Chapter 4

From Kurt's house they headed back to the pokemon centre, where they found the girls. "How did you guys do?" Misty inquired.

"Not too badly" Ash responded.

"Well has Kurt got any theories on the GS ball?"

"Yeah you could say that. Whether or not Clement and I agree with them is another matter." All the girls were now giving them curious glances, but going on the irritated expression on Ash's face, they soon realised it was unwise to pursue the matter further.

"Hey guess what you guys" May prompted.

"What?" Ash responded, somewhat obnoxiously.

"I was just speaking with Max…" she started giggling with excitement, Ash wished she would just spit it out. "Max just got his eighth badge, that means he can now enter the Hoenn league, isn't that great?"

"Now that actually is good news May, send Max my congratulations. God knows I need some good news today."

"I also send Max my heartfelt congratulations" Clement added.

"So what time are we meeting Brock?" Misty asked.

"Any time" Ash answered. I guess we should probably head over there when everyone's ready."

"Well it looks like everyone's ready to me" Misty replied. The others all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Great!" Ash said enthusiastically, "let's go and see our old friend, this is his day after all."

Not a minute later, they had all exited the pokemon centre and begun the relatively short walk to their old friend's new home. Ash hoped the visit would be better than the one he had paid to Kurt earlier that day, especially given that he planned to ask Brock for a pokemon battle, not to mention the party that was to come that night. With these thoughts in mind, Ash began to walk more briskly, brimming with excitement.

Around fifteen minutes later, they reached the address, which sat near the top of a hilly road near the Western edge of town, someway south of Kurt's residence. It was a two story villa, with Cyprus trees planted in the front garden and an adjoining driveway. They walked to the door, which lay on a front porch, and Ash rang the bell. Moments later, there was an answer: it was a pretty young woman, perhaps slightly younger than Brock. She had an oval but slightly chubby face, with dark brown hair and bright green eyes. "Let me guess, you're Brock's friends?"

"That's right" Serena responded. "Is he home?"

"Yes he is, hang on one moment." Moments later, they heard someone coming down the stairs and approaching them: it was Brock. "Ash!" And Misty too! You've finally joined me here in Johto; I was beginning to wonder if the day would ever come."

"Of course it was going to arrive Brock" Ash answered. "We're your best friends" he had a tear in his eyes, as he began to hug his old friend. Misty soon joined them.

After they introduced the rest of the gang, Brock introduced the girl who had answered the door. "Guys, I would like to introduce Sara, my girlfriend."

"So you finally did it Brock, well done." Ash congratulated him.

"Right back at you buddy" he replied with a big grin.

"Now there is something I must ask you Brock: Are we going to have a pokemon battle or what?"

"You bet Ash, join me in the backyard."

"Are the rest of us invited Brock?" Sara inquired.

"Naturally. I thought that went without saying. When it comes to pokemon battles, everybody's welcome to spectate."

They gathered in the large backyard, which was planted with oak trees and bushes around the edges. Beyond the back fence, the hills beyond Azalea town could be seen. Clement decided to officiate the battle: "These are the battle rules: It will be a three-on-three battle. Both trainers are allowed to substitute pokemon. And once all three of one trainer's pokemon are unable to battle, the match is over. Now let's begin."

Ash had decided on his three pokemon: Pikachu, Charizard and Hawlucha, but he had no idea which pokemon Brock would select. Would he use old ones or new, or would he opt for a mix of old and new like Ash himself was? Ash decided to start with his trusty Pikachu. Ash was worried brock might use a steel type, like his steelix, but instead his first choice was a somewhat surprising one: "Crogunk, I choose you. I thought it would be good to start off with neither pokemon at an advantage."

"Whatever you say Brock." Ash said cheerfully. "But remember that my Pikachu is a very high quality pokemon."

"I wouldn't underestimate Crogunk. I hasten to add, it's been a long time since you've seen him battle."

Finally, the battle was underway. "Pikachu, quick attack" It landed, but Crogunk was back up on its feet quickly.

