Chapter 4: JOYchiro to the Pokémon World
It was a surprise for everyone to see Soma's dad, Joichiro Yukihira. He made a smorgasbord of food which lured women all around, even Misty and May seemed captivated until they learned the truth. The kids ate a variety of dishes from cutlets to risotto. The kids couldn't get enough and neither did the Pokémon. "This is great!" awed May. "I don't know which is better, Soma's food or his dad's?" To Ash, it was obvious at first bite.
"Right now, it's Soma's dad for me!" he compared. "I'm still having a hard time getting that taste out of my mouth from… what the heck Soma gave me!" Joichiro huffed a chuckle to Ash's reminder.
"Let me guess," he started. "The grilled squid tentacles doused with peanut butter?"
"Yeah… and I thought there was nothing you couldn't put peanut butter on!" complained Ash.
"Eh, no surprise that he learned that from me," Joichiro shrugged. "Though, I did the same thing but with jelly." The kids' reactions were priceless, heavy gawks to the idea of jelly on the tentacles.
"Jelly!?" cringed Misty. "Eww… that's even worse!"
"No kidding!" agreed Ash. "I'm surprised that a he's a former Elite Ten member from the same school." Turning, Ash had a question for Joichiro. "I bet you were at the top spot like Soma." Joichiro shook his head.
"Well, you'd lose that bet," he informed. "But I was a close second." Astonishment filled the air around the trainers and Max.
"Wow, you're kidding!" awed Brock.
"I'm not," Joichiro assured. "Gin Dojima was the top dog of our class."
"Wow, I can only imagine…" awed Ash. Soma became curious to Joichiro's arrival.
"So, dad," he spoke up. "What brings you to the resort?" His son's request heard, Joichiro huffed a slight chuckle.
"Funny story…" he started. "I came to see you kids at the dorm to surprise you. I found something new that I believed you'd all like. Then, Fumio came from behind and tried to scare me, only to trip up over her slippers." The briefing made Megumi giggle.
"You did help her up, right?" asked Yuuki while trying to hide her laughter.
"C'mon, kiddo!" smiled Joichiro. "What kind of man would I be letting Grandma Fumio lie there?"
"We're making sure…" eased Ikumi.
"So the elderly lady that you mentioned," Max voiced. "She must have told you about the Convention going on, right?"
"She did," Joichiro confirmed. "So, I was given directions and arrived pretty late in the afternoon to the resort. Then I saw the kitchen, some interesting foods and got to work." Ash nodded, admiring Soma's father.
"Makes us happy that we're seeing a legend of the Academy," he praised. "Though, I've been wondering…" Max gulped to the word of "wonder."
"Uh oh…" he mulled. Misty put his hand on Max's head.
"Let's wait before you react," she warned. Max nodded before Ash voiced himself his "wonder."
"Soma, is there any way you can teach me some of this?" he asked the son. Erina, standing a good distance away, gasped to the offer.
'Wait, Ash wants Yukihira to teach him his culinary measures!?' she gawked in her head. 'This cannot end well!' Soma seemed humbled to the request.
"Of course!" he agreed. "Yukihira-Style is always open to anyone who wants to learn!" Erina seemed to break down, ready to snap at the kid.
"Thanks!" praised Ash. Max became worried and turned to the trainer.
"Ash, are you sure?" he advised. What about that Pokémon Tournament that you're in?" Ash scoffed to Max's warning.
"It doesn't have to be immediately, Max," he clarified.
"And besides," Joichiro added. "There are other alumni members that are also coming, according to Hisako."
"So, we may be trying more foods?" awed May. "I can't wait!" Misty giggled to May's excitement.
"And I believed Ash was the foodie I had to worry about," she teased.
"Come on, Misty," chuckled Ash. "I wasn't that bad." Pikachu just shook his head from the noise as Rindo huddled behind Ash, wrapping her arms around the trainer. Pikachu saw Rindo's arms in time to leap off onto Max's head.
"Hey, she may be onto something, boy," she sneered as she reached a slender finger to Ash's zigzag cheeks. "Besides, someone like you is someone I would like to feed." She traced her fingers to the zigzags on Ash's face before giving his cheek a kiss. Ash's cheeks became beet red, embarrassed.
