Ash waited in the lobby of the Rustboro City Pokemon Centre patiently as Nurse Joy performed a final check up on his four Pokemon. The gym battle the previous day had been a gruelling one with heavy hits being traded at every opportunity. It was certainly a huge challenge for the young trainer as Roxanne was very skilled and used each of her Pokemon's attacks cleverly. The young trainer had been caught off guard several times in that battle. Despite that, Ash and his Pokemon pulled through as they obtained their first Hoenn region gym badge. He was incredibly proud of his Pokemon and they thoroughly deserved the rest in the Pokemon Centre. Thankfully, there wasn't much damage done in the battle so an overnight stay was all that required.

The raven haired Kanto native wanted to get to the next gym quickly while he was still fresh off of a win. Ever since he had arrived in Hoenn, he had obtained three Pokemon, performed exceptionally well against a top gym leader, won a couple of battles and had obtained his first gym badge. This was all in the space of about two weeks. Needless to say, Ash was in great form and had a lot of momentum going into his next battle. His confidence was high and so were his Pokemon's. Confidence enabled a person to do many things and right now, Ash felt he could do anything. He knew better though, as past experiences have taught him to not become over-confident but the feeling felt so right, and the thought was a persistent one that lingered in the back of his mind. It was expected, really, since Ash's experience so far in the Hoenn region has been a very pleasant one. Apart from the minor hiccup here and there, he has already made at least five friends in May, Max, Mightyena, Treecko and Tailow. He already has a rival in Brendan and a 'man to beat', for lack of a better term, in Norman. The only thing that was missing was the 'mother away from home', Brock.

Ash and Brock had only parted ways about two and a half weeks ago, with the promise that they would once again meet up somewhere down the road. So far, he has received no word from Brock but that was to be expected, seeing as how he is visiting his family after a near two year absence. Ash had no problem with that, but he wandered how much longer he and May, and now Max, could scrounge around for food in the wild and spend money on meals in cities. There was little to none cooking ability in that group. In reality, that little group could barely get by with their domestic skills. Ash was grateful that Max was coming along, seeing as how the boy has a PokéNavi that could guide them practically anywhere. From this point onwards, they should no longer get lost. Yet somehow, not even Ash was one hundred percent confident in that statement.

But alas, they would just to have to continue on. In typical Ash style, they would have to do what their gut tells them to do; just wing it. In Petalburg Woods, Ash and May just 'winged it' by following a random river. Luckily, they came across a man who knew his way through the forest. The method has worked so far, so why not now or later?

A short tune suddenly played throughout the Pokemon Centre. After the tune stopped, a soft female voice announced something through the numerous speakers dotted around on the centre walls.

"Could Ash Ketchum report to the front desk, please?" it asked. It then repeated, "Could Ash Ketchum report to the front desk, please?"

Ash stood up off of the red sofa he was resting on and walked towards the main desk that was a couple of rooms away. He left the trainer's lounge he was resting in and navigated through a couple of pure white corridors. He entered the main lobby, where the front desk and Nurse Joy resided. A few people were about, talking silently amongst themselves or just silently waiting. Ash walked up to the desk, where Nurse Joy, always smiling, was holding a tray with thee Pokeballs in it. A Pikachu was also perched on top of the tray.

Seeing the young boy, Nurse Joy placed the tray on the desk, "Your Pokemon are in perfect health," she said.

Pikachu jumped onto his usual perch of Ash's shoulder. Ash smiled at his starter Pokemon and scratched him behind the ears, "Hey, you okay, buddy?" he asked him.

(I feel great!) Pikachu responded. Ash then took the three Pokeballs and placed them on his belt like usual.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," he said to her, "I'll be leaving once I get my back pack, okay?"

"Okay," Joy nodded, "But before you do, there's a phone call waiting for you."

"A phone call?" Ash said. He had no idea who it could be.

"Yes, someone by the name of Brock, I think it was," Joy said, thinking back.

