The next day, just before Dawn, Ash touched down on the coast of the Johto Region. The first thing he did was get off Skarmory's back and rub the side of its head, saying "thanks Skarmory, I really appreciate everything that you've done for me and Riolu. You can go back to your friends now." Skarmory shook its head though, causing Ash to ask "What? Do you want to come with me instead then?" Skarmory nodded. Ash said "Well, that's even more reason for me to see Kurt then" before leaving the beach asking Skarmory to hide out and that he would be back that night. Skarmory took off to one of the nearby mountains. Ash said to himself "now, Kurt."

Twelve minutes later he was on the outskirts of Azalea Town. He then, in the pre-dawn light, crept from shadow to shadow heading towards where he knew Kurt's workshop to be. Soon enough he was outside Kurt's residence. He knocked on the door. Nobody answered. He knocked again. This time Kurt, bleary-eyed, opened the door and asked "who's there?"

"Hey Kurt, long time no-see."

"Ash? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Wait, I thought that you were in a prison in the Hoenn Region?"

"Yeah, I was."

"Then how come you're here?"

"I escaped" Ash said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which, in fairness, it was.

"Well, I can see that. What I meant was, why did you come to see me?"

"I find myself with the need for some pokéballs and I can't exactly go up to the nearest Pokémon Market and ask for some now, can I?"

"I suppose not. Alright, I've got some Apricorn Balls now, but you'll need to let me make a few more for you."

"Sure thing, thanks" Ash said as he passed out from exhaustion. Kurt caught him, and, knowing why he had probably fainted, let him sleep, putting him in the guest room.

Kurt thought 'he'll also need somewhere to store them, if I know Pokémon trainers, he'll no doubt be catching more than six Pokémon, and he's going to need somewhere to store them. Well, it's a good thing the 'he' is coming here.' Kurt then went to his workshop and started working on Ash's order.

Around 12 o'clock Ash woke up, when he did it was to find that Riolu was lying next to him on a bed in some strange room that he'd never been in before. He thought 'where am I' and then he remembered that he had gone to Kurt's place in Azalea Town. "Oh, right" he said aloud. He then picked up his sleeping Riolu, got up, and then returned Riolu to the bed. He then left the room. When he got to the dining room Maisy was making sandwiches for lunch. Ash said "hey, Maisy, it's been a while."

"Ash, you're up!" Maisy exclaimed.

"Yep, up and at 'em. All I needed was a few hours' sleep. I'd been running on fumes for the last day or so."

"You've been awake for all that time? No wonder you fainted on the doorstep."

"Yeah, I was exhausted."

"That's good to hear. My Grandad's in the workshop putting the finishing touches on your pokéballs right now."

"So he is doing them?"

"Yeah, didn't he tell you?"

"He might have, the time just before I fainted is a little fuzzy."

"Well, I suppose that's to be expected" a voice came from the entrance to the dining room.

"Uncle Xavier!" Maisy exclaimed upon sighting her Uncle.

"Xavier?" Ash asked, surprised at hearing the name that the kind gentleman gave him and his sister advice when they were in the Safari Zone almost three years ago.

"Ash?" Xavier asked.

Ash turned around and said "hi, how are you going?"

"I didn't think that I'd ever be seeing you again after I heard what happened in Hoenn."

"Yeah, well, I didn't really think so either, but, well, here we are."

"Here we are indeed."

"Hey, you didn't tell me that you were related to Kurt."

"I was unaware that you knew of him. The Apricorn pokéballs made by our family are not widely known."

"Well, that's fair enough."

"So, Xavier, you've met Ash I take it?" Kurt asked, coming in from his workshop.

"Yes, back when I caught Poliwag and Budew for Jack."

"Oh, I see, I see..."

"Well, do you mind telling me why you...oh, right, you probably wanted some of dad's pokéballs, didn't you?"

"Why yes" Ash replied.

"I take it that you've finished making them dad?"

"Yeah, they're all done."

"I suppose that you want me to give him one of 'those' then, don't you dad?"

"Yes, yes I do."

Xavier smiled and said "well, I was going to give him one anyway."

"One? One what?" Ash asked, thoroughly confused as to what the two older men were talking about.

"Well you see Ash, I happen to work at the Devon Corporations Johto Division in the Pokémon Storage Department. I happened to just complete the latest in Pokémon storage technology. I call it the P.P.S.D"

"The P.P.S.D? What is that?" Ash asked, wanting to know what the acronym stood for.

