The party was huge, and it took a while before Ash even got out of the arena, such was the number of fans who wanted to get his autograph. But, arm in arm with both his mom and Hilda, he made it out.
"I've got a lot of people to inform about this" Ash admitted, to which Delia replied "I don't think that is necessary Ash, this was broadcast around the world, I'm going to assume most of your past travelling companions, friends and rivals will have seen it"
"Awesome' Ash replied, smiling. He patted Pikachu, and the celebrations began.
"Congratulations Ash, you did a great job. That was an intense fight" Professor Oak said, to which Ash replied "Thanks Professor Oak", and this was echoed by Professor Juniper, whom Ash also thanked.
When they got out, Ash brought all of his Pokémon out to join the celebration. Several of the fans were celebrating around his Pokémon. But, Ash noticed, his Braviary wasn't joining in. In fact, he seemed rather down.
"Hey, I'll be back, something's up with Braviary," Ash said, pointing to the Valliant Pokémon nearby. Hilda nodded, then Ash headed for his Pokémon.
"Hey Braviary, what's up?" Ash asked, and although Ash couldn't understand what he said, Braviary's wing motions, along with the general tone, told Ash all he needed to know.
"You're upset about drawing with Mandibuzz, aren't you?" Ash asked, to which Braviary nodded. Ash patted him, and responded, "I wouldn't worry about it Braviary. The fact that you took on a Pokémon, that Maximus tailored her moveset to counter you, and still drew, is a major achievement". Braviary sighed a bit but nodded. It was then that a few people approached Ash, and asked: "Hey Ash, can we please see your powerhouse Braviary?"
"Sure, just give me a moment, he's a bit down after his battle" Ash replied, smiling. He then returned to Braviary, and added "See Braviary? Your feats have made an impression on people, and they want to see you. And I'm sure the other members of the team are concerned about you" and he continued patting his back.
Braviary nodded, a bit cheered up, and returned to the group. Ash knew he was going to have to talk to Braviary again, he was taking the tie with Mandibuzz pretty hard. He returned to the party but wasn't enjoying it as much, at least for a while. On the upside, Braviary did seem to perk up at seeing the attention he was getting.
Even Ferrothorn and Haxorus, Pokémon people usually don't approach, did so, fascinated by the and their power and sturdiness.
"Hey Ash, you're going to be a busy mail responder in the morning" Professor Oak suddenly commented, and Ash, turned around, smiled, and said "Awesome. Who from?"
"Basically every single one of your travelling companions and major rivals in your past four regions" Professor Oak replied, shocking Ash.
"Wow, you're very popular at the moment Ash" Hilda replied, giving Ash a big hug, which he returned, then Ash responded "I'm going to have to reply to them all in the morning, I'm kinda caught up in celebrations atm"
"Alright" Professor Oak replied, and Ash returned to the celebrations, but not before giving a bit more motivation to his Braviary, to help recover his morale.
Each of his Pokémon reacted differently to their newfound popularity.
Emboar was very happy with the attention and gave lots of people high fives. Meanwhile, Jellicent didn't really do much but seemed to enjoy the attention it got. Ferrothorn was making sure to be careful with the fans, making sure nobody got hurt accidentally.
Donphan was giving children rides around the area, enjoying the experience there.
Haxorus meanwhile was impressing the fans by showing off feats of strength, showing its power. Finally, Braviary was getting his body patted by several people. Ash himself was still signing autographs and getting photos from various people.
Eventually, the party calmed down and Ash and Hilda returned to the trainer's hostel.
"So, what should we do tomorrow?" Ash asked, to which Hilda replied "I think we can return to Nuvema Town for a couple of days. Then, I'd love to take you out to Nimbasa City on a date"
"A date eh? Alright, that could be fun" Ash replied, closely hugging Hilda, which she returned. Ash then said "One thing I'll have to do tomorrow, is responding to all of my travelling companions, friends and rivals who congratulated me on my win"
"Alright, I'll let you take care of that" Hilda replied, smiling. Ash returned the smile, then they headed to their rooms for the night.
The following morning, and after breakfast, he took a seat at the computer and saw just how many messages he had received.
"Geez. Well, let's get started" Ash said, and he checked his first message, which turned out to be from Brock.
"Hey Ash, how are you going? I'm doing well as a doctor. I saw your victory, and I wanted to congratulate you on winning the Unova League Tournament. Well done" Brock said, to which Ash smiled, and sent back "Thanks, Brock. I'm doing well, and great to hear you're doing well as a doctor"
He then moved on to the second one, which was from Gary.
"Hey there Ash, great work winning the Unova League, guess you've finally got something on me eh?" Gary stated, to which Ash sent back "Thanks Gary, it wasn't easy, but I'm so glad I finally won one".
Then he moved to the third one, and it was from Misty.
