"C'mon Chi-Chi, can't we just fly there?" Goku asked his wife.
Chi-Chi, who was sitting on a chair, looked at Goku with an annoyed expression.
"We are flying there..." She replied in slight frustration.
"Yeah...but-"
"No buts!" Chi-Chi interrupted the saiyan.
The Son family with Ash and Pikachu in tow, were flying in a large yellow hovercraft with the logo of the world's most prestigious company, Capsule Corp.
At the wheel of the aircraft was a blue-haired woman who had picked them up from the mountains to bring them to Capsule Corp. She had a plain white t-shirt on and a pair of thigh-length grey jeans. She turned to face the saiyan.
"Yeah, come on Goku, if you don't slow down once in a while, you'll miss a lot of what you could see." She said philosophically.
"But Bulma...I really wanted to race Ash there..." Goku whined. Hearing this, Ash and Pikachu chuckled.
"Technically, I would have needed to let you win so I knew where to go in the first place." Ash commented.
Stopping his whining at Ash's logic, Goku chuckled in realization.
"Heehee! Oh yeah, well...next time maybe?" He asked, causing Ash to grin and give the saiyan a thumb's up.
After the two had returned to the Son residence, everyone's attention was instantly on Ash and Pikachu. Their return was a big deal to the family, seeing him come back from over a year of intensive training.
It felt nice to ruffle Goten's hair again, or exchange a fist bump with Gohan. and he really enjoyed the hug he got from Chi-Chi.
Over time in this world, Ash came to view the Sons' as his surrogate family. It truly felt like he had come home after they had arrived. Goten asked if Ash had any cool stories to share, just like a younger brother, while Gohan was complimenting how strong he'd gotten, like an older brother, and Goku and Chi-Chi watched with warm smiles, just like a mother and father.
The next few hours had Ash recounting all the cool experiences he had while training with King Kai. He of course left out anything that he wanted to keep a surprise for later, like his Instant Transmission or his new Kamehameha variant, but he did tell them that he learnt the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb.
Goku smiled at Ash's progress and clapped him on the shoulder.
He said that Ash needed to be careful with those techniques, to which the trainer replied that he had it all under control.
After the hours had been whittled away, a Capsule Corp. plane had landed in front of the Son residence and Bulma had emerged to pick the family up for the celebration that Goku mentioned. She almost didn't recognise Ash and it was only when Pikachu had jumped onto his shoulder that Bulma realised that it was the trainer from a while ago.
After exchanging greetings, everyone got on the plane to head to Capsule Corp. which lead to the previous exchange.
"Well, we'll be there in about twenty minutes, so keep your head on." Bulma joked as she returned her attention to the wheel.
With that line, the flight went by for the next two minutes silently, until...
"Are we there yet?"
"Seriously Goku!" Chi-Chi cried.
Within the next twenty minutes, Ash, Pikachu, Gohan, Goten, Chi-Chi and Goku with a bump on his head, exited the hovercraft.
They were met with a large open space, green grass growing all around, and a pleasant breeze ruffling their hair. There were a bunch of tables and chairs strewn around. Some of the tables were long and meant for a great number of people, while some of them were round and only meant for a few. The giant domed Capsule Corp. building loomed over the area.
Some of the invitees were already there.
Obviously, the first two that were there was Vegeta and Trunks. The father and son duo lived there after all, so they really had no excuse not to be there.
Another person there was Master Roshi, the old man that Ash met when he was training the Kamehameha.
A teenage girl was helping to set up the numerous tables around the area. Ash was about to ask her name, but then when he saw Gohan approach her, and then seeing them both happily converse with each other was more than an indication that girl was Videl, Gohan's girlfriend.
The final person was...wait, was he even a person? Out of all the people that Ash had met in this world so far, besides King Kai, this guy looked the strangest. His skin was a deep green, his biceps and wrists were pink, with lines running down them, and his ears were pointed. He wore a pair of brown boots and a dark-purplish gi with a red sash tied around his waist. On top of that, he wore a white cape that poked out from the shoulders. He also wore a turban that had the same shade of purple as his fighting uniform at the top.
He stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, his cape fluttering in the breeze. Ash could tell that person's turban and cape weighed much more than usual, he assumed it was for training.
"Uh...hey Goku, who's that guy?" Ash asked, looking to Goku. He was extremely shocked when he heard a deep and gruff voice respond.
"Piccolo's the name, kid." It said.
Ash gasped as he realised it was the same guy he asked about, just a couple feet behind him. He had moved without Ash noticing, which placed him on a pretty high level.
"B-But...how did you...?"
"Hear you? A Namekian's hearing is the most advanced in the universe. I can hear events from the other side of the world if I wanted to." Piccolo explained.
Goku, who'd noticed the interaction, broke into the conversation.
"Oh, hey! Ash, this is Piccolo, a namekian. Piccolo, this here's Ash Ketchum, and he's my student."
This caused the Namekian's eyes to widen. Goku had taken on a student? With a look of suspicion, he closed his eyes and tried to sense Ash's energy. However, he couldn't find it, even though he was standing really close.
"I'm suppressing my energy, it's a kind of training that King Kai helped me with. If I suppress my energy to a point where others can't sense it, my ki can become much easier to control, and help my reserves of ki grow." Ash explained.
Piccolo was shocked upon realizing that this kid trained with King Kai. He was much younger than Goku was when he went to train under him.
Regaining his composure, Piccolo turned to Goku.
"So, how long has Ash been training?" He asked.
With a chuckle, Goku crossed his arms and spoke with a prideful voice.
"He's trained for a little over a year now, he came back today and he fought me."
Piccolo chuckled.
"And let me guess, you beat him like an egg?"
To Piccolo's shock, Goku shook his head.
