Hello?

Garnick?

The one and only!

What are you doing?

Checking up on you. Mysterious is going nuts over here.

Tell her not to worry and that I'm fine.

So, you're finally home.

Wait a minute! What are you doing contacting me through dreams!

Yesh! Pipe down! With the council gone, I can do this all I want.

Rigggght. Just don't do this all the time. I would like to dream you know

Like you would have any good dreams.

What? Why you-

Just kidding! Boy, did you lose your sense of humour on the way over there?

Na. I lost it when I got here. I'm in a world of stress

Stressed? What do you have to be stressed about over there?

One word for you. Paparazzi

What?

I'm about as famous here as I am there.

Oh you pooooor guy. I was just hoping you would know when you would be coming back.

How should I know? It's unpredictable. Remember?

All right then, do you want me to send you the stone of regen? It might come in handy.

I don't think I need it just yet. Keep it safe for me.

If you say so. Don't get yourself killed over there. You still owe me a game of spell toss.

HAHAHA. You know I will

You know where to find me.

Talk to you again soon then.


"Wake up!" Ash turned over on the couch and snored louder. Brock couldn't believe it was Ash. Then again, Ash could always sleep when he wanted to. "Ash!" Misty growled again.

"Just five more minutes Bracken." Ash mumbled in his sleep. Misty and Brock had the same reaction. The look that they gave each other was who's Bracken?

"Pikachu? Thundershock!" Misty ordered. Pikachu was in the same boat Ash was in and turned over as well. "Fine then! Starmie! Watergun!" A spray of water poured over the sleeping pair and they immediately reacted. Ash jumped over the back of the couch and landed with a thud as Pikachu did a thunderbolt attack that knocked out Starmie.

"What the?" Ash collected his wits and peered from behind the couch and moaned. Misty and Brock were wide-eyed and staring at Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu looked very embarrassed at the moment and let out a sheepish chuuu.

"Ash! What did you do that for?" Brock growled. Ash squirmed from behind the couch and dusted himself off.

"Sorry. Force of habit. Life attempts usually happen when you sleep you know." Ash sighed and sat down. "It's something I'm going to have to break now if I don't want this to happen everyday." Brock collected himself and smiled.

"So, who's Bracken? A girl?" Brock asked in a teasing mood. Ash's face was priceless and Brock began to laugh.

"NO WAY! Bracken was my sensei on the other world. Toughest guy I ever met." Ash said with a sour face. "You have a one track mind Brock. If it wasn't a Nurse Joy, it was an Officer Jenny. It seems that not everything changes over time."

"Now I'm convinced your Ash." Brock gathered Ash up in a hug and squeezed.

"Brock! I went through this with Misty! Leggo!" A wheezing Ash was set on the floor. "Geez! If everyone I meet is going to crush my ribs, I'm going to become a hermit." Ash said trying to get his breath.

"How are ya little guy?" Brock asked serious. Ash looked from one to the other and sighed.

"How much did she tell you?" Ash moaned. Brock sat down on the chair opposite from Ash.

"Everything you told her." Brock said seriously. "I lost my breakfast Ash and I'm the one with the cast iron stomach." Ash sighed and sat down beside Pikachu on the couch.

"So, you know everything huh? Well, lets just say I'm fine considering what I've been through." Ash scratched behind Pikachu's ears. Brock and Misty stared at the young man they once knew with Pikachu and saw Ash still there.

"So the question is what now?" Misty said interrupting the moment. Ash put on his best grin and gave the pair a wink.

"What else? Go back to pokemon training. Not that I ever stopped really." Ash said with a smile. Misty and Brock both shook their heads at the same time, same old Ash. "I just have a lot more experience and a few more tricks up my sleeve." Brock and Misty saw the glint in his eye and wondered what Ash meant by that.

A week later

"Mom!" Ash ran into his mother's arms. Delilah gasped as a grown man picked her up in a ferocious bear hug.

"Ash!" Delilah squeaked wanting air. Ash set the gasping mother on the ground and smiled.

"Hi mom. What's for dinner?" Ash said smiling. Delilah was crying as she studied the grown boy before her. "I hope you can make extra pizza pot pie for Misty and Brock too." Ash sidestepped to let her look at his friends. Misty and Brock had reverted from the bathing suit queen and up town businessman to the pokemon breeder and water pokemon trainer.

