Late morning on the third day after their arrival, the gym trainers picked up on an underground rumbling. Pokémon that knew Dig were deployed to intercept the interlopers. But, before they could reach it, the contact surfaced a mile from the pokémon center, near the trail leading to the building.
Despite the objections from the police and the trainers, Ash rushed out of the pokémon center with the other trainers to meet the newcomers. Ash tried to suppress a smile when he saw a splash of orange coming down the road but couldn't manage it.
Brock and Misty walked down the path. As they drew closer, Ash could see that they were dirtied and covered in small cuts. Misty had a large bruise on the side of her face and Brock was limping slightly.
Ash walked out to meet them, occasionally breaking into a sprint before regaining control of himself. When he got close enough to talk, he couldn't continue keeping the smile off his face and he looked at the ground, futilely trying to hide his expression.
"You guys were slow," Ash said to them.
"Yeah, well, traffic was horrible," Brock said, grinning at the other boy.
"You should have seen the other people on the road," Misty added with a smirk.
Ash gave up trying to hide his smile from the McBossypantses and hugged them both.
After Brock and Misty's identities were confirmed, they were taken into the pokémon center for debriefing and treatment. After that they joined Ash, Melanie, and Aoba in the cafeteria. The group pulled a couple of tables together so that they could eat.
"How were things with you?" Aoba asked over a cup of decaf after everyone had gotten their food and settled down.
Brock leaned back in his chair, stretched, and groaned before answering. "Not as bad as I feared."
"We attacked them one day, spent a day lobbing rocks at them, and then attacked them a few days later," Misty explained to the group. "The last attack was the worst. They were ready for us that time."
"Of course, we were also ready for them," Brock said, taking a fork full of food from his plate. "It wasn't fun for either of us."
"It was a busy ten minutes, that's for sure," Misty added. "But we got away and then spent the next couple of days circling around each other until they decided to leave."
"Yeah, we picked up most of these-" Brock pointed to the small cuts on himself and Misty vaguely gestured towards the bruise on the side of her face "- in that last fight."
"That sounds like it must have been…." Melanie paused, twirling her fork in lunch as she searched for the best word "Exciting."
"Well, that's one word for it," Misty grimaced. "I'm just glad that it's over. How were things for you guys? Were we able to stop them all?"
"They were fine," Ash said quickly and with a shrug. His back had healed to the point where such a gesture no longer hurt.
"That's certainly not the word I would use to describe it," Melanie said, shooting Ash a disapproving look.
"Kid, you got stitches running up and down your back," Aoba said, looking at Ash out of the corner of his eye. "That's not fine."
Ash winced as Brock and Misty locked eyes on him.
"Okay, so five of them got past you and attacked us," Ash admitted, hunching up, grinning slightly, and rubbing the back of his head. "I may have gotten hurt."
"I would like to be clear, that whatever else you may think, Aaron saved all of our lives," Melanie said. "Even if he may or may not have been a tad bit reckless in doing so."
"Hey!" Ash protested. "It was only that one time."
"Aaron," Brock began, face resting in the center of his palm. "What-"
"Aaron! What did you do!" Misty growled, glaring at the boy. "I knew it was a mistake to-"
"Look, Squirtle was in trouble and I just jumped in the way," Ash said before she could build up steam. "The Vine Whip hurt, but he was in bad shape and I couldn't just do nothing!"
"Aaron," Brock groaned, but Misty's expression changed.
"Oh," she said, looking mollified. "Well, that's- I mean- You didn't- Look, just try to get the pokémon out of the way instead, okay?"
"Misty!" Brock hissed, shooting her a glare.
"Yeah," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head again. "I know that now."
"Ughh…" Brock groaned. "How bad was it? How many times were you attacked? What casualties did you take?"
"Uh, what's a casualty?" Ash asked.
"When someone was killed or injured in a fight," Misty explained.
"Oh. Uh…. I think all of the pokémon were hurt, but it wasn't bad," Ash said, staring into space while he tried to remember the specific details. "Umm…."
