|X| TIME SKIP

"Pokémon move"

'Thoughts'

"Telepathy"

After filling the jugs up with water, Ash and Dawn returned to the campsite to see John and Lillie were looking up, causing Ash and Dawn to look up as well and they were speechless. Floating a few feet above them was Mewtwo. Mewtwo then floated down to be in front of Ash, and he said, "Greetings Ash Ketchum." Ash was speechless until he said, "Hey Mewtwo, I take it Arceus sent you?" Mewtwo nodded his head and said, "Yes, he has sent me to join your party while you are in the Divine Region." Ash then said, "So you're the gift Arceus told me to except this morning." Mewtwo nodded his head and said, "Yes, when he told me about your mission, I asked to join you on this mission." Ash smiled and said, "Do you want me to catch you?" Mewtwo nodded his head, prompting Ash to take out a Pokéball and tapping the button on it against Mewtwo's finger, and Mewtwo went inside the Pokéball. After three shakes and a ding, Mewtwo was caught. Ash then said, "Alright, I caught Mewtwo." John then said, "Why didn't you shout it?" Ash then said, "I don't want people to know we have several legendary Pokémon with us."

"Okay, good point." Said, John. Ash nodded his head and called out Mewtwo and asked Mewtwo, "What do you like to eat Mewtwo?" and Mewtwo said, "I usually eat Apples." Ash nodded his head, walked over to his bag, and pulled out an Apple. Ash then tossed the Apple to Mewtwo, who caught it and Ash said, "Eat it, you must be hungry." Mewtwo nodded his head and took a bite of the Apple. Mewtwo then said, "Excellent." Ash smiled and said, "Well guys, we better start getting things together to eat breakfast, we still have a ways to go until we get to the Divine Region."

Everyone nodded their heads and finished getting breakfast ready, and as they ate, Ash asked Mewtwo, "Would you mind if I scanned you?" Mewtwo told Ash that he could and after Ash scanned him, the Pokédex said; "Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon. A Psychic-Type. Because its battle abilities were raised to the ultimate level, it thinks only of defeating its foes. This Mewtwo knows Psychic, Brick Break, Ice Beam, and Focus Blast." Ash smiled and said, "Nice moveset Mewtwo." Mewtwo nodded his head and said, "I'm glad you think so." Ash nodded his head and resumed eating his breakfast. John then said, "So Ash, when we get to the first Gym, what Pokémon do you plan to use?" Ash swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Well, since the Gym specializes in Ice-Types, depending on the number of Pokémon the Gym Leader uses, I'll use Infernape, Moltres, and Charizard." John then said, "Well, I'll fill out the role of Brock and Cilan and just be the cook." Ash smiled and nodded his head. Then Dawn said, "I think I'll give Gym Battles a try, have a little variation in my life." Ash nodded his head and John said, "That's good to hear Dawn, so let me guess, you plan to use Quilava, . Am I right?" Dawn nodded her head and said, "I'm not going to let no contests keep me from training." Ash smiled and said, "great, can't wait to cheer you on Dawn." Dawn blushed a light red before she said, "T...thank you, Ash."

After finishing breakfast, they packed their camp up and continued on towards Cerulean City. Along the way, Lillie was keeping her eyes open for any new Pokémon to catch and John gave pointers on how to win matches. Ash was looking back at John and Lille before he looked ahead and said, "I'm glad John and Lille are getting along well with each other." Dawn nodded her head and said, "If I recall, didn't Moltres say that Lille has feelings for John?"

"Yeah, she did, and I did tell you that John has feelings for Lillie," said Ash. Dawn nodded her head and said, "Yeah, so I think we should get those two together soon." Dawn nodded her head and said, "Yeah, but how to go about it?" As Ash was about to speak, an Energy Ball came right at them, but they managed to PSYduck before it hit any of them. Ash then looked up to see a Serperior and someone from his and John's journey in the Kanto Region. The boy had his arms crossed as he said, "Well, well, well, if it ain't you two, never thought I see your faces again."

As Ash stood up, he said, with hatred in his voice, "Hello Damian." John walked up to Ash and said, "What the hell do you want Damian." Damian stepped forward, and he said, "I have been ordered from my new Boss to capture the two of you and take you back to Team Rocket Headquarters." That was when they saw his outfit, a Black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and white gloves. John clenched his fist as he said, "You… joined Team Rocket?" Damian nodded his head and said, "Yup, I was offered powerful Pokémon in exchange for me joining. I accepted, and I now have a team of fully evolved Pokémon at my disposal, from every region. My first mission is, like I said, bring you two in." Ash then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "There's no way are we going with you. Infernape, I choose you!" and the Pokémon that came out was Infernape. John then pulled out his own Pokéball and said, "Fearow, I need your assistance!"

