(NOTE: Guys! Please be sure to read the end note of this chapter! I would explain how mega evolution and stuff would work in this story!)
"it all started at an orphanage bascially i grew up with JT and Cash you could even say we are best friends"
As those words left his mouth, Gwen stayed silent, allowing him to continue.
FlashBack
A much younger Ben sat on the front steps of an old orphanage with a bored expression. The building wasn't particularly large, but it was home. Children ran around the yard while a few caretakers watched over them from nearby benches.
Among the children were three boys.
Ben.
Cash.
And J.T.
The three of them were inseparable.
"...Then hurry up!" Cash shouted.
"I'm coming!" Ben yelled back.
The three boys immediately ran toward the old playground behind the orphanage. Within minutes they were climbing fences they weren't supposed to climb, jumping off broken swings, and pretending the playground was an alien planet under attack.
"I got the bad guy!" J.T. laughed.
"No, you didn't!" Ben argued.
"I dodged it!"
"You can't just dodge everything!"
"I just did!"
The three boys burst into laughter before continuing their imaginary battle.
flashback ends
"They were your first friends?" Gwen asked.
Ben smiled.
"My best friends."
"You all grew up together?"
"Yeah."
He nodded.
"We got into trouble almost every day."
Gwen couldn't help but laugh.
"Some things never change."
Ben scratched the back of his head.
"...Yeah."
Flashback
One afternoon, the three boys quietly sneaked into the orphanage kitchen.
Cash slowly pointed toward a freshly baked pie sitting on the counter.
"There."
Ben looked between the pie and the hallway.
"Think anyone will notice?"
J.T. shrugged.
"Only if we get caught."
Ben grinned.
"Good enough."
The three immediately rushed toward the pie.
Just as Ben reached out—
"What do you three think you're doing?"
All three boys froze.
One of the caretakers stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.
"...Running?" Cash suggested.
"RUN!"
The three boys bolted out of the kitchen.
The caretaker chased after them while the entire orphanage echoed with laughter.
flashback Ends
Gwen giggled.
"You actually tried stealing a pie?"
"We never even got a bite."
Ben sighed dramatically.
"Biggest failure of my childhood."
"You deserved it."
"We probably did."
Both of them laughed.
"Was it... lonely?" Gwen asked after a while.
Ben thought about the question before answering.
"Sometimes."
His eyes drifted through the endless blue dimension.
"But I wasn't alone."
He smiled again.
"I had those idiots."
Flashback
Another memory surfaced.
It was raining heavily outside.
Most of the children stayed indoors.
Ben, Cash, and J.T. didn't.
The three boys were running through the muddy yard as fast as they could.
"Bet you can't catch me!" Ben shouted.
"Oh, you're dead!" Cash yelled.
J.T. slipped in the mud.
The other two immediately started laughing.
"You okay?" Ben asked.
"...No."
J.T. looked down at himself.
"I'm covered in mud."
Ben looked.
Cash looked.
For about two seconds...
...before all three started laughing again.
They didn't stop until one of the caretakers marched outside carrying three towels.
"You boys are impossible."
Flashback Ends
"They sound like trouble."
"They absolutely were."
"You were too."
"I never said I wasn't."
Gwen smiled.
"I guess every version of you is like that."
Ben's expression softened as he looked out into the endless sea of blue temporal energy surrounding them. For a few moments, he remained silent, as if deciding where to begin. Gwen didn't interrupt him this time. She simply sat nearby and listened.
"I told you before that I grew up in an orphanage with Cash and J.T.," Ben began. "We were always together. We got into trouble together, got punished together, and whenever one of us had an idea, the other two usually made it worse. Back then, I honestly thought things would stay that way forever."
A distant look appeared in his eyes as the memory returned.
Flashback
It had been an ordinary day at the orphanage. The weather was nice, and most of the kids were outside enjoying the afternoon. Ben, Cash, and J.T. were gathered near the playground, arguing over a worn-out basketball that had seen better days. The ball barely held any air anymore, but that didn't stop them from treating it like the greatest treasure in the world.
"You fouled me!" Ben complained as he tried to grab the ball back.
"I did not!" Cash argued while backing away.
"You totally did!"
"You're just mad because I scored!"
"You didn't score!"
J.T. laughed so hard he nearly dropped to the ground.
"You two argue more than anyone I've ever met."
The argument would have continued if one of the caretakers hadn't stepped outside and called their names.
"Cash? J.T.? Could you both come inside for a moment?"
All three boys stopped what they were doing.
Cash pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes."
J.T. looked equally confused. "Did we do something?"
The caretaker smiled. "No. Just come inside."
