Chapter 14/Final: Decked for Home

The Digidestined and trainers slept soundly within the protection under Gennai's home beneath water. However, the ones feeling the most comfortable were Ash with Sora and May with Tai. It would also be the last day for the trainers as Gennai forebode Ash from pursuing the missing Digidestined in their world. Ash woke first, Sora's arms draped around his neck. Sora loved Ash, but her duties in protecting the Digital World and finding the last Digidestined would split them apart. Ash still battled the poison he suffered from DemiDevimon. He began to sit up, breaking Sora's grip. When her arms slapped the ground, she woke to the missing feeling from her arms. Looking, she saw the depressed face of Ketchum. Meeting Sora on the ferry to Hoenn, he had a strong obligation to help her and the Digidestined back together. With May's and Max's help, he accomplished the mission. Now his new focus was going back to his home world. "Ash?" the redhead wondered. Ash didn't want to leave Sora's side, his face like an open book to read.

"Even if I want to go to Japan to help you find the Digidestined," Ash groaned. "Gennai… I can't defy his order." Sora sat up as well, patting Ash on the back for comfort. Ash and Sora stepped out, finding most of the Digidestined and Max still sleeping with the Digimon nearby. Patamon and Palmon heard Ash's footsteps, stirring them from sleep.

"Morning, Ash!" moaned Patamon.

"Did you sleep well?" asked Palmon. Ash nodded. Hearing the two Digimon, the kids began to wake up. Gennai had been awake for awhile since he's in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone.

"I'm almost done cooking," he announced. "Hopefully, everyone likes pancakes and hash browns." The only ones not stirred by the voices or the aroma of pancakes and roasted shreds of potatoes were Tai and May. Tai's headband, goggles, gloves and shirt were in a pile with May's bandanna and gloves of her own. Agumon and Torchic joined the rest waking up for the morning meal. As the crew ate, plans about their escape began to cook.

"So the plan is to reach this door that leads to different dimensions," Tentomon reviewed.

"That's the plan," Max confirmed. "I think we should go first and keep Myotismon from causing chaos in our world." Matt and Joe agreed with nods.

"The last thing your world needs is an evil Digimon," Matt acknowledged. Ash nodded to the information as well before turning to Sora, depressed. He knew the reason. After today, they may not see each other again. In turn, he became sad. Pikachu saw Ash's emotion, rather out of character for him.

("Why are you sad?") he squeaked. Sora got to notice as she spun her head to Ash. She seemed surprised to find a downed Ash. Immediately, she had a guess to it.

"You don't want to leave my side?" she asked. Ash turned his head, little reaction to the guess. The Digidestined stopped eating as they viewed the trainer.

"If it was up to me, I'd be helping you find that last Digidestined," he finally spoke. "And… I'm not sure if it was me by your side… or the other way around… I've never really felt this way and it may have been inspired from your crest." Sora awed the word from Ash as he pondered about the future.

"Ash..." His words sunk in the minds of TK, Mimi and even the Digimon.

"Ash, you and May were like a new brother and sister to me," TK said. "You even brought Patamon back to me after you found him wandering."

"Ash, I wished there was a time I met you before Sora," she murmured. "I'm jealous that you'd be with Sora, no matter how many kisses I give you." Other Digidestined offered their praises to Ash and May, now waking up with Tai

"Thanks, guys," he accepted. Gennai came in with some tea for everyone.

"Don't take my denial personally, young trainer," he explained. "There are plenty of reasons why you and your friends need to return to your world. According to the time flow, by staying on the Digidestined's Earth, the potential of years may pass in days of being on their land." It was information neither Ash or Max contemplated on.

"I see," Max began to understand. "That would mean anyone in the Pokémon World would age before we could step back." Ash suddenly found another consequence.

"And any Pokémon Leagues would be unavailable, including the Hoenn League," he added. "Team Rocket would have a solid chance to take over the world, and there may be no one to step in to control their approaches." This piece of news scared Pikachu to shake his head. Suddenly, Gennai's denial of having the trainers work in Japan made more and more sense.