When Fearow appeared, Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Fearow, and the Pokédex said, "Fearow, the Beak Pokémon. A Normal and Flying type. Fearow is recognized by its long neck and elongated beak. They are conveniently shaped for catching prey in soil or water. It deftly moves its long and skinny beak to pluck prey. This Fearow knows Drill Peck, Tri Attack, Fury Attack, and Hyper Beam." Damian then said, "Serperior, use Energy Ball Again!" and Serperior fired another Energy Ball. Ash told Infernape to dodge the attack, which he did. John then said, "Fearow, use Drill Peck into Fury Attack!" and Fearow did as he was told and spun quickly towards Serperior. Damian then said, "Electivire, use Thunder Punch!" and a Thunder Punch struck Fearow and sent him flying into John, knocking him out. That was when the Pokemon that used Thunder Punch appeared and it was an Electivire. Dawn then scanned Electivire, and the Pokédex said, "Electivire, the Thunder Pokédex. An electric Type. A single Electivire can provide enough electricity for all the buildings in a big city for a year. This Electivire knows Thunder Punch, Brick Break, Hammer Arm, and Bulldoze." As Lillie ran over to John to check if he was okay, Dawn pulled out a Pokéball and threw it as she said, "Mamoswine, spotlight!" and the Twin Tusk Pokémon came out. Dawn then said, "Ice Shard!" and Mamoswine hurled chunks of Ice at Serperior and Electivire, hitting both and causing a lot of damage to Serperior, while still hurting Electivire, but not as much damage. Then Ash said, "Infernape, use Flare Blitz on your hands only and then use Mach Punch on Serperior." Infernape nodded his head and used Mach punch on Serperior, causing major Damage and knocking it out. Damian recalled Serperior and said, "What a waste. Electivire, use Brick Break on Infernape, then Thunder Punch on Fearow again, maximum Power, kill that Fucking bird." Electivire looked at Damian like he was crazy, but he heard Ash say, "You don't have to listen to him you know, you can be free, away from Team Rocket." Electivire looked at Ash and said, "Easy for you to say, you're not a Pokémon."

"That may be true, but you are a Powerful Pokémon, you can just grab him and keep him there until we get his Pokéballs," said Dawn. Damian then said, "Stop talking to my stupid Pokémon. Electivire, obey me and use Brick Break on Infernape, then Thunder Punch on Fearow again!" Ash then said to Damian, "Damian, why would you attack a helpless Pokémon, Fearow can't even defend itself." Damian scuffed it off and said, "I don't care, as long as I complete my mission, all of your Pokémon can die." that was when Electivire had enough and grabbed Damian by the face and lifted him in the air. Ash and Dawn smiled, and Ash ran to get the Pokéballs off Damian's Belt and said to Electivire, "Let him fly Electivire." Electivire nodded his head and threw Damian into the sky and Damian said, "I'll be back!"

After watching Damian disappear into the distance and John waking up, Ash called out all of the Pokémon Damian had with him. Besides Serperior and Electivire, Damian had an Azumarill, a Kabutops, A Pinsir, and a Houndoom. The Azumarill looked around and asked, "Where's Damian?" and Ash told her, "He's gone, we sent him flying. If you didn't belong to him, you're now free." All of the Pokémon cheered, showing to Ash and his friends that none of them belonged to him. Ash then said, "I'll give you all a choice, we can destroy your Pokéballs, and you can roam around being wild Pokémon. Or you can join one of us and accompany us on our journey. But we still would have to destroy your old Pokéballs" Serperior slithered up to Ash and said, "I would like to join one of your teams. You saved us from Damian, I feel obliged to join a team, and I choose the one with the White Hat." Ash smiled, along with Dawn and John. they then looked at Lillie and John said, "Serperior wishes to join your team, Lillie." Lillie was shocked and said, "Really, are you sure." John, Dawn, and Ash all nodded their heads and Ash said, "Yes, are you forgetting that we three can understand Pokémon." Lillie then sweatdropped and said, "Oh, right, I forgot."

"Okay, does anyone else want to join our teams?" asked Dawn. Azumarill and Electivire walked up to Dawn. Kabutops and Pinsir walked up to John, and Houndoom walked up to Lillie. Ash then said, "Well then, looks like we're all good. How about when we get to Cerulean City before we take care of catching you guys." All of Damian's former Pokémon agreed, and they all continued walking towards Cerulean City. Along the way, Ash said to Lillie, "Lillie, since Serperior and Houndoom want to join your team, you would have a full team of six, depending on who you catch first, one of them will be sent to Professor Oak. Which one do you plan on catching first?" Lillie looked at Ash and said, "I don't know, they're both fully evolved and have their own strengths and weaknesses, I don't want to pick one over the other. I want to give them all equal attention." Houndoom and Serperior heard the conversation Ash and Lillie were having. Serperior and Houndoom then looked at each other, nodded their heads, and Serperior waited for Lillie and Ash to catch up. Serperior then said, "Houndoom and I do not wish for you to be hated by the other if you can only catch one of us to make a full team while the other has to wait in a PC, we understand." Ash nodded his head and told Lillie what Serperior said, and Lillie was honored. Lillie then said, "Well, since I have an Ice-type, I'll catch Serperior first." Houndoom walked back to Lillie, Ash, and Serperior and said, "That's understandable since Ice-type Pokémon are weak to Fire-type Pokémon like me. Ice-types are terrified of us." Ash Told Lillie that Houndoom understood her decision. Lillie then said, "I sure wish I had the Ability to understand what Pokémon say like you guys." Ash then told Lillie not to worry and that any one of them, Ash, Dawn, or John, would translate for her.

"Thank you, Ash, I hope John does most of it." Ash smiled and said, "I'll make sure he does." After an hour of walking, Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie finally arrived in Cerulean City. Ash took a big breath in and said, "Smell that clean air, that's the smell of a clean Town." John nodded his head and said, "Yeah, we can thank Misty for that, she's done a lot as Gym Leader, every house is now powered by water." The group then heard a Voice say, "Hey you guys!" The three looked in the direction their names were called from and saw a Girl with Orange hair running up to them carrying an Azurill in her arms, and all three said, "Misty!"