"Hello Mrs. Ketchum." They both greeted at the same time. Delilah smiled as she choked back the tears. They had all met up at her favorite café and sat down to have a good long talk. Ash and company had agreed that they would tell her nothing of what happened in the other world. They filled Ash in on their lives from the point he left. Ash was impressed at all of their accomplishments.

"You're telling me that ever since the word leaked out to the press that my mother was the Ultimate Trainers mom, you were hounded for six weeks straight." Delilah nodded. "Sorry mom." Ash apologized sheepishly.

"It couldn't be helped. By that time, I was given league help and was able to live off of what they gave me. When I wanted more than just to live by, they made a deal with me." Delilah took a deep breath before continuing. "If I would sell the house to them, they would make sure I was taken care of for the rest of my life and they would put up the house as a historical landsite." Ash was bowled over by this information.

"You mean you sold the house?" Ash gasped. Delilah nodded again. Ash began to laugh hard. "Boy, did you pull one over their eyes mom! I wish I had been there to close the deal!" Ash said between breaths.

"Laugh at it if you will but that house is a major tourist attraction!" Misty growled. That shut Ash up quickly.

"You're kidding!" Ash said in disbelief. "I mean it's just a house!"

"That the Ultimate Trainer lived in." Brock added. Ash saw their point and shut up. "If word got out that you finally have shown your face, well…lets just say you wouldn't like it." Ash was about to say something when he noticed something.

"Why is there a shadow cast over this table on a sunny day?" Ash growled. Misty and Brock looked up to see an all to familiar balloon in the sky.

"Prepare for trouble!" came a female voice from above.

"And make it double!" echoed her male cohort

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth, that's right!" The balloon landed directly on the group's table and Ash backed off perturbed.

"Delilah Ketchum! You're coming with us!" Growled an older Jessie. Jessie was holding an automatic with clips attached to her belt instead of pokemon. James pointed another gun at the crowd.

"No one move or the mother of the Ultimate Trainer gets it!" James growled.

"You guys have the worst timing ever." Misty growled. The trio finally recognized Misty and Brock and were shocked.

"Well, well! It's a three for one deal here! I like dis restaurant already!" Meowth said grinning. "Yous guys are coming with us too. Get in!" Meowth barked.

"No one is going anywhere. 'Cept maybe you guys blasting off again." Ash sneered. "Pikachu, give these guys a taste of electricity." Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and gave the old team rocket a thunderbolt attack.

"Aaaaaaah!" The trio yelled as they were electrocuted.

"I know that attack!" Meowth moaned. Meowth got up from the charred floor and saw Pikachu staring right back at him. "WAAAA! It's the ghost of Pikachu!" Pikachu and Ash both sweatdropped.

"I'm not dead you numbskull!" Pikachu growled. Meowth wasn't convinced and leapt back into the balloon.

"What?" Jessie and James looked up to see their attackers and gasped.

"It-it-it's the Twerp!" James said in a squeak.

"It can't be!" Jessie gasped. "It's not possible."

"You leaving or should I give the boot myself?" Ash said interrupting their thoughts.

"I won't believe it!" Jessie yelled. "It's not him! It can't be!" Jessie reached for her gun and let a round of ammo go. Misty, Brock and Ms. Ketchum screamed at the same time.

"NOO!" The bullets hit nothing but air. Jessie gasped and looked around for her target. A whistle came from behind her and she turned around to see a face sneering at her.

"Screech!" Jessie jumped five feet in the air and pointed the trigger at Ash. Again, the bullet hit nothing but air but barely missed her partner.

"Jessie!" James growled. "Watch it!" Before anything else happened, Ash heard sirens.

'Uh oh!' Ash thought in a moan. 'If that is who I think it is, I might blow my identity to the public! I have to get rid of these guys and fast!'

"Pikachu! Thunder! Let's send these guys blasting off again!" With a nod from Pikachu, there was a horrendous crackle in the air.

"Pikaaaachuuuuuuu!" A large bolt of electricity found it's mark and blasted the trio away. After being successfully blasted off, Officer Jenny took the time to interview the savior of the most famous woman in the entire world.

"Now, who was it that attacked you?" Officer Jenny asked the raven-haired young man.

