Back to Pallet Town

When Ash returned to Pallet Town, his mother was standing outside waiting for him. Before he left Viridian City, he called her to let her know he was coming home. Delia pulled Ash into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're home Ash." She said happily.

"It's nice to be home." Ash said, returning his mom's hug.

"I'd like you to meet Misty and Brock." He introduced the two to her.

"I'm glad to finally meet you two." Delia said. "And I thank you for taking care of Ash for me."

"My pleasure." Brock said.

"We had a fun time traveling with Ash." Misty said.

When Delia saw Tomo, she gave him a hug too.

"Nice to see you too Tomo." She said.

After all the cheerful greeting, Delia and the gang went into the house. Ash saw Persian and Victreebel and greeted them.

"I'm glad to see that you two have been doing well." He said.

Persian purred and Victreebel sang.

"Those two have been great company to me ever since you sent them to me Ash." Delia said.

Just then a pink, white and blue Pokemon entered the living room.

"Oh and this is my newest addition Mr. Mime, who I like to call Mimey."

Ash checked Mr. Mime on the Pokedex.

"Mr. Mime, the Barrier Pokemon. If interrupted while it is miming, it will slap the offender around with it's broad hands."

"Wow mom." Ash said. "When did you get that?"

"I got Mimey a couple days ago." Delia said. "I was coming home from shopping when I noticed a injured wild Mr. Mime lying out on the road. I immediately took it home and helped it get better. Once it was fit enough to leave, it didn't want to. So I kept it as my third Pokemon."

"I see." Ash smiled.

Later that evening Delia made a huge meal for the gang.

"I figured you four might be hungry, so dig in." She said.

She also made some Pokemon food for Togepi, Pikachu and Growlithe.

"I've been looking forward to your cooking for a long time." Ash said.

He always enjoyed his mother's cooking. Tomo, Misty and Brock enjoyed the meal too.

"So Ash, what are you planning to do now?" Delia asked.

"Well I need to ask Prof. Oak where the Indigo Plateau is." Ash said. "And since there are a few months until the Indigo League, I'll use that time to train."

"What are you going to do for training?" Brock asked.

"Well I'm decided to train my Pokemon in different environments." Ash said. "You know, like how I train my water type Pokemon in the ocean and my bug type Pokemon in the forest etc."

"Yeah, I like that idea." Misty said.

"Could I watch you train?" Tomo asked Ash.

"Sure." Ash agreed.

"If you are going to do that." Delia said. "I suggest you get a good night's sleep to regain your energy."

That night Ash was tucked into bed with Tomo and Growlithe.

"We're going to be busy the next couple months." He told them. "So we're going to need all the rest we can get tonight."

"I can't wait to see you compete in the Indigo League big brother." Tomo said.

"And I can't wait to participate in it." Ash replied.

And soon they were all asleep.

The next day, after having a nice breakfast the gang walked over to Prof. Oak's lab.

"Wow, so that's the lab?" Misty asked.

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "This is where my journey began."

Ash walked up to the lab and rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" A voice asked.

"Hi professor, it's me Ash." Ash said.

Prof. Oak opened the door.

"Ah Ash, it's good to see you." He said. "And you too Tomo, Misty and Brock. Come on in."

Tomo, Misty and Brock were amazed by how big Prof. Oak's lab was. Prof. Oak brought them into the living room for a conversation. Gary was also there.

"Hey Gary." Ash said.

"Well hi there Ash." Gary said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for information about Indigo Plateau." Ash said.

"So am I." Gary added.

"Before I answer any questions." Prof. Oak said. "I have something to speak to you about Ash, Gary."

Ash and Gary looked at him in confusion.

Gary and the gang sat down on the living room's couches and Prof. Oak remained standing.

"Gary and Ash." He said. "As you know, it's been nearly a whole year since you two started your journey. And I must say both of you have made Pallet Town proud and have also become Pallet Town's two best trainers."

"Wow, thanks Grandpa." Gary said.

"Hold on." Ash interrupted. "Didn't two other trainers leave the same day as Gary and I?"

"Ah well." Prof. Oak said. "Those two are still traveling, but they will not be joining you at the Indigo League. Truth be told their battling skills do not compare well to you two, so they haven't exactly succeeded as trainers."

Ash and Gary looked at each other in amazement.

"Now I wish to check some things out with you two." Prof. Oak had a computer in his living room and turned it on.

"First I want your Pokedexes." He said to Gary and Ash.

Ash and Gary handed them to him.

"Now according to the research." Prof. Oak said. "Ash, you have seen over one hundred different Pokemon while Gary has only seen sixty Pokemon."

Ash was amazed, but he had seen all sorts of Pokemon while traveling.

"Next up Gary has ten badges and Ash has eight badges." Prof. Oak said. "Lastly Gary has caught more than two hundred Pokemon and Ash has caught forty three Pokemon."

Ash was amazed by the amount of Pokemon Gary caught, but he didn't care too much; he wasn't concerned about catching Pokemon like crazy.

