//------------------------------//
// Well-Aged Skills 
// Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World 
// by Amarvax 
//------------------------------//

Equestria. Ponyville. SugarCube.Corner. Afternoon.

Still, the young Ash and the older Ash have had their consciousness swapped across time with no solution in sight. The only thing they could do was head to Pegalysium while also keeping both Dialgas in mind.

At SugarCube Corner, Twilight and some of her friends had arrived, here to stock Ash up with food. Fluttershy took this younger Ash's appetite into consideration, knowing how drained Ash can be without anything to snack on. And when entering SugarCube Corner, Ash got to witness this colourful pastry paradise. Ash was a sucker for food and this only added to his happiness today. First, new Pokemon he's never seen before and now an abundance of food? Glorious.

"This really is the best day ever! All that's missing is a battle!" Ash uttered with glee. Since he was mentally 10 again, he was greatly elated. The true embodiment of a kind in a candy store.

"Thanks for the food, Pinkie. Ash needs it." Thanking Pinkie for this quick snack was Twilight

"No problem! I mean, I didn't even think he was that different from the Ash we know. Seems the same to me."

"Yeah, for the most part." Rainbow Dash grizzled her teeth, recalling her argument with Ash earlier. 10-year-old Ash seemed to be a pro at strumming up others. "The sooner we get the original Ash back the better."

"Hey. I am the original!" Ash shouted while stuffing his mouth with cupcakes. He technically wasn't wrong. No matter what the instance, he would always be Ash Ketchum. "How come you're making me seem like a fake?"

"No offence, but we're way past this version of you, Ash," Misty smirked. "Out with the old and in with the new."

"Well, that went over your head since you're still wearing that." Ash gave a powerful retort immediately. His quick replies to Misty carried over.

"Have you told everypony about this yet?"

"Not at all Applejack, Rarity and the others don't know about this. But after we're done with this, we can put this to rest and never remember it," said Twilight. "Plus, if this gets out, Ash's enemies are gonna take full advantage of it."

"Eugh. I don't even wanna know what Ghetsis would do if he found out about this. He already took advantage of stealing Ash's body that one time." Rainbow Dash shuddered. If Ghetsis ever found out about Ash's current situation, the opportunities and outcomes could be terrifying

"Relax." Ash wiped his mouth of cupcake bits. He was fully energized, having his fill for the day. "No one's gonna get me and this'll all be over. Plus, I've got a great future to look forward to!"

"At least he's not fixated on staying behind. That would've brought even bigger problems."

"Time to get going. Let's head to Pegalysium. Wherever that is. Uh...Where's Pegalysium, actually?" He asked, unaware of its location. He was absolutely going to love what was coming next without a doubt. 

Ash and the others left SugarCube Corner, finally ready to head to Pegalysium. While Ash was in agreement to regain his original consciousness, he was still yearning for that drive to battle. So far, it looked like nothing would try and initiate a battle. That is until he heard a ringing sound.

The Rotomphone he had was currently active, informing him of a potential Pokemon World Championships Battle. Reacting to this, Ash took his Rotomphone out which prompted Rainbow Dash to act as soon as possible. As soon as the phone emerged, the pegasus would swiftly remove it from Ash's grasp.

"Huh, hey?!" Ash shouted as soon as the phone was ripped from his hands. He had just found out about it and just like that, it was gone.

"Just an unknown caller! Don't worry about it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before instantly shutting off the phone.

"What are you doing, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked. In response, Rainbow Dash huddled up her friends except for Ash, deciding to talk in private.

"Just keeping this Ash away from a Pokemon World Championships Battle. If he battles, he could totally mess up Ash's rank and I'm not about to let that happen."

"Oh. I thought it was because we had to make it to Pegalysium quickly." Fluttershy had something different in mind.

"Yeah, yeah. That too. But mostly the first one. Ash and I are both aiming for the top and I can't let him fall behind because of this guy." Having high respect for Ash, Rainbow Dash couldn't allow him to fall behind just because of a consciousness swap. 

Ash was looking for that battle and the opportunity for it had been taken away. Rainbow Dash was looking out for his friend by also stripping him of what he loves to do. The respect she has for Ash as a fellow Pokemon Trainer was massive as well as how Ash inspires everyone else. 



