AUTHOR'S NOTE

Once again I would like to say a massive thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter it is fantastic to get everyone's opinions and improvements.

In Love and War

Chapter 4: My Best Friends

"Sir, phase one of the plan has been completed! There are still a couple of pockets of resistance left on the east coast, but apart from that every major town and city in Sinnoh is under the control of Team Galactic."

"And what about the region's external links?"

"All routes to and from Sinnoh have been shut down and are under close guard, however we were unable to prevent the escape of a few trainers and the Elite Four."

"Do not worry, that was to be expected. Otherwise that is excellent news; events are proceeding exactly as I planned them!"

"What now, sir?"

"Move immediately to phase two of the operation, speed is critical at this point so report back to me as soon as preparations are complete!"

Giovanni did not wait for the man to reply instead he remotely switched off the giant video screen that had displayed Charon's elderly image. Picking up a crystal glass of whisky that sat on the large mahogany desk in front of him he took a long sip of the rich brown liquid and leaned back in his plush leather armchair, a tiny smile playing on his usually stern face.

The leader of Team Rocket couldn't have been in a better mood as he sat stroking the faithful Persian that lay peacefully on the thick carpet beside him. Only half an hour before Maxie and Archie, the leaders of Teams Magma and Aqua, had reported that the Hoenn region was completely in the hands of the two organizations. Now that Sinnoh had been fully occupied by Team Galactic and the Orange Islands by his own team, the multi-billionaire controlled over half of the Pokemon world.

Despite the fact that the other leaders of the teams liked to think themselves his equal, Giovanni could not have disagreed more. It was he who had formulated the brilliant operation they were currently undertaking, it was he who had provided most of the finances, it was he who had the largest and strongest organisation and it was he who would assume overall command when they finally invaded Johto and Kanto.

His thoughts were disrupted by three sharp knocks on the large oak door that sat in the wall opposite him. Without waiting for an invitation to enter the door swung open and in marched a young woman dressed in the uniform of a Team Rocket Executive.

Giovanni was not a married man, even in his younger years he had held no particular interest in women, seeing them as a distraction to the more important goals in life of making money and achieving power. However despite this fact, even he could not deny that the woman who was currently striding across his grand office was exceptionally attractive. Her long legs, perfect curves, smooth pale skin and golden blonde hair were an asset he and used many times to his advantage. The goddess like looks disguised her remarkable intelligence, sharp wit and ruthlessness, which made her the ideal weapon against many weak men.

"How may I help you Domino?" he said, looking up at his second in command.

The young woman stopped and stood to attention a few feet from the desk and without looking at her boss said in a passive voice. "Sir, intelligence from Kanto and Johto says that the Pokemon League is hastily putting together a force of trainers and coordinators in order to counter our attacks."

"Well that is interesting." Giovanni replied, clearly unconcerned by the statement as he took another sip of whisky.

"Sir, reports suggest that their numbers may be sufficient to rival our own." Domino continued in the same unemotional tone.

"That may be so, but it has no effect on our plans." The leader of Team Rocket answered and then with a wide smirk added. "They are a rabble of trainers used to pathetic gym battles, we are a professional criminal organisation and are not afraid to hurt anyone who stands in our way!"

Ash stared intently out of the train window yet his eyes did not take in any of the scenery that flashed past in a green and brown blur. Instead his mind was trapped in a storm of swirling thoughts as he contemplated the wild change of direction his life had just taken. Since the meeting the day before he had thought of little else and was starting to regret accepting the monumental task that had been given to him.

A burst of laughter over to his left cut through the trainer's thoughts, bringing him back to the real world. Looking over at the source he saw that Dawn had just finished drawing a moustache and spectacles onto the face of an unfortunate May who was fast asleep in the seat next to the blue-haired artist. The coordinator caught Ash looking at her and put a finger to her lips indicating to him to stay silent. The raven-haired rolled his eyes at the girl's immaturity but grinned back all the same, clearly amused by the act.

Ash was extremely happy that the two coordinators had made the decision to stay with him and travel back to Pallet Town. After he had left for the Pokemon League meeting he had been extremely worried that both girls would have followed through with their earlier threats to try and get to Hoenn and Sinnoh. However when he had arrived back at the Champion's Suite he was relieved to find that they had stayed put under the watchful eyes of Brock and his mother.

