Author's Note: This idea was just nagging me the whole day so to calm my angered imagination I decided to obey it's wishes. Please read and enjoy...and review too. Feedback is always good.

Summary: About 5 years have passed since the gang saw Ash, he reappears out of the blue in his hometown of Pallet much to the surprise of everyone. Ash decides it's time for him to settle down and open a gym in Pallet. What new trials and tribulations await our young hero? Rated M for adult situations that will occur later on in the story. AshxMisty,MayxDrew,BrockxSoldat. Takes place after the Sinnoh League

Disclaimer : Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and , I do however claim all OC's created by myself in this story

Please Read and Review, constructive criticism welcomed.

Chapter 1: Reunion

"Paved Roads now huh?" The tall shadowy figure began on his journey home, with a familiar figure on his head and an unfamiliar companion walking alongside him.

"I can't believe the sun today." spoke Tracy out loud with no intended audience. Looking around the Oak Pokemon Facility it could be seen that the grass pokemon were enjoying the radiance of the sun. Tracy thought it would be best to take a break from the heat before he collapsed from exhaustion. As he walked closer to the fence bordering the main road entering into Pallet Town he noticed a lone figure walking. The heat evaporating off the newly paved road blurred the figure that approached. As the distance between them decreased the figure turned out to be figures. Tracy attempted to shade his eyes in an attempt to recognize who was approaching. The person was indeed tall, well taller than him at least. Tracy squinted his eyes as the noon day sun decided to give its worse, but then the stranger called out. "Tracy!"

Tracy was taken back by the stranger's familiarity, he raced through his mind trying to pin the figure to a face he might know. The male figure then went into a moderate jog and began waving at him, the other figure which looked like a pokemon followed suite. Tracy was now racking his brain as the stranger grew closer and closer. 'Who do I know personally that's taller than me? It's definitely not Brock, or Gary or any of my family....'

Then came the final clue, as the stranger stepped closer and closer another figure appeared as it leapt off of the strangers head and into the air giving an all too familiar call.

"Pika!" The creature leapt onto Tracy who naturally reached out and grabbed the pokemon. "Pikachu..." he whispered. The pokemon replied happily at the mention of his name. Tracy's eyes then widened as it dawned upon him who the stranger was. "Ash?!?"

"Who else did you think it was?"

"Well you must forgive me. It has been almost what 5 or 6 years since we last saw you?"

Ash began to scratch his head and a big grin came across his face. "Has it really been that long?"

"Really it has. Little Ole Pallet Town has changed quite a bit since you left."

"I can see that, the path between here and the nearby Town has been paved. And I can actually see houses on the horizon. Not as much as a city but way more than when I was growing up."

"Speaking of growing up seems you sure have these past years."

"Huh? Oh yea...about time don't you think. Can't be called a shrimp anymore."

"That's an understatement." Tracy's eyes then wandered to the Pokemon that was walking along him. "Ash what pokemon is that?"

"Oh her, that's Leafeon."

"Ash how is that a leafeon? She's...huge! Can I get a sketch of her later on before you leave?"

"Before I leave? I'm not going anywhere."

"That's what you said the last time and look what happened."

Ash then laughed sheepishly. "I think I'm going to be here for a good while, hopefully..." Ash motioned for Pikachu to return to him "Tracy I'm going to have to catch up with you later. I want to reach my mom before word gets out that I'm home."

"No problem Ash. You know where you can find me; remember to bring Leafeon with you."

"Don't worry, wherever you see me you will find her."

Ash continued along the road towards his house, he took note of the scenery change from the last time he had arrived. A few more houses were built, most notably a three story house facing his home. As Ash closed in on his house he spotted Mr. Mime tending to the garden in front of their house.

"Hey there Mr. Mime"

"MIME!" Mr. Mime was startled by what he saw but he relaxed as he noticed it was just Ash. He then happily greeted Ash and Pikachu but was still cautious of Leafeon whose size startled him. Mr. Mime then suddenly rushed inside the house, Ash could hear the noise and clutter inside the house but Mr. Mime soon emerged with the person he was dying to see.

"Mom!" he exclaimed and rushed the mature woman, he surprised her as he wrapped her in a tight hug and lifted her off the ground.

"Ash Sweetie!" Ash placed her back on the ground, his mom hadn't changed at all except for the few gray hairs that streaked in her auburn hair.

"Sweetie look how much you've grown, you're almost the spitting image of your father." Mrs. Ketchum continued to examine her son and came across something. "Now Ash darling I know you're a lot older and more mature, but disappearing like that without a word to your dear old mother. You had me worried and to top things off you return with a scar on your arm."

