In the skies...

As the three hot air balloons crossed the strange sky filled with dark purple clouds, several Starly started to attack their balloons. Ash, Misty, and Brock were still in the Pikachu hot air balloon. Erika, Gary, Ritchie, and Barry were still in the Eevee hot air balloon. Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny were still in the Piplup hot air balloon. Everyone was surprised that mere Starly were giving them trouble but what surprised them more was the strange attacks that they were using. Sparky (Ritchie's Pikachu) and Ranee's Ampharos were doing a fair job against them but they needed more help from more Pokémon.

Sparky breathed, "Pika pika..."

Ampharos seemed to have barked, a bit tired. Everyone looked at each other and nodded. They knew what they had to do and they had to do it fast before the air balloons got popped by the Starly. Gary got out a Poke ball and threw it. With a flash of light, Gary's Skarmory appeared.

Skarmory screeched, "Skar!"

Erika got out a Poke ball and threw it into the skies. With another flash of light, Erika's Altaria appeared.

Altaria hummed, "Alt!"

Paul got out a Poke ball and threw it into the skies, knowing that he had to help with battling the Starly that had gone mad. With a third flash of light, Paul's Honchkrow appeared.

Honchkrow yelled, "Honchkrow!"

Ash was about to help but that's when they heard a bird call. All of the Starly were repealed quickly as a Pidgeot flew alongside the Pikachu balloon. Ash couldn't believe it but somehow, this was his Pidgeot.

He breathed, "Pidgeot...?"

Pidgeot cooed as Erika, Gary, Ritchie, Barry, Paul, Ranee, Dawn, and Kenny all looked confused by this. However, Misty and Brock looked quite relieved.

Misty gushed, "I can't believe that it is your Pidgeot, Ash!"

Brock stated, "We haven't seen it since you left it to help out those wild Pidgey and Pidgeotto."

Ash looked at Pidgeot and stated, "Thanks Pidgeot and I'm sorry that I didn't come back for you like I promised but we do need your help as you saw."

Pidgeot cooed again, understanding the situation. The birds all flew out as Sparky got on Altaria's back and Ampharos got on Honchkrow's back. Ritchie smiled as he knew that Sparky would enjoy that flight. Barry got out a Poke ball and let out his Staraptor as Brock let out Croagunk. Misty let out her Golduck as it got on Pidgeot's back. Kenny got out his Alakazam who used Psychic to levitate it and Piplup into the skies.

All of the Pokémon were ready for any type of situation, even the worse. Misty looked over at Ash and started to wonder if they were ready like their Pokémon. Ranee felt one of the rain drops that came down from the skies and stepped back, groaning. Paul caught her, worried. As Ranee entered his arms, she started to have a Dimensional Scream.

...

As morning shone over Eclo Canyon, with not a single sign of life in sight, Gonzap stood on the hideout roof and looked over the desolate wastes like a king surveying his kingdom. Eventually, Gonzap went back inside to his office, where a large group of Snagems stood at attention in front of his desk. They were ready to do anything for their boss, without question or hesitation.

"Alright, boys. This is it," Gonzap began as he took his seat, "In less than an hour, the first group of buses will be rolling through, and that's where the big money lies. We've got people coming from as far as Hoenn, and that means all sorts of rare and powerful Pokémon. I want every Snag Machine armed and every Snagem ready to attack. We pull this off, and we'll have all the cash we need to retire in style."

"Yes, sir!"

"Anyway, roll call!" Gonzap read off a clipboard, "Wakin, Biden, Agrev! You're all here, of course. Jedo and Driton... check. Fuston... here. Wes... Wes..." He looked around the room impatiently and asked, "Wes?"

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the entire hideout, sending Snagems running every which way in confusion and fear. After a moment, Wakin looked up.

Wakin shouted, "That came from the garage!"

In an instant, Gonzap was leading virtually every Snagem in the hideout towards the garage. As they arrived, they saw what could only be described as intentional sabotage. Flames were burning madly. Various mechanical deviced were slagged beyond repair. All the Rumblers were completely totaled...save for one as its unmistakable engine noise sounded from outside a large hole in the wall. Gonzap and his band dashed outside, just in time to see it down the canyon... plus its driver.

One of them shouted, "It's Wes!"

Indeed, Wes had turned to wave at his ex-teammates.

He shouted, "Thanks for the dirtbike, dirtbags!"

With that, his vehicle vanished from sight. As he reached the edge of the canyon, Wes reached for a detonator and hit the button, blowing the rest of the Snagem Hideout to complete pieces. With a laugh, Wes floored the gas and left Eclo Canyon, pausing only to steal a glance at a strange package that was sitting in the sidecar with his Eons. As the Snagems ran for cover from the debris and flames, Gonzap merely stood there, clutching his fingers and cursing a blue streak.

"You little... After all I've... I... You..." With a scream, the Snagem leader turned to his grunts. "You four, put out the fires! Rest of you, salvage anything you can from the wreckage!"

Wakin ran up to him. "Gonzap, sir! You've got a call in your office. It's him..." He wiped his head in a fearful sweat. "What do I tell him?"

"Tell him... that we've got a problem," Gonzap morosely replied, then gritted his teeth in anger, "and I'm going to fix it."

In the skies...

Paul was trying to shake Ranee awake, getting worried. Kenny and Dawn were also getting worried, this was their first seeing a Dimensional Scream up close and personal. Dawn took Kenny's hand, very scared. Finally, Ranee awoke and Paul was relieved.

He breathed, "Ranee, thank goodness your alright..."

Ranee got to her feet, held her head, and questioned, "What happened?"

Dawn explained, "You were having a Dimensional Scream."

Ranee looked surprised and stated, "Felt more like a flashback. I have a few pieces to this mystery."

Kenny asked, "You do...?"

Ranee nodded, looked at Paul, and stated, "Paul, when we get into Kanto, we have to find the legends of Orre. We have to find the legend of Wes."

Paul replied, "Then that's what we'll do."

Ranee smiled at him, relieved that they were (somewhat) back together.

AK1028: I am so sorry for the delay in this chapter but I had writer's block really bad. I hope to check up sooner or later so stay tuned! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!