"Brock? Why would he call?" Ash asked himself in surprise, "I'll take the call now, Nurse Joy."

"Follow me, then," Joy said. Ash nodded and followed her towards the many picture phones that the Pokemon Centre had. She allocated Ash the correct station and left him so Ash could take the call in privacy. Ash took the phone off of its hook and a live picture of his friend Brock suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Hey Ash, hey Pikachu, how are you doing?" Brock greeted warmly with a smile. Brock was a tall teen with heavily tanned skin and spiky brown hair. He had squinty lines for eyes. Ash could see he was wearing a brown jacket with a green shirt, but that was it. Brock had a wide smile across his face.

"I'm great, Brock!" Ash responded happily. Pikachu responded in kind as well. He then put on a confused face, "But how did you find me?"

"Oh, I had some help from Professor Oak," Brock started, "He has this special machine that can track a trainer's Pokedex signal. Clever, eh?"

"Yeah, it is," Ash agreed, "So how're things going over there?"

"They're… okay, I guess," Brock said slowly and uncertainly, "So how about you? What's Hoenn like?"

"Things are great over here," Ash said, "It's a bit hot, but things are good. I've caught three new Pokemon, Pikachu learned Iron Tail and I have got my first gym badge!"

Ash grinned and proudly showed Brock the Stone Badge, which was yellow and looked like two arrows pointing in the opposite direction to each other. Brock's smiled broadened.

"Already? Wow, you work fast!" he said, "Did you get here all by your self?"

"No, I met up with someone once I arrived in Hoenn," Ash explained, "Her name is May. She's just starting out on her journey."

"So it's a girl, huh?" Brock said slyly, "Misty's going to be jealous."

Ash was confused. Why would Misty be jealous?

"What do you mean, Brock?" Ash asked him. Brock sighed and probably rolled his eyes. Nobody could tell. But any body else in Brock's position would surely react the same way to Ash's denseness.

"Don't worry about it," Brock said, "Just me being me."

Oh, that explains it, Ash mused to himself, "Okay then," he said, "So… are you going to start travelling again?"

Brock was silent for a moment. He then said, "I want to. In fact, this was the main reason why I called you."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Brock said, "I was going to go to Hoenn to find you so we could travel together again, but something came up at the gym. I'm trying my best to solve the problem, but it's taking a little longer than expected. I don't know how much longer it's going to take."

"Oh…," Ash looked disappointed. He was hoping that Brock would be ready to travel with him again, but the world doesn't quite work the way you want it to, he figured. He thought about asking about the problem in order to see if he could help out in any way, but then thought better of it, predicting that Brock probably wouldn't disclose any information as of yet. It was about the pride of the Pewter Gym and you never know when someone could be listening in; the walls have ears, you see.

"But don't worry," Brock said, "As soon as this is all over, I promise I'll come find you!"

"Alright, it's a promise!" Ash said wit a grin. Some noise could be heard at Brock's end. Ash didn't know what it was, but it sounded like people talking, "What's going on over there?"

"Ah, darn it…," Brock muttered to himself. He wasn't looking at Ash, but at something else in his house, "Sorry Ash, but I have to go. Good luck on your journey and don't do anything you'll regret."

With that being said, Brock hung up and his picture disappeared from the screen. Ash put the phone down confusedly, "'Don't do anything you'll regret'? What does he mean?"

(I have no idea…) Pikachu shrugged.

Ash thought about it for a while, but then shook his head, "Oh well, it was probably just Brock being Brock," he said, standing up, "It's time we start heading towards the docks."

(Don't forget your bag.)

"Oh yeah… got to pick up my bag first," Ash said. He walked out of the main lobby and back into the trainer's lounge. He picked up his green back pack from the red sofa he was sitting on and quickly checked its contents to see if anything was stolen. Seeing that everything was as it was before, he put it on and left the Pokemon Centre.

