the crowd erupts in cheers hearing his name called. ash slowly makes his way on stage and to the podium somewhat overwhelmed by the show of support he was getting. as he approached the mic cheers of "ash! ash! ash!" rang out. as he stood at the podium the crowd died down allowing him to speak.
"uh...er wow, didn't expect this many people to be here for this heh. um, forgive me, I'm not that good at speeches haha. well... this is the place where it all started for me. that day I turned 10 and got my first pokemon pikachu. it took a while for it to listen to me but it soon became my most reliable pokemon"
ash rambled on for a few minutes about his journey and how he got where he is.
"that's how I became honorary elite 4 member. but my journey isn't over yet. there are still league to win and regions to explore, and I vow to you pallet town, I will conquer them all and become the greatest pokemon master! but for now let me just say this. I made it! yeaaaah!"
after the speech the crowd erupts in cheers and applause again as ash throws up the peace sign with his hands. as he leaves the stage he is greeted with a round of applause. getting down off the stage the mayor walks up to him and pats him on the shoulder.
"well done hero, well done" he says
then mayor heads back up the stage to the podium as ash looks on.
"hope you're ready pallet town! let the celebration begin!"
the crowd once again roars as ash heads into town again. moments later the town is now even more lively as the stands and attractions that were being worked on earlier are now open for business. ash continues to walk around the town looking at the many games and attractions the festival has and ponders to himself.
"wow look at all this. they went all out for this event huh? and it's all cause of me hehe. anyway what to do now? should I go back to the house, or check out some of these stands? hmmm... I should head home... but first I'll enjoy myself a bit hehe" says ash scouting the area to see what he wants to try first.
walking a little further ash sees a giant tent covering an area where different arcade games are sitting. he stops in front of it.
"arcade huh? been a while since I played an arcade game... hm... ok I'll give it a shot" says ash
ash walks up to the arcade area. just as he is about to step in he hears a familiar voice in the distance.
"ash!.."
"uh.. that voice.. I know it.."
ash turns in the direction of where the voice came from. he looks and sees a girl facing him. a familiar red headed girl with a side ponytail wearing a sleeveless yellow top with yellow spandex like shorts. seeing her, ash knew immediately who it was.
"it is you... misty!..." says ash
"ash... after all this time... I finally get to see you again.." says misty
the two keep staring at each other not breaking their gaze. then they slowly walk toward each other and hug tightly. after a few seconds they pull apart and smile at each other warmly. soon after the two are sitting on a bench next to one another with ash holding a burger in his hand.
"wow it has been a long time since we last spoke ash. look at how much you've grown" says misty
"yeah it has. seems you've grown some too misty" says ash unwrapping his burger
"oh, well er.. not that much.." says misty looking away blushing a little
"so ash, how have you been in your travels? taking care of yourself ok?" says misty
"oh yeah of course heh I've been fine" says ash then takes a big bite of his burger
"oh that's good, guess I don't have to worry then ha. oh I hear you finally won the indigo league, congratulations ash" says misty
"oh thanks heh. I trained super hard for it for months knowing it was my 2nd time through. all the training finally paid off" says ash taking another bite
"yes I see. you've gotten so strong now ash, it's incredible. I remember when we first met and you were just starting out. you were kinda hopeless" says misty giggling
"hey!..." says ash with a mouthful of food
"hehe don't talk with your mouth full ash" says misty
then she looks at adh seeing some ketchup around his mouth and laughs a bit.
"what? what's funny?" says ash
"you got ketchup on your face ash. here, I'll get it" says misty reaching in her pocket
she pulls out some tissue paper then gets near ash and wipes the ketchup off his face.
"there, thats better" says misty smiling
"uh yeah, thanks misty" says ash smiling back
then they had noticed just how close they had gotten to each other. they both blush and turn away.
"you know ash.. the battles you won against the elite 4.. I kinda wish I was there to have seen you win.." says misty
"oh really?" says ash
"yeah... um ash..."