Reuniting with an Old Friend

"..." - Talking

'...' - Thoughts

"..." - Pokespeech

The trio had finally arrived at the Vermillion City Port with no more problems on the way. However, there was only one small problem.

"Where could Professor Oak be?" questioned Ash as he looked around to find the familiar face. He would have expected the man to arrive in his jeep by this point in time.

"Perhaps he may just be running late and will be here shortly. According to the map, Vermillion City is a long ways from Pallet Town," answered Cilan.

"Yeah. It took me about a few months to get to Vermillion City while traveling with Brock and Misty," commented the black haired trainer.

"Brock and Misty?" questioned Iris.

"Oh that's right, I only mentioned them a bit when I explained about Charzard. Anyway, Brock and Misty were the first friends that I had ever traveled with on the start of my journey throughout Kanto. Then in the Orange Islands, Brock decided to stay with the Pokémon Professor of the archipelago to sharpen his breeder skills so it was just Misty and I until we met Tracey, who's now Professor Oak's assistant. Soon when Misty and I left to Johto after I won the Orange League, we met up with Brock again and traveled. Right now, Brock's traveling to become a Pokémon Doctor so maybe he'll be in Kanto from time to time. Meanwhile Misty is trying to become the world's best Water type trainer. Brock used to be the Gym Leader of the Pewter Gym but handed that position over to his second oldest brother, Forrest while Misty is the current Gym Leader of Cerulean City."

"Okay, before I ask any more questions of this matter, you won the Orange League?" questioned the girl once more in surprise.

Ash nodded in response. "I sure did but it's not a real official League unlike the five main regions since there's only four Gym Leaders and the Champion."

"Now you mention it, you've never told us how far you gotten in the other regions," Cilan bumped into the conversation.

"Well you never asked," responded the black haired teen.

"Typical..." muttered the two traveling companions. Pikachu and Axew facepalmed at this.

"Yeah well anyway... In Kanto, I placed Top 16 in the Indigo Plateau as I mentioned a while back with Charzard refusing to listen to me at the time." Ash could've sworn he felt Charzard's pokéball shake furiously from the response but ignored it. "Johto, I placed Top 8 when a friend of mine, Harrison, defeated Charzard using Blaziken, which I didn't know what type of Pokémon it was that time since I hadn't gone to Hoenn yet. Then I placed Top 8 in Hoenn when I was against a newly acquainted friend named Tyson. In Sinnoh I placed Top 4 since I was only able to defeat only two of Tobias' Pokémon when no one else could even damage one...even though they were Legendaries..." Ash muttered the last part but Cilan easily heard it.

"Legendaries? Incredible! To believe that a trainer is able to tame Legendaries and use them in battle is phenomenal but what's even more exciting is the fact that you were able to defeat at least two of them is remarkable!" exclaimed Cilan in excitement. Iris smiled, actually impressed by Ash's skills but frowned soon after.

"That makes me wonder...how were you only able to get in the Top 8 in the Unova League? You could've beaten Cameron easily and even beat Virgil if your Pokémon are strong enough to beat at least two legendaries." Iris was very suspicious about the matter. If Ash was so strong, why would he lose against Cameron? Better yet, how did he lose against Trip and some other trainers throughout the journey?

"That's the thing. I used my other Pokémon in the Sinnoh League. Sceptile defeated Tobias' Darkrai while Pikachu beat Latios even though he was the only one I had left. However, in Unova, I only used my Unova Pokémon since I knew they deserved it to battle in the League. I guess it must have caught up with me like when I did that in Hoenn," answered Ash thoughtfully before looking at them with a determined look. "So I'm making sure not to make the same mistake against the Battle Frontier! I did it once and I can do it again!"

On cue, they all turned their attention to the sound of screeching tires before the stood face to face with a jeep being driven by a man who looked a bit old, wearing a red shirt, khaki pants and a lab coat.

"Professor Oak!" announced Ash in glee.

"Right on time too!" followed Iris.

"My, Ash and Pikachu how you two have grown in just a year of travel in the Unova region. Nice to see your friends have decided to travel with you to Kanto and to support you in the Battle Frontier," complemented the Professor before Ash's companions introduced themselves.

