Ash Ketchum's Return

By: DJ Rodriguez

(Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews, especially you Mario. Your review has convinced me to continue on this little one-shot, if only for a while.

Darien: This chapter here shows on how Pikachu evolved, and also on how Joy and Jenny cemented both their goals and feelings towards Ash. In addition, DJ has named at least two parts of the Lonolo region after two of his greatest friends.

DJ: We hope you like it! Now, on with the fic!)


It was about 10:30 p.m., three lone figures walking towards the Pokemon League's lobby PokeCenter. It was none other then Ash and his two girlfriends, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. At Ash's side was Raichu, his forever-loyal friend and companion. They were walking away from the stadium inside the building, victorious against their tag-team battle. Jenny and Ash had defeated Paul and Dawn, their Pokemon and technique tactics just overwhelming them.

Joy looked at Ash's small grin and giggled. She inquired "I bet you feel a bit better in finally defeating Paul in a battle, right Ashy?" The young man simply smiled a bit wider and thought back on the victory just a little over fifteen minutes ago.

~Flashback~

Ash and Jenny were standing victoriously, their trusted Pokemon by their side. On the other side, however, it was a different matter. Dawn was saddened greatly that her Lopunny lost, but Paul he was livid! His Absol, an almost Legendary Pokemon whom he had caught and train to defeat all who stood before it, was defeated by Ash's Pokemon! Granted it was indeed a true Legendary Pokemon, but one that sided with Ash nevertheless.

Joy went to Ash, hugging him tight before kissing him lightly on the lips. "Ashy, you and Jenny were amazing! You two were really in sync with your Pokemon this time!" she commented. Raichu also went to congratulate his friend, commenting in his own language on how he was proud of Ash. Both Jenny and Ash took the comments in stride, giving their Pokemon much more credit of course. The two Pokemon bowed slightly to their Trainers, a sign of respect.

The two called their Pokemon back to their respective balls, and the group were about to go to the League's PokeCenter when Paul shouted out "Don't think this changes anything!" The five turned to see Paul, very angry.

"Ash, don't you dare think that this changes anything! You may have beaten me in this match, but dont let it go to your head! I've won many times against you, and this defeat doesn't change a thing! I'm still leagues ahead of you, a better Trainer then youll ever be!" he declared angrily. Paul had not been defeated in battle for a long while, so it was difficult for him to cope with the fact that he was defeated by someone he had badly beaten many times years ago.

Ash simply smirked and replied "Think what you want, Paul. It doesnt matter to me. What matters to me is on how my Pokemon see me... how my friends see me... and more importantly, on how I see myself. It was a good battle though, that much I will say." Without saying another word, he and his group left the arena with heads held high.

~End flashback~

Joy and Jenny could not be any prouder of their shared lover, seeing the crowds reaction when he both won the match, and made his declaration, was priceless and well worth it. They saw a different Ash then before, one that is mature and strong. 'A man rather then a boy.' they thought. They soon reached the Pokemon Center, and the three humans asked the Nurse Joy there to heal his Pokemon minus Raichu. Once they were secured in and healing in the machine, the four went to find seats and relax until their Pokemon were healed.

"Ash...?" a soft voice called from behind said young man. The four turned to see that the voice belonged to none other then Dawn, and she was not alone. With her was Misty, May, Anabel, and Angie. The young man was surprised and curious on why they were here, while Joy and Jenny were suspicious and wary.

"Hey girls. How you all doing? What brings you here?" Ash asked them. The five young ladies went to the group and sat down at the rather large table that they were occupying. The atmosphere was tense, and even Ash could sense it.

"Ash... you've changed. Not only in battling style and skill, but physically and mentally. I mean..." Anabel started to say, but paused because she was still a bit nervous around her former crush.

Angie finished "What she means is that we hardly recognize you! Heck, you look totally different the last time we saw you!" The five nodded their heads, still taking in Ash's changed form. In their eyes, he had changed too much. From a kid who looked to be innocent and carefree, now was a mature teenager who looked fearless and strong.

"We have a lot of questions to ask you. The first being on what happened to Pikachu." Misty stated. The girls knew about on how Pikachu, in the past, was fiercely against evolving into a Raichu.

Ash sighed and slightly laid back against the chair he was in, Joy and Jenny scooting over to be on either side of him. He was lost in thought for a moment, trying to find the right words on how to explain on what happened that forced Pikachu into evolving. "Girls, let make me this perfectly clear. I did always like having Pikachu stay the same, not evolving. However..." he started to say when he closed his eyes for a moment. He finished, "I learned that sometimes, you must do what you must in order to protect and save those you hold dear."

