Part XLIX: Farewell Hoenn
The atmosphere was jovial and relaxing as the group gathered around a large circular table they'd set up in the greenhouse as soon as they had gotten back to May's home. The Wallace Cup had ended hours before with Misty's win over May in a final that had lived up to expectations. They had waited for the girls to change and rejoin them before they celebrated Misty's victory and now it was time for dinner. This would be last meal the group was together so they wanted to enjoy it.
Misty, in honor of her victory, had been told that she was not allowed to help set up but the others had to work. Cilan was in charge of cooking, with the aid of Caroline and Zoey due to the size of the meal, while the others were on set up, cleaning, and just making sure everything they needed was there. They had set up the table, laid it out with the necessary utensils and brought out the food and drink as they were ready.
Misty wasn't ideal though. She had felt bad not doing anything so she had been making her special Poffins, both the regular ones and the ones specially for bug types, the entire time to give to all her friends before they set off as a thanks for their own journeys. It was the least she could do while they were all working
Now though, they were all at the table and enjoying the meal that Cilan had expertly prepared for them. All 8 who had competed plus Max were present as they tucked into delicious meal but that was to be expected when Cilan was the cook.
May sat with Misty on one side and Zoey on the other as they ate. Ash was to Misty's left and Max next to him. Zoey had Georgia to her right with Cilan next to her to ensure that there was someone between Georgia and Iris who was on Cilan's other side though the Unova girls were being civil to each other for once. Lastly Dawn was between Max and Iris to complete the circle. It was a fun and needed dinner to mark the end of their time together in Hoenn.
"So, what is everyone's plans when we go our separate ways?" May finally asked as they settled down and enjoyed the meal. "I know I'm staying an extra few days to enjoy some time with my parents before I return to Kalos but what about you guys? What's next for you all?"
"Ash and I have a flight tomorrow evening back to Kanto." Misty said as Ash shoveled food into his mouth, he wouldn't be talking anytime soon so Misty would have to do the talking for both of them. "We're heading straight to Fuchsia City for our next stop in Kanto."
"Fuchsia? Weren't you two in Celadon before your left?" Dawn asked confused. "That's where you said you were when you flew here."
"True we were but we had already finished our business there before we flew out." Misty said simply. "Ash beat Erika in his full battle challenge so rather than go back there it is easier to go to the next stop for us. Initially we'd planned on getting everything we needed done in Fuchsia before we headed to Hoenn, then returning to Fuchsia and planning our next move but, well, we had a slight delay."
"I go sick." Ash said through a mouthful of food that earned him a slap on the back of the head from Misty for his poor manners.
"Yes Ash got a fever when we were in Lavender Town." Misty said as Ash swallowed his food before reloading his plate and inhaling it again. "We had been pushing ourselves too hard, couple that with a rainstorm and Ash fell ill so we took a little break while he recovered. It worked out and the only real change to our journey was that we flew out of Celadon and back to Fuchsia rather than doing it all in Fuchsia. Once there we will resume our own journey."
"Is there a Contest there then?" Zoey asked curiously. "You still need 2 more ribbons Misty so I assume that you are going for them as soon as you get back."
"No Contest but there is a gym there." Misty said shaking her head. "So Ash's next full battle challenge will occur while we are there. We've already contacted the Fuchsia City Gym Leader, she agreed to face Ash a while back, but we had to let her know we were arriving soon so that we could figure out a time. Ash faces her in a few days and she's the toughest one yet."
"Tougher than me?" Dawn said with a laugh. "I put up a good show against both of you at different times so how can someone be tougher than me."
"True but unlike the other leaders, I've never met this one." Ash said making sure he swallowed before talking to avoid being reproached for his table manners. "Janine is Koga's daughter and became the gym leader a few years back. Remember, I faced her father but not her so she's a whole new challenge for me."
"That is true, I remember that battle well." Dawn said thinking back on her first adventure with Ash back when she fell for him. "It was a good one and you won it first time unlike most of your other Kanto gym battles if I recall."
