Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, just like almost everybody else on this dreadful planet.

Hello again all. Thanks for all the reviews as always, it's nice to know what people think.

Now a couple of people have, at points, brought up the pokéshipping and when will Cynthia appear points so I will answer them firmly now.
Cynthia will appear next chapter as a recurring character for a while, disappear briefly, and then return for a while before leaving for a substantial period of time.
On the subject of pokéshipping. I have no dislike for pokéshipping at all, I simply believe that over the majority of the time they knew each other Misty acted more like a sister than a girl who loved him. Hence I am using other characters that I would prefer and feel able to write here. That does not mean that the possibility of Misty appearing as a love interest in future fics written by me is not present, I simply feel that I would have to start at the beginning for a fic with such a relationship. And I am definitely considering writing at least one fiction from that point so it might happen.

Now that I have dealt with those issues here are the speech types and on with the story.
"Normal Speech"
"Telepathic Speech"
'Private thoughts'
'Quoting Someone/Something'


Chapter 7 – Off to Orange Island Adventures

Ash was now back at Pallet Town stood on a stage with Professor Oak and Delia stood next to him. In front of him was every inhabitant of the small town, despite its size there were still a fair few and Ash would have rather faced Mewtwo in a rage again than give a speech to all the expectant faces below him. Because of that he decided to keep it short and to the point.

"I'm very happy to be back home and to everyone who supported me throughout the Pokémon League I just want to say thank you very much." He said and Pikachu and Lucario quickly added their own thanks, though once again Ash was the only one who could understand them.

"I think I speak for us all when I say thanks to you Ash. You represented us very well and really put Pallet on the map. I propose a toast to our new champion." Professor Oak said to the crowds, quite unlike Ash in that he was much more confident. Everyone present raised a glass to Ash and quickly took a sip.

"We also owe Professor Oak a big thank you for hosting us here today so thank you too." His mother said and everyone cheered their agreement. "Now, let's start the party."

Now that the speeches were over Ash made his way down to his friends, thanking many people for their compliments and offers of congratulations along the way. When he got there he had a brief conversation with them before realising that his Pokémon weren't getting to join in the celebrations. He walked over to the edge of the party area before shouting loudly with his mind. "Come and join the party everyone!" Most of the crowds froze as they heard the voice in their head before realising who it was and looking at Ash incredulously. His Pokémon soon came charging round the corner of the lab to join him and he released the few he had on him.

Soon all the Pokémon were a part of the games with children climbing on them or chasing them around. Ash watched them and was happy to see that even Mewtwo was playing with them easily. 'He's certainly changed. Just a few months ago he would have happily destroyed them all but now he's playing with them just like I would, and that's saying something.' He thought as he watched to make sure none of the others were being too mischievous all the while.

After a while a familiar voice called Ash's name. "Hey Ash! It's certainly been a while; you've got really tough since I last saw ya." Ash quickly tried to find the source of the voice and eventually succeeded.

"Anthony, what are you doing here?" He asked, surprised to find the man so far from his home.

"Well Ash, I saw your battles in the Indigo League and thought it was time to return an old friend to ya. When he agreed I came here to Pallet and found ya."

"Really, he wanted to come back and join me again?"

"He sure did, I think he's wanted to join you again ever since our last tournament. It was the Kanto Regional P1 Grand Prix and he wiped the floor with the other competitors. The only thing left for 'im now is to take part in the national tournament and he'll have reached the top, becoming the strongest fighting Pokémon there is. I can't take him there myself as it's held in another region so I think he should join you again. So will you take 'im?"

"Sure I will." Ash replied excitedly. "Plus, I'm going to keep on travelling so maybe I'll come across the national tournament someday and we can win it together, just like our first tournament."

"Here he is then Ash." Anthony said as he handed over the pokéball containing Ash's old friend. "Well, I'd better be going. I don't want to make Rebecca and her mother worry again." He told Ash with a wink before he walked away.

A moment later Professor Oak walked over and noticed the pokéball in Ash's hand. "Ash, who's in that pokéball? I thought all your Pokémon were out already."

"Oh, someone I met a while back just came by to drop off an old friend who wanted to join me again. Why don't you come on out and say hello to everyone Primeape." Ash said as he threw the pokéball into the air. The pig monkey Pokémon materialised, with a large golden belt wrapped around his waist to signify it winning the P1 championship, before the pair. When it saw Ash it dived on him and started crushing the air out of his lungs with a tight hug, showing that it was definitely happy to be back.

"Ah, I see. So your Primeape decided to re-join you. Do you have any idea how strong it might be now?"

"Well apparently he breezed through the regional P1 tournament, that's how he got the belt I guess, so I'd bet he could at least match Hitmonlee. That's a point Primeape, I've got a lot of new Pokémon to introduce you to, I'll explain the story behind them all later when we can get some time just me and all you Pokémon." Ash then lead Primeape over to all his other Pokémon, Brock and Misty saw Primeape and came over to welcome it back home. Ash soon found that he would have quite a handful though as the moment he introduced Primeape to Hitmonlee they formed an intense rivalry, the glares they were giving each other even made a few people back away as they thought a fight might break out.

Ash just laughed it off and calmed the two down before continuing with the introductions. He knew that the new rivalry would be perfect as it would only drive the two to train harder and become stronger than one another. In a way they were just like him and Gary, only he and Gary hadn't been quite so ferocious with each other. Once the introductions were done everyone got back to enjoying the party which went on till late in the evening.


Once the rest of the town had gone home Ash, Misty, Brock, Delia and all of Ash's Pokémon helped Professor Oak tidy up after the party. When they had finished they took a break in the ranch's fields. "So Ash, do you know what you're going to do now or have you not decided yet?" Oak asked and everyone waited for his reply with baited breath.

