“Mom, do you want me to help with dinner?” Aaron asked from the living room.
“It’s fine.
Now that we’re home, of course Mom should be the one cooking,” a gentle young woman replied from the kitchen as she carefully prepared the meal.
She was Delia Ketchum, Aaron’s mother in this life.
“Alright then.”
Since Delia Ketchum insisted, Aaron didn’t press the matter.
He stretched comfortably and lay back on the sofa, watching a Pokémon battle tournament being broadcast on television.
At this point, Ash was only five years old.
There were still five years before the story of the anime would officially begin.
As a result, Kanto’s Elite Four were not yet the famous Dragon Master Lance, Ice Master Lorelei, Fighting Master Bruno, and Ghost Master Agatha that Aaron knew.
Aside from Agatha, who was already elderly, the other three had gained considerable fame and had each won the Indigo Conference before, but none of them had yet become Elite Four members.
“Mom!
Big Brother!
I won a prize!”
At that moment, the front door burst open, and a five-year-old boy rushed inside excitedly.
“What is it this time?
What did you win now?” Aaron asked with an affectionate smile.
Although the iconic hat that seemed to be part of his future identity wasn’t there yet, there was no doubt that this child was the world’s original protagonist—Ash.
As the protagonist, Ash’s luck was absurdly good.
In the original story, he constantly encountered Legendary Pokémon and repeatedly found himself involved in world-saving adventures.
Even now, his luck was outrageous.
Whenever there was some sort of lottery or raffle, he almost always won something.
“It’s three free round-trip tickets to the Alola region!” Ash shouted happily.
“Big Brother, let’s go together!
I heard there are lots of Pokémon there that are completely different from the ones we have here!”
“A trip to Alola?” Aaron immediately sat up with interest.
In his previous world, Alola belonged to one of the newest generations of Pokémon.
It had introduced Z-Moves and many entirely new Pokémon.
He hadn’t expected Ash to win tickets there already.
“Yeah!
Big Brother, ask Professor Oak for some time off, and let’s all go together!” Ash said eagerly.
“That depends on Mom.
Mom, do you want to go?” Aaron called toward the kitchen.
If Delia Ketchum wanted to go, he certainly wouldn’t object.
Getting leave from Professor Oak was easy enough.
“Alola?
You mean the place with the ocean, beaches, and sunshine?”
Delia Ketchum’s eyes immediately lit up.
She excitedly put down what she was doing and rushed out of the kitchen.
“Aaron, can you get time off?
If you can, let’s leave tomorrow!”
Looking at his mother, who seemed even more excited than Ash, Aaron couldn’t help but smile helplessly.
Sure enough, he was the only transmigrator in the family.
These two were clearly mother and son through and through.
“Alright, let’s go together,” Aaron agreed enthusiastically.
Since arriving in this world two years ago, he had spent nearly all his time studying Pokémon knowledge, obtaining various certifications, and recently even earning a Level Five Pokémon Breeder Certificate.
He hadn’t left Pallet Town once.
Now he finally had a chance to travel somewhere, and not just anywhere, but scenic Alola.
The thought alone was exciting.
None of the family were indecisive people.
Once they decided on the trip, they packed their belongings that very night.
The next day, they boarded a plane and arrived in Alola, where they were immediately greeted by the region’s distinctive “Alola!” greeting.
For the first time in his life, Ash had left Pallet Town.
He stared excitedly at every Pokémon he saw.
Unlike the future Ash who would travel the world while somehow remaining ten years old, the current five-year-old Ash didn’t recognize a single Pokémon in Alola.
That didn’t diminish his enthusiasm in the slightest.
He poked one Pokémon, touched another, and ran around nonstop.
Eventually, even Aaron couldn’t bear watching anymore.
He lightly knocked Ash on the head, finally forcing him to settle down.
Even Aaron, who had spent two years studying Pokémon, couldn’t help feeling amazed when he saw Alola’s Pokémon for the first time.
After all, Alola possessed unique regional forms unlike anything found in other regions.
There was also the region’s remarkably natural way of life.
People traveled through the skies on flying Pokémon such as Charizard and Garchomp.
They crossed the seas on Lapras and Sharpedo.
As for land transportation, there were dedicated Tauros-drawn carts.
The cart Aaron was currently riding was being pulled by a Tauros.
“Big Brother, when I start traveling at ten, I’m definitely going to catch lots of Tauros!
Then we can ride bull carts around Pallet Town too!” Ash said excitedly while looking at the Tauros.
Aaron gave him a strange look.
So this was the reason you end up catching thirty Tauros in the Safari Zone later?
“Ash.”
Delia Ketchum shot him a reproachful glance, worried he might unintentionally upset Aaron.
“Huh?”
Ash remained completely clueless.
He was the perfect combination of empty-headedness and boundless energy.
Aaron simply laughed and rubbed Ash’s head.
He didn’t mind at all.
After all, he interacted with Pokémon every day at Professor Oak’s laboratory, so it wasn’t as though he was completely deprived.
Besides, once he earned enough money in the future, he could always travel on his own.
Watching her two sons get along so well, Delia Ketchum’s face filled with a loving smile.
Yet when she looked at Aaron, she couldn’t help feeling a trace of guilt.
Aaron merely smiled as if nothing were wrong.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the beach.
Both Aaron and Ash were exceptionally bold.
Without hesitation, they each climbed onto a Sharpedo and raced across the sea, cutting through the waves.
“Woohoo!”
Aaron rode over the ocean at high speed.
The exhilaration of charging through the waves and the thrill of facing the vast, endless sea made him let out a joyful shout.
Hearing Aaron’s laughter from out on the water, Delia Ketchum’s smile grew even brighter.
She loved her eldest son dearly.
Unlike her mischievous younger son, Aaron was mature and dependable.
He always helped with household matters and never caused trouble.
But precisely because he was so mature, she worried about him even more.
As a mother, she would rather shoulder more burdens herself than let her son suffer.
Just like in the original story.
Even when she desperately wanted Ash to stay by her side, she never once tried to stop him.
Every time, she simply watched him leave in silence.
It had been that way when he departed for Vermilion City.
It had been the same after he returned from Hoenn.
Leaning comfortably back in a beach chair, Delia Ketchum relaxed beneath the warm sunlight.
After some time, Aaron finally returned.
“Why’d you stop playing already?” she asked curiously.
“Because I’m tired.
I’m not an energy monster like Ash,” Aaron replied helplessly as he sat down and took a sip of fruit juice.
Watching Ash continue riding his Sharpedo out at sea, Aaron couldn’t help showing a hint of envy.
The rules of this world were unique.
Humans who lived alongside Pokémon possessed physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans.
Take Sabrina, the Queen of Psychics, whose psychic powers were nearly on the level of Legendary Pokémon.
Or Bruno, the Fighting Master, who could wrestle an Onix with his bare hands.
Even Pokémon attacks dealt significantly less damage to humans, as though it were some fundamental law of the world.
But even in a world like this, Ash was still a monster.
A monster capable of lifting Pokémon that weighed over a ton with his bare hands.
Even though he wasn’t ten years old yet, a monster didn’t become ordinary simply because he was young.