"Pallet Town, I'm back!!" At the entrance of Pallet Town, Ash raised his hands above his head and shouted to the sky.
Serena on the side was startled by Ash, while Misty shook her head helplessly.
No matter how much Ash went through, his most essential part remained unchanged. When he saw home, he shouted out like a child.
The time I went out this time was much shorter than the time I attended the Quartz Conference, but the level of danger was completely different from before.
It's like directly replacing a large copy.
It was originally a peaceful battle and a simple gym fight. Even if you lose, it doesn't matter. You just need to work hard to win back.
Now it has become a matter of life and death. Once you lose, not only yourself, but also the entire world will fall into a huge crisis, which is equivalent to tying yourself to the world in disguise.
Ash is the main bearer of pressure. If it weren't for the encouragement from the big guys in the group and his growth over the past six months, he would have been crushed by the pressure.
Even so, the trip to the Orange Islands was a bit depressing for Ash. The burden of saving the world was always on his shoulders, so how could he relax?
When he came back, that relaxed and carefree posture was the posture in which Ash truly put down all his burdens.
The harvest from this trip to the Orange Islands was quite substantial. Not only did Little Lugia officially join the team, but he also conquered a Snorlax with outstanding talent, as well as the equally talented Lapras, and a crystal Onix that may be unique in the world.
These four Pokemon may not be seen by other trainers in their lifetime, but Ash only managed to conquer four of them in just one month.
This source of blessing will make the Elite Four jealous with envy when he sees it.
After Ash vented his emotions at the gate of Pallet Town, he took Misty and Serena into Pallet Town.
Along the way, many neighbors greeted Ash when they saw him coming back.
"Hi, Ash, you're back!"
"Ash, where did you travel again? Did you bring me some specialties back?"
"Hey, Ash, you brought back another little girlfriend. Are you planning to defeat Gary on the girlfriend?"
"..."
Some greetings, some jokes, or some joking words popped out from the mouths of the neighbors, and Ash answered everyone one by one with a smile.
When talking about her little girlfriend, Misty felt nothing in her heart, but Serena couldn't help but blush. This was not the first time that she was mistaken for Ash's girlfriend.
However, Ash already has a girlfriend. Such a misunderstanding is not a good thing for either Ash or Misty. Although Serena has had such fantasies sometimes, she knows that that kind of thing is wrong.
However, this kind of misunderstanding is not good for her. It feels like taking the lead. Ash and Misty have not spoken. What does it mean if she takes the initiative to say that this is a misunderstanding?
Therefore, in the end, when faced with this kind of playful conversation, no one explained it, which was very strange.
After passing by the neighbors in the street, the three of them came to Ash's house. Although they had not seen each other for only a month, Ash felt that it had been longer than the previous few months since he had not been home. Perhaps it was because this experience was a bit unusual.
Ash turned the door handle and found that the door was not closed. It was noon and Delia should be at home. However, if the door was left unlocked normally, it would be very unsafe if a bad guy came.
Ash was thinking as he walked into the room and shouted: "Mom, I'm back!"
"Dong dong dong!!" A few seconds after Ash's words fell, there was the sound of rapid footsteps, and then a woman wearing a white mask appeared in front of everyone. Her grimace-like appearance scared the three of them and Pikachu so much that they couldn't help but take a step back.
"What kind of monster! How dare you show up at my house!!"
"What are you talking about! No matter how old or young you are, you don't recognize your mother after not seeing her for a long time?" Delia, who was holding the white mask, rolled her eyes angrily, and the originally flat mask even wrinkled a little.
The most taboo thing when applying a facial mask is facial twitching and movement. After hearing Ash's voice, she suppressed her excitement and forced her expression not to change much. However, her body movements were not slow at all and she ran to the door.
But Ash's words almost made her stop. It was obviously a touching scene of mother and son meeting, but it was ruined by Ash's words.
"Mom? It's really you! Why did you put on a facial mask? Haven't you never used this kind of thing before?" Ash confirmed again and again. After confirming that the person in front of him was really his mother, Ash lowered his guard.
Delia had never used facial masks before. This was the first time Ash saw Delia wearing a facial mask, and for a while he didn't recognize that she was his mother.
Delia gently smoothed her facial mask and said, "The past was before, and now is now. Will you not grow old when you become a mother? How was this trip? Did it go well?"
"Well, it's quite easy. It's not as troublesome as I thought. The Orange Islands are also a good holiday destination. We had a lot of fun there." Ash said it in an understatement. It seemed that the real situation was just as he said, and nothing happened.
Delia, who had raised Ash for more than ten years, no matter how similar he pretends to be, Delia can see through Ash's thoughts at a glance.
But after a few seconds of silence, Delia said with a slight smile: "That's it, then this trip can be regarded as relaxing for you for a long time."
"Yeah...Mom, it should be lunch time now. Why didn't you cook?" Ash felt that his mother seemed to have noticed something, so he quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, because someone is already cooking." As Delia finished speaking, a figure slowly walked out of the kitchen. Everyone took a closer look, and Ash and Misty exclaimed: "Brock?!"
"Pika pika?!"
What suddenly appeared in front of Ash and others was their former travel partner, Brock!
When Ash and others first arrived at the Orange Islands, Brock resolutely stayed with Dr. Uchimu in order to pursue his love, but now... why did Brock appear here in Pallet Town?
"Long time no see, Ash, Misty...is this one?"
"She is Serena, the friend we met on the Orange Islands, and my playmate at the summer camp when I was a child. She just went on a trip last month, and she is now my half-disciple!" Ash said with some pride, hands on his hips.