"Well, I was told that the Orange League was an interesting challenge and that the champion of the league was really strong so I would be guaranteed a good fight, because of that I've decided to participate in it." His Pokémon cheered excitedly at the prospect of heading out for a new adventure.

"That sounds like a fine idea young man but might I ask who recommended it to you?"

"Lance, the elite four champion recommended it." Everyone froze at this point. "Before you ask how I met him, it was when I was given my prizes by President Goodshow. Lance had a few things he wanted to ask me about and when I told him I didn't know what I'd do next he recommended the Orange League."

"Wow, to actually speak to Lance would be a real honour." Brock said.

"You got that right Brock, especially as he's been my hero ever since I was little. He was the first Pokémon master I remember hearing about so he's almost like my goal I suppose."

"I think it's great that you got to meet him then honey but I didn't know you got any other prizes, what were they?" Delia asked her son.

"Oh, that's right. I never actually got round to telling you any of them."

"Well given the data I received on my computer shortly before the party I already know one of them." Oak stated simply.

"I guess that means it's come into effect then. Well, overall I got three prizes. The first was an increase in my carry limit; I was given two options and chose one where I would be able to carry twenty two of my Pokémon with me at any time."

"Twenty two? Misty and I have got an increased carry limit because we're gym leaders but that's only twelve so how did you get twenty two?" Brock interrupted.

"Well, consider that to even enter the conference you have to have beaten all the gym leaders therefore it would be assumed that whoever wins the tournament must be a better trainer than them. I guess that is why there's the extra team's worth that most people will be offered now. I got an extra four on top of that so I can have my three teams and still have Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo with me without any trouble."

"I guess that does make some sense." Brock said thoughtfully. "Oh well, you said there were other prizes though, what were they?"

"Oh yeah, well the next one was probably the most shocking as it turns out I've won a million pokédollars so we should find it easier on the road from now on." Nobody said anything at this point as they were stunned by the amount he had won. He took this opportunity to take his new pokégram out of his bag to show everyone. "This is the last prize, a pokégram. For those of you who don't know what it is, after all I didn't when I got it, it is a multi-purpose tablet. The holographic projector creates the display while the tablet acts as keyboard and mouse to allow interaction. It acts as a national pokédex, video phone, GPS and map, data recorder and even allows pokéball transportation on the move. Not bad eh?"

Everyone's mouths were hung open so far open a Pidgeotto could build a nest in them without any trouble. "Not bad doesn't even cover it Ash, this is incredible."

"I suppose that incredible is a much more appropriate word but you can't let anyone know about these things. President Goodshow wants the money and pokégram to be kept secret so people don't enter the tournament simply for the winnings. The limit increase is fine to go public with but that doesn't mean I'm going to start going around boasting about it otherwise it will draw more attention to me which I don't want." He responded and everyone nodded their assent, this may be a pretty major secret to keep but they would do it for the sake of their friend, son in Delia's case, and the League.


It was the next day and Ash was at the ranch playing with his Pokémon, he thought they deserved a rest after working hard for him during the league. "Hey Ash, the Professor asked to see you inside." Misty told him as she arrived came up next to him.

"Alright, I'll go see him then. Hopefully it won't take too long." It was the work of but a moment to find the Professor once he got inside. "Hey Professor, Misty said you wanted to talk to me so what is it?"

"Ah, Ash. I was hoping to make a request from you; you see I have a colleague in the Orange Islands called Professor Ivy. I received a call from her yesterday stating that she had recently come in to possession of an unusual pokéball. She was unable to learn anything about it and had decided to ask me to take a look so I told her to send it over. But when we tried to transport it nothing happened for some reason, so I want you to go and collect it for me while you're in the area. Would you mind?"

"Of course not Professor, I'm happy to help you. After all it's the least I can do given how well you look after my Pokémon."

"Oh, never mind that it is my job after all. Thank you for agreeing to go though; it should save us a few problems with getting it here. There was something else though." Samuel went over to his desk and pulled four small spheres out of a drawer. "These are for you Ash, they're specially designed pokéballs. They work exactly the same way as a normal pokéball but the colour scheme is different as you can see. There is one each for Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo as they are rather special Pokémon."

"Wow, thanks Professor Oak. I'm sure they'll love them and Pikachu even got over his fear of Pokeballs recently though we still both prefer for him to stay out." Ash took the four pokéballs and looked them over; it was obvious who each belonged to. One was yellow on the top instead of red and had a small black lightning bolt insignia on it. Another was pure white but for the line down the middle that was a silvery metallic colour instead of black. The third was a pure pink pokéball and the last had a purple upper half while the bottom half was a darker shade of the same colour.

"The only other things I have left to ask then are when you'll leave and who you'll take with you?"

"Well I think I'll leave the day after tomorrow and I'm only going to take two teams of Pokémon for now. I'll leave the other slots for Pokémon I catch along the way. Those two teams will contain Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo. I'm sure you already knew that though as I like to have them with me at all times. Other than them I will take Pidgeot and Pidgeotto, my two Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Shelgon and Gyarados for now." Ash answered.

"That sounds like a good idea to me Ash, especially leaving space for new Pokémon as it will be good for you to bond with them quickly once you capture them. I'll make the preparations so that things aren't too hectic on the day as well so you go get some more time in with your Pokémon."

"Thanks Professor, I'll go and let Misty, Brock and the Pokémon know. I'll give these pokéballs to their new occupants too, I'm sure they'll love them." As Professor Oak had nothing else to say Ash went back to his friends and Pokémon and told them the good news. Everybody was happy that some of the Pokémon would be exchanged once in a while and now that Ash had his pokégram that would be a lot easier.

Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo took an instant liking to their new pokéballs as well, insisting that they were more comfortable inside despite what Professor Oak had told him. 'I wonder if there is some psychological cause for that, maybe they find their own colours more comforting. I should mention it to Professor Oak and maybe even look into it myself some time.' Ash thought before the lot of them started playing once again.


It was a couple of days later and Ash was now walking through Pallet Woods with his friends. They were heading for Cape Pallet so they could fly to the Orange Archipelago and start their next journey.

"It sure is quiet in here isn't it? Almost too quiet…" Ash said and the moment the words left his mouth he picked up on a massive spike of hostile intent. He pushed Misty away as she had been right next to him and the hostility was all directed at him. He dropped to the floor himself as a flock of Spearow and what seemed to be their leader, a Fearow, flew straight through the spot he had just been stood in. When they missed they quickly returned to a high altitude, moving out of the reach of any retaliatory attacks.

"Why would all those Pokémon just attack us out of the blue like that? It's really unusual even for Spearow and Fearow." Brock wondered.

"I don't know… Unless… Of course, that must be it. That Fearow must be the Spearow I angered on my first day as a trainer and now it wants revenge, that's why it's so angry at me. The others are just following it because it's their leader." Ash said as he realised that he was the reason they were attacking but then he remembered something; that he had promised to one day catch them all. Perhaps that day had come, he was about to find out as they were closing in on him again.

"Pikachu and Lucario, I want you guys to scatter the Spearow and keep them at bay while I fight that Fearow with Pidgeotto. He didn't get a chance to battle in the league but an aerial battle like this is perfect for him. Come on out Pidgeotto." Ash told the others, explaining his plan before going on the offensive the moment the Fearow had flown by again.

"Pidgeotto, hit it with a gust and then a wing attack." The small bird quickly flapped its wings and created a strong air current which struck the larger bird hard, forcing it slightly lower to the ground. He then dived at the Fearow with his wings spread wide and glowing white, the attack connected and sent Fearow crashing to the ground for a few moments. But Fearow took flight once more and used a quick attack to position itself right above Pidgeotto.

From its new position Fearow launched a point blank hyper beam which made Pidgeotto plummet towards the ground. Ash was fortunately able to get below and catch Pidgeotto, preventing it from sustaining any serious injury. "I guess that Fearow is tougher than I thought if he can do that to you. After all you're just as strong as most of my other Pokémon. Why don't you take a rest Pidgeotto?" Ash said as he pulled out a pokéball in order to recall it. High in the air Fearow was crowing triumphantly but this triumph was to be short lived.

"No Ash!" Pidgeotto said, quite forcefully. "I want to be the one to teach that Fearow a lesson. It was insulting you the whole time while we were up there and I'm not going to let it get away with that. For a while now I've been resisting something in our training because I couldn't see the reason to go through with it. But now the time has come, it is time for me to evolve and defend your honour." With that said Pidgeotto scrambled off of Ash and raised his wings behind him as the white light of evolution engulfed him.

"Pidgeotto, or Pidgeot now I guess… You don't have to go so far just because he was insulting me." Ash all but whispered as a few tears came to his eyes at the show if his Pokémon's devotion to him.

"Yes I do Ash. You have always treated all Pokémon well, not just your own. You always try to protect them from injury even at risk of injuring yourself and treat us as your family when even most Pokémon do not do so. You deserve better than to be insulted by an arrogant fool of a Pokémon like that Fearow so I will show it just what your Pokémon are made of. I would like to finish this battle completely alone, without even any commands if you will let me." He replied as the glow faded to reveal the large and majestic bird Pokémon.

"Alright then Pidgeot, I'm putting all my faith in you. Let's catch that guy and prove our strength." Ash said before stepping back to make room for Pidgeot to take off. When he proceeded to stay silent as Pidgeot flew towards Fearow Misty questioned him.

"Are you using telepathic commands again Ash?"

"No, Pidgeot wants to win this battle completely on his own so he asked me not to give commands and I intend to respect that wish." Ash said as the two Pokémon started battling each other once more. Pidgeot easily dodging every attack Fearow made.

"Really, why would he do that?" Misty inquired.

"Well he said that the Fearow was insulting me and he wanted to defend my honour. He's always been loyal so I'm not surprised that he was angry with it but I am surprised that he decided to evolve now in order to do it. He even told me he had been resisting evolution as he couldn't see any point to it at the time but now he does. To be honest I don't know what to say to him."

"Wow, I've never heard of a Pokémon going so far for its trainer." Brock commented, slightly awed by the bond Ash had with his Pokémon.

Up in the air Fearow was attacking Pidgeot relentlessly but Pidgeot just kept avoiding it with ease. Pidgeot finally decided to go on the offensive, his wings glowed a light blue as he began to flap them with great power. The gusts of wind he created made the trees bend as they smashed into Fearow and did some real damage, almost knocking it out with that single attack.

"That's hurricane Ash, only really strong flying types can use that move." Brock explained. Ash knew that this was his likely to be his best opportunity and threw a pokéball as the beak Pokémon got close to the ground. The pokéball shook a few times before it pinged to signify a successful capture.

The moment the Spearow that Pikachu and Lucario were fighting off saw their leader get captured, they fled. They flew off in all different directions and when they had gone over the distant horizon a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto took to the skies. The Pokémon circled around the skies cheerfully before spotting their saviour, Pidgeot and moving to fly alongside him. It seemed that Pidgeot was making several friends amongst them but he soon landed in front of Ash again, ready to leave as he knew they had places to be.

The flock of its pre-evolutions all looked a little disheartened at this but Ash had an idea. "Hey, if you guys start living at the edge of the forest near the town then Pidgeot will be able to visit you easily whenever he's back at the lab or when we come home for a while." The Pokémon were delighted by this idea and when Pidgeot agreed that he would come and visit often if they did so they quickly took off in that direction, leaving Ash and the others to continue on their way.