After reaching the group, Misty said, "Ash, John, Lillie, it's so nice to see you again, what brings you to Cerulean?" and Ash replied by saying, "We're actually just passing through, we need to get to Celadon City to catch a plane heading for the Divine Region to find Gary. He went missing in that Region and Professor Oak is worried about him." John then added on by saying, "We saw him, he's not looking too good." Misty was shocked to hear that, she then said, "Gary's missing, that's terrible." Then Dawn interrupted the conversation by saying, "Ash, is this the Misty that gave you that Lure?" Ash nodded his head and said, "Yup. Dawn, Meet Misty Waterflower, the other person besides Brock who is a Gym leader and who traveled with me through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto." Ash then looked at Misty and said, "Misty, Meet Dawn Belitz, a Pokémon Coordinator from Sinnoh, she just competed in the Grand Festival in Johto, but she came in second. She tried her best, and she almost won." Dawn and Misty then shook hands as Dawn said, "Nice to finally meet you, but how do you know Lillie?" and Misty replied, "Simple, I know Lillie from when she, Ash, and their Friends in the Alola Region came to Kanto for a Special Session with Brock and myself."

"Yeah, and they came over to the Alola region for a few days," said Lillie. Misty then looked back at Ash and said, " So she saw the Lure?" Ash nodded his head, reached into his pocket and pulled out the Misty Special Lure. Ash then took Misty's hand and placed the Lure in it, and he said, "I know you gave me the lure Misty, but now I want to give it back to you, I've used it long enough. I appreciate you giving it to me when I was depressed, and I wish I could give you more to show how much your friendship means to me, but I, unfortunately, can't, I'm sorry Misty." Misty looked at the lure she gave Ash while he was battling the Battle frontier. She then looked at Ash and said, "Don't worry about that Ash, as Long as I have this, and I know you've used it, I will always think of our friendship and the places we've been." Misty then hugged Ash, who hugged back and causing Dawn to get a little jealous. When they parted from the hug, Ash said, "So how have you and your sisters been?"

Misty then told Ash that she and her sisters were doing okay. Misty then said, "To be honest, my sisters have decided to retire from show business and are now in charge of the Gym, so I've used my new free time to train my Pokémon. Want to have a Battle?" but before Ash could answer, Dawn said, "I will, I'll battle you, I want to see how a Gym leader battles against me." Misty and Ash looked at Dawn before John said, "Why not, let's give Dawn a taste of a Pokémon Battle." Ash looked at Misty, who said, "I don't mind battling a Coordinator, I always wanted to see how they would do in an actual battle, not the ones they perform in." Lillie also agreed with the match, so Ash said, "Okay, does a one-v-one Pokémon battle sound okay?" Misty and Dawn nodded their heads and Serperior slithered up to Dawn and said, "If she uses water type Pokémon, then your best bet is to pick me." Dawn nodded her head, looked at Misty and said, "I choose my Serperior here." Misty nodded her head and she led Dawn, Serperior, Ash, John, Lillie, and the Pokémon that are out of their Pokéballs to the battle field. When Misty was far enough away, Dawn asked Serperior, "So um.. What moves do you know?" and Serperior said, "Besides Energy Ball, I know Iron Tail, Aqua Tail, and Leaf Storm." Dawn nodded her head and when they finally got to the battlefield, Ash walked onto the Referee's spot and asked, "Do you guys want me to be referee?" Misty and Dawn then said, "Sure." prompting Ash to say, "The Battle between Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean City Gym and Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf town will now begin, each trainer may use only one Pokémon on the field, no substitutions are allowed. Trainers, please present your Pokémon."

"Gyarados, I choose you!" said Misty as she threw a Pokéball, and the Atrocious Pokémon appeared. The Dawn said, "Serperior, let's show Misty what we can do." Serperior nodded his head and slithered onto the field. Ash said, "The Challenger has the first attack, battle Begin!" Dawn started the battle by saying, "Alright Serperior, let's start things off by using Leaf Storm!" Serperior obeyed and used Leaf Storm against Gyarados, but Misty said, "Use Hurricane to deflect the Leaf Storm!" Gyarados obeyed and used Hurricane and both attacks met in the middle, causing an explosion to happen. Dawn then said, "Use Energy Ball." while Misty said, "Hydro Pump!" and again, both moves met in the middle.

It went on like that for a few minutes. Both Gyarados and Serperior were getting tired. Dawn then said in her head, "This is taking too long, Serperior's too tired, he'll get hit, I need to do something." Dawn then said, "Serperior, can you still use Energy Ball?" Serperior nodded his head, Dawn then said, "Okay, use Energy Ball at the wall on the right, Energy Ball at the wall on the left, and then an Energy Ball straight ahead." John and Lillie were confused by what Dawn said and they saw Serperior shoot three Energy Balls in the directions Dawn said. Misty saw the Energy Ball coming in on Gyarados's right and told Gyarados to use Hurricane on the Energy Ball coming in. He did, but got hit by the Energy Ball coming in on his left and the Energy Ball that was coming straight at him. Dawn then said, "Leaf Storm into Iron Tail!" Serperior obeyed and used Leaf Storm on Gyarados, causing more Damage to gyarados. Serperior's Tail then turned a Metallic Color and slammed it against Gyarados. Even though it didn't do a whole lot of Damage, Gyarados was having a hard time fighting back. Dawn smiled and said, "Time for the final blow, use Leaf Storm into Energy Ball!" Serperior obeyed and used Leaf Storm and then energy Ball and both moves struck Gyarados, ending the battle. Ash then said, "Gyarados is unable to battle, Serperior is the winner, which means the victory goes to Dawn of Twinleaf Town."

