The tournament was over, and the stadium, well, let's just say it was destroyed and leave it at that. It was time to give out the medals, but before that happened, Gary said something none of them expected: he was dropping out. That meant Silver got 3rd place with no contest.
At first, he was conflicted about it, but then Green reminded him that if he got bronze, he'd be the same rank she was in the Indigo League, and that made him quietly accept it real quick.
And, just like before, as they were standing on their pedestals, people were still clapping for them. Over in the VIP box, the Elite Four and Cynthia were giving respectful applause as well.
Lance and Goodshow walked up with some assistants carrying ornate boxes.
"It is time to award the top three trainers of this year's League!" Lance announced.
Goodshow walked up slowly as the assistant followed. First, he got the 3rd place medal and put it around Silver's neck. "Congratulations, my boy, you worked hard for this."
Silver looked at the medal and allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. As he looked up, he saw the crowd cheering, and over where their friends were, Green was clapping louder than anyone, waving a flag for him.
Then, near the back of the stadium, someone caught his eye. Giovanni, his father. Silver's hand trembled slightly. He didn't know why, but he hoped to hear something… though he didn't know what.
Then a red-haired woman walked up next to Giovanni and put a hand on his shoulder. It was Ariana, dressed casually, waving excitedly at Silver. Giovanni uncrossed his arms, looked at Silver, and gave him a small smile. Then he started clapping as well, giving him a nod.
Silver let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He felt lighter. He smiled.
Goodshow noticed Silver's reaction and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should be proud. Remember, you are who you choose to be."
He gave Silver one more pat before moving on, pulling out the silver medal. "And next up, second place will go to none other than Ethan!" Goodshow announced as he placed the medal around Ethan's neck.
Ethan grinned as he held it. "Alright, silver is good and all, no offense," he said, glancing at Silver, who stood right beside him.
"None taken," Silver replied.
Ethan nodded, still grinning. "But next time, I'm going for gold."
Goodshow smiled and nodded. "Well then, I look forward to it."
He walked over and, from the case, grabbed a gold trophy from his assistant. Walking up to Ash, he spoke quietly enough so only Ash could hear. "Well, it looks like I'm handing you another one. Wasn't the last one enough?"
Ash gave a little smile. "Well, my trophy was looking pretty lonely all by itself, so I thought about getting it another one."
Goodshow chuckled. "Well then, I suppose you deserve this."
Then he raised his voice so everyone could hear: "Now, finally, the moment has come to crown the winner of this year's Silver Conference! Ash of Pallet Town, you know him, and you love him, please welcome the champion of the Silver Conference!"
Ash took the trophy and held it high above his head as a photography crew snapped pictures of him, a grin on his face, and the crowd cheering as loud as they could.
Lance walked up, smiling. "Well, looks like you pulled out even more surprises, huh?"
"Looks like it," Ash answered.
"You're not planning on pulling the same stunt you did last year, right?" Lance asked. He didn't sound mad, only amused.
"Depends. You gonna try to force me to take your place?" Ash teased. "Already told you, not interested."
Lance chuckled. "Touché. But I do have to say, you now have the right to challenge the Johto Elite Four if you'd like."
Ash just shook his head. "Maybe. Though I do have something to talk about with you after this is over, call it a business transaction."
Lance raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised at this point. Very well, we can talk later. But for now—"
He took the mic and raised it to his mouth. "And that concludes this year's Silver conference. Thank you, everyone, for coming and for your constant support. From me, your champion, thank you all for being here!"
The people cheered, and there in the center stood Ash, Silver, and Ethan.
–
{Meanwhile in ???}
All the way in Orre, Greevil was reading the Johto paper. Since Orre's situation was complicated, they didn't receive information as quickly as other regions.
On the front page it read: Pryce, revealed to be the Masked Man of Team Rocket, detained and sent to prison.
Greevil frowned. His eyes stayed low, as they always were, but his wrinkled face crinkled a bit more. "It seems our partnership has ended."
His voice dropped low as he set the paper down. "How useless… and after the waste we gave that waste of oxygen."