Despite their original eagerness to leave, when Professor Oak and he had explained the League's plan the pair had instantly changed their minds and decided to stay with Ash. Needless to say that Brock and Tracey had also pledged their allegiances to their younger friend.

Within the hour of returning to the Suite Ash had received a video call from Lance who provided him with his first instructions. The dragon master had suggested that he head to Pallet Town as quickly as possible as that was the place he was ordering all of the trainers and coordinators that would be in Ash's Unit to go to as it was the closet place to Cinnabar Island.

Overhearing this Professor Oak had kindly volunteered his laboratory and vast ranch as a sort of base where all of the trainers and coordinators could merge together before the Unit headed off to Cinnabar Island. Therefore it was early the next morning that Ash founded himself sitting beside Brock on the first train back to his hometown.

With a tired sigh Ash shifted his gaze over to Tracey who was sitting next to Professor Oak and as usual, was busy drawing in his sketchbook. Although the Pokemon Watcher had been pleased to learn that Ash would be heading out to the Orange Islands, he had nearly hit the roof when he found out about the requirements needed to battle. Despite not having the sufficient badges or Pokemon the older boy had decided to stay at Professor Oak's Laboratory and help in whatever way he could.

Finally the trainer's eyes came to rest on his mother, who like May, was sleeping soundly in her seat. In her lap sat Pikachu who was desperately trying to open a packet of his beloved Ketchup without disturbing the sleeping woman.

Ash hoped that the yellow mouse didn't wake his mother up. Ever since she had learnt that her son was going to fight a war, never mind lead a unit, Delia Ketchum had not been in the best of moods. It was only Professor Oak's powers of persuasion that prevented the brunette from calling up the Elite Four and demand that they change their plans immediately.

The journey did not take long and soon the group found themselves in the familiar settings of Pallet Town station. Here they waved goodbye to Professor Oak and Tracey before heading straight for the Ketchum residence.

As soon as his mother unlocked the front door Ash sprinted up the stairs to his bedroom, greeting and dodging past a surprised Mr. Mime has he went. Upon reaching the small room the trainer threw his large rucksack into one corner and collapsed unceremoniously onto his ancient bunk bed.

The room had changed little within the past years, frozen in time by his long absences. Only a small collection of photos and souvenirs from his journeys hinted at any change at all, although Ash noticed that his mum had significantly depleted his collection of soft toys.

Ash heard the door open and then close, indicating that Brock had just entered. As always his best friend would sleep on his floor whilst May and Dawn invaded the guest bedroom across the hall.

"How are you feeling?" Brock asked as he dumped his bag down beside Ash's and began unpacking. The Breeder had noticed his friend's sullen mood on the train but had decided not to address the issue in public.

"Fine." Ash grunted into his pillow, proving to Brock that he was anything but.

"Look Ash." The older man began in a soft tone. "You have faced Team Rocket and other villains countless times and have always come out ok!"

Turning over so he could face his spiky-haired companion Ash replied in a tired voice. "I can look after myself no problem; it is looking after everyone else I'm worried about."

Brock's eyebrows rose as he finally understood what his friend had been brooding about. "Your responsibility is to make decisions Ash, not fight Team Rocket single handed." He said reassuringly as he placed a pile of neatly folded clothes onto Ash's empty desk.

"I know, I know." Ash conceded knowing that Brock, as always, was right. "It's just that people are going to get hurt and I won't be able to do anything about it." He admitted in a sombre voice.

"Well from what you told me the League is making sure that every trainer and coordinator is strong enough to look after themselves so don't go and get yourself hurt playing guardian angel."

Ash smiled at Brock's words before promising that he would take care of himself and not do anything stupid, like run into the middle of two attacks from two very powerful psychic Pokemon.

The pair's laughter was interrupted as Mrs Ketchum stuck her head around the bedroom door. "Ash honey," she said in her sweet voice. "There has been a change of plan. The Professor just called and he wants you up at the Lab right away. Apparently the first trainers will be arriving after lunch and he needs help getting ready."