"I was gonna say that the Digidestined right now would keep Myotismon occupied enough to locate the Eighth Child," he offered another reason. "But now, you see what impact your world may suffer by traveling with the Digidestined rather than returning home." The kids and creatures finished eating their breakfast. "Okay, everyone! It's time! To the Digidestined, the fate of your world and the Digital World rests on finding the Eight Child and stopping Myotismon. To the Pokémon Trainers, I wish you safe travels." Before he opened the door, the pond parted a path for all to exit.

"Thanks for helping us out, Gennai," Tai praised. All now leave Gennai's underwater home.

"I gave Max directions to the gateway that will lead you back to your worlds on his Pokénav. Good luck." That's when he had something else for Ash. "I almost forgot, Ash! Here!" He gave Ash an orange bottle of pills. "Take one the night you get back to your world, then one every 12 hours. By the time you finish the bottle, the poison will be fully omitted from your body." Ash gripped the bottle, realizing that his life laid within these pills and that it must be used properly.

"You have my word that I'll be responsible with this medicine," he proclaimed. Gennai acknowledged Ash's word, knowing his survival depended on his medical schedule. He returned to the journey back home. The group, Tai in the lead with Max and May by his side, proceeded to the destination.

"What needs to happen is that the trainers should go first," Izzy suggested. "That way, Myotismon won't threaten their world." Ash would agree to the idea.

"The last thing the Pokémon World needs is that," he gulped. Sometime later, they found a stone door in a quiet castle led by Max's Pokénav. Yards from the door stood a circular pedestal with the middle having an engraving.

"This is it!" cheered Max. He and Izzy glanced at the pedestal, noticing a grid in the engraving. The top of the grid, outside, had three symbols: a computer chip, a pill and a troll's face. Inside the engraving, stars. On the top row of the three-by-three grid had one star. The middle had two stars and the bottom had three. "Talk about your complicated puzzles."

"For sure," Tentomon shrugged. "But didn't Gennai provide you with some help?"

"Yep, right here!" He pulled out the cheat sheet from his pocket, as well as the cards which were black in the back full of golden lines that made it look like part of a circuit board. Ash stood in front of the door, knowing that when he and the siblings cross over, it may be the last time they see the Digidestined. Pikachu picked up a scent and looked up, catching Gabumon's attention.

"Do you smell something?" he asked. Pikachu saw white fur, squeaking as he pointed upward. Those not by the pedestal glanced up, finding a white cat wearing yellow clawed gauntlets. The cat had purple fur coming from the tips of its ears and tail which was striped with the same colors and donning a golden ring. It's piercing blue eyes glanced at the group.

"Is that?" wondered Agumon. The cat leaped down from the catwalk above to the floor as Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder.

"My, aren't you a tasty morsel!" it, or rather she, teased. Pikachu stood rather bewildered with the approach.

"I know that Digimon!" growled Yokomon. "That's Gatomon, one of Myotismon's servants!" Instead of being deterred about her discovery, Gatomon pawed herself toward Pikachu.

"True, and I could attack you… but with this cutie, I may reconsider." Pikachu couldn't believe this cat took a liking to him. Ash knelt down to warn her of Pikachu's identity.

"Sorry, Gatomon," he apologized. "Pikachu's not a Digimon like you." Pikachu acknowledged by shaking his head. Gatomon didn't mind as she petted the mouse.

"Well, he's certainly one specimen I would like in my little kitty mattress." To seal her case, she gave Pikachu a kiss to the cheek. Pikachu gawked to the kiss as Gatomon reached the doorway the kids came from. Max placed the last card, the tiny deck laid out, face down on the grid. Finally, the door opened. The door to the trainers' home awaited. May turned to Tai, possibly for the last time.

"You know, I wish I lived in your world so that we could sleep like we did last night," she murmured. "Never experienced it before but… it's the first time I fell for someone like you." Tai understood May's sadness, stroking her hair.

"I appreciate your feelings, May," he replied softly. "I hope for a chance to meet in the future."

