Well, what do you know? Finally decided to post a chapter after sorting things out more or less. I want to thank those who have reviewed, favorited and/or followed my story so far. I'd greatly appreciate if more people would review since I can get feedback on what I'm doing right and what I need to improve on. :)

To answer MaMcMu's comment, there will be some Disney-esque format at least, but not a lot to give it my own twist.

Now here comes the chapter that most of my readers (at least I think) are looking forward too. Let's commence shall we?

Chapter 3 : An Astonishing Rescue

"Lillie! Where did you head off this time?"

The blonde young lady turned around to face a man frowning at her deeply. His arms were crossed and he had slightly narrowed his blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, mister Lysandre...I was just studying the Pokémon here and-"

"Don't wander off too far, miss Lillie. You and your brother Gladion hired me as well as Mister Giovanni so that I could protect you. Do you think we would want to see you in the jaws of a hungry Pokémon?" The red-haired man asked, cold yet calm.

"Of course not." Lillie shook her head, feeling the embarrassment an elementary school student would feel upon being chastised by her strict teacher.

"Then be a good girl and stay with the group at all times." Lysandre ordered as he left, with Lillie walking behind him. 'Be a good girl'...as if I was his daughter...or ten years younger than my age. Lillie thought to herself, a bit miffed.

As she walked back to the campgrounds, she took a small moment to observe her settings. She glanced over the other members of the expedition. There was her older brother, Gladion, a young blond man dressed in more black than a funeral-goer, training his Pokémon. Giovanni was staring into space a bit, a frown settled in his face as he pondered about something. As if he was calculating something or reminiscing about a memory. Some of the others had wandered off to explore themselves, something Lillie considered lucky in the moment. In a tent, a bit of smoke was rising a bit from it. Brock was cooking something.

Lillie entered in her tent, sat in her cot. Once she did, she took her book bag, got out a book and began to read. She had wanted to explore a bit but so far she had yet the chance. As much as she appreciated Lysandre's services to protect the expedition group, there were times where she felt stifled by those services. This was an expedition after all. Where was the fun in not exploring at least once? Well, we still have about two weeks. Lillie thought, trying to assure herself. I still have time.

As she began to finish off the chapter she was on, Lillie noticed the face of her beloved Pokémon glancing at her, in sadness. The white-furred Ninetails nuzzled her owner, empathizing with the slight frustration that Lillie had.

"Don't worry, Snowy...we'll explore soon. We just need the perfect opening." Lillie assured her Pokémon in a hushed whisper so no one, at least Lysandre, would hear.

She glanced up from the peek of her tent at the jungle one more time, wondering what could possibly lay out there. The possibilities were endless.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Delicious Mago berries coming up!" Ash declared, grinning as he tossed up a handful of Mago berries to his two companions, Pikachu and Zuri. Once the two Pokémon caught their berries with their paw and feather wings, Ash grabbed some for himself.

The three took no hesitation in eating their berries, enjoying the sweet taste of this berry.

"A nice blend of sweet and tasty if I do say so myself!" Zuri commented, upon finishing one of her berries.

"That's because sweet foods are tasty." Pikachu said with a smile, as he took a bite.

"Not all sweet foods. Some are too sweet for me to enjoy!" Zuri shook her head in defense.

Ash chuckled at the argument that his two friends were having. "I swear, you guys…" Ash began before then noticing a bit of smoke rising a bit farther. That hadn't been the first time either. It had began a couple of days ago. It wasn't a lot of smoke in fairness, just very faint, yet it didn't stop Ash from being curious.

"Something wrong, Ash?"

Ash turned around, facing Zuri and Pikachu who looked at him in astonishment.

"Have you guys ever wondered about the smoke?...The one that started at least two moons ago." Ash asked.

"Maybe it's just a fire Pokémon practicing his moves." Pikachu suggested, trying to find the positive of the situation.

