Ash grinned as Lugia gently maneuvered itself back to the Shrine with its expert control. Its wings were still bound tightly at its sides, but they fluttered reflexively as the Guardian landed in the same position as it had when it first appeared to make its Song known.

The Birds followed, limited to a form similar to those he had faced when he and Lance battled Moltres atop the summit of Mt. Ember. They were no longer wild storms of their respective elements — they were bound to a physical body with the true power that roiled within them held tightly within frames of obsidian and ice and cloud.

He did his best to ignore his remaining bitterness at the Legends, well-aware that it wouldn't actually help him. It would just make him angry and tired and keep him thinking about this whole mess.

He had other things to think about now. The Awakening, namely. Lugia's warning would not go unheeded.

But that line of thought drifted from his mind. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Right now he was more focused on his team, who had stood with him against the embodiments of the elements themselves. They were all arrayed before him, proud and strong. Even Oz and Sneasel were there, and seemed to have been informed of the situation considering they hadn't collapsed in awe at seeing the Legends swoop in before them.

He felt a lingering bit of guilt at keeping the two out of the conflict, even if he had his own reasons for doing so. Oz would probably understand — she'd been under Zapdos' overwhelming power before and knew how terribly it had affected her. Sneasel, on the other hand, would probably be bitter at him for weeks if he didn't address the issue.

Ash couldn't blame the dark-type for his probable attitude in this instance, though. He hadn't seen the Birds for himself…not their true power, anyway, which Ash was certain would be enough to mimic the conditions required to force his evolution. And Ash knew he had months left before he was even remotely ready to evolve — Sneasel matured relatively quickly with their several spurts of puberty, but his own friend was still very young.

In other words, Sneasel was ignorant. And Ash was willing to keep him ignorant so long as he never had to face the wrath of a Legend as the rest had.

He'd face plenty of formidable enemies on his own, given time. But Ash would do his utmost to keep the cocky dark-type from ever having to even bare his claws against nature made manifest.

Ash shook his head and looked away from Sneasel, who was being held aloft by several of Tangrowth's gentle vines to get a better view of Lugia and the Birds.

But now his interest was in the Champion Lance, who held his massive body as high as he could given the undeniable exhaustion he suffered — the Shamouti Moltres might have recovered from its near-death but Lance's mortal body still shook from the aftereffects. His angular face was pinched and pale which only sharpened the contrast with the terrible bags that had formed underneath his sharp eyes.

Were it not for the immense bulk of Dragonite and Dov supporting him Ash had no doubt that Lance would have collapsed long ago. Slowking might have tended to the wounds he'd incurred in Articuno's Blizzard but the strain on his body was something only time itself could mend.

Your Champion wishes to speak to you, friend. His tired mind screams.

Ash nodded as Lugia extended its great, heavily muscled neck and allowed the human to hop off just by Lance and his twin Dragonite. Both monstrously powerful pokemon did their best approximation of a smile at him, aware of what he and his team had accomplished while they were unconscious.

He looked up — for the first time in a long while Ash noticed just how tall the Indigo Champion was — and met Lance's eyes, which were the only part of the mighty Drake that looked to hold any life at all.

"Ash…thank you," Lance choked out. His face was twisted into an amalgamation of emotion that the trainee couldn't even begin to interpret. "Slowking told me what you did — what you had to go through to do what I couldn't."

The trainee nodded shortly at the praise, a slight smile pulling at his lips. "You would have done the same — could have, if you weren't crippled by Moltres."

Lance cast a slight glare at the Bird that circled above them, just barely ablaze with the terrible power that expelled from within its obsidian frame. The normal reverence that the Champion held for Moltres was gone — this specific Third of the Bird of Fire had done nothing to earn his respect.

"Perhaps," the Champion allowed after a moment of contemplation. "But the fact is that I was crippled and you were the one to restore balance…you've done a great thing today, Ash. If it weren't for you I don't even want to imagine what would have happened."

The Champion leaned heavily on Dragonite's massive shoulder, sapped of all energy after his words. His eyes sagged with exhaustion and for a moment Ash feared that his mentor would actually pass out from the strain.

Lance drew in a slow breath and rose to stand above Ash once more, though. His cape drooped lifelessly around his shoulders as the world, calm and peaceful and bereft of the terrible winds that would have whipped up the mantle, seemed to pulse soothingly — some of the latent green energy that still hung in the air of the Shrine like a vibrant mist coalesced around Lance and fed him its restorative energy.

His features were a little less gaunt, his skin a little less pale. But the Indigo Champion was still far from the paragon of strength Ash had come to know him as.

"I'm proud of you and your team, Ash," Lance smiled down at him wearily. Ash felt a flutter of warmth in his chest and the world around him seemed to glow ever brighter at the Champion's praise — the Champion had complimented him before, as had plenty of others, but whenever Lance said it the compliment just mattered more. "…You'll make a fine Champion someday."

Ash's grin stretched so far that it hurt and all the remnants of pain and fear and anxiety from the earlier events were washed away finally, what little remained after he joined with Lugia's Song banished forever.

"When I do watch out," Ash jokingly warned Lance, "you'll be the first one I come after."

Lance tiredly returned his fierce smile. "I'll be waiting. Every teacher dreams of the day their student surpasses them, you know. My grandfather told me that years ago — now I finally understand."

He nodded slowly, eyes wide in wonder at the thought of ever surpassing Lance the Dragon Master, widely recognized to be one of, if not the, strongest trainer in the world. And with how dramatically the ability of trainers had risen over the past centuries with the advent of the pokeball and modern technology, all of history.

It was one thing for Lance to express confidence in Ash's ability to become a Champion. He was confident in his own ability to achieve that vaunted position one day — he'd grown stronger than most trainers ever would in the span of a year, albeit with some very talented Masters helping him achieve his strength.

But saying that he expected Ash to conquer him one day…that made Ash feel oddly warm. Hot desire for battle and domination mixed perfectly with the utter glee that resounded throughout his soul in that moment, so strong that it momentarily eclipsed the Song that he'd heard for what must have been hours now.

"I'll send you the information on your new position in a few days," Lance spoke up at last. "And don't bother submitting a report for this — I expect we'll be talking at length about this day soon enough."

Ash grimaced at that and sent the Champion a nod. He'd rather forget about this altogether but knew that was impossible. He had a responsibility now and couldn't shunt his problems to the side anymore.

"Before we part ways…thank you, Ash. Again. This is the second time you've stepped into a situation you never should have had to handle," the Champion sighed and absentmindedly brushed his long pinkish hair back. "I will do my utmost to make sure there won't be a third."

"Thanks," he muttered, "but I have bad news."

Lance frowned at him and Ash took that as his cue to continue.

"The imbalance caused by Mewtwo and today's events have far reaching consequences," he scowled. "The Legends are awakening."

The Champion's breath hitched in his chest and his face went even whiter. "No. How do you —"

It was I who warned the Chosen One.

Lugia's rich song slipped into his mind, comforting and powerful as ever.

"Is there anyway we can stop it?" Lance asked in despair. "Anyway you can stop it?"

The Guardian's luminous eyes closed in sorrow and the Song wailed in their minds.

No. I have done what I can. I have erected barriers and woven illusions around those that sleep within my domain but I am powerless in the face of their awakening. I may not fight the natural order of this world and it would be pointless for me to do so.

It falls to humanity to stop the warring forces that shall consume them. Your kind has done so before and it is my belief that you may do so yet again.

"How?!" Lance demanded and stepped forward on shaking legs. His angular eyes reflected the Fire of his Feather as he glared up at the Great Guardian.

All will become clear in time. I have interfered in this cycle too much already: it falls to humanity to preserve itself.

And even Lance knew the truth in those words. His anger soothed as the green power thrummed against him and he turned away from Lugia.

Lugia spread its wings and blotted out the sun in an endless expanse of the moon's pure white. It raised its head and regarded the mortals before it serenely.

I must bid you farewell, Chosen One. Bear the Truths revealed to you with strength and temper your spirit for the trials that await you. My Song will always carry behind you.

Ash bowed his head in respect to the Guardian, a gesture it returned. The Birds screamed to him and consumed the air in intersecting streams of Fire, Ice, and Lightning one last time before Lugia locked its wings into place with psychic power and launched itself up into the air like a great white missile. The Guardian hung there for a moment and regarded them all one last time before it shot into the depths of the sea with nary a splash and disappeared into the abyss.

The Birds followed in the sky, each angling toward their own island as they enjoyed their last flight for an eternity.

He watched them go with a gnawing emptiness. Beautiful as the sight was he couldn't forget the havoc they had wreaked in their clash.

Ash would not miss them.

"Bob should be here soon to get you home," Lance spoke up. "I figured you'd want to get home after all this. I'll handle the Orange League and Drake."

He nodded tiredly and finally felt the exhaustion creep in. Lugia had banished any of the physical effects but the enormity of his experiences this day taxed his mind heavily — he felt that if he blinked too long he'd crash into sweet oblivion.

But that didn't stop him from missing the barely hidden fury with which Lance spat the Orange Champion's name.

"Are you sure you don't need someone to keep you from challenging him?" Ash snorted. "You don't sound too happy about meeting him again."

"I'm not," Lance grunted and collapsed to the ground with a gentle groan. Ash joined him a few seconds later. "He's already caused plenty of trouble for the clan and now this — he had to have known the Birds were here. There shouldn't even be a settlement on these islands besides an Orange League fortress, locals be damned."

