On the 10th Day of the 12th Month, five days before the start of the Indigo Conference, a massive Aerodactyl arrived at Pallet Town.
When it landed in front of the Oak Laboratory, two figures jumped off its back.
"Aizen!"
"Misty!"
Ash, Leaf, and Anira excitedly rushed to them, and the Orayen Prince was ignored as the two girls hugged the Orange Waterflower, but Ash did share a fist bump with him.
"Ready for the Indigo Conference?" The Prince asked him, Leaf, and the two boys who were coming out of the Lab.
"Yes!" They all answered in unison, brimming with excitement, and he smiled at them.
When they joined the Oaks, Elaine Green, and Brock Harrison at the breakfast table, Leaf and Anira happily chatted with Misty, whom they had not seen in person in months.
And for some reason, the girl from Pallet Town felt that the Orange Waterflower had become very pretty during her time at the Blanc Island.
She now wore a pair of blue jeans, and a white shirt with a slight peplum and beautiful orange lapels. And on top of it, she wore a white and sky-blue jacket. On her waist, under her jacket, was a silver girdle, which held her Pokéballs.
Even her hair were a few inches longer now, bound in a ponytail, and much smoother.
Leaf, who had been very busy with the training of her Pokémon in the last few months, excitedly asked Misty to tell her about the Orayen Palace and her time at the Blanc Kingdom.
Everything the Orangehead told her, fascinated everyone at the table, and except for Hilda Oak and Professor Oak, no one else had been to the home of the Orayens.
The two also shared their memories of seeing the Palace for the first time, and when Misty brought up Latias and Latios, Professor Oak grew very excited and asked her a lot of questions about them.
"Has Grandma come?"
"Yes. Her Highness is with Queen Ilene at the Cameran Palace. They and Sabrina will attend the Indigo Conference," Misty nodded her head.
"She did not want to see me?" Anira pouted when her friend playfully nodded her head.
Right after finishing their meal, Brock, Misty, and Anira joined the five Trainers who were aiming to win the Indigo Conference, and left Pallet Town to travel by foot to the Indigo and Silver Plateau.
The Indigo Caravan, having travelled through all the major cities in the Region, had already left Viridian City. It was currently on route 22, heading towards the Victory Road. The eight of them planned on joining the Caravan at the Victory Village before nightfall.
"How many Pokémon do you have now, Aizen?" Ash excitedly asked as they travelled down the peaceful road to the Viridian City.
"I have twenty-eight registered on my PokéDex, but three of them belong to Anira," He informed the boy, who seemed surprised.
"So many?!"
"Yes." The Prince chuckled.
"How about you?"
"I have sixteen! You already know..."
Misty tapped the boy's head, making him wince.
"Misty!"
"Shut up! You have four rivals here right now. Do you seriously think that it is wise to reveal all your Pokémon to them before the Conference?" She coldly looked at him, and the boy became nervous under her gaze.
"You are right..."
Aizen chuckled at his words.
"Pay close attention to everyone at the Conference. Keep an eye on their Pokémon. You must study your opponents before you meet them in the matches. Also, do not reveal all your cards too early, which would leave you with nothing to catch your opponent by surprise."
Ritchie and Gary seriously nodded their heads, but Ash seemed a little sceptical.
"Wouldn't it be better to reveal all your Pokémon and confuse your opponent? Their minds will keep running about what to expect from you." He grinned.
Misty rolled her eyes at his words.
"Sure, but how many times would this trick work? Once? Twice?" She asked the boy, whose brain finally started working.
Ash sheepishly scratched the back of his head and looked at his Pikachu, who was playing around with Shinx.
"Why is your Shinx so big? Didn't it hatch a few months back? Professor told me that they grow up very slowly." He curiously asked, and everyone weirdly looked at him.
"Don't you know about Alpha Pokémon?" Gary asked them, raising his brow.
"It's an Alpha too?!" Ash looked at the golden Shinx in surprise. "I thought Alpha Pokémon only grew bigger with their age and in their Final Form."
"No. They are bigger at every stage of their Evolutionary Line," Ritchie informed his friend.
"Just not at birth," added Gary as he smiled at the Shinx. "Lux took two months to reach double the size of a normal Shix his age."
"Oh..."
The group reached Viridian City at lunchtime, and Aizen took them to the restaurant with the best food, and there, everyone ate their fill.
"If you wish to purchase anything for your Pokémon or yourself, purchase from here. Things will be 20% to 50% more expensive at the Indigo Plateau," Brock told them, and everyone had a list of things they wanted to purchase.
A few hours later, when they gathered at the starting point of Route 22, they noticed that Ritchie looked a little depressed.
