After it was decided who got what Chikorita, they all looked at their new partners happily, Ethan, Kris, and Vincent were watching everyone intently; it reminded them of last year when they tried going on their journey.
They did cut it short because Kris needed a reality check after….'The incident, but after a few kind words from her friends, a few slaps from her mother to knock some sense into her, and going back into the Mountains to train, she was good to get back and catch Pokemon, getting her spirit back.
Ash stood next to Yellow as Elm gave out the Johto model Pokédex to the newbies. Lyra went back to her sister Kris, looking excited, and she smirked, "Hey, sis, now that I have my Pokemon, be careful, or I might be able to beat you closer than you'd expect."
Kris rolled her eyes and took Lyra's hat to ruffle her head, "Come on, you idiot, you know I'm not battling, no duh, you're gonna catch up to me eventually, but just because you are don't mean I plan to make it easy for you,"
As they chuckled at that, Green came over and grabbed Silver in a headlock, "Hey, I hope you don't plan on acting that way towards me~"
"Gah- ok, ok, I won't talk like that to you, come on, let me go," Silver said as he was getting held by Green, and Totodile was literally in his face.
As they chuckled, Ethan shuffled over to Ash, "Hey dude, I don't mean to judge, but are you ok with your girlfriend being so 'friendly' with another guy?"
Ash rolled his eyes as Green stopped and started laughing, "I see she didn't clear things up, ok first, she isn't my girlfriend, I don't have a girlfriend, she said that so I would step in to take care of you because I'm stronger than her and she beat you pretty easily,"
"Second, even if I was dating her, why would I be insecure about that? Besides, they have a more brother-sister relationship," Ash said
"...Huh… So she's single, is what you're saying?"
Silver glared at him, "Don't you dare even think about it going after my sister!"
Ash shook his head and just let them argue, 'I guess even here, Silver is gonna hate him,'
After a while, Kris stepped in and pulled the two apart; she suggested they should all go celebrate since three more trainers were going on their journey, which they agreed to, and Ash, Green, and Yellow were also invited.
Lyra was the one to suggest Ash join them, she came over and stood next to Ash, "So what do you say? Up for a party!" she said, giving a wink.
"Sure, but I'll have to catch up, I have some business with Elm," Ash explained as he walked over to Green and Yellow.
He pulled out his card and was about to hand it to Green, "Here you ca-" but he stopped himself and then changed his mind, giving it to Yellow instead, "Here, Yellow, and find Brock and Misty to see if they'll join you guys."
Yellow took it and nodded, holding the card close, "Alright!"
With that, Ash walked back over to Elm while everyone else left the Lab, as they left, Vincent went over and grabbed Ethen on the shoulder, "So you like the new girl, right, ok then, I'll support you, and don't worry I'll take care of Kris~"
Ethan rolled his eyes and elbowed Vincent in the stomach, "You wish, dude, I ain't giving up, besides you heard Lyra, she thinks I'm Kris' boyfriend, so I'm better,"
As that started a back and forth between them, Yellow was trying to text Misty and Brock so that they could meet up, while she was distracted, Green turned to everyone, "So, do any of you know a good place?" she held up the card Ash gave to Yellow, "Its Ash's treat~"
Yellow flinched, realizing that Green had the card, and panicked, "W-wha, Green, but Ash gave me that. I was only supposed to pay for you and me and Misty and Brock!"
"Well, technical, he didn't say that, he gave it to you to pay, right~" Green said, nudging Yellow.
"W-well…I guess, but we know what he meant."
"Hey, I can't read minds, besides he said he was going to pay for my lunch, so I'm inviting everyone, and he's Paying for it~"
"B-but-"
"Come on, Yellow, in all seriousness, do you really think Ash didn't think this would happen when he gave you his card instead of Cash," Green said
"... ok, but still, it seems wrong," Yellow said, rubbing her arm nervously.
"So just make it up to him for letting the evil Green steal the card he gave you," Green laughed.
"So it's decided, let's go find someplace nice!" Green announced.
—-
Back with Ash, he sat down across from Elm as they finally got a moment to talk, Elm came back with a kettle as if offering to make tea, Ash shook his head, "No thanks, this won't take that long, and you know it,"
Elm chuckled and still put the water to boil, "I suppose you have a point, though I have to ask, you gave your card away, aren't you scared they'll spend more than you think,"
"Oh, I know they will, Green probably already stole it from Yellow and is announcing she'll invite everyone, but I don't care, not like I'm short on money, winning the Indigo League gave me a lot of Cash," Ash said
"Yes, I suppose it would, although a little tidbit: none of them know you are this year's winner, most people in Johto don't, and most people don't watch another League other than their own unless someone they know is in it,"
"That's what I'm hopping on; I'm tired of wearing a mask every time I want to get lunch over in Kanto, tho thankfully, by the time I'm done here, that should die down,"
"I suppose, but you caused quite a storm with your performance, you and Gary both, I don't think there ever been a case where the entire arena has been destroyed as a side effect of the battle."
