Meeting A Tomboy

For several minutes May, Dawn and I 'fled' from Pallet town at a fairly decent pace, during which I was able to gauge how much they prepared for this day.

We ended up more than a mile out of town when I finally slowed to a stop, and May and Dawn were barely even winded. Their Pokemon on the other hand were struggling to catch their breath, as they apparently hadn't had the chance to train their stamina very much. Riolu of course wasn't even fazed by the 'brief jog'.

"What was that about Ace?" May asked as we slowed to a walk, pausing only long enough to pick up Torchic since it was tired, with Dawn doing the same for Piplup.

"The commotion in the lab was coming from all the Carvanha and Sharpedo I caught earlier. I wanted to get out of there before professor Oak realized I was back already, and tried to make me clean up the mess or something." There was also the potential of injuries on professor Oak and his aides as well, but I left that part unsaid as we walked down the path to Viridian.

For a time we just chatted as we caught up on the last five years, and some of things we'd done.

I told them about how I'd met Pidgeot, and some of the misadventures I had during my trips to Viridian. Dawn meanwhile would tell us about her trip to Hearthome city, where the biggest contest hall in Sinnoh was, and saw several contests there firsthand. May however would describe the numerous habitats that she'd seen in Hoenn, such as the massive volcanic Mt. chimney, the treacherous desert, and the sprawling jungle that housed Fortree city.

In terms of habitat the region was much more diverse than either the Kanto or Sinnoh regions, the former of which was mostly grassland or forests with a few small mountains, while the latter was a region dominated by a single mountain in its center, with a few minor hills and different types of forests surrounding it. It wasn't until you reached the battle area after beating the Elite Four that you'd see a desert or volcano, but that was something I just barely recalled since I had JUST beaten them before dying. The only thing Sinnoh had that Kanto or Hoenn didn't was a snowscape in the northern area of the region.

The two also told me stories of them catching their Pokemon before they arrived, the most humorous of which being May trying to get a Tropius that would allow her to ride it, and how she'd tried to catch a Swablu with a butterfly net afterwards. I also showed off the Charmander egg I got from professor Oak, along with telling them about how I caught a Squirtle shortly before finding them. But as I noticed storm clouds rolling in in the distance, I decided to put the fragile egg back into my pack for warmth and protection.

Eventually the three of us were just strolling through the hills, the three Pokemon following us from behind as Dawn and May snuggled up to my sides even as we walked, seemingly trying to make up for the last five years. The only time we broke the silence was when I'd point out the occasional interesting landmark, such as a curiously shaped boulder, a particularly large tree, or a small stream that transitioned into a waterfall. The little pieces of natured I'd found and learned to appreciate over the years.

We were idly traveling like that, until,

"YOU!"

All six of us stopped and stared as a young woman with her orange hair tied up in a bushy sideways ponytail stormed over to us. She was wearing a yellow crop-top that barely hung down over her breasts, along with a tight and tiny little pair of denim booty shorts that were held up by a pair of red suspenders going over her shoulders, with a pair of hiking boots to complete the outfit.

'Arceus above...' I mentally swore as my eyes traveled up her sinful body, before coming to rest on her face that was twisted in anger.

Though both girls beside me had their own physical appeal after maturing over the last five years, May in her skin-tight spats and red tank top, and Dawn in her short skirt that teased a peak every time she moved, there was something entirely different with the crop top and booty shorts on the girl before me. A girl I instantly recognized as the OG pokegirl.

"One you're little flings?" May asked dryly as the girl approached with obvious anger, to which I replied,

"Nope, but maybe in the future." Both May and Dawn responded by pinching my sides as hard as they could, cramping my good-natured smile a little. However, none of the three of us saw what was coming next.

*SMACK!*

The orange haired girl slapped me across the face the second she got to us, stunning May and Dawn even before she grabbed the front of my shirt, and snarled, "Where. Is. My. Bike?!?"

