Delia recognizing Serena didn't cause much of a stir. Whether or not Ash and Serena had known each other as kids was beside the point. Delia had already picked up on a few signs from Serena's end of things, even if Ash himself was oblivious as usual.
How Ash worked out his future with Misty and Serena was his business. One daughter-in-law or two, the family could support either. The choice would land on Ash when it landed.
Once the photo album had been put away, Misty turned curious. What had Ash actually talked about with Professor Oak? Why had it taken so long?
They'd all assumed he was just returning a Poké Ball. How long could that possibly take? In and out, surely.
Instead, they'd waited close to two hours. Clearly more had happened than ball returns.
"I had a battle with Gary. We also figured out where I'm headed next," Ash said offhandedly, and walked them through the battle and Gary's enormous leap in strength.
He kept the parallel-world memory part to himself. That was Gary's private business, not his to spread, no matter how much he trusted the people in front of him.
Everything else, he laid out. They were leaving tomorrow morning for New Bark Town in Johto, the recognized starting point of the region and the only place where you could register for the Silver Conference. The town had been mobbed when registration first opened. A month in, the crowds had thinned. Still busy, but no longer at the unmanageable level where you couldn't physically get through the gates.
"Tomorrow morning? Already?" Something tightened in Delia's voice. Ash had been home less than a day. She hadn't had any real time with him yet.
Ash nodded easily. "Yeah. I've already lost a lot of ground. If I don't catch up, collecting the Badges in time is going to be a problem. Don't worry about me too much, Mom. A fledgling has to leave the nest eventually."
"Then are Misty, Serena, and Brock all going too? How about you go on your own this time? The girls can stay here and keep me company, and Brock can help me with the cleaning and cooking. You can handle the journey alone, can't you?" Delia cut him off mid-sentimental-moment, voice perfectly cheerful.
Ash's face fell flat.
So she wasn't reluctant to let him go. She was reluctant to let the others go.
"Hey! That's harsh, Mom! I'm your son!"
"Hehehe. Auntie's just teasing you. She really is going to miss you." Misty covered her mouth, laughing. "But Auntie, this trip is important. Just wait at home for good news. Ash is going to bring back both the Silver Conference trophy and the Masters Eight trophy. Pallet Town's name will be everywhere. He'll make the whole family proud."
Truthfully, Delia was just going to miss her son. The teasing was how she handled it. What mother let her boy off on a long journey without worrying?
Of course, stay home too long and any mother would start gently pushing you out the door. Day one home was tearful reunion. Day two was already routine. By day three you'd be hearing, don't you have somewhere to be? Ash was nowhere near that point yet. Less than a day in was peak reluctance, and Delia was allowed to feel it.
Brock weighed in next. He wanted to keep traveling with Ash. He wasn't ready to go back to Pewter Gym yet. With the Silver Conference rolling and Gym Leaders from every region pouring into Johto, sitting out the biggest event in years would be a lifelong regret. He had to be there.
His options were two. Travel alone, which sounded miserable. Or travel with Ash. After the emotional wounds he was still nursing, he wasn't built for solo right now. He needed company, and the company in question was Ash.
But the Ash of today wasn't the Ash he'd started traveling with. Ash already had two girls beside him on the road. Whether Brock was still wanted was another question. So when Brock made the request, he'd already braced himself for a no. If Ash refused, fine, he'd head back to Pewter Gym and resume Gym Leader duty. Sitting at the Gym beat traveling alone.
Ash's answer was immediate.
"Sure!"
No hesitation. Honestly, traveling without Brock would have felt like something missing. If Brock wanted to come, why on earth would he say no?
"Ash, you really are a good brother! Don't worry, I'll definitely help you out!" Brock clamped his hands down on Ash's shoulders, tears welling up.
Ash blinked. Help him with what? Help him keep things running on the road?
He patted Brock's shoulder. "Come on, no need to be so formal. We help each other. We're brothers. Looking out for each other on the road is just how it works."
Brock fell silent.
This guy's romantic awareness is genuinely subterranean. When Ash gets married, I'm definitely getting a seat of honor at the head table.
So the count went from three travelers to four. They set out for New Bark Town first thing the next morning.
Five days after leaving Pallet Town, Ash and the group were walking slowly through a forest blanketed in fog. For the average traveler, fog this thick was a recipe for getting completely turned around. Even with a map, you'd struggle.
For Ash, with Aura Power awakened, it was nothing. The forest was already drawn out in his head like a navigation overlay. The fog didn't register.
"Another ten minutes and we'll hit New Bark Town. Hang in there a little longer," Ash called back to the two visibly tired girls behind him.
Misty and Serena were girls, and their stamina simply couldn't match the boys'. Especially with Ash's stamina, which was at this point monstrous. The last several days had drained them both. The worst part, more than the walking, was that there were almost no places to bathe in the wild. For two girls who liked to be clean, that doubled the torture, body and spirit.
