Fanfic / Accidental Apotheosis

"A lot of this is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. As much of a mystery to me as it is to you. But… whatever was going on, Ash, I can't actually explain it. And I don't know who can."
Ash thought about that.
"Well, I guess I've got a new thing to do on my Pokémon Journey!" he said. "And I've got a to-do list! Step one, work out how to hold Pokéballs now."

Accidental Apotheosis is a Pokémon Fan Fiction by Saphroneth. The story chronicles how, after drinking a magical potion to understand Pokémon better, Ash's body is permanently transformed into that of an Arceus, even though no-one knows it at the time, and how he plans to become a Pokémon Master despite that.

It can be read on FanFiction.Net (here) and Archive of Our Own (here). Upcoming chapters are posted for community review on SpaceBattles.com (here).

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Accidental Apotheosis contains examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptational Early Appearance: Koraidon and Miraidon, who would first debut in Generation 9, both appear during the Hoenn arc which normally covers Generation 3, with both of them being created by Ash.
  • Also the fact that Ash turns into an Arceus (a Gen 4 Pokémon) during the events of "Hocus Pokémon" (a Johto Journeys episode)
  • Walking Wake cameos briefly in a few chapters as the 'Suicune' that Ash spots a few times before they and Iron Leaves fully appear during the end of the Alamos Town incident.
• Adaptational Species Change: When Ash drinks the potion, it doesn't actually apply any magic to him — rather, it breaks the spell that was keeping him in a human form, and being an Arceus is his true form.
  • While she doesn't start off as one, Hunter J ends up being turned into a Oshawott and sent back in time to Hisui, where she eventually becomes a Hisuian Samurott.
• Adaptation Deviation: Some Pokémon are caught by different characters in this timeline. For example, it is Dawn, not Ash, that gets all three Sinnoh starters onto her team this time around.
• Adaptive Ability: Like Arceus, Ash has Multitype, though instead of Plates, he instead seems to use the badges he earns from gyms — though the badges only serve as his Plates after he becomes an Arceus, so at the start of the story, he's only able to transform into Dragon type after beating Clair. The medal he gains from helping to save the Togepi Kingdom, as well as a bracelet he gains from Sidney after defeating him, also works as Plates for him.
• Ascended Extra: Instead of Brock, Cynthia serves as Ash's traveling companion through Sinnoh, in order to get a first-hand look at some of the Legends that are bound to come to life around him.
• Baby Of The Bunch: Ash is the youngest sibling by a magnitude of millennia, with his oldest siblings dating back to the dawn of reality. The only other Legendary close to his age is Mewtwo, who wasn't created by Arceus.
• Big Brother Mentor: Raquayza plays this role for Ash, giving some guidance about his new role and visits him after Ash wins his Rain Badge.
• Blessed with Suck: Ash's new form comes with multiple issues that impair him when it comes to his career as a trainer, such as the lack of hands and large cumbersome wheel around his waist. Becomes downplayed as Ash learns to manage his new limits.
• Comically Missing the Point: Team Rocket get their hands on a book — the Hisuian Pokédex which Dawn helped make — and finds a (heavily-smudged) entry on what Ash is, and figure out that whatever Pokémon he is, he's a very serious legendary. After worrying about whether he'd smite them for harassing him, they realize that he hasn't done so already, and assume that challenging him is a method of worshipping him. Ash, of course, still doesn't know that he's one of the Olympus Mons until much later, and even afterwards, he still sees Team Rocket as a source of trouble. That is, until after he learns he's an Arceus, where he basically loses his temper at them being "in on the joke" before blasting them off again.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Delia states that Ash's father really wasn't ready to be a dad, and while he stayed in Pallet Town for a few weeks to wrap up his affairs, he left before Ash was born and simply makes sure that Delia can support herself and Ash without a job. It's also implied (and later more or less confirmed by Rayquaza) that Ash's father is Arceus, and so would have other duties to attend to that being a father would conflict with.
• Demoted to Extra: Since the story starts at the end of Johto, Misty appears for very little time, only being a companion for the first four chapters before returning to her Gym, and only returning for the Togepi Kingdom chapter. Brock also returns to his Gym when Ash goes to Hoenn but returns to traveling when he learns everything's all good there.
• Divine Date: At some point before Ash is born, Delia somehow managed to romance the Top God of the Pokémon universe Arceus.
• Dramatic Irony: Part of the humor of the beginning parts of the story is Ash and company wondering exactly what Pokémon Ash is, with Professor Oak sending missives off to his colleagues in other regions to find out, and even they can't find anything concrete given that most of everything is Shrouded in Myth. Ash doesn't get a definite answer until Hoenn when he runs into Rayquaza. Meanwhile, any reader with a passing knowledge of Pokémon would know that Ash is an Arceus, an Olympus Mons and Top God of the entire Pokémon universe.
• Exact Words: During the Hoenn Grand Festival, May orders Combusken to use Jet Punch. As in, literally punch his opponents with Octillery, the Jet Pokemon.
