Ash woke up stiff, and sore in all sorts of places. He looked around realizing they had fallen asleep in the hallway of the Pokémon center. Pikachu, May and Max were still fast asleep. Ash looked at the time, it was 4 am. Quietly walking outside of the Pokémon center, he sent out Charizard and took a flight back to Pallet Town. Max needed something, a confidence boost of sorts. Quietly sneaking upstairs to his room, Ash searched his closet for an old memento, that would mean a lot for Max to have. Sneaking back out, he got back on Charizard for the flight to Vermillion. By the time he landed, the sun had begun to rise.

"Hey Ash, we were wondering where you went." May said as she and Max walked out of the center. "I had to go take care of a thing, sorry about that." Ash said guiltily. "Clearly that thing wasn't a shower, or changing." May laughed. Ash looked down, his appearance had seen better days. "Come on, let's head to the lab so I can at least get ready." Ash said, returning the laugh. May and Max had sat down with Goh, who was the only one up at this time. "So Goh, what's it like journeying with Ash now?" May inquired. "He's Ash, I mean he's energetic, and impulsive. Is that any different than how he was back when you guys journeyed together?" Goh asked, confused. "Well, he didn't wear skirts back then." May said a bit bluntly. "He doesn't really wear them now either." Chloe said with a yawn.

"Two days." Ash said to himself, as he sunk into the furo. "I have two days to figure out who I'm going to use in the Wallace cup." So many choices, and some of them weren't even water types. "Pika?" Pikachu said, tilting his head. "It's okay buddy, I know we'll figure it out." Ash said, trying to stay positive.

Misty had to double check the arena, since they were doing final registration tomorrow. "I'm guessing this is your doing?" Misty interrogated Ash. On screen were several burn marks in the bottom of the pool. "Look Wallace started it!" Ash held up his hands in defense. "I'm more impressed by the lining than anything. If that can hold up from Pikachu's electricity, then there shouldn't be much it can't handle." Misty said with a smile. "Mudkip!" "Pika!" Ash's Pokémon came running into the room chasing each other. "And who's this cutie?" Misty said squatting down to hug Mudkip. "That's Mudkip, I got him a little back in Hoenn." Ash said. "Do you plan on using him in the contest." Misty said picking him up. "I'm not sure yet, he hasn't had much experience just yet." Ash said, as he felt his stomachs gurgle. "That reminds me, we were all heading to lunch, do you want to join us?" Ash offered. "Sure, my jobs all wrapped up here." Misty said grabbing her bag.

Ash and Misty met up with the others at a restaurant in Saffron City. "Why does it feel like everyone is looking at us?" Max asked a bit weirded out. "Because they are." Gladion said coldly. "Why do you think that is?" Chloe asked. "Look around, we don't exactly fit in here. I've seen four Pokémon in this restaurant, and three of them are ours." Ash said keeping an eye on the crowd. "I'm sorry, I thought this place looked nice. I guess I should have realized it." Lillie said apologetically. "Maybe we should go, we haven't ordered anything anyways." May said putting her menu down. The eight trainers carefully got up, and made their way to the exit, causing as little of a scene as possible. "Thank you for not dining with us. Please don't come again." A man's voice coldly said.

"Well, that was a bust. And now we haven't had lunch!" May complained. "Relax, there's plenty of places we can go eat at." Ash said. "I'm not sure Ash, with all the tourists, we'll be hard pressed to find seating for eight." Misty said realistically. "Goh, how fast do you think Golurk can get us all to Pallet Town?" Ash asked, a fire in his eyes. "Golurk? Probably an hour if we pushed it, why?" Goh asked, confused. "I'll make the necessary calls, you get Golurk ready." Ash said pumped.

"You really didn't think this through? Did you Ash?" Chloe said fixing her hair. "Hey, it's right around noon, and we all made it, didn't we?" Ash asked. "If we wanted a home cooked meal, why didn't we just go to the lab?" Goh asked. "We agreed to eat outside of the lab a bit more." Gladion said calmly. "Here we are!" Ash said in front of a building. "The Pallet town Plate?" Lillie said reading the sign. "Will they seat all of us?" Max asked concerned. "Don't worry, I promise we'll be more than welcome here." Ash said confidently.

"Mr. Mime!" Mimey exclaimed running up. "Hey Mimey, table for eight." Ash said. They were quickly led to an already prepped table. "Ash, everyone, how are you today?" Delila said walking up. "Mrs. Ketchum!?" The group sans Ash and Gladion exclaimed. "Oh yeah, it also helps my mom owns here." Ash said sheepishly. An hour later, they left with full stomachs. "Man Pallet and back twice in one day." Ash said stretching. "So that's where you went!" May said shocked. "Oh yeah, that reminds me." Ash said digging through his bag. "It's a little worse for wear, but you need a hat if you're going on a journey." Ash said, pulling out the hat he wore throughout Hoenn, and the Battle Frontier. Putting it on Max's head. "It's a good look." Ash said with a smirk. The brim was a bit worn, and there was a slight hole on the side, but Ash felt Max deserved it more than anyone. "Thanks Ash!" Max said happy for the sentimental gift.

Everyone was climbing onto Golurk to head back, the last three were Ash, May, and Max. "Come on Max, you're up." May said waiting. "I'm not going." Max said a bit quiet. "What, why not? How else will you get back to Vermillion, or Hoenn." May said confused. "I'm not going back. Not yet." Max said a bit louder. "I don't understand, why wouldn't you be going back?" May said still confused. "I get it." Ash said with a smirk. "Go on, your best bet is Pewter City, about a five day walk North." Ash said. "So, I guess you're not starting with Hoenn then." May said knowingly. "I don't want my first league entrance to happen from dad's help. A lot of great trainers started here in Kanto, so I'm going to do the same!" Max said, standing his ground. "When you get to Viridian, call your parents. They'll be waiting to hear from you." Ash said. With that May and Ash got on Golurk as it took off, they watched Max head North on his own journey for the first time. "He'll do great." Ash said, comforting May. "I know, he's been ready for this for a while." May said, knowing this would be the hardest part of her time in Kanto.