Author's Notes: Something to Celebrate the Pokémon Anime's 25th (dub) Birthday.
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Some things changed, others stayed the same.
Ash Ketchum always enjoyed a battle, even if he was just watching. Even if he wasn't there. A TV had always done the trick.
TV, or a Tablet these days.
"Nidoking! Throat Chop!"
Powering through an Ice Punch, the Nidoking struck, blasting the Mega Gengar back.
"Nice."
Leaning back in a chair, feet up, Ash was watching a battle somewhere far away, a little slice of nowhere, where an up-and-comer was fighting to move one rung higher in the world, one step further on the long road of Trainerdom. It was like looking back in time. Ash was doing that, more and more lately, looking out at trainers that reminded him of days gone. It was something he tended to do alone.
"Chu."
Nearly alone. He kept *some* company.
Said company snapped a ketchup bottle open, not bothering to add it to his food. Ketchup was its own food group, or so Ash had been told again, and again, and again over the years. At this point the choices were just smile and nod, or get a Thunderbolt.
Ash's choice still varied.
"Here you are." A voice pierced the serenity of the room. Ash turned his head, finding "Misty," and behind her, "Brock," He smiled. "Hey."
Two familiar faces entered the room. Brock's hair was starting to grey, and while Misty had long since let her hair down, it wasn't quite the near-waist-length it'd once been. Time had come for them all, but it was hard to ever forget faces you'd known for most of your life.
Faces he'd known most of his life, and their Pokémon. Blissey walked alongside a distinct sound of flippers, that honed in on the third Pokémon in the room. The third Pokémon, and the bowl of food in front of them.
"Gol." Without prompting, Golduck took the bowl.
"Chu." He got no complaints, only a wave, before Ketchup became the centre of attention once again. Golduck had made the mistake of taking the ketchup once upon a time.
Once.
Misty took a glance at the too-relaxed Ash. "You ready?"
"Yeah, yeah, just got time to kill. Pull up a seat."
Not commenting, the two soon occupied already-available chairs. Misty was the first to look at the screen, and comment. "Who's winning?"
"Last Pokémon each."
"So it's getting good." She looked at Mega Gengar's trainer. "Kinda reminds me of the last challenger we had."
Brock perked up at that. "How did that go?"
"Two out of four," Misty sighed slightly. "She were saving me for last. So much for that."
Ash shook his heads, countless memories of his own overconfidence echoing. "Yet another challenger Kanto's Champ won't see." Ash sighed. "The guy's gonna get lazy. Or bored."
"You'd know all about that."
"I would, actually."
A voice shouted out-"Gengar Icy Wind!"
From midair, Mega Gengar opened his maw, unleashing a frosty wind as they made distance.
Time echoed louder, if one listened closely, you could almost hear a voice long gone speaking that exact command. "Launch with Iron Tail!"
Nidoking complied, firing forward towards his opponent, charging in to continue to the fight. Perhaps an unwise move, but a familiar one.
Brock smiled. "How many times did you do exactly that?"
Misty smirked. "How often is he still doing it?"
Brock chuckled. "Well it's been twenty-five years, what's the average these days?"
Ash shrugged. "Ask Rotom." Having said that... "He probably knows."
Misty laughed, before recalling-"Lei still trying to add those upgrades?"
Ash shook his head. "I don't get why Rotom keeps refusing. Sophocles said he'll help when he gets back from the Station."
"By 'help', you mean-"
"I didn't ask."
"Speaking of the Station," began Brock, "how's Clemont handling it up there?"
"'Surprisingly well'. So he says. He misses his lab, though." Ash smirked. "Bonnie says the kids are putting it to use."
Near-silence took hold for a moment, before a sudden flash of connecting attacks shook it. They watched as it happened again, and again, a flurry of attacks seeking opening or sign of weakness.
The last of the attacks connected, and a few more seconds passed, before Misty's words pierced the air. "No-one else coming?"
There was nothing, not remotely anything in her tone that was intended as such, but Ash felt something at those words. "It's not like they're not gonna be watching, but yeah, no-one's coming."
Ash leaned back in his chair, idly running a hand through his hair as he repressed a sigh. This hadn't been the first time, the first time so many of his friends were absent. There was a time getting everyone together was mainly a matter of setting a date. Then came getting older. Then came just the unplanned, and unexpected things that happened anyway, then came responsibilities. Responsibilities, isn't that why the three of them were here anyway? Brock was a Pokémon Doctor, Misty was on Kanto's Elite Four, and Ash had a battle to fight. Their jobs were to be here. Time had a way of complicating lives, and unless there was another world-threatening event, it was hard to guess when they'd all meet up next.
(Actually, there hadn't been one of those in a while. They were probably due a catastrophe.)
"Dawn called couple hours ago," Ash recalled the call, brief though it was. "Wishing us luck and such."
Dawn lead Misty's mind to Contests. Contests lead her to-"May and Drew?"
"Kalos," injected Brock, "judging the Grand Festival."
Ash chuckled. "I think they wanted a break from the kids. They're driving Max *nuts*, apparently." He got a look from both which he could translate as a question. "He called me. Kids wanted tips, and to wish me luck."
"Speaking of matches," Brock began, "Iris has one soon, right?"
Ash nodded. "Next month. She wanted to come, but I told her to stay and train." He smiled, slyly. "Personally, I think she just wanted some city food."
