Back at Pallet Town

After the incident with the Lapras pod and pirates, the gang was on their way back to Pallet Town.

"I can't wait to get home and see mom again." Ash said.

"I can't wait to see mom either." Tomo added.

"Well I can't wait to meet Prof. Oak." Tracey said.

"We shouldn't forget though we need to give the GS Ball to Prof. Oak." Misty reminded them.

Ash took the GS Ball out of his backpack to see if it was all right; there wasn't a scratch or dent on it.

"You know." He said. "Something about this ball feels weird. No one could get it open, as if something has to happen for it to actually open."

"Do you mean like in those stories?" Misty asked. "The ones that show that a special magic item has to be in a special place to work or something?"

"I don't know." Ash replied. "This GS Ball is real mysterious."

That afternoon, the boat finally brought Ash and the others back to Pallet Town.

"Finally we're here." Ash said.

After walking through some forests, the gang made it to Pallet Town.

"Home again." Ash said.

"Wow, Pallet Town looks lovely." Tracey said.

Ash and Tomo were eager to get home and see their mom again, so the first stop was Ash's house. When they stepped inside not only was Delia there to greet them, but Brock was as well.

"Brock?" Ash gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, and why aren't you with Prof. Ivy?" Misty asked.

Brock hung his head in shame when he heard that name.

"Don't say that name." He said weakly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh dear." Misty whispered. "Prof. Ivy must have dumped him."

"You're probably right." Ash whispered back.

Not wanting to hurt Brock any more, Ash and Misty agreed to not ask more questions. Delia welcomed Ash and Tomo home and gave them a hug. Ash placed his Orange League trophy and four badges onto a shelf, where his eight badge and special badge from the Indigo League were.

After greeting Delia and Brock, the gang headed to Prof. Oak's lab. Tracey was getting excited to finally meet Prof. Oak.

"I'm going to show him all my sketches." He said.

Ash wondered how many sketches Tracey had; after all Tracey did say he has sketched quite a bit of Pokemon in the past.

When they got to the lab and entered it, they saw Prof. Oak being smothered by Ash's Muk.

"Hey Prof. Oak, are you okay?" Ash asked, getting Muk off of him.

"Yes I'm all right Ash." Prof. Oak said. "Muk just loves to smother humans in a hug."

"I'm Tracey." Tracey introduced himself to Prof. Oak.

"Would you be interested in looking through my sketches?" He asked.

"Of course Tracey." Prof. Oak said. "I'll check them out later. Ash, do you have the GS Ball?"

Ash took the GS Ball out of his backpack and handed it to the professor.

"I can't wait to research this ball. Let's take a tour of my Pokemon Corral." Prof. Oak said.

Hundreds of Pokemon were roaming around the Oak Corral.

"Wow all of these Pokemon in one place." Tracey said. He couldn't wait to sketch them.

Ash released his Dragonair, Floatzel, Espeon, Corviknight and Nidoking from their Poke Balls to let them roam free.

Tomo did the same with his Pikachu, Farfetch'd, Poliwag and Cubone.

"Well Ash, I must say all your Pokemon are fine and doing well." Prof. Oak said.

"Are my Lapras okay as well?" Ash asked.

"Yes they are." Prof. Oak answered. "And I haven't forgotten what you told me when you caught Lapras's mother."

Ash told Prof. Oak about the Pokemon pirates just after he caught Lapras's mother.

"So Ash you don't need to worry about a thing."

Ash met up with all his Pokemon and greeted them. His Pokemon; Butterfree, Beedrill, Raichu, Sandslash, Clefable, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Ivysaur, Charizard, Wartortle, Rapidash, Gengar, Ninetales, Kingler, two Eevee, Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Umbreon, Espeon, Dragonair, Marowak, Primeape, Golduck, Magneton, Muk, Kangaskhan, Venomoth, Tauros, Arbok, Rhydon, Parasect, Dodrio, Pinsir, Scyther, Wigglytuff, Kabutops, Omastar, Aerodactyl, two Lapras and Snorlax were all delighted to be with Ash. Ash's baby Lugia was also happy to see him and nuzzled him.

"I hope Lugia here has been good professor." Ash said.

"No need to worry Ash." Prof. Oak said. "Lugia is curious and playful but he does exactly what I tell him."

Tracey was amazed with the amount of Pokemon Ash had captured on his journey so far.

After looking at all the Pokemon in the Oak Corral, Ash and the others had some tea with Prof. Oak. Prof. Oak was looking at Tracey's sketches and thought they were truly remarkable. Suddenly they heard a banging noise.

"What was that?" Ash gasped.

Brock looked out the window.

"Hey something is surrounding the place." He said.

It was Team Rocket. They were planning to go after the Pokemon at the Oak Corral and now they placed a big tent over the lab so no one could escape. Prof. Oak and the gang ran out of the building to deal with the situation. Team Rocket appeared in front of them right away.

"You three." Ash gritted his teeth. "Why are you here?"

"Oh we're only here to grab all the Pokemon from this lab." Jessie said.

Team Rocket had some sort of vacuum machine and used it to suck up all the Poke Balls in the lab. Prof. Oak was outraged by this.