The two boys exchanged a glance before following her into the building. Ben watched them leave before sitting down on a nearby bench with the basketball resting in his lap. At first, he didn't think much of it. They would probably be back in a few minutes.
Except a few minutes turned into ten.
Then fifteen.
Eventually the front doors opened again.
Ben immediately stood up when he saw Cash and J.T. walking back outside. Something felt off right away. Neither of them looked excited. Neither of them looked happy. They weren't smiling at all.
Ben frowned.
"What happened?"
The two boys stopped a few feet away from him.
Neither answered immediately.
Finally, J.T. looked down at the ground.
"We got adopted."
Ben blinked.
For a second, he genuinely thought he had heard wrong.
"...What?"
"A family came today," Cash explained quietly. "They picked us."
Ben stared at them.
His brain struggled to process what they had just said.
"You mean..."
He swallowed.
"You're leaving?"
Neither boy answered.
They didn't have to.
Ben already knew.
"When?"
His voice sounded smaller now.
Cash looked away.
"Today."
The answer hit Ben harder than he expected.
"Today?"
J.T. nodded.
"They're finishing the paperwork right now."
Ben couldn't believe it.
Just a few minutes ago, they had been arguing over a basketball.
Now they were telling him they were leaving.
The ball slipped from his hands and rolled away across the playground, but none of them paid any attention to it.
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Ben kept waiting for one of them to laugh and say it was a joke.
Neither did.
His eyes slowly began to water.
"But we're supposed to stay together."
The words came out quietly.
"We always stay together."
Cash looked like he was trying not to cry.
"I know."
"You can't just leave."
"We don't want to."
"Then don't go."
J.T. wiped at his eyes.
"It doesn't work like that."
Ben felt tears running down his cheeks now.
"What about me?"
The question hung in the air.
Neither of his friends had an answer.
They were kids.
They didn't understand why two of them had been chosen while Ben hadn't.
It didn't make sense to any of them.
J.T. suddenly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ben. Ben immediately hugged him back. A second later, Cash joined them, and the three boys stood there holding onto each other as tightly as they could.
"I don't want to leave," J.T. admitted through tears.
Ben shook his head.
"Then don't."
"We have to."
"No, you don't."
"We do."
Cash finally started crying too.
"We don't want to leave you here."
Ben squeezed both of them tighter.
"I don't want another family."
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
"I just want you guys."
That only made all three of them cry harder.
Eventually the caretaker returned.
Her expression softened when she saw them.
"Boys..."
None of them moved.
"It's time."
The words felt unfair.
Cash slowly stepped back first. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve before looking directly at Ben.
"You'll get adopted too."
Ben immediately shook his head.
"No, I won't."
"Yes, you will."
"No."
"You will."
Ben looked away.
"What if nobody wants me?"
Neither of them liked hearing that.
J.T. immediately shook his head.
"Don't say that."
"But what if it's true?"
"It isn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because you're Ben."
Ben looked confused by that answer.
J.T. shrugged.
"I don't know. You're just... you."
Cash nodded.
"Yeah. Somebody's gonna want you."
Ben didn't seem convinced.
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
The three of them stood quietly for a few seconds before Cash suddenly held out his hand.
"Promise me something."
"What?"
"When you get adopted someday, don't forget us."
Ben looked offended.
"I'm not gonna forget you guys."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Cash stuck out his pinky.
"Pinky promise."
Ben rolled his eyes.
"We're too old for that."
"Do it anyway."
Ben laughed despite the tears still on his face and hooked his pinky around Cash's. J.T. quickly joined in as well.
"Pinky promise," all three said together.
The caretaker gently called them again.
This time there was no putting it off.
Cash hugged Ben one last time.
J.T. did the same.
Neither of them wanted to let go.
Eventually they had to.
"Bye, Ben."
"Bye."
His voice cracked as he said it.
He watched the two of them walk toward the front gate where a couple was waiting beside a car. The adults smiled warmly at Cash and J.T. before opening the doors for them.
Just before getting inside, both boys turned around.
Cash waved.
J.T. waved too.
Ben raised his hand and waved back.
None of them smiled.
A few moments later, the car drove away.
Ben remained standing there long after it had disappeared from sight. The playground suddenly felt much quieter than it ever had before. The swings creaked softly in the wind, and the sounds of the other children seemed strangely distant.
After a while, Ben slowly walked over and picked up the old basketball that had rolled away earlier. He held it against his chest and sat down on the empty bench by himself.
For the first time since arriving at the orphanage, Cash and J.T. weren't beside him.
And for the first time in a very long while, Ben felt truly alone.