With an "Okay mum." the trainer jumped down from his bed and replaced the Pokemon League cap, which had fallen off on his bed. Brock declared that he could continue his unpacking later and went to fetch May and Dawn.

Five minutes later the group of four, plus Pikachu, found themselves standing before the large familiar entrance to the Oak Laboratory. Ash pounded loudly on the two heavy doors, which after a brief pause swung open to reveal the main hallway. However the trainer was shocked to see that it was not Tracey, nor Professor Oak who had allowed them in.

In the doorway stood a boy who looked to be around the same age as Ash. He was however slightly taller than the raven-haired trainer and had long, spiky chestnut-brown hair.

"Hey there Ashy-Boy, long time no see!" Gary drawled in his usual confident tone.

Ash's gazed wide-eyed at his old rival. "G-Gary!" he exclaimed loudly, surprised by his oldest friend's sudden appearance.

Chuckling slightly at the raven-haired trainer's stunned face Gary Oak folded his arms across his chest and leaned on the doorframe. Turning his attention away from the gawking boy the ex-trainer greeted the other members of the group. "Hello Brock, Dawn, and you must be the famous May!" he said, offering his hand to the brunette.

May hesitantly accepted the handshake, before asking in an embarrassed voice. "Um, I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are."

"You remember me telling you about Gary." Brock cut in. "You know, Ash's old rival whom he narrowly beat in the Silver Conference."

"Ooooh!" May said with sudden realisation. "I remember! Ash has shown me the recording he keeps of that battle."

At the coordinators words Gary spun around to look directly at Ash, one eyebrow raised in question. "Is that so?" he asked in an accusing voice.

Ash, who had become very interested in his shoes, scratched the back of his head and mumbled out, "I might have."

Surprisingly Gary just laughed at the comment and shook his head with disbelief. "Come on, we'd better go inside, Grandpa is waiting for you." he said as he walked back into the Laboratory, giving Ash a playful shove on the way past, whom returned the gesture with a grin.

As the rest of the group followed the two grinning boys May leaned over and whispered to Brock. "I thought you said Ash and Gary didn't get along very well, they seem like best friends to me?"

Before the breeder could reply, Dawn, who had overheard her fellow coordinator's comment cut in. "Yeah, in Sinnoh they were polite, but you could tell they were trying to out do each other all the time!" she said in a perplexed tone.

"Well, you know Ash re-entered the Indigo League after Sinnoh?" Brock explained, earning nods from both girls. "Well he already had eight gym badges from Kanto so he had about a year to kill before the start of the Conference. Therefore Ash and I decided to do a bit of travelling together, you know, going back to places we liked and meeting up with friends we had met on our journeys. Well one of the places we stopped at was a small Island in the Orange Archipelago where Gary was continuing his old research. We were there for a couple of weeks and a don't know whether it was because they were older and more mature or the fact that they had been apart for so long, but Ash and Gary just seemed to forget their rivalry and be the childhood friends that they are."

By the time Brock had finished his explanation the group had made their way into the Laboratory's sitting room, where they all sat down on the small sofas. As the former Gym Leader made himself comfortable, the recollection of the story caused a question to come to mind.

"Gary." Brock said with a frown. "If you were working out in the Orange Islands, how did you escape from Team Rocket?"

The chestnut-haired boy smiled at the question. "You pick things up pretty quickly don't you Brock." he replied before adding. "It's a long story but seeing as Gramps isn't back from the ranch yet, I might as well tell you."

With all eyes on him Gary leaned back in his seat and began his story. "At 8:30 every morning I personally go out and feed the Aerodactyl we have living on the Island - don't worry I'll explain later." this last part was directed at a confused looking May who, unlike the others, did not know about Gary's secret research project.

"Anyway," the researcher continued, "On my way back from feeding it yesterday I saw six Team Rocket boats heading towards the island. I immediately knew that whatever they were up to it wasn't going to be nice, so I ran back to the Lab and warned Dora, Crystal and Jared. They left the island via the small boat we keep, however I decided to stay as I had to stop Team Rocket from capturing Aerodactyl."

"How did you stop them?" Dawn asked with one had leaning on her chin, thoroughly intrigued by the tail.