"Don't worry about it Mom."

"Sweetie, take off your shirt and let me see."

"Mom....."

"Ash..." she said more sternly. Ash knew this tone all too well. She wanted something done and wouldn't stop until she got it. Ash sighed and complied with his mother request. As he removed his clothes she gasped as she saw what look like claw marks across the top of his chest.

"How did that happen sweetie?"

"Long story mom."

"I would love to hear it, but by the way how long do we have until you go off on another one of your adventures?"

"I think I'm here for good mom. At least I think so; I need some time to think things out."

"You can stay as long as you want honey. You know you're always welcomed here." She proceeded to embrace her son once more. "Now come here Pikachu." Ash's long time companion jumped into Mrs. Ketchum's arms and cried happily as she proceeded to scratch and stroke its fur. "So are you going to introduce me to your new friend Ash?"

"Oh right, Leafeon this is my mother, Mom this is Leafeon."

"Is she afraid of the Pokeball like Pikachu?"

"Something of the sort, no matter how many times I put her in she breaks out."

"Oh alright, she's going to have to hop the back fence to get into the backyard. Mr. Mime just finished cleaning the house and by the looks of it you two have been traveling for a good amount of time. Now come inside and take your load off. Your room is still the same way it was, but I think we might need to get you a new bed seeing as how you might have outgrown it. Remember to take your shoes off."

"Yes M'am"

Ash stepped into his house and looked around the place. 'Wow it sure has been a long time.' His mother had adorned the front room with all the trophies and plaques he had accumulated on his pokemon journey. He smiled as he looked through all of them; he picked up the Orange League trophy and began to polish it off.

"What would you like to eat sweetie?"

"Anything you want mom, it's been ages since I last had a home cooked meal."

Suddenly there was knock on the door, "Ash would you get that for me please?"

"Sure thing." Ash walked towards the door but could hear the person speaking from the outside.

"Delia it's me Sam."

"Sam?" Ash opened the door to see the Professor right in front of him.

Professor Oak was shocked to see a young man open the door. "I'm sorry I think I have the wrong door. Excuse me" The elderly gentleman began to walk off.

"Professor Oak, it's me Ash."

"Ash?" The professor then took a proper look at the young man and then knocked him on his shoulder. "How are you my boy? You seem to be in relatively good health. How goes the journey?"

"The journey is alright, but I'm taking a pause right now."

Ash's mother then emerged from the kitchen to see who was at the door. "Oh Sam, do come in and stop talking at the door."

"That sounds like a good idea. Now Ash please tell me about your journey. We haven't seen you in about four years now. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

The two sat in the living room and his mother brought the two of them iced tea. Professor Oak took a sip of his beverage while Ash on the other hand downed his glass and requested another.

"It seems that your appetite hasn't changed at all."

Ash laughed and thanked his mother for refilling his glass. "So how's it been Professor? Any ground breaking discoveries?"

"It's not really me who has been making the ground breaking discoveries as of late. I mainly supervise the general run of the laboratory. Since Gary's return from the Sinnoh region he has been doing more and more work in the laboratory."

"Didn't think Gary would decide to take over your job, thought he would be more into field research."

"Well that is true; he does go on his field research trips every now and again, but nothing too long. I must say that I'm shocked Ash, I never figured you to be someone who would lose contact with people for a long time."

"Well me neither but it was never intentional. I had things to take care of and I didn't want to involve anyone."

"On one of his expeditions Gary said that he saw you and you didn't seem to be in the best of health." said Professor Oak as he continued to sip on his drink.

"That would be a nice way to put it Professor."

"So what were you involved in that caused you to lay low."

"Well you could say that I was on the bad side of another evil organization. After winning the Sinnoh League, I decided to challenge the elite four from each of the regions, starting with Kanto...

"Go On..."

"I had managed to beat Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha but during my training to take on Lance I managed to foil a smuggling ring. Unknown to me, the people in charge were not too happy about their million dollar smuggling chain being broken up. They went through a lot of means to get rid of me but eventually things were settled."

"Seems you have had quite a journey young man, but it's a detailed tale and not one to talk over a lunch table after such a long time."

"Lunch is ready!" chimed Mrs. Ketchum interrupting the conversation.

"Thanks Mom!" Ash dove into his plate and began to ransack its contents.

"It's so good to have you back honey" said Mrs. Ketchum with a truly genuine smile.

Ash kicked back in his chair and let the food settle in his stomach. He looked over his shoulder to see his mother and Professor Oak enjoying their conversation. His mind having matured he decided they needed a little bit of time to themselves. "Mom I'm heading over to Gary's" he shouted as he made his way to the door.

