Nine Years Ago...
Back in Pallet Town, Gary was hanging out with his grandfather and his sister. With them were Erika, her parents, Ash, and his mom. They heard that Lance was coming with Andrew. Delia was worried that David wasn't with them. 'What could've happened,' Delia wondered, worried. Ash was worried too as Erika had that bad feeling. Gary kept quiet as did Daisy-Mae, they were all worried. The only ones not present were Silver and his mother. Coming over the horizon were Lance and Andrew, looking horrible. Delia knew something was wrong...everyone did. Lance looked at Andrew as he went over to Delia.
Andrew sighed sadly as he stated, "Delia, David has been killed and Raichu has been kidnapped."
Delia immediately started to cry as Andrew held her in a hug. Everyone started to cry all but Ash. The boy was in too much shock. Erika looked over at him and saw that he wasn't crying and was in shock. She knew how he felt since she lost her brother last year.
"Ash," Erika breathed.
Ash looked at her with sad eyes as tears finally came down.
Ash cried, "I can't believe it...dad's dead...he's gone..."
Delia scooped up her son and the young boy cried on her shoulder, not even looking at either Lance or Andrew. Both Lance and Andrew started to feel really badly as Delia took her son home, crying herself. Erika tried to go after them, to help but Gary stopped her and shook his head. Erika looked sadly on as the two remaining Ketchum's went into their house. Andrew turned to his father and handed him a poke ball with a lightning bolt on it. Professor Oak looked at it and then at his son.
Andrew stated, "We found that poke ball in David's possession. Inside is a Pikachu, the son of David's Raichu. However, it doesn't like humans. Ash isn't ready for it yet but I know he will be soon, dad."
Oak studied the poke ball. Remembering the story that Ash told him when he traveled through time with Celebi, he was indeed the one that gave Ash Pikachu. He just didn't know how he caught it. 'Sadly, now I do,' Oak thought, hanging his head in sadness. Erika and Gary weren't exactly paying attention since they had walked off before Andrew gave his dad the poke ball.
Erika whispered, "I still can't believe that this is happening."
"Me either," Gary whispered.
Lance came over to them and asked, "Hey, are you two alright?"
The nine year old girl hissed, "You just told my best friend that his father is dead, what do you think?!"
Gary hugged her shoulders and advised, "Take it easy, Erika."
Lance saw this as he asked, "And you are...?"
"Gary Oak," he explained, "And this is Erika Jones."
Lance nodded as he stated, "Well, you see, when David took off for Vermillion City with Andrew, we didn't record his victory. Therefore, he is not the Pokémon Master. He was just a challenger to the Elite Four."
Erika and Gary looked at the Dragon type trainer in disbelief as they knew how much the title meant to Delia and Ash.
"You bastard," Erika swore, even though she wasn't supposed to.
With that, she ran off, crying her eyes out.
Pastoria City...
As Ash, Misty, Brock, Erika, Dawn, and Ranee were waiting for the report on Raichu; the more Ash was reliving his childhood. Misty was worried about Ash, she couldn't believe that Raichu could belong to Ash's father. Misty went over to him and tapped his shoulder. Ash spun around to her and she saw his eyes. Ash Ketchum...had been crying. Misty gasped as she hugged Ash with all of her might.
Ash returned it as he wondered, "Mist, what if it is my dad's Raichu? What am I gonna do? Will Raichu want to talk to me...?"
"What exactly happened," Misty questioned, looking up at him in wonder.
Ash sighed as he looked at Erika and she nodded. Ash told them all the story and by the time he was finished, Nurse Joy came in.
Ash went over to her and asked, "How's Raichu?"
Nurse Joy answered, "It will make a fast and speedy recovery, all it needs is a good night's sleep."
"That's great news," Dawn stated.
Nurse Joy commented, "Although, when I was examining it, it looked like it had been subjected to multiple tests."
"Oh how awful," Ranee gasped.
Nurse Joy replied, nodding, "Yes, I was surprised on how fast it recovered."
Erika looked over at Ash and responded, "Probably because it saw you, Ash."
Ash merely nodded as he looked at Nurse Joy.
He asked, "Can I sit with Raichu?"
