Pokemon Heart Soul Adventures
Chapter 42 - Back To Pallet
"So, you will have to stay here, right, Stefan? No chance for the police to look the other way for this one, I guess..." May asked, feeling sincerely sorry for the turncoat Team Vicious grunt. Dressed in his civilian attire, the same one May and Max had seen him in on the day where he and Max had faced off against each other in a friendly match, the young trainer was sitting in a chair in Dewford Town's police department... the same town where Max and Hilde were soon to have their next Gym battle. Stefan had just revealed that the police had decided to keep him in, partly because it was admittedly true that he had helped Team Vicious in their plans, and partly because he had some useful informations about the evil organization's structure and the identity of its higher-ups.
"Yeah. I'm afraid it can't really be helped, guys." Stefan answered with a sigh. "And to be honest, I kinda regret it. I would have liked to travel Hoenn and compete in the League. But... I do have to make up for what I did while I was working under my brother, and help the police take down the rest of the team, so I need to hang around here and tell them what I know. But... as soon as Team Vicious is taken out, I'm sure I will be able to start my Pokemon journey myself! If my brother hadn't forced me to stay by his side, I really would have loved to travel from one place to the other, catching Pokemon and making friends with them. Still, as soon as I can, I'll get a starter and... well, let's just say that will be the perfect day for us to meet again!"
"Yeah, and we will challenge each other again!" Max affirmed. "I do owe you a rematch, after all..."
"That's true..." Stefan chuckled, enjoying the feeling of freedom he was experiencing now that his brother couldn't hold any more sway over him. "And I will gladly accept your challenge, Max... by the way, I still need to apologize for having deceived you... and for letting you fall in my brother's trap. I... took advantage of the faith you had in me, and I caused a lot of problems to you."
Hilde shrugged nonchalantly. "I haven't exactly forgiven you for that, but what's done is done, I guess. I'll be content with your apology." she stated. "And if things are indeed like you said, and you'll have to stay in custody, so to speak... then I guess there's not much we can do to change that, is it? We can't do much else than give you our best wishes for the future."
"Hey, wait a sec, Hilde!" Max exclaimed, holding his friendly rival by the shoulder. "Are you serious about it? I mean, are you actually saying that we should let him on his own, without even giving him a chance to experience some freedom? I... don't think that's right..."
"And what are we supposed to do, Max? Can you explain?" the short-haired girl answered impassively. "Even if he did help us, he also worked for criminals. Sure, he had reasons to do so, but we cannot ignore what he did just because he helped us. The law is the law still."
"Er..." Max tried to retort to that, but he quickly realized that he had no real answer to that. There really wasn't much to do... "Yeah... I understand that, but... darn, I would like to do something. After all, it really wasn't his fault if his brother was forcing him to go along..."
"You're right, and I understand what you're saying, Max..." Soledad went on. "Still... even though I do feel sorry for him, we can't make an exception for him just because he's a friend of ours. Besides, he did hand himself over of his own will, and he's still a minor, so they are going to show him some lenience. For now... the best thing we can do is wish him good luck and tell him that we're going to see each other soon, don't you think so as well?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Max convinced himself that the elegant Pewter City native had a point, and sighed, regarding Stefan with an understanding glance. "If that is the case... then all I can say is, good luck to you, Stefan!" the glasses-wearing boy answered. "And like we said, we hope we can see you again soon! Thank you very much for all you did for us."
"Yeah, same goes for me." May went on. "Thank you very much. We would never have managed to defeat Demitri if it hadn't been for you. You allowed me to save my brother... and see some of my friends again. I would probably still be forced to work for your brother, had it not been for your help, so... thanks again, and see you soon!"
"Thanks, May... and thanks to all of you for believing in me." Stefan answered. "Good luck for the rest of your journey... and see you later, friends!"
"See you!" Drew answered, giving him a thumbs-up. After waving goodbye to Stefan and Officer Jenny one last time, May, Max and the rest of their team walked away from the police station and into Dewford Town's main square. Life was going on just as usual in the seaside town, and it was unbelievable to think that, only a few hours before and not far away from there, a great battle with the agents of a criminal organization had taken place. Slowly, the young trainers reached the center of the square, talking to each other.
