Misty had won her fight against Blue using water Pokemon and Butterfree as a surprise Pokemon against Blue's water Pokemon team that consisted of a shiny Blastoise, Gyarados, Lapras, and Poliwrath. She showed off her Earth badge to Ash and the others as well as her newly evolved Politoed who had evolved while fighting against Poliwrath. Blue had congratulated her and told her she was doing a great job in reaching her dreams to become a Water Pokemon Master and Gym Leader like her father. Misty's eyes had become a little watery at that and she gave Blue a bright smile thanking him for the compliment, Blue had been one of the few people to last interact with her late father.
Misty smiled as she looked at the Earth badge, 'Never would have thought how much a compliment from Blue would mean to me.'
Jessilina had also won an Earth badge from Blue by the end of the week getting a curious look from him. Red had told him about the two of them apparently and how they were stronger than they looked and how they were keeping Ash out of trouble. Jessilina and Jameson simply nodded however and told Blue they would watch over Ash no matter what. It was also a big bonus that they met future possible business partners by following Ash around so it was very profitable in their case. Blue snorted, before letting them go, as long as they didn't get any ideas about his younger brothers, he didn't mind.
They were going through the forest that separated Viridian City from Pallet town when they decided to stop by a stream to relax and have lunch. Ash hummed a tune as they set up a picnic mat on the grass and took out the packed lunch they had made while back at Viridian City. Misty was playing with her Pokemon in the water while Brock was taking care of his Pokemon and contemplating the contract he had won. Lance had contacted him while they were in Viridian City and offered him a post with the league as a healer and breeder. They had been impressed with how he had handled Lance's Charizard and wanted him to handle the others, the pay was also decent.
Jameson, "Food for thought?"
Brock, "Yeah, I was thinking about Lance's offer. It's very tempting but.... "
Jessilina, "You want to travel and see more."
Brock nodded, "I feel like I have not seen half the world yet."
Ash, "You don't have to accept it now, right?"
Misty piped up, "You still got time."
Brock smiled, "That's true."
As they were finishing their lunch they heard a huge commotion coming from a bit further up the stream. They looked at each other before going to check on what was going on up stream after returning most of their Pokemon back. As they were getting closer to where the noise came from they noticed it started to get really dark for some unknown reason. Tomo shivered and held Jameson's pants as they got closer to what sounded like a big battle going on.
Misty, "What's that?"
Ash looked up and gaped, "A giant Gengar?"
Brock, "And a giant Alakazam!"
Jessilina pulled the three of them, "Hide!"
Jameson, "I didn't realize there were giant Pokemon near Pallet."
Ash, "There aren't, look OUT!"
The two giant Pokemon were battling it out with each other and uprooting the forest around them. The group ran toward what looked like a temple up ahead and hid behind it gasping for breath. Jameson pointed towards some of the murals on the wall that depicted the two Pokemon battling outside and a third Pokemon that looked like a Jigglypuff.
Misty, "What does this mean then? A Jigglypuff defeated them?"
Ash, "My Jigglypuff is already a Wigglytuff."
Jessilina, "Let's give it a shot."
Brock, "It looks like Jigglypuff sang according to these murals."
Jameson, "It put them to sleep? That's it?"
Ash, "Wigglytuff can sing, come out girl."
Wigglytuff, "Wiggly?"
Ash, "We need you to sing and put those two there to sleep."
Wigglytuff looked at the two and nodded before climbing up the wall to the roof of the temple and age started to sing. She sang for a long time and during that time Tomo and Growlithe fell asleep followed by Jessilina and Misty, then Brock and Jameson. Ash was also starting to feel the effects of the move sing but somehow managed to stay awake and saw saw a bell like structure glow below Wigglytuff. Ash quickly returned Wigglytuff and hid with Lucario as they watched a giant Jigglypuff appear and start to sing.
The Jigglypuff's explosive voice woke up everyone who gaped in shock at the giant pink Pokemon before the affect of the sing started to kick in. Despite the aura filter, even Ash could not stay up for long and soon fell asleep curled up with Chimchar, Phantump and Omanyte. When they woke up it was early the next morning with people who looked like archaeologists sleeping on the ground before them.
Misty walked up to one of them, "Hey! Wake up!"
Brock, "Are you alright miss?"
The head archaeologist looked at Brock, "Who are you? What is going on?"
Jessilina, "I would like to know that, but more importantly where did Gengar, Alakazam and Jigglypuff disappear to?"
Jameson, "I don't know, I fell asleep half way through."
One of the archaeologists, "So it was not a dream..... We need to barricade this area, we are not ready to deal with powers like that."
Ash was looking at the altar and whispered to Lucario, "They are inside these two items, aren't they?"
Lucario nodded, -I'm taking them, it's too risky to let them stay here.-
Ash nodded as Lucario took all three items that held the Pokemon, they would have Red send them to Mew via Mewtwo. The Kanto legendary can decide what to do with them, it was too dangerous to let them stay in human hands. What if they were awakened again? So when no one was paying attention to them Lucario swiped the items up and placed them in the capsule for safe keeping. The group was still talking to the archaeologist who were still trying to get their bearings together.