At the hotel the Maple family were staying in, May and Max were saying their final goodbyes to their parents, for this would be the last time they would see them for a long time, well, at least until they come back to Petalburg City for a gym battle. May and Max were fully dressed, fully packed and ready to go as they stood near the front door of the hotel. Caroline had just finished hugging Max before Norman spoke.

"Now May, I want you to go out there and become a great Coordinator, just like your mother," he said to her.

May nodded and said determinedly, "Don't worry dad, I'll do my best."

Norman nodded and said to Max, "Max, I want you to learn all you can on your travels. Don't waste this opportunity, okay?"

"Okay Dad, I will," Max said, "I'll make you proud, don't worry."

Norman nodded again and stepped back for Caroline to speak. She looked over her two children and said seriously, "May, take care of your younger brother, Max. We're letting him go because you're there. Always look out for him and make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Don't worry mum, I'll take care of him, even if it means sacrificing Pokemon Contests," May said confidently. Max looked at her with surprise.

"You really mean that, sis?" he asked her. May nodded.

"Of course I do," she said, "You are my brother, after all, even if you are annoying."

"Heh, I can say the same to you," Max laughed, "Just await until Ash hears about some of the embarrassing stuff you've done."

May looked annoyed, "You'll tell him nothing if you know what's good for you," she said threateningly. She cracked her knuckles for good measure. Max gulped.

Norman and Caroline laughed amongst themselves. The family shared one big group hug before May and Max left.

"Bye Mum, bye Dad, We'll miss you!" May said as she left.

"Bye! I hope you beat everybody, dad!" Max added.

Norman wrapped his arm around his wife and held her close, "Don't worry, they'll be absolutely fine."

"I know, I know."

"Good, now how's about we get back to the gym? We've stayed here for a little longer than we expected," Norman said.

Caroline nodded, "We don't wan the gym to be shut down, do we?"

"Absolutely not."

The married couple went back upstairs to gather up their belongings. Caroline looked on in the direction her children left in and thought silently to herself, Maybe I didn't need Team Ozone… no, I know I don't need them to look after my kids. They're perfectly capable of looking after themselves, even with dangerous criminal organisations roaming about. I have faith them. Good luck, kids.

"Aw man, how could've we missed the ferry?!" Ash exclaimed in exasperation as he looked out into the vast ocean. He had met up with May and Max about half an hour after he left the Pokemon Centre. They arrived at the docks about five minutes later, only to find that the ferry to Dewford Island had left them behind.

"It says here that the ferry left round about six minutes ago," Max said, examining a time table that posted up on a wall. Ash sighed; they were only a minute late! Max continued, "The next ferry doesn't leave for another three hours, so we're stuck here for a while."

"I was really looking forward to travelling again," Ash moaned, "The city's great and all, but I really want to leave!"

"Calm down, Ash," May said, flicking through Ash's guide book. She had actually asked him for it a couple of days ago, since it had the locations of many shopping centres. Ash said that she should hold onto it, since she would probably be the person who'd use it the most, "We'll just have to do something for three hours."

"Like what?" Max asked. May then brightened up. She had a great idea.

"We can go get something to eat!" she said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry!"

"You're hungry?" Max asked incredulously, "But we only had breakfast an hour ago!"

"And? An hour is enough time for someone to get hungry!" May argued, "There's always time for food!"

"With your appetite, we'll probably miss the next ferry as well!" Max stated. May glared down at him.

"Are you saying that I eat too much?" she asked darkly, "Did you just imply that I was fat?"

"What? N-no, I didn't!" Max said as May cracked her knuckles for the second time that day.

"Yes you did!" May stated, "Now what did I say would happen if you annoyed me?"

Max was confused, "You didn't say anything. You just said that if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn't tell Ash any embarrassing stories."

"…I meant before that, like, about three years ago?"

"Oh…," Max said. He then quickly hid behind Ash's leg, "Alf, help me!"

