"Everyone can relax!" a voice echoed through the lair. "Casey Jones has arrived!"

Three of the four turtles looked towards the entrance at their friend then looked away without responding. Michelangelo and Ice Cream Kitty sat across each other at the table playing a card game while Raphael and Leonardo watched intently. A few feet away, Compy Picasso was gnawing on Donatello's bo staff.

"Your move, Ice Cream Kitty." Mikey said looking over his hand of cards. Leo scooted behind him to get a look but Mikey flipped them over. "Hey, no peeking!"

Ice Cream Kitty made no effort to hide her cards from Raph. Raph watched with excitement as she reached out a paw and drew a card from the pile then slapped it down on the table.

"Merw."

"What?" Mikey yelled. "An EX? Where did you get that, Ice Cream Kitty?!"

"Meowr."

"Ugh. You better have a sleeve on that card. Just attack already." Mikey growled. Ice Cream Kitty grabbed some Damage Counters from her bowl and hurled them across the table to Mikey's side. "OHKO?! Okay Ice Cream Kitty. You may have beat my Hitmonlee but can you beat my… um…"

"Whatcha guys playin'?" Casey asked as he joined them around the table.

"Poke-mon. Poke mone?" Leo fumbled with the pronunciation. "Some card game. We found some cards in that dumpster Donnie dragged here. Its really cool."

"Poke mone?" Casey murmured. "Oh, you mean Pokemon. Hey, I used to play that as a kid. I knew I recognized those cards. Wow, they look so different now."

"You used to play this?" Mikey asked. "Meaning you have cards?"

Casey shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I still have them. You want them?"

"Yes yes yes." Mikey abandon the game and rushed over to hug Casey. He wrapped his arms around his waist and looked up at him with big eyes. "Please?"

"Ugh, get off, Mikey." Casey shoved Mikey off of him. Mikey continued to beg. Casey backed away. "I said you can have them. Lemme go home and see if I still have any lying around."

"Yes!" Mikey jumped up and pumped his fists.

"Hey, Mikey, Ice Cream Kitty's looking at your cards." Leo called.

"Mewr." she whipped her paw away and innocently looked up.

"Ice Cream Kitty!"

"Are we all here?"

Far far away in another world, five humans sat in a circle on a quiet island. It was night, the five humans were visible thanks to the light of the small fire that they sat around. The humans looked peaceful. One human stood from the rest though he looked like any other human to the untrained eye. To some he was surrounded by a glowing blue power.

"Cheryl, Mira, Marley… Yup, we're all here Riley." a boy said.

"Thanks Buck." the man nodded. "This is our first meeting since we took out Team Galactic. Does anyone have anything to report? Anyone see any grunts running around?"

"No, but I saw one of the Lake Guardians on my way to Professor Rowan's lab." Mira spoke up. "I'm not sure which one. I think it was keeping an eye out."

"That's a good sign." Cheryl murmured. "I've been out in the forest, I've been too far from anything to see any human activity let alone Team Galactic. Was I supposed to be looking around?"

"No, don't worry Cheryl." Riley said. "The International Police are doing that, I was just wondering. Y'know, in case Saturn is trying to revive their operations."

"Flint told me the Elites are doing the same." Buck said. "He said Saturn's strong, there's no way the Police would be able to do anything if they ran into him so he and Volkner are trying to find him first."

"The International Police and the League really should work together." Cheryl said.

"Yeah, the Police are great and all but Looker's running around with a Croagunk for crying out loud." Marley said.

"That Croagunk is surprisingly strong." Riley pointed out.

"And Looker's job is to be a Detective not on the front lines of the battle." Mira added. "He's not the best example of a battler in the International Police."

"True." Marley nodded.

"If that's all," Cheryl continued, "how's everyone been doing since that last battle?"

"Crobat's still mad that Cyrus's Crobat beat it." Marley said. "They butt heads all the time but they're both getting stronger and Cyrus's Crobat is getting more used to living side by side with a trainer and other pokemon."

"My Pokemon are thrilled to have his Gyarados around." Riley smiled.

"Houndoom gets along great with my pokemon. "Mira said. "He treats Alakazam like a hero."

"He really is though." Cheryl told her.

"Yeah, if Alakazam hadn't used Psychic to grab those pokeballs off Cyrus…" Buck trailed off and shuddered.

A loud roar echoed through the island. They all turned around and saw Gyarados approaching with all of their other pokemon traveling behind. Five trainers, each with a team of six formidable pokemon. It was a sight to behold.

"They're back." Riley said. "Did you guys have a good run around the island?"

"Cario." one of the pokemon walked up to Riley and received a rub on the head.

