A Change In The Timeline

With a start, my eyes shot open as I looked around at the unfamiliar scenery.

Looking around, I wondered where I was.

Until I finally settled my eyes on two familiar figures standing on either side of the bed I was resting in, glowing blue orbs emanating from their palms as they channelled their energies into me.

Noticing I was awake, the two figures lowered their hands and smiled at me.

"Luca, Luci… Hey." I said with a soft smile.

"Caaaarrr~!" they replied, leaping forward and hugging me from both sides.

"I see; you guys saved me again. I'm sorry you're stuck with such a reckless and useless trainer."

Feeling their grip on me tighten, furiously shaking their heads and nuzzling into me, I understood they were fervently denying my words.

"Haha, okay, okay! I get it, haha."

Perhaps because they'd heard the commotion I was making, the door to the room I was in opened up.

Looking over, I saw Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie, alongside Pikachu, Froakie, and Garchomp, come rushing in, running to my side and calling out:

"Kai!"

"Pika Pi~!"

"Froakie~!"

"Gaaaar~!"

Seeing their expressions, my heart felt lighter, the memories that I'd had before while unconscious slowly drifting into the background of my mind, sinking into the hidden void that still lingered within my chest.

"Hey, guys," I said with a small smile.

"How're you feeling?" Clemont asked.

"In all honesty? Never better." I chuckled.

"You've been asleep for nearly two whole days, you dummy!" Bonnie suddenly exclaimed.

My eyes widened slightly.

"Two whole days, huh…"

"Yeah, Luca and Luci were both at your sides, constantly working to heal you. They hadn't even taken a single second of rest, even though we told them to!" Ash explained.

Looking down at my two best friends who were cuddled up next to me, I realised that they had actually passed out, most likely from exhaustion.

My eyes suddenly began to sting as I reached my arms around them and pulled them closer against me.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" I muttered.

Seeing the expression marring my face, Ash suddenly felt a little awkward and apologetic.

I took a deep breath, looked over at my new friends and said,

"Haha, sorry about that," my voice expressed my awkwardness at my display.

"No worries, it just goes to show how much you care for your Pokémon and how much they care about you, too," Bonnie said with a bright smile.

A knock was heard at the door; I looked over and said,

"Come in."

The door slid open, and a man with a Lab Coat walked in.

"Good to see you up, Kai. I believe we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Professor Augustine Sycamore."

"Hello. You're correct; I apologise for that. My name is Mochizuki Kai. It is nice to finally meet you, Professor Sycamore."

"The feeling is mutual, Kai. Meeting such a brave and selfless young man such as yourself, who cares so deeply for Pokémon, is an honour in and of itself."

"You're giving me a bit too much credit there, haha."

"Nonsense, I feel like my words don't do it justice, but enough about that. How're you feeling?"

"Never better," I replied.

"Good. Ash here hasn't been able to sit; still, it seems he's been worried about his new friend."

"Is that right?" I said while looking over at Ash and smirking,

"What, I fall asleep for two days, and you miss me already?" I teased.

"Yeah, well…" Ash tried to say but just ended up scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Hahaha." Everyone laughed at his actions.

"Professor, thank you again for allowing me to stay here and recover. Is there anything I can do to compensate for my stay?"

"Absolutely not. You and Ash risked your lives to help Garchomp. Whatever debts you believe you owe have been paid for in full, and then some."

"Haaa… I see. I'm just glad you're okay, Garchomp."

"Gaaaar~!" Garchomp replied.

"Well, I'm a bit tired of just laying here. Would you mind getting me my bag? I want to return Luca and Luci to their PokéBalls so they can rest."

"Sure, it's right here!" Bonnie said, reaching down and passing my bag to me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile before reaching in and pulling out two PokéBalls.

With a flash of light, Luca and Luci disappeared into their respective PokéBalls. Once free from their clutches, I rose out of bed, standing up and performing a couple of stretches.

"Thank you, again, Professor, for allowing me to rest here."

"It's my pleasure, Kai. So what're your plans now?"

"Well, Ash here is planning on defeating each of the Gym Leaders here in the Kalos Region. So I thought I'd maybe tag along, that is, if you'll have me." I said before turning to Ash.

"Heck yeah! It'll be awesome to have you come along!" Ash exclaimed.

"Well, there you have it," I said, returning a smile.

…

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After a shower, a meal, and ensuring I had everything, Professor Sycamore called me to his office.

Arriving at the door, I knocked.

"Come in." I heard an answer from within.

Opening the door, Professor Sycamore was there, sitting behind his desk, looking through a tablet.

"Hello, Professor; how can I help?"

"Have a seat." He said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.

Walking over, I pulled the chair out and sat down.

"Now, Kai, I want you to know that I'm eternally grateful for your help with Garchomp."

"It's fine, Professor; you provided a space for me to be nursed back to health. We're square." I said with a smile.

"Hmm, I understand. However, that isn't the reason why I called you here. The reason I did so is because of this."

Professor Sycamore then handed me the tablet he was holding. On it, a video was playing.

Watching the video, the smile on my face suddenly died as my expression grew emotionless.

Playing on repeat was what appeared to be CCTV footage displaying in high quality, my use of my ADA, blocking one of Garchomp's [Hyper Beam]'s.