A couple of hours later the group had arrived at Cape Pallet and it was time to head to their first destination, Valencia Island.

"Alright then. I choose you, Pidgeot, Pidgeot and Charizard." Ash yelled, calling out the three Pokémon. "I had been planning to fly to Valencia on you, Charizard and Pidgeot, along with my other Charizard but now that you've evolved Pidgeot I think you probably want to test your abilities. I know you can get us at least that far so I'll let you test them now."

"You know Ash, that was kind of confusing with you calling both of them Pidgeot, maybe you should think about giving one of them a nickname some time so you can differentiate between the two." Brock said after managing to figure out who was being referred to at each point.

"I wouldn't mind that Ash." Commented his recently evolved Pidgeot.

"Alright then, I'll try and think of one while we're flying so I can find one that actually suits you and not just call you Brian or something." They all laughed at the idea of Ash choosing to call out 'Brian' in a battle. It would certainly entertain the crowds, though they might take him a little less seriously after that. "Well then, why don't you ride on Charizard Brock as you're the biggest and Misty, can you fly on my first Pidgeot? Then I can fly with this guy and try to work on a name that suits him."

Everybody agreed so they climbed aboard the Pokémon that would be carrying them and set off across the ocean in the last leg of their journey to the Orange Islands.


It was morning the following day and the group was on Valencia Island searching for Professor Ivy's laboratory, they had arrived the night before but were too tired to do anything so they rested at the Pokémon Center for the night.

They were now walking down a long lane named Bay View Road and could see the lab at the end of it. They soon arrived and walked into the lobby of the laboratory as Ash called out to the researcher. "Professor Ivy!"

"Hello! Is anybody home!?" Misty yelled when there was no answer. But it was to no avail as she too was met only by silence. The group looked around the room, wondering where the Professor might be as Professor Oak had called ahead to say they would be coming by today.

"The place looks empty…" Ash said but then he felt three people coming up towards them with his psychic powers. The only problem was, they seemed to be coming up through the ground. Then he noticed it, there was the faint outline of a trapdoor under Lucario's feet. "Ah, I see. Lucario, take a step back 'cause you're stood on a trap door."

Everyone looked at the ground and sure enough, there was a trapdoor beneath Lucario. He took a step back and a moment later it was flung open.

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

With each statement or question a new woman's head appeared from the entrance in the floor. The group were all surprised by their unorthodox welcome and took a moment to recover. "Uh… Hello there. Um… We came here to see Professor Ivy." Brock said as he recovered.

"Yeah, Professor Oak sent us from Pallet Town to pick up something." Ash informed them once he too had gotten over their entrance.

"If you want the Professor…"

"She's in the bay…"

"Working with the Pokémon."

"We'll take you to her right now." Ash and his friends sweat dropped at the three as they said a line each before clasping their hands and saying the last line in perfect unison. With that said the three proceeded to lead them down to a beach and when they got there a Gyarados suddenly reared up out of the water.

"Ah, a Gyarados." Misty almost squealed.

"Don't worry Misty, it doesn't mean us any harm." Ash said, using his abilities to read its basic intent. A purple haired woman suddenly appeared from under the waves next to Gyarados and began petting it.

"Very good Gyarados." She praised as a Cloyster and Poliwhirl surfaced next to her. "I think you're all looking better and stronger every single day."

"I wish she'd train me like that." Brock mumbled as he succumbed to his attractions once again.

"Professor!"

"Three friends of Professor Oak are here to…"

"See ya'!"

The three females finished for each other just as they had before. The Professor looked in their direction and smiled in realisation as she saw the trainers. She quickly climbed on to the back of the Gyarados and had it speed her towards the beach. At the last moment, she jumped off its back and donned a lab coat, thrown by one of her assistants, in mid-air.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Professor Ivy." She introduced herself as the three trainers and their Pokémon looked on, somewhat shocked at how calmly she had arrived at the beach.


Back at the lab everyone was now gathered around a pokéball transporter upon which sat a gold and silver coloured pokéball.

"Hmm… It kind of reminds me of one of my new pokéballs." Ash observed, his travelling companions nodded while the others cocked their heads in confusion. He showed them his new pokéballs and explained that they were for Pokémon that were special to him, though he failed to mention in which way they were special.

"Well we haven't been able to find out very much about the pokéball at all but I suspect your pokéballs can be electronically transported unlike this one." Professor Ivy pointed out.

"I guess you're right. Hey, it looks like there's some kind of writing on it." Ash noticed.

"Yes, if you look closely you can see the letters 'G' and 'S'. It's for that reason that we decided to call it a GS ball. Why don't we demonstrate what happens when we try to transport it as well, just so you can see?" With that said one of the assistants pressed a button and the transport system activated. When the light of the transporter died down the GS ball hadn't changed in the slightest. Ash had them demonstrate once more but this time he recorded it with his pokégram so he could show Professor Oak once he got back.

"Naturally we've tried to open it. We've tried buzz saws, hammers, crow bars, hack saws, power drills and lasers but none of them worked. We've tried everything but this pokéball has us stumped." Ivy explained, adding to what they knew about the mysterious pokéball before them.

"Um… Did you ever try just calling out a Pokémon from it?" Ash inquired.

"Why no, the thought never even crossed our minds!"

"Well then why don't I try it?" Ash countered, picking it up before speaking again. "I choose you!" He said loudly but to no avail. As he moved to put the GS ball back in its place it came close to his chest and the upper, golden, half lit up like a firework. "Whoa, what's going on!?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is it's more reaction than we ever got out of it." Ivy stated.