Ash ignored most of that. "Clan? You means he's a —"

"Wataru? Yes. He's my cousin," Lance growled. "Ran away ten years ago with his Dragonite after I became Champion. Didn't hear from him for three years and next thing we knew he'd become Champion of the Orange League and started going by the name of Drake. A bit presumptuous, if you ask me."

"You don't sound too happy for him," Ash observed and let a smile flicker across his features as his family started crowding around and laying down beside him. It seemed they were just as tired as he was.

Lance shook his head. "No, I'm proud of him. How could I not be? He might have forsaken the clan but he's still carrying on our legacy. I'm just not happy about having to clean up his mess. If he'd paid proper attention we — you, really — wouldn't have been needed. These islands should have been on lockdown."

Well that was a sentiment Ash could agree with. Hopefully Drake would listen to Lance's suggestions — he felt that the Birds wouldn't arise for many centuries, if not millennia, but he'd rather that the risk not be present at all.

If he was called upon to calm the Birds again he would be slightly annoyed.

Ash glanced over at the Champion. It looked like Lance had fallen into a brooding silence Ash felt he shouldn't bring him out of. He'd never seen the boisterous man in such a foul mood before, although he could understand it — Ash wasn't exactly feeling great, not with Lugia's warning ringing in his skull as loudly as its Song.

A flash of silver caught his eye just as surely as it caught the dazzling rays of the sun.

He couldn't help but smile as he picked up the Flute and examined it closer, although he did have to swat Sneasel's curious claws away before he could take it for himself. Ash found himself ignoring his team as he glanced over every inch of the perfectly formed instrument.

With a sigh he tore himself away from the entrancing sight and stood up, although he made sure to keep the silver length clenched tightly in his hand as he made his way over to Slowking, who had taken up a spot just a bit a ways from the gathering of pokemon.

"I think this is yours," Ash offered the Flute back to the Sentinel.

"I think it's yours," the Slowking shrugged. "Consider it a gift. A token of the Great Guardian's appreciation more tangible than the grim tidings you were given."

Ash flashed the Sentinel an earnest smile and gently placed the Flute in his pack. Without Lugia guiding his body he had absolutely no idea how to play a flute other than put his mouth on it and blow but he was willing to learn. At the very least he could pick up the basics, if only to make sure the gift didn't go entirely to waste.

Third Teleportation Squad present and ready for orders, Champion Lance!

He held in a groan as the snide voice slipped into his mind and turned to see ten Alakazam appear from nothingness. They were all centered around the form of Robert, who glanced around curiously before his eyes settled on Ash.

Robert's mustache twitched.

So you survived. It looks like you aren't so useless after all. Why, at this rate you might even —

The Alakazam fell silent when a towering mass of fire and fury teleported mere inches away from him and sneered down at the fragile psychic. Flames licked out from deep within Infernus' cannons and were it not for psychic shields that were instantly raised around all the bystanders there was no doubt that Infernus' great heat would have left more than a few of them badly burned.

There was a short staring match between the two until Bob finally broke his gaze. Infernus snorted and smirked dangerously at the Alakazam before he teleported a short ways away from the rest of those in the shrine.

When Bob next spoke to Ash his telepathic voice was shaken — it wavered and echoed, a clear sign of his disrupted focus. Telepathy required perfect composure to be as crisp and clear as a physical voice and it was clear that composure was something the Alakazam lacked at the moment.

It seems that you contributed a bit more than I expected, Storm-Tamer. Now I can feel the Truths you have touched. Very well. Under the physical duress of your brute of a Magmortar I offer an apology for my uncouth and undeserved attack on your noble person. Truly, I deserve to be consigned to the deepest depths of the Roost itself for my harsh words — I should have known better than to pluck at a delicate flower such as yourself.

With that Bob's mustache bristled again and he sent a short glance over at Infernus, who snorted and shook his head.

Now his voice regained some semblance of clarity.

Since that issue's taken care of, I may now carry out my orders. Champion Lance, what would you have the Third Teleportation Squad do?

"Take him home to Pallet, Captain Robert," Lance commanded. "Once that's taken care of return to Indigo Plateau and contact Sabrina. Tell her that she's to gather the Elite Four — oh, why am I even bothering? She's probably already carried out my orders and then some."

Of course, Champion Lance. Return your pokemon and hold still, trainee. It would be most disagreeable if I lost a part of you on the way — I might have to go to a special seminar. And that would be terrible.

Ash ignored him and returned his friends, smiling to each of them as he did so. They'd earned their rest.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He mocked the acerbic Alakazam. "Show me what the Whole of Creation can accomplish!"

Bob's mustache twitched and Ash relished the odd looks the other Alakazam gave their Captain before Bob's spoons flashed with power and he found himself just outside Professor Oak's lab in Pallet Town.

Try not to get yourself into too much trouble, trainee. I think I've seen enough of you and your thuggish Magmortar to last a lifetime.

With those kind parting words Bob disappeared…hopefully forever.

Ash sighed and looked out over Pallet Town, which was draped in a thick blanket of snow that had just begun to melt. He froze as a bit of the cold material touched his skin and he felt the slush become an extension of himself, although it lasted only for a moment as he brushed the snow off as soon as he could.

He breathed heavily and looked at the whiteness with wide eyes. Ash was careful to avoid contact with it and rolled his slightly-short pants down as far as they would go so he wouldn't touch it again.

It seemed that his contact with the Sphere of Ice had a more lasting impact than he'd expected. With any luck it would just be temporary, like the Brands.

The boy frowned. Were the Brands temporary? If he recalled his conversation with Sabrina correctly she said the Brands would fade, but he didn't know if they'd leave him completely.

He shrugged it off. That was a question for another day. Besides, Sabrina would likely be run ragged for the foreseeable future. Definitely for as long as he'd still be in Kanto.

For a moment he wondered if his contact with the Spheres of Fire and Lightning would grant him the same strange…not ability, but being. It was not something he was doing, it was something he was altered into by the Sphere of Ice. For a time, at least.

He discarded that idea immediately, of course. For some odd reason he didn't think it to be as practical to try to test the ability with fire or electricity as it was with snow.

Still, it was an interesting idea and perhaps Oz —

"Ash!"

That was all the warning he got before he was locked into a crushing hug that drove the air from his lungs. Ash winced before he managed to glance behind him to see his mother, who was bundled up in thick winter gear. Several Rattata and an assortment of other shivering pokemon followed behind her, with a Ratticate and Amelia bringing up the rear.

"We were so worried about you!" His mother exclaimed and loosened her grip so she could look him over. "Your friends said you got taken away by some strange Alakazam! What happened?"

"League business," Ash said shortly and stepped away. "Lance wanted my assistance since I was the closest."

His mother's eyes widened and she clasped her hands over her chest but her reaction was nothing compared to Amelia's.

"Lance? You mean the Lance? Champion Lance? Lance the Dragon Master?" Amelia spouted off his titles so fast Ash could barely keep up. "What could he possibly need your help for? And how do you even know him? And —"

"Breathe," Ash ordered when her face started turning blue. Once she listened he began. "Yes. The Lance — Drake of the Wataru Clan and youngest Champion in the history of Indigo. He needed my help for…well, I'm not sure I'm at liberty to say. And I know him because —"

A small blur from the corner of his eye was all the warning he got before he was bowled over by a massive canine that melted the snow just by being around it. His eyes blurred from the shock as his head smacked into the ground but he managed a smile as a gigantic tongue licked the side of his face before a laughing voice ordered it off.

"I'm sorry, Ash," Oak apologized and patted Arcanine's side. Jonathan and Gary flanked him, with Charizard and Blastoise at their sides, respectively. "He's been a bit overzealous ever since the blizzard broke. I daresay he's been doing his best to melt all the snow in Pallet."

"It's fine," Ash grinned back and sent a nod to Gary and Jonathan. "How long have you two been awake?"

"A while now," his former rival shrugged. "Long enough to get word to Gramps and start working to keep the pokemon safe. No thanks to you for that, by the way. I hope going off with a strange Alakazam — I'm pretty sure that's something they warned us about in the trainer classes, by the way — was productive."

Ash thought back to the events of the last day — the struggle against Fire, Ice, and Lightning, the temporary apotheosis of Infernus. The warning…

"Yes. I'd say so."

"Good," Gary smirked. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime. Maybe later, when we aren't with these two losers, ya know?"

"NO!" Amelia shrieked. Everyone else present started. Ash blinked. "You are going to explain this to us right now! How on earth do you know the Champion — and on a first name basis, too? You are not leaving me hanging. Jonathan either!"

There was a moment of silence. Gary, Jonathan, and Oak watched him curiously. They hadn't heard the conversation they'd interrupted. His mother just looked at him silently.

He hesitated for just a moment.

"I'm a trainee of the Indigo Elite Four," he said matter-of-factly. Ash didn't bother to bring up his month of training with the Indigo Champion. It wasn't necessary and would bring up more questions than he felt like answering at the moment. "It was decided just before the Closing Ceremony."

Ash dimly realized that he should have brought a camera for this moment. The expression on Jonathan and Amelia's faces would bring a smile to his face for a very, very long time.

"Wh — what?" Jonathan squeaked. His eyes had grown so large that they completely dominated his wide face and Ash was almost tempted to reach out and close the boy's mouth. "You're a —"

"Elite Four trainee? Yes," Ash nodded. "I thought I'd established that."

Amelia just stared at him with an unreadable expression. "Trainee…"

"Yes," Gary rolled his eyes at the girl. "You need Blastoise to clean your ears out or something? 'Cause I can totally arrange that for ya."

