Well at least there aren't any more surprises

{Back in Pallet}

The day was over, or at least the big Rush that came around every day with only a few more people would come by and order, Ash wrapped up the apron he had on and finally got to give his mom a proper greeting.

"Hey, m-" he started but was immediately cut off when she pulled him into a hug.

"Hey Ashy, you should have called, it's good to finally see you in person instead of on that computer screen, you must be hungry, come in relax I'll make you something," Delia said happily.

Then she turned to Pikachu, "And that goes for you too!"

Pikachu looked happy to accept but Ash picked him up, "No it's fine, I just came by to help out since you never hired anyone else."

"Oh you know, old habits die hard, my mother always kept Pallet House as a family-only restaurant, so I plan to keep it that way!"

"Well then maybe this can help, I brought you, someone that might help you," Ash said smiling as he handed Delia a Pokeball.

Delia looked at it and pressed the 2 side buttons that revealed what Pokemon was inside, and it was a Mr. Mime, "Oh, it's a Mr. Mime!"

She released Mr. Mime as it appeared and blinked looking at his surroundings before focusing on Ash and Delia.

Delia looked at Mr. Mime, "Hey there Mr. Mime, I'm Delia."

Mr. Mime blinked then held his big gloved hand out, "Mime-Mime."

When Delia took his hand suddenly they heard a rumbling sound and Mr. Mime looked embarrassed.

Delia laughed, "You sound hungry Mr. Mime, how about we make a deal, help me out around the restaurant and I can give you lots of yummy food!"

Mr. Mime had sparkled in his eyes and he nodded happily, "Mr. Mime!"

"Ok then, well you'll need a name, so I'll call you Mimey!" Mr. Mime looked happy as it seemed like he liked the name.

Ash smiled and went towards the door, "Well I'll leave Mimey in your care, Mom, so welcome to the family Mimey."

Then he walked out of the backroom and untied his hair as he grabbed his hat, and only now did he finally see that apparently word that he was back spread fast as almost all of his friends were waiting outside.

With the exception of Paul and Silver, Paul was probably being his usual self and Silver probably went to meet Green.

Immediately he turned to try and flee but he was grabbed and dragged outside to finally talk with everyone after months of not seeing each other.

Pikachu looked at Ash being carried away and decided to walk back into the kitchen to take Delia up on that offer.

—

After way too long Ash was let go since he still needed to go meet up with Green and Gary for the battle.

And since the topic of their friends battling came up they all went over to the spot which was in Oak's backyard, since technically Pallet didn't have a place for battles.

Anyway, word spread around really fast since a lot more people came to watch the battle, including the lower classmen led by a certain pink-haired stalker.

Ash only got there in the last part of the battle, it was a 1v1 against Gary's Golem, and Green's …also Golem?

Anyway, Gary's was winning as Green's looked battered and bruised, so Gary brought his hand forward one more time, "[Earthquake] now!"

Golem slammed his fists into the ground causing the area around them to violently shake as a crack appeared under and a stone slammed into Green's launching it back.

As Green's Golem fell at Green's feet it began turning Purple and seemingly began to melt into a purple goo, revealing that it was actually a Ditto.

Green looked down and returned Ditto to its Pokeball, "Fine I guess you win this one, but don't think I'm done I'll beat you next time."

Gary scoffed, "Sure tell yourself that, but the copy can never beat the original, ain't that right Golem"

"Golll!" Golem said, slapping his shell.

The crowd that gathered and watched cheered after the battle, and only now did Green and Gary notice that a crowd formed to watch the battle.

Ash hopped over the fence and clapped as he approached them, "Good work, I guess you did get better,"

Gary smiled as he returned his Golem, "Yeah we did, and now you know the bet, I want that rematch."

"Oh don't you worry, how can I forget that you two battled to see which of you got to battle me, after all, neither of you have beat me," Ash said giving a cheeky smirk

Green turned around, "Well it's a shame that I don't get to battle you, but next time I want a battle, but for now I have something important to do~"

Before Gary or Ash could look at her she already ran off to the crowd, they both sighed as Ash walked over to his side.

"Well then, in the end, it has to be like this," Ash said.

Gary laughed, "Why are you saying that like we're in a drama show?"

"Because I can shut up," Ash said as he held out Nidoking's Pokeball, "What do you say, you wanna do that battle for real?"

Gary smiled as he held out a Pokeball, "You read my mind."

"Nidoking!"

"Kangaskhan!"

As the two big Pokemon landed on the other side they glared at each other as the crowd that formed cheered in excitement.

And Green expectedly was going around taking bets.

Gary pointed forward, "This won't be like our pretend Battles we did as kids, Kangaskhan use [Hammer Arm]!"

Ash smiled back, "You're right, this time I'll win, use [Focus Punch] to counter!"

The two big Pokemon charged up their attacks, as their fists glowed red from the fighting-type energy they rushed at each other and clashed creating a gust of wind to explode from the collision and the ground on their feet to shake.

The force from the attack reverted so hard that the crowd felt the air even though they were a safe distance away. And that just made them more excited.

