Chapter Text
“Pika! Pi chu pi,” Pikachu excitedly jumped in Ash’s lap.
“Hey, come here bud,” he held on to his excited partner as the plane began to land at the airport in Saffron City. After having a whole unit on evolution, the class was taking a trip to Kanto for a special unit on regional evolutions. Unbeknownst to Professor Kukui, he knew his first traveling companions, Brock and Misty, were the special guests who were going to teach the class.
The class gathered in the lobby of the airport whispering about the mystery people. Ash followed along in their thrill. “Alright class, we will be heading to Professor Oak’s laboratory tomorrow morning. We’ll have two leaders, a gym leader and her friend, a Pokemon doctor, to help with these extra lessons,” Professor Kukui explained.
“So, a Nurse Joy?”
“A Pokemon doctor covers medical health, not battle damage. Pokemon doctors usually work deeper inside a Pokemon Center.”
“Right, Ash.” The professor confirmed before waving someone over, “And there they are. Aloha!”
“Alo-la, did I say that right?”
Ash laughed, “It’s ‘aloha’, Misty.”
“I knew that, I was just testing you,” she pouted jokingly. “I’m Misty, nice to meet you all.”
“I didn’t know you knew Ash,” the professor said, trying to hide his surprise.
“Hmmf, this kid knows more than you think,” she laughed, scrunching his hair. “It’s been a while since we’ve spoken in person though.”
“It’s not my fault you were out when I stopped by.”
“You know where I was. Someone says ‘hi’ and also left you something,” she whispered the last part to him, making his cheeks heat up.
“Misty!” A voice called over the crowd. “Wait up and what’s in this suitcase?!” A tall, tan man came up to the group with a suitcase in each of his hands. He wore a tangy orange T-shirt with a jade green vest which went along with his dust brown cargo pants and generic belt with two big pockets. His brown hair was spiked up like a Sandslash’s quills, but directly upwards. “Oh, hey Ash, Professor Kukui’s class,” he greeted calmly.
“You are Brock, correct?”
“Brock the Rock, at your service.” Ash thought he was being polite to the class, but he was falling head over heels for a random woman who was walking past the class.
Misty pinched his ear and dragged him back over, “Seriously? Ignore him, he’s a bit of a hopeless romantic.” The class chuckled at his comedic actions and continued on with the day. Professor Oak had rented a small jade green bus for travel to and from the hotel in Celadon City. On the trip there, Ash sat in the back of the bus, with Misty and Kiawe, Mallow and Lana were in front of them, Lillie and Sophocles were behind the driver's seat, and Professor Lukui sat next to Brock, who took the wheel. “So, Ash, does anyone know?”
“That he’s a champion? He only told me,” Kiawe whispered, wary of his classmates' proximity. “A bit of a big secret to keep, huh?”
Misty glanced over at Ash, who gave a weak smile. “Yeah, pretty big,” she softly repeated. “So, who are you exactly?”
“I’m Kiawe,” he replied, taking his arm out to shake Misty’s hand.
“And I already introduced myself as Misty. I’m a gym leader in this region.”
“I used to be one too,” Brock called from the front seat.
“I remember winning those badges, which is what you earn when you beat the gym leaders,” Ash said proudly petting Pikachu, who was on his lap.
Misty side-eyed Ash, “That’s not how I remember it. I don’t know if pity counts as a certified win”
“Hmmf, I think the same story follows here, huh Ash?” Brock chuckled before continuing his conversation with the professor.
Mallow looked up with a puzzle expression, “What’s a gym leader?”
“Basically, in almost every region, there are Pokémon Leagues that new trainers aim to win to battle the champion. The champion of a region is the strongest trainer in the region and responsible during situations of chaos. To compete in the league, you need to defeat eight gym leaders. Like Ash said earlier, when you beat one you earn a gym badge to mark your win,” Brock explained. “We’re here.” The bus stopped in front of the Celadon Hotel. People bustled through the busy city with ease, walking on the many sidewalks of the streets. Even though the city was the most populous, there were clear patches of grass and even a fountain in front of the hotel surrounded by red poppies. The hotel was a rough lilac purple with three pillars. There were two thin ones on each side of the front and a thick one on the center face of the building. They were colored a soft gold with a sets of windows along the pillars horizontally making the pillars look like a light blue and sunflower yellow stripe pattern.
