(And just like that the year ended and there was a graduation ceremony for everyone that would be leaving Oak's school, although it was only Ash, Gary, Green, Chloe, and Yellow.)
(Only 3 of them would be going to be trainers right away.)
(But before that, the day before the graduation ceremony it was time for the battle that has been hinted at since Ash came back, Ash vs Gary.)
(Most of the class had gathered in the open field behind the school, spread out across the grass and playground benches to watch something far more important than class.)
(Of Course they had Oak's permission, just as long as they let Dragonite supervise so no one got hurt, which they were fine with.)
Ash: "Okay, okay! Back up, you're standing in the battle zone!"
(Ash said, arms outstretched as he tried to mark the boundaries of the field with his feet.)
(Gary rolled his eyes.)
Gary: "You don't even know how big a battlefield's supposed to be."
Ash: "I do too!"
(Ash shot back.)
Ash: "I measured it with... um... steps! That's official!"
Gary: "You just made that up."
(Gary replied, smirking.)
Ash: "Did not."
Gary: "Did too."
Bianca: "Okay, can we battle please?"
(Bianca called from the sidelines, sitting cross-legged next to Cheren.)
Gary: "Fine, after all I've got to show how much better I am."
(Gary said, turning around with his hands on his hips.)
Gary: "Hey remember when we played pretend battles, this time it's for real."
Ash: "Yeah, only this time it won't be a imaginary draw~"
(Ash smirked.)
Green: "Ok ok, come on, people paid good money to watch."
(Green said, as she was sitting on the monkey bars.)
Ash: "Wait what? We're not charging to watch."
(Ash asked.)
Green: "Oh you didn't."
(then Green smirked.)
Green: "But i did, make it good~"
(Gary looked at Green and sighed.)
Gary: "I swear, how are we friends…"
Ash: "At this point, i don't know either, but she has a point, let's do this"
(Gary smiled and spun his Pokeball in his hand.)
Gary: "Winner gets bragging rights and the PokéBall. Loser gets to sulk forever."
(Ash returned the smirk.)
Ash: "Sure, just don't cry when I win."
(Next to him, his small yellow Pichu perked up with a squeaky, determined.)
Pichu: "Pii!"
(Gary knelt down beside his Eevee, scratching behind her ear.)
Gary: "We've got this."
Eevee: "Vee!"
(Eevee barked, hopping up on all fours with a wag of his tail.)
Cheren: "Alright, alright."
(Cheren said, standing up and raising one hand like a referee.)
Cheren: "This will be a one-on-one battle between Ash and Gary. Last Pokémon standing wins!"
Barry: "Can I say 'ready, set, go'?"
(Barry asked, already bouncing on his feet.)
Everyone: "No!"
(three people said at once.)
Barry: "...fine."
(Cheren cleared his throat.)
Cheren: "Ok send out your Pokémon!"
(Ash and Gary each pointed forward dramatically.)
Ash: "Go, Pichu!"
(Ash called.)
Gary: "Let's do this, Eevee!"
(Gary shouted.)
(The two tiny Pokémon faced each other.)
Gary: "You can take the first move."
(Gary said, cocky as ever.)
Gary: "I don't need the head start."
(Ash gave him a look.)
Ash: "You're gonna wish you did. Pichu Quick Attack!"
(Pichu darted forward in a yellow blur, zipping across the field with a high-pitched chirp.)
Gary: "Eevee quick Sand attack!!"
(Eevee stomped his paws into the ground and kicked up dirt throwing it in Pichu's eyes making him blind for a moment letting Eevee dodge.)
Gary: "Now Swift!"
(Gary followed up.)
(Eevee twisted in the air and shot Swift stars at Pichu hitting him and sending Pichu flying back into the dirt.)
(Ash frowned, admittedly neither he or Gary had any battle experience, but he could wing it.)
Ash: "Pichu, get up and use Thunder Shock!"
(Pichu squeaked, cheeks sparking, as he slapped his cheeks and set out a bolt of electricity at the fox.)
(It hit Eevee directly and his fur stuck up like a fluffy ball.)
Gary: "Eevee!"
(Gary yelped.)
Gary: "You okay?!"
(Eevee wobbled, a bit frazzled, but growled as he shook himself lowering his fur, and nodded.)