"Have fun sweetie." she replied. Upon hearing her master leaving Leafeon who was resting in their backyard decided to move and leaped over the fence.

"What was that just a while ago?" asked Professor Oak out of curiosity.

"That's Ash's Leafeon."

"A Leafeon?!"

Meanwhile the trio made their way over to the Oak's Laboratory along the way Pikachu and Leafeon made a detour and went straight to the Pokemon reservation.

"GARY!" shouted Ash as he entered the establishment.

"Can I help you sir?" asked one of the assistants.

"It's alright Cheryl. He's a good friend of mine."

"Oh Dr. Oak I didn't know."

"Dr.?" said Ash with a puzzled face.

"Yes Ash, Dr."

"Whoa, I really have been gone a long while."

"Yes you have, now what brings you here?"

"I can't hail a friend anymore?"

"Ash the last time I saw you, you weren't in a very friendly mood. I take it that your other business is solved."

"Yea you can say that."

"So what about finishing your Elite Four challenge?"

"I'm going to finish it eventually."

"I see. Mind stepping outside while I check on the Pokemon in the back."

"No problem."

The two walked in silence momentarily just taking in the beautiful splendor of the Pokemon interacting with each other in peace. Gary instantly spotted Leafeon as they made their way through the reserve.

"How did you manage to get your hands on a Leafeon Ash?"

"I originally was given an Evee but due to her being as curious as she was when she was young, she accidentally got close to a leafstone I was carrying at the time."

"What I meant to say was how did you get one of that size?"

"I really don't know. You really have got to ask Brock. Surprisingly she was the runt of her litter. When I was traveling I was given her for a service I performed. The owner said it might do her well to go out and travel. Firstly she wouldn't stay in her pokeball and broke out at every opportunity. I ran into Brock when I was in the Hoenn region and he gave me a recipe to help her gain muscle. And voila, she started growing and well...that how she turned up."

"Mind if I take a look at her later on, she seems to be an interesting specimen."

"Sure, you're probably going to have to wait until Tracy gets to sketch her."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Huh?"

"What are you going to do now that you are home?"

"Honestly I really don't know, but I have been thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"What would you say if Pallet Town got a gym?"

"I really would not know what to say. It wouldn't be horrible, would give those who leave Pallet Town on their journey a reason to return. Then again, peaceful Pallet might change more than we would like."

"I think it's started to change more than both of us were used to. I was shocked by the paved road."

"Yeah it was a surprise to me as well."

"Also there seems to be a lot more inhabitants as well."

"Yeah a few people moved in, mostly families trying to escape the city life."

"But that's change and there is nothing we can really do about it."

"So when will the gym be ready?"

"Who said I was going to go through with it?"

"Ash for as long as I have known you, once you get your mind wrapped around something you're going to do it. You're just stubborn like that."

Ash leaned against a nearby tree and pouted slightly. "I'm not stubborn..."

The close friends who were once bitter rivals continued to discuss things until night started to fall. At that point in time Ash bid farewell to Gary and started his journey home. Ash was about to enter the yard but he felt as if someone was watching him. He turned around to see a figure quickly duck underneath the window ledge in his neighbor's house. Ash just shrugged it off and proceeded to his front door. By this time his mother was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen; he decided not to disturb her and went into the living room to watch TV. He then felt a presence next to him in the couch, his mother decided to sit next to him. He felt uneasy as she had a rather mischievous look on her face but he still was unprepared for her question.

"So Ash sweetie when am I going to be a grandmother?"

A blush ran across Ash's face. "Wha---wha--what?"

"You heard me."

"Mom, shouldn't I be married before I start thinking about those things?"

"Exactly, you're a handsome twenty-four year old man Ash and I have yet to see you involved in a serious relationship."

"I've been busy mom..."

"What about Misty or May. Those two seemed to have a crush on you."

"What are you talking about mom those are just my friends."

"If that was the case why it is that Misty comes by almost every weekend to see if we heard anything from you?"

Surprise was written across his face. "She does?" His mother nodded. "We are close friends I guess she's just concerned."

"I may be old fashioned Ash Ketchum but I believe I can tell when a woman has feelings for someone."

"You're reading too much into it Mom."

"Whatever you say honey. Just remember that I'm getting older by the day. And I would appreciate it that when I get my grandchildren I can pick them up and chase them around the yard." She took the time to head into the kitchen but she momentarily poked her head out the door. "Did I tell you Brock is engaged?"

"WHAT????"

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of When One Ends, the next chapter will be up in the next week or so...hopefully. If you have the time please review as constructive feedback is always welcomed