"Aaron took a Vine Whip to the back, which resulted in a severe laceration that required stitches," Melanie told the former gym leader, counting off her fingers as she spoke. "I had a minor contusion on the head that required no treatment. Aoba and Aaron both re-opened their stiches at one point. Aaron and Aoba both took Antidotes as a precautionary measure after receiving Poison Sting attacks."
Brock and Misty's expression grew more horrified as the list went on.
"Oh, and we all were monitored for complications due to smoke inhalation," Melanie concluded. "As for the pokémon, as Aaron said, they were injured, but it was minor enough to require minimal treatment. Aaron's Butterfree took the worst injuries and he was fine after a potion and a day of rest."
"Maybe you should just tell us everything that happened." Brock said.
Ash, Aoba, and Melanie filled the former gym leader and the gym trainer on what had transpired while they were gone. When they had finished, Brock was looking grim and Misty appeared to be some combination of worried and angry.
"I think I made the wrong call," Brock said once the others were finished. "We should have gone with you."
Ash shifted/fidgeted in his seat. "I mean," he replied, "wouldn't we just have been attacked by more people then? Or wouldn't they have just gotten you away from us anyway?"
"Maybe," Brock sighed. "Well I guess there's no point in worrying about that now. We'll just have to try and do better next time."
"No," Misty growled. "There isn't going to be a next time. Aaron, in the future, we're sending you to safe-"
"Hey! Team Rocket might have just decided to hunt me down 'cause I was there!" Ash protested. "Like they did with Melanie!"
"Arrgh!" Misty clenched her fists and looked down. "You're right. Is he allowed to be right? I don't think Aaron's allowed to be correct about stuff given what he usually pulls."
Well it had to happen at some point, Pikachu piped up.
"Calm down Misty," Brock told the red-head. "He's safe now and that's all that matters."
Misty took a deep breath. "You're right," she sighed. "Aaron, I'm sorry for snapping at you."
"It's alright," Ash replied.
And it really was. Talking with his two human travelling companions again brought a sense of familiarity, a sense of comfort. Ash knew that he had come to enjoy travelling with them, but not to the extent that he would miss them; what with their overprotectiveness and the way he and Misty kept fighting.
Then again, being able to speak to them again was another clear sign that the painful trip was over.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you two," Melanie said. "Your efforts saved our lives, both at my village and in ensuring that the bulk of Team Rocket was unable to attack us on our journey. I've already thanked Aaron for his part in all of this, but we owe you our lives as well."
"Right," Aoba nodded. "If it wasn't for you two, along with Aaron, I would have never made it out of that forest alive. Thank you for saving my life."
"Uh," Misty's face turned red and she looked down, shoulders hunched up.
"You're welcome," Brock said to Aoba. "And take care of yourself from here on out, I'd hate to see our work wasted." The former gym leader then turned to Melanie, opened his mouth to say something, and then started blushing.
(Ash didn't get why Brock blushed when dealing with Melanie's gratitude and not Aoba's. The pokéraised boy found it to be very strange.)
"And, uh, Melanie…. I'm- uh, sorry again about your village," Brock managed to sputter to the blue-haired woman. "We could, uh try to salvage more if you want? Or, uh, um, ah, we could take you to wherever you want to go next."
"I'm sorry, but I do believe that I will be staying here for the foreseeable future," Melanie replied. "So, thank you for the offer, but I must decline."
Brock slumped in his seat, looking dejected to the point where Ash was surprised that he couldn't see the older boy's spirit fly away from his body.
Misty started to giggle, and though he knew he wasn't understanding the entire joke, Ash joined her.
Even though the return of Brock and Misty had lifted Ash's spirits, it wasn't enough to stop the nightmares. They returned, no better and no worse than any of the previous nights.
The next morning Ash woke up and stumbled into the cafeteria to find a bleary-eyed Misty watching on in envy as Brock, Aoba, and Melanie all enjoyed caffeinated drinks. Ash joined them for breakfast and there was a quick discussion of future plans.
