Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
First, reviews; I'll address your points in turn.
Nauran; thanks for the reviews and the continued support. That's what I was aiming for with chapter seven, so it's good to hear that I seem to have succeeded.
Julianmarq; thanks for the reviews. In terms of chapter four, I've rewritten that area for clarity – and I also have to particularly thank you for this, given how it fits better now with Cynthia's champion introspective. For a short summary if you don't want to re-read, however;
Alder's injuries were practically non-existent; his Pokémon were overpowered by Reshiram, certainly, but not to a state that Audino's healing at the league's Pokémon centre wasn't able to quickly bring them back to fighting strength. Alder also offered to battle N's conqueror straight after, too, and lost again.
As for the eligibility to challenge a champion for their crown, I've tried to put the plot closer to the games for a reason that'll soon come obvious. Indeed, your suggestion also allowed me to expand more on the differences between each league in relation to the animeverse. As the anime hasn't been entirely clear, I've taken the liberty to assert that some leagues require a conference win to challenge the champion, while others have different methods – even an anime example would be two of the Sinnoh Elite Four's challenges against Cynthia (Aaron and Flint). For the story, winning a conference after obtaining eight badges is one way to guarantee a battle with the Unova champion, but traversing Victory Road and defeating the Elite Four after obtaining eight badges, like in the games, also qualifies, and that's what the new champion did.
In addition, N's battle counted because Alder allowed it to count; he challenged N to test the strength of the truth that he sought to wield; the truth that allowed him to command Reshiram. And he lost, evidently. Alder had the flexibility to make that decision because of his league's rules, but other leagues might not make allowances in the same way.
This'll become much more relevant in later chapters, as you'll soon see.
Thanks again to both of you for the reviews.
It took only an hour for the plane to touch down after they crossed into Kanto, making it the shortest leg of the overall journey, but that didn't stop Iris complaining out of impatience after only half that time had passed.
Kanto's airport infrastructure was - comparative to the other regions - on-par with Johto's, but both fell far behind that which Unova boasted. This was something of an extension of the traditionalist mentality that held sway throughout the majority of Kanto. Modernisation was marching on, but at a much reduced pace than in Unova, or even in Sinnoh.
The constant delays and public inquiries that plagued the majority of improvement projects that would be proposed in Kanto drove Lance to his wits' end; he had said so himself to Cynthia the last time that they had met up.
Sure, he had no direct role to play in pushing through the projects, but the word of a champion would normally hold a great deal of influence in matters that they chose to address, and Lance, witnessing the pace at which Unova and even Sinnoh were improving technologically, had decided to make such modernisation a cornerstone of his focus as champion.
Lance did so in the same way that she spent her time promoting the preservation and study of ancient ruins as part of her role, or as Wallace did with his efforts to spread the system of Pokémon contests to other regions; last Cynthia had heard, he would be travelling to Unova soon with that very goal in mind.
One of the more recent of the fruits of Lance's endeavours was the South Kanto Islands Airport, finished just over a year before.
The airport was built on the largest of several islands – previously inhabited by neither people nor Pokémon - to the south-west of Pallet Town, and had taken two years of shipping and construction to be fully complete and operational. It was capable of handling multiple flights per hour on two standard runways, with the option for additional flights via a seaplane "dock" at the island's north; it had been where Ash had departed Kanto for Unova in the first place. In addition, there was a standard dock for ferries to the mainland, arriving near Pallet Town.
Many hailed it as Kanto's greatest step forward since the development of the Magnet Train, and even traditionalists could find little to fault it for; Lance had chosen to advise its specific location very carefully for that reason.
It was here that they arrived in Kanto, and thus here that Dawn, Cilan and Iris took their first steps into the region in which Ash began his journey.
"Look, look!" Iris pointed excitedly as they disembarked at a group of fighting-type Pokémon that were working on runway maintenance with their trainers. "Machop and Machoke!"
"Well, yeah, what about them?"
"Ash, you're such a kid! They're rare Pokémon!"
"Not in Kanto, they're pretty common around here." Ash countered crossly.
"And in Sinnoh too." Dawn offered in support.