• Generation Xerox: Ash looks EXACTLY like his father Arceus. Enough that when Groudon and Kyogre were fighting, him just showing up was enough to cause them to flee. Come Alamos, Palkia and Dialga mistake Ash for Arceus as well.
• Godzilla Threshold: Ash considers Judgment this, seeming to be only willing to pull it out in desperate situations where the only option is destruction. Considering it's the signature move of the Top God of Pokémon (whether Ash knows it or not) that wariness is justified.
• Handy Helper: Due to his lack of hands and awkward body shape, Ash requires Noctowl and later Latias to grab his stuff, mainly Poké Balls, from his bag.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: "Canon" chapters are titled "The Book of X", drawing allusions to The Bible. Omakes, meanwhile, are titled "Gospel of X". Finally, certain chapters are just letters from one person to another, and are often titled as "Epistle" chapters.
• Living Weapon: Unown seems to be this. Being much more mechanical in personality as well as being the key to Ash's more divine powers, like his creation abilities and Judgement.
• Internal Reveal: Ash finally learns that he is an Arceus from Rayquaza in Chapter 27.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Steven Stone and Lance when they meet the Pokémon Ash created. Steven's first reaction to Koraidon is to start petting and gush about her, asking questions about Koraidon since he had never seen or researched anything like her before. Lance's first reactions to Koraidon and Miraidon, after the Groudon & Kyogre Incident, is to start giving them scratches and pets because he can tell they are Dragon Types or at least part Dragon, which is his specialty.
• Mistaken Identity:
  • During the events of LaRousse, Rayquaza mistakes Ash for being the Original One, Arceus. But when they learn that Ash is most likely Their son, they correct themselves and start calling him a Prince.
  • Later on, while Groudon and Kyogre are arguing, Ash tells them to stop arguing, only for them both to mistake him for being their father and thus the two of them run away very fast.
  • And once again, during the climax of Alamos Town, Dilaga and Palkia are arguing, Miraidon calls for them to stop, calling them their Aunt and Uncle. This caused the duo to stop and notice Ash, who they mistake for their father — but this time, Ash was quick to correct them.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: While Koraidon is an ancestor of the modern day Cyclizar, Steven does point out that various parts of her resemble other Fossil Pokémon, such as her feathers resembling those of the Archen line.
• Prince of All Cosmos: Ash is an Arceus, but he still has the mind of a ten-year-old. Upon being turned into a Pokémon, he expresses more concern with figuring out how to hold Poké Balls than the fact that he is not a human anymore.
• Point of Divergence: The fanfic has it that Ash's father is actually Arceus. However, events don't completely diverge until the Johto-era episode "Hocus Pokémon" where originally Lily's potion transformed Ash into a Pikachu temporary, but here Lily's potion transforms Ash into an Arceus, seemingly permanently.
• Save the Villain: After Ash gets angry enough with Hunter J to use Judgment on her, his Absol saves her from being killed so that Ash won't have the death of a person on his conscience.
• Semi-Divine: Ash is all but conformed to be the son of Arceus.
• Signature Headgear: As with canon, Ash's hat remains. The fact he had his hat on and that Pikachu wasn't attacking him is what allowed Gary to recognize Ash almost immediately.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Thanks to Ash's help during his trip to Altomare, neither Latias nor Latios were captured, thereby sparing the latter from his canonical fate.
• Skewed Priorities: Upon learning that he's actually an unidentified Pokémon and that his father was likely also a Pokémon, Ash's to-do list is as follows: (1) figure out how to hold Pokéballs again and (2) become a Pokémon Master.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Ash and his friends get an inkling that there's something odd about his father when his Pokédex reports that Ash knows the egg move Recover. Egg moves are inherited from the father, implying that his father was a Pokémon. He also seems to know Judgement, although it is not a move he can normally use, and he can even seem to stop time — although doing so takes a lot out of him.
• Too Clever by Half: When Meowth bought a book to research what Ash was, he swapped the covers with a cheaper book. To save even more money, he also swapped the price tags as well... resulting in it being the same price, just with a different cover.
• Top God: Arceus, obviously, who Ash is sometimes mistaken for due to being an Arceus himself.
• Truly Single Parent: Ash creates Koraidon, and later Miraidon, though his divine powers.
  • Mostly played straight with Arceus, who created all of his children, besides Ash, with the same powers.
  • Somewhat averted when Walking Wake and Iron Leaves call Ash and (presumably) Latias Mom and Dad when they meet in Alamos Town, even though at the time they hadn't yet made them.
• Unfazed Everyman: Lance in the aftermath of the Groudon and Kyogre Incident. After being told that Ash is the child of the creator of the universe, he accepts the information and begins doting on Koraidon and Miraidon.
• Watch Out for That Tree!: In LaRousse City, Rayquaza is so astonished to see a juvenile Arceus that he forgets to stop flying until he crash-lands like a flying accordion.
• You Didn't Ask: Unown was revealed to have always known Ash was an Arceus, but never mentioned it because it wasn't directly asked.

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