Ash sighed in annoyance. He considered letting Max get torn to pieces for forgetting his name yet again. He hoped that he didn't have to put up with this everyday. He saw May lunge for Max. He quickly reacted by placing his hands on May's shoulders, preventing her for getting to Max.

"Calm down, May!" he said hastily, "You're not fat! In fact, you look perfect just the way you are, right Max?"

"Y-yeah, what he said…"

"You really mean that? You don't think I'm too skinny, or anything?"

I didn't know May was so self-conscious… "Nope, you look fine," Ash reiterated, "I'm actually kind of hungry now. How's about we go get something to east, like you suggested."

"Okay, if you say so!" May said, now suddenly happy again. She began to happily walk down the docks. Max stepped out from behind Ash's leg.

"Talk about bi-polar," he said, "Thanks for the save their Alf."

Ash's eyebrow twitched. Although Max had only called him that a small number of times, it was getting increasingly annoying. The most annoying part of it all though was the fact Max knew his name was Ash, not Alf.

"It's not Alf, it's Ashley—I mean Ash!" Ash yelled. There was silence for a moment with Ash regretting what he just said. Max began to snicker. Ash could even hear May giggle. Even Pikachu was snickering slightly.

"I can't believe you have a girl's name!" Max exclaimed, bursting out into laughter, "I knew your name had to be short for something."

"It can be a boy's name as well," Ash said embarrassedly, "Lot's of people have that name."

"Lot's of girls have that name," Max corrected, "So Ashley, what's your middle name? Is it Julian?"

"…No, it's not," Ash said slowly.

"Hey guys, I think something is going on in there!" May called out to them. Ash and Max quickly caught up and saw that May was pointing to a house. Loud banging noises were being made from the inside. There were also some yelps of pain and some faint cries of 'help', "Sounds like someone is getting hurt."

"Well whatever it is, it's not really any of our business," Max said.

"But someone might be seriously injured!" May protested, "What should we do…. Ash?"

Ash had apparently disappeared. She looked around and saw him checking out a large extension of the house. It looked to be a large store house of sorts, with large steel doors. It was facing in the direction of the sea.

"What are you looking at, Ash?"

Ash turned around and saw May walking up to him. Ash looked back at the storehouse. He said, "There something going on in there."

"Guys, like I said, it really isn't any of our business!" Max called out to them.

Ash and May turned around to face Max. Ash sighed and said, "You're right Max."

The front door of the house suddenly burst open and a large bundle was thrown out of it by two men with blue bandanas. The bundle landed hard on the concrete flooring and let out a muffled scream of pain. Upon further inspection, it was an aging man who was rather tall and was tied up and gagged. Getting over the initial shock, May called out her Torchic and told it cut the ropes with its Scratch attack. Once the man was no longer bound, he removed the piece of cloth that was a gag from his mouth and spoke hastily.

"They're going to get away with the fluid!" he yelled, "The fluid and my boat!"

Ash, May and Max looked at eachother with confused expressions, unsure on what to do. The man yelled again.

"They're going to get away with my boat and the resurrection fluid!" he said. This made the trio even more confused. Suddenly, the steel doors of the store house whirred as they opened slowly. Ash ran up to them to get a closer look. He saw a rather old boat slowly leaving the building. Three men and a woman, each dressed in black and blue uniforms and had blue bandanas, were on it. The woman was driving.

"Stop them!" the man yelled. The boat began to pick up speed. Ash did the only thing he could do and that was to jump on board and take control of the boat. Not the smartest of things to do, but he did it nonetheless. Before the boat could get too for away, Ash leapt off of the docks and onto the back of the boat.

"Ash!" May called out to him, not expecting him to act so quickly.

"Don't worry about me!" Ash called back, "Just take care of that man!"

"Looks like we've got an intruder," someone snickered. Ash turned around and saw two of the group of four smirking at him. The teen immediately recognised them as Team Aqua; the uniform was a dead give away.