Ardos and Eldes stood beside him, silent but watchful. Finally, Eldes spoke. "Grand Master, what shall we do now? Shall we mobilize Cipher agents?"
Greevil shook his head. "No. There is no point. As we are now, we'll lose far more than we can gain."
He hadn't survived this long in a place like Orre without knowing, when times were at their worst, you either grew stronger or you died.
Over the years, ever since Cipher was 'disbanded' and the mad old boss was thrown out of power, Orre had become prosperous again. The barren desert landscapes were slowly replaced with lush green grasslands. Buildings and homes were being built, and Pokémon were being reintroduced into the environment.
But that also meant people were getting stronger, and that strength might become an annoyance. The reason Cipher had lasted as long as it did was simple: wild Pokémon didn't live around most of Orre, and Poké Balls weren't sold anywhere. Back then, they could do whatever they wanted.
That's not to say they were weak, but it also didn't mean they were strong. It wasn't the trainers they were worried about, it was the League learning that they were still around. That was the true problem.
Greevil sighed. He had already lost two of his admins, Gorigan and Snattle had been captured. The Masked Man had been his best bet at getting them back, but now that plan had failed. He couldn't risk exposing themselves any more than they already had. If people learned Cipher was back, it would be over for them.
But that came with a downside. Other than his two sons, Ardos and Eldes, the only admin left was Lovrina. She was annoying, and yet she had to serve as head of the Research and Development team. For those who knew her, though, she was nothing short of terrifying. At least she was loyal, not like other girls her age would be.
Greevil sighed into his hand. "It looks like we must delay our takeover for a little longer."
Ardos then spoke. "Grand Master, and by how much do you believe this will delay us?"
Greevil tapped his chin. "No more than one year. But worry not, it will all end our way. After all—" he opened his eyes, the bright yellow gleam shining through—"we are far superior to Team Rocket."
He looked out the window and thought: perhaps it was time to break his old friend Evice out of prison.
–
{In the hospital}
Anabel was sitting outside the hospital room. Next to her were Jay, Enid, Helena, and Domino.
Sayako and Owari had gone back to base because Giovanni was dealing with damage control in Team Rocket. Of course, they hadn't said that openly, not with Anabel and more International Police around. Instead, they claimed they needed to check on some friends in another hospital. It was believable enough, currently, three hospitals were being used. At least after a week, things were starting to clear out, and the doctors weren't overworked anymore. Thankfully, no one had died, thanks to the Gym Leaders and everyone else.
Speaking of which, because of everything that had happened, and how fast it had all happened, none of them had explained how they knew D. No one asked either. At this point, it would have been strange to bring it up.
Anabel looked down. Around her neck was D's scarf, the one he had been wearing when the mask exploded and fell off his face. It was damaged now, torn in places. It smelled faintly of iron and gunpowder… but also of D. She held onto it tightly. She didn't know if she was hoping she could return it to him, or if it was something else.
Right now, her hand tightened around it. Looker was also out, directing the International Police with further damage control. In the background, a TV played the battle in the League, Ash vs. Ethan, but none of them paid attention.
"…Do you think he'll wake up soon?" Helena was the first to speak, holding onto her Shuppet, the one she had hatched from the Egg D gave her.
"…I don't know." Jay leaned against the wall, looking down.
Anabel's fingers curled tighter around the scarf. She didn't even realize how hard she was gripping it until her knuckles turned pale. She loosened her hold and exhaled softly.
"…He has to," Anabel said finally. Her voice was quiet but certain, though it was hard to tell if she was reassuring herself or the others.
Enid, who had been silent the whole time, shifted in her chair and crossed her arms. "He has to. Besides, that idiot owes me a rematch anyway."
Domino glanced at her, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "That's a funny way of saying you're worried."
Enid didn't answer, but her grip tightened on the armrest.
Helena looked down this time. "Do you think… things can go back to normal with us?"
"I don't know," Jay answered again, remembering what had happened. D gave them a beatdown, called them useless, but that was just the mask, right? He wouldn't have said those things if he had the choice… right?
