Ash woke up the next day groggy. He got up and found a wild Molly sleeping on his chest, and Pikachu and Vee had fallen off the bed sometime last night. He rubbed his head and picked up Molly before taking her to her room so he could continue with his morning routine.
As he brushed his teeth, he thought about yesterday. When they got back home, Delia and Molly were waiting for them, ready to celebrate Ash's birthday. And when they saw Green, Gary, and even Yellow, they pretty much dragged the gang inside so they could all eat together.
And more than that, Delia pulled Ash aside and opened a closet door, and from it, an avalanche of wrapped boxes nearly buried him. Turns out a lot of people sent over gifts for him. She even handed him a note that was very clearly from Clair, saying that this time she would secure her position as the favorite Dragon Cousin over Lance.
And the gift she sent him was actually really neat. It was a Dragon Fang that apparently was made from her personal Dragonite. She definitely earns points for that one.
And speaking of Lance, Ash called him up to ask for a Gible egg or at least a Garchompite, but he told him that unfortunately his Dragon Clan is not allowed to breed Gible because of an agreement with Cynthia's family, which was a shame, but hey, not the worst thing.
But that was last night, and he had to make some preparations today. I mean, he knew Dawn and Barry weren't going to go out and start their journey today, but then again, he also wanted to head to Sinnoh a bit early because he needed to keep an eye on Paul's progress.
The main reason was simple: he hasn't seen Paul since he took off for Johto, so he has no idea if Paul is a better person or still a bit of an A-hole. But even if he isn't, he still wants to follow him for a little while because of one thing: Chimchar.
You see, remember, Paul and then Ash's Chimchar is a wild Pokémon originally. It wasn't given in the lab, and Ash knows the general location of where Paul caught Chimchar. Adding his Dex Nav, he was confident he could find him first.
Oh yeah, and speaking of the Dex Nav, that reminded him. His thing finally updated. You know, the Pokédex upgrade. He was actually wondering why it was taking so long. He found out it was because after he caught 3 Mythicals, it kinda crashed because it was trying to process something that high quality. But after capturing multiple Shadow Pokémon and sending them off for purification, he found it.
It called itself the Hyper Training Upgrade. It kinda worked like the one from X and Y, where Ash could give his Pokémon specialized training in the PC, basically giving him yet another huge boost in training. Along with that, he finally got a way to check the EVs of his Pokémon. Before, he could only guess or have to keep track on his own. Now he actually had it.
He mentioned before, technically there is no limit on how many EVs a Pokémon could have. It's just that after the first 510, it becomes extremely more difficult to even go up by 1. For example, to go up 1 point after the first 510 is the same as about 20, and it only gets harder from there.
But hey, now Ash could know what he was training. That was good.
Oh, one more thing: the Snag Machine. Ash, Green, and Gary obviously got to keep theirs, but Green and Gary's had the failsafe to only work on Shadow Pokémon, so they were effectively useless. But Ash's wasn't. His was the genuine 100% real thing, and he kept that nice and hidden.
As for the gang after Ash's birthday, the next day Gary said he had to go to Sinnoh to do some research projects. He also offered Ash the chance to go with him, but Ash refused. He had some more stuff to do, and Gary understood, so he took off.
Meanwhile, Green had an interesting choice that she was going to make. Turns out after they met Anabel, Green kept in contact with her, and very quickly found out she was part of the International Police. I mean, she wasn't an idiot.
But thanks to that, Green kept pushing, and eventually the International Police took interest in her and the gadgets that she had. So she got hired to go work for the International Police.
I mean, that surprised Ash a lot, but you know, it's probably a better outcome than the alternative. At least she is doing things for good rather than just scamming for the love of the game.
But before she took off to go to the headquarters, she asked Ash for a quick favor. Remember her Eevee? She threw her out and asked Ash if he could use the Sun Stone thing on his ring like he did with Vee. She really wanted an Espeon.
Ash really saw no reason not to, so he switched the ring to Sun Stone mode and pointed. Then Green's Eevee evolved, turning into an Espeon.
But while Espeon looked at her new form, she then looked at Vee, and the gem on her head glowed, picking up Vee and pulling him in for nuzzles that he could not escape from.