"Who do you guys think is winning?" Hilda asked

"I dunno, I guess Ash," Wally answered since he also came to watch.

"Well the most logical choice is Gary, he shows more battle potential," Cheren answered

Tierno cut in, "I don't care about Logic, I believe in my little buddy"

"He's right," Barry said as he stepped on the fence and yelled, "Ash if you lose I'm fining you!" since he did bet with Green.

Gary and Ash heard the banter as their Pokemon were trying to overpower the other, leading them to push each other back leaving behind their footprints as a symbol of their clash.

"Looks like they want a good battle, should we take it up a notch?" Ash asked

"Let's do it," Gary smirked

"Kangaskhan use [Return]"

"Nidoking use [Rock Slide]"

Kangaskhan charged her fist as she ran forward baby in pouch cheering her on, Nidoking slammed his arms together creating gray rocks with white outlines, and sent them flying towards Kangaskhan.

Kangaskhan began slamming the rockets with her fist as she approached but Nidoking didn't seem worried as he also charged his fist.

"Give him all you've got [Thunder Punch]!"

The two collided as Kangaskhan punched Nidoking across the face and Nidoking punched Kangaskhan across the face, then they jumped away from each other.

"Well then I guess its good you didn't go out immediately," Gary mocked

"I should be the one saying that number 2," Ash mocked back 

"Then let's keep going, cuz I'm not losing,"

"Well, neither am I!"

Kangaskhan and Nidoking recovered as they rushed toward each other again.

—

{Meanwhile}

Professor Oak was sitting in the Classroom completely unaware that Ash, Green, and Gary were even back, much less that they were battling.

He was looking over some papers he had to do since the league would be coming up and as a former champion, he had to overlook it.

As he read through one of the papers suggesting how the matches should be selected he heard someone open his door.

When he looked up he saw Paul walking in and taking a seat across from him, "Professor."

Oak nodded, "Hello Paul, what can I do for you?"

Oak read through the report from the battle his brother had, and the way it was worded confused and somewhat made Oak concerned since he wrote like he hated both his brother and Brandon.

"I want to graduate early," Paul said, looking completely serious.

Oak almost stumbled out of his chair, "I'm sorry did I hear that correctly, you wish to graduate early."

"Yes, there's nothing more I can learn from here, and I want to start my journey as soon as possible."

It took a moment for Oak to compose himself and then he looked at Paul seriously, "Do you understand what you are asking for, this shouldn't be something you do prematurely, shouldn't you discuss this with Reggie?"

Paul frowned, "I can assure you Reggie knows, and this isn't something I just chose to do immediately, I'm not a child."

Oak sighed as he leaned back in his chair, "Are you aware I can't let you travel in Sinnoh."

"That's fine, I'll start here and follow in my brother's footsteps, I'll go through Kanto, then Johto, and after that, I'll be old enough to embark in Sinnoh, then once I win all of those I'll go through Hoenn and the Battle Frontier."

Oak frowned releasing what this was about now, "Very well, but you must stay for the rest of the semester and you can graduate with everyone else,"

"Fine, it's almost over anyway," Paul said as he got up and turned to leave.

Oak watched him leave and close the door, after he did he sighed and leaned down in his chair, "Why can't things be simple anymore, I'm getting too old for this. Well, at least there aren't any more surprises."

—

{The next day}

"Why do you kids want me to lose my hair," Oak said as he was sitting across from Ash and Gary.

"It's a gift, and besides you did give Ash an Electric mouse for a starter, no offense," Gary said to Pikachu

"Hey, Ash agreed to forgive me for that!" Oak defended himself

Pikachu crossed his arms but kept eating his ketchup, "Pika…"

"I said I would forgive you, never said I wouldn't hold a grudge," Ash said smiling

Oak sighed in defeat, "Well anyway you mean to say all three of you, Green included, are all done with your Gym challenges so early?"

Gary held his hand out, "Well we have 8 gym badges each, I'm still gonna go out and finish some extra stuff,"

"That doesn't make it better, when people take on that challenge they usually don't even make it to the league until next year!"

"Well I already did mine," Ash said smiling, "Green's the only one not doing it."

"But still, the fact that all 3 of you left for your journey and came back is baffling, even when I was your age it took me an entire year to get my badges and challenge the league," Oak said rubbing his temple

"So what are you all planning on doing now?" Oak asked, still trying to process everything.

"Well I already told you I still need to beat 2 more Gyms for the challenge," Gary said, "Oh by the way I'm taking another one of the cars."

Oak didn't even acknowledge that with a response as he looked towards Ash, "Well I don't know what Green's going to do, I think she said something about visiting the Sevii Islands."

"Ok..."Oak mumbled, that wasn't too out of the ordinary, "And what about you?"

"Oh, well I'm also going to go visit an Island, I want to do some private training on my own, really get a power-up," Ash said smiling, keeping it vague.

Oak sighed in relief, "Well at least it isn't that crazy, well then I wish you both luck and if you see Green send her my regards"

Then they went their separate ways, and Ash prepared to go on his island adventure, to which ones you may be asking, well that's a simple answer.

He is going to Mega Island!