In the end, Ash agreed to stay another week so that the pokémon center staff could monitor everyone's health and so they could remove Ash's stiches before he left. After that, Ash finished his breakfast, enjoyed the luxury of showering, and then got ready for another day at the pokémon center.
He and his pokémon had another intense training session before lunch. Ash focused on improving Pikachu's endurance, Butterfree's physical combat skills, and worked with Pidgeotto to develop another Gust variant.
He worked with Charmander to help the pokémon learn some new moves. Using Fire Bloom as a base, Ash hoped that Charmander would be able to learn Fire Fang. After that, they would work on Dragon Breath to give the diminutive fire-type a long-range option.
Ash and Squirtle focused on improving the water-type's fundamentals. Ash came up with a series of drills for Squirtle to improve both their special and physical attacks. The water-type took to them with gusto.
Bulbasaur was the hardest pokémon for Ash to train.
It's gonna be awhile before I can learn Solar Beam, the grass-type told his new trainer. And I don't need any new moves other than that.
There's got to be something, Ash replied, scrolling through his list of moves that a bulbasaur could learn on his pokédex. What about Seed Bomb?
Leach Seed and Razor Leaf do pretty much the same thing.
I guess you'll say the same thing about Bullet Seed, Ash muttered. Let's see…. How about Double Team?
Ain't my style.
Substitute?
Again, ain't my style.
Giga Drain?
Got Leach Seed, Bulbasaur told Ash.
Right, right, right, Ash muttered, scrolling through the moves once more.
You ain't gonna find anything, Bulbasaur said, looking at his trainer studying his pokédex. Let's just focus on me getting used to working with your team.
What about Energy Ball? Ash suggested.
What? I've never heard of that move before, Bulbasaur said, walking over to Ash to peer at the boy's pokédex. What's it do?
You gather energy from around you and shoot it as a ball, Ash explained. Looking at the description it seems like it might be similar enough to Solar Beam that we could use it to help you learn Solar Beam later.
That ain't a half bad idea, Bulbasuar muttered as the pokédex played a quick video clip of the move. I guess we can work on that.
So, Ash worked with Bulbasaur to teach the grass-type Energy Ball, along with general conditioning and teamwork practice. When it was lunchtime the entire team was panting and lathered in sweat.
I really wish your back was healed so you could suffer with us, Pikachu managed to get out between pants, laying on the grass by the pokémon center.
I wish I could exercise again too, Ash agreed. His back was healed enough for normal activity, but the staff had warned against strenuous activity like exercise.
Well, I'll settle for your suffering, but yes, if you're going to keep doing stupid things, then you need to exercise as well, Pikachu said. Now can we go eat?
Ash recalled his team, picked up Pikachu, and ushered them inside for lunch. Ash enjoyed another luxury, a hot meal, while his pokémon enjoyed their usual fare of pokéchow. After that they were recalled so that they could rest until evening when there would be another training session. Pikachu draped himself around Ash's neck like a scarf, and slept while his trainer went to the pokémon center lobby.
Ash sat down in one of the plush chairs, set the sleeping Pikachu on the arm, and stared at the wall. He knew he needed to find something to do or the listlessness would return. He also knew that there was nothing he wanted to do but train his pokémon.
In the end his thoughts returned to the crying hunter and the assumptions that the dead man had shattered. Just as the boy had feared.
Ash sat in the chair, struggling with his thoughts, as an unknown amount of time passed.
"Aaron, are you okay?" Ash jerked out of his reverie when he heard a soft voice speak up beside him. He turned to find Misty crouching by the chair, staring at his face and looking concerned.
"I'm fine," Ash said, but even he could tell that it hadn't been very convincing. Misty's skeptical expression just confirmed it. Ash looked down at his lap and started fidgeting with his hands.
"Aaron," Misty said after the better part of a minute. "Do you have anywhere you need to go this afternoon?"
"No," Ash replied, still looking at his hands in his lap. "Why?"