Ash felt a tugging sensation around his neck and his rainbow wing suddenly shot out from beneath his shirt and hung in the air, pointing straight at the GS ball. Ash moved the ball away and both reactions died down but when he moved it back towards him they immediately started up again. He placed it back on the podium and turned to Professor Ivy. "Well that doesn't tell us much more about it but it does tell us one thing. That pokéball is somehow connected to Ho-Oh because this is a rainbow wing and that was one strong reaction." Ash analysed.

"That's a rainbow wing?" Professor Ivy queried. "That is quite intriguing but do you realise how lucky you are to have a rainbow wing. Most people would never let something like that out of their sight so whoever you got it from can't have realised what it was."

"I do know how lucky I am. But I didn't get this from a person; it came straight from the source. I saw Ho-Oh on my first day as a trainer and this dropped onto me. Ever since then I have kept it around my neck and I'm not giving it to anyone no matter what they offer me." Ash explained, awing the Professor and her assistants.

"Well, that's quite a development. At least I know the GS ball will be in safe hands though. I wish I could have discovered its secrets myself but I couldn't and if anyone can it's your friend Professor Oak." Once she finished that statement she handed him the GS ball and he tucked it away, safe at the bottom of his bag.


A phone was ringing beside a computer screen and a man's hand reached out to pick it up. The owner of the hand was wondering just who would be ringing him in the middle of the day, most people left it till the late afternoon or evening.

The man picked up the phone and spoke into it in an exasperated tone. "Hello, Professor Oak speaking."

The video feed suddenly came on and an easily recognisable voice greeted him in its usual cheery manner. "Hello, remember me."

"Oh, Ash. I wasn't expecting to hear from you quite so soon. To what do I owe this pleasure?" The researcher said, greeting him properly now that he knew it was a friend.

"Well, I thought you might like to know that I've got the GS ball now but while we were here we found something quite interesting. To be honest, it probably would never have been found out if you didn't send me to pick it up. The GS ball reacted to my rainbow wing, the top half was glowing really brightly and my rainbow wing was attracted to it like they were opposite poles of a magnet or something." Ash told him.

"Really, that's quite a development young man and you're right about it being unlikely if I had received it any other way. But wait, it almost seems like that could be why it couldn't be transported." The old man speculated. "Think about it, I know it seems impossible but what if the GS ball itself was somehow hoping that I would send you so it could meet with a rainbow wing once more, because of this it altered its own programming to not accept electronic transportation. I think it would be just about feasible to write a program like that into a pokéballs code, though not the hoping for you in particular. I'll have to consider it when I am investigating it myself but I guess this mystery just keeps getting deeper and deeper."

"That certainly sounds like an interesting theory Professor." Said Ivy's voice as she walked on screen and was handed the phone by Ash.

"Ah, Professor Ivy."

"It's good to talk to you again Professor Oak."

"Well I recently read your preliminary report in Pokémon Researchers Monthly on Pokémon adaptive variation as a function of regional distribution and I found it quite persuasive."

"Oh, thank you. I think your article on challenges facing Anthro-Pokémon global cohabitation was absolutely fascinating. Given the success of most of the projects you've worked on I just hope you can find something out about this GS ball."

"Well I'll do my best and thank you for the praise." The doorbell suddenly rang in the background at Professor Oak's lab. "Oh, that must be my pizza; sorry I've got to go." With that said he ended the call.


"What is it about him and pizza?" Ash wondered aloud back at Ivy's lab.

A while later they were out in the extensive grounds of Professor Ivy's lab. "So this is all part of your laboratory?" Brock inquired, surprised at the vast amounts of land she owned.

"Yes, we need all this space for all the Pokémon because we breed and study so many of them." She answered.

"Ohhh…" Brock mumbled as he looked around, Ash could tell that Brock loved every moment of this. A pretty girl, a wonderful environment and the concept of Pokémon breeding; this was almost like a paradise for Brock.

"Oh. Just look at all these gigantic flowers." Misty exclaimed excitedly.

"Those aren't flowers Misty." Ash said as he yanked her back, a cloud of sleep powder filling the space where her face had just been. Unfortunately for Ash, when he pulled Misty back she ended up falling on to him and they both fell to the floor with her on top.

"Oh Ash, thank you for saving me from being put to sleep. You're so great." She said, giggling as she hugged him tightly and refusing to let go when he tried to get her off him. When he did eventually manage to get out from under her and stand back up she started pouting at him. Professor Ivy watched the scene in confusion while Brock just sighed, it seemed like Misty really wouldn't give up easily.

"Would you mind explaining why that Vileplume is a different colour to those back in Kanto?" Ash asked as he tried to bring some semblance of normality back to the scene. Before she could answer she was cut off by a pair of her assistants.

"It's time for dinner!" They shouted as they charged into the area with a trolley covered in dishes of Pokémon food.

"Hey, I guess you make the food yourselves." Brock observed as the two began handing out the food to the Pokémon.

"Yes, we've created recipes for each type of Pokémon."

Ash had quickly picked up on something as the other Pokémon arrived to eat their food. "So it isn't just the Vileplume that look different. Why is it that they do look different though?" He inquired.

"If you stop and think about it it's not that surprising really. The tropical climates of this and some of the other Orange Islands are very different to the climate where you live. Naturally the different environment creates differences in the Pokémon that we've raised here. I'm now collecting data and studying how environment causes variation in all our Pokémon." She rationalised.

"You don't mean you bred and raised all the Pokémon on this island do you?" Brock asked, shocked at the possible extent of her work.

"Yes, I dedicated myself to them and I couldn't be happier." She replied quite unabashed by how many Pokémon she was implying she had bred. Brock stared at her with newfound respect in his eyes. Well, more than he had before anyway.

After a few more comments were exchanged one of the assistants came over. "Professor Ivy, look."

"We've got to think of something." She said worriedly as she looked at the Butterfree that was the root of their problems.

