A/N: Hello all! Here's a brand new chapter of the story! Hope you enjoy! Once again, thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Madame Rodoshe for letting me use her character in my story. Well, on with the story! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but again-I wish I did.


Gary had spent all night on his laptop, trying to figure out how the Electric Project could be so interesting to not only Team Electric, but also to Team Plasma. If electric Pokémon were the key to the Electric Project, then why was Team Plasma so fascinated in it? Was it because it was the most powerful Pokémon that any of them had ever seen? The more hours he spent on his laptop trying to find something, the more frustrated he became. In this particular moment, Gary was beginning to hate being a Pokémon researcher. At around three in the morning, Gary finally gave into sleep, napping on the couches in the Pokémon Center lobby. As soon as he felt that he went to sleep, he felt someone nudging at him. His eyes slowly opened to find none other than his sister, Daisy with a concerned look on her face.

"Gary?" Daisy looked at her brother. Gary abruptly stood up, surveying his surroundings.

"Wha…what time is it?" Gary rubbed the back of his head.

"It's seven in the morning. You dozed off in the lobby." Daisy sat next to her brother, looking at the laptop on the table. "I also think your laptop battery died." Gary quickly went into his backpack to grab the charger for the laptop. He needed to figure this out, and it had to be done now.

"I have to figure out what is it the Zapdos is guarding." Daisy couldn't help but feel guilt-ridden. Because of her, Gary was hungry and sleep deprived. He looked as if he had been sitting there, just trying to find something, anything. Daisy slowly took the laptop charger away from Gary, starling the Pokémon researcher. "What are you doing? Give me that! I need to figure this out."

"No, you need to go upstairs and get some sleep." Daisy told her brother. "You've been up all night trying to figure out a breakthrough in the Electric Project, but you can't do that because your brain is fried." Gary wasn't sure why Daisy was suddenly concerned about him. She never showed concern before. In fact, Gary was just the small fly on the wall when it came to their family.

"Since when do you care if I sleep or eat?" Gary snapped, trying to take back the laptop charger. Daisy placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Gary to stop what he was doing and stare at his sister.

"Since I realized that because of me, you're going completely insane over this. I want to stop Team Plasma and Team Electric too, but there's no way that we're going to do that if you're not taking care of yourself." Gary would have argued with Daisy, but he had to admit he was just too tired to say anything else. "So, why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep? I'll look through the cameras on the island and then if I find anything, I'll wake you up. Okay? Besides, Zoey's worried about you." Gary had completely forgotten that he had told Zoey the night before that he was going to get some rest, but instead he found himself glued to the laptop. Gary got up from the chair, not sure if he should thank his sister or not.

"Why are you doing this?" Gary questioned.

"What do you mean?" Daisy became confused.

"Why are you trying to get me away from the laptop? You just want to find out about the Electric Project by yourself, don't you?" Gary's eyes widened. Daisy got up from the chair, chuckling at her brother.

"And this is how I know you're tired. You're paranoid. Go to sleep Gary." Daisy softly told her brother. Gary wanted to stay and help some more, but finally relented and started heading towards the rooms in the Pokémon Center.

"All right. Come on Eevee, let's get some sleep." Gary let out a yawn. He turned around noticing that Eevee wasn't following him. Where did Eevee go? "Eevee? Eevee, where are you?" Daisy and Gary looked around the lobby for the young Pokémon, but they couldn't find her anywhere. "Eevee, Eevee!" Gary began to worry.

"Gary, we're going to find Eevee, all right?" Daisy tried to comfort her brother. She knew that Eevee had meant so much to him, and it would have pained her to see Gary so broken up about losing Eevee.

"We have to. Besides Ash, Eevee's my best friend." Gary almost sounded as if he was whining.

"We'll find her. Here, you look in here and I'll check outside." Daisy started to head outside the Pokémon Center. As Daisy left, Gary looked under the sofas, the coffee tables and even behind Nurse Joy's desk. Where was Eevee?


Outside, Eevee was busy trying to play. She knew that Gary had been busy all night, so she wanted to give him some space while she went to explore the surroundings around her. Eevee had never been to Unova before, so to finally come here and explore all the new Pokémon was interesting. Eevee didn't know that from a distance, she was being watched. As Eevee continued to a play, a Pokémon snuck up behind her, wanting to get a closer look at the fox type Pokémon.