"Crogunk: poison sting" it landed too, Ash though Pikachu would have been quick enough on its feet to avoid that attack, but it appeared the time away from battling had taken a toll, but Ash wasn't going to take it lying down: "Pikachu, electroball" Pikachu had not yet learnt electroball when he and Brock finished travelling together in the Sinnoh region, and he couldn't resist showing off, "Give it all you've got Pikachu!" Crogunk was able to dodge in time, "Again Pikachu electroball!" This one went terribly wayward, smashing a window.

"Hey, this stuff costs money you know" Sara shouted.

"Oh who cares" Ash retorted, "we've all got heaps of money between us, and if need be I'll pay for it with the money on my card. Pikachu, thunderbolt", "Pika-Chu!" Pikachu used all its strength, and his thunderbolt this time struck Crogunk, but it was clear the thunderbolt lacked some of its usual punch. It was simply too much for Pikachu on top of the two electroballs: he was running short on energy and electricity. Crogunk made a swift recovery as Brock called the next move: "Crogunk: Mudball" Pikachu was too weak to evade and the ball of sludge hit him right on the chest, he was now further weakened. He managed to stagger to his feet but by that stage it was too late: "Crogunk: poison touch" Brock's pokemon learnt in with its hand and stung the already staggering Pikachu.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, the winner is Crogunk."

Ash could not believe Pikachu had lost to a Crogunk fighting with such basic moves; something was seriously wrong. "Ash" it was Brock: "Clearly Pikachu is not in battle-ready condition, and it would seem you're not either."

"What are you talking about?" Ash retorted.

"Your battle strategy was overly erratic. We both know you're smarter than that. Come on Ash, seriously!" Ash was feeling humiliated, but he had to regain his composure.

"Ok, Hawlucha, I choose you! "Ok, let's not mess around, this time I've got the type advantage: Hawlucha, wing attack" Ash's second pokemon swooped down fast and caught Crogunk. Knowing Crogunk was already weakened from the last battle, Ash seized his opportunity, "Hawlucha, high jump ki…" he was suddenly interrupted, "Crogunk, return" Brock had called him back.

"What! I was so close!" Ash whined.

"I know, that's why I called him back. I'm not giving you any easy victories Ash, if you want to be a great trainer again, you can't take shortcuts." Those words still stung Ash, why was he still a pokemon trainer? "I should be a pokemon master!" he screamed internally, but Brock could sense his friend's angst. "We both know Ash that you didn't just come here to reminisce about old times: I know you want to get back on the horse and become a pokemon master. That's why I can't just give you a friendly little battle. I'm using a strategy which gives you a chance to show what you've got, but which also challenges you. Now, would you like to calm yourself and continue?"

"Yes I would Brock, let's continue." Brock now brought out his Sudowoodo. Things were now set up perfectly: Sudowoodo was a rock type, and Hawlucha a flying and fighting type. Rock types are strong against flying types, but weak against fighting types.

"Hawlucha, karate chop" the move appeared powerful against Sudowoodo, as Ash had expected, but it was not enough to knock out the freshly drawn pokemon, and after a few seconds, Sudowoodo got back on its feet, "Sudowoodo, slam."

"Hawlucha, dodge", Hawlucha was able to fly away in time. Sudowoodo continued to have trouble getting to the birdlike pokmeon. "Hawlucha, aerial ace" Ash hoped it would do just enough damage to finish its opponent off. It hit, and Sudowoodo was knocked to the ground with significant force, but once again managed to find its feet, "Sudowoodo, flail" because of Sudomoodo's weakened condition, the move had more affect, and Hawlucha was hit with multiple blows. Ash tried another fighting type move in an attempt to finish his opponent off: "Hawlucha, High jump kick."

"Sudowoodo, block" Brock said it almost instantly, as if he was waiting for Ash to make that move. The block was effective. "Sudowoodo, rock slide" Ash called for him to dodge, but Hawlucha was largely unable to avoid the barrage of rocks which came his way. Hawlucha began to climb to his feet, staggering, Ash was unsure of what move to make next.

