Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Thanks for the reviews from two guests and irisflower1331, and thanks for the praise! Your reviews seem pretty similar, so I assume that you're all either the same person or all friends, but either way:
To the second review of the three, I will be going over the spelling and grammar as a whole in every chapter at some point – and will announce when I do - but in the meantime if you would like to help by pointing out any specific examples I'd be happy to correct them much more quickly.
Now, as for chapter one… It's kind of complicated to explain right now, because it ties in with the rest of the story, and how it will eventually play out. It certainly isn't there because I got bored and decided to do some creative writing; it's not random, but its relevance will become apparent later, rather than sooner. All I can say is keep reading, and you'll understand by the end.
Thanks again for the reviews!
The next day of their erstwhile vacation was spent in a somewhat more relaxed manner.
"Unfezant, use Gust to get the wind going!"
Unfezant tensed its body and began flapping its wings rapidly, creating a vertical, spiralling vortex in the sky.
"Good, now Kingler, use BubbleBeam and aim for that Gust!"
Kingler spat a stream of compressed water into its ally's creation, which churned for a moment and then began covering the other side of the field with a powerful spray.
"Quilava, Piplup, dodge fast!" Dawn ordered hurriedly. Her Pokémon obeyed, leaping up and across the pitch to carry out the command of their trainer.
Quilava, more through bad luck than judgment, took the worst of the combination attack and was doused by several streams of water. Piplup remained mostly unscathed.
"Now I see exactly why they use two Pokémon in actual contest battles." Cilan commented. "They can play off each other in ways that are much harder or impossible to perform alone, like a saucier providing his expertise in the kitchen to the chef de partie!"
"Way to go, guys!" Ash cheered his duo, who squawked and crackled back in appreciation.
Sure, the day was more relaxed, but that hardly meant that there would be no battling whatsoever.
In this case, contest battles were the order of the day; the decision was made based on several factors, prime amongst them the recognition of the fact that all of their battles for more than a week had been of the "proper" kind, and as Cilan chimed in, "variety is the spice of life", after all.
Second, this sort of battling was of great interest to both Cilan and Misty; the former coming from a region which had yet to offer an organised contest circuit and the latter having travelled around Kanto too early to have experienced them otherwise. Ash and Dawn had agreed to give them a demonstration, as the only ones with a reasonable degree of contest experience – Brock added that he wouldn't be much help with only one Pokémon anyway.
Third, Dawn pointed out that she needed to battle in such a way once in a while to avoid being out of practice for the real thing, and that reason would have no doubt sufficed on its own.
And that was how they came to be fighting a contest battle in the early morning – Ash having been dragged out of bed, of course – watched by Brock, Cilan, Iris and Misty.
Dawn had an advantage beyond the fact that she was a dedicated coordinator; her Pokémon were well versed in the need to blend style and form into their battling techniques, while Kingler and Unfezant, quite simply, were not.
They had done well so far to adapt, dealing as much damage with their attacks as their opponents had; Kingler in particular had shown that his ability to roll with any given situation had not diminished since its crushing victory in the first round of the Indigo League. But Dawn decided to bring the battle to a close in a way that, in a real contest, would have lost her adversary a grand amount of points even if their Pokémon had been able to continue.
"Piplup, use Whirlpool! Quilava, follow that up with Fire Spin!"
With well-rehearsed precision, Piplup summoned and tossed the raging torrent of water as Quilava inhaled and blew a wreath of fire that encircled it in perfect harmony; neither overflowing nor overreaching to consume or extinguish the other.
The maelstrom moved forward to catch both Unfezant and Kingler in its turning currents. Though Kingler would have been less affected by a regular whirlpool or a regular fire spin due to its typing, the combination created an improvised scalding effect that left it with agonising burns across its body.
"That combination was even better!" Cilan cried, awestruck, as the move also showered the battlefield with warm – but quickly cooling – droplets of water, and steam began to obscure the "firepool", leaving Piplup and Quilava as the centre of attention.