"The Portable Pokémon Storage Device. I've got one of them here, I was going to give it to Maisy, by I think that right now, you need it more, plus, I can always just build another one for my niece."

"Geez, thanks. So uh, what does it do exactly?"

"Okay, you know how currently when a Pokémon is caught once you already have six Pokémon in your party, they transport to wherever you have got your pokedex set to as a home town?"

"Yes."

"Well, this device makes it so that instead of sending them to some far off place, they instead get sent into this Device."

"I see."

Xavier reached into a bag that he had been carrying and withdrew a handheld device, not too dissimilar to a pokedex and handed it to Ash. Ash swung the protective lid of it around and then looked at the screen. Xavier said "it's a uses touch-screen technology. One the left side is your Pokémon team. On the right, is where your Pokémon are stored. To change your Pokémon between your current team and the ones in storage, you press the one that you want to put into your team and then the one that you want to replace and the change will happen instantaneously. Of course, the Pokémon must be inside the pokéball at the time of transfer. We haven't tried to experiment as to what would happen if you did as there are various laws dealing with experiments conducted on Pokémon."

"Alright, thanks" Ash said, swinging the lid back around, over the screen. "Uhhh, one question though..."

"Yes?" Xavier asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Where am I going to put it?"

"Ah yes, sorry, I'm a bit forgetful at times. Here, this is the belt that goes with it" Xavier said, holding out a Pokémon Trainers Belt that had a pouch for the PPSD to rest in while they were walking.

"Thanks" Ash said, taking the belt from Xavier.

"Now, come with me, young man" Kurt said. Ash followed Kurt into his workshop. "If I remember correctly the last time that you were here, I made you a Lure Ball, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, I've made you another one, you won't need another explanation as to the effects of that, I also have two friend balls for you; they make your Pokémon grow closer to you, and happier, faster. Two Fast Balls, I shouldn't need to give you a description of them either; also, I recently acquired 10 Dusk Balls to study, you can have 3 of them too."

"Dusk Ball, aren't those from the Sinnoh Region?" Ash asked as he and Kurt started to walk back inside their house, Ash with five pokéballs in his arms.

"Yes, I have a friend who uses Chilan Berries to make pokéballs that are effective against Normal Type Pokémon."

"Really? Where does your friend live?"

"Roseville City."

"Roseville City huh, man I wish I went there when I was in Sinnoh."

"Wait! You've been to the Sinnoh Region?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You wouldn't happen to have caught a Garchomp would you?"

"Uh, I caught a Gible, why?"

"Well there's this Garchomp that seems to like eating everything in sight, we've tried to capture it, but apparently it has already been caught by some..."

Ash, by this time, had his right hand covering his face and he though 'oh god, why me, I though that Gible, sorry, Garchomp, had stopped trying to eat everything.'

"You seem to know something about this Pokémon."

"Yeah, it's mine alright, I was planning on going to Pallet Town to get it, but this..."

"I think that it's something to be admired, a Pokémon that can sense what its trainer is thinking from across the ocean and then act based on that."

"Well, where is Garchomp now?"

"He's probably in the mountains right now."

"Really, that's good then. I'll go there and sort all this out, although..."

"Yes?"

"I think that wearing Prison Orange is not going to do me any favours."

"Yes well, I think that we can manage to do something about that."

"What?"

"My brother was about your size, dad, you still haven't thrown any of his stuff away, have you?" Xavier asked.

"No, I'm afraid that I still can't force myself to do it."

Xavier sighed and said "I know dad, I miss him too, losing a twin is like nothing you can understand."

Ash's eyes widened and thought 'he lost his twin too, hopefully Ashleigh's doing well.'

In a skyscraper in the Hoenn region a black haired beauty in a suit was sitting in a high-backed chair in an orange skirt-suit. She was currently facing away from the door at a large, wall-sized, screen that currently had a brown haired man in an orange suit. "How are the operations going in the Hoenn Region Ashleigh?"

"Everything is proceeding as expected father."

"Good, our organisation has flourished in the Hoenn Region thanks to you. I hope that you do not fail."

"As do I father."

"Good, because if you do, you know what will happen to your Brother."

"You have made that very clear Father."

"Good. Report in this time next week."

"I will, Father." Giovanni shut off the connection to the Hoenn Region. When he had done so a tear crept down Ashleigh's cheek. "Ash" she said, sorrowfully.