Flashback ends
When Ben finished, silence filled Dialga's dimension once again. Gwen didn't say anything immediately. She simply stared at him, trying to picture everything he had just told her. She imagined a younger Ben standing all alone in front of the orphanage as the only two people he considered family drove away. Just thinking about it made her chest hurt.
She quietly floated over until she was right beside him.
"...That wasn't fair."
It was the only thing she could think of saying.
"You guys were supposed to grow up together."
Ben smiled a little.
"Yeah."
Gwen looked down at her hands before glancing back at him.
"If... if that happened to me..."
She paused, trying to imagine Ben and Grandpa Max suddenly disappearing from her life.
"...I'd probably cry for days."
Ben let out a small chuckle.
"I kinda did."
That answer only made Gwen's eyes water again.
Without saying another word, she wrapped her arms around him in another hug. It wasn't because she thought it would magically make everything better. She just felt like he needed one.
Ben smiled awkwardly before returning the hug.
"You really like hugging people, don't you?"
Gwen sniffled.
"...Shut up."
Ben laughed a little louder this time.
"Okay, okay."
She stayed there for another few seconds before finally pulling away. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and puffed out her cheeks, trying not to cry again.
"I still think it was really mean."
"What was?"
"The universe."
Ben blinked.
"It gave me Grandpa Max, my parents, and my Ben..."
She looked at him with a small frown.
"...But it didn't give you anyone."
Ben gently shook his head.
"It wasn't all bad."
"You still shouldn't have had to go through that."
Ben didn't argue.
Gwen looked away for a moment before speaking again.
"...If it makes you feel any better..."
She smiled shyly.
"...I think Cash and J.T. were right."
Ben tilted his head.
"Hm?"
"I think somebody would be really lucky to have you in their family."
She immediately looked embarrassed after saying it.
"I-I mean... because you're nice! Not because you're... you know..."
She waved her hands around awkwardly, struggling to explain herself.
"You get what I mean!"
Ben couldn't help but laugh.
"I do."
That only made Gwen pout.
"...Don't laugh."
"I'm not making fun of you."
"You are a little."
"Maybe a little."
Gwen crossed her arms before giving him a playful glare.
"...You're lucky I feel bad for you."
Ben smiled.
"Thanks, Gwen."
She smiled back.
"...You're welcome, dummy."
The two of them shared a small laugh before the conversation settled into a comfortable silence. Gwen floated beside him, absentmindedly kicking her legs as she looked out across the endless sea of blue temporal energy surrounding them. Even though Dialga's dimension had no real sky or ground, it somehow felt peaceful.
After a while, Gwen glanced back at Ben.
"So... what happened after that?"
Ben looked at her.
"After Cash and J.T. left."
His smile slowly faded.
"Oh."
He already knew what she meant.
"They got adopted..."
Gwen hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"...What happened to you?"
Ben looked away, his eyes following the streams of temporal energy drifting through the dimension.
"For a while..."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"I didn't really do much."
The memory slowly returned to him.
Flashback
The orphanage hadn't changed after Cash and J.T. left.
The same children still ran around the playground every afternoon. The caretakers still smiled at everyone. Meals were still served at the same time every day.
Everything stayed exactly the same.
Everything except Ben.
Every morning, he quietly got out of bed and made it before anyone asked him to. He would walk into the dining hall by himself, grab his breakfast, and sit at the same table where the three of them used to eat together.
The two empty chairs across from him never stayed empty for very long. Other children would sometimes ask if they could sit there, but Ben would quietly shake his head before picking up his tray and moving somewhere else.
Eventually, everyone stopped asking.
During recess, while the other children laughed and played outside, Ben usually sat alone on the old bench beside the playground. Sometimes he held the same worn-out basketball he and his friends used to argue over. Other times he simply watched the other kids run around without joining them.
One afternoon, a boy around his age walked over carrying a baseball glove.
"Hey."
Ben looked up.
"Wanna play?"
Ben stared at him for a few seconds before quietly shaking his head.
"...No."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
The boy shrugged.
"Okay."
He ran back to the others without saying anything else.
Ben watched them play until the sun began setting.
The next day, another child invited him to play tag.
He refused again.
Then someone asked if he wanted to play cards.
He refused.
After a couple of weeks...
People stopped asking.
The caretakers noticed the change too.
One evening, one of them sat beside Ben while he quietly ate dinner by himself.
"Ben?"
He looked up from his plate.
"You've been spending a lot of time alone lately."
"I'm okay."
"You don't have to pretend."
Ben poked at his food with his fork.
"I'm not pretending."
The caretaker smiled sadly.
"Cash and J.T. would want you to make new friends."
Ben lowered his head.
"...I don't want new friends."
The woman gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"I know."
"But they're gone."
Ben didn't answer.
He simply continued eating in silence.