"Nope! Well, I mean, if I was serious, I would. But Ash was able to make me resort to Super Saiyan." He replied.
That alone made Piccolo lose any remaining composure.
"H-He WHAT?" The namekian cried.
Sure, the power level of Super Saiyan had been transcended time and time again, from Super Vegeta, to Ultimate Gohan, to Super Saiyan Three. But the lone stage of a Super Saiyan was still a legendary transformation. To make Goku resort to that in less of a year of training was insane!
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that..." Ash commented. He had been asking himself exactly what happened ever since Goku's abrupt transformation.
"What exactly is a Super Saiyan, or an ordinary Saiyan for that matter?" He asked.
"Hm? You mean you didn't tell him?" Piccolo asked.
Goku's face had a sudden look of realization on it.
"Oh yeah, I guess I never did." He said bashfully, giggling as he scratched the back of his head.
Goku then went on to tell Ash and Pikachu something he honestly should've mentioned earlier.
"Ya see, I'm kind of an alien..."
"What!?/Pika!?"
Goku explained his entire story about his saiyan heritage, from exactly what the saiyans were before being wiped out, to being sent to Earth as a baby to conquer it, to bumping his head and forgetting his mission and eventually when his elder brother Raditz came to Earth and informed Goku of his roots.
He also went into detail about how he first went Super Saiyan in a fit of rage after Frieza killed his best friend, Krillin. Ash and Pikachu listened intently to Goku's retelling of the intense battle that literally shattered an entire planet. He then told Ash that both problems were resolved with the use of the Dragon Balls.
Piccolo nearly facepalmed when Ash asked what the Dragon Balls were. Did Goku teach this kid anything besides fighting?
Piccolo took over from Goku, explaining that his species, the Namekians, created the Dragon Balls, and a lone namekian came to Earth, soon creating the Dragon Balls. Seven mythical spheres, that, when gathered together, would summon the Eternal Dragon Shenron and grant the gatherer one wish.
That was until that namekian needed to fuse with Piccolo in order to fight a threat to the planet, making the original spheres disappear, requiring a new namekian to be brought in to create a new set of Dragon Balls, which now granted three wishes.
Soon, Ash was all caught up with the main facts about the world that he was in.
"Woah, there was so much I didn't know. Thanks for catching me up guys!" Ash said with a grin.
Goku gave the trainer a thumbs-up while Piccolo gruffly nodded.
"Ash, how about you go and meet some of my friends while me and Piccolo talk?" Goku suggested before he was out of earshot.
Upon hearing this, Ash looked around the clearing. To be totally honest, he didn't really feel too comfortable introducing himself without Goku here.
That problem was solved however when he felt a small tugging on his right pant leg. Looking down, he saw a toddler with wide eyes and a blonde bowl haircut, giggling with an innocent smile.
"Oh, hi there, don't think I've seen you around." A voice said, causing Ash to look up from the toddler.
Standing in front of him were two people, differing in height. They must've arrived while he and Goku were talking to Piccolo.
The first one, a male was shorter than Ash was, coming up to about his chest in height and he just matched the second one, a female in height.
Both of them were wearing quite casual clothing and it seemed that they weren't even fighters. Ash couldn't sense any ki from the woman for some reason, but he did feel the ki coming from the guy.
The woman wore some minimal jewelry and her blond hair grew down to reach her shoulders. The man had a head of black bushy hair, and Ash could faintly see the outline of six dots beneath it.
"Oh, hello. My name's Ash. Ash Ketchum, and this is my buddy, Pikachu." The trainer introduced himself and his partner.
The two smiled at his introduction.
"Nice to meet ya! Name's Krillin." The male said, pointing a thumb at himself.
"I'm 18...my name, not my age." The woman said. She bent down and scooped up the toddler in her arms.
"This is our daughter Marron." She said, a small smile on her face as she softly stroked her daughter's hair.
Ash and Pikachu gave the family a small smile. They seemed like nice and normal parents, if not for one's height and the other's strange name, but Ash didn't bring either issue up to simply be polite.
"You're a friend of Goku's right?" Ash asked, trying to make conversation. Krillin nodded in reply.
"Oh yeah, Goku and I have been good friends since we were kids." He said.
Ash smiled.
"I personally think that friendships that last that long, should last a lifetime, ya know?" He said, looking up at the slightly violet sky, a sure sign that night was fast approaching and the party would get started soon.
"Yeah, I agree with you." Krillin said, letting one of his hands rest on his head.
"But anyway, how have you been? We haven't really heard that much about you ever since Goten's birthday last year." Krillin questioned.
"To be honest, we didn't expect you to stick around for so long." 18 commented.
Ash chuckled in response to this.
"Heh heh...well there were some...complications, so now I stay at Goku's place. He's been nice enough to give us a place to eat and sleep. Plus, he's actually been training me...although he hasn't exactly been doing so recently." He said as he remembered that the last thing Goku taught him was to fire a Kamehameha before dropping him off at Snake Way. Besides showing up occasionally to spar on the serpent shaped road, Goku didn't really train him at all for the past eight months.
"...But he couldn't exactly train me the way he wanted with how strong he is and how weak I was, so I guess Goku's training is gonna pick back up and be as tough as ever." Ash said, clenching a fist in front of his face in determination.
The toddler in 18's arms giggled. It seemed that Ash's attitude was infectious.
Looking to his daughter with a smile, Krillin glanced at the trainer.
"Well, best of luck to you Ash, and I wish ya the best." He said.
Sensing the conversation was over, Ash gave Krillin nod before he pulled away and looked around. The area had been filled with a bunch of people now. The first one to catch his eyes was a man wearing a burgundy gi with a white belt tied around the waist, his most noticeable features being his curly black afro and his thick horseshoe moustache. He was letting out triumphant laughter with his fists on his hips while talking to Videl.
