Thunderstone:

Ash remembered when he had first gotten the Thunderstone, a gift from Nurse Joy in Vermillion City way back when. At that point, it had been a reminder of his failure when it came to training Pikachu. The thought of evolution had been appealing back then, if only because Lt. Surge had been such a jerk. But Pikachu was prideful and refused to change, even for the chance at more power.

It led to one of the most important lessons he had leaned so early on in his various journeys and one he wasn't soon to forget. Power came at a price. After everything was said and done, Ash had tried to return the stone to Nurse Joy. But she had just pushed the stone back into his hand and gave him that ever-present smile of her's.

"Perhaps you don't need it now. But one day, should Pikachu ever decide to evolve, let's leave the option open."

For as much as he didn't want to, he took her words to heart and kept the stone. Carefully he packed the stone into the little orange pouch, making sure to close it up tightly so Pikachu wouldn't accidentally touch it. His partner like to nestle himself into his bag on some occasions and Ash didn't want any surprises. But it wouldn't be long before the bag sunk to the bottom of his backpack and was almost completely forgotten.

Months went by, friends had come and gone and team members had evolved yet Pikachu had never shown any of that desire. It was about two years later, in which Tracey had come to live with Professor Oak, he had won a tournament and had another set of badges and a bunch of new Pokemon to show for travels, that he even acknowledged the Thunderstone again.

It was in the middle of the night and Pikachu was being a pillow hog, as always. His old backpack was worn and repaired, a testament to all the abuse it had taken and so along with new clothes, his mother had provided a new backpack. Dumping his old one out on his floor, Ash had sorted through odds and ends that he didn't even remember having before coming upon the little orange bag. Looking to his furry partner, he just snored on, ignorant of the silent dilemma that his trainer faced. The next morning as Ash and Pikachu prepared to leave for the ferry that would take them to Hoenn, he slipped the orange pouch into the side of his new backpack.

Hoenn was exciting and they had both learned a lot. Moves thought long perfected had gained a new edge and raw power was obvious. The little orange pouch was nothing but a memento now, reminding him of the times before when they weren't so sure of themselves. But then Ash found himself traveling the expanse of Kanto once again and everywhere he looked, he seemed to be seeing double. He saw the trainer he was now, a teenager who had made a decent name for himself (all things considered anyways). And then he saw the trainer he used to be. The ten year old boy who stumbled his way through all the obstacles presented to him with his two closest friends.

But back in Vermillion City, he found himself feeling like that ten year old boy all over again. So he found himself standing in front of the gym, memories floating to the surface and making him second-guess himself. But looking at Pikachu, who stared back in determination, he knew they both needed to do this again. To prove just how far they had come. Walking into the gym for the third time in his life, he held his head high and tried not to think about how Misty and Brock weren't there to support them.

Lt. Surge had surprisingly remembered him, and they exchanged general pleasantries. The Lightning American expressed his surprise at seeing him again and even managed to get in some customary taunts at Pikachu's lack of evolution. But business was business and the battle had been intense. Pikachu had gotten so much stronger, but so had Raichu and the result was electrifying. The new gym trainers had watched in awe as some kid went head to head with their leader. Off to the side, he absently noted that the only one who didn't look surprised was a red haired woman who held a little girl in her arms.

Despite Pikachu being worse for wear after the battle, he had still won. Lt. Surge took his loss with as much grace as he could and hadn't let him leave before promising to come back some day so that he could try and even the score. It was a promise he had eagerly accepted. Afterwards, they had stopped at the Pokemon Center to let Pikachu get checked up and Ash found himself pulling out the little orange pouch and turning it back and forth in his hands. He didn't need this anymore, didn't want to need it anymore. So when he went up to Nurse Joy and was prepared to give it back, he learned that the original Nurse had retired to the pier almost a year ago. This was her little sister.

Clutching the bag in his hands, he decided that it wasn't worth it to track her down, just to make things come full circle. So he thanked the nurse for her help and waited until Pikachu was ready to go and gingerly lifted his furry friend onto his shoulders and left, the stone now a resident of his vest pocket for the time being. When he met back up with his friends, Max and May commented on how worn Pikachu looked and questioned them on what had happened. Brock though was oddly silent and from the frown on his face and the look in his eyes, he knew exactly what his friend had been up to. But Ash had never admitted to it and the subject was eventually forgotten.