"All right Cinccino, use Giga Impact!" A voice yelled from behind. Eevee turned around to find a girl with long pink bubblegum hair wearing a red V-neck mini dress, white gloves, white belt, pink and black knee high boots and a black cap with a white bow standing before her, ordering her Pokémon to attack. Eevee became frightened, unsure of what was going on. Who was this girl and what did she want? Cinccino stared to gather her Giga Impact, but Eevee quickly started to run towards the Pokémon Center. "Oh no you don't! Cinccino, run after that Eevee! I need to catch it!" That was when Eevee realized that the girl thought that Eevee was a wild Pokémon! She wanted to catch Eevee, and take her away from Gary. Eevee continued to run for the Pokémon Center, but stopped in her tracks when she was hit with a Thunder attack. Eevee fell to the floor, turning around to see the young girl stand before her. "Go Pokéball!" The girl shouted. The ball hit Eevee in the head and opened up—but then flew right back towards the girl. "Hey, what gives?"

"That's not a wild Eevee!" The girl looked up to see Daisy run up to the young Pokémon. "That Eevee already has an owner." The girl suddenly felt embarrassed, seeing that Eevee was completely frightened of her.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry little Eevee. I thought you were a wild Pokémon." The girl held out her hand, not wanting to frighten Eevee any longer. Eevee smelled her hand and when she realized that the girl wasn't going to cause her any harm, she licked her fingers causing the girl to laugh. The girl then turned to Daisy with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare your Eevee."

"Oh, this Eevee isn't mine." Daisy shook her head, picking up the Pokémon. "This is my brother's. He's been looking for her everywhere. My name's Daisy." Daisy held out her hand with a smile.

"My name's Irene and this is Cinccino." The girl pointed to her Pokémon who proudly stood tall. "We were just looking for the Pokémon Center."

"Come on, I'll lead the way." Daisy turned around with Eevee in her hands and they walked towards the Pokémon Center with Irene and Cinccino in tow. Daisy and Irene reached the Pokémon Center to find Gary looking more frazzled than when Daisy had left. Eevee going missing must have really messed with his emotions, Daisy thought to herself. "Gary, I have someone who wants to see you." Gary quickly turned around to find Eevee in Daisy's arms.

"Eevee!" Gary shouted excitedly, running towards his sister. Gary took Eevee from Daisy's hands before his face turned stern. "Don't you ever run off again, do you understand me?" Gary scolded. Eevee pouted, not meaning to make Gary upset with her. Gary's face softened at the Pokémon, making him feel guilty that he had scolded her. "I'm just glad you're all right." Gary and Eevee were knocked out of their reunion when Irene walked over to him with a huge grin on her face.

"Oh my goodness! You're Gary Oak!" The bubblegum haired trainer looked absolutely love-struck. "After all these years of having your posters on my wall, you're finally here, in front of me! I always dreamed of this day where you would be in front of me. Let us love each other, and only one another and together we could be an unstoppable Pokémon power couple!"

SWISH!

Irene fell quickly into reality when Cinccino splashed her with a powerful Aqua Tail. She then grabbed her trainer, starting to pull her away from the Pokémon researcher.

"Great, a girl version of Brock." Gary sarcastically muttered. Daisy couldn't help but let out a small grin at the girl who was currently arguing with her Pokémon. Gary walked over to his sister, looking amazed. "I really can't thank you enough for finding Eevee for me."

"Of course Gary. Anything for my little brother." Daisy ruffled through Gary's hair, emitting a smile from Gary's lips.

"I'm off to bed. If you find anything about the project, let me know." Gary held Eevee close to him, walking up the stairs still smiling about his sister. Maybe Daisy isn't all that bad.


In one of the rooms, Ash and Pikachu were still in a peaceful slumber, unaware of the time. Dawn had entered the room to see her boyfriend and his Pokémon knocked out, in which she chuckled at him. It was just like him to sleep for long periods of time. She then realized that Team Plasma wasn't going to sit back, so she had to wake him up so they could discuss what they were going to do next. Dawn walked over to the bed and nudged Ash, only earning a slight groan as he reached for a pillow.

"What?" Ash sounded annoyed that he woke up from his slumber. Dawn knew Ash wasn't a morning person, so she let his annoyed tone slide.