"I think this is the first time they've all been out together." Mira smiled as she began to recall her pokemon. The others began to do the same.

"I'm not surprised." Cheryl said. "There are so many and some of them are pretty big."

"Not to mention any one of them is strong enough to do some serious damage if something got them going." Buck noted.

"That's why I stay here, on Iron Island." Riley said.

"Really? I thought it was because you didn't like people." Mira joked. Everyone laughed.

"That too." Riley replied, still laughing a bit. "Speaking of that, the island's pokemon get upset when unfamiliar pokemon are here for too long. You guys should get going."

"But it's nighttime!" Buck objected.

"It's your own fault for arriving so late." Riley told him. "Come on, I'll see you four to the boat. It's not far."

"I'm back!" Casey called through the lair. He held a large box in his gloved hands. "Man, this is heavier than I thought. Hope you guys appreciate these."

Mikey ran over holding Ice Cream Kitty. "Did you find them?"

"Yeah, turns out I had a pretty big collection in the back of my closet." Casey said. "Along with a rat's nest…"

Raph bust out laughing. Chompy looked up at him and tried copying the way he leaned back but fell over. Raph scooped him up. "Bet you got a kick outta that."

"Shut up, Raph." Casey shouted. He handed the box to Mikey who dropped it immediately but Leo ran up and caught it. "I'm so over my fear of rats. After facing the Rat King and seeing Master Splinter everyday for so long, I'm fine."

"Right…" Raph said and continued to tease him while Mikey, Leo and Ice Cream Kitty began to dig through the box.

"VHS Tapes?" Leo questioned.

"Oh, right. I told my Dad I was looking for my old cards for some friends of mine and he gave me those tapes." Casey said. "Turns out it used to have a show."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey shouted. "New series time!"

"Let's get these puppies playing!" Leo said excitedly. He grabbed a tape labeled with the number one and ran up to the TV. He removed the VHS Tape from the last episode of Crognard the Barbarian and put in the tape for the first episode of Pokemon Indigo League. "Donnie, April, get in here!"

"I still can't believe you guys watched the last episode of Crognard without me…" Raph mumbled. Donnie and April poked their heads out of the lab while Splinter walked out of the dojo.

"What's this?" Splinter asked gesturing to the box.

"Casey's dad had some VHS tapes for a TV series about that card game we've been playing, Sensei." Leo told him. He grabbed the remote and knelt between Raph and Casey on the ground in front of the TV.

"Interesting." Splinter said rubbing his beard and stood behind them.

"Wait up, don't start without us!" Donnie ran over still holding the piece of Krang tech that he and April were looking at. He sat down on the couch behind them still fiddling with it. "Okay, now I'm ready."

"You should leave that in the lab, Donnie." April said as she sat down beside him.

"It hasn't done anything yet." Donnie said. "I doubt it'll do anything now."

"Okay, we're starting!" Leo exclaimed and hit the start button on the remote.

A scene of space appeared and music began playing. A humanoid cat flew across the screen followed by a smaller cat.

"Look Ice Cream Kitty!" Mikey pointed at the screen. Ice Cream Kitty meowed.

"Hey, there's a human!" Raph said. "There are no humans in the card game!"

"Relax Raph." Casey told him. "Dad said that the TV show was about this kid who trains pokemon and has them battle with other kids with their own pokemon."

"That's weird." Raph said.

"I know, right? It's wicked!"

More pokemon began running across the screen.

"Look, there's that turtle!" Leo pointed. "And look Master Splinter, that's the rat, Pikachu!"

"Who's that rat its fighting?" Splinter asked.

"I think it's called Raichu." Leo told him.

"Hmm, a rat of thunder…" Splinter murmured.

"How'd you know?" Leo asked.

"The word Rai means thunder in japanese." Splinter explained.

"What? This is japanese?" Casey questioned. "I hate dubbed anime…"

"Shhh, its starting." Mikey said.

The eight of them watched as the TV screen. The boy ran down the street in his pajamas and ran into another boy then asked a professor for a pokemon and received a Pikachu.

Leo, Mikey, Raph, Donnie, Splinter, April, Casey, and Ice Cream Kitty were all captivated by the show. This show was way better than any of the others they'd seen. Where doing so, Chompy wandered away from Raph and walked up to Donnie. He took the piece of Krang tech from Donnie's hand and held it in his mouth.

"Hmm? Chompy!" Donnie shouted when he saw Raph's pet chewing on the tech. He snatched it from him. Chompy looked confused for a moment then blew a stream of fire from his nose and smiled.

"You gotta be more careful, lil Chompy." Raph said as he picked him up. "Krang tech is dangerous. And yucky. Not for eating."

