Ash finished his omurice and looked at the empty plate, his eyes still a bit dazed from the recent revelations.
But after a moment, he suddenly slapped both his cheeks with his hands. A new, determined look washed over his face, and he shouted with surprising energy, "Ah, forget it! I don't care anymore! I will just become a Pokémon Master! That's the only thing that truly matters!"
His sudden outburst caught Green's attention. She quickly washed her hands at the sink and turned towards him, a slightly annoyed expression on her face. "Can you please stop shouting so suddenly? You'll scare someone."
"Ah, sorry, Green," Ash apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Green harrumphed softly and picked up her hat from the table. She placed it on her head, preparing to leave.
Curiosity piqued, Ash asked, "Where are you going?"
"To help out Professor Oak. I am an assistant at his lab, after all," she replied matter-of-factly. She reached for the doorknob but paused, turning back towards Ash.
"What?" Ash mumbled, a little surprised by her sudden stop.
She leaned closer and pecked his cheek, which was unexpected for Ash.
And he froze when he felt this light, fleeting wetness on his cheek.
"What? Don't you like my kiss?" Green asked, a playful pout forming on her lips.
"No, it's not that. I was just surprised, that's all," Ash replied, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks. He quickly turned his back to her, trying to hide his reaction. "I'll go back to my room for something."
"Hehe~ okay. But remember to go to the Pallet House restaurant later. Mother-in-law and my sisters need help," Green said with a knowing smirk as she finally turned and headed out the door.
"Go… got it," Ash fumbled a bit in his steps, the reminder of his other fiancées causing a fresh wave of awkwardness to wash over him. This was going to be a very complicated life.
He sighed as he closed the door of his room, a space that still felt oddly unfamiliar despite the flood of memories.
With a small jump, he landed on the plush surface of the king-sized bed. He sank into the softness, a groan of contentment escaping his lips. The warmth and gentle give of the mattress were a welcome comfort amidst the whirlwind of his thoughts.
His mind then drifted back to the strange differences of this world, the memories becoming clearer.
First, the growth rate of children was really weird. A single year would see a child grow to look like a five-year-old from his previous life.
Even more surprising was that in just four short years, a child looked about ten years old.
The reason for this fast growth, as the letter had clearly said, was Arceus.
He remembered now that time had seemed to freeze for people his age after he turned ten in his old world.
"Hah, and I never realised something was wrong?" Ash muttered to himself, a small smile at his own lack of awareness.
It turned out that Dialga, the legendary Pokémon of Time, hadn't been doing his job properly, which caused all ten-year-olds to stop aging.
And after he… well, died… and Arceus decided to send him back in time, the Pokémon God noticed the problem with the aging.
Arceus got pretty angry about it and fixed it.
But feeling like just fixing it wasn't enough, he decided to give humans a bonus.
This bonus was the faster growth rate, making kids develop quickly until they were ten.
"So, with that, it looks like I'm going to grow up a bit faster this time," Ash said with a bit of sarcasm, rubbing his face against the soft sheets.
"Ah, mofu mofu~."
The second big change was that he had a lot of people he was engaged to.
The letter said Arceus just connected his fate with those girls.
So the one who actually set up all these engagements was his own father, the famous Pokémon trainer and former Kanto Champion, Red Ketchum.
Yep, his quiet, strong father was the one who got his son engaged to so many people.
Red Ketchum was really famous and strong, so he got a lot of marriage proposals over the years.
But Red loved being a trainer more than anything, and even his marriage with his mother, Delia, kind of just happened.
So Red always said no to those proposals. But it wasn't easy to turn down important families.
Especially families like the Blackthorn family and the Shirona family. Plus, Red was too nice to say no strongly.
But his friend and rival, Blue Oak, gave him a strange idea that seemed to solve the problem.
"Hey Red, why don't you just get your son engaged to their family?"
It was a silly idea, but to Red, it sounded like a great plan.
And so, little four-year-old Ash ended up with a lot of engagements.
But what did young Ash think about it?
Well, when they told him, he got really excited.
With bright, sparkling eyes, he had said, "So I'll get to play with a bunch of friends, huh? I am in! I want to get married!"
In this world, kids knew a bit about romance, but Ash just cared about two things: growing up fast to become a Pokémon Master, and having lots of friends.
Especially since his only friends were Green and Gary.
Thinking about how his younger self reacted to this crazy situation, Ash chuckled softly, feeling a bit amused. He decided to look on the bright side.
"Ah, maybe it's better this way. At least I'll have a big family," he thought, a real smile now on his face.
With one last roll on the comfy bed, he jumped up, feeling determined.
He got ready to head to the 'Pallet House' restaurant, owned by his mother, excited to meet the people who would be part of his life this time around.
....
Unbeknownst to any mortal, in a place where only stars and empty space stretched out forever.
The Lord of all, Arceus, was looking down at his children from a high place.
His eyes seemed quite scary, especially to Palkia and Dialga, who were trembling in fear below him.
"So, my dear children, why is it that a simple glass of parfait caused you two to make such a big mistake?" Arceus asked, his voice calm but firm.
"Lord Arceus, please forgive me! But it was that damn Dialga who stole my precious treasure!" Palkia quickly declared, trying to sound innocent and pointing the blame at Dialga.
"Lord Arceus, don't believe this terrible liar! He's the one who made me so angry!" Dialga shot back, denying Palkia's accusation and trying to look innocent himself.
"SHUT UP!"
Arceus's voice boomed like thunder around them, making them both fall silent instantly.
"Do you fools even know for sure who stole it?"
His voice pressed them for an answer, but they didn't know what to say.
"But, Lord, who else could it be other than Dialga?" Palkia mumbled.
"But, Lord, who else could it be other than Palkia?" Dialga echoed at the same time.
Arceus replied calmly, "Do you two only have each other as suspects?"
Hearing his words, it seemed like both brothers suddenly got a bit smarter, and they realised something.
'Who else could steal a parfait that was locked up tight in their own dimension?'
They both understood at the same moment and shouted together.
"GIRATINA!!!"
Far away, in the Distortion World, Giratina, who was relaxing, suddenly felt the angry vibes. With a smirk, he said.
"Ah, so you finally figured it out, my idiot brothers."
He grinned and quickly opened a portal to escape before his brothers could come after him.
Arceus sighed and thought about punishing them later, after they finished their drama. After all, it was a little bit interesting to watch.