Second Life

"Are you sure about this Aniki?" A young boy of about seven years anxiously asked me.

"You can do it Ash! Trust your big brother!" I said encouragingly to him, giving Ash the motivation he needed.

Taking a deep breath, Ash braced both his feet and leapt out from the large tree branch he was currently on, and soared through the air towards the same branch I was currently standing on.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Ash cried out as he flew through the air, reaching desperately for the next branch, only for his fingers to just barely graze it as he began to plummet towards the ground.

"!!!"

"Gotcha!" I exclaimed as my hand wrapped around his wrist, using more strength than a seven year old should have as I prevented his fall and pulled him up next to me.

"Man... That was scary..." Ash uttered once his butt was on the branch next to me, and he was no longer dangling in the air.

"You should trust in your big brother more! Have I ever gotten you hurt before?" I asked with a wounded voice, making Ash ponder before he said,

"Nope! But I still couldn't make the jump." Ash stated pointedly, to which I snorted as I replied,

"You could've, you just need to work on your form more." Then, to prove my point, I got up onto my feet and turned towards the next tree, which was a little bit further away than the one we were on.

Then, with Ash watching my every move, I leapt out into the open air towards the next branch, and grabbed it with ease before pulling myself up onto it.

"See? Now it's your turn!" I called out once I got comfortable, to which Ash too stood with a competitive glint in his eyes.

Mimicking every single thing I did as well as he could, Ash took a second to mentally prepare himself before launching himself from the branch with a cry, "hyah!"

This time he managed to get the distance be needed, and caught the branch I was sitting on before he could fall, making it shudder beneath me.

"See? I knew you could do it!" I told him even as I have him a hand getting up onto branch with me, while he beamed,

"I did it Aniki!" I clapped my brother on the back, but not hard enough to make him fall, right as a voice called out,

"Boys! Dinner time!" Our bellies rumbling with hunger, the two of us quickly scrambled out of the tree, and raced through the woods towards our home.

My name was Ace Ketchum, and it had been seven years since I was reborn into the world of Pokemon by Arceus.

I may say it's been seven years, but to me it was more like two since my memories of my previous life were nonexistent until shortly after I turned five. I recall having a minute or two of cognition after I was born, which was fucking HELL, but after that I couldn't recall anything until roughly two years ago.

The boy running next to me was of course my younger twin brother, Ash Ketchum, who also happened to be the main protagonist of the Pokemon show for twenty or so years.

Naturally as twins our appearance was almost identical, messy black hair, lightly tanned skin, and similar facial features. The biggest difference between the two of us was that Ash had brown eyes, while mine were amber.

Other than that we typically wore different colored clothing so other people could tell us apart with a glance, Ash with blue and me with red.

"There you boys are! You aren't doing anything dangerous I hope!" Said a voice full of motherly love and tenderness as we approached our house, that of Delia Ketchum, aka, our mother.

Delia was a beautiful woman with light brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and was usually dressed in a pink jacket with a long purple skirt.

Ash and I shared a look at her question, before saying in unison,

""Noooo...""

Delia gave us both a pointed stare, before finally relenting and saying, "Go and wash up, dinner is almost ready."

""Ok!""

We replied before running to the bathroom sink to wash our hands and faces after being outside all day 'playing'. We called it playing, but in actuality I was preparing myself and Ash for the future when we both began our journeys.

Other than a few light stretches, warmups, and jogging, I didn't work my body that much yet, and instead focused on other things like climbing trees and such. Climbing was a great way to help develop upper body strength, and at the same time we were training our mobility and reflexes by jumping through the branches.

To Ash we were just playing around when we did this or played our other 'games' but in actuality I was helping him prepare without him realizing it. I didn't intend to babysit Ash when we began our own journey, but that didn't mean that I wouldn't help him when I could. I was his big brother after all.

After washing our hands and faces of the dirt and sweat of the day, we quickly went to the dining room where Delia was setting the table, and helped her finish before sitting down to eat.

She sat on one end of the table, while Ash and I sat across from one another on either side of her. On our other side though was a fourth chair that sat empty, and had been for our entire life.