"Hey kid, get out of here before you get hurt," the other one said. Ash glared at them, not at all intimidated.

He demanded, "Give back the boat and the fluid you stole!"

"How did you know about the resurrection fluid?!" one of them asked. The other one shook his head.

"It doesn't matter!" he yelled, "Let's just take care of this punk!"

The two each threw a Pokeball out onto the deck and two very big lobster-like Pokemon appeared side by side. It was red in colour and a bit of blue and yellow here and there. There was a yellow star on top of its head. Its pincers were absolutely enormous and looked like it could crush anything. Now Ash was slightly intimidated. The Pokemon snapped their pincers at him and looked ready to rip him to shreds.

(We're going to get'cha!)

(I was a bit hungry…)

Usually, Ash would scan the Pokemon on his Pokedex but the situation was too urgent for him to do so. Using the Pokedex would take too much time and give the Team Aqua member's Pokemon a chance to get him. To counter, Ash sent out Mightyena and Pikachu.

"Crawdaunt, use Bubblebeam!" one of them called out.

"Use Crabhammer!" the other called out.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! Mightyena, use Iron Tail!" Ash retaliated.

One of the Crawdaunt opened its two pincers and shot out hundreds of tiny bubbles packed into a beam. Pikachu unleashed a strong electric charge and met the beam full on. The two attacks exploded on impact. The other Crawdaunt's Crabhammer was blocked by Mightyena's Iron Tail attack. The two Pokemon struggled for domination for a while before jumping back into their initial positions.

"Use Guillotine!" one of them said. The other ordered the same move. Both water-dark-types charged in with their pincers ready to guillotine their opponents.

"Both of you use Iron Tail!" Ash countered. The agile and speedy team of Mightyena and Pikachu charged up their respective Iron Tail attacks and jumped into the air. They both swung their tails at the water types. Both of the Crawdaunt were hit on the head, causing them to reel backwards, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu unleashed the attack and scored a direct hit. The two Pokemon were frazzled by the super-effective attack for a moment before the attack dispersed. Both Crawdaunt looked burned and tired, but still able to fight.

"Crawdaunt, hit'em with Crabhammer!"

"Blow them away with Bubblebeam!"

"Dodge them, both of you!" Ash countered.

One of the Crawdaunt lunged towards Pikachu with Crabhammer. Pikachu jumped over it. The attack hit the deck, creating a rather large hole. The other Crawdaunt's Bubblebeam was sidestepped by Mightyena. The beam also hit the deck and created a small explosion which blew off the back end of the boat completely. The explosion caused the boat to rock about. The two Team Aqua members tumbled 

over the side railing and into the ocean. The two Crawdaunt jumped in after them. Ash managed to hold on, thanks to some assistance from Mightyena. Pikachu, who was still air bourn at the time, landed safely on the deck.

"Thanks, Mightyena," Ash said in relief. He checked over the edge and saw the ships propeller blades were remarkably still intact. Despite some of the boat missing, the vessel was going at a fairly fast speed.

Another Team Aqua noticed the commotion and confronted Ash. Without saying anything, the man charged in and tried to grab Ash. The Kanto native quickly rolled out of the way. The Team Aqua member tumbled as he missed and fell off the back of the boat. Ash breathed another sigh of relief. There was only one to go. He just hoped the boat remained intact long enough for him to get the resurrection fluid.

He, Pikachu and Mightyena slowly walked over to the woman who was driving the boat. She noticed him and left the drivers seat. The boat didn't stop; it must've been placed on auto-drive.

"My my, aren't you persistent?" the woman asked rhetorically. She wore the same uniform accept she had a sleeveless blue jacket. She also had green hair, "If only Team Aqua had that sort of attitude."

"Give back the boat and the fluid!" Ash demanded once more. The woman laughed.