"Shut up, Gary!" Amelia snapped and turned back to Ash. "When were you going to tell us? Were you even going to tell us?!"

Ash paused. He hadn't exactly thought that far ahead. "…It never came up?"

"That's the kind of thing you tell your friends, Ash!" The girl scowled. Ash blinked. He felt surprisingly small at the moment. Amelia stared at him. "We are friends, right? With how you act sometimes I can never be sure!"

He blinked again. This wasn't how he had expected this conversation to go.

"Of course you are," he quickly reassured the girl. Ash felt more than a little out of his depth at the moment — Jonathan and Amelia were a bit easier to interact with than other humans but he'd hardly had much experience with conversations like these. The very real emotion bleeding into Amelia's voice didn't help at all.

"Then act like it!" Amelia barked, surprising everyone present. Ash noted that Gary actually looked at the girl with something resembling respect, although that could just be glee at seeing her chew him out. Gary tended to be petty like that. "You always just shunt us off to go do who-knows-what! Spend some time with your friends for once — we aren't going to be together for much longer, you know!"

Ash got past his mental exhaustion and listened to every word. He felt an odd twinge in his chest and nodded once to show his understanding. "…I'm sorry. I didn't realize it meant so much to you."

"Well it does," Amelia sighed tiredly. She grabbed Jonathan's arm and started walking away. "I'll see you later, Ash. I think we all need a rest after this."

"You don't need to tell me," Ash muttered under his breath and turned away from the duo as they walked away.

"Can't say I expected that," Gary grinned and glanced over at Jonathan and Amelia's backs. "Looks like the Magikarp learned how to Flail. And it only took an entire year, too."

Professor Oak coughed. "Indeed. Now, Ash, I believe you need to inform me of what's going on. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe blizzards are common occurrences in this area during the summer months. And if you were with Lance I have no doubt that you found yourself tangled up in some sort of mess."

Ash snorted but spared a glance to his mother and Gary, both of whom were watching the two curiously. "I'm pretty sure it's classified."

"You're in the Elite Four now, Ash," Oak pointed out with a chuckle. "There are very few secrets that aren't yours to tell."

He nodded slowly, just now realizing that he didn't have to get permission from Lance to even consider speaking to other humans about his adventures. It was odd, as though a slight burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"An Articuno was the cause," he said shortly, still not comfortable with divulging the entire truth without Lance's approval. What had happened this day had the potential to rock the world — would, if they failed to find a way to stop the Legends. But that was in the future. Right now even the revelation that Legends such as Articuno were real without a doubt would blow his mother and Gary's minds. "It was dealt with."

"You've gotta be shittin' me!" Gary declared and stepped up to Ash. His former rival steadfastly ignored the annoyed rebuke from Oak and the look of sheer surprise on his mother's face. "You're telling me that Articuno — something nobody's ever seen for sure ever — just decided to wake up and say 'screw these humans! I'ma make a big ass blizzard!' then you managed to find and stop it?"

"Something like that," Ash nodded with a smirk, although he had to hold back a snort at Gary's description. In his mind's eye he saw the terrible form of Articuno tearing its way across the sky, its great white body shrouded in a cloak of ice and wind that had nearly killed him the second Dazed's shields dropped…when Gary's invented personality was applied the Lord of Winter's terror was not lessened. The idea of Articuno as a petulant child was more horrifying, if anything. It removed the significance of the clash that held the world's fate in the balance.

His hand unconsciously flitted up to his face where his new scar was. It was faint, mostly healed by Lugia's soothing energies. Ash mentally thanked the Guardian and felt the Flute thrum in his pack.

He wasn't vain enough to worry about what effect the thick gash that had cut to the bone would have on his appearance but the sudden appearance of a fully healed scar on his face would attract more questions from his mother and friends than he'd appreciate.

Unfortunately that mindless gesture was enough for his rather perceptive mother to pick up on.

"What is this?" She demanded and began to fuss over him. "When'd this happen, Ashy? I don't recognize it."

Ash hesitated. He was pretty sure that there was no good way to answer this. From what he'd felt the scar was too thick to explain away as a slight cut that had been healed with a modified potion and if he'd had Ditto cells implanted then they wouldn't have left a scar — Ditto cells regenerated the damaged flesh so that it was as though the injury had never occurred at all.

"We can talk more later," Professor Oak cut in and saved Ash from the interrogation. "For now we should head inside and find something to eat. The pokemon are safe now and it sounds like Ash had a rather busy day."

Gary scowled at being cut off from his source of information but Ash sent a grateful nod at the Professor, who returned the gesture with a slight not. His mother just sighed and shook her head.

Ash felt a twinge of guilt at his mother's expression. He didn't enjoy lying to her but he wasn't sure he wanted to reveal the events that had happened today. His mother's strength was something he would never doubt but the clash between the Birds wasn't something to treat lightly. There were so many questions attached to it…

He would tell her one day, he resolved.

Just not today.

XX

"Are you sure you're alright?" His mother asked as Ash gingerly placed a steaming bowl of rice and vegetables in front of her. It turned out she'd been lightly injured by a frightened Pidgeotto and had some bruised ribs, although they would be fine in a few days. As such he'd taken it upon himself to help her around the house as much as he could. "You can talk to me, Ash. You know that."

"I know," Ash sighed as he took a seat opposite her and leaned down to scratch behind Nidoking's ears. His sleeping friend lightly rumbled his appreciation and twitched slightly, bringing a smile to the trainer's lips. A moment later he was serious again. "It's just hard. I don't know what I'm allowed to say and what I can't — Lance hasn't contacted me yet and —"

He quieted down before he said finally, "It was a lot easier taking orders."

His mother smiled softly at him. "I know, Ashy. I know. Responsibility's hard. But it's something you'll grow into — everyone does. You're just dealing with it a little earlier than most. That's all."

Ash nodded. He opened his mouth, closed it, and finally decided. "There's so much I want to tell you, Mom. So much I could tell you…"

She sighed. "It's alright, sweetie. I know this is hard for you — Professor Oak's face after you took him aside told me everything I needed to know. But I know you'll tell me when you're ready. You always have."

"But how am I supposed to just keep it in?" Ash put down his fork. "Things are just going to keep piling up and up and up. And what am I supposed to do with it all?"

"You'll find a way, Ashy. You always do," his mother leaned over to ruffle his hair. "And if you ever need to let it out I'll always be waiting. I'm here for you and don't you forget it!"

He cracked a smile at that. "That's not something you need to be worried about."

"Of course not!" His mother laughed — a pleasant sound that warmed his heart after the past day and the rather awkward morning. Ash had been silent on anything to do with the Birds or the time he'd spent at Shamouti no matter who prodded or asked. "You're my son, after all."

Ash nodded with a slight grin and ate as silence reigned. But it wasn't awkward like it had been before, when he was still trying to process just what had happened with Lugia and the Birds and his mother had been desperate to know what had happened to him.

He'd miss this, he reflected. This tranquility. It was something he'd found rarely out on the road. Even when he found the solitude he loved there was always an edge there, a slight paranoia that he'd grown into during his time as a trainer that kept him wary of everything in the world.

On the road there were no constants other than himself and his family. He never knew what the new day would bring.

In Pallet he was just one of many constants and there was peace in that. There were no surprises — that was something that he loved yet despised at the same time. Peaceful as Pallet was, it was boring. All there was to do was train or talk to his friends — or battle, although even Gary had ceased to be an excitement around two weeks in.

He spent a lot of time with his mother, of course. Both at home and at the restaurant when he wasn't training…although that time was admittedly scarce. Ash was determined to increase his skills before he met Steven and absolutely refused to even consider letting them atrophy.

They wouldn't get to see each other for an entire year and he wanted to make sure there was as little time to make up as possible. There certainly wouldn't be many opportunities with hundreds of miles of ocean separating them and he had no idea where Lance would send him after his year as Steven's apprentice was complete. The Indigo Champion might send him to another region to train further if he wasn't up to snuff or bring him to Indigo Plateau — Ash really didn't know.

That brought up a question.

"When will you be leaving?" Ash asked. It was something they'd both gingerly tip-toed around over the last month. But this was the beginning of the end and it was time to shunt their reservations aside.

His mother looked up, startled at the sudden break in the silence. She let out a deep breath. "Two weeks. I tried to postpone it to stay with you but Professor Elm…"

"It's fine," he reassured her when he realized she wasn't able to finish the sentence. "You have your responsibilities, I have mine."

She smiled lightly at him. "I really did try, you know. I'm going to miss my baby boy while he's in Hoenn."

"I'll miss you too," Ash said quietly. He shook the slight melancholy away. "So what'll you be learning with Professor Elm? He specializes in evolution, right?"

"Yep!" His mother exclaimed in her cheerful way. "I'll mostly just be working with his aides to try and bring myself back up to par with the rest of the students but if I'm lucky I'll get to speak with him personally! He's a very busy man, but Samuel said I could learn more about the breakthroughs in evolution in one day around Professor Elm than in a week studying a text book."

Ash nodded. He didn't exactly keep up to date with scientific breakthroughs — he was much too busy studying the pokedex and devising strategies and counterstrategies for the most common tactics — but he'd heard the name of Professor Elm semi-frequently. The Pokemon Professor of Johto actually visited Pallet every now and then and those were the days when Professor Oak had had to send Gary and Ash out to the Corral so they didn't interrupt things.

Not that they minded, he recalled with a slight smirk. Spending the day playing with the resident pokemon under Arcanine's watchful eye was about as enjoyable as anything could be to two young boys.

