Part XXVIII: Seeing an Old Friend Again

Ash and Misty exited the Vermilion Gym and walked hand in hand back to the Pokémon Center. It had been a long day for them but especially for Ash. That was because the battle that Ash had just had with Surge had been draining for both of them, it had been his most intensive one yet, and they needed a break. Also all of Ash's Pokémon needed a healing and a good long rest after giving their all for him so it made perfect sense to go straight to the Pokémon Center.

The plan was to drop off Ash's Pokémon with Nurse Joy and then retire for the evening with some food from the dining area at the Pokémon Center to tide them over. It would be a quiet night in followed by some adult fun when Misty returned Piplup to his Poke Ball and they could enjoy each other without a Pokémon that wouldn't to hesitate to cool them down with an Ice Beam. It was a going to be a fun and relaxing night.

Then in the morning Ash would get his healed Pokémon back, send Seismitoad to Dawn for training, and exchange the others with his designated team for Saffron City before they headed out. Dawn was in for one hell of a surprise when she found out that Palpitoad had evolved.

The plan after leaving the Pokémon Center tomorrow was to spend the day in Vermilion City so that Ash could show it off to Misty before they headed north to Saffron. The Contest there was coming up soon and Misty was eager for it and all the training they would do on the way. Who knows, they may even find a new Pokémon for one of them as well, that was always a possibility. It was a good plan. At least it was until things, as they were want to do around Ash, changed the moment they entered the Pokémon Center.

"Your Ambipom is all better now." Nurse Joy was saying with her usual smile to a man in a yellow shirt with a popped color and blue/gray hair as she wheeled the Long Tail Pokémon out on a cart, a bandage wrapped around part of its right tail. "She just sprained her tail nothing more. She should be fine after a few days of rest but she does need to take it easy over that time."

"Thanks but she's not my Ambipom." The man said with a grateful smile as Ambipom happily hopped off the cart with a chitter happily. "I'm training her in Pokémon ping pong that's all. She belongs to a girl I met in Sinnoh a while back."

"It can't be…" Misty muttered stopping dead in her tracks and bringing Ash to a halt when her arm pulled taught as she stared in confusion at the Pokémon in front of them.

"What?" Ash asked looking confused first at his girlfriend and then to the Ambipom in front of them, the very familiar looking Ambipom and suddenly everything clicked into place. "Oh."

"Huh?" The man said turning to the entrance and locking eyes with them, his own going wide in shock when he saw Misty. "Misty? Ash? Is that you?"

"How do you…" Ash began before Misty let go of his hand and rushed forward causing Ash to get even more confused, a feeling he was getting all too accustomed to lately.

It was because the Ambipom had also noticed them as well and recognized them at once. She would recognize her first and second trainers anywhere. She didn't know why they were here but she didn't care. Misty was back and she wanted to be with her trainer, even if it was temporary.

With an excited chitter, Ambipom leapt up and into Misty's arms, making sure not to put any weight on her right tail, as Misty reached her and hugged her Pokémon close. She was just a shade too big to perch on Misty's head like she had when she was an Aipom but she was small enough to be held in her arms. Plus Piplup was on Misty's head and he wasn't giving up his perch for anything short of a poffin at least.

"Ambipom." Misty muttered as the Pokémon happily chittered away. "I missed you. I didn't know that you would be here."

"My training center is located here." O said coming up to Misty. "We only got back a few days ago but most of the time we are either here or at a tournament somewhere. I honestly wasn't expecting this."

Finally everything hit Ash as he came up to them. He remembered the Ambipom well, she had once been his Aipom before he had traded her for Misty's Buizel almost 2 years ago, the only trade he had ever made for good. It had been because Buizel was into gym battles and Ambipom loved contests that they had traded and neither he nor Misty had ever regretted. Both Buizel and Ambipom had served them well.

That had been what they had been doing until Ambipom fell in love with Pokémon ping pong and showing a natural talent for it. Ambipom had been offered the chance to train under c champion Pokémon ping pong player called O who had noticed her potential in the competition they had entered. Ambipom had decided to take up an offer from and returned with O to Vermilion City to train.