Ash didn't recall or think about it, but I did as I recalled the couple scant moments after I was born before losing consciousness. There had been a man who held and named both of us before we were given to our mother. However apparently he had left the three of us shortly after, leaving no hint of his existence in the house.

I tried asking about him once, but Delia had given me a vague response before quickly changing the subject to distract me. That may be a tactic that would work on a normal child, but not on an adult who had reincarnated.

However I played the innocent child since it seemed as if she wasn't going to give me any answers, and figured that I'd learn the truth one day.

Once dinner was done Delia shooed both Ash and I upstairs to bathe, which we did together, before we both got ready for bed.

"I want you both to go to sleep early tonight, tomorrow you're both going to meet with professor Oak." Delia said as we went to our rooms in our pajamas, me in red Charmander pants with Ash in yellow Pikachu pajamas that I may or may not have recommended him.

""Goodnight mom!"" We both cried in unison, before separating as we entered the room directly opposite the other as we went to bed.

Though a little too neat for someone my physical age, my room looked as one would typically expect a child's room to look. Posters of Pokemon decorated the walls, along with famous trainers, while numerous Pokemon themed toys and plushies could be found. Unlike most rooms belonging to seven year olds though, I also had a desk in the corner where I kept numerous notes under lock and key.

The notes involved any potential disasters in the future that I was aware of, such as those involving the Legendaries, as well as potential plans to deal with it when the time came. Of course I wasn't being serious with my plans just yet, as who knew how things would actually turn out, but at least I could plan for certain scenarios and try to come up with ways to counteract them if needed.

It also included numerous drawings of the various Legendaries and other Pokemon that I had done when I was bored, which finally put to use the four years of art classes I had to take in school for an elective. I also wrote in several notes of the type of team I needed when I began my journey, which wouldn't be until I turned seventeen.

Outside of a few that I decided I NEEDED in my team though, I left it pretty open since I wouldn't know for sure what Pokemon I would recruit until my journey began. The reason was because, unlike the games where they were only used for battling/HMs, different Pokemon would have a variety of different uses in this world.

Zubat for example was considered akin to a menace in caves and at night because of how numerous and weak they were, when in reality they could be extremely useful for navigating at night or other dark places. Chansey was another one who was practically useless to have in your team in the game since their unique healing skills couldn't be used, but in reality they were indispensable to the point that they were one of the few that were guaranteed a spot on my team.

So, like many a night since I regained my memories, I eventually fell asleep while running numerous scenarios and ideas for the future in my head.

...

Before the sun rose the next morning my Loudred alarm clock suddenly began going off across my room, making me get and walk over to it to turn it off, a trick from my last life to help wake up properly in the worming.

Now awake, I quickly changed into my workout clothes before beginning my morning routine.

First was series of stretches to loosen up my muscles, before a light jog through town that took me past several houses and the few businesses, where the owners were also beginning their day as they greeted me.

After that was a light workout that included a few push-ups, planks, and squats, before I finished up with a series of yoga poses.

I reentered the house right as mom and Ash were waking up, well mom was getting up, Ash's own alarm clock was still going off. Going to the bathroom before Ash got up, I locked the door and took a quick and cool shower to rinse my body off, but was still in long enough that when Ash finally got up, he was beating on the door because he needed to pee.

When I was finished with my morning shower I went down to the kitchen to help mom prepare breakfast, since she used her own bathroom to get ready, while we both waited for Ash to get dressed.

It was at about eight o'clock, after the three of us shared a warm meal of eggs, bacon, and hash browns, that we finally left the house to go to professor Oak's lab.

"Why are we going to see professor Oak, mom?" Ash asked while stifling a yawn, to which she said,

"Because he wanted to see the two of you. Don't worry, Gary and Daisy will be there too." Both Ash and I stifled a groan when we heard Gary was going to be there as well, as even as a seven year old the guy was still a jerk. There was a reason I always named him Asswipe in the early games.

The walk through Pallet town was uneventful enough though, other than some of the other residents waving and greeting us as we walked by.