"You think I'll just give it back? Never!" she said. She then readied two Pokeballs, "You've done admirably well; coming this far. It'd be such a shame for you to die, wouldn't it? Maybe you should join us. That way I'd spare your life."

Ash gulped. His life was on the line, yet again. But he couldn't allow himself to be scared by this woman, "I'll never join the likes of you!"

The woman shook her head, "Such a pity; you'll just have to die, then."

She threw out her two Pokeballs. The first one to appear was a tall human shape Pokemon. It was extremely muscular and purple in colour. You could see its veins clearly. It had three gold lines on its head. It wore a pair of black trunks with a gold belt around them. The other one was a large duck-like creature, though it had no wings or feathers. It was light blue in colour and had a purple jewel on its forehead.

"Machoke, darling, use Focus Punch on Mightyena," she ordered calmly in a sweet tone. In the same tone, she ordered Golduck, "And you, Hun, use Ice Beam on Pikachu."

With amazing speed, Machoke ran in the limited space it had with a glowing fist. It punched Mightyena with force, nearly sending the dark type in the ocean. It struggled to stand up again. Golduck fired a light blue beam out of its beak. The beam wavered about in the air. Pikachu tried to jump out of the way, but the beam created a sharp block of ice when it the floor which caught Pikachu.

Ash had to retaliate quickly or this battle would be over, "Mightyena, use Poison Fang on Machoke! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Golduck!"

"Grab that Mightyena and use Seismic Toss!" the woman countered. Mightyena was caught in the massively strong arms of Machoke and slammed into the deck with force, "And Golduck, counter that Thunderbolt with Light Screen."

Pikachu's Thunderbolt was stopped by the translucent screen and reflected right back at it. Ash reacted quickly, "You use Light Screen as well!"

Pikachu generated the same shield. The reflected Thunderbolt hit the screen and was sent back with twice the momentum. Sparks flew everywhere as the attack discharged in the air.

Ash growled. Never before had he had to use Light Screen to defend his own attack. This battle was pretty one sided. He knew he was in trouble, but couldn't give up. He had to keep fighting or… die, as the woman threatened.

"Golduck, use Slash on Pikachu!" the woman called out. Golduck ran in and reared back its arm. It then swiped Pikachu away with its sharp claws. Pikachu landed near Mightyena. The woman smirked, "Now Machoke, finish them off with Focus Punch."

Machoke charged in but before he could reach them, lost his balance as the boat was rattled by something. Both Ash and the woman looked over the side and saw not one, not two, but three Crawdaunt ramming the boat. They rammed the boat again and both Ash and the woman stumbled. A test-tube with orange liquid into fell out of the woman's jacket pocket.

That must be the resurrection fluid! Ash thought to himself. He quickly picked the tube up and pocketed it.

"What are you three imbeciles doing?!" the woman demanded at the three Team Aqua members. Ash used the distraction to land some heavy hitting attacks.

"Pikachu, Double Edge! Mightyena, Take Down!" he called. Pikachu charged in quickly with a yellow aura surrounding it. Mightyena also charged in quickly. The two dangerous attacks hit their marks, sending both Golduck and Machoke backwards. The two didn't fall over, but were damaged nonetheless. Pikachu and Mightyena stood their, panting heavily.

Before the woman could react, the boat collided with a rather large rock. All of the Pokemon, Ash and the woman fell over. The woman hit her head on the control panel of the boat, knocking her out in the process and causing the control panel to short circuit. Ash picked himself up off of the floor and looked around.

The boat had almost been completely destroyed; there was hardly any of it left. Water was starting to fill up in the boat quickly. Ash could feel that the bit he was standing on was starting to sink.