"What on earth are you doing!?" snapped Yuuki.
"Oh, don't be jealous," Rindo waived off. "Besides, I've been wondering how we were blessed with these young individuals like our zigzag boy." Alice arrived with some deviled eggs.
"I think we're all interest-" she started before she caught her feet, tangling them. She began to fall, fumbling the deviled eggs and the tray she had them on. Brock sprung into action, leaping from the table to catch the tray and Alice.
"Gotcha!" he grunted as he caught the deviled eggs. After the speedy reaction, Brock helped Alice to her feet. "There you go. Don't want to lose all of your eggs." Alice couldn't believe who saved her from injury and the food she made. "Besides, the silver hair is gold in my quarry. Maybe there's something to mine between us." Alice awed Brock's smooth, comforting words of wisdom.
"Than- Thank you!" she stuttered. 'Oh my god… he saved me and my eggs! He's… He's the one…" Her cheeks became red as she was back on her two feet. "I'm sorry about that."
"Hey, relax," Brock assured. "Okay? A young chef as yourself can do an egg-cellent amount of work with the right hands." Max and Misty sensed Brock's motive.
"Not again…" sighed Misty. Max rolled up his sleeve.
"I got this," he assured.
"You're right, I shouldn't scramble myself," Alice praised as she palmed Brock's cheek. Ash, May, Misty, Max and Pikachu gawked to Alice's motions. "Maybe you'll be my Sunny Side Up."
"What just happened?" wondered a flabbergasted Misty.
"Brock's in her Wonderland," Max mulled. Alice was on her feet as she was ready to present the deviled eggs as a sample. After a moment, Alice shot a glance to Erina who looked upset at her cousin seemingly falling literally for Brock.
"Anyway, Ash," Yuuki voiced as Ash ate some risotto. "How did you guys come to Seafoam Island for the TotsukiMon Convention?" Ash decided to bear it all.
"We just arrived at Cerulean City after I started going after the Battle Frontier," he started. "It's Misty's home and we were about to separate so that she could watch the Pokémon Gym as her older sisters needed a break from constant battles. That's when Tracey called and said there's a tournament on Seafoam Island."
"Of course, Ash isn't one to turn down a tournament," Misty scoffed. Ikumi, Yuuki and Megumi giggled to Ash's competitive nature.
"So, we got a few rides from Cerulean to Pallet and to here on Seafoam Island," Max summarized. Joichiro looked to see Pikachu with a Bulbasaur, a Squirtle and a blue mudfish with orange whisker-like cheeks. Bulbasaur had a heart print on the forehead.
"I forgot to ask, but which one's your Pokémon, Max?" questioned Megumi as she knelt to Squirtle to pet.
"I don't have one," Max corrected. "I'm too young to be a trainer." Megumi gawked but corrected herself.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I forgot." Alice patted Megumi on the back for forgiveness. The next day, the convention continued as a raven-haired teen boy in a teal t-shirt and shorts with a peach-colored headband toured with May and Soma.
"So, alumni of Totsuki are here, Tracey?" addressed Soma.
"They claim to be," the raven-haired briefed.
"Hopefully, we get back to the start of Ash's preliminary battle," May reminded. At the nearby stadium, Erina sat at the front, behind the retaining wall.
"WELCOME POKÉMON TRAINERS AND FOOD FANS TO THE TOTSUKIMON CONVENTION'S STREET BATTLE TOURNAMENT!" an announcer welcomed. "WE HAVE 48 TRAINERS COMPETING FOR A SET OF NEW BICYCLES WITH MULTI-SPEED SETTINGS, TITANIUM FRAME AND A DIAMOND-STRENGTH GEARS TO GET AROUND ALMOST ANY SURFACE!" Erina scoffed to the thought of winning bicycles.
'How childish,' she thought. 'If anything, it's safer in the limo… but of course, this is their world and probably want to minimize carbon emissions.'