In the Kanto Region, just outside of Viridian City Giovanni was furious. His good-for-nothing son, had apparently inherited the aura capabilities from his mothers line and had used them to escape from Steel Penitentiary. If they couldn't find him then he would lose the leverage necessary to force his daughter to finally join the family business; and if Ashleigh found out, and joined up with her brother, then it was almost guaranteed that Team Rocket would completely collapse. Giovanni pushed a button on his intercom and said "get me Jessie, James and Meowth. I've got a job for them."

Meanwhile, in the Johto Region, Ash had finished getting dressed. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt and white shoe. Maisy said "There's one last thing you need Ash."

"Really? What's that?"

"This" she said, holding a black bundle in front of him.

"What's that?"

"Well, you can't go around letting everyone see your face now, can you?"

"Well, no."

"And this here cloak has a hood that will hide it."

"Geez, thanks Maisy" Ash said, taking the bundle from her.

"That's alright."

"Well, I better put this to good use now" Ash said, picking up the Friend Ball on the table. He bent down to Riolu, touched its head with the ball and it got sucked into it. The ball pinged shut almost instantaneously. "Well, thank you," Ash said as he placed the cloak on the table and donned the Pokémon Trainers Belt. He then filled the pokéball slots on the belt with Riolu's ball, a Lure Ball, another Friend Ball and the three Dusk Balls. Ash then placed the PPSD into its corresponding pouch and then put on the cloak, thoughtfully provided by Maisy. He then left Kurt's place and went back to the beach that he had left off from that morning. When he got there Skarmory and Garchomp were also there. He caught both of them in two of the Dusk Ball's and then called Skarmory out, got on its back and headed for Pallet Town.

Three hours later Ash was flying over New Bark Town. Half an hour after that he reached Tohjo Falls; He continued on, changing between Skarmory and Garchomp to preserve Skarmory's strength, should it be needed in the upcoming few hours. Three hours later he was in the skies over Pallet Town. He descended upon Professor Oak's Lab and, when he had set down he saw that all of his Pokémon had come to greet him, somehow knowing that tonight would be the night that he would return. Just as he was about to be mobbed by his Pokémon Ash erected an Aura Barrier that protected him from being crushed, especially by Bayleef who, in the time that he had been incarcerated, had evolved into Meganium. He saw that the Larvitar that he had caught in the Johto Safari Zone had evolved into a Pupitar, Shinx into Luxio and Charmander into Charmeleon. Buizel had also evolved. Ash then saw that a light had been turned on in the Professor's Laboratory as a square of light appeared around him. Ash used his Aura to refract the light around him, but Professor Oak said "I know you're there Ash. You might as well come out from wherever you're hiding." Nothing happened.

"Ash, honey?" Delia Ketchum called out hesitantly.

"Mum" Ash said, losing control of his refraction cloak.

Needless to say, Professor Oak and Delia were shocked at the appearance of Ash, seemingly from nowhere. Professor Oak asked "what was that?"

"That doesn't really matter, does it?" Ash asked.

"No, not really." Delia rushed forward and took her son up into a hug. "I thought that you might be coming by sometime soon."

"What? Why is that?"

"For the last few days all of your Pokémon have been acting strangely, like they were expecting something, or, clearly, someone."

"I see, Xavier said something about that, but I still don't think that it's very important. First of all, where's Ashleigh?" Delia covered her eyes and started to cry. Professor Oak looked sad. Ash got a terrible feeling in his stomach. "Where is she? She's not dead, I would have felt that."

"I'm sorry Ash, but you'd better come inside for this."

"Alright" Ash said, apprehensively. Ten minutes later they were sitting down at the Professor's coffee table with cups of, ironically enough, tea. "Alright, spill it. Just what is going on with my sister."

"Well Ash, it's about your father" Delia said.

"What about him? You said that he left with Ashleigh right after we were born, right?"

"Yes, well, I haven't told you the entire truth about him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your father, he's...I'm sorry, I just can't tell him" Delia said, looking at Professor Oak.

"Can't tell me? Can't tell me what?"

Professor Oak sighed and said "what your mother cannot, or rather, doesn't want, to tell you, is that your father is the man responsible for Team Rocket being the threat that it is today."

"Wha..." Ash said, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I truly am sorry Ash, but it is the truth."

"Wait. I asked about Ashleigh. What has Giovanni got to do with my sist...Oh God. Oh God no..." Ash said, putting two and two together. If Giovanni was his father, then he was also his twin sisters' father. "Where is Ashleigh now?"