Vee had to bite the bullet and evolve into Umbreon without Ash's help. And as a reminder, Vee can evolve without Ash, but when he does it alone, it hurts a lot. But it was worth it because now that he was a Dark type, he broke free and ran away.
There was a quick scuffle, but eventually Vee was on the ground, tired and back in base Eevee form, and Espeon looked happy sitting next to Green.
Green meanwhile laughed, then she gave Ash a wink and told him to make sure not to get into any trouble, or else she would have to go arrest him. Then she took off.
And then there was Yellow. No one wanted her to go, but she had to. She thanked everyone for the most fun she'd had in a long time. She was planning on going back to Viridian City to meet up with her uncle for a few days, then travel again.
She still wanted to find her parents. That had not changed, and she still wanted to do it alone.
So after one last hug, Yellow waved goodbye and left Pallet to go her way to Viridian City, until the next time they all met again.
Anyway, Ash spent the first few days at home. He signed up for his trainer license in Sinnoh online, obviously. Meanwhile, he kept in touch with Dawn and Barry, but most surprising of all was that he got a text from Verity of all people.
Yeah, remember her?
Apparently, Sorrel snitched on him and told Verity that he was likely to go to Sinnoh soon. And after Sorrel called Brock and asked him when Ash's birthday was to confirm the time, he told Verity when he officially turned 13 and could go to Sinnoh.
So yeah, Verity immediately contacted him when she could and told him that he better tell her when he comes to Sinnoh because they've got to meet up again for another adventure. Ash had no choice but to accept.
So yeah, that was his current...let's say situation. But hey, not like he's complaining. It's always more fun like this.
But let's get back to the Paul situation. Ash managed to get into contact with Reggie thanks to Professor Oak. Yeah, don't get used to saying that, but obviously Ash checked on how Reggie was. Turns out he was already working as a Breeder, and was quite good at it.
Then Ash got to the meat and potatoes and asked him if he'd heard about Paul. Reggie revealed that Paul called him yesterday and told him that he would be heading to Sinnoh in 1 week. And that was all Ash needed to hear.
Once he heard that, he started packing and told both Molly and Delia that he would be leaving for Sinnoh a bit earlier. While Molly was sad and wanted to hug Ash to persuade him to stay, it was no use. Delia understood, but she decided to make something for him.
The night after he woke up, he went downstairs and Delia walked up to him, handing him a box with a smile,"I stayed up all night making this for you. I hope you like it."
And Molly jumped too, saying, "I helped too. I know you'll like it, big brother."
Ash smiled and opened it. Inside was a new jacket. It was black and red, and on top of it was also some light blue headphones that Delia got for him since he might get bored. She heard Brock wasn't going with him, so she thought he might get bored.
Ash smiled and told them it was perfect, and he needed a new change of clothes anyway. He was starting to outgrow them. After all, this was around the age when children get growth spurts. Before, Ash was already tall; now he was around the same size as OG 15-year-old Brock. But obviously, currently Brock was taller since he was 17, turning 18 in a few months, so he was still shorter than Brock for now.
But eventually, the day came that Ash wanted to leave. He stood in front of his new trophy and put his Hoenn hat on it, while he left his old hoodie in the closet. He fixed himself up one last time in the mirror. Under his new jacket was a white shirt, and he had jeans and new sneakers. To finish it all, he had a new hat and his headphones around his neck.
When he walked out, he was greeted by Delia and Molly, who wanted to have one more breakfast with Ash again, acting like he doesn't visit when he can.
But after that, he went to Professor Oak's lab to go do a few things. For one, he went to check on Daisy and Courtney. When Daisy saw him, she almost looked relieved, and she explained the situation with Courtney.
Ever since Maxie's funeral, she seemed to be wanting to isolate herself, but she had been making progress and even started helping her remember how things used to be. Courtney even looked at Ash and remembered his name. It was progress. Was it slow? Yes, but progress nonetheless.
The second thing was that he went to go collect his Riolu. Since yeah, he left the baby here for Oak to babysit while he was in Orre. But when he opened the door to the ranch, out of it Aipom immediately jumped out and grabbed onto Ash's head, hissing behind him, along with a bunch of other younger Pokémon.