"That I did, it was a good confidence boost." Ash agreed. "My first one and done in Kanto that didn't involve Team Rocket related circumstances like Cerulean and Celadon. It was also my second actual victory as the other badges, minus Surge, were not acquired normally."
"You can say that again." Dawn said with a laugh. "But you did earn them, even if it was unconventional and a little bit of pity at times. It was so you to earn them that way."
"I can't say for how Ash got his first two as he hasn't actually told me about them but I would say saving Sabrina from herself and risking his life to save Erika's Gloom are more that earning those badges." Misty said causing Dawn to playfully roll her eyes at Misty. "Besides, he's now beaten both of them in full battles now so Ash has proven himself."
"That is true, just teasing a little." Dawn said. "I've met Janine a few times at the annual gym leader gathering I have to attend and while we haven't spoken much, she's clearly a character. Talented with poison types just like her father and very competitive to win. It will be a good match for you Ash."
"I know, I can't wait." Ash said happily. "A completely unexpected test for me so I will have no baseline to compare to going in, something none of the other leaders can give me but something I really need. Plus we will see Brock again."
"Oh yeah that's right, Brock is near Fuchsia City now isn't he." May said remembering what she'd heard at Ash's party about Brock's current placement in his studies. "That's great that you two will be able to hang out with him again."
"Yeah we're staying in the Pokémon Center but he's going to meet us when the day after we arrive to spend it with us while we are there." Misty said with a smile. "He got the time off to see us so it's going to be fun."
"Well that and his cooking is unmatched." Dawn said before looking embarrassingly at Cilan for accidentally insulting. "No offense Cilan, I've just been spoiled by Brock's cooking so much in the past that it's hard to compete with it."
"None taken, I relish the fact that I must improve to best Brock's culinary expertise." Cilan said with a smile. "Our cook off was a loss for me, it won't be the next time we meet."
"I can't wait to try that." Ash said before diving into a third plate of food. "It will be just as good as before."
"That will be another sight for sure." Misty agreed. "But yeah that's our plan. Head to Fuchsia, see and spend time with Brock, Ash battles Janine and then we go from there."
"I suggest seeing if there are Contests out on the Kanto islands." May suggested. "I had a few on them when I was in Kanto and they were a lot of fun so there should be some for you."
"That's a good idea and you still have to go to Cinnabar Island so that Ash can face Blaine anyway." Dawn said. "So you have to be on the water, anyway, may as well do that and enjoy the islands and get some Contests done in the process."
"That's a good idea, something to consider when we get there." Misty said thoughtfully, it was certainly something she'd check out when she had the time. "But we will deal with that after Ash's battle with Janine."
"Of course, that is what is first on your agenda." May said. "I can't wait to see both of you in the Grand Festival and the Indigo Conference at the end of the season, I will make sure I am near a TV for them so that I don't miss a moment."
"We will be there, I guarantee it." Misty said with conviction. "2 more ribbons and I'll be eligible; I can easily do that."
"We know that you will get them." Zoey said smiling at Misty. "And we'll all be supporting you, both of you, this year when the time comes."
"I know Zoey and we will try our best to win them." Misty said as she beamed at all her friends, Ash was too busy stuffing his face to talk. "But enough about us, what about the rest of you? Zoey, are you heading back to Unova?"
"Yup my flight is tomorrow lunchtime so I leave for the airport in the morning." Zoey confirmed. "It's direct to Virbank City, 10-hour flight. I'll get in in the early hours and head to the house the committee has rented for us. Roxie, the gym leader there, is having a rock festival in the city and the committee is helping out with it. Part of the festival is a full demonstration with all 4 Top Coordinators currently in Unova so it is going to be a lot of fun. It starts the day after next so I have time to recover before it."
"I remember Virbank and Roxie." Ash said as he swallowed his food. "She's a character for sure but then again all the Unova gym leaders were."