"They have the Machop evolutionary line helping with construction in Kanto and other such regions, whereas I guess we normally see the Timburr line in Unova…" Cilan deduced. "Fascinating."
Passing through security at Customs was tighter than it had been in Unova, but they all still made it through avoiding lengthy delays. After a brief wait, spent predominantly with Ash and Iris stocking up at the airport shop on high-sugar foods that they had forgotten to bring on the plane journey, the group boarded a ferry with a large group of other travellers, which proceeded to set off at good speed towards the mainland.
During the wait, Cilan had also taken the opportunity to update the files on his tablet for information on the Kanto region, and eagerly began flicking between pages as they crossed the channel on the way to Pallet Town.
Iris leaned over the side of the boat for the entire duration of the short journey, gasping and calling out the varieties of Pokémon that she saw. Cynthia had gone to talk to the captain about something or the other.
"Tentacool! And Horsea! Oh, I really, really want a Horsea! I could evolve it all the way up to Kingdra and… Was that a Seel? I hope not, I'm still not too happy with Ice types… Cilan, are you paying attention?" She looked up. Ash and Dawn had tuned out a while ago; Ash desperately trying to catch a glimpse of Pallet Town over the other side of the boat, and she had no reason to draw them back in. Cilan, on the other hand, had never seen these Pokémon in the flesh before either, and surely should have found their surroundings at the least a little interesting as a Pokémon connoisseur.
"Yeah, sure." He didn't move a muscle, not even to look at he; his eyes were glued to the screen of his tablet as he digested information about the Kanto and Johto league.
"Come on, you can't keep your face buried in that tablet the whole way there. Come look at the Pokémon and do your connoisseur business like you always do!"
"Iris, we're moving a little too fast for that." Cilan finally looked up, smiling a little. "Besides, I'm sure we'll see lots of great Pokémon at Professor Oak's laboratory... And we'll get to see all of Ash's other Pokémon too."
"Of course!" Iris brightened up even further – somehow. "I forgot that he travelled through the other regions first. I wonder if he has any dragons…" She giggled and ran to the other side of the boat to join Ash and Dawn. Cilan watched her go for a moment before contentedly returning to his reading.
"Look Pikachu, we're so close to home now!"
"Pika!" The Mouse Pokémon twitched his ears happily.
"Oi, Ash!" Ash turned as she shouted at him. Said greeting was beginning to become standard when Iris wanted Ash's attention.
"What?"
"So…" She began, sidling up to him and leaning over the edge of the railing. "What Pokémon do you have at Professor Oak's lab, anyway?"
"I've got lots of 'em." Ash kept his reply nonchalant.
"Be specific." Iris cut to the heart of the matter. "Come on, Ash; tell me so I can have something to look forward to!"
"If I told you, then that would ruin the surprise." He shot back. "Plus, think about it. Now you can look forward to finding out what Pokémon I have that Professor Oak looks after!"
"It's not the same!" She grumbled in frustration. "All right, how about this; do you have any dragon types there?"
"Well…" He playfully pretended to ponder the question, his hand across his chin. "There might be one…" He turned to Dawn and matched her smile, knowing that they were both thinking of the same rambunctious Pokémon.
And apparently Piplup was too, given the way he harrumphed in annoyance. Pikachu patted the water-type in sympathy.
A klaxon went off, alerting the others to the fact that they were only five minutes out from Pallet Town, and would be docking shortly.
Indeed, the view of Pallet Town from the boat was no longer of it on the horizon; looking carefully, one could clearly make out trees, buildings, people and Pokémon.
"Better get back to the others."
"Come on; don't leave me hanging like this!" Iris bawled as the Ash and Dawn walked away from her, back to Cilan and Cynthia. "Guys!"
Ash, Dawn and Iris were first off the ferry when it reached the dock; Dawn and Iris scrambled over each other as part of a prior agreement to race to see who would stand on mainland Kanto first.
Iris won, perhaps unsurprisingly.
Cilan and Cynthia were last off. Cilan simply couldn't bring himself to push ahead or rush, and Cynthia, recognising how things would end up, went back to accompany him, lightly amused all the while.