Needless to say we were all confused at her words, as I tried to wrack my brain regarding the girl in front of me. Unfortunately it had been so long since I'd seen the Pokemon anime that I could only recall a few key characters from the series, and had mostly forgotten everything else.

While I was trying to recall what she was talking about though, May and Dawn grabbed her arm with angry expressions of their own, while the former snarled at her,

"Listen missy! I don't know who you think you are, but aren't you jumping to conclusions thinking Ace has your bike?" Though the woman appeared surprised at May and Dawn protecting me, she shook it off before stating,

"First of all its MISTY, not 'missy'! And secondly, I saw him not even twenty minutes ago with what looked like a wounded Pikachu, before he took my bike in order to get to the Pokemon Center as quickly as possible! And now here he is, and my bike in nowhere to be seen!" Misty then directed her attention back at me as she sneered victoriously, "What? Did you really think that because you changed your jacket and took off that stupid hat I wouldn't recognize you? Idiot!"

As Misty lorded her 'victory' over the three of us, we all realized what was actually going on from what she told us, and I recalled what happened in the original anime.

Originally Ash and Pikachu didn't get along, until a large flock of Spearow attacked and nearly killed them. To get away from the angry flock, and to help the injured Pikachu, Ash borrowed Misty's bike since it was faster, and ended up destroying it as Pikachu unleashed a massive electrical attack against Spearow flock. That led to Misty joining Ash on his journey until her bike was repaired.

Though they didn't have all the details, like the Spearow flock, May and Dawn both arrived at the same realization I did as the three of us gave each other the side eye.

"Listen..." I said to Misty after a second. "The one who took your bike wasn't me, but my little brother Ash. We both just started our journey today, and his starter was a Pikachu."

Though May and Dawn were both nodding at my explanation, Misty just looked at me like I was an idiot as she retorted,

"'Your evil twin did it'? Really? Can't you at least come up with SOMETHING more believable? Next you're gonna say you didn't steal that Ranger jacket too, you thief!"

As she said that Misty suddenly got an evil smile as she pulled out a device that appeared similar to a Pokedex, and stated smugly,

"I'm actually friends with a Ranger myself! I wonder how Luana would react if I called and told her that a thief was impersonating a Ranger!" Misty then pressed a few buttons on the device, a Pokenav that functioned as this world's smartphone, to use it, but before she could actually put the call through I stated while tapping a button to shut it off,

"Luana is currently busy on an assignment with Barlow and Crawford, no reason to bug them."

Though Misty had been about to tear into me for touching her Pokenav, she paused suddenly as my words sunk into her skull.

"What did you say...?" She asked quietly, making me roll my eyes as all of her fire vanished on the spot, before repeating myself while pulling out my Pokedex.

"I said they're on an assignment right now, protecting a group of Pokemon from Team Rocket. Though I wouldn't mind chatting with Luana again, I doubt they'd want to be disturbed for something like this." As I said that I also handed my Pokedex to Misty, who's movements had become rigid as she slowly looked down at it to see my identification on the screen, including my name, age, and description, as well as my position as one of professor Oak's assistants, a member of the Breeder Association, and there was even a small icon added in the corner to symbolize my being in the Rangers, as well as my rank.

Taking the Pokedex out of Misty's hands, I then replaced it with a slip of paper that I had taken out of my wallet for her to look at, a picture of mom, Ash, Riolu and myself that had been taken a few days ago. Mom had a copy that was framed to put up for her to look at while we were gone, Ash and I both had smaller copies for our wallets, and even Riolu had a small copy to tuck within the folds of his gi.

Eventually I took the picture back from Misty, and tucked it securely back into my wallet while saying,

"Let's start over, shall we?" I held my hand out to her and said, "I'm Ace Ketchum, Pokemon trainer, breeder, and Ranger. And you are?" Instead of introducing herself, Misty immediately bowed her head before clapping her hands together, and exclaimed,

"I'm so sorry!"