That night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Ben quietly climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
He closed his eyes.
All he could think about was the last time he had seen them.
He wondered what Cash and J.T. were doing now.
Were they happy?
Did they like their new family?
Were they having fun? Did they already forget about him?
The thought made his chest tighten.
Ben buried his face deeper into his pillow as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. He tried to stay quiet so he wouldn't wake anyone else, but every now and then a small sniffle escaped before he could stop it.
The same thing happened the following night.
Then the night after that.
Weeks passed, but very little changed.
Ben still ate alone.
He still sat by himself during the day.
He still refused to join the other children whenever they invited him to play.
Every night, before falling asleep, he found himself thinking about Cash and J.T.
He hoped they were happy.
He hoped they hadn't forgotten about him.
More than anything...
He hoped they still remembered the pinky promise they had made together.
Flashback ends
Ben slowly came back to the present and looked over at Gwen.
"I guess that was the closest thing to being depressed."
He scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile.
"I didn't really understand what I was feeling back then. I just knew... everything felt lonely after they were gone."
Gwen didn't say anything after Ben finished speaking. She simply floated there, staring at him with a sad expression. She had hoped the story would get better after Cash and J.T. were adopted, but hearing how Ben had isolated himself only made her feel worse. She couldn't imagine spending every day by herself like that, eating alone, playing alone, and wondering every night whether the only friends she had ever made still remembered her.
Without thinking much about it, Gwen drifted closer before wrapping her arms around him again.
Ben laughed quietly.
"Again?"
Gwen nodded against his shoulder.
"Yep."
"You really do like hugging people."
"Only people who need one."
Ben smiled as he gently returned the hug.
"I'm really okay now."
"I know."
Gwen pulled away after a few moments before looking at him with a small pout.
"...I still feel bad."
Ben scratched the back of his head.
"You don't have to."
"I know I don't have to."
She folded her arms.
"I'm choosing to."
Ben couldn't help but laugh.
"You really are stubborn."
"I learned from my cousin."
That earned another laugh from Ben.
Seeing that Gwen had finally smiled again, he decided it was probably a good time to move on from the sad parts of his childhood.
"Well... it wasn't all depressing."
Gwen tilted her head.
"It wasn't?"
Ben shook his head.
"Not really."
He smiled as another memory came to mind.
"Since I didn't really have anyone to play with anymore, I ended up finding a new hobby."
"What hobby?"
"Drawing."
Gwen blinked.
"...Drawing?"
Ben nodded.
"I wasn't very good at first."
A small flashback formed in his mind.
Flashback
One afternoon, Ben sat alone at one of the orphanage tables with a notebook lying open in front of him. A pencil rested in his hand as he stared at the blank page, trying to think of something interesting to draw.
After a few moments, he began sketching.
The first drawing wasn't very impressive. The proportions were completely wrong, one arm was noticeably longer than the other, and the creature's face looked more silly than intimidating.
Ben stared at it for several seconds before sighing.
"...Looks terrible."
He flipped to another page.
"I can do better."
So he tried again.
And again.
And again.
Every day after finishing his chores, Ben would find a quiet place somewhere around the orphanage and spend hours filling page after page with drawings. At first they were simple doodles, but little by little they became more detailed.
The monsters he created slowly began taking shape.
Flashback ends
"I didn't really draw people," Ben explained. "I liked drawing monsters instead."
Gwen looked surprised.
"Monsters?"
"Yep."
"What kind?"
"The cool kind."
Gwen laughed.
"That's a very specific answer."
Ben grinned.
"I called them Mons."
"Mons?"
"Yeah."
He nodded proudly.
"I thought it sounded cool."
"What made them so special?"
Ben's smile grew a little wider.
"I gave every one of them different powers."
As Ben continued talking, another memory surfaced.
Flashback
The pages of his sketchbook flipped one after another, each containing a different creature.
One was a massive blue dragon covered in white armor with a glowing gem embedded in its chest.
"I called this one Dialga."
Another page showed a black serpent with golden markings winding through the sky.
"This one's Rayquaza."
He turned another page.
A massive red dragon surrounded by enormous claws pointing straight across the paper.
"Eternatus."
Another sketch depicted a ghostly dragon with six black wings and golden markings running across its body.
"Giratina."
The next drawing showed a small purple creature surrounded by golden rings.
"Hoopa."
Another page revealed a sleek blue alien-like monster with glowing crystals growing from its body.
"And this one is Deoxys."
Every page introduced another creature.
Some were enormous.
Some were small.
Some looked friendly.
Others looked terrifying.
But every single one of them had its own unique abilities, personality, and appearance.