Iris, meanwhile, was not amused.
"Come on, Mr. Nice Guy! Do you really have to be this slow?"
"Yes, sure." He still didn't look up from the tablet.
"Oh great, we've lost him again." Iris sighed.
They followed the path out from the dock, past a few shops and houses and then into the rural lanes and countryside that were so familiar to Ash.
Pallet Town was not one big group of buildings that might form the usual notion of a "town" to your average observer, but was instead an assortment of cottages and such spread out across – mostly – farmland. The area around the dock was the primary exception, whilst Professor Oak's laboratory would be the second. The lab easily accounted for over a third of Pallet Town's geographical size, despite housing only two people – but also obviously an impressive number of Pokémon.
It took them only five minutes to reach Ash's house from where they had started walking. Cynthia said that she would go on ahead and alert Professor Oak to their arrival; otherwise it might get a little crowded with so many people visiting at once. Ash protested, but Cynthia demurred, and said that she would meet them all later; with that, she set off up the path to the lab.
The four travellers took a moment to stare at Ash's house before they entered the premises. Well, three did, while Cilan was still a little… distracted.
"Looks homely." Iris commented.
"I like it." Dawn added.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a well-worn, slightly rusty key, then turned his head to grin at Pikachu on his shoulder. "First one to the door, Pikachu?"
Then he realised that Pikachu hadn't been on his shoulder to begin with.
"Pika!"
He looked back down towards his front door and saw the Mouse Pokémon waving energetically.
"Looks like someone's eager!" He sprinted down the path and picked up Pikachu, placing him carefully on his shoulder. He fitted the key into the lock and turned it once, then twice, then opened the door with a twist of the handle.
"Mom?" He called as he walked inside. None of the lights seemed to be on downstairs, though given the bright sunlight they would have been unnecessary anyway. "Mom, I'm back! Are you home?" They walked through to the kitchen, which was as deserted as the rest of the ground floor. "Guess she's not home. Well," He dropped his bags on the table and motioned for the others to do the same. "Make yourselves at home, I'm sure-"
"Mime Mime!"
The Mr. Mime that Mrs. Ketchum had befriended and took in entered the kitchen, having been upstairs when the quartet and entered. It had thought that the newcomers might be burglars, but had recognised Ash as it reached the kitchen, and now raised its arms in a happy greeting.
"Mr. Mime!" Ash smiled.
Iris screeched. Cilan nearly dropped his tablet.
"Ash, you have a Mr. Mime, they're so rare!" Iris fawned, eyes wide. Cilan was quiet, but was now walking around the rather confused Mr. Mime, examining it closely. Ash and Dawn looked hesitantly at each other, both evidently holding in the urge to laugh out loud.
"Uh, it's not mine." Ash explained. "My mom lets it stay here and it helps with the housework and stuff, it's really good at that kind of stuff. It doesn't, uh, battle too often."
"This Mr. Mime is just exquisite!" Cilan whispered. "The perfect blend of hard work and style forming a brilliant recipe with a peppy cheerfulness that's just like the icing on a cake! Magnificent!"
"Mime… Mr. Mime Mime?" It seemed to be addressing Pikachu. Pikachu shrugged.
"Pika, Pika…"
"My goodness, you're back!" Ash's mom had arrived at the front door, and noticed Ash and Dawn standing inside the house – Cilan and Iris were obscured behind them.
"Mom!" Ash ran out to meet her in a hug at the front door, Pikachu running alongside her.
"Oh, Pikachu, it's been too long!" She cried, scooping up the electric-type in her arms and leaving Ash to fall over at her side.
"Gah!"
"Pika!" Pikachu practically purred contentedly.
"Every… time…" Ash muttered as he picked himself up off the ground.
"Oh, hi honey!" Delia said sweetly, seemingly noticing her son for the first time. "I wasn't expecting you for another couple of hours, your flight must've been right on time." She noticed the others standing further in the house. "And these must be your friends! Hello there, I've only heard nice things about you all!"