"What's the matter?" Brock asked, wondering if they could help.

"Oh, that little Butterfree hasn't eaten a thing in days. The different nutrients haven't worked?" Ivy answered, the last part directed at her assistants.

"No and we've tried five combinations." The assistant informed her.

"Hmm... The ingredients include all the essential nutrients. I just don't understand it." Ivy added as Brock moved in.

"Huh?" He mumbled as he took a good sniff of the food in her hand. Without the slightest hesitation he threw a piece into his mouth and tried it, stunning the locals. His face showed his obvious dislike of the food but when he finished it he made a sudden exclamation. "I've got it!"

As Brock dashed off Ash knew that he had found whatever the problem was with the food. He smiled as he realised that his friend had found a new home and would soon be leaving the group, that much was clear from his emotions.

Once he returned he set to work grinding and chopping several spices and berries.

"What are you doing?" Asked one of the assistants.

"I found out that when a Pokémon decides to eat something the most important thing isn't how nutritious the food is. They care about the taste, Pokémon like food that tastes good to them."

"Well flavour is a factor but how can you determine which flavours a Pokémon likes?" Professor Ivy countered.

"Only from experience. I found that the Butterfree Ash used to own loved sweet things like these berries and spices so hopefully sprinkling a few on the food should get Butterfree to eat it." He sprinkled some of the mixture on the food and the large butterfly immediately flew down and started eating like there was no tomorrow.

"Wow!" Ivy and her assistants exclaimed before the Professor continued alone. "That's simply amazing. I'm embarrassed to call myself a Pokémon researcher when you're the one who seems to know a lot more about Pokémon feeding habits."

"Brock knows tons of stuff about Pokémon, Professor. He's going to be the world's greatest breeder." Ash said, giving his friends a vote of confidence and showing his support for the decision Brock had made.

Brock nodded his thanks to Ash before the conversation continued. A little while later the third assistant arrived to speak to her companions. "Hey you guys, we have to decide who gets stuck cooking dinner tonight."

"Huh, cooking?" Brock inquired, hearing about another job that was perfectly suited for him. When they go to the house that was attached to the lab it was a dump but Brock quickly set to work rectifying that. Amazingly, within an hour Brock had cleaned the house completely and produced a marvellous dinner.


Soon night had fallen but Ash had stayed up a while as Misty hadn't wanted to stop talking quite yet. He decided that it might be best to broach the subject of Brock leaving now as she seemed quite content. "You know Misty; I think Brock is going to leave us tomorrow to stay here."

"What, why?"

"Oh come on. Haven't you seen the way he looks at Professor Ivy? It's the same way he looks at any girl he thinks is pretty so we already know he wants to be with her more. But when you throw in everything else: the environment, the breeding, the cooking and cleaning it becomes like an even better version of home for him." Ash explained, continuing on with more reasons.

"I also think that the way he sees it, with the skills I've been developing recently and the money I earned, we don't need him as much as they do and I have to admit I think he has a point. When it comes to cooking, carrying our gear and making sure our Pokémon are at full health I'm quite capable of doing it myself even if I would rather have Brock there with me."

"I guess you're right, I can see why he would want to stay." Misty replied sadly as understanding dawned on her.

"Then all that's left is for us is to give him our best wishes tomorrow when we leave."

"Yeah. Wait, does this mean it will be just the two of us now?" She added with a blush appearing on her face.

"It does, but what does that…" Ash trailed off as he realise the implications of what Misty had just said. 'Damn you for abandoning me now Brock.' He thought jokingly, wishing more for the older boy to stay now.

There was a sudden spike of panic and pain from out in the grounds. It was so strong that Ash froze in his place. "What's the matter Ash? Are you alright?" Misty asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine but someone, Pokémon or human, is in a bad way out there right now. Lucario, grab my bag and follow me. Hopefully we'll be able to treat any injuries before they can develop into major problems." Ash told the girl and their Pokémon.

He raced out into the woods with Lucario close behind. They soon found Brock and a couple of Ivy's assistants trying to move the Professor and a Raticate back to the lab. The group quickly explained what had happened; apparently the Raticate had been paralysed after it entered the pollen cloud produced by the many Vileplume nearby. Ivy had suffered the same fate after trying to save it so now they were both in a bad way.

Fortunately Ash had prepared for occasions such as this and quickly found the things he needed to treat them in his backpack. He and Brock set to work whipping up a medicine that would ease the symptoms a great deal. That medicine was enough to let them get back to the Pokémon Center where the two received proper treatment and made a quick recovery.


"Well, we better get going as I want to try and get through the Orange League fairly quickly so I don't have too little time to complete the Johto gym challenge on the way to the league." Ash was saying. It was the next morning and he and Misty were about to leave Valencia so they were saying their farewells to Brock and the lab workers. "I guess this is goodbye Brock. I know you'll always be by my side in spirit but be sure to call from time to time so we can talk."

"Yeah Ash, I've had a lot of good times travelling with you but I think I've found my new home. Good luck in the leagues, I'll be sure to watch out for your battles and I'll always be cheering you on. I guess it's goodbye for you too Misty, sorry I left so suddenly but you know we'll always be friends." The young man replied.

"Bye Brock, it won't be the same without you but I guess we'll manage somehow." She answered with a few tears in her eyes.

"Well I'd rather not drag this out so let's get going. Gyarados, you're up." Ash said and it was clear that he too was greatly saddened. Misty was too sad to realise just what it was that she was climbing on to and so got on Gyarados without any fuss. Ash climbed up as well and they set off across the ocean towards Tangelo Island, the island where everybody started their Orange League journey.


They arrived a couple of hours later and were now making their way along a road by the beach, heading towards the Pokémon Center. Ash suddenly froze and clutched his head in pain. "Ash, what's wrong?"