"Then, do you mind coming with me," Misty said and Ash felt a tugging on his shirt. It reminded him that he needed to buy some replacement jackets at some point.
"Why?" Ash asked, half-rising from his chair.
"I just want to go somewhere," Misty told him. "Come on."
Misty took Ash outside and into the forest, with an escort of two gym trainers who wanted to go look for wild pokémon nearby. The gym trainers promised that they would stay within shouting distance, but out of Misty and Ash's way.
They hiked into the forest, following the creek by the pokémon center. The trees were starting to look bare and their dead leaves crunched and squelched beneath the humans' feet. Sunlight filtered down through the branches, illuminating the vibrant colors on the forest floor and glittering off of the creek's running water.
The musty smell of wet leaves was everywhere. A chill breeze caused the branches to gently sway and swept up loose leaves, creating rustling whisper throughout the forest, complemented by the high-pitched songs of flying-types as they prepared for the upcoming winter. Ash zipped up the spare pink hoodie, the one he had borrowed from Misty for the hike, to guard against the mild cold.
They eventually came to another small waterfall by a pond. Orange and red leaves slowly floated around the surface of the pond, covering the crystal-clear water beneath. Ash saw tiny shapes moving near the bottom; they might have been fish or small pokémon. Reflected sunlight glinted off the water's surface, making the whole area seem a bit brighter than the surrounding forest.
"Here," Misty said, dragging Ash over to a large rock by the pond, while the gym trainers ventured further out into the forest to look for pokémon. Misty took off her own hoodie and spread it over the rock. "Let's sit here."
"Won't you get cold?" Ash asked. "And won't your shirt get dirty?"
"I'm fine, I've gone swimming in colder weather," Misty said sitting down on one edge of her improvised cushion and patting the other side. "And these shirts clean easily. Don't worry and just take a seat."
Ash complied. Misty didn't say anything else and Ash didn't feel the urge to talk either. He just sat and looked out at the autumn woods and the sunny pond.
After a few minutes of silence, Misty spoke up. "I've got two minds about places like this. There's not enough water to have any strong water-type pokémon but these places are great if you need to take a quick swim."
Ash didn't say anything.
"Of course, you should always have a water-type pokémon with you in these situations," Misty went on. "Because sometimes you dive into what you think is an empty lake and find out that it's the territory of a male poliwrath during mating season and they think everything that lacks the proper pheromones is a rival male."
Ash didn't say anything to that either.
"That was exciting," Misty went on and Ash could hear the grin in her voice. "But I wouldn't want to repeat the experience. But yeah, most of these places don't have anything as interesting as that."
Ash continued to be silent.
"Do you have any places like this," Ash saw Misty gesture at the surrounding area out of the corner of his eye, "that you want to talk about?"
"I-" Ash gazed out at the gleaming pond as he gave some thought to her question. He had liked living by Lavender Town, even if he had missed human interaction while living there. "I like the place near the bottoms of the mountains."
"What do you like about them?"
Ash simply shrugged.
"Come on, there's got to be something you can say about them."
"I guess," Ash took a breath while trying to think of an answer, "I guess I liked the way you had rock places and forest places for different pokémon. And I guess I sorta liked the weather."
"What did you like about the weather?" Misty asked. Ash saw her studying him out of the corner of his eye.
"I liked the, uh, fog you got in the morning," Ash explained. "And I liked how everything looked when it was sunny. I hated the winters at first, but that was just because I couldn't go outside to play."
"Your parents were worried that you would get sick?"
"Pretty much," Ash said, shrugging and rubbing the back of his head. His caretakers had good reason to be wary; after all it was very difficult for three pokémon to arrange a visit to the doctor's office.
"So, you used to live around some foothills then?" Misty went on. "Uh…. You said that you used to live in Lavender Town, right?"
"Yeah," Ash replied.
"Was that where you lived by the foothills?"
"Yeah."
There was another stretch of silence. Ash returned to staring at the scenery again.