"Yeah, so do I." Both leaned in, their lips meeting for a kiss with each other, their future uncertain but held by hope. Ash pulled out a Pokéball and a marker. He grew the Pokéball, which had a lightning bolt on thp and two yellow circles on the sides, and scribbled his name on the red half, mostly the "A" on the left of the bolt and "H" on the right.

"Sora?" he called. Sora heard her name and turned to Ash as he offered the Pokéball. "Your name?" He held the Pokéball upside-down. Snatching the ball and marker, Sora wrote her name down before giving it back. Ash shrunk the ball back down, then broke the ball in half. This horrified the redhead. "It's okay. I've got more Pokéballs than this Fast Ball. I just want you to have this, a memento of our time together." Sora seemed touched. A gift to keep for the rest of her life, she hugged Ash with tears trickling down her face.

"Ash…" she cried." "I love you." Ash hugged her right back when she whipped her head to kiss him, perhaps for the last time. "I want to find you again after this is all over."

"You know where I'll be." With that exchange, Sora released Ash, Tai let May go and Max led both trainers through the doorway. Sora watched helplessly as her love scampered back to his home. Back over Petalburg Woods, the tanned brunette waited in the forest, hoping what he saw before will reappear.

"I know what I saw yesterday," he mulled. "That light… and I know I saw Ash and..." He paused at remembering the sight from his squinted eyes. Sora followed Ash, though he didn't know who that other girl was. "It couldn't have been Misty. She's back in Cerulean City." When he peered up once more, the light had returned. The young man couldn't believe his luck. "There it is again!" He dashed toward the light when a bolt of lightning struck the ground in the opening where the kids found TK's Digimon. Though a vicious blast, the bolt did nothing… but return Ash, May, Max and Pikachu back to earth. All four covered their eyes from the blinding light. When they peered again, they saw trees so familiar, it was like they never left.

"Are we..?" started Ash.

"I… think we're back," May guessed.

"No question," Max realized. "It's the Petalburg Woods. We're right back where we left!" Ash felt grateful to be back on the world he came from.

"It's good to be back, right, Pikachu?" he questioned. Pikachu squeaked in confirmation. The young man found where the light landed and recognized one member.

"Ash, Pikachu, there you are!" he called out. Hearing their names, Ash and Pikachu turned to see that young man.

"Brock?" May and Max now turned to the new company. Pikachu jumped in Brock's arms to welcome him. Ash looked puzzled to Brock's sudden appearance. "Brock, I thought you went home to Pewter City!"

"I did go home and everything's fine. So when Misty called and said that you were on your way to Hoenn and my family encouraged me to continue my dream to be a great Pokémon Breeder." To Ash, this was a reunion of friends while May and Max stood silent. "Anyway, what was up with that light? I saw you and these two be carried away into it… and one other..."

"Wait, you saw that?!" Max gasped.

"Yeah, how couldn't I when it sticks out like a Marill's tail?" Ash realized that Brock missed out on a chance to visit a new world.

"If I knew you'd be coming, there were new friends we made in a new world full of monsters like Pokémon." Brock mulled, crossing his arms in dismay.

"Man, I missed out." That's when he noticed the two new kids. "By the way, who are these two?" Ash turned to the siblings, happy to introduce them.

"This is May and her little brother, Max. Their home is the Petalburg Gym." Brock quickly determined what made these two rather special.

"You're Norman's kids. I bet you're excited to be trainers." May had the look of some distain while Max knelt his head.

"I'm not quite sure about that," May doubted.

"And I'm not old enough to be a trainer," Max whimpered. Brock knelt to Max to comfort him.

"When the time comes, you'll have the experience to know what to do thanks to Ash and your sister." Max looked up to Brock with a hopeful smile. That's when May grew suspicious about Brock.

"Wait, how did you know about our dad's name?" she questioned. Ash had the answer with a snicker.

"It might have helped if I said that Brock's the former Pewter Gym Leader," he informed. May and Max awed the former title of Brock now that Ash told them.

"That's the Pokémon Gym that specializes in Rock Pokémon!" realized Max.

"Right, but I only have Forretress," he sadly pointed out. "The rest of my Pokémon like Geodude and Onix are back home. Still, I can't wait to see how Pallet's son does in Hoenn." Ash believed Brock wanted to join up with him and the siblings.