"Hey Ash, good to see you're doing well. I wanted to wish you congratulations on your victory in the League Tournament. I knew you could do it" Misty said. Ash smiled, then sent back "Thanks Misty, that means a lot"
He then moved on to the fourth one, which turned out to be from Ritchie.
"Hey Ash, Ritchie here. Great work on winning the Unova League Tournament, you've gotten a lot stronger man" Ritchie said, to which Ash sent back "Thanks Ritchie".
The fifth message turned out to be from Professor Elm.
"I've just watched you win the Unova League, congratulations on your success," Professor Elm said, to which Ash sent back "Thanks Professor Elm"
He then moved on to the sixth one, which turned out to be from Harrison, the trainer Ash lost to in Johto.
"Hey, Ash, great work on winning the Unova League Tournament. You did a great job out there. Maybe we can have a rematch sometime" Harrison said, to which Ash sent back "Sure, I'd really like to see how we fare against each other again. Thanks"
The seventh one turned out to be another Professor, this time Birch from the Hoenn region.
"Congratulations on your League victory Ash, it was a masterful display" Professor Birch stated, to which Ash sent back "Thanks Professor Birth, it wasn't easy, but I pushed through and won"
Then the eighth one appeared, and this one was from May, one of his travelling companions from Hoenn.
"Hey Ash, good to hear from you. Congratulations on winning the Unova League, you did really well" May said, to which Ash smiled, and sent back "Thanks May. How's your Coordinating going?" he then switched to the next one, which, as he expected, was from Max, May's brother.
"Hey Ash, congratulations on winning the Tournament. I've only got a year before I become a trainer, but Professor Rowan found the Ralts I'd befriended earlier. We hang out all the time now, and she's gonna be my starter when the time comes"
"Thanks, Max. And great to hear that Professor Birch has found the Ralts you befriended. I wish you good luck when you start your journey Max" Ash sent back, smiling.
He then went on to check the next message, which came from one of his Hoenn rivals, Katie.
"Hey Ash, well done on winning the Unova League, you certainly have shown me up"
"Thanks, Katie, I learned a lot from you during our battle that I was able to apply to other battles, including these ones" Ash sent back.
He then moved on to Morrison, who said "Aw man, you got a conference victory before I did. But congratulations man, you earned it"
"Heh, thanks Morrison" Ash sent back. He then turned to Tyson's.
"Well, we're now even with one Conference Trophy each, How about we meet up sometime, so we can rematch?" Tyson stated, to which Ash sent back "I'd love to Tyson, see how two conference champions compare to each other"
That completed the Hoenn run, and now Ash turned to the Sinnoh run. And the first one he saw, was from Professor Rowan.
"I wanted to take this time to congratulate you Ash on winning the Unova League Tournament. Well done" Professor Birch said, to which Ash sent back "Thanks Professor Birch, that means a lot".
He then moved on to Dawn's, his most recent female travelling companion.
"Hey Ash, congratulations on winning the Unova league, that was a tense match, but you did great" Dawn said. Ash then sent back "Thanks Dawn, I hope your coordinating is going well"
Then the list of rivals started. And Ash's first one came from Nando, who said "I want to congratulate you, Ash, on winning the Unova League Tournament, a very elegant performance"
"Thanks, Nando" Ash sent back. He then got a message from Barry.
"I am going to fine you infinity credits for winning a tournament before I did. I mean, ahem, congratulations on winning the Unova League Tournament" Barry called, to which Ash sent back "Hehe, classic Barry. But thanks for that anyway, I'm sure you'll make it someday"
Next up was Conway, who said "Well done Ash, I hope my strategies contributed to your victory"
"Yeah, Maximus tried Trick Room shenanigans on me just like you did, but it didn't work too well" Ash sent back. And then, it was Paul's.
"Hello, Ash. Well done on winning the Unova League Tournament" Paul stated, to which Ash replied "Thanks, Paul. Honestly, I probably couldn't have done it without you pushing me to be a better trainer"
And with that, Ash had replied to every single message he had gotten to that point. Ash had no doubt that he was going to get more in the coming days, with how well known he already was.
"That is a lot of people you've met and interacted with over your time as a trainer Ash" Hilda stated, having watched him almost the whole time. Ash turned to face Hilda and replied "It is. I did say I'm in my fifth region. I'm sure you'll meet at least a few of them in time"
"I look forward to it" Hilda replied.
"So, let's start heading back towards Nuvema Town. We could take the trains, it'll be faster" Hilda said, to which Ash nodded, then they headed out.
It wasn't the easiest to get to the train station, as Ash was giving more autographs out. Hilda herself gave some autographs as well. Eventually, Ash and Hilda reached the train station. Where there were quite a few more people wanting autographs from Ash, which he gladly gave. When the train arrived, Ash and Hilda both got on it. And while they did, briefly, their hands brushed against each other's, though they didn't grasp together.
