I left my home and now I see a new horizon
But one day I'll come back to Pallet Town
I'm on the road to become the greatest trainer
And I won't quit until I'm #1.
Chapter 1: Return to Kanto
Two trainers stood ahead of a two-pronged sign at the fork in a dusty Kanto path. The sign showed them that to the left was Pallet Town and to the right was Pewter City.
"I guess this is it," the younger of the two trainers said.
After a pause, the older one nodded, "yeah."
They looked at the sign for a moment more as bird Pokémon chirped away the sunny day, then the younger trainer turned around and held out his hand. The older trainer grasped it and the two shared a warm handshake. It was deserving; as their years of travelling together had come to an end. They had been through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh by each other's side and now the older trainer had decided to stop traveling to pursue his path of becoming a Pokémon Doctor.
"You can do it," the younger Trainer said, "Pokémon Doctor Brock."
Brock responded, "Pokémon Master Ash, you can too."
The two didn't actually have these titles; but in certainty that they would reach their goal and gain them, they used them to show their sense of hope for one another. Acknowledging that this was possibly the last time they would see one another in a long time, their grasp tightened and the handshake rose into a united fist-pump of victory.
"YES!" the two shouted in unison.
The yellow Pokémon on Ash's shoulder didn't want to miss out, "Pikachu!" he smiled.
The grip on one another's hand loosened slowly and as it did so, the two trainers - no. The master and doctor in-training, walked separate ways back to their hometowns. As they departed, neither of them turned back to see the other; they respected that now was the time to move on.
Soon, Ash stood at a hill a mile or so away from a small town in the distance. He looked to Pikachu who was sat on his shoulder.
"Well, we're almost at Pallet Town," he smiled.
"Pika!" the yellow Pokémon responded.
Ash looked onward for another second, seeing something very different.
"Is that...a stadium?" he muttered.
Pikachu looked at Ash then at the distance and squinted, "kachu?"
Ash was right. Just off from Pallet Town was a huge open spaced structure, the size of a village; similar to the stadiums that Pokémon Leagues are held in.
Ash studied it for another moment, then began to walk back to Pallet Town.
Once Ash arrived at Pallet Town, the first thing he did was head to Professor Oak's laboratory; he promised he'd visit his Pokémon and congratulate them for their efforts in the Sinnoh League. He knocked on the door and there are no answer for a second. He waited a moment longer and was about to knock again, but the door opened. Ash saw nobody ahead and instantly became confused, then looked down and saw a familiar face.
"Bulba!" the Pokémon cried with happiness.
"Bulbasaur!" Ash cheered.
Ash knelt down and picked up Bulbasaur, who proceeded to hug him with a Vine Whip.
"It's been so long! I really should have used you in Sinnoh!" Ash laughed.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur replied, expressing his happiness to see his old friend.
Ash then put Bulbasaur down, "lets go and see the others."
Bulbasaur led Ash to the garden at the back of the coralle. As soon as he stepped through he was ambushed by a huge group of his own Pokémon. Ash could only laugh as he attempted to greet each and every one of them. They then stood back as Ash took out some more Poké Balls.
"Come on out guys!" he called, launching the balls into the air. Out of them came Torterra, Infernape, Staraptor, Gible and Buizel.
"These guys will be staying here with you, say hello!" Ash explained.
Then, Ash turned around to leave. He assumed Professor Oak was doing some research but he was right behind him.
"Ash! I wasn't expecting you back so soon!" the professor exclaimed.
Ash nodded, "I decided to drop off some Pokémon before I go back home."
"Well it's good to see you again in person," Oak said, "you should head home now. Your mother's been waiting!"
Ash nodded again, then looked around, "hey, where's Tracey?"
"Tracey's out getting a parcel for me. He should be back soon," Oak explained.
Ash then said goodbye and took a short walk back to his house. He stood at the door for a few seconds, then was about to knock but his mom opened the door before he could.
"Welcome home, sweetie!" she announced as if rehearsed.
"Thanks mom!" Ash responded.
Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder to Delia's arms and hugged her.
"And you too, Pikachu!" she laughed, "now Ash please sit down and tell me all about your time in Sinnoh!"
Over an amazing welcome-home meal cooked by Mimey, Delia's , Ash recalled the best parts of his Sinnoh journey to his mother. He explained about the new friends he made in both people and Pokémon; but in the most detail was his efforts in the Lily of the Valley Conference. Then, at the front of Ash's mind was tournaments in general. He quickly remembered the stadium he had seen just off from Pallet Town and ask his mother about it.
"Oh yes. The stadium. You see Ash, in the past month the Indigo Plateau..." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "it was destroyed."
"Destroyed?" Ash echoed.
"In a terrorist attack by Team Rocket," Delia continued to explain, "that didn't stop trainers from wanting to enter though. The Indigo League Council decided the next best thing to do was to build a new stadium immediately and Pallet Town happened to have the most space nearby. It was around this time that Professor Oak and I were actually planning to take you to the Unova region when you returned..."
Excitement seemingly replaced Ash's bloodstream and he instantly stood up, "no way!" he burst out with joy "alright! We get to go on another journey, Pikachu!"
Pikachu didn't look as ecstatic as his trainer did, however. Ash looked back at Delia who shared Pikachu's less than happy look. She began to speak again.
"Ash, you must know that building big structures like this costs money; and that money comes from the people. Since Pallet Town's closest to the location, we've been hit hardest by taxes. We can't afford to go to Unova I'm afraid. Or anywhere."
Ash sat back down, his heart instantly sinking, "so I guess I'm stuck in Kanto."
