Ash Ketchum, former Champion of the Alola region, disappears without a trace. He knows he needs to do better.
Three years later, The Pokemon World Tournament is about to commence, and our favorite raven hair decides to make his new debut, fully awar...
I'm never usually groggy when I wake up. On my own journey, I can set my own bedtime, but I carefully crafted for myself a bedtime of 12 and a wake-up time at 8. That's how it is, and that's how it has been for the past 3 years, so imagine my surprise when I'm thunderbolted by my partner at five in the morning.
Now, I wasn't the most usual 17-year-old. Even discarding my trainer record, most teens my age are in towns or cities, getting in relationships, applying for college, and waking up using NORMAL ALARM CLOCKS.
"hey Pikachu... I'm sorry I stepped on that ketchup package two weeks ago" I managed to utter, thinking that's what this was about. Pikachu gave a confused look before continuing:
"chuu! pika!" My partner professed enthusiastically, before handing me my Rotom Phone.
"As my phone turned on, the blinding light caused my eyes to burn. "hey rotom, it's early..." I muttered, causing the brightness to drop to a level that didn't blind me.
As I checked my notifications, there was something that stuck out like a sore thumb.
'1 missed call from Youngster Joey'
'7 messages, 1 missed call from Selene'
'14 messages from the IRS'
'2 messages from Elio'
'121 messages, 39 missed calls from Zinnia'
"why's she calling now...", I groaned, before Pikachu pointed to her last message. 'ASH KETCHUM, ANSWER ME. ARE. YOU. GOING. OR. NOT????'
I pondered for a couple of seconds thinking about what she meant, but my face lit up as I had a realization. I'd never been good with dates, but I had a hunch that today might be the date of the opening.
I glanced at the calendar before confirming with myself. The First-Annual Pokemon World Tournament starts tomorrow and the opening is today.
"today's the day!" I remarked with confidence as I stood up and did a stretch, with Pikachu following.
"grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" our tummies seemed to resonate
"aaaaaand today can wait till after we eat,"
"chu chuuu" agreed Pikachu, foraging my bag for another Ketchup packet
As I plopped myself down back against the Rocky Cliffs of Meteor Falls, I started admiring the beautiful early morning sunrise, The sun seemed to peek over the horizon, it's pinkish glow chasing away the stars it terrified a thousand times before. Though I traveled the world regularly, I'd always admired the sunrises and sunsets in Hoenn. While in Alola, they made you feel relaxed, in Hoenn, the sunset feels comforting and heartwarming, as if you're watching dimensions colliding, fighting a hopeless war where the winner can be predicted every time. Day after day, night after night. I'll miss this when I'm at the tournament.
I got out my rotom phone and texted back two words.
"im going."
I pulled up a map of the world, then a smirk appeared on my face as I had a realization.
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