In a small town in the center of Johto, Ash stood in front of a video phone. He vividly recounted his thrilling experiences from the previous day to Professor Oak. Encountering Celebi. Meeting the new leader of Team Rocket. Encountering a returning being from 40 years ago, becoming friends with him. Even capturing a Suicune.
Professor Oak, aside from his initial expression of astonishment, was utterly calm. Behind that facade, there was always a subtle, nostalgic expression tugging at his features. Absorbed in describing everything to Ash, Ash himself didn't notice, but Misty and the others did.
Professor Oak's face was showing a nostalgic expression. Nostalgia? What exactly was Professor Oak reminiscing about? Could it be that Professor Oak had experienced something similar to Ash's before?
"So, Team Rocket's leader had his memory erased by you all, and was taken to the police station in the small town, right?" Facing Professor Oak's question, Ash nodded.
Defeating Soshima and erasing his memory had been yesterday's event. They had dragged Soshima around for a whole day, but with Suicune pulling him along, they weren't too tired. Soshima had regained consciousness twice along the way, but Ash had forcibly woken him up, given him some water and food, then knocked him unconscious again.
This was done to prevent Soshima from dying halfway. Letting him die like that would be too easy for him. He needed to atone for his sins in prison for the rest of his life.
"Speaking of that, Professor Oak, I captured a Suicune! Suicune! How come you're not surprised at all?"
"Oh? Really? Perhaps my surprise isn't showing on the surface, but actually I'm quite surprised. After all, this is one of the three Legendary Beasts. If possible, it would be best if you could immediately send him back to me for some research."
After Ash mentioned it, Professor Oak's face finally showed surprise and a hint of longing, as if he'd just been shocked out of his stupor. This was the normal reaction of a researcher. No researcher would be unmoved by a Legendary Pokémon. The differences between Legendary Pokémon and ordinary Pokémon were something all researchers wanted to understand. Professor Oak was no exception.
"Since that's the case, I'll send Suicune back first. Suicune, after you return, get along with your fellow Pokémon at the lab. I'll take you out from time to time." Ash took out Suicune's Poké Ball and instructed it.
Regardless of whether it was a Legendary Pokémon or a regular one, they could hear sounds from the outside world from inside the Poké Ball, but only if they were relatively close. Otherwise, they'd rest inside the ball normally. Mewtwo could directly see the outside world through its Poké Ball.
Of course, Mewtwo could also choose to close off external sensory perception entirely, entering a state of complete lockdown. However, with Mewtwo's abilities, simultaneously observing the outside world and meditating was absolutely no problem for it.
The Poké Ball in Ash's hand gently shook, indicating Suicune understood. Ash then placed the ball onto the Pokémon teleportation device.
Professor Oak, after exchanging information with him, returned to the topic. Now that Charizard was training in Charicific Valley, and Ash didn't have any other Fire-type Pokémon, Cyndaquil naturally became the second Fire-type he was training.
He wondered how Charizard was training in Charicific Valley now. Soon, there would be a battle where Charizard would be needed.
"Received."
Professor Oak raised the Poké Ball he'd just caught, then suddenly remembered something and said to Ash. "Right, Ash, I exchanged Pokémon from two regions with Professor Sycamore to study the differences between the two regions' Pokémon.
Now that we've done the research, these three Pokémon will be given as starter Pokémon for novice Trainers, and there's no need to give them back to Professor Sycamore. But now there's a problem."
Professor Oak's voice trailed off as he pointed the camera to the other side, where a blue frog-like Pokémon was leisurely eating its food ration.
"This Pokémon is Froakie, one of Kalos's starter trio. I've already given it to several new Trainers during this time, but this kid always runs right back to Oak Research Institute. It's really disheartening."
Every month, the eighth was the day the League recognized novice Trainers and allowed them to receive their Pokémon. Although Professor Oak only had three Pokémon to give out each month, Froakie had already been sent away several times.
Because Froakie ran back the first time it was given to a novice Trainer, there was one extra Pokémon to give away. So Professor Oak notified the Trainers in nearby towns who were fifteen years old or older to come and pick up Froakie, regardless of whether it was the eighth, since there was just one Pokémon available.
And no matter which Trainer it was, this Froakie always eventually ran back to Oak's research institute.
Professor Oak was really getting a headache from this.
"Wow. A Froakie?" Ash stared at the camera pointed at Froakie, unable to regain his composure for a long time. He remembered what the seniors had said about Froakie belonging solely to him in the future.
Now, seeing this Froakie, he didn't know why his heart was pounding so hard, and a strange feeling welled up inside him. He seemed to understand what the seniors meant by "destiny."
In the vast sea of people and Pokémon, Froakies weren't uncommon. How could he know that a given Froakie was the one meant for him? The strange feeling that struck him after actually meeting this Froakie clearly told him what "destiny" truly meant. This feeling was completely different from encountering other Pokémon.
"Professor Oak, can you give me that Froakie?" After a few seconds of silence, Ash made the request.
Professor Oak was taken aback, and immediately turned the camera back to himself. "Are you sure, Ash? If you can't subdue him, he might escape again. You're quite far from Oak's research facility. If he escapes, you might never see any trace of him again."
This Froakie was indeed very intelligent. After escaping from its Trainer, it even knew how to return to Oak Research. However, Ash's position clearly didn't support Froakie running away. But this Froakie was a truly stubborn type. If Ash still didn't turn out to be a Trainer that suited its preferences, it would still choose to run away.