"NOW, HERE ARE THE TRAINERS AND THE BRACKET IN THE STREET BATTLE TOURNAMENT!" the announcer informed. Outside of the stadium, a grown auburn-haired ponytail woman in a pink blouse and blue skirt arrived. By her was a clown-like creature with stick-like limbs. They approached the stadium entrance. Back at the convention, Satoshi and Takumi eyed Joichiro around Brock and Alice, where a set of berries were on the table along with a milk carton with the head of a pink cow with what looked like a black hood around the face.
"So, these berries are what help make Pokémon grow?" asked Alice.
"It is," Brock confirmed as he picked up a blue berries. "It's not easy to remember their names but practice does come a long way. Oran Berries like this help in small portions but there may be ways to combine it going by Totsuki's way of training chefs."
"That is nifty to have knowledge of these berries," Joichiro commented as he picked up the carton. "What about this?" Brock giggled to the carton.
"The Moo Moo Milk?" he pointed out. "I'm going to say that the Moo Moo Milk comes from Miltank who can produce five gallons of milk per day. Not only can Pokémon heal with Moo Moo Milk, it's safe for human consumption."
"So, I can drink this straight from the Miltank?" guessed Alice.
"Of course…" answered Brock as he turned to Soma's father. "By the way, Joichiro… Are eggs part of your style?"
"It is," Joichiro nodded. "In fact, all sorts of foods are. See, Yukihira-style is a style based on trial and error." Brock blinked in confusion, though it was hard to see through squinted eyes.
"Trial?" he repeated. "And error?" He shook his head. "It's no wonder Ash sought your son to teach him some cooking." Back at the stadium, a greenish-blue bipedal creature with flares erupting from the back was on the battlefield. Erina, Megumi, Yuuki, Misty, May, Tracey, Soma, Max and Pikachu watched together as Ash had a cyan baby elephant with orange plates around its body. Pikachu was on Misty's shoulder. On the monitor, Ash's picture was above three circles with two of them with the baby elephant lit up. The other picture had a young white-haired woman with that creature.
"BOTH TRAINERS ARE DOWN TO THEIR LAST POKÉMON!" the announcer determined. "ASH HAS PHANPY WHILE APRIL HAS TYPHLOSION." Anticipation grew with the two trainers. April wore a red shirt with the Pokéball decal across her right side and shorts.
"Typhlosion has exhausted itself after battling Swellow and surviving a Double Team and Peck combination," Max summarized.
"What I don't get is the whole purpose of it being a Street Battle Tournament," Yuuki voiced.
"That, I can help with," Max offered to voice. "Usually, battles with trainers will agree to a battle of up to three Pokémon. That's why the wheel was introduced to help determine how many Pokémon will be used in each battle."
"It also affects strategy from a quick scrap or a supposed war of factions," Megumi added while crouched down and scribbling her right hand with a finger of her left hand.
"Why are you getting nervous?" asked Erina. "Ash is the one on the stage, not you."
"I can't stand so many people around at once!" yelped Megumi. The stage was set.
"Typhlosion, use Earthquake!" shouted April. Typhlosion slammed its front paws to the ground and caused a tremor.
"Phanpy, Defense Curl!" commanded Ash. Phanpy curled itself as the Earthquake attack bounced it around.
"Don't let up! Use Flame Wheel!" Typhlosion raced after Phanpy in a fiery charge.
"Use Rollout!" The command had Phanpy spin forward while still curled. The speeding blue wheel of Phanpy crashed into the burning comet that was Typhlosion. Phanpy was smaller than Typhlosion but the Rollout attack snuffed the Flame Wheel and Typhlosion was sent flying back to April.
"Typhlosion!" The students were aghast as to how Phanpy's Rollout was stronger than Typhlosion's Flame Wheel.
"I don't understand," Yuuki gulped. "Typhlosion's bigger than Phanpy, right?"
"But Rollout is a Rock-Type attack," Max clarified. "And they're super effective against Fire-Type Pokémon like Typhlosion."
"Not to mention that Defense Curl added power to the Rollout attack," Misty added.
"And Typhlosion's tired after taking down Swellow in a battle that could've gone either way," Erina finished. Typhlosion wasn't done but struggled to get onto its feet.
