Ash couldn't believe it. After years of trying to become a Pokemon master, he actually got there. He was the strongest Pokemon trainer out there and he had completed his Pokedex. Sure, he didn't catch every Pokemon because that would be impossible, but he gathered information and had seen every Pokemon out there to date. Anyway, he was the strongest Pokemon trainer for about twelve years running now. At age twenty eight, he thought his life would be a bit different from battling and hanging out up at Mt. Silver, training for months at a time. He was already the best so he knew his training wasn't going to get him anywhere, just unbelievably stronger Pokemon.
Ash had even defeated Pokemon Champion Red exactly twelve years ago. He had to admit, that was the toughest trainer he had ever faced in his entire life. However, his accomplishments and dreams seemed to have come crashing down as he was kneeling down at his once undefeated Pikachu. Ash Ketchum, Pokemon master, had just been defeated by a mere fifteen year old boy. The boy warned that he was strong, but Ash didn't believe him at first.
Their battle wasn't quick at all though. Ash and this boy were battling for hours until he lost. This boy's Pokemon were just too powerful. His strategy was flawless and his Pokemon were faster than Ash's. He remembered the six Pokemon this trainer used to battle; a Meganium, Snorlax, Gyarados, Machoke, Suicune, and Ho-oh. How this trainer managed to capture two legendary Pokemon, Ash couldn't answer that. His Pikachu defeated his Gyarados. His Charizard defeated kid's Meganium, but the kid's Snorlax defeated both of those Pokemon and his own Snorlax! Ash had to admit, that was the fastest Snorlax he had ever seen. However, Ash's Pikachu managed to defeat all of the kid's Pokemon except Ho-oh. That was the kid's strongest Pokemon, he assumed.
Ash slowly looked up to the fifteen year old boy. His red hair and piercing blue eyes were more intimidating now than they were a couple hours ago when he showed up. "Good battle." The kid smiled down at him. Ash didn't respond. He just held his Pikachu in his arms. "Is your Pikachu gonna be okay?" He asked. There was a long pause.
"Yeah, he'll be okay once I get him to the Pokemon center." Ash said.
"I can get you there faster than going on foot."
"Thanks, but I don't need your help." Ash spat.
"Hey, listen, I just want to help. I traveled up here by foot and there are tons of strong Pokemon here and yours are in no condition to fight. Let me help." Ash sighed. He did have a point.
"Fine." Ash said.
"Ho-oh, I choose you!" The boy said. The giant rainbow Pokemon came out of its Pokeball. The boy and Ash got on Ho-oh's back and the Pokemon flew off towards New Bark Town, the closest town to Mt. Silver.
When they got to the Pokemon center, Ash left his Pokemon with Nurse Joy. "They need to rest for a while, so why don't you two go get some fresh air or get a bite to eat." Joy said.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy." The boy and Ash said.
"Shouldn't you leave your Pokemon at the Pokemon center?" Ash asked.
"Nah, they just need to rest. They don't have any injuries that require medical attention."
"You're the strongest trainer I've battled." Ash said. "It took you only five years to get this far whereas it took me over ten years. How did you do it?"
"I am nowhere near as good as you. Sure, I do have powerful Pokemon but I wasn't on a quest to become a Pokemon master and collect information on a Pokedex. My only goal was to be the strongest Pokemon trainer. You're goal was much harder." The boy explained. Ash listened to his words. The kid did have a point. He didn't seem like an arrogant little brat after all. Ash decided to change the subject a bit.
"So, did you start your journey with a Chikorita?"
"Yeah. It was the easiest decision I ever made. We got along so perfectly, the others didn't match up. I know Chikoritas are what most of the girls around here choose, but I don't go by looks."
"How did you capture Suicune, though? And especially Ho-oh?"
"Well, within the first few days of my journey, I got hurt but I didn't want to call my mom for help. She was already too over protective and stuff to let me even start my journey to begin with. Anyway, I didn't want to worry her more than she already was, so I kind of sat in the same spot for a day. But then out of nowhere, I saw Ho-oh in the sky. I was ten and didn't really know to the full extent how rare it was to see Ho-oh flying, but I called to it anyway. I yelled 'Hey, I need some help. I'm hurt!' or something like that. Ho-oh immediately flew down to help me out. I guess it was used to people chasing it or trying to capture it, but I didn't. It flew me to a hospital and I turned out just to have a broken leg. But anyway, Ho-oh put itself in my Pokeball. Can you believe that? Just a regular, old Pokeball. I didn't choose Ho-oh, it chose me. Same with Suicune. It saw I had Ho-oh and how much it liked me and stuff and it just chose me."
"That's awesome." Ash said. "You're either really lucky, or you give off a good vibe to Pokemon."
"Anyway, enough about me, how did you meet your first Pokemon?"
"I actually woke up really late the morning when I got to choose my first Pokemon. I rushed in my pajamas to Professor Oak's lab. I come from Pallet Town so I knew him well. Anyway, I got there and the three regular starter Pokemon were gone, so he gave me Pikachu. At first, Pikachu hated me and used thundershock on me all of the time. But as time went on, we became best buds." Ash said.
"Sweet!" The boy said. He heard Ash's stomach growl. "Hungry?"
"You bet. I haven't had an actual meal in months." He confessed.
"Wanna come to my house? I bet my dad's cooking dinner right about now."
"Well, I don't know…I don't want to intrude."
"Oh trust me, you're not. I've been looking up to you since I was three so I think they'll make an exception."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It sounds cheesy but I kind of looked up to you when I was younger. I still kind of do." Ash was surprised. He never thought that he would be inspiring children to start a Pokemon journey of their own. Ash figured he should have known, but one of these kids actually got to him and defeated him. Kids were studying his battle strategies and perfecting them, making it possible for him to be defeated. Ash should have known that sooner or later, he would be defeated. The thought really had never occurred to him.