"Sudowoodo, rock throw" the small rock hit, but that was enough to send Hawlucha back to the turf and render him too weak to continue: "Hawlucha is unable to battle, Sudowoodo wins" Clement announced. Ash felt like he had let that one get away from him.

Ash then brought out his final pokemon: "Charizard, I choose you." Brock elected to keep Sudowoodo in the battle, for the time being at least. Once again, Brock let Ash make the first move, "Charizard, Dragon rage." The shock wave was a direct hit, Sudowoodo was now greatly weakened, but once again, he was able to get to his feet. Ash reasoned its energy level must be very low.

"Sudowoodo, Flail."

"Charizard, Dodge and use dragon claw" Charizard flew out of the way of Sudowoodo's erratic attacks, and slashed its opponent with a sharp claw to the lower body region. This time, Sudowoodo was not getting back up. "Sudowoodo is unable to battle, the winner is Charizard."

"Alright!" Ash cried. His passion and confidence were finally beginning to return.

"Don't worry" Brock conforted Sudowoodo, you did a great job, have a rest and we'll check you out in a little while okay." His pokemon wearily nodded its head in agreement, as Brock drew it back into its pokeball and brought out his final pokemon: "Geodude, I choose you." Ash began to hear that familiar deep voice, "Geodude-Geodude-Geodude."

"Finally" Ash exclaimed, we have a really good match on our hands."

"It's good to see you so enthusiastic; I was beginning to fear you had lost your love of battling. I guess not, at least not completely." Ash was surprised at Brock's comments: he felt he had fully regained his passion. Brock was now staring intently at his old friend, and it caught him off guard: "Geodude, rock blast" a series of rocks were now thrust in Charizard's direction, it was too late for Ash to tell him to dodge, and his pokemon copped the full brunt of the impact, taking multiple rocks to the chest, and others to the legs and lower body: they were all on target, Brock had trained his pokemon well, not surprisingly. Despite that early blow, Charizard still had a large amount of life left, and Ash decided to take advantage of that while he still could: "Charizard, flamethrower" It was a hit, but given the weakness of fire type moves against rock type moves, it was not enough to finish off geodude altogether, and Geodude soon recovered, after Brock checked he was ok to continue battling. Ash knew he needed at least one more powerful move to end the battle, and once he confirmed Geodude was ready to battle again, he wasted no time: "Charizard, skydrop"

"Geodude, dodge in now!" Brock shouted in desperation. He was able to get out of the way just in time, but Brock knew geodude was on track to be defeated at this rate, which meant he would have to put an already weakened Crogunk back into the battle against a fired-up Charizard. He did not fancy that prospect, so he had to think on his feet: "Geodude, bulldoze" the ground began to shake and rocks and dirt came flying out of the ground.

"Fly away Charizard" Ash commanded, but it took a couple of hits before it was able to get away and its speed had been compromised. "Charizard, seismic toss",

"Geodude, Earthquake." Ash and Brock gave their moves almost in unison. Geodude used its earthquake move and it knocked Charizard off balance before he was able to fly to a safe height. Brock reacted quickly to the situation. "Geodude, smack down, now!" Geodude hopped about frantically, towards Charizard who was now only 8-10 feet in the air, almost within striking range for Geodude.

"Fly away!" Ash shouted, but his speed and reaction times had been weakened and Geodude struck with a stone before he was able to get away. Charizard hit the ground with a big thud. After a few seconds, Ash realised Charizard was not getting back up…"Charizard is unable to battle, the winner is Geodude. That means the victory goes to Brock." Everyone gave their applause, including Ash, somewhat belatedly. He hated losing battles, especially ones where his pokemon were in winning positions. None the less, he went to congratulate his opponent.

"Congratulations Brock, there were two battles there where I thought I had you beat, but you were just too good."

"No Ash, I wasn't; and you were right, both your Hawlucha and your Charizard should have won those battles I'm guessing you're referring to. And you want to know why you didn't win?"

