Chapter Text
Pallet Town was filled with a kind of buzzing energy that hadn't shown its joyful face in many years. Pokémon stomped, roared and bellowed alongside their trainers, who cheered and celebrated the return of their heroes.
Professor Oak's lab had been converted into a dining room to fit the two families who were eager to see the children who had disappeared from their lives so many years ago. Not that Blue and Red were children anymore, now twenty-four and twice as mature as they'd once been.
Satoshi and Shigeru sat on the floor of Shigeru's private office, a chessboard between them in the cramped space. Shigeru had filled every nook with his research on Pokémon and had created a maze of shelves organised by typing. A separate shelf had the teachings from Professor Rowan, and next to that shelf was a table containing letters from a professor Shigeru refused to tell Satoshi anything about.
Chess wasn't a game Satoshi typically played, much preferring battling and fast-paced activities, but as Shigeru had pointed out, they had a very small chance of being able to go out with the current celebrations.
"Pawn to… C3." Satoshi mumbled as Chu pushed the pawn forward. His Pikachu was equally bored with the game, this being their 3rd match, but they truly had no choice in the matter.
Shigeru grinned, "Queen to D2." Umbreon held the queen piece in his mouth and moved it to the correct square. "Have I bored you enough to talk yet, Ashy-Boy?"
Satoshi smirked. "Not even close. I move my bishop to take your queen."
"Ash, come on now." He sighed. "Tower to E7."
"I'm fine, Gary, what about you?" Ash Ketchum tilted his head and let his hat drift to the floor. "Do you want to say anything about our current situation? I take your tower with my pawn."
Gary Oak sighed and gazed over the board at Ash with apprehension. "That's not what I'm talking about. It's been two months since you got back from Kalos."
Ash shrugged, finally looking up from the board. "So?"
"You're still in Kanto, in Pallet. We both know that, as much as you act it, you aren't stupid. You knew someone would notice eventually." Gary looked towards the door to the rest of their family. "The current situation doesn't help matters, but be honest with me. Please. Kalos affected you more than you've let on, didn't it?"
Ash moved his hand away from the board and rested it on Chu's head. "I'm fine. I'm just not in the mood to travel right now." Gary snorted. "I'm not lying! I've been doing it for two years now, maybe I'm fatigued."
Gary began packing the board away. "Or maybe, just a thought, what happened in Kalos hurt you."
Ash glanced towards the door again. "No, it didn't. I'm fine."
Gary placed the set on his desk and shrugged. "If you say so, Ashy-Boy. Maybe you should explore Kanto again, though; it might help you get out of this funk." With that, he left the office, closing the door behind him once Umbreon was out.
Ash stared at the wall, an odd feeling of cold in his gut as the quiet settled. He'd never felt like this before. He'd seen amazing things, horrific, beautiful and terrible things. But he'd always been able to move past it before. He'd continued his journey with no trouble. But since Kalos, it had been like he'd fallen into a pit of nothingness, wanting to climb out but unable to.
Chu patted his knee and pointed to one of the many notebooks. Ash heaved himself up with a smile and pulled the book away from the others.
Pikachu Across the Regions
Ash felt his smile widen, and he looked down at Chu, who now looked sheepish. "And people say I have a big head!" He grinned and scratched the back of his neck. "Alright, let's take a look. I never thought to scan you using different Pokedex now that I think about it."
Chu's ears flattened, and he let out a long 'Piiii', as if commenting on Ash's lack of obvious priority.
"I spoil you," Ash grumbled as he fell into Gary's chair, letting it spin once before opening the notebook.
Just as he turned past the introduction page, because of course, Gary had given himself a prologue to his notebook, a knock made him pause and look up at the door. It squeaked open to reveal a slightly bigger Pikachu than Ash's own, followed by a tall man dressed in similar attire to Ash. Which made sense considering Ash typically wore his brother's hand-me-downs.
Red looked around silently, taking in the labyrinth of notebooks with a look of awe before letting his gaze casually drift to the centre of the room, where Ash's eyes bore into him.
Ash didn't know Red the same way Gary didn't know Blue. To him, Red had been a mythical figure who had haunted his life. He'd been expected to learn quickly, be a Pokémon Master straight out of the gates. People expected him to be the second coming of Red.
It had led to a few arguments down the line when he failed to meet those high expectations. But Ash didn't know why they'd thought differently. His mother had purposefully tried to keep him away from anything to do with Pokémon out of fear that he'd disappear as Red had, at least for his first few years of life. He also just didn't have the same drive as Red. He had drive, but he wasn't Red. Never would be.
Of course, Ash didn't blame Red. His brother hadn't even known he existed until he arrived in the small, sleepy town the night before, covered in melting snow with knotted hair and tired eyes. But it was hard not to feel bitter.
Red clenched and unclenched his fists before his Pikachu, Pika if Ash remembered correctly, nudged him forward. Ash pointed to a stall nearby.
"You can sit over there if you'd like."
Red blinked before nodding and sitting down. He looked up at Ash before glancing away again. Ash sighed and turned back to the notebook, only to see that Chu had flipped through half of it.
Chu gave him a Cheshire grin. "Pikapi, Pika!"
Ash scowled. "Did you start reading without me!?"
"Chu."
"You're a menace, you know that?"
"PI!"
"Yes, you are!"
A chuckle made Ash pause and look back over at Red, who was grinning. "You and your Pikachu are close, aren't you?"
Ash grinned back. "I'd certainly hope so. If we weren't close after two years, I don't think we would be as good a team. Right, Chu?"
Chu climbed onto Ash's shoulder. "Chu!"
Red smiled wider at this before it turned sheepish. "Sorry for barging in. There's… A lot of people out there."
Ash shook his head in mock sympathy. "Poor old Gary."
"Poor old Blue," Red said. "He never was one for too much publicity."
An awkward silence fell over them once again, and Ash returned to reading Pokedex entries, starting from Kanto and reading slowly to spite Chu.
"Want to battle?" Red asked suddenly.
Chu perked up at the word immediately, Pika following suit. But Ash felt that sinking feeling once again and shook his head. "No thanks."
Red's already uncomfortable face worsened, and he squirmed a bit, restless.
Chu finally yawned and jumped away from Ash to leave the office. Ash quickly got up to follow, not eager for them to be apart for too long.
Gary was wrong.
Ash was fine.
He had to be.