It had been a sad day but Misty had let her Pokémon make the choice and Ambipom had decided to pursue her new passion. She was still Misty's Pokémon, just pursuing her own dreams the way Ash's Squirtle was doing with the Squirtle Squad. Ash had completely forgotten that this might happen if they were here but he wasn't complaining, it was a chance reunion but a good on, nonetheless.

Before Ash could join them in their reunion though he had something more important to deal with. Turning and walking up to the desk that Nurse Joy and Chansey were still at, Ash helped a still groggy and injured Pikachu off his shoulder before pulling out all of his Poke Balls and putting them in the tray that was already there. The professional woman was already ready having gotten the tray out the moment she caught sight of Pikachu; it was obvious that Ash had been in a battle recently.

"I just finished my full battle with Surge." Ash said to Nurse Joy's raised eyebrow at him handing over all his Pokémon for healing. "And they could all used some attention."

"Of course." Nurse Joy said with a nod of understanding, she had known that this trainer was about to face Surge in a full battle. "I will get to it right away. Given the number they should be ready in the morning."

"Thanks they could use the long rest." Ash said with a smile at Pikachu who was just glad to get the pampering he needed after that Electrode had more than happily blown up in his face, seriously those Pokémon had a problem with liking to blow up. "It was a true slugfest."

"I understand, I am here to help." Nurse Joy said her smile never faltering. "Come Chansey, we have work to do."

"Chansey." Chansey said with a smile as they turned and left into the healing part of the Center while Ash returned to join Misty and Ambipom in their happy reunion.

"Ambipom!" Ambipom said seeing Ash and leaping out of her arms and into his. "Ambi!"

"Hey Ambipom, good to see you again." Ash said with a smile at her as she scurred to sit on his shoulders for a moment. "You're looking well."

"Ambi." Ambipom said with a nod before jumping out of Ash's arms with a flip and looking at them.

At once Ambipom knew something was different between her former and current trainer. There was a scent, a smell that she knew well, it was the scent of two mates who had already mated and continued to do so. Ambipom smiled widely at that and she began dancing happily. She had always known that they would end up together, she could tell from being both of theirs Pokémon, they had finally realized it as well.

With a chitter, and much to Ash and Misty's surprise, Ambipom took their hands in her tail hands. Then she brought them together so that Ash and Misty were once again holding hands as they blinked at her. Then she let go and used her two tails to form a heart above her head, framing their faces in it if you looked at them from behind Ambipom as she beamed at them and continued to do her happy dance.

"Um." Ash said a little confused at the Pokémon's actions.

"Ambipom, you know about us?" Misty asked and Ambipom just nodded and continued to chitter at them happily. "Huh, I guess Pokémon have their own ways of telling."

"Probably." Ash agreed as he finally caught onto what Ambipom was happy about and smiling at her.

"So you two are a couple now?" O asked them bringing them back to the fact that he too was there and causing them to blush at little.

"Yeah, we started dating a few months back." Misty confirmed. "It was a little unexpected given Ash's usual obliviousness but I'm not complaining."

"I would protest but I am starting to realize that everyone may be right." Ash said and Misty smiled, all she'd needed was for him to notice his feelings for her and on that front he had managed it, just.

"I see." O said, he didn't know the couple well enough to make a judgement but given Ambipom's reaction it was something long coming. "Well Ambipom is certainly happy about it."

"She was always happy around us." Ash said with a smile at his former Pokémon. "Mischievous and a little disobedient at times but always happy and lifting our spirits when we needed it."

"How has she been doing?" Misty asked finally giving into her curiosity and asking the question that had burning in her since she had seen Ambipom.

Before O could reply a few trainers came in with injured Pokémon looking for Nurse Joy who was with them in an instant. O silently gestured to a small seated area a little ways away from the front desk where trainer could wait and mingle. They nodded and went there to chat and avoid being in the way of trainers who needed to see Nurse Joy. They sat down, O on one side, Ash and Misty facing him as Ambipom climbed up and sat in Misty's lap like old times.

"So, how is Ambipom doing?" Misty asked again once they were seated.

"Great." O said with a smile at Ambipom who nodded furiously at this. "She's my third best student I've ever had behind my Shiftry and a very talented Ludicolo I trained some years back. She was a natural when I met her, now that she has been trained, she's almost unbeatable on the amateur circuit."

