The scenery on the ferry back to Kanto was wonderful. The Wingull were soaring in the sky shouting their name. The sea breeze was also refreshing, brushing along all of our heroes' faces. Brock and Dawn were smiling while looking towards the horizon of the Kanto region, wondering what was lying ahead. Paul had a smirk on his face, not wanting to travel with Ash and Brock, but wondering about this "infamous" region that was so important to the trainer and the breeder. Ash, was frowning, upset with his loss, but also on the fact that he did not want to come home empty handed again from another league.
Pikachu and Piplup were playing on the deck, having fun and rushing off their excitement to land in Kanto. At times, Pikachu would stop playing with Piplup to watch his master. He never did like to see Ash upset, especially when he lost a match.
Dawn was trying to make small talk between the two rivals and the breeder, "So...Ash...Paul has been to Kanto before, haven't ya Paul?"
"Yeah...what of it, Dawn?" Paul questioned.
"Well...Ash has a lot of friends in Kanto. He is even friends with some gym leaders." the perky coordinator smiled.
"Where was Dawn going with this?" Ash and Brock both thought.
"Really..." Paul smirked, "Like who?"
Ash looked straight forward towards the horizon of Kanto, not giving any of the others eye contact, "Well I know all of the gym leaders. But I guess Brock and Misty I know the best that are or were gym leaders."
"Who's Misty?" Paul questioned.
"An old friend of ours." Brock stated, "She's Cerulean City's gym leader."
"Hm..." Paul started, "I just remember three older pretty girls just handing me a badge. I think their names were like...Casey, Millie, and Riolet..."
Ash was a little irritated at Paul for butchering his best friend's sisters' names, "It's Daisy, Lily, and Violet..."
Paul didn't really seem to care, "Hm...anyway, they were probably the easiest gym leaders to beat. Considering that I never actually had to do anything. I bet the gym is still like that today."
Ash started to get very upset, almost turning red with anger, "It is not!"
Brock noticed Ash's anger, "Ash...chill out."
"Ladies and gentlemen we will be arriving at Cinnabar Island is just a few minutes." the captain of the ferry announced over the intercom.
Ash walked away from where the quartet was standing, Pikachu followed obediently followed his master to the other side of the ferry.
"Ash! Wait!" Dawn cried, but Paul and Brock held her back to chase after him, they both knew that Ash probably did not want to be disturbed right now.
The young man and his Pikachu walked over to one of the video pay phones on the other side of the deck. Ash wanted to call his mother to tell everyone that they were all safe and would be home in about a day and a half. He couldn't wait to see his mother's smiling face to reassure him, especially since he was still upset over his loss.
Ash put in his changed and dialed his house number, the other line rang and rang, but no one picked up. He suddenly heard the phone stop ringing and pause for a few minutes.
"Must've gotten the answering machine, buddy." Ash said to his electric mouse.
"Hello! This is Ketchum residence! Sorry for not taking your call, but if you leave your name and number for either Delia or Ash, we will try to call you back as soon as we can! Thank you!" Delia's recorded voice said, soon the line beeped, telling Ash to leave a message.
"Hi Mom. It's Ash. I'm just calling to let you and Misty know that we are just about to land on Cinnabar Island. We'll be at the house in about a day and a half. I can't wait to see you, Mom! Tell Misty I said hi! And I love you! Bye." he hung up the video phone and walked away.
"Pika pika pikachu." ("Well that was short.") Pikachu suddenly said.
"Well..." Ash was about to say something, but was interrupted by Dawn's screeching.
"Ash! Brock! Paul! Look! We're in Kanto!!!" Ash and Pikachu ran over to where the four were originally standing, hopefully this visit would make Ash feel better. Just seeing Misty definitely would be a wonderful treat.
"Hm...looks as plain as it did when I first came here." Paul blankly stated.
Ash just grumbled. All things considered....this visit definitely will be what he needs.