Gary: "Shake it off and use Growl, then Quick Attack!"
(Eevee lowered her stance and let out a sharp growl that made Pichu flinch slightly, then vanished in a blur.)
(And tackled into Pichu's stomach making the mouse fall back spinning.)
(Ash bit his lip.)
Ash: "Don't give up, Pichu! Let's change our plan, use Quick Attack again!"
(Pichu zipped to the left, then kicked off a rock like a pinball, veering sharply to the side.)
(Eevee blinked, thrown off for a moment.)
Ash: "That's it!"
(Ash shouted.)
Ash: "Now Thunder Shock again!"
(As Pichu rebounded, he landed atop another rock and spun in the air, cheeks crackling.)
(A bolt of lightning launched from his tiny body and struck Eevee from above.)
(Eevee squealed and dropped to her knees, fur standing up in sharp, spiky tufts.)
(She let out a little scratchy sound and tried to push herself upright.)
Chloe: "He's still up?"
(Chloe whispered in disbelief.)
Shauna: "Not just him, look at Pichu he's also getting tired."
(Shauna added.)
Cheren: "Its doesn't make sense."
(Cheren said still watching.)
Cheren: "By all accounts they should both not have enough energy to move, and yet there still going."
Green: "Battles aren't just about books you know."
(Green said looking down with a smirk.)
Green: "I've known those 2 idiots since forever, and there as stubborn as it gets, neither of them wants to lose, not now not ever."
(Gary took a breath and looked at Ash.)
Gary: "Fine, let's finish this. Eevee, use Body Slam!"
(Eevee started running forward, aiming to crush Pichu.)
(But Ash just smiled back.)
Ash: "You're right. Pichu, let's show them what we've been working on use Iron Tail!"
(Everyone looked shocked as Pichu started running to meet Eevee halfway.)
(They hadn't thought Ash would actually be able to teach Pichu that—much less be able to use it.)
(Paul was about to say something about Ash being stupid, but then something happened that made him shut up.)
(Pichu's tail started flickering silver as he ran—on and off, back and forth.)
(It was crude and messy at best, but he could do it.)
(It was all or nothing.)
(Pichu jumped into the air as his tail turned silver and crashed against Eevee.)
(For a moment, they struggled to overpower each other.)
(Both Pokémon grit their teeth.)
(But as Pichu started getting pushed back, he closed his eyes and thought about Ash.)
(He took care of him, fed him, made him feel like family, and trained him to be stronger.)
(At first, maybe he just wanted to leech off of him and then abandon him.)
(But after everything, every laugh, every birthday, every bottle of ketchup, he finally admitted something he had tried to deny: he... liked Ash.)
(And right now, Pichu wasn't just fighting to prove he's better than some fluffy fox, he wanted to win, because Ash put his faith in him!)
(As Pichu began to growl and push back, suddenly he began glowing, and growing.)
(In front of everyone, Pichu evolved into Pikachu.)
(With the extra strength, he yelled.)
Pikachuv "Pika!!"
(and slammed his tail down, sending Eevee into the dirt as dust floated up.)
(For a moment, everyone was trying to process what had just happened.)
(Did they really see that? Then the dust settled.)
(On the ground, Eevee was laying there with spirals in his eyes as Pikachu raised his hand.)
Pikachu: "Pika!"
Cheren: "HE EVOLVED?!"
(Cheren shouted, jumping to his feet.)
May: "Did that just—Pichu—no, wait—Pikachu—HE DID IT!"
(May squealed.)
Tierno: "Ha! I knew my little buddy would win!"
(Tierno yelled happily.)
(Gary just stood there in complete shock, staring at his Eevee, then at Ash's Pikachu.)
Gary: "That's not fair..."
(he muttered, but even as he said it, a slow smile crept onto his face.)
Gary: "Okay... maybe that was kinda cool."
(Ash sighed but smiled as he looked at Pikachu.)
Ash: "You evolved."
(he said with a grin.)
(Since Pikachu was a friendship evolution, that meant Pikachu really did like him.)
Ash: "Congrats."
(Pikachu turned to face Ash and leapt into his arms.)
(Ash caught him, laughing as Pikachu nuzzled into his cheek.)
(There was a slight static zap, but Ash didn't even flinch—after being with this mouse for a while, he was used to the shocks.)