"And then you'll be off to Goldenrod," Ash surmised. At his mother's nod he frowned thoughtfully. "What are you going to be specializing in? I know you've got a year or two of general study, but…"

"I don't know," she admitted. Ash thought she actually looked a little troubled at that. "When I was studying with Samuel I was interested in the effects of pokemon on the environment — how their powers alter it and how that interaction creates an ecosystem — and I'd like to continue looking into that. But there's so much more out there now! There's been more advancements in the last ten years than the last hundred — nothing huge like the pokeball, but —"

Ash just smiled as his mother rambled on passionately about the subject she loved and gently scratched the sleeping Nidoking's ears.

He'd miss this.

XX

Ash stared intently at the messages he'd gotten on his Pokenav from Lance and Steven. Lance's was fairly simple and clearly rushed. He could easily tell that the Dragon Master was stressed out of his mind.

There wasn't a lot to it, mostly just information about his responsibilities as an Elite Four trainee. and what was expected of him. He'd skimmed past the section on moral responsibility and professional conduct— from what he did read he was fairly certain that as long as he didn't do anything Lance wouldn't approve of he'd be fine — but otherwise painstakingly gone through the long message.

Now he knew how to file reports, how to handle unexpected threats, and the very few limits of his authority in the Leagues. For his first year he'd need the oversight of an Elite Four member to apply most of his legal power unless it was a desperate situation, although he supposed Steven sufficed. He was slightly more limited in foreign Leagues but so long as he worked with them he could do just about anything.

Steven's message, which had come just an hour after Lance's, was more interesting and Ash paid a lot more attention to it. The message wasn't something he'd have to study like the manual Lance had sent.

But he couldn't read it yet. He still needed to update his team's training. They'd been going at it for a while now but none of them showed any signs of wanting to stop.

A small smile split his face with that. He'd expect nothing less from his friends.

Most were doing the exercises he'd had them doing since they returned to Pallet. Nothing too strenuous but enough to maintain their bodies and continue to hone their abilities. He'd had to limit the level of their spars lest he destroy too much of the forests around Pallet but since the saddle for Plume had come in he was able to go much further away and ease up on that limit.

He was only about ten miles from Pallet in the rugged lands to the east but it was far enough from civilization that he didn't have to worry about potentially harming a wanderer or destroying someone's property.

Ash glanced around and took note of what his team was doing. Most were fine to continue their current workouts but there were a few he needed to work with.

Nidoking was fine. He'd been sparring lightly with Tangrowth for the past hour and was still going strong, although he wasn't able to match the resilient grass-type's ridiculous stamina. It was good for him, though, since he didn't have to hold back against Tangrowth and his partner's Ancient Power provided an excellent way to train against an opponent with similar abilities to manipulate the earth as himself.

He winced when he saw Tangrowth playfully hurl a house-sized chunk of earth at Nidoking, who was forced to reflexively let the ground swallow him with Earth Power lest he be crushed. Tangrowth would never intentionally cause Nidoking serious harm but he had a hard time understanding that not everything could just lay out under the sun for a day or so and find themselves in perfect health.

Still, he trusted the two of them not to take it too far.

A fierce shriek drew his attention to the sky, where he saw a blur of motion followed quickly by a larger form of golden scales and massive wings. Plume had taken to sparring with Oak's old Dragonite when Torrent wasn't busy with him. The Dragonite greatly enjoyed stretching his wings and proved everyday that he could keep up with the younger pokemon with no problem, even if the long years of complacency showed when it came to their spars.

Not that Dragonite was ancient, Ash mused. He was less than forty years old, which was only around a quarter of how long the oldest Dragonite could live. With his general strength and the healthy diet Oak had him on he'd likely reach his bicentennial birthday.

Ash sighed when he saw the winds produced by their game of tag nearly tear some of the smaller trees up by the root when they descended a bit closer to the forest. He was sure that most of the wild pokemon had made sure to avoid the area while his team trained but he'd rather not annihilate their territory.

His attention was drawn next to Infernus and Arcanine, who had followed them here one day and was immediately challenged by the Magmortar. Arcanine was more than happy to accept Infernus' challenge, although Ash had to keep Dazed on them to extinguish any fires they made. Torrent helped as well when they got especially bad.

He could barely keep track of the two monstrously powerful fire-types. Infernus only rarely used teleportation against the aging Arcanine who returned the favor by only slipping into Extreme Speed to avoid potentially deadly blows. But Arcanine was still incredibly fast and Infernus did his absolute best to match the canine's speed.

It was good for Infernus, he mused. Ash was still trying to perfect the concepts of what techniques Ash could try to teach him and it let Infernus keep active and work out his frustrations of losing the divine power he'd acquired in the fight against the Birds — Infernus had returned to training with vigor Ash had never thought possible to try and find another avenue to that insane level of power.

But in this area there was no way Ash could let Infernus go all out. Even after he'd had Tangrowth raise a massive arena for Infernus to let loose in the Magmortar had burned through the thick earthen walls or just plain demolished them with his attacks. He was too powerful to train to his full potential here, just like Torrent. The Kingdra could at least hone his strongest attacks relatively safely, but Infernus' fires were just too dangerous.

So Arcanine coming after them was luckier than Ash could have ever hoped for. Even in his old age he could keep up with Infernus and had actually managed to become something of a friend to the Magmortar, even if it was only because he was the strongest fire-type in a hundred miles that would deign to fight him on a regular basis.

There was Oak's Charizard, of course, but Ash would sooner recall Infernus than let him face that particular foe. He had no doubt that the unique physiology of a Magmortar and particular skill set of Infernus would let him fight Charizard safely but he shuddered to imagine the destructive power that would go into that particular fight.

He didn't know the Charizard very well but from what he'd seen it wouldn't be one to hold back. Combine that with Infernus' battle-lust and they'd have a very messy situation.

"Keep going, Sneasel!" Ash called out when he noticed the small dark-type weaving in and out of the various battles taking place in order to avoid his pursuer. Sneasel hadn't seen as much battle as the rest of the team and needed to work on both his general level of experience and his speed, so Ash decided to do everyone on the team a favor and created the game of "Hunt the Sneasel".

Ash thought it might have been the most popular idea he'd ever had.

The rules were simple: one member of the team would be free to attack Sneasel with any of their abilities so long as they didn't cause too severe of damage. They had twenty minutes to corner him, although if they knocked him unconscious the game ended…that particular rule had led to some very inventive strategies on behalf of the pursuers.

Sneasel could attack them in any way he could with the same stipulations of avoiding serious injuries, although that wasn't a problem for most of the team. He'd quickly learned that running was the smartest thing to do after he'd tried to attack Dazed with his claws and received fifteen minutes of being batted around with a massive log for his troubles.

If the dark-type managed to incapacitate his pursuer or avoid them for the full twenty minutes he won.

That hadn't happened yet and with the vindictiveness the team were pursuing him with kept up Ash doubted it ever would. Sneasel's speed and stamina had increased quite a bit once he realized what was at stake but he still had a ways to go before he could claim to have the edge against any of the team who volunteered for the game.

He couldn't hold back a grin at the sheer speed Sneasel was maintaining in a desperate attempt to avoid this particular pursuer, especially empowered as he was.

Hunt the Sneasel turned out to be one of Bruiser's favorite past-times. Aside from the opportunity to unleash several months worth of annoyance on the dark-type it also provided him a chance to train Rampage, which Ash was determined to perfect.

Right now Bruiser was training the Superpower aspect of the technique. He'd managed to limit Superpower to a far weaker form, which he was maintaining for as long as he could to train his muscles further. To use Rampage to its fullest extent he needed to be able to maintain it for more than a minute at a time.

It would take a while but Ash knew they were steadily building up to a much more efficient Rampage. Bruiser wouldn't use it in every fight, but it was rapidly becoming more practical as an option against powerful opponents.

He'd mastered flaring Superpower for single uses — an especially powerful punch to break through an opponent's guard or protection, for example, or using his muscles to their full extent to leap much farther.

But that was just the edge of what Ash wanted to accomplish with Bruiser. He wanted to let the Machoke sustain a low-level Rampage indefinitely and remain in a true Rampage for at least ten minutes. That would be when Bruiser would take his place in the top ranks of the team.

That wouldn't occur for a while yet, though. Bruiser could improve by leaps and bounds in his current form but to unlock his full potential as both a combatant and user of Rampage he needed to evolve.

Until then he could only fight at a fraction of his true ability. The evolution from Machoke to Machamp was a drastic one — the growth of two arms allowed them to be much more dangerous close range fighters and the sheer reaction time and coordination they gained in order to control those extra limbs made them acknowledged as some of the most powerful fighting-types in existence.

He was torn from his reflections as Sneasel hissed furiously as Bruiser shot toward him with a Focus Blast in hand, although the dark-type was just fast and agile enough to duck under the sphere of energy that created a massive flash of light as it rent the earth.

Sneasel fired off an Ice Beam that Bruiser easily avoided with his enhanced speed and dashed off as quickly as he could, although he was forced to swerve away as Bruiser slipped further into Superpower in an effort to catch the nimble dark-type.

And then it happened.

Bruiser grinned maliciously as the shockwave from his most recent Focus Blast — the Machoke had taken to keeping the spheres in hand recently, which proved to work rather well in surprising opponents — tripped up Sneasel.

Sneasel had just a moment to fire off a second Ice Beam that barely even slowed Bruiser down before he was punted nearly thirty feet by an exceptionally powerful kick, albeit with the flat of Bruiser's foot so it wouldn't cause serious damage.

