Horace led the group out of the woods carefully. As they reached a town, which was called Palmpona, he immediately guided them to a house at the edge of the woods and the city. As soon as they approached, a man ran out.
"Sylvester!" he yelled, rushing to take his son into his arms from Brock. "What happened?"
"He was…" Brock hesitated and looked at Ash, who nodded. "A Gengar possessed him—both him and his Farfetch'd."
The man's face darkened in horror as he gently shook his son. "Sylvester… please wake up…"
Sylvester's eyes fluttered open slightly. "Dad…?"
"Oh, thank Arceus, you're okay," the man said, barely holding back tears.
Sylvester closed his eyes again. "Sorry, Dad… I didn't get the wood you needed…"
"Forget the wood, boy. All that matters is that you're okay," he said, hugging Sylvester tightly.
Then, he looked up at the group with gratitude. "Thank you so much. Is there anything I can do to ever repay you? My son means more to me than anything."
The group was about to decline the offer, but he spoke again. "Don't give me that look. If there was a Gengar, that means you must have fought it off. I can only imagine what it took. I can see your friend there is hurt too," he said, gesturing at Ash. "Please, let me give you something."
They sighed. They couldn't exactly say no now that he had pointed out Ash's injuries. Even though the Gengar wasn't responsible for them, they couldn't tell him the truth.
"Okay, how about some Charcoal?" Brock suggested.
"Of course. How much do you want? No, scratch that—you can have as much as you need for as long as I live."
"Wait, let's not get too generous," Brock immediately said. "H-how about a discount on it instead?"
"But that doesn't sit right with me," the man replied. "I mean, to express my gratitude, a discount doesn't seem like nearly enough—especially since you all don't live here…" He crossed his arms, thinking.
Ash snapped his fingers. "Oh, I have an idea! You ship this Charcoal across more than just Johto, right,"
"Well, of course! This Charcoal is sent all across the world," the man said, curious to hear what Ash had in mind.
"Okay, how about this? My mom runs a restaurant in Pallet Town, and she uses your Charcoal exclusively. How about giving her the discount too on all her shipments?" Ash proposed.
The man's eyes lit up. "It's a deal! And the next shipment is on the house. So, what's your mother's name, the location of her restaurant, and when and where she picks up the orders?"
—
A while later, after Ash provided the information for Pallet House, they left, with Horace leading them into town. Their main priority now was to get Ash to a hospital. Even though Yellow had healed him, how could they explain that to Horace? He insisted Ash needed medical attention.
Along the way, they noticed people with Pokémon out, participating in trade matches under a banner that read Pokémon Swap Meet.
"Yeah, it's the annual Pokémon Swap Meet," Horace said, noticing their gazes. "It's one of the reasons I came all the way here from Cianwood City."
"Wait, Cianwood City?" Brock asked. "That's really far away! You'd need to come by boat. You did all that just for this?"
"Well, not exactly," Horace admitted sheepishly. "I also came here to visit the shrine again."
"Really? What's so important about that shrine?" Misty asked. Only Ash knew that the Masked Man was there for the shrine, but the others were curious about what the shrine was for.
"Well, they say it has something to do with the legendary Celebi, and I want to see Celebi one day. I want to ask it a favor," Horace said shyly.
"Really? Celebi?" Misty asked. "You think Celebi is there? There's no way—it's just an old, broken shrine."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Horace chuckled helplessly.
"What's the favor you want to ask Celebi?" Yellow asked. "Do you want to catch it?"
"No, no, no, I don't want to catch Celebi. I just want to meet it and ask if it can take me back one year. Ever since I read that there might be a chance Celebi lives at that shrine, I've come back every chance I get to pray and beg."
They wanted to press Horace for more details, but they had arrived at the hospital. "Okay, enough about me. Let's get your friend checked out."
Ash sighed, taking off his jacket and handing it to Brock to mend. "You guys go ahead without me. I'll get checked out and meet up with you afterward, alright?" He handed his hat to Pikachu, who hopped over to Yellow, already eager to explore the festival for its famously good ketchup.
The group hesitated, remembering their talk with Ash not even thirty minutes ago. Then they realized the hospital was probably the safest place possible.
"Alright, fine," Misty relented, pointing at Ash with Psyduck still in her arms. "But you better not go off by yourself. You come straight back to us as soon as you're let out. Got it?"
"Alright, fine. I promise, as soon as I'm done, I'll find you guys," Ash replied, heading into the hospital.
However, once inside, he didn't check in. Instead, he went to a bathroom, changed his shirt, and used Abra to teleport away. His goal: back to Pallet Town.
—-
The festival was in full swing, with all kinds of people from all over Johto coming to trade Pokémon.
Among them, a young boy was walking nervously with a blue punching bag—it was Wobbuffet. The boy had come to try and trade Wobbuffet.