"That's simple." Gary said with a grin. "I captured Aerodactyl myself."

"YOU DID WHAT!" Ash shouted, jumping up from his seat with an incredulous look on his face.

The chestnut-haired boy's grin grew even further at his friend's reaction. "I knew that I couldn't battle Team Rocket on my own so the only other option was to escape with Aerodactyl." he concluded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That is pretty impressive but how did you manage to do it? I thought Aerodactyl was scared of humans." Brock questioned.

Gary shifted in his seat in order to look around the still standing Ash at the Breeder. "It wasn't as hard as you might think." he replied modestly. "I have been working with Aerodactyl on and off for nearly 3 years now, so it trusts me. Also when it saw Team Rocket it was more than happy to let me escape with it."

"Is the invasion as bad as everyone is saying?" May asked in a quiet voice.

Gary switched his gaze over to the coordinator and nodded grimly. "I'm afraid so, I did head to Valencia Island at first but when I saw it surrounded by Team Rocket boats I flew straight to Pallet town. Man, it makes me so angry to think what they might be doing with my research." Despite his calm tone he punched the sofa hard, indicating his frustration.

"So what do you intend to do now." Brock asked sympathetically.

"I'm going to fight back!" the researcher replied determinedly. "I have badges and loads of strong Pokemon, so if Commander Ketchum here lets me, I will eagerly join his unit." Gary smirked slightly as he looked up at his dark-haired friend.

Ash ignored the slightly patronising use of 'commander' and returned the other boy's smirk. "I'll let you be in my Unit, but only if you let me battle that Aerodactyl of yours!" he demanded.

"I'm afraid that's not possible Ash, Aerodactyl is extremely tired from its long flight with Gary yesterday and it is still afraid of other humans." All heads turned to see Professor Oak stride into the room, followed closely by Tracey who was carrying a large clip bored. "Besides, right now I need everyone to start preparing for the hundreds of trainers that will be arriving here in less than three hours!"

Within the allocated time the Oak Laboratory looked just about ready to accommodate over three thousand trainers and coordinators. Chairs and furniture had been moved into the attic and Professor Oak's research and equipment had been securely locked away.

May and Dawn had positioned themselves behind a table by the front doors and were armed with an incredibly long list of people that had already been recruited and sent to them by Lance and the Pokemon League. Their job was to register all of the trainers that arrived and record whether they specialised in a certain type of pokemon.

"Why do we get the boring paper work?" May complained as she slipped and sent her half of the list scattering across the floor.

Dawn rolled her eyes at her friend's whining and made a show of stacking her own pieces of paper into an organized pile. "Oh don't make such a fuss, would you prefer to do what the guys are doing and run around the Professor's ranch collecting up all the Pokemon?" she replied as she watched bits of paper flutter about her.

"No, but have you seen how many names there are." May retorted, indicating the numerous sheets that littered the floor around her.

The blue-haired coordinator watched her friend scramble around on the floor as she picked up the mess. "That may be so," she began, sliding off her chair to help the brunette before continuing in a devious tone, "However all we have to do is tick off some names and we get to see if there are any attractive guys in the Unit."

May looked at her friend's face and returned the grin. "I'm shocked that your innocent mind would think of such things but when you put it like that I can hardly complain."

Fifteen minutes later the pair received their first trainer in the form a young woman who appeared to be just a little older than them. She had elegant dark brown hair that flowed all the way down her back to her waist and a figure that both coordinators were immediately envious of. The girl's name was on May's list who ticked it off, without sending the sheets flying, and directed the trainer to the sitting room.

"What were you saying about attractive boys?" The brunette grumbled as she bitterly watched the girl walk gracefully away.

"Don't worry we still have about two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine trainers left to go." Dawn reassured as her eyes also followed the new comer. "By the way, what did she say her name was? I just want to know so I can tell all the boys she has some contagious disease."

May grinned at the coordinator's evil statement. "It was Giselle or something like that. Anyway it looks as if we have another guest and at least this one is male!"

Ash dumped his last bag of Pokeballs down beside Professor Oak who muttered his thanks. The two were in the gigantic room where the researcher stored all of the Pokemon that trainers sent him to look after. Ash, Gary and Brock had been travelling around the ranch, returning the Pokemon back into their balls and then giving them to the Professor and Tracey to stack away.

