Chapter 1

All the Places I Went and the People I Met

Over the course of my entire life, nothing as exciting or thrilling as ever rivalled that of my experience in the Pokémon world.

Of course, being kidnapped numerous times by the same evil crime syndicate and almost becoming a potential hostage for a madman who was bent on conquering two alternate dimensions really wasn't the highlight of my time there, but I had made more friends there then I had during my lifetime on Earth. I could now proudly say that I had flirted with a Champion, battled like a boss beside my very own Pokémon, defeated an evil scheme for world domination and had multiple run-ins with a man I'd had a giant crush on from the day he was invented. Ironically, these fond memories occurred in a place most people didn't even think existed outside of TV and videogames. And because of this fact, I couldn't tell a living soul on this planet about any of it, for fear of being placed in an asylum.

The diary I'd produced chronicling my adventures in the Johto region was complete and was neatly tucked away in a saved folder under the name of 'PxA'. Yes, I'm a sucker for shippings, and I was now part of one myself, even though I would be the only one to know about such a pairing. I occasionally flip through the various entries, laughing at my zany misadventures and cringing at the moments where I was in deep trouble. It helped me to get away from the daily stresses that come with post-secondary education.

Oh, I forgot to mention that—I've graduated and am now an undergraduate student at University!

Yep, it was only a few short months ago that I received my high school diploma with grace and accepted my offer to university. It all feels like a whirlwind when I think about it. First I was lounging around my room, playing videogames and then I was being driven away to my new home in a city far away. And as you may have remembered, my Johto excursion took place when I was fifteen (oh man, I'm so old now), so a good three years have passed since then. Time sure does fly when you're cramming for exams and trying to get entrance scholarships. It all paid off though, and now I'm studying things I really enjoy, with an added bonus of no more math!

With such a long span of time passing by, over the past three years, I have engrossed myself in the countless installments of Pokémon that have been released. I thoroughly enjoyed Black and White, which was a departure from the norm of Pokémon, though I still preferred the older games. The highlights for me were the double rivals of Cheren and Bianca, the protagonists named Black and White (or also known as Hilda and Hilbert—like what? I know the names mean warrior in German or something but really? Lame, much?), and N. He was such a mystery to me, even now. I kept trying to figure out why he believed what he did the entire time I played the game.

As for Black and White Version 2…well, the only thing I enjoyed was Colress. Enough said.

Currently, I was sitting at my desk in my dorm, playing HeartGold on my DS. I was taking a break from a paper that was due the next day and enjoying a good session of a wonderful remake of a classic game. Unlike other players, I didn't keep my save files—I restarted the game after I beat the League, unless it had added features during the post-game. I never "caught them all", even when I was a kid. I wasn't about to start, either.

I paused the game for a moment and glanced out my window. I was at the point in the game where I was sent to defeat Team Rocket. That of course, made me think about my encounters with Team Rocket in real life. Unlike the character I played in the videogame, I didn't have a set path to follow. I did what I wanted—and in some situations, it really screwed me over. Like Myla Castellon had called me, I was the "girl from another world", an enigma. And I couldn't follow the rules of a world I knew nothing about. Well, I knew about it through Earth's media centered on it, but having never actually travelled their personally, I was clueless. If it hadn't been for all of my new found friends and their help, I had no idea what would've become of me. And if I hadn't gotten Proton to come on my side and help me out, I might have….

I shook my head to hurl those thoughts out of my mind. I then glanced back at my DS and suddenly noticed that the screen and frozen. "Darn it!" I yelled in frustration. I had just gotten to the Goldenrod Radio Tower and was about to kick some Team Rocket butt, too! "You wanna play it the hard way? Fine, I can do that too." I huffed loudly and left the DS, still frozen, on my desk and walked towards my kitchen. While it thought about what it did and composed an apology, I would get myself a drink to cool myself off with. Solitary confinement should do the trick to unfreeze the screen!

I shut the door behind me and began rummaging through the contents of my fridge. I was craving something sweet, but I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. "I suppose I'll have to do with water for now." I took a swig and sighed, enjoying the feeling of the cold liquid rushing through my body. I glanced at the bottle and smiled. If the DS still wouldn't listen to reason, I would threaten it with this water! Then it would have to cooperate!

I smiled deviously and slowly approached the door. "Alright, DS. This is it. Unfreeze yourself or face the wrath of my water!" As I reached for the door knob, I saw a bright light shine through the bottom of the door and I heard a loud thump from inside the room. I gasped. What had happened? Had the machine fallen off the desk and plummeted to its doom? Had the screen cracked under the pressure of my torture? I couldn't live without it, even if I did threaten it!

I burst through the door frantically saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—!"

But the rest of my sentence died on my lips as I took in the sight of not my dead DS writhing on the ground, but of a tall, dark and handsome figure standing up from my floor. He rubbed his head, like he'd hit it upon impact and when he turned around, my heart began doing somersaults. Those turquoise eyes, that shocking teal hair—that could only mean that it was…

"Proton?" I said.

He stared at me, eyes meeting mine, and a grin creeping onto his face. He laughed a bit and I hoped I wouldn't faint again.

"Hello Ashley. Miss me, babe?"

A/N: I sooo didn't think that this would be up as quickly as it was! But I suppose that's good because people will still be thinking about SIAPDWY, since it ended like yesterday. This sequel will definitely be longer that its predecessor. I'm going to guess at like 20 chapters. Let's see if that happens or not. I have so many ideas this time around and I want to write them all. With Ashley being on Earth, I suppose I have a lot more to work with. I'm looking forward to writing more!