Charizard turned in the air and guided the unconscious Dragonite gently down toward Ash. Ash caught him, one palm pressing flat against the dragon's scarred forehead.
A soft green glow spread from his hand, warm and steady, Ash's healing aura flowing directly into Dragonite's body. The burns along his scales faded visibly, the deep cuts knitting closed within seconds.
Dragonite's injuries cleared completely, and then he promptly started snoring.
...
"Give me his Poké Ball," Ash said, not looking at Joe.
Joe hesitated, fingers tight around the ball, but there was nothing left to argue. Dragonite had triggered Outrage mid-battle. That was a disqualification regardless of the circumstances.
She handed it over quietly.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I did it for the family. I wasn't trying to hurt you."
Ash held her gaze for a moment, expression unreadable. "For Dragonite's sake, we'll call it even. After this, we don't have anything to do with each other."
He passed the Poké Ball to Charizard without another word.
"Take care of him," he said. "Raise him right."
Charizard took it and nodded slowly. Dragonite's mother was his partner, his closest friend. This was family.
...
Joe accepted the Blackthorn Gym badge from her coat with shaking hands and held it out. Without Dragonite, she was starting from zero again.
"This belongs to you," she said.
Ash took it without ceremony.
"Liza." He glanced toward her meaningfully before turning to leave.
Liza caught it immediately. She looked at Joe standing alone in the middle of the wrecked arena and sighed. She wasn't always like this. The pressure of rebuilding the Stone family had quietly worn something down in her.
...
Outside Blackthorn Gym, the evening sky had already turned deep orange. Ash and Sabrina walked the road toward Blackthorn City in comfortable silence.
"We can't exactly sleep back there," Ash said flatly.
"I know, I know." Sabrina pouted slightly, tapping her forefingers together. "I was just thinking out loud."
They reached Blackthorn City just past seven and found a hotel without much trouble.
...
Next morning — 8:00 AM
"All the Johto badges are collected," Sabrina said over breakfast, cup of tea in hand. "Do we head back to Kanto? The Johto League Conference is still two months out."
"Yeah." Ash leaned back in his chair. "Bayleef and Croconaw both need focused training before then. Everyone else just needs to maintain their current level." He paused. "The Indigo Conference in Kanto should still be running. We might as well go watch."
Sabrina tilted her head. "If we'd known, we could've traveled back with Liza yesterday."
"Liza's probably still at the gym. Besides," Ash said, standing and stretching, "I'll use the Flying Thunder God. Takes half an hour at most."
...
After breakfast Ash wrapped an arm around Sabrina and opened the spatial vortex. The familiar pull of the Flying Thunder God jutsu folded the distance between them and Kanto in a series of rapid jumps, each one landing and launching again before the air had settled.
What neither of them noticed was the pair of figures in Team Rocket uniforms half-hidden behind a building corner, watching them disappear with sharp, quiet eyes.
...
Thirty minutes later they landed on Fantasy Island with a solid thud, sending a cluster of nearby Pokémon scrambling into the trees.
Mewtwo appeared overhead within seconds, tensed and scanning. The rest of Ash's team wasn't far behind.
"Relax, it's just me." Ash raised a hand. Pikachu on his shoulder chirped brightly at the crowd of familiar faces.
"Master." Serion Draconis stepped forward from the small group of attendants, composed as always. "You could have sent word. I would have arranged an escort."
"Didn't need one." Ash handed over the collected badge set without pausing. "Get those registered for the Johto League. Sabrina and I are heading to the Indigo Conference. I want to see where Shirō is at these days."
Serion accepted the badges with a small bow, already moving.