Later that night, Ash was laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking for any guidance and idea that would help him choose his next step in becoming a Pokémon Master. Pikachu was asleep to the side of Ash, so the trainer quietly crawled out of bed and opened his window, poking his head out to admire the dark blue sky. Ash then looked down to Pallet Town before him. Some streetlights were on, illuminating the empty paths, but the most light came from just further away from the town; from the stadium. Ash squinted towards this light, then closed his window and stepped away. He grabbed a warm jacket and changed into more suitable trousers and brought his backpack in case he needed anything and left his hat on a chair. He crept downstairs as not to wake anyone and grabbed a key from the desk by his front door, quietly opening it and shutting it behind him.
Ash took a deep breath, inhaling the cool night air and exhaling it audibly. He opened his gate which creaked slightly and clanged as he closed it and began to simply walk along the dirt path for a while. All the time he walked he looked down at his feet as they rhythmically trudged on the floor.
"So I can't explore anywhere new..." he mumbled to himself.
He stopped in his tracks and looked up. The Pallet Town stadium was just down a path on his left. Curious, he took this path until it ended, at the entrance of the stadium. It was a huge silver domed building with glass doors twice the size of Ash. Smaller windows were dotted around the sides. Ash approached the door and they opened with a mechanical hiss. He stepped inside and his footsteps echoed in the huge metallic hall which was filled with Pokémon posters on the walls, plants to decorate as well as benches. In the center was a circular desk with many computers facing inwards. This was the registration table for tournaments. It seemed only one computer was open, there was only one Nurse Joy there. She waved for Ash to come to her, so he did.
"Hello! And welcome to the Pallet Town Kanto League Stadium. How can I help you today?" she asked him kindly. From the way she said this it was obvious that it was a line she had to repeat often, almost as if she was acting.
Ash thought for a second, then looked up. There was a circular pillar at the center of the desk with large screens around it. It displayed the new Pokémon League logo, the letters 'PL' written sharply as if they were lightning, being unleashed by an open Poké Ball.
"I'd like some information please," Ash asked, "I just got home from Sinnoh and I wanna know what this is all about."
"Of course!" Nurse Joy replied, "what exactly do you need to know?"
Ash thought for a moment, "this tournament works like all the others right? A competition and the winner gets a chance to battle the elite 4 of the region?"
Nurse Joy nodded, "of course! Nothing has changed in the general idea of the tournament since the new stadium was built."
Ash laughed happily, "then what do I need to enter?"
"All you need is a certified PokéDex and a set of any eight Kanto Gym badges," Joy explained.
Ash grabbed his backpack from his back and swung it onto the table. He opened the bag itself and rummaged through, finding his Sinnoh PokéDex and placing it on the table. He then closed that compartment and opened the front pocket. In there was four flat boxes. Ash brought out the one at the back and wiped off some of the dust.
"I've always kept my badges with me wherever I go," he commented aloud, "good thing I brought my bag, I would've left them at home!"
He put them on top of the PokéDex and brought his bag back onto him after zipping it up. Nurse Joy picked up the badge case and opened it, studied the badges, then closed it and gave it back to Ash.
"Everything check up?" he asked.
"I'm afraid not," Nurse Joy said, shaking her head, "it seems that your badges are outdated; these ones are no longer in circulation."
Ash stood before her, his happy expression turned into one of disappointment, though he managed to keep a straight face.
"But...you can use any eight Kanto badges, right? What's wrong with these ones?" he asked.
"Well...when the stadium was built, around six months ago, the league director made some changes to the rules. A new set of badge designs were distributed to every gym in the region and we can no longer accept any badges assigned to the gyms before this change. No exact reason was given why, but I'm afraid rules are rules. If you want to compete, you'll have to get eight of the newest circulation of badges."
After listening closely to this explanation, Ash seemed to lighten up a small amount.
"Alright. Thanks for telling me this," he said, "when's the next tournament?"
"In one week," Nurse Joy replied.
Ash quickly rallied another question, "how often are they?"
"There's a tournament once a month, halfway through the month. The tournament lasts through 3 rounds over two weeks. The winner then has to wait for the next tournament to end and they will fight the winner from that one. The one who's victorious in that battle will then have a week to take up their Elite Four challenge," Joy explained.
Ash did some quick calculations in his head. He noted that the stadium had been in circulation for six months, but he'd heard no news of a new regional champion, "so there's been three overall winners who have taken the Elite Four challenge?"
Nurse Joy nodded, "one took the challenge and lost the first battle. The other two didn't accept in time."
"Do you have all this information somewhere?" Ash asked.
Nurse Joy fumbled around behind the desk and brought out a small light blue book with the league logo on it, "all the information you need is in this handbook. Please, take it, it's free."
Ash took the handbook and thanked her, then returned his old badge set, PokéDex and the book to his backpack. Thanking Nurse Joy once again for her help, he exited the stadium and headed home.
Having successfully returned to his house without waking anyone up, Ash got into his pajamas again and crept into bed. He didn't notice that he had actually woken up Pikachu by doing so.
"Pika?" the small mouse Pokémon whispered.
"Oh hey buddy," Ash whispered back, "sorry to wake ya."
"Pikachu?"
"I'm fine. I just went for a walk and checked out the stadium."
"Chu?"
"Pikachu, go back to sleep," Ash yawned, "you'll need your energy for tomorrow. I have a new plan."
Pikachu nodded and moved onto Ash's body, curling up on his lap and closing his eyes. Ash smiled and also rested his eyes.
It was now he realised there was hope for his dream yet.