Dawn jumped in the air as Misty walked over to Gyarados and said to him, "You fought hard Gyarados, now take a good long rest." Misty then recalled Gyarados into his Pokéball. Misty then walked over to Dawn and said, "Congratulations Dawn, you bested me." Dawn smiled and said, "Well, I have to thank you for a tough Battle Misty. It sure did give me a first hand experience when Battling a Gym Leader." Misty nodded her head and reached into her Pocket as she said, "I know you're not taking part in the Pokémon league here in Kanto, but i think you should have this." Misty then handed Dawn a Cascade Badge. Misty then said, "You take this Badge, consider it a gift, to bring you good luck in your journey in the Divine Region. I hope you guys find Gary." Ash nodded his head and said, "I believe we will. We have to find him, if we don't Professor Oak will worry himself to death." John, Lillie, and Dawn all nodded their heads in agreement. Misty then said, "Well, I'll get Brock and we'll keep an eye on him, with help from your mother and Tracy of course." Ash thanked Misty, looked at the others, and said, "Let's get going, we have one more city to pass through before we get to Celadon City." John, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads and after saying goodbye to Misty, and getting Serperior healed, they left Cerulean City to head to Saffron City.

Meanwhile, in the divine Region, Gary was tied up when a woman in a black dress, silver Shoes, and wearing a black cloak walked up to him and she said, "Gary Oak, born in the Kanto region, hometown Pallet Town. Grandson of Professor Samuel Oak, Pokémon Trainer turned researcher turned Pokémon thief. What drew you to the Divine Region?" and Gary said, "I'm not telling you anything. I've seen what you people have done to this Region, and I wanted to stop it when your minions grabbed me." the woman then said, "Now Gary, is that any way to talk to a person who is trying to help you."

"Tying me up, accusing me of Pokémon theft, does that seem like you helping me?" asked ary. The woman knelt to look Gary in his eyes and said, "Of course, as the Regions head of international Liaison, it's my job to help anyone who is not from our region." Gary then said, "By controlling the Populous? That's not helping them, that's enslaving them. Your cult…" but he was interrupted by the woman slapping him and she said, "Don't you ever accuse us of enslaving the People, we're helping them find their true Potential, I'm sure in time you will see things our way." The Woman then turned around and walked away.

Back in Kanto, Ash, John, Lillie, and Dawn were walking along route five when Ash's stomach started to rumble. Ash then said, "I guess I'm a little hungry." Just then, Lillie's, Dawn's, and John's Stomachs also rumbled, prompting Ash to say, "I guess we're ALL hungry." John nodded his head and said, "I agree, let's break for lunch and eat. I'll get everything set up." Ash nodded head and they all called out their Pokémon, and with this being the first time Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, and Mewtwo were seen by the other Pokémon, they were all surprised. (A.N.: I know that I should have had them be introduced when Ash and Company ate dinner in the last chapter, but I was trying to figure out what Pokémon to give to John besides Fearow.) Ash then said, "Calm down you guys, Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, and Mewtwo have joined our teams because Arceus told us that we could use them in our journey in the divine region." Dawn then said to Ash, "Don't forget Ash, we still have Serperior and Electivire, Azumarill, Kabutops, Pinsir, and Houndoom to catch." Ash nodded his head and said, "John, Lillie, do you want to catch the Pokémon that want to join your teams now?"

John and Lillie nodded their heads and after walking over to Dawn, all three threw the six Pokéballs that belonged to the Pokémon into the Air and all six used a move and destroyed their Original Pokéballs. After which, John, Lillie, and Dawn caught the six Pokémon and added them to the team while Houndoom went into the Xtransceiver for Lillie to use later, John now had five Pokémon with him; those Pokémon being Fearow, Zapdos, A Graveler, Kabutops, and Pinsir. Dawn had Articuno, Nidoking, Azumarill, Electrivre, Quilava, Mamoswine, Pachirisu, Piplup, Togekiss, and Buneary, for a total of nine Pokémon, and Lillie had six Pokémon. Serperior, Snowy, Cranidos, her Rockruff, Starie, and Silky. Meanwhile, Ash still had Pikachu, Moltres, Lycanroc, Greninja, Goodra, Infernape, Krookodile, Sceptile,and Mewtwo.

After getting lunch set up and prepared, and giving the Pokémon their Pokéfood, Ash and company began eating the food that John prepared. Ash then said, after slurping up some noodles, "John, you are a culinary Master, probably even better then Brock and Cilan." Ash then couldn't help to feel like two hearts were just broken when he said that, but John said, "Well, I did learn the recipe from Brock, i just improved it with the things I learned from Cilan. So actually, i just took what I learned from Brock and Cilan and combined it, so you have to thank those two." Ash nodded his head and said, "Okay, I will."

After they got done eating, Ash and Dawn decided to train for the Divine Region while John and Lillie cleaned up. John looked at Lillie and asked her, "Did you see the way Dawn looked at Misty when she hugged Ash?" Lillie nodded her head and said, "Yeah, It almost looked like jealousy. You don't think Dawn has feelings for Ash, do you?" John looked at Dawn and Ash battling before he said, "I do think Lillie, I do think so." meanwhile, Ash and Dawn had Pikachu and Piplup spar off with Pikachu using Quick Attack and Piplup using Bubblebeam. Ash then said, "Keep it up Pikachu." then Dawn said, "Concentrate, keep firing, your accuracy needs to show in our first official Gym battle." Piplup kept firing Bubblebeam at Pikachu, but kept missing. Piplup was getting furious until an idea came to mind, he watched how Pikachu was moving and fired another Bubble beam to a place where Pikachu wasn't, for about 2 seconds. As Pikachu ran, he didn't see the bubbles, and he ran right into them. Piplup cheered as Ash walked over to check on Pikachu.

