Adventure's Past

Chapter 31 - Vulnerable

Everyone sat around the small picnic table that was situated right outside of Professor Oak's laboratory, indulging in some sandwiches that Tracey had quickly whipped up. Everyone's Pokemon that they had brought out sat next to the table, all eating bowls of Pokemon food; they all got along well together and didn't have any issues upon meeting each other.

"So, Ash," Tracey began as he sat down finally, digging into his sandwiches. "Where've you been for the past six years? The last time I heard from you was around the time you were traveling in the Unova region." Ash swallowed his bite of the sandwich and looked at his current traveling group, who all gave him a pitiful look in return.

"There's a lot of things I've done since Unova," Ash replied, sipping water out of a small glass cup. "Too much, if you ask me," he then added, crossing his arms. "I hear you," Tracey said, chuckling. "After a few years of assisting here, I decided to go on my own little journey for a while." Professor Oak nodded his head while he chewed his sandwich.

"Tracey offered to go do research in Galar for me," Professor Oak explained. "Yep, and that's where I also decided I wanted to take over for Professor Oak when he retires. I realized that the Pokemon I sketched had more secrets to them than I previously thought," Tracey added, his eyes staring off as if he was reliving his adventure.

"Sounds great! Galar is a great region," Ash replied with a mouthful of his sandwich. "That's where my friend Goh got his first Pokemon!" Tracey smiled and nodded. "I remember him. He came by a few times to get me to help him with some research over Mew," he said. "Never explained what he was doing, though."

Sounds like Goh, Ash thought to himself with a hint of worry; Chloe had mentioned how he wasn't acting himself, and that was clear to him when Goh decided to leave instead of staying with the group. Who am I to decide what he wants, though?

"So, Ash," Bonnie said, turning towards him. "Have you decided on your Pokemon that you want to take to battle in the World Coronation Series?" As she asked him, Ash looked over at all of the Pokemon feasting on their meals, his eyes gravitating towards a set few. "Well, I've already promised Infernape after we had a small talk," he said, nodding towards the fiery monkey Pokemon. "And I think I'll go ahead and leave Farfetch'd here for the time being."

"But I'm not sure who else..." His voice trailed as his eyes wandered throughout the group; he didn't like to pick favorites amongst his Pokemon, so choosing who to take was proving to be a difficult task. However, he knew he needed to pick two more, or else he couldn't ever possibly try to get back into the swing of things.

"Haw! Haw!" His thoughts were interrupted by a barrage of cocky exclamations to his left; he looked over and saw Hawlucha posing in front of him in an extremely forward manner. "Cha! Haw-Cha!" Ash chuckled and shook his head. "You've always been incredibly outgoing," he remarked, giving Hawlucha a fist bump. "Alright, you're coming along."

He slowly turned back towards the group, feeling more guilt upon his shoulders. At this point, they had all given Ash his full attention, each wondering which one among the many would be chosen to compete alongside him for the time being. It was the one thing he despised about having so many friends; he could only choose so many at once.

His eyes made their way across the group until the gleam of a very specific pair of sunglasses hit his eyes. "Alright, Krookodile. You're coming with me," he said with finality. There were small grunts of disappointment from the rest of his Pokemon as Krookodile grinned at Ash, causing Ash to feel a bit bad.

"Hey, don't worry if you didn't get chosen," he said, standing up in his seat. Everyone looked up at Ash as he spoke. "All of you are great in your own way, I just wanted to try out a team with these people for just this time," he explained, giving a toothy grin to each of his Pokemon. There seemed to be a mutual agreement from the Pokemon as they absorbed his words.