Oralie and her sister, Haley, walk solemnly up a path towards structure that, to the naked eye, looks like ruins. As they get closer, it appears to be a destroyed Pokémon lab. The lab appears that have exploded. A monument is at the entrance. On the front of the monument the inscription says, In memory of Christian Ketchum, the unsung hero during that faithful night. Oralie places a small bouquet of flowers on the monument.
"I really miss him sis." Oralie whispers.
"I do too." Haley returns. The two walk back to the B-button league headquarters.
"Things sure have changed since I met him ten years ago, when I was thirteen." Oralie says. Haley hums in agreement.
*flashback*
"I'm Haley, the leader of the B-button league." A fifteen-year old Haley says.
"I'm Oralie, her younger sister." The thirteen-year old Oralie says.
"I'm Ash." A boy around the age of ten says.
"And I'm Dawn." A blue haired girl around the same age as the boy says.
"And I'm Brock! ~~~~" Poor Brocko never got to tell the girls their beauty before a wooden staff hits the older man's head.
"Brock, you're scaring them." A fourteen-year old boy in a green hoodie says. Smiling as Brock rubs his head.
"This is the most I've seen you smile for a while, it's kinda freaking me out." Ash says. The teen in green laughs.
"I'm Christian, Ash's adopted older brother." The boy in the hoodie says. Oralie smiles, finding the blonde teen in the green hoodie very attractive.
*end flashback*
The two sisters reach their headquarters and enter to find Dawn, who is now twenty, waiting for them.
"Oh, hey Dawn, what brings you here?" Haley asks.
"I got invitations from Ash's mother for his twenty-first birthday in a week, plus two. Since Paul and Berry couldn't go, I thought I would ask you." The bluenette says.
"I'm fine with it, how about you Oralie?" Haley asks her sister.
"As long as I get to see Christian's room he had as a child, sure." Oralie says.
"Yes!" Dawn cheers. "The ferry leaves for Kanto tomorrow, see you there!" Dawn leaves the building and sets off towards her home. Oralie and Haley begin packing for the trip.
The next day.
"I can't wait to see Ash!" Dawn gushes. The two other girls smile, knowing all too well of Dawn's crush on Ash. Around three hours later, the ferry enters the Kanto region sea-space. A squadron of five hover jets begins to move along with the ferry.
"Why is the Kanto air force escorting us?" Oralie asks.
"You haven't heard?" Dawn asks. The two sisters shake their heads. "Rumor has it that there have been terrorist threats towards the ferries entering Kanto." The two older females gasp. Another two hours pass by before a large plane sails towards the ferry. The ships P.A system, which is connected to the radio, sounds with life.
"Unidentified aircraft approaching at 2°clock identify yourself or we will use lethal force." The commander from the squadron above says. The large plane continues moving towards the ferry, and there is no response. "Squad, guard the ferry, I'll handle this." The lead plane breaks off of the main group. The three girls see flashes under the wings of the large aircraft and a bullet trail is left in the water, heading towards the jet. "Aircraft confirmed as hostile, engaging." Two missiles streak towards the large gunship. A second later, the gunship falls into the sea. "Boggy down."
Dawn sighs in relief. Haley relaxes, but Oralie stares at the lead plane.
"Sis, is something wrong?" Haley asks.
"Huh? Oh, it's just that that pilot's voice sound familiar." Oralie says. "The pilot sounded like HIM."
"You're just dreaming." Haley says. Four out of the five jets break away, each heading to the base, the lead craft stays with the ferry. An hour passes by fast with the pilot doing a few tricks to entertain the passengers. The ferry docks near a small landing area for helicopters or hover planes. The lead plane lands and the canopy opens.
"Come on! Let's meet the guy who saved our lives!" Dawn says. The trio of girls run to the plane. The pilot climbs out. The first thing Oralie notices is the green hoodie that the pilot changed into, the second thing she noticed was his lower right leg, or lack of in this case. The pilot turns at the sound of running feet. Oralie sees his blonde hair swish out of his eyes, revealing emerald eyes. The three suddenly stop, recognizing the face. It's silent for a few minutes, both parties staring at each other.
"Well," The pilot starts, "this is awkward."
"Christian, is that really you?" Dawn asks. The pilot nods slowly, fearing the reaction of the girls. Oralie marches up, eyes full of rage. The next thing Christian knows, he has a very painful handprint on his left cheek.
"Why didn't you come back?!" Oralie shouts. "Answer me!"
"I lost my memory, I woke up after the explosion to fine my leg crushed and trapped just under the knee. The bone was powder and I had to cut off my leg to save my life, I could only remember two things, my name was Christian Ketchum, and I lived in Pallet town." Christian says. "Beyond that was a mystery, so I went to a hospital, got the wound cauterized, and made my way here, I regained my memory after two years. I couldn't face you, even if I tried, and believe me, I tried to convince myself to get a ferry ride over there, but then the terrorist attacks started and I started protecting the ferries. I feel awful for have brought anyone through a lot of pain, but I couldn't let the civilians get murdered." Oralie visibly relaxes, her face softens.
"I'm still mad at you," Oralie says, "you could have at least called."
"We usually have a ferry come in every two hours. So all I could do was land, refuel, and take off again. Then when I went home, I was to beat to do anything." Christian says. "You're here for Ash's birthday, right?" The three nod. "I'll show you to mum's. Her house is basically the hotel for the week or two." Christian starts walking down the path inland, "I wouldn't want to be out here when nightfall comes, trust me." The three start after Christian down the path. Around a half hour later, the group arrives at Pallet Town, the walk was eerily silent. Dawn saw Oralie glare at Christian a few times. Christian, on the other hand, didn't glance towards Oralie, further angering the Magikarp trainer. Haley huffed in annoyance.