Why did that sight seem so familiar?
Ash and Pikachu were very confused when they saw what they could only describe as a massive sentient piece of pink bubble gum wearing peculiar clothes and munching on a candy bar standing next to the laughing man. What truly shocked Ash was the amount of ki he could sense practically rolling off the pink guy, it was almost on par with Goku's and obviously easily trumped his own.
Ash, deciding that a bit of insight into who they were would be important before introducing himself, made his way over to Goku, who had just finished up his conversation with Piccolo.
"Hey, Goku?" Ash said, getting the attention of the saiyan.
"Huh? Yeah, Ash, what's up?" he asked.
Looking over at the pink person and afro guy, he pointed towards them.
"Who're they? I can sense huge amounts of energy from the pink guy, but pretty much nothing from the other guy." Ash said.
Goku looked over to the duo.
"Oh, those two? The one with the hair is named Hercule Satan. He's the World Martial Arts Champion, but compared to us, he's actually pretty weak. He actually helped us out a lot though when Majin Buu was around. He's probably the sixth strongest human that I know. He took credit for beating one of our foes about eleven years ago, when it was really Gohan. He became a celebrity and titled the 'World's Strongest Man' He did the same thing with Majin Buu too actually." Goku explained.
Ash and Pikachu's eyes widened.
"Wha-!? How is that fair, he's weak, but he says that he beat planet- busting monsters when it was really you guys? The nerve of that jerk!" Ash said, clenching his fists while Pikachu's cheeks sparked angrily.
"H-Hey! Hey, I said he helped out with Majin Buu, didn't I?" Goku quickly responded, holding his hands up in front of him to try and placate the enraged trainer.
"Plus, we don't really care for the fame and fortune that Hercule has. I care about the thrill of the fight that comes with locking fists with another opponent!" Goku said.
Ash and Pikachu both let out a sigh and calmed down. If Goku didn't mind, who was he to mind?"
"So, uh, who's the pink one?" Ash asked.
"Oh, he's the good side of Majin Buu." Goku replied in a casual tone.
"Say WHAT?!/Chu PIKA?!" Both Ash and Pikachu cried in alarm as the evil entity that had been talked about by Goku was in fact here right now.
"Whoa! Whoa! Let me explain first!" Goku quickly interjected before the duo could get too panicky.
"You see, Majin Buu split into two halves when that buffoon Hercule was hurt. One a side of death and destruction, and the other half, that one you see right there. A childlike persona with the ability to destroy the galaxy."
Goku and Ash turned to see that it was Piccolo who was the one elucidating the situation, apparently having recovered from the shocking news about Ash and Pikachu being from another dimension.
"Hercule befriended Buu, and so, when he was injured, Buu released an insane amount of anger and malice, creating his evil counterpart. That manifestation absorbed Buu and became the dominant side. He killed nearly every human on Earth. When he was pushed too far, he spat out his pure hearted counterpart, who provided his aid in the fight. It was by many miracles that we were able to beat him." Piccolo explained, closing his eyes as he remembered the sheer horror that they went through back when the maniacal demon ran amok.
Ash and Pikachu shivered as they heard that story. It was honestly quite terrifying just to imagine something like that.
"But now Majin Buu's a good guy, but he is basically a child that only listens to Hercule." Goku said.
As if to prove his point, they heard Hercule going off his head about how Buu couldn't indulge in the food yet, much to his displeasure.
Ash chuckled as Buu eyed some of the food that was placed on the tables before his attention was suddenly taken by seeing Ash. With a cheerful hum, Buu strode his way over to the trainer, walking like he just did something to be proud of. Hercule followed behind him to make sure he didn't misbehave.
Eventually, the pink blob made arrived at the spot in front of Ash. Upon observation, Ash could see that he was just a head shorter than Buu, not counting the antennae on top of his head, but it felt like Buu was towering over him. That was something impressive concerning the innocent smile he had on his face.
"Buu not know you." He said eventually. Leaning in close, Buu inspected Ash like it was an interrogation, trying to see if he recognized the person in front of him. However, all he was doing was making the trainer feel uncomfortable by invading his personal space.
"H-Hi Mr. Buu...I-I'm Ash Ketchum..." Ash greeted lamely.
"Hm...? Ash...Ketchum...?" The pink blob repeated curiously. He lulled his head from side to side, one of his yellow gloved hands on his chin...or at least where a chin was supposed to be. Everyone watched as Buu continued to, what they were assuming, think.
Suddenly, Buu stuck his finger in the air.
"AHA! Buu is gonna call you Ashy!"
Meanwhile...
A spiky-brown haired teen threw away another piece of rubble from the ruins that were once the famous Celestic Town. Among other volunteers, he was helping to search for some survivors. Funny that a place famous for its historical ruins, became a ruin. The town had been destroyed by the destructive power of whatever had been terrorizing the world a few days ago. Whatever was destroying these cities and towns seemed to do so in a random order, not following any pattern. All of it to find one thing and one thing only.
Ash Ketchum.
"Excuse me?"
A voice hit the teen's ears as he stopped picking up the debris and looked to see where the voice came from. His eyes widened when he realised just who it was.
Walking towards him was the Champion of the entire Sinnoh region herself.
"M-Miss Cynthia?" The words stumbled out of the teen's mouth, as if his brain almost stopped the words from escaping. The sound of his Electivire tossing a large piece of rubble aside to discover a barely alive nine-year-old girl broke him out of his stupor.
"You're Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak, correct?" Cynthia asked, watching as a few people and pokemon rush to aid the poor girl.
"I am." Gary replied simply.
"I...I appreciate someone as important as you aiding us, I can't thank you enough." Cynthia looked down, muttering in an audible tone.