"Um, guys?" the piece of Krang Tech was sparking in Donnie's hand. "I think Chompy broke that protective layer of metal that keeps that pink energy stuff inside."

"He didn't mean it!"

"I'm not saying he did." Donnie responded. "I'm saying- ow!- that we should be careful."

The piece of tech sparked, slightly shocking Donnie. A spark shot out and hit the TV. The piece of tech stopped sparking and hit the TV. The screen went static and began sparking with the pink energy of Krang Tech.

"What's going on?"

The sparks began discharging from the TV, shocking the Turtles. They cried out. Casey and April jumped back. Ice Cream Kitty scooted away and grabbed Chompy. Chompy blew another stream of fire. Ice Cream Kitty immediately dropped him and hissed.

"Ya!" Splinter lashed out with a kick and knocked the TV off its stand.

"No! Not the TV!" Mikey yelled but he and his brothers were no longer being shocked.

"Thanks Sensei. What was that?" Leo asked. Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"Leo, you're glowing." Donnie said. Leo looked down at his arm and saw that it was indeed glowing.

"What's going-" Leo was cut off as he suddenly disappeared in a pink flash.

"Leo!"

Mikey looked down and saw himself glowing the same way and he too disappeared too.

"What's going on?" Raph finished what Lep was about to say then he disappeared.

"Raph!" Casey called.

"Donnie!" April yelled as Donnie vanished from her side. Casey and April looked to Sensei who looked bewildered then he too was gone.

Riley held a glowing fist of aura in the air to provide light for his companions. Not far away was the coastline with a few small boats sitting at the water's edge.

"Here's where I stop. Have a safe- argh!" Riley suddenly cried out in pain and fell over.

"Riley!" his friends went to his side. Riley waved them off.

"I sense something." Riley gasped. A wave of aura flowed off of his body. The others were surprised by it. Normally they could only see RIley's aura when he was forming attacks or shields, never randomly.

A few feet away, a pink glow formed in the space before them. A bolt shot out and hit Riley. He cried out then formed a shield and stood up tall.

"Are you okay?" Mira sked.

"I'm fine." Riley told her. "But something's coming."

The five watched the energy spark. RIley surrounded all of them in a shield but soon realized they were safe from it. Another bolt struck the ground and a split second later, a being stood before them.

"What?" Leo looked around in confusion then spotted the trainers. "Humans?!"

Another bolt, another turtle. Mikey appeared next to him. Three more bolts and their other two brothers and sensei stood beside them.

The two groups stared at each other for a few minutes not saying anything.

"Go, Claydol!" Buck suddenly hurled his pokeball at the turtles. "Zap those weird pokemon with your Ice Beam!"

"What? Pokemon?" Raph stated in confusion before getting hit by the Ice Beam. Ice formed on his shell. He shivered. "Man, that's cold!"

"Buck, what are you doing?" Riley demanded.

"Taking those things out!" Buck shouted. "Claydol, Ice Beam again!"

"No way am I letting you hit me with that again!" Raph lunged forward and landed on Claydol. Claydol spun around and tried to shake him off but Raph held on tight.

"Alakazam, help him out!" Mira tossed her pokeball. Alakazam used Psychic and lifted Raph into the air.

"Woah!" Raph struggled against the attack but couldn't get free.

"Donnie, help Raph. Mikey, you're with me." Leo ordered. Donnie wacked Alakazam with his staff while Leo ran his swords across Claydol's face and Mikey landed a few well-aimed blows on his body.

"Stop!" Splinter called. The four froze but Marley and Cheryl tossed their own pokeballs and released two more pokemon. Blissey rammed its body into Donnie, Baltoy shot another Ice Beam at Mikey and froze his feet to the ground, Arcanine charged at Leo and knocked him to the side, Alakazam began slamming Raph against the ground.

"Stop!" Riley yelled.

"No way." Mira said.

"They've got weapons!" Buck stressed the word weapon as if he'd never seen one before. "They're dangerous!"

The turtles and the trainers began fighting. Splinter and Riley stood off to the side and glanced at each other.

"You're like a big Raticate." Riley stated.

"I do not know what that is but, yes, I am a rat." Splinter said. "I was once the ninja Hamato Yoshi but now I am called Splinter."

"I'm Riley, I'm an aura guardian." Riley introduced. Splinter offered his hand and RIley shook it.

"Impressive, I have never met an aura guardian before. I thought they'd disappeared long ago."

"And I thought ninjas had disappeared too." Riley said. "And I've never seen a talking pokemon. Other than that Meowth."

"Oh, you have seen the show?" Splinter asked. "My sons and I began watching that today. It is quite good."

