AN:

Hey there everyone! Sorry again for the long wait. I just got finished with finals a week ago and have been trying to recover from my brutal semester. Just one more semester to go, plus a scary thesis that haunts my sleep.

Anyways, the big announcement I'm going to make here is good news somewhat. I'm no longer going to be updating Pondus Omnium and Master Challenge at the same time. I originally started updating them at the same time to show my dedication to both stories, but now I feel like that's not working anymore. More often than not I finish a Pondus Omnium chapter first and then that chapter sits for a week or more for Master Challenge to catch up. I think I end up rushing the Master Challenge chapter because I get both excited and worried about letting the Pondus chapter sit and not be published as soon as it could.

In short, My two stories won't be updating at the same time anymore. This way I can give more un-pressured time to the Master Challenge if I feel the need and Pondus Omnium won't be held back from publishing. So if you see one story get updated and not the other from this point on, don't think I've abandoned either story. :)

My schedule is still not going to return to normal until Summer most likely. Even though it's Christmas break for me, I want to rest some (I had two writing courses during the semester as well as a still ongoing thesis that is over my head). I hope you understand.

On a side note, I'm publishing a series of drabbles and oneshots soon for crossovers and other blurbs/plot bunnies that won't leave me alone. So look for that if you're interested!

That's all, sorry for the long AN!

Thanks for your patience! Enjoy! :D


Normal Talk

Thoughts

Lucario talking unless stated otherwise

Zoroark talking unless stated otherwise

Mienshao talking unless stated otherwise

Let the journey continue...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Spiderwebbing arcs of light flashed across the sky, outlining clouds and frothing waves on the ocean surface. A combination of raindrops and tiny streams of water poured down from the top of the cave entrance and into the wild ocean below.

Well it was bearable until the lightning started.

I could handle it. Charizard snorted.

You really just like to try to kill yourself with your ego, huh? Pikachu joked.

Zip it, mouse. Charizard snapped.

I mean… I could draw the lightning… Ellie murmured.

No its okay, Ellie. You would be worn out long before we got to Rota. Besides, there's no real rush yet.

Charizard, Pikachu and Ellie all looked worriedly at their trainer, noticing the forlorn look on his face.

Hey, pal?

Yeah Pikachu?

You know everything will turn out okay, right?

Ash nodded slowly before looking back out at the storm. Apparently these types of storms had been amassing near the Orange Islands frequently and had then been slowly spreading out and cropping up in other places around the world. Ash stretched and leaned back against a sitting Charizard's stomach as Pikachu and Ellie ran over to curl up in his lap.

"We'll head out when the lighting moves off."

"Mwrawwwrrr…"

"Pika!"

"Chu!"

zzz-Pallet Town / Professor Oak's Lab-zzz

"You want some tea, Misty?"

Misty paused from looking out of the dark window to look up at Bianca, who was giving her a bright smile. Rain rattled the window panes and it sounded like a continuous torrent. The water type trainer nodded. "Yeah I like the sound of that."

"Okay! One second." Bianca then trotted off down the hallway, to where some of the other trainers were talking in the alcove. Practically everyone had been forced inside when the rains had started and even the more stubborn members of the bunch had retreated inside as the storm had only gotten stronger. Most of Leaf's team members were in their temporary homes with the exception of Samurai and Brendan.

Across from the chair she was sitting in, Zoey was lounging on the couch, reading a Coordinator's magazine. The tomboy looked over at Misty and sighed. "He's probably hanging out in the cave somewhere, waiting for the storm to die down a bit. Give Ash a bit more credit than that. He's learned… some."

Misty smirked at Zoey's harmless jab. "I do wonder sometimes."

"Misty, women in general wonder about the mental sanity of men and to be fair they probably do the same thing."

"You bet! I mean girls are nuts, well most of them anyways," Max expressed as he walked past, heading towards Oak and Tracey's study area slash library. After he vanished, Misty and Zoey locked eyes and laughed.

"Here! Here! Pass it here!" Cameron suddenly rushed out from the darkened halls with Barry and an absolutely furious Paul on both of their tails.

"Are you wanting to be buried six feet under!?" Paul barked as Barry passed something through the air into Cameron's waiting arms.

"Of course not, pal! That would be counter-productive."

Zoey perked up a brow. "Wow I didn't know you knew that word, Barry."

"Hey! I don't need the peanut gallery right now."

Paul stopped marching and glared at Cameron briefly, who was staying very close to the entrance to the library incase Paul started chasing them again. "Are you imbeciles going to give me back my pokedex or am I going to have to make you give it back?"