"I guess taking a combination and improving on it in succession scores a lot of points in an actual contest." Misty guessed, and Brock confirmed her suggestion with a nod.
The "firepool" finally dissipated, dumping Kingler and Unfezant unceremoniously on the ground. Burns covered their bodies, and they were very much unconscious.
Brock declared that the match was over – in Dawn's favour – as she ran out to praise and thank her Pokémon, while Ash moved to comfort his. They were treated with potions and rawst berries – the latter courtesy of Cilan, of course. They recovered well, if a little annoyed and confused at their loss, as not using pure force or strategy to win and trying to perfect their style had been difficult for the both of them.
They had set up the makeshift contest battlefield closer to Oak's lab than Ash's house, around the same place that Ash had battled Gary before setting off for Sinnoh several years before. This allowed Tracey to occasionally come over and watch as he worked on the daily chores for the lab. Oak himself had returned to run what he called "final examinations" on the stone that Ash had delivered to him, and Cynthia had joined him.
After all, today was the day that Lance would be arriving.
Cynthia had dropped that little bombshell on them the night before, during dinner when all were assembled at Ash's house, and many tales were told and past adventures recited. Many of which, of course, involved Ash being embarrassed in some way or another.
Still, Cynthia's revelation that Lance would be accelerating his arrival; again, that is, given that he had at first intended to check up on the stone in three weeks' time, then shortened it to merely a week. Now, the time between the stone reaching its destination and Lance's presence would be barely three days.
Ash had expected Professor Oak to be unhappy at the least, and he certainly seemed annoyed when he next spoke. Ash had also expected that Oak would not be ready to show the Kanto champion anything of substance from his research, but he had been proved wrong on that account; the professor had said that he would be delighted to, with a strange smile that Ash had not enjoyed seeing.
Cynthia also seemed slightly displeased, but Ash and the others had no chance of fathoming the possible disagreements that champions might have with each other, and so let the matter go unnoticed.
Indeed, Ash, Brock and Misty were looking forward to the opportunity of seeing the elite trainer again.
Iris was over-the-moon, and she was still jumpy at the prospect of him appearing at any time even at the practice contest battles the next day.
Cilan and Misty went next, and tried to practice combinations with their own Pokémon. Cilan tried out Pansage and Crustle, having the latter use Shell Smash and the former fire off SolarBeams to send chunks of rock and solar power zooming towards Misty's Politoed and Luvdisc. For her part, she had them counter with staggering walls of water, attempting to form a box or enclosure to trap Pansage and Crustle.
It wasn't easy for either trainer, although Misty acclimatised a little more so because of her previous experiences with show business and such style in Cerulean City. Pansage found it hard to aim the SolarBeams so that they reliably bounced off of chunks of rock, and many of the water walls that Misty's Pokémon carved simply petered out after existing for only a few seconds, but it was, Dawn agreed, a good start for them.
They had lunch shortly after, made through a concerted effort between Brock, Cilan and Delia this time. They had spent some time the night before devising what they would cook for both the midday and evening meals, and the result was mouth-watering to behold and taste, although Ash missed the lack of pot pies – his mom said that giving them to him again so soon after he last ate them would be bad parenting.
They had intended to spend the rest of the afternoon lazing about and simply talking while waiting for Lance to arrive, but such "activity" was cut short by his very early visitation.
They had expected to actually see Lance travel by on whatever mode of transport he had chosen, and so waited at Ash's house, not at Oak's lab.
The folly of this line of thinking was revealed by a phone call from the lab not even twenty minutes after they had finished eating.
Ash had made it there first, but Iris, either sensing somehow or perhaps guessing that it would have to do with Lance, simply tackled him out of the way before he could pick up the receiver and took it herself, accidentally sending Pikachu flying in the process.
