Chapter 1: Homecoming

Author's Note: Welcome Pokemon fans to my first Pokemon fan-fic. So today marks the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon Anime's release in Japan so to celebrate I have released this ship-fic based on the end of the Kalos Region adventures. Though there is no main focus there are a few couples I will be focusing on. The main two will be the famous Pokeshipping and the latest Amourshipping, but there will be some hints to Advancedshipping here and there.

So for those of you that didn't read the description the fan-fic is set 8 years after the beginning of Season 1 back in 1997. This means that Ash is 18 years old and many of the others (like May and Dawn) about 15 to 16. Other characters, like Clemont are still 10 to 12 years old, but their roles are a little less important. However Serena and Misty will be about 17 to 18.

Also Team Rocket won't be mentioned much in the fan-fic. There will be a few references to them, but they will be few and far between.

Anyway with that said, let's get this show on the road.

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It had been only eight years since Ash had started his journey to become a Pokemon Master. He had come in second place in the Kalos League and now he was on his way back to Pallet Town for a well deserved rest. He and his team were pretty tired after a long day of traveling.

As he started to make his way back into the small community he could see that the lights on at his house. "I bet mom is still up," he said. He then started to run as fast as he could to the house. He didn't want to keep his mom waiting. He wanted to tell her all about his adventure in the Kalos region. As soon as he opened the door to the house he could hear a few different voices coming from the living room.

"I'm home!" he shouted. His mom was the first one to rush up and welcome Ash home. As she did so Ash could see that not only did she have guest, it was Misty, Brock, and Tracy. "It's been awhile Ash," Misty said.

"Yeah... How'd you do this time around?" Brock asked. Ash smiled and stood proudly as he proclaimed that he was one step closer to becoming a Pokemon Master. He then explained to them how he had just barely managed to get second place in the Kalos League. He began to ell them in detail how the battle went and just how his new friends cheered him on.

It was at this point that Misty started to glance away. "Well it did look like you were going to win," she said. Ash was a bit surprised by this and asked her how she watched the fight. She then cleared her throat and faced him. "You do realize that almost every League is broadcast worldwide right?" she said. Ash instinctively started to blush and apologize.

Misty could see that he was a bit embarrassed, but she could see that it wasn't because he had forgotten about the whole broadcast thing. Both she and Ash had grown quite a bit since they had last seen each other. Misty's body had matured quite a bit and because of this she was often covering herself up a bit more that she had done in the past.

Ash of course had matured as well, but in a very different way. With the kiss from Serena still fresh in his mind he began to wonder about her. "Hey mom? Do you mind if I make a call?" he asked. Everyone started to look at one another. They had no idea why Ash wanted to make a call or who he was calling. None the less Ash's mom agreed and let him make the call.

At first he wasn't sure what number he should dial, but he soon didn't have to. As he was about to start dialing the phone it started to ring. He could see that the call was coming from the Hoenn region. Instantly he answered the call. "Hello?" he said. The video screen quickly came to life and he could see that it was Serena. "Hey Ash! Sorry to bother you when it's this late," she said.

"It's no problem. I was actually going to call you," he said. The two of them blush profusely as they tried to think of what they wanted to talk about. Misty could see what was going on, but she could hear who was on the phone or see what the person looked liked. As she knew was that Ash was embarrassed about something.

Finally she decided to walk over to him, just enough to hear the conversation. However this quickly backfired when Ash saw her out of the corner of his eye. He quickly waved her over and quickly introduced her to Serena. After a quick introduction Serena asked her if she was one of Ash's old friends. "Yeah, me and Ash traveled all over the place. That is until I had to take care of the gym," she said.

"You're a gym leader?" Serena asked. Misty nodded and explained that she was the Cerulean City Gym Leader. This impressed Serena quite a bit as she heard quite a bit about the gym at Cerulean City. "So do you still do shows over there?" she asked. Misty looked over to Ash then back to Serena. "We have on in the work, but we haven't done one for a long time," she said.