"I'm sorry Ash, but I really don't know. But knowing your father, he's probably put her in charge of the operations in the Hoenn Region." Ash got an absolutely murderous look in his eyes. "Ash..." Professor Oak said. seeing Ash calm down Professor Oak continued "I don't know why she's doing what he tells her to since she purposefully ran from him as soon as she possibly could, but he..."

"He was using me as leverage to make her do what he wanted."

"I'm sure that even he wouldn't..." Delia said, trying to defend Giovanni, even though she knows what he has done.

"No, that's exactly what's happened" Ash said.

"You don't know..."

"Yes. I do."

"But you..."

"I'm his son. If I wanted Ashleigh to take orders that's the only thing that would work; threaten her family, even if it's your own."

"But that's..."

"I know that that is the only thing that would work on me. Ashleigh is my twin. It's all that would convince her to do so as well. Plus, if I were in Giovanni's position, that's what I'd do, and that's what he's done. He turned his own daughter into a criminal. Taking out both of the only people that have dared to continuously oppose him at the same time."

"I'm sorry Delia, but I have to agree with Ash on this one. That plan is devious and cunning enough for Giovanni to have come up with, and the only people to be able to figure it out would be his own blood."

"I'm sorry Ash, if I'd never..."

"If you'd never met Giovanni Ashleigh and I would not have been born, or we might have, but we would still likely be completely different people; I know that neither Ashleigh nor I have any regrets for being brought into this world by you. Quite frankly, who my father is has never had any bearing on my decisions, and I'll be damned if it does now."

"Ash..."

"Ash, you said that you met Kurt's son, Xavier, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then I take it that he gave you the Portable Pokémon Storage Device that he was working on?"

"Yes. He did."

"Oh good. There's no problem then."

"Problem?"

"Yes, I take it that you are going to be leaving soon?"

"Yes."

"But Ash, you just got here..."

"Yes, and it will be a lot more dangerous for everyone in Pallet Town if I remain here."

"We're a bit more..."

"You know he's right Delia, if Giovanni sends all of his Kanto forces to storm Pallet Town, even if we did manage to get assistance from all the elite trainers in Kanto, there just wouldn't be enough. You know that if Ash stays here that won't be just a hypothetical situation. It will be a full blown war between the citizens of Pallet, against the forces of Team Rocket. You know who will win that fight, don't you?"

"Yes" Delia said, feeling a sense of defeat and depression that she hadn't felt since Ashleigh had been taken away from her at birth.

"Alright, now Ash, I'm going to transfer to you all of your Pokémon, it will be exceedingly easy with the PPSD."

"Really?"

"Yes. here, I'll show you. Give me the handset." Ash handed Professor Oak the PPSD and Oak, whilst holding the screen to him, pressed a few buttons, and soon enough all of his Pokémon, which had been returned to their pokéballs before they went inside, were stowed in the device. "Before you go, here" Professor Oak said, handing Ash a black version of his Hoenn pokedex. "This has data of all Pokémon currently available, even those in the Unova Region."

"The Unova Region, huh?" Ash rhetorically asked.

"Yes, you'll need to take a plane to get there though, that pokedex that I just gave you is your new ID."

"New ID?"

"Yes, we have given you the name 'Tom Ato' and..."

"Ergh! Uhh, would you mind if I chose the name?"

"But I thought that you did? I mean, that is the name that Misty suggested."

"Grrr" Ash growled "that little..."

"Just out of curiosity, why did she suggest that?"

"When we were travelling around the Kanto Region together we ran across a dispute over which should become an official gym in Dark City, to avoid press attention we used alias', mine was Tom Ato, hers was Ann Chovy and Brock was Caesar Salad."

"But those are all..."

"We were in a restaurant at the time, although I suppose calling it a restaurant is being pretty generous as it is."

"I see, that makes more sense now, I must admit, I was curious. Alright, what name do you want?"

"Well, I've always liked Alex, Alex Smith."

"Alright then, Alex Smith it is" Professor Oak said as he placed the pokedex into a machine, conveniently enough, in the room.

"Alright, I'll be off now. After all, I'm not quite ready yet for my fight against Giovanni. I'll come back when I am. Goodbye." Ash then left Professor Oak's Lab.

"You've raised him well Delia, Ash and his sister are nothing like their father, and they're both a lot stronger than we give them credit for."

"I know that. But even so..."

"Even so...even so" Professor Oak said as he and Delia saw Ash fly off into the night.