“Pika!”
“Scrag!”
Ash laughed as he watched Pikachu and Scraggy chase each other around a tree. “Pikachu~ Scraggy~ Stop ssing around and give a hand, will ya?”
“Pi!”
“Scrag!”
The two Pokemon jolted at the plea, cried out in affirmation and rushed over to their trainer where Scraggy proceeded to hold onto the ladder that Ash was on with an exaggerated huff while Pikachu clambered up its steps with all the deftness of a rodent and bouncing up onto the roof to help hold Ash’s side of the banner to secure it.
This was definitely not because Ash Ketchum was still of below average height even in his twenties, however. Definitely not. The young man just had a lean and compact fra, that’s all.
“Hehe. Thanks Pikachu… How’s that, mom? Better now?”
Delia Ketchum nodded down on the ground. “Yes, better. But move over to the left a little Pikachu. The banner’s looking too taut — we have to leave so room for it to flutter.”
“Pika! Pikachu!” The yellow mouse did as he was told before helping Ash tie the fabric in place after finally receiving the final approval from his mom.
DELIA’S DINER GRAND REOPENING
That was what was written between the colorful graphics of a woman and a Mr Mi holding platters of food in their hands — a collaborative effort between Ash’s mom and his Leavanny.
“Phew! That did not take forever at all…” Ash mused in response to the whole hour he spent trying to satisfy Delia’s finicky demands.
“Bay! Bay!”
“Hahaha! Thanks, Bayleef.” Ash gratefully accepted the cup of lemonade from Bayleef’s vines, but also made sure to hold it out of the way in preparation for what he knew was coming next.
“Bay!”
And sure enough, the oversized Grass dino plowed into him with a Tackle, nearly sending him to the ground as splashes of his beverage spilled from the cup.
“Oof! I know Bayleef, I miss you too.” Ash returned with a hug.
According to Professor Oak, Bayleef had been one of the Pokemons who had been the most distressed by Ash’s absence, and trying to keep her from escaping the ranch to go looking for him had been a major challenge for the elderly Professor.
Not that she was the only one. It was simply that Bayleef did not have the benefit of having wings that keeping her confined was at all possible. The rest of Ash’s Pokemon, however…
The young man looked around and took in the scene of his various Pokemon working around the site while bemoaning the absence of so of his mbers. “I hope they’re doing okay…” A number of Ash’s Pokemon had simply decided to leave the ranch for good in pursuit of their own life over the years — a decision that Professor Oak could hardly deny.
But on the other hand, there were also a number of them who were still on the prowl, searching for any signs of their missing trainer. And trying to reach out to those mbers to notify them of Ash’s return had been very difficult to say the least.
“C’mon, Bayleef, let’s go load up Tauros’ cart and save him the extra trip.”
“Bay, bay!”
***
“Ash!”
The young man was helping his Sceptile and Sirfetch’d move so of the lumber they had sliced when Professor Oak called out to him — the three of them were in the midst of making so new tables for the diner.
“Professor Oak! I thought you were busy doing stuff with the League!” Despite Delia’s best efforts, Ash had been keeping up with the news and was fully cognizant of the events surrounding Team Rocket’s assault and Giovanni's escape.
“I should have been there… I should have stuck around Goldenrod for a few more days…” Those were the thoughts that had been occupying his mind since learning of the tragedy.
He had asked Brock and Professor Oak if there was anything he could do to help, but everyone just told him to settle down and stay put, further compounding that feeling of helplessness simring within his core.
“Haha…” The old man laughed as he shambled over to Ash’s side with the support of a cane in his hand. “I can’t be away from the lab all the ti. Got to co back and check on things periodically… What about you, my boy? How are you faring? I see you’ve been keeping yourself busy. Good… that’s very good. I do say that it’s about ti for Delia to reopen her diner — Pallet Town hasn’t been the sa without the familiar scent of her coffee.”
“Yeah… Mom’s been a little restless too. At least working on the diner’ll help get her off my back.” Ash chuckled. “And thanks for letting us use your dad’s old pub, Professor Oak. Saved us the trouble of hunting around for a new place.”
“You’re welco, my boy. I’ve been struggling to find a purpose for this old place anyway…” The old man waxed nostalgic as he gazed upon the renovation efforts being applied to the disused shop lot by the harbour. “And I see you decided to keep the old truck too.”
“Yup! Mom wants to polish it up and keep it outside as a signboard or sothing — since we can’t get the old thing to run and all.”
Professor Oak nodded. “I see… Little Nina was quite enamoured by it the first ti she ca to visit. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see it if and when she stops by for another visit.”
Ash faltered. “Nina… Is she okay? I an, I saw the news of what she did in the Radio Tower but…” He had been aning to call and check on the girl, but felt a little awkward about it since they hadn’t known each other for all that long.
The old professor chuckled and gave his protege a pat on the shoulder. “Little Nina is fine, Ash. Last I heard, she’d been quite active in helping clean up Mahogany Town as well.”
“T-That’s good to know…”
“But enough of that.” Oak continued with a wave of his cane. “I’m here because I have so good news for you.”
“Good news…?”
“That’s right. I reached out to my old partner to get the news out about your return. Dragonites, there’s such a small population of them out there you see… The wild ones, especially—”
Before Professor Oak could finish his words, Ash jolted and turned his gaze out into the sea where he could sense sothing pulling at him from beyond the horizon.
“NIIIIIIITEEEEE!!!”
