POKÉMON: THE FINAL JOURNEY [ON HOLD]

1. ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE DREAM

Professor Oak's lab was probably one of the most boring and uninteresting places that ever existed. Unless and until you were a Pokemon researcher or a Pokemon Trainer who needed a starter Pokemon, this place had nothing in store for you. But that day was special. Why, you ask? It was because Ash Ketchum was returning home from Alola. The boy from their town had finally become a regional champion after 4 years of hard work. This news was enough to make everyone in Pallet town overjoyed. Professor Oak himself threw a party at his lab to celebrate Ash's win. That day, even Oak's boring lab looked so grand that if you were to see it, you would feel an urge to go inside and check it out. Even Gary Oak, the town's aspiring researcher and the grandson of Professor Oak, had returned from Sinnoh to attend the festivities. The news of Ash's win was huge!

The party was full of life. Almost everybody who lived in that small town was there at the party. And Ash, being the center of everyone's attention was getting congratulated left and right. He didn't even have a moment to breathe because one family came after another. This barrage of congratulatory messages ensued for a while.

 After everybody had done praising and congratulating the young man for his success, the party finally moved to the next stage. People were now busy enjoying their snacks and drinks while chatting in small groups. The crowd had now considerably thinned around Ash which allowed him to slip into Prof's study.

"Phew!! That was tiring, wasn't it Pikachu?" said Ash while nudging his electric mouse partner on the cheek.

"Pika-Pika," replied Pikachu in agreement.

"Well then, let's have a drink and relax a little bit here," said Ash as he poured down two glasses of mocktail.

Ash and Pikachu sipped their fruity mocktails content fully as they looked out of the Prof's study. The view offered by the room was pretty marvelous. One could see the lab's pond through the room, which at a clear night like this one, was a magnificent sight. The moonlight gleamed over the pond and it gave off an image of serenity. The outside's peace and the party's hub-dub combined in this room to give an exquisite balance. As Ash and Pikachu were enjoying this harmony, a visitor came in.

"Sorry to intrude upon your moment of relief, mate. Its really hard to keep one from meeting an old rival." said the newcomer.

"Gary!! It's so nice to see you again, man. Come on sit down." said Ash.

The two former rivals sat down and caught up on old times while enjoying their drinks. They both talked about their journeys and what they were up to at the moment. While Ash narrated his experience of Kalos and Alola, Gary narrated his anecdotes of Sinnoh. They both went back on forth on many of their bittersweet memories from Kanto and Johto. One could really feel the nostalgia in the air. 

While reminiscing about old times, Gary brings to the topic a very recent rumor. The rumor was supposedly about a trainer so strong that he controlled the apocalyptic fight between the primal legendaries singlehandedly. These rumors from the Hoenn region had recently surfaced, and Gary being a researcher, got the wind about the battle between Kyogre and Groudon.

"Are you even serious?? I mean, how can someone be so strong?? Hey, what else do you know about him?? Tell me, I wanna know more." Ash blurted out with explosive excitement.

"Woah woah, don't get so fired up bro. Nothing's for sure. These things could be just baseless rumors so I don't know if it's even true" said Gary, pulling down Ash's excitement.

"But you know, one thing is for sure.... after the Kalos incident, legendary pokemon all around the world have become very active," said Gary, suddenly in a much more serious tone.

As soon as Ash heard this, his expressions changed. It was obvious from his expressions that the Kalos incident still was a horrifying memory for him. Even though he had won the battle, he still remembered everything he had to go through during that incident and everything that he lost.

"Hey you both... catching up??" said Prof Oak as he walked towards Ash and Gary.

"Yeah Grandpa....was just telling Ash a bit about those rumors," said Gary.

"Oh, those..... certainly a very interesting topic." " By the way Ash, I got a letter from Steven Stone, the current champion of Hoenn. He asked to hand this letter to you" said Oak while pulling out an envelope from his pocket.

Ash opened the letter.
It read...

"Dear Ash,

It's been a long while since we last met in Kalos. We have both matured a lot as people and Pokemon trainers since then. I have become the champion of Hoenn after taking out Wallace and you have proved your mettle against Kukui. Now as you may know we have the Pokemon World Championships once in every four years. Normally you need a very high rating to qualify for the finals bracket but as you are such a strong trainer and a champion yourself, here is an official entry invitation to the final brackets attached with the letter. Only the top 128 trainers around the world will compete in this fiery showdown and you are one of them. The tournament starts on December 1st and will continue up to December 31st. I look forward to meeting you in Hoenn and battling it out with you my friend"

"So it's 7 months from now eh??" said Ash in a kind of excited tone. "Wow! I can't believe I am gonna be battling the best of best just after 7 months. I need to practice my hardest right now and get ready for the tournament."

"Well, it's such a big event Ash... If you need to catch any new Pokemon you can ask me. I could suggest some locations" said Prof. Oak.

Ash smiled and said "Professor... All these years, I have been training these Pokemon and Pikachu... It's because of them that I became the champion... So it feels correct to use these Pokemon only for the final showdown."*pause* "Book a ticket to Hoenn for me Prof Oak, I have to meet Steven and train at the Battle Frontier to become someone worthy of this invitation of Steven," he said seriously as he silently walked out of the room.

(Ash Ketchum's art style for this story. Designed by Ushnish Nandi and Arun Mahapatra using IbisPaint X and PicsArt)

Ash realized one thing that day. That no matter how much you achieve, there'll always be something in the world of Pokemon that would surprise you. The path toward success is endless. No matter how many trainers you defeat, you'll always be 2nd to someone. 

"So this is what it is like I guess. I just can't stop uh?? I was overwhelmed with my Alolan success but I guess being satisfied with my achievements is nothing but a compromise on my dreams. Nope, I can't stop, I just can't" Ash said to himself.

As he said those words, the young man made a silent resolve to himself. He decided to keep on training until he would become the very best. Until he would become the greatest Pokemon Master of all time. Until he would reach the Zenith.

That was the day when his final journey began.

To be continued.......