"Oh come on! We just wanna check it out and see what you've seen!" Cameron whined in a childish manner.

Paul sighed and turned to calmly walk back the way he'd come. "Fine, whatever, but if I don't find it in my room by dinner then I'll be mad."

"You weren't mad already?" Barry asked in confusion.

Paul looked back over his shoulder. "Nope." He then left through the doorway.

Barry frowned in an exaggerated and comical fashion. "He's just so…"

At that moment Tracey power walked past, clenching a pen in his teeth and carrying several bookmarked books and loose papers in one arm. The other was holding a phone to his ear. "Erm goode Daize, jush busie."

Misty cocked her brow. "Daisy?" She smiled and snatched Tracey's phone from his hand as he passed, startling the Watcher and making him let go of the pen and a few papers.

"Hey!"

Misty put the phone to her ear. "Hey Daisy."

"Little Sis? Oh, what's up!"

"Nothing much. We're all stuck inside while a storm blows over."

"Ah. What happened to my boyfriend?"

"He's trying to pick his ton of books and such back up."

"Aw, he's working so hard!"

Everyone nearby, except for Cameron, who was skimming through Paul's pokedex, could hear Daisy since she'd increased her volume.

"Daisy, it's not that interesting-" Tracey expressed before putting the pen behind his ear.

"Yes it is! Just because we all know Professor Oak like a grandpa doesn't mean it takes away from the fact that you're working with a famous researcher! He had to agree to keep you by the way."

Misty laughed as Tracey lit up like a firecracker. Barry put an arm around the young man and wiggled his eyebrows. "Look at you."

"Well I've got to go. Dewgong's been acting funny. Love you sis, love you Trace."

"Love you, Daisy." Misty and Tracey spoke at the same time before the tell-tale click signaled she'd hung up. Misty smirked and handed Tracey his phone.

"I've got to go get a couple things and check them out against these other documents, but Delia called and Brock, Dawn, and she are coming over with lunch," Tracey informed before slipping away.

"Lunch?" Cameron asked and perked up finally.

"Took you long enough," Zoey snorted in jest.

Cameron only grinned. "Hey Barry, did you know that Paul actually got close enough to a Shaymin to record some data?"

"Shaymin? Cool. Move over. I wanna see." Barry pranced over and started looking at the device with the other boy.

Zoey only sighed. "I guess we should be happy that they haven't destroyed anything. They are technically trapped in a confined space."

"Sorry Misty!" Bianca yelped running into the room. "Everyone was making warm drinks and we only have one stove to heat water on since somebody destroyed Mr. Oak's coffee pot."

Barry blanched as his girlfriend leaned down to give Misty the tea.

"It's fine, Bianca. I wonder who could've been stupid enough to break a coffee pot?" Misty asked, none too subtly looking behind her at Barry.

"Oh geez. He must be a real piece of work!" Cameron spoke, grinning like a fool while locking eyes with the blond.

"Traitor." Barry grumbled to the brunette.

Everyone jumped when the door slammed open and Alain, Astrid and Mairin trudged in. "I can't do it. She just won't stop talking," Alain muttered in frustration as the two girls behind him shut the door behind them.

"She's nice though," Mairin piped in.

"Even if she's a major braggart," Astrid snorted.

Misty laughed. "You guys were put with Masae, right? You poor people."

Alain grumbled and collapsed into a chair dripping wet.

"You could've stayed under Alakazam's Psychic shield, Alain," Astrid snorted.

Alain only groaned.

"Alain was too busy trying to get far away from Masae-san," Mairin giggled.

Zoey stretched. "Well stay if you like of course. Delia, Brock and Dawn are coming over with food soon, so you'll get a meal."

All three of their faces seemed to lighten at the news and Misty merely smiled.

zzz-Rota-zzz

Through the drizzling rain, an orange pokemon soared towards the castle. The guards tensed until they saw the blinding sight of blue aural signal shining from the mount's back. The great pokemon landed on a balcony in the royal's quarter and was returned in a quick red flash of light. Another massive blue light followed before it stopped completely.

Within the castle, Riley and Ilene waited in the throne room patiently. "Are you absolutely certain you're right? I mean the entire theory is a bit of a long shot to be honest Sir Gen."

"Believe me. I hope I'm wrong," Riley replied before glancing towards the entrance of the room, drawing Ilene's attention as well. Ash walked in quickly, having already removed his jacket and hat in his suite. Pikachu and Ellie ran at his heels loyally.

"So Riley, what's the problem that's got you so upset. I mean other than the obvious turmoil." Ash added quietly.