"Ambipom." Ambipom said with a smile and a nod of pride at the praise.

"That's great!" Misty said looking down with her own pride at her Pokémon. "Well done Ambipom."

"Ambi." Ambipom said happily.

"So she has been trained to be a world class Pokémon ping pong player?" Misty asked and O nodded in confirmation. "Just as she wanted, she's really chasing her dreams."

"She has and now she has the chance to earn the status officially." O said. "She was training for that earlier with Shiftry when she injured her tail over exerting herself. It has been a long few weeks for her so it was likely to happen if she pushed herself but that is expected, she is tenacious in her training. She needs to rest anyway and study up for the next stage of her career."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked confused. "Next stage?"

"Well Ambipom here is still just breaking onto the Pokémon ping pong scene." O said and Ash and Misty just blinked at him so he continued as few outside his world knew about the intricacies of the niche world of Pokémon ping pong. "Ok so in the Pokémon ping pong profession there are amateurs, like you two were when we met, and professionals like me."

"We know that." Ash said interested in it because it was about Pokémon, even if it wasn't the thing for him. "So how does one become a professional?"

"By winning one of the amateur regional circuits." O said simply. "And that is what Ambipom has just done and as such she now has the chance to go pro."

"Really? Congratulations Ambipom!" Misty said excitedly as Ambipom chittered happily from Misty's lap. "How did it happen O?"

"Well I knew she could do it; she just needed the training to polish off her game." O explained. "She has the natural talent and love for the game, she just needed the right instructions to take her game to the next level. After we left Sinnoh we came back here and spent a few months training intensively. Then when the new season began last year, Ambipom entered the amateur circuit under my tutelage and quickly became the Pokémon to beat. She rarely lost and easily won the required 7 competitions to qualify for the Kanto Amateur Open."

"So it is like the Grand Festivals, the League Conferences and that thing we heard about that Kalos does." Ash said putting it into a context he could understand. "You need a certain number of wins to enter the region wide competition."

"Correct." O said. "Very similar to what you and Misty do for a living, though it is 7 wins, not 5 or 8 for Pokémon ping pong."

"And Ambipom won the competition?" Misty asked and Ambipom nodded happily from her lap. "Like the whole thing?"

"That she did." O confirmed with clear pride in his voice. "With ease if I may add. She now has the chance to go pro and enter the pro circuit here in Kanto this year. If she does well enough on it, she will join me and Shiftrey in Galar for the World Championship at the end of the year. That is the current goal at least."

"Galar?" Ash asked. "I've heard of that region once before but I know nothing about it. Why is the World Championship there?"

"It is a far-off region, even further away than places like Unova and Kalos." O explained. "I've been there before and it's a little pretentious in my opinion with miserable wet weather most of the time. However it is also where Pokémon ping pong, or as they call it for some unknown reason Pokémon wiff waff, was invented so they host the World Championship when it held every other year. I have won it before but it isn't easy and I haven't been back in a few championships. I am hoping that Ambipom and Shiftrey can enter it this year, however. The choice is hers though."

"What do you mean by her choice?" Misty asked confused looking at Ambipom.

"Well Ambipom is your Pokémon so I can't ask her to join the pro circuit or compete in the World Championship she qualifies for it." O said. "I was actually going to reach out to you in the next week or so, if I could find you that is, and ask if Ambipom could continue her training under me and turn pro. She has the makings of a great Pokémon ping pong player, one with the potential to win the world Championship one day, I know it."

"It is up to her." Misty said with a smile at Ambipom who was now a little confused at the conversation for the first time during it. "As it was her choice to go with you in the first place. If she wants to go then she can do so with my blessing and complete support. I want what's best for her and only Ambipom truly knows what that is."

"That is a wise and sensible way of doing it." O said with a nod. "I think it is best if you also told Ambipom what you have been up too so she knows how you have been since you last saw her as well. I made sure that we watched you in the Sinnoh Grand Festival and she was cheering you the entire time and cried when you lost but after that she doesn't know."

"Ambipom." Ambipom said with a nod and a look at Misty expectantly.

"That's a good idea." Ash said with a smile at them. "Tell Ambipom all the amazing things you have done Misty. It will give her a full picture of what has been going on."