An Unknown Dimension.

Out there, there existed a dimension which possessed a spiral appearance. Much like the Distortion World or Discord's Chaos Realm, this was an area that was hard to reach. The skies were all blue, having white spirals as the clouds and the stars. The surface appeared as rocks which was relatively standard and unlike Discord's Chaos Realm, this location had a very stable surface. There were no separated parts whatsoever. However, this also meant that it had seemingly an endless flat surface.

And sitting here in this dimension was a booth. An odd item to be found here. It was rather misplaced while also appearing in peak condition. This dimension didn't seem to be hazardous for the most part. Appearing in this dimension was a flash of light and out of it emerged Sheena. She had just returned from the past 23 years ago. But it wasn't done by her. She had no such power. Instead, it was done by what was in the booth.

"Doctor. I've told Ash about what's happened." Sheena said as the door to the phone booth opened up. This belonged to none other than Doctor Hooves. Another pony from Ponyville, who was definitely far from his original home. When the booth opened up and Sheena was invited in, it was his entire workshop as it appeared much larger on the inside. "What about Dialga?"

"Which one?" He said, asking about either Dialga since both of them are on the move. "They haven't shown up here yet."

"They'll show up again. Rift-Dialga will appear and Dialga will follow after it."

"And they will show up the closer Ash gets to his destination." Hooves continued. "So far, Ash is its only target. And we're going to make sure he's the last target. Obviously, there's some sort of vendetta against him. The Rift is still not happy about Ash succeeding in getting that wish. Among other things."

"I also told Ash about Prisma. He's promised to keep Prisma concealed. We don't know what can cause Prisma to appear which is a positive and a negative."

"I'd worry about Prisma a lot." Hooves replied, aware of Prisma. It wasn't just Sheena, Twilight Moonlight, Silver Swirl and the residents of that other universe. Prisma's existence was not invisible. At least, when it comes to his name. His physical appearance is very much invisible. "Especially since new things from that Short-Lived World keep showing up. If it keeps up, very soon, our world will replicate it perfectly. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though..."

"That depends. Have you spoken to N and Kevin about this yet?"

"Mrrgh." Doctor Hooves grumbled, specifically at N's name. "N is always doing his own thing. I've haven't heard back from your fiance just yet. But never mind that. Once Rift-Dialga shows up, my machine will go off and let us know where it is. What about the Ash that's ended up in the present? I can send you to him."

"No. He's probably already on his way to Pegalysium. Just like how Ash counted on Misty, he also counted on Twilight Sparkle and the others."

"Ah?" At that moment, the modules started acting up, alerting the Doctor who had no medical expertise based on what he was working with. "Sounds like Rift-Dialga's on the move again."

"Where is it heading this time?" Sheena leaned in, ready to meet with Rift-Dialga as soon as possible.

"It's heading back to the present. But it seems like it's going straight for Pegalysium this time.



Pegalysium.

The trip to Pegalysium was an enjoyable one for 10-year-old Ash. He got to experience the special cloud pathway that led to the skies. Moving up to the nation in the skies was very much thrilling as he was still grinning from ear to ear after that ride. 

"A whole land in the skies?! How about that...?" Pegalysium's existence was also wonderful to him. His older self has already witnessed everything here and back down at Equestria but this was technically a new experience. Pegalysium, being a nation that randomly switches locations thanks to the moving clouds that carry it, had a new layout. Thankfully, Twilight had the right map for this exact layout, making the trip easier.

"Alright. Now that we're here...I'm not sure what to do next." Misty pondered. "Ash told me to come here 23 years ago with him but that was about it."

"Yeah uh...what are we supposed to do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We didn't just come up here to see the sights. I mean they're nice and all but..."

"I already thought about that when we went up the cloud pathway. Since time's a major factor in all of this, that means only one thing. Pegalysium's Clock Door might be the key. It's the only thing here related to time and that's probably what Ash was referring to."

"Then how come he didn't mention the clock door to me? He only said to go to Pegalysium and that was just about it." It still didn't add up to Misty. Ash would've told her.

