//------------------------------//
// Ashback 
// Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World 
// by Amarvax 
//------------------------------//

Kanto. 23 years ago. Day.

On this day, out in a mountainous area found in the Kanto Region, Ash Ketchum and his friends were on their journey. A moment in time that was just a part of Ash's memory. And at this moment, Ash was pulling what appeared to be a cart of Pokemon food.

"Hehe! Lucky me! All this Pokemon food after winning that Hoop Contest was worth it! My throwing skills are unmatched!" Ash cheered. This cart of food that could feed any Pokemon for a year or more had been won in a contest that Ash managed to succeed at.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu was especially happy about this, sitting in the cart. He could smell the food already.

"I have a lot of work behind me, don't I?" For Brock, this meant that he would have to do plenty of cooking. He certainly wasn't going to be low on resources any time soon.

"How'd you even get so good at that, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Heh. I used to play Junior League Baseball." Ash bragged, putting on a proud face. "That's how I'm so good at catching Pokemon, ya know. I could've gone pro if I didn't see that battle on TV."

"As if." Misty found that concept to be ludicrous. Ash being a pro at something seemed very farfetched.

"Yeah, whatever. If something about baseball comes up, you can bet I've still got it in me." Ash scoffed before using more of his strength to pull the cart up a hill. "Plus! I've got all this strength to pull the cart so it's pretty obvious that-"

However, before he could finish his sentence, something unexpected occurred. Something that should not have happened at all during this moment in time. A sudden ripple in time went off. A large portal could be seen opening up above them, unleashing a booming sound and forming a wind pressure. Ash, Misty and Brock all dropped their jaws while their hairs were blowing from the pressure, witnessing the amazing sight before them. This was most certainly unexpected but it was about to be truly unprecedented.

Because emerging out of that portal was none other than the Guardian and Creator of Time. Dialga. Ash should have never met Dialga at this point his time. To say he was astonished was an understatement. His friends were equally taken aback.

"Wow..."



Equestria. Ponyville. The Pokemon House. Day.

At a different point in time, coming all the way back to the present day, Ash was present at the Pokemon House, helping Fluttershy care for the Pokemon.

"I got this!" He held up a long broom, ready to clean up a room belonging to the Fire-Types. Plenty of dust had been gathered as well as some destroyed objects. Most likely from play fighting. Naturally, these rooms had to be cleaned out. "All this destruction's gonna fizzle out in no time, Fluttershy!"

"Go for it, Ash!" Fluttershy cheered. Ash grit his teeth before going to work. He was about to go wild with the broom until something occurred. Much like what happened 23 years ago, another time portal appeared.

Ash paused after hearing this booming sound. Everyone in the Pokemon House were alerted by this sound. All eyes turned this Time Portal that made a sudden appearance. And Ash certainly didn't recognize it at all. As if that moment 23 years ago never happened.

Once more, a large entity would emerge from the portal. But it wasn't Dialga. Instead, it was the Rift-Dialga. The other variation of Dialga created by the combined energy of Arceus and the Rift, being a weaker yet still formidable version of the Temporal Pokemon.

Something was greatly amiss. For starters, seeing Rift-Dialga again raised many questions about what this could mean. And the fact that the real Dialga was currently in the past only elevated that.

"Dialga?" Ash gawked. "Rift-Dialga?"

At the same time, in different points in time, Ash and his past self were having different reactions. One was astounded by what he saw while the other was confused and on high alert immediately. Both of them saw different Dialgas. But what neither of them expected was what came next. 

In unison, the two Dialgas let out a roar, synchronizing. The real Dialga unleashed a Diamond Blue flash while the Rift-Dialga made a mixture of Blue and Gold. Both lights eclipsed their respective areas but with no destructive intent. The entire Pokemon House and the mountainous area were untouched by these flashes. Neither were the Pokemon present or even the Humans.

However, someone was most definitely affected. And that someone was Ash, who was instantly knocked back by this flash. Both Ashs were. The young Ash crashed into a nearby tree while the older Ash hit the walls of the Fire-Type room. After that, Rift-Dialga's body would start dispersing. This was its way of departing as its body turned into particles, re-entering the portal it came through. The portal would shrink, showing its departure. As for the real Dialga, it let out another roar before suddenly being pulled in through its own portal.

And it didn't look like it was being done willingly. Dialga struggled to resist going back in, but it failed to do so. With that, both Dialgas suddenly vanished.

