Seasons change
Red sat the bottom of the Tree of Beginning watching the leaves fall from the trees. It was a very peaceful and beautiful sight, he enjoyed these peaceful moments with his Pokemon who were playing in the leaf pile. His Pokemon were doing well in their training, Pikachu had mastered electric terrain, Charmeleon had mastered Dragon rage and was close to evolving, Serperior was the first one to reach his final evolution and the new edition to the group, his own Riolu that they had found as an egg when they caught some poachers snooping around Rota.
Red frowned, 'That was a major mess!'
Riley had been furious when he realized who the egg belonged to and just like he had feared, the poor Riolu's parents had been killed by the poacher. Red was angry, Riley was furious, but the Queen had looked terrifying when she learned what had happened. Ilene did not forgive the two poachers and sentenced them to life time imprisonment.
Riolu ran up to him, -Pappy look, look! It's one of those pretty stones you keep in your collection.-
Red smiled as he looked at the stone Riolu held out, "That's a dawn stone, Riri. Good job finding one. Do you want to add it to your collection?"
Red took out a box as Riri nodded her head vigorously. She had picked up his habit of collecting items after observing him. Red smiled softly as he took out the box that was divided into three compartments. The top part had items like bells, shells and miscellaneous stuff, the middle part had scales, fur and claws etc that Pokemon shed and the last one, the bottom contained stones that Riri had found over time. Riri put the dawn stone next to the water stone which was next to the leaf stone. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her collection, it was growing slowly.
Riley smiled at the young Aura Pokemon, 'Red makes a good parent, I can see why Green loves him. If he was not taken already.......... '
Riley facepalmed himself getting a weirded look from his Lucario, 'What am I thinking? I guess this means I need to find a lover. My junior has one, so why don't I?'
Riley remembers when he started noticing other boys and girls in a romantic manner. It was during the birthday dinner for Red a few months ago followed by Ash's birthday the next month. Mrs Ketchum had insisted they have it together and even Green and Sabrina had been there. For the first time he had noticed how good the Red and Green actually looked together next to each other. He had also noticed the small but true smile Sabrina had when she watched over her student and his chosen lover. Riley also remembers thinking the sixteen year old Gym Leader had looked really beautiful with that smile.
Riley sighed, 'Well, at least one person I noticed that way is the same age as me. Even Leaf Oak looked quite lovely in her peach blossom patterned dress standing next to her handsome boyfriend Bill. And young Ash and Gary are simply just adorable.'
Riley halted his thoughts and hit his head against the tree he was leaning on getting a sweatdrop from Red who was looking at him in concern. Riri shrugged her shoulders in confusion as she watched her Pappy's teacher mumble something to himself. Her Pappy had put her box inside already as he sat back to relax. They were taking a break for a day from their intense training. Milotic and Houndoom were watching their partner amused, they knew Riley had started to notice the people around him as a potential mate.
Houndoom, -Should we help him?-
Milotic trilled amused at her brother, -Let him pick one first then we will help him.-
Serperior snorted from the side, -At least, he doesn't pine after someone yet.-
Charmeleon laughed, -You enjoy watching them pine for each other though.-
Pikachu sighed at her partners, -You guys! Red and Green are not so bad....... Okay maybe they are a little. But it's not so bad.-
Lucario snorted, -It's a miracle he's even interested, but whether or not he'll get a lover is another question.-
The Pokemon chattered and laughed as they talked about their partner's interest or growing interest in romance. Riley finally got up and joined Red in packing their items to return to Rota, if they left now they would be at the kingdom by nightfall. Meanwhile Pallet town was also enjoying the new season. They were ready to celebrate the autumn festival and more importantly, Halloween followed by Diwali, the festival of lights. Ash and his Pokemon were enjoying themselves picking ripe vegetables and fruits.
Pikachu bit the ripe apple they just picked, -Ahhhhh! So sweet!-
Ash giggled, "Food we grow with our own hands taste better."
Charmander sighed, -Smell better too!-
There was a certain atmosphere in the air that spoke of festivities, the smell of spice, sweets and roasted food tickled the five senses. Ash got up holding his basket filled with apples and oranges and led the way back home with Pikachu and Charmander holding their own baskets. On the way they were joined by Gary and Leaf who were pulling a cart filled with pumpkin and gourds with the help of Leaf's Rhydon and Tauros. Ash marvelled at the large pumpkins and talked to them about the fruits and berries ripe and ready. Gary grinned as he told Ash about the pumpkins and gourds that they could roast and also the really ripe ones they could use for Halloween.
Leaf told them stories about how she had met a watermelon grower once during her journey through Hoenn and the large ripe watermelons she grew. The two boys listened wide eyed as Leaf told them about her friend Natasha, the watermelon grower who always sent them juicy sweet watermelon during summer. Soon they left the vast fields and reached the town, the town had grown bigger over the years, with the sudden influx of visitors and people. Her boyfriend Bill was thinking about moving to their family lighthouse as it had a lab in it and would help him better experiment with the teleport and communication devices. She didn't mind as she was thinking about moving out as well and the lighthouse was not so far away from her grandpa and parents either.
