Welcome Home

"Why do I want to get stronger? Honestly, I just want to be able to protect myself and others…"

That was the answer as to why Mike Snowe had worked himself to the bone for the past ten months. It was the reason he had left home for so long, and it was the reason he was finally returning. As the Magnet Train came to a halt, the words of Uncle Roland replayed in Mike's head.

"Remember, Michael. Body. Mind. Spirit. Keep training all three and I promise, you'll see the results. Remember why you wanted to get stronger and use that as your motivation…"

As stern as Roland had been and as harsh as the training with him was, Mike found himself already missing his old uncle. Even more, he missed the new friends he made while in Cianwood City. Fortunately, his uncle had assured Mike that he was welcomed to come back at any time, an opportunity that he planned on taking during holidays from school. At the very least, he trusted that his surfboard would be kept in good condition in Cianwood.

"Passengers, we have arrived in Saffron City. We hope you have enjoyed your experience on the Magnet Train…"

Mike noticed that his backpack was starting to move and made his way off the train after grabbing his larger duffle bag beneath him. Tying his long hair back in a quick messy bun, Mike took a quick look around the train station. It appeared to be virtually identical to how it had been when he left ten months earlier. However, it felt like an entirely new universe. When he left, Mike had been a citizen of Saffron City. Now, he felt like a tourist, but figured that feeling would go away after he got readjusted.

Searching for the bus schedule, Mike walked around until he found himself standing underneath the skylight. He looked up at the moon and instantly remembered that he was standing in the same place where he had said goodbye to his friend, Elyse McKinley. He thought about her every day while he was in Cianwood and now that he was finally back in Saffron, she was gone. It was almost as if they had traded places. Mike did not have too long to dwell on it once he felt his backpack open. The round, red-orange, head of his newest Pokémon popped out.

"I'm surprised you slept through that whole train ride, Trapinch," Mike said. "Saffron's definitely not Cianwood, but I promise you'll love it."

Trapinch looked puzzled as she observed her new surroundings but did not make a fuss. Mike had been worried about how Trapinch would take the move considering she had been hatched in Cianwood and spent her first few months of life there. Fortunately, it appeared that she was more attached to her trainer than Cianwood City.

After finding the bus schedule, Mike noticed that he had some time to kill before the bus to Starview arrived. Trapinch had already fallen asleep once again which Mike attributed to her being as young as she was.

"Gotta stay productive…" he mumbled to himself.

Mike's uncle had been strict about being idle. Roland had stressed the importance of knowing the difference between relaxing from a hard day's work and slacking off without anything to show for it. Mike imagined that it would be difficult to train his body at the moment since all he could picture was doing pushups in the middle of the station. Training his spirit in the middle of the train station would also present problems since it would be awkward to meditate. However, he could always sit down and read a book.

"Looks like I'm training my mind…"

He had always considered himself a decent student. While Mike's grades were not on par with some of his more studious friends growing up, school had never really been an issue for him. Yet, he was surprised at just how well he processed information when he really put his mind to it. He thought of his uncle's Oranguru and just how much of an advantage being homeschooled was. Having the instructor's undivided attention had been beneficial for his overall learning.

Mike sat down and began rummaging through his backpack for a book, careful not to disturb Trapinch. Grabbing the first book he could reach, Mike gently pulled it out and sat his bag on the empty seat to his right. Quickly scanning over the cover of the book, Mike noticed that it was the one he had received from Roland right before leaving the train station in Goldenrod City.

Evolution: Myths and Mysteries

Mike wondered why his uncle would give him a book on evolution. After Tangela evolved into Tangrowth, most of his team consisted of fully evolved Pokémon. Electabuzz and Trapinch were the only two that could even still evolve so he was confused as to why he needed a book to teach him about a topic that he already knew. After a few seconds of staring at the title, Mike concluded that he would read it anyway, if only to stay productive while he waited for the bus.

In our society, it is generally accepted that evolution is the process in which a Pokémon changes from one form into another. In truth, this process is what is scientifically known metamorphosis. Evolution is a slightly related, but different process…

Mike had barely made it through half the chapter when he decided to check the time on his phone. When he saw that it was time for him to go, he hurriedly jumped from his seat only to crash into what felt like a brick wall. Mike stumbled back and grabbed the armrest of the seat to steady himself.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" a gruff voice asked.

Mike realized that he had hit a person. He looked up to see a tall and well-built man wearing a flat cap and a knit sweater that contrasted against his large frame. The stubble on his face suggested that he may have had brown or possibly red hair. He wore a necklace with a poké ball attached to it and an expensive looking watch, but aside from his size, he was mostly unremarkable.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mike said. "Sorry about that. Sometimes my feet take off before my brain does."