Ash snorted when Sneasel was suddenly snatched out of the air by Plume, who was gracious enough to drop him by Ash a few seconds later…although Sneasel might not have seen it that way since he skidded on the dark green grass for a few seconds before he lost his momentum.

"Give him a break," he said to Bruiser when the hulking Machoke sprinted over to him in a burst of speed most would have deemed impossible for the fighting-type. Bruiser nodded and shut his eyes. A second later he lowered himself to the ground, exhausted by his efforts. "You did good, Sneasel. You're improving a lot. Just a few days ago Bruiser caught you in the first minute."

Sneasel would have preened under the praise if he weren't too busy trying to keep his stomach inside of him. Ash smiled as the dizzy dark-type stumbled his way over to him on all fours. He snatched him up and scratched around his feather as the youngest member of the team collapsed onto his lap — this was the fifth session of "Hunt the Sneasel" today and he was well and truly spent.

"You too, Bruiser!" Ash added with a grin. Bruiser looked up at him from the ground with a similar grin, pleased with his own efforts. "By the time we leave for Hoenn you'll be ready to use Rampage in combat more frequently, I think. You're maintaining it for a lot longer now."

Bruiser nodded and collapsed. His muscular chest rose and fell steadily as he let himself rest. Ash didn't disturb him further — Bruiser had been using Superpower almost constantly in small bursts throughout the day and Ash couldn't even imagine how hard that was.

He started for a moment when he saw a massive flash of golden light and felt the rumble from Torrent's Draco Meteor far in the distance — he'd separated himself from the rest so as to avoid accidentally hurting them. Draco Meteor wasn't something even Tangrowth could shrug off and Torrent had been experimenting with it under Ash's suggestion.

"How'd your training earlier go?" He asked the exhausted Sneasel, who hissed in annoyance at the mention of his failures. Ash sighed and stroked the dark-type's feather to appease him. He'd put Sneasel through a lot and he wouldn't press him too hard on this. With his general combat abilities improving rapidly the technique Ash had devised wasn't vitally important. It would give him an edge to place him on par with the rest of the team, though, and Ash desperately wanted to add it to Sneasel's repertoire. "Just keep at it — I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. If not then Steven might know someone who can help us."

Sneasel growled and burrowed deeper into Ash's jacket, determinately trying to ignore any outside influence so he could sleep. Ash smiled and lightly patted him, although he opened up his jacket a little more so Seeker could escape from the dark-type. He doubted the tired Sneasel would be bothered with Seeker but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Seeker squeaked happily as she clung to his back. Ash lightly scratched her ears, glad he'd chosen this shadowed spot while he supervised his team's training. The Zubat had been his best company over the last few days and he'd enjoyed the time spent with her.

He glanced back down at Steven's message now that he'd altered what training he'd needed to — Dazed was working on her teleportation by following the battle between Arcanine and Infernus to quench any fires and Oz was busy playing catch with Amelia's Raichu, who she'd lent to him since she was visiting Jessica in Viridian.

They were fairly evenly matched as they tossed a bolt of electricity at one another, absorbing it then redirecting it back to their opponent at speeds he could barely follow. Raichu was naturally better at manipulating the flow of electricity and was a tad faster than Oz, although she had a greater capacity for storing electricity, which helped her greatly in controlling the steadily more powerful bolt of lightning.

She also slowly grew more powerful as the constant addition of electricity to her system sharpened her speed and strength much like magma's effect on Infernus.

All in all it was a highly useful exercise, especially for Electabuzz seeking to evolve. It forced them to be capable of storing larger and larger amounts of electricity and also enhanced their control, both of which were vital for the transformation into an Electivire.

He sighed and focused back on the message.

Ash, Lance told me it was time to send this. He should be sending the general information you are required to know for your new position soon. If not, just send him a message. He's not so busy cleaning up the mess from your most recent escapade that he can't get your manual to you — it's the Orange League's problem, not Indigo's.

As we previously discussed, I would like for you to leave Kanto in around three weeks. That should give you plenty of time to get a sense of Hoenn on your own while I deal with the Ever Grande Conference.

I'm assuming you've already plotted out your route, but if not I'd suggest you go to Mossdeep City first. It's the closest to Kanto and I believe that Tate and Liza, the Gym Leaders there, would be very interested in meeting you. I also own a house there that you're welcome to stay at. Tate and Liza can direct you to the man that holds the key.

From there you go your own way. You are expected to meet me in Rustboro on the twenty-first of June, which should give you around three weeks to explore.

The address you will meet me at is 626 Stonewall Avenue, Apt. 257. Be there by noon.

I look forward to traveling with you.

— Steven

He read it several more times to make sure he'd picked up on everything he needed to.

Ash had been planning on starting his journey in Mossdeep anyway. As Steven said, it was the closest Hoenn city to Kanto and provided a good launching off point no matter where he decided to go next.

Right now he wanted to take the aquatic route and head south to Sootopolis before making his way around Hoenn to Dewford, from which he could then travel to Rustboro with relative ease. Plus in the relatively uninhabited archipelago that dominated eastern and western Hoenn he'd be free to train without any of the self-imposed limits that restricted him in Pallet.

At the moment he planned on spending a lot of time flying with Plume rather than taking ferries or hiring boats. He'd already scheduled a Seagallop Ferry with Lance's help earlier in the month that would take him to Mossdeep but didn't want to enlist its services any longer than that.

He'd learned to love flying with Plume now that the saddle he'd ordered had arrived and he didn't have to fear slipping off of her glossy feathers. He knew that she enjoyed it just as much, if not even more than he did. Most of the time they didn't get to interact while Ash was traveling — she was often scouting ahead or just enjoying the chance to stretch her wings. This added in a bit more of a personal experience between the two of them that they'd lacked before.

"Yo, Ash!"

The voice drew his attention and he raised an eyebrow as Gary flew in on the back of his own massive Pidgeot, who shrieked in surprise as Plume and Dragonite shot past him at their insane speeds.

Pidgeot came to a graceful stop just a few feet away, although the winds he carried were enough to force Ash to keep a tight hold on Sneasel and Seeker. Both were light enough to have been thrown away from him otherwise.

"Gary!" He greeted with a smile and stood up. Sneasel hissed in protest but quieted as Ash slung him over his shoulder — it was a mark of how exhausted the young dark-type was that he didn't snap at Seeker or even bother to unsheathe his claws. "How'd you find me here?"

"Alakazam located you," Gary shrugged and came to a stop just in front of him. Pidgeot took to the skies with a fury and spread his wings to their fullest extent, an act which temporarily blotted out the sun for Ash. It was easy to forget just how gigantic the flying-type was. "Not that I really needed his help when you've got your freak of a Magmortar battling Gramps' Arcanine. I could see the flares from Pallet, ya know."

Ash smirked lightly at that and glanced over to the aforementioned battle, which seemed to have ramped up while he was distracted. They'd stopped trying to hit each other physically and were instead lashing out at one another with tight, intense streams of flame.

He was sure Dazed was having fun with that. She'd probably be disappointed that she wouldn't get to play Hunt the Sneasel after, though.

A particularly large gout of flame drew his attention, though, and he idly wondered if he'd need to have Torrent come and provide assistance.

"Yo, Ash, you there?" Gary scowled and snapped his fingers in front of Ash's face. He crossed his arms irritably and glared pointedly at the other trainer. "I was talking to ya, you know."

"Guess you didn't have anything especially important to say," he smiled. When Gary rolled his eyes he grew a bit more serious. "Alright, what is it?"

Gary snorted. "Well, I figured you'd want to know that I'll be leaving in three days. The Silver Conference is over and I want to have as much time in Johto as I can get. From what I hear there's a lotta overrated pricks that could be knocked down a peg or two over there."

"Like who?" Ash asked, not letting his surprised reaction to the news slip into his voice. "I can't say I know too many of the big trainers in Johto."

"Falkner, for one," Gary grinned dangerously. "He's visited Gramps a few times and I've wanted to punch his smug prick face for a while now. With Pidgoet over there I'm gonna show him what a real bird is like. Then there's a few trainers I met in Kanto I've had my eye on. I heard from them at the Conference that they'll be heading over to the west side and I'm not gonna let them get away from me that easily."

"Good luck with that," Ash said sincerely. "I'd better see you holding the Silver Cup in a year's time, alright?"

Gary nodded. "Don't even worry about it, Ashy-boy. I've got that tournament in the bag. I'm not sure I even need to show up to compete, not with how hard I've been pushing myself!"

Ash snorted. "You want to get another battle in before you leave? It might be good to get rid of all that hot air."

"I think I'm good," Gary looked down and kicked the dirt. "Just wait, though. The second you get complacent…BAM! I'ma knock the crap out of you one day, Ashy-boy."

"Just not today," Ash finished for him. "So, what time?"

Gary took a moment to catch up with him. "Probably morning. I'm just gonna make my way to Johto on foot, maybe use Pidgeot if there's too tough of terrain. No point bothering Gramps' Alakazam if it's less than a hundred miles, ya know?"

Ash nodded but didn't say anything back.

"Anyway, that's not really why I came," Gary shrugged. He stuck his hands in his pockets and actually looked nervous for once, which was an event rare enough that Ash stood up straight and paid very close attention.

For some reason that didn't seem to make Gary any more comfortable. Ash smirked slightly.

"I figured that since I'll be missing your birthday and already had your gift I'd go ahead and give it to you," Gary said very quickly, tripping over a few of his words. "Figured I'd make it good to make up for the last few years, ya know?"