"Hello?" She asked, the picture of innocence, as Ash, mumbling incoherently, picked himself up off the floor. "Oh, hi Tracey! He's… there already? He's there? He's there! Thanks, Tracey!" She screamed the last and slammed the receiver back onto the base, cutting the conversation abruptly short. "Guys, guys!" She called into the kitchen. "He's at the lab already! He's here, Lance is here!"
The others began to pick up their bags and get ready to head out for the lab, but Iris wasn't about to wait around. She grabbed Ash's hand and dragged him to the door.
"We'll meet you there!" She pulled open the front door and pulled the protesting Ash outside with Pikachu following in their wake. She then let go and started to run down the road towards the lab.
"Hey, Iris, wait up!" He called after her, allowing Pikachu back onto his shoulder and sprinting to catch up, panting from the overbearing heat as he ran.
The gates and the door to the lab were both open, as though Tracey had suspected that they wouldn't wait for very long.
Iris was still first in, and she displayed no sign of tiring out even as she rocketed up the path and past the door.
Ash lost sight of her as she ran into the lab and turned right towards the living room.
"Ah, hello Iris." He heard Professor Oak say as he continued running. "Lance, this is one of Ash's friends, Iris, she-"
Ash finally made it round the corner into the living room and crashed straight into Iris. The wild girl had apparently centred herself well when she stopped, because she barely seemed affected by the impact at all, whereas he fell over backwards, which sent Pikachu flying again.
"Nice to meet you." He heard a familiar, but long-unseen voice say as he shook his head roughly, trying to shake off the effects of the collision. "And here's Ash, great to see you again!"
His dazed vision finally cleared and he was able to properly see the crimson-haired champion standing before him, extending a hand to help him up.
"Lance! Long-time no see!" He took Lance's hand, who pulled him off the floor and allowed him to stand unaided once more. They shook hands before they let go, each remembering the past experiences that had made them friends.
"It has been too long." Lance agreed. "I see Pikachu's still as healthy as ever, too."
The yellow Mouse Pokémon affirmed his assessment happily.
"You okay, Iris?" Ash asked, realising the source of the collision in the first place. "Guess not…" He muttered as he realised that she had barely moved a muscle since entering, locked in some inner conflict of will between her desire to ask Lance a million different questions about his dragon-type Pokémon, and her shyness in general about talking to one of her idols. The latter force seemed to be winning at the moment, given her inactivity, though the occasional shakes that rocked her body betrayed the existence and continuation of the struggle.
"She'll be fine after a little while." Cynthia offered, and Lance turned slightly to allow Ash to see the champion who spoke. She was sitting next to Oak on the couch again, sipping a from a cup of coffee. "Afternoon, Ash."
"Hey, Cynthia."
"Where are the others?"
"They're coming, Iris was kinda in a hurry to meet Lance and she pulled me along, so we ended up leaving them behind."
"Wanted to meet me, huh?" Lance turned back to Iris, grinning. "Whatever for?"
"I… Uh… Dragons…" The Unovan managed to force out; cheeks blushing a deep red, eyes wide, she kept glancing between Cynthia and Lance, unable to keep her gaze on the Kanto champion for too long.
"Iris here is going to be a dragon master one day." Cynthia said helpfully, causing Lance to smile wider. She too wore a smile, though her face seemed etched far more in amusement rather than flattery or other such concerns.
"Well then, would you like to meet my Dragonite later?"
"Y-y-y-yes p-p-please!" She finally seemed to gain a little confidence even as she stuttered. "That'd, uh, be a-amazing!"
"Ash, you'll have to tell me about what you've been up to since we last met, I'd love to hear it."
"Sure, it'd be great to catch up later."
Their conversation was interrupted by the belated appearance of Brock, Cilan, Dawn and Misty. Lance was introduced to Cilan and Dawn and reacquainted with Brock and Misty, the last of whom having not seen him since the Lake of Rage incident, and was subsequently very happy to hear that he still had his red Gyarados due to her own use of the Atrocious Pokémon.
The pleasantries, impressively, lasted a full twenty minutes, not least because Cynthia and Professor Oak joined in with as much enthusiasm as everyone else.