"Hello Mrs. Ketchum, nice to finally meet you in person." Dawn smiled.
"And you must be Iris and Cilan."
"That's right, hi."
"Nice to meet you."
"Thank you for looking after my son in the Unova region." Delia briefly adopted a serious tone, knowing that it would make Ash react in embarrassment.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Mr. Mime departed to resume its chores, this time in the garden. Delia led her son and the other young trainers into the kitchen.
"Look, mom, I actually remembered to buy presents this time." Ash grinned as he offered her the bag.
"Ash, these are amazing, thank you!" She gazed happily at the crystalline Chandelure, and the plush Mr. Mine, then pulled her son into a warm hug, which Pikachu intruded on, though the two didn't mind. "I'm sure Mimey will love the plushie too."
"Glad you like them, mom."
"Now, I'm sure you'll all want to be off to the lab as soon as you can to see Ash's Pokémon, but I'll bet your journey had worked up quite an appetite! Who's up for some of my famous pot pie?"
Ash cheered the loudest, but Iris joined in heartily, having been informed about the virtues of Delia's cooking by Ash en route.
An hour later and with very full stomachs, the quarter of trainers – plus Axew, Pikachu and Piplup, of course – were on the road to Professor Oak's lab.
"I know you said that your mom's cooking was good, but I didn't think it was that good!" Iris' mouth still seemed to water just thinking about eating more, despite being absolutely sated.
"I know, right?" Ash wasn't entirely focused; he was thinking about what else his mom had said during their visit.
As they had been preparing to leave, thanking her for the food, Delia had suddenly recalled something.
"Oh, silly me, I nearly forgot. Dear, Brock arrived in Pallet Town this morning to meet you; he went down to the lab early to check on all the Pokémon because we didn't expect you to be here so early."
And so they had set off with even greater anticipation for the visit to come, knowing that another friend would await them at their destination.
"I can't wait to see Brock again; I wonder how he's getting on with becoming a Pokémon doctor." Dawn mused.
"I can't wait to meet him!" Cilan added. Iris had persuaded him to put the tablet away for the duration of their visit – and that included the walk to the lab. "I'll bet he knows lots of great recipes… And his Pokémon must be first class if he was a Pokémon breeder when he journeyed with you!"
"Is that it there, Ash?" Dawn asked, pointed at a large building that had just come into view, situated on top of an upcoming hill, fenced by a rock wall and protected by a cast-iron gate. A wind turbine sat on the roof and turned gently in the breeze.
"Yep, that's it."
"Awesome, we're so close!"
"Well, let's hurry up and get there faster! Let's go!" Ash broke into a run; Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and joined him. Pretty soon, all four were running towards the expansive lab before them, the sun shining brightly above their heads. They reached the gate and carefully hauled it open, then sprinted up the path to the front door.
Ash won the "race" with a head start, Pikachu at his side, and Iris close behind. He triumphantly pressed the doorbell and stepped back. Straight into Iris.
"Watch where you're going, Ash!" She grumbled as he stumbled over her. Axew popped out of her hair and looked around, confused and shaken after Iris' running.
"Oops, sorry." He realised that Cilan and Dawn were quite far behind, still coming up the path. "Oops, I think we overdid it a little."
"Eh, they'll catch up."
"Hush and sec and listen." He pointed at the door.
"Coming, coming! Who could that be?" They heard from inside. Ash smiled.
They don't expect us yet, good thing that mom promised not to phone ahead. They probably still think we're having lunch at my house.
"Coming!" Tracey eventually got to the door and opened it, coming face to face with Ash and Iris, the duo still panting from the exertion of running halfway to the lab. "Ash! You're early, Cynthia said you'd be coming soon but we thought you'd be a little longer at your house. And you must be Iris, hi there!"
"Hiya."
Tracey stepped back and let them in, just as Cilan and Dawn finally caught up and were properly introduced to Tracey.
"No… need… to worry…" Dawn breathed hard as Tracey asked if they were okay. Ash giggled as quietly as he could behind her.
Cilan and Dawn, along with Iris, stared around the inside of the lab's entrance hall, already impressed.