This made Gary sigh. It was tough to see Cynthia look so...crestfallen. She stood above the whole region with a calm and powerful, but kind demeanor. To see that crack would demoralize the entire region in this trying time, so it was a front that she had to keep up.
Even when she was walking through the ruins of her own hometown...
That kind of horrible anguish that would come from someone's hometown being destroyed along with friends, relatives and even just the same faces you may see once or twice a day when in a place like Celestic Town. That was something that truly broke her.
It was painful, to pretend like it didn't hurt her. People like her parents and Professor Carolina, lost to a single blast that killed and destroyed almost everything.
The war with whoever it was that was killing them needed to end, and it needed to end soon, with them as victors, no matter how improbable it may be.
"Gary..." Cynthia began, looking at the pokemon researcher.
"Huh? Yeah, what is it?" He asked.
Cynthia slightly hesitated, she didn't want this question to be interpreted the wrong way. She knew the amount of stuff Ash has on his plate, after all, including, but not pertaining to a certain sealed psychopath.
"This guy, whoever's doing this...do you have any idea why he wants to find Ash?" She asked.
Gary blinked and put his hand to his chin in a thinking position.
"I'm clueless, anyone who would have it out for Ash couldn't just wipe out all these places. It's been a year since he showed up and we've lost about thirty towns and cities. Something like that can't just vanish and move to the next town unhindered. Someone should see something other than a black speck in the sky. No, whoever this is, I'm pretty sure that neither Ash nor I know him." Gary replied, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in thought.
Cynthia nodded. "I suppose you're right...but if I know Ash as well as I think, wouldn't he have come out to face this person by now, even if he knew he was going to die?" Cynthia commented.
"Uh huh...you're right...Ashy would definitely do that, no doubt about it...and that's why it's so suspicious...What has happened to Ash that would render him unable to show himself...?" Gary wondered out loud.
He then looked up at the grey sky, it seemed like there was a lot of grey skies nowadays.
"That's not the only thing I'm worried about..." Gary looked back at Cynthia, who was looking at him expectantly.
"I'm aware that Ash has come into contact with almost every legendary pokemon, some only glimpses of, while some he saved the lives of. At this point, I'm worried..." Gary trailed off.
He didn't need to finish as Cynthia realised what the researcher was saying.
"Y-You don't think...he'd hunt down the legendary pokemon to get Ash's location? Wh-What if they don't know? What will he do to them?!" Cynthia's calm facade vanished as she imagined all the legendary pokemon that she knew of getting wiped out one by one. It would be well within the power of someone that could wipe out entire cities in one blast.
Gary grit his teeth.
"We can't say for sure, but whether he leaves them alone or not, there's still the fact that he's still eradicating town after town." He grumbled.
A light coughing could be heard as Cynthia's Garchomp lifted a stone slab off of what looked to be a male pokemon trainer, probably less than a few years into his journey, judging by his physique. Gary and Cynthia dashed over to check on the boy.
It looked like he had a concussion from that slab falling on him, so they immediately called out for any medics in the area.
Eventually, they got help for the poor boy, who was whisked away on a stretcher by a Chansey.
Gary rubbed the back of his head in exasperation.
"I have better things to do than making the Champion worry..." He thought.
"Keep looking for survivors over here, I'm gonna head over to Electivire and search around there." Gary said, before heading back to where his trusted Electric type was.
Cynthia nodded, thinking that it was a sound plan.
"You know what I think Cynthia...?" Gary said, his back turned to the champion.
He turned his head to look at her and gave a small grin.
"I don't know where Ash is, or when he'll come back. But I'm confident that when he does, he'll do something stupid, and save us...just like he normally does." Gary said, confidence in his tone as he let out a chuckle, turned back and walked away.
That made the Champion smile as she watched him return to his pokemon. It was nice to see that Gary could keep his spirits up like that in a situation like this.
She turned her attention to where they rescued the boy from. Her eyes suddenly widened as she realised what was written on the slab that Garchomp had lifted up. A phrase she had read and recited well over a thousand times.
"When every life meets another life...something will be born..."
Gary tossed aside another piece of debris before he suddenly felt a kind of weird, chilly but also kind of warm feeling shoot up his spine.
"I feel like, wherever Ash is, he's pretty annoyed right now..." He chuckled.
"A-Ashy...huh...?" Ash repeated, looking down at the ground. He didn't notice that his eyes were twitching. Any and all intimidation that Ash had felt but a few moments ago was all but lost. That horrifically annoying nickname that had been given to him by his first childhood rival brought back far too many unpleasant memories.
Sensing Ash's change in attitude, Goku looked at the trainer with a confused look.
"Huh? What's up, Ash?" He asked in a concerned tone.
Goku almost recoiled when he looked into Ash's eyes. He could clearly see a great amount of reminiscing going on in Ash's mind. The teen held a look that was a mix between both sadness and annoyance.
"B-Been a long time...since I've been called that..." Ash muttered, his voice gaining a cold edge to it.
Not being used to this kind of behavior, Goku decided that derailing Ash's train of thought was the best course of action. He knew just how to do it too.
"Hey, Ash, why don't you go over and ask Bulma if you can release your Pokemon? This area's big enough to fit them and us in, with room to spare." The saiyan said.
Ash immediately perked up when Goku suggested that.
"Oh yeah, that's a good idea! I'll ask her now." He looked back to Buu and Hercule.
"Oh...uh nice to meet you two!" He said, running off to where the blue haired scientist was standing.
Hercule looked at the retreating teen with a confused look on his face.
"Uhhh...hey, Goku, who is that kid, and what is he releasing?" He asked.
Goku sighed. He had a suspicion he was going to need to tell a bunch of people about this...
"Hey! Bulma! Bulma!" Ash called as he rushed over to the woman, who was setting up a capsule barbeque and bar.
Turning away from what she was doing to look at the person who addressed her, Bulma smiled.