"I don't see anything wrong with that," Nurse Joy answered, smiling.
Ash went into the room where Raichu was resting. Or at least Ash thought he was resting. The minute he came into the room, Raichu was in Ash's arms.
"Rai chu rai," the Mouse Pokémon whined, crying.
Ash was surprised but held Raichu in his arms nonetheless. Raichu kept crying as Ash rubbed the Mouse Pokémon's back, feeling bad.
"It's okay, Raichu, it's over," Ash whispered, trying to calm it down.
Raichu sniffled as it looked up at Ash, teary eyed. There was so much of David in him and Raichu hadn't seen the young boy since nine years ago. But Raichu could tell that the only son of David Ketchum was almost all grown up. That's when Raichu remembered. Eyes wide, Raichu pulled on Ash's collar.
He yelped, "Rai chu rai, rai rai chu!"
Ash looked at Raichu, surprised. Over time, Ash had learned to understand most Pokémon. And his father's Raichu was no different.
Ash questioned, "Wait, you were experimented on by Team Rocket this whole time...?"
Raichu nodded sadly and answered, "Rai rai chu chu rai..."
Ash petted Raichu's head.
He whispered, "You really belong to David Ketchum...?"
"Rai ri," Raichu replied.
Ash sighed as he recognized the name. Ash lowered his hat over his eyes, sadly. Misty saw this as everyone else waited outside of the room.
Dawn commented, "I wish I knew what they were saying."
Erika questioned, "I wonder if that's really Mr. Ketchum's Raichu...?"
Brock asked, "Didn't you say that it was captured by Team Rocket?"
Erika nodded as Ranee looked down at her locket then back up at her reflection in the window.
"I have to help," she whispered, remembering a part of her past that connected to Ash.
Unknown to any of them, Paul and Barry were also in the same Pokémon Center. Both of the boys were oblivious to what was going on. Barry was getting ready for the Water Festival. The mauve haired trainer was looking over what classified as 'proper' attire for a contest. He had gotten a dark purple undershirt, a black jacket, and black pants. The mask was a dark purple, like the undershirt. Paul was thinking this through, not knowing a thing about contests. Barry smiled at him.
"Relax, Paul, I called in for some help," Barry stated.
"What kind of help," Paul questioned, curious. Barry smiled more.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Barry peeked through the peephole and saw Kenny.
"This kind," Barry explained, as he opened the door.
Kenny came in as he smiled at Barry and asked, "Hey, so what's going on, Barry?"
Paul looked at Barry and asked, "You didn't tell him, did you?"
Barry answered, "I figured this was better to explain in person than over the phone. Kenny Kengo, this is Paul Shinji, from Veilstone City. He wants to get his girlfriend Ranee Katina back by entering the Water Festival."
Paul looked at Kenny as he asked, "You think you can help...?"
Kenny shrugged simply and answered, "Even though I was on my way to Johto, the ships stopped at the Whirl Islands before we had to go back. The ocean was too choppy, as if a hurricane was coming. In fact, that's when I ran into Professor Oak's grandson - Gary - and Ritchie Hiroshi."
Barry stated, "Wait, thee Professor Oak? How wicked is that?!"
Paul perked up as he questioned, "Did they come with you?"
Kenny nodded as he answered, "Yeah, they are in the lobby waiting for me."
Paul stated, "I like to meet them."
Barry replied, "Ah yeah, me too, this is gonna be awesome!"
Kenny smiled at Barry's hyper nature. But Paul was a bit of the quiet type from what Kenny observed. Back in the lobby, Ritchie went looking around while Gary waited for Kenny. He couldn't believe that Kenny knew Ash or that he would see Gary again. The two had literally just ran into each other while Ritchie was training for the Whirl Cup and then the two met Kenny. They were planning to go to Johto together until the hurricane changed their plans and they had to come to Pastoria City. Ritchie thought, 'At least I'll get to see Ash again, wait til he sees Zippo! I still can't believe that I now have a Charizard!'
AK1028: Well, again, I apologize for the delay in this chapter but I have to admit bringing back Ritchie along with Kenny was a pretty good idea! What do you think guys? Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!
