Chapter 27: Sailing Back Home
A week went by as the preparations were made for their return to Hoen. Soldiers were enlisted for the mission, the sailing ships were stocked, and the Pokemon were prepared for battle. While all of this was going on, Sir Aaron continued to train Ash in the way of Aura. While he was by no means a master, he had proven to be quite adept with it.
Not only could he see Aura, but he'd also managed to learn how to track it, and could make his Aura Spheres as big as Sir Aaron's. Sir Aaron nodded approvingly after their last training practice.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd been training your entire life instead of just a week."
Ash chuckled.
"Well, I had a pretty good teacher."
"Only pretty good? Ash, I'm hurt."
The two shared a laugh, but their training was interrupted by Brendan coming in.
"Sir Aaron, Ash, we're ready to depart."
Ash took a deep breath, and followed Brendan to the port.
"Well, here goes nothing."
"Don't worry, Ash. We'll send those grunts packing, and you can return home."
Ash's face fell when he said that.
"Yeah…home…"
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing. Forget about it."
Sir Aaron could tell that Ash was lying, but decided to put a pin in it for later.
A few hours later, the fleet was out on the open sea, on their way to Hoenn. Ash sat at the bow of the ship, staring down at the Arc Phone he had recieved.
"Ash, you've been awfully quiet. What's wrong?"
Ash glanced up to see May approaching. When she saw what was in his hands, she understood.
"Isn't that the…Arc Phone, you called it? The one you got in your dream."
"Yeah. I've been so busy training this past week I haven't had a chance to understand it."
"Well, why not now? No time like the present and all."
Ash chuckled, seeing her point.
"Alright, here goes nothing."
Pressing the button on the side, the screen flickered to life. Ash wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but a nearly blank screen was not it. The only icons there were a phone icon ("who on Earth could I possibly call?" He thought to himself) and a Pokeball icon.
"Well, this is…interesting…"
"You said you could use these phones to call people, right? You could talk to someone else, no matter how far away they are?"
"Yeah, but the other person would need a phone of their own, and I doubt there are any others in this timeline."
"What about the other symbol? The Pokeball one?"
"I have no idea."
"Well, let's check it out!"
Cautious, but equally as curious, Ash clicked on it. What popped up was a list of Pokemon, almost like a Pokedex, but only including the images of the Pokemon's face. What surprised Ash was that the list was just what Pokemon made up the list, something May was quick to make note of.
"Ash, something wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just…all of these Pokemon are ones I caught back during my travels."
"You mean back in your own time?"
"Yeah."
May looked down at the phone, impressed as he scrolled through it.
"Did you really catch 30 Tauros?"
"Yeah, that was…an experience."
"I wonder what'll happen if you click on one of the pictures?"
"I guess there's only one way to find out."
Ash clicked on the icon of Bayleef, expecting nothing more than a Pokedex entry. Instead, what he got was the Leaf Pokemon herself to materialize in front of him. The Grass Type looked around in shock, before her eyes landed on her trainer. With an excited cry of "Bay!" she pounced on him, knocking him over as she began to nuzzle him. May could only stare in confused awe as Ash laughed, gently stroking Bayleef's neck.
"Yeah, I missed you two, Bayleef, but you're kind of crushing me."
Bayleef climbed off of him, but remained close as he got up to his feet.
"Ash, is this…"
"My Bayleef, yes. Bayleef, this is May, my girlfriend."
May smiled, and offered a handshake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bayleef."
Bayleef shook her hand with one of her vines, though May could feel some tension coming off of her. Ash then looked down at his Arc Phone in amazement.
"What other secrets are you hiding?
Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, Ash selected a few other Pokemon to see if the phone was connected to his Pokemon at Oak's Lab. Sure enough, it was, with Totodile, Phanpy, and Kingler all being happy to see him. His experimentation also gave him two other bits of insight into his new acquisition: that only one of his Pokemon from the future could be there at any one time, and he could also send his current choice back by clicking on the icon again. But even so, he still had so many questions about it, and so much more.
That night, he stood at the bow of the ship once more, watching the stars in the sky as they continued sailing.
"Beautiful night out, isn't it?"
Ash turned to see Sir Aaron coming up to him.
"Uh, yeah, breathtaking."
"You seem troubled, Ash. Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing."
"Ash, you should know by now that you can't keep secrets from me."
Ash aura.
"It's just…I do miss home, and my friends. My mom, hell even Gary. But… I truly love May, and the people of Hoenn have been nothing but kind to me, considering I came out of nowhere. I…it's like no matter what happens, I'll lose. And seeing my other Pokemon today didn't help."
Sir Aaron nodded sympathetically.
"I understand completely."
"No offense, master, but I doubt you can. My situation is a rather unique one."
"Rare, yes, but not unique. There's a reason why I didn't tell The Queen to throw you and your people out when I saw that you weren't telling the truth, Ash."
"Yeah, and why's that?"
"Because like you, I've also lived in another time."
This got Ash's attention.
"You're not just pulling my leg, are you?"
"Let me put it this way, I know Rota will eventually be called Kanto."
This got Ash to believe him, and Sir Aaron continued.
"My story is actually the reverse of yours. I was out on a mission one day when I stumbled across a strange portal out in the woods. When I went to examine it further, I was sucked in. When I woke up, I was in a world I didn't understand, yet at the same time familiar. I was disoriented and lost, but a kind woman took me in. And in time, we…"
Sir Aaron smiled reminiscently.
"...We fell in love. I would've married her one day, but after a year I was sent back in time by Celebi. I miss her, but in time I fell in love again."
He then turned to Ash.
"I can't give you the answers you want. I can't tell you what will happen when your mission is over, or what the right choice is if you get one. But I can give you this bit of advice: whatever happens in the end, make the most of your time here."
Ash nodded in understanding.
"Thank you."
"Of course. By the way, I'm curious: what town do you come from?"
"Pallet Town, why?"
Sir Aaron's face paled.
"Pallet Town? What's your last name?"
"Ketchum, why…"
Before Ash could finish, Sir Aaron turned and walked away, leaving Ash very confused. Something strange was going on, and he didn't like it.
A few days passed, and soon they were within Hoenn waters. Everyone gathered at the head of the ship to see the kingdom come into view.
"I hope mom and dad are alright," Max said.
"I'm sure they are," Wally said comfortingly. "Your parents wouldn't fall to these thugs so easily."
May nodded in agreement.
"And now we can put this conflict to rest for good," she said hopefully.
"You've got that right!" Ash said confidently. "Something tells me things will be smooth sailing from here."
"Ugh, stupid sisters…"
Misty sighed in frustration as she finished cleaning the pool. Ever since her sisters had left for their vacation, she'd been left to take care of the gym all by herself. Which meant not just battling trainers, but also maintaining its facilities. And unfortunately for her, today that meant cleaning the pool.
"When they get back, I'll teach them about responsibility!"
She was stirred from her thoughts by the phone ringing. Perplexed, she walked over to it and answered, the caller being her old friend Brock.
"Brock, long time no see!"
"Hey, Misty."
The moment she heard her friend's tone, Misty knew something was wrong.
"Brock, is something wrong?"
"Have you heard from Ash at all? I wanted to surprise him in Hoenn, but no one's seen him!"