"Hey, I just realized, I never asked what your name was."
"Oh, I'm Griffin." He said. The two stopped walking and a good sized house was in front of them. "This is my house." He said. Griffin let his Pokemon out so they could hang out outside or follow them inside. All of a sudden, Ho-oh flew off.
"Hey, aren't you gonna stop it?" Ash asked.
"Nah, I always let it go off. It'll come back." Griffin said.
"Griffin!" A girl ran up to him about the age of ten.
"Hey Kaelin!" Griffin said. "I would like you to meet Ash Ketchum."
"Oh my god! You're the Pokemon master!" She exclaimed.
"That's me. But your brother here managed to defeat me earlier today." Ash smiled.
"Whoa!" Kaelin said. "It's nice to meet you, Ash." She giggled. "What are you doing home though, Griffin?"
"I got hungry and I figured I should come back home for a bit. Where's everyone?"
"Mom and dad went somewhere with their Pokemon so it's just me, Addie, and…my very own Cyndaquil!"
"You got a Cyndaquil today?" Griffin asked.
"Yeah. Mom took me to Professor Elm's lab today and I chose Cyndaquil but I call her Cyndy, spelled C-Y-N-D-Y."
"Kaelin, that's awesome!"
"So what are you going to do with your Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"I think I want to be a Pokemon Coordinator. My mom used to be, but she isn't anymore. She was pretty good." The three chatted for a while until a younger girl came outside.
"Griffin! You're back!" She said and ran up to him. She was only about seven at the most so he picked her up. She wrapped her arms around her neck. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Addie. Hey, this is ash Ketchum."
"Ash Ketchum! I always wanted to meet you! When I'm ten I'm gonna get my very first Pokemon and defeat all of the gyms and stuff just like you and Griffin! And my first Pokemon's gonna be a Todadile! The one I met today was funny." She laughed. Griffin put her down and the four continued to talk.
Ash saw that the girls looked pretty much the same; just one was smaller than the other. They both had the same red hair Griffin had, just a few shades lighter and they had pretty blue eyes. They weren't as intense as Griffin's though but they were the perfect shade of cerulean, he decided. Griffin broke Ash out of his reverie once he said, "So, you know when Mom and dad are going to come home?"
"I think they should be home in about a half hour." Kaelin said.
"Did you guys eat dinner yet?"
"Nope. Dad already made sushi with rice but he's gonna come home and heat it up for us." Addie explained.
"Well, I think I'll go pick up my Pokemon at the Pokemon center." Ash said. Griffin decided to go along with him while his sisters stayed back. At the Pokemon center, Ash saw that Griffin was ogling a blonde girl there. Ash watched carefully as he got his Pokemon back from Nurse Joy.
"Hey Griffin." The girl said. They obviously knew each other.
"Hi, Carrie." He noticed the two blush.
"Isn't that Ash Ketchum?"
"Yeah…I actually defeated him today. Hardest battle ever though." Griffin said as he scratched the back of his head nervously.
"I knew you could do it." She said. Ash noticed she had a Houndour at her side.
"Thanks." He said. All of a sudden, Carrie kissed Griffin's cheek.
"I'll see you later." And with that said, she left the Pokemon center quickly.
"You like her, don't you?"
"She's perfect. We've known each other since we were practically babies. Our parents are friends." Ash nodded and they got back to Griffin's place. The four, Ash, Griffin, Kaelin, and Addie sat at the kitchen table and waited for Griffin's parents to arrive home. Eventually, they hear someone open the door.
"Kaelin, Addie, we're home!" A woman said. Ash assumed this was their mother.
"Mommy!" Addie shouted and ran over to the front door where her parents were. The other three chuckled to themselves. Just then, their parents walked in, the father holding Addie.
"Griffin sweetie! I knew you had to be home! I saw all of your Pokemon outside on the lawn." She gave her son a big hug. "I've missed you. I'm so glad that you came home."
"Mom…" Griffin said.
"I think you're embarrassing him." Kaelin said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Griffin. Who's your friend?" She asked as she pet Suicune.
"It's Ash Ketchum, the Pokemon master. I defeated him today." Griffin said. Ash then locked eyes with the woman. She looked extremely familiar, but he couldn't think of who she was.
"Ash?" The man said. Ash looked over to the man who spoke his name. No one said anything for a minute.
"Hey, what's goin' on, Griff?" It was a talking Meowth. It dawned on Ash who they were.
"Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed.
"Not anymore." James said. Ash stood up.
"I really think I should get going. Nice meeting you three, but I've got to go."
"Ash, why don't you stay for dinner?" This was not the Jessie he was used to. He heard her chuckle. "I thought that Pikachu out in the front looked familiar. Ash noticed Jessie had a larger abdominal area.
"Are you…" He said, gesturing to it.
"Yeah. This one's definitely the last one." She said.
"That's what you said about Addie." James said. Jessie shrugged.
"Anyway, why don't you stay for dinner? I'm sure you're hungry." She said,
"Well, I don't know…"
"Come on, Ash. Please?" Kaelin begged.
"I think you should stay." Addie said. "I love you." She said and hugged his arm.
"Addison." James said, giving her a stern look so she would stop hanging on Ash's arm.
"I guess I could." Ash replied.
"Perfect." Jessie said. Honestly, Ash had never seen a pregnant woman move so fast in his life. She set the table in a blink of an eye. They talked a bit as they ate dinner and Ash was surprised that he felt this welcome in the home of his old enemies. Ash was happy that one of Jessie and James' kids defeated him. Ash learned that he was getting too old for this anyway. He decided that he was going to go find a special someone and maybe start raising a family of his own before he got too old. Ash began to wonder if Misty was still available.