Chapter 4
Pallet Town. 
Ash just rounded a little corner, and there it was, right in front of him. After two years, it 
was an overwhelming sensation of  happiness, nervousness and confusion. 
    New buildings had been built. New, shiny buildings. Only a few, but they were there. 
They had satellite dishes sticking out of their roofs, and the exterior was a sparkling 
silver, no windows in view. 
    Apart from that, it all seemed the same. Scanning the roofs of all the houses, Ash 
spotted his. Happiness exploded from him. He raised his arms, looked to the clear blue 
sky and yelled, “HA HAAAA! I’M HOOOOME!!!!”
    Shivering with excitement, Ash began to run down the rocky slope he had been 
walking on. He passed the entrance to Professor Oak’s lab, the familiar cries and roars of 
Pokemon in the distance, and once he had cleared a couple of the houses, the hills on 
which he used to play on came into view. 
    The excitement was now pumping through his body, spurring him on. He was nearly 
there….
    And then something walloped him in the back of the head, sending him flying 
forwards, into the dirt.
   “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!!!????” screamed Delia Ketchum, her 
sweeping broom clutched in her hands, and her eyes glistening with tears.  
   Ash rolled over on the ground, narrowly avoiding another strike. His head was 
throbbing and he could barely see, but he could yell.
    “Mum! Stop it!”
    “WHY? WHY!? DID YOU STOP!? DID YOU EVER STOP WORKING FOR TEAM 
ROCKET AND CONTACT YOUR OWN MOTHER!!!???”
    “Mum you don’t understand!”
    “YOU SELFISH BRAT!!!” Delia swung for a third time, hitting Ash square in the 
face. He felt his nose break, blood spraying from his nostrils. Crying out, he stared up at 
his mother. 
    Her hair was dishevelled, her face was dirty and she looked livid. 
    “YOU JUST THOUGHT YOU’D CALL, AND IT’D BE ALRIGHT!? ALL HAPPY 
FAMILIES!? WELL YOU’RE WRONG!!!” The broom was raised once more.
    “MUM!”
    Delia froze. This single word that Ash had uttered seemed to shake her to her 
foundations.
    He was staring up at her, his nose at a strange angle, blood running down his jacket, 
and tears spilling down his red cheeks.
    “I’m sorry! I just wanted to call you, to let you know. When I saw Pallet again, I just 
got excited, and-” He began to sob. “Mum! You don’t know why I did it! I didn’t even 
want to, and- and- Misty died in my arms, mum, and- I ONLY WANTED TO PROTECT 
MY FRIENDS!!”
    People began to surround them, curious at the sounds of crying echoing through the 
streets.
    “Hey, that’s- that’s little Ash!”
    “Isn’t so little now though is he? Must be at least…. 16 or something?”
    “Crying quite a bit, don’t you think?”
    Delia dropped her broom, looked at Ash for a second, then she cried with anguish and 
flung herself upon him, her tears flowing freely now.
     “My little boy!” she whispered.
     Ash said nothing. He only held onto her tightly with all the strength he had.
* * * *
Giovanni jumped from rock to rock, dodging Groudon’s Hyper Beam again and again.
     The underground cavern they had located Groudon in was huge, its roof towering 
overhead, lit only by the pools of lava that bubbled away in some pits.
     Giovanni’s squadron was spaced all around him, Rocket Balls clasped tightly in their 
hands.
     “NOW!” Giovanni roared. 
     All at once, the squad members threw their ball at the Legendary Pokemon, bright 
orange light engulfing it. Roaring, Groudon disappeared into a ball. Then that ball 
disappeared into another. Then another. And another.
     This went on until all the balls had been used. 
     Giovanni smiled. The Ball Catcher. An irresistible Pokeball feature, where one 
Pokeball can absorb another. Brilliant. 
   Then the balls exploded, one after another, letting loose an extremely angry Groudon.
   “Well, it could do with some improvements, I suppose….” Giovanni shrugged, as the 
others began to run away at high speed. He took off his Rocket Backpack, fished inside 
for a few seconds, and extracted one of the stone tablets. 
    The Groudon bared down on him, roaring, flames sparking from within its throat. 
Some of the squad members stopped and began to yell for back-up, determined to help 
their boss. But Giovanni just smiled, and threw the tablet at Groudon.
    It took a matter of seconds. The tablet began to throb with energy, sending out golden 
flames that were as hot as molten lava. They struck Groudon. But they didn’t hurt it. 
Instead, they travelled up and down the Pokemon’s body, calming its rage. Eventually, 
Groudon fell to the ground, asleep.
   There was a long silence, broken only by the footsteps of Giovanni as he went to pick 
up the tablet, which had merely floated gently to the ground. This tablet had a symbol of 
the sun engraved on the front. Ash’s first success.
   Giovanni took one look at the sleeping form of Groudon, threw a Rocket Ball at it then 
walked away, leaving the now caught Groudon inside the Rocket Ball, alone.