Misty, Serena, Iris, Cilan and Brock arrived as the first few emergency vehicles arrived at the park. Gary had rushed off to inform Doctor Fakersman what had happened and plan what their next move should be. Dawn, May and Max arrived next, quickly followed by a heavily panting Clemont being pushed forwards by Bonnie, who was extremely annoyed at her brother for taking so long. They watched as the medics gathered behind a few police officers and Pokémon such as Growlithe. The medics needed to be protected if the Ho-oh was around and was going to attack them as they tried to heal Ash when they found him. Gary and Doctor Fakersman arrived as the medics entered the crash site. Brock and Gary explained to the leading Officer Jenny, after Brock was pulled away from Officer Jenny first by Misty, that they were all friends of Ash's and were concerned about him. This Officer Jenny took pity on them and allowed them to listen to the reports the medics sent back.
Charizard heard the rescue team before he saw them. He had hoped, despite knowing that there was more than one person coming, that it was Ash walking towards him. When Charizard saw the medics and their guard staring through the light dust cloud, he merely growled in annoyance and took to the sky. Charizard had had it with the dust cloud. Frustrated Charizard flapped its wings forcefully to dispel the dusty air and clear the area. Charizard hadn't cleared the air until that point because it had been worried how this would affect Ash, but now it just wanted to find its trainer.
As the dust cloud slowly cleared, everyone spotted Ho-oh standing in the centre of the crater. Gradually they were able to see that Ash was standing beside Ho-oh, cradling a clearly upset Pikachu. Charizard circled around and landed close by to Ash and Ho-oh. Ho-oh looked at the fire Pokémon but didn't attack. In fact Ho-oh inclined its head as an invitation for Charizard to come closer. Charizard inclined its head in thanks and stomped over to Ash and used its flamethrower on him. Ash shielded Pikachu from the half-hearted attack and coughed the smoke out of his nose and mouth and faced Charizard. Ash understood that the flamethrower had held many meanings. It had been its way of greeting Ash but also a stern "don't do that again or next time will be worse". Ash understood that Charizard was too proud to show its concern for its trainer beyond getting angry or looking for Ash. It was part of Charizard's charm. Ash pushed Pikachu on to his shoulder and placed a reassuring hand on Charizard. "I'm fine Charizard, but thanks for being so worried about me," Ash comforted the Pokémon and carefully pulled out Charizard's pokéball and softly asked Charizard if it wanted to rest. Charizard considered its trainer but believed that the crisis was over and nodded. Ash smiled as a red energy enveloped Charizard and pulled the Pokémon back into its pokéball. Ash placed the pokéball back on to his pokébelt and turned to Ho-oh, who had been watching intently.
The medics made their way over slowly. They were nervous of Ho-oh but they could see that Ash was keeping his weight off his left foot and was wary of using his right hand properly. They saw the amount of blood caked on Ash's face and felt they had to attend to his injuries. Ash hadn't seen them though and turned to Ho-oh once he had returned Charizard. "So Ho-oh what are you going to do now?" Ash asked the legendary Pokémon conversationally. Ho-oh looked to the sky in thought and then closed its eyes. "I don't know. I would like to return home but how can I after those humans found me and destroyed it?" Ho-oh replied sadly. Ash smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on Ho-oh's neck. Ho-oh turned to Ash at his touch. "Ho-oh, you can rebuild your home and next time you'll know what to expect from the humans or you could leave that home and find a newer safer one," Ash suggested. Ho-oh regarded Ash quietly and then bowed its head to him. "Thank you Ash. You have done so much for me. You protected me from myself and showed me that not all humans are the same. This is farewell but if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I will do anything within my power to return the favour," Ho-oh told Ash kindly and with the parting words, Ho-oh lifted its large wings and took off.
Ash watched the Pokémon go and then spotted the medics running over. "Mr Ketchum! Mr Ketchum are you alright?" they asked him frantically. Ash limped over to the group. "Yeah, I'm fine. I hurt my wrist and ankle but other than that I'm alright," Ash admitted. The medics ushered Ash as quickly as possible to the vehicles at the edge of the crash site and bandaged his wrist and ankle and allowed him to clean the dried blood and dirt off of his face and arms. Ash re-joined his friends shortly afterwards feeling tired and sore but relieved that Ho-oh was finally calm and safe. Ash told Officer Jenny what Ho-oh had told him about being brought to Viridian City against its choice. Officer Jenny vowed to find out who was responsible for what had happened.
Later that evening, Ash and all his friends were at the airport. Gary was getting on a flight back to Sinnoh and Max and May were returning to Hoenn together while Clemont and Bonnie were returning to Kalos together. Then Dawn left to return to her contests and Tracey rushed back to Professor Oak's lab. That left Ash, Misty, Serena and Brock standing outside the airport. "Well, I guess you really need to get back to the gym now Misty," Ash commented suddenly. Misty blushed and nodded. "I'd still like to go there with you," Ash told her. Misty smiled. "That would be great. Thanks Ash travelling alone can get a bit boring," Misty thanked him. "I guess you'll want to get on the road early tomorrow morning then. I'd better get stocked up on supplies," Brock announced before starting to rush off towards the market before it closed. "Hang on Brock. What are you talking about?" Misty called after him. "I thought I'd come with you guys. After all you and Ash really can't cook and Serena would starve with you two in charge. Besides you'll need someone to read the map and stop you two arguing. It'll be just like when we all travelled together before," Brock explained hastily. "Wait Brock, what about becoming a Pokémon doctor?" Ash asked concerned. "I got a few weeks off. I wanted to spend some time with you guys since I haven't seen either of you in a long time," Brock concluded and rushed off without another word. Ash, Serena, Pikachu and Misty all smiled at each other and set off to the Pokémon centre to get some dinner and wait for Brock to return.
So part 2 is finished. I hoped it was good and you enjoyed it. I'd like to thank anyone whose read up to this point for taking the time and to ask for any feedback.
The next chapter is still part of part 2 but it is kind of an epilogue for part 2 and a prologue to part 3. There will be a break in chapters being put up again I'm afraid as I have yet to write part 3 but it should be up within the next month.
So, until the next chapter.