"Get up sleepy head. We still have to figure out the Electric Project." Dawn spoke in a cheerful voice. Ash simply groaned and kept the pillow over his head. Pikachu however, woke up as soon as Dawn mentioned the Electric Project.

"Pika, Pikachu?" Pikachu turned to Dawn then looked back down to Ash. Dawn rolled her eyes, shaking Ash so that he would get up and help her.

"Dawn, can I please just get five more minutes of sleep?" Ash begged. Dawn shook her head beginning to feel bothered herself.

"No, you can't." Dawn firmly said. She didn't want to go to the last resort—but she had no choice. "Pikachu, can you please wake Ash up?" Pikachu nodded his head, letting out a powerful electrical shock that went through Ash's body and sent him flying off the bed. "Are you up now?" Ash slowly got up from the floor, his hair sticking up from the electricity.

"Yes Dawn, I'm up now." Ash gritted his teeth while answering, earning a chuckle from Dawn and Pikachu. This is going to be one long day, Ash thought to himself. About 20 minutes later, Ash and Dawn were heading to the lobby of the Pokémon Center when they bumped into Brock. Dawn and Pikachu gave a cheerful smile while Ash was still in a sour mood from waking up excessively early for his liking.

"Good morning Ash, Dawn." Brock nodded his head over to the couple.

"Morning Brock." Dawn smiled.

"Yeah, morning." Ash bitterly added.

"Ash, you're acting like Paul. Is everything okay?" Brock wondered. Ash gave Dawn a scowl before turning back to Brock.

"Dawn had the most unconventional way to wake me up this morning." Ash grumbled, walking past Dawn and Brock. "I need some coffee." As Ash trudged down the stairs, Dawn and Brock exchanged a glance.

"How did you wake Ash up?" Brock crossed his arms. Dawn turned red at Brock's question.

"I used Pikachu to shock him." Dawn admitted.

"Yeah, Ash might be in a bad mood for a while." Brock shook his head, a grin appearing on his face. "But he'll get over it. He never stays mad at you for long." Brock led Dawn down the stairs to the lobby of the Pokémon Center, until something caught his eye. It was none other than Irene sitting there with Daisy! "I don't believe it." Brock appeared as if he was shocked. Daisy and Irene turned their heads to the stairs to find Dawn and Brock standing there. Irene quickly got up from her seat, walking over to Brock. Dawn began to worry that Brock was going to go into his state where he flirted with women, but when both Irene and Brock hugged one another, Dawn's worries quickly vanished.

"I can't believe that you're here." Irene smiled.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either! What are you doing in Unova?" Brock sounded excited.

"I figured I would come to Unova and check out all of the amazing Pokémon. My mother says that she misses your home cooking. The way you make beef stew is simply amazing." Irene gushed. Dawn noticed Ash coming back with two cups of coffee, handing Dawn one of them while looking jumbled.

"Dawn? Who is Brock talking to?" Ash questioned.

"I have no idea." Dawn shook her head. Irene turned her attention to Ash and Dawn, and the next thing any of them knew, Irene ran over to Ash with a love-struck gaze.

"You're Ash Ketchum! You won the Unova Pokémon League! I've been following your battles ever since the Indigo League! You're an inspiration to me and you're so much cuter in person!" Irene held Ash's free hand, making Ash feel a bit uncomfortable—and making Dawn envious.

"Yeah, that's great." Dawn grabbed Ash's free wrist and removed his free hand from Irene's.

"Well hello there, I'm Irene! Ash's future wife!" Irene smirked towards Dawn. Dawn let out a mischievous grin, holding out her hand.

"Hi there, I'm Dawn. Ash's girlfriend." Irene quickly stared at the blue haired Pokémon coordinator, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Oops." Irene turned to Ash who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's true. She's my girlfriend." Ash answered. Irene didn't seem to let that setback stop her. She appeared just as confident as she was moments before. "Do you mind if I ask, how do you and Brock know each other?"

"We know each other because I know her cousin from Pewter City." Brock explained. "Her cousin Debbie is an assistant with Professor Ivy in the Orange Islands, but she comes home for Thanksgiving and stuff every year. My parents are also good friends with Irene's mother, Karissa."