"It might have something to do with Rift-Dialga. The fact that it only affected Ash when it showed up means that it's targeting him. It must know about Pegalysium's Clock Door. Ash must've purposefully excluded the Clock Door from the conversation. After all, you said that he told you to take him there each time you met up."

"Well, yeah. When we went our separate ways and he was ready to head to Hoenn, the last thing he told me was to go to Pegalysium again. And then when we met up in Hoenn, he said it again. And finally, when Brock and I showed up at Alola, he brought it up." Misty explained. Obviously, time has changed quite a bit but not enough to throw things off balance that much.

Despite the consciousness being swapped, the older Ash who was stuck in the past seemed to keep things as steady as possible, making sure everything he's ever done goes by the book. He's had to really think about what he's done in the past and how that has affected him as a Trainer. Misty has seen it for herself and it was a bizarre sight. She could still remember those moments and Brock could share some as well if he was here.

"The Clock Door it is then. It'll be in the capital. The Sky Monarch." 

"Wow...Singing flowers?" Ash was too busy captivated by the Singing Flowers here at Pegalysium to even focus on the conversation. No matter what, his attention was switching from one thing to the other. How could he help it? His 10-year-old self still hasn't seen that much compared to the wider world.

When looking at the flowers, he heard their melody which was based on the current atmosphere and scenario. And in this case, the flowers singing about confusion. There was certainly colossal confusion since two consciousnesses' have been swapped.

"They're singing about your consciousness." Someone replied to Ash. But it wasn't Fluttershy, Twilight or Misty. The one who replied to Ash appeared in front of him with a hoof standing right next to the flowers. Present here at Pegalysium was none other than Windflash. Ancestor to Windkiss who created the Clock Door.

"Windflash!" Twilight said. As the Principal of the Pokemon School, she was surprised to see one of the teachers up here today, even though she wasn't present at the school at all. "Oh, great to see you today! No lessons for today?"

"I'm teaching the students. I'm just leaving things to my family back at the school. They're teaching about Pegalysium as a whole." Windflash explained. "Pegalysium has something special with the Pokemon too so it wouldn't hurt to let them know about our nation in the sky.

"Good point. I don't know why I didn't think about that in the first place?" Twilight was rather disappointed in herself that she didn't come up with that. Lessons about the Pokemon World were there but Pegalysium wasn't taken into consideration, even though she hasn't seen anything here that interacts with the Pokemon.

"You can understand the flowers?" Ash asked.

"I can. It's a special trait from my family. We're so in tune with nature that we can understand it." Another benefit from Windflash and her family was the fact that since they've been living in the wild for so long, nature was interactive with them in many ways. Understanding them was one part of it. "And they're singing about your displaced consciousness. It's a shame that happened to you."

"Ah, it's fine. It's pretty cool. actually. " Ash crossed his arms with a proud face. "I get some cool new clothes, I'm way taller than before and I get more Pokemon that are crazy strong. Plus, I'm ranked high in the World Championships! I feel bad for my older self who's stuck in the past though...but it'll turn out fine in the end since this is my future."

"The only thing that's the same is that annoying voice of his." Misty snickered. She was 100% right. Ash's voice was still his 10-year-old voice which was leaving his older body.

"Windflash. You're the descendant of Windkiss, so you must have a connection to the Clock Door." Twilight got back to the topic, approaching the wild-natured pegasus. "Do you think it can solve this issue? Second Wind used it to change her status and create another version of Pegalysium that still exists. So maybe, now that both our worlds are one, the timeline of the Pokemon World exists in the Clock Door?"

"Hmmm...I don't know." Alas, Windflash wasn't the one to ask. She may be Windkiss' descendant, but she knows very little. She only knows about the wild after all.

"Right, right...Born in the wild." The Princess of Friendship sighed, realizing her mistake. Just then, Windkiss heard the flowers sing once more. This time, they were changing the tone of their melody. It went from confusion to danger. The flowers sang a melody that translated to something dangerous approaching.

The winds were changing. Windflash also felt that as she was immediately spread her wings, looking to the skies. Everyone else would look up to the azure skies, soon feeling this change in the atmosphere. Before everyone's eyes, a golden, blue and purple flash went off. 

