Hello dears~~

Finally, I present the next chapter! Slowly but surely, hints are dropped about the future! If you want, add your guess in your reviews, though I'll try not to reveal if you were right until the story reveals things~~!

No new (unknown) Japenese names. This chapter has been edited though (Pokemon names have been changed from English to Japenese).
Warning: None.
Pairing: Shigeru/Satoshi


The joy of Time Travel

Chapter 2: Settling in.

"Mom? We're home! And we have... guests."

Sato smiled as his mother erupted from the kitchen, the smile on her face dropping to confusion as she looked at the group in her room. The young man chuckled before scratching his cheek. "Long story short, seems like they took a holiday to the future."

Hanako shook her head, amused by her son choice of words-as well as the looks of the group from the past. She could guess how surprising her son's personality had become. "Well, maybe you could show them rooms?"

Sato nodded to his mother, smiling as he glanced backward. "Come on!"

Just as he was about to start walking, he felt a tug at his sleeve. He gazed down then at the person that stopped him. "Shige?"

"I've got to give a phone call."

Understanding passed in Sato's eyes, and he nodded once as Shige went to the phone while Sato gestured once again for the group of the past to follow. Someone lagged behind however. There was something in the way Sato had called the nickname for the future Shigeru...

To Kasumi, it sounded awfully as if it was not the first time Sato called Shige this way. It had been so natural, the call of Shige's nickname, as if Sato was so used to it that it had been the first thing leaving his lips.

Shige tapped his foot as he waited for whoever he was calling to pick up. Takeshi, who had noticed Kasumi had slowed down to an almost stop as they ascended the stairs, stopped and glanced backward with a questioning eyebrow. However, before Kasumi could say or do anything, Shige's voice spoke up.

"It's Shigeru. We encountered a... delay, so we'll stay at Masara longer. Sorry about that. Just say that we extended our holiday."

Kasumi and Takeshi exchanged a look. We? Was Shige talking about Sato and him? It made the two wonder, then. If it was the case, it meant Sato and Shige were here for holidays.

But holidays from what?

"Uh-Guys?"

Kasumi and Takeshi startled. At the start of the stairs, Shige was looking at them with raised eyebrow and a faint smirk. At the top, Sato and the rest of the group were waiting with slight puzzlement.

The two only uttered a small apology, quickly joining the group. They did not see the slight worried look Shige had before following too.


"So... Do you have any idea of how you found yourself here?"

Once Sato had given everyone their room assignment, the whole group had gone back into the living room. Hanako had already prepared some tea and cookies, and Sato took a bite of cookie before sitting on the couch, asking the question. Shige joined him, almost as if it was an automatism, slapping faintly his arm and scolding him about eating and talking. Sato blushed faintly, mumbling that he had not taken a big bite, and Shige only rolled his eyes.

Facing them and sitting on the second couch, Satoshi and Shigeru-separated by Prof Ookido-were starring at their future selves. It felt like looking into a mirror, and yet... so different. A chuckle from Prof Ookido made the two boys glance at him, and the professor just coughed before replying to Sato.

"Actually... I think I saw who did that."

"Really?" Kasumi asked from her sitting place beside Sato.

Takeshi, who was helping Hanako give everyone their tea, stopped and looked curiously at the older man.

"Have you ever heard about a Pokemon called Celebi?"

The startled laugh from Sato made everyone look at him. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "The time travelling Pokemon, right? We met before."

Understanding passed on the professor's face, but too fast for anyone to see. The old man had memories of his adventures with Celebi playing in his mind, and he recalled that the Satoshi he had met back then had been younger than Sato-but older that Satoshi.

He should have known Sato would know about Celebi.

"Why would Celebi do that though?" Shigeru asked, looking at his grandfather with a frown.

It was Sato that answered him. "He's quite... playful, actually. And it's possible he had something in mind." He shrugged. "But he's not here, so it's hard asking him about it."

Shige leaned backward, resting his arms on the back of the couch. "Maybe we could try to find Celebi for you? Until then, you're quite welcome to just... relax." He frowned a bit. "By the way, from when do you come from? I've got a faint idea," his gaze trailed to his younger self, and Shigeru felt like a child who had been caught being bad, "but it's better if we know for sure."

If they knew, they could be more careful.

"If it helps you, Satoshi had just asked about the Indigo League, and Team Rocket had just got blasted off again before we found ourselves here." Kasumi supplied the information.

Sato blinked. "Wow... This far eh?" He got a little bit lost in thoughts, probably recalling memories that Satoshi had not yet formed.

Talking of Satoshi, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes warned everyone present that he was about to fire questions again at his older self. He couldn't help it, and it was likely that he had already forgotten that he couldn't really know about his future.

"It's a good occasion to train." Sato finally said, cutting his younger self before he could speak. Sato grinned at the startled expression. "If I'm not wrong, we have at least two months to send you all back there, if we don't count the fact that when we find Celebi, he can send you back around the same time you left, so no one would have noticed."

If Satoshi had look eager before, now he was unable to stay put. He stood up suddenly, stars into his eyes. "We could train together!"

Sato chuckled. "I can help you, but I'm afraid showing my team is out of the question. It's bad enough you saw Pikachu and Blacky."

At the confused looks of Satoshi and Shigeru, Prof Ookido explained, "It is as we said before. If you know the Pokemon your future selves have, you might be tempted to try and catch them sooner, for example." He gave a slight nod to Sato, a bit impressed.

The young man seemed to be better at thinking. His gaze shifted to the older version of his grandson, unconsciously tilting his head as he analyzed the both of them.

It was almost as if... They had learned from each other.

Noticing his grandfather's look, Shige smirked. "Don't think too much, grandpa. You're not supposed to guess anything."

It made the old man blush, to have been figured like this.

Sato glanced at Shige then the professor with a raised eyebrow, then he showed puzzlement. "Speaking of Pikachu and Blacky, where are they?"

Shige blinked. "I... think they ran off somewhere when we entered. They are probably playing together again."

A look of horror crossed Sato's face. Soon after, it was echoed by Shige's wide eyes. "Oh shi-!"

Before they could finish their synchronized exclamation, a crashing sound was heard. Hanako froze on the spot, then gave a look at the two young men. "I hope this is not the new vase again, boys."

The two paled, before jumping to their feet and calling loudly, "Blacky!"/"Pikachu!"

The rest of the people present had to suppress laughter at their panicked face and the way their voice cracked.

It felt like they would have fun, here in the future.

To be continued...