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Ash should really know that everything he went through as a teen would come to haunt him at one point in time. As the youngest Pokémon Master to have ever lived, and the only one who was able to claim to have seen them all - he became something of a local legend when he went back home.
Pellet Town was just like it had always been, quiet, with mostly middle class people living there and enjoying the countryside.
His mother, of course, had been ecstatic to know he would be home again, when he and Pikachu made their way back through the front door, she had started crying as she hugged him close. For so long, she had been scared that like his father he would never come home again.
But here he was, home for good - or until such a time they asked for his help wherever in the world. Having travelled far and wide, his name had been known by quite a few people, and Pokémon alike (one of the perks of knowing the legendary Pokémon too).
It should not come as a surprise that even if he lived in rural Pellet Town, Pokémon from all over managed to find him. Even those he left with professors all over the world, or in the wild, managed to make their way to him at least once. At first it wasn’t so bad, seeing his Butterfree, Squirtle and Bulbasaur back was something nostalgic.
It started to become a problem however when legendaries started to show up, to the wonder of the people around him.
Gary had been at the door at one time, when suddenly an explosion from the yard made him sigh, he should have known that the appearance of Lugia, Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres wouldn’t be a good thing in the end.
Looking at the boy who for the longest time had been antagonistic to him, he sighed, “I swear it’s not always like this. Normally there aren’t so many here at the same time - but for some reason all four of them decided to come here at the same time.”
Gary on his turn had just gaped, “All four of them?”
Ash hummed, “Yeah, they started to appear one after the other, and have the habit of popping by whenever they seem to want. Normally this isn’t a problem - but these four don’t have the best working relationship.”
Walking outside, he stepped right between the four flying Pokémon, “Hey, enough. We agreed that there would be no fighting, especially not in my backyard!”
They all looked properly chastised, much to Gary’s amazement, he’d heard tales on his travels. And had been amazing by what Ash had managed to accomplish the few times they ran into each other. But that didn’t take away that he hadn’t believed his grandfather when the man told him that Ash was back in town - always accompanied by Pokémon from all over, all the way to Legendaries.
That had been the main reason he came to look up his old rival, as a Pokémon researcher, he wanted to know as much as he could about every Pokémon - most didn’t even get the chance to see a Legendary, but here Ash was - almost cuddled up in between the wings of several of them.
It was unreal, and something that he couldn’t comprehend, even looking at it.
Shaking his head, he looked at Ash, “Hey Ash, do you think you could answer some of my questions?”
The other man hummed, “Sure, if you don’t mind me not sitting next to you - I don’t think that they’re going to let me leave anytime soon.”
Pikachu on his turn just sighed as much, running forward to curl up on Ash’s stomach and take a nap. His oldest companion was getting there in age, preferring to sleep more than do anything else.
Rubbing over the electric type’s back, Ash looked at Gary, “So, shoot.”