"Oh Ash, hi! I hope you've been getting along well with everyone." She said.
Ash nodded in confirmation.
"So, what brings you over here? I doubt it's for a chat." Bulma asked in a still cheery tone.
Ash looked directly at Bulma. He was hoping that his request wasn't rejected. He opened his mouth...
"You wanna let your pokemon out, is that it?"
...and promptly let it hang open.
"H-How'd you know?" He asked after a few seconds of stunned silence.
Bulma winked and giggled. "Not to brag, but I am the smartest woman on the planet. You wouldn't have needed to introduce yourself since we did that on the plane, and you seemed to want to ask me something important, therefore you calling out my name, loudly and repeatedly." Bulma chanted, playing off the fact that it was basically a shot in the dark kind of guess.
"S-So uh, anyway...can I?" Ash asked, looking at Bulma with hopeful eyes. He really wanted his pokemon to enjoy this party, it wouldn't feel right without them.
Bulma's face took on a slightly more serious tone as she closed the distance between her and Ash. For a second, Ash thought it was going to be no.
"Fine, you can let them out. But you do know what I expect, right?" Bulma said.
Ash held back a sigh of relief as he nodded.
"Gotcha, everyone will be on their best behavior, I'll make sure of that." Ash proclaimed.
With a smile, Bulma nodded. "Exactly, this is a party, but I don't want them to be too rowdy, understand? I want them to be as well behaved as Pikachu." She reached out and stroked between Pikachu's ears, earning a contented "Chaaa!"
Ash chuckled. "I understand. I'll tell them to be well behaved when I let them out. Thanks, so much Bulma!" Ash said.
He then rushed away, eager to release his pokemon. Bulma chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and went back to setting up.
Ash found a space that was clear of the party preparations and people. He didn't want his pokemon to startle anyone. Only Goku's family had seen all of them. He shrugged his bag off and, one by one, started to unleash his pokemon from the confines of their pokeballs.
The sound of popping and flashing of light gained the attention of the other partygoers. Some of them knew what was going on, like Vegeta, Bulma and the Son family, but others like Hercule and Piccolo had no idea.
Thus, they were stunned when numerous creatures of all shapes and sizes materialized from the light that exploded from the spheres.
"Wh-What the-?" Hercule muttered as he watched the pokemon appear.
"Those are Ash's pokemon, his friends, they live in those red and white balls that Ash has and he can call upon them at any time." Goku told the stunned champion, he was seriously beginning to consider announcing Ash's position as his student and in his circle of friends, it would save him a lot of talking, something Goku didn't like if it was repetitive.
Ash watched as his pokemon slowly dawned on the fact that they were now a lot lighter. He'd been meaning to let them out earlier so they could discover the fact, but with the celebration coming up, it slipped his mind.
Upon realizing that they weren't on King Kai's planet anymore and their bodies felt like practically nothing, they were about to whoop in jubilation before Ash stopped them and called them to attention.
"Hey guys!" Ash greeted. "I see you've realised that we're back after eight months. How does it feel to move your bodies normally again?" He asked.
Ash got a chorus of joyful cries from his pokemon companions to show they were pleased. Ash chuckled as his pokemon let their relief be known.
"Now, I know we just got back, but we're at a party right now. All of Goku's friends are coming. So, I wanted to introduce myself around his friends." Ash took a breath.
"But I don't want you guys to be missing out on anything. We haven't really been doing much of anything besides training for a while, so this is your chance to go and have some fun." Most of his pokemon wore faces of excitement. Some more than others like the ever-joyful Totodile and Gliscor who was bounding on his tail, raring to go.
"There are some rules, however." Ash said, closing his eyes and holding up an index finger to calm his pokemon.
"Number one: This is a party, so you can have some fun, but not too much. I don't want you going crazy and destroy something or hurt someone." Ash told the herd of pokemon.
"Number two: I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. Bulma said that you guys could only be let out of you were well behaved, So I'll need to recall you if you start making trouble." Ash said as he looked over his crowd of friends.
"And finally, if you wanna spar with each other, there's plenty of empty space around, so please keep any sparring far away from the party." Ash concluded.
With a nod, showing they all understood." Ash gave them a grin.
"Now go and have some fun!" He shouted, causing the pokemon to scatter while laughing cheerily while some just...
"Snooor..."
...did their own thing.
As they all dispersed, they took the time to get used to their non-weighed down bodies. They were astounded with their new capabilities and decided to either go out into the far field to spar or walk around the area and seeing how the party was going.
Noctowl had flown over to Goku's shoulder and perched there, startling the saiyan for a split second before he chuckled and treated the owl to some strokes to his crown.
Lucario had chosen to go over to the Capsule Corp. outer wall and leaned against it, closing his eyes and beginning to meditate, despite the fact that Ash said it was supposed to be a fun night for them. He was interrupted however, by a pair of small hands placing themselves on his shins. He opened his eyes to find the giggling Marron as she removed one hand to wave.
"Hello hi there, Mr. Fluffy Man!" She said in a tone of childlike innocence.
The greeting made Lucario stare a little before he chuckled with a slight redness to his cheeks.
"Uh...h-hi...?" He replied bashfully, not really having interacted with any humans besides Ash, much less a human toddler. However, moments later, the little girl's parents showed up and saved Lucario from further awkwardness, although they smiled too when they heard what Lucario had been addressed as by their daughter.
Squirtle and Bulbasaur were currently being stared at by both Goten and Trunks. The two boys were switching gazes between the two, concerning the grass and water type to wonder what exactly was going on in the heads of the eight-year-olds.
Finally, they got an answer when Goten pointed to Squirtle and Trunks pointed to Bulbasaur.
"When we both have a pokemon battle, I'm picking you!" They both said simultaneously.
Both pokemon sweatdropped. Well they were concerned for no reason...