Eventually he heard Misty take a deep breath and then she started talking again. "So, this year hasn't been the best for me."
Ash turned to look at her. The orange-haired girl was staring ahead as she spoke.
"There's been a lot of stuff happening that I don't really know how to deal with," she went on, her viridian eyes probing the pond's depths. "I nearly got killed. I nearly got you killed. And I had to kill some people. Not directly, I would've been a real mess if that was the case, but I still told my pokémon to attack them and I have to live with that."
Ash grimaced. He remembered the man that she had attacked with Ice Beams. It was something he hadn't thought about before; most of his memories of that night were about his flight and then his fights with the electrabuzz and the tyranitar.
"And then there was the whole thing with my sisters and with the police in Pewter City," Misty continued. "That was…. uncomfortable."
Ash shrugged.
"Finally, we had to deal with Team Rocket here," Misty said. "I had to have my pokémon attack some more people. And I have to learn how to live with that again."
Ash was silent again.
"I haven't been sleeping the best," Misty told the boy. "And I've had a few other problems. It's something I'm going to have to work on. I might need some help down the line."
Ash was still silent.
"And I'm telling you all of this because I think there are some things that you need help with too," Misty finally turned to look Ash in the eyes. "Aaron, I know you went over the basics of what happened to you, but I think there were things you left out."
Ash knew that there was plenty that he had left out. But it was nothing that any humans should be concerned about.
"Aaron, did you have to kill anyone?" Misty asked.
Ash hesitated before answering. He hadn't needed to order his pokémon to attack anyone. But the pokémon under his command had killed. Bulbasaur had killed two people and a pokémon right in front of him and Ash hadn't done anything to stop him. The Squirtle Squad, and maybe Ash's own team had killed those three humans and the beedrill while he was gone.
"Maybe," Ash said in a small voice. "I didn't tell them to, but pokémon still killed people."
"Do you think they were wrong?"
"No," Ash said, even quieter. "But I think I could have done better."
"Is that what's been bothering you today?" Misty asked.
Ash almost said yes. It wouldn't have quite been a lie and it would have stopped his travelling companion from digging too deeply. It would have been the safe thing to do.
But it didn't feel right to tell a lie by the gleaming pond. It didn't feel right to lie after Misty had been honest with him.
"No," Ash admitted. "It doesn't feel good, but it wasn't something I was thinking about."
"What is it then?" Misty asked, reaching out and letting her fingertips rest lightly on the boy's shoulder. The sensation was strange, but it was also somewhat comforting.
Ash took a deep breath before answering. "He was crying."
"Who was?"
"One of the hunters. Bulbasaur killed one of his teammates and he cried over him." Ash returned to the memory that had been bothering him since they got out of the forest. "He knew what it's like to be hurt, but he was still trying to hurt people."
"Did you think that that people like him didn't know how that feels?" Misty asked.
"Of course," Ash replied, quickly, almost indignant. "If you know what it's like to be hurt, why would you want to hurt someone if you didn't have to?"
Misty sighed. "It's a good question."
"You don't know why?"
"I didn't really think about it too much," Misty answered. "At least, you know, not in the abstract general sense. I can probably answer the question for more specific situations."
"Okay, then why did the people attacking us think it was okay?" Ash asked. "Even though they knew what it was like to be hurting and scared."
"Did you pay much attention in history class?" Misty asked in return, shrugging. "Team Rocket is a criminal slash terrorist organization today, but they used to be different. They were a political group, and in some places, an actual government. They had a flag and a cause. And there was a war-"
It was a war that Ash knew a lot about, after hearing about it from pokémon who had fought in the front lines of the war. Though, now that Ash thought about it, he knew less than he thought he did. In the stories that Poison Lance, Pocket Watch, and Flygirl had told, Ash had always imagined Team Rocket in a similar manner to his hunters; he had never thought of them as people.
"-and they lost, but they hid together and told each other that they needed to still win," Misty went on. "Or at least something like that. I haven't had a history class in a year. The point is, Team Rocket once had a cause and act like they still do, when they really only have each other. And that's how they justify what they do. They're doing it for each other and their lost cause."