"Maybe, but no point in calling it out now. Besides, I'm here to win the Silver Conference, you know my trophy shelf is looking pretty lonely with just one," Ash chuckled.
"Well, I suppose with your strength, you should be able to do it easily, although the Professor told me about how you are planning on restarting for this,"
"Yeah, what's the point, it's no fun if I know I can just win, maybe I'll call them out once I'm there, but I left a few of them back with Oak for the time being,"
"Well, in that case, do you want a new starter," Elm said, pointing at his shelf of Pokeballs, "I have plenty, you can have one since you're restarting,"
"Thanks, but no, I'd rather find my own Pokemon for now, besides I already have plans on having all 3,"
"Oh, you did your research, that's impressive, most people still think that the Pokemon we Professors give out are not found in the wild, which technically is true since we specifically breed the starters to give every kid an equal chance."
"Yeah, I get that, as a kid, I used to think they were like legendary Pokemon and that having 2 of them was already a show of how special you are. Color me surprised when I ran onto a clan of Squirtle chilling in my backyard when I was 5,"
Elm chuckled "Sounds like a fun story, but I think we're off topic a bit, you said you had some stuff to talk to me about,"
"Right, well, I assume that Professor Oak already informed you more or less about most of it, so I'll cut to the chase," Ash said, to which Elm nodded.
"I'll start with the start, you see…."
—-
{About an hour later}
Everyone was at a nice restaurant; Yellow managed to meet up with Brock and Misty, so now ten people were sitting at a table enjoying themselves.
Although Yellow was the least enthusiastic of them since she still felt guilty that she let Green take Ash's card and paid for everyone's meal with it,
As they were eating, they were talking about stuff, and it eventually led to their Kanto Adventure and, eventually, Ash.
"Wait, so you're telling me that cute guy not only participated in the Indigo League but also won it?" Lyra asked
"Yep," Green confirmed, leaving everyone more shocked, "He won, and I only ended up getting 3rd place of all things,"
"Jeez, no wonder you're so strong," Ethan said, "How much stronger is he than you if you don't mind me asking,"
"Well, that's pretty tough to say in terms of training. I'm only a little bit better than him, but he makes up for it in battles and how creative he gets. The main thing, though, is that he is smart, really smart, but he acts like he isn't."
"Wow, really, it seems like he is a walking cheat code, I wouldn't have ever guessed, he doesn't look like the serious type, I thought he was a slacker like my two friends here," Kris said, pointing at Ethan and Vincent.
"That's how he gets you. He pretends that he never pays attention and that he never takes anything seriously, but when he does, you don't want to be the one that made him go serious," Misty said
"Yeah, he made plans specifically to counter each of the Gyms weeks before he actually took them down, he actually has a notebook with ideas and plans he always keeps with him," Brock added.
"Yesh, sounds like he's either overly cautious or completely crazy about that," Vincent said
Casey was too busy trying to feed Chuchu something, so she wasn't paying attention. Meanwhile, Yellow still had a complex expression until she felt her hat fall in front of her face.
When she fixed it, she saw that Ash snuck up without any of them noticing and pushed her hat down, "Hey, why the long face, Yellow, you know you're never fully dressed without a smile,"
Ash hopped over the booth and sat in the center, grabbing a menu, then he held his hand out to Green as he looked at the Menu.
Green tried playing it off, "Oh, you know, if you wanted to hold my hand, you could just ask~"
"No, my card, give it," Ash said, not looking away from the menu.
"Whaaaatttt, but you gave it to Yellow why would I have it," Green said, feigning incident.
"Because I know you, and I know you paid for everyone with my card, I don't really care, so can you just give it so I can get something," Ash said
Green sighed and gave Ash his card back, "You know it's no fun when you always know exactly what I'm going to do,"
"And you're no fun when you try to steal my stuff, so your point?" Ash said, putting in his order, "Besides, I let you buy everyone lunch with my card, didn't I,"
Green mumbled, "I can never get a rise out of you,"
"Why do you people want to see me angry so much? I promise it's not as good as it sounds,"
"I dunno, why do people want to see the pyramids, cuz you don't see it every day why else," Misty added.
"Please, if you guys want to see me angry, you're going to have to do more than just use my money,"
"Well anyway, what did you and the Professor talk about?" Kris asked, trying to change the topic, "Not much, just some…let's say business I had with him, we had to exchange some notes per say."
"....well that's not ominous at all,"