"Oh my goodness! Ash! Are you okay?!" Fluttershy ran up to her friend, concerned about him after hitting the wall hard. No one saw that coming from a mile away. It just happened and that was the end of it.

"Pika-Pi?!"

"I think so..." Ash groaned, holding onto his head. Thankfully, there were no injuries. "But man...What was that all about? What do you think, Brock?"

"Brock?" Fluttershy wondered why Ash suddenly brought up Brock's name after hitting the wall. But as soon as Ash opened his eyes, something was off once more. He had an immediate reaction to seeing Fluttershy's face.

"Waaaah!" He bellowed, as if Fluttershy's face was rather surprising, even though he knew who she was. Or at least, he should at this point in time.

"What's wrong, Ash?" A confused Fluttershy asked. It looked like Ash had seen a ghost or something.

"W-What Pokemon are you!?"

"Hah?"



"Oh, man..." Back in the past, Ash stood back up after hitting the tree. "What was that all about? How come it showed up now?

"Ash! Are you alright?!" Sharing equal concern was Misty along with Brock and Pikachu.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it Flutter..." However, when getting back up and opening his eyes, Ash saw someone else while also trying to speak the name of Fluttershy. "Shy?" Instead, he saw Misty. "Misty? Brock? When did you get here?"

"I think he hit himself a bit too hard on the tree," said Brock. "Are you sure you're alright, Ash? Maybe you need to rest for a moment after what just happened."

"What? I..." the King of the Sea blinked before feeling something different. He noticed that his voice sounded a bit younger than before. He even appeared shorter than he used to be. When holding his hand out, he saw that he was wearing his old gloves from when he started his Pokemon Journey. This should not be strange to him but it was. And for one clear reason. He was back in the past as his 10-Year-Old Self. "No way!"

Both Ash Ketchums from different points in time have switched bodies. The past and the present have interacted with each other once more but in a different way.

And once again, they both had different reactions. The older Ash knew what his younger self looked like and was truly bewildered by this while the younger Ash, who was now in older Ash's body immediately noticed a change and was rather excited about it. He felt his voice change as he sounded much older and taller than before.

"What's up with this?! What did Dialga do!?" The Ash of the present bellowed, perplexed by this. "I'm 10 Years Old Again?!"

"Maybe he got hit in the head too hard..." Misty uttered.

"Easy, Ash. That pulse really hit you. And only you, for some reason." Brock added, trying to ease Ash down. He looked over at Brock and Misty before looking at the cart of Pokemon Food. He remembered this moment long ago. 23 years ago to be exact. "And what was that Pokemon?"

"It was Dialga," Ash answered. "I didn't see it coming at all. I don't even know why it was here all of a sudden."

"Dialga?" This would be Misty's first time hearing this name, including Brock. Brock would eventually know who Dialga was but thanks to this sudden incident, he knew about Dialga earlier than before.

"It must have aged me back. But I still have my memories about the future. I wonder if the Rift's on the move again..." Ash turned around, pondering about the situation, taking it completely seriously. And why wouldn't he? He was back to being 10 Years Old once more and was back in the past while still retaining his memories of the present.

"I'm confused...What's going on?" Misty scratched her hair. "What do you mean by Rift? And the future?"

"If I kept my memories even in this body, then this isn't our usual time travel." Ash deduced. "What about my 10-Year-Old self's memories...?"



"This is awesome!" Meanwhile, 10-year-old Ash, who was now in his older self's body, was jumping for joy. He was already getting used to his older body. He was also amazed by the scenery around him. This was his first time seeing the Pokemon House and it was marvelous. It was also his first time witnessing a pony, instantly mistaking Fluttershy for a Pokemon. "I don't know what just happened but I love it!"

"Ash? Do you...need to lie down?"

"Nope!" Ash chuckled. "And you're pretty neat Pokemon. You can talk too just like Meowth? And there's all these Pokemon too?!"

"Um..." Fluttershy scrunched her face before looking over at Pikachu. "Pikachu...I think something is very wrong here. Whatever it is, Rift-Dialga is behind it somehow."

"Pi. Pikachu." Pikachu nodded, agreeing with Fluttershy.

"This is out of our expertise. We'll have to share this with Twilight as soon as possible."

"Wow..." Naturally, Ash strolled off, viewing all the Pokemon here. So many of them were from different regions that he has yet to visit. And even if now that he was in his older self's body, he had no clue who a majority of these Pokemon were. Some of them looked familiar but it was only the Kanto Pokemon.