With a smile at how well everyone seemed to be adjusting to being back, Ash looked up into the now cloudless night sky. It was about the time when the party had started to kick off too now that everyone had arrived. Wincing and chuckling a bit as he received a chomp on the head by Gabite, a Body Slam from Bayleef and divebomb attack by Gliscor, he prepared himself for the upcoming festivities.
A few hours later, the party had really picked up some steam. There were a bunch of people chatting to each other while some indulged in the food. Goku, Vegeta and their sons were obviously examples of the latter.
Just like they promised, Ash's pokemon were on their best behavior. They were nice to the other partygoers and sparring was kept to a minimum as they were out in the fields.
A few of the people not caught up on pokemon took the time to watch and were struck with awe at just how unique the numerous battles were.
Ash was also a spectator to some of these matches and he was truly proud to see how far his pokemon had advanced during their training.
While watching the matches, he registered a tap on his shoulder, a paw tapping to be precise. But the paw was too big to be Pikachu's, who was sitting on the opposite shoulder by the way. So Ash turned around and widened his eyes at what he saw.
It was Buizel who had a confident grin on his snout, matching the grin of the Saiyan Prince standing behind him.
"We want a rematch..." Vegeta stated in a voice that had a tinge of excitement to it, although not a lot of people picked up on it.
They were shocked by the declaration he had made however. Vegeta didn't seem like the type to be into this sort of fight. The only ones who weren't shocked were the ones who witnessed the battle he and Ash had a nearly a year ago, who merely chuckled.
Getting over his brief surprise, Ash grinned back at his challengers.
"Sure, but let's not tear up the place as much this time, huh?" Ash replied. He was honestly not too surprised that Vegeta and Buizel were challenging him right now. Parties and social gatherings didn't really seem like their forte, and they wanted something more exciting. Since sparring with Goku was certainly out of the question with how much destruction they would cause and Buizel wanting the rush of being in a pokemon battle again, it was obvious that the saiyan and pokemon teamed up, just like last time to see if their battle would end in a more favorable outcome.
Since Vegeta chose Buizel for their second bout, Ash called Gabite over. Thrilled at the idea of battling again, he immediately rushed over, ready for the duel, but not before chomping into Ash's skull yet again.
Ash almost felt no pain anymore from his pokemon's mannerisms and chuckled as he gave Gabite a good scratching under his chin.
Once the draconian pokemon had been pried from his head, Ash and Vegeta, along with their chosen pokemon, went out into the field. Any pokemon who were already sparring there noticed their approach and dispersed, grinning madly as they were going to be treated to quite a show.
Taking up the same positions they did last time, the battlers stared each other down.
"Same rules as last time?" Vegeta asked.
Ash nodded in reply.
"This won't end in a draw this time..." Vegeta said, a confident "Bui!" following from his partner's mouth.
Ash and Gabite remained silent, grins on their faces. They both raised their arms and gestured their opponents to come at them.
"Buizel, Aqua Jet!" Vegeta called. The Sea Weasel took off towards Gabite in a veil of water, closing the gap at top speed.
"Gabite, Iron Defense!" Ash retorted. Gabite's body became outlined in light blue and his body briefly shone, increasing his defense.
Due to Gabite's increased defense, Buizel simply bounced off of the dragon's body, his Aqua Jet next to useless with the increased defense.
"Gabite, rush in there with a Dragon Claw!" Ash commanded.
With the spike on his arm glowing with bright draconian energy, Gabite closed the distance between him and Buizel.
As he began to swing, Vegeta called out his next move.
"Buizel, get inside that attack and use Ice Punch at close range!"
With mere inches to spare, Buizel managed to evade the claw and charged up an ice clad fist. With a swing of his arm, Buizel brought the attack right up to Gabite's face...
"Double Team..."
...And was shocked to find that his fist ran straight through Gabite's head, due to him now being a mere afterimage.
Turning around, he saw that he was surrounded by Gabite clones, looking at him with a smirk.
The spectators gasped as the multitude of Gabites appeared on the field while Vegeta growled in annoyance.
"Buizel, Water Pulse, hit them all at once!" Vegeta called out.
Buizel smirked as he created a vibrant ball of water between his paws and shot it down at the ground, right in the center of the Gabites.
With a grin, Vegeta watched as the orb shot towards the ground, moments away from destroying the afterimages and eliminating Gabite's means of hiding.
"Ice Fang..."
Within the span of a few milliseconds, the clones instantly vanished and the real one stood under Buizel's attack with fangs glowing a light blue.
Before Vegeta, Buizel, or anyone else could react, Gabite chomped into the Water Pulse, but instead of creating a massive wave of water, the attack froze into a ball of ice.
"Now, send it back!" Ash commanded.
Gabite freed his fangs from the ball of ice and turned on the spot, making his tail hit the now frozen attack, sending it back upwards.
"He can use our moves against us like that?!" Vegeta thought in frustration as he clenched his fist, not having any choice but to watch as the Sea Weasel pokemon take his own attack.
Flying back over to Vegeta's side of the field, Buizel let out a groan as he hit the ground.
"Buizel, can you stand?" Vegeta asked.
With a slight nod, the water-type picked himself off the ground fairly quickly, brushing off the impact of the ice ball.
Vegeta drew his attention from Buizel to Ash, who locked eyes with the saiyan prince. Gabite did the exact same thing with Buizel.
With near simultaneous movements, both Ash and Vegeta quickly raised their arms out in front of them.
"Buizel, use...!"
"Gabite, use...!"
Both pokemon tensed their bodies, ready to move as the command was given. But the interval between words was too great, almost as if the battlers had been distracted by something.
Both Buizel and Gabite looked back at Vegeta and Ash and stared at them confused as they saw the shocked expression on both their faces.