Ash asked PIkachu, "Are you alright Buddy?" and Pikachu nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine." Pikachu then hopped out of Ash's arms and walked over to Piplup and said, "That was smart Piplup, firing a Bubble Beam at a place where I would end up." Piplup smiled and said, "It took me a while to realize that you were moving in a pattern." Pikachu sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head. Ash then said, "Okay, now let's see how Azumarill fairs in a battle." Dawn nodded her head and said, "Azumarill, you ready?" Azumarill nodded her head and ran in front of Dawn. Dawn then pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Azumarill and the Pokédex said, "Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. A Water/Fairy type and the evolved form of Marill. Azumarill can make balloons out of air. It makes these air balloons if it spots a drowning Pokémon. The air balloons enable the Pokémon in trouble to breathe. This Azumarill knows Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Giga Impact, and Brick Break." Ash then said, "Well then, I think Lycanroc will battle Azumarill." Lycanroc nodded his head and leaped in front of Ash to battle Azumarill. Ash then said, "Let's start off with Bite!" and Lycanroc obeyed and used Bite to try and do Damage to Azumarill. Dawn then said, "Azumarill, Dodge and use Brick Break!" Azumarill jumped up to dodged Lycanroc's attack and delivered a swift chop to Lycanroc's head, causing Major Damage to the Wolf Pokémon. Ash then said, "Use Accelerock!" and Lycanroc obeyed Ash and charged at Azumarill at high speeds, hitting Azumarill and sending it into the nearby River. After jumping out of the River, Azumarill shot a Hydro Pump at Lycanroc, getting a hit and sending Lycanroc into a tree. Ash ran to Lycanroc as Dawn walked over to Azumarill and said, "Azumarill, that was not called for, we were having a friendly sparring match." Azumarill looked at Dawn and said, "So, he shouldn't have sent me into the river."

"That's because Accelerock make the user attack first and it always hits." said Dawn. Dawn then heard Ash struggling and she turned around, only to see Ash trying to keep Lycanroc still. She then saw that Lycanroc's eyes were Red. When Dawn asked Ash what happened, Ash said, "My Lycanroc doesn't like to have it's fur messed up, so Azumarill shooting a Hydro Pump at him and smashing him into a tree made my Lycanroc go Berserk. He's controlled it before, but it's been a while since he got dirty, I guess he couldn't control it like before." Lycanroc kept trying to break free of Ash's grip as Pikachu hopped over to him and Ash and Pikachu said, "Calm Down Lycanroc, I'm sure he didn't mean to do." Then Lycanroc said, "LIKE DISTORTION WORLD HE DIDN'T. HE KNEW WE WERE SPARRING AND HE STILL WANTED TO GET MY FUR DIRTY. Let me go Ash, I want to teach that blue watery bunny a lesson." Ash refused to let go of Lycanroc when everyone heard that, and just as Lycanroc was about to get free, everyone heard someone singing. Soon enough, Lycanroc was calmed down. Ash, Dawn, and John all recognized the singing and searched around. They kept searching until Ash spotted where the singing was coming from and it was from a Pokémon sitting on a Stump. Ash, Dawn, and John then shouted, "Meloetta!" before they ran to the Melody Pokémon. After she was done singing, Meloetta flew around Ash, John, and Dawn as she said, "Ash, John, Dawn, it is great to see you three again." Meloetta then hugged Ash as he said, "It's great to see you too Meloetta, what are you doing here?"

"Lord Arceus sent me to help you in the Divine Region, he wants to make sure that you have enough power to take on the cult in the Divine region." said Meloetta, Ash looked at John, Dawn, and Lillie and said, "I guess Arceus has great confidence in us." Lillie nodded her head and said, "Not only that, but I think Lycanroc is calmed down now, look." Ash, Dawn, and John looked at Lycanroc and Azumarill and saw the two playing together. Ash then looked back at Meloetta and said, "Your music helped calm Lycanroc down, thank you Meloetta, but what about Ridley?" Meloetta told Ash that Ridley was okay with her joining Ash on his journey. Meloetta then said, "To be honest, I kind of missed Oshawott and Piplup." Ash then looked at Piplup and said, "Hey Piplup, look over here!"

When Piplup looked up, he saw Meloetta and blushed a bright red and ran over to Meloetta as Meloetta flew over to him and the two shared a hug before they danced around in a circle. Piplup then said, "What are you doing here Meloetta?" and Meloetta said, "Well, I came here to join Ash on his journey in the Divine region, but I didn't know you and Dawn were going to be here." Meloetta then looked at Ash and said, "Is it okay I join Dawn's group instead, I would like to be closer to Piplup." Piplup's eyes turned into hearts after he heard that. Ash smiled and said, "I don't see why not, and Dawn can use you in Pokémon Contests if you want." Meloetta looked at Dawn and said, "I wouldn't mind if you do that. May I please join your team." Dawn smiled and said, "Of course, I don't mind at all." Dawn then pulled out a Pokéball and Meloetta on the head and she went inside the Pokéball. After three shakes and a ding, Dawn successfully caught meloetta.

In his chambers, Arceus watched as Ash, Dawn, Lillie, and John were getting things packed up when the tower Duo, Lugia and Ho-Oh flew in. Lugia looked at Ash and his friends before he said, "Are sure it was wise to entrust Humans to deal with the cult in the unseen region?" Arceus looked at the Diving Pokémon and said, "Ash and his friends have helped us in the past, now it is time they help us again. I have sent The bird Trio, Mewtwo, and Meloetta, to help Ash and his friends in the Divine Region." then Ho-oh said, "Our father is correct, Lugia, if the humans that have helped up in the past are able to figure out what is going on the Unseeable Region." Lugia looked at Ho-oh and said, "Well, Brother, we would be able to look if our father would let us fly over the divine Region."