All three colours represented one thing. The accidental unity of Arceus and the Rift's Power. The way it appeared was impossible to mistake. And from that flash, a portal opened up. The same portal that Ash saw. Out of it emerged Rift-Dialga. It made an appearance once more.

"It's Rift-Dialga! It's here of all times?!" Twilight Sparkle bellowed. She wasn't expecting Rift-Dialga to appear so soon. Neither did anyone else. Its roar ruptured parts of the ground as the flowers now changed their singing to fit the mood of Rift-Dialga appearing.

And as soon as it arrived, it locked onto Ash immediately. The eyes of the Rift Variant looked down, focusing only on Ash and no one else. After all, Ash was the one who was the target of that sudden pulse. No one else had been affected. And even after swapping his consciousness, Rift-Dialga was not finished yet it seems. It was here to do more than just swap his consciousness.

"You're the one who messed things up for my older self!" Ash held onto his hat during this intense wind pressure. "If I beat you, then this will all be over."

"I don't think it's that easy, Ash!" Rainbow Dash responded while planting her hooves on the ground.

"Why's it back?! Does it know about where we want to go?!" For Twilight, she wasn't sure why Rift-Dialga came back. But whatever the reason was, she was fearful of what might happen next.

"It's not gonna stop us! Let's go, Pikachu! Dragonite!" Ash would engage either way. He was not fearful of this Cosmic Entity whatsoever, no matter the age. He would throw his Poke Ball into the air, summoning Dragonite.

"Dragonite!"

"But Ash! Your skills haven't travelled over!" Misty saw this as a terrible approach for such a Young Ash. Challenging Rift-Dialga with his dated skills would end in disaster.

"Maybe! But I have to try! Use Thunder Shock, Pikachu!

"Pi?" Unfortunately, Pikachu didn't know that move anymore. It has been years since he's used Thunder Shock.

"Pikachu doesn't know Thunder Shock! Try Thunderbolt!"

"Thunderbolt?" Ash blinked as Rift-Dialga was already charging up an attack. It would be a Rift Variation of Dragon Pulse. The Cosmic Entity could be seen gathering up draconic energy with stardust particles within them. "Alright then! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaa...!" Pikachu could most definitely do that. By leaping into the air, the Mouse Pokemon gathered up 100,000 volts of electricity that would burst from his body. All of a sudden, just as Pikachu built up the attack, a blue flash left Ash's body. This flash was not Aura. It didn't have the same colour or appearance as Aura. This was something entirely different that Twilight noticed.

In fact, it looked a lot like Original Dialga's energy. The same shade of blue and particles could be seen leaving Ash's body the second he initiated a Pokemon Battle. The Thunderbolt flew out and so did the Dragon Pulse. The two attacks clashed, sending a great ripple and shockwave in the air that would rustle the grass and flowers.

"Alright, Dragonite! Use Dragon Claw! From above!"

"Rrr!" Dragonite would take flight while the clash between Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse was still going on. Pikachu's strength didn't change at all. He was still as strong as ever and it was showing since he was keeping the Dragon Pulse at bay Assisting Pikachu was Dragonite, who flew over the clash, approaching the Rift Variant.

Rift-Dialga couldn't look up at all, prompting Dragonite to strike down on its head. It was not a super-effective hit since it still kept the Steel-Typing, but the impact was certainly there.

"Now push through, Pikachu!"

"Pikaaa!" Pikachu would then push through Dragon Pulse, causing his Thunderbolt to win the clash. Dragon Pulse was obliterated as the 100,000 volts of electricity would crash into the Rift Variant. Rift-Dialga would be pushed back by this double attack. Neither did heavy amounts of damage but they were enough to spark some movement. The False Creator of Time would shake its head, slightly perplexed.

In response, it would use its powers over time to heal itself. A blue and purple energy encased its body, reversing the damage that Pikachu and Dragonite dealt, even if it wasn't that much. After reversing the damage, Rift-Dialga would soon reverse the attacks against its opponents. By manipulating the area around it, the Thunderbolt that previously hit it would reappear, leaving its body while the energy of Dragon Claw could be seen materialising over its body. Ash was stunned by what he was seeing as the attacks were sent right back at them both.

