A Champions Beginning

Alright Charizard, Mega Evolve!

They sat in silence after that, even if only for a few moments. Ash held the letter in his hands, the thought of his fathers words still worried him but he felt like he could handle them. Then, after another moment; he spoke again. 

"Will you stay here with me?" he asked the girl beside him, "While I read this, will you stay with me?"

"Ash..." Serena smiled fondly at him, his innocent words warming her heart, "Of course."

Ash smiled, it was small but it was there; then he tore open the letter.

Ash,

It's been quite some time now since I was able to come and see you. I apologize for that, I've been very busy lately but I've made sure to watch everything you've done. I saw you compete in the league in Kanto, I was so proud of you. Then I saw you get even better in the Silver Conference, and better still in Hoenn. You're tactics in Sinnoh were fantastic too kiddo! I saw you hit that slump in Unova, I almost came to see you but I knew that you could get through it; that me interfering would do more harm than good. And then you placed second in Kalos! That Greninja of yours was amazing, you'll have to show it to me someday. Again Ash, I'm really sorry that I haven't spoken with you in so long and so I want you to go somewhere for me so that I can talk to you. I won't be able to see you in person just yet, but in Johto there's a Pokegear waiting for you. It has my number on it, it should be in the Pokemon Center in Azalea Town.

I wish you the best of luck son, sincerely- your father, Red Ketchum.

Ash stared at the note, his father must have spoken with his mother to know he didn't have a Pokegear. That at least meant that he was doing well, that was something he was happy to know.

"Ash..." Serena placed a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ash turned to her and smiled, "I'm great!"

________________________________________________________________________________

"So after we're done in Saffron City, we'll head out to Pallet Town and then go to Johto." Ash told them in the morning, "Bonnie, you can start working on some badges there so that you'll be ready to get all eight in Kalos!"

"Awesome!" Bonnie grinned, "Let's get moving then!"

"I think that sounds like a great idea Ash." Clemont told him, "However I still think we should take our time getting to Saffron City, and maybe you can catch a new pokemon Bonnie."

"Clemont's right," Serena nodded, "You only have two after all."

"What kind of pokemon live around here?" Bonnie looked to Ash.

"Pidgeotto might..." Ash told her, "Metapod, maybe some Beedrill..."

"I wanna catch a Pidgeotto!" Bonnie exclaimed, jumping up from her seat the collapsible table.

"Well the," Ash thought for a moment, "I suggest we start looking around for a flock."

They ventured off into the woods once more, searching for a flock of Pidgey's and Pidgeotto. Ash had told them it was more common to find a Pidgeotto here since higher level pokemon tended to reside around Saffron City. As they walked, Clemont and Bonnie ended up splitting off from Ash and Serena after Ash said something to Clemont. 

"We're gonna look this way," Clemont had told them, "See you in a bit."

"What was that about?" Serena questioned, looking to the raven haired trainer beside her.

"No clue..." Ash said, scratching his cheek slightly, "Umm, Serena?"

"Yeah?" the honey blonde turned to face him, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." Ash told her, "For last night I mean, I really appreciate you helping me out like that. I don't think I would have opened the letter if not for you so, yeah; thanks..."

Serena felt a slight bit of heat rise to her cheeks at his words, "Ash..."

She stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Anytime you need help, I'll be there."

Ash felt heat rise to his own face, unsure of what was wrong with him he opened his mouth to speak; but was interrupted.

A flash of light came from the direction of Bonnie and Clemont.

"Dedenne! Use Nuzzle one more time!" Ash heard Bonnie yell as they ran to find her and Clemont.

"De!"

When they found them, Bonnie was standing with a pokeball in her hand and a grin on her face.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah! Ash, how are you?"

"I'm doing well professor, how have you been?"

"I've been well, but I assume there's a reason you called?"

"Right," Ash was standing at the videophone in the Saffron City pokemon center, "I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of Mega Stone this is?"

Ash held up the stone to the camera, and Professor Sycamore's eyes went wide at what he saw, "I'm afraid I can't tell just by looking. But if you give me a moment I'll send a portable identifier over to you."

"Awesome, thanks professor!"

Sycamore dissapeared from the screen, but continued to speak, "So Ash, where did you find a Mega Stone in Kanto?"

"Oh," Ash replied, "A man named Mr. Fuji gave it to me, along with a Keystone."

"Interesting," Sycamore came back onto the screen, "Well, I just sent the identifier over to you; good luck!"

The screen went black as the professor disconnected from the call, Ash walked over to the transporter and picked up the machine. He set it on the table as Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena returned.

"Here we go." Ash placed the stones on the machine and it began to scan them slowly, a few minutes later it dinged.

Charizardite X

Ash grinned and reached for his pokeball that contained the large fire-flying type, "Let's go outside." 

Outside the pokemon center, Ash called out Charizard and stuck the Mega Stone into a cloth that he wrapped around the pokemons arm.

"Charizard." he began, "This is gonna make us even stronger!"

Charizard let out a roar of excitement at the idea of getting even more powerful. Ash grinned and pressed his fingers to the Keystone, "Alright Charizard, Mega Evolve!"

Translations: Pourquoi j'ai dit ça - Why did I say that