Ash realised something that he hadn't before about Lance during that time; he was very good at keeping conversation going. Perhaps it was because they had been a little preoccupied during their previous meetings in both Johto and Hoenn… Or perhaps he was becoming more observant.
A subtle hint here, a slight prompt there…
From being impressed at Dawn's Piplup, to encouragement towards Brock's goal of becoming a Pokémon doctor…
And suddenly, they found themselves with a lot more to talk about.
They almost began repeating the best of the stories that they had shared in the days before – purely for Lance's benefit, of course.
Fortunately, the professor had apparently foreseen the situation and set Tracey as a safeguard to pull them back to what they really had to discuss – or perhaps Tracey had been the most observant of them all, and had realised that their conversation was spiralling off into trivial pursuits.
Either way, Tracey entered the room at one point in their discussion and signalled discretely to Oak, who looked at his watch and gasped in surprise.
"Oh my, look at the time!" It was hardly late, but the point had been made. "I'm sure all this catching up can wait, and I assume that our esteemed visitor would like to see what he came to see now."
Lance took this as a hint to agree.
"Certainly so." He said. "Not that I mind stopping by to say "hello" now and then, but this is the main reason I'm here, after all…"
He's never stopped by as far as I know. Ash thought. So either he does come to the lab sometimes when I'm not around… Or he's just being courteous.
Oak directed them out of the living room and onto the balcony. It was a tight fit for all ten of them, but they were able to squeeze onto it in single file, and take in the view of the land and Pokémon that the professor watched over every day.
The sun bathed the grass below in a warm light, still high above the horizon as it was for the time of day.
"That's beautiful…" Misty whispered.
"Yeah…" Dawn agreed, and, silently, so too did Ash.
Ash managed to spot Bulbasaur helping a few of the younger grass-type Pokémon take a drink from one of various pools in the lab's outside grounds, and smiled proudly at the sight, then waved enthusiastically back as his Pokémon spotted him and began shaking a vine in his direction.
Oak cleared his throat, and everyone's attention returned to him. He slipped an aged hand into one of his white-coat pockets, and revealed the smooth, etched mediocre chunk of stone that had been Ash's responsibility in the last stage of his journey in Unova. So far.
"I've subjected this stone – as you," He began, motioning to Lance, who nodded in return. "And Cameron requested of me when you had Ash and the others protect it and bring it here from Unova – to every single test, experiment and examination that I have been able to devise, and I can strongly say that I have the utmost faith in the accuracy of my conclusions."
"And they are?" Dawn broke the prolonged silence that had followed after the end of his sentence. Any longer and Ash was tempted to do it himself, and his attempt to get things rolling probably would have lacked the level of decorum that Dawn's succinct choice of words possessed.
Oak's grim smile – that he had worn at dinner the previous night – had returned, and suddenly Ash had a very bad feeling about what he would say next.
"Tracey?" He turned to his assistant, gingerly handing over the stone. "I'm a little too old for this next part, so do it for me, will you?"
From the matching look on their friend's face, Tracey already knew whatever it was that Oak seemed so – angry? Annoyed? It was hard to tell – about.
"I'd be happy to, professor." He said, holding the stone – in contrast to Oak's carefulness – loosely. He held it up, and for what – to Ash – seemed like an age, despite being barely a moment in reality - looked out across the balcony.
With surprising speed, Tracey hefted the stone and tossed it with precise aim away from the balcony and onto the grass below, albeit nowhere near to where the closest Pokémon happened to be. It was small enough to be quickly lost from view where it landed.
That was the last they would see of the stone.
Two people on that balcony reacted with no surprise whatsoever at the turn of events – and they were Tracey and Professor Oak.
Five others reacted only slightly to the sight of the stone flying away by Tracey's hand, staring at its diminishing profile in stunned silence. Those five were Brock, Cilan, Cynthia, Lance and Misty.