"...what are you talking about?" Riley asked.

"Hmmm…" Splinter mused. "Donatello!"

"Yes Sensei?" Donnie asked as he circled Blissey and jabbed at her with his staff.

"Stop that." Splinter ordered. He walked over to Raph and Leo and stood behind them. He grabbed each of their necks and began pinching them.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!"

He walked over to Mikey who was leaping around like a Mankey and hitting Claydol with his nunchucks.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey yelled as he leaped up with a leg out prepared to kick but Splinter grabbed him. "What?"

"Stop this. Now!" Splinter ordered. The four turtles dropped into a bow.

"Woah." Buck murmured.

"Donatello, it seems we have been transported to the world of that TV show." Splinter said. "Explain."

"What? This isn't the TV show." Raph said. "The TV show had that electric rat and the kid with the hat."

"Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Mikey said confidently.

"Ash Ketchum?" Riley asked.

"You know him?"

"Yes, he came here once." Riley said.

"Aw, sewer apples. We're in the TV show!" Raph yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Buck demanded. "Claydol-!"

"Claydol return." Riley recalled Buck's pokemon then handed the pokeball back to Buck.

"How'd you do that?" Buck asked.

"Trade secret." Riley said.

"He took it off your belt." Mikey whispered. Buck glared.

"We are in the TV show…" Leo said in wonder. "Or are we in the game?"

"Neither, I think." Donnie said. "I think the TV show and the card game are based off this world. I bet we're just in another dimension."

"Phew, what a relief." Raph said loudly, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Aw man!" Mikey whined. "Wouldn't it be cool if we got in a TV show? Then I could meet Crognard and Smooch! Or Captain Dasher Coolsar and the Princess!"

"Hello? What about Capitan Ryan and Crankshaw?" Leo asked.

"Nah, bro. Crognard is way cooler." Mikey said.

"What?"

"Be happy we're meeting these guys instead of Captain Ryan." Donnie said. "Captain Ryan would think you're some kind of monster alien then shoot you out the airlock!"

"What are they talking about?" Mira asked.

"My apologies." Splinter said. "They are young and easily distracted. It seems we came from another dimension. We were walking a television show about this world and we suddenly ended up here due to an accident."

"Wait, so you're saying we're a TV show?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Hard to believe, I know."

"Wouldn't it be weird if we were on TV?" Leo asked his brothers.

"Yeah, all those humans staring at us all the time…" Donnie shuddered.

"You mean you don't want to be on TV?!" Mikey asked shocked.

"Of course we don't!" Raph flicked Mikey in the back of the head. "Imagine thousands of humans gathered around their TV and watching us like a bunch of weirdos. What are you looking at?"

Buck, Mira, Marley, and Cheryl looked away, pretending to not have been staring at them. They'd never seen anything like them, it was only natural they'd be curious.

"I think it's best you four leave." Riley told his companions. "Dimensional travel is no walk in the park. These creatures must be shake. They need some peace."

"What?"

"No way!"

"Why?"

"We're not leaving you with these things!" Buck protested. "What if they attack you?"

"I can more than take care of myself." Riley told him. "You should get going if you want to make it back to mainland by daylight."

The four trainers protested a bit more but Riley stood firm and within minutes, they were rowing off into the distance.

"Thank you." Leo said. "May I ask how you know about dimensional travel?"

"We recently fought a man that sought pokemon who could move between dimensions." Riley explained. "And when I was younger, I spent a time in the hold of a pokemon from another world. But that's for another time. It's late, let me find you all a place to rest."

A thank you rippled through the group of mutants and Riley ran off, disappearing behind the rocks.

"What a strange man." Leo murmured.

"I bet he's saying the same about us." Donnie pointed out.

"No, I'm sensing something off about him…" Leo said.

"That man, my sons, is an aura guardian." Splinter interrupted. "Have I told you the story of the ninja and the aura guardian?"

The four turtles shook their heads.

"Then gather around," Splinter said, "and I shall tell you the tale of the Islanders."

A few minutes later, Riley headed back towards the others and saw the four turtles sitting before Splinter.

"... and that is how the alliance between aura guardians and ninjas began." Splinter concluded. His sons looked up at him in awe.

"Wow, sensei." Leo said. "That was a great story."

"Did that really happen?" Raph asked.

"Of course." Splinter smiled.

"Hey," Riley called, "I found a clearing near my place. You guys can sleep there tonight. Tomorrow we can find somewhere more comfortable and start thinking about how to get you five home. Follow me."

Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Splinter rose and leaped up onto the rocks and began to follow Riley, bounding deeper into Iron Island with each step.