But then they all remembered: because of their meddling, the mask had exploded on his face, mutilating his already scarred features. They didn't even know what he looked like now after the blast.
"I… do you think he'll be mad at us?" Domino asked. After all, as far as they knew, D had been saving up money to repair his face, and this only made things worse. He had always been self-conscious, and now… it seemed unbearable.
As they sat there, a team of nurses walked up to the door and noticed them. "Oh, are you all friends of the patient? We were just about to change his bandages and enter his information into the system. Would you like to come in to see him?"
Anabel looked up and nodded quickly. "Y-yes, we would like to go in."
The head nurse gave a sad smile. She remembered seeing D's face when he was wheeled in, and the surprise when she and the other doctors came in to perform emergency treatment, only to find his face already bandaged and a full treatment report filled out on the clipboard by a licensed doctor.
She pushed the door open, and the nurses and group looked inside. What they saw nearly made their eyes pop out of their heads.
The bed was empty. Bandages were strewn across it. In the center of the room stood D, stretching his arm, his back facing the door. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, the muscles in his arms and shoulders taut as he moved. When he finally turned around, they saw what they had hoped they wouldn't.
D wore a mask covering the lower half of his face, not one of the Masked Man's masks, but something more like Kakashi's face mask. Over his right eye, he had an eyepatch covering his damaged eye.
The room fell silent. The only sound was D's steady breathing.
Anabel's hand flew to her chest, her fingers brushing against the scarf still wrapped around her neck. "D…" she whispered, her voice trembling.
He didn't speak at first, only turned his head slowly, narrowing his eye as he looked at them.
"You… you're awake," Jay muttered, stepping forward cautiously.
Enid wanted to say something, to finally do what she had been meaning to. To apologize properly. After everything that happened, after the beating she took and the brutal reality check, she had never doubted herself more than she did now.
The head nurse cleared her throat nervously. "S-sir, you shouldn't be up. We also need your real name for the records, and we need to check your injuries—"
But D didn't give them the chance. He moved quickly, grabbing his jacket from a nearby chair, throwing it on in one motion. In the next instant, he pushed the window open. Before anyone could stop him, he leapt out backward into the open air.
As everyone widened their eyes and ran to the window, they saw D walking with his arms crossed. At the last moment, Muk burst from his belt and slammed a wave of sludge into the ground, flipping D; Muk then slipped back into the belt in a blur. In a spin, D put his jacket back on and Hypno appeared behind him. He looked up at where they were staring, then teleported away, never saying a single word.
The room stayed quiet long after Hypno's teleportation flash faded. The wind from the open window blew into the room.
"No," Anabel said, her voice sharp at first, then faltering. Her hands gripped the scarf at her neck as the wind blew against her.
"He just… left," Helena whispered, clutching her Shuppet tighter. "Why didn't he say anything?"
"I… guess he doesn't want to talk to us right now," Anabel muttered, tightening her hold on the scarf once more. She didn't know when she would see him again.
—
Back with the gang: after the League, they left, taking Ethan and Silver with them along with Abby, since reporters and fans would swarm as soon as they exited. Later, they met up with everyone in the back room, where Molly barreled into Ash and hugged him.
"Yay, big brother! You did it, you won!" Molly said, nuzzling into Ash.
Ash smiled and patted her head. "Well, I told you I was gonna win. What kind of super-handsome, strong, and humble big brother would I be if I broke my promise?" he said, picking her up with one arm while holding his trophy in the other.
Then he heard the familiar sounds of "Pika!" When he turned, he saw everyone running over, led by Pikachu and Vee, who jumped up on his shoulders in excitement.
Everyone else gathered around. "Ha, looks like you won another one," Misty said with a little smile, shaking her head. "But then again, are we really surprised at this point?"
"Was there ever any doubt? Besides, I had y'all cheering for me, I can't disappoint," Ash answered.
Green came up from behind and wrapped an arm around both Ash and Silver, pulling them to her sides. "Ha! That's how we like it. Take that, Ethan, for beating my little brother!" she said, pointing at Ethan.
"Hey, come on, I was just battling. Why do you have to make it personal?" Ethan protested, raising his hands.