I just smiled wryly at the sudden shift in her behavior when she realized her mistake, before saying in a teasing tone,

"Well, my cheek still stings a little. Maybe a kiss will make it better?" Misty looked up in confusion when she heard that, before two different hands suddenly impacted my cheeks on either side.

""JERK!!!""

May and Dawn both exclaimed at my shamelessness, before marching over to Misty's side as the former said,

"Don't listen to him Misty, Ace is just a shameless womanizer." Dawn nodded in agreement as she added in a wronged voice,

"Even though we planned to come back to go on our journeys together, Ace still spent the last three years going to Viridian city to play around behind our backs." I just snorted at that before stating to Misty,

"Don't listen to them. If I was doing such things behind their backs they wouldn't have even known about them, and I already told them that two women aren't enough for me. Their bodies would definitely not be able to hold up."

Though May and Dawn both directed looks at me for saying that, neither one tried to refute my claims since Daisy had probably told them all about our numerous romps together over the years. And I knew my capabilities were far above the standard, thanks to years of using my aura in bed.

So, instead of saying anything further, the two girls simply looped their arms through Misty's and started marching down the road with, much to the ginger's confusion.

"Come on Misty, maybe we can catch up with Ash." Dawn said, snapping the third girl back to reality after hearing what we had said earlier, as she joined the two of them in marching down the road.

Shaking my head wryly, I followed from behind as the three girls began to chatter amongst themselves. After a while I glanced towards the clouds that I had noticed earlier, and saw they were rapidly approaching us with a distinct curtain of rain beneath them.

"Heads up. We got a storm coming in." I told the girls while zipping up my jacket, making them all look in the same direction I was as the storm steadily got closer.

"Oh great!"

"And today seemed so nice too..."

May and Dawn both complained as they hurriedly pulled a couple of ponchos out of their own packs.

"What about you Misty." Dawn asked as she pulled hers on. Misty however shook her head before saying with a smile,

"I'm a water type specialist, so I'm always ready to get a little wet!" Though I was tempted to make a comment about her choice of words, I held my tongue when I noticed the looks Dawn and May were giving me.

Instead, I grabbed one of the Pokeballs on my belt, and activated it to release the Pokemon inside.

"Squirtle!"

The little turtle exclaimed as he appeared and looked around excitedly, having never seen the world beyond the small island he had been born on. And when he got his first real glimpse of the outside world, Squirtle began to do a little dance that reminded me of the 'bully Maguire' memes I used to see.

"A Squirtle!" Misty exclaimed when she saw him dancing, even as the first few drops of rain began to fall on us. "I want one..." She whined longingly, making me chuckle as I told her,

"There's a whole island of them near Cinnabar island, which is where I caught this guy. They're under the protection of the Rangers right now, so you can't just catch one, but if you could convince one of them to come with you then they won't interfere."

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle exclaimed as if to confirm what I said, making Misty's eyes light up as her dream of owning a Squirtle came into sight.

"Piplup!" A shrill voice suddenly cried, drawing Misty's attention down to the little blue penguin that was frolicking alongside Squirtle in the rain.

"I-is that a Piplup!?!" Misty exclaimed as she seemed to notice the water starter from Sinnoh for the first time, to which Dawn replied,

"Yes it is. Are you sure you don't want anything to wear over your clothes Misty?"

As Dawn spoke she got progressively louder with each word, as the rainfall got progressively heavier on us to the point where even I considered digging out my poncho to help cover my head. And it appeared as if Misty was thinking the same thing.

But, before anyone could do anything else,

*KABOOM!*

The landscape around was suddenly lit up in a brilliant flash, while it sounded as if the sky was about to come down on our heads. And by the time there was another flash and concussion of sound from the thunder and lightning, all of us were quickly running through the rain with our Pokemon hot on our heels.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THIS STORM COME FROM!?!?" May shouted over the pouring rain and booming thunder, but none of us answered as we tried to focus on finding shelter from the lightning.