"Not on my watch, you don't!" He said.

Prof. Oak was about to grab a Poke Ball from his coat pocket to fight Team Rocket when they flung some sort of metal ring over Prof. Oak and trapped him. The gang was not happy about this. Ash sent out his Dragonair, Wartortle and Ivysaur to battle Team Rocket. Jessie and James released Lickitung, Victreebel and Cloyster.

Jessie had her Cloyster attack Dragonair with Ice Beam and Lickitung attack Wartortle with Lick. James ordered his Victreebel to attack Ivysaur with Razor Leaf. Ash had his Dragonair use Flamethrower on Ice Beam, Wartortle use Protect and Ivysaur stop the Razor Leaf with Vine Whip.

"Now Dragonair Thunderbolt, Ivysaur Sludge Bomb and Wartortle Water Gun!" Ash said.

Cloyster, Victreebel and Lickitung were injured by Thunderbolt, Sludge Bomb and Water Gun.

"Grr, don't think this is over yet twerp!" Jessie growled.

"Let's make one thing clear." Ash glared at them with slanted eyes. "You're not taking these Pokemon anywhere."

Dragonair, Wartortle and Ivysaur growled in agreement.

Suddenly Dragonair, Wartortle and Ivysaur started to glow. Prof. Oak, Ash, Misty, Tomo, Brock, Tracey and Team Rocket watched in amazement as Dragonair, Ivysaur and Wartortle started to grow and change shape. Dragonair turned into a Dragonite, Ivysaur turned into a Venusaur and Wartortle turned into a big turtle with cannons coming out of his back.

"Amazing." Prof. Oak gasped. "Not only did Dragonair and Ivysaur evolve into Dragonite and Venusaur, but Wartortle evolved into Blastoise."

Ash looked at Blastoise on the Pokedex.

"Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokemon and the evolved form of Wartortle. A brutal Pokemon with pressurized water jets on it's shell. They are used for high speed tackles."

"Okay then." Ash said. "Dragonite, use Razor Wind to cut this big tent to pieces."

Dragonite's wings glowed white and then he flapped his wings sending white crescent-shaped blades at Team Rocket's tent. The Razor Wind attack ripped the tent apart. Team Rocket gasped.

"Now it's time to end this." Ash said. "Hydro Pump Blastoise."

Blastoise fired big blasts of water from his two cannons which sent Team Rocket, their Pokemon and their balloon flying.

Ash was happy that they won the battle and he was also happy that his Dragonair, Ivysaur and Wartortle evolved.

"I have to say Ash." Prof. Oak said. "You and your Pokemon become more amazing every time I see you battle. And the way you have raised and trained your Pokemon is remarkable."

"Thanks professor." Ash said. "I just hope I do well when I go to the Johto Region."

"You plan to travel through the Johto Region Ash?" Prof. Oak asked.

"Yes I do and I plan to enter the Johto League." Ash answered.

"That's my plan too." A voice said.

The voice came from Gary Oak.

"Hey Gary." Ash said. "How have you been?"

"Well here and there, and other things." Gary said.

"So Gary, I take it you wish to take on the Johto Region too?" Prof. Oak asked.

"That I do gramps." Gary said. "And I plan to win the Johto League."

"You do realize you have to get past me." Ash replied.

Then Gary had an idea.

"Let's have a one on one battle Ash." He said. "I want to see your battling skill."

"You're on Gary." Ash smiled.

Ash sent out Pikachu and Gary sent out his newest Pokemon, Eevee. Ash smiled looking at Eevee; especially since he still had two Eevee of his own.

"Hey Gary." He said. "What are you going to evolve Eevee into?"

"I don't know Ash." Gary replied. "I haven't made up my mind yet."

"Eevee use Quick Attack." Gary commanded.

"Use Quick Attack too." Ash ordered.

Pikachu and Eevee were tackling each other.

"Gary has raised his Eevee just as well as Ash raised Pikachu." Tracey said.

"Yes it's true." Prof. Oak said. "Both Gary and Ash have grown up well with Pokemon while on their journeys."

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

Gary had Eevee protect itself with Double Team so Pikachu would miss.

"Use Quick Attack to hit all the copies." Ash said.

Pikachu charged at the Eevee copies and managed to hit the real Eevee.

"All right Eevee, Skull Bash." Gary said.

Eevee charged at Pikachu with his head lowered.

"Quick Attack." Ash said.

Pikachu and Eevee collided with each other and by that time they were becoming exhausted. Brock stepped in to declare the fight a draw; Pikachu and Eevee were getting to the point they were too weak to battle.

Ash picked Pikachu up and gave him a hug.

"You were great buddy." He said.

Gary put Eevee on his right shoulder and stroked it's chin. Then he turned to Ash.

"You've done well for yourself Ashy boy." He said.

"I could say the same thing about you Gary." Ash smiled.

Gary picked up his backpack and got ready to head out for a journey to the Johto Region.

"I'll see you there Gary." Ash called out.

Gary waved his right hand in response and soon he was gone. Since Gary was going to Johto too, Ash looked forward to facing Gary in the Pokemon League there.