From what Ash overheard the three Giant Pokemon were apparently considered the first gigantamax Pokemon of Kanto. They were searching for proof about existence of Gigantamax phenomenon, however they never thought the Pokemon would still be alive and kicking after such a long time. After helping the dazed archaeologist out and calling the Kanto Archaeology centre to help them out, they continued on towards Pallet.
Ash walked up to his home, "Home sweet Home!"
A voice came from inside after Ash rang the bell, "Coming."
Delia opened the door and promptly hugged Ash the moment she saw him, "My baby! You are home."
Ash's muffled voice came, "I missed you too mama, I brought my friends along as well."
Delia smiled at them still hugging Ash, "Welcome to Pallet town and the Ketchum residence. I was just about to have tea, come join me."
Misty, "Tea would be nice, Delia."
Brock, "Thank you for the invite, Miss Ketchum."
Jessilina, "Tea sounds good."
Jameson, "Thank you for the invite."
Delia, "Call me Delia dears, and this must be little Tomo. How are you dear?"
Tomo smiled shyly, "I'm good, this is Growly."
Growly, "Roooo."
Delia grinned and guided them towards the main drawing room where she served tea for everyone. Ash relaxed drinking the tea, it had been a while since he had his mother's food, even simple tea tasted good. Ash went to dump his bag upstart after having tea before coming down to chat with his mom, he didn't want to go anywhere for the moment. He had missed his home, going to the back garden he was glomped by Butterfree and Beedrill who would sometimes accompany Delia.
Ash laughed, "I missed you too. It's good to be home."
Brock chuckled seeing them, "Ash, your mom says lunch is ready."
Ash grinned, "Alright! I really missed mom's cooking."
Delia, "Well then, dig in, I'm sure you will go to the Professor's place once you have eaten."
Ash nodded, "Yeah! I am excited to see my Pokemon again. We'll even trained together for a while in Pallet."
Jessilina, "Are you planning on going somewhere to train?"
Ash nodded, "I was thinking of going to the Shaumatii Islands, I heard it has has the perfect environment to train Pokemon belonging to different types and.... "
Misty, "And? What is it, Ash?"
Ash spoke quietly, "I heard that's where Dad trained as a Ranger."
Misty, "I think I understand, I'm thinking about training at Seafoam Island off the coast of Cinnabar Island myself."
Delia, "Stay a few days though please. Gary's birthday is coming."
Ash grinned, "How can I miss that?"
Brock, "I can help with the food."
Jessilina, "I got the decorations."
Misty, "Having a fun party before training sounds good."
Brock, "I think I will visit the League HQ, about the contract while you two are training."
Jameson, "Thinking about joining them?"
Brock nodded, "I want to see if it's what I want, check it out so to speak. I will come watch your matches, don't worry."
Jessilina, "Let's prepare for the party then."
After lunch, Ash, Misty and Brock decided to go to Professor Oak's place, while Jessilina stayed with Delia to keep her company and Jameson decided to check Pallet town. Ash had just walked up the stairs when Charizard swooped in and carried him away to the field where Ash's Pokemon stayed most of the time. The Pokemon happily hugged, licked and nuzzled him welcoming him back home and at the same time welcoming the new members. Ash released the rest of his Pokemon who greeted them others happily and started to chatter among themselves before they rounded on Ash and checked him over. He heard laughter coming from the side and looked over to see Misty, Brock Gary and Professor Oak watching the antics of his Pokemon with amused expressions.
Ash laughed sheepishly, "Hiya Gary, Professor Oak, I don't think I'm getting out of this hug fest anytime soon."
Samuel chuckled, "No, you are not, son. They have been waiting for your return anxiously."
Gary, "Heh! It's actually pretty cute to see you being cuddled like that."
Ash was a little pink with embarrassment, "Do not start Gary, Red sent me pictures of you getting dog piled by your Pokemon, you know?"
They heard a snap and saw Red smirking, "I got pictures of you too now, baby bro."
Ash brightened, "Red, you are here too."
Red, "I'm in Pallet during most of my free time, helping the Professor out with some of his Pokemon. Champion level Pokemons are not exactly willing to listen to others.... your Pokemon included."
Ash turned to his Pokemon, "You guys are not creating trouble right?"
Charizard looked offended, Pikachu grumbled, Ivysaur sighed while Wartotle, Milotic, Togetic, Kingler and Pidgeot, shook their heads. Ash giggled and pat them getting content rumbles and purrs from them as the Professor explained how they started to act up a few days after Charizard returned. Ash looked at the fire lizard and understood, he had almost watched him die in New Island and even if most of the humans didn't remember, the Pokemon did.
Ash then returned indoors and explained his plan to go to Shaumatii Island and Red gave him a look that said, he was not going there alone. Gary announced he was going to Mt Silver to train, while Misty was going to Seafoam Island and Brock to the league Headquarters. Jessilina and Jameson were probably going to follow Ash or return to their city, Red bet they would follow Ash although he doesn't say it out loud. They would stay in Pallet and train for a few days first before going separate ways and Ash planned on bringing all his Pokemon to train with him.
[A. N.: I always wanted Ash to take those three Pokemon XDD]