"SILENCE!" shouted Arceus, causing Lugia and Ho-oh to lower their heads. Arceus then said, "Do not worry Lugia, I'm sure our chosen champion and his companions will be victorious, and if our chosen Champion needs assistance, I will ask for volunteers to go aid him, is that understood?" Lugia nodded his head and Arceus said, "Good, now leave my chambers at once." Lugia and Ho-oh nodded their heads and left Arceus's chambers. Back with Ash and the others, they finished getting things packed up and were on the move when a net came down over their heads and they all heard a familiar voice said, "Happy to see me again?" they looked up and saw Damian. Ash then said, "What do you want now?" Damian hopped down and said, "I told you I'll be back, and like I told you before, I'm here to bring you to Team Rocket Headquarters, my leader has somethings to tell you." Ash then said, "Forget it, we're not going to be forced into Team rocket, we're not giving up our Pokémon, and there is absolutely NO WAY we're being held under this net, PIkachu, use Iron Tail on the NET!" Pikachu nodded his head and after his Tail turned a Metallic Color, Pikachu cut the net open to let everyone out. Damian then pulled a Pokéball from his Pocket and said, "Emboar, let's go!" and the Pokémon that came out was the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon Emboar. Dawn quickly took out her Pokédex and scanned Emboar.

After scanning, the Pokédex said, "Emboar, the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon, and the final evolution for Tepig. A Fire & Fighting type, It has mastered fast and powerful fighting moves. It grows a beard of fire. This Emboar knows Flamethrower, Flame Blitz, Flame Charge, and Giga Impact." Ash then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "Greninja, I choose you!" and the Ninja Pokémon appeared. As then said, "Water Shuriken!" and Greninja formed throwing stars made out of water and threw them at Emboar, hitting Emboar and doing major damage to it. Ash then said, "Greninja, time to power up!" Greninja nodded his head and his eyes glowed red. Ash then said, as he and Greninja made the same moves in sync, "We become stronger than ever before." Greninja was then surrounded by water, in which, everyone watched as he changed into a new Form. the water then went onto Greninja's back to form a giant water shuriken. John smiled as Dawn and Lillie was in Awe. John then said, "Ladies, and Damian, say hello to Ash-Greninja." Dawn looked at John and asked, "How do you know that?" and John replied, "I watched Ash battle in the Kalos League. I also called him after the league ended and asked him about it, he called the form Ash-Greninja." Dawn and Lillie then looked back at Ash battling. Ash told Greninja to use Double Team and Water Shuriken at the same time. Greninja obeyed and used Double team to surround Emboar. The Greninja clones and original then grabbed the shurikens off of their backs and threw them at Emboar, who got hit by all of them and was defeated. Damian then recalled Emboar and sent out Rotom and threw a Lawn Mower out and said, "You know what to do!" Rotom obeyed and went inside to take control of the Lawnmower and became Mow Rotom. Ash then said, " Keep back Greninja!" as Damian said, "Electro Ball!" and Mow Rotom fired an electric Orb at Greninja, who managed to Dodge it. Dawn ran up to Ash and said, "Let me and my Quilava handle Rotom, you and Greninja deal with Damian." Ash nodded his head and said, "Greninja, ignore Rotom, go after Damian." Greninja nodded his head and jumped backwards again.

Dawn then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "Quilava, spotlight and use Flamethrower!" and the Volcano Pokémon came out and used Flamethrower on Mow Rotom, scoring a direct hit on it, sending Rotom out of the Lawnmower. Damian was furious and reached for another Pokéball, but Greninja appeared behind him and grabbed his arms and held them behind his Back. Ash smiled at that, looked at John, and told him to call Officer Jenny, and John said, "I placed the call the moment after you called out Greninja." Ash smiled and a few minutes later, Officer Jenny arrived to take Damian to the local Police Station.

With Damian out of the way, Ash and his friends continued on their journey to get to Celadon City. Along the way, John pulled up the list of Gyms in the divine Region and sorted them by number of Badges needed to battle the Gym Leader and he saw something. John then said, "Guys, they made the Gym order by the number of a certain Type." John then saw that Ash, Dawn, and Lillie were giving him questioning looks, prompting him to say, "They organized the Gyms in order of how many Pokémon a certain type has, Ice is first because it has forty-four Pokémon for it. Next is Fairy, then it's ghost, and so on. I honestly don't know why I didn't see it in the Pokémon Center, but the Gyms are set in order by the number of Pokémon the type has."

"Wow, that's one way of having your gyms sorted." said Dawn. Ash nodded his head and said, "Yeah, but enough about that, we need to get to Celadon City, and we have to pass through Saffron City to get through." John then said, "Why don't we say hi to Sabrina while we're in town?" and Ash said, "Only if we go past the Gym, we need to get to Celadon City as soon as possible if we want to catch a flight to the Divine Region." John nodded his head and the four friends continued traveling to Celadon city.

After walking for what seemed like forever, Ash and his friends finally reached Saffron city. John then told Ash, "I'll meet you guys at the Pokémon Center, I'm going to the Pokémart to get more supplies, have to make sure that we have everything topped off before we go to the Divine Region, or should we call it the Truven Region?" Ash realized that John had a point and said, "That's a good point, should we still call it the Divine Region, or the Truven Region?" Dawn said that they should call it the Truven Region, as did Lillie. Ash then said, "So we're all in agreement, from now on it's the Truven Region." John, Lillie, and Dawn nodded their heads and John went to the Pokémart as Ash, Lillie, and Dawn walked to the Pokémon center.

When Ash, Dawn, and Lillie got to the Pokémon Center, they gave Nurse Joy their Pokéballs and asked if they can get check. Nurse Joy nodded her head and said, "Certainly, it should take a couple of minutes." Nurse Joy and Chansey then walked back to check Ash's, Dawn's, and Lillie's Pokémon. Ash then decided to call his mother. When he did, his mother said, "Ash, so nice of you to call, are you in the Divine Region yet?" and Ash replied, "Not yet, we're in Saffron City, John's getting supplies for the Truven Region. It was called that before it became the Divine Regio. Mom, I have a lot to tell you."