"No problem," the man replied and handed Mike his book. "Evolution: Myths and Mysteries, huh? Good to see a youngster like you reading a book like that. Seems like most kids around your age want to make moves without learning the basics first. Just leads to them having to relearn the same lesson over and over."

"Well, I can't pretend like I always get things right the first time around either," Mike said honestly. "But I'm trying to fix it to where that happens less often."

"Keep at it," the man encouraged. "Just by admitting it, you're already leagues ahead of the kids I work with here. I've been gone for three months, so hopefully they've improved. Anyway, let me stop myself before I start rambling, don't want to hold you up. Name's Icarus by the way."

Icarus extended his massive hand and Mike shook it, noticing the cool-looking tattoos on the man's knuckles. Before he could make them out, he was distracted by the rustling sound of his backpack in the seat. Turning around, he saw that Trapinch had wriggled out and was now crawling on the floor.

"Trapinch!" Mike called out. "Oh, uh, nice meeting you, Icarus!"

He hurriedly grabbed his backpack and duffel bag and dashed after Trapinch. Fortunately, she was not that fast, but that little distraction meant that Mike had to sprint to the bus if he wanted to make it. He scooped Trapinch in his arms and managed to make it to the bus right before the doors closed shut.

"Bus fare," the driver demanded immediately. "And make sure you keep your Pokémon under control, kid."

Mike swiped his card and took a seat. He was unbothered by the rudeness of the bus driver but was slightly irritated at his own rudeness when he realized that he forgot to properly introduce himself to Icarus. Still, Mike knew that it was important not to dwell on it since the man was just a random stranger that he would forget about the next day.

As the bus started moving, Mike's shifted his thoughts to his family. They were expecting him to arrive in the morning, but he wanted to surprise them by arriving earlier. None of his friends were aware that he was coming back at all, and he was unsure of how to even let them know. During his first few months in Cianwood, Mike found it easy to keep in contact with his friends. As the months went on and everyone, Mike included, became busier and busier with their own lives, the communication had severely worsened. It had been three weeks since he last contacted any of his friends and even longer since he had a real conversation with them. He pulled out his phone and skimmed his text messages, noticing that the last friend he had been in contact with was his neighbor, Ellie Morris. He thought about letting her know that he was back but figured that it was only fair that his parents found out first.

"You're going to love Starview," Mike assured Trapinch, but felt like he was trying to reassure himself as well. "Just wait until you meet Mom and Dad…"

Mike stood in the living room of the home he had grown up in, partially deafened by his mother's screams of joy. Dana Snowe ran and hugged her son and Mike was surprised by just how small his mother seemed now. He saw that her sleek dark hair now had a streak of gray in it, but her warm smile was still as beautiful as ever.

"Rick!" she eagerly shouted out his father's name. "Come see the surprise!"

Mike heard the heavy footsteps that undoubtedly belonged to his father. Rick Snowe rushed down the stairs to see what the commotion was about and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Michael…" he uttered in disbelief.

More than anything, Mike wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood. However, nothing came to mind, and he stood face to face with his father unsure of what exactly to say to either of his parents. He realized that he did not need words to make this moment better and simply walked over to his father and embraced him in a hug. It was difficult to do with his mother clinging on to him, but that led to him being able to hug both at one time, so he did not mind it much. The three of them stayed in their group hug for a moment before Mike felt his mother pushing them back.

"You two are crushing me!" she said with a laugh. She turned to Mike and grabbed his face. "I can't believe my baby's a man now!"

"Was it the peach fuzz or the one hair on my chin?" Mike asked, now feeling comfortable enough to joke.

"It's the growth spurt," his father confirmed. "You're almost as tall as me, son."

"And you were worried that the only thing he was going to get from you were those eyebrows," Dana teased her husband. "He looks just like you now…except for the hair. Mikey, sweetheart, it's time for a haircut."

"Uncle Roland couldn't convince me to do it, and neither can you," Mike grinned. "Where's Tori?"

"Sleep," Rick answered. "Or at least she was. Your mother's screaming probably woke your sister up."

"Fair enough," Dana said. "I'll go check on her. You two do whatever father-son stuff you need to do before I get back."

She scampered up the stairs and Mike suddenly remembered that he still needed to tell his older sister, Julie, that he arrived in Saffron earlier than he had planned. He hoped that she would take the time to drop in from Goldenrod but understood that she would likely be busy during her final year in college.

Turning his attention back to his father, Mike noticed that he too had more grays in both the hair on his head and the hair on his face. He could only imagine the amount of stress he had put his parents through during the past year and felt responsible for the fact that they temporarily had to uproot their lives. He had learned that blaming himself for things beyond his control helped no one, but it was a hard habit to break.