It was after that Ash started to tell his story:


~Flashback- One Year and 4 months ago~

Ash and his crew were standing atop a hill, looking down at a place called Alvarado City, a place in Lonolo that held both a Gym and also something special. The city was located near Formula Ocean, and held unique races. Pokemon and Trainer together would compete in a competition called the F-1 Pokemon Grand Prix, the human being the driver and the Pokemon the navigator and also specialist who would help out with their techniques and such.

"Wow this place is great! It looks like we could get some serious training here!" Ash exclaimed as he scanned the town. The Trainer from Pallet Town had changed. Due to Lonolo's region and also strong Trainers plus Pokemon, he had to completely change his training regiment. He was now lean like an athlete, but hiding some impressive muscle power underneath. He and the Pokemon he caught had also done training that made them more formidable then any of their kind.

"I know what you mean, Ashy. This place looks lively and dangerous at the same time, my kind of combination!" Jenny commented. She and Joy had undergone some training of their own, both mentally and physically like their beau. They had grown more beautiful and womanly, but they were on a whole different level when compared to the other Joys and Jenny's in the other regions.

"Come on, Ashy. Lets go see this Gym Leader, Mario Pienkoss. He's supposed to be the fourth Gym Leader, and a master of Dark-type Pokemon." Joy said. Pikachu also expressed his excitement in fighting in Gym Leader. The trainer from Pallet Town nodded and was making his way down to the city when a huge explosion occurred!

"What was that?!" Joy exclaimed. Jenny and Ash quickly scanned the area and saw smoke coming out from Pienkoss Port, an area near the water that acted as both a shipping of goods and Pokemon to various places in the Lonolo region. Yells and shouts could be heard from the citizens of the city, and another explosion sounded off. A huge cloud of smoke and fire erupted again from the port.

"Come on, we got to go see what's up!" Ash declared as he high-tailed towards the port. Joy and Jenny followed, Pikachu dashing by Ash's side. Once they arrived at the city entrance, they noticed that the citizens were being evacuated and officers of all sort were heading towards the port area. Seeing that many police officers in the neighborhood told Ash that this was to be dangerous. However, his hero side was saying that talking to the police would only slow him and the girls down.

"Come on, I think we can get past the officers by going around them!" Ash stated before dashing off. Jenny wanted to tell Ash to try and work with the police, since she too was an officer of the law, but the young man was now a bit a ways from hearing her. Sighing, she and Joy took off after him. The three humans and Pokemon had to run quite a ways around the officers to get to the port without being seen, but they managed to do so. When they were in, they started to look around the area where the explosion had occurred.

"Find anything?" Ash called out as he and the girls searched a warehouse. It was burnt badly and had a hole on top, but it would seem that something put out the fire that had caused it. Joy was about to yell a negative when she saw something peculiar. Brushing away some soot and dust, she found on the side of the warehouse a secret switch. But what caught her attention was that above the switch... was the insignia of Team Millennia. It was the face of a clock, but it had no hands and instead had a large eye symbol in the middle. (Think of the Eye of Horus from the Yu-Gi-Oh series, the ones on the Millennium Items)

"A-Ash! Jenny! Pikachu! Over here!" Joy called out. Once the three arrived at her location, they gasped upon seeing the insignia. The organization known as Team Millennia was a group that they had run into only three times but each time... was very close and very near death. Ash, Joy, Jenny, and Pikachu learned first-hand that this organization was very ruthless and formidable. They utilized Psychic, Fighting, Poison, and Steel-type Pokemon. Their grunts were on the level of at least Galactic Lieutenants, and that was saying something.

The first time that they met the Team, it was back in Racer Town, a small but strong community where Lonolo region beginner Trainers start on their journey. They had come to steal three specific Pokemon from Professor Sarah Marcano, the foremost authority on Pokemon in the region. Ash and his crew tried to help, but were merely swatted aside like ants by one of the Grunts formidable Drapion. To make matters worse, Team Rocket had entered the scene. However... the Captain's Pokemon, a Nidoking, just started to pummel them close to death. The Captain and his Pokemon just toyed with Team Rocket, torturing them and just making them suffer in such agony that it would make any veteran fighter sick to their stomach. Worst part was they showed no remorse and actually enjoyed it when they heard the sheer screams of pain and suffering from their victims Jessie, James, and Meowth.

But, Ash and his friends managed to drive the two Grunts and Captain off with the help of Sarah and some Trainers. Team Rocket was hauled off to a police hospital where they recovered, but left the region for good. In their minds, this team was just too powerful and did not want to risk their lives again.