Riley let out a sigh as the younger Guardian approached. "Remember how Robles is AZ's brother from legend and do you also remember the details behind Yvetal's origins?"

Ash nodded calmly, not quite making the connection.

"What if I told you there was a way for Robles or Aluid to absorb Yvetal's life-force?"

Ash blinked in shock and glanced at Ilene who merely looked forlorn. "Wait. Why would he do that?" Then suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Neikan… He was tainted by Neikan all those years ago. When he tried to have Yvetal kill him, he accidentally was affected by some of Neikan and his servants' essence that was locked away in Yvetal's body."

"Precisely," Riley answered grimly. "I'm concerned that that has been one of his major goals all along and Neikan's old desires have greatly influenced the man that was once Aluid over generations."

"He'll be an unbelievably strong Dark One if he succeeds," Ash murmured. Pikachu and Ellie's ears both drooped.

"Yes. I fear that even you and me working together against his assault wouldn't be enough," Riley expressed.

"Right…" Ash paused and closed his eyes, trying to refocus. "What would he have to do to absorb Yvetal's life-force and regain Neikan and the others' essences?"

"He needs all of the orbs to be active, seeing as they were what caused Neikan and his followers to enter their energy state after death so to speak. Then he needs a Prison bottle to help with the actual extraction process."

"Well then we can just keep him off course by hiding these," Ash said, pulling the remaining orbs from his bag. "Technically I shouldn't let them leave me, seeing at I'm somehow keeping them pure, but I think being in a place like this with all the wonderful aura around, via the Tree, should be enough."

Riley finally pulled his eyes from the beautiful gems before nodding. Ilene finally spoke up, "Even if Rota couldn't completely defend against Giovanni and Robles' forces as it were, our army can at least hold them off before reinforcements arrive."

"That's what I was thinking." Ash grinned. "I figure we just have to wait them out. Eventually they'll slip up and we'll figure out where their base is. Then we'll be the ones with the advantage."

Ilene smiled. "I like your positivity Sir Ketchum."

Ash laughed a bit and rubbed behind his head as a slightly more solemn look crossed his face. "Well. I guess I've just been a bit tired of being negative." Ash then nodded to both of his allies. "I'm going to go take a nap until morning. I transferred all my pokemon to the Tree in one go once I got here and it wore me out."

"Of course. Sleep well my knight," Ilene imparted.

"And I'll store these in the vault," Riley spoke, lifting the orbs.

"Thanks your majesty, Riley." Ash then turned and ran off, with his two mice right behind.

"It concerns me that he is so young and yet he must be worried about such things as this in our time," Ilene murmured as Riley walked off.

"Yes, but there were men and perhaps a few rebellious women that marched off younger than he," Riley replied with sadness tinting his voice. "Hopefully it won't be a problem once Team Rocket is taken care of."

"I hope." Ilene let out a breath and touched her ancestor's pendant that rested against her chest. "Is this how you felt?"

zzz-Team Rocket-zzz

They marched silently through rough brush and thick forests. Vane was at the head with Jeremy, who had argued long and hard with Vane to be allowed to come for some strange reason that the Trio couldn't decipher. So far none of the three had figured out what they were all doing and of course most of the grunts didn't have a clue either.

The only thing they did know was they were wearing strange one piece outfits that they had been forced to wear. Even Meowth was made to wear a collar of some kind. They were similar to their typical uniforms, but were slick and covered in strange tech-looking lines. "Hey Meowth you have any idea about where we are?" Jessie murmured quietly.

"Just somewhere on or near the Kanto-Johto border. Other than that, I've got nothin'."

Suddenly, they clammed up when Vane spoke at the edge of the forest they were in and halted their progress. "Listen up! We're about to move deep into enemy territory. It's possible they have patrols or watchtower stations in place. Once we go in, there is no mercy. You see someone, you take them out. We can't have anyone getting away and alerting others to our presence. Preferably, we won't be spotted at all."

"Uh sir, if I may, where exactly are we heading?" A random grunt asked.

Vane didn't speak and simply pulled a branch next to him out of the way, revealing the Tree of Beginning.

Jessie, James and Meowth glanced at each other nervously before Vane interrupted their silent exchange.

"Activate your suits now by placing your hand over the com unit near your waist. Your sight will become a bit blurry, but that's normal with most cloaking devices."