Goku, who had been spectating the fight, wore the same expression as the two pokemon at first, but suddenly felt something through his ki senses.
It was another ki.
An evil ki...
Among all of the party guests, the ones that could sense ki either froze in their tracks, or, in Majin Buu's case, continued inhaling food since it didn't really bother him.
The only pokemon that felt the same thing as the others, was Lucario, who opened his eyes and sped off to where Ash was, an expression of panic on his face from what he felt.
"V-V-Vegeta...do you... d-do you feel that?" Ash asked, looking up at the sky, eyes wide with worry.
Judging from the fact that Vegeta was looking up in the same direction that Ash was, it was a pretty stupid question. But with the insane power and malice behind that ki signature, it was hard to get his brain to function properly.
Everyone's focus seemed to be a specific point in the sky now, to where the energy was coming from.
Suddenly, from somewhere overhead, they heard a low whirring sound and a glowing light appeared half a mile away. Looking up, everyone spotted the faintest outline of something large, slightly resembling a disk.
It streaked over the buildings of West City towards the mountain range that that bordered it and then it just hovered. Even from a distance it looked menacing. Without warning it began to descend, creating a rush of roaring wind that tore at the surrounding area, blowing up dust and causing rocks and other forms of debris to fly off and clatter against bigger rocks.
It was half a mile away and the wind was still strong enough to upturn some of the party tables. Most of the regular people were blown away while the others were able to stand their ground with just a little bit of discomfort.
Ash held Pikachu tightly to his shoulder to prevent him from getting blown away while his other pokemon latched onto Torterra and Snorlax, whom were unaffected by the gust.
Eventually, a few moments later, the wind subsided and gave everyone a chance to get their bearings.
"Wh-What was that...?" Ash whispered as he looked in the direction of the now landed ship. They could just barely make it out over the mountain range across from the city.
There were four individuals that knew that ship's design all too well.
"Th-Th-That's a-!" Krillin stammered.
"It couldn't be!" Gohan exclaimed in horror.
Vegeta grit his teeth. "There's still more of his family running around?
Goku's focus wasn't on the ship anymore, it was instead on the visibly trembling form of his student.
Ash's hands were clasped together, and his teeth were clenched tight. His eyes were wide open, showcasing the intense panic he was feeling. The killing intent that he felt in that one brief glimpse of the malicious ki was so potent, he felt sick. Whoever this power level belonged to, it greatly surpassed his own.
This is what Goku warned him about when he came to this world, but to see it, to feel it...pretty much anything Ash had dealt with in his past paled in comparison.
Suddenly, Ash felt a warm substance run through his body. It served to calm him down and cease his nervous trembling. Ash slowly untensed his body as he took a deep breath.
He felt something on his back and turned to find Lucario with a paw planted in between his shoulder blades. The Aura pokemon had given Ash some of his aura to calm him down. The pokemon world's life essence that Lucario wielded served as a comforting feeling to the now relaxed trainer.
"Th-Thanks...Lucario..." Ash breathed, making said pokemon smile warmly in response.
"I knew that you'd feel nervous, so I rushed over here when I felt that presence." Lucario replied, removing his paw from Ash's back.
With a nod and a smile of gratitude, Ash picked up on the sound of two very familiar saiyan's arguing.
"...Come on, Vegeta...I can take 'im!" The now reinvigorated voice of Goku sprang up.
"Tch! I don't doubt your ability to defeat him Kakarot, but because of who he is, I must be the one to fight him." Vegeta's low voice also registered in Ash's mind.
A small grin grew on Ash's face. Both Goku and Vegeta weren't worried. Why would they be? Their power dwarfed the invader's. In fact, the maliciousness was the most disconcerting fact about the ki signature.
It was then Ash realised something.
Ash had been told that everything happened for a reason, and while he didn't completely believe in that, it sure would explain a lot of crazy things that happened in his numerous adventures.
Well, the reason for the invader's being here was suddenly all too clear to him...only him though. Ash was the one that would need to fight him, to prove to himself that he could stand with the warriors from this world as a true fighter.
It was finally time to prove his worth, both to his friends and himself. He'd feared this for long enough.
The gap between him and the invader was far, yes. However, it wasn't so far that the distance couldn't be made up for if Ash fought seriously.
Ash let out a shaky breath and grinned. He was about to make the stupidest decision of his life, and he knew it.
"Chi-Chi's gonna bring the house down on me for this..."
Ash lifted a hand to his shoulder and gently lifted Pikachu off. He then put the now attentive electric-type on the ground.
"Buddy..." Ash could barely get the words out.
He fingered his weapon inserted into the sheath he wore on his back, and with the other hand, rubbed his partner between his ears.
"...See ya later..." He finished, steeling his nerves and removing his hand.
In that instant, Pikachu, with wide eyes, realised what his best friend was intending to do. But before he could stop him, Ash quickly raised two fingers to his forehead, closed his eyes, and vanished without a trace all in a split-second.
"PIKAPI!" Pikachu cried in worry and horror as he knew exactly what Ash was intending to do.
A second later, Ash rematerialized in the mountain range that the ship touched down in. Keeping his power level suppressed, he looked at the strange shaped ship with curiosity. It was certainly different to what he had thought it would be. The only time he'd seen a spaceship in real life was when those Clefairy and Clefable had built one after ransacking a town for parts. That spaceship was spherical though, not flat like this one was.
Suddenly, much to Ash's shock and horror, a bright energy erupted from inside the ship. Thinking he'd been caught, he jumped away into a fighting position. But instead, the entire ship was engulfed in a bright, magenta light before being completely destroyed in a great explosion.
Gasping at this, Ash let himself briefly wonder if the blast took out the ki signature, but a quick scan with his ki senses confirmed that the explosion actually came from that ki signature.