However, even if he recognizes the Kantonian Pokemon, there were still some he has yet to meet in his journey far back in the past. This meant that some of the Kanto Pokemon were brand new to him. His Pokedex, a very old model, was taken out to scan all of these Pokemon around him. And on top of that, he would venture through the rest of the Pokemon House. For Ash, this was the best day ever.

But for the Ash stuck in the past, while it was far from the worst, it certainly brought some problems.



"So...You're saying you come from the future?" Misty uttered. "Already, the current day Ash stuck in his younger body explained what he could to Misty, not wasting any time. "If that's true, then what am I like?"

"You're still pretty awesome in the future, Misty." He answered truthfully, sitting on a rock and trying to figure things out at the moment. "I miss you a lot, honestly."

"Miss me? Don't tell me I'm-" Misty pulled back, fearing that this meant that she must have perished.

"Nothing bad's happened to you. You show up here and there." Thankfully, Ash staved that fear away from her. "It's not uncommon for us to meet up multiple times. It's happened again but...this time in the past."

"Maybe pass on the spoilers, Ash. If you do come from the future, then saying something might mess it up." Brock warned. "At least, that's what usually happens. It's what I've heard. And you seem to know about that Pokemon. What was that Pokemon anyway?"

"Yeah. It was blue, it looked like it was made out of diamond and it was absolutely massive. You said it was Dialga, right?"

"Blue? Rift-Dialga has a golden appearance on it." Ash squinted his eyes. Misty and Brock saw the real Dialga instead while Ash saw a different one in the present. "You must've seen its original form. That means that both the Original Dialga and Rift-Dialga showed up! If those two are moving at the same time, then no wonder time feels pretty weird right now."

"A Pokemon that has control over time?" Misty gawked. "And you sound like you know a lot about it too. What happens in the future anyway?"

"All I gotta do is focus on getting back home. Something's definitely up for both Dialgas to be moving at the same time. I'm far from home. And there's no way there's a gateway here either. This is the roughest spot I've been in yet."

"Pikachu..." But even with this temporal confusion, he had his friends by his side. Pikachu was still his friend no matter the timeline as he crawled up to Ash's arm, nuzzling his face. Misty and Brock will always be his friends too. Ash dug into his pocket while rubbing Pikachu's neck, holding out his Poke Balls. The Pokemon he's caught up to this point were also there for him.

"But it's not the hardest you've had to deal with." A voice replied to Ash. It seems that these surprises weren't finished just yet. Near them, a blue light would appear in the form of a pillar, grabbing their attention. What could it possibly be this time? Or rather, who could it be?

Equally as surprising as Dialga, the one to show up here was none other than Sheena.

"Sheena! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Ash stood up as Sheena was a very positive sign. After all, she's travelled through time with Ash before.

"Wow!" Brock's eyes lit up. He has also done the same with Sheena. If anything, this was half a reunion. Brock was meeting her for the first time even though his future self knew about her. Immediately, he would rush over to Sheena, kneeling in front of her.

"Ash, we-" Before Sheena could say anything, Brock was already there. "Huh?"

"It's good to know that the future still has so much beauty with it! Or maybe you're from the past? Ah, it doesn't matter! This kind of beauty is generational!"

"Nice to meet you too, Brock. It's been a while."

"A while?" Brock said, realizing what this could mean. "We've met before? Does that mean...?"

"Ash. I'm glad you were able to catch on to it quickly. It's been some time since we've last met."

"Yeah. I was looking for you back at Michina Town. Glad to see you here, Sheena. And since you're here, you probably know what's up." Ash approached his fellow Time Traveller. "Did Dialga bring you here too?"

"It may be a few minutes late, but I'm here. Dialga did bring me here but there has been quite a mistake. One that could greatly sway the arc of time." Sheena explained. "It seems that both Dialgas are now fully aware of each other."

"They are?" Ash gasped. For the longest, both Dialgas were not aware of each other's existence. But now, they most certainly were, which would explain why they both appeared at the same time. "So then, the real Dialga Misty and Brock saw and the Rift-Dialga I saw back in the present..."

"Was an example of both of them clashing. Rift-Dialga has managed to act on its own and it seems its first target was you, Ash. You may have figured it out now, but in short...the consciousness of your younger self and older self have been switched. As we speak, your younger self from 23 years ago is in the present."

"That can't be!" Misty made a prolonged gasp. "Is that what happened?!"

"So then...he's way older than he should be right now?! Or is? Was?" Brock was getting confused, unable to find the right wording for this.

"The Rift-Dialga is trying to escape from the real Dialga. And with these two powerful Time Forces on the move, your consciousness being swapped isn't the only thing that will be affected."