"I'm not sure that's a Pokémon, Pikachu…" Zuri muttered, staring at the smoke herself intrigued.

"What I find odd is that no fires have broken out yet. Not complaining obviously but it seems odd, doesn't it?" Pikachu asked, glancing at his friends, concern in his face.

Zuri asked, "You don't think that…?" She faltered off, also concerned to consider the possibilities of new arrivals out there.

Ash didn't say a word, too focused on what could be the origins of this smoke. He couldn't shake off this feeling that something big was going to happen. Whether it would be for better or for worse however, that would be another question.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After a delicious dinner from the cook Brock and a few other activities, the expedition group had taken to begin to head off to sleep. Or at least almost all of them. While most of the expedition were now sleeping in their tents, Lillie had stayed up a bit later this time. She had taken to reading her book for a few minutes. Once she finished the chapter she was on, she readied to go to bed.

As she gently laid herself in her cot, she murmured gently to herself, "Tomorrow, I just tell Lysandre I'm off to explore and offer him to protect me, if that's what he's worried about…" And soon, she had settled off into sleep with Snowy curled up by her feet.

Unknown to her, her plans to go deeper into the jungle would be bumped up to this night. It all began a little later after midnight, at least. Snowy was sleeping peacefully by her owner. She sat up in awe at these sounds. What could they mean? She began to do her usual sounds getting the attention of Lillie, who sleepily got up. "Snowy? What's wrong?" the light-blonde haired girl asked in curiosity.

Snowy said nothing but she began sniffing the air and got out the tent to Lillie's shock. "Hey, wait for me!" she exclaimed, grabbing a sweater for herself and getting out of the tent to follow her Ninetales.

As Snowy ran to the smell, she then noticed she had gotten deeper and deeper. And then she could sense a...growl. A growl that sounded...vicious. The Ninetales tensed her body in concern as her owner Lillie finally caught up with her beloved Pokémon.

"Snowy!" Lillie cried out, relieved. "Thank goodness. Snowy, please, don't ever scare me like that...Snowy? What's wrong?" Lillie asked in concern as she noted the anxious expression of her Pokémon.

The Ninetales got into a defensive position as Lillie heard the growling, and she could feel herself become colder despite the fact that she had on a sweater. Soon she tensed her body in anxiety as the growling grew louder and louder.

Lillie and Snowy were about to run off as quick when out of the bushes and trees came the source of the growling. It was a hulking rouge Arcanine glaring at them with eyes of glare. Lillie stood in front of Snowy as an act of defense for her Pokémon as she and Snowy began to back away. The sooner they got out of here, the better.

Before she could, however, the Arcanine let out a blast of Ember at their direction. Snowy jumped up as an act to defend her owner, taking the hit instead.

"Snowy!" Lillie exclaimed in concern. The Ninetales lay on the ground, trying to recover herself from the critical hit. Lillie had to get her out of there and fast. Not only was Snowy at a type disadvantage but she feared this Arcanine would do something to both as well rather than just simply defeat them in battle.

Before the Arcanine could prepare another hit…

Out of the dark, a man-sized figure came out and lunged into the Arcanine, ridding any chance of the Arcanine attempting to do another blast. The Arcanine had forgotten about it's initial goal on Lillie and went for the newcomer instead. Lillie gasped in shock as she and Snowy watched on in awe at the fight between the Arcanine and...a human man. A naked human man, Lillie and Snowy both noted to add more shock.

Ash grimaced in pain as he took a slight Ember shot from Arcanine in the stomach before he bit on the Arcanine's upper behind neck, making it roar in pain. Ash snarled as he snapped to the Arcanine, in it's language, "Hey, leave this creature alone! You know it's against the law of this place!"

The Arcanine growled and scratched at Ash's arm who cringed to himself before laying himself flat and with his might, kicked the Arcanine's mouth causing it to whimper a bit before it furiously attempted to lunge at Ash, who jumped up and began holding on by it's ears.