If anyone had been watching the large group of men and women crouching in the forest, they would've suddenly seen all of them slowly disappear one by one.

zzz-Terracotta Town-zzz

"Darmanitan, Psychic on Medicham and Fire punch on Vivillon!" Shamus shouted, with a smirk firmly planted on his face. The results were instantaneous. Medicham found itself launched into the air and as it was trying to flip over and regain its sense of equilibrium, Chandelure's Hex attack pounded it mercilessly into the ground with multiple balls of purple fire. Darmanitan barely missed Vivillon with the first swing, but completely surprised it with the appearance of a second fire coated fist that slammed into it. Both pokemon were knocked out.

"Darmanitan and Chandelure are the winners!" Dingo declared with a grin as the loser sighed and returned his pokemon. Shamus grumbled under his breath, trying to ignore the desire to force his opponent to give him one of his pokemon. That had always been his method of trading for other fire types by using the spoils of battle as fodder. After Ash though, he had a mark on his record and if he did such a thing again, he could face loosing his license. Only a little begging had allowed him and Damian in the Master Challenge to begin with and Dingo of course always had fun teasing them with his successful and so far un-documented 'release' of his Slakoth. Technically releasing a pokemon wasn't illegal and 'abandonment' was a difficult offense to press charges on since most evidence had to be either witnesses or circumstantial evidence.

The trainer tried to be nice and comment on the good battle, but Shamus just wordlessly waved him off.

"You may be good at double battles, but eventually you'll need to try working on single battles. The majority of the Tournament will most likely be single battles," Greg expressed stoically.

Ursula sighed in boredom as Shamus returned to the stands of the arena to wait for more trainers to come by for them to battle. "I call the next one."

"Awww but it's my turn!" Dingo whined in annoyance and frustration. "And you never take ref duty!"

Ursula grit her teeth in slight annoyance before huffing. "Fine, but I'm after you."

Dingo chuckled happily before laying out his poke balls to look at. He seemed to have to make the choice of which pokemon he wanted to use before the opponent ever came.

"He does realize that making a choice closer to battle is at the very least a little bit wiser, even if you don't get to see which pokemon they'll choose, right?" Daiman asked. Greg only shrugged.

"It's not my problem." The trainer paused and looked over at the door way, making his teammates stop and follow his gaze. Someone in a dark cloak walked quietly into the arena before removing their hood. It was Domino, the Black Tulip.

"Hello there, kiddies."

The trainers all immediately stood, grasping at their pokeballs. "What are you doing here?" Damian demanded.

Domino gave a coy smile. "Easy buddy. I'm just here to talk with you all a bit. No harm in that right?"

The trainers looked at each other, gauging the other's emotions before looking back at Domino. Greg was the one to speak. "What exactly did you want to talk about?"

Domino clicked her tongue and pulled out one of her favorite tulips. "A deal and an opportunity of a lifetime." She grinned. "How would you all like to join the prestigious Team Rocket?"

Dingo looked absolutely gobsmacked along with Ursula, Shamus looked bored, Damian seemed surprised and Greg actually rose a brow in stunned silence.

zzz-Rota-zzz

"And you are?" A guard questioned stoically.

"Touko and N. We want to talk to someone about aura and its history," Touko expressed.

"Right…"

"We were invited by Ash to come check it out!"

"Of course and I'm actually the Queen under this here armor."

"Please, we honestly just want to learn more about aura. Ash said it's possible I could one day harness it," N spoke, trying to calm the situation between Touko and the guard.

"Leave or-"

"Is there something wrong, Sir Daniels?"

The two trainers and guards looked over to see Riley walk up.

"These two trainers were saying that Sir Ketchum had invited them here to learn about aura. I was just trying to turn them away."

"May I ask your full names please?" Riley asked calmly.

"I'm Touko Shiro."

"And I'm N or Natural Harmonia Gropius…" N trailed off. He was still considering changing his last name at the very least. Harmonia was alright because he truly did believe in the ideal Ghetsis had falsely fed him, but the Gropius part held darker memories with it.

"Ah! Yes, Ash told me about you. Sir Daniels, they're fine. I can tell they are being truthful."

"Of course sir, if you say so."

Riley then motioned to the two and led them inside.

"Can you really tell if someone is lying with aura?" Touko asked excitedly, making N chuckle a bit in nervousness. Sometimes he wondered if she was more excited about him maybe being a guardian than he was.

"Yes. I can. You're one of the ones that Ash said Arceus had chosen, correct?" Riley asked, looking over his shoulder as he walked. N noticed the man was avoiding corners and any obstacles in the way even though he wasn't looking ahead.

"Yes sir." N replied.

