Chapter 26 – The Aftermath (Epilogue)
"We all knew it wasn't going to be over that easily. But we were all prepared to continue to fight. To fight for our future, for our world. Because living was too precious to give up so easily." Erika
[22:01AM] – 28st May – Kanto – Pewter City Pokémon Centre
("And so just this once… everybody lived. And so… just this once we all got our happily ever after.
We deserved nothing less.")
Nobody knew where Latias or Mewtwo vanished to, but they would appear in due course, friends to be welcomed back with open arms. Misty had her baby Pichu, her loyal Golduck and old friend – her Togekiss who had arrived at the moment of jubilation and success. Her Gyrados and Azurmarill were waiting back in Cerulean, along with the rest of her team, once sealed in their Pokéballs. Erika had Chikorita, and Lance had Dratini, his Dragonair and Dragonite flying through the skies above them.
The rockets had fled from Kanto with the death of their leader. Most escaped to Sinnoh, which seems to be the last team refugee region, but a few moved west into Johto. Bloodthirsty SECTION members under Karen and Bruno closed in within hours of hearing the news of time restarting. It is believed that Karen's exact words were "Well now the world is fixed we can get rid of those bloody bastards."
They all will be hunted out in due time, but now, this is a time to celebrate.
For the weary travellers had returned.
They would have said they returned home, but nowhere was really home anymore, what with the travelling and the war, so they settled for something even better.
The place where all their friends were…
Gary, Leaf, May, Brock and Dawn were hanging out around the Pokémon centre of Pewter City. The rock town was one of the first places claimed back, and they hung around nervously, mostly due to the lack of their Pokémon. Their Pokéballs resided on their belt, but some part of them was still wary to keep them there, lest they be trapped once more. It was also the lack of presence, the safety of having them close. Despite the Pokéballs now working, Umbreon, Ninetales, Ditto and Piplup were out and waiting for them.
Voiced drifted towards them from around the corner.
"I still don't understand why we couldn't teleport everywhere."
"Well apart from the fact that he's completely rubbish?"
"I managed to teleport Erika okay but the chances of a large group surviving with all limbs intact…"
"You managed to teleport Sabrina, Erika and I in Saffron!"
"Yeah, I did, didn't I? Well I wanted you to get to see the sights…"
"See the sights?"
"And because that dark gear at Indigo meant I couldn't get a link to teleport there."
"You managed to teleport out okay!"
"Yeah, well that was different!"
"Hey Lance; weren't you the one with the Dragonite?"
"Erika you were almost sick when you last rode on him."
"I… it's the thought…"
"Can you picture us all hanging onto that monster."
"No way..! I prefer walking! Sorry Lance."
They rounded the corner, red-head and raven side by side with a white Togekiss, a Chikorita and Pichu perched on its back. A Raichu and Vaporeon trotted off to one side, with a Lucario behind them walking with a Golduck. A taller red-head stood near the dark haired grass leader, who was staring at him apologetically.
"Dragonite is not a monster!" he was indignant, staring at a purple fox trotting along mischievously.
"Are you sure?" Zo teased, then spotting Lance's expression changed course. "Oh look! People!" and made a headline for them. "Hide me! Please!" she darted behind a bemused Umbreon.
"Hey look!" Dawn pointed. "It's that Shadow dude."
Brock face planted. "How many times… Dawn… have I told you that's Ash?"
The blunette shrugged. "I know, but Shadow just sounds so cool and dangerous!"
May threw herself at a tall spiky haired man as they came closer. "You're alive!" she cried, burying herself into his arms.
Ash blinked in surprise. "Yes, I am thank you for noticing." He glanced at the brunette, "So why is she all over Lance?" he asked no one in particular.
Misty hit him over the head.
"Ow." Ash winced, glancing back at Lance and May, eyes widening. "Oh come on, get a room." He snapped at his friend, who ignored him, currently intent on kissing May in a very romantic way.
"Eww," Zo whined. "What is it with everyone snogging each other?" she glared up at Gary and Leaf. "If you two even start…" she threatened.
"Aww," Leaf cooed in unison with Dawn. "So cute."
The pair in question drew apart, Lance looking slightly confused.
"Is that okay?" May asked, looking nervous.
"Yes." Lance blinked. "I… I… I mean I thought you liked Drew… and…"
"Oh Lance." May sighed, "You've never seen Drew and Harley together have you?"
Lance's jaw dropped open. Ash walked into a tree, forgetting to look where he was going.
May giggled. "Gee, you don't know when to take a joke, do you?"
Lance blinked again, "That was a joke? Actually, you know what, I don't care. But May, do you want to go on a date with me as soon as I find a decent venue."
May blushed slightly, "Uh… sure… I mean, yes, I'd love to."
Lance had this ridiculous smirk on his face. "Good."