Now that all of the Pokemon had been stored and the ranch made free for the coming trainers Ash could finally take a rest. The raven-haired trainer waited for Gary, who had just returned from the ranch to drop off his last sack, before heading to the sitting room. However just as he was about to leave a daunting thought struck him.

"Professor?" he began in a questioning tone. "Where are all of these people going to sleep and how in the world are we going to feed them." Until now Ash had never really thought about the logistics of accommodating thousands of people but now that he did, he realised it was far more complex than he had first assumed.

Without looking up from his task of stacking Pokeballs Professor Oak replied. "Don't worry about that Ash, the Pokemon League is sending over a convoy of trucks filled with food, tents and other supplies. Professors Elm and Ivy and a Nurse Joy will be arriving at the same time, so they'll take care of things."

Satisfied with the answer Ash and Gary made their way back to the sitting room. When he arrived the trainer was surprised to see that room was not empty but was occupied by a very, very attractive girl. Unfortunately he was less shocked to see a love struck Brock down on one knee in the middle of one of his wooing tirades.

"Hi, my name is Brock, but you can call me handsome and I bet your name is nobody, because nobody is perfect!"

Ash sighed with exasperation at his friend's familiar behaviour.

"He hasn't changed then." Gary asked with a chuckle.

Ash shook his head. "I just don't get it, I know she is pretty and everything, but I don't see why Brock acts so weird!" he said in tired voice.

Gary merely laughed again. "When you fall in love you'll find out."

"I doubt it." Ash replied before walking over to the breeder, rolling up his sleeves as he did so.

"Your beauty is so divine and…. OW OW OW!" Brock's chat-up lines were cut short as Ash grabbed him firmly by the ear and began tugging him away from the horrified girl. With a mouthed apology the raven-haired trainer pulled the breeder to the other side of the room, only to see Gary slip expertly onto the sofa, next to the girl.

"Sorry about my friend over there, please allow me to make you feel right at home, by the way my name is Gary Oak…" he cooed in the most gentlemanly of voices.

Ash finally released Brock's ear and stared hopelessly at Gary. All this trouble over one girl, he thought to himself. Spotting another trainer walk into the room the raven-haired trainer decided it was best to forget about the subject of the opposite sex for now. I've just got to make sure I don't become like those two. He thought, making a mental note of the point.

At first the afternoon progressed slowly for May and Dawn as they ticked off a gradual trickle of trainers. However within a couple of hours the rate of trainers and coordinators arriving at the Oak Laboratory and increased to torrent and soon the two girls had a long queue stretching before them.

"Duplica Mimic…there you are…ok you're signed off. If you'd liked to head through those doors over there please…ok next." May wearily closed her eyes for a second before she looked up at the next person waiting to register. She had already lost count of how many people she had ticked off on her half of the list, never mind Dawn's.

"Can I have your name and if so, the type of Pokemon you specialise in please." Without any enthusiasm she repeated the sentence that had burned itself into her mind over the afternoon.

"Sakura Sato and I train all types." replied a girl with magenta hair.

With barely a glance up at the young trainer May set to work. She was dealing with the second half of the alphabet and so began searching under the letter 'S'. Eventually she found the name and placed a big tick in the box beside it. "Ok, if you'd like to go through those doors…"

Once the girl had gone the coordinator shut her eyes for a second time, utterly fed up with her task. Admittedly she had seen a few attractive boys and recognised a few trainers she and met along her journeys, as had Dawn, however neither of them had time to chat to anyone. All she could do was continue the dull monotonous process, taking it in turns with her friend to ask people their names.

May heard Dawn call the next person forward and ask for their name and speciality. The brunette silently prayed that whoever they were, their named appeared on Dawn's list, allowing her to have a few seconds more peace.

"Drew Hayden and no speciality." The words caused the coordinator to smile with relief. 'Hayden' that was definitely in Dawn's half.

May's eyes flew open and she shot up in her seat as her brain fully processed the name. "Drew Hayden!" she practically shouted, causing Dawn to give a small yelp in alarm and all heads in the line to stare at her. Despite the looks she was receiving from everyone in the hallway May only looked back at one person.