Ash nodded dimly, barely able to process that this was happening. He'd made up with Gary but he'd never actually expected a birthday gift from him. It wasn't something they'd done even before the duo had their schism.

Gary dug around in his pack before he finally found what he was looking for. Ash's eyes widened when he saw what his former rival was holding out to him. He took it reverently and couldn't even manage to give Gary a very necessary thank you.

The other trainer flashed Ash a confident grin that showed he understood. "I got this from Gramps when I caught Arcanine last year. It was some complementary thing from Silph and he figured I could get a lot more use out of it than him…and he was right. That thing saved my ass against a lot of trainers but I don't need it any more. Arcanine's the only fire-type I'll ever need."

"I know you're the last person I need to tell this to, but take good care of it, alright? It was a gift from Gramps, ya know?" Gary finished before he glanced out to the furious battle between Infernus and Arcanine. "Oh, and make sure to send me a video of the first time that crazy Magmortar of yours uses it — I wanna be the first to see if there's gonna be a new landmark down in Hoenn."

"You'll be the first to know," Ash confirmed as he stared at the exceedingly rare and valuable TM in his hands. "Gary…thank you. Really. This is —"

Gary snorted when Ash had trouble finishing his sentence. "Don't go crying on me now, ya hear? And yes, I know it's awesome. I'm the one giving it, after all."

"Just don't lose it!" Gary pointed at him. "Do you know how many Overheat TMs were made? Two hundred! That TM right there is worth more than you are, Ashy-boy! Or it would be if you hadn't decided to turn the world upside down and join the Elite Four."

"Trust me, I know," Ash said drily and finally tore his gaze from the TM case. "And what happened to you being so supportive? If I remember correctly you were more invested in me joining than I was."

His former rival raised his hands in faux offense. "Hey now, Ashy-boy. Don't blame me for trying to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life — for all I know you were going to wuss out and go running off to dick around in the wilderness for a year."

Ash scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not wanting to show Gary that before Steven's offer that had pretty much been his plan.

"I mean, you should be thanking me!" Gary continued with his usual smirk. "I'm not sure your social skills could handle a year alone — I already doubt their existence, ya know."

He shrugged. Ash knew himself well enough to know that interacting with other humans wasn't one of his strong suits. That was something that had become even more painfully obvious with Amelia's outburst several days ago.

"You know, I have something for you too," Ash said slowly and sat back down on his rock. Gary looked at him oddly but didn't interrupt him as he dug through his pack for the storage compartment that held his TMs. A slow grin eased its way across Ash's face as he found what he was looking for — he'd kept this particular TM separate from the rest even after he'd taught it to all of his teammates that could learn it.

Gary stared at the plain TM curiously as Ash pressed it into his hands. "What's this?"

"Hyper Beam," Ash couldn't help but grin as Gary's face slackened in disbelief.

"You're joking," his former rival said flatly. When Ash shook his head the boy's face practically broke under a genuine smile, not the smirk that seemed omnipresent on him. "No way!"

"I figured you could get more use out of it than me," Ash echoed Gary's earlier words with a quick laugh. "Just…keep it close, will you? It was a gift."

"Don't worry, Ashy-boy," Gary reassured him. "I'm not sure I'll ever let this go. I mean, it's not Overheat, but damn!"

Ash snorted. "Don't get all sappy on me, Gary. It doesn't suit you."

That finally got to Gary and the other boy rolled his eyes. "Ah, shut up! I thought you were supposed to be the one with a bleeding heart."

"I'm helping those desperately in need, aren't I?" Ash retorted. "No, but seriously. You aren't the only one who needs to make up for the last few years. Neither of us really have the high ground on that one."

Gary snorted. "Yeah, we were both kind of brats. But those days are over and done with."

Ash nodded and lightly scratched the gently purring form of Sneasel as they stood silently.

"Call me a glutton for punishment, but I think I want to get one last battle in before I leave," Gary broke the silence as his hand went for the row of pokeballs on his waist. "Hope you're ready, Ashy-boy. Let's make this last battle one to remember!"

Ash smiled.

XX

"Well, I guess this is where we go our separate ways," Gary said after a long silence. Ash nodded. Professor Oak and his mother had already said their goodbyes and stood quietly behind them to watch their interaction. Jonathan and Amelia had unsurprisingly decided not to show up.

Actually, on second thought Gary very well might have not told them at all. He didn't exactly hold either of their fellow trainers in high regard.

Gary shifted his pack that was full of supplies they'd bought two days ago at the Celadon Department Store — Ash had been sorely tempted to buy a replica Lance cape and take a picture of it for the Champion — and regarded Ash quietly.

"When I see you next you'd better be holding the Silver Cup in hand," Ash finally grinned and offered his hand. Gary smirked and took the handshake. "I'm holding you to that, you know."

"Please!" Gary scoffed with that well-earned arrogance Ash had become so accustomed to. "With how fast I'm gonna steamroll over these Johto losers I might as well come back and win the Indigo Conference too! Might as well make a little history of my own, ya know what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Ash replied with a perfectly straight face. "I do know what you're saying."

"Ash. Shut up," Gary rolled his eyes. He sighed and lightly pat Umbreon, who had been engaged in a death stare with Sneasel for the past few minutes, on her head. "I'll smell ya later, Ash. Try not to run into any more terrifying flocks of Spearow. Gramps, try to remember to eat and drink. Ms. Ketchum, good luck at the university."

The others waved their goodbyes as Gary set off for Johto with Umbreon at his side. Ash just smiled at his friend.

Then, suddenly, Gary stopped and turned. His fierce eyes met Ash's cool ones. "You get ready, Ashy-boy! The Silver Cup's just a warm-up!"

Ash smiled and Gary went on his way.

He wasn't sure how long the three of them stood on Pallet's border lost in their thoughts but it felt like an eternity.

Of course, he would have stayed there at a lot longer or gone out to relax with his team if Oak hadn't broken the stupor that had fallen over the three.

"Ash, would you mind returning with me to my home?" Oak tapped his shoulder to grab his attention. "I don't mean to intrude, but I would like to speak with you while I have the chance."

"Of course," Ash nodded. He wasn't about to deny the Professor anything. Not after everything he'd done for him and his mother.

"You're welcome to come to, of course," Oak smiled over at his mother. "I daresay that I'll miss our lunches, Delia. I'm not too proud to admit my own skills are rather deficient in that area."

"That's putting it lightly!" His mother giggled. "You might be the only person I've ever met that could burn water. At least there's something the great Samuel Oak can't do!"

The Professor chuckled. "Indeed. Even Daisy wasn't willing to put up with my cooking. If I remember correctly she took over that when she was…five? Six? I'm afraid my memory's not quiet up to task."

"Six," his mother confirmed with a wistful expression. "She was always a fast learner, that one. She picked up on it faster than I could teach her!"

Oak smiled, even though Ash could see an undertone of exhaustion. Ash didn't know too much about Daisy — he remembered her very well as a cheerful girl babysitting him and Gary but she'd left for her journey when he and Gary were seven. It wasn't too long after that that Gary started acting like, as Jonathan would put it, "a grade-A prick". Once that happened he was no longer privy to that sort of information.

"But I'm afraid I have to go take care of things at the restaurant," his mother continued with a slight frown. "Sally's a good girl but I'm not sure she'll be able to keep things running smoothly. I think I'll need to hire on another worker before I leave."

"Of course," Oak nodded understandingly. "Feel free to stop by once you're done, of course."

"Of course!" His mother repeated with a bright smile. "I'll see the both of you later! Ash, dinner's at seven. Don't stay out training too late!"

He nodded and watched as his mother left with a spring in her step. She'd become insanely giddy lately since her departure was in just six days, the same time as Jonathan and Amelia would be leaving on their own journey.

"We'd best be off," Oak announced and started heading off in the direction of his house. "I'm sure you have plenty of things to be doing."

Ash nodded again and followed Oak. It was a quiet journey, but that didn't bother him.

XX

"What do you need?" Ash asked as they stepped into the Professor's study. Oak smiled at his bluntness and opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small disk in a case of metallic grey.

"This disk holds my notes and studies regarding the unnatural weather patterns produced by a certain psychic clone and the Shamouti Birds," Oak explained as he tapped the case. He handed it to Ash, who took it curiously. "There's several terabytes of information on that disk and it's all highly sensitive information contained by the League. Too sensitive to be transmitted via computer."

Ash nodded and put the case into one of his storage compartments. The study was illuminated in a brief flash of scarlet light as the matter was converted to energy and stored.

"I need you to take this to Professor Birch in Littleroot Town," Oak said. "He specializes in pokemon habitats and distribution and will be able to make far more effective use of this data than I. It's not an urgent matter but I do request that you take care of it in a timely manner. This information will be invaluable to Professor Birch's research regarding the effects of Legendaries on the environment and how they affect pokemon on a regional, national, and global level."

"I understand," Ash nodded. He was happy to help Professor Oak in this. He also supposed that Professor Oak was glad to have his help — Ash was privy to this classified information since he'd been present at both accounts and would also be the best security for the disk short of a fully fledged member of the Elite Four. "So there's research into Legendaries now?"

The Professor nodded. He looked very tired all of a sudden. "Yes. Some such as the Legendary Beasts of Johto as well as Lugia and Ho-Oh have been confirmed to exist for quite some time but it is only recently that we have confirmations of Mew and the Legendary Birds. Legendaries hide far from our prying eyes, it seems, and what humans do know of them are not keen to part with that information."