"Yeah, big sis, it's really fine," Silver added.
Green huffed. "Well, whatever. All that matters is that Ashy here avenged Silver, great work. So as a reward, I won't stop talking to you."
Ash put a finger to his chin. "Hmm, oh hey, Ethan, is it too late for me to forfeit?" he joked, making Green step back in mock offense.
"You…I hate you sometimes. If you weren't holding Molly I'd hit you," Green huffed. "And I still haven't gotten you back for putting me in that situation."
"Oh no, Molly, save me," Ash said, feigning fear.
Molly rubbed Ash's head the way he would with her, then looked up at Green. "Big sis Green, don't bully my big brother."
Green huffed. "You're lucky you're adorable, Molly."
Yellow walked up, still holding the two Eggs, and she was also taking care of the Spiky-eared Pichu that jumped off her shoulder and over to Ethan, "Ash, congratulations, you really are amazing, you know," she said with a smile on her face.
Ash smiled back. "Well, failure isn't an option. It never is. Besides, after all we've been through, I'll always find a way."
"I still don't know how you're always ahead somehow," Ethan huffed. "I mean, what? I trained my Pokémon, well, most of them, for almost two years, and you come here and do it in half the time." He wasn't salty, though.
"What can I say? The only way you're gonna catch me slipping is if you take away the wet floor sign," Ash shrugged with a smirk.
"Mmm, not gonna lie, that is kinda tough," Ethan rubbed his chin. "Gonna save that one for later."
"But in the end, you got it, huh?" Gary finally said as he walked up to Ash. Ash handed Molly over to Green. "Guess this officially means you're a better trainer than me. I still remember when you just wanted to catch up. Now look at this, we're the ones trying to catch up to you."
Ash grinned. "Don't beat yourself up about it. I mean, you were facing me. Besides, being number two is still great~" Ash said teasingly, getting a snort out of Gary.
"You know, you're taking this off well. Are you sure you're good?" Kris asked.
"Yeah, I am now," Gary said, closing his eyes. "And it's all thanks to this idiot I call my best friend."
Ash gave him a thumbs-up. "Love you too, bro."
Gary nodded. "Well, now I know what I want to do, and I'll do it my way." He went to his pocket and pulled out the Pokéball piece he always kept. "You remember this?"
Ash smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out his half. "Always have."
Gary smirked. "Well then, that's all I need to know. From now on, you go on your own. I'm done with the Leagues, at least for a while. I'm finally gonna take my gramps up on that offer."
Green blinked. "Wait, you're… actually going to be a professor?" It wasn't that Green didn't want Gary to be a professor; it was just that they teased him so much about it. They never actually wanted to force Gary into it if he didn't want to. "I-um, Gary, you know we were joking."
Gary shook his head. "Nah, don't worry. I'm not doing this because of you guys… well, not entirely. But I do like studying Pokémon, I always have. I just didn't want to be told what to do. Besides," Gary grinned as he looked over at Ash and Yellow, "Mew is out there. Might be a good thing to start looking for it."
Ash snorted. "What, so you're gonna start an expedition team? Gonna call it Project Mew or something too?"
"No, more like a research project," Gary said with a smirk. "And this time, we'll find it on our own."
Ash smiled and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Well, good luck, you're gonna need it, idiot."
Green huffed. "Oh wow, so now you're taking my flow? Fine then, you're looking for Mew," she smirked. "Then remember that Pokémon we saw in Viridian City? I'm gonna find that."
"You mean Mewtwo?" Ash asked.
"That's its name. Alright then, I'll find Mewtwo," Green said, putting a finger on her chest and grinning. "Then we'll see."
Ash and Gary looked at her and laughed, making Green pout and wave her hands. "I'm serious! You'll see, I'll find Mewtwo!"
Everyone looked at the trio and sighed. They didn't know how they only just realized it, but yeah, watching them bicker like this, it made sense why they were best friends.
"You know, speaking of legendaries and stuff," Lyra finally cut in, holding the Shiny Pichu and pointing to Ethan's Spiky-eared Pichu, "weren't we supposed to get Celebi to help with this?"