He was able to accept a disciple within half a year of his debut, which is enough to show how much he has improved!
After hearing this, Brock glanced at Serena with an appraising gaze. Although Serena couldn't see Brock's eyes, she could feel Brock's scrutiny of him.
Serena was still a little uneasy about this dark-skinned former member of Ash's team who seemed to be easy to get along with, and she didn't know if she could leave a good impression on him when they met for the first time.
"I see, I understand. This kid is much stronger than when you first debuted, Ash."
Ash:? ? ?
What kind of thing is better than me? Just take a look at her! against! This is definitely targeted!
"No, no! I don't know anything yet. Ash has been teaching me for a long time, but I have only learned a little bit..." Serena waved her hands repeatedly and said with a slightly panicked expression.
"Haha, don't worry, don't worry. I'm just joking. My name is Brock. I was a member of Ash's team before. Later, I left the team due to some things. Let me tell you secretly that when Ash first started traveling, he really didn't know anything. The reason why he is where he is now is not because of how good his basic skills are, but simply because his learning ability is too abnormal."
"So you don't need to compare yourself with him. This guy is a pure monster. If you compare yourself with him, I'm afraid you will be crushed by indescribable pressure. You just need to compare yourself with yourself."
Brock smiled and guided Serena.
As soon as they met, he could tell that this girl seemed to have a lot of pressure on her. Ash was good at everything, but he didn't know much about people and the ways of the world. He must have been neither gentle nor heavy when teaching Serena.
This is why Serena is so stressed now.
"Hey, hey, Brock, you can enlighten people as long as you enlighten them, don't slander me! I have never asked Serena to compete with me, and I have never put pressure on her. On the contrary, I think it is amazing that she has improved to this point in just one month." Ash rolled his eyes and said angrily.
When had he ever put pressure on Serena? On the contrary, when Serena was depressed, he had been comforting her, okay?
That Ash who had no emotional intelligence no longer existed after he got a girlfriend!
Before, he might have been really stressed, but now...he knows to some extent that he should be more tolerant towards girls.
And Serena's talent is indeed quite good. Based on normal people's ratings, she can be considered a genius, so there is no pressure.
Brock rubbed his slightly bearded chin with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Since it wasn't the pressure he received during training, then what was the pressure he felt from Serena...
He looked at Ash, then at Misty, and finally at Serena, and then a look of realization appeared on his face.
So that's what happened.
"Okay, okay, now that I know you're not bullying the newcomers, let's go and cook with me. I haven't cooked with you for a long time, and it's just the right time for you to see the progress of my cooking skills." After Brock figured it out, he grabbed Ash and dragged him into the kitchen.
Ash was dragged by Brock, but he did not resist. Instead, he asked curiously: "By the way, Brock, aren't you at Dr. Ivy's place? Why..."
Before Ash could finish his words, he found that the power dragging him had disappeared without a trace, and Brock was already squatting in the corner of the kitchen, with a layer of dark clouds seeming to hang above his head.
Ash fell to the ground and looked at Brock in confusion, not knowing what happened.
"What's wrong, Ash?!" Misty and Serena heard the sound and rushed over, only to see Ash lying on the ground and Brock squatting on the ground.
...
After a while of experiments, Ash finally figured out that for Brock now, the word "Ivy" is a forbidden word.
It seems that his relationship with Dr. Ivy has suffered a devastating blow. It is not known whether Dr. Ivy rejected him or whether they got together and then separated. In short, Dr. Ivy has become a taboo existence for Brock, and even his name must not be mentioned.
In less than a minute, Brock returned to normal. After he and Ash made a delicious lunch together, Ash took Pikachu to say goodbye to Delia and others for the time being.
He still had a GS ball on him that he wanted to give to Dr. Oak. After he came back to have a meal, he should quickly take it to him. Originally, Ash wanted to go with Misty, Serena, and Brock.
But Brock said he wanted to wash the dishes, and Misty said she wanted to stay and reminisce with Delia, and she also stayed with Serena. In the end, only Ash, Pikachu and one mouse were left.
Ash's home is not very far from the Oak Research Institute. It only takes five minutes to walk there.
However, when he arrived at the entrance of the Oak Research Institute, Ash met an unexpected person: "Are you...Gary?"
Ash looked at the back at the door of the Oak Research Institute and said with some uncertainty.
When the figure turned around, Ash was sure that it was the Gary he knew well, but Gary's temperament was too different from the one he met at the adaptation conference.
If Gary was still young, arrogant and arrogant before, Gary now seems to have gone through many trials and become a very mature trainer.
For experienced trainers, just by looking at it, you can tell that such an opponent is very difficult!
"Hey, Ash, you're back in Pallet Town too."
"Well, I just came back today, how about you?"
"Same as you."
Although the two hadn't seen each other for a while, they chatted without any sense of unfamiliarity.
"Have you been to the Orange Islands for more than a month? I thought you would go to the Silver Conference directly after the Quartz Conference." The news that Ash went to the Orange Islands is not a secret, it can even be said to be well known.
Who made Ash so high-profile? He even had a battle with Lorelei on the Orange Islands, and brought out the legendary God of the Sea, a darkened version, and finally defeated Lorelei.
That battle brought Ash's fame to a new high point. Gary, who usually pays attention to the news, would of course know that Ash went to the Orange Islands.
And he also knew that Ash was stronger than when he was at the Quartz Conference!
Being able to defeat Lorelei head-on, this kind of strength can only be described as terrifying. If he hadn't had some adventures this month, I might not even be able to see Ash's taillights now.