Ash was still blinking as Pryce rolled up in his wheelchair. He pulled the top off his cane, took out a badge, and handed it to him.
"Congratulations. You earned this," Pryce said.
Ash looked at the badge and slowly took it, still staring at it. That wasn't what he expected. He had been planning on maybe evolving his Crocalor, he was really close. Maybe even his Quilava.
"I… thought you said we were using five Pokémon?" Ash asked.
Pryce didn't even flinch. "I said you may use five Pokémon. I never set a limit for myself."
He rolled his chair back. "Besides, I could tell you were most likely going to win, so there's no reason to let my Pokémon get hurt any more."
Up in the stands, everyone was still surprised. Mary didn't really know how to describe what had just happened.
Yellow leaned over to Brock and Whitney. "C-Can he do that?"
Whitney shrugged. "I dunno. I never really gave up in a battle. I guess that's just another good thing about being an incredibly pretty girl like me."
Brock, however, waved his hand in front of him. "I mean, according to the rules, the Gym Leader can give the challenger a badge if they feel like they deserve it. Each Gym Leader is different."
The director, however, looked livid. "NO, NO, NO! This isn't how it's supposed to go! You two were meant to fight and we record everything! How are we supposed to turn this into our two-hour special?!"
Pryce looked at him and frowned. "So you want to see my Pokémon suffer for your own benefit. It seems I've given you all too much leeway."
Pryce tapped his cane on the ground. From behind them, his Froslass Swinub from earlier jumped out and grabbed the camera, leaping off the bleachers and back to Pryce.
The director flinched. "Hey! Give that back! That is ours!"
"Oh, I'll give it back. Just without this." Pryce reached into the camera and pulled out the memory card. Then he dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his cane.
He handed the camera to Ash. "Here. I apologize, but I must ask you all to leave. However, I of course won't send you away without your Lapras. You may collect them."
"Unless you wish for them to stay here with more of their kind. I give you my word I'll let no harm come to them," Pryce said, glancing over the bleachers, past the still-shocked director, to Misty. And Ash could tell he was telling the truth. His heart rate didn't increase.
Pryce didn't wait for an answer. He spun his chair and placed his Piloswine on his lap.
"You may make your decision. I must go rest. The old like us don't have much energy left. It was nice to meet you all."
With that, Pryce rolled his chair out and disappeared into the other room.
It took a few moments for everyone to register what had just happened. When they regrouped, Ash handed the camera back to the director, who took it while sulking, muttering about the lost footage.
Mary gently rubbed his back as a sweat drop slid down her head. "I mean, you were warned. You shouldn't have pushed it."
"But it was for our listeners…" the director kept mumbling.
"Hey! You could always ask for me to join the show. I'm sure the listeners would love to hear my super pretty voice again!" Whitney said, looking proud of herself.
Ash, meanwhile, looked at the badge and sighed as he put it in his badge case. "Well… I mean, I guess it counts."
He looked over at Misty, who still seemed to be thinking about Pryce's offer.
Ash walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can think about it. I'll be back in a sec." Then he walked toward the door they had come in from, with Pikachu and Vee running out and following behind.
As the door closed behind him, leaving everyone else in the main stadium room, Yellow walked over to Misty, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I guess I was just thinking about Pryce's offer. I mean, to leave Lapras here with the others. He hasn't really had the chance to join a herd, has he?" Misty mumbled, arms crossed.
Brock nodded, understanding her concerns. "Yeah, Lapras are social Pokémon. They usually like to be in herds."
"Yeah… and I mean… it's not like Lapras likes me very much," Misty added softly. "Maybe it would be better if he stayed here."
"Well," Whitney slid over with a grin, "in my expert opinion, I think Lapras are too cute to be left behind. So maybe you should go and ask if he wants to stay?"
Mary blinked, surprised. "Okay… that started off bad, but honestly, that's not a bad idea."
"Ha!" Whitney laughed, planting her hands on her hips. "Yes, aren't I great? I'll take your praise now! Mwahaha!"
Misty, Brock, and Yellow just looked at Mary, who shrugged. Then they walked off, leaving the radio team and chairman to comfort the sulking director, and Whitney, who kept laughing until she realized they'd left her behind. She quickly scurried after them.
They entered the Lapras sanctuary, where they found Ash's Lapras resting beside Misty's. Misty's Lapras was still giving stink-eye to the other Lapras around.
Misty took a breath and stepped forward. "Hey, Lapras…"
Lapras turned toward her, brows furrowed, and gave a sharp huff.