Ash wandered over to the others. "He is so lovesick it's ridiculous. And slightly cute."
Gary shot Ash a look. "You never have been very good at the romancing have you?" the Viridian leader pulled Leaf closer. "And… wait … weren't you meant to be dead?" he frowned, glancing between Misty and Ash.
"I was." Ash scratched his head. "Don't try it; there's nothing all that special about, I don't know why people make such a fuss."
"Hey look!" Dawn interrupted, "There's the moon!"
"It's waning." Leaf noted, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "It was full before… wasn't it?"
"It's been full for five years." Ash admitted.
"That was one hell of a creepy Prophesy." Gary grumbled. "Even worse than the last one…"
"Oh, he does that." Zo shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it."
"I still don't understand the bit about the sun dying though." Brock admitted, scratching his chin.
"What about it?"
"Well the sun didn't die at Indigo! It didn't even really set there!"
"Indigo is in the west of Kanto though isn't it? And it was the location of the battle when time stopped. The place where the sun died. I mean - at least it was sort of light and we weren't stuck at midnight or something. Johto was stuck at a dark stage and somehow Hoenn got the dusky pink skies. Sinnoh was quite dim as I recall - mostly night – but at least there were stars."
"And you stated the full moon. You specifically stated when the moon was full."
"It was full. It has been full for the past four years. That wasn't going to change."
"It's still a creepy prediction." Gary announced haughtily.
Ash scoffed, "Well if it helps - it was the psychic in me saying that. The sort of psychic Mew cross Chosen aura. In my opinion - bloody annoying."
The group laughed tension no longer present for the first time in years. Above them, the waning moon hung in the sky, the black darkness once more, alight with the dancing light of stars.
Chapter 27 – Our Unspoilt World
"We used to look back on it all and wonder what had happened. However did we get into this mess to start with? And how were we going to climb back out of this impossible hole we had dug ourselves into." Dawn
("Where did it all start? What are you looking for Dawn? Me to tell you a story…?" Ash leaned back in on the sofa, next to Misty. He was gazing around at the gang, all of whom were staring at him expectantly. "What have we just been doing for the past day or so?" He was trying to run away again, Lance realised mildly, by avoiding the issue and pretending it didn't happen. In that way he actually agreed with his girlfriend's plan. "It that not enough…?" Ash spread his hands out, eyes pleading.
"I did most of the talking." Erika reminded him, over from where she was playing on the floor with Meganium and Bulbasaur. She also had a small Cottonee, which was currently hiding behind her.
"We all contributed," Misty said, leaning against her boyfriend. "I think what Dawn wants…" she paused, glancing between the two coordinators. "Well what May wants, but is too shy to ask, is what happened to Ash between Mount Coronet and here."
Ash sighed. "The thing is." He said, "It doesn't even start there. It probably starts all the way back when I got stuck in Sinnoh."
"How do you get stuck in Sinnoh?" Lance blinked, bemused. Only Ash would manage something like that.
"Shut up." Ash snapped. "And that was only the first time as well. Second time getting out of the damn region was so much harder." He ignored Dawn's affronted look. "Yes," he directed to May, who had moved towards her computer and had started to type. "I got stuck in Sinnoh after the conference. Brock took the boat from Twinleaf Town, but I stayed around in Sunnyshore to spend time with my Gliscor. Then I missed the boat." He twitched at the amused looks he was getting. "Stop that! I know, I know. I was a moron, right? Rai, if you agree I'm going to set you up in a battle against Garchomp."
The orange mouse who had been nodding his head, stopped and pretended to look busy, giving the silver Eevee curled up next to him a nuzzle.
Va didn't look impressed, from where she was sitting next to Misty with Squall, the little Pichu, and Chu, the flower wearing Pikachu. Rai and Va had practically adopted Misty's little yellow mouse, and the now Pikachu acted as an older sibling to their two little ones.
"Don't look at me like that." Ash snapped at Brock, who was actually daydreaming about Nurse Joys, but it was disconcerting nonetheless. With a sigh he flopped back on the sofa, ignoring the triumphant look that Gary shot Dawn, and began to talk. "Okay, okay fine." He gave in, "If that's what you want to hear. You want to hear how I got stuck in Sinnoh, missed the boat, and trained a whole bunch…"
"Yes." May nodded, glued to her computer screen.
The aura guardian pulled a face. "Are you going to be transcribing this too?" he asked, with a sigh.
There was a nod from the brunette, who was already tapping merrily away in the background.
"So tell us." Gary teased. "Were you pining over a certain Cerulean gym leader the whole time?"
"I was not pining over Misty the whole time!" Ash snapped, but seeing the disbelieving looks he was getting reluctantly admitted, "Maybe part of the time?" he shrugged. "But then who wouldn't? She was my best friend who I hadn't seen for six years."