"Well then..." Drew affirmed, taking a look at the sky covered in white clouds. "Looks like we've got a problem solved, at least for now. So, what are you going to do now? I guess you'll continue your journey, right?"
"Yeah, but we also need to discover something more about this Team Vicious." Max answered. "They surely are a dangerous organization, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had a much more complex plan in mind."
Harley shrugged. "Well, you do whatever you want, if you are willing to risk your neck. I will go back to my training. And wen we meet again at the next competition, my dear May, I will be sure to defeat you! Don't think I have forgiven you for dissing my cookies just because you got me out of trouble."
May chuckled goofily. "Yeah, I was expecting you to say that..." she answered, while Soledad chuckled to herself and shook her head. Harley was always the same, after all...
"Okay, then I'll return to my training as well." the elegant Pewter City girl went on. "But I'll keep an eye out for those people still. I am sure they're cooking up something nasty. Should you need my help, kids, don't hesitate and let me know. I'll be here on the double!"
"Alright, Soledad! Same goes for us!" Drew answered with a nod. "I think I'll be doing the same thing myself. Train my Pokemon and take care of what those scoundrels will do. We haven't seen the last of them, that's for sure."
Soledad nodded, then called her Pidgeot and climbed on his back. "Alright, then. Good luck to all of you, and see you soon! Okay, Pidgeot, we can take off!"
"See you next time, Soledad!" Harley answered with a wink.
"Pidgeot!" the giant pigeon answered, majestically spreading his wings and taking off to their next destination. Max, May, Drew, Hilde and Harley followed them until Soledad and Pidgeot were no longer visible. Finally, with a shrug, Harley put his own backpack on his shoulders and started to walk away himself.
"That's about it, I guess. I just hope I won't meet those weirdoes on my way again." he stated. "And about you, my dearest May... let's just say that since you've gotten me in trouble and then out of it, we're even for now. See you at the next competition, which I will win, by the way! Ciao for now!"
"Yeah. Until next time, Harley. And don't take me for granted, or you might have another thing coming!" May said with a cunning smile, before turning to the rest of the team. "Alright... so, I guess you're going to go on your way too, huh, Drew?"
"I guess so." the green-haired boy answered. "I'd just like to leave you with a little present, if that is okay."
May blinked, wondering what he meant by that... and then widened her eyes when Drew, keeping his trademark debonair attitude, produced a red rose from who-knows-where and handed it to her. "See you soon, May, and hopefully under better circumstances. Try not to get in trouble like you always do, okay? And goodbye!"
"Ah... Er... Good luck to you too, Drew..." May answered, stammering a little while her face took on a slight red tint! Already on his way, Drew lifted a hand and waved, his head turning back just a little... and soon enough, even the green-haired pre-teen disappeared, on his way to a new adventure.
May shook herself out of her stupor only when her brother got in front of her and began waving a hand in front of her face, causing her to wake up with a start. "Hey, sis! Earth calling May, please answer, May!" Max said sarcastically. "Sis, I can understand you losing yourself looking at your boyfriend and all, but I think we'd better get going too. It's getting kinda late, you know."
"Ugh... just so you know, little brother, Drew is NOT my boyfriend!" May exclaimed, wih a comically angered expression on her face. "He's just a friend who takes part in Pokemon competitions alongside me... but that means nothing at all, okay? So stop trying to imply things, right?"
Hilde shrugged. "A full-out crush. The symptoms are all there." she said nonchalantl. As May's face went from red to violet in embarassment, Hilde took a look at the Pokeballs she had just recovered, in order to make sure none of them was missing. "Jokes aside, since we're in Dewford Town, I guess the next thing to do would be to challenge Brawly, the Gym Leader, right? We did do some training while we were in Team Vicious' hideout, but I don't think it will be enough."
"Well, if you don't mind, we could train together for a few days, and then try to take on the Gym! What about that, sis? I think it would be a great idea!" Max ventured, asking his older sister, who quickly hid her rose behind her back. The bandanna-wearing girl cleared her throat, trying to cough her embarassment away before giving an answer to that.