"Geez, I didn't expect there to be so much fanfare around the Tournament" Ash said, to which Hilda responded "Well, this was the first League Tournament in a good few years that hadn't been interrupted in some way, so of course there'd be a lot of fanfare about it"
"Cool" Ash replied as they both took seats. Pikachu sat on Hilda's lap, and she patted him affectionately.
As they headed back towards Nimbasa City, where they would have to change trains to get back to Nuvema Town, but it was a path back through time. Starting for Ash with his final Gym battle against Drayden in Opelucid City, along with Neo Team Plasma's big subsequent attack. They drove past Icirrus City, a place Ash had never been to but made a mental note to take Hilda here exploring. Then it was Mistralton City, and both Ash's and Hilda's battles against Skyla, and their obtaining of the Jet Badge.
Then they went over Chargestone Cave, for Ash, where he obtained Ferrothorn, back when it was a little Ferroseed.
"Really cool how far Ferroseed's come since he was captured here," Ash said, to which Hilda nodded, and replied "Agreed, he's now a powerful Ferrothorn, and a reliable ally I'm sure"
"That he is" Ash nodded.
Then they went past Mistralton Cave, where Ash got himself Axew, now his devastatingly powerful Haxorus. Then, they reached Driftveil City. And this held a lot of memories, for both Ash and Hilda. Not just meeting Clay and getting the quake badge, but the first battle for Neo Team Plasma, significantly. The first major Tournament had taken place here, and Ash had narrowly won it.
Then, they went on to Route 4, where Ash fished up Frillish, which was now a strong Jellicent.
Then they reached the station at Nimbasa City. And when they got off, they were mobbed, again, so Ash had to sign even more autographs.
"I swear all I've done today, is reminisce about my journey to this point, respond to friends, rivals and professors, and sign autographs" Ash commented as he did. After a few minutes, the crowds thinned, and Ash and Hilda were able to make their connection train, which would take them back to Nuvema Town.
Once Ash and Hilda get onto the next train, more memories come back for both Ash and Hilda. It truly was a reminiscing trip. It was interesting, for both of them, effectively taking a fast trip back in time.
"This trip has truly shown how far we've come on our journey, hey Hilda?" Ash asked, to which Hilda replied "I don't think I realised how far we'd come since starting on our journey"
"It's really cool, honestly" Ash replied, and Hilda smiled and nodded. She snuggled up to Ash, wrapping her arms around him. Ash smiled and wrapped an arm around Hilda. And this time, he took both of Hilda's hands in his own, smiling.
After a while, they returned to Nuvema Town. They broke apart and exited. And immediately, they saw that Hilda was right, there was another big party waiting for them. It seemed like the entirety of Nuvema Town had come out to celebrate.
"See? I told you that people would come out to celebrate" Hilbert said as he approached Ash and Hilda. Close behind was Professor Oak, Professor Juniper, Delia, Hayley, and a lot of other people. Including Cedric Juniper.
"Well, I guess we've got another celebration," Ash said, smiling, to which Hilda, who also was smiling, joined in the party.
Of course, both Ash and Hilda were mobbed for autographs, since both of them were famous in Nuvema Town.
The celebration went for hours, with plenty of food, drink, and dance floors. Ash and Hilda spent the first twenty minutes or so being congratulated on their progress through the tournament.
For Hilda, it was coming out of her brother's shadow and establishing herself as a powerful trainer in her own right. Meanwhile, Ash had shown that he was both powerful enough, and good with tactics, to win in a Tournament setting, which he had struggled to do until this point.
The party went for several hours, and it wasn't until mid-evening before the party broke up. Ash and Hilda found themselves returning to Hilda's house and were sitting in the kitchen, both of them recounting how they felt during their final battles.
"You've done an amazing job, Ash. Not only did you teach Hilda how to be a strong trainer, but you made yourself even stronger" Hayley said, to which Ash replied "Thanks, I'm glad to help"
Hayley then whispered into Ash's ear "Maybe you should take Hilda out on a date shortly", to which ash replied "She's actually planning to take me out on one soon"
"Oh? Are you developing feelings for my daughter?" Hayley asked, to which Ash looked to Hilda, and replied "You know, I'd say I am. She's tough, affectionate, friendly, and a strong trainer who's able to push me. I dig that in a lady"
"Alright. Good luck" Hayley replied, noticing Ash was blushing a bit.
She then turned to Hilda and said "Alright, I think you two had better rest up. You've had big days, and you may have more big days over the next few days"
"Alright. Good Night mom" Hilda said, and she gave Hayley a big hug, before heading to her room. Ash then said "Good night Hayley" and he headed for a spare room.