And the thing they were running from was none other than Riolu, who walked out and let out a small growl. He jumped to try and hit Ash again, but Ash caught him with one hand and held him out as the little dog was flailing in his hand, trying to reach Ash, but his little hands were too small.
Ash looked in and saw his Venusaur watching. Ash gave him a deadpan look that said, 'Dude, really? I thought you were supposed to be dealing with these kinds of things.'
Venusaur shrugged, "Venu-Venusaur [Bro, do you think I didn't try? I even tied that thing to a tree and told it to behave, and it just bit through the vines and kept fighting. Every time I knock it out, it just gets up and keeps fighting.]"
Ash rolled his eyes and returned Riolu to his Poké Ball. He turned, "Excuses."
But then he reached behind his head and pulled Aipom off his head too, as the monkey dangled in front of him.
"You're coming with me too," Ash said with no room for negotiation, making Aipom shrug and nod.
Then there was just one last Pokémon he came here to get. He looked over at Venusaur, and Venusaur pointed with his vine over to a rock.
So Ash walked over and peeked over, finding his second Ralts hiding. And he flinched when he saw Ash.
But before it could scurry away, Ash picked him up and took him with him.
"Come on, we can even hang out with your sister on the way."
At the mention of her, Ralts seemed to calm down a little, but he was still cautious.
But when Ash brought out Gardevoir and he saw how big she was, all that melted away.
Anyway, with Gardevoir out, Ash put on a face mask and went back to Vermilion City, where he had his boat that would leave soon.
He thought about going over to Chloe to hang out and also tease her since it had been a full year since the last time they saw each other. But as he walked down the street, he saw something that made his body scream danger.
Off in the distance, Goh was back in town and at the laboratory.
So Ash turned around on his heel and walked away, noping right out of there. He decided he could text her later, going on the ship and sitting right down. He was not gonna get anywhere near that.
So because of that, Ash couldn't go see Chloe. But you never know what might happen. He still sent her a text, saying stuff like, 'How could she be so cold-hearted?' and 'Fine, my heart has moved on,' things like that.
Meanwhile, once they set sail, Pikachu and Vee got out of their Poké Balls and relaxed in the sun. Riolu also got out and looked like he was expecting to fight someone, but then he stopped and looked around, seeing that they weren't on land anymore.
They were sailing, and he looked out toward the water.
Ash saw him and picked him up, setting him on his shoulder and pointing out at the water, "You ready, bud? We're going off to a new adventure. I have high hopes for you."
Riolu looked at Ash, then looked over at Pikachu and Vee, who were napping. But he knew how strong those two were, and the thought of getting stronger excited him. He looked at Ash and nodded, pumping his little fist, and Ash smirked.
"Alright, well, since we're here, let's start touching up on your Aura."
Riolu tilted his head, but when Ash held his hand out, showing a small Aura Sphere, Riolu got excited and nodded, wanting to learn as much as he could.
Meanwhile, Ralts watched from inside Ash's bag, but with a slap to the back from Pikachu, he stumbled forward, standing next to Riolu.
Ash smirked, "Looks like you've got yourself a training partner too. Let's work hard from now on."
—
A day and a half later, Ash arrived in Sinnoh. The boat dropped him near Route 220, but that wasn't where he was going to stay. As soon as he got on land, he threw out Charizard and jumped on, taking off.
He flew towards the forest in the general area. So, we know that Paul found Chimchar running away from a gang of Zangoose, and Zangoose are only found in two places: Route 208 and 210. But it was more likely that it was in Route 208, since Chimchar was also chased to a cliff, so he started his search there.
Now, Ash made sure to come here a full day before Paul arrived in Sinnoh just to give himself the best chance he could. So when he landed on the Route, he pulled out his Dex Nav and searched up Chimchars.
And he found a whole pack of them, but that was not what he was looking for.
From what he remembered, that Chimchar was someone who was either separated from the clan or an outcast. So he ignored the big group and kept searching.
And then, he found it, a single dot leading him further down the path.
Ash smiled, "Bingo."