A few months later, he found himself home again without May, Max, or Brock. He was home, and gearing up for another adventure already. Gary had imprinted the idea of Sinnoh in his head and Ash had rushed off head first, leaving behind everyone but Pikachu and Aipom. After a small debacle of losing Pikachu, his mother had sent new clothes and another backpack and pretty much everything but outright garbage was dumped into his new bag. The thunderstone was in there somewhere he knew, but hadn't seen it when everything was being dumped.

A bit less than halfway through his gym challenge in Sinnoh, the thunderstone pretty much slapped him in the face. Another trainer had come forward, boldly trying to get Ash to trade his Pikachu. Adament refusal was met by a challenge and Ash found himself regressing into a ten year old boy when that Raichu beat down Pikachu. Brock told him how Pikachu couldn't learn hyper beam without evolving and Dawn asked him if it was true that Pikachu needed a Thunderstone to evolve.

"A Thunderstone…"

The fact that he had even trailed off, Ash thought gloomily, told him all he needed to know about how he was thinking at the moment. As he sat by Pikachu's bedside, he thought about that damned orange pouch he had thought about getting rid of once upon a time. This was what Nurse Joy had meant back then, he knew. He also knew that this was full circle with it as well. He was back at his buddy's bed side, with the question poised in front of them once again.

To evolve or not to evolve. The question they both inevitably struggled with.

So when Pikachu jumped out of bed, ready to track down that Raichu, he knew what he had to do. Rifling through his backpack, he pulled out the orange pouch. He heard Dawn question what he had and let the content spill out into his hands.

"It's a Thunderstone."

From Brock's sharp intake of breath, he knew that his friend knew that this was the Thunderstone. He was also probably surprised that his impulsive companion had kept it after all this time. But for Dawn's sake, he gave her an abridged version of the story. Told her how this had happened before and how the Nurse Joy in Vermillion City had given it to him. When Pikachu collapsed again, it was a unanimous decision to leave him to rest. But he had left the stone on the bedside table next to him.

When he came back later that night, both Pikachu and the Thunderstone were gone and for a moment, a sense of dread filled his stomach. Did Pikachu really decide he wanted to evolve? So they went out searching and doubts continued to prey on his mind. But when he found Pikachu, a part of him was relieved to see his buddy still small and yellow. The window had passed and the choice was denied once again.

But then Team Rocket came and for once, they gave him some much needed perspective. For as bad as they claimed to be, in a strange way, they had always been on his side as well. Not to mention, they had taken the damned thing with them when they left.

So he and Pikachu trained and just like with Lt. Surge, they came out on top with the second battle. They parted from the trainer whose name he couldn't recall off the top of his head, and moved onwards towards other things. But before they left the Pokemon Center, Ash had grabbed the now empty bag and stuffed it in his backpack. Looking at the empty thing was strange, but a part of him was relieved too. There was no decision to struggle with anymore. If Pikachu wanted to evolve one day, they would worry about finding another one then.

Time passed and the thought of evolution was far from his mind once again. Eventually, he found himself home, this time with no concrete destination in mind. When Professor Oak suggested a vacation to the Unova region, he was all for it. A far away region with new Pokemon he had never even dreamed of? No way was he passing that up. So he changed up his clothes again and packed up his backpack. For sentimentalities sake, he even packed the pouch, though he stuffed it into an inner pocket since nothing occupied it yet. He doubted that he would ever put something else in it.

Not even having been there and hour, he encounters what he assumes to be a legendary Pokemon. Offhandedly, he wonders what it is about him that attracts them so often, but the thought is dispelled with worry for Pikachu. Eventually he meets Iris and Cilan and somehow, they all end up travelling together. But Iris seems to be convinced that he's a rookie trainer but Ash has no desire to disrupt her vision. People tend to look at you a bit differently when they know you have teams of Pokemon with years of training waiting in the wings, eager to be called upon.