"Training together could give great results, in fact..." May stated. "That's a good way to learn from each other... and you'd also come across as better in Brawly's eyes! I warn you though, his Fighting-type Pokemon are pretty tough. You remember that, Max, don't you? Ash couldn't win the first time."
"Yeah, I remember that..." the young boy stated, knowing just how strong Brawly's Machop and Hariyama were. How ironic, that was the same kind of Pokemon his sister and her Blaziken had faced in Demitri's lair... "But I'm sure that there is a good strategy for every obstacle! Hilde and I will pull out all the stops, and we'll make sure everything goes right! After all, I do have my Ralts with me!"
Max's Pokeball snapped open, and the small Psychic-type came out of it with a joyous call, placing himself on his human friend's shoulder and raising a short arm in excitement... and Max smiled and petted his friend on the head, once again promising to himself that he would try to be the best trainer he could be for him.
!I'm glad we could meet each other again, Ralts..." Max affirmed. "And we'll face this Gym challenge together! I'm sure it will be a snap!"
"Ralts, ralts!" the small Psychic-type agreed, with May nodding in approval at her brother starting out with the right foot. Hilde, for her part, was busying herself with other thoughts not relative to the training.
"For all that he's proud of being strategic and rational, Max sure can be sentimental." she thought. "I'm not that sugarry sweet with my own Pokemon, to be honest. But I guess this is just my way of training, and Max has his own. Whatever the case, I sure hope Max's method is as effective as mine. If he'd going to be my rival, I'd rather face him on even terms."
May motioned for her younger companions to follow her as they began looking for a restaurant and a hotel to spend the night in. Now that they had managed to put Team Vicious behind them, at least for a while, it was time to get back to training and catch up...
oooooooooo
"And with that, I guess we can say this part of the whole mess is wrapped up... even though, admittedly, what we achieved wasn't really that much." Lance admitted with a hint of annoyance, after making a resume of how the expedition in the Sevii Islands had gone. Lance, Lorelei, Miyu and Homura were giving their last greetings to Ash's team before they had to go back to the Kanto League's HQ on Indigo Plateau, and two of the young dragon tamer's strongest Pokemon, his Aerodactyl and his Dragonite, were already out and ready to carry the two Elite Four and the two future Sevii Gym Leaders. "For now, we have at least achieved the objective of securing the Sapphire, but we are trying to find Team Vicious' hideout as well, and locate the Deoxys that was captured by the organization. We trust that our efforts will soon bear fruit."
"That's what I hope myself..." Ash affirmed, the ever-present Pikachu perched on his right shoulder. The electric mouse had taken care of where he placed himself, in order not to put pressure on Ash's still-healing arm, which was in a cast and sling. "As for us, well, Dawn should be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. We'll take the ferry frm Quest Island and go back to Pallet, where we will stay a few days... and we'll think of what we should do as our next move."
"Sounds sensible to me." Homura stated, using his hand to comb back his firey red hair. "Well then, good luck for your return, and we hope to be able to give you good news soon. And as for you and your friend... get well soon, and don't overdo it, okay?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Homura, I can say for certain that nothing can hold Ash back for long!" Misty chuckled, lightly patting her first ever travelling companion on the back. "Anyway, we were glad we were able to help!"
"And we are grateful for your help." Lorelei stated, adjusting her glasses. "I trust we'll be able to meet again soon and give you better news soon. Best of luck to you until then!"
"Thank you very much... and thank you for answering my questions about my Gible, Lance!" Brock thanked the young dragon tamer, who was just then climbing on his Dragonite's back along with Lorelei. Miyu and Homura, for their part, had climbed on Aerodactyl's back, and the mighty prehistoric reptile was just about ready to take flight. "I will try and train him so he can have control over his Draco Meteor!"
"Well, we need to thank you as well. You are strong, and I think your aid will be very important when we'll face Team Vicious later on." Miyu answered. "See you soon, then."
"And, Gary Oak... give our regards to your grandfather for us when you see him." Lance concluded, addressing Gary as his Dragonite flew up. The young trainers waved to the departing Elite Four and Gym Leaders, before they went on their way back to the Kanto League HQ.
"I will, Lance. See you soon!" Gary answered.