The remaining three – Ash, Dawn and Iris, of course, reacted rather angrily to seeing something that they had been told was important soaring away rapidly from them, lost forever in the grass.
"Tracey, what on earth was that?"
"Why did you do that?"
"I can't believe this!"
Tracey shook his head and shrugged.
Lance closed his eyes, and sighed, then opened them to look almost apologetically at Oak.
"So it's entirely useless?"
Now everyone was speechless. Cynthia had gone from being merely silent to having apparently forgotten to close her mouth again having opened it involuntarily in shock, a rare abandonment of the normal poker face that the Sinnoh champion regularly made use of.
Oak nodded, but he wasn't finished.
"More than that, champion, there's far more than that." Ash had only ever heard Oak use this tone of voice before when talking about – or to – Pokémon thieves like Team Rocket. To see it directed at Lance sent a shiver down his spine, and he wondered, as he had with Misty the day before, how the professor had been able to stop himself from breaking out into an angry rant earlier. "The stone that you had me examine is, indeed, entirely inert. No, that's not the right word; it doesn't accurately describe the object in question." He corrected himself. "To say that the stone is "inert" would imply that it once had a function at some time." He paused again.
Ash willed him to continue even though he suspected that everyone on the balcony had already worked out what he would say next.
"That stone was literally just an ordinary piece of rock, of rubble, of hardened minerals. There is no way it served any other purpose than as a decoy, a distraction for the efforts of those against Team Plasma in Unova, and a waste of your time in investigating Team Rocket here in Kanto. Frankly, I'd like to have a word with that foolish young Cameron as soon as possible to tell him what I think about this whole situation in person, though how exactly Professor Juniper didn't just tell him this herself is beyond me."
"I think he said that she did." Ash defended the Unovan professor. "But he wanted to be sure..."
"Then I'd be worried about his state of mind. I know he's famous for being paranoid…" Cynthia snickered at this, and Lance's smile returned, shifting into something that resembled fond affection. "But this verges on wilful stupidity, and given what else his little errand meant for…"
"Rest assured that Cameron will be told of what you have found… And informed about your displeasure." Lance cut across the professor, and now his tone and expression suggested that this part of the conversation was over. "Thank you for your efforts and time, professor, and rest assured that we will continue to look to protecting the regions, and be more careful in the future about the leads we follow in order to avoid red herrings." He gestured inside. "I've got some more news – very recent news, in fact – to discuss, and if we could do so inside…"
"Of course, but I need to talk to you briefly. Help yourself to any food and drink you like, everyone, we'll be with you again shortly." Oak said stiffly, and everyone but himself, Cynthia and Lance proceeded to file back inside the lab; those who had returned from Unova feeling a little dejected now that the futility of their delivery had been revealed. Oak waved a hand at Cynthia to say that he didn't mind her staying – not that she would probably leave anyway – and she closed the balcony door as Tracey, the last to leave, went through.
"Look, I'm sorry for wasting your time, and for asking Cameron to give the stone to Ash, professor." Lance managed to say before Oak resumed.
"You could have just sent the stone to me, and it would have arrived quickly. Ash and the others could have been in grave danger-"
"Well, if the stone wasn't good for anything, then…"
"Irrelevant." Oak snapped at him, silencing him. "If it had been necessary for something – which I can only assume that you – and certainly Cameron – believed, then you were knowingly putting them at the risk of attack. Never mind that they can handle it, I know they've dealt with Team Rocket hundreds of times in the past." Oak saw off that attempt at rebuttal as Lance opened his mouth, then closed it quickly again. "But you set the bar low if you count Team Rocket as a regular, major threat for them to face – at least those two goons that follow them around, anyway."
"I went with them, they were hardly alone." Cynthia offered in Lance's defence, but Oak could easily see that her heart wasn't in it; she agreed with him, not Lance.