"What's wrong?" Anira curiously asked the boy.
"I couldn't find Magmarizer," He did not hide it and informed them.
"Magmarizer?" Ash had never heard about it, but Aizen was already checking for it on his watch.
"There is no Magmarizer available at any Poké Mart in Kanto and even in Johto," The Orayen informed the boy, who became even more depressed at these words. "However, someone is selling it on the Indigo Conference Forum for 30% more price."
"How much?"
"65,000 PokéDollars."
Hearing the the figure, the boy hesitated.
"I don't have 65,000... Forget it." He shook his head.
"I can lend you the money you are missing. No interest." Anira smiled at him, and the boy looked at her in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yes," She nodded her head. "How much do you need?"
"6,000 PokéDollars."
"That's fine." The Princess smiled and looked at her brother, who chuckled at her behaviour.
Aizen quickly contacted the Trainer who was selling it, and thankfully, he responded in time.
After checking the person's Trainer's Licence and seeing the images and a video of the Magmarizer, he made the purchase.
"Done," He informed Ritchie, who gratefully looked at him and quickly transferred him 59,000 PokéDollars.
"All five of you should go together when you meet the Seller. It will leave the people guessing which one of you has that Pokémon." The Orayen Princess mischievously said, and except for Ash, all of them considered her suggestion and found it fun.
"Where are we going to meet the Seller?"
"At the start of the Victory Road, away from people. He will wait for us from 5 pm to 7 pm."
"Let's go!" The boy excitedly said and rushed forward.
Ash did not need any more reason to have fun as he decided to race with his friend.
The group laughed when they found the two boys gasping for breath several kilometres later, and then both of them lagged behind the rest as they pushed their tired bodies to walk.
When the sky started to darken, Aizen recalled Shinx inside his Pokéball and did the same to Dratini, who was fast asleep on Anira's shoulder.
"It's getting cold..." Misty started to tremble, and Anira smiled at her and handed her the Vulpix she was carrying in her arms.
As soon the Orangehead hugged the fox, her body warmed up from the comforting heat that emanated from the Pokémon's five tails.
Leaf was faring better, and did not complain even if she felt cold. Besides, her mind was focused a little too much on the Indigo Conference.
Thankfully, the group reached the Pokémon Village at the start of the Victory Road at 6:15 pm, and Aizen immediately contacted the seller, informing him that they had arrived.
The few minutes they spent waiting agitated Ritchie a lot, who even feared that they had been scammed, but then, to his immense relief, a boy around the age of fifteen, wearing a red jacket, approached them.
"Hello, I am Davy."
"Aizen."
The brown-haired boy shook his hand, and then without wasting any time, opened his backpack and took out the Magmarizer.
The Orayen Prince inspected it and nodded to the boy with a smile.
"Thank you. It's in perfect condition and I am satisfied with it."
"You're welcome. It was a pleasure doing business with you."
Davy said to him and then bowed to everyone else in a polite greeting before he left.
"Wow... he's so to the point," Ash commented as he watched the boy leave.
"He has a lot on his mind. That's all."
Aizen handed the Magmarizer to Ritchie, who was itching to hold it, and the brilliance in his eyes made everyone smile.
"And here I thought that Ash was the only impatient one in your group." Misty rolled her eyes when the boy called out his Magmar.
"I can't help it." The boy from Pallet Town brightly said and then offered the Magmarizer to his Pokémon, who intently stared at it after accepting it in its hands.
"Why is it not working..." Whatever Ash was about to say was left unsaid because the moment the Pokémon pressed the Magmarizer to its chest, Ritchie recalled it inside the Pokéball and then immediately called it out again.
Magmar's body instantly started shining in a brilliant light, and its figure started growing taller and broader.
"Woah..."
Even though it was a chilly evening, the heat from Magmortar's body was uncomfortable and started making them sweat.
Ritchie laughed when he saw his Pokémon and congratulated it before recalling it inside its Pokéball.
He was mindful enough to not scan it with all of them around, and then graciously received their congratulations.
The ground then entered the Victory Village and decided not to rent the tents for the night as they were ridiculously expensive.
Instead, they set you their own camp after renting the place but spent a lot of money on the food street as they tried various delicacies.
Later, they all visited the centre of the Village, where the Flame of Moltres was on display and burning brightly.
After Ash learned that there was a spot left in the Torch Relay, he quickly signed himself up, received the uniform, and laughed all the way back to their camps.
Even though there was a festive atmosphere in the village, with fireworks continuing late in the night, all of them managed to find good sleep and woke up in high spirits.