"It was a honor, and a pleasure!" Ursula exclaimed.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu joined the goodbyes, waving at Lance and the others with both arms until the two Elite and the two Gym Leaders were nothing but a dot on the horizon.
"Oh, well. I guess that's it for now." Brock sighed. "I think we'd better pack up and get ready to depart. We'll have to wake up early tomorrow, in order to board the ferry to Kanto. We don't want to be late."
Ursula nodded. "Right. Oh, and by the way, where's Dee-Dee? I didn't see her around." she said. In fact, the blue-haired girl wasn't with Ash's group when they had gone to see Lance and the others away...
"Dawn had already said her goodbies to them before." Misty answered, motioning to the entrance of the hospital. "Now she's calling her Mom and her friends, in order to tell them what happened to her and reassure them. I think she should be done with it, but we can go and see just now..."
oooooooooo
"WHAT DID YOU SAY HAPPENED TO YOU?" Dawn blinked in surprise as Kenny's frantic face almost occupied the whole window of the video-phone she was calling from. She had tried to break the news to him in a good way... but it hadn't done much to assuage her emotional childhood friend, who immediately started bombarding her with questions. "How did that happen? Did it hurt a lot? How long are you going to be in hospital? And..."
"Whoa! Woah, Kenny, please slow down!" an embarassed Dawn exclaimed. As Kenny brought himself to a halt in his relentless questioning and took a couple deep breaths to cool himself down, Dawn began explaining to him what had happened in Quest Island, and how she and her friends had faced Team Rocket, ending with the accident they had been in when Hunter J had bombed the place. By the time she was done with narrating, Kenny knew everything that had happened to his childhood friend and her companions, and was a little calmer too.
"So, that's pretty much it. I'm being discharged tomorrow." Dawn finished explaining.
"Well, that's good news at least... Sorry, Dee-Dee, as soon as I heard what had happened, I kinda lost it."
The blue-haired girl giggled gently at that. "Yeah, no kidding! But don't worry, I'll be okay. I wish you good luck with the rest of your journey, and I hope we can meet soon!"
"Same to you, Dee-Dee. I'll come and see you as soon as I can!" Kenny answered. "Later!"
The call ended, and Dawn was able to put down the phone, sighing in relief. She saw her friends entering the main hall of the hospital through the main doors, and turned to them, waving with her left hand.
"Are you okay, Dawn?" Ash asked. "Did you do all the calls you needed to do?"
Dawn straightened her back a little and winced before answering. "Ow... and here I thought a wheelchair was kinda easier to sit into... Anyway, yes, I'm almost done, even though it was a little harder than I thought! I mean... when I told my Mom and Kenny about my accident, I had to spend several minutes reassuring them that I wasn't seriously injured. Not that I can blame them, of course... anyway, now I only have to contact Zoey, and after that, I'm done."
"Well, that should be easier." Brock answered. "Zoey isn't the kind of person who loses her cool, so I think you won't have to spend that much time reassuring her."
Dawn smiled, inserting her phone card in the machine once again. "I guess you're right, Ash... it won't be that hard to tell Zoey."
oooooooooo
"WHAT DID YOU SAY HAPPENED TO YOU?"
"Er... ooookay, I stand corrected..." Dawn thought to herself as she blinked in surprise at Zoey's face occupying the whole call window, eyes wide in dismay and alarm! A split second later, the barrage of question she had been subject to from both her Mom and Kenny assaulted her ears once again!
"You're in hospital? How did it happen? It is serious? How long are you going to stay? There are no complications, are there? And..."
"Whoa! Please, hold on a sec, Zoey! At least try to breathe!" Dawn tried to calm her down, frantically waving her hands in front of herself. And here she thought Zoey was going to be a little more calm about it... that was the first time Dawn had ever seen the red-haired coordinator lose her cool, even for just a brief moment. Luckily, Zoey seemed to hold herself back together a moment later and blinked twice, getting away from the screen enough so that Dawn could see her normally.