"There's a Pokémon in a lot of pain nearby, it needs help." He said before running off down the road and jumping down to the beach. A few metres from the spot he landed, a Lapras was being harassed by three 'Pokémon trainers'.

"Come on…" Said one of them who was sat atop it.

"Get up and get moving you stupid lump." Another added from its left side.

"You better listen, or else." The final 'trainer' said before hitting it viciously with a stick.

The moment Ash saw the stick hit Lapras his psychic aura flared and the three men were sent flying across the beach. Misty froze in fear; she had never seen Ash this angry before, he hadn't even come close in his semi-final match of the Indigo League. The three men clambered to their feet and ran up to them as Ash's yellow aura faded away.

"Which one of you did that, you think you can just attack us in the middle of our training to take on the Orange Crew? I bet it was you with the Pikachu and that weird lookin' Pokémon. You lookin' for a fight brat?" One of them said, almost yelling at Ash and Misty.

"If you're going to treat a Pokémon like that then you don't deserve to be called Pokémon trainers and for your information I do think I can interrupt your so called 'training'. Besides, that's a wild Pokémon so you're in no position to be training it." Ash moved around so that he, his Pokémon and Misty were now between the men and Lapras. "As for battling, I'd happily do so as even my weakest Pokémon could beat anything you lot have got."

"That does it, let's teach this kid a lesson!" One of them yelled and all three sent out a Pokémon. A Spearow, Hitmonchan and Beedrill appeared before them and prepared themselves to fight.

"Pikachu, you're up but tone your attacks down to ten percent. That's more than enough for those three and we don't want to do any lasting injuries." Ash commanded and Pikachu dove onto the sand with sparks at his cheeks.

"That does it. Go!" His opponents shouted in unison.

"Hold it." An unknown voice said from between them all. Everybody turned to look at the source of it and saw a young man with red shorts, a green shirt and a large orange backpack. He also had a red headband on under his black hair. "This should only take a second."

The young man quickly started examining the three Pokémon opposite Ash and Pikachu. "The feathers on your Spearow indicate it's not getting enough vitamins and it could stand to lose a few pounds. The colouring on this Beedrill is pretty poor and it's obvious this Hitmonchan isn't getting enough exercise. Just as I suspected, it's easy to see that these Pokémon are pitifully underdeveloped." He concluded as he finished the examination.

"What do you mean underdeveloped?" One of Ash's opponents asked.

"Who made you the expert?" Another inquired.

The young man ignored them and came over to look at Pikachu and Lucario. "But this Pikachu looks just perfect, you can tell 'cause its coat is so shiny. I've never seen a Lucario before myself but the lustre of the metal in its body is supposed to be a good indicator of health and yours looks pretty lustrous." He said as he examined Ash's Pokémon. His comments made Ash feel proud of all the work he had put into raising the two properly, even adapting Brock's pokéchow recipes to make them even better for his Pokémon.

The man took a couple of steps back and pulled out a notepad. "I just want to make a quick sketch." He stated as if it were obvious and excitedly started drawing, but Ash's opponents weren't taking well to being ignored. They commanded their Pokémon to attack but Ash responded in an instant.

"Pikachu, you heard me before." He said and Pikachu jumped into the air and unleashed a thunderbolt that most trainers would consider to be fairly strong while to Ash's Pikachu it was really quite weak. In fact it was such a strong attack that the three men took off running with their Pokémon in tow.

"We've got to get help!" The young man who had been examining the Pokémon suddenly exclaimed. "I think this Lapras might be really hurt."

"In that case I'll give it some first aid then we can move it up to the Pokémon Center. Can you two create a stretcher for Lapras while I treat it?" Ash requested. The other two quickly agreed and set off to find the materials they needed. The locals were very helpful, giving them anything they could that might be of use, once the situation was explained to them.

Ash quickly produced a concoction that would ease the pain and help some of the injuries recover if Lapras drunk it. He walked over to the Pokémon which he now realised was only a young Lapras and still had a lot of growing to do. "Here, I made this medicine for you. It will make you feel better." He told it but when he tried to get the Pokémon to drink it he nearly spilled the medicine as the Pokémon tried to knock him away. "So you don't trust me. Then let's try a different approach."

"Hello, I'm the human in front of you." Ash said as he formed telepathic link with Lapras.

"What the? Get out of my mind, please." It retorted in a panic.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Just try and read my emotions." With that said he pushed all the emotions he was feeling to the forefront of his mind. His anger at the people who had mistreated Lapras, his sadness that it was hurt and his desire to aid it, all of these combined made Lapras realise that he truly did want to help it and consented to drink the medicine. It felt the effects almost immediately.

"Thank you, I feel much better now. But why did you help when all the humans I've seen before just attacked me?"

"Well I don't know about the humans you've seen before but they all sound like pretty horrible people. Most humans love Pokémon and I tend to go even further than most when it comes to Pokémon in danger so this wasn't a lot for me. By the way, that medicine isn't going to heal you completely so I need to take you to the Pokémon Center. If you let me and my friends put you on the stretcher then we can take you there and another nice person will treat all your injuries properly. Is that okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." The young one replied nervously.

"That's good; I promise I won't let anybody hurt you. Here come my friends with the stretcher, we'll probably need your help a little bit to move you on to it so get ready." Ash told Lapras as Misty and the still unknown man arrived with a stretcher made of scaffolding and tarpaulin. They managed to get Lapras on to the stretcher with surprising ease but then came the problem that no one but Ash knew how to overcome.

"Okay, so we've got it on a stretcher but what now? We won't be able to carry it to the Pokémon Center ourselves, we're not strong enough." Misty asked.