"Well then, Ash just left early this morning to train at the Tree, but I'm willing to give you a short set of lessons about aura uses and its history if you like. I'm not sure if Arceus will definitely wait until after the current threats or could perhaps give you his gift prematurely. I guess we will find out." Riley smiled as a Lucario came around the corner and joined their group, walking.

N smiled at the things Lucario was saying silently.

"Greetings, friend," N spoke to the bipedal pokemon.

"Greetings, pup."

"Pup?" N asked, only to get a bark of laughter from Riley.

"He will no longer call you that when you've trained more."

N laughed jovially, making Touko smile against her will. "I understand."

Riley lead them towards a large courtyard of sorts. "This is where we will train some. Mostly it will be basic things, like seeing if we can figure out your specialty in aura and some combat training. Aura powers help with movement and effort required to pull off stunts, but they still don't automatically make one able to fight properly."

N nodded even as a small frown came to his face. That was the one thing that he hadn't really liked about the possibility of becoming an Aura Guardian one day. He didn't like to fight. He preferred peace.

"Sometimes one must fight to protect peace. This is true in the world we live in, even if it is not the preference of those that indeed keep peace," Riley cut in, noticing the sadness coming from the young man.

"You dislike fighting?" N asked quietly.

"Of course. All guardians who can sense the sorrow, the anger, the fury in their opposition dislike it. We were created to heal, protect and love, only later were we forced to truly fight. Much later we were seen as only weapons for human use. We have a dark history indeed, but at our core all guardians dislike violence."

N nodded.

Riley looked to Touko. "Lucario can take you to the library if you like. These next steps are supposed to stay secret between guardians and their students or comrades."

Touko smiled at N before following Lucario back into the castle. N watched the two go before Riley's voice broke the silence. "Come and sit."

N walked over to were Riley was resting on the grassy ground and followed his example.

zzz-Tree of Beginning-zzz

Ash happily returned Charizard to his poke ball before straightening his jacket. He grinned at Pikachu and Ellie. "Well we made it here again. Time to get some special training in and talk with Mew. Maybe she knows something important or new."

Yeah.

Good thing she's been safe here. I wonder if she happens to know exactly how many legends have disappeared.

"I plan to find that out if possible."

Their footsteps echoed through the rocky walls as they made their way deeper and deeper into the Tree. Come to think of it, they hadn't seen Regirock, Registeel, or Regice yet… Did that mean? No, surely the Tree wouldn't look so healthy, right?

Finally they took one step into the grassy terrarium area. It was silent. Dead silent. Something was horribly wrong. Where were his pokemon? What about the wild ones?

Ash paused after a nervous and worried glance at Pikachu and Ellie, began to use his aura sense to sweep almost every crevice of the tree. It was fairly easy, because of the crystals' help. He had felt nothing... No life except for the plants... None of the wild pokemon, no mew, no pokemon of his own. Ash walked further into the central cavern with its large lake and meadow that normally looked beautiful but now seemed haunting. Ash hesitantly looked around, listening, sensing for anything at all...

"Pikachu, Ellie... Try to run around some and see if you can find anybody. Maybe I'm doing something wrong," Ash said quietly.

Ash rooted himself and tried once again to sense any other living things… and again, nothing. Then his heart stopped when he heard a cry. Ash looked up and saw his Pikachu restrained in a silver ring that was shocking him. Pikachu had protected Ellie from the trap and she was leaning over him trying to help, but to no avail. Ash started to run forward when suddenly blue forms filled his aura vision, appearing as if they came out of nowhere. Ash soon found himself surrounded by hundreds of Team Rocket members. It was soon after that Vane walked forward.

"Hello, Guardian Ketchum. Surprised? It's our new technology we've developed. It makes the user hidden from the sight of aura users, but I'm sure you saw Sird using the prototype not long ago." Vane grinned.

Ash tensed and looked around before asking, "Where are my other pokemon?!"

Vane smiled, "You don't need to worry about that. You will be joining them soon."

Ash glanced over to Pikachu and Ellie and saw some grunts approach the mice with gloves and another ring. Pikachu was unable to use his electric attacks and Ellie wasn't able to defend them both forever. He then heard Pikachu shout something that he translated as, "Run! Get out of here and find help!" With resistance, Ellie finally bolted, dodging grunts and finally leaping into the lake and swimming to the other side of it before disappearing behind more foliage.

"Gah! Can't you idiots do anything right?!" Vane shouted angrily at the grunts, "Never mind. Get him!"

