At the outskirts of Pallet, where the hills met the sea, there was a cave. How this cave had come to be had long since been lost to the memory of those in the nearby town, and none dared venture within. Once, a particularly vicious pack of Gyrados had made home here, and though a long time had passed since a wild Gyrados had been seen anywhere near the town, people were still cautious of the place. It was vast, and seemed to go on forever, illuminated by the light outside, and the countless crystals that lined the walls.
"What do you think? It'll do?"
"Pi ka chu." It'll do.
As Quentin had before him, as Callista before Quentin, as it had been since Masato, Ash had found a sanctuary.
It was perfect. Isolated, vast, close to home, it was exactly what he'd been looking for.
He looked around, recalling his last place of training and isolation. A place he had no desire to return too. The Edge was too far away to be practical, and well, too isolated. This was much better, much closer to things he'd require; A Pokemon Center for one. Last time Charizard had been really hurt it'd taken a while to get treatment.
"I must keep fighting..."
Once again...once again there was purpose in fighting. Greater purpose. More than just fighting for the thrill. Every fight would be watched, so he had to be strong, not just for himself, but to inspire those who will come after. He smiled. "You know, when I got the title, I kinda figured I'd be done with fighting. Didn't think I'd get the chance anymore, 'til the next Championship anyway. Now I know it kinda doesn't end, and that really is kinda awesome." He looked to his oldest friend. "Am I screwed up?"
"Pi chu ka, pika pi ka chu." If you are, then I am too.
They shared a brief grin. Ash tread across the ground, which seemed dyed a soft shade of blue by the walls, which reflected the mirror of blue, flowing from the entrance. He stopped at the mirror's edge, seeing two faces staring back at him.
The reflection, it wasn't perfect. Not for the first time, a younger face stared back at him. His mistakes, well he would carry them. There was one way which Ash truly was better than what stared back at him. He'd lived, he'd lived enough to know life didn't always work like it did on TV, or the Movies, or (he assumed) Books. You couldn't tread through this world without stepping in shit at some point or another. The water rippled. He became older, Pikachu became Raichu, and they became...them. A path once walked, could be retread. That could still become his future. The strength of his resolve would determine the face he'd one day see staring back at him. This reflection could not be allowed to become reality. The days, weeks, months, possibly years to come were to be a long battle, but his greatest opponent would always be waiting every time he looked into a mirror. The reflection changed once more, finally becoming accurate.
Ash paused, his eyes... He smiled, yeah, he was gonna be fine. The reflection grew brighter, and brighter, and then Ash could not longer see it. His gaze turned to the mouth of the cave, outside which the sun shone brightly, illuminating the cave.
"We may have to defend the title for a long time, Pikachu. Let's make sure we're ready."
"Pika." Yeah.
The battle could be long, but he would fight.
Once more, fighting had purpose.
Once more, he had purpose.
"I will keep fighting."
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With his hands in his pockets, and Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash was making his way back to town, occasionally exchanging a wave with the townsfolk. Funny thing, being a hometown hero, a funny thing indeed. Would he ever get used to it? Little kids ganging up for his attention was one thing, but kids dressing up pretending to be him… okay, that part was understandable. Who wouldn't wanna be as awesome as him? He lightly touched his hat, maybe he should see about the league mass producing it. If kids were going to pretend to be him, they should get it right. Near the top of a hill, Ash looked down over the town he called home, smiling softly. He turned, in the direction that would take him ho-
At the top of the hill, somebody was looking at him.
A young boy, and a Ralts.
Max smiled. "We feel like battling early."
Ash and Pikachu smiled, the latter's cheeks sparking. "Good."
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In a field in Pallet, three people stood. Two Pokémon stood. As a breeze passed over them, all five smiled.
This day had been a long time coming.
"Ready, Max?"
"Yeah!"
Pikachu and Ralts took their ready positions. This battle really had been a long time coming.
Delia looked over the battlefield, at the two people ready to battle. This was...different, from battles Ash had been fighting as of late to say the least, but she knew Ash wouldn't change a thing. She smiled, raising her hand.
Her son really had come home.
"Go!"
There wasn't a wasted second. "Ralts, Confusion!"
Ralt's form was aglow, a matching blue glow appearing around Pikachu. "Pikachu, bust out!"
With a flex of his deceptively strong arms, the aura shattered. Max was unsurprised, and not deterred in the least. "Signal Beam!" Ralts' mouth opened, unleashing a beam of yellow light. Pikachu raised a paw, stopping, and smashing the blast into the ground, creating a vast cloud of dust. "Magical Leaf!"
Beyond the cloud of dust, Ash could see the tell-tale glow of the incoming attack. "Block 'em, Pikachu! Spark!" Pikachu's cheeks flared, and a flare of power came forth, like a flowing wall of energy. The Leaves lashed against them, in vain. "Thundershock!" The flaring power died down, becoming dimmer, as a bolt of electricity
"Protect!" Pikachu's attack struck a suddenly-formed green shield, spreading over its surface, but not reaching beneath it. The shock subsided, followed by the fading of the barrier.
"Not bad, Max. What else you got?"
"Something special!" Max grinned, wide. "Ralts, Trick Room!"
Ralts raised his arms, a rectangular structure made of energy formed around him. It spread from him, covering Pikachu, and then the battleground they stood upon, before fading away. Ash looked over the battlefield, even though it was invisible, the room was still there, the sheer magnitude of this one move was still there. Trick Room reversed the speed of the combatants, so for a slow, inexperienced Pokémon like Ralts to use it against Pikachu... Ash grinned. "Genius."