"Why Brock?" Ash asked softly.

"Because, like their trainer, they need to get back into the habit of regular training and battling. It doesn't matter how much natural ability a pokemon or trainer has, you can't miss the amount of time you and your pokemon have and expect to pick up where you left off. It's a pity too, that we couldn't have met up in your Kalos region days. They used to tell stories about how powerful you were during that period." Brock started to sound sentimental, "Oh well, when we get you trained up again, with your extra age and wisdom, I bet you will soon be even more powerful than you were then, that is if you want to be?"

"Why do you doubt me Brock? I told you I'm beginning to get my passion back."

"I don't know, it just didn't feel like the same Ash I remember." Kurt had said the same thing earlier that day.

"Well maybe I'm not. Sometimes you get to a point where you begin to realise that some things just aren't meant to be, besides I've got bigger things to worry about at the moment."

"Like girls?" Brock suggested condescendingly.

"Like you're one to talk."

"Yes I am actually Ash. I can teach you how to balance those things, if you will allow me to. One thing you need to bear in mind is it's not all about winning, and it's not all about you. Think how many people and pokemon you've met across your journey who are a little bit better for having known you. There are still more adventures to be had and more people and pokemon to meet. Just think, If you had quit after Misty left our group, we would never have met May and Max. And as for Serena, how many groups did you have to go through before you met her hmmm? Well that's a little bit like life, sometimes you have to go through a lot of different experiences and trials before you find just what you're looking for, before you can claim the victory. I feel like you have got a great destiny in front of you Ash, but you won't find it if you quit now. You're not meant to quit, I know it and everyone who knows you knows it. I don't know if you will ever become a pokemon master, but if you keep going people will remember you for something even more special: someone who would sacrifice himself for people and pokemon alike, who brought light into people's lives and made the world a brighter place. Sure you can sit back and say you've got almost everything you want and just be content, besides isn't it so much easier than having to go out and fail time and time again. But if you do Ash, so many will miss out on having a piece of you. That's just my opinion anyway." Ash was on the verge of tears now, "Brock, I'm so flattered by your comment, and I want you to know, you truly are the greatest person I've met in my life, I think all the things you just said about me, you should take them back and use them to describe yourself." Out of the corner of his eye, Ash could see a few of his friends looking a little offended by his comments.

"Ash, you're kind and gracious as usual, which leads me to my final question. Is there something that was bothering you earlier?" Ash decided to tell him, and the others, about his meeting with Kurt. He hoped Bonny wouldn't get too frightened. Brock didn't appear surprised: "I know, Kurt's rumours have been circulating through town over the past few days, it's gotten a few people on edge, but I think most are smart enough to distinguish fantasy from reality."

"That's like what I said." Clement interjected. "Put your trust in science."

"Whether you put your trust in science or not, I personally don't buy any of it. Few of those prophecies have even partially come true, and the GS ball has been rumoured to glow in the past. Besides, given that prophecies deal with very long time periods and aren't good at giving specific dates, I don't think it's something that people should allow to intrude on their day to day lives."

"It's still wrong!" Sara responded hotly. "There are children and other vulnerable people around town, it's not right to be scaring people over nonsense with nothing factual to back it up. In fact, I think I would go as far as saying it's grossly irresponsible."

"Why don't we all go inside and I'll make some macarons" Serena suggested kindly. "Also, some cold drinks might be good, I think we need to cool the temperature by a few hundred degrees or so. Most of the others laughed at her comments, but Ash had been thrown by the day's events: this day had turned out nothing like he'd expected. He just hoped Serena's macaroons and a lighter chat with his friends would begin to turn the tide.

After everyone had settled down in Brock and Sara's big living room overlooking the back yard, and had some cold lemonades and macaroons, they were all happier and more relaxed including Ash who also got a bit of extra attention from Serena, which on its own made his day. Talk soon turned to the coming night's festivities: "So how many people are going to be at your party Brock" Misty enquired.