"That doesn't seem very….. That can't be it," Ash shook his head. "There has to be more to it than that."
"Maybe," Misty shrugged. "I've killed people because I thought I needed to-"
"They were going to kill you first though!" Ash protested loudly, sitting up straight and clenching his fists by his sides. "You really did need to!"
"And I'm sure they convinced themselves that they needed to as well," Misty replied looking at the ground. "Maybe that's your answer, because people convince themselves that they need to hurt others."
"That can't be it," Ash shook his head. "There's got to be something else."
"I don't know then," Misty sighed. "But I don't think you're going to get a better answer soon."
Ash stood up; fist still clenched. "Well then, I'll just look for one!" Ash declared, pumping his fist. "I'm travelling and getting stronger anyway. I can look for a answer too!"
And he could, Ash realized. He had become a trainer because he needed to be strong enough to fight his hunters so he could really live as a human. But there was more to living as a human than television, hot showers, soft beds, and warm meals. He also needed to learn more about his species; not just how they acted, but why they acted the way they did.
And maybe, just maybe, Ash could make the human world better. Just like his caretakers' trainer had done. Just like so many of his friends and comrades had done.
Just like Misty had done when she saved him. Just like Brock had done when he had defended Pewter City. Just like Melanie had done when she had set up her village.
Ash had decided that he hadn't wanted to live like a pokémon because there was too much death in that life; the circle of predators and prey. Part of him had always thought that the human world would be different, that the blood and death that marked his exit from that life was an extreme aberration.
Ash was learning that it wasn't as extreme of an aberration as he had thought. But the examples of everyone who did their best to push against those situations, who tried to make the world better instead of dragging it further into a pool of blood and fire; those people were proof that Ash hadn't been wrong in wanting to live like a human.
Learning the answer to his big question would help him with that struggle, Ash thought. He could make the human world even better. And he would learn and he would help, or his name wasn't Ash Ketchum!
"Okay, Aaron," Misty said, raising one eyebrow at his declaration. "If that's what you need to do, then that's what you need to do."
"Yeah," Ash nodded at her and then smiled. He was surprised to realize that he was feeling much better. "Thanks Misty. This helped!"
"I'm glad," Misty grinned back at him. "Now do you want to go back to the center or do you want to see if there's any water type pokémon in the pond?"
The pair, plus the gym trainers, returned to the pokémon center with damp shoes and ankles, having had a nice time exploring the pond and creek, but finding no pokémon in the water. When they got back to the center Ash swapped out his socks and shoes for a spare set. After that he wandered back to the pokémon center lobby.
"Hey, Aaron." Brock was there, fiddling with some of his bags. "Are you free for dinner? There's something I want to try cooking and I could use a hand with it."
"Sure," Ash agreed.
Brock nodded and then returned to fiddling with his bags. He separated a few smaller bags, some of which banged and clanked, from the rest of the group, and then stood up and left the lobby. Ash followed him.
The two went outside and found a small fire pit that previous occupants of the center had dug. They gathered some firewood from the nearby woods, Brock keeping an eye on Ash the whole time. They started a small fire and Brock got out his camping cooking gear.
"I just want to see if I can manage to properly cook some tempura using this stuff," Brock explained as he heated up his pan. "And maybe I can get better at preparing miso. I swear it shouldn't be this hard to make when camping."
"I think it's good though," Ash replied.
"It's passable," Brock disagreed. "But it's not up to my standards. Here, fill this pot, would you?"
The fire crackled merrily as Ash assisted Brock in preparing the meal. Water was fetched, ingredients were measured, and vegetables were chopped. When it was all complete, Ash sat on the ground next to the fire and watched as Brock finished up.
"So, is there anything you want to talk about?" Brock asked as he set the miso to simmer.
"Sort of?" Ash shrugged. "But I think I already did that with Misty."