I turned my gaze away from the tablet with stone-cold eyes and looked directly into Professor Sycamore's eyes.

"Are you threatening me, Professor?" I asked, my voice sounding so cold that it sent chills down Sycamore's spine.

"Not in the slightest. I called you here to let you know that my Research Lab works in partnership with the Lumiose City Gym. We have access to CCTV footage within Prism Tower. On the day after the incident, I decided to watch the footage to see if I could learn anything about the collar that was used on Garchomp, hoping to come up with ways in which we could prevent future incidents like what had happened."

"However, I happened to see what I assumed was likely a secret in which you wished to keep."

I continued to stare at Augustine, hoping he'd get to the point he was making sooner rather than later.

"As thanks for what you did for us, I deleted all the CCTV footage from that night. So the only remaining copy of it is on that tablet."

Hearing his words, my aura burst forward, forming my ADA and enhancing my strength, before I proceeded to crush the tablet into dust with my bare hands.

Gulping slightly at the swiftness of my actions, Professor Sycamore sighed.

"That was my favourite tablet." He said with a sad smile.

"I apologise, Professor, but I can't risk it."

"Haaa… I understand. Also, I promise to keep your abilities a secret. Not a word will be said about any of what I've seen."

Hearing his words, Professor Sycamore and I stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds. Then, he began to sweat slightly as the seconds seemed to drag on for hours.

"From what I've heard, you seem to be a good man, Professor. I am placing my trust in you. Please do not make me do anything I'd rather not do."

"You have my word."

With a nod, I prepared to leave; however, the Professor then spoke up.

"Here, take this; it's a Kalos Region Pokédex. It'll help you register for the Kalos League if that is what you decide to do. I've already handed one over to Ash."

Taking the Pokédex, I bowed slightly towards the Professor, saying,

"Thank you again, Professor," before turning around and leaving.

"Haaaa… I guess this is one of those moments where holding back my curiosity was the right thing to do…" Sycamore said to himself after I had left.

…

..

.

Walking down the stairs and entering the hall leading to the entrance of the Research Lab, I looked ahead, only to see Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont standing around talking. However, they didn't seem to be alone.

With them, a girl was there, talking to Ash, smiling brightly.

She was around 165cm (5'5) tall and had cream-coloured skin, blue eyes, and honey-coloured hair tied in a ponytail near the end that reached the small of her back. She wore a black sleeveless top with a white collar, a red mini-skirt that clasped across her midsection, black thigh-high socks, black sneakers, and a pinkish-read Pork pie hat. She also had a little pink and black coloured backpack.

Immediately recognising the surprisingly cute girl, I smirked and shook my head.

'Due to my recovery, the delay in Ash's journey has changed the timeline. But oh well. I feel a bit bad for Dedenne and Fletchling as we might not encounter them now, but only time will tell.' I thought to myself.

As I reached the bottom floor, Clemont and Bonnie seemed to notice me, with Bonnie waving me over, exclaiming,

"Hi, Kai! All done with your talk with the Professor?"

Hearing her words, Ash and the new girl looked over in my direction.

"Mhm, he just wanted to hand me a Pokédex before we all headed off," I said, holding up the Pokédex in my hand as I arrived at their side, smiling.

Looking around, my eyes stopped on the newcomer. I smiled, sticking out my hand, saying,

"Hi, I don't believe we've met. I'm Kai."

Hearing my words, a strange glint flashed across her eyes, looking almost like disappointment. However, it vanished as quickly as it came, as she stuck out her hand to clasp onto mine, saying,

"Hi! Umm, I'm Serena; it's nice to meet you, Kai!" She said, smiling brightly.

Not entirely understanding what I saw, I decided to ignore it, replying,

"Nice to meet you too, Serena."

"We met Serena yesterday! She was here to pick out a Pokémon of her own from Professor Sycamore. Apparently, Serena and I had met before as kids in the past, back in Kanto during a camp!" Ash said.

"Yup, but I didn't expect that you wouldn't even remember me!" She said with an adorable pout, subtly side-eyeing me as well, but I didn't notice.

"Ahaha, sorry.... But I remembered after right?" Ash said awkwardly.

"I see; well then, Serena, I wish you the best of fortunes on your Journey," I said.

"So, what's the plan, guys?"

"Well, we should probably head over to the Pokémon Center. Ash and you can sign up for the Kalos League there." Clemont said.

"Alright! I can't wait to get started! Let's go!" Ash exclaimed.

With that, Ash took off, running towards the exit.

Seeing him run off, I couldn't help but sigh, saying,

"Haaa… He just can't sit still, can he?" I chuckled.

"Well, that's just how Ash is," replied Clemont chuckling as well.

Clemont and Bonnie followed after Ash, leaving Serena and me behind.

"So, are you coming along?" I asked.

"Huh?" Serena turned to look at me, seemingly surprised.

"I asked if you were gonna join us," I said with a smile.

"Oh, umm, I…" She seemed to struggle with what to say, but knowing what I knew, I just started walking.

"C'mon, Serena, we better hurry, or we're gonna be left behind," I said, turning my head back to her with a smirk.

Seeing my expression, she blushed slightly at my teasing before jogging over to catch up to me.

…

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