"So," Mike started. "I heard Mayor McKinley put you in charge of the team to Marigold Street. Plus, you're teaching architecture at Saffron U now. Congrats, Dad. You've definitely been out here leveling up on me."

"Well, couldn't let you have all the fun," Rick replied while adjusting the glasses on his face. "Besides, we all have to do our part. This city is our home. I'd rebuild it from scratch if I had to."

"Give me a hammer and I'll join you," Mike declared before being distracted by the noise coming from his bag. "Oh man, I almost forgot! There's someone I want to introduce you to."

Mike went over to find Trapinch flipped over her large head unable to get to her feet. It was a habit of hers that Mike had found bothersome at first, but eventually accepted the fact that it would be an issue until she evolved. Picking her up, he brought Trapinch over to his father.

"So, this was the egg that hatched?" his father inspected. "You found it in the Johto Safari Zone, right?

Mike nodded his head. There was more to the story on how he ended up with Trapinch's egg, but he felt it would be more appropriate to discuss it after he had been home for a while longer.

"I'm trying to let her stay out of her poké ball more often until she gets used to Saffron," he explained before recalling Trapinch to her ball. "But she bites sometimes, and her jaws are huge. Considering there's a toddler living in this house, I'll have to take Trapinch outside when I can."

The doorbell suddenly rang, and Rick started towards the door only to stop midway.

"I think I know who it is," he said. "Why don't you answer it?"

Mike gave his father a puzzled look but went to open the door anyway. His face dropped when he laid eyes on the visitor. The boy was around his age, but much taller, well over six feet. His once black hair was now its natural light brown color and his dark eyes were dancing with life. The leather jacket he donned did little to hide his muscular build.

"Loki…" he uttered not unlike his father had done when he had arrived.

"Mike?!" Loki Del Grove practically screamed. "Mike?! Oh shit!"

"Language!" Rick chided but was drowned out by the uproar that the two teenage boys were making.

"Damn, I've missed you!" Loki shouted and gave Mike a bear hug so tight that he thought his spine was going to shatter.

"What are you doing here, Loki?!" Mike asked, making no effort to show how excited he was to see one of his best friends after so long apart.

"Your dad let me borrow some car wax for my new ride," he told him before squeezing Mike's right shoulder. "But forget about me. Tell me about these gains! I know it's not just from surfing and parkour."

"Rock climbing," Mike explained. "Some friends I met in Cianwood got me into it. Lots of cliffs to climb there. Oh, and the training from hell my uncle put me through. But that's nothing compared to you. How did you get so huge?!"

Loki had always been the tallest person in their friend group, but now he had muscle to go along with that height. If it was not for his comical personality, most people would find him intimidating. He turned sixteen a week earlier and the very first thing he did was get a car.

"Everyone took training seriously after you left," he said with a shrug. "Me and Rhyperior are always working out." He fiddled with the white puka shell necklace that Mike was wearing and snickered. "What's with the man bun, bro? You look like a beach bum."

"You're one to talk," Mike shot back with a laugh. "You finally stopped dyeing your hair, but now you're wearing that leather jacket like you're some sort of badass. I think I still have that picture of you from second year with your tongue frozen to the flagpole."

"Hey, I was a child then," Loki defended himself. "I'm a man now and this jacket and my new car represent that. Speaking of which, dude you gotta let me take you for a ride. It'll give us plenty of time to catch up."

"Can I go, Dad?" Mike asked. "Just around the neighborhood. I'll be back in less than thirty minutes."

"As long as you boys stay in the neighborhood," his father said. "And as long as you're back in thirty minutes. Your mother is going to want to celebrate tonight. Loki, please remember the speed limit."

"Nothing to worry about, Mr. Snowe," Loki told him. "I'll have Mike back here safe and sound…"

Mike's vision went blurry, and he felt his voice go hoarse from all the screaming that he was doing in the passenger's seat of Loki's new car. The sound of the engine revving made his ears pop as Loki continued making doughnuts in the empty parking lot. Once he was satisfied with the circular tracks that he had left in the lot, Loki hit the breaks and Mike felt his body jerk.

"Alright, enough!" he laughed. "My brain's going to turn into jelly."

"Fine," Loki agreed. "Your man bun's coming loose anyway."

"Very funny," Mike said and checked the mirror just to be sure. "Anyway, stop stalling. Tell me how everyone is. I'm dying to know."