Pikachu watched in worry as the grunts approached his trainer. Ash formed two spheres of aura and shot the attacks at the grunts, striking a couple of them, whose bodies tripped several others. Ash continued to fire into the horde of Rockets, dodge, and fight them off, but eventually he was overcome. Two grunts grabbed one of his arms each and kept him still. He struggled a bit more when he saw them take Charizard's poke ball of his belt and put it in a container. Ash glared at Vane and then his eyes suddenly drifted to three familiar faces. Ash was strangely deeply hurt to see Jessie, James, and Meowth looking at him from behind Vane. They on the other hand wouldn't look him directly in the eyes.

Ash faced his enemies with a stern face. "You won't win. It doesn't matter what you do."

"Well, you certainly are a optimist, huh?" Vane smiled. His smile switched into the frown before he drew back and punched Ash in the gut as hard as possible. Jessie, James, and Meowth all flinched as Ash gasped in pain, "That is for making a fool out of me at Lavender and every time after..." Vane smiled again as Jeremy walked up beside him.

"Want to play that game of cards, Cole? I'm sure you aren't needing to fulfill any of Vane's orders." Jeremy said with a half smile and scowl before punching Ash in the gut as well. Ash by this point was trying not to fall to his knees, even though the grunts were keeping him up.

Pikachu squirmed and defiantly spoke his name as he watched the Rockets hurt his friend.

Vane grumbled and then motioned for a grunt to search Ash's bag for the Orbs. After a moment the grunt looked up. "They aren't here, sir."

Vane growled and looked at Ash, who never broke eye contact. "Where are they?"

"Yeah… I'll spill that right now. The world's destruction at stake, sure why not?" Ash replied with a barely restrained bit of anger and obvious amounts of bitter sarcasm. Aura was starting to flood into Ash's irises. He'd regain his strength soon.

"Lock him up and get him to talk," Vane commanded and Ash felt them pin him to the ground. Dirt smeared against his face and grass tangled in his hair as he fought to get them off his back. A few grunts were grasping at his arms and twisting them behind his back in a painful manner since he was resisting. Ash heard the sound of metal clanking together and felt the substance around his wrists before his aura started to disappear and hide deep inside him. He was at their mercy now with no aura to help him.

Then they started to interrogate him and by interrogate that meant trying to beat the orbs' location out of him. It became obvious that they had come primarily for the Orbs and Ash was beyond grateful he'd left them in Rota. Pikachu had been watching in horror from under a grunt's rubber boot. Finally Vane interrupted the grunts' fun.

"Hmph. It's time we left. We need to get back to base. Detain and incapacitate the prisoner... Don't. Screw. It. Up." Vane said angrily as he walked towards the exit.

Jeremy walked behind Ash once the other grunts had finished beating him and pushed him into the earth again. Jeremy grinned as he kneeled were the downed Ash could see him.

"Sleep tight guardian." Jeremy then rammed a device into Ash's back which soon electrocuted the guardian. He screamed out in surprise, his pained cry bouncing of now hard and unfriendly rock walls and ceiling and his body convulsing against his will. Once it was done, Ash moaned and then closed his eyes. His hat slipped off his head as the grunts started to pull his dead weight up off the ground.

Pikachu saw the pain in Ash's eyes when he was shocked and could visibly see his consciousness fade from them. He squirmed under the Rocket's boot even more furiously. Pikachu screeched, "PikaPi!" echoed throughout the empty tree.

"Serves you right, worm." Jeremy sneered.

Pikachu finally snapped. Even with the device attached firmly around Pikachu, keeping him from using electric attacks, electricity started to shoot out from him regardless.

"What the?!" the grunt pinning Pikachu shouted, drawing all the others' attention as he stumbled back.

Pikachu shouted over and over again as more energy shot out and started to strike some of the grunts. Using his unrestrained hind legs, Pikachu started to inch forward towards Ash. Pain racked his body as he pushed forward and forced out electricity against the device. Finally he reached Ash and the grunts had been forced away from the electricity Pikachu was making. Pikachu murmured his friend's name as he started to feel himself fade out of consciousness as well.

"PikaPi..." Pikachu then fainted.

"Stupid rat." A grunt said as he started to walk over to Ash and Pikachu. Meowth, Jessie, and James were stunned into shock at Pikachu's actions until Jeremy's voice snapped them back into attention.

"Let's get back to base. No more distractions." Jeremy growled. Soon Ash and Pikachu were lifted up by grunts. The trainer and pokemon soon disappeared from the Tree of Beginning with Team Rocket, leaving the place silent and hauntingly empty.