He did like Wobbuffet, but he just wanted something else. The Swap Meet was all about trading, but he was having trouble. After all, Wobbuffet didn't exactly have the best reputation.
He sighed. "Come on, Wobbuffet, I promise we'll find someone to trade you with."
"Woooobbbbuffet!"
As they kept walking, a trio was sitting on a nearby bench, dressed in casual clothes, reading. They had come after hearing about the Pokémon Swap Meet and were already thinking about how they could take advantage of the event.
Of course, it was Jessie, James, and Meowth. Meowth smirked. "So, are we ready to start our plan to get as many Pokémon as we can?"
"But of course," James said. "We'll be in and out, and no one will suspect anything."
"Yes, I can't wait. Maybe with this one, we can cheer up the boss. He's been in such a bad mood… I think…"
"Eh, I can never tell with him," Meowth admitted. "He always has that 'you're dirt' look, but sometimes he's… actually nice to us… I think."
"Yeah, me and a few others are working on seeing if we can translate his cold glares, but it's been a failure since no one can really tell. Well, experts like the Executives, but no one's stupid enough to ask them for help. But alas, it's just a dream," James said, shaking his head.
"Well, whatever the dream is, my point still stands," Jessie announced, leaning in. "Let's get ready. Fill me in on everything. We can't fail this time."
Just then, a wild Venonat appeared out of nowhere and started sniffing Jessie, who was sitting at the edge of the bench.
Jessie noticed and immediately freaked out by the bug that had appeared out of nowhere. She jumped, and as she did, an empty Poké Ball fell out of her pocket, tapping the bug on the head and catching it instantly.
They all blinked in surprise, and Jessie leaned down to grab the Poké Ball. "Well, that was easy…"
"Huh, I kinda wish stealing Pokémon was that easy," James admitted.
"So, Jess, what are you going to do with that?" Meowth asked.
"I dunno, I don't really want a Venonat. Maybe we can just give it to the boss?" she asked.
James shook his head and crossed his arms. "No, with all the Pokémon we'll have, why would he want a common Venonat?"
"Then what do I do with this Venonat?" Jessie questioned.
As she said that, the boy from earlier turned around. "Did you say you have a Venonat you don't know what to do with?"
"Uhh… yeah, that's right, kid. Who are you?" Jessie asked, eyeing the Wobbuffet behind him.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Benny, and this is Wobbuffet," the boy said.
Wobbuffet saluted them. "Woobbbbuffet!"
"And if you don't know what to do with that Venonat, then please trade with me. I promise I'll take super good care of it, and Wobbuffet is strong, I promise!" Benny said, bowing.
They looked at each other and shrugged. "I mean, sure, not like I care about this Venonat," Jessie admitted, leading Benny to a trading station.
Benny looked excited as he held out Wobbuffet's Poké Ball. "Did you hear that? You're going to have a new trainer!"
"Woobbbbuffet!" Wobbuffet said as he went into the Poké Ball.
They placed their Poké Balls on the trading machine, and the trade was completed. Jessie now had a Wobbuffet.
Benny held Venonat's Poké Ball and thanked Jessie again before running off happily, leaving the trio behind, still confused.
James looked at the Poké Ball. "I guess you have a Wobbuffet now. That's pretty rare, I guess."
Jessie sighed and clipped the Poké Ball to her belt. "Whatever, we can deal with that later. For now, let's start."
"Yeah, and nothing will get in our way! Hahaha!" Meowth laughed as they joined in.
As they laughed, Misty, Brock, Yellow, and Horace walked past. Brock was looking around as they walked.
"Do you ever feel like someone is about to do something stupid?" Brock asked.
"Only most of the time with Ash and all the time with you and pretty girls," Misty said, holding Psyduck in her arms.
"Uh, hey, Misty, was it?" Horace said. "He left after you said Ash," he added, pointing to Brock, who was flirting with a bunch of girls.
Misty's eyes twitched. "Of course," she muttered, looking at Psyduck. "Can you do [Water Gun]?"
Psyduck shrugged, and Misty shrugged too. "Fair enough. Grab him with [Confusion] and bring him along."
Small attacks like that didn't hurt Psyduck anymore. His eyes glowed, and Brock was lifted into the air with psychic energy and pulled along with them as they continued to look around.
—-
{Ash}
Ash had returned to Pallet Town, intending to visit his mom. However, it was the lunch rush at her house, and he didn't want to get in her way. Instead, he decided to take care of something else first.
He walked through town and arrived at Professor Oak's lab. As he entered, he was greeted by Professor Oak, who had been expecting him. Oak had already set up a video call with Professors Rowan and Juniper and prepared the additional Scyther Ash had requested.
Ash nodded, slinging off his bag and pulling out a lab coat. He donned it, placing goggles around his neck, as he transformed into his researcher persona: Professor Fraxinus.