"Er... right, Dawn, my apologies. I was kinda overwhelmed and all. Calming down now." the redhead answered, clearing her voice and returning to her usual level-headed behaviour. "Okay... now you can tell me, what happened there? How did you break your legs?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story, but Team Rocket has something to do with it... apprently, there are two organizations fighting each other for supremacy..." the blue-haired pre-teen answered. "Anyway... basically, we were escaping from a collapsing hideout... and while I was separated from the others, I had to jump down a cliff to avoid a falling boulder. But I took a bigger fall than I expected. It was about thirty feet to the bottom..."
"Yeah, I understand..." Zoey sighed. "It was one heck of a jump alright. Two broken legs is getting away with little. Still, it's a pain in the neck. I'm afraid you won't be able to take part in Pokemon competitions until you're healed."
Dawn smiled slightly and rubbed the white plaster casts encasing her legs. "True, but I guess it can't be helped. At least, the doctors said it shouldn't take that long for me to be on my feet again. The breaks weren't too serious, after all. And I'll take advantage of this period to train my Pokemon a little more. And it's not all bad news, after all. Do you remember Ursula, that rich girl I faced in the Grand Festival quarter finals?"
"Of course I remember her." Zoey answered. "Not exactly the nicest girl in the world, from what I could see."
Dawn giggled again, admitting that her best friend had a good point about that. "Well... you're right, Zoey, Ursula wasn't exactly that nice. But... now that we have had time to spend with each other, I could see that she isn't that bad either. She even helped me when I got hurt... even though I'm sure she'd never want to admit it!"
A little further away, Ursula felt a familiar vein pop up on her forehead, as well as a familiar feeling of annoyance, as she listened to when Dawn was saying. The fact that she and Zoey shared a short, jovial laugh a moment later didn't help.
"I see. Well, good to know, so that girl isn't as bad as she likes to pretend." Zoey answered. "Well... what do you plan to do now? I'm willing to guess you're going to go back to Pallet Town for some rest and recuperation, am I correct?"
"Exactly." Dawn answered. "Mrs. Ketchum, Ash's Mom, already knows about what happened, and she was willing to have me until I can take the casts off... in the meantime, we'll try and see what we can do to get to the bottom of the plans of both Team Vicious and Team Rocket. There are still quite a lot of things that need to be clarified."
"Well, Dawn, I need to do some research on Team Vicious myself." Zoey said. "I'm afraid the whle issue will be going through some more twists andturns, before we can officially put an end to it. Alright, Dawn, see you soon! Take care of yourself, and have a speedy recovery!"
"Thanks, Zoey... see you around!" Dawn concluded, and the two best friends waved to each other and concluded the call. Dawn extracted the phone card from the phone and took a look at the screen, seeing that the money had almost run out already. Well, it wasn't important, she had done all the calls she needed to do anyway. All that was left to do was get back to her room and start packing her things for the next day. Placing the phone back in place, the bluenette turned her wheelchair towards the rest of her friends, who walked up to her, and Misty offered to carry her to her room.
"Wait, Dawn, I think it would be less tiring for you if we were to carry you to your room." Misty said, reaching her friend from Sinnoh and grabbing the holds of the wheelchair.
"Thanks, Misty, I really appreciate it!" the blue-haired girl answered. "By the way... Lance and the other have already gone away, haven't they?"
"Yeah... they wanted to do some research on Team Rocket and that strange Sapphire we found on Chrono Island." Gary answered. "They told us they were going to keep us updated on what happens later on."
"Well, I guess that's it, at least for now..." Ursula answered, trying to look unconcerned. "Time to start packing our things and get ready to go. Darn, to think we ended up in this craziness because I wanted to train my Pokemon elsewhere..."
"Well, can't say I disliked Sevii Islands, all things considered." Ash commented, looking out of the window towards the setting sun. For a moment, the young bo thought he could catch a glimpse of Lance's Aerodactyl and Dragonite, and he mentally wished the best to the young Kanto Champion and his comrades, hoping he was going to see them again soon.
"Pika pi, pika pikachu!" Pikachu said in a reassuring tone, and Ash winked and smiled at his diminutive best friend.
"You're right, Pikachu... as soon as this is over, we'll have all the time we went to return here, possibly along with our friends!" he said, casting a glance at Misty, Brock and Ursula. The latter turned away, appearing indifferent to the idea, but Misty and Brock nodded approvingly.