"Good work, Mightyena. Return!" Ash said as he returned Mightyena to his Pokeball. Ash had only one option. He had to swim back to shore, which was a fair distance away. It was risky since the three Team Aqua members were still lurking about and there was no way he could out swim one Crawdaunt, let alone three of them. His only other options were to wait for help, or use Tailow to carry him back. However, there was no guarantee that there was help coming and Tailow was nowhere near strong enough to carry him and Pikachu all the way back to shore. Swimming back was the only option he had left. Besides, even if he sank with the boat he would have to swim back anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Ash dived into the ocean. Pikachu stood on his head so as to not get lost in the ocean. Ash swam as fast and as hard he could, but the current was a worth adversary against him. Pikachu's ears then perked up as it heard the sound of something approaching. He tapped Ash on the head.

(Their coming.) He said. Ash looked behind him and saw the three Team Aqua members chase after him.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!" Ash said frantically. Pikachu leapt off of his head and unleashed the massive charge. The three Aqua members and their respective Crawdaunt received an extra strong charge, seeing as how they were in the water. It was enough for Ash to get away, but the current was proving to be too strong.

Back at the docks, May, Max and the man had observed the battles on the boat and they were now witnessing Ash trying to swim against the current. They could see he was struggling and needed to do something. They asked the man whether or not he had a spare boat, to which he replied there was no time to get it ready. Max spotted a rope near the store house and pointed it out to May.

"There's no way we can throw this rope far enough…," May said. She was then struck with inspiration, "Unless…"

"Do you have a plan, May?" Max asked her. May nodded and called out her Wurmple. She picked up one end of the rope and threw it into the air.

"Wurmple, shoot the rope using String Shot!" she called out. Wurmple fired the sticky thread. The thread hit the rope. The more the thread extended, the further the rope went. May quickly grabbed onto the other end of the rope. The man and Max also grabbed hold of it. May then shouted out to Ash, "Ash! Grab the rope!!"

Ash looked up and saw a rope coming his way. He swam faster to reach it. Wurmple could not make the thread any longer so the rope fell into the water a bare metre away from Ash. The teen pushed him self hard to reach it. He finally managed to grab onto one end and gave it a tug. Noticing this, May, Max and the man started to pull him in. Ash let himself be pulled in; only kicking in the water to speed up the process before the Team Aqua members recovered.

A couple of minutes later, Ash finally made it back to the docks. He pulled himself onto land and knelt there on the ground for a while, catching his breath. He removed his hat and wringed it. It was mostly dry now. Ash stood up and dug into his trouser pocket. He pulled out a test tube of orange liquid that had luckily managed to stay in his pocket while he was swimming.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get your boat back," Ash apologised as he handed the man the test tube. The man pocketed it.

"Don't worry about it, laddie," he said, "The most important thing is that they didn't get away with the resurrection fluid."

"Just what is the resurrection fluid?" Max asked him.

"The resurrection fluid is a special fluid created by the Devon Corporation. It can apparently be used to resurrect fossilised Pokemon," the man explained, "Though I have no idea why Team Aqua would want it."

"Hm, me neither," Max said.

"You really shouldn't pull of dangerous stunts like that, Ash," May said, "You could have gotten seriously hurt."

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "But I got the fluid back, didn't I?"

May sighed. In the short time she had been with Ash, she learned that he was pretty thick headed and a little dumb. A stunt like that was probably a natural thing for Ash to do.

"I should thank you kids," the man said, "If it weren't for you, Team Aqua would have escaped with this important liquid. The Devon Corp. will be very pleased."

"Ah, it was nothing…"

The man shook his head, "I owe you kids a favour for helping me out. You just tell me, Mr. Briney, whatever it is."

The three looked at each other and then May said, "Well… we do need a ride to Dewford Island. Do you have a spare boat?"

"Aye, I do," Mr. Briney said, "Do you want to set sail now?"

"Yes, please!"

"Then follow me," Mr. Briney said, "I have a boat that will get us there in no time."

Joaquin stood in front of the bars of his and Kyoku's holding cell whilst spinning a Pokeball on his index finger. He was loudly whistling to himself as Kyoku laced up his boots. The two were fully dressed in their day clothes.