"Something must be big here if that team is involved!" Ash stated. Joy pushed the button, and a trap door opened on the ground in front of the warehouse. Wasting no time, Ash jumped in followed by Pikachu. Jenny followed, Joy being last. The four fell down into darkness, quickly landing on some concrete. Pikachu used its electric sparks from its cheeks to light up the room for a bit, enough for Ash to find a light switch. Flipping it on, the four soon saw that they were in a long hallway.

Another explosion rocked the place, Jenny and Joy holding onto Ash for safety. "What was that?!" Joy screamed over the explosion. Ash looked down the hallway to see a large steel double-door. Gently prying his two friends off, he ran towards it with his loyal Pokemon on his heels. The girls followed close, their hearts just beating fast on the verge of exploding. When Ash arrived at the door, he opened it with the help of Jenny and Joy. What they saw shocked them to no end.

Before them was a large water base, submarines stationed at various points and four large buildings that were around a wide water area. In the water were six large Wailords, and all looked to be in terrible pain. They all had various wires injected into their bodies, and they seemed to be very weak and frail despite their size. Last but not least, it would seem that some commotion was going on in one of the buildings near the Wailords. "Let's go check it out!" Ash said, running to where the action was at. Pikachu and the girls followed, but... something in the air told them that this was going to be bad very bad.

Arriving on ground level, they found a lone man with a Tyranitar holding at bay three Houndooms. He was around his mid-20s, black hair with blonde highlight streaks, around 6'5, and wearing some casual clothing. "Hey, mister!" Joy yelled out. The man turned to face them, and the group saw that his face was serious. Black eyes that were hardened like a warriors, his mouth straight and not showing emotion. However, once he saw them, his face turned to show the emotion of curiosity.

"What are you three doing here? You don't look like you're with Millennia." he commented. The Houndooms sensed his distraction and attacked, but the man made a motion with his hand. His Tyranitar glowed with white light, and small boulders materialized around it. The rocks encircled its body, like electrons move around an atom, for a few seconds before bursting forth like they had been shot out of cannons! The rocks smashed into the leaping Houndooms, sending them into their Trainers, who were low-level Grunts, and the force sent the lot of them into a section of the building hard.

"Whoa..." Jenny commented. She had rarely seen anyone command a Pokemon to do something without verbally giving it out, much less anyone doing so while being distracted. Once the Grunts were down and out, the young man walked towards the four. He asked again in a neutral tone, and Ash answered that they came down to see what was going on.

"Well, I would have to say that you arrived in time... I hope. My name is Mario Pienkoss, and I'm here to stop Team Millennia's plans. I learned from one of my sources that they had an underwater base here, which is where we are in right now. They are experimenting with Pokemon here, draining and collecting their life force." Mario explained to them. Now that got their attention good. All things on this planet had a life force, a universal energy that inhabited all living things. Human, plants, animals, Pokemon all had this force, and to drain it meant...

"Why are they even collecting their life force for?" Joy inquired. Mario shook his head and said that he had no idea, but he was going to put a stop to it. Apparently, Team Millennia had been experimenting with certain Pokemon, trying to elevate their life force to its peak before draining it. Ash was mad now!

"What can we do to help?!" he stated. Mario answered that while he distracted the main Millennia force, it would give the others a chance to free the Wailords and send them on their way. Mario also stated that he would destroy the base, believing that it was for the best. As soon as he finished saying those words, the base was now swarming with low to mid-level Grunts.

"GO, NOW!!!" Mario exclaimed before releasing another Pokemon, this time it was a Shiftry. Turning to face his foes with his two Pokemon, the Gym Leader rushed into battle. Ash and his girls plus Pikachu went another way, going to where the Wailords were at.

Dodging and hiding from the enemy was not easy, but they did manage to get into one of the buildings that was very close to the Wailords. Going in, they started to go up various levels until they reached the 12th floor. Inside were all sorts of machines and such, with a huge crystal-clear chamber that held a light-blue energy blob of some sort. However... they also found a Millennia General there, one Mai Swift. Grunts and Lieutenants were tough, but a General well, they were on a whole different level. It would appear that this one was waiting for them, a Gallade and Arbok by her side.

"Well, well, well. So, you three are attempting to stop our project? Now this, I have to see." Mai commented as she simply waited for the others to attack. Ash commanded for Pikachu to destroy the laboratory with a Thunderbolt, but when the small mouse was charging up, Mai simply flicked her wrist and the Gallade charged in with incredible speed! Pikachu was caught off guard when his opponent suddenly materalized in front of him, and was sent back to Ash via a powerful Slash attack.