He carefully placed two pieces of dark rock, resembling black glass, on the table and began setting up his workstation. Oak approached, examining the rocks closely.
"Hmm… is this Black Augurite?" Oak asked, narrowing his eyes. He was a scientist, but geology wasn't his specialty.
"Yeah, it's Black Augurite," Ash confirmed. "But it only works at this size. If you try to chip it, it loses its properties."
"I see. If what you're saying is true, it's no wonder no one discovered this earlier. Black Augurite is incredibly rare outside of volcanic regions. How did you manage to find it?" Oak asked, he didn't think Ash was lying at all, even though Ash jokes sometimes, he does know when to get serious.
"I'll explain everything once we're all connected. It'll save time," Ash replied as he finalized his setup. Oak nodded and initiated the video call.
The screens flickered on, revealing Professors Rowan and Juniper. Their gazes quickly locked onto Ash.
"Hmm… Ash? So you're Professor Fraxinus," Rowan remarked, recognizing the young trainer from years ago.
"Good to see you again, Professor Rowan," Ash said with a nod. "Yeah, I've been doing some independent research. You've already seen some of the results."
Juniper grinned. "Look at you, all grown up! So, you're a researcher now, huh? I thought you wanted to be a trainer~," she teased.
"Don't worry, I'm still a trainer first and a researcher second… or third," Ash admitted with a sheepish smile. "But enough about me. We all know why we're here."
Rowan nodded "Yes, Professor Oak informed us that you've found the evolution path Professor Juniper and I have been researching"
Juniper held up a familiar fossilized axe. "Yeah, it's been years, and we've come up with nothing concrete about this artifact. Now we hear you've cracked it in a year? Forgive me, but that's hard to believe."
Ash chuckled. "I get it. And, of course, no research is complete without solid evidence."
The two professors nodded, their interest piqued. "So," Rowan asked, "Will you be sharing your research paper with us? We'll need to test your hypothesis properly."
Ash smirked. He had asked Oak not to reveal the whole story yet—photos alone weren't enough to convince the skeptical professors. "I'll do you one better," Ash said, reaching for a Poké Ball.
He stepped into the cleared area of the lab and grinned confidently.
"Kleavor, come on out!"
As soon as the Poké Ball hit the ground, it opened, releasing a large, mantis-like bug Pokémon. Its jagged mask gleamed, and its axe-shaped arms were razor-sharp. Small wings flapped on its back, giving it an air of primal elegance. The three professors watched in stunned silence.
"This," Ash said, gesturing to the Pokémon, "is Kleavor, the ancient evolution of Scyther."
He walked over and raised one of Kleavor's axe-like arms to the camera. "As you can see, its arms match the fossilized descriptions perfectly."
The professors nodded slowly. Juniper quickly pulled out her fossilized axe, comparing the details side-by-side, while Rowan examined the Pokémon intently.
"I see," Rowan said after a moment. "This is remarkable. But if you want us to accept this as an evolution, you'll need to demonstrate the process. Otherwise, we'd have to classify Kleavor as a separate species."
"Fair point," Ash replied confidently. "And I believe that seeing is far more convincing than hearing. Let me show you."
Oak handed him the spare Scyther he'd prepared earlier. Ash released it from its Poké Ball, and the Scyther appeared beside Kleavor, looking both curious and slightly intimidated.
Ash moved to the table and picked up a piece of Black Augurite. He held it up to the camera. "This is Black Augurite. Through trial and error, I discovered that it only works in pieces about the size of my palm. Any smaller, and the evolution doesn't occur, probably why Black Augurite used in jewelry never activated any evolution."
He turned to the camera. "Make sure you're recording this."
Ash handed the Black Augurite to Scyther. As soon as the Pokémon touched it, its body began to glow. A brilliant transformation followed, and when the light faded, another Kleavor stood tall beside the first.
Juniper and Rowan were speechless, their skepticism melting into astonished excitement. For years, they were looking for this, enduring dead ends and inconclusive results. Yet, here was Ash, well Professor Fraxinus, demonstrating the evolution after only 1 year,
"This…" Juniper began, her voice barely above a whisper. "This is incredible."
Rowan nodded, his tone more resolute. "Remarkable work."
Ash smiled but remained composed. "I trust this is sufficient?"
"More than sufficient," Rowan replied firmly.
Satisfied, Ash held up the last piece of Black Augurite. "I'm leaving this one with you. You can research it further and explore why it causes evolution. Or if there's an alternative, after all, Black Augurite is pretty rare."
They nodded, Juniper understood, especially since she had some Jewelry that was made out of Black Augurite, to think the answer was always so close to her it was just like when people found out the evolution method for Milotic.
Ash folded his arms behind his back. "Now that I've provided replicable evidence with a clear conclusion, are there any questions? I'm happy to answer them."