"It's an honor to meet you in person, Professor Oak. My name is Cilan, a Pokémon Connoisseur."

"And I'm Iris. I'm training to become a Dragon Master." Axew responded at this as well.

"Nice to meet you all. Now, let's head to Pallet Town and we'll talk more on the way," explained Professor Oak. The trio agreed, got on to the vehicle and drove off in a fast speed, surprising them, but got used to it pretty quickly.

"So Professor, has Scott mentioned how harder the Battle Frontier is going to be?" questioned Ash, curious as he didn't receive much information from the heavy man.

Oak shook his head. "Unfortunately I haven't. All he mentioned is that almost each Frontier Brain has come up with even bigger twists for your battles but it's been very private. They all want to surprise you when you reach to each facility."

Ash only nodded and they all decided to keep silent for a while passing through Saffron and Cerulean City. They went around Mount Moon, which was a lot faster than Ash expected instead of going through it. Iris and Cilan were conversing about the sights of the cities and environments being different than Unova. Despite the land area, Unova was much more industrialized than Kanto, while the latter was much more spacious. They were even more amazed at some of the Pokémon that they passed, taking notice of the Rattata, Raticate, Pidgey, and Spearow living amount the forest.

When they reached Viridian City however, the trio of travelers couldn't help but hear some clanking noises.

"Uhh...What's that sound?" questioned Ash, now grabbing the Professor's attention as well.

"Pika pika..." muttered Pikachu as well.

Before anyone can respond, the jeep jolted, nearly knocking the four and Pikachu if they weren't wearing their seat belts (or being held in Pikachu's case). Some smoke started coming out the front of the jeep before it completely stopped on its own after Professor Oak drove to the side of the road. When the elder tried to turn it back on, it just made a buzzing noise and refused to turn on.

"W-what just happened?" Iris groaned after getting a headache from the jolt earlier.

"Seems to me that the vehicle must have broken down," answered Cilan while rubbing his head.

Professor Oak sighed. "Indeed. This old thing doesn't drive as well as it used to. The question is what are we to do?"

"How about taking it to a repair shop while Cilan, Iris, and I travel to Pallet Town by foot? The forest between here and there isn't too long as Viridian Forest," suggested Ash.

"What an excellent idea. Seems to me that you're maturing Ash," complemented the Professor.

"Or maybe because he just want to get home that bad," responded Iris.

"Well I...ya see...Oh I give up. You're right," answered Ash in guilt. The other three, including Pikachu, all sweatdropped at this.

"Such a kid..." muttered Iris with everyone else agreeing. Ash sulked at this.

"Even with his intentions, Ash does make a flavorful idea. At this point, walking through the forest will be much quicker than waiting for the jeep to be repaired to get to Pallet Town," answered Cilan.

"I guess you're right. Why don't you three head to Pallet without me and I'll find someplace to get my jeep fixed up. I should be there before night falls," responded Professor Oak. The three nodded before bidding their goodbyes and heading out of the city and into the forest.

"Professor Oak seems like such a nice man," commented Iris as they walked through.

"Indeed. Knowing that he's such a well-known professor around the world and Ash knowing him personally is such a rare occasion especially hearing that he's always so busy in his research," responded Cilan.

"You can't even imagine all the Pokémon he has to take care for me while I'm on my travels," Ash said.

"What? Just how many Pokémon do you have?" questioned the female trainer is surprise.

"I lost count after Johto..." muttered the black haired teen mareepishly.

The other two sighed while Pikachu tried to hold back a snicker. They kept walking in silence as they made their way along a different path to Pallet than usual for Iris and Cilan to enjoy the scenery of the forest. If they were this amazed at just the forest, imagine going throughout the entire Kanto region.

They pass by seeing many Pokémon around, enjoying their peace as the trio didn't bother them at all. They also passed by a waterfall, where Ash began to remind himself when he first met Misty and having to save her from a Gyrados even though he ended up trashing her bike, resulting in their unlikely journey together. Then Ash began to wonder, how was Misty doing? Better yet, how was everyone he ever got to know in Kanto were doing? He even began to wander about those like May, Max, Dawn, heck even his Sinnoh rival, Paul! Were they all fine? He knows Dawn's in Johto when the trio last heard from her at the Junior World Cup, he hasn't heard from May since Sinnoh and she said Max was working hard for his journey. Last he heard from Paul was after Ash defeated him during the intense battle at the Sinnoh League.