Ellie poked her head out from behind a few rocks. Tears were in her eyes and had obviously run down her pinkish cheeks. She dashed forward and grasped Ash's hat that had fallen on the ground. She stroked it and looked around; she placed it on her head and with determination in her eyes she ran off towards what she hoped would be help.

zzz-Outside the Tree-zzz

Ellie dug a little more at the dirt that was in her way of a clean escape. She couldn't risk going out any of the other exits seeing as they were all directed the same way and she risked being spotted again.

She rubbed under her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time, wiping moisture away but mostly just irritating her skin. She turned her tail into iron before stabbing the rock and dirt with it. The light coming from the hole finally got bigger. She pushed herself into the small hole before finding herself tumbling down a rocky hill. After rolling a couple times, she was able to stick a landing and find footing.

Ellie panted for a moment, trying to also gather her thoughts. She had no particular way to figure out how to get to Pallet town or anywhere that could provide help. Most pokemon didn't care much to learn about location or geography, humans did that stuff. Some pokemon picked up a few things about maps if they cared to watch and listen to their trainers argue over them, but nothing helpful in a situation like this.

Carefully she picked her way down the slope and landed on the grassy ground that lead to a greenish-blue forest beyond. She sat for a moment before recalling that this place was close to an ocean, not a short distance close, but close enough and an ocean meant towns eventually. If she got lost trying to find the ocean, she could always ask the native pokemon for directions.

She carefully put Ash's hat back on her head after it had fallen off and pushed one ear through the hole in the back of the cap to keep it from slipping off again before turning to the woods and dashing towards what she thought was the ocean.

zzz-New Bark Town / Three days later-zzz

"So John, you heading out today?" Nurse Joy asked kindly.

John Aprico smiled as he walked up to the counter. "Yeah. I was just about to walk down to the pier. Had to thank you for giving me a room on such short notice."

"That's very sweet, John. I hope you have a good time in Unova. I hope your stay in New Bark town for the night was fine." Joy smiled back

"Yeah... I sure hope as well..." John was interrupted by the jingle of the center's doors, yet no one entered when the door opened a bit and then closed.

"Huh?" Joy asked, startled.

"What?" John said in surprise as he looked down and saw and a girl Pikachu with a baseball cap on her head. John lifted up the tired and dirty pokemon onto the center's desk so Joy could see.

"A Pikachu that must belong to someone." Joy said worriedly, "I guess the poor dear is lost."

John continued to look at the tired pokemon until a memory snapped into place after seeing the hat she wore, Ash... My Scizor... He had two Pikachu on his shoulders... She must be one of them. I wonder if she got separated from him? John turned to Joy, "I think I know who's pokemon this is."

"Who's?" Joy asked

"A young man, Ash. The one who helped me with my Scizor that I told you about." John replied.

"Hmmm. I think I can look in the database and figure out where he lives. The poor girl can then be sent home to his home town for him to pick her up. One of the flyers can take her." Joy smiled

"That's good. I've got to go." John said and then leaned down to Ellie's level, "Be strong. You'll see your trainer soon." John then stood up and walked away not seeing the small tears form in Ellie's eyes.


Well that's all for this chapter. Sorry that its a bit shorter than normal. That's a combination of not wanting to make you guys wait much longer as well as having trouble planning out some of the next events properly (Another reason why I wanted to no longer update both my stories simultaneously after this update anymore / so I feel I can plan more without as much stress). Tell me what you thought about it though. My mind's a bit frazzled from school and I want to get my bearings back.

I might update this chapter again later. Maybe. If I do It'll be close to when the next chapter is done.


Answers to Questions:

PokeguardianZ: Have you considered asking the readers for a set number of OCs to enter in the tournament? So there will be more variety and trainers to dip into for it. Plus, weren't there supposed to be 14 or 15 groups of 14 out there with one extra group of 15?

On another note, Pokemon XY&Z is out in Japan! Pretty sure you can look at Youtube for English sub... I find the whole new concept of Ash-Greninja and Zygarde's whole deal with the amount of cells gathered dictates the form it takes pretty interesting, plus, it'll make it even more interesting if Zygarde shows up some point in the Final Arc!

NoSignal: I've considered it but will probably not ask for OCs. I've only got about one more person to pop in there and I don't want to bother keeping track of them anymore afterwards. I'll take the time to make and balance the random trainers myself. And yes I believe I have it at a certain number of groups of 14 plus one group of 15.

Yep! I've been keeping track of the news and such the best I can. I plan to use as much of the new stuff as possible. :)

Intensity215: I just wanted to say thanks and please don't ever sarcrifice the quality of your work to get a chapter out faster! This one was very well written and the antisipation is real right now! Don't let anyone pressure you into writing when you don't have time!