Mai simply chuckled and stated "You young ones think you actually have a chance in beating me? Now that is some sick humor." She soon ordered her Gallade and Arbok to attack the teens, but Joy and Jenny took out their Pokemon as well. Joy summoned forth a Torkoal she recently caught, and Jenny summoned forth a Venomoth that she took caught recently. The lot dodged the enemies attacks, but were on the run now. Exiting the laboratory, they started to run down the stairs with the Gallade and Arbok on their heels.

"We got to go back and destroy those machines! That might help the Wailords!" Ash exclaimed. Joy answered that they would, but first they had to deal with the current problem. Upon arriving on the 9th floor however... they were surrounded by a whole squadron of mid-level Grunts! The doors they just entered in closed, and the Grunts released their Pokemon. Gallade and Arbok entered via the Psychic/Fighting Pokemon's Teleport technique, going in front of the Grunts.

"Joy... Jenny... Pikachu... RUN!!!" Ash shouted out, and very quickly they all did. The Grunts and Mais Pokemon gave chase, the 9th floor more or less like a labyrinth of corridors and hallways. Even with their Pokemon, the hero and heroines were no match against such a force. They started to dodge and run from the force, which was hot on their heels. After thirty minutes of running and weaving through many passages, the group found themselves in a dead end.

"No!!" Joy and Jenny cried out, Ash really having a frustrated look on his face. They heard evil chuckling behind them, and turned to see that their path was blocked by the Grunts, Gallade, and Arbok.

"There is no where else left to go, whelps. Now, its time we took care of you." one of the more arrogant Grunts commented. Ash was trying to think of what to do, and when he saw the frightened looks on both Joy and Jennys faces... he knew what he must do, even if it was going to be his last. He stood in front of his female friends and Pikachu, arms stretched out and looking to be like a human shield.

"You'll have to get by me first to get to my friends!" Ash shouted out. Normally, he would use his Pokemon for assistance. But, all he had was a Combusken and a Kirlia, both of which were exhausted like Pikachu due to various battles before coming to Alvarado City. Now he was laying his life on the line to protect his friends by using his own body as a shield.

"Ash, no!!" Joy and Jenny called out, Pikachu too in his own language. The Grunts merely laughed at this display of bravado, and ordered the Gallade to attack. The Psychic/Fighting Pokemon nodded, its sword-like elbows glowing with dark-purple psychic energy. It then swung its elbows at Ash, sending out fast and vicious Psycho Cuts at him! The large blades of energy tore into Ash's body, eliciting a scream of pain that burst forth from the young man. Arbok started to fling globs of Acid at the humans, but Ash's body moved to block the green liquid. The acid started to burn on his skin and clothes, causing the Trainer to elicit more screams.

"ASH!!!" Jenny and Joy yelled out. Their Pokemon were out of commission, leaving only Pikachu to help but he was worn out as well. But, that did not stop the brave Pokemon from trying to help. Pikachu unleashed a strong Thunderbolt towards his enemies, but one of the Grunts Kadabra's put in place a Light Screen that blocked the attack as if it was nothing. The Gallade continued the Psycho Cut attack on Ash, while Arbok used Mud Bombs on Pikachu to deliver some serious damage. Pikachu was smashed into a wall, and with the combination of leftover acid that was around said wall, it broke apart a little.

A small clink sounded out, and Joy saw that from the crack that was created by Pikachu was a stone... a Thunder Stone!! "Jenny, look! A Thunder Stone!" she exclaimed. Jenny looked down as did Pikachu, and slowly picked up the green rock. She looked at the stone, then at Pikachu, then a realization hit her. She exclaimed to Pikachu that if they used the stone on him, he would evolve into Raichu and be able to help out Ash more.

However, Pikachu shook his head vehemently and took off to try something else to help Ash. "I almost forgot! Pikachu doesn't want to evolve, preferring to stay the way it is." Joy said. Jenny remarked that if he didnt evolve, that Ash would die. Pikachu ran towards the Grunts and Pokemon, charging up for a Volt Tackle. However, Kadabra stopped him in his tracks with a powerful Psychic attack, and Arbok sent Pikachu back to the girls with a powerful Gunk Shot attack.

Pikachu slid down against the wall, landing in front of the girls and looking worse for wear. Jenny put the Thunder Stone down in front of Pikachu and said "Pikachu, you just have to evolve! If you don't, Ash will die! We cant let that happen!" Pikachu looked at the stone, then at Ash who was in immense pain. His Trainer was still standing, but in pain from the raining Psycho Cuts on his body. He looked at the stone again, gritting his teeth and just refusing to evolve because he did not want to change.