"You were sixteen and you still didn't know what love was." May clicked her tongue. "How sad..."
"Oh shut up." The elite growled. "I have to listen to your tales about Lance. There are some things May, which you should just not know about your best friend, and that was one of them."
The champion looked alarmed. "What?" he demanded. "May what did you tell him."
His girlfriend ignored him. "Nothing," She whistled, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Lance rounded on his friend. "Ash what did she tell you?"
"I'm not repeating that!" Ash looked alarmed. He changed the subject rapidly. "Anyway, May, tale, it started when I missed the boat from Sinnoh. It was those idiot Rocket fools' fault really, but at the end I was left in Sunnyshore, lost and without a clue what to do next."
"Can you get on with it?" Gary drawled, currently more interested in watching Leaf, who was watching her Jigglypuff draw.
"Do you want me to tell you this story or not?"
[10:55AM] – 16th February 2003 - Sinnoh – Sunnyshore City – North of the PKMN Centre – A Hill
It had all started when he missed the boat.
It hadn't even been his fault, that those damn Rocket fools decided that it was a good time to once again snatch Pikachu. Ash had been heading to the Sunnyshore docks, packed and ready, having awoken early and on time. The boat from Sinnoh to Kanto was meant to leave at ten o'clock and he had been early, if anything.
Then the extravagant lilac, overdramatic magenta and talking cat had decided to enact their usual ploy to steal a certain yellow mouse. It was their usual vacuum machine, that burst out of the earth (Ash wasn't quite sure whether he was more impressed that they managed to dig a hole large enough to hide it, the fact they had somehow dug through concrete, or that they must have laid in wait for several hours for him to pass along). It was insulated, and Ash hated it when the rockets got clever, but he had no time to react, as they turned the suction on full force, pulling Pikachu off his shoulder and his Pokéballs from his belt.
In alarm he managed to grab one – he recognised it as his little dragons – but the others were lost, and Ash was left there with an errant Gible, a cloud of dust and a massive pit in the ground.
He found himself wishing Brock or somebody was with him, but then again, knowing the breeder, he'd be on the ship already using the excuse 'to check out the food' while actually sitting near the gang walk and eyeing up all the pretty girls that would board. Ash was beginning to realise how creepy a teenage Brock was, all hyped up on hormones, and he hoped he never got to that stage.
Now, almost an hour after the theft, he had chased them down in his usual, reckless style, in a race that may, or may not have involved helium, a helpful Altaria, some helium, conveniently tall buildings and the talking twat of a cat himself, Meowth, who was helpfully convinced into opening the release button when fish and a ball of wool was involved.
Ash was safely down on the ground, Pokémon in tow, and the screams of the idiots ringing in his ears. Pikachu was curled up in his arms, pushing himself close to his trainer.
He didn't need to visual confirmation, but it didn't stop him glancing out towards sea.
The boat to Kanto had left.
He wasn't on it.
His first instinct was to run to a phone and call his mom, Brock or maybe even Dawn, and try and find another route out, but he was tired from the chase, and instead, retreated to the hill behind the Pokémon Centre. It was the spot where Joy let out any Pokémon to run, play and feed. Ash had released his Pokémon, currently leaning against Torterra and Pikachu and Buizel chat away, with inaudible squeaks and chirps.
And for the first time, in a long while, he was completely at loss at what to do.
If he had made it back to Kanto, he knew his mother and Professor Oak were planning a vacation to Unova, a region to the far-east that he longed to go and see. He had been planning to go there and start a new journey, but those hopes were dashed.
Somehow he didn't even feel as disappointed as he expected, missing this opportunity. The new journeys, restarted over and over had begun to lose their flair, and never seemed to match the thrill and excitement that first one had held anyway.
What scared him the most now, sitting on that grassy hillside, was that he didn't know what he wanted to do now.
No target, no goals, for once he had stopped, finally, after so long search of something. He was here, with his Pokémon, lost and very, distinctively, alone.
Yet he enjoyed the general feeling of sitting around doing nothing, listening to Infernape and Gliscor spar, and Pikachu and Buizel talking.
Maybe he'd journey back to Twinleaf and visit Dawn for a bit.
Or… maybe hanging around Sunnyshore for a bit wouldn't be too bad.
"PikaPi?" his little yellow friend asked, hopping forward a few paces, from where he and Buizel were playing the dirt. "Pikachu PikaPi?"
"I wish I could understand you." Ash smiled at the pair. "So what do you want to do, huh? What now? We've done what I wanted to do, going around Sinnoh, competed the conference and came pretty close to the top as well…" he winced. His Pokémon had been brilliant, and they had been close, agonisingly close, but not close enough. Why was it that was always the case; so many Leagues now and never a win. So many Leagues and it seemed sometimes that he hadn't made any progress at all.