"You can always rely on Team Aqua to be a handy distraction, eh Jo?" Kyoku asked the blond. He nodded.

"Yup, this is very convenient… almost too convenient," he commented.

"It's pretty stupid that the entire Rustboro Police Force went out to confront about four Team Aqua members," Kyoku chuckled, "Especially with guys like us in the building."

"And especially with a woman like Rouge lurking about," Joaquin said, "She's the queen of espionage."

"Indeed she is," Kyoku said standing up. He was also holding a Pokeball, "Okay. Pokeballs… check, no police officers… check, flimsy prison bars… check, we're all set."

Joaquin stopped spinning the Pokeball and stepped back to the back of the cell, "Then do your stuff."

"Aye, aye," Kyoku threw his Pokeball and out appeared his Skarmory, "You know what to do; smash those bars into pieces!"

Skarmory cried shrilly and used its Steel Wing attack to smash to bars with ease. It flew out of the cell and waited for Joaquin and Kyoku to step out. Kyoku called it back and placed the ball in his pocket.

"Do you think we should leave a note?" Kyoku asked.

"Nah, let's just get out of here before someone notices," Joaquin waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah," Kyoku said, "Oh yeah, we need some aliases. We're going to be over national television once they find about this breakout."

"Hmm… good point," Joaquin thought for a while, "I think I'll go with 'Alexander Jo Quinn', what about you?"

"Well Alexander, I think I'll go with 'Tiny'," Kyoku chuckled again. Joaquin rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, a police officer stepped into the room. He immediately noticed 'Alexander' and 'Tiny' and stared at them in shock. Before he could say anything, he was quickly taken care of by Alexander via a kick to the head. The officer hit the ground, out cold.

"Well then, shall we go?" he asked Kyoku.

"Yup, let's go," Kyoku said, "Watch out Slateport City, because here we come!"

Alexander rolled his eyes again, "Why does that seem so clitche?

As you may have noticed, I referred to Joaquin as Alexander towards the end. From this point onwards, Joaquin will be known as Alexander and Kyoku will be known as Tiny. So don't get confused by that.

This chapter seemed kind of fillerish, but there was a reason for that. I basically wanted to show that Ash, May and Max could handle Team Aqua and Magma on their own without any intervention from Team Ozone. In a way, it also severed as a reminder that Ash and May are the main protagonists of this story, since other characters have taken over that role as of late (i.e. Team Ozone). Actually, Team Ozone and Isaac are the main characters of their own respective story arcs that have a major impact on the main plot. Think of that what you will.

It also explained (well, mostly) Brock's absence. Also keep an eye out on the 'green haired woman', she may appear later. I feel as if this chapter tied up a couple of loose ends as well.

So, it's Dewford Island next chapter. It'll actually be a pretty short arc, probably around two to three chapters. There's not much to cover other than the gym battle and Granite Cave. Here's a little spoiler for you all: Steven will be appearing very shortly and a new attack will be learned by a certain Pokemon.

To Araleon: Even though Max is with Ash and May now, he's still in the developing ideas section. Now, as to your question about the movies; I personally think the movies could do well in this story. While the movies aren't canon, they're still apart of AG and can be made canon easily. Those movies have a lot to do with character development (specifically Max and May) as well. So yeah, the movies will most probably be apart of this story. In which case, the Jirachi: Wish Maker movie will be pretty soon. I might turn them into extra long, special chapters or I might turn them into two or three part chapters. We'll see. Oh, and don't worry about asking questions. In fact, this goes out to everyone; ask as many questions regarding the story as you want. I don't mind. You might not receive a full answer, but you will receive an answer (and most probably hint) nonetheless.

The last thing I want to say is this: I'm considering a title change, seeing as how the current is a bit long winded. What do you think? Feel free to make suggestions.

Anyway, please take the time out to review and look forward to the next chapter: released some time around next week, hopefully.