"I'd be the first to like the idea, Ash!" the redheaded former Gym Leader answered. "After all, if it wasn't for me, you'd end up getting in some other kind of trouble. Which you seem to be good at doing even with me around." She chuckled sarcastically, to which Ash had an unusually quick response.
"Hehehee... what to say, Misty, it's called... the call to adventure!" the young Champion in the making quickly answered, with Pikachu approving in full.
"Pikachu!"
"Ugh... What did I ever do to deserve being stuck with this bunch of crazies?" Ursula asked herself, rubbing her forehead to keep her migraine at bay. After chuckling a little, Ash turned his eyes to the outside and smiled, thinking he would miss this place...
"Goodbye, Sevii Islands..."
oooooooooo
The next day, in the late hours of the afternoon, a ferry from Cinnabar Island had moored into the small bay of Pallet Town, bringing the small team of young adventurers that had departed no more than two weeks before. Puffing out some white smoke, the ship's engines turned off and allowed its passengers to disembark and get down on the land, where their friends and families were waiting for them... and along them was Delia Ketchum, who was looking intently at the people disembarking. Luckily, she did not have to wait that long before a familiar yellow-furred and black-eared mouse with red cheeks, followed by the white and red cap belonging to the young boy with messy back hair and his left arm in a sling showed up. His injury did not seem to have slowed Ash down any, and both he and Pikachu were carrying themselves with confidence and a bit of pride.
"Ash, Pikachu!" Delia called them while waving at them. The young trainer and his best friend immediately saw her, and after motioning for their friends to come, they disembarked from the ship and ran to Mrs. Ketchum's outstretched arms.
"Mom! I'm so glad to see you!" Ash affectionately exclaimed, hugging her with his still-usable arm.
"Hehee, that was the bare minimum I could do for my baby boy! You've gotten through all those perils in Sevii Islands, and it was only fair thatI came to pick you up! Not to mention, all the surprises that are waiting for you in Pallet!" Delia answered. "By the way, what about your arm, sweetheart? It doesn't hurt any more, does it?"
Ash chuckled goofily as he looked at his casted arm, hanging in a sling. "Hehehee... don't worry, Mom... it's not that bad, at least right now. Dawn sure got it worse than I did."
"I can see that..." Delia stated, looking at the rest of the disembarking people. The rest of Ash's group of friends, joined by an elegant pre-teen girl, not much older than eleven or twelve, with peach-colored haired tied in a pair of drill-shaped pigtails at the sides of her head, and a somewhat haughty expression on her face. "Oh, there you are, children! And I can see you're in good company! Misty, Brock, Gary... welcome back, all of you! Dawn, dear, I'm sorry for what happened to you..."
"Thank you, Mrs. Ketchum... we're happy to be back too!" Brock answered. "Some of us are a little bruised, but we're none the worse for wear."
"It's not that bad, Mrs. Ketchum!" Dawn answered as she wheeled herself to Delia, a blanket covering her plastered legs. "It was an unfortunate accident, but it's nothing that can't be set. Nurse Joy told me it's going to take around a month, but I'm not going to have problems after I'm healed! Oh, and by the way... the girl here with us has been one of my adversaries in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. We met her by chance during our journey in Sevii Islands..."
Ursula stepped forward and bowed politely, if with some detachment, to the young mother. "That's right, Ms. Ketchum. My name is Ursula, and I'm twelve years old. I met your son, Dawn and their companions at Floe Island, when they rescued me after I was kidnapped by Team Rocket. From then on, I joined them to help them and repay them for their help... and I guess I'll be sticking around for a while, until we can solve this mystery."
"Pleased to meet you, Ursula dear." Mrs. Ketchum said with a bow of her own. "As I said once, my son's friends are my friends as well. So, since you're a friend of Dawn's... please, don't be shy and ask me anything you might want! I'll do my best to make sure your stay in Kanto is pleasant!"
Ursula frowned in puzzlement. "Er... actually, Mrs. Ketchum, Dawn and I aren't really..." she started to say, but stopped herself when she realized that Delia was just too enthusiastic to care about the fact that Ursula still had her problems with Dawn. Problems that, Ursula had to admit, weren't quite as serious anymore. "Anyway... my pleasure, Mrs. Ketchum, and I hope I am not too much of a disturbance..."