"Does this mean that we're traveling together again?" he guessed.

"Sure… if you don't mind." Brock offered a hand to shake on the agreement. Ash didn't waste a second and shook.

"Music to my ears." The siblings cheered, a new traveling companion joining the adventure.

"So, where are we heading to?"

"Rustboro City, now that I'm connected again," Max clarified. Brock didn't want to question anything about the Pokénav, believing Max simply lost a signal.

"Alright, Rustboro City it is!" With that, the group proceeded onward. That night, the group stopped by a cabin to rest. Ash sat on the roof of the cabin as he and Pikachu stared at the stars. Ash had taken one of Gennai's pills, putting him on the 12-hour schedule for the next pill and so on. He also took out half of his Fast Ball, Sora's name written on it.

"Pikachu, do you think Sora and the rest of the Digidestined have found that Eight Child?" he asked. Pikachu could only believe that they found the missing member. "It does suck that we couldn't help in their search but… those consequences..." Pikachu squeaked to give Ash some sympathy. Just then, he heard someone climbing up and turned to the side of the cabin. Ash knew who it might be. "You still thinking about Tai?" May revealed herself and Torchic on her shoulder to see Ash and Pikachu.

"Well, you're still thinking about Sora," she teased. Ash laughed, knowing that he'd been found out.

"Point taken." May sat by Ash and allowed Torchic to sit on her lap.

"I do agree that we could have been great assets to finding that Eighth Digidestined. I just wish the consequences weren't so drastic. I mean I don't wanna look older than Mom and Dad." Ash and the Pokémon shared a laugh from the thought. That's when May frowned, perhaps missing Tai. "You know, I would've wanted to live with Tai and Kari over being here." Ash and the Pokémon twisted to May with dumbfounded looks. "I mean… I didn't really like Pokémon to begin with." This irked Ash, Pikachu and especially her Torchic. She recently confessed to Tai and now Ash received word of her mood.

"I believe we don't understand what you're saying. If you didn't really like Pokémon, why be a trainer?"

"It's the only way I could convince Mom, Dad and Max so I could travel the world. Now that I met Tai, I felt like it would've been the only way to leave this place and be with him forever. I would've given Torchic to you since you took care of me and Max since we left Professor Birch's lab." Torchic whined in disbelief about not being wanted by its new master. Ash felt he had something to say.

"I'm sure there's something in the Pokémon World you'd like." May and Torchic now shot looks to Ash. "I'm sure there's something within even this region where you and any of the Pokémon could have fun. It doesn't have to be Pokémon training and gym leaders like me. There's Brock's dream of Pokémon Breeding, a friend back in Pallet Town who's a Pokémon Watcher… I'm not saying you should hate Pokémon. Give it a chance to try whatever has you interested." May seemed intrigued. Maybe she gave Pokémon little thought when all she wanted was to journey the world and nothing more.

"You may be right. Still, it's safe for me to say that we want to see the Digidestined again."

"Yeah!" Both laughed as they glared at the stars. Meanwhile somewhere else, a bedroom was empty and dark. The bed, the drawer, the closet, a stack of plush dolls of different animals… nothing had been touched. The door opened, revealing Sora and Biyomon. No helmet, gloves or shoes on, Sora turned on the lights.

"Well, Biyomon..." she spoke. "This is my room." Biyomon flapped to the drawer to get a good look, the walls decorated with posters of soccer and tennis players, men and women alike.

"Those humans on the wall…" she noted. "Do you like them?" Sora laughed, not a big deal to her.

"They're top athletes from around Earth. I dreamed that I was as athletic as they are in one sport or another. It's why I'm pretty much a tomboy to my friends." She sat on the bed and reflected on what had occurred. "Everyone's back home and soon, we'll all be looking for that Eighth Child." Biyomon believed Gennai's word about the Eighth Digidestined.

"Not to mention his or her Digimon."

"Right, what's a Digidestined without a Digimon partner? I also want to stop by Tai's place." Biyomon sensed a problem about the visit.