"Hello May." The coordinator greeted in a cool voice, running a hand through his grass green hair as he did so, an action that caused May to blush.

"But you're from Hoenn, what are you doing her?" The brunette spluttered out awkwardly, forcing herself to keep her eyes fixed on the boy's green ones and not the rest of him.

"So are you." Drew calmly reasoned and then with a sly smile added, "and I would have thought that was obvious. I'm here to battle Team Rocket like you, or are you planning to spend the entire time getting the beauty sleep you so desperately need."

May's blush was quickly replaced by a flush of anger as she desperately tried to think of an insult of her own. "What did you just say?" she yelled back, her voice rising to a screech as her mental reservoir of insults ran dry.

Dawn, who recognised the symptoms of one of her friend's rages instantly tried to defuse the situation. "Drew Hayden, - ok I've ticked you off, you can go through those doors - now!" she said quickly, pointing at the entrance to the sitting room.

Drew seemed to get the blue-haired coordinators message and with a final grin at the still fuming May he casually strolled off to the indicated room.

Dawn watched the boy go before shooting May a 'we'll talk about this later' look. She then fixed a bright smile on her face and called the next trainer forward, acting as if the past two minutes had never occurred.

"Excuse me." Ash said as he squeezed passed a trio of twenty something year old trainers who were in an intense debate about what was the best evolution of Eevee. The Lab's sitting room had quickly become packed with trainers and coordinators, forcing the Professor to open up the large double doors that led onto the ranch. Fortunately it was a beautiful summer's evening and the new arrivals had spilled out onto the lush green lawn, soaking up the last of the sun's warm rays.

The raven-haired trainer was surprised by how many people he knew from his journeys were here. Everywhere he went he was constantly stopped by old friends who were eager to catch up and was under the continuous bombardment of shouts like, "Hey Ash, remember me?", "How's Pikachu doing?" and "Fancy another battle Ketchum?"

On top of this, he kept getting ambushed by trainers who had no connection with him at all but were eager to meet the new Indigo League Champion. He hadn't realised it but apparently he had built up a huge fan base over the League tournament and it had grown even further when he became Champion. However Ash was unnerved by the fact that most of these enthusiastic fans were girls ranging between the ages of sixteen to twenty-four whose conversations usually went along the lines of "Hi I'm Megan, I was wondering, do you have a girlfriend."

After several of these scary encounters the trainer had worked out that his safest bet was to jump from conversation to conversation, seeking out another friend before moving on from his current companion. Now however this seemingly ingenious plan had gone horribly wrong.

He and been in a predominantly one-sided conversation with Casey on the latest tactics of the Electabuzz baseball team when he had seen Drew enter the sitting room. Sensing it was time to make a change Ash had quickly mumbled an apology to the ranting girl and headed straight for the green-haired coordinator.

However when he was still halfway across the room the raven-haired trainer saw that the other boy was having similar problems to himself. Already clustered around the coordinator were three girls and although they were all quite pretty Ash did not want to find out whom they would be more interested in if he went over.

Turning away from the scene he searched desperately for another safe friend whom he could talk to. Unfortunately his sweeping gaze was caught by yet another adoring female, who began to swiftly advance towards him.

Groaning to himself the trainer prepared himself for another interrogation about his relationship status. However, before the girl could even begin her high pitched monologue, a different voice piped up behind him.

"There you are Ash. I've been looking for you!"

Ash spun on his heel, surprised but relieved by the distraction. He did not have to look far to find the owner of the voice as standing directly behind him was a boy who had messy auburn hair and bright blue eyes.

"Ritchie!" He cried out, a broad smile stretching across his face as he took in his old friend. The other trainer was slightly shorter than him but only by an inch or so and was still dressed in his usual green attire. Unlike Ash he had lost the baseball cap, but as always, a yellow Pikachu sat on his shoulder.

"It is great to finally see you again." Ritchie said, clapping Ash on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "It must be at least five years since we last met."

"Four and a half." Ash corrected. "However that is still far too long."