"I wish I could go and see it. You see I'm in the Hoenn Region trying to become a Pokemon Coordinator," she said. It was then that Serena was interrupted by someone calling out to her. Ash and Misty could barely hear the voice calling out to her, but Serena heard it loud and clear. "Sorry I'm just making a call to an old friend of mine," she said. Once again Serena was called out to again. This time Ash and Misty could hear the person's voice a little better but it was still fairly quiet. "Yeah I'm still on the phone with him," Serena said.

Finally the person was close enough to where the two of them could hear them clearly. "Oh! Is it the guy you were telling me about?' the voice asked. As soon as they heard the voice Ash and Misty quickly realized who was with Serena. "May?! What are you doing there?" Ash asked.

"Oh! Ash! It's been awhile. What's up?" May said.

"Wait you know her?" Serena asked.

"Yeah me and May traveled across the Hoenn region together," Ash said.

It took a few seconds before everyone could process what was even going on. After awhile both Ash and Misty could see a sly smile come across May's face. "You know Ash, you are pretty luck to have a girl like Serena," she said. Serena started to blush as soon as May said that. Meanwhile Misty was a bit confused by this statement. When she asked May what she had meant by that she immediately started to notice Serena start to freak out.

"Oh, you don't know? Serena gave Ash a kiss before she left for the Hoenn region," May said. Misty quickly whipped around to face Ash. She started to glare at him but quickly started to calm down. She sighed then turned to Serena on the phone and began to smile. "Well at least you are braver than me," she said. She then said goodbye and walked away from the phone.

May then said goodbye as well and walked away from the phone as well, leaving Ash and Serena by themselves. There was a bit of an awkward silence before either one of them started to talk. Eventually Ash decided to ask Serena about the kiss, or rather how she truly felt about him. Serena blushed a little bit, but Ash could see just from her smile how she really felt about him. "D-Do I really need to say it?' she asked.

Ash began to blush and chuckled a little. "I guess not," he said. The two of them locked eyes and smiled. Serena then cleared her throat and started to relax. "But I do like you. Not as a friend, but something more," she said. She then said goodbye and ended the call. This left Ash to wonder what he should do next. He now knew that Serena had feelings for him, but he wasn't sure just how he should feel towards her.

As he started to walk away from the phone he notice that Misty seemed to be a little disappointed. As he approached her he could see that was blushing a little as well as mumbling under her breath. "I can't say that I wasn't expecting this, but... I should have told him right then and there," she said. Ash then realized that not only did Serena like him but so did Misty.

He quickly decided not to pry at the situation and walked in the other direction. However as he walked away Misty realized that he had been relatively close to her. She soon started to turn a deep shade of red as she began to wonder if he had heard anything she had said. She then saw out of the corner of her eye that Ash was a little embarrassed as well.

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Later that night as Ash laid on his bed and looked up at the ceiling he began to think about his various adventures and what he should do next. It was while he was laying there that he began to realize that there was still he had to learn. Not just about Pokemon, but about life. He had never been in a relationship, but he figured that he could ask either Brock or Misty for advice.

He then looked over to the PC over in the corner. He knew that he could make a few calls to any of his friends, but he knew that it was pretty late. However he could see that it was still on from earlier that night. He knew that none of his friend were awake, but he was quickly proven wrong.

It was at this point that he could hear someone calling him on the PC. He slowly got up out of his bed, so as to not disturb his Pikachu, and made his way over to it. He then sat down and answered the call. He was surprised to see that it was Misty who was calling him. "Oh... Ash. You're awake," she said. Ash could see that she was very embarrassed as she glanced away from him.

"Sorry to wake you, but do you have a sec?" she asked. Ash nodded as he began to blush. He could see that she was getting more and more embarrassed but at the same time he quickly remembered why she was getting embarrassed. "So did you hear what I was saying after you talk to Serena?' she asked. Ash knew he had to be honest with her and nodded his head.

As soon as Misty saw this she instantly started to become redder and redder. Eventually she turned back and faced Ash again. She couldn't figure out what she really wanted to say to him. All she knew was they he knew that she had feeling for him, or at least that's what she thought.