"I have no quarrel with you, Cynthia, and I find your actions admirable." He said. "The problem I have is related either to Cameron, or yourself, Lance. Either it follows that Cameron has become unhealthily paranoid as a result of the crisis in his region…" Oak looked at the Kanto champion harshly. "Or there is the possibility is that you suggested to him that he should give it to Ash because you wanted Ash back in Kanto for some reason." Lance kept his face even in response, and eventually Oak gave a long sigh, and walked back towards the door to the lab. "I sincerely hope that I'm entirely wrong, Lance, but I worry that I'm not. I hope your news will turn out to be good." Without another word, he walked back into the lab, leaving Cynthia and Lance alone.
Both knew that Oak had come close to hitting the nail completely on the head with his suspicions.
"Well, I-" Lance began.
"He's right. That's all I have to say." Cynthia stated as she followed Oak's example and left him alone on the balcony.
Lance took one last look out over the horizon, taking in the warmth and beauty of the sun, before moving to join them.
If only they could know how much worse things are going to get…
"All right, then." Lance said, having managed to recompose himself to adopt the same confident expression he had worn upon first arriving at the lab. "Truth be told, the stone isn't the only reason I'm here so early." He looked at Cynthia and Oak before continuing, who had both similarly returned to neutral expressions since re-joining the others, and he was thankful for that. "First, I do have news from Cameron in Unova."
"How's he doing?" Ash asked, interested, and he could tell that Cilan and Iris in particular were keen to hear an update of what was happening in their home region.
"Well, it hasn't collapsed since the siege of the Unovan League, so small comforts, I guess." That drew a few chuckles, and he felt some of his real bravado return again. "His message stated that he and Alder having been working to get the new champion up to speed and such, and that they will begin to hit the locations of suspected or confirmed Team Plasma holdouts soon, having run a series of stakeouts over the past few days to gather intelligence."
"Well, that sounds like good news." Ash said, stating the obvious to try to raise morale a little, and it seemed to work, though it might just have been the news itself rather than his comment.
"Yes, and it sounds like the region as a whole hasn't been affected much either, which is a good sign for its future stability." Oak agreed.
"Does he actually name the new champion?" Cynthia asked blithely. Lance checked.
"No. No he does not."
"Unsurprising." Cynthia muttered. "Always misses details like that, that we just might like to know…"
"I wonder who they actually are, though…" Cilan considered for a moment, thinking about likely candidates. "I know, maybe it's detective time! I'm sure- Ow, Iris, what was that for?!"
"Sorry, Cilan, but we're a little busy for all that right now…" Iris grumbled, having stopped the possibility of a continuous outpouring of mostly useless information with a quick, light clip around the back of his head.
"Well, that's all for Unova, so now a little closer to home – Kanto." Lance went on. "Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has yet to be the slightest indication of any Team Plasma activity in Kanto; it seems entirely confined to Unova from what we can tell, though no reports from Hoenn, nor Sinnoh, have been entirely confirmed as of yet." Ash could've sworn that he saw Cynthia's face darken at the mention of her region even as Dawn smiled fondly, though after he blinked he couldn't be sure whether it was or was not merely an illusion. "In addition, the league's agents have noticed an interesting decline in Team Rocket activity all across the region."
"That's good, surely?" Misty put forward, and the others all agreed with her.
"Not necessarily." Brock cut in. "They could be planning something and building up resources for it…"
"Precisely, so we're going to be even more on our guard than ever… Without slipping into paranoia."
"So what's next?"
"Moving on to Sinnoh…"
"I think I can cover this one, Lance." Cynthia spoke up. "I can guess what you're going to say, anyway."
"I'm sure you can, go ahead." He said, and she stood up.
"When I took six of you to Celadon City yesterday, I left to travel to Saffron City for a secure channel with the board of my own Pokémon league. While I can hardly reveal anything particular or specific, I can say – as it will soon be public knowledge anyway – that I need to return to Sinnoh to meet them in person; the situation demands it. Evidently, news travels fast…" She trailed off, glancing again at Lance, who nodded.