"Look, Mike," Loki began. "A lot has changed since last year. Not to say that things have been bad…just that they've been different. Like the whole environment of the school has changed. Chaubs is gone and Kroft is the principal now. Drake is captain of the battle team and-"

"Drake?" Mike interrupted.

"Yeah," Loki finished. "He and Garchomp have been unstoppable. We've won our first three games because of them. Johnny Hawkins got kicked off the team last year and Tyler West transferred schools. Drake was made captain and now he's like the king of the school."

"What about Ellie?" Mike asked curiously. "She's on the team with you guys, what has she been up to?"

"Man…" Loki trailed off. "Ellie's in this…weird new relationship now. You'll have to find out about it from her though, she was really specific on wanting to be the one to share the details with you when you came back."

Mike thought about what Loki was saying. Drake had always been a skilled battler, but it was still a surprise to hear him referred to as the "king of the school." The last thing he heard from Ellie was that she evolved Kadabra into Alakazam. She had not even mentioned any sort of relationship nor had she posted any pictures with a significant other on social media. It was possible that Loki was exaggerating, but Mike could not be completely sure.

"What about…Relena?" he forced himself to ask, his voice shaky. "I haven't heard from her since I left, and she never returned any of my messages…"

"She came out the hospital about three months after you left," Loki explained. "She's doing better with therapy, but she kind of keeps the rest of us at arm's length now. We don't hang out all the time like we did, none of us do. You were kind of like the glue now that I think about it."

Things were going to be different when he returned, Mike had already accepted that months ago. Still, it was a surprise to hear just how different things were. Even now, thinking about his ex-girlfriend left a bitter taste in his mouth. His actions had impacted Relena the most and he had been completely unaware until it was too late. From the suddenly solemn look on Loki's face, Mike could tell that even he was upset that he had to tell him what was currently going on with their friends.

"Have you heard from Elyse?" he asked.

"As far as I know, she and her sister were still in Hoenn," Loki replied. "That fire on Marigold Street would've burned down the whole district if it weren't for Amelie, but they just left Saffron the day after. They weren't even here when their dad became mayor. I'll tell you what. Having you and Elyse gone sucked big time."

"I'm back now," Mike said. "And I'm going to fix everything that I messed up."

"Lilly's having a party tomorrow," Loki said. "I know Ellie and Drake will be there. Could be a good way to reconnect."

"Lilly Acres?" Mike questioned. "Quiet and shy, Lilly Acres? She's throwing a party?"

"I told you a lot has changed…"

"Tangrowth, sleep powder!"

A bright, light-pink light formed in between Tangrowth's hands. The indigo powder with light-blue and pink sparkles in was released from the light and surrounded Ursaring. The large bear Pokémon fell to the ground in a deep slumber and Loki quickly recalled him to his ball.

"Not bad," he said as Mike and Tangrowth high-fived. "You should try out for the team. Battling in your backyard is fun, but it's a whole different feeling when you're out there on the field."

"I tried out for the team three years ago, remember?" Mike replied. "Coach Cortez made me the mascot because he saw me doing backflips while he was waiting for me to try out."

"But that was a long time ago," Loki said. "You'll definitely make it now. Besides, we already have a new mascot. I mean, he's not as good as you, but-"

"Wait!" Mike interrupted. "They replaced me?"

"Uh, yeah," Loki replied. "Your reign as Polly the Poliwhirl is over, what a tragedy. You hated being the mascot, so what's the issue?"

"I guess nothing…" Mike muttered.

"Well, I promised Esther I'll take her to get some food," Loki told him. "It was good catching up with you, bro. Let me know if you need a ride to Lilly's party tomorrow."

Loki walked out the gate leaving Mike alone in his backyard with Tangrowth. The grass Pokémon had gone to admire the garden, much like he had done as Tangela while Mike contemplated the news he had received. He hated being the school mascot for years, Loki was right about that. The costume was silly, and it was the main reason he had been bullied by Craig Kelton for so long. Despite that, he put his heart and soul into his performance at the battle games, even going so far as to create his signature gloves that sprayed bubbles at the audience. Being the mascot had been a part of his identity, but that was no longer the case.

"Everything okay out here, son?" Mike heard his father's voice.

"Yeah…" he answered. "I think…?"

As he recalled Tangrowth and followed his father into the house, Mike Snowe had one question on his mind.

"Has everything really changed?"

A/N: Welcome home, Mike! Ten months away and he's finally back at home. Looks like there's a lot going on with everyone under the surface, so we'll just have to see just what is going on. Next chapter, we're going back to multiple P.O.V.s, but this one was mainly focused on Mike to get him back into the story.

The P.O.V. character for this chapter was Mike Snowe.

As always, feel free to PM me or come to the forums to chat.

Until next time!