"Really, I've haven't reached it yet so what's it like?" Zoey asked interested. "Both the city and the gym leader."
"Roxie is a very powerful taste and one that is either loved or hated with no middle ground given her rather loud personality." Cilan explained. "She's one of the younger gym leaders in the region and as with all Unova Gyms, hers serves a dual purpose in keeping with her own passions. For her it's an underground club where she and her band rock out almost all the time."
"Yeah it was super fun." Iris said nodded. "We all painted up and got really into it to support Ash cos Roxie had all her supporters there cheering for her so Ash needed his to be just as loud. It's got a real grunge punk theme, both the place and herself."
"Oh ok." Zoey said a little surprised at that, she'd known that the Unova gym leaders were an odd bunch as they all seemed to have a secondary passion besides being a gym leader, Cilan was proof of that, but even by the standards she'd already scene Roxie sounded odd. "I take it that it all plays into her gym and what not."
"Yup." Ash said with a nod. "She's a poison type master with a rule I never faced before. She uses 3 Pokémon but her challenger can use all 6 and I needed all of them to beat her. She was probably my toughest gym battle while I was in Unova as I barely won despite using all 6 of my Pokémon. She also had a Koffing, the first Kanto Pokémon other than Pikachu and Meowth I'd seen out there and the first under the control a Unova citizen. Then again for my 8th badge it was a great challenge.
"It was certainly a battle worth watching." Iris agreed. "Then we ran into Cynthia in Virbank the next day when we were trying to figure out what to do now that Ash had all 8 badges and had 3 months before the Vertress Conference."
"Wait Cynthia as the Sinnoh champion Cynthia?" Zoey asked her eyes wide. "You ran into her there of all places?"
"Yeah she was there and remembered me from the adventures we had in Sinnoh." Ash said as if it was totally normal to run into a Champion in a different region, which for Ash it kinda was. "We had a good time, she battled Iris with her Garchomp so that Axew could train, helped out Meloetta when we found her with a fever and then invited us back to her villa on the other side of the region that we had to fly to."
"So that was where she was." Misty said causing Zoey to turn her attention to her fellow Sinnoh native. "Sorry, I was at Cynthia's villa at the time while she was out in the region but I didn't know where. Then she called me said she had Ash with her and was coming back but didn't tell him I was there."
"That must have been a surprise." Dawn said though there was a slight pain in her eyes as she spoke knowing what was coming. "And at least you had fair warning of Ash's arrival unlike some of us."
"I did and it was as you would expect." Misty said with a slight blush at the memory not noticing Dawn's pain. "All the old feelings came flooding back to me as he approached. Took all my willpower not to meet him at the dock but I wanted to surprise him so I waited."
"Yeah best part of my Unova trip was the week or so we were all together at Cynthia's villa." Ash said not realizing that Dawn, May and Zoey, while all smiling, each had flashes of pain in their eyes as each realized that that was the moment where they'd lost their crush be it Ash or Misty. "It was tough when Misty left but I knew that she had to leave. We watched the Wallace Cup from Cynthia's and then helped our new friend Cameron out as we made our way to Vertress."
"After that, well we all know what happened." Iris said in her usual blunt manner. "We went to Vertress and then Ash decided to track Misty down because he liked her, I just had to point that out to him when he sprung his decision to fly straight to Johto on us. As always, he was such a kid. Cilan and I tagged along with him as far as Johto before we all went our separate ways until meeting up again first at Ash's party and now here in Hoenn."
"Speaking of old travel buddies." May said shifting the topic before her feelings burst out, or Dawn broke something, or Zoey suddenly revealed her own crush on Misty to people who didn't know. "You two said you're traveling Hoenn now, what are your plans for that? Is it just generally seeing the region or do you have a destination in mind?"
"Oh well that is all Iris's plan." Cilan said. "I'm here merely to see the region and grow as a connoisseur so it is all on Iris to lead the way. She's the one with specific destinations in mind."