"KaChu Pikachu?"
Had he even improved at all, since beating Brandon? Maybe, after all, Pikachu had taken down a legendary eon dragon, and his Sceptile had taken down an unbeaten Darkrai. Maybe with just a little more training, they might reach that peak, become a little bit stronger. He could maybe spend some more time with Sceptile, and his others back at the ranch, teach them some new moves…
There were too many 'maybes'.
When did he ever sit down with his Pokémon and just train? He'd been running towards his goal for so long, and never stopping to think about how he was going to climb up to get there.
And here he was, wanted once more to drop everything and run off to a new region once again, leaving behind his teams… behind his friends. There were some Pokémon back in Kanto who had helped him save the world, and he had left them behind and forgotten about them. Why had he never bothered to switch his teams around?
Why had it never occurred to him before?
"Hey, Buizel…?" Ash glanced up at his two Pokémon who were currently bent over something. Distracted from his original thought, he frowned, "What have you two got there?"
"Pikachu!" his mouse announced proudly, moving aside to display a red and black Pokédex, fourth generation. Moving forwards, Ash glanced at the screen, which was currently displaying the data sheet of a Floatzel.
"What?" Ash stared at it, before glancing at the pair. Buizel puffed his chest out slightly, meeting his gaze squarely. "You want to evolve?"
He nodded, eyes pleading.
Ash felt a smile begin to creep over him. "I was going to ask whether you wanted to learn ice beam." he told the water weasel, "How about we do a mixture of both? Does that sound good?"
Buizel shook his head, grabbing the machine from his trainer and trying to select something. With a frustrated squeak Pikachu grabbed it, altering the screen and showing it to Ash – a list of all the moves Buizel could learn.
Ash blanched. "You want to learn all those?"
The sea weasel shrugged, as if he wasn't really bothered, and Pikachu shook his head, pointing with his paw to one entry.
"Ice fang?" Ash asked, "Oh, you mean instead of ice beam?"
Buizel nodded triumphantly, pumping a paw. "BuiBui?" he asked, as if slightly uncertain.
Ash grinned. "If that's what you want." He promised, about to head to the Pokémon Centre, planning on trying to find another Pokémon who could learn ice fang. Glalie could use ice beam… maybe he had some tips for Buizel. Ash paused, after a few steps, before spinning around to look at his other four Pokémon on the hill. Torterra was basking in the sun, occasionally having to move out of the way of the monkey's and sand scorpion's mock battle.
"Hey?" the raven haired trainer called up, "Guys!"
They paused, glancing down at me. "How do you feel like learning a new move or two?" he grinned up at them, and they considered it for a moment, before calling out cries of interest.
Well… three of them did, the fourth decided to last onto Ash's head.
After awkwardly removing Gible, Ash put his dragon and ground type on the floor, staring pensively at him. "I wonder what moves you can learn." He mused.
The yellow electric type, sick of his trainer's lack of knowledge, was dragging the Pokédex from where Ash had previously discarded it. Squeaking, he held up the machine, and watched happily as his PikaPi put the pieces together.
"Are you saying I should use my Pokédex to look up what moves they can learn?"
Pikachu nodded happily, tail thumping on the ground. Ash sighed, pulling of his cap and dumping it on the rodent's head, his ears flopping down as he squeaked happily. "Well we better get to work then."
("What do you mean you always wanted to learn dig and substitute?" Ash stared in horror at the mouse lazing on the rug. Nearby, Ninetales let out a snort, which could be interpreted as laughter. "You never showed any inclination towards those moves what, so ever!"
"RaiAi Raichu!" (You're meant to know that sort of stuff!)
"Don't take that tone with me," Ash snapped, glaring back, "You never mentioned it before, ever. How am I supposed to know that if you don't tell me?"
"Uh, story please?" May finished typing a paragraph and glanced around. "Don't get distracted now!"
Ash winced. "Fine, fine, gee May, calm down. I'm talking, now!" After checking to make sure May wasn't getting annoyed, he continued. "That's when I started rotating my Pokémon around, while camping in Sunnyshore. I had two awkward phone calls, one to Brock to explain what happened, and another to my mom to explain why I wasn't going to be back. She told me that they could find an earlier boat than the one that left monthly from Sunnyshore, but I declined."
"Nothing much really happened." Ash told them, "Buizel learned ice fang, Infernape was taught close combat and Torterra was still working on learning earthquake. I think Pikachu was trying to learn it too, actually, although I'm not sure. Then one day, once again, Jessie and James pulled a crazy stunt. You know I should really thank them if I ever meet them again – they were a big help in the long run at redirecting my life.")
