Pokémon: Ash's Sinnoh Reset

After walking a considerable distance, Ash finally arrived at Twinleaf Town, the closest town to the airport. Fortunately, the commercial street was located not far from the entrance.

"So, there's no Pokémon Center here? What a disappointment..."

At the entrance of Twinleaf Town, there was a map of the town. The map was simple, roughly dividing the areas of Twinleaf Town. After all, this was a simple town, not comparable to Jubilife City, let alone Castelia City in the Unova region.

Traveling in the latter two cities, you might get lost if you're not careful, but that's because there are too many buildings, tall buildings, and complex roads. If you get lost in Twinleaf Town, it's probably just because you have a tendency to get lost.

Does Ash have a tendency to get lost? Probably yes. After all, the roads he's gotten lost on during his travels are comparable to those walked by many veteran trainers. Ash even regards getting lost as a life philosophy, which shows that he really has no way to overcome getting lost. But even so, he won't admit that he has a tendency to get lost. Getting lost must be fate!

"Aipom!"

Compared to Ash's current troubles, Aipom seemed much happier. After all, if Ash retrieved his Poké Balls, it wouldn't be able to stay outside. Although Aipom wasn't as resistant to Poké Balls as Pikachu, the outside world was definitely more attractive to its active nature.

"I can't help it. It seems you'll have to stay outside a little longer. Anyway, let's go to the commercial street to buy some necessities and have lunch first, or it'll be troublesome if we forget later."

"Pika!"

"Aipom~"

Pikachu and Aipom both approved of Ash's plan with both hands, but what they approved of wasn't going shopping, but going to eat.

They spent most of their time sleeping on the plane. Although there was airplane food, it was last night's business. Aipom hadn't eaten for a whole day. If it weren't for its slightly carefree nature and not realizing it was hungry until Ash said they were going to eat, it probably wouldn't have had so much energy.

"Let's go then."

Seeing Pikachu and Aipom looking hungrier than each other, Ash smiled and led them towards Twinleaf Town's commercial street without saying anything more.

...

Half an hour later.

Inside a certain supermarket.

"So, we already have a lot of ketchup, right? There's no need to buy more, is there?"

"Pika!" (These are daily necessities!)

"What daily necessities? You can live without ketchup, right?"

"Pika! Pi!" (It's different!)

Just as Ash was checking out and about to pay, Pikachu secretly brought over two bottles of ketchup from who knows where and threw them into the shopping basket without any explanation. Ash was so angry that he could understand what it was saying.

"How is it different! If you're going to buy new ones, at least finish what's in your backpack first, right?"

"Pika!" (Better safe than sorry!)

"Aipom..."

Aipom, who should have been the loudest, fell silent while watching Ash and Pikachu argue. It wasn't that it didn't want to chime in or mediate, but the concerned gazes of the people in the mall made it afraid to step forward. What if it was mistaken as part of the group?

"Um... excuse me..."

Just as Aipom was about to leave, the cashier suddenly spoke up and said, "We're currently holding an event here. You can enter a raffle for every certain amount spent. If you include these two newly added bottles of ketchup... you'll have five chances to enter the raffle. How about it? Would you like to try?"

"..."

Okay, after hearing the cashier's voice, Ash finally realized that he had lost his composure. It wasn't that he wasn't excited to return to the past, or that he was so stingy over one or two bottles of ketchup. It's just that Pikachu hasn't changed at all since before. Even before he time-traveled, Pikachu always liked to sneak one or two bottles of ketchup when he bought things. If it had finished all the old stock, Ash wouldn't have said anything, but the problem was that Pikachu wanted to buy more every time it hadn't finished the old ones, which resulted in ketchup even filling half of his backpack for a period of time.

"Then, that's it..."

Under the cashier's gaze, Ash waved his hand and said, admitting defeat. Pikachu, standing at Ash's feet, happily made a peace sign, celebrating its victory.

Even Aipom didn't know what was so great about it.

"You can take your receipt to the entrance to enter the raffle. Thank you for coming."

The cashier smiled and bid farewell to Ash. Although Ash and Pikachu put on a small farce here, for the local residents who were used to the unchanging life of the town, Ash and Pikachu's farce added a touch of fun to their peaceful lives. After all, they looked like they had a good relationship, and the argument wasn't a real argument, just banter.

Taking the receipt the cashier handed him, Ash patted his head in embarrassment and walked unsteadily to the raffle area.

Standing at the raffle stall was a portly middle-aged man wearing a white headband. Seeing Ash's dejected appearance, he patted Ash's shoulder generously and said, "Don't mind! Young people should be energetic! Don't take it to heart, everyone's just watching the fun. No one will laugh at you!"

"...Although I don't know if your words have had a comforting effect, never mind."

Ash shook his head and handed over the receipt. The man took the receipt, glanced at it, and moved aside, saying, "Received, you have a total of 5 chances to enter the raffle. Please go ahead~ Unlike the previous prizes, our boss has put a lot of effort into thinking about the prizes this time."

Put a lot of effort?

Hearing the man say this, Ash curiously looked up at the list of prizes posted on the wall.

First Prize - Full set of Poké Ball stickers (with matching capsule balls)

Second Prize - One year's worth of ketchup

Ash: "???"

Pikachu: "!!!"

Although Ash didn't want to continue looking after seeing the second prize, he continued to browse under the excited gaze of the man.

Third Prize - One month's worth of banana fruit

Ash: "???"

Aipom: "!!!"

Why does it feel like there's so much malice in this world...

Well, the first few prizes are really good, except that they're useless to him.

Ash covered his face and finally finished reading the remaining prizes through the gaps between his fingers.

Fourth Prize - Twinleaf Restaurant invitation ticket

Fifth Prize - Exquisite keychain

Consolation Prize - A pack of tissues

....