"Now with that all settled." Prof. Oak said, before giving the Pokedexes back to Ash and Gary. "The last thing to discuss is the Pokemon League at Indigo Plateau."

"Where is Indigo Plateau professor?" Ash asked.

Prof. Oak showed them it's location on a map on the computer screen.

"To get there you need to go west from Viridian City." Prof. Oak said. "That will be Route 22, then you go north and that's how you get to Indigo Plateau."

Ash and Gary thanked Prof. Oak, then Gary left. He decided to return home for some rest.

Ash and the gang walked to the Oak Corral, where all the Pokemon that trainers caught were kept. Ash released his Pokemon from their Poke Balls; Ivysaur, Flareon, Vaporeon and Cubone. Then he called out for his other Pokemon and soon Ash was surrounded by his forty three Pokemon.

"Okay everyone." Ash told all his Pokemon. "We're entering the Pokemon League in two months time. During these next two months we're going to train and make ourselves strong for the Pokemon League. Everyone understand?"

His Pokemon roared in agreement.

While Ash was talking to his Pokemon, Tomo was playing with his Pokemon; Growlithe, Tauros, Nidoran couple, Poliwag, Venonat, Cubone, Kabuto, Omanyte and Farfetch'd. Tomo was feeling very cheerful; he had traveled with Ash, caught some new Pokemon friends and learned how compete in Pokemon battles. But one thing concerned him; what would he do after Ash's journey ended?

When the gang returned to Ash's house, they were in for a big surprise. Ranger Jenny was there, talking to Delia.

"Ranger Jenny." Ash gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to discuss Tomo." She said.

Ash started to get worried; he had grown very fond of Tomo and saw him as a little brother.

*'Does this mean Tomo and I are going to be separated?'* He thought.

He, Tomo, Misty and Brock became nervous about what Ranger Jenny was going to say next. Ranger Jenny took out some papers.

"These are adoption papers." She said.

Delia spoke next.

"Ranger Jenny told me everything about Tomo's parents." She said. "And we came to an agreement."

"I have heard that Tomo has been happy with you Ash." Ranger Jenny said. "And I have decided that Tomo should stay with you permanently."

"Which means Tomo will be part of our family Ash." Delia said.

Ash and Tomo were shocked to hear this.

"Then this means that you and I will be real brothers now Tomo." Ash said.

Tomo jumped into his brother's arms and then ran to Delia, his new mom. So it was arranged; Tomo was now Tomo Ketchum. Ranger Jenny left Pallet Town, happily knowing that Tomo would now grow up with a real family beside him.

For the next two months, Ash trained with his Pokemon. He trained his water Pokemon Wartortle, Golduck, Vaporeon, Floatzel and Krabby in the ocean at the Seafoam Islands. He also trained his Dragonair there as well. For his rock and ground type Pokemon Sandslash, Rhydon, Kabutops, Omastar and Aerodactyl Ash trained in the mountains. He also trained Clefable, Wigglytuff, Primeape, Kangaskhan, Charizard, Flareon, Ninetales, Rapidash, Cubone, Nidorino, Nidorina and Tauros there as well. Butterfree, Beedrill, Parasect, Venonat, Scyther and Pinsir were trained in the forest. And last but not least Ash trained Pikachu, Raichu, Ivysaur, Doduo, Corviknight, Gengar, Muk, Arbok, Magnemite, Espeon, Umbreon and Jolteon in the meadows. His two Eevee's were too young to train, so Ash decided to wait until they were older. Tomo, Misty and Brock had been watching Ash train this whole time and were very impressed with him.

"I think Ash is ready for this." Brock said.

"So do I." Misty agreed with him.

Thanks to all the training, Ash's Pokemon were ready for the Indigo League. In the process some of them evolved. Krabby evolved into Kingler, Venonat into Venomoth, Doduo into Dodrio, Magnemite into Magneton and Cubone into Marowak. Ash also evolved his Nidorina and Nidorino into Nidoqueen and Nidoking using his Moon Stone.

Aside from training Ash and the gang also celebrated his eleventh birthday. They had a party for Ash, with plenty of food and a big birthday cake. Ash also got presents; new clothes, Pokemon toys and accessories, a new backpack and a book on Legendary Pokemon from Prof. Oak.

"It's funny." Ash said. "I left Pallet Town when I was ten and now I'm back as a eleven year old."

Everyone giggled at that.

There was one important thing Ash had to do and that was show his mom his psychic powers. When Delia saw that, she was surprised but not in shock.

"I think I know why you have these powers." She said.

She took out a old book from her bookshelf, opened it up and revealed a page to Ash. The page showed a beautiful woman with long black hair.

"This is our ancestor Celeste." She said. "She was a psychic and a very powerful one at that. She got married to a man from our family. So you inherited your powers from her Ash."

Ash was amazed he had a psychic ancestor. He told Misty, Brock and Tomo about her as well.

"This explains why you have psychic powers." Brock said.

Ash was still amazed by this; but it didn't faze him one bit.

Now it was finally time for the gang to head to the Indigo Plateau.

"Indigo League, here I come." Ash said. He and the gang headed out for Indigo Plateau.