[13:34PM] – 3rd March 2003 - Sinnoh – Sunnyshore City
Why were those damn rockets so persistent? They always failed, always ended up blasting into the sky and weren't seen again for the rest of the week, but still came back with more outlandish plans to steal his Pikachu. If they were so desperate for an electric rodent, why didn't they just wander to Viridian Forest and catch one for themselves and train it up?
Once again Ash was running after the trundling machine (where they got the money to buy these things he didn't know) with Totodile (he had swapped around, sending Buizel back along with Torterra, collecting an ecstatic Bayleef. Gible shot a dragon rage at them, and it made the water gun from Totodile steam slightly, twisting the metal but not breaking it. This time Team Idiot had been busy collecting other Pokémon, and not just his Pikachu, and Ash was on a mission to free them all.
Jessie turned around to laugh at his predicament, standing perched on their little platform that Ash knew was there only for them to recite their motto from. Whatever she had been about to say, Ash wasn't sure, for a tree branch hit her conveniently on the back of the head and knocked her tumbling out of the vehicle. With cries of alarm, James and Meowth jumped down to rescue her (if nothing else they were loyal) and in a hiss, her Wobbuffet materialised to help.
"Slash!" Ash called to his dragon, who obeyed, darting up towards the now stationary machine with a gleaming claw.
It bounced off, barely denting the metal.
Desperately he ordered Gible to try again.
Once more it bounced off, as if the door was made of rubber.
"Come on boy!" Ash cried, glancing to the side where Team Moron were still trying to clamber out of the ditch. "Slash - Full Power!"
"Gible!" the dragon clashed his jaws together, and shouting his own name, threw himself at the door in a blinding white light.
Blinded Ash shielded his eyes, looking away. When he turned back, Gible was no longer there, instead replaced by a taller, two legged dragon. He was dark blue in colour, long scythes curling down from his lethal clawed arms.
Gabite let out a triumphant growl, scythe glowing white as he slashed at the metal door, tearing it to shreds. Trying to hide his triumphant grin and failing Ash hastened into rescuing Pikachu.
As he suspected, his yellow mouse was not the only occupant of the pen. A small Vulpix with a pink and white ribbon on her ear was huddled behind him, and a Kirlia had its hands pressed against the glass.
Gabite made quick work of the metal hinges, and the side of the glass pen fell away, Pikachu leaping into his trainer's arms and the other Pokémon swirling around his legs.
Ash made a quick getaway, ignoring the three squabbling in the ditch, in a cat fight about noodles, and headed straight towards Sunnyshore Pokémon Centre, to reunite the Vulpix with its family, and try and look for the psychic type's trainer.
That wasn't so simple.
Nobody came forward to claim him, and the Nurse told the teen that nobody had checked in with a Kirlia since sometime last month, and it hadn't been reported missing. Ash sighed, sitting on a seat at the Centre, looking at the little green and white Pokémon eating. "So who do you belong to then?" he asked, nobody in particular, but to his surprise, the psychic cocked its head, glancing up at him.
"I don't belong to anybody. I am a wild Pokémon." The decidedly male telepathic voice responded.
Ash blinked in surprise, almost falling off his chair in alarm. "You're a telepath?" he asked, pointing out the obvious. "Wait… wild?" he repeated.
"My name is Tristan." The small Pokémon introduced himself "I was born to a wild Lucario and Gardevoir. My father taught me how to use telepathy while my mother tried to teach me aura. She said I didn't have the right aptitude for it though."
Ash resisted the urge to hit his head on something. He was hearing that term increasingly frequently. Why did it always come back to that stuff?
As if sensing his thoughts, which knowing telepaths he probably was, the Kirlia spoke up. "Your aura is strong," Tristan observed, "Though untrained."
Ash sighed. "Yeah, I've been told that before." He admitted, scratching his head nervously. "I'm a Pokémon trainer though. I want to…" He stopped. He wanted to what… be a Pokémon master? A master who left his Pokémon behind while running off on another adventure? A master who didn't even know when his own Pokémon wanted to evolve? "Travel." He finished lamely. "Just travel. Didn't have time to stop and learn."
The Kirlia looked at me curiously. "A trainer?" he asked. "You help Pokémon to become stronger?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded happily, "Ka PikaChu Pika Chu Pika Chu."
Kirlia was now shooting alternate glances between the raven-haired teen and Pikachu. "What did he say?" Ash asked, finally, unable to catch much more that the emphatic "Yes!" and "But he … forget …"
"He said you seemed to forget sometimes."
That stung, that really did, and Ash flinched slightly. His Pokémon were his life and soul. When had he ever forgotten about them, and not put them above himself?
"Not like that." Kirlia cut off his internal angst. "He meant you always saw the bigger picture, the final goal, and never really considered the steps in between, and you're struggling to climb the high steps you've set for yourself."
Ash stared. "He said all that?"