The town itself had been founded by professor Oak himself a few short decades ago, and was a unique area in that it wasn't under the direct control of the Pokemon League. No one was going to try and change that though, as it was said that professor Oak was a literal badass in his heyday, and even the current champion Lance wouldn't be able to hold his own if the two had a Pokemon battle.

Now however he was known as the kindly Pokemon professor, and was famous throughout the entire world for his discoveries and advances in understanding Pokemon.

While the majority of people in Pallet town worked as his aides or as other personnel, there were several others who kept numerous farm Pokemon like Miltank for their produce, which was sold in the local general store. We didn't even have a Poke Center or Poke Mart.

Yet the people of Pallet were all happy and content, as they all enjoyed the simple life, while most of us young ones yearned for adventure.

And that is exactly what I think we are going to professor Oak's to talk about, as we finally approached the lab that was built on a hill that overlooked the rest of the town.

The lab itself appeared simple enough, a plain looking building on the outside, but as we entered it Ash and I were greeted by rows of high tech machines that were being operated by numerous attendants.

Amongst them were even numerous Pokemon who were helping in their own way, while professor Oak himself was standing in the middle of them all with his grandson and granddaughter, Gary and Daisy Oak.

"Good morning Delia, Ace, Ash. I hope it's not too early for you." The professor said as we approached him, to which mom said,

"Of course not professor, we all came bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!" Even as she said that though Ash released a mighty yawn, to which I lightly smacked him on the back of the head for.

Thankfully Oak didn't seem to mind as he said,

"That's good. Now then, let's go somewhere a bit quieter to talk." As he said that, Oak led all of us out to the back of the lab, and out a door so that we could see the flowing pastoral fields behind, with Gary giving Ash and I the stink-eye the entire time.

Nearby a Dragonite was lazing around, but got up and approached us when it noticed our presence. I couldn't help but to gulp as the eight foot tall beast of a dragon walked up to us, and even without seeing it in action I knew the thing was a complete monster.

"Drooooo!" It said suddenly, waving at us in greeting while looking at Ash and myself curiously.

"Good morning to you too." I said to it, with the majority of my nerves vanishing at realizing it was pretty chill. The only Pokemon I'd interacted with up until this point was the occasional Pidgey and Rattata that I'd found behind our house, and they were nothing like the dragon that stood at twice my height in front of me.

Looking down at me, the Dragonite smiled as it leaned down while lowing, "droooo."

Smiling back at it, I began rubbing it's snout as it presented itself to me, making its smile widen and wings shudder as I seemed to find the sweet spot.

"Huh..." Oak uttered as he watched me interact with his Dragonite, before smiling as he added, "you're pretty good with Pokemon Ace."

Before I could reply Ash eagerly shouted, "Aniki is the best! I see him playing and talking with Pidgey and Rattata all the time behind our house!"

Ash's declaration earned me numerous looks from the others that were with us, mostly interest from Oak, mom and Daisy, while Gary just looked at me with disdain. Ignoring him though, I just said to Oak,

"It's nothing really. And Pokemon are pretty easy to understand if you just listen." Dragonite then lowed to me once again, and I started scratching its snout a little further up, which made its tail begin to twitch alongside its wings.

"Interesting..." Oak said, before clapping his hands to draw everyone's attention back to him, as he said,

"It's decided then I think Delia!" Mom nodded as she said,

"As long as it's safe they have my permission, and thank you for this opportunity professor!" Bowing her head slightly to him as she thanked him, Ash and I looked at each other curiously before looking at Oak in a synchronized manner as we asked,

""What's decided?""

Oak smiled widely as he said,

"I'd like to have the two of you working here with Gary and Daisy to help take care of my Pokemon, and at the same time I or one of my aides will also teach you. When the time comes, and the two of you start your own journey, I'll sponsor you by giving you each a starter, and will house and take care of all the Pokemon you catch that aren't traveling with you. So, what do you say?"

Ash and I looked at each other when we heard professor Oak's offer, a silent conversation passing between our eyes that no one else was privy to, before turning back to him and saying as one,

""We accept!""