"Ralts, Future Sight!"
Beneath Ralt's bowl-cut, his eyes began to glow blue, for a moment, before whatever was happened seemed to cease. Ash knew better, what was happening was still to come.
Before that, however, "Now Fire Punch!" With speed previously impossible, Ralts swept in, the base of his arms aflame. With speed Pikachu previously required a brace to reach, his guard rose.
"Ral!" Pikachu's face shifted against the punch, his cheek smoking slightly.
"Pikachu, Mega Punch!" Clutching his fist, Pikachu struck with an agonizing slow (for him) punch. Ralts ducked the blow, rising back up to-
"Ral!" His blazing fist struck Pikachu's face again, who took not even a step back. Ralts struck again, and again..."Ralralralralralralralralral!" He pulled back his fist throwing his entire body into-"Ralts!"
Once again, Ralts succeeded in moving the flesh beneath his fist, he puled back, leaving a small patch of smoking black fur.
Ash raised a brow. "Not bad, Max. Pikachu, Charge Veil!"
"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu's body flared, electricity surging all around him becoming an aura, a veil of power radiating from his body.
Ash couldn't help but smile. This kind of fight, how long had it been since he'd had one like it? It wasn't fighting to prove, or to measure his strength. It wasn't fighting to proclaim they were alive. This fight was something else, something...almost forgotten.
Ash made a mental note to buy a dictionary, he needed to find words for things.
"Wow, check that out!"
"Awesome!"
"He's so cool!"
Ash looked around, finding his little battle had drawn a crowd. Somebody had clearly seen their battle, and spread the word, because more than a dozen children (and their parents) had shown up to watch. Though were excitement the indicator of the spectators ages, it'd be hard to distinguish child from adult. Having those his age or younger awed by his presence was one thing, those considerably older...well, being Grandmaster came with a few things one had to get used too.
"They will watch your every deed, so do them well."
If they were gonna watch, he'd give 'em a show.
"Ralts, Shadow Ball!"
"Pikachu, Electro Ball!"
On his tail, Pikachu formed a yellow orb.
In his hands, Ralts formed a violet orb.
The two orb shot off, the violet one with swift speed, the other seeming to float forward. The two orbs grew closer, and closer-BOOM!
Pikachu was enveloped by a raging storm of dust. He closed his eyes, but somehow he could still see light-BOOM!
Max threw up his arms in delight. "Yeah!" That was a perfect hit! Future Sight came at the absolute perfect moment. The storm of dust soon parted, revealing-he gulped.
Pikachu was on his feet, having not even been moved. "Nice try, Max. But it's gonna be a long time before you got enough power to hurt Pikachu. Pikachu, break the room! Thunder Pulse!"
Pikachu raised his, which glowed a bright yellow, to the sky. Like a slow bullet, the glow shot off from his hand, expanding out as it got further from its user. The pulse reached the formally-invisible ceiling, shattering them, and the room itself. Pikachu shot his paw down, with strength and speed to cast a small breeze at his feet.
"This battle's over, Max!" Pikachu vanished, reappearing before his foe. "Thunder-" Pikachu pulled back his fist, throwing it forward with a-"Flick!"
A sparking finger shot out, flicking Ralt's forehead, sending him backwards, spinning in the air, before slamming into the ground. "Ralts!" Max rushed after his companion, who was face-down in the dirt. "Ralts, are you okay?"
"Ral..." Ralts put a hand on the floor, pushing himself up, dazed, but coherent enough to nod.
"You put up a good fight, buddy." Max scooped up his friend, standing as the audience broke into cheer. Ash and Pikachu were approaching.
"Good battle, Max."
They all smiled, and applause broke out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Night Max."
"Goodnight."
After a rerun of Ash's battles against the Champions (hey, what else was worth watching?), Max was headed to the guest room for the night. They'd be headed back home tomorrow. Ash briefly mused to himself the idea of having a little reunion, getting the old gang together for a few days. Maybe a few days at the beach or something, a week even. Fancy hotel, full room service, his treat. Though there was one hitch in that idea...
He wasn't even sure exactly where Misty was. "In Hoenn", surprisingly, wasn't a very narrow search area. He didn't have her current phone number (changed number's recently, apparently, even Delia didn't have it), so it wasn't like he could contact her. Even if he could, well… she had, probably unintentionally, made a point. She had to find herself out there, and he couldn't distract her. Plus, if there was one person who didn't have the right to complain about lack of contact, it was him. He just hoped it wouldn't be a year bef-okay he was dropping that line of thought.
He made way back to the living room, where the TV was paused on an image. He and his team, roaring in triumph, over Cynthia, and the world. The second greatest victory of his life. He turned to Pikachu, who had curled up with Ralts at some point and fallen asleep. Back on the screen, the joy felt by his team could almost be touched, but he knew that somewhere in all that, there was a touch of emptiness. Ash had gone out into the world and achieved his dream, but he'd had to come home to make himself whole. He raised the remote, casting the memory into darkness with a single button. He left the Pokémon pair to sleep.
"Ring Ring Ring, Ring Ring Ring, Phone Call, Phone Call!"
"Hm?" Ash made way to the phone, finding no name on the Caller ID. Was the League looking to bug him about something? At this hour? Maybe he should finally get a new personal phone...
He pressed a button, and the screen flared into life. He couldn't help but crack a smile as he pulled up the nearest chair.
"Hi."
Misty smiled warmly. "Hi, Ash."
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End of Chapter
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Author's Notes: One more chapter to go, folks. Time to wrap this up.