"Aww, it's been nice to have you with us, Cynthia, we'll be sad to see you go." Dawn said, and the others chorused their agreement and well wishes. Brock attempted to burst out into an ill-conceived serenade, but Misty quickly – and competently – shut him down.
"And I'm sad that I have to leave." Cynthia replied honestly. "I might be able to come back after, but it will depend…"
"Actually, that brings me to issue number four…" Lance chimed in. "I need to ask a favour."
Cynthia tensed. Her suspicions returned with a vengeance; particularly as he was asking so publicly – this was clearly not directed at her alone, from champion to champion, as they normally operated.
"Go on."
"Wallace – champion of Hoenn-" He added for the benefit of Iris, who looked at him blankly. "-has asked me to send someone to help with something that he refused to elaborate on more than suggesting that it was a matter of security. I was hoping that, if you can, you could travel on to assist him after stopping in Sinnoh for your meeting."
"I… I don't see why not." She accepted the task, realising that she had no problem with doing it; indeed, she very much liked Wallace as a friend and as a champion. "I'd be happy to help."
"Excellent."
And then he went further.
And here we go.
"And I was wondering if some of the others would like to accompany you."
"I'm sorry, what?" Ash said, caught entirely off guard, as were the rest of his friends.
Oak nearly dropped his teacup. Cynthia forgot to close her mouth again.
Lance realised that he had to talk fast, as he could tell from the way that Cynthia's eyes were narrowing and how colour had filled her cheeks that he had very little time to do so. And he hadn't even looked at Oak.
"I figure that Cynthia has a greater chance of being useful if she's got some help in the region, and I know for a fact that you two-" He gestured to Ash and Brock. "- have been round it more recently than she has."
"B-but, w-wait, no, Lance!" Cynthia stammered angrily. "This – the danger! You can't-"
"I know it could be dangerous." He cut her off sharply. "But I have every confidence in the skills of Ash and his friends."
"We sort of are pretty good at dealing with danger." Misty admitted, and none of the others who had travelled with Ash disagreed with her.
"But what about our vacation?" Cilan suddenly said sadly. "We've barely had the slightest chance to go around Kanto…"
Ash looked at Cilan and Iris, and realised how disappointed they were at the prospect of leaving the region to follow the others if they went. He saw the same expression replicated across Dawn's face, and realised that, as she had already completed the Hoenn circuit, she too would be disappointed at going so soon.
He then realised what returning to Hoenn could actually mean, and knew what he had to do.
He looked at Pikachu, who nodded determinedly back at him.
"Piikaaa!"
"I'll go alone." He said standing up. Cynthia and Professor Oak looked at him like he was mad, Lance looked pleased, and the others merely looked surprised – again. It was a day of surprises, apparently. "It's not fair to make Cilan, Dawn and Iris go away so soon, and I know how much the lab and the gym mean to you, Tracey and Misty…" They nodded at him. "Brock, would you do me a favour and stay with them until they get back? They kinda need a guide, and I know how reliable you are…"
"Consider it done." The future doctor replied.
"Thanks."
"But, Ash-" Cynthia began, and Oak also went to speak, but Ash, again, got there first.
"But nothing. I mean, I can't make you let me go… But I think Lance is right. I want to help out as much as I can."
"All right. I'd be happy to have you come to." Cynthia accepted finally.
It wasn't like she could realistically refuse him.
"Thanks, Ash." Lance smiled at him – a smile that he returned.
Then he was tackled to the ground by Dawn and Iris in an engulfing hug, as Cilan laid a thankful hand on his shoulder while Brock, Misty and Tracey watched him proudly.
Had he looked away from his group of friends, he would have seen Cynthia and Oak looking utterly defeated, and Lance appearing rather triumphant.
"You be careful now, Ash." Brock said as they shook hands, then moved back to allow Cilan to do the same.
"Yes, we won't be there to help out, of course, so you'll need to work a little more than normal."
"A lot more, I know. I'm sure I've picked up a few tricks over the years."