"GIRLS, JUST TAKE PIKACHU AND RUN!!! I DONT WANT EITHER OF YOU DIE, SO JUST SMASH THAT CRACK OPEN WITH SOMETHING AND GET OUT OF HERE!!! ILL PROTECT YOU ALL UNTIL THE VERY END!!!!" Ash exclaimed, slowly going down on one knee. Joy and Jenny felt something stirring now within their pounding hearts, a feeling that would soon cement into something more profound. Pikachu was in a quandary; wanting to help Ash, but he was too weak in his current condition. But he didn't want to evolve because he liked the way he was.

However... one must make a decision, even if it meant sacrificing something dear. Pikachu swallowed, gathered up his courage, and grabbed the stone. The green gem glowed with yellow energy, and Pikachu let out a loud yell before being enveloped in white light. "Ash!! Pikachu is evolving!" Jenny cried out joyfully. Ash turned to see that his Pokemon... his loyal and trustworthy friend... was indeed evolving. He had seen Pikachu sacrifice himself to change to go against his vow of not evolving to help him.

The glow was intense and bright, and all had to stop and shield their eyes. The intense brightness slowly wore away, and all saw a powerful and determined Raichu standing now in front of Ash. "Pikachu..." Ash whispered before succumbing to his injuries and fatigue, slumping to the ground. Joy and Jenny quickly went to his side to help, while a pissed-off Raichu started to go to work.

Raichu let out a massive Thunderbolt that broke straight through the Light Screen and fried both Gallade and Arbok good! "What the-?! I never seen a Raichu that had that much power!!" one of the Grunts exclaimed in surprise. Raichu was not finished and executed a flawless Volt Tackle, sending the Grunts and their Pokemon flying through various walls and ultimately out of the building! Angry and still full of energy, Raichu then performed a massive Thunder attack that coursed through the entire building! The sheer power alone was enough to overload the instruments on every floor, causing them to malfunction before exploding.

Joy and Jenny picked Ash up and yelled "Come on, we got to get out of here!" True enough, the sheer power of Thunder had weakened the structure of the building greatly and everything was about to come down. Raichu turned to them and nodded, leading the way while the humans helped out his friend. They had some assistance from Mario when he entered the scene, having already gotten rid of most of the Millennia force. He helped them all escape, and just in time before the building collapsed. The destruction of the building had freed the Wailord from the instruments, and the large Water-types had regained enough of their strength to make it out of the base.

"Come on, we still need to go. I planted some charges that will blow this facility to bits, and the aftershock will probably cause a cave-in that will bury this place as well." Mario stated. The four humans and Pokemon quickly vacated the premises.

~End flashback~


Ash had finished telling his story with a sigh, and all of the girls at the table just had their hands to their mouths, just shocked and stunned by the news. "I was placed in a hospital for at least three months due to the damage from Gallade and Arbok, Joy and Jenny taking care of me. They told me about what happened, that the facility was indeed destroyed after we left and that the Wailord were free and healthy again. And Raichu... well, we had our own conversation to say the least." Ash finished up.

Raichu went to tell the others on what happened, with Anabel playing translator, "Raichu said that he was sad and angry at first that he had give up being a Pikachu, but... he learned that sometimes, you have to make sacrifices to protect the people you love. Ash showed that when he protected him and the girls from Millennia." The large mouse Pokemon nodded before going to Ash's side.

Ash stood up, stretching a bit to get some kinks out. He turned to the shock-stricken girls, breathed out a sigh and lifted up his shirt. He showed to them that he indeed had a well-toned body... but his real aim was to show them the scars he carried. The girls gasped when they saw his front torso was littered with many scars, some minor while some seemed to be serious and deep. The large crescent-shaped ones were the Psycho Cuts that Gallade inflicted, while small ugly ones were the ones that were touched by Arboks Acid.

He pulled his shirt down and said simply "I got these scars while protecting my girlfriends and Pokemon, both from Millennia and from strong wild Pokemon. I learned to protect the ones I love at all cost, even if my body pays the price." He turned to leave for the night, going to find a room to sleep in. Joy and Jenny followed, Raichu included. They left the girls to ponder many things, a great deal of things, and all of it revolved around Ash

(Author's Notes: I hope you all liked it! Best I could do on such short notice. I used the names of my best friends in this one, friends scattered all over the world. I apologize to them if they see this and are mad that I used them without asking their permission first.

Darien: If any of you wish to continue on this, go and e-mail either Mario the World Champion or APienkoss for any details. Towns, cities, Gym Leaders, locations, everything you want to use in the story, go and ask them for advice and such.

R&R, no flames, enjoy, and leave long reviews!)