"You mean Karissa the top coordinator?!" Dawn's eyes widened in amazement. "She won the Hoenn, Kanto and Sinnoh Grand Festival when she was our age!"

"So you've heard of her." Irene smiled at Dawn.

"Yeah, I've heard of her. She's amazing. I heard she's a florist now." Dawn had a feeling that she was going to get along with Irene—once she stopped fangirling over every guy she saw—especially her boyfriend.

"Yep, she sells the most beautiful flowers." Irene proudly boasted. "I'm following in her footsteps, which is why I came to Unova to participate in Pokémon contests! That's why I caught my Cinccino, so we could be the best Pokémon coordinating team!"

"That sounds great and all." Ash hated to be the bearer of bad news, once again. "But there are no contests in Unova." Irene's determined demeanor quickly became deflated.

"Not even one contest?" Irene tried to have some hope.

"Not a single one." Ash shook his head. "Contests are new to the people of Unova."

"Aww, that stinks." Irene snapped her fingers. She then turned to Brock, becoming attentive. "So, what are you doing here Brock?"

"We're working on a project with Gary and his sister Daisy. If you met Daisy, then you have to meet Gary." Brock pointed towards the older Oak sibling.

"I met Gary this morning. He was looking for his Eevee, which is just the cutest little darling." Irene gushed.

"Did he find Eevee?" Ash sounded concerned.

"Yeah, I tried to catch her, thinking she was a wild Pokémon." Irene admitted, blushing at her error.

"I don't think we have to tell Gary that part." Brock smiled. Dawn, Ash, Brock and Irene turned their heads to see Paul entering the room, his hands shoved in his pockets in a seemingly good mood. Paul had been in a good mood since last night, when Misty had given him some good advice. Unfortunately, Paul's good mood wasn't going to last for long since Irene ran over to Paul looking once again, love-struck.

"You must be Paul! You were in the Sinnoh League with Ash!" Irene gushed. Paul became irritated at the Pokémon trainer, so he stepped around her shaking his head.

"Leave me alone." Paul muttered, heading towards the lounging area to sit next to Daisy. Irene felt hurt, unsure what she had done to make Paul upset.

"Don't let Paul get to you." Dawn soothed Irene. "He's always in a grumpy mood."

"Yeah, that's just how Paul says he cares." Ash joked.

"I don't care!" Paul yelled from across the room hearing Ash's joke.

"Why would you do that?" Dawn put her hands on her hips, staring at Ash. "You know Paul hates that."

"Which is why I say it. To bother him." Ash slyly smiled towards his girlfriend.

"Paul's going to find some way to get you back for that, Ash." Dawn crossed her arms. Before Ash could answer to Dawn's comment, Zoey entered the room being in an upright attitude.

"Good morning everyone." Zoey cheerfully said.

"Good morning Zoey." Dawn answered back. "Where's Gary?"

"Gary went to bed at seven this morning so Cynthia agreed to let him sleep in." Zoey explained. "He's been working on trying to dig into the Electric Project all night."

"The Electric Project?" Irene piped up. Zoey turned her attention to the young Pokémon coordinator in the room, instantly recognizing her.

"Hi Irene!" Zoey waved.

"You know Irene too?" Paul turned around, sounding almost disgusted.

"Yes, I know Irene." Zoey ignored Paul's attitude, turning back to the others. "Irene's grandmother lives in Snowpoint City, which is where I'm from Paul."

"All right, all right. I'm sorry." Paul put his hands up to prevent Zoey from getting more peeved than she was.

"I don't think I've ever heard Paul say that he was sorry." Ash whispered to Dawn and Brock.

"Don't get used to it Ketchum." Paul continued to look at Daisy's computer screen, still seeing that she couldn't figure out the Electric Project. "You still can't find out what's the big breakthrough yet?"

"Nope, and I don't think there is a big breakthrough in the Electric Project." Daisy closed the laptop in defeat. "Gary had been searching all night on this computer and I've been searching. I can't find anything out."

"Do you think another Professor knows about this project? Professor Oak, Professor Rowan, maybe Professor Juniper?" Paul suggested.

"You know Paul, that's not a bad idea at all." Daisy thought for a moment. "I was working on it a bit with Professor Rowan, but he only helped me as far as to locate the island where Zapdos lives. I doubt he could tell us what Zapdos is doing there or what it's guarding."