"What?" Oralie snapped.
"Nothing." Haley responded.
"Oralie," Christian started, "Do you know the saying, you don't know what you have until it's gone?" Oralie nods curiously. "I don't want that to become true between you and your sister. You don't want to lose a family member, trust me, I know personally." Oralie looks down to the ground.
"Sorry sis." Oralie says.
"Don't worry about it." Haley responded. The four continue on silently. They walk into Pallet Town. Christian stopped near the center of the town.
"Here we are, my mum's house." Christian mutters. They start to walk up of path towards the front door.
"Mime." A small pink Pokémon with a red bump on its stomach sounds out.
"Hey Mimey." Christian says. The pink Pokémon smiles as Christian passes by. He knocks on the door. A mahogany haired woman answers the door.
"Christian, you're back." She says. "I also see the last of our guests arrived safely."
"Dawn, Haley, and Oralie, this is my mother, Delia Ketchum." Christian says.
"Hello Mrs. Ketchum." Dawn says.
"Please just call me Delia." Delia says. The three girls nod. "Come on in, I think Ash would be happy to introduce you." The three girls follow Delia with Christian behind them. Christian breaks away from the girls and heads upstairs.
"Christian, how many threats did you take down today?" Ash asks, appearing at the top of the stairs.
"One heavy gunship." Christian says. "A normal day for me."
"How many missiles did you use this time? Last gunship you took down took you four missiles." Ash says.
"Two." Christian says. Ash chuckles.
"Pika!" A yellow blur flies down the stairs and slams into Christian.
"Hey Pikachu." Christian says, petting the yellow mouse on the side of his head. Christian pulls a pokeball from his belt and opens it. A Pachirisu forms and Pikachu starts to chase it around the house, in good fun of course. Ash spies the three girls bellow and smiles.
"Welcome to our home." Ash says. "Let's introduce you to everyone." Ash passes Christian and leads the girls into the living room. Christian continues to head up the stairs and into his room. He hears the muted voices of Misty and May greeting Dawn, Haley, and Oralie. A knock on his door causes him to look up. He finds Delia there.
"Everyone would like for you to come down." Delia says.
"I'll be down in a second." Christian says. Delia nods and walks downstairs. Christian waits for a few minutes before getting up and walking downstairs. He nearly trips over Pachirisu and is eventually tripped by the ever mischievous Pikachu. He yelps and crashes to the ground. Ash, followed by Dawn and Haley, runs into the hallway to see Christian face-first in the ground and Pikachu smiling cutely. Ash chuckles as Christian gets off the ground. He glares at Pikachu and Ash continues to laugh. Dawn glares at Ash while Haley goes to check on Christian.
"You okay?" Haley asks, helping Christian off the floor.
"Fifth time in the past three days." Christian says. "I'm starting to believe that Ash taught him to do that. Either that or he has a Ketchup instinct." Christian gives Pikachu a small bottle of ketchup.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu shouts gleefully.
"Go have your fun you little devil." Christian says. Ash finally calms down from his laughing fit, only to be hit on the arm by Dawn.
"What's wrong with you?" Dawn asks.
"Pikachu started doing that randomly a few weeks ago, I think that it's hilarious." Ash says. The four walk back into the living room.
"What happened?" May asks.
"Pikachu tripped Christian and sent him sprawling across the floor." Ash chuckles. Misty and May burst out laughing, along with Gary and May's little brother, Max. Oralie looks to Christian with a concerned expression.
"Sure laugh at the cripple." Christian mutters. "Pikachu must have a sixth sense that only detects Ketchup."
"You're far from a cripple dear!" Delia shouts from the kitchen. Christian rolls his eyes and sits on the floor near the sofa.
"So Christian," Oralie starts, "How many lives have you saved besides Dawn, Haley, and mine over your three year term in the military?"
"Not many, you three are the current ones I remember." Christian says. "I have saved over seven ferries." Misty nods in agreement, May and Ash chuckle and Dawn whistles.
"Have you caught any new Pokémon?" Haley asks.
"I caught a Pikachu, and two Magnamites." Christian says.
"I heard that he invented a new move for electric types." Ash said.
"It's just a high power thunderbolt." Christian mutters. Christian eyes his Pachirisu, he pulls out its pokeball and returns it. Christian doesn't notice the change in tone from Oralie, her voice is softer, and back to its kind tone. "How are Magikarp and Feebas doing? And Piplup?"
"Fine." Dawn, Haley, and Oralie say in unison. Christian smiles.
"This is the most I've seen you smile in a while, it's kinda freaking me out." Ash says.
"Whoa, Déjà vu." Christian says. "You said those exact same words ten years ago." The entire room bursts into laughter. Even Christian laughs. Oralie looks to the blonde twenty-four year old and give a faint smile, Christian might be missing part of his leg, but he has the same personality,
'I guess coming back from the dead really doesn't change anybody.' She thought. Christian glances to the clock.
"I should get to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow." Christian says.
"Tomorrow is Sunday, dear! The ferries don't run on Sundays." Delia shouts.
"I'm still really tired." Christian says, "Listen guys, how about we meet up at the Professor Oak's ranch tomorrow?"
"I'm game." Ash says.
"Count us in." Misty and May say.
"Deal." Max and Gary say.
"Let's do it." Dawn says. Haley and Oralie nod.
"I'll see you tomorrow. G'night y'all." Christian says. Oralie watches him walk out of the room, he glances down to Pikachu trying to hide. "Nice try you yellow devil."
"Pikaaa." Pikachu groans. Christian chuckles as he walks up the stairs. He collapses onto his bed and promptly falls asleep.