Flashback ends
"I just kept making more and more of them," Ben said with a laugh. "Whenever I thought of a cool power, I'd create another Mon to go with it."
Gwen stared at him in surprise.
"You made all of those?"
"Yeah."
"By yourself?"
Ben nodded.
"It gave me something to do."
Gwen smiled as she imagined a younger Ben sitting alone with nothing but a pencil and a notebook, happily filling every page with strange monsters and giving each one a unique name.
"I think that's actually really cool."
Ben smiled sheepishly.
"You really think so?"
"Of course."
She grinned.
"I mean... they're definitely weird."
"Hey!"
"But they're also really awesome."
Ben laughed.
"I'll take that."
Gwen continued thinking about the names Ben had listed earlier. She quietly repeated them to herself before one of them suddenly caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she looked back at him.
"Wait a second..."
Ben tilted his head.
"Hm?"
"Dialga? A blue dragon?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
Gwen pointed at him with an excited expression.
"Isn't that the name of your transformation?!"
Ben smiled.
"Yep."
Gwen blinked several times.
"...Hold on."
She pointed again, this time sounding even more confused.
" wait... that means Rayquaza... Giratina... Eternatus... Hoopa... those are all your transformations too!"
Ben nodded again.
"They are."
For a few seconds, Gwen simply stared at him in disbelief, trying to process what he had just admitted.
"You're telling me..."
She paused for a moment before finishing her sentence.
"...that all of your transformations are monsters you drew when you were a kid?"
"Pretty much."
Gwen looked completely stunned.
"How is that even possible?"
Ben chuckled.
"That's actually the next part of the story."
He leaned back slightly as another memory came to mind.
Flashback
"A few years after Cash and J.T. left, I was still living at the orphanage. I spent most of my free time drawing, but every now and then I'd sneak outside after everyone had gone to sleep."
The memory slowly played itself out.
It was late at night, and the orphanage had already gone quiet. Most of the children were asleep, and the caretakers had finished their rounds. Ben carefully climbed out of the bedroom window before quietly dropping onto the grass below.
He brushed the dirt off his clothes before looking around.
"No one saw me..."
A small grin spread across his face.
"Perfect."
He quietly climbed over the orphanage fence before wandering through the empty streets. There wasn't any particular place he wanted to go. Sometimes he simply enjoyed walking around when nobody else was awake. The cool night air and the silence helped him clear his mind.
As Ben continued walking, something suddenly caught his eye.
A bright streak of light shot across the night sky.
His eyes widened.
"A shooting star?"
He watched it race overhead before it suddenly changed direction and plummeted toward the ground somewhere in the distance.
"...Wait."
Ben frowned.
"Shooting stars aren't supposed to do that."
A loud boom echoed moments later.
Without even thinking about it, Ben immediately started running toward where he had seen it land.
The farther he ran, the brighter the strange glow became. Eventually he reached the edge of a small clearing, where smoke still drifted into the air from a fresh impact crater.
Ben slowly stepped closer.
"...No way."
Sitting in the middle of the crater was a strange metallic pod unlike anything he had ever seen before. Parts of its surface still glowed from the heat of entering Earth's atmosphere.
He cautiously approached it.
"Is... is someone inside?"
The pod suddenly let out a soft mechanical sound.
Ben jumped back.
Several locks clicked open before the front of the pod slowly unfolded.
Inside...
There was a watch.
Flashback interrupted
Gwen's eyes immediately widened.
She couldn't help herself.
"...Omnitrix," she whispered.
Ben smiled and gave her a small nod.
"That's exactly what I thought."
He continued recalling the memory.
Flashback continues
At first, Ben simply stared at the strange device. It didn't look dangerous. In fact, it almost looked like it was waiting for someone.
He slowly reached inside the pod.
"...It's actually kind of cool."
The moment his fingers touched the watch, it suddenly sprang to life.
Green lights flashed across its surface before it leaped out of the pod on its own.
"W-What?!"
Before Ben could react, the device snapped firmly onto his wrist.
He pulled at it in panic.
"Hey! Get off!"
No matter how hard he tugged, the watch refused to budge.
A strange holographic display rose from its face, causing Ben to freeze.
He stared at it in complete amazement.
"I... I don't believe it."
Flashback ends
Ben looked back at Gwen with a smile.
"After that, I discovered I could transform."
"Into ten different aliens?"
Ben nodded.
"Into ten different aliens."
Gwen folded her arms while looking at him suspiciously.
"Okay... but that still doesn't explain something."
Ben looked at her.
"What?"
"You said your transformations are all monsters you made up when you were little." She pointed toward him again. "If the watch gave you aliens like everyone else's, then how are you turning into Dialga and Rayquaza instead? They aren't normal aliens."