Twilight's Castle.

"Sweet! Check this place out!" Ash was brought to the rest of Ponyville, where he saw its residents. And the main source of assistance was Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy could trust Twilight with something like this which she couldn't understand at all. If it involved Dialga, then Twilight was the pony to meet.

"You have to help, Twilight. Earlier, he used the Pokedex on somepony, thinking he was a Pokemon." Fluttershy pleaded. "Plus, I still have no idea what's with the appearance Rift-Dialga appearance."

"I understand. Obviously, there's some Time Trouble happening but we can sort it out as soon as possible before it gets out of hand."

"Hm...No info again?" Ash held out his Pokedex, aiming it at Twilight Sparkle but with no result. "What gives?"

"I'm sorry to tell, you Ash. But Fluttershy's right. We're not Pokemon." Twilight replied.

"You're not? So then...What's up with this place?" A confused Ash wondered. "And where's Misty and Brock? I still haven't seen them at all." Despite his fascination with this colourful new world, he was still thinking about Misty and Brock. He couldn't ignore his friends at all.

"He acts like he doesn't know about us at all. Do you think Dialga regressed his mind?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure. Mentally, he's 10 but he appears older than that. It's not farfetched to believe that Dialga can regress the mind of someone. It has complete power over time. But if that's the case, it would've shown up by now since this is all wrong. Rift-Dialga being here is a bad sign. The last time we saw it, it was attacking the Rocketship and the Galaxy Tower along with Rift-Palkia and Giratina."

"Maybe it might show up again. Ooh!" Something came up in Fluttershy's mind. "Maybe you can use that spell that allows you to go through time! Starswirl is around now, so I'm sure he doesn't mind you using it."

"I mean, that's not a bad idea. The problem is that I don't know where to go." Twilight had no lead. "If I knew what point in time to head to, I would. But unlike Starlight, there's no lead. And Rift-Dialga's a different story compared to Starlight. But I'll still try and figure something out. First, I'll ask Ash a few questions. Hey, Ash-"

It was too late. Ash was already gone. His curiosity was always going to get the better of him in this scenario. How could he not wander off? Twilight's face would scrunch while her pupils shrank. This did not spell any good news.

"Not good! He's already gone?!" The Princess of Friendship screeched.

"Audi didn't even hear his footsteps. How did he get out of our sight so quickly?"

"Audino." Audino just didn't know. For him to sneak away to the point where Audino couldn't hear him was eerie. What matters at the moment was finding Ash before something goes wrong. Audino would try and focus on his current footsteps, hoping he hasn't gotten too far.

"Let's find him before it's too late. Handling this version of Ash is going to be tough. I don't have a clue how to deal with him." Twilight already sensed the problems she was about to face. The Ash she knew was very much mature and since this Ash still had his 10-Year-Old Mind, it was very obvious how this was going to go.

"I can handle that." For the second time, at a different point in time, another surprise guest had arrived. But it wasn't by Dialga or even Rift-Dialga. Instead, someone just casually entered Twilight's Castle.

The door opened and the new guest turned out to be Misty. First Sheena, now Misty. Ash was looking for Misty but it wasn't the one he knew about. Yet. This was current-day Misty.

"Misty? You're here too?" said the young alicorn before she could get moving. "Don't tell me you've been in a similar scenario?"

"It's not what you think, Twilight. I was just told to come here. Specifically, on this very day. You're dealing with the current Ash problem, right?" Misty spoke, letting herself in. She was already aware of this scenario, being ahead of Twilight, surprisingly.

"Uh...How did you know?" Naturally, the alicorn needed answers. How was Misty already aware of this? It sounded like she truly did come from the past, But she already knew who Twilight was so that couldn't be the case. "What's going on exactly?"

"Something that happened 23 years ago. Ash told me to meet him at this very spot at your castle." Misty explained. "And it looks like I'm right on time because you're already looking for him. If you need someone to handle 10-Year-Old Ash, leave it to me."

"Wait, he is 10?!" That came as a shock to them. He was truly mentally 10. They were right about Dialga affecting his mind but it wasn't a regression. Not at all. Instead, Ash's mind has been swapped. Two different points in time with two different levels of maturity active.

One was trying to get to the bottom of this while the other was focused on solving it as soon as possible. They both had help from each side. But what truly mattered was Rift-Dialga. Now that it made an appearance after being absent for a while, that was a potential sign of the Rift being active once more. As the journey continues.


Chapter 267 End.