At this point, everything felt different for Ash. Although he had Iris and Cilan with him, they don't quite fill in the hole of loneliness he's had since the end of his Sinnoh travels, especially when Unova was cut off from the other regions. Sure he had rivals in Unova like Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and Virgil but they never compared to those like Gary, Richie, Harrison, Morrison, Tyson, Paul, Barry, Nando, Conway, and Tobias when they definitely made Ash give his all in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. He felt as though Unova was a step back due to lack of communication from everyone else. That's why he felt so excited to head back to Kanto and face the Battle Frontier once more. He felt more closer to home than ever before and he can have the same bond with his other Pokémon like he used to that way his Unova Pokémon can understand how much being close with others can be such a great thing. Plus the training here would be worth the result for them.

His thoughts however were complete cut off when he heard loud noises around the area.

"Where's that noise coming from? And what happened to all the Pokémon?" questioned Iris with a worried look on her face along with Axew.

"This sounds bad. I suggest we leave the forest as quickly as possible," suggested Cilan.

Ash looked around to see where the noise was coming from but the noise was from all directions. Before they could do anything, they were surrounded by a large flock of Spearow with looks of anger towards the trainers.

"Now what do we do?" questioned Iris.

"The most obvious thing we can do. RUN!" screamed Cilan as the trio ran off in a random direction as fast they could with the Spearow following in fast speeds. Many tried to use Quick Attack at them but Pikachu tried his best to hold them off with Thunderbolt.

As they kept running however, Ash couldn't help feel his feet being off the ground before realizing that he was lifted up by his backpack. He looked up and his eyes widened in panic seeing a certain Pokémon he dreaded of ever meeting again.

"Fearow!" called out the black haired teen. The large bird screeched as it quickly ascended into the air. Pikachu couldn't maintain hold as he fell off of Ash and plummeting into the Earth. Luckily, Cilan was able to catch the mouse Pokémon in time.

"Oh no! Ash!" yelled Iris.

"This is bad. What do we do? Pikachu can't aim Thunderbolt or Electroball from that high and either way, he might hurt Ash," responded Cilan as they kept running to chase after Ash and Fearow with the Spearow in tow.

"Pika Pi..." said Pikachu in worry.

Meanwhile, Ash took out a pokéball to get out of the situation.

"Unfezant! Come on out and use Air Cutter on Fearow!" yelled Ash as he released the female bird. The Unova native was hesitant on using the attack due to not wanting to hurt her trainer but she knew this was a serious situation and attacked the large Kanto bird with no mercy. The Fearow screech and let go of Ash, causing to fall before Unfezant used her talons to grab her trainer from his backpack. Even if Ash was quite the heavy lift, Unfezant was fine with flying.

Fearow glared at the Unova native, "You sure have a lot of guts. You're not from around here are you?"

Unfezant spat back, "Of course not. I'm from Unova and how dare you try to take away MY trainer?"

"This kid and I have unfinished business. And it looks like the brat ditched that useless bird for someone better. No matter, once I'm through with him, I'll make sure to have you as my right hand of my flock," taunted the large bird.

"I don't think so you creep!" screeched the female bird. Even though Ash didn't understand what they were saying, he knew Unfezant was very angered towards Fearow.

"Alright, Unfezant use Gust!" commanded Ash. The Unova native nodded before sending strong winds towards Fearow. The large bird however, was not willing to give up as he withstood the attack. His beak glowed as it grew and aimed for Unfezant and Ash in fast speeds.

"He's using Drill Peak!" yelled Ash in panic. Unfezant couldn't block it at this point and was about to use her body to withstand the attack. However, before Fearow can hit, blue slashes of wind hit the Kanto bird at point blank range, causing him to take damage.

Ash and Unfezant were surprised at this. "That was Air Slash. But who could've saved us?"

They heard a screech from another direction which grabbed their attention. They turned as saw a bird that was larger than both Unfezant and Fearow. Unlike Unfezant's dark feathers, this one's was lighter than Fearow's feather plus it had long plumes flowing from its head. The one who was surprised the most was Ash as he realized who it was.