"No problem, dear! In fact, I'm happy that you're all going to be alright! Come on, children, let's get going! We have a bit of road to cover before we get to Pallet Town!" Delia answered, starting to push Dawn's wheelchair so that the girl would not get tired pushing it. "And while we're going, you can tell me about what happened in your journey, okay? I'm really curious to know!"
Misty giggled. "Hehehee... we did see a lot of great things! But we should start from the first island, Knot Island. It was an uphill start, to say the least."
"Well... come to think of it, I am curious to know about it too." Ursula said, as the team began walking away from the harbor. "I heard there was quite a ruckus there too... and you told me you have faced Team Vicious there... but we never had the time to sit down and talk about it."
"It's no surprise, with all the back and forth we had to do." Brock answered. "But we have all the time we want now. Well, it all started when we got to Knot Island, with the ferry from Cinnabar Island..."
As the team walked towards Pallet Town, Ash and his friends started narrating all that had happened, leaving nothing out...
...
...
And in fact, just half an hour later, the team had reached the outskirts of Pallet Town, the tale had barely gotten to the third island, where they had rescued Lostelle and the rest of the children from a lonely Hypno. It was such an engrossing tale, that Delia hadn't really realized how much they had been walking, until now that the first houses were being seen, and she was feeling somewhat tired from all the walking. Finally, the team reached the main square, where several people were reunited to greet the local heroes, back from a difficult endeavor.
The walk to Professor Oak's lab was brief from there, and when Delia knocked at his door, the old wise scientist wasted no time in opening to his friends and his young grandson.
"Yo, Gramps!" Gary greeted him first, with a jovial gesture. "About time we came back, huh?"
"Oh, good to see you again, my friends!" the world-famous researcher exclaimed joyfully, opening the door to the lab that had become a second home to him. "Glad to see you all here, even though some of you is a little banged up... and I'm glad everything went alright in the end! Lance and Lorelei have already contacted me to tell me about those three mysterious jewels, and I can already tell you not to worry. Team Rocket can't do anything if they don't have all three of them."
"Thank you very much, professor... but we weren't really that worried about it, anyway." Misty answered. "Rather, we're a little worried about those Team Vicious guys. They did manage to get their hands on a Pokemon sealed under Quest Island. A Deoxys, of all Pokemon..."
"Yes, I heard about that too." Oak answered, his mood taking a bit of a plunge. "But even though this is rather worrying news, we can at least wait a little before talking about that. For now, I think it's only fair that you get rested and enjoy some days of peace and quiet. And about that, Dawn... there's someone wanting to greet you as well!"
The blue-haired girl blinked in surprise... and Delia winked at her. "Well, Dawn... I did tell you that there was a surprise for you, as soon as we got home! Someone... has come here to greet you!"
"What...?" Dawn started to ask, looking to one of the lab dorrs that had opened up just then, allowing a familiar blue-haired woman to walk in! "Mom! Mom, is that you?"
"Dawn, my little girl..." Johanna said, hurrying to her daughter and hugging her for all she was worth, with Dawn hugging her back immediately. "Sweetheart, you have no idea how scared I was when I heard what had happened to you! I'm so happy to see you again!"
"Me too, Mom... to be honest, I was quite afraid myself..." Dawn answered, with the rest of the team backing away in order to leave mother and daughter their personal space. However, much to everybody's surprise, they could see that Johanna was hardly the only person from Sinnoh to show up! Right after her, two people unfamiliar to Misty walked in - a tall girl with short red hair, looking like she was in her early teens, and a young boy the same age as Dawn, with messy marroon hair. Both of them quickly walked up to Dawn to greet her.
"Zoey! Kenny!" Dawn exclaimed, seeing her best friends arriving. "Boy, am I happy to see you guys! I never thought you'd get here from Sinnoh so quickly! How did you do it?"
"Well... let's just say we got moving as soon as we heard about your accident, Dawn. Kenny and I just happened to have the same idea!" Zoey explained. "We arrived a few hours ago, and we got a room in one of the inns around here."