"Didn't Tai mention that he had a cat… Miko was it? And especially bringing Poochyena there?" Sora brought out a tiny square case before the top half of the Fast Ball.

"Poochyena will behave, I'll assure you." She closed the case and sealed it. She then summoned Poochyena from its ball. It looked around the new place. Sora chose to help on its new setting. "Poochyena, this is my room. I hope you get comfortable here." Poochyena turned to the dolls and pawed it. Seeing the Pokémon try to play with the dolls humored Sora. "That's so cute!" She picked up the Bite Pokémon and brought it over to her bed. Poochyena yawned, followed by Sora. "I guess we're both exhausted after coming back."

"How about all three of us?" Sora laughed, accepting everyone had a long day. Biyomon flapped to turn the lights off. She flew back and nuzzled with Sora and Poochyena in the same bed. Sora and Biyomon had been through a lot from the Digital World and the Pokémon World. She brought three mementos from both worlds. Only one of those she wanted safely stored away.

(Four Years Later…)

The sun rose over the city for another beautiful day, only a few clouds in the sky. A gray hyena with black fur on its back, tail, legs and head nuzzled the lump on the bed. A groan from the bed prompted the hyena to paw the lump some more. "Ten more minutes," a familiar voice muttered. The hyena pulled the blankets off, revealing Sora who had grown up. She reached for the blankets, wanting more shut-eye. If the sun wasn't going to wake her, the hyena's tongue might do the trick. It licked Sora for five seconds before she sprung up. She began wiping the hyena's slobber from her face. "Mightyena..." Once she dried her face, Sora darted her head to a digital clock, reading 6:15. She scoffed at the time. "Thanks, Mightyena. Nearly slept in for morning tennis practice." Mightyena barked, its job complete. Sora gathered a green school uniform, skirt included. The two entered the kitchen where a raven-haired woman in a purple blouse and yellow slacks with the ankle cuffs hanged the phone. She turned to the girl and the Mightyena.

"Sora, your coach just called," she informed. "She had to bring her husband to the hospital for suspected kidney stones and said that practice is canceled." Sora sighed, unsure for relief for no practice or Mightyena's alertness. Mightyena whimpered which the raven-haired knelt to pet it. "You did nothing wrong, Mightyena. I understand you were trying to keep Sora's schedule in check." Mightyena panted happily from the praise. Sora ate breakfast when there's a knock at the door.

"Sora?!" called a new girl. The three heard the call, realizing who it could be.

"Sounds like Yolei," Sora guessed. She and Mightyena reached the door where two girls stood. One was a lavender-haired teen in glasses wearing a bandanna like a tiara. She wore a peach-colored vest over a red dress, blue shorts under the skirt. She held a pink ball-like bird with wings. The other was a brunette wearing a pink and white sleeveless shirt while donning pink arm-length fingerless gloves and yellow shorts. Gatomon hung around her shoulder. "Yolei, Kari..."

"We were on our way to monitor the Digital World," the brunette explained.

"Hey, Ken isn't around this morning so Kari and I need to clean his mess," the lavender-haired urged. Sora saw this as something to do since her coach had an emergency.

"Right," she agreed. "Let me come with. Tennis practice isn't happening today so more free time to help out." Gatomon glanced to Mightyena, wondering if it wanted to join.

"You told me that Mightyena has some pretty cool attacks," she mewed. "Will it-"

"Nah, Biyomon will be enough." Mightyena barked before running back inside.

"If you're helping your friends with something," the woman noticed. "Do what you need but don't be late for school." She tossed a book bag to Sora who caught it effortlessly.

"Got it, Mom!" The mother closed the door and the girls departed.

"By the way, can you tell us about this Ash that you fell for?" asked Kari. "He sounds pretty cool and Tai's not saying too much. Not to mention keeping half of… what was it again? A Fast Ball?"

"He's got his own love. I just know one of these days, I'll see them again. I just hope the Time Flows didn't affect them too much." Sora could only pray for one day where she could return to Ash's side, regardless how much time had passed. The case still held the half with Ash's name on there; a memento of a romance spreading worlds apart but two hearts that couldn't be closer together.

THE END