"That's a very good point, actually," Gary tapped his chin. "Don't really know how it works, but I imagine timeline stuff like that isn't exactly fun if the Eggs hatch and these two are still here."
"So what, do we, like, I dunno… call Celebi?" Ethan asked rhetorically.
"I dunno, let me try," Lyra said, putting her hand to her mouth like a cone. "Celebi! Here, Celebi! Come here!"
"There's no way that's gonna work, Celebi isn't a dog," Kris started, but as she said that, a portal opened and Celebi's head poked out, waving at them.
"I'm just gonna shut up. Clearly logic doesn't apply here…" Kris mumbled.
Celebi gestured toward the Pichus, signaling for them to come along.
Yellow translated, "I think Celebi is saying it found when the Pichus came from, so Celebi wants to take them back."
"Awww…" Lyra said, hugging the Pichu in her arms. "But it's so cute… I guess you have to go back to your time."
The Pichu nodded, lowering its ears.
Ethan looked at his and smirked. "Well, that just means you've got to find us when you get to your time. So when you do…" He took off his hat and put it on the Spiky-eared Pichu. "Give this back, why don't you?"
"Oh, that's a good idea, actually," Lyra said. She put her Pichu down, took one of her bows, and tied it around its ear. "So you better go give these back to us!"
The Pichus gave a salute, then looked at Pikachu and Chuchu, hugging them one more time before going over to Celebi and waving goodbye as the portal closed.
Lyra sighed. "I miss them already…"
"Me too, buuuut…" Ethan started, looking over at Yellow, making her flinch slightly.
"I-uh, what are you looking at me for?" she said nervously.
"Heyyy, Yellow, buddy, if you ever need a babysitter for those two, hit us up, k?" Ethan said, putting an arm around Yellow.
"I-um, wh-um…" Yellow stammered, making everyone chuckle. Even though she had grown a spine now, she was still Yellow.
"Well, enough about all that, we should celebrate!" Lyra clapped her hands. "We have a winner right here, and we survived… everything that happened."
"Hold it right there," Green crossed her arms smugly. "Like I said, Ash has plans. We need to celebrate his birthday, so you can forget about any plans you thought of."
"Oh yeah? When is your birthday, by the way?" Ethan asked, looking at Ash.
"Oh, it's tomorrow," Ash said casually, as if that weren't a big deal.
The room stayed quiet, then everyone, except Green, Gary, and Yellow, collectively groaned, "Ehhhhh!!!"
"Yeah, also, Misty, Brock… why are you surprised we celebrated my birthday last year?" Ash tilted his head.
"Well, i-…with the Gym Leader stuff going on, we forgot…" Misty said, rubbing her arm embarrassedly.
"Yeah… sorry," Brock added.
Ash shrugged. "No big deal."
"No, it's a really big deal," Ethan said, rubbing his head. "I mean, you're giving us one day to go gift shopping for you? What do you get the guy who has everything?"
"I mean, you don't have to get me a gift…" Ash started.
"Not get you a gift?!" Green barked, smacking Ash's shoulder with her palm. "Don't even joke about that. You won the Silver Conference, survived everything that happened this year, and, oh yeah, you're literally the glue that holds this circus together. You're getting a gift. End of discussion."
Just then, a pink-haired girl peeked her head in. "Did I hear something about gifts and parties?" It was Whitney.
"Wh-why are you here?" Silver asked.
"Oh, I have a supernatural sense for anything involving parties," Whitney said, as if that made perfect sense. "Anyway, what was that about a party?"
"Ash's birthday is tomorrow," Ethan explained.
"What? Oh, this is terrible, you're giving us one day to go gift shopping for you?!" Whitney panicked.
"That's what I said," Ethan threw his arms in the air.
Whitney shook her head and smiled. "Alright, mind if I do something? I'm great at parties, and I'll make sure the other Gym Leaders are there… well, most of them. I don't know about the grumpy ones."
They looked at Ash. Since it was his party, it was his choice. He just shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind."
