Chapter 3: Off to a New World!
Ash thought about all of the times he had spent with his friends as he sat on Pigeot, who had finally rejoined his team. The soft beating of the bird Pokémon's wings lulled Ash as he watched Kanto fade into the distance. He was off to Hoenn, which was only accessible by flight, as it was surrounded by sharp rocks and steep cliffs. He wondered what had happened to break his little group up. It seemed to just happen all of a sudden. First Gary began spreading rumors, then his friends got confused, and soon all three were lost in madness started from simple false rumors. Now Brock and Misty were gone, and they weren't coming back- at least not anytime soon.
Pigeot squawked as he softly landed in one of the small towns of Hoenn, and Ash jumped off.
"Thanks, pal," he patted Pigeot on the neck, who cooed in return, "I'll whistle if I need your help again, okay?" Pigeot squawked and took off into the blue sky.
Suddenly, a girl about Ash's age ran out of a nearby building.
"Bye, Daddy!" she called into the structure, "I'm going to make sure Slash knows what he's doing!" She ran past Ash, pulling out a pokéball from her belt, "Altaria, go!" She tossed the ball into the air, which sent out a light that soon became the cloudy bird pokémon. The girl jumped on and flew away. Ash's memory sparked at the mention of the name Slash, but he couldn't figure out why the name rung a bell; he had never met anyone named Slash in his life!
"Good-bye, honey!" a man called out of the door, watching his daughter soar over the trees. Looking down, he noticed Ash, "Oh, you must be Ash! I've heard a lot about you from Prof. Oak! Come in the lab, I've got something for you!"
"Prof. Birch?" Ash replied, "Looks like I came just in time!" The two walked into the lab, where Ash observed the high-tech equipment like he had seen in Prof. Oak's lab.
"So, you actually beat Giovanni?" Birch flipped through some papers, taking some out, and putting others away in various compartments in his desk, "Congratulations! You'll have no problem getting around Hoenn!"
"Yeah," Ash responded, glancing over the many new species of Pokémon he saw on posters and computer screens, "I was hoping you could enlighten me on some of the new Pokémon I'll be finding around here."
"Sure," Prof. Birch beamed, "In fact, I have something to give you. First of all, I'll upgrade your pokedex," Prof. Birch took the computerized index of the creatures and plugged it into one of his computers, "Second, come with me," he motioned for Ash to follow, and headed toward the back of the lab, "So, how old are you now, Ash? Fifteen? Sixteen?"
"Fifteen last month," Ash replied, looking around at the shelves of pokéballs containing various pokémon.
"Here's what I wanted to give you," Prof. Birch handed Ash a pokéball, "This is Torchic, a fire pokémon. I was going to let you choose between her, Mudkip, and Treecko, but I let Slash take Mudkip, and Amy wanted Treecko to battle him with." Again, the name Slash made Ash think. Did he know this guy? Ash didn't think so.
"That's fine, Prof. Birch," Ash replied, "That just means I'll be able to start over in Hoenn, and catch more new pokémon!" Taking the pokéball, Ash sent out Torchic, who immediately snuggled up next to him. Memories flashed through his head. I got Pikachu because he was all that was left too… I hope the doctors back in Viridian can save him…
"She seems to like you," the professor smiled. Hopefully not like Bayleef, Ash thought with a grin.
"Well, thanks, Professor Birch!" Ash returned Torchic and began to leave, "You've been a great help. I'll see you around."
"Oh, and Ash?" Prof. Birch followed him out, "If you see Amy or May, my daughters, tell them I said to keep out of trouble, okay?" Ash nodded, then walked out the door into the daylight, covering his eyes from the sudden brightness. Heading out, Ash followed the road to the nearest town.
So begins a new adventure, Ash thought to himself, It's like I'm ten years old, all over again. The thought made him smile.