"Who is it, Tracey?" Professor Oak as he ascended the steps that led to the lower levels. "Ah, Ash and friends! Do come in, come in."
"It's an honour to meet you, sir!" Cilan practically saluted.
"Thank you, Cilan." Oak replied bashfully. "And hello Iris. It's always nice to meet Ash's friends. Hello, Pikachu." Pikachu waved happily at Oak's mention. "And Dawn too, hello again. How are you and Piplup doing?"
"Very well, thank you!"
As the pleasantries continued, Ash's mind drifted slightly.
This is one of the best parts about coming home. He decided. Having old friends meet new friends…
Oak led them downstairs where they found Brock and Cynthia sitting with cups of tea. Cilan was thrilled to finally meet the prospective-doctor that he had heard so much about, and for a little while the two were off in a culinary fantasy land, apart from everyone else.
Tracey produced fresh tea for the newcomers and all eight sat down together to discuss recent events and their plans for the future.
Cynthia updated Ash, Cilan, Dawn and Iris on the latest relevant news; that Lance would be arriving far sooner than he had originally expected, sometime in the coming week.
This was partly due to the expediency required in keeping atop of the situation, partly because, apparently, Lance had a whole in his schedule far earlier than expected – and partly because, as Oak pointed out, it should hardly take three weeks to examine the stone and come to a conclusion based on their findings.
It was at that point in the conversation that Ash handed the small piece of rock over to Oak, feeling its smooth surface one last time before he did so. Oak took a long, thoughtful look at it, and then passed it to Tracey, who did the same.
Both proceeded to say that, from a mere superficial analysis, neither could see anything unusual or remarkable about the object, but that they would of course make sure by subjecting it to further, proper tests and study.
The discussion then turned to growing concerns in Kanto, Johto and Unova alike.
"There haven't been any reports of unusual activity of the kind that you talked about in Unova on the news across both the connected regions." Tracey informed them. "And we haven't seen anything strange in this area, nor anywhere that we've travelled to recently."
"Which suggests that Team Plasma hasn't come to Kanto yet." Cilan observed.
"Indeed. But that doesn't mean we've not got troubles of our own." Oak continued. "As I was just informing the champion," Cynthia nodded. "The activity of Team Rocket and affiliate criminal organisations has remained very limited in the past few months. Almost too limited. Meanwhile, we've seen an increase in police in the streets in several towns and cities across both the Eastern and Western territories, as Brock can personally attest to."
"Not that I'm complaining about all the Officer Jenny's…" Brock commented, a big smile on his face.
"You left Croagunk at the gym, huh?" Dawn asked dryly.
"Uh huh."
"They seem to be getting more serious about everything." Ash added, returning to the topic at hand. "Jessie, James and Meowth were actually pretty tough when we met them in Unova, and they didn't even have a lot of Pokémon."
"Yes, Cynthia already told us about your encounter with them in the White Forest." Oak said. "Most troubling. One can only hope that they'll have stopped there."
"I wouldn't count on it." Dawn said grimly, recalling past experiences.
They then chose to consider lighter matters, though Cynthia decided to step out briefly for a walk and to enjoy the sunshine, while Oak excused himself with the promise to immediately begin a preliminary examination of the delivery that Ash had provided.
"So I guess I'll be going back to Unova for the league, but that's three months away." Ash said.
"And we'll be coming with you!" Iris felt the need to remind him.
"But until then, we've got a lot of time to use up, but not really enough to go on a long journey… I guess we can spend a lot of time training, too."
"Maybe we should keep our options open." Cilan suggested.
"Yeah, but in the short term, we just have to go shopping!" Dawn cried. "Celadon's shops are famous even in Sinnoh!"
Her sudden excitement spooked Axew, who awoke and pushed out of Iris' hair to see what the fuss was about.
"Oh, wow, an Axew! And it's exceptionally docile!" Tracey gasped.
"Ax?"
"Mind if I just draw this little guy quickly?"
Not that Iris had a chance to say "no", as Tracey already had his sketchbook and pencil out and had already started.