"Hey… I know you don't really like me. I don't know why. I've tried my best to make you happy, and yet… you still act like you hate me…" Misty said quietly, then looked up at her Lapras. "Maybe you do hate me. But I don't hate you. So if you want to stay here, I won't stop you. You can choose."
She held out Lapras' Pokéball for him to take.
Lapras stared at her, narrowed his eyes… and then suddenly shot a small stream of water straight at Misty's face, soaking her.
Dripping, bangs stuck to her forehead, water rolling down her cheeks, not that she could really tell if it was Lapras or her own tears, Misty blinked.
Lapras made a low noise, then pressed the button on the Pokéball himself and returned inside.
"…Okay," Misty said, half-laughing as she wiped her face. "Guess that means you're coming with me then."
"Pfffthahaha!" Whitney skidded to a stop behind them. "That was hilarious! Totally a love squirt! You two are besties now!"
"Yeah… I think that Lapras does care about you," Yellow added, smiling. "Well… in his own way."
Then from behind them came a familiar voice.
"So he's a bit tsundere. I wonder where he learned that from~"
They turned to see Ash returning, waving casually. "Yo."
Misty's eye twitched. "H-Hey! Who are you calling tsundere, you idiot?!"
Ash chuckled, walking up to his Lapras and rubbing her under the chin as she nuzzled into his touch. "Just calling it like I see it. Anyway, good for you, your Lapras that hated you is now a big ol' tsundere… again, just like someone I know~"
"I hate you sometimes…" Misty muttered, looking away. But even as Ash turned his back, she didn't shove him into the water, though she easily could have.
Whitney leaned in, nudging Misty with her elbow. "Y'know, if you ever get bored with… whatever it is you do, we could start a drama podcast. Call it Tsundere Tides."
Misty deadpanned. "I will throw you into the hot springs."
Whitney grinned. "That's the tsun talking~"
"Where did you go, by the way?" Mary asked Ash, finally voicing the question everyone else had been wondering.
"I went to pick up Snorlax. What else?" Ash replied, balancing a Pokéball on his finger.
Brock raised a finger but stopped himself. "That… actually is completely fair."
"Yeah, what do you think, I'm leaving any of my Pokémon behind? That's just stupid," Ash said as he pulled out Lapras' Pokéball and returned her to it.
"Haaa… okay, so now that we have everything, I guess we need to walk back through all that snow…" Whitney mumbled as they walked over to the rest of the radio team. "And I was getting used to how toasty it was here."
"Yeah… but look on the bright side… the van is only in the town…" Mary said, though she didn't even believe her own 'happy' words. "Yeah, who am I fooling…"
Ash put his hands behind his head. "I could drop you off," he said casually as he kept walking.
"Wait, what now?" Mary asked.
"Oh yeah, I have an Abby. She can get us out pretty easily. We were going to head back to the inn and drink some hot chocolate," Ash said, pressing a finger to his chin.
"Ha, best part of this dumb snow adventure. I've been looking forward to getting back next to the fire," Misty said, rubbing her hands together.
"Ohh, and that nice old lady promised us she would make us some stew when we got back," Yellow added, clasping her hands and already imagining the nice hot meal.
"Wait… there was an inn…?" the sound guy said.
Whitney blinked. "And they gave you guys hot chocolate?"
"And a fire…" Mary added.
They all turned to look at the director, who was still sulking. He noticed and suddenly stood up. "Uhh… what are you looking at me like that for…"
"You said there wasn't a place we could warm up or rest…" Mary said, glaring at him.
"Okay… in my defense… I just wanted to get here so we could get the interview as soon as possible…" the director tried to defend himself.
Whitney took a deep breath, then basically threw herself at Ash, hugging his waist. "PLEASE TAKE US WITH YOU! I WANT TO BE WARM!"
Ash blinked in surprise, trying to pull himself free, but Whitney was clinging to him tightly. "Hey, why are you hugging me?! Let go!"
"No, you're warm! Give me your body heat!" Whitney said as she kept holding onto Ash's waist. "Or promise to take us too!"
"You could've just asked, I would've said yes!" Ash finally said.
Immediately, Whitney pulled back and clapped her hands. "Really? Oh, thank you! You're really too nice!"
Ash sighed and snapped his fingers. For a moment, nothing happened. Mary was about to ask something, but Ash raised a finger. "Give it a sec. There's usually a delay."
Then, as if on cue, Abby teleported in front of them, sipping a cup of mocha.
"Took you long enough. Also, where did you get that mocha? I want some," Ash said, pointing down at the mug in Abby's hands.