"If your Swellow's Aerial Ace was something, how about a taste of mine!?" sneered April. Typhlosion leaped into the air and nailed the still spinning Phanpy… except Typhlosion was flattened. Swirls replaced its eyes as Phanpy returned to in front of Ash. A brunette man in an orange shirt and black shorts lifted a green flag.
"Typhlosion is unable to battle!" he judged. "Phanpy wins! Ash of Pallet Town advances to the next round!"
"All… RIGHT!" cheered Ash as Phanpy also leaped in celebration. The crowd cheered to Ash's victory while April collapsed in defeat. Ash and Phanpy raced to April to check on her condition, but it was also to praise her for quite the battle. After the battle, Ash reunited with everyone watching outside of the stadium with Pikachu perching himself on Ash's shoulder.
"April kept the battle interesting for you," Soma remarked.
"That's for sure," Ash agreed.
"But now you don't get to battle again until tomorrow?" questioned Megumi.
"The tournament is preparing for the Top 32," Max briefed. "It's still the Preliminaries and Ash needs two more to enter the Quarterfinals." Out of nowhere, a grown blond man in a blue business suit and a brunette woman wearing an apron, dark long skirt and socks under platform sandals emerged.
"Megumi, there you are!" the brunette welcomed. Megumi's face became pale, her body trembled.
"Donato?" noticed Soma about the new blond. He also noticed the new brunette. "And Hinako?" The brunette came to Megumi who shivered frantically as if she was freezing.
"How's my little Todokora?" she cooed, holding her hands. "I hope this convention hasn't done anything to ruin your beauty." Donato also observed Megumi as her shaking worsened.
"Not yet, at least," he surveyed. Her fears worsening, Megumi broke Hinako's grip and huddled herself behind Ash. Soma came forward to greet the two.
"Fancy seeing you here," he greeted. "My old man said other alumni would be here." Donato nodded to the information.
"They're registering at the resort right now, Yukihira," he informed as Hinako had taken Pikachu from Ash's shoulder.
"What a cute little pet!" she cooed as she happily petted Pikachu. Ash reached for the Mouse Pokémon but Hinako stepped back to nuzzle Ash's partner. "Oh, you are such a cutie pie!" Realizing that Pikachu was in good hands, Ash turned to Megumi.
"It's all good," he assured. Megumi looked up as she held Ash by the waists. "Soma, who are they?" Soma turned to Ash, ready for introductions.
"Pikachu's being held by alum and former Elite Ten member Hinako Inui," he started. "And that's Donato Gotouda. Both are members of the 80th Generation while Megumi, Mi-Meat and most of us are part of the 92nd."
"So you came before Soma and the rest?" awed Misty.
"Totsuki's got a huge reputation if it's gone on for that long," Max believed.
"That's for sure, kiddo," Donato scoffed. "We missed out on some action."
"Hey, there's more tomorrow," May promised. "Let's head back, I'm starving." Agreeing, the group started to head back except for Ash and Megumi, the latter emerging from hiding.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Megumi bowed her head.
"I'm not used to crowds," she admitted. To Ash, Megumi had stage fright.
"Just stay close to me."
"Okay…" As they followed the rest, Megumi started to believe Ash was trusting. 'I can feel trust with him.' This prompted Megumi to hold Ash's hand, not like Brock or Hinako. This startled Ash.
"Me… gumi?" A deep breath later, Megumi smiled to Ash.
"I want to borrow your confidence." The reply made Ash smile.
"Sure." They reentered the convention where there was a buzz. Gossip had been brewing as Ash and Megumi reach the rest, including Takumi. "Hey, what's going on?" Hearing Ash, Takumi turned to him and Megumi.
"Oh, they're announcing the judges for the convention," he calmly mentioned. Ash blinked, rather confused.
"Judges?" he repeated.
"Oh, if there are Food Wars declared?" guessed Megumi.
"More than likely," Takumi briefed. "After all, I do believe some of the people here would like to see if we can make the foods possible." This made Ash a little more curious as Brock and Alice found the group.
"Ash, there you are!" he voiced. "You'll never believe who one of the judges are!" Ash and Megumi blink as they followed the new pair around.
"So, what's a Food War?" asked Ash.