The psychic type winced. "Well he probably didn't put it quite as eloquently as that. It was something like 'forgot about goals.' I put it a bit clearer. Blame it on my sister; she used to like poetry until she was captured by a coordinator."
The way Tristan said it, made it sound like she was dead. Was being captured by trainers really that bad? "I'm sorry." He said, not knowing what else to say.
"Don't be." Tristan blinked, "She loves her trainer, and is now an elegant and beautiful Gardevoir. We accept our trainers, as it has always been, since the Bulbasaur first bowed its head to its first human."
"Oh." Ash blinked, still not sure what to say. "Then you're free to leave, whenever you want." In the background he noted Pikachu hitting himself with his paw, and hastened to add, "Or you're welcome to come along with us."
Tristan perked up. "You would want me? You would help me train and become stronger? I…" he stopped, unsure.
"Go on." Ash encouraged the sky Kirlia.
He looked up. "I always dreamed of becoming a Gallade." He admitted, "But father said it was silly. He said Dawn Stones were rare, and I should be happy to evolve into a Gardevoir, like him."
"I'll help you become stronger." Ash promised. "And look for a Dawn Stone for you. I can't guarantee I'll always know what to do… hell this past week is the first time I've spent, solely focussing on training Pokémon, and not trying to battle somebody or help out some random stranger's problems. But I promise, all of you," he added, for the benefit of Gabite, Pikachu and Totodile who were crowded around him, "That I'll do my best."
(Ash smiled. "From that moment on Kirlia joined my team."
"He's your Gallade!" Max looked on with adoring eyes which made Ash sift uneasily. The younger boy's own Kirlia was blinking wide eyed at him.
Ash nodded, turning instead to Misty. "I brought the issue of a Dawn Stone to Volkner at the gym," he told his girlfriend, who nodded, having heard this before, "He said he could arrange it for me." He glanced towards the others. "I offered to pay, but he insisted that I didn't since I motivated into battling again and all. He said another battle would be payment enough, and so I agreed."
Lance looked interested. "You never told me you battled Volkner again." He said.
"Lance, I don't tell you every little detail of my life." Ash rolled his eyes. "But yeah, I spent some time hanging around with him. He's only a year older than me, did you know that?"
The red-head nodded. "Didn't he give you your Tynamo…?"
"Yes." Ash interrupted. "But I'll get there. Give me a chance!"
[17:04PM] – 7rd March 2003 - Sinnoh – Sunnyshore City
Ash was once again training his Pokémon, trying to decide what Pokémon to use against his upcoming match against Volkner. It was an informal thing, and nothing important hung upon the upcoming battle, but he still wanted to do his best.
Pikachu, surprisingly, was not in, and had decided to sit out. His much hated Pokéball was actually with Professor Oak, even if he remained with Ash. His other six Pokémon around him included his new Kirlia, Heracross, Buizel, Sceptile, Pidgeot and Charizard.
The last two were a surprise. He had phoned Professor Oak to switch over his team at some point earlier that week, and been surprised to find an orange dragon had taken up residence at the ranch. Apparently he had gotten tired of his mate (and kids apparently) and had actually been visiting Bulbasaur and his other friends that he knew from his journey with Ash through Kanto and Orange.
The fire drake had jumped at the chance to battle again with Ash, and had been sent over immediately.
Pidgeot though, was the odd one. Apparently Swellow had been flying up to Viridian and back, racing my Noctowl and they had quite literally flown into each other. Talk about a twist of fate, but when Professor Oak had admitted to having Ash's first flying type, the raven-haired trainer immediately agreed to spend some time with his old Pokémon, who was extremely strong from defending her flock all these years.
But his mother was expecting him back in a week or so, and Ash wasn't sure that he was ready yet, to leave Sinnoh.
He still didn't yet know what he wanted to do next.
[08:53AM] – 11th March 2003 - Sinnoh – Sunnyshore City – Sunnyshore Gym
"You're leaving after our battle?" Volkner asked, palming a red and white sphere.
Standing the other side of the battlefield, Ash nodded. "I'm planning on it." Pikachu was sitting in the stands, chirping happily, cheering his trainer for his upcoming battle. "Well, not immediately." He corrected himself. "The boat leaves in a couple of days to Kanto but…" he paused, "I don't think I'm going on it." He admitted
"Where are you going then?" Volkner asked curiously.
"I'll stick around Sinnoh." Ash said, "Maybe go and visit my friend in Twinleaf Town, if she's still here. She was planning to go to Hoenn. But honesty I don't know." It was the stark truth.
The electric type gym leader looked across at his opponent. "Well whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck." He smiled. "You're a brilliant trainer you know."
Ash tossed a Pokéball into the air, and caught it again. "Thanks." He said, smiling. "But for now, let's battle."
On mutual agreement, the pair threw their chosen towards the field. A Buizel erupted out of the red light, facing off against an orange Raichu.