"Their names are Jessie, James and Meowth of team rocket." Ash answered truthfully. Ash was a little bit nervous by the way the officer reacted to the news.

"NO WAY! You're telling me that you beat the Jessie James and Meowth of team rocket? With just your Pikachu? That's phenomenal! What's your name?" She asked. Ash felt his stomach do a thousand jumping jacks! He gave a help me here look to his friends. Brock obliged happily.

"My name is Brock. Brock Slate. Perhaps you've heard of me." Brock said in a goofy voice. Ash was bumped to the side so he could sneak away from the question. Ash walked outside the café and waited for the rest of his gang to be turned loose from questioning.

"That was a close one huh Pikachu?" Ash said in a relieved voice. Pikachu nodded and watched as the traffic went by. Ash didn't notice the person walking up behind him. Richie walked up behind a fellow trainer and tapped him on the shoulders making the trainer jump five feet in the air. "Don't do that!" Ash growled at the stranger.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was wondering if you knew what happened here concerning the attempted kidnapping on The Ultimate Trainers mother." Ash felt a sweat drop form on the back of his head and sighed.

"I was there. What do you want to know?" Ash asked in a small voice. Richie thought that this guy was familiar and decided to let him in on the secret.

"I'm a friend of the family. I was wondering if Ash's mother is alright." Ash gave the stranger a closer look.

"Who are you?" Ash asked curious.

"Oh! My names Richie." Richie had a case of the deja vuu as he looked at the trainer before him. Black spiky hair, a Pikachu on his shoulder and zigzag birthmarks under his eyes. "And you are?"

"Nice to see you Richie!" Ash thought that this was a nice surprise. "It's been a while! When was the last time we spoke? Just before the tournament? I never thought I would see you again so soon." Ash said with a grin. Richie gave Ash a disbelieving look.

"No way!" Ash smile grew even bigger.

"Yes way! Nice to be home finally! So, how are Sparky and your other pokemon? Abra's doing fine and is a bit grumpy now that we're finally home." Richie laughed and gave Ash a quick once over.

"Man Ash! You sure grew up a lot! I didn't recognize you. When did you get back?" Richie said smiling.

"I decided to er- drop in on Misty first. Things went from there." Ash said unsure.

"Misty huh? I bet you made a big splash with her." Richie said grinning. Ash blushed a bit and almost said you have no idea. Before the conversation could go any further, Ash spotted the group heading their way.

"Look what I found!" Ash said smiling. Misty, Delilah and Brock ignored Richie and began to ask questions.

"Alright you! Freeze!" Misty growled. Ash sweatdropped at the tone of voice she was using and turned blue in fear.

"What did I do?" Ash said as Misty grabbed the front of his shirt. Misty got into Ash's personal space and began to shake him.

"What kind of freaky stunt did you pull off in there Ash Ketchum?"

"Can't breath!" Ash moaned.

"Answer me!" Misty growled. Ash sighed and whispered something not audible. Suddenly Misty was holding nothing but air. "What?" Misty whispered. Suddenly two hands came from behind her and covered her eyes. There was a definite gasp from behind Ash.

"Guess who?" Ash said playfully. Misty swung around in a roundhouse punch, which hit nothing but air. Misty looked around to see no sign of Ash again.

"Ash what's going on?" Delilah addressed behind Misty. Misty looked behind her again and saw a toothy grin. Richie, Brock and Delilah were in total shock.

"It's a new trick up my sleeve right Pikachu?" The Pikachu on his shoulder sighed and nodded yes. "See? Nothing to worry about?"

"I'll give you something to worry about here in a second. Come'ere!" Misty growled. Ash saw the look on her face and about faced.

"Exit stage left!" Ash ran down the street with Misty in hot pursuit. Brock, Richie and Delilah sweatdropped and sighed.

"Wait for me!" Brock roared after the pair.

"Same old Ash." Richie joked.

Meanwhile.

"Are you sure our agents are in place?" Growled an older Giovonni. The scientist rocket member nodded and quivered at the sound of his master's laugh. "Good! It's time I finally took my rightful place as the leader of the pokemon league and the world!"

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or anything related to pokemon. Pokemon and its associated characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak. This is a pokemon fanfic created by my mind only.