"That's where these two come in, come on out Charizard." Ash threw two pokéballs into the air and a large red lizard appeared from each, both releasing a small jet of flames. "Alright you two, I need you to fly this stretcher up to the Pokémon Center. We'll be close behind but until we get there don't let anyone except Nurse Joy near Lapras."

The Charizard quickly obeyed and took one end of the stretcher each before easily lifting off and flying it up the hill. "Those must be some really strong Charizard to lift a Lapras so easily, even if it is young." The young man commented as they began running up the road towards the Pokémon Center.

"They are." Ash confirmed. "But who are you? I don't think you've actually introduced yourself."

"Oh right, sorry about that. I'm Tracey, a Pokémon watcher."

"Ah, a Pokémon watcher. I remember Professor Oak telling me how he used to be a Pokémon watcher and it was some of the discoveries he made then that led to him becoming the prominent figure he is today." Ash said. "I guess that explains why you were looking over our Pokémon earlier and why you wanted to sketch them too."

"Yeah. Wait, did you just say you talked with Professor Oak?" Tracey inquired.

"Sure, it was him who sponsored me to become a Pokémon trainer and gave me Pikachu here to start my journey with. We talk all the time, in fact I'm going to call him once we get to the Pokémon Center so I can see if he has any useful information on Lapras that isn't in the pokédex."

"That sounds like a great idea Ash and you know the Professor is always happy to help you or a Pokémon in need." Misty commented.

"Wow, I can't believe I know two people who know Professor Oak, my hero." Tracey exclaimed gleefully.

"Well I can understand respecting him but I think even the Professor would question his being a hero." Ash said somewhat dubiously.

When they finally arrived at the Pokémon Center Nurse Joy was just making her way over to his Charizard. "Don't do it Nurse Joy, they keep attacking anyone who tries to get near them." Said a meek voice from the crowd that had gathered around the two Charizard. She got right up to the two without incident and then saw the Lapras they were guarding.

"So that's why they're being so defensive, they're guarding an injured Lapras." She explained to the crowds.

"Yeah, sorry about that everybody. I told those two not to let anyone but Nurse Joy near the Lapras as it's had a rough time with just about all the humans it's met so far. I had trouble even convincing it to take any medicine down on the beach." Ash said as he walked towards the group. "Return and get some rest you two." Ash said as he recalled the Pokémon.

Once he, Misty and Tracey had explained what happened to Nurse Joy they helped her move the Lapras to a pool behind the Pokémon Center. Once they got there Ash and the others made to go inside while Nurse Joy started administering the medicine. But once Ash got inside and out of sight Lapras started panicking again and fled from Nurse Joy, Ash came back out immediately as he sensed something was wrong.

"What's the problem Nurse Joy?"

"Lapras just suddenly stopped letting me give it the medicine and swam away from me, she won't even let me get close anymore."

"What's wrong Lapras?" Ash asked and when she saw he had arrived she swam over to him and started nuzzling him.

"I see. The only human she really trusts at the moment is you so if you're not around when other humans are she gets scared again."

"I get it. It's okay Lapras; Nurse Joy won't hurt you so why don't you take some more medicine." Lapras nodded and cautiously swam over to Nurse Joy to start taking the medicine again. She soon grew more confident and happily accepted the various other treatments Nurse Joy applied. Once the treatment was finished the humans went inside to let Lapras get some rest.

"Given how Lapras is acting I'm surprised you managed to get it to trust you. Do you mind if I ask how you did it?" Nurse joy inquired as the two walked into the lobby where Misty and Tracey were waiting.

"That's a good point Ash; do you think you could teach me how you did it?" Tracey added.

"I'm afraid I doubt I can teach either of you how as I used my telepathic abilities. You see, Lapras wouldn't take the medicine I was trying to give it so I formed a telepathic link with it and showed it all the emotions I was feeling at the time. That proved to Lapras that I wanted to help her so she started trusting me." Ash explained.

"Whoa, I guess I can't replicate it if you used psychic powers. But I've never heard of anyone being able to do that before, you must be a pretty strong psychic to do that." Tracey complimented.

"I guess you missed the bit where I threw those three guys back several feet with my psychic powers then." Ash said with a grin.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Tracey joked. They all started laughing and Ash noticed that he was really starting to like this guy; he knew a lot about Pokémon, he cared for them, he had a good sense of humour and seemed like a decent guy. Ash couldn't help but smile as he knew he had just met yet another new friend.

Once they recovered from Tracey's joke Nurse Joy spoke up again. "It's a shame though, that Lapras must have been separated from its pod in the last big storm we had. I doubt it will be able to find them again very soon."

"Yeah, it's a real shame as I know Lapras form very deep bonds within their pod." Tracey added.

"Then why don't we try to get Lapras back together with its family. If we all work together I'm sure we could do it and I could ask Professor Oak to keep an eye out for reports of Lapras pods. There can't be too many in the area so if we find each one that the Professor hears about we should eventually find the right one."

"That sounds like a great idea Ash." Misty praised, loving the thought of helping a water type Pokémon.

"So if I agree could I come with you and maybe even meet Professor Oak?" Tracey asked.

"Sure you could, Professor Oak is always happy to meet a fellow Pokémon enthusiast." Ash told him. "Now I guess the only thing left to do is get Lapras to accept me as its trainer till we find its family again."

"I guess you're right as you're probably the only one of us she would accept as her trainer anyway right now."

And so, once Lapras had rested up and recovered Ash explained the plans to her. She agreed once she realised how difficult it would be for her to find the pod alone. Once she was caught Ash released her again and they set off for the island that was home to the first Orange League gym, Mikan Island.


So please feel free to tell me what you think.

I've always loved the Pokémon I gave back to Ash in this chapter and I also felt that Ash should have been able to catch the Fearow then, but how will Fearow act? You'll have to keep reading to find out how he acts in my version.