"So that's what you two were up to," Brock nodded. "Did it help?"
"Yeah," Ash leaned back, watching the cooking fire.
"That's good to hear." Brock sat down on the other side of the fire. "But there might be more you need to do."
"Huh?"
"Whenever you're….. shall we say feeling down about what happened," Brock said, looking into the fire, "there are some things you should and shouldn't do. Don't try and isolate yourself for one."
"Okay," Ash replied with a shrug. Days like the current one, where Pikachu wasn't constantly with him, were rare, so Ash didn't think he would have to worry about isolating himself.
"Maybe try to exercise too, that can be very helpful," Brock went on. "And do some breathing exercises if you know any."
"Sure," Ash shrugged. He did know a few from his mental defense training.
"Make sure to get plenty of sleep, that's very important," Brock said, leaning over to check on his simmering soup.
"I thought I did?" Ash tilted his head.
"Then keep it up," Brock replied. "Trust me, things get severely worse when you're not sleeping."
"Alright."
Brock sighed. "There's some more you can do, but I don't know how to explain it very well. Erika- A fellow gym leader-" Brock explained when he caught Ash's questioning look "-was the one to teach them to me. It's about examining how you're thinking of what's bothering you and working to correct any problems there."
Ash just shrugged.
"Well, hopefully you won't need it," Brock sighed again. "If you do, I'll see if I can't arrange something with Erika when we stop by Celadon City."
Ash hadn't thought that far ahead. He had been focused on simply reaching the next gym before he had stumbled over Melanie and Aoba. And he had honestly believed that Brock and Misty would have quit travelling him after that, after he had proved that he didn't need babysitting. Ash had been looking forward to that even.
But, now that he was giving the matter some thought, Ash realized two things.
First was that if they hadn't been travelling with him, then he doubted Aoba, Melanie, and all the pokémon at Melanie's village would have been saved.
Second was that he wasn't sure that he did want to travel without them. Ash remembered how he had been pleased to meet up with them again. He would almost certainly miss them if they went their separate ways.
"Sure," Ash replied as Brock stirred the soup. "We can do that."
The week passed surprisingly quickly. Ash continued to enjoy the luxuries of the pokémon center, though Brock and Misty seemed less than pleased with their accommodations.
"I really don't see how you can look so happy eating this stuff," Brock had said to Ash one day, while the pokéraised child was shoveling more cheap food from the buffet into his mouth. Brock was looking at the food with an expression of disgust.
"Well…." Ash wasn't sure what to say to that. "It's hot food. Isn't that enough?"
Brock's expression was strange in a way that Ash couldn't quite place. He was worried that he had said the wrong thing and somehow told Brock too much.
"Wow, you must've really hated roughing it," Brock said eventually. "You didn't cook before we started traveling together, right?"
"Right," Ash nodded.
"Huh, and you were still willing to go on your trainer's journey like that?" Brock raised an eyebrow.
"Before I met you, I was eating different things," Ash replied. "Not those awful bars you gave me."
Brock actually laughed at that. "Yeah," he said when he was done, "those are really bad aren't they?"
Ash nodded eagerly, before shoving more center food into his mouth.
Misty, on the other hand, didn't have as big of a problem with the food. When Brock had pressed her on the topic sometime later in the week, all that she had to say was that it was better than her sisters' cooking.
The water-type specialist's problem was actually with the pokémon center's video phones. And with the fact that her sisters had used the publicly available set of pokémon center guest lists to track her down. They were calling her daily.
"Next time we stay at a pokémon center," Misty growled, "it will be somewhere where I can slip away and not have to deal with them. Aaron, tell your back to heal faster!"
Ash couldn't comply with that demand, but the week ended soon enough. The pokémon center staff removed his stiches and then he was ready to depart.
Everyone gathered outside, in front of the center. Ash had his whole team out of their pokéballs so that they could say their farewells.
Be good and listen to Melanie now, Bulbasaur said, nuzzling a crying Oddish.
I'm going to miss you! Oddish squeaked.