A fervent cry echoed across the distance and Ash’s face slowly lit up in a beaming smile. “Dragonite… Dragonite! Is that you?!”
“Drago… DRAGONIIIIIITE!!!”
The bright orange teorite crashed into where Ash stood, raining a cyclone of dirt and concrete down from the sky.
Professor Oak coughed but was otherwise intact, having been shielded by the Mr Mi to his side. “Ash! Are you alright, my boy?” Far be it from him to assu that Ash’s Pokemon would do him harm, but the wonderful creatures, in the throes of passion, could be akin to superpowered toddlers a lot of the ti.
“Nin. Greninja.”
“Luca-lucario!”
“Hahaha! Greninja, Lucario! You guys ca back too!”
However, the good professor’s concern was proven to be in bad faith as his question was t with jubilant cries and laughter from Ash and his Pokemon. And when the dust settled, he could see the young man laying in the crater and beset by his once wayward friends.
“Oof! You’re hugging too tight, Dragonite. I’m about to run out of breath here…” Ash wheezed as he gave his tubby orange Dragon a few pats on the back. But the loving Dragonite wouldn’t release him until she had her fill of his presence, giving him a few bone rattling shakes before finally relenting.
“Nin-nin.” The next to greet Ash was Greninja, who simply offered a hand to help get his human back up on his feet.
“Greninja! It’s so good to see you again!” Ash exclaid as he pulled his aloof ninja frog into a hug. “How was your mission? Are you just visiting, buddy? Or are you back with us for good?” He asked, with a great deal of eager anticipation in his voice.
“Nin. Ninja-gren.” Greninja nodded while Professor Oak chid in with a chortle.
“After your disappearance, Charizard, Dragonite and Lucario took off to go looking for you all around the world.” The Professor explained. “During the course of which, they were reunited with Greninja, who abandoned everything in favor of assisting his comrades’ endeavors.”
Ash quivered then tightened his embrace on Greninja and pulled Lucario into his arms as well. “Thank you, everyone… Thanks for never giving up on … And sorry to make you worry…”
“Lu! Lucario!”
“Nite!” Dragonite, not wanting to be left out, joined in on the huddle as well with yet another crushing embrace.
“Hehehe… I love you guys. But erm…” Ash sniffled and peeked around as best as he could amidst the bodies constricting him. “Where’s Charizard?”
“Nite, dragonite!”
“I’m sure Charizard will be back with us soon enough, my boy,” assured Oak. “He and Dragonite probably split up to better cover their ground at so point. But I was told that he had been inford as well.”
The young Pokemon Trainer nodded. “That’s good to know.” Ash was confident that his Charizard was strong enough to weather whatever challenges ca his way. “Anyways, how about you guys help fill in this big ol’ hole before mom gets here. And while we’re at it, you can fill in on everything you experienced during your journey as well.”
The Pokemon all cried out in affirmation as they helped Ash climb out of the hole. However, just as they were about to continue in their revelry, Ash shuddered and froze in his step as a wave of unease overtook him, prompting him to stare out into the distance, towards the mountainous north, with a wavering glance.
“There it is again, that feeling of wrongness…” It was a discomfort that Ash had been silently dealing with since being liberated from Celebi’s ti loop — too afraid to speak out for fear that his loved ones would baby him even further than they already were.
This ti though, that wave of incongruity was the worst it had ever been. “Sothing big is about to happen and I need to do sothing about it…” That was what Ash thought as he was jolted back to attention with a worried pat from Lucario.
Ash smiled and gave his loyal companion a ruffle of his furry head. He also briefly considered consulting Professor Oak about it but ultimately decided not to. “It’s not like I can really describe what exactly it is that feels so wrong. Not to ntion, the Professor’s been so busy lately…”
His unsteady gait, pale countenance, thinning hair and those weighty bags clinging to the man’s eyes. Ash had not failed to notice his ntor’s deteriorating form. No doubt, recent events and all those preceding them had taken their toll on the elderly Pokemon Professor.
“I’ll find a chance to sneak out when mom’s not looking. Find sothing solid before bringing it to Professor Oak’s attention.” The return of his Dragonite made Ash’s plan more feasible than ever. “Just drop in and out with Dragonite, have a quick look and see what I can find.”
Ash hoped that it was nothing serious and that he was simply being paranoid. But with all the stuff that had been happening recently, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that sothing major was about to happen.
“Maybe I should give a call to Nina and see if I can’t get her to tag along as well…” But maybe not. The young girl had dealt with her fair share of ordeals recently and Ash was her senior after all — gotta show off how reliable he was sotis. “Can’t keep counting on other people to bail out.”
“Alright, everyone! Let’s get working!” Ash cheered, forcefully burying his woes underneath a false facade.
The Pokemon cheered along discordantly as they went about filling in the crater. But deep down, they could sense the unease brewing within their trainer’s heart as well.
***
Author's note:
Thank you to @Novelite69 on Royal Road for all the suggestions they contributed to the writing of this chapter.
In truth, I was supposed to release this chapter the day after Ch 267. But I screwed up the advance release on Flareon. So, in the interest of fairness, the chapter was delayed for everyone else as well.
Also thank you all for bearing with throughout this lengthy little training training/interlude arc. This chapter will be the last of it. We will be progressing the plot again after this, I promise.
And for those of you who might want to know, the epilogue of Part Three is on Ch 290 and advanced releases are on Ch 287 as of today.
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