At that point, it wouldn't be a simple return to Oak Research. It would just completely disappear. Although Froakie had hands and feet, and surviving in the wild wouldn't be a problem for it, if Froakie ran away and Ash couldn't find it anymore, this would likely be a significant blow.
Clearly, Ash was quite drawn to this Froakie, otherwise he wouldn't have proactively offered to take it. He wanted it. And if losing this Froakie was the price of trying, and Froakie ran off, well, it didn't matter.
"I feel like he has a strong connection with me. I'll make Froakie acknowledge me. If I didn't even have that much confidence, how could I become the world's strongest Trainer?" Ash waved his hand, speaking with full confidence.
"Since you say so, then I'll send him over to you." Seeing Ash's confidence, Professor Oak didn't refuse. He put Froakie into a Poké Ball and placed it on the Pokémon teleportation device.
Ash pondered for a moment, finally choosing to teleport Heracross back. His current lineup was: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Pikachu, Gardevoir, Lucario, Togepi, Mewtwo, and Froakie, who had just been teleported. A total of eight Pokémon.
Togepi was basically being looked after by Ash, and Mewtwo didn't need his attention, so in real terms, he still had six active Pokémon. Carrying six Pokémon wasn't because he could only carry six. The League believed that manpower was limited, and taking care of six Pokémon on a journey was already the limit. More would be counterproductive.
Furthermore, the maximum number of Pokémon in a battle was six against six, so having six Pokémon in one lineup became tradition.
Ash had also requested eight slots. Mewtwo was an exception to the rule, and Togepi couldn't fight, but this little one still hadn't evolved, and was practically a baby. It wasn't feasible to leave it at Oak's research facility. So his slots ended up being eight.
Even eight slots really weren't enough for Ash. As he captured more Pokémon, the number he needed to train also increased. Even if he swapped out a group of Pokémon every week, it was still difficult to take care of every single one. After all, Pikachu, Charizard, and Gardevoir had never been swapped out before.
Now that Charizard was in Charicific Valley, it was Lucario's turn to stay on the team in a fixed slot. On one hand, Lucario's other Mega form hadn't been fully developed yet, and on the other, Lucario's growth on the road was much faster than at the lab.
Although the other Pokémon's growth was also faster when they were with Ash than in the backyard at Oak's, it wasn't as pronounced as Lucario's. Because Lucario and Ash both used Aura, and Ash was a god-level user, with a god-level "senior" guiding him, the acceleration was self-evident.
So Lucario had now become one of the fixed slots, with only three positions available for rotation. Not enough slots, but there was nothing to be done about it. Given the specific circumstances, Ash wouldn't bother Professor Oak again to add more Pokémon slots. Adding two more Pokémon wasn't exactly in line with the rules, and asking for more would be embarrassing. It'd be awkward, and Professor Oak might not be pleased either.
However, if Ash were a Champion-level Trainer, there wouldn't be any Pokémon limits. That was one of the League's regulations. The six-Pokémon limit was because the average Trainer's maximum was six Pokémon.
Champion-level Trainers' abilities weren't limited to six, so the League had abolished Pokémon restrictions for Trainers above Champion level.
"Got him, Professor Oak." Ash raised the red-and-white Poké Ball, gesturing to the professor.
"Okay, and I've received Suicune. Well then, good luck, Ash. I hope you can gain Froakie's acknowledgment."
"Don't worry. I have a feeling. Froakie and I are destined to be partners." Ash smiled, his words full of confidence.
Ash's confidence level was exceptional. Simply put, he possessed the power of Aura, and his ability to communicate with Pokémon through Aura. On top of that, he shared this miraculous connection with Froakie. Combining these factors, if he couldn't gain Froakie's acknowledgment, then no one else in the world could.
After teleporting Froakie away, Professor Oak hung up the phone. He glanced at Suicune's Poké Ball, then released it. Suicune, upon emerging, shook its head and surveyed its surroundings. While inside the Poké Ball, it had known it was about to be teleported to the Rainbow Hero's backyard. From its initial impression, the environment seemed quite good.
However, when Suicune focused its gaze on Professor Oak, a look of surprise appeared on its face.
"Long time no see, Suicune. Haha, this 'long time no see' is only for me. For you, it's probably just been a short while." Professor Oak looked at Suicune's expression and knew it had recognized him.
If Ash hadn't been the owner of Oak's lab, Suicune might have recognized him even sooner. Conversely, Oak had returned from the past 40 years ago. Even if his identity were revealed now, it wouldn't affect anything about the past, but his true identity would still eventually be discovered by Ash himself.
Suicune nodded slightly toward Professor Oak. It accurately recognized the older human before it. Judging from his aura, he was almost identical to that young man from before, although his appearance and age had changed drastically. His Aura signature was unmistakable.
"Haha, it's quite nostalgic. Forty years have passed. If it weren't for Ash, I probably wouldn't be a professor now." Professor Oak said with quiet nostalgia. He bent down and walked to the wall of his research lab, looking at the painting he had hung there after Ash had left Johto.
It was a painting of Pikachu confronting Suicune, a perfect replica, capturing the style of both. If you only looked at this painting, you'd never think that a second later, this Pikachu had charged forward, severely injuring Suicune, and that its next move had almost completely incapacitated it.
This was Ash's Pikachu.
It was because of that time-traveling journey and Ash's Pikachu's unconventional crushing victory over Suicune that Sammy had planted the seed to become a researcher. After becoming the Champion of the Kanto region, he resolutely abandoned his undefeated status and dedicated himself to the research profession. It was precisely because of this that Ash received his Pikachu. This was the miraculous convergence of time.