(Cheren looked the most taken aback from the battle.)
(He rubbed his head.)
Cheren: "I didn't... I didn't even think Pichu could learn Iron Tail yet. I thought they only could after they evolve."
Green: "Well, usually they can't."
(Green laughed as she ran over to Ash and Gary, grabbing them both around the neck and pulling them into a hug.)
Green: "But then again, when has logic made sense for these guys? And you two better be ready, because I'm the one who's gonna beat you both~"
(Ash and Gary just looked at her, then laughed.)
Ash: "Sure, keep telling yourself that, number 3~"
(Ash said playfully.)
Green: "Who are you calling number 3?! If anything, Gary's the one who's gonna be number 3!"
(Green pouted, pushing them out of her arms.)
(Gary flinched slightly.)
Gary: "Hey! Why am I catching strays? At least I have a Pokémon!"
(Everyone got a good laugh. Gary looked at Ash.)
Gary: "Well, I guess since you won... we did make a deal, didn't we?"
(He reached into his pocket and pulled out part of the Poké Ball—the red part, and gave it to Ash.)
(As the crowd around them finally began to thin, Green elbowed Gary from behind.)
Green: "You okay losing?"
(Gary frowned.)
Gary: "I'm not happy about it, but... it was kinda cool. I'm gonna beat him next time, though."
Ash: "Sure you will~"
(Ash said, as he looked at the two pieces in his hand and smiled.)
(Then he threw the white part of the Poké Ball back to Gary.)
Ash: "Keep it. We found it together. Besides, now every time you look at it, you'll remember how I beat you~"
(Gary rolled his eyes and smiled.)
Gary: "Fine, but I'm still gonna beat you."
Dawn: "Okay, enough of that."
(Dawn cut in as she pointed at Pikachu.)
Dawn: "He looks so chonky, can we hug him?!"
(Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and blinked owlishly.)
(Then they both shrugged.)
Ash: "I mean, if he wants to."
(That was good enough.)
(The girls swooped in, scooped up Pikachu, and probably went to dress him up.)
(Ash just shook his head and looked over at Gary and Green, bumping Gary's sholder.)
Ash: "I'm hungry. You lost, so you're paying for lunch."
(Gary rolled his eyes and pushed Ash on the shoulder, but smiled.)
Gary: "Fine. Let's go."
(Then, the next day came.)
(It was time, the last day of the school year, and the last time Ash was going to see most of them for at least a little while.)
(He sat at the front, with Pikachu perched on his shoulder.)
(Oak began the ceremony.)
Oak: "I'm glad another wonderful year has passed. I'm also proud to say that these five students will now graduate and leave my school to pursue their goals. I wish all of you the best. Now, would any of you like to say a few words to your fellow students?"
(Hearing this, Gary couldn't help but jump at the opportunity.)
(As he walked up to the mic, he said confidently.)
Gary: "The next time any of you see me, it'll be on TV, when I go on to win the League Tournament. And once you finally graduate, you're more than welcome to come find me... and lose."
(There was a wave of groans and muttering from the crowd as the other students reacted to Gary's arrogance.)
(Oak chuckled awkwardly and took back the mic.)
Oak: "Well... that sure was a speech. Would anyone else like to say something?"
(He glanced over, very clearly at Ash.)
Ash: "Well... I guess I have to fix Gary's mess. Again."
(Ash muttered under his breath as he stood up and walked to the mic.)
Ash: "I'm not too good at speeches."
(Ash began, rubbing the back of his head.)
Ash: "So I'll keep this short. These past few years at this school have been some of the best of my life, and that's mostly because of all of you."
(He looked around the room, making eye contact with his classmates.)
Ash: "So I can't wait to see what all of you go on to do—from becoming Trainers, to Professors, to even bird watchers. So thank you. And next time we meet, let's have a Pokemon battle."
(He handed the mic back to Oak, and this time, the crowd burst into cheers.)
(Oak smiled warmly at the reaction and said.)
Oak: "Thank you, Ash. I wish all of you the best of luck. I look forward to everything you'll achieve in the future. And I hope for another wonderful semester next year."
(Cheers and applause echoed through the auditorium.)
(And just like that, Ash's school life ended and his adventure was about to begin.)
[End Of Volume 1...]