"This might help, too." Brock passed him a small book; a small cookbook for beginners with a handful of easy recipes.
"Thanks, guys."
It was very nearly evening, and they were getting ready to leave. Cynthia had retained the vehicle that she had used to drive from Pallet to Celadon the day before, and would drive them to the dock with it to catch the last ferry out to the airport before it became too dark. She had already said her goodbyes to the group and to Oak and Lance; the latter being somewhat strained, though she still managed to hug him, at least.
Delia had been saddened by the swift departure of Pikachu - and her son - once more, but she had been prepared for it nonetheless – it had happened several times before, after all, and she knew what he had to do was important – and counted on Cynthia to keep him safe.
Iris and Tracey were next to wave him off, and repeated the motions that the others had before them. Tracey reminded Ash that he would be happy to send him any of his Pokémon at any time when he wanted; he was just a phone call away, after all. Iris added that he had better remember to bring out Gible once in a while, or there would be consequences.
He had swapped around his team again, calling on Bulbasaur to replace Bayleef, much to the latter's chagrin; Staraptor over Unfezant, and the Tauros pack leader for Infernape. Totodile was in as Kingler headed back to the lab, and Boldore took Gible's place.
Dawn followed with a big, tight hug, and told him gently to stay safe, to which he replied with her catchphrase, and they both laughed like maniacs for a little longer than was probably necessary. She took Pikachu from Misty to say goodbye to the Mouse Pokémon, as the red-haired gym leader moved in to talk to Ash.
She, too, hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Misty." He whispered.
"What for?"
"What we talked about yesterday… I do feel like I'm running away again and leaving everyone behind…"
"Nuh uh, Ash." She replied. "Not this time. This time, you're going because you are needed, and because going alone means that your friends get to do what they want to do. That's a sacrifice, Ash, and that shows maturity."
"Well…"
"Well, yes, I'm sure you don't entirely mind going either." She gave him a wry smile as she broke the hug. "Hoenn, after all…"
"Heh… Yeah…" He could tell that she knew far more than he normally would have liked about what troubled him, but realised that he didn't mind.
"Good luck Ash, and stay safe." They shared one last look as Delia took Pikachu from Dawn and brought him over, to say goodbye to her son and his first Pokémon together.
It was more of a heartfelt goodbye than it usually was, complicated in part by the uncertainty of when they would see each other again – particularly as, in the past; Ash had always been hunting some goal with a finite duration – the Pokémon leagues, for example.
Not this time.
After that farewell, he was thanked again by Lance and wished well by the professor. With all of what needed to be said and done concluded, Ash and Pikachu climbed into the sizeable car, riding shotgun alongside Cynthia, and waved to the others as she started the car and they sped off down the road, riding quickly towards the harbour to make the ferry.
I didn't think I'd be leaving so soon. He thought as his friends and family disappeared out of sight. But I guess Misty's right. It will be good seeing Hoenn again… After Sinnoh, anyway.
Having seen them off, Lance, Tracey and the professor returned to the lab, where Lance would be staying the night given the time – Oak's hospitality had apparently not been eroded entirely by his disagreement with the Kanto champion over Ash.
The others had filed back into Ash's house where, of course, they would be staying the night. Misty excused herself immediately, while the others entered the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, Piplup had sniffed the air, and then suddenly jumped out of Dawn's arms and waddled out of the room. She followed him, curious and confused by his behaviour.
He moved intriguingly fast compared to normal, and Dawn only just caught a glimpse of him entering Ash's room before she lost sight of him again.
She opened the door properly to find him chewing into a bowl of Pokemon food – she was more impressed by his ability to smell it from downstairs than by its actual fairly random presence.
Then Dawn realised that she was not alone.
Right in the centre of the bed, arms crossed and legs folded, sat Misty.
"Hey, Dawn." Her face held a certain sadness to it that worried her at the time. "We need to talk."
The beauty of it is they never see it coming. Ever.
- Razzik, Sparkmage, Shock, M12