The battle began.
(Ash paused and the gang looked at him expectantly. "No." he snapped. "I'm not going to describe it for you." he glared at them. "If you lot are that curious, then you can look it up in the old battle files."
"They got deleted." Lance reminded him.
"Then I'll tell you another time." Ash snapped. "It was six on six. It was my Buizel, Pidgeot, Kirlia, Heracross, Sceptile and Charizard, against his Electivire, Luxray, Raichu, Ambipom, Octillary, and a Unova-native Galvantula. Yeah, the last one was a surprise." Ash admitted to the gang. "Buizel got a power boost by evolving (much to his joy) into a Floatzel, but was still knocked out by a thunder from that thing. It was nasty, but Kirlia managed to take it down eventually."
"Did you win?" May asked him eagerly.
Misty loved the smug look that Ash got on his face. "Not telling." He told them. "I did get the Dawn Stone though for Kirlia, along with an egg."
"What kind?" Brock leaned forwards, his interest captivated.
Ash laughed. "I'll get there." He waved the breeder off. "Patience." He mocked his friend. "It was white with a light yellow patterning, and I asked him what kind it was, but he said he didn't know. Volkner told me he didn't have the time to care for it, and even if he did he was terrible at raising them anyway. Apparently he used to have a Buneary egg but Flint stole it and raised it instead."
"That's why the fire elite owns that Lopunny." Lance blinked. "Make sense."
"It does know fire punch." Ash reminded him. "The same way even my Sceptile can use flash to blind his opponents and while still maintaining the current and using an electrified leaf blade attack."
Lance frowned. "But grass doesn't conduct." He complained.
Ash shrugged. "I've just learned to accept it by now." He told the puzzled champion. "At the end Tristan got his Dawn Stone, and Volkner gave me an egg."
"But who won!" Dawn protested, from where she was sitting, perched on the table next to where Leaf's Jigglypuff was drawing. "Tell us! Come on." She whined.
"Does it really matter?" Ash shrugged. "I'm not going to tell you. I'll leave it up to your imagination." He smirked.
Misty hit him lightly on the chest. "Don't tease her." She chided the aura guardian. The raven haired man laughed, and she rolled her eyes. "You probably lost." She taunted him. He'd told her what happened, but it didn't mean she couldn't play along with him, if only to see Dawn and May's curious expression and even Lance was looking slightly annoyed.
"It does not mean I lost!" Ash snapped, slightly protective. "It's just because you lose when you battle against me."
"Your element is strong against mine!" Misty protested. "Togekiss took down Ter and Amps before that monstrous Lux took her down."
"That's because Togekiss was hyped up on Ancient Power, her Serene Grace ability increasing her stats!"
"You just don't want to admit that a single Togekiss was stronger than a third of your team." Misty smirked at Ash.
"Not true!" The aura guardian snapped. "Lux took her down with a single spark! And your Quagsire no matter how much you tried to play the ground moves!"
"Uh, guys?" Leaf glanced up at the bickering pair. "Can you get on with your story Ash?"
"She started it!" the aura guardian snapped, childishly, before seeing May's impatient look, and hastened to continue. "Sorry Misty." He appeased his girlfriend. "But I'm ignoring you now, just for the record…")
[11:33AM] – 11th March 2003 - Sinnoh – Sunnyshore City
Ash wasn't a bad trainer.
He wasn't anywhere near the top ranking elites though.
If he had to rank himself, in the echelon, then he was just above the level of the eighth gym. Pikachu and Charizard could take on legendries, but the rest… well let's just say they weren't quite there yet. For much of his Kanto and Orange journey he had remained on par with the lower gyms, inexperienced, stumbling in blindly making the same mistakes over and over.
Now though, he seemed too emerged from any bubble he had been hiding in, and was working his way up, from the gym ranks, to the ace, the ranks of the elites and champions still high above.
The champion was the unbeatable.
Later of course he learned this wasn't true; he beat Lance often enough, and the dragon tamer in turn, would beat him, after working out Ash's battling flaws (mostly letting his Pokémon do it themselves and not providing any extra information for them) and teaching his Salamence earthquake.
He realised at some point during his stay in Sunnyshore that the rank of master he had made his goal, was more of an illusion than a physical reality that might be achieved. And in his mind, he already qualified, by having a team of amazing Pokémon who were friends, first and foremost, and battlers afterwards.
That was more precious than anything.
The idea of a permanent job with monetary income was beginning to look appealing though.
He never realised it before, but sometime between Sunnyshore and Mount Coronet, his dream of a Pokémon Master dissolved. By the time he realised it, there was nothing to grieve for, but that was the day a dream died and a reality was born.
He'd never before seen the difference.
("I hung around Coronet for a while then, training mostly." Ash told them.
