𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧―𝐀𝐬𝐡 𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

01. Ignite

Key of the Chapter (* means always added despite not being used in chapter).
[Y/N] Your Name*
[L/N] Last Name*
[C/N] Country Name
[F/S] Favorite Soda

I'm back. Back from my exchange program to [C/N]. One year and I desperately needed some time with my friends. Without being so weird. Like my weird friends I managed to make over there. And the only reason they were weird is because they just weren't my friends here. And here I was going to a pool party held by one of my friends, Iris. Where all of my friends were at. And the only opportunity to go to a social gathering until Homecoming (which I may or may not attend).

I picked up my bag before I left. But then, my mom had to stop me. Why must she stop me before I left with Flareon and Vulpix to a pool party where the rest of my friends would be at? "Don't forget to take this."

Why am I taking cucumber salad to the pool party? "Uh, thanks mom. Why am I taking this?"

"No daughter of mine is going to any kind of party without bringing something for the party." mom told me. "Now, have fun. I want to hear all about it. When you get home, I'll probably be over at the Ketchums with the rest of the mothers and female guardians playing poker, scrabble, really any game at all."

I bid goodbye to my mother and started my trekk to Iris's house. I went through the door to the backyard and placed the container with the cucumber salad on the table with the rest of the food. Why is Brock maning the grill? Don't know. Don't care.

"[Y/N]! YOU'RE HERE?!" the voice of Dawn exclaimed as she and several others ran over and tackled me to the ground with a hug.

"Huh? [Y/N]'s here?" that would be Ash.

Didn't he know I've been home since June and it was now the weekend before Labor Day? I grumbled, got up from the ground, and hug Dawn, Iris, Bonnie, Clement, and Tracey before plopping my bag on a chair next to Iris's stuff. I grabbed a can of [F/S] and sat down at a table where the other girls were sitting. It was a long time since I saw them all in one place. We started to talk about everything that I've missed in my year abroad.

Apparently Serena started doing showcases and officially won for the first time in the End-of-School Showcase. Clement still hadn't figured out all of the bugs of his Clembot which is kind of sad for an aspiring inventor. Ash almost won in the State Championship of GYM. But lost miserably in the final match. A lot of other stuff seemed to happen, but it was a bunch of minor things. But they did warn me about one thing (actually it was Bonnie and Dawn): Serena had a crush on Ash.

Of course that news was not foreign to me seeing as I suspected it for as long as I have known her (seventh grade). But I just don't know why that little bit of information was meant to be important. I just never will.

"So, have you and Ash resumed your movie nights yet?" asked Iris.

I sighed. "No. He didn't even realize I'm home."

"That sucks, honey." Dawn told me.

I nodded. "I guess." To be fair, it didn't really bug me like it should have. Like I would have expected it to.

"Hey, [Y/N]!" Misty called form her spot in the pool with the rest of her water-type pokemon. "You gonna get in the pool?"

I slouched in my chair. No I don't really want to go into the pool. And I don't think Flareon wants to get wet because she keeps growling at the pool. Dawn seemed to understand and told Misty no for me. I sighed in relief.

"Why don't you want to go into the pool?" asked Iris. "Isn't that why you came to my pool party?"

"Actually," I rubbed the back of my neck in a sheepish manner, "I only came to catch up on whatever I've missed while I was away." Pikachu ran up to me from the pool he was by (after accidentally being drenched in water by Ash doing a cannonball).

The mouse pokemon sat in my lap like he normally did whenever I was over at Ash's doing homework or for our duo's saturday movie nights. "Why didn't you bring Chimchar?"

"Oh, I thought bringing only one fire type to a pool party would be harsh on them, so I left the rest at home. I would have left Flareon, but she won't leave me ever. Same with Pikachu and Ash. Right Pikachu?"

"Pika." Pikachu nuzzled my face and  a giggled left my throat.

A shout of "CHICKEN FIGHT!" rang out from the pool. I turned to see Ash on the shoulders of Brock (when did he leave the grill?).

"Iris," the girl turned to me, "do you want to join me in my revenge of my best friend not knowing I've been home for two and a half months?"

"Uh, sure." and with that the two of us jumped into the pool. I got on top of Iris's shoulders and started fighting against Ash and Brock.

"How the hell is she this strong?" asked Ash as the two boys were struggling against me.

"I have the power of the Hulk when I'm angry. AND THIS IS FOR NOT KNOWING I'VE BEEN HOME FOR TWO AND A HALF MONTHS!" and the two boys fell through the water.

And the next thing I know is that Iris is falling into the water and I swam off of her to make it easier for her to breathe. And then, the next thing I know is I'm being dunked and splashed by Ash. I grumbled as I just glared at the black haired pokemon trainer that was my best friend. He just laughed at me as he did so.

Important Note of the Chapter
In this world, the world of Pokémon is a city in the U.S. The individual regions are actually neighborhoods with different towns as street names. These neighborhoods feed into four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one highschool. Kanto + Johto = elementary (+) Hoenn + Sinnoh = elementary (=) middle [+] Unova + Kalos = elementary (+) Alola + Galar = elementary (=) middle [=] high. There are three pokemon centers, specialized type "gyms", and various other locales.
Question of the Chapter
what is your favorite pokemon?
Answer of the Character
Piplup. I love penguins and piplup is so cute!