What happened next occurred in what seemed to be slow motion, as a bolt of lightning descended to strike the ground, only for a pillar of light to suddenly appear there instead. All of us were stunned as the spectacle continued on for several seconds, compared to the usual brief flash, before the pillar of light slowly began to fade. And as it did so, a single name floated through my mind.

Ash.

I could feel the corner of my mouth curling upwards as the spectacle caused by my brother's Pikachu disappeared, before May suddenly uttered, "The rain's letting up..."

The four of us looked upwards as the clouds directly above us began to break, no doubt drained of energy after Pikachu's attack, though the ones surrounding us remained. And as the rain slowed to a light drizzle, May and Dawn removed the hoods of their ponchos as we all looked upwards at the sunlight shining through the clouds.

"It's so beautiful!" Dawn exclaimed as numerous rainbows began to form around us, each one reflecting sunlight at different angles to create a scene of beauty.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAA!"

A shrill yet melodic cry suddenly echoed out from the sky, drawing our attention upwards as a massive and majestic Pokemon appeared over the cloud ridge.

It's feathers shined with every hue of the rainbow as they caught the sunlight, and it's wings created powerful gusts that buffeted the clouds around it as it soared through the air.

"Ho-oh...." I uttered in amazement, as I beheld my first ever legendary Pokemon, aside from Arceus.

Ignoring the sharp looks and intakes of breath from the girls beside me, I tried to analyze every detail of the legendary Pokemon as it soared through the skies, burning it into my mind. The most awe-inspiring thing about it though was the legendary's aura.

In the back of my mind I recalled the day I first awakened my aura, and got a look at Dragonite with his aura. The radiant golden aura coming off of the pseudo-legendary had been nearly blinding, and even dwarfed every other aura I've seen since.

However the aura coming off of Ho-oh was like that of a miniature sun that was comprised of every color in the rainbow, making even Dragonite's appear like a tiny flickering candle in comparison.

Then, just at that moment, the titanic bird turned its attention towards us.

He moment that Ho-oh looked at us, I could feel a monumental pressure bearing down upon me that made it impossible to move, or even breathe. And from the turmoil I could feel from the girl's auras beside me, they were feeling the same thing as all of us experienced what it was like to be caught in the gaze of a supreme being.

***

Squirtle was convinced he had made the right decision following Ace off of the island he was born on. Even if his father hadn't agreed, the fact was that he couldn't grow if he was stuck there his entire life.

And when his new trainer let him out to enjoy the rain shower as they traveled, he was able to affirm just how right he was as he beheld all of the mountains around them that dwarfed the little hill on the island, the trees that towered over the ones he had grown up among, and the cries of the Pokemon that he'd never heard before as they called out to one another.

There was one Pokemon in particular however that Squirtle hadn't expected to meet. One that made him feel so tiny and insignificant just by looking in their direction, and not even directly at him!

All he, the other Pokemon that were out, or any of the humans could do was stand there as that Pokemon flying overhead looked down at them. And it wasn't until it had flown up over the clouds on the other side of the clearing, and out of their sight, that any of them had been able to move.

Even once they could, no one moved for several moments as they tried to process what they saw. The females all seemed to be shuddering from fright at the power of the Pokemon they had just seen.

As for his new trainer though, Squirtle had been shocked to see two things. Firstly was that he was shuddering too, but instead of the fear or anxiety that he could feel from the females, Squirtle could only feel waves of excitement and anticipation coming from him. Telling Squirtle that he had chosen the correct trainer to grow stronger.

Secondly however that no one else, including his trainer himself, seemed to notice, was that the bag his trainer wore on his back was shimmering lightly with numerous colors, reminiscent of the Pokemon they had just seen.

Squirtle cocked his head curiously at the phenomenon, wondering what it was, before a drop landing on his head drew his attention skywards. There he saw the clouds that had been cleared before starting to come back in, bringing the rain back with them, though not as heavily as before.