"We're heading out to Meteorite Falls first." Iris said happily, almost bouncing in her seat at the thought. "And then it's onto the desert for a bit before we decide where to go next."
"Ha so nowhere near where I'm going." Georgia said with a triumphant laugh. "Good, I won't see you for a while then wannabe, it will give me time to really train without any distractions. I'll be stronger next time we meet."
"As will I." Iris said glaring at her rival while Cilan sat uncomfortably between the girls. "I'm heading out to catch a Bagon in Meteorite Falls as that is the best place to find them according to Clair and as a dragon master she would know."
"That explains Meteorite Falls but what about the desert?" May asked. "Why do you need to go there? I think we were there once in our journey here and I can't say it was a place I enjoyed."
"I want to go there to catch a Trapinch or better one of its evolved forms that are dragons types." Iris said her happiness now palpable. "After that we will likely got to Fortree City as the leader there has an Altaria so I want to learn from her for a little seeing as I learned so much from Clair while I was in Johto. Cilan will be there to cook, help out, and do his own thing along the way."
"Yes it will be a new recipe for me to see how Iris and not Ash leads a journey through a region neither of us have explored before." Cilan said with a nod. "I for one am looking forward to it and all that I will learn while here."
"Winona's Altaria is strong for sure." Max said adjusting his glasses as he spoke. "My Kirlia got lucky in beating it but I won in the end. She will be able to teach you plenty about how to raise an Altaria."
"Good, mine has a lot of potential and the Village of Dragons is evaluating him at the moment but any help is needed." Iris said with a smile. "They aren't familiar with Altaria so a true trainer of the Pokémon will aid me greatly."
"Yeah you need all the aid you can get." Georgia said with her usual taunting tone that was reserved for Iris. "Because when we meet again you will need it."
"Bring it, I have the undisputed victory now." Iris retorted and they growled at each other from either side of a now sweating Cilan.
"Well Georgia, where are you heading then?" Zoey asked trying to distract her friend from her near blood feud with Iris. "You said you were staying in Hoenn so where is your next destination?"
"Oh I'm tagging with Max as far as Mossdeep City and then it is back to my solo wanderings just like old times." Georgia said surprising a few people enough to stare at her. "What?"
"You're going with Max?" May asked amazed as she recovered. "That wasn't what I was expecting."
"Yes dear sister, Georgia wishes to continue to pick my brain regarding ice types that are native to, or at least live in, Hoenn." Max said with a grin at May. "I may not have any of the type just yet, they are the rarest type out there I believe but I know it well. Georgia wishes to learn and I have that knowledge."
"That and the best place to find ice types here is a place called Shoal Cove." Georgia said. "Which just so happens to be located north of the island that Mossdeep City is on so it's the best place to access Shoal Cove as there is a boat there that can take me. Max knows the region and the Pokémon well so he is helping me out until we reach Mossdeep then I am heading to Shoal Cove to catch Pokémon and train there for when I next face Iris."
"Yes that." Max said as May laughed at the situation. "But it will be fun, Georgia has some fascinating and powerful Pokémon that are not native to Hoenn for me to learn about so I am looking forward to it."
"That I do." Georgia said as Iris rolled her eyes at that.
"Well hopefully that isn't the only place to find a Spheal." Dawn said bringing the attention to her. "It's too far for me to go out to Shoal Cove while I'm here."
"It shouldn't be the only place no." Max said adjusting his glasses again. "Spheal are known to live in the sea as well and should be catchable there. They are water and ice types so they can be found in both environments."
"Going to try and catch one Dawn?" Ash asked as he finished another helping of food but stopped there, there was dessert to save room for after all. "It is a water type."
"That's the goal." Dawn confirmed. "I got another week off here so I'm staying with May tomorrow night and then heading to the coast for a few days before flying home to clean up the mess my sisters will have left me back in Cerulean. I am using that time to catch a Spheal as well as hopefully some of the other Hoenn water types like Wailmer and Carvanha that are known to live in the seas around Hoenn."
