A familiar excitement welled up in Ash's chest as he stood on the deck next to Misty looking out over the sea. The idea of exploring a new region always excited him. Added to that, he was getting to travel with one of his oldest friends he had ever met: Misty of Cerulean City. Perched on his shoulder was none other than his first Pokemon and best friend, Pikachu. The electric rodent looked out over the sea as well in awe.
It was odd to Ash to be traveling to a region where he wouldn't be challenging the league. No, it was known that a vacancy was opening for a gym slot in the Kalos region. After competing in the Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, the Kanto Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, and Unova, Ash had finally decided to put his league challenges on hold for a while. It wasn't like gym leaders couldn't challenge the league later in their career, after all. A change of pace actually sounded appetizing to him. That might have had something to do with growing older, didn't it? While Ash was still excitable and a little brash, he had matured with age just as Misty had.
For the first time in years, his old official League cap was perched upon his head. He sported a red jacket over a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black fingerless gloves over his fingers. As usual, the only Pokemon with him was Pikachu. However, he was still in contact with Professor Oak, who would of course send him other members of his team that he had collected throughout the regions he had visited.
When he was nudged by Misty, he turned towards the redhead and grinned, "I know, right? There ain't nothing quite like traveling a new region, huh?" He then added, "Thanks for coming with me, Misty. It's been waaaay too long, y'know?" Pikachu added to this statement with an agreeing, "Pika-Pi!"
That was an understatement. It was nostalgic in the oddest sort of way to the trainer. It was a lot like when they had explored regions back when they were younger, but... They weren't kids anymore. It was almost bittersweet, he had to admit.
"Hey, that reminds me," he remembered, deciding to ask Misty, "Does that mean your sisters are taking over again for a bit while you're gone?"
The announcement, despite being ten minutes off from arrivla, caused Ash to scoop his blue backpack up off of the deck and sling it on his shoulders as he asked that question. Shalor City was a place he had heard a lot of things about this city in particular. One of which that intrigued him the most was the newly discovered Mega Evolution. It definitely would seem like it would be the next step forward for many trainers.
"You'll never let me live that down, will you?" he asked, feigning a whine for a moment before laughing, "Hey. Maybe they're cheaper than the ones back in Kanto so I can finally pay you that back, huh?"