"Well I wouldn't call them that but ok." Misty said with a blush at Ash's complement. "But I have been continuing my dream of becoming a Top Coordinator though not as continuously as Ash's own dream to become a Pokémon Master. After the Sinnoh Grand Festival, I spent some time in Hearthome City working with Hermione as a poke stylist while Buneary served as a model. It was really for Buneary and not me but it gave me a lot of experience and I know now that it is something to fall back on just in case."

"I had already left Sinnoh by this point and was in Unova challenging the gyms there." Ash said helpfully. "So I was doing my usually thing this entire time."

"Yeah we had to split up." Misty said, her sadness at the memory uncontrollable even if she was now with Ash all the time. "I didn't realize how much my heart ached when I was without Ash until much later. Anyway, the contract was only for half a year and after that I decided to travel to Unova after seeing their different styles. While there I ran into Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion, and she allowed me to stay with her. Then Ash ran into her by chance and invited him back to hers as well and we were together again for a bit."

"Only a bit though." Ash said remembering the feeling he had had when Misty had left him in Unova though it would be 3 more months before he learned what it was.

"Yeah I had to leave for Johto and the Wallace Cup that was about to be held there." Misty said sadly. "Of course that just had to be the moment that I realized that Ash was in deed the one for me, right as I was leaving him again. It wasn't just the crush I'd always thought it was, it was love."

"Ambipom." Ambipom said sympathetically as the sadness had crept into Misty's voice during her story.

"It's ok, it all worked out in the end." Misty said with a smile reassuring her Pokémon as Ash took her hand to remind her that it had ended well for them. "And I knew it would, at least in the sense that I would see Ash when I was done. I won the Wallace Cup again and then won 4 more contests in a row out in Johto to qualify for their Grand Festival. Unfortunately I lost in the finals again, worse than in Sinnoh in fact, but there was a silver lining in Silver Town that day for that was when Ash returned to me before I could return to him and we learned how we felt about each other."

"Ambipom." Ambipom said happily, she was happy her trainer and her mate had worked out in the end, she knew it would happen even if they hadn't.

"Yeah it was good in the end and given how it worked out I wouldn't change it for a moment." Misty said happily. "After that I returned with Ash to Kanto so I saw it at last. We celebrated his birthday and then began our new journey. I am competing on the Contest Circuit here in Kanto while Ash has officially challenged the gym leaders to full battles as he prepares to enter the Indigo Conference again. He doesn't need the badges this time but it is good experience and allows me the chance to compete in Contests as well as seeing Kanto with my boyfriend."

"Show her." Ash said and Misty blinked at him in cute confusion. "The Cerulean Ribbon as well as the Johto ones."

"Oh yeah, look Ambipom." Misty said as she fished out two boxes from her bag and opened them.

Ambipom looked at the cases and grinned. Inside one was a set of 5 ribbons in a style she'd never seen before. They must be the ones that Misty had won after she had left to pursue her ping pong career. In the other was one ribbon in the center in a style Ambipom had seen before but not since back when she was a little Aipom with Ash, long before she fell for contests and became Misty's Pokémon. It was a comforting sight bringing back old memories of a decision to steal some boy's hat, a decision that would change Ambipom's world for the better and in ways she'd never expected.

There was one curious thing in the second box though that Ambipom could easily identify, at least what it was but not where from, that confused her. It was a bright blue badge in the shape of a drop of water. It was a gym badge, she had seen enough when she had been in Sinnoh with Ash and Misty to know them, but it was something she associated with Ash, not Misty.

"Ambi?" Ambipom asked pointing at the badge with one of her tail hands.

"Oh that." Misty said with a chuckle. "That is the first and unless we run into another gym leader like this one, the only gym badge I have won. It's the Cascade Badge from Cerulean City."

"How did you get a gym badge?" O asked as confused as Ambipom at that. "I recall you being all about Contests and not gyms. That was why it was so hard for Ambipom to make the choice between Contests and Pokémon ping pong."

"I am, they're my passion and it's my dream to become a Top Coordinator." Misty said with a nod. "In fact soon we are heading to Saffron City for the Contest being held there soon. However, on our way to Pallet Town, where Ash is from, we passed through Cerulean City for the first time. Ash and the gym leader there, a girl called Dawn, are really old friends and well, we didn't get along at all from the moment we met."