Meanwhile, John just entered the Pokémart to get the extra supplies he needed when he saw a familiar face. John then said, "Richie!" when the boy John called to turned around, it was in fact Richie. Richie walked over to John and the two shook hands. Richie then asked John what he was doing in Saffron City and John said, "I was going to ask you the same question. But, since you asked first, Ash and I are traveling with two of our friends to a Region called the Truven Region, how about you?" and Richer Told John that he was going through the core Regions to catch and Study as many Pokémon as he could for the Professors. John smiled and said, "That's cool. Well, I better get back to what I was doing, I'll see you later Richie."

"You too John." replied Richie and the two shook hands before Richie left the Pokémart and John began shopping for supplies he and the others might need. Back with Ash, he just got done talking to his Mother when he walked up to Dawn and Lillie. Dawn told Ash that Nurse Joy finished giving their Pokémon a check up and Dawn gave Ash his Pokéballs back. Ash thanked Dawn for keeping his Pokéballs safe, and Dawn blushed a little before she said, "It's no big deal Ash." Just then, John walked in with two bags full and he said to Ash, "You will never guess who I just saw."

"Sabrina?" said Ash in a Joking manner, and John said, "No, it was actually Richie, he's traveling the seven Core Regions to catch and study as many Pokémon as he could for the Professors." Ash was surprised, he didn't think Richie would become an assistant to the Professors. Ash then said, "Wow, I didn't think Richie would become an assistant to the Professors." John nodded his head and said, "Neither did I. But anyway, I finished restocking our supplies, so we're ready to continue heading to Celadon City to get a Plane to the Truven Region.

As the group left Saffron City, John and Lillie hung back to discuss how to get Dawn and Ash together while Dawn and Ash discussed on how to get John and Lillie together. Ash said to Dawn, "I think you should try and convince Lillie to admit her feelings towards John, I know Moltres said it, but I think it would be better if Lillie told him directly." Dawn nodded her head and said, "I just wish John could just tell Lillie how he feels about her." Ash also nodded his head and said, "Yeah, it would be nice if…" but he was interrupted by a net coming out of nowhere and landing on top of them. John and Lillie saw this and ran to help but were caught by a net as well.

Just then, three Team Rocket Grunts appeared along with Damian. Ash then said, "For arceus sake will you just leave us alone!" and Damian said, "Not until you hear what Giovanni has to say." Damian then placed a little device down and Giovanni appeared. Giovanni then said, "Greetings Ash, I know things look bad, but believe me when I say that we are your side." Ash told Giovanni, "really, us being under nets shows that your on our side, that makes so much sense." that made Giovanni role his eyes and said, "Those Nets are there so you can finally listen to what I have to say." then John said, "We already told Damian that we're not joining Team Rocket." then Giovanni said, "I don't want you to join, I wanted to tell you that if you ever need help from Team Rocket in the Truven Region, we will give you our support." Everyone was speechless until Ash said, "Are you saying that you want to help?" and Giovanni replied, "Yes, the Truven Region's occupiers are Team Rockets main rivals. We've been waging a secret war with each other for years, we've had our victories, but we've also had our defeats. For example, summoning the forces of nature in the Unova Region so I could launch an attack against their Navy." Then Ash said, in a shocked and surprised tone, "That's what you wanted them for?" and Giovanni nodded his head. Giovanni then said, "Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to use them for. All the Pokémon we take we use in our war, but we've losing several battles because our plans have been foiled by you and your friends." Ash then said, "Seriously?" and saw Giovanni nodded his head and John said, "But you're a Criminal Organization, how are we supposed to know if you're telling us the truth?"

"You only have my word on it." replied Giovanni. Giovanni then told Damian and the three Team Rocket Grunts to take the nets off of Ash and his friends. After they did, John said to Giovanni, "On that, we agree on Giovanni." Ash, Dawn, and Lillie looked at John and said, "What, we do only have his word to go by." Ash nodded his head, looked at Giovanni and said, "Is that all you have to say?" and Giovanni nodded his head, prompting Ash to say, "Good, if we need help we'll call." Giovanni nodded his head again said, "Of course you will." and Giovanni ended the video chat.

Ash dusted off the dirt on his pants, looked at Damian and said, "Would have been nice for you to just say it and not attack us in the first place." Damian smiled a crooked Smile and said, "To be honest, I wanted Payback for what you did to me, so that's why I attacked you. My orders were just escort you to Team Rocket HQ, but I couldn't resist attacking you." Ash and his friends gave Damian a look that read, "really?" and Damian just laughed and told the grunts to withdraw. As they walked away, Damian said to Ash and John, "Watch your back you two, you can't trust people you meet there." Ash and John kept looking at Damian and the Team Rocket Grunts walk off and out of sight before Ash said, "I wonder what Damian meant by that?" and John shrugged his Shoulders before he said, "I have no clue, but let's get going, it's about to get dark soon." Ash, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads in agreement and they continued walking until it got dark and they set camp up for the night. As john and Lillie got dinner ready, Ash and Dawn, with help from their Pokémon, got the tents set up. Ash then got an idea, and said, "Hey John, can I talk to you real quick." John nodded his head and walked over to Ash as he walked out of earshot of Dawn and Lillie and Ash said, "I'm going to take Dawn to get some more wood for the firepit, while we're gone, I think you should tell Lillie how you feel." john immediately blushed and whispered, "Absolutely not, what if Zapdos was just joking and she doesn't have feelings for me? What if she refuses to talk to me after I tell her about my feelings?"