"Why would this guy destroy his ship like that?" Ash thought to himself.
He widened his eyes when he realised that there were multiple ki signatures, miniscule compared to the main one, dying out as a result due to the blast.
"D-Did this guy...just...intentionally destroy his ship? There were so many people in there!" Ash thought with a horrified face. He hadn't even seen the guy, and he was already eviler than anyone in Ash's past.
Among the smoke, a single plume shot out, covered in the blackened smog. Ash couldn't make out much through the smoke and night sky, but he could see a figure emerge.
A pair of blood red pupils shone through the night, although something was worn over the person's left eye. More features became visible to Ash as the person became clearer in his vision.
His body was covered in what looked to be a white, keratinous exoskeleton. He also had some reptilian features such as a long tail, three talon-like toes, and horns curled slightly at the tip. He was also adorned with ruby colored gem plates on the head, torso, ankles, wrists, and shoulders.
Ash was unsure, but this person seemed to resemble an opponent Goku had fought in the past.
Frieza...
Just hearing of the intense battle made his skin crawl.
Seconds away from living it...Ash felt a little queasy.
"Hm, a power level of thirty...Not a very impressive welcoming party, I must admit..." A deep, scratchy voice echoed around the area, one that sent chills up Ash's spine.
It took a few moments for him to realise he'd been spotted.
Slowly turning to where he heard the voice from, he saw the person standing on a rock that towered over him. He took a deep breath and gulped as he looked at his foe who was giving him an evil smirk.
Ash tried to force out a question, desperately trying to control the shakiness in his voice.
"Wh-Who are you, and why are you here?" He asked.
The person ignored him for a second as he tapped the strange device on the side of his head, pressing a button and turning it off. Numbers that were previously flashing on the red eyepiece suddenly disappeared.
"Now why would I appease someone like you? You look like you can barely stand, kid." The person replied.
Ash grit his teeth. He wanted to yell at the person, tell him to not to underestimate him, but, if he was being honest, this guy underestimating him would really help out a lot.
"You're annoying...begone..."
That was the last thing Ash heard before an orb of red energy came hurtling at him, shot from the person's hand. Ash stared with wide eyes that reflected the ball of death off of his pupils. Then he reacted.
Quickly, he raised an arm in front of his body and swung at the ball. He didn't feel much resistance, which surprised him. The orb was knocked away without much effort and crashed into a rock pillar, causing it to topple and hit the ground with a loud crash.
The invader's eyes widened slightly as he saw that the boy had knocked away his attack.
"A fighter, eh? Interesting..." He said, looking at Ash who had focused his attention back on him.
"Alright...I guess I can tell you...can't have someone like you die without knowing my name." He said.
He crossed his arms and stared Ash dead in the eyes.
"I am Lord Xero, and I'm here to kill Son Goku..."
"...And I'm saying that you've fought him and his brother, so this one is mine!"
"Wha-? You fought his brother with me, Vegeta!"
"Didn't mean I enjoyed it. Besides Kakarot, you're the one that finished the fight, so it's my turn!"
"Aww, come on, don't be like that. How about this, I'll fight him first and then-"
"You just want to fight him and hog all the fun to yourself, then give me what's left of him, if that's the way you want to play, then I'll fight first!"
"PIIKAAACHUUUUUU!"
The arguing saiyans collapsed to the ground, spasming from the electric jolts coursing through their bodies. Neither Goku nor Vegeta had ever been on the receiving end of one of Pikachu's electrical attacks, but they could say now from experience that they hurt. They wondered how Ash could take those jolts and just laugh it off.
It was honestly kind of hilarious to see two of Earth's mightiest protectors on the ground, jittering in pain as the shock of Pikachu's attack ran through their bodies, but now was not the time to laugh.
"Stop arguing, you fools! Pay attention to what's happened!" The furious voice of Lucario echoed in their ears.
"Wh-What happened?" Goku asked, managing to sit up. The two saiyans had absolutely no idea what had transpired since they had been arguing which one of them got to fight this new threat.
"ASH HAS LEFT TO FIGHT THAT GUY! THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENED!" Lucario's fury was made clear as he yelled at the two saiyans.
"He WHAT!?" Both Goku and Vegeta cried in alarm.
The realization of where Ash had gone shocked the other partygoers too.
"H-He went to fight that guy a-alone?!" Krillin asked.
"He's not ready, that person is at least as strong as Perfect Cell!" Piccolo cried.
18 shivered a little as she remembered that, awful villain, being assimilated by the biological monster was not a very pleasant memory, unsurprisingly.
"H-He's only trained for a year! He can't fight him!" Gohan cried in concern for his second little brother figure.
The concern everyone else was showing sent all of Ash's pokemon into a panic too. Toarkoal's tears washed away Gliscor and Bulbasaur who were standing either side of him.
"I don't think that's the case at all."
The familiar voice of Goku silenced everyone. He slowly stood up after recovering from Pikachu's attack.
Winding his arm to get dome feeling back into it, Goku addressed the group.
"Ash returned from training today and fought me. He was able to push me into Super Saiyan and was still holding his power back."
Vegeta, who hadn't heard of this yet, opened his eyes wide and let his jaw drop.
"Just what kind of training did that kid do?!"
"The fight could go either way honestly, so I'm going over there to watch. If it looks too bad for Ash, I'll step in." Goku said.
He then closed his eyes and looked away from everyone.
"Not like last time..." He thought, as memories of the Cell Games played in his head.
"Anyone who wants to come, grab hold of me, I'll take us there." Goku said.
In the end, the only ones that didn't come were the ones that didn't have powers, along with some that did, like Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu and Roshi. Majin Buu simply kept eating and Snorlax kept sleeping. Everyone else, be they saiyan, namekian, human or pokemon all teleported away to where Ash's first fight for his life would take place.