Leaf blinked. "Who would want to hang around there?"
Ash winced. "Okay, okay, I got lost on the mountain, but only because I was following Rai." He muttered something that sounded like 'no sense of direction' before continuing. "There was a heavy snowfall and I found a system of caves to shelter in, and train up. I caught a Shinx… well…" he winced. "The Shinx kept insisting we battle even once Gabite knocked him down. He got so insistent that he tried to steal my bag, to force me to battle to get it back, and a spare Pokéball rolled out and he got captured."
"Wait…" Lance frowned. "That's your monstrous Luxray isn't it? The cat that is lethal on the field?"
The aura guardian gave a weak nod. "Gallade told me he got kicked out of the pack for 'one too many brawls'. It didn't take him long either to evolve all the way up to a Luxray, and he was so happy he somehow managed to electrocute Gabite."
Brock frowned. "But Gabite it a ground type…"
Ash shrugged. "Try telling him that."
"What about the egg?" the squint eyed man asked.
Ash chuckled. "Trust you to think about the egg Brock. You're still a breeder at heart, aren't you? It hatched into a Tynamo, which is a Pokémon from Unova. It was an electric type, which explains why Volkner had it, but he let me keep it. He'd just been given a Magnemite and Electrode by his girlfriend Jasmine, the Olivine gym leader who was in Sinnoh doing a contest round."
Seeing Brock's heartbroken expression Ash hastily changed the subject.
"I caught a Lanturn then too, bringing my electric types to four."
"Do you mean Ter?" Misty asked, "That sweet thing that taught my Chinchou all those crazy ways to manipulate water?"
The elite nodded. "He was found by Floatzel one day, frozen in ice. Quilava had to evolve to a Typhlosion in order to melt him out, and I nursed him back to health."
"Pokémon have a tendency to evolve around you I've noticed." Misty commented. "Do you remember that Ponyta which evolved into a Rapidash while you were racing on it?"
Ash winced. "Yeah," he nodded. "And that little mushroom that we had to help evolve."
"At least…" Misty reassured him. "Lux still listened to you afterwards, unlike Charizard who evolved simply to battle those Aerodactyl and then ignored you."
The aura guardian shivered. "Please don't mention those damn fossils to me." He muttered. "I hate them." He glanced at Lance apologetically. "I'm sorry." He said. "But they still give me nightmares. Not yours though!" he was just digging himself into a hole here. "Your Aerodactyl is nice! We ran into these wild fossils and Shard will tell you… they were going to eat us!"
Gary, Leaf, Max, May, Lance and Dawn looked sceptical, but Brock and Misty nodded in agreement.
"They were!" Brock insisted. "That's why I don't own one of those things, even though we have fossils in the museum!"
"Can we just get on with the story?" May sighed, leaning back in her swivel chair.
Ash nodded, happily changing the subject. "Well Tristan got his Dawn Stone and evolved into a Gallade. He made good friends with Sceptile. Totodile… well his evolution was just weird…" the elite pulled a face. "He was just dancing, and randomly started to glow. I thought he was ill until he began changing shape. Then I find myself owning a slightly bigger alligator and he's still dancing like crazy." He added, "Made good friends with my Tynamo though."
"Are you telling me your Pokémon are weird?" Lance interrupted. "Because we knew that already…" He gestured to where Zo had fallen asleep on another sofa, her back resting on the pillow, and her head hanging over the side upside down. She was snoring softly, and Luca had crept away some time ago to find some dignified company among May's Ninetales and Glaceon.
"Oh shut up."
June 2013 – So Monday huh? Hi guys... So much for that Thursday posting schedule... which sucks because I like Thursdays... I just kind of got lost in the Supernatural fandom for a while. But it's all good! I made it out, after watching 170 odd episodes in two months! Time successfully wasted :) Now on with rounding up this tale.
This is my first chapter of the prequels combined with the epilogue which used to be longer, but I cut stuff out because it rounded things off a little too easily for my liking. Nothing really happens, but Ash is beginning to rethink his training methods, trying to tell the story while arguing with the gang who are being very persistent. It's an odd style, with May literally writing it as it is told, because someone mentioned to me that the date and time made it kind of like a log, or diary. Thanks for the suggestion whoever that was! Have a cookie and plushie Va (who cannot, under any circumstances, turn into a fairy type. Nuh uh, not happening atm. This story is totally Gen 5 compliant even if its largely Gen 4 based. So no fairies!).
Hope you enjoy. The next chapter involves how Ash became an aura guardian, which is probably what most people want to hear about anyway, and not the character development chapter which actually explains Ash's training improvements. Ah well… Thank you for all the amazing reviews. I'll admit I was on a happiness high after seeing them go over a hundred and then they kept coming. You guys are brilliant!
~ Eclipse