"Reminds me just a little of Trip's camera." Iris muttered to Cilan as she blushed in embarrassment at Tracey's close scrutiny.
"Ax.. Axew Ax…"
"Do you guys mind if I come with you?" Brock asked, as Tracey continued drawing and Iris' face grew redder. "I finished my first year finals just last week, so I'll be free for a month or two until I need to start studying properly again."
"Pika!
No-one protested, and the thought of having Brock in the group again cheered everyone – Ash and Dawn in particular – even more than they had been already. Pikachu's reaction sealed it.
"Pika!
"Ash, do you want to come see your Pokémon now?" Tracey asked, finishing his drawing.
Iris got there before he could answer.
"Yes, he does." She jumped up. "Come on, Ash, I've been patient long enough, let us see them!"
"I was going to say yes anyway." He smirked, and got to his feet as well. "I have been looking forward to seeing the old gang again."
"All right!" Cilan declared. "It's Pokémon time!"
They walked out into the lab's back garden and briefly stopped to admire the view. The grounds under Oak's nominal stewardship stretched far and wide on all sides, so much so that their limits could not be seen from the lab itself. The water of the lake shimmered in the midday sun as different kinds of water-type Pokémon swam through it or played and relaxed around its edges. The plains were also filled with different Pokémon, many of which caused Cilan and Iris to gasp and whisper together excitedly when they saw them.
"We received Palpitoad, Pignite, Scraggy and Unfezant from Professor Juniper through the transfer machine this morning." Tracey told Ash as they began to walk. "They were a little confused by the change of scenery; Scraggy in particular, but let's just leave it at that."
"Yeah, he's pretty young, he hatched from an egg when I had been in Unova for only a few months."
"Well, Bulbasaur sorted them out quite nicely; I think it's been helping them settle in." Tracey finished. "Ah, look, speak of the-"
Bulbasaur had already jumped into Ash's arms before Tracey had finished his sentence.
"Saur, Bulbasaur!"
"Bulbasaur!" Ash hugged it tight, and it extended its vines to wrap around his shoulders happily. "Been keeping everyone in line, huh buddy?" Bulbasaur assented, and then jumped down to greet Pikachu, vine to paw.
"Ash, your Bulbasaur radiates the kind of healthy glow and warmth that I would expect from a dish that originated from the finest of recipes!" Cilan complimented as Iris picked up Bulbasaur. The Seed Pokemon didn't seem to mind, and reached out a vine for Axew to hold as Iris patted it gently across the head. "You two must have had some grand adventures together."
"Hey, buddy, where are all the others?" Ash asked, and Bulbasaur pointed a vine to the right in reply, over a far hill and presumably beyond it.
"Must be that way, I guess." Iris noted.
"They know that you're coming, Ash." Tracey reminded him. "They figured it out after you had Professor Juniper send the others from earlier."
Tracey carefully led the way through the mass of Pokémon onto another path, which proceeded across a hill and then into a woodland area. The road was clear; each and every one of the resident Pokémon seemed to know to avoid it.
They walked for several minutes through the trees – a landscape feature which, personally, Ash was becoming a little sick of after so many years – chatting aimlessly. They saw many Pokémon, but Ash replied to Iris' questioning that he had trained none of them.
"You sure about this, Bulbasaur?" He called back to the one Pokémon he'd so far been able to find. It was walking alongside Pikachu in between Iris and Dawn, waving one vine about to entertain Axew – who was delighted with his new friend - while shaking Piplup's wing.
"Saur!" Bulbasaur seemed very sure, and backed this up with a very wide smile.
"All right." Ash said as he pushed past a slightly obstructive branch and began to look forward again, walking out into a small clearing. "If you're sure, then-"
His sentence was interrupted by a sudden, massive cacophony of noise.
His first thought was of conflict, of Pokémon versus Pokémon, spurred on by memories of the battle against Team Rocket on the plateau only a few days a go.
Then, before he knew it, he was flat on his back on the floor. With a green, quadrupedal Pokémon standing over him happily.
"Bayleef!" He shouted, and climbed up to hug his friend. Bayleef reciprocated the gesture by rearing up on its hind legs.