Ben scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile.
"...Yeah, I guess I skipped a pretty important part."
"I noticed."
"The watch didn't actually give me Dialga right away."
"It didn't?"
Ben shook his head.
"Nope. When I first got it, I had the same ten aliens every other Ben seems to start with."
Gwen blinked.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"So you had Heatblast? Four Arms? XLR8? Diamondhead?"
Ben nodded.
"All of them."
"Then what happened?"
Ben smiled as he looked down at the Monotrix on his wrist.
"The difference wasn't really the aliens."
"It was me."
Gwen tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
"You remember how I told you I spent all my free time drawing?"
"Yeah."
"Well... after getting the watch, I became obsessed with learning everything I could. At first, I only wanted to become a better artist."
"What does drawing have to do with aliens?"
"A lot more than you'd think."
Gwen raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue.
"My favorite transformation wasn't Heatblast or Four Arms."
"It wasn't?"
Ben smiled.
"It was Gray Matter."
Gwen looked surprised.
"Gray Matter?"
"Yep."
"I thought every Ben liked using Four Arms."
"I mean, Four Arms is cool."
Ben shrugged.
"But Gray Matter was way more useful."
"How?"
"Because he was ridiculously smart."
Ben tapped the side of his head.
"I'd transform into Gray Matter for hours just reading books."
"You... read?"
Ben looked offended.
"Hey."
"I'm kidding."
She laughed.
"I know."
Ben chuckled before continuing.
"The orphanage had a small library. It wasn't anything amazing, but it had books about science, history, mythology, astronomy... pretty much anything you could think of."
"So Gray Matter just... read everything?"
"Pretty much."
"And remembered it?"
"Every single page."
Gwen's eyes widened. She mentally wondered why she didn't think of that!
"...That's actually kind of broken."
"It really was."
Ben nodded.
"I started understanding things I couldn't even pronounce before."
"What kind of things?"
"Physics, Biology, Astronomy, Mythology, Engineering. I even started reading books that the adults struggled with."
Gwen stared at him. Now she knew what she would do when she goes to her universe she would turn into grey matter and raids all the library on the planets
"...Okay."
"That's kind of unfair."
Ben laughed.
"I wasn't that smart."
"You literally turned into the smartest alien you had."
"Fair point."
He leaned back slightly before continuing.
"The more I learned, the more ideas I got for my Mons. They slowly stopped being random monsters."
"What do you mean?"
"I started giving them actual histories."
Gwen's curiosity immediately returned.
"Histories?"
Ben nodded enthusiastically.
"I created entire civilizations, worlds, legends, and even family trees for them."
"You made family trees?"
"I got carried away."
Gwen giggled.
"A little?"
"...Maybe."
Ben smiled.
"Take Dialga, for example."
Gwen nodded.
"I know him."
"In my drawings, Dialga wasn't just some powerful dragon."
"He was one of three beings known as the Creation Trio."
"The Creation Trio?"
Ben nodded.
"Dialga represented time."
"There was another one named Palkia."
"What did Palkia do?"
"He controlled space."
Gwen blinked.
"...Space?"
"Yep."
"And the third one was Giratina."
"I've heard of that one when you mentioned him earlier."
"He represented antimatter."
Gwen frowned thoughtfully.
"...Anti...matter?"
Ben laughed.
"I don't think ten-year-old me actually understood what antimatter was."
"You just thought it sounded cool?"
"Exactly."
That made Gwen laugh.
"That sounds like something Ben would do."
"It probably is."
Ben continued smiling.
"Anyway, the three of them were the oldest and strongest beings in the stories I made."
"They were basically the gods who shaped reality."
Gwen looked impressed.
"You really thought all of this up by yourself?"
"I had a lot of free time."
"I can tell."
Ben rubbed the back of his neck before continuing.
"After that I made another group called the Weather Trio."
"Weather?"
"Yeah."
"Rayquaza was one of them."
"I know that one."
"There were also Groudon and Kyogre."
"What did they do?"
"Groudon ruled the land, Kyogre ruled the sea And Rayquaza kept both of them from destroying the world whenever they fought."
Gwen smiled.
"I like that."
Ben nodded before continuing.
"Then I created the Tao Trio."
"And after that..."
"The Aura Trio, The Light Trio, The Lake Guardians, The Forces of Nature, The Swords of Justice, The Life, Destruction, and Balance Trio."
Gwen interrupted him.
"Hold on."
"The what?"
Ben smiled.
"Xerneas It represented life while Yveltal, It represented destruction And Zygarde It existed to maintain balance between the two."
Gwen quietly repeated the names to herself.
"...Those names actually sound really cool."
"I thought so too."