Ash interrupted John by saying, "You'll never know unless you talk to her, come on man, it wouldn't hurt." John gave Ash a serious look and said, "Since when were you an expert on relationships Ash 'Too dense to see girls hitting on him in every region except Iris' Ketchum." Ash then said, "The joke's on you John, I knew all those girls , except Iris, were hitting on me and tried to make me fall head over heels for them. But there was one girl who actually had that effect." John was wondering who Ash was talking about until he remembered the other person traveling with them besides Lillie. John then said, "Dawn?" and Ash nodded his head, causing John to say, "Well, why don't you just tell her."

"Hang on now, this was about you, not me." Ash told John. John then said, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have told me that little fact, I'm going to get back to cooking dinner." John then walked back to finish making dinner, as Ash walked back to Dawn. When dinner was done, they all ate dinner peacefully as Ash and Dawn talked about strategies that they would use in their Gym Battles when a robotic hand came up from behind Ash and Dawn and grabbed Pikachu and Piplup, causing Ash and Dawn to spin around and watch Pikachu and Piplup get pulled into a cage that was under the basket of a hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth's head. Ash then clenched his fist and said, "TEAM ROCKET!" then Dawn said, "I thought you guys weren't going to bother us anymore?"

"That's what james said, we never agreed to leave you twerps alone." said Jessie. Then Meowth said, "Besides, what he doesn't know won't…" but he was cut off by a voice saying, "Carnivine, use Bullet Seed!" and a fury of bullets struck where the cage was attached to the balloon and as the cage fell, the voice then said, "Inkay, use Psychic to catch the cage!" then a blue Aura surrounded the cage, Pikachu, and Piplup and they were sat down on the ground and bars removed to allow Pikachu and Piplup to ran towards Ash and Dawn and into their arms. The Voice then said, "Yamask, Amoonguss, use Shadow Ball and Razor Leaf on the Balloon, bring it down." then a Shadowy Blob and several Sharp Leafs flew at and struck the Balloon, causing it t crash to the ground. As Jessie and Meowth got up, they, along with Ash and his friends, looked at where the moves and the voice came from and saw James with his Inkay, Yamask, Amoonguss, Carnivine, Mime Jr., and Mareanie facing them. But James wasn't in his Team Rocket outfit, he wore a dark blue Shirt, Jeans, tennis shoes, a brown vest, and a Cap. Jessie then asked James why he attacked them, and James said, "Because You went against my wishes and captured Pikachu, after I asked you two to leave them alone. I thought I made it very clear not to attack them and try to steal Pikachu, but you went against what I asked. I trusted you two and you betrayed me, for that, I'm resigning from Team Rocket. Everyone, attack them!" James's Pokémon attacked Jessie and Meowth and sent them flying into the distance.

James then recalled all of his Pokémon and walked over to Ash, John, Dawn, Lillie, and their Pokémon. When James got to the group, Ash said, "Thank you James, you saved our Pikachu and Piplup." James nodded his head and said, "Not a problem Ash, all I ask in return is that you let me help you on mission in the Divine Region." Ash replied by saying, "We're calling it the Truven Region, and do you mean you want to come with us to the Truven Region to help us find Gary?" and James nodded his head and said, "Yes, i wish to help you find Gary and if it's possible, free the Truven Region." Ash smiled, as did John, Dawn, and Lillie, and Ash said, "I always thought there was good in you James, you're more than welcomed to join us in the Truven Region." James smiled and the two shook hands. As they got back to eating, Dawn looked at Meloetta and said, "Hey Meloetta, can I scan you?" and Meloetta nodded her head, prompting Dawn to take out her Pokédex and scanned Meloetta. The Pokédex then read, "Meloetta, the Melody Pokémon, a normal and Psychic type. The melodies sung by Meloetta have the power to make Pokémon that hear them happy or sad. This Meloetta knows Psychic, Relic Song, Close Combat, and Hyper voice." James then said, "I'm still surprised that the three of you caught so many Legendary Pokémon." Ash nodded his head and said, "Yeah, they're only going to be used in Dire Situations." James nodded his head and said, "Of course." Ash then asked James, "Is Team Rocket part of a secret war with the cult in the Truven Region?" and James said, "Since Jessie, Meowth, and I were always after you guys, I don't exactly know if we are or not, but I have heard Giovanni send a few dozen grunts to this place called the divine Region."

"The Divine Region is the Truven Region James, we chose to call it by its original name." Said Ash. James then said, "Oh, alright then." James then continued eating as he said, "This food is really delicious, and you made this John?" and John nodded his head and said, "Yeah, it's my own secret recipe, I'm glad you like it." James nodded his head and they all finished dinner and went to bed.

|X| THE NEXT MORNING

Ash and his friends, including James, got up, dressed, and broke down camp and continued heading to Celadon City. James told John, "That was the best breakfast I've eaten in a long time." John smiled and said, "Thanks, I've learned from Brock and Cilan when it comes to cooking food." James then said, "I can tell." then Ash said, "Yeah, thanks to Brock and Cilan, John has become one of the best cooks I know." James then said, "Now I can't wait to have more of your cooking John." John smiled and said, "Thanks James." Pikachu then said, "You better make some more of that Pokémon food I love." Then Piplup said, "Same here." John sweatdropped before he said, "Don't worry you two, I'll make more Batches of it." James then looked at John and said, "You understood what they were saying?" and John said, "Well, yeah, I mean we can't actually hear what they're saying, but I assumed that they wanted more of the Pokémon food that I make for them. I have my own recipe for making Pokémon food for each type." Ash then said, "Yeah, we've come to figure out what they're saying to us." James then said, "I see, alright then." Ash then looked forward and saw buildings and he ran forwarded as the others ran to catch up. When Ash stopped, he said, "We're here guys." as the others got to him, they saw their destination, Celadon City, and one stop closer to the Truven Region and finding Gary.

Times Ash is mentioned:238

Times John is mentioned:119

Ash-to-John Ratio: 2