Somehow, Meowth ends up joining their small group. Years of experience tell him just how devious this Pokemon can be, even if it's not particularly powerful. So despite welcoming him and laughing as he watches Iris try to catch him time and time again, he's still a bit wary. Meowth also watches him, having blasted off too many times to ever trust the "Original Twerp" to any true extent. Cilan watches them both, sees Pikachu's overly hostile reaction to the cat Pokemon, and wonders just what the story between them is. There is too much history simmering beneath their actions for supposedly only knowing each other only a few months. But Meowth doesn't talk, and Ash knows he won't speak of the past either.

When Meowth ends up betraying them, Ash is angry but not particularly surprised. Jessie, James, and Meowth had been a seasoned team long before he had started his journey. They wouldn't just abandon each other, not now. So while Iris loudly complained about him, Axew keening it's name in agreement and Cilan just nodding his head and looking troubled, he and Pikachu took it in stride for the most part. But that doesn't stop Pikachu from sparking in anger every time he's mentioned over the next couple of weeks though.

They had set up camp for the night and he decided to surprise Pikachu with a treat for all the basic training he had kept up with the last few days. Ketchup was still something Pikachu loved and Ash made sure to keep a couple packets with him. So when the orange pouch slips into sight, obviously occupied for the first time in months, he stops rummaging through the bag and all thoughts of ketchup leave his mind. Looking up, he notices Cilan and Iris and all the Pokemon otherwise occupied, so he reaches a shaky hand for the pouch. Feeling the contours, he has a sinking feeling he knows what it contains. Opening it and dumping the contents into his hand, he seems to gleaming surface of a Thunderstone. But that's not all that falls out. A small strip of paper falls with it, a few messy words scrawled across it almost illegibly.

Bout time I returned this.

He wants to laugh and cry at the same time. The only ones in Unova who had known about what the pouch had been used for were Team Rocket. So at some point before he left Meowth had, for reasons unknown, seen fit to give it back. Stuffing the stone back in the pouch, he debated for a moment, before slipping the message in as well.

The next morning as they pack up came, he is easily distracted. Pikachu licks his face as if to ask what's wrong, but Ash just scratches him behind the ears telling him everything is all right. Eventually, Iris gets fed up and asks him what's on his mind. He thinks for a moment, before deciding to answer honestly.

"Evolution. I'm thinking about evolution."

She just looks at him, groans, and mutters something about him being a kid. For once Ash says nothing, just thinking that no, he's not the kid. She's the kid here, the one who doesn't understand. But he doesn't say it, doesn't want to have to explain. Looking up he sees Cilan staring at him contemplatively. He was a Gym Leader after all. He could see that there was more than one meaning to what to most would be a simple statement. But he doesn't explain to him either. Cilan didn't know the root of the thought, wasn't there to experience. For all his advice and craziness and great cooking, for all that he is a good friend…he is not Brock. For as much as he tried, when it really counted, he just didn't get him. So he stayed quiet.

He stayed quiet and thought of gym battles and losses and home. He thought of the Thunderstone and the lessons it has inevitably taught him that have made him grow. He thinks about how he hated the evolutionary item and how it will bear the brunt of his hatred again. He thinks about the choice that has inevitably been thrust upon his shoulders. Looking to Pikachu, he promises himself that they will knock the dust off of Volt Tackle and let Meowth feel the full brunt of it for putting this back on his shoulders.

But despite being angry, Ash is also grateful. For as small and insignificant as it is to most people, the stone forced him to grow in ways nature never intended for it to do. So he might reconsider that Volt Tackle. Maybe.

Word Count: 2,650

Holy snickerdoodles Batman, that's a lot of words. Especially for something that started as a 300 word drabble.

Anyways, I thought it would be better if I described the thought process that went into this one.

The Thunderstone has always been an interesting plot device that didn't receive nearly enough consideration in my opinion. But I just watched an episode in Sinnoh where it made a reappearance. Along with the dilemma on whether Pikachu should evolve or not, and it made me think on how it made Ash grow. Because by picking up that Thunderstone, there were a few choices for him. Evolve Pikachu, or not evolve Pikachu? Then there was force Pikachu to evolve, with or without it's consent. Then the issue of if he does evolve Pikachu, will it go through a personality change? Is power really worth it? The fact that it was revisited years later, tells me that while Ash has done a lot of growing over the seasons, he still wrestles with decisions that define the type of trainer he is.

Tell me what you think, and what can be improved!