She couldn't help smiling.
"You seriously built an entire universe around your drawings."
"I kinda did."
"And all because Gray Matter made you smarter."
"He definitely helped."
Gwen looked at the Monotrix again.
"So Gray Matter was your favorite alien."
"For a while."
"For a while?"
Ben nodded.
"Eventually another one took first place."
"Which one?"
A grin spread across his face.
"Upgrade."
Gwen immediately smiled knowing full well how useful that alien is
"Really?"
"He was awesome."
Ben sounded genuinely excited now.
"I thought everything about him was cool. He could merge with technology, improve machines, repair broken electronics, and make all kinds of crazy upgrades."
"I used him constantly."
"You liked upgrading things?"
"I upgraded anything I could get my hands on. The orphanage television, the broken radio, Old toys, My drawing tablet, My flashlight. If it was mechanical, I probably tried fusing with it."
Gwen laughed.
"Didn't the caretakers get suspicious?"
"They absolutely did. They kept wondering why broken things suddenly started working again."
"And you never told them?"
Ben shook his head with a grin.
"Nope. I figured explaining that an alien made the toaster better would've been a difficult conversation."
Gwen burst into laughter.
"...Yeah."
"I don't think they'd believe that one."
Ben laughed along with her before the conversation settled down again. Gwen looked at the Monotrix resting on his wrist, then back at Ben. She frowned slightly as another question popped into her head.
"Wait... it still doesn't explain something."
Ben tilted his head.
"What doesn't?"
"How did you end up with the Monotrix?" Gwen asked. "You said the Omnitrix gave you the normal aliens, so how did it suddenly become... this?" She gestured toward his wrist. "It can't have just changed into a completely different watch."
Ben looked down at the golden device before letting out a small sigh.
"...That part of the story happened much later."
Gwen immediately leaned forward.
"I'm listening."
Ben nodded.
"After I got the Omnitrix, things didn't stay peaceful for very long. It wasn't just some cool alien watch that let me turn into heroes. A lot of really dangerous people wanted it."
"Vilgax?" Gwen guessed.
Ben nodded.
"Vilgax was one of them."
"Figures."
"But he wasn't the only one."
Ben's smile disappeared.
"The more I used the Omnitrix, the more enemies I made. Eventually... I realized something."
"What?"
"If I stayed at the orphanage..."
He looked away for a moment.
"...they would find me."
Gwen's smile faded.
"They'd hurt everyone there just to get to me."
Ben nodded.
"I couldn't let that happen. So..."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"...I left."
Gwen blinked.
"You just... ran away?"
"Pretty much."
"But..."
She frowned.
"They would've looked for you."
"They did."
Ben gave a small nod.
"They searched everywhere."
His voice became quieter.
"But they never found me."
Gwen slowly realized what he meant.
"...They thought you died."
Ben nodded once more.
"As far as everyone at the orphanage knew..."
"...I was gone."
He smiled sadly.
"I figured it was better that way. If everyone believed I was dead, then nobody would come after them looking for me."
Gwen didn't like that answer.
"They must've been really worried."
"They probably were."
"And Cash and J.T.?"
Ben was silent for a moment.
"They would've believed it too."
Gwen lowered her eyes.
"So... they spent years thinking their best friend was dead."
"I never wanted that."
Ben sighed.
"But I didn't really have another choice."
He quickly smiled again, not wanting the conversation to become too heavy.
"After that, I ended up having my own adventures."
"Like ours?"
"Pretty similar. I traveled all over the place, I met a lot of aliens, I made friends, I fought bad guys, I stopped invasions, And every few months..."
He laughed.
"...Vilgax would show up again."
Gwen smiled.
"Some things never change."
"Nope."
"He just refused to quit."
Ben chuckled.
"In the end, our final battle happened in space."
Gwen's eyes widened.
"Space?"
"Yeah."
"I wasn't alone either."
"I had Tetrax helping me. I was trying to find the creator of the Omnitrix."
Gwen immediately recognized the story.
"...Wait."
She leaned closer.
"I've done that before."
Ben smiled.
"I figured."
"We eventually found him."
"Azmuth?"
"Yep."
Gwen nodded excitedly and asked
"Then what happened?"
"I finally defeated Vilgax."
Ben shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.
"After that... I returned the Omnitrix."
Gwen's eyes widened so much they looked ready to pop out.
"You WHAT?!"
Ben looked at her innocently.
"I gave it back."
"You actually returned it?!"
"Yeah."
"But..."
Gwen looked completely baffled and said
"When I met Azmuth, he gave the Omnitrix back to me! He said I earned it!"
Ben smiled.
"He offered me the same thing."
"He did?"
"I turned him down."