"Well, do you think I could see the laptop for a moment?" Paul wondered. "Maybe we can't find the breakthrough of the Electric Project, but it wouldn't hurt to check about the Zapdos." Daisy handed Paul the computer who then sat down and started to type into the search engine. After a few clicks, a grin appeared on Paul's face. "I found something about the Zapdos."

"What? What did you find?" Ash ran over to look at the screen.

"Hold your Horsea, give me a minute." Paul read the article before turning to the others. "You weren't the only one to find this Zapdos, Daisy. According to this website, this Zapdos has been around centuries. It is one of the oldest Zapdos in the history of Pokémon. Legend says that the reason that the Zapdos lives so long is from all the electricity on the island, but there is one page that is from a Professor that says there's a yellow crystal somewhere on the island that the Zapdos is protecting. Unfortunately, no one on the island knows where the crystal is."

"So do you think that the crystal is the key to us finding out more about the Electric Project?" Daisy asked.

"Probably, but the word of this doctor—Dr. Yung isn't going to help us." Paul didn't notice Ash and Brock's face tense up from the mentioning of Dr. Yung.

"Unfortunately, we can't listen to a word that Dr. Yung says." Brock sighed.

"The guys a whack job." Ash added.

"Pika." Pikachu spoke in the same tone as Ash and Brock.

"What if on the off chance, Dr. Yung was right?" Dawn questioned.

"Dr. Yung probably only wanted the Zapdos so he could make a mirage Pokémon out of it." Ash sighed.

"That's why he did his research. Dr. Yung's not the most reliable source." Brock explained.

"So now we're back to square one." Zoey sighed, showing frustration.

"We could do some more research on the Zapdos. If we don't know about the Electric Project then we might as well try to find as much information on the Zapdos as we can." Paul studied the information on the computer, typing in another search.

"Then how about you do that and I go get some breakfast." Daisy suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Brock nodded his head before turning to Irene. "Would you like to join us for breakfast Irene? You might have to wait a while for your Pokémon."

"Yeah, sounds good." Irene followed Brock and Daisy to get some food while Ash, Dawn and Zoey continued to stare at Paul.

"We might want to leave Paul to his work." Zoey suggested. "I'll go and check on Gary. Maybe you two might want to check on Lucius to make sure he isn't doing anything that will jeopardize this mission."

"Will do." Dawn agreed. Zoey turned to the exit, leaving Ash and Dawn on another mission of their own, finding Lucius and keeping an eye on him.


Even though Gary was supposed to be sleeping, he couldn't seem to empty his thoughts and drift away into a slumber. He was too interested in the Electric Project and discovering what it was really about. He had to also admit that he wanted to be the hero and find the reason that Team Electric and Team Plasma wanted to take over the world with it. Gary lay in bed, but his eyes were wide open, looking out the window. He heard the door open, revealing it to be Zoey who tried her best to tiptoe into the room. Gary figured that it was time to wake up, so he removed the sheets from the bed and stretched out seeing Zoey standing by the foot of his bed.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Zoey chuckled.

"Morning." Gary let out a loud yawn while scratching his hair. Zoey's smile quickly vanished, seeing that Gary was exhausted.

"Did you sleep at all since you came up here?" Zoey questioned with her hands on her hips.

"Sure, I did." Gary lied. "I slept like a baby."

"Gary." Zoey knew Gary wasn't being honest with her, and she didn't like the fact that he was lying. Gary knew that Zoey could see right through him.

"I didn't sleep at all." Gary truthfully answered. "I was too busy thinking of the Electric Project."

"You really have to stop obsessing over it." Zoey became concerned.

"I can't. The world could be in danger." Gary retorted.

"Gary, but you not sleeping and not eating right isn't healthy. You need to relax." Zoey sighed.

"I will relax, as soon as all of this is over." Gary stubbornly answered.

"Gary!" Zoey yelled out in frustration. Zoey and Gary's arguing woke up Eevee, as she turned her attention to the quarreling couple.

"Eevee!" Eevee yipped towards Gary and Zoey. Gary covered his ears with Zoey doing the same.

"Eevee! Okay, we get it." Gary snapped at his Pokémon. Eevee started to pout which made Gary automatically feel remorseful. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell at you."