"Did she had a crush on Ash or something?" O asked surprising Ash with his insight.

"Yup." Misty confirmed with a mixture of irritation at Dawn's crush and actions and pride at constantly beating her rival. "Turned out she was in love with Ash and had been since before we me so she didn't take too kindly to me at all."

"Figured." O said with a pleased smile at his correct guess. "That is usually the case for sudden hostility."

"Oh yeah it was, for both of us." Misty said with a sigh of regret at the memory of that meeting. "Neither of us handled that meeting well at all. One thing led to another and I ended up challenging her to a gym battle just to shut her up. I won but it was a tough battle and we destroyed a fair bit of the gym in the process."

"Piplup." Piplup said indignantly from Misty's head. "Pip, Piplup."

"As you might be able to guess by his reaction Piplup was caught in the middle of it." Misty said trying to appease her prideful starter. "I am sorry for that and what happened to Piplup but it was a needed experience for both of us. Sometimes the only way to work through something is to have an intense battle. After that Dawn and I have come to an uneasy truce with a lot of pettiness between us whenever we meet. We were just in Cerulean and it was good. I won the Contest there and Ash beat Dawn in their battle which made me really happy."

"It was good experience." Ash said with a nod completely missing Misty's reason for being happy. "For all of us. Cerulean has been the best stop of our journey so far. I am expecting the same from Saffron."

"But yeah, that is pretty much what we have been up to since we last saw you." Misty said to O. "We are still chasing our dreams just like Ambipom."

"Well that does sound like you've been up to a lot." O said. "And I doubt Ash has been any less busy."

"Ambipom." Ambipom said with a nod of agreement at what her trainer had been through since they had parted ways.

"It was and we are leaving tomorrow evening for Saffron." Misty said. "The quest to achieve one's dream never rests until you have achieved it."

"That is true and on that note I think that you should let Ambipom make her choice now." O said and Ash just squeezed her hand in agreement. "She has heard what you said and now she can make an informed choice on her future."

"Yeah I think that is best." Misty said as she leant over to her bag and began searching for something in it. "One sec, I have it in here as I never took it out after Ambipom left. Ah, there it is."

Misty felt the small, shrunken, object and pulled it out smiling as she did. Then she stood, Ambipom leaping off her and onto the seat with a look of confusion on her face. Misty then turned to O.

"I assume that you have a ping pong ball on you." Misty said to thee ping pong master.

"Always." O said as he pulled one out of a pocket and handed it over to Misty.

"Thanks." Misty said before turning to Ambipom and holding out her hands just as she had done back in Sinnoh when Ambipom had made her first choice.

In one was the ping pong ball that O had just given her. In the other was a now expanded Poke Ball that showed the wear and tear of a ball that had been in use in the past. Ambipom's eyes went wide at the sight of the Poke Ball in Misty's hand, it was her Poke Ball. Misty had kept it on her all this time just in case they met again. That meant a lot to Ambipom.

"Alright Ambipom, it is time to choose again." Misty said with a kind smile at her Pokémon. "Will you turn pro in Pokémon ping pong or compete in Contests with me again. Know that I will be proud of you no matter what you decide. This is your choice and your future so you have to make it. Regardless, I will respect and support it no matter what."

Misty just smiled at her Pokémon knowing that Ambipom would follow her own heart and make the right choice for her. This decision was hers and hers alone to make. Misty just waited for it to be made so that she could support her Pokémon in her decision, whatever it was.

Ambipom paused for a moment before placing her tail hands over Mistys with the two balls in them. On the one side it was her current passion that she was really good at, on the other was her old love that had caused her to be traded to Misty.

That fateful decision to take a boy's hat years ago, then to join him as his Pokémon and finally to follow him on his new adventure wherever it led had led Ambipom to Misty and Contests. Misty, her trainer, who had shown her the true joy of Contests when they became a team, and who had then introduced her to, and allowed her to follow, ping pong in the end. Everything in Ambipom's life had led to this moment.

Misty who had always supported her and her goals and let her make her own choices rather than forcing her to do what Misty wanted to do. That had led Ambipom first to the fun of Contests and then to ping pong and the joys of that. With a final nod and a wide smile, Ambipom made her choice.