Squirtle and his squad mates were huddled together, making a commotion of that was half cheering their departing leader on and half crying that they would miss him. Charmander, who had been sharing a hug with Melanie before he left, had been caught in their huddle, his expression caught between touched and panicked as they said their goodbyes to him as well.
After Bulbasaur was done exchanging goodbyes with Oddish, he turned to Melanie. She knelt down and gently rubbed the top of the grass-type's head. Bulbasaur nuzzled into her hand.
Stay out of trouble now, ya hear? Bulbasaur told her.
"Be good for Aaron now," Melanie told him. "And try to stay safe, won't you?"
Why start now?
"I hope that was you agreeing with me and not something along the lines of 'I've never been safe'," Melanie giggled. And then she hugged him. "You've been a great friend. Good luck, Bulbasaur."
You're wonderful, Bulbasaur told her. I hope whatever you end up doing makes you happy.
Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander eventually extracted themselves from their respective farewells and rejoined Ash, who was standing with Brock and Misty by the path away from the pokémon center.
Aoba was making small talk with them while they waited for the newcomers to Ash's team to finish their goodbyes. Melanie joined them as Ash recalled his team.
"I know I've thanked you before," Aoba told them after Ash had finished getting ready to leave, "but I want to do it again. You saved my life and gave me a measure of justice. I can never repay you for all you've done."
"Not only did you save his life, but you saved the life of me and all the pokémon under my care," Melanie added. "I can also never repay you for everything."
"Uh," Ash turned as red as the top half of a pokéball and rubbed the back of his head. "Just stay safe, I guess?"
"I'll try and do that," Aoba told the boy. He held out a hand. Still blushing, Ash stepped forward and shook it. "Thanks again Aaron, and good luck on your journey."
"Good luck to you too!" Ash exclaimed before turning to Melanie. "And try to stay out of trouble!"
"I can't make any promises," Melanie told the boy with a gentle smile on her face. "And I think, if we asked you to stay safe, you'd say the same thing."
"Maybe," Ash agreed, smiling back.
"Good luck," Melanie said, wrapping Ash in a gentle hug.
"Same to you!" Ash returned the hug.
"And, of course, we need to thank you two again as well," Melanie said to Brock and Misty after she released Ash from the hug.
"No, that's alright," Brock waved away her concerns, blushing even more furiously than Ash. "This was mainly Aaron's idea."
"Do you expect me to believe that you wouldn't have helped us if Aaron wasn't there," Melanie asked, raising one eyebrow.
"No, but, well, I'd have probably done it differently," Brock admitted.
"Then thank you," Melanie said, giving Brock a hug as well. The former gym leader turned so scarlet that Ash expected to see steam rising form his head, even after she released him. The blue-haired woman then turned to Misty.
"And thank you too," Melanie said, giving one more hug, this time to Misty.
"It was no problem," Misty replied, smiling and returning the hug. Melanie gave her a squeeze and then stepped back, rejoining Aoba, the Squirtle Squad, and the pokémon from the village.
"Goodbye!" She said, waving to the trio.
"Be seeing you!" Aoba said, waving as well.
"Take care of yourselves now!" Misty waved back.
"Yeah," Brock managed to stutter.
"And thank you for everything too!" Ash said. He then turned around and started walking down the path leading away from the pokémon center. Brock and Misty followed him.
And with that, they were off.
AN: I'd like to thank BlackCatSpecialist and laurwest for beta reading.
(I don't make it easy for them. Sometimes I have grammar errors in my character's dialogue that's meant to be them making the mistake and I've got enough spelling and grammar errors in the other parts of the fic that my poor beta readers can't tell the difference... BWHAHAHAHA)
Misty being okay with Ash's injury after hearing the reason for it was taken from the episode of Pokemon Chronicles where she takes a hit for her gyarados. Well, several hits, it was an anime Poison Sting attack, which is a constant stream of needles. I figured it was a nice character moment to make use of.
And this arc is finally done.
Don't forget to comment/review!