Another Return to Pallet Town

There was a surprise waiting for Ash and Tomo when they returned to Pallet Town. Once they opened the door to their house, they not only saw Delia and Prof. Oak but Misty as well.

"Misty what are you doing here?" Ash asked, surprised.

Tomo was surprised to see Misty too and so was Growlithe.

"Prof. Oak called me to say you two were coming home so I dropped by to say hi." Misty said.

By Misty's feet was an Azurill and to Ash's surprise, a baby Mudkip.

"Wow when did you get the baby Mudkip Misty?" Tomo asked.

Misty explained that she got her Azurill and baby Mudkip from Tracey when they were still eggs. So her Azurill was not born from her Azumarill; it was born from Tracey's Marill. And Mudkip was left at the lab as an egg so Misty agreed to have it.

"So Ash and Tomo I take it you have stories about your journey in Hoenn you want to talk to me about." Delia said.

"We have plenty of stories to tell." Ash said.

Suddenly a car horn was heard outside. When Ash opened the door he saw Prof. Birch and Max outside.

"Prof. Birch, Max what are you doing here?" Ash asked.

Prof. Birch explained that he planned to visit Prof. Oak and Max asked to come along because he wanted to visit Prof. Oak's lab too.

That night, over dinner, Ash, Max and Tomo spoke about their journey in Hoenn; they talked about the places they went to, the people they met, all the new Pokemon they saw and the gyms and contests. They even talked about what happened with Team Aqua and Magma. Prof. Birch said that the Team Magma and Aqua members are put under supervision 24 hours a day in prison to make sure they don't try anything else again.

"I thought you did brilliantly at the Grand Festival and Ever Grande Conference Ash." Misty said.

"Yes and it's great that you won the bronze medal this time." Prof. Oak added.

"Yes, but that's not the only thing I ended up earning." Ash said.

He took his Hoenn League Badge out of his backpack.

"How did you earn that Ash?" Misty asked. "I mean you earned a medal for coming in 3rd place."

"You wouldn't believe it." Ash said.

(Flashback)

*Just after the closing ceremony of the Ever Grande Conference, the gang, Morrison and Tyson were celebrating in the Pokemon Center. Suddenly Growlithe noticed something in the bin and he ran over to it. Tomo went over to see what Growlithe was doing and when he got to the bin they saw the Hoenn League badge right away.*

*"Oh my goodness." Tomo said.*

*He and Growlithe couldn't believe that a Pokemon League badge was in the bin. They went back to the others and showed them the badge that had been in the bin.*

(End flashback)

"Gosh whoever tossed their Pokemon League badge in the bin must have been some real sore loser." Misty said.

"Yes and we took the badge to Mr. Goodshow and told him where I found it." Tomo said.

"He tried to find out who owned it, but nobody showed up to claim it." Ash said. "So Mr. Goodshow decided to give it to me, even if I earned the bronze medal."

"I think you should keep it Ash." Prof. Oak said. "After all you have the Pokemon League badges from the Indigo and Johto Leagues."

Ash agreed.

"Well Ash you can place your medal, badge and gym badges in the cabinet, oh and you can place your contest ribbons in there too." Delia said.

And that's what Ash did. Everyone continued to talk to each other until it was time for bed.

The next day...

Ash, Tomo, Misty and Max went to visit Prof. Oak's lab. Max was excited about seeing Prof. Oak's lab and meeting Tracey. He was also impressed about Tracey being a Pokemon watcher and his sketches of Pokemon. Tracey also introduced Max to a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, who were going to be starter Pokemon for new trainers. The Bulbasaur and Charmander liked the attention they were getting from Max, but the Squirtle was shy and cried when it was frightened. When Max tried to comfort it, it just ran around the lab.

Suddenly to Max's surprise, May walked into the lab and Squirtle jumped into her arms.

"Hey Max, what are you doing scaring Pokemon?" May asked. "And why are you here?"

Prof. Birch explained that Max came to Pallet Town with him to visit Prof. Oak. May explained that she came here to Kanto because Pokemon contests were now being held in Kanto.

"Oh really, then that will be two things that I'll be doing in Kanto." Ash said.

Ash explained to everyone about Scott and the Battle Frontier.

"Wow that sounds amazing." Max said. "I'm definitely coming with you to see the Battle Frontier."

May also decided to travel with Ash too, so May and Max were going to travel with Ash and Tomo in the Kanto Region. Ash pointed out that they would leave the day after tomorrow, because he wanted to spend a day resting. No one saw anything wrong with that so it was arranged that the Kanto journey will begin the day after tomorrow.

For the rest of the day Ash and Tomo introduced all of their Pokemon to May and Max. May and Max were impressed with all the Pokemon that Ash and Tomo had and they were surprised when they saw Ash's Mewtwo, Lugia and Celebi. Misty was impressed with Ash's Hoenn Pokemon and she saw that Latios and Latias were doing great.

"I just remembered." Misty said. "My sister Violet evolved two of her Lombre into Ludicolo and one of her Wailmer evolved into Wailord."

"Well, I bet your sisters are happy then?" Ash questioned.

"Oh yes." Misty said. "And I now have a Walrein and s few Sealeo."

"How are your Pokemon doing." Tomo asked May and Max.

"Oh they are fine." May said. "Except my Pokemon, who went to Prof. Birch's lab, are all at the Petalburg Gym."

She explained that all of her Pokemon preferred Norman's greenhouse rather than Prof. Birch's lab, so most of her Pokemon were living at Petalburg Gym. The Pokemon she had with her were Combusken, Starmie, Bulbasaur and Munchlax. Max had Beldum, Ralts, Whismur and Poochyena; the rest were all at the Petalburg Gym too.

"I can't wait to catch new Pokemon here in Kanto." Max said.

Neither could May.

What they didn't know was Jessie, James and Meowth had come to Prof. Oak's lab.

"There seems to be more Pokemon here than when we last came here." James said.

"Yeah, so let's grab them and present them to the boss." Meowth said.

"Yes and we will show Cassidy and Butch a thing or two." Jessie said.

Unfortunately their plan would soon fall. Mewtwo sensed their presence and informed Ash.

"Those three haven't changed a bit." Misty sighed.

"Make them leave Mewtwo." Ash said.

He wasn't in the mood to tell with them, so he asked Mewtwo to make them leave with it's hypnotism. So that's what Mewtwo did; he put them in a trance and they left without even realizing it.

"That was a good idea Ash." Misty said.

"It beats them causing trouble at the lab again." Ash replied.

So with Team Rocket gone, the rest of the day carried on without trouble.