Pokemon: The Journey of Ash's Father

The Elder's Hut

Both of them were now on the street, walking towards the end of it. Some random kids playing in an alleyway approached Ethan and laughed. "It's the cage guy!"

"Hello," Ethan tried to maintain a smile.

One of the kids from the narrow street shouted. "Remember what our mom said? If we go near him, he will steal our Pokemon!"

The other kids immediately showed terror and dashed away back into the alleyway. "Ronnie, please save us!"

Expressionless, Ethan stared at the kids and murmured. "I'm only ten years older than you."

He then slowly shifted his disappointed gaze towards the masked man. "Who's Ronnie?"

"Oh, we never had any formal introduction," the man scratched the back of his head. "I'm Ronnie, Ethan."

Sighing, Ethan covered his eyes. "My potential future clients have developed a fear of me. I wonder who will pay for the repair costs."

"..." Ronnie blinked as he averted his gaze. "I'll add some additional money to the one I promised."

Ethan smiled and pointed towards the horizon. "Let's go and meet your elder already!"

After several minutes, they reached a big, old wooden hut. It had no special features except for a giant purple curtain encircling the main door.

"Ma'am, can we come in?" Ronnie politely asked.

"Yes," a soft yet daring voice replied. "Have you brought the boy, Ronnie?"

Ronnie pulled the curtain and entered the hut along with Ethan. "Yes, ma'am, and according to your orders, I've promised him everything he needs to make up for our error."

As soon as Ethan glanced inside the hut, his Charmander came running towards him with a wide grin.

CHAR!

Amazed by the little fellow, Ethan happily picked it up and grinned back. "Sorry for making you go through all that. I missed you."

Charmander gently patted Ethan's right arm and gave a cute smile, indicating that it, too, missed Ethan.

"I do not want to disturb your reunion, but I do not have enough time today," An old lady, sitting on a squishy pillow and dressed in a traditional Japanese Yukata, stated.

Ethan glanced towards the lady and gently placed Charmander on the wooden floor.

The elder was short and slim. Her face was a crisscross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. However, she had beautiful, shining blue eyes and a calm, composed posture.

Ethan looked around and was surprised to see a lot of strong Pokemon. There was Charmander's final evolution, a towering lizard Pokemon, Charizard, accompanied by a giant, yellow, chubby dragon known as Dragonite, and its pre-evolution, a long, blue, adorable serpent named Dragonair.

Nearby rested a Pokemon capable of evolving into many forms, Eevee. Charizard and Dragonite were engaged in an arm wrestling competition on a steel table while Eevee and Dragonair were sleeping soundly.

"Lively Pokemon, aren't they?" the elder smiled and looked at Ethan's Charmander. "You've got a really good partner."

Ethan walked towards the elder with his Charmander. "Thank you. I'll treasure my Charmander forever."

"Haha," the elder chuckled and invited Ethan to sit on a soft pillow placed on a red carpet beside her. "When we released your Charmander from its Pokeball, it was in a near-faint state, badly damaged. Despite our attempts to assist, it insisted on seeking you out."