Whitney pumped her fist. "Oh yeah, time for lots of party planning!"
Ethan raised his hand. "Count me in, I'm helping too."
"Fine, but only because we only have one day, and I still hate you," Whitney said again, making him almost fall over and everyone else chuckle.
–
The next day, all the way in Pallet Town
Ash woke up and yawned. Last night, he'd come home after using Abby to teleport everyone back. He got home to Molly giving his mom a hug, and a celebration dinner with Gary, Green, Daisy, and Oak.
Padding across his room, Ash went through his usual routine, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and then throwing on a fresh outfit. Now that the League was over, he took off his suit and put on his usual hoodie and hat. He hung up the suit in his closet, it might come in handy later.
Pikachu and Vee were still sleeping on the bed, so he let them rest a little longer.
As he stepped back into his room, Pikachu stirred, ears twitching, while Vee stretched like a cat.
"Morning, you two," Ash said softly, crouching down to rub Pikachu's head.
"Pika…" Pikachu yawned before giving him a little spark-filled smile.
"Vee~" Eevee chirped, hopping onto Ash's shoulder.
"Alright, let's go get some breakfast," Ash said, opening his door and heading down the hallway.
But when he reached the stairs, there stood a wild Molly, arms crossed. "No, big brother. You're not allowed downstairs… or in town right now!"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "What? Why not? Breakfast is down there!"
"Why else?" a familiar voice chimed from below. Whitney peeked up from the stairs. "We're getting your party ready."
Ash blinked a few times. "How are you… what wha—?"
His question was answered when Misty appeared beside Whitney, smirking. "Oh, we bribed Abby to pick people up. Not everyone's here yet, but they'll be. So until it's ready… can't you go do something else?"
"Nope," Green said, joining in. She walked up the stairs and gently turned Ash around by his shoulders. "You'll ruin the surprise. Besides, Whitney showed up at dawn and started reorganizing the entire living room. You do not want to get in her way when she's in 'party mode.'"
From the kitchen, Delia called sweetly, "Don't worry, honey! I packed you a little bento box for the road. Just… stay out of Pallet for a few hours, okay?"
Brock walked out of the kitchen, apron on, handing Ash the box. "Here you go. Delia made it earlier, so it's still hot," he said, then ran back to continue cooking.
Ash looked between them all, then sighed, adjusting his hat. "Guess I don't really have a choice, huh?"
Gary peeked around the corner, being bossed around by Daisy. "Not unless you want to get tackled by Green."
"Or Daisy," Green added, smirking.
Ash sweatdropped. "Okay, okay, I'm going."
"Good boy." Green patted him on the back and practically shoved him toward the front door, covering his eyes so he couldn't see anything.
"I'm going, but never say that again," he deadpanned as he stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
Pikachu tilted his head. "Pika?"
"Yeah, buddy," Ash muttered, stepping outside into the sunlight. "Looks like we've been kicked out of our own house."
He glanced back just once, seeing Green slam the door behind him with a dramatic click. Vee tilted her head with a soft, "Vee?" and Ash laughed a little.
He shrugged and walked to the park near his house, settling on a bench to eat the bento, sharing it with Pikachu and Vee.
As he ate, unsurprisingly, people around cheered for him and celebrated his win as he walked by. There were also a few persistent girls trying to get closer, Hazel and Coconut among them, but, in a comical twist, they ended up getting dragged away
Yeah, it made sense, they were from a gag/romance manga, where the plot required them never to actually confess. Honestly, Ash was a little surprised they were here when he first met them, but he did what he did best: ignored it.
After finishing the bento, Ash scrolled through his phone. "Well, guys, we've got some time to kill. Anything you wanna do?"
Pikachu and Vee shrugged. Ash sighed, thinking maybe he should head to Mega Island again or check on his businesses and work on expanding them.
As he pondered, his phone dinged. He looked down and read a message. Slowly, a smile crept across his face. "Oh… looks like we've got some fun stuff to do."
Ash grinned and pulled out a cookie. "Oh, Abby, we need a ride~"
Unsurprisingly, Abby teleported next to him, promptly taking the cookie.