"I'm bringing in loads of my friends from around town, as well as a number of trainers and other friends from outside of Johto. So in total, around 120 I think. I'm even having a nurse-joy dance performance; eight of the Joy's agreed to take part." They were in stitches, especially Ash "You're kidding Brock, you are the funniest, you know that right?" Brock giggled lightly.

"Hey, here's something you might be interested in Misty" he began, changing the subject, "in a few weeks, there's a gym leaders tournament in Silver City, but there are only two places open per region, so you're going to have to get in quick."

"You know, I think I would. Will you be competing Brock?"

"I will be, for Johto."

"But you're not a gym leader anymore are you?"

"Actually, in my spare time, that's exactly what I am. When I'm not tending to sick pokemon, I'm the Azalea town gym leader."

"Brock, is there anything you don't do?" May asked.

"Of course there is, tonnes of stuff. Everyone has their own talents, you've just got to work hard and use what you've been given." That got Ash thinking again: a recurring theme seemed to be that he had a responsibility to continue his journey. After his battle with Brock, he knew he wanted to be a trainer again and to one day become a pokemon master, but since his last defeat and all the time he had taken off afterwards, he wasn't sure if he could ever fully regain the passion he once had. A part of him still wished his calling was something less challenging, like spending the rest of his life with his Mom and Serena, as well as his pokemon and looking after all of them, and occasionally doing things like travel the world, meeting with friends old and new, and just battling for fun, but deep down he was beginning to see that it would not be that simple and that somehow he would have to find the will to keep on going. He had come to Johto to see if fate would lead him down one path or the other, and on this day, he was feeling the pull of destiny like on no other.

"Ash?" Misty asked for the fourth time.

"Oh, Misty, sorry I didn't hear. What were you saying?"

"I said would you and the others like to come with me and Brock to Silver City? I've decided I'm competing in the gym leaders world cup." Ash had been looking for an adventure just like this one: a few weeks or so traveling around Johto with old friends, and more time to clear his head and to see what direction fate took him in, if any. "Yes!" I, I mean we, would love that Misty, and I think it's great you're competing in this tournament."

"Great" Misty smiled, "maybe you should consider becoming a gym leader too Ash. You're better qualified than most of the others, except for me of course, and maybe Brock."

"What do you think of that you guys?" looking at Serena, Clement and Bonnie.

"Well", Clement began, "you certainly have the necessary skill level and you're unconventional style could give more conventional trainers an opportunity to add an extra ingredient to their battling recipe." Bonnie looked somewhat uncertain: "um…what Clement said, yep definitely, if that's what you want, go for it." Serena took longer to answer: "Well, it's your life Ash, it makes no difference to me, but I'll support you whatever you want to do."

"As long as you're there I'm happy." May was now looking dejected, but she tried to hide her emotions by turning her head away from Ash's direction.

"Of course I'll always be there Ash" Serena responded sincerely" you're my special guy." "Thank you Serena, you're the dearest thing in the world to me…well you, my mom and Pikachu of course."

"Pika-Pika" Pikachu responded happily. May could hardly bear it now. "But that being said, life wouldn't be the same without any of you guys, not even close, and looking at you all I feel so blessed and I think I can already feel within myself that I'm regaining my passion to continue my journey. Not so much because I love battling, but because of the love I feel for all of you and for all the pokemon here as well, and I wouldn't of had any of that if I'd given up, and you were right Brock, maybe there's a whole bunch of people and pokemon just as special waiting for me out there, and I can't let them down. I believe it's my destiny to continue my journey and meet every single one of them, and help them on their journeys as well, so as of tomorrow, when we leave Azalea town, I'm starting my training again. They all clapped loudly in applause, even May, although her applause was mostly feigned.

"I will say this much Ash" Clement added, "you could learn the art of thrift, expressing the same amount of information with fewer words, but for heart and soul, that was an A+ speech and I'm honoured to have been your mentor and your friend, and I hope we'll always be friends."

"You can count on it Clement. You all can."