sized bookcase.
Before he sat down Max looked back at the door he had first walked through and had his own question “Are my pokémon not joining us?” He asked the figure
The figure shook their head “They have their own screen out there if they want to watch too but they're not joining the room“
Max gave a small nod,sitting down, putting his bag to the side preparing for what's to come.
“Now then” the figure said theatrically before making a wheelchair to sit in.“Let's see the beginning of this journey, shall we? "The room darkens.