The din of noise repeated again, and Ash looked past Bayleef to see one, two… Six…
Nearly all of the Pokémon he kept at Professor Oak's lab stood, sat or flew in the clearing. From the way that they reacted to his arrival, they had evidently been waiting for some time to see him.
He spotted Totodile dancing madly. As always. Buizel and Corphish ran up to him, ecstatic at seeing their trainer again.
Infernape beat its chest, and then quickly made its way over to Ash to do the same, simian features breaking into an expression of pure joy at the sight before it. Quilava flared briefly, Torkoal let out a burst of smoke, and then both replicated the Flame Pokémon's intentions.
Sceptile leaned against a tree on the left side. It greeted Ash with a warm wave of a hand, its trademark twig set firmly in its mouth.
Heracross went to hug its trainer enthusiastically, but paused mid-run upon realising Bulbasaur's presence, and made a beeline for the grass-type in pursuit of the sap it so treasured.
Donphan had to fight the urge to roll straight up to him immediately, and instead settled for charging in to join the hug at a reduced pace.
Noctowl hooted. Swellow and Staraptor squawked loudly.
Even Snorlax, right at the back of the clearing, woke up and acknowledged its trainer happily.
The four Pokémon that he had sent from Unova also cheered – in their own ways - at the chance to see him again.
But even all the noise that his Pokémon were making at the time failed to eclipse the volume – and the rapidity - that Iris' voice proceeded to reach seconds later.
"Ash Ash Ash! You have a Gible, you have a Gible, you have a Gible!" Iris squealed loudly, practically jumping on top of the Land Shark Pokémon. Of all of Ash's Pokémon, Gible seemed the most oblivious to his return; it had waved briefly at Ash when he had arrived, then returned to standing near-motionless, it's mouth wide open.
"Uh, Iris, you might not wanna-" That was the extent of Ash's warning, for Gible reacted to her presence in its personal space by clamping down on her hair.
Fortunately, it chose to bite the side that Axew was not currently inhabiting. Small mercies and all that.
"Uh…" The trainers to the rear of the clearing collectively didn't quite know to react to the odd sight, save Cilan, who still seemed enraptured by the spectacle of Ash's assembled Pokémon.
"Woohoo! It bit me! Gible bit me! Yes!" Iris seemed neither harmed nor upset by Gible's action; on the contrary, she seemed all the more encouraged to hug it even more tightly.
"Heh, glad to see you like it…" Ash shrugged and turned back to the other Pokémon who faced him in a tight semi-circle. "I see you've already met some of the guys from Unova – so let's meet the others! Krookodile, Boldore, Snivy, Oshawott and Leavanny, come on out!" He tossed the Poké balls and, within a brief flash of light, five more Pokémon had joined those already in the clearing.
Pikachu and Bulbasaur also moved properly into the clearing, the latter still warding off Heracross, and the collected Pokémon and trainers began to properly mingle.
Krookodile was made welcome immediately by Sceptile and Infernape, the latter two unsure of the newcomer's strength and hoping to test it against their own prowess soon.
Oshawott, accompanied by Piplup, joined in with the antics of Totodile and Corphish; the four energetically produced and splashed water everywhere.
"You okay Cilan?" Ash asked after about ten minutes; he'd managed to go round and catch up personally with most of his old Pokémon by this point, though Bayleef refused to leave him for more than a moment, affectionately rubbing against his leg. "You haven't said a word since we got here."
Cilan took a deep breath.
"Ash…" He began, struggling for words. "Your Pokémon… Their flavour… It's simply brilliant! Like the fruit on the glass of the finest, best kept vintage! Like the culmination of a long-considered and carefully prepared recipe, the dish both looking and tasting exquisite! These Pokémon, their bond with you… It's just magnificent!" He declared, gasping for breath.
"Gee, thanks." Ash was touched by his sentiment.
"If you're wondering, Ash, your Tauros normally get their exercise at this time by stampeding across an open field we keep prepared, so that's why they aren't here." Tracey piped up.
"Ah, I guess that makes sense, I'll go see them later." Ash replied. "Oh, where's Muk?"