"When someone challenges another in the culinary arts, it's a food war in which those in the war must cook based on the topic of discussion," Megumi briefed. "There's a panel of three judges who determine who has a better dish." Ash awed the detail of a Food War. They soon saw the crowd encircling and Ash and Megumi spotting Soma and his friends.
"Hey, you're just in time," he welcomed. They spotted several judges, one of them being the auburn-haired woman with the blouse. Ash gasped, making the others turn to him.
"Ash?" voiced Erina. "Something wrong?" All Ash could do was speak one word.
"MOM!?" he recognized. Those from Totsuki blinked, including Ikumi.
"Wait, your mom?" she repeated as she looked to the judges which were about even in genders. "Which one?" Tracey found the auburn-haired and pointed.
"There!" he replied. "Delia!" Looking at the auburn-haired, the students gawked in disbelief.
"That's your mom?" questioned Daigo.
"That's her, alright!" confirmed Ash. As if trying Soma's grilled and doused squid tentacles, the students gawked.
"You're kidding!" irked Alice. Erina recovered enough.
"Someone that young and gorgeous?" she scoffed. "She'd be more of being with Momo and the others of the 90th Generation of Totsuki." Ash's friends heard Erina's dismissal.
"Trust us, that is Ash's mother!" argued Misty. "We've met her several times."
"And she'd be a great mom to May and I if our mom was gone forever," Max assured.
"But she still looks so young and genuine," Megumi refuted. After the announcement, Ash's mother spotted Ash with friends as Soma had an idea.
"Well, what we should do is get whatever dirt's on her," he suggested. They found the auburn-haired arriving with Soma greeting her. "Hey!" Meeting the young man, the auburn-haired seemed greeted by some of the students.
"Hi, are you doing alright?" she asked.
"We're fine, Delia," Erina named. "We're rather surprised to hear that a local is a member of the judges' panel." Delia scoffed to Erina's claim.
"That's true that I came along after Seafoam Island knew of my culinary background back in Pallet," she nodded. "Besides, if I could, I'd treat you all to something sweet. After all, hearing about your school, I'm rather jealous that I couldn't go to something like that than Celadon University." Her background starting to establish, Megumi awed Delia's academics.
"You're a college grad?" she figured.
"Not a grad, but I've got plenty of skills and even grow my own vegetables around my house," Delia corrected. "Besides, wild Pokémon do stop by and I tend to feed them any leftovers." The students seemed pleased.
"You sound nice enough," Satoshi nodded. "By the way, we met Ash and his friends the day after we came here to Seafoam Island." Delia blinked to the name.
"So, you got acquainted with my son?" she wondered. "I wanted to see him in the tournament going on, but Mimey got hungry and so we came by. It was also around that time I met the resort's committee where I was informed that I'd be a judge in this." Hearing this, the students realized that Ash was honest that Delia was his mother.
"I did win a close one in my first round, Mom," Ash responded as he arrived and Pikachu leaped onto his head after his time with Hinako. Delia turned, delighted to see her son.
"There you are, Ash!" she cheered as she hugged him around the ribs before kissing his face.
"MOM!" yelped Ash, embarrassed. The students couldn't believe that they didn't believe Ash in the first place. Yuuki and the raven-haired with glasses seemed to have had a short circuit: they irked before collapsing to the ground. Everyone turned to the downed teens.
"Yuuki!" gulped Megumi.
"Zenji, get it together!" urged Daigo. As the students tended to the fainted pair, a little purple-haired girl caught Max's sight as he stared at her. May saw Max's gaze and the girl as well.
"Uh oh," she started to tease. "Looks like little brother's got a crush." Max snapped out and whacked May with a backhand.
"Back off, May!" he irked. Also spotting the girl was Rindo.
"Oh, Momo!" she identified. May and Max turned to Rindo.
"Is she someone special?" asked May.
"She's a former third seat of the Elite Ten," Rindo informed. "Plus, she's twice Max's age." The siblings gasped in shock.
"You're kidding!" they gawked as Momo gave a dark glare to Max. Nerves began to rise on Max's neck hairs. Suddenly, the TotsukiMon Convention just became more lively.
TO BE CONTINUED...