If love to hear about how your school is going though if you're okay talking about it with a reader if not I totally understand. Just thought I'd offer ;)
So again, thanks a bunch for another wonderful chapter and I'll keep my eye out for the next.

NoSignal: Thanks a bunch for this. While this chapter may or may not have suffered a bit from that exact thing, I plan to remedy that with having myself no longer simultaneous update my stories as a principle. Thanks for the offer. Not anything unexpected was going on except just a ton of work.

MyLittleAngelxxx: Are those strange flowers the seedlings of Time Flowers? Or is it the hidden Celebis causing that? Either way, it's strange and I can't wait to find out what that's about.

NoSignal: They are saplings for well... you'll see eventually. :D

Great: PS Check out 'The Unexpected Pokémon Interview' by Charminghex99. I think its a story with a lot of potential.

NoSignal: I might just do that!

Guest (Sparkydragon98): Although Zach said he would battle the veterans in the Master Challenge back near the end of chapter 2 of the Unova Arc. He's really not in the Master Challenge? Also, you didn't answer my earlier question about Ritchie and Assunta...

One more thing: not sure if you got my review about potential opponents for Ash to face in the tournament. If you did, you could consider it, please?

NoSignal: I may or may not have PM'd you these answers, but oh well I'll make sure I answered you. :) Zach meant he'd find a way to battle the Master, either the current one, if a Master Challenge trainer doesn't dethrone him or whoever does dethrone him. As in he wants to battle the Master one day even if he isn't a part of the Master Challenge. What was your question about? I don't recall. And I will consider it, but we'll have to see. I have to make the tournament work the way that's best for the story. :) And yes I made up the possibility of Greninja's new form being a mega and that whole theory, but the actual form is a new thing in the anime.

Guest: can you add the song of fast and fourious 7 when i see you again in the end only if you want

NoSignal: I love that song! Sadly it's against FFN rules to use songs in fanfictions. I will be using a song I wrote that readers of this story are familiar with. Thanks for reading!

EllaDeWriter: I know the King of Pokélantis was dealt with in the Hoenn arc, but can he please come back somehow? I think it'd be really interesting.

And, on an unrelated note, when you're all done with the current stories, could you please consider doing a DPxPokemon crossover? I think it'd be cool to see the worlds merge from your perspective.

NoSignal: I have something else that will probably be just as good! Sadly He's gone in this story :) But like I said there's something else that will be practically the same thing.

It will be a while before I finish all the stories I want to do. I think the idea is somewhat interesting, but I doubt I'll ever actually make a full story on it. However, As I mentioned at the top in the AN, I am making a story filled with plot bunnies and drabbles, that may or may not be continuous at times. So check that out and you might find something DPxPokemon related (even if it's short).

Thanks for the praise! :)

NoSignal to Vital Info: Thanks for the big review. It had a lot of useful things for me to consider, specifically for future stories like my Pokemon Anime ReWrite in the future.

Guest: OMG I love it so much so far! you're such a fantastic writer! keep up the awesome work!

NoSignal: Thanks so much! Welcome to the family.

nick: I want to say one thing I may find interesting about this fanfic saga of yours. It has Pokeshipping in it. I'm a big fan of that pairing. So I want to ask you something. 1. How did you come up with the idea for this saga? 2. Is this a rewrite of the anime series, or does it take place sometime later? Be sure to clear this up for me.

NoSignal: Hey there! Glad you made it to this chapter. I'm glad you like Pokeshipping too. I know its not that realistic anymore, but the nostalgia is just too much for me to ignore. The feeling of 'It was supposed to be but never was feeling.' I plan to focus on that feeling a lot in the Anime Rewrite I want to do. The idea for the saga? Well I'd have to say that my main drive was to force all the main characters from pokemon together and force them into a situation where they would have to interact and live together. There were not many stories like that I could find that was decent or to my liking, so I wrote my own. This takes place about a year and a half after Ash's time in Kalos. This isn't a rewrite of the anime, just a AU continuation of it and a possible ending to the beloved show.

Guest: Hey NoSignal, I was wondering if Ash's Archeops still has the Defeatist ability? Keep up the awesome work!

NoSignal: Yes it does indeed. I wonder how that will affect his ability to battle? ;)


Thank you all so much for your support and wonderful wonderful reviews! I thank you all so much :) If I accidentally missed a question by either not PMing you or answering here, let me know so I can PM you or mention you (guests) in the next chapter :)

God bless and Best wishes to all of you! Happy Holidays too!

~NoSignal