"You see, your emotions are all over the place." Zoey started to head out the door. "If you don't sleep now, you never know when you're going to find the time to sleep." Zoey left Gary in his thoughts, before Gary stubbornly grabbed his backpack.

"I don't need sleep." Gary told Eevee. "Maybe 20 cups of coffee, but I'll be fine. Let her just wait and see." While Gary started to head out the door, Eevee stared at her trainer with concern. Gary not eating or sleeping wasn't a good thing, and she was worried he was going to eventually crash and burn—literally.


Back downstairs, Paul continued to look through the computer about information on the Zapdos. He couldn't find anything else other than the fact that it was guarding a special gem—something that made Paul wonder if maybe, there was something more to this project than any of them thought. Paul was so into his thoughts, he didn't notice Misty sitting down next to him.

"Good morning Paul." Misty smiled. Paul looked back at Misty, giving her a small smile.

"Morning, carrot top." Paul looked back to the computer screen. Misty knew that Paul wasn't saying it to be mean, he was saying it because the nickname had caught on—and it was somewhat affectionate and adorable.

"Carrot top, hmm…I don't think I'm going to be able to shake that one, am I?" Misty smirked at the trainer.

"Nope, by the way I think it's adorable." Paul slightly mocked, causing Misty to playfully push Paul's shoulder. Misty then realized that he was searching about the Zapdos that Daisy was doing information on.

"Why are you looking up the Zapdos?" Misty wondered.

"Because, there has to be something that Team Plasma wants. Maybe Team Plasma wants this crystal that Zapdos is guarding just like Dr. Yung wrote about." Mentioning Dr. Yung made Misty cringe—something Paul noticed. "Ash and Brock did the same thing earlier. Is there something about Dr. Yung I don't know about?"

"Let's just say he almost killed Pikachu and Professor Oak." Misty explained short and simple.

"Yikes." Paul answered. The door to the Pokémon Center opened, showing Lucius walking through the lobby. Paul suddenly became tense as he closed the laptop, not wanting Lucius to see the information that was on the screen.

"What were you doing outside?" Misty raised an eyebrow towards the cobalt haired man.

"I was taking care of some business." Lucius answered after considering if he should.

"Does it have anything to do with the missing Pokéball from your waist-belt?" Paul motioned to the belt.

"In fact, it does. I released my Jigglypuff." Lucius then exited the room, causing Paul to release a loud satisfied smile.

"I know, he's gone." Misty let out the same breath.

"Not that, he released that Jigglypuff." Paul sounded content. "Now I never have to see that pink fur ball again." Before Misty could say anything, Irene entered the Pokémon Center holding a Jigglypuff close to her.

"Guys, look what I just caught!" Irene ran over to Paul and Misty. Paul looked as if he was going to be sick any moment. What was Jigglypuff doing here?

"Where did you get the Jigglypuff?" Paul was afraid to know the answer, but he asked anyway.

"That blue haired man released his Pokémon saying that it was worthless, so I caught it. Isn't she cute?" Irene shoved Jigglypuff into Paul's face. The next thing Paul knew, Jigglypuff kicked him in the nose, causing Paul to fall off the couch and onto the floor.

"THAT STUPID JIGGLYPUFF!" Paul shouted from the ground. Misty folded her arms towards Irene, not sure who she was.

"Why did you let Jigglypuff kick Paul in the face? And who are you?" Misty rudely asked.

"My name is Irene, and it's not my fault that my Jigglypuff doesn't like your boyfriend." Irene huffed. Misty took a step back, realizing that Irene had said that Paul was her boyfriend.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a moment. Paul's not my boyfriend." Misty raised her eyebrow towards the young trainer.

"But you have a crush on him and he has a crush on you. I can tell." Irene stated in a matter of fact tone. Paul grabbed an empty Pokéball from his back pocket and tried to throw it at Irene's head. Jigglypuff quickly caught notice and smacked the Pokéball back to Paul's forehead, causing him to fall back on the ground.

"Paul!" Misty exclaimed, becoming concerned.

"See, you like him." Irene looked smug. "No one does that unless they like someone."

"Or maybe I'm running to his side because your Jigglypuff could have given him a concussion!" Misty retorted, reverting her attention back to Paul. "Paul, are you okay?" Paul rubbed his forehead, staring at the gym leader.