"Lance is driving the effort," Oak continued. "He refuses to allow those few researchers he trusts to know of the Legendaries' existence approach them personally, but I can hardly blame him if what he has told me is even remotely accurate. Sabrina shared what threads of memory she could glean from Lance and they were…disquieting, to say the least."

"Instead we study their effects and will determine just how far-reaching their influence is," he explained. "Responsibility has been split between Professor Elm, Professor Birch, Professor Rowan, and myself. I've already told you the nature of Professor Birch's research. Professor Rowan has begun looking into their effect on semi-instantaneous metamorphosis — evolution," the Professor elaborated.

"He has already discovered very interesting leads. The number of psychic evolutions spiked several times this year with no noticeable pattern other than the appearances of Mewtwo and as a whole they've increased almost exponentially — psychic pokemon are evolving younger and many human psychics discovered their potential, mostly in the vicinity of Viridian and Vermillion. And, if I recall our last message correctly, he's now begun to receive new data from after the events that took place at Shamouti."

Ash nodded, very interested. He followed Oak's lead and took a seat.

"Professor Elm's currently assisting Professor Rowan in his research. His personal project is investigating if unusual abilities result from proximity of Legendaries and their effects on pokemon breeding cycles," Oak smiled slightly and stared pointedly at Ash. "I'm sure he'd be interested in speaking with you at some point, Ash. You've had more encounters with Legendaries in your single year of traveling than have been recorded in the last century!"

"Give him my number," Ash said drily. "I'm happy to help."

"I'll be sure to get it to him," Oak smiled. "He'll certainly appreciate your assistance."

Ash smiled before he looked at Oak with a quizzical frown. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm attempting to pinpoint the exact locations of Legendaries in Kanto and Johto so that we may steer clear of them in the future and attempt to keep from disturbing them," Oak smiled. Ash could tell he enjoyed his job. "My specialization of human and pokemon relationships isn't especially useful in this regard, but with the recent developments in Kanto and with both Rowan and Elm applying their specialties 'm in the best position to perform this task."

"Which ones do you have?" He asked, ready to correct any deficiencies in Oak's knowledge the best he could.

"Mewtwo is at New Island…although it seems to have, well, disappeared," Oak began with the most potentially dangerous of the lot first. Ash felt a cold fire burn in his veins and a low chuckle in the back of his head. He steadfastly ignored it. "There are the Birds at Shamouti, of course. Then there's the Moltres Lance refuses to acknowledge as a threat at Knot Island, another Articuno we believe to be roosting on Mt. Silver's peak —"

"Look into the Ice Time," Ash interrupted. Oak stared at him. "It should make itself obvious."

Oak nodded with a faraway expression. "Of course, of course…thank you, Ash. Now, the Zapdos that caused the Storm several months ago seems to have vanished. We attempted to trace it but to no avail. And Sabrina refuses to assist, of course."

"Of course," Ash agreed as the Feather crackled against his chest. He felt the part of him that had been revealed to the Truth of Lightning thrum, content. For the briefest moment he saw two glowing eyes of gold flash in his mind's eye and wings of storm clouds flap in the midst of a shell of lightning. An icy fire rushed through his veins and quelled the glimpse and he fell silent.

"The Legendary Beasts are rather difficult to trace," Oak mused. "There are semi-frequent reports, of course, but they rarely stay in one place for long and flee from humans should they be spotted without their intent. I have deemed Lugia and Ho-Oh impossible to track given their nature and they seem more stable than the rest. They move frequently without causing global crises, at the least."

"And Mew?" Ash said quietly, memories of the tiny Legend flitting through his mind. He unconsciously rubbed the spot just over his heart that Mew had pierced.

Oak shook his head. "I have my suspicions, but I doubt Rota would appreciate my inquiries. I'll have to find a proper agent to investigate in due time. It's counterpart, Celebi, I have also deemed impossible to trace."

"How do you even know it exists?" Ash raised an eyebrow. He didn't know much of Celebi — nobody did, really — but he could recall the legends surrounding it. His mother had always loved those stories. "It seems a bit harder to pin down than the others."

"I have my sources," Oak replied mysteriously. At Ash's flat stare he shrugged. "If you want to know more you should speak to your friend, Michael."

"Michael…" Ash murmured, curious. Now that was interesting. Perhaps he'd end up heading to Orre sooner rather than later, if only to assuage his own curiosity.

Oak glanced over at his computer monitor, which had flickered on unexpectedly with a short message on it. "I'm sorry, Ash, but it seems I'll have to cut this short. I assure you that I'll inform you of any new developments. If anyone can appreciate this sort of information it's yourself, after all!"

"Thank you," Ash said after a long moment of deliberation. "Don't worry about the disk. I'll make sure it gets delivered."

"Of course," Oak muttered as he rapidly typed a response to whatever message he'd received. "I'd expect nothing less of you."

Ash smiled at that and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Ash?"

He glanced to see Professor Oak looking at him with a slight smirk, something he'd only seen rarely previously.

"Thank you."

Ash nodded and flashed the aging Professor another brilliant smile before he left. Daylight was a finite resource and he wanted to spend as much time relaxing with his friends as he could. They'd all earned a break and he needed to tell them about the new developments.

Professor Oak had certainly given them quite a lot to think about.

XX

"You just wait!" Jonathan ranted and threw his arms up in the air wildly as they stood together at the edge of Pallet. "I'm gonna find a Master, win that Silver Cup for myself, then come back and beat the crap out of ya, Ash — Elite Four or no! You know what, I'm gonna do more than win that stupid Cup! I'm gonna kick Lance's ass and then be the Indigo Champion and then I'm gonna kick your ass! You hear me!"

Ash blinked. "Yes."

"That's what I thought, punk!" Jonathan grinned manically. He was acting like he had just consumed all the sugar in Pallet and Ash wasn't sure why — he'd never thought Jonathan loved traveling so much. It looked like there were plenty of things he didn't know about his friend even after he'd started spending more time with him and Amelia. "So where can we have our epic showdown? On a bigass volcano? In the Indigo Stadium — you probably have clearance there, actually. Oh, wait! I've got it — Mt. Silver's peak! That actually sounds like your kind of place, actually."

"You know what, when you're ready I'll be waiting there," Ash said as sincerely as he could. "I don't know if I'll be saying much but I'll be there."

"Awesome!" Jonathan cheered and pointed dramatically at him. "I'm holding you to that, right Charizard?"

Charizard pumped his arm alongside his trainer and grinned as best as he could at Ash, who just stared at the large fire-type. He wasn't disturbed in the least by the trickles of flame that spilled out unconsciously from the draconic pokemon's maw.

He saw worse than that from Infernus every single day since he'd met him.

"Are you done?" Amelia said crossly with her hands on her hips. "You aren't the only person here, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jonathan rolled his eyes. "I guess I have to give you the spotlight every once in a while. Don't want to leave ya feeling too left out."

"Thank you so much!" Amelia clasped her hands together sarcastically before flicking Jonathan on the forehead. The boy scrunched his face up in annoyance but didn't say anything.

She turned to regard Ash with a warm smile. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways. Good luck in Hoenn, Ash! Try not to make too much history, alright?"

"I'll do my best," Ash chuckled. "No promises, though."

"I guess I can't hold you to that, then. How sad," Amelia rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to be holding you to any insane challenges like Jonathan and we won't be having a Battle of Destiny anytime soon but I'm looking forward to our next meeting. I don't want to be a Master like you or Jonathan but I do have my own goals to work at, you know. Hopefully we'll all have achieved our dreams by then."

"Hopefully," Ash repeated. He cast a quick glance at her. "Good luck to you too, Amelia. Keep an eye out for Gary, by the way — I'd rather him and Jonathan not run into each other in Johto. I don't think I trust either of them to not start a giant fight in the middle of a city."

Amelia's face soured at the mention of Gary. There was no love lost between the two of them. "I'll keep that in mind. At this rate I'm afraid I'll be spending half of our time in Johto minding Jon…"

Ash raised an eyebrow and sent a look at Jonathan, who was busy jabbering away to Charizard. "Isn't that what you spent the last year doing?"

"Well, sort of," the girl murmured. "But I always had someone to distract him — you, that jerk Paul, all sorts of people. Jon's kind of scary when he doesn't have anything to keep him busy."

"Maybe scary is what he needs," Ash reasoned. "He needs something to drive him."

"Yeah, yeah," Amelia sighed. "I didn't come to talk about Jonathan, though. I just want to say goodbye and, again, good luck. And sorry about what I said when you got back…I was too harsh."

"Don't apologize," Ash shook his head. "I needed that. I know I haven't always been the best friend to either of you and I want to fix that. So good luck in Johto — I know the both of you can achieve your dreams. Just keep at it."

The girl flashed him a bright smile. "Thanks, Ash. Well, we probably need to get headed out — tell your mom I said bye!"

"I will," Ash dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Bye, Amelia. I'll see you next year, I guess."

She nodded and walked over to Jonathan. Amelia said something to him and he looked over to Ash.

"See ya! Get ready for our epic battle!" Jonathan shouted, even though he was close enough that it made Ash's ears hurt a bit. "They're gonna have to rewrite the maps after I'm through with you!"

Ash rolled his eyes but waved back anyway. He watched the two head off for a few minutes until they were just dots in the distance. The trainer took a moment to wish them well before he started the walk to Oak's house.

Now it was time to say goodbye to someone more important even than those two.