For Ash it was all about trying to really learn how she felt about him. He decided he should asked about her feelings directly but at the same time he knew that being so direct would probably be not a good idea. He wanted to know just how she really felt about him but at the same time he didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"Say Ash? Are you and Serena dating?" Misty asked. Ash shook his head. This actually made Misty relax a little bit. Even though she knew that Serena loved him she now knew that she had only recently confessed her feelings for him. She had to muster up the courage to confess to him as well, but at the same time she felt like she had to do it in person. "Do you mind if we meet up at Pewter City tomorrow?" she asked. Ash smiled and agreed to see her again by tomorrow afternoon.

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By morning Ash and his team were preparing to leave for Pewter City. It was as he began preparing that he realized that he had left one of his Pokemon back in Kalos. "I'm sure that Misty would have loved to see Greninja," he sighed. He then looked over to Pikachu and began to smile. "It's been awhile since we've gotten together like this," he said.

He then left the house and started to head down the road toward Viridian City. It wasn't long before he was remembering all of the adventures he had had in the Kanto region. He began to think of all of the friends he had made and all of the Pokemon he had caught. He thought about just how much fun he had with all of his friends and the pain he felt when he had to leave them behind.

It was something that for him was a part of new life to become a Pokemon Master. He knew that it was long and tough journey to make it to the top, but at the same time he had gone too far to quit now. He was so close to becoming a Pokemon Master and yet there was still so much for him to learn.

As soon as he reached Viridian City he could see that a lot had changed. In the past six years he had been on his journey the gym had been torn down and rebuilt into a much larger and much more impressive building. However he now knew that it was now the headquarters of Team Rocket.

As he walked through town he decided to stop by the Pokemon Center to take a bit of a break. He knew that it was going to take a long time before he made it out of the Viridian Forest. He needed to stock up on supplies before he tackled the forest. At the same time he also needed to make sure that his Pokemon were up to the challenge of fighting any trainers that they would come across.

There was little doubt in his mind that there were going to be a lot of tough trainers in the forest, but at the same time he knew that he had trained a lot since he had first gone on his journey. It was while he was resting that was made aware of a couple of trainers talking about the best strategies against Dragon types.

He decided to walk up to the two trainers and help them out. "You know what the best Pokemon is to use against a Dragon type is a Fairy type," he said. One of the trainers was a bit confused by this but the other immediately took Ash up on the advice. He asked him if he had been to the Kalos region as it was the only region so far with quite a few Fairy types. Ash nodded and told them that he had just come back from the Kalos region. He then told them that he had placed second in the Kalos League.

This impressed both of the trainers. They couldn't imagine coming so close to winning the Kalos League. When one of them asked how log Ash had been on his journey he explained that he left from his home in Pallet Town nearly eight years ago. He told them of the friends he had made and the battles he had won and about the first time he had entered the Indigo League.

The two trainers looked on with wonder, but it wasn't long before one of them challenged Ash to a Pokemon Battle. Ash quickly acce-pted the battle and the two of them went to the arena just outside the Pokemon Center. "I gotta warn you that I won't go easy on you," Ash said. The trainer nodded and said that he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The two agreed that the battle would be a three on three match with the victor being determined when one of the teams were completely unable to battle. "Alright then! Pikachu! I choose you!" Ash shouted. Pikachu quickly rushed onto the field and stood proudly. It was pretty obvious that he was ready to battle. "Fine... Mudsdale! I choose you!" the trainer shouted.

From out of the trainer's Pokeball came a large horse like Pokemon. Ash could see that it was a Ground type Pokemon just from the way it look. He also knew that it was from a whole different region as it was a type of Pokemon he had never seen before. When he tried to look the Pokemon up on the Pokedex he quickly discovered that there was no data about it anywhere on the dex.