"P-Pidgeot!" Ash was in complete disbelief that he met one of the few Pokémon he thought he would never see after all these years. The bird looked quite content seeing her trainer looking mature and strong than the ten year old who promised to return for her a long time ago. Sure, it has taken years to see him again but finally meeting him was worth the wait.

The reunion was quickly cut off when Fearow screeched in anger. Ash and Unfezant were quite worried while Pidgeot actually looked bored.

Fearow decided to attack Pidgeot, while the female just attacked with another Air Slash. Fearow was angered even more before turning his attention back to Unfezant. Pidgeot's eyes narrowed as she screeched and was surrounded a strange aura and aimed for Fearow in high speeds and caused an explosion. She landing a direct hit and caused the large bird to be badly damaged. Ash looked at his old friend in disbelief.

"That was Giga Impact..." muttered Ash. Unfezant was astonished at how much power the other female had.

"I believed I told you that you and your flock have no business being in this forest even again. Now leave before I use my full power against you," Pidgeot calmly said but held a glare at the male bird. Fearow was actually stunned at this before glaring at Ash and Unfezant once more before calling out for the Spearow. The flock soon came and headed off quickly before Pidgeot could have done anything else.

Without another word, the three headed down where Iris, Cilan, and Pikachu were catching their breath from the chase. Pidgeot landed first while Unfezant set Ash down before following. Once they caught their breath, Iris and Cilan were amazed seeing another bird Pokémon in front of them.

"Ash, which Pokémon is that?" questioned Iris. However, the black haired teen was silent as he and Pidgeot was staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Ash broke into a run and hugged the bird Pokémon in happiness and near tears.

"Pidgeot! I can't believe it's you! I am so sorry that I haven't come back for you after so long but I finally get to see you again!" Ash yelled in happiness. Pikachu was in disbelief while Iris and Cilan were quite confused.

"I'm sorry if I'm disrupting this sweet reunion but can you explain what's going on?" questioned Cilan. Ash began to explain how Pidgeot was the first flying type Pokémon he had ever caught when she was a Pidgeotto and all their adventures throughout Kanto before they had an encounter with that Fearow's flock that was disrupting a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto and how Pidgeot protected them and decided to stay and how Ash promised to return for Pidgeot after he returned from the Orange Islands but never kept that promise until now.

"Wow. It's so bittersweet just listening how Pidgeot has been around here all this time to take care of her flock but at the same time, waiting for you come back," responded Iris.

Ash looked down. He really missed Pidgeot but all that time and anticipation of travel kept him from going around the forest in search for her. Before he can blame himself anymore, Pidgeot chirped in happiness as she was glad to meet her trainer again. Ash smiled looking at the content Kanto bird. Unfezant smiled seeing the two being reunited.

Ash said something that the Kanto bird was waiting to hear after all this time. "Pidgeot, I came back because I'm going to travel around Kanto to challenge the Battle Frontier for the second time. Now that we've met again, I was wondering if you would like to come back with us, meet everyone and battle alongside me to defeat the Battle Frontier."

The bird happily complied as she pat her trainer using her wing. Ash laughed at the response before looking at the female curiously. "Hey don't you have to tell your flock that you're leaving?"

Pidgeot nodded before calling out. Soon a flock of Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and another Pidgeot came out. Pidgeot began to converse with them in Pokéspeech until the wild Pidgeot responded. The female bird nodded before the flock dispersed. Pidgeot nodded towards Ash's group.

"Well looks like Pidgeot had everything under control," commented Iris.

Ash nodded before looking at the bird. "Well, your pokéball is actually in Professor Oak's lab so we'll just head straight there."

The black haired teen took out a pokéball before turning towards Unfezant. "Now, Unfezant retu-"

Unfezant chirped in reply of this stopping Ash from sending back into her pokéball. Ash looked quite confused at this.

"I believe Unfezant wants to stay out of her ball so she could get to know Pidgeot," answered Cilan.

Ash looked at the Unova bird. "Is that true?" Unfezant nodded in reply.