XX

"Alakazam's ready whenever!" Oak shouted down to them from his study. The Professor had already bid his mother farewell and said he had work to attend to, although he was happy to help her out. "Just say the word and she'll take you to New Bark Town!"

"Thank you, Samuel!" His mother yelled back up. She turned back to Ash with a soft smile. All of her luggage was arrayed around her, but she was holding something behind her back. "Hi, Ashy!"

He smiled back. "Hey, Mom. So you're leaving?"

"In just a few minutes," she confirmed. "I was just waiting to say goodbye to you. How were Jonathan and Amelia?"

"They're good," he replied. "Jonathan was Jonathan and Amelia wanted me to tell you she said goodbye."

"That sounds about right," his mother giggled. She'd gotten to know the duo a bit more since they started showing up at his house more often. "How are you feeling?"

Ash glanced away. "I'm fine."

His mother sighed and wrapped him up in a one-armed hug. "I'm sorry I'm having to leave so soon…I wish I could have stayed for your birthday, but there's just no time."

"It's fine," Ash reassured her as he returned the hug. She was more caught up about missing his birthday than he was — he'd long since accepted it and moved on. His mother seemed to think he'd taken it as a personal offense, though, no matter how many times he told her otherwise. "Really. I was gone for my birthday last year too — it's really no big deal."

She shook her head and pulled away. "Fine, fine. But I have something for you."

"Really?" Ash raised an eyebrow as his mother pulled out a small package from behind her back. He took it with a grin and shook it lightly to get a sense of what it was. It definitely took up most of the space, although he really had no idea what it could be. "So what is it?"

"Open it up and find out!" His mother chirped. "I know you already bought all of your supplies, but I thought you'd like this!"

He nodded and quickly unwrapped the gift, unsure of what to do with the paper around the cardboard box hidden by the colorful wrapping.

That problem was solved rather quickly when Sneasel leapt off of his shoulder and attacked the paper with a fury he'd never seen before, shredding it with glee usually reserved for his opponents.

Ash and his mother laughed at the playful dark-type but Ash quickly returned his focus to the gift. Sneasel helpfully leapt up to carefully slice open the tape before he dived down to attack the paper with renewed vigor, although Oak's old Arcanine seemed to have wandered in thanks to the commotion and had taken an interest of his own in the wrapping paper.

He just sighed and ignored Sneasel's angry hiss as Arcanine playfully pawed at the shredded paper before he glanced suspiciously around the house to make sure nobody was watching and ate the wrapping paper, utterly ignoring Sneasel's furious growls.

His eyes narrowed in curiosity as he regarded the large tome bound in the thick purple of shed Arbok scales in his hands.

"History, Legends, and Folklore of Hoenn by Cynthia Carolina," Ash murmured and traced the words carefully.

"If you don't like it you can always return it," his mother babbled. "I ordered it but there's a place not too far from the Goldenrod University that'll be happy to take it and it won't be any trouble for me to take it by —"

"Mom, it's alright!" Ash interrupted with a wide grin. He stared at the book again. "I love it, really."

His mother exhaled and wrapped him up in a hug. "Oh thank goodness! I was worried!"

"I could tell," Ash snorted into her shoulder. "Thanks, Mom. I really do appreciate it."

"I'm glad," she whispered into his ear. "I just thought it would be good for you to get to know more about Hoenn since you'll be a stranger there. I've heard the book's very good, and I wanted to remind you that there's more to the world than battling. I know you tend to get obsessed…I'm not a stranger to that, either. Just remember that there's a whole world out there and battling's just one part of it!"

Ash nodded and hugged her tighter. "I will, Mom. I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," she said tearfully. Ash could feel his shoulder becoming damp before she pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Make sure to call me at least once a week and remember to change your underwear!"

"I will," he said with as straight a face as he could. His lips still twitched without his consent, though. "Don't forget to live a little. There's more to life than studying, you know."

His mother laughed at that. "Oh, don't worry about me! I'm not going to become a recluse, you know. It's been years since I've been out to a big city — there's so much to do and I love Goldenrod! I can't wait to see how it's changed!"

Ash nodded and there was a short silence that he broke, surprisingly enough.

"Take care of yourself," he said quietly. "And say hello to Uncle Spencer for me…and Molly too, I guess."

"I will," his mother promised and pulled him into one last hug. She kissed him on the cheek before they parted. "I love you, Ashy. Remember that."

He nodded and pulled away. "How could I forget? I love you too, Mom."

She smiled tearfully one last time before Alakazam appeared seamlessly beside her, startling Sneasel and Arcanine, who belched out a puff of fire and smoke with small bits of brightly colored wrapping paper before he pulled his massive body up off the floor, grabbed the cardboard box in his massive jaws, and flashed away in a burst of speed.

Shall we leave, Ms. Delia?

Alakazam was gracious enough to broadcast her telepathy into Ash's head. She cast a bored gaze at his mother's bags.

Luggage. Lovely.

"Nobody's asking you too, Alakazam," his mother laughed through her tears. "But yes, I'm ready."

Very well.

"Bye, Ashy!" His mother said to him one last time. "I love you!"

Ash nodded and as he returned her words his mother disappeared into nothingness along with all her luggage. Sneasel hissed as he climbed up Ash's leg, bitter at his toys disappearing with Arcanine.

Alakazam appeared moments later. She regarded Ash curiously and focused before her small mustache bristled. A moment later a piece of firewood was hurled at Sneasel, who barely managed to leap off of Ash before the projectile would have smacked him off. The dark-type hissed futilely at the vastly more powerful psychic before he obediently stayed still under the Alakazam's flat stare.

Hail, Storm-Tamer. I thank you for your service and apologize for not warning you. But I may not interfere. Not here.

"I understand," Ash sighed. "Thank you for keeping the pokemon here safe, though."

It was what I was allowed. I would not turn away such an opportunity.

Ash nodded and glanced down at the Arbok-scale tome. He'd have to get started on the thick book. With no friends or family outside of his team to distract him he'd have plenty of time on his hands to do so.

Alakazam followed his gaze and her mouth curved up in a smile.

A good read. Should you desire to discuss its contents simply call for me. I am always listening.

He flashed her a smile of his own. "Thank you, Alakazam. I think I'll take you up on that."

Ash felt a fleeting sense of warmth pass over him before Alakazam seamlessly disappeared from the room.

He smiled softly at Sneasel and hoisted the dark-type up onto his shoulder before he sighed. Ash supposed he should probably vacate the premises now that neither his mother nor Alakazam were here.

A warm hand on his shoulder snapped him out of that train of thought.

"If you need anybody to talk to, stop by," Oak said quietly. "It's going to be rather lonely here this year."

"I — thank you," he said sincerely. "Are you good for lunch tomorrow?"

Oak smiled. "Of course! I'm always happy to have you."

Ash smiled.

Well, even without his mother and friends he wasn't totally alone with his family. Besides, he was always glad to talk to the good Professor.

XX

The Seagallop Ferry was waiting for him on the slightly choppy waters that had followed the storms that had just recently swept through the area. Ash stared at it from the Pallet pier. He was in no hurry.

"Leaving so soon?" A warm voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"Professor Oak!" Ash grinned back at the man, who'd arrived with Alakazam and Arcanine. Dragonite and Charizard circled above, each a bright light in the gloomy sky. "I was hoping you'd come. I wasn't sure you'd be able to get away from work."

"I have a fairly lax schedule," Oak chuckled. "Advantages of being the boss, I suppose. I wasn't about to let you go free that easily."

Ash smiled. At times like this he could see where Gary got some of his personality from.

"I trust that you won't need to rely on luck in Hoenn," Oak chuckled. "You're smart and skilled, Ash. Just listen to Steven Stone and you'll have no problems at all. But remember, Ash, you will be in real danger as you follow your orders. Stay safe for all of us."

He nodded seriously. "I will, Professor. Thanks for everything."

Professor Oak smiled. "It was no problem at all, Ash. I daresay you've repaid me several times over considering the sort of disasters you've averted. Now, I didn't come here just to say my goodbyes, you know."

"Oh?" Ash raised an eyebrow. He was legitimately curious — Professor Oak didn't seem the type to leave things to the last minute, especially considering he'd had lunch with the Professor every day of the last week. "And what could that be?"

"Just a word of advice. Well, more of a phrase, really," the Professor smiled.

"And?" Ash prompted.

"I hear Sootopolis is wonderful this time of year."

Ash waited for anything else besides the cryptic sentence but Oak just smiled.

"Have a good time in Hoenn, Ash. It truly is a beautiful land," the Professor said wistfully. "Just…just make sure to call every now and then, alright?"

"Of course," Ash nodded. "I'm not going to forget about you that easily, Professor. Who knows? Maybe I'll send you a few postcards."

Oak laughed. "I think I'd like that."

Ash send the Professor one last smile and sent his team nods of respect before he turned to step onto the Seagallop Ferry. The sailor who'd be taking him to Hoenn had already greeted him and given him the same instructions as the previous captains.

He stared out at the grey sky and empty expanse of the sea. Hundreds of miles to the south was Mossdeep. He was about to embark on a new adventure to a strange land full of strange people and strange pokemon.

The journey of a thousand miles began with a single step, after all. And this was it.

Hoenn awaited him.

A/N: Hey, sorry I took so long to update but life has a nasty habit of getting in the way. It's a very short chapter and I know some people won't care much for it but I hope most of you enjoyed it! I tried to keep it from just being meaningless fluff.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I know I did.

As always, make sure to review and PM me if you have anything you want me to clarify! I'll update as soon as I can.