"Uh…"
Ash suddenly found himself forced down onto his stomach this time, with a very sticky poison-type Pokémon clinging to him from behind in delight.
"Yeah, we were wondering why Muk's been so quiet since your first batch of Unovan Pokémon arrived. I think it's been lying in wait to do that to you as soon as you mentioned its name." Tracey suggested blithely.
"Ahh, Muk, cut it out! All right, I've missed you too, but please get off me!"
"Better him than us." Tracey muttered to Brock, who silently agreed.
"I love Gible!" Iris screamed, still clutching the bemused dragon-type.
It was the kind of reunion that Ash could have only dreamed of before, and his heart soared at the reality of the situation.
Ash finally managed to separate himself from Muk – albeit mostly with Bayleef's help. It took some time, however.
They departed nearly two hours later, promising to return again soon. They were seen off by another rousing chorus of roars and cries from the Pokémon.
Ash managed to convince Bayleef to remain behind, and eventually it did so, though only really because of Bulbasaur's excellent powers of persuasion.
Iris, on the other hand, refused to part with Gible, and was now carrying the rather confused Pokémon back up to the lab. Axew was caught between warring curiosity at the possibility of a new friend, and something akin to jealously at a potential competitor for Iris' attention.
They took a short detour to visit Ash's Tauros, who, like the other Pokémon, were extremely happy to see him again. Brock also had the opportunity to explain to Cilan, Dawn and Iris as to how it had come about that Ash had managed to obtain thirty Tauros in the first place, a story which left the two girls having to stifle giggles.
Fortunately for Ash, the Tauros chose not to express that affection this time by stampeding over him.
Returning to the lab, they began to talk about where they would stay while in Pallet Town; Tracey confirmed that the professor had offered a bed to anyone if Delia found her house becoming overcrowded. It was as they discussed this that Brock remembered that he had something else to tell Ash.
It was almost as an offhand remark, and whether that was calculated or not, Brock probably couldn't have realised that its revelation would turn Ash's day from merely excellent to absolutely amazing.
"Oh, Ash, I nearly forgot!" He started suddenly as they approached the lab. The sun was beginning to disappear occasionally behind the clouds, having lost its midday lustre. "Misty called me before I left Pewter Town. She said that she'd heard that you'd be back and she'll be coming to visit tomorrow."
The topic of Misty then proceeded to consume the rest of the afternoon, as Ash, Brock and Tracey proceeded to explain to the puzzled others who Misty was and recount numerous stories about their travels with the fiery water-type trainer.
Only one other person could've made this day perfect.
Several thousand miles away…
The day certainly was not going perfectly for a certain trio in a certain far off region, however. Certainly not.
They had climbed out of the crater in which they had landed very soon after they had hit the ground, but it had still taken James, Jessie and Meowth almost a day to reach a working payphone. A day of near non-stop walking.
They had contacted Doctor Zager and convinced him to put them on a direct line to Giovanni.
"Ultimately, we've failed, sir. The target is beyond our reach and the mecha was destroyed." Jessie finished in summation.
"The pestering twerps are also still at large, sir." James added.
"An annoyance," Giovanni said. "But it will not ruin my plans. Indeed, your confirmation that Team Plasma has been routed in Unova is most helpful."
"Sir, would you like us to continue our pursuit of the trainers that we were following?" Jessie asked, deciding to be a little more formal and avoid the word "twerp". For once.
"We overheard dem talkin' 'bout returning to Kanto when we shadowed dem." Meowth put in.
Giovanni considered this for a moment.
"No, I want you to remain in Unova and keep an eye on how events proceed. As for the trainers… I'll have other agents in Kanto take care of them. Giovanni out." He cut the link.
The Team Rocket trio looked at each other, then set off down the road once more back to civilisation.
It was the first time in a long while that they had had no specific goal or target in mind.
It wasn't a good feeling.
All they had to do was watch and wait.
"You helped save my people from a Phyrexian fate. Did you think I wouldn't return the favour?
- Eladamri, to Gerrard; Heroes' Reunion, Invasion