The two trainers found a sofa that was only half occupied and sat down so they could talk properly. Ash was surprised to see that the other occupants were Gary and the attractive brunette who, after hours, were still engaged in deep discussion.

"So Ash, where is Pikachu?" Ritchie asked, noticing for the first time the uncommon lack of yellow on Ash's shoulder.

Turning away from the couple Ash looked back at his auburn-haired friend. "Oh, Pikachu is raiding the Professor's kitchen for Ketchup." he replied with a laugh. At his words, Sparky leapt from Ritchie's shoulder and disappeared between the maze of legs.

Ash was taken aback by the sudden reaction before Ritchie said "Your Pikachu is mad about Ketchup too huh?"

"Yeah," Ash answered as he caught a flash of yellow streak out of the room. "It must be a weird Pikachu thing!" The two boys laughed and briefly shared stories about the strange love their electric-types had for the tomato sauce.

"So, you're the Indigo League Champion." Ritchie finally stated after recovering from a particularly funny story about Sparky.

"I am Indeed!" Ash replied with a hint of smugness. "And soon I will be a Pokemon Master!"

Ritchie nodded before replying in a casual tone. "Well I guess you're just glad that I didn't enter the Indigo Conference this year or I would have knocked you out like before." The auburn-haired trainer's face stayed straight as he spoke but soon moulded into a smirk as he watched his friend splutter with indignation.

"What!…I don't think so!…I am far more powerful now and besides Charizard wouldn't listen to me back then!" The raven-haired trainer retorted childishly, before grinning along at the joke.

There was a brief pause as the pair remembered the first time they had met, when they were still in their first years of Pokemon training. "I'm glad you're here Ritchie!" Ash finally said in a serious tone. "I'm going to need all the friends I can get!"

Brock sighed heavily and rubbed his burning cheek, the evidence of yet another rejection. Checking his watch he saw that it was time for him and Tracey to take over registration duties from Dawn and May.

The Breeder slowly made his way out of the packed sitting room and into the hallway. At the other end of the big room he could see the two coordinators at their desk ticking off yet more trainers. Now that the day was heading into its evening stages the line had dwindled to only half a dozen people, but they were expected to keep on arriving until late into the night.

Taking a step forward Brock began to make his way down the hallway, however he had not made more than five meters when the videophone on the opposite side of the room began to ring. The spiky-haired boy looked around to see if Professor Oak had heard the loud trilling sound but after several rings it was clear that the old man was not coming. After a moment's hesitation he walked over to the device and pressed the large green answer button.

Immediately the screen flashed into life, revealing the red hair and serious expression of the Leader of the Elite Four. "Hello Brock." Lance said in his usual calm voice. If the dragon master was surprised to see the breeder he did not show it.

"Hi Lance, do you want to speak to Ash or Professor Oak?" Brock replied, slightly taken aback by the Pokemon Master's sudden appearance.

"No it's ok I don't have much time and I'm sure you can help me instead." the red-haired master replied. "Yesterday at the meeting I told Ash that he could have two Gym Leaders join his unit in order to help him. Seeing that your brother, Forrest, is too young to take part in this campaign I am classing you as a Gym Leader, therefore Ash only needs one more. Do you have any ideas whom he would want with him? I was thinking Blane seeing as you'll be heading to Cinnabar Island."

Brock listened to Lance's words carefully and was silent for a few seconds as he considered whom Ash would want helping him. Finally the breeder made up his mind and with a grin said. "I understand why you would choose Blane, but I have a better idea. Do you know the telephone number for the Cerulean City Gym?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Cerulean Gym! You know what that means! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it! I would like to say a big thank you to Ky111 for giving me your thoughts and suggestions, they are really helping me generate ideas! If you haven't already reviewed please don't hesitate to write just a small sentence on what you think, anything is appreciated.

In response to a couple of reviews:

fantasydelver: Thanks for the review, it is great to here from an old school Pokemon fan! In regards to there already being a war, I do realise that there has already been at least one, but I wanted my story to be the first multi-regional conflict where Pokemon are used instead of conventional weapons.

tennisdesi91: I know that in the games a trainer becomes a Champion by beating the Elite Four, but i'm going with the Anime in this story where a trainer just has to win that region's league. Good question and thanks for the review.