Lillie gasped as she muttered in astonishment, "Incredible. I've never seen anyone battle a Pokémon by themselves."

The Arcanine pushed Ash out of the way, where the raven-haired feral hit his back against a large rock. The Arcanine shot an Ember attack at Ash once more, causing him to cringe in pain slightly before glowering at him. The Arcanine was about to lunge at Ash before the man jumped out of the way, causing the Arcanine to hit it's head against the rock. It lost consciousness immediately, spirals in it's eyes.

Ash sighed, relieved that the battle was over. There he gave a look at the would-be victims of his opponent and was surprised. Lillie blushed upon realizing that she had now gotten the attention of the man who saved her life.

She cleared her throat and said, gratefully, "Thank you...thank you for saving me there. I...I really appreciate it."

Ash simply blinked at her in confusion. However, before he could near her, his face contorted to pain due to the Ember attack on his stomach earlier. He fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

Lillie and Snowy were stunned at this twist. Ash glanced at Lillie before passing out from the pain.

The blonde haired girl rushed to Ash, and did a quick check on his pulse. "He's alive..but that Ember attack left a number on him." Lillie replied to herself in relief that her hero was alive, if in need of help. "Come on, we need to help him."

Snowy gave a quick nod as she got up. Lillie gently ordered, "Get the others, Brock especially."

Snowy once more nodded at her owner's wishes and headed off to the campgrounds to get help. About ten minutes later, the others had returned with Snowy leading them. Their faces of grumpiness and/or confusion turned to astonishment and concern at seeing the sight of Lillie kneeling over a man they didn't know who was unconscious and his stomach red with the ember attack. The unconscious Arcanine, with spirals in their eyes, lay at a far corner.

"Lillie! What happened here?" Lysandre asked firmly.

"Snowy heard something and I followed her...we...we got caught by this Arcanine there and it...it would have killed us if he hadn't saved us." Lillie replied, gesturing to Ash.

"So you put yourself on danger in purpose?" Lysandre frowned.

"No! I didn't." Lillie shook her head firmly before crying out, "Please. Just help this man. He's in pain…"

Brock glanced over the unconscious man and said, "She's right. He's had at least two ember attacks on his body. Take him to the infirmary."

With that, two of the venturers carried the man by each end of his body, carefully draping a fabric (one of the men's pajamas shirts) over his waist area, solely for modesty purpose of course, as the group headed off to the campgrounds so Brock could treat him. Lillie sighed in relief that they would help this man even though she knew Lysandre was glaring behind her. Giovanni couldn't help but stare at the man. Why did he have a gut feeling about this man?

Fun fact...I just found out that Lysandre's name is spelt 'Lysandre' not 'Lysandere' all this time. Thanks, Bulbapedia.

Choosing who would be my story's 'Clayton/Buldeo' was a tricky choice which is the main reason (barring personal issues like college and all that) that it took a long time to update. I had toyed with multiple ideas such as having Hunter J or Iron-Masked Marauder from the movie with Celebi. Heck, even Giovanni was set to be the 'Clayton' at one point to make the battle between him and Ash more poetic in an angsty kind of way. But I chose Lysandre since I think that he has some aspects of Clayton such as appearing to be nice, or at least understanding, before showing his true colors, the need for control, heck even the fact he is willing to exterminate Pokémon not loyal to him for his image of a pure world.

Hey, I had to include Snowy, albeit evolved now, there too. This is a Pokémon story. I mean I include Pikachu there, so why not Snowy and the guys' other Pokémon later on? Not sure if I should evolve Pikachu too later on in the story...eh, we'll see.

Surprise, I'm not so great when it comes to fight scenes. So I really hope you guys can give some little ways that I can improve with those fight scenes since there'll be another one coming by the climax of the story.

I do not own the characters. I'm just a fan writing for fun. Thank you all for being so patient with me. Constructive criticism is welcome. Keep on with the reviews and favorites!