The Power of One : The Continuation

Chapter Three – Welcome Home

By Crow Skywalker

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Disclaimer – I do not own Pokemon. It belongs to its original creators, and I am in no way making any money off of this fanfic.

June 10, 2004 – Rewrite # 4. There’s not much of a difference between this and the original. I rewrote the first part, but the last bit is exactly the same. Spelling and grammar has been fixed and all that. It’s only 400 words longer.

Other Notes – This fic takes place after the second movie, Pokemon 2000, or whatever you want to call it. I’ve changed some things to fit the fic (Ash is older, for one), and so its AU starting at the end of the movie. No new Pokemon (until he reaches Johto, anyway), no new characters…that kind of AU. And this fic will have Ash/Misty and may or may not have Melody/Tracey and Jessie/James.

Summary – After the second movie, Ash and the gang start off again on a totally new journey – but just what awaits them?

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It hadn’t taken them long to get to Pallet Town, with a little help from Ash’s water Pokemon, Lapras. The ride had been short, with Ash, Misty, Melody and Tracey riding on the Pokemon’s back, and had taken a little over ten minutes. Now they were on land again, just a short walk to Pallet Town.

Petting the Pokemon, Ash thanked her as he pulled a Pokeball off his belt. He held it open, the small red and white ball snapping open and a red glow surrounding the Pokemon in front of him. "You can rest now." The Pokemon disappeared into the ball and it snapped close. With a smile, he turned to his friends. "Ready?"

The group nodded, Misty raising her arms as she stretched tiredly. Night was almost upon them, and she’d been up since early that morning. "Come on, let’s go," she yawned.

"Aww," Melody teased as they began walking in the direction of the houses nearby, "I think Misty’s tired!"

"I’m a little tired myself," Tracey admitted. "I can’t wait to be able to sit down for a while."

"Me too," Ash said, walking past the house closest the edge of Pallet. Suddenly, he threw his arms out and whirled around excitedly, glad to be home. "This is it! Pallet Town!"

"Duh, Ash. I think we’ve figured that one out already." Misty muttered, looking around the familiar town. She’d been there a few times in the past, and she was used to the houses spaced far apart, the friendly people, and everything else about the small town.

Ash chose to ignore her, turning to Tracey and Melody, who had never been in Pallet Town before. "You guys are going to stay at my house, right? The town’s so small that we don’t even have a Pokemon Center or a Gym."

Misty fumed, noticing Ash had excluded her. "What about me?"

Ash turned to her with a grin on his face. "You can sleep outside."

She scowled in response, her hand reaching behind her to get her famous mallet.

Ash saw this, and backing away slowly, he raised his hands in front of him for defense. "I’m joking, Misty! You know that you’re always welcome in my house! My mom loves you!" He assured her, casually putting his arm around her and leading her down the dirt road, the other two in tow. Misty blushed, the mallet suddenly forgotten.

"They make quite the couple," Tracey whispered behind them, and Pikachu, who had fallen back to walk with Tracey and Melody, ‘chuu’d in agreement.

Melody nodded, too busy taking in her surroundings. This was her first time on the mainland, and she wasn’t used to it. The town looked much like her own, however, being small with quite a few people living in it.

They followed Ash for quite a while, talking among themselves and listening to Ash and Misty argue about one thing or another. Finally, Ash turned from the main road and started up a stone path that lead to what they assumed was his house. This was confirmed when Ash opened the door.

"Mom?" Ash called, Pikachu running in through the crack of the door before he could even open it all the way. Ash motioned for his friends to come in. "Hello?" Mom? Are you home?"

A woman appeared in the kitchen doorway followed by a Mr. Mime, and before Ash could even blink, he felt arms wrap around him tightly in a hug.

"Oh, Ash! I’m so glad you’re home!" She cried, tears running down her face. "Are you alright?"

Ash struggled to breathe, pushing his mom away gently. "It’s okay, mom. Why wouldn’t I be?"

"It’s just that..." She started as she let go of Ash, but decided not to say anything. "Its nothing, Ash. I’m just really worried about you, that’s all." Her gaze turned to the other three people standing behind her son, and the familiar yellow Pokemon who immediately jumped up into her now empty arms. "Why hello Pikachu, I’m glad to see you home safe and sound too." She studied the others, "Misty? Is that really you?" She immediately pushed past Ash, who sweatdropped as his mom hugged the girl. "Nice to see you too."

Coughing, Tracey extended a hand. "Hello Mrs. Ketchum, my name is Tracey. I believe we met on the island a while back, but we never got a chance to really talk."

Mrs. Ketchum let go of Misty to take the boy’s hand. "Its nice to meet you too. Ash has been talking a lot about you, and I’m glad that I’m finally getting to meet you in person."

