"Auntie, look here—how about putting this here? Does it look out of place?"
"And this too, and this—if we place something like this over here…"
In Pallet Town, at Ash's house—
A girl with short, light-purple hair was bustling about non-stop.
Delia and Mr. Mime watched her with amused smiles. The girl darting around, clearly flustered yet energetic, was none other than—
Anabel.
After she and Ash had opened up to each other, and considering she had no surviving family, Anabel had simply moved into Ash's home. She helped Delia around the house and also took care of Ash's Pokémon while he was away.
After all, Ash had bought an entire mountain near Pallet Town just to house his Pokémon companions. There was no way Delia could manage all of that alone.
And with Anabel now being at least at the Elite Four level, her presence also served as added protection for Delia.
While Ash's Pokémon were certainly powerful, their intelligence couldn't quite match a human's—at least, not for the day-to-day management.
Over time, Delia had grown very fond of Anabel.
She was considerate, gentle, skilled at housework, and most importantly—she took incredibly good care of Ash's Pokémon.
After all, this was a girl who could understand the hearts of Pokémon.
That said, Delia genuinely liked all the girls who had grown close to her son. Each one had her own charm.
Although she sometimes sighed helplessly at the fact that Ash seemed to attract so many girls, she was still proud of her son.
Just look at him! A strong Pokémon Trainer, earning a solid income, and even popular with the ladies—my son is amazing!
What parent wouldn't want their child to be accomplished and happy?
Anabel suddenly snapped out of her frantic decorating.
That's right. She was getting way too anxious.
Ash had only been away for half a month, after all.
Ding dong!
"Mom! Anabel! I'm home!"
"Pika pika—Pikachu!"
Ash and Pikachu's voices rang out from the front yard.
Of course, he had brought Sabrina back with him too.
Delia, Anabel, and Mr. Mime all stepped out of the room. Though Anabel was clearly eager to open the door herself, she respectfully gave the honor to Delia.
Delia opened the door to find Ash standing there, arms full of gifts.
And beside him was Sabrina.
"Haha, Mom! Anabel! It's been a while! Come on, come on, I brought you guys a ton of gifts. Wow, something smells great—are you cooking lunch? Me, Pikachu, and the rest of the team are starving!"
Of course, he wasn't actually starving—but saying so was necessary.
When he saw the smiles on Delia's and Anabel's faces, he knew his words had hit home.
After exchanging greetings and introductions, Delia and Anabel warmly welcomed the beautiful Sabrina into their home.
Then, Ash, Anabel, and Sabrina started feeding Ash's Pokémon together.
Ash introduced his newer Pokémon—Snivy, Tepig, Victini, and Meloetta—to everyone.
Victini was ecstatic to see so many Pokémon gathered together.
Bayleef instantly pounced on Ash and knocked him to the ground—still as clingy as ever.
Meanwhile, Sceptile, Charizard, Pikachu, Infernape, and Snorlax, Ash's regional aces, stood a little farther away.
They were thoughtful like that—letting the others have their time with Ash first.
They knew Ash would always treat everyone with equal love and respect.
After that, Ash made a quick trip to Professor Oak's lab to see the professor and Tracey.
He also reached out to Misty, May, Dawn, and Brock, sending them all the gifts he'd brought back.
Then came a peaceful and heartwarming time—Ash spent his days with his beloved Pokémon, his mother Delia, and the girls around him: Anabel and Sabrina.
On Day 15, Ash personally traveled to Cerulean City to visit Misty.
Misty had been steadily improving at the Cerulean Gym.
Her strongest Pokémon now—her Gyarados—was at level 50.
She hadn't been staying in the gym all the time either; she often traveled around Kanto and Johto.
Misty and May had become good friends, since May was also currently in Johto.
The two often met up—training Pokémon, shopping, and just spending time together.
So Ash joined Misty and went to find May.
Then, all three returned to Pallet Town together.
With their Pokémon, Delia, Misty, May, Anabel, and Sabrina in tow, Ash led the group to Alto Mare—the City of Water.
In Alto Mare, Latias had been living peacefully all this time.
Latios, her brother, was overjoyed to see how much she had changed and matured.
Everyone had a fantastic time enjoying themselves in Alto Mare.
At May's suggestion, the group made their way to the Sea Temple, located in the center of the sea.
Manaphy, the little one, was still there.
Ash finally activated the Sea Crown's power that he had received long ago but never used.
Encased in the power of the Sea Crown, Ash could lead everyone to dive into the ocean freely.
The Sea Crown's blessing was the power of the Ocean Prince—it allowed one to breathe underwater with ease.
Everyone wrapped in the Sea Crown's energy could do the same.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Ash had Mewtwo use its psychic power to scan the area first—checking if any ships were nearby.
...…
Inside the Sea Temple, Manaphy was overjoyed to see everyone.
Especially May—she was still Manaphy's absolute favorite.
Manaphy could now speak simple words, though its favorite ones were still "May" and "maybe!"
Ten days later, Ash took everyone to visit Charizard Valley, to see how things were going with the Charizard there—and with Liza.
His own Charizard was now the undisputed leader of the valley.
Ash also brought the group to revisit many of the places he had traveled to in the past.
This time, though, they had a car—so they could travel quickly and comfortably.
They even went to the Battle Frontier.
Scott, that chubby guy, was still pestering Ash to become one of the new Frontier Brains.
But Ash, of course, wasn't interested.
He had his own path to follow.
During these two months, Delia's smile never faded.
To be able to revisit all the places where her son had once poured his heart and soul—it was a precious and happy time.
These were the lands where Ash had once sweat, bled, and grown stronger.
Time flew by like an arrow. The sun and moon danced in turn.
Two whole months passed in a blink.
Author's Note:
Just taking everyone on a nostalgic ride through the past! And before anyone accuses me of "padding the word count," I'll say it outright—I totally am! [No arguments accepted.]
Haha—it's time to head to Kalos next!
As for who the Kalos girl will be—well, I checked the comments section, and hey—majority rules!
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T/N:
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P@treon: [email protected]/PokePals