"Pika!" Pikachu was hit by his own Thunderbolt while Dragonite would be struck by energy claws that weren't attached to anything. However, they still had the same power as Dragon Claw.

"D-Dra!" Dragonite groaned, hurling through the air. The weight of these attacks have certainly increased when used by Rift-Dialga. The Mouse Pokemon slid on the ground while Dragonite recovered in the air, maintaining balance.

"What was that?!" Ash gasped as he wasn't sure what he just saw.

"It reversed time on you, Ash! Now might be a good time to back out-" Rainbow Dash tried convincing Ash yet again.

"No way! Dragonite, use Hurricane! Pikachu, shoot Thunderbolt into it!"

"Draaaaa!" With a bellowing roar, Dragonite would flap her wings, whipping up a fierce Hurricane. A combination attack was incoming which involved Pikachu shooting Thunderbolt directly at the Hurricane. With both attacks combining as one, a Lightning Tornado had been born. Fierce like a Hurricane and fast like Lightning while also carrying the destructive power of both of them, made for a truly powerful combination.

Rift-Dialga would retaliate by using its own version of Roar of Time. It was a pseudo variation of the attack, having a similar appearance but with some gold energy around it. The two mighty attacks would collide, once again shaking the air.

"Uh, it doesn't look like his skills have dropped at all. What's up with that?" Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. This was not the result she was expecting. She expected Ash to lose immediately but he was actually doing relatively well. "Was he like this in the past, Misty?"

"No way." Misty shook her head. "Ash was never this creative. This is something his current self would do if things were still normal. I don't get how he's making this work."

"It's because of Dialga." Following Rift-Dialga to its current location was Sheena. Sent here by Doctor Hooves, the descendant of Damos would appear in a golden light yet again.

"W-Who are you?!" This was Twilight's first time meeting Sheena, including Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. But for Misty, it was both the first and second time. Because of what happened in the past, she remembered who Sheena was.

"You're...Sheena, right?" Misty's memory would rearrange itself to remember Sheena's existence. Just like how she suddenly remembered Ash's request to show up at Pegalysium. "Oooh...It happened again."

"Sheena? The one that Ash brought up?" Twilight and her friends have only heard about Sheena's name from Ash. Now, they were finally seeing her for the first time. And she certainly picked the right time to show up considering they were under attack by a False Creator of Time.

"Dialga intercepted Rift-Dialga's movements when they both first appeared before both Ashs. It couldn't save Ash's consciousness in time But it did manage to keep his skills."

"Keep his skills? You mean all the skills his older self has still exist? Dialga can do that?" Fluttershy said with astonishment. They all looked back at Ash, seeing the blue flash leave his body. That was the energy of Dialga. There was a reason why Dialga unleashed a pulse against the older Ash.

That was Dialga transferring his older self's skills, making sure he was safe and able to defend himself.

"But never mind that!" Sheena got to business. "Very soon, you should expect the original Dialga to show up now that Rift-Dialga is here. Those two have been chasing each other as of recently and its bound to continue here." Saying that made Twilight's friends gasp apart from Misty. Dialga was going to show up here eventually. They weren't sure when but it would make an arrival for sure.

"What do we do then?! If we beat Rift-Dialga, does this all just stop?!" asked Rainbow Dash before flinching from the fierce clash happening in the air.

"I'm afraid not. I'm trying to reach this version of Dialga to understand why it's doing this." Sheena confirmed that defeating Rift-Dialga wouldn't do. "But I also need the original Dialga to be here. I have to speak with both of them."

"Man, that's one tough Pokemon..." Ash gawked, witnessing Rift-Dialga's strength. He hasn't seen the original's strength, but it was far more impressive than this. Ash would smile, getting excited about this battle. He finally gets to partake in a Pokemon Battle and it's already an intense one.

Ash would continue his battle against Rift-Dialga while Sheena focused on calming its temper. She aimed to stop this Rift Creation in a different way. The flowers, which were singing to the tempo of this battle, would switch up again. They began singing a melody that sounded similar to when Rift-Dialga first arrived But this time, it was for someone else. A third guest was about to join the scene. And it was the one that Sheena was waiting for.

As the journey continues.


Chapter 269 End.