"Why them?" Misty asked curious.
"Well the Spheal because it is cute and is also ice type as well." Dawn said simply. "As you know, I don't actually have an ice type despite many of them also being water types. Seel isn't an Ice type and it won't evolve into a Dewgong which is and I haven't caught a Cloyster yet, let alone a Lapras, so my best bet is to go after a Spheal while I'm here. The others because they are water types with strong evolutions and I want to catch as many different water types as I can. Course none will beat my Gyarados but he's special."
"I can see that." Ash said with a nod. "Good luck Dawn, I know that you will succeed."
"Thanks Ash." Dawn said with a slight blush that Misty didn't miss but she knew that Ash was just being friendly and not flirty so no need to get annoyed. "I'll show you them, if I do succeed, when we next meet."
"Looking forward to it." Ash said with a smile. "As well as battling them."
"Oh they will give you a challenge Ash." Dawn said before shifting the conversation back to their host. "What about you Dawn? I assume it's back to Kalos for you but you didn't say much about your plans there."
"Correct." May confirmed. "I'm meeting up with my friends in Lumiose City in a few days' time to resume my job there. The Contest circuit there won't set itself up now on its own after all. I'm going to enjoy the time I have with my parents first though."
"That's only natural." Misty said, her own mother had already left but she'd enjoyed having her around for the Wallace Cup and knew that Johanna would come for the Grand Festival when it was time. "So more of the usual in Kalos then?"
"Pretty much." May said. "Serena has a Showcase in Dendemille Town coming up that I'm looking forward to watching and there will be Contest promotion there the day before as a warmup for the Showcase so that is my next big engagement, though there will be a few smaller ones on the way for sure so it will be fun."
"Sounds it." Dawn said. "Hopefully one day I'll visit the region."
"It's worth it and I think Gyarados has a mega evolution." May said causing Dawn to quirk an eyebrow at that, May had told the others over the week about Mega Evolution and they were all interested in it as many of them had Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving, or at least doing so when they were fully evolved. "So it is a good place to find its Mega Stone, if true that is."
"You aren't sure it has one?" Dawn asked.
"Professor Sycamore believes it does but he hasn't been confirmed yet." May said shaking her head. "Rumor has it that this rich businessman called Lysandre has a shiny Gyarados that has Mega Evolved but no one has ever seen it do so. From what I've heard Lysandre has a Key Stone set into a ring so it is plausible but he's refused to help Sycamore with his research so far so we don't know."
"Well if you find out then let me know." Dawn said. "I will definitely want to try and Mega Evolve my Gyarados if I get the chance."
"Will do." May said. "As soon as I know, you will know."
"I am fascinated by Mega Evolution, something so new that it has its own unique flavor unlike anything else in the world." Cilan said. "May, please, I know we have talked about it but is there anything else you know? Like you said that you've done it with Blaziken, what was that like?"
"Well…" May began and then launched into a detailed description of the time she'd Mega Evolved her Blaziken as everyone listened with rapt attention to May's experience with Mega Evolution.
The rest of the dinner was pretty straightforward after that. They chilled, chatted, and traded more stories late into the night as they enjoyed each other's company one last time. They didn't know when they would get this opportunity again so they were making the most of it while they had it.
Finally the time came to clean up, something Misty helped with despite being the Wallace Cup champion and told she didn't need to help. Misty ignored them and gave her pass to Cilan as he had cooked the meal. Cilan protested but they ignored him and cleaned up.
Once it was done they all camped out, the boys joining them for the first time but Ash and Misty didn't share a sleeping bag out of respect to their friends and stayed up late into the night. Overall it had been a good week but as Ash and Misty fell asleep they were ready to leave Hoenn and resume chasing their dreams.
Hoenn had been fun and the Wallace Cup with all their friends was more than worth the detour but it was time to return to Kanto. They still had much left to do and many more adventures to have. Neither could wait for what for what Fuchsia City had in store for them.