He recalled Charizard and quietly made his way through the trees. As he walked, he actually tried out his new headphones. He pulled out good old classic Mezase Pokémon Master and listened to it as he walked through the trees, looking around.
And that's when he stumbled upon a clan of Zangoose, all sitting together and eating fruit they found around the forest.
Ash didn't see Chimchar yet, and the Dex Nav said he was right here, but that's when he saw it.
In the tree above where the Zangoose were eating, a small hand sneaked over and stole an apple before quickly hiding back in the leaves.
So it looked like Chimchar would follow Zangoose and steal some of their food. Guess that makes sense why Paul found him being chased by them. They eventually found out and were mad.
Now it was only a matter of how to get him.
Ash would prefer to not risk Chimchar getting traumatized, so waiting for them to find him and chase him was out. He could also beat them all up, but that might make Chimchar run away.
But then he got another idea. Ash stepped out and got all of the Zangoose's attention. All of them stopped growling at him, getting ready to attack, but he was not worried.
Ash just cleared his throat and pointed over at the west, "I saw a Seviper! Get 'em!"
All the Zangoose stopped, looked at each other, then they all immediately started moving, even running over each other, yelling.
"Zang! [Seviper where?!]"
"Zang-goose! [Seviper?! I'll kill 'em!]"
"Zang! [Not before I do!]"
And immediately all the Zangoose left. They didn't even bother taking their food with them. Their hatred of Seviper ran too deep. Ash was almost impressed; that's a level of hating he aspires to reach.
Anyway, with them gone, Chimchar's stomach won over, so he slowly climbed out of the tree and sat on the ground, starting to stuff his face with all the food that they left behind.
As Ash watched him eat, he decided he might as well check him with his Dex.
—
Chimchar♂
Nature: Lonely (+Atk, –Def)
Ability: Blaze | Hidden: Iron Fist
Mutation - Berserker Soul
Condition - Slight Malnutrition, Exhaustion
—
Ash whistled. Not bad at all. I mean, the nature was mid. He would prefer Adamant, but hey, he had a few Adamant Mints left, so nothing that couldn't be fixed. As for his condition, yeah, that would need to get fixed, but it was easy enough.
Anyway, it was time to catch his monkey. Ash walked forward to get close to him, but the moment Chimchar saw Ash standing there, every hair on his body stood up.
"Chim!" He immediately grabbed another apple and threw it in fear, but Ash caught it and got close, crouching down to look at him,
"Hey."
Chimchar was still scared, so he ended up sending a quick punch toward Ash's face, but Ash caught that one too.
"You done?" Ash asked politely.
Chimchar bared his teeth, his little body shaking as he tried to pull his fist free from Ash's hand, "Chim! Chimchar!" he hissed.
Ash just smiled and let go.
The little Fire-type immediately jumped backward, landing in a crouch. Flames flickered around his tail as he grabbed another apple with his other hand, like he couldn't decide if he wanted to eat or fight.
"Hungry?" Ash asked.
Chimchar blinked as Ash pulled out some red Pokéblocks, the Spicy kind. Chimchar wanted to refuse, but his hungry stomach got the best of him, and the thought of food that wasn't just scraps was too tempting.
Slowly, he approached and reached out, taking the Pokéblocks before jumping back quickly. Then he looked down at the blocks and shoved them into his mouth, chewing quickly. They were delicious.
Ash smiled and kept looking at him, "You like that? You know, I have a lot more. Plus, you look pretty lonely. You wanna join my little group of misfits?" Ash held his hand out.
Chimchar looked at Ash, then down at his hand. He looked back at the tree he hid in before and thought about his life so far.
He didn't really have anything to lose, and even if this turned out to be a bad deal, at least he would get to eat.
So slowly, Chimchar reached his hand out and put it in Ash's hand. Ash smiled and then picked up Chimchar, putting him on his shoulder, "Alright, welcome to the team. We can get you in a Poké Ball later. For now, let's get you fixed up, alright? Then you can meet everyone."
Chimchar jumped a little, but sitting here, so high up, he could feel his heart beating as he got excited. For the first time, he felt like things might turn out okay. And Chimchar couldn't help but laugh as Ash walked off to head to the nearest Pokémon Center.