Misty rolled her eyes at the antics of one who'd she'd more than once been compared to. "She should call Cilan."
"Can't," spoke Brock. "Culinary Festival in the Orange Islands. You try dragging him away from one of those."
"I did," Ash admitted, with a shudder, "never again."
"I warned Tracey." Ash nodded at that, a very fair warning.
Misty, whose mind was still circling contests..."Serena call lately?"
"This morning," Ash answered, "she's in Kalos too, actually." He chuckled. "Judging too."
Misty raised an eyebrow, and he heard it before she even spoke. "So it just so happens two of your friends were picked to judge this year's Grand Festival."
This time it was in her tone. "…three. Dawn's there too." She just blinked. She didn't need to do anything but blink. "I don't tell people to suck up to me."
"You don't tell 'em not to."
"…no comment." He turned away, but he could feel that look. He shifted topic. "Goh's chasing a strange Pokémon sighting. They're not even sure what it is yet, but that won't stop him. Chloe keeps track of him better than me."
"How did that experiment with Eevee go?" Ash looked to Brock, surprised. "I heard about it."
Ash was about to answer, when-"Bliss!" All three of them turned to look.
Blissey was in the midst of an impassioned speech they were unable to translate. She was pointing between the bottle of ketchup, and it's less-than-enthused holder. While the trio couldn't translate, they could make educated guessed based on context clues. Mainly the fact she was holding out a hand, clearly expecting something.
All Blissey got was a pair of sparking cheeks, and dark eyes turning darker. Like a Meowth and Rattata, waiting for other to move, though in this case it was hard to tell which was which in this situation. Blissy's eye twitched. One would think she'd be used to to stubborn patients, but this old fight was never she'd never go. Her brow twitched, and she moved just a bit closer, ready to show the procedure for more rowdy patients.
She stopped, feeling something on her head. She turned. "Bliss?"
Golduck shook his head. "Duck."
She sighed, defeated. "Sey." Golduck patted her, then went right back to eating.
Misty held back a chuckle. "Few things can get between him and ketchup."
Ash nodded. "Something made by Mom, Brock, Cilan and Mallow can do it." He chuckled, remembering something. "Speaking of which, got the Alola gang call yesterday. The entire school watches me battle."
"So you've mentioned." Misty stopped counting past the hundredth time. "Is that a proper use of class time?"
Ash shrugged. "As long as I win."
"Fair."
Any further conversation was stabbed by an explosive sound; the boom of a final attack.
"Gengar is unable to battle!"
They all turned, seeing the victorious Pokémon, and Trainer.
Ash nodded. "That makes thirty."
Misty turned to Ash. "How long before he gets here you think?"
"Years off yet. If he ever does." Ash turned the Tablet off, stood up, and cricked his neck. "Time to go." He turned to leave, just in time as the last of the ketchup vanished. Without looking, his arm swept out, scooping up a jacket. Behind him, Misty smiled, snatching something else off the table as Ash put his jacket on.
The walk was a quiet one, silent, even, save the founds of footsteps. Nobody said anything. When it became the unspoken rule, nobody really knew, but nobody questioned it. They came to a stop, at the start of the long hall, the light of day beyond. They stood there, unmoving, silent, for a while. Stood as they had more than once over the years, waiting in the growing tension as the time drew nearer. A minute passed, then another, and time moved on as they stood still.
They stood still, until time would wait no longer.
"Time to go." Ash moved forward, and zipped up his jacket, his hand reaching up to fix his-"Dammit!" He searched his pockets, finding nothing. "I forgot my hat!"
Misty whistled, Ash turned, seeing her spinning something on her finger. "Where would you be without me?"
"Still in that river probably."
Long-desensitized to him making light of his alleged mortality, she tossed Ash his hat. "Go win, big-shot."
"Got it." He put it on, flashing a familiar grin. "Brock, be ready for when the match is over."
"Sure thing."
"Misty, act like you're *not* totally rooting for me to win."
"Like I *haven't* been doing that forever."
"Well it's hard not to cheer for me."
She rolled her eyes. She wasn't gonna give him that one. Instead she leaned down, scratching a familiar face with a signature technique she'd learned right from Delia. "Go get 'em."
"Chuu!"
"Gol!" Golduck held out a paw, and slap. The entourage turned and left, even their footsteps soon fading into the distance.
Ash took a breath, closing his eyes as the moment washed over him. Here he was again, like many times before. Just like before, he'd do it again. From Pallet Town, down the long road he'd walked to reach where he stood now, he could recall every day, for a moment. He could see every step, from beginning, to end.
He released his breath. He opened his eyes, the world around him sparking, a storm brewing next to him, it's fury already crackling along the walls.
Ash met the gaze of his oldest friend. "Ready to go, buddy?"
There was a flash, and the storm ended, for now.
"Rai!"
Some things changed, others stayed the same. Life changed things, how people thought, how people lived, how we are becomes how we were. Things never considered became the norm. One day you didn't look the same in the mirror anymore, but, if you looked closely, you could traces of who you once were. Some things stayed the same, others changed.
One thing never would.
Once more, they'd show the world who they were.
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Author's Notes: Farewell, Ash, our eternal ten-year old from Pallet Town. In ours hearts, you always will be the very best.