Whitney leaned over to Misty and Yellow. "So are we going to teleport? Like, all of us?"
"Oh yeah, Abby's really good at teleporting everyone... but, well… um, she is a little weird," Yellow said, and even though it was true, she felt a little bad about saying it. Still, she wasn't taking it back.
"We aren't gonna get sick, are we?" Mary asked.
"You probably are," Misty said flatly, still shaking the edge of her jacket. "Just lean to the left. Away from me. We got used to it, you haven't. And hold on. If you let go, you'll get even more dizzy."
Ash looked back at them. "You guys ready? Then hold on." He turned to Abby. "Alright, Abby, you know the drill, group teleport to the inn. And you'll get your payment of a little spoon after."
Abby saluted with one hand while sipping her mocha with the other. Everyone held on. Whitney looked over at the director.
"Can I argue we leave him here?"
Mary sighed. "Nooo… he's still my boss…" She pulled him closer and helped him put a hand on Abby. Then, with a blink and a flicker of energy, Abby teleported them all out of the ravine and back to the inn.
—
Back in the cave, Pryce watched them vanish and huffed. He had a bit to think about, but for now, he did what he did best. He rolled his wheelchair over to an unfinished block of ice and picked up a chisel.
As he began working, his thoughts drifted to what they had asked him. The Legendary Beasts? How ridiculous. They wouldn't come to him, and even if they did, he knew he could beat them.
He smiled faintly as he kept chiseling. The block of ice was slowly taking the shape of Suicune's face.
—
A while later, everyone was at the inn, happily enjoying hot meals and mugs of hot chocolate. Even the rest of the radio team had joined in, well, except for the director, who was too busy crying over his lost footage.
"Ahh, this is so much better than freezing out there," Whitney said, finishing her third glass of hot chocolate. The nice old woman simply smiled and handed her a fourth. "And that coat I had to wear? Not cute at all."
"It's not meant to be cute. It's meant to keep you warm, which would've helped if you wore pants instead of shorts," Mary replied with a laugh.
"This is nice," Yellow said as she happily sipped her hot chocolate.
"Yeah," Brock added, "but we should probably ask the real question, what do we do now?"
"Hmm, well, Abby can drop them off at Goldenrod City," Ash said, nodding toward the radio team. "So what about us?"
"Well, we could always take a break. I mean, it is almost the holidays. I'd like to go home, at least to get some presents for my siblings," Brock suggested.
"Yeah, I'm down for a break," Ash said. "How about you guys?"
"Well… my sisters did ask me to come home so we could celebrate together…" Misty mumbled, scratching her cheek. "Though honestly, it feels even weirder than last year."
"Well, I wouldn't mind getting to see my uncle again," Yellow said sheepishly.
"Cool. Yeah, Abby can drop you guys off. I wanted to spend Christmas with my little sister anyway," Ash said as he pulled out his phone and texted his mom that he'd be coming home soon.
"Wait… so you guys don't have any real Christmas plans yet… do you?" Whitney asked, a little too eagerly.
"Uh… no, I guess not," Ash said as he sent the text. "Just spending time with family."
"Noted!" she said cheerfully. Everyone could tell she was already scheming something, but frankly, none of them cared. Whatever happens, happens. For now, they were just happy to enjoy the warmth, the food, and the rare moment of peace.
By the end of the night, the radio team left first, followed by Brock, then Misty, then Yellow, and finally, Ash.
He teleported away, landing back in Pallet Town with Vee and Pikachu. With the others gone, Vee finally relaxed and returned to his base form. He looked around, taking in the quiet little town. This was his first time here, after all.
Ash rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "It's fine, this is my home. You'll meet my mom and little sister. They'll love you, I promise."
Pikachu gave Ash a reassuring pat on the back and nodded, so Vee decided to follow along without hesitation.
Ash led the way through the familiar streets, eventually arriving at the family restaurant. Most of his classmates had already left for Christmas break, so the place was pretty quiet. When he walked through the front door of his house, he barely had time to call out before—
"Big brother!" A wild Molly launched herself at him, tackling him with a surprise hug, nuzzling into his chest. "You're back!"
Delia was in the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, while Bellossom, wearing a tiny apron, danced around cheerfully. In the background, Nidoqueen walked past carrying a heavy pot with practiced ease.
"Oh, honey, it's so good to see you back!" Delia called. "Well, don't just stand there, come on in!"
Ash laughed and looked down at Vee, giving him a wink before stepping inside. Vee followed, and the door gently closed behind them,