"I guess you are a bit surprised by my Mudsdale," the trainer said. "I'm from the Alola region and Mudsdale here is on of many Pokemon that you can on the islands." Ash was unfazed by this and decided to attack. He told his Pikachu to use Electro Ball on Mudsdale. However Mudsdale deflected the blast and used Mudshot against Pikachu. It managed to land a direct hit on Pikachu causing him to reel back.

Ash asked his Pikachu if it was alright and it responded with confidence. Seeing that his best buddy was alright he ordered his Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Once again Mudsdale dodged the attack and countered with a Stomp attack. By now Ash could see that the trainer's Mudsdale was very strong. He was at a disadvantage, but there was one thing he knew that his Pikachu could do that the large Mudsdale couldn't.

"Alright Pikachu! Use Double Team!" he ordered. Pikachu ran rapidly at the Mudsdale to the point were it started to split into many copies of itself. This confused the Mudsdale but at the same time allowed Pikachu to gain quite a bit of speed. "Now! Use Quick Attack!" Ash shouted. Pikachu then landed a powerful blow on the Mudsdale causing it to stumble backwards.

"You may have caught my Mudsdale off guard but will you be able to do it again!?" the trainer asked. He then ordered his Mudsdale to use Mudshot once again. Pikachu dodged the attack but Mudsdale quickly came up from behind and used Double Kick. This flung Pikachu across the field and toward Ash. He grabbed Pikachu before he hit the wall on the other side of the field and could see that his best buddy was knocked out cold.

"You and your Pikachu battled well. Especially since Mudsdale is a Ground type," the trainer said. Ash nodded and told him that his Mudsdale was pretty strong as well. Ash then sent out his Hawlucha to fight in the battle. The trainer recalled his Mudsdale and sent out a Marowak in its place. However this Marowak looked very different than the Marowaks he had seen before. He asked if his Marowak was from the Alola region. The trainer nodded and explained that it had evolved to suit the needs of its environment.

After the trainer explained that to Ash, he knew that he was going to have to think of a new strategy to fight this new Marowak. He quickly ordered him Hawlucha to use Aerial Ace. Hawlucha landed a heavy blow on the Marowak, after which Ash told him to use Take Down. As Hawlucha charged at the Marowak it somehow phased through it as if it wasn't there. "Now! Marowak, use flamethrower," the trainer called out. The Marowak turned to face Hawlucha and used its bone club to blast a column of flame toward him. In fact Hawlucha took a direct hit and was quickly knocked out.

Once again Ash called back his Pokemon and once again he was trying to figure out what to do. "Well... I guess it's time to fight fire with fire! Talonflame! I choose you!" Ash shouted. He then sent out his Talonflame out into the field and started to prepare of the fight ahead. The trainer recalled his Marowak so he could send out his next Pokemon. "Then how about we try something a little different. Vulpix! I choose you!"

Once the trainer sent out their Vulpix Ash could clearly see that it was an Ice type. He knew that he wasn't at a complete disadvantage but he knew that an Ice type would a problem for his Talonflame. He commanded his Talonflame to use Fire Spin so it could keep the Vulpix on the defensive. The trainer had his Vulpix counter with the move Protect. He then ordered his Vulpix to use Confusion. This managed to land a direct hit on Talonflame making it confused. The trainer then ordered his Vulpix to use Ice Beam. Once again it scored a direct hit, freezing Ash's Talonflame solid.

Once the battle was over Ash congratulated the trainer on his well fought victory. The smiled and thanked him for the fight. "I expected nothing less from someone who placed second in the Kalos League," he said. He then suggested to Ash that he travel to the Alola region. He told him that with his skills he would be able to complete the trials of the region and learn about Z-Moves from the professor of the region.

Ash looked over to Pikachu and smiled. They now knew where they were going to head for their next adventure. However they needed to tell Misty and his mother about where they planned to go and when. He turned to the trainer and thanked him. He then left for Pewter City and to reunite with Misty.

End of Chapter 1

Author's Note: Well I know this was a very short chapter, but I figured that this would be a great test to see how I could implement a Pokemon battle into my story. With that said, I wish you guy a happy anniversary both for my Fanfiction profile and for the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon Anime.