"I think so." Paul admitted.

"You're not dizzy, are you?" Misty held up her fingers so that Paul could count them, but Paul quickly put Misty's hand done.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Thanks for the concern." Paul then turned to Irene, feeling his anger throughout his body. "And thanks for the concussion. I've always wanted one of those."

"You're welcome!" Irene smiled, oblivious to Paul's sarcasm. Paul groaned, getting back on his feet and staring at the bubblegum haired trainer. He was about to give her a piece of her mind—until he noticed her bracelet.

"Hey, where did you get that bracelet?" Paul pointed to Irene's hand. The bracelet had a ruby crystal on it, something that made Paul curious.

"My grandmother gave it to me. " Irene answered. "She said that it was special. Do you want to take a look at it?" Misty wasn't sure where Paul was going with this—but she wasn't liking the fact that Paul was probably going to spend time with Irene.

"Sure." Irene took the bracelet off her wrist to hand over to Paul. Paul was sure that he had seen something like this before. It was only a matter of where he had seen it.

"I'm going to need to borrow this—which means you're going to have to stick around for a while." Paul hesitated to say the last part. Irene clapped her hands, engulfing Paul into a hug. Paul let out a sigh, then pushed Irene and Jigglypuff away from him.

"Yeah, great. Lesson number one…do not hug me. I'm not a hugger." Paul seethed. Irene walked off with a cheerful smile, leaving Paul cringing in fear. "I hate that Jigglypuff."

"You're not fond of many Pokémon—or people." Misty pointed out.

"Then you must be lucky since I'm fond of you." Paul's small grin returned, causing Misty to blush. "I think you're the only one I can stand."

"Well then, you're the only one I can stand too." Misty playfully pushed Paul's shoulder, earning a chuckle from the usual moody trainer.


Irene walked outside and found Ash and Dawn looking around, high and low for something—or someone. She walked over to Ash with Cinccino and Jigglypuff following her, wanting to know what exactly they were looking for.

"Is something missing?" Irene asked. Inopportunely, Ash was looking the other way, which caused him to hit a branch from a tree when he turned around to look at Irene.

"OUCH!" Ash grimaced in pain, rubbing his head. Pikachu continued to rub the spot that was bothering the trainer as Dawn ran over to Ash's side.

"Ash, what happened?" Dawn looked to see if Ash had a bump, but he shook off both Dawn and Pikachu not wanting to worry them.

"It's nothing." Ash assured her. He then turned his attention to Irene. "We're looking for Lucius. You know the blue haired guy that owns a—" Ash stopped speaking when he saw the Jigglypuff that Lucius owned standing by Irene. What had happened in the five minutes that Ash turned his back? "Why do you have Lucius's Jigglypuff?"

"Because he didn't want it. He released it, so that means it's mine now." Irene beamed.

"He released Jigglypuff and now you have it?" Dawn slapped her forehead with her hand. "Boy, Paul is going to hate that."

"If you're looking for Lucius, then you have to look inside." Irene pointed to the Pokémon Center. "He went in there after he released Jigglypuff."

"All right, we'll check there." Ash nodded his head, about to make his way to the Pokémon Center until he saw a figure from the corner of his eye. Dawn, Irene and Pikachu followed Ash's gaze, seeing what looked like a ninja, wearing a red symbol in the middle of his chest.

"We're here for the red crystal." The ninja looked right at Irene as he spoke, meaning that she had something that they wanted.

"Wait, you want a red crystal?" Irene's eyes widened, knowing exactly where the crystal went.

"And why on the off chance, should we give the red crystal to you?" Dawn pointed at the red ninja.

"Because if you don't, then I will have no choice but to annihilate you on orders of Team Plasma." The red ninja answered briskly. Dawn, Irene and Ash stared at one another, going into their pockets to get a Pokéball, but found that the ninja was incredibly fast. He was so fast; he knocked Ash, Dawn and Irene over, standing over them with a smirk. "Looks like you have nowhere to go now. Not so tough without your Pokémon, now are you?"


A/N: Oh no, looks like our heroes have nowhere to go and are surrounded by this ninja. Who is he? Why does he want the red crystal? Will Paul ever get away from that Jigglypuff?! I guess we'll find out-next time!