The class walked in with their luggage through the left set of doors marked as the entrance. His classmates bustled with excitement about the new region and the sights they saw on the way there. Ash looked around the area, scouting out to make sure nothing would surprise them. “Chu, pi pika?”
“Mhm. It’ll probably be for… the whole trip,” he tried to hide a wince. “I’ll be fine though.”
“Pi?”
“They found an energy source for a pretty large cluster,” he sighed. He focused on Greninja’s movement as everyone broke into mini groups while waiting for registration. Lana, Mallow, and Misty seemed to be discussing water type Pokémon, while Brock, Kiawe, and Lillie were checking up on Snowy, who seemed a bit sick from the flight.
“Ash,” a voice broke through his focus.
“Yeah?”
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m watching Professor Kukui get our rooms.”
Sophocles didn’t seem to fall for his lie, “Then why do you eyes keep flying around the room?”
“They aren’t.”
“You’re not even looking at me,” he argued. “It’s kind of weird.” He faced the short teenager with hidden annoyance. Even though Sophocles didn’t seem to want to bother him, he couldn’t help but feel a little grumpy. With his eyes away from the field, he knew an unexpected at-
“Umph,” he grunted before breaking into a coughing fit. A vine had slapped Greninja against the rough bark of a tree. He felt the cold wind brush past him as he slammed against the bark, like a headbutt from a Taruos.
The professor turned towards him. “You alright, Ash?”
“I’ll be right back,” he called as he already began to head off. Ash ran out of the building in a flash. He went behind the hotel, where no one would go without a secret to hide. The grass felt soft at the breakaway to the forest where he sat. Behind the whole was a lush forest, like the ones he always traveled through.
“Pika?” His Pokémon partner had followed right behind him. He held the miniature medkit he had in his suitcase.
He chuckled with a cough, “I’m fine buddy.”
“Pika, chu pika pika,” he argued. Pikachu brought his paw to the corner of his mouth and dragged it down to his cheek.
Ash mimicked him, bringing his finger to his lip. A sticky substance was crawling down his cheek. He stabbed a bit with his index finger and confirmed the blood leaking from his lip. “Shoot,” he cursed under his breath. “What would I do without you buddy?”
“Pika pi.”
“Let me guess: A reward would be nice.”
“Pi chu!” The dazed trainer laughed and dug up two packets of ketchup from his pocket. His best friend gladly accepted the gift and began licking the contents of the first packet. He took another moment of restoration to check on Greninja and Squishy before heading back into the hotel.
“Ash, hey, you alright?” The class had already left to settle into their rooms, he assumed Brock had just been waiting for him to come back.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “But I should probably explain what happened, huh?”
“If it's about what happened in Kalos, that’s been due for a long while.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll explain to Misty later then. Where’re the rooms?”
“Upstairs,” he nodded towards the elevator. Brock led Pikachu and him to the elevator and went to the second floor. They walked down the hallway to Room 2E, a room at the end of the hallway. If they turned out and walked down the hall, they would end up walking around the whole floor. Ash’s suitcase was already beside a bed with light blue bed sheets and a blanket. Their suite had two beds on either side of the room. There was a dresser beside either bed and a glass window a part of the pillar across from the door. At the right corner of the room near the pillar window was the bathroom. Pikachu jumped off of Ash’s shoulder and onto Brock’s to nuzzle his cheek. “Heh, I’ve missed you too. Now, Ash, let’s hear what you did this time.”
…
“He was pretty messed up,” he chuckled, breaking into a sweat.
“That sounds extremely messed up. I thought Hunter J couldn’t be surpassed.”
“I guess so. I think I’ll go to bed early.”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I guess the jet lag is still in effect.”
“Pika,” Ash’s Pokémon part ran up to Brock. “Chu, pika pika ka pikachu.”
“You know, thinking it over, it did sound like a lot was missing.” He glanced at Ash, who had already drifted off, “So, what’d he leave out?”