Ash, "I heard Misty caught a Goldeen last week as she and her Staryu were training together."
Gary grinned, "Cool, Ritchie got his second Pokemon as well. It's a Charmander that he named Zippo. Looks like he's hell bent on having you as his rival."
Ash got flustered, "I'm not sure I would be a good rival though. I enjoy battling like any other person out there but..... My style is different."
Leaf ruffled his hair, "Kiddo, don't fret it. Just have fun, yeah? Besides rivalry is just another good way to know your friends better."
Ash blinked, "Really?"
Leaf nodded, "Yes, really. I have a lot of rivals who are also my close friends."
Gary, "That's actually really cool Sis, I guess I should get a rival too."
Leaf grinned, "You two could be rivals too you know."
Ash looked at Gary, "I guess it could be fun, though I'm not sure I understand it."
Gary grinned, "We could be rivals in school exams. See who gets to finish writing first or something."
Ash sweatdropped, "Yeah.... I don't get it. We always finish together at the same time."
Gary laughed looking away blushing, "Never mind."
Leaf giggled at the cuteness, "You two care too much about each other to become rivals so I think it'll be best to find others to be rivals with."
Ash nodded, "Un! We will. Oh, Goh got his first Pokemon too. A starter from Galar, Scorbunny."
Gary squealed, "He's a really cute guy as well. In fact he got his second, third and fourth Pokemon with the first one. Three Nickits that had been with Scorbunny joined him. He didn't want to separate them."
Leaf had hearts in her eyes, "Oh ~ I bet they look adorable."
The two nine year olds and the sixteen year old talked and chattered the whole way after dropping the cart and baskets off at the market. Delia was delighted to get the fresh fruit and vegetables that the people enjoyed buying from her little grocery shop. It had grown bigger thanks to the wild Pokemon who had joined their fields in taking care of it in return for food. Cypress laughed at the development and simply shook his head before commenting how he had expected it to happen earlier.
The autumn festival had come and with it the costume festival and contest where trainers dressed up themselves and their Pokemon in costumes and took part in the celebration. Ash had dressed up as Sir Aaron while Gary dressed up as a wizard much to Ash's amusement. They had taken part in the costume contest for the kids where they can take part as a group. The kids could group in a minimum of three and maximum seven to come up with an idea for what they wanted to show case. Misty, Ritchie, Goh and Chloe had worked together with them to participate in the contest. Chloe introduced her Yamper that she got as a gift from her Dad.
They had decided to do a play, a classic Sleeping Beauty with Chloe as the Sleeping Beauty and Misty as the Prince Charming. Ash laughed at their flushed expressions when they realized what roles they had pulled out from the paper slips Gary had made to avoid fights. Goh had to dress up as the Father of Sleeping Beauty while Ritchie was the Mother. Ash proudly said he was the evil Maleficent and Gary was his sidekick, Diablo. Scorbunny, Eevee and Pikachu made very cute fairies. Charmander, Zippo, Litten, Sparky and Yamper worked together to be the dragon. The three Nickits had helped by acting as the woodland creatures that the Princess sang with. Though they didn't win the first place they still had fun and won wonderful consolation prizes which consisted of six boxes that had two Cherish balls for each of them. Ash was happy with their teamwork, despite the hang up and confusion in the beginning.
Ash grinned after the play, "We make a great team."
Misty who was still blushing, "Yeah we do."
Goh, "We should do this again."
Ritchie, "Totally!"
Chloe was pink and avoiding Misty's eyes, "Yeah sure, why not!"
Ritchie looked at Ash still in the evil Fairy costume, "Where did you come up with that anyway?"
Ash looked down, "This? I had designed this one day and forgot about it. Mom found the design and made it for me."
Misty still dressed as a Prince, "I think you made a really cool Evil Fairy Ash."
Chloe nodded, "Yeah! And Gary was really good as Diablo."
Goh looked curiously, "I never read of Maleficent before though, it sounds similar to Sleeping Beauty."
Ash grinned, "That's because it's one of the stories that was forgotten due to time. We have the book on it, we'll share copies with you, don't worry."
The kids brightened up at that, before they got up and joined the party outside and had fun watching the fireworks and decorated lights in the shape of Pokemon, before going home with their parents. Even though they didn't win the contest, the judges and audience were very entertained by it. They were a crowd favourite and had become popular because of it in their cities and towns as the contest was live on television. Misty was thankfully safe at the gym, though Chloe and Goh were flustered by the attention they got at their school.
Ritchie was contemplating maybe hiding in an ice mountain for the sake of his sanity. Ash had sweatdropped listening to their complaints while Gary just laughed at them, welcoming them to the celebrity club. Misty contemplated finishing her own Junior and Junior High schooling before starting her journey. It seemed like a good idea to finish at least some of her education and her older sisters agreed with her. They decided to spend a sleepover together during the Halloween at the end of October and talk it over together. Goh was not interested in studying but even he could tell finishing early had perks.