"We were so worried about you, Dee-Dee..." Kenny continued. "I thought I was going to lose it when I heard you had gotten hurt..."
Dawn sweatdropped in awkwardness. "Well, yeah, I kinda saw that... and Zoey was no slouch in that department as well..." she thought to herself. "Well... as I already told you, it's nothing really serious! I mean, sure I'll have to use this wheelchair for a while, and I won't be able to take part in contests during that time... but I'll be okay."
The blue-haired girl pulled away the blanket covering her legs, showing her leg casts as if they were battle scars she was proud of. Zoey winced in sympathy pain, while Kenny gently held Dawn's shoulder. "Still, we're sorry this haooened to you... and until you've gotten better, we'll do our best to help you!" the young boy answered. "After all, we do have to do our part, don't we? And by the way, why is Ursula here?"
Kenny glared at Dawn' rival, who didn't even move and glared back at him... but luckily, Brock intervened before there could be an argument. "Don't worry... Ursula had been kidnapped by Team Rocket, and we rescued her during our journey through Sevii Islands!" he explained. "She has helped us ever since, even when Dawn got injured. Her Gabite managed to break through a barricade of rocks and allowed us to get out of the cave we were trapped in."
"Let's just say that our goals just happened to be one and the same." Ursula answered, trying to keep some distance from Zoey and Kenny. Aside from the fact that she didn't know them very well, there seemed to be a silent enmity between her and Dawn's friends.
"Well, whatever you say." Zoey finally said with a shrug. "But do not try to do anything against Dawn, like that time you tried to use Plusle and Minun against her. If you do, you'll have to answer to me. I'm giving you fair warning."
"Crystal clear." Ursula answered with an annoyed sigh. Dawn rubbed her forehead in embarassment, and turned hey eyes to her mom, who could do nothing but shrug impotently, and even Ash and his friends could feel that the mood had gotten somewhat heavy... at least, until Delia proceeded to make things right by clapping her hands and showing a friendly smile!
"Now, now, girls, this is not the time to quarrel!" she said angelically. "Instead, why don't we celebrate the return of Ash and his friends? Of course, my dear Johanna, the invitation is for you as well! Don't be shy about it!"
"Now that's a great idea, Mom!" Ash exclaimed, sporting a winning smile! "The worst is over now... let's think about celebrating our reunion!"
"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu agreed, with Misty, Brock, Gary and Dawn along as well, helping with the festive atmosphere that was now spreading to everyone. Somewhat taken aback by such spontaneous excitement, Zoey and Kenny tried to back away, but eventually decided that it was a good idea to just enjoy the moment. And while Ursula tried to appear indifferent, she had to admit the idea appealed to her as well...
"A nice idea indeed." Professor Oak affirmed. "I'll go tell Tracey about it, he'll be happy to take part in it!"
Oak motioned from them to wait a moment and went out of the main door, searching for his most trusted aide, while Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Delia immediately started preparing, causing the newcomers to blink in puzzlement. "Er... say, Dee-Dee... is that how they do things, in this city? It looks like they throw a celebration as soon as a stranger comes..."
"That's just the way they do it, Kenny!" Daw answered with a smile. "I'm sure you'll get used to it as well!"
oooooooooo
Elsewhere, in the mysterious Johto continent...
Meowth smiled cunningly as he watched their latest target with a binocular, safely hidden in his and his friends' hot air balloon that had become a trademark for Jessie and James wherever they went. Even now that they were no longer part of Team Rocket, that balloon was pretty much a part of their habits, and in any case, they doubted they could afford another one.
Their targets, right now, were a group of people dressed in a manner similar to a Team Rocket agent, only they were wearing gas masks on their faces, and the R drawn on their chests was mirrored. Jessie and James, who were standing right behind Meowth, were curious to see what Meowth had discovered, asking him about his latest finding.
"We've got something interesting in the bag this time, guys... get ready, 'cuz we're going to have to do a pretty good job this time!" the feline Pokemon answered with a wily grin. "I think we've stumbled into something big this time, and if we do things well enough... well, let's just say getting out of Team Rocket might be the best thing that ever happened to us!"
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...