Gwen stared at him.
"...Why?"
Ben looked down at the Monotrix resting on his wrist.
"Because by then..."
"...I didn't really need it anymore."
Gwen frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Ben gently tapped the golden watch with one finger.
"While I was traveling around the universe, Gray Matter and Upgrade became the two transformations I used the most. I already told you Gray Matter helped me learn."
Gwen nodded.
"And Upgrade?"
"He helped me build."
"Build what?"
Ben smiled.
"My own Omnitrix."
Gwen froze.
"...Your what?"
"My own."
She continued staring at him.
"...You're joking."
Ben slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I spent years studying the Omnitrix. I learned how its systems worked, I studied alien technology whenever I found it, I improved my designs over and over again, And with Gray Matter figuring out the science while Upgrade handled the engineering..."
He raised his wrist.
"...I eventually built this."
Gwen looked at the Monotrix with an expression of complete disbelief.
"You..."
She pointed at the golden watch.
"...You made that?"
Ben nodded.
"I call it the Monotrix pretty cool right?"
For several long seconds, Gwen didn't say a single word. She looked at Ben, Then at the Monotrix, Then back at Ben again as Her mouth slowly fell open.
"You..."
She shook her head in disbelief.
"You actually built your own watch."
Ben scratched the back of his head.
"...Yeah."
Gwen couldn't believe what she had just heard. Every version of Ben she had ever met had received an Omnitrix from Azmuth.
This Ben...
He had created one with his own hands!
Before there conversation could continue ben's watch made beeping noises it was an signal that the job is done and no watch ben has restored everyone
"What was that ben?"
gwen asked ben as she heard his watch beep while ben looked at her before dialing
"Looks like we have to go now, no watch ben has completed his mission and restored everyone"
Ben became dialga again and looked towards gwen before saying
"Climb on!"
and gwen did as she was told before dialga opened a portal as they made there way back towards no watch ben universe
___________ x ____________
Ok guys another chapter complete this is by far my longest chapter yet we got a bit of Legendary ben(He will be called this from now on) backstory. This chapter is atleast 6500+ words long, for refrence i usually write around 2k to 3k words meaning this chapter is the same as me writting 2 to 3 chapters
Now, i also want to address something here real quick! Many of you guys have left interesting suggestions regarding Monotrix. Especially How would it function or legendary versions or weather i would include other pokemons or psuedo legends. And while some ideas where good i was hitting a road block as to what to do with Monotrix.
There are many problems but the main problem writting wise is that i don't want monotrix to be too gimicky. Because as i have established in this lore here Legendary ben created his own watch via Upgrade and gray matter and please don't be surprise by this fact
Both aliens as per omnitrix logic are the absolute pinicale of there respective race the problem is ben never bothered utilize them properly as he would rather just go wit heavy hitters. But anways here are the Main issues i had and what i am going to do about it
1) i waned this to be an Legendary and mythic Only series but the problem is i also want to add pokemons like lucario, zoraork and rotom sooo badly!
2)I originally wanted mega evolution to basically be this version of Ultimate evolution but then there is Gigantamax which only eternatus among legends can do while when it comes to mega evolution rayquaza and mewtwo are the only ones and if you want to include groudon and Kyogre primal forms as mega that could work too
And here is my solution first i will explain 2 which would help me explain 1 one
So, my solution for Mega/ ultimate evolution is that every higher transformation would be an Mega evolution meaning mega Rayquaza, mewtwo, Primal groudon & kyogre, Unbound hoppa, and even eternamax eternatus would all be considered mega evolution. I would consider gigantamax as mega evolution because A i don't want too many gimmicks B never liked Gigantamax or Z moves comapre to Mega evolution
At the same natural form changing Like deoxys and Kyurem going black and white on its own in the anime would not be considered Mega evolution rather its a natural metamorphasis. Now my another concern was that not many Legendaries or mythic have mega or higher formss thats why here is the solution for that
In ultimate aliens we know by this time ben ultimatrix has 1 million+ aliens in which we have seen around 50+ on screen but compare to that we have only seen somewhere 10+ ultimate forms. This means Not every transformation needs an ultimate this fact would be used here aswell! So the next solution asnwers our first porblem of weather i would allow non legendary pokemons here
And the answer is YES! buy only a selective few! Which would be Psuedo legends and pokemons with confirmed Mega evolution! With only few exceptions to the rules being Zoroark,Greninja(ash greninja form) and Rotom whom would be added to the roaster regardless
So, legendary bens Roaster is Every Legendary+Mythic+Pseudo legend+Pokemon with mega forms. I will work on a Auxilliary chapter explaining the powers, additional info and the full roaster
Until then bye!