The promise of ten more minutes lit them both up.
"Then what are we still standing here for? Walk faster, Ash!"
"Yeah! If I don't get a bath soon, I'm going to die!"
The two of them surged to the front. Ash, Pikachu, and Brock exchanged a look, shrugged in unison, and followed.
Five minutes later, Ash, back in the lead, stopped dead. Serena, who had been walking right behind him, slammed into his back and tipped backward.
Ash's hand shot out, caught hers, and pulled her back upright before she could fall.
"Careful, Serena."
"Th-thank you. Wait, no, Ash, why did you slam on the brakes!" Serena's blush flipped halfway through into indignation. It wasn't that she hadn't been paying attention. Ash had frozen with zero warning, which was the entire reason she'd bumped into his back. If anyone was at fault, it was at least half on him.
"There's something up ahead."
Serena looked past Ash, and her eyes caught on a blue figure standing in the path. The figure gave off a soft, light blue halo, the kind of glow that should have felt calming.
It didn't. Underneath the calm came pressure. Heavy, weighty pressure, the kind only an extremely powerful Pokémon gave off.
"Ash, is this..." Misty studied the figure carefully. Her pupils contracted. "Is this..."
"Yeah. The Incarnation of the North Wind. Suicune." Ash named it: one of the three messengers under Ho-Oh, known publicly as the Legendary Beasts. The Water Legendary Beast. Suicune.
The Legendary Beasts' habitat was largely in Johto. They appeared in front of humans rarely, and when they did, it was almost always somewhere in this region. Still, Ash hadn't expected to run into one literally on his first day stepping into Johto.
Thinking about it, New Bark Town was nicknamed the town where the winds of new beginnings blew. He couldn't help wondering if that name had a more literal origin than people realized. Maybe the Incarnation of the North Wind was where the winds came from in the first place.
"Woo-oh~~" Suicune called toward the group. More specifically, toward Ash. The halo around its body slowly faded, revealing what was underneath.
It was sacred-looking. Pure ice-blue fur, smooth as flowing liquid, catching the dim light through the fog. The build was sleeker than an ordinary Pokémon, shoulders and back held in clean lines, every part of it carrying the bearing a Legendary Beast was supposed to have.
"So... so beautiful..." Serena had a hand over her mouth. She'd seen plenty of elegant Pokémon, but never one that fused elegance, sanctity, and raw power the way Suicune did. It looked like it had stepped out of a myth.
Even Lugia hadn't hit her this hard on visuals.
Misty, meanwhile, had gone full heart-eyes. No surprise there.
Brock looked struck too, but his head was somewhere else. Why had Suicune deliberately shown itself to them? Was it here for Ash? Ash was the one Ho-Oh had chosen, after all.
"You want to battle?" Ash asked.
Misty's head whipped around. "Ash, are you really going to challenge Suicune just like that? Isn't that pushing it?" Ash was strong, no argument there, but realistically, beating Suicune in a straight fight wasn't likely. Suicune was a Legendary Beast. The only way Ash actually won was by sending out Mewtwo, and using Mewtwo against Suicune would be unfair in a different direction.
"I didn't propose it. Suicune did." Ash shook his head. For once, his battle-instinct wasn't the one driving this. The Legendary Beast itself had thrown down the gauntlet. Honestly, Ash found it strange too. A Legendary Beast showing up on his road, specifically to fight him? Anyone he told would write it off as a lie.
"Woo-oh~~"
"You mean this is Ho-Oh's test? Beat the Legendary Beasts first, and then I qualify to challenge Ho-Oh? Ho-Oh thinks I'm ready for the test? All right. Bring it on, Suicune. Let's battle!"
Suicune's reply clicked everything into place. Ash had been wondering, if Suicune had been actively looking for him, how had it tracked him down? Now it made sense. Suicune had picked up on the Rainbow Feather. The Rainbow Feather was still inside Charizard, and Ash kept Charizard with him at all times. Even sealed in a Poké Ball, the Rainbow Feather's presence wasn't difficult for a being like Suicune to sense.
"Eh?! Challenge Ho-Oh?! As in the Ho-Oh?!" Serena was the only one in the group who didn't know about Ash's connection to Ho-Oh. He hadn't gotten around to telling her along the way. It wasn't something you could really lead with in casual conversation. He'd never intended to keep it from her though, so once Suicune said what it said, he openly explained the situation to everyone present.
"I'll tell you about Ho-Oh after, Serena. Let me handle Suicune first."
Serena nodded and stepped back alongside Brock and Misty.
Suicune raised its head and let out a long howl into the sky. The fog around them dispersed instantly, leaving a clean, open clearing at the center. Past that clearing, the fog still hung thick, ringing the open space like a perimeter wall. The whole thing looked deliberate, as if a battlefield had been specifically prepared.
"Then this one's yours, Pikachu!"
"Pika Pika!!"