Melody was the next to step up, and smiled sweetly at the older lady. "My name is Melody. We haven’t had the chance to talk either, but since I’m new to the group, nobody else knows much about me either." She laughed.

Mrs. Ketchum shook hands with her also, looking around at the crowd her son had brought home. "I take it you’ll be staying here with Ash for a while?" They nodded, and she continued, "You’re all welcome to stay...there’s always lots of room, and it would be nice to have more people around to talk to."

They nodded as they took off their shoes and headed in to the living room, which was as clean as always, thanks to Mr. Mime.

"Thanks mom," Said Ash as he took off his backpack and threw it on the couch, "We really appreciate it."

Mrs. Ketchum watched as the tired travelers all sunk down warily to rest after their long journey. "Anyone hungry?"

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"So Ash...why did you decide to return home?"

The group was now seated around the Ketchum’s kitchen table, engrossed in the food they had been served. The food on the boat hadn’t been the greatest, and it had been a while since they had eaten a good home cooked meal – and Mrs. Ketchum was an awesome cook.

He shrugged at first, having his mouth full of food, but as soon as he swallowed it, he answered. "I don’t know, really. I just felt the need to come back – before I start out for the Johto League, that is."

"Even more chances to get lost," Misty rolled her eyes while pushing food around her plate, "I can’t wait."

Melody and Tracey exchanged glances at this, and Tracey winked before asking, "Does this mean you’ll be going with us? I thought you might want to go home for a while, visit your sisters and all that…"

She looked up, startled, and blushing, answered, "Well, no...I mean...he still owes me a bike!"

Both Melody and Tracey sweatdropped, Tracey’s plan to put Misty on the spot failing.

Ash, however, who had not caught on, was the next to speak. "You’ll get your bike back...don’t worry."

"Well I’d better, Mr. Pokemon Master!"

Before the fight could continue, Mrs. Ketchum spoke up. "So you’ll be leaving soon? Perhaps you should visit Professor Oak before you leave, and that young lad...what was his name? Rock?"

Ash looked up at this. "You mean Brock? He’s here in Pallet Town?"

Mrs. Ketchum nodded. "After we returned, Professor Ivy asked Brock to stay here and help out Professor Oak," She stated, "Although he didn’t look too happy with the new arrangements...but yes, he’s been here in Pallet since we came back."

"Hey Ash," Misty said suddenly, "Maybe Brock would like to come along as well? Then there would be five of us...less chances of us getting lost," She added, before continuing quickly, "And Brock only stayed behind the last time because of Professor Ivy...and now she’s gone. Besides, there’s supposed to be all kinds of new Pokemon in the Johto region. He’d be very interested, being a Breeder and all."

Ash just blinked and stared at her for a moment. "You know Misty..you’re right. When we go to visit Professor Oak, we’ll ask Brock if he wants to come. We could use his cooking skills," He laughed lightly.

"I’d like to meet this Brock," Tracey said as he finished off the last bit of his supper, "And I’ll be meeting Professor Oak in the process. I can’t wait..." He looked over at Melody and smiled, "He’s my hero you know."

"He’s a world known Pokemon scientist," Melody added, "I’d like to meet him as well."

"Well then you’ll get to meet them tomorrow." Said Mrs. Ketchum, picking up the dirty dishes and laying them in the kitchen sink, "Its getting late," She observed, looking out the window above the sink, "I think you guys should hit the sack – you must all be very tired."

Pikachu, who had been happily eating his ketchup supper, yawned in reply.

"Well that settles it," Mrs. Ketchum stated in a motherly nature, her hands on her hips. "No arguments. I want you kids to get your rest."

"What about the sleeping arrangements?" Ash asked, trying not to let the yawning catch on. After the long journey and home cooked meal, he was definitely not going to object to sleep.

Well, Misty can sleep with you..." Melody began.

"No way!" Both Ash and Misty yelled, blushing and looking away from each other.

Mrs. Ketchum blinked at this, "Sleep with Misty? Does that mean they’re.."

"Mother!" Ash stared at her unbelievingly. "I’m fifteen! How could you think such things??"

"Its only normal to date girls when you’re at this age." Mrs. Ketchum pointed out, "And Misty is a very nice girl – she’ll make a lovely wife." She ignored the blushing Misty, and the other two as they giggled. "I just wish you’d told me sooner that you and Misty are an item."

Sighing in embarrassment, Ash put his head down on the table and "But we aren’t!" could barely be heard.

"So is this the real reason you came home?" Mrs. Ketchum asked, looking between her son and Misty, "To tell me that you’ve finally started dating Misty? Because I could have told you earlier that you two made a perfect couple!"

"Argh..." Ash groaned, pretending not to hear what his mother was saying. However, it was kind of hard since she was talking so excitedly, and Tracey and Melody were almost falling off their chairs from laughing.

It was going to be a long night.

To Be Continued…