Ash smiled. "Alright then. Now with that settled, let's head to Pallet Town." The group nodded before heading on the path once more with Unfezant and Ash's old friend Pidgeot flying a bit behind them with Pikachu deciding to take a ride on top of Pidgeot for old time's sake while Iris' Axew was on top of Unfezant.

"So you were Ash's first flying type Pokémon? That's amazing. I am hoping to learn a lot from you. From what Pikachu has said, the Battle Frontier is no walk in the park," explained Unfezant as the four were conversing.

"I know very little of the Battle Frontier so I expect a lot out of it. Taking from Pikachu's advice, it must be true. And I'm sure willing to teach you as much as I'm able to. Also, I was Ash's only female Pokémon around the time so it's nice to talk to other females and it was almost as if I was mothering Ash's other Pokémon more than anything around Kanto," Pidgeot explained with a chuckle while Pikachu glared.

"I wasn't childish!" exclaimed the electric mouse.

"Says the one who wouldn't listen to Ash's commands in the beginning of the journey." Now it was Unfezant's and Axew's turn to laugh. Pikachu grumbled at this.

"So how much do you think Ash has matured? I mean, when I battled him as a Pidove, I sensed he was a worthy trainer and has never let me down since. Sure we had our downs like being defeated by one of his Unova rivals but after a battle against a Flying type Gym Leader and I evolved from a Tranquill, I knew he was worth being with," explained Unfezant.

Pidgeot nodded. "I was actually quite unsure about being Ash's Pokémon at first. I mean, he only had Pikachu, a Butterfree and I in our first ever Gym Battle and he practically won by sheer luck after a rematch but I saw how much he ended up maturing throughout his journey, even if it was a little bit. Seeing him now, I see a mature and strong young trainer ready to face any challenge pitted against him."

"Ash has made tons and I mean TONS of mistakes on his journey but he's learned through them and is a lot better than the lucky rookie kid we had five and a half years ago," commented Pikachu.

Pidgeot chirped in response. "It seems you have matured as well Pikachu. You have become wiser and more caring,"

"G-gee, thanks," answered Pikachu mareepishly. Axew snickered in response.

"Hey guys! We're here!" called out Ash, grabbing the four's attention. Everyone except Ash and Pikachu were amazed at the sight of Pallet Town from the hill on the open field we were at.

"Ready to meet everyone?" questioned the trainer.

"Of course!" yelled Iris and Cilan with the other Pokémon calling out in happiness.

--

A/N: Hurray! Pidgeot has rejoined Ash's team! I've read several stories where Ash's Pidgeot, Butterfree, and the Larvitar from Johto join his team again but it's never really explained how. Others were also questionable like how did they find Ash when they could've gone to find him anytime in anime canon? It was all too confusing. So I always suspected that Pidgeot was still with the flock but in another part of the forest between Pallet and Viridian so Ash was never able to find her. And yes, since I was a kid, I always thought of Pidgeot being a girl so don't judge me… XD

Now, I didn't have Pidgeot join just for no reason. She'll be important for a certain battle later on so I'll tell you which one it is until the time comes. I'm uncertain of bringing Butterfree back at all since it'll be very difficult to execute how Butterfree would return at all. Sorry guys.

A big thank you so Lia Silverclaw from FF for pointing my mistakes about Ash's past in this chapter. I hadn't watch any of the old episode since middle school before this year so that goes to show how much my memory can fail on me after so long.

I read the suggestions on FF and may I say how much most of them are really great and would be perfect for the story without being just an add in. So please you guys here on FFO, comment some of your own suggestions here and hope that I'll use them.

With that, I have a few more requests of suggestions. This won't be a lot as last time so here we go: Would you guys want any reoccurring events/towns such as Lavander Town and Pokepark from season one? Also, do you guys want any pokepairings like Pikachu and Buneary since a lot of you wanted me to keep the Pokespeech. Especially since they all have different personalities like how Pikachu is a bit similar to Ash, Axew is naïve but a bit mischievous, Unfezent is a bit of a tomboy and likes to battle like Snivy, and how Pidgeot has that big sister/motherly personality. Let me know.

This is all that I have gotten up to so far in FF as well so please be patient with the next update. Until then, Comment and Subscribe. See you next time!

-ChildofTheEmpire