Entering Mauville City a couple hours into the later part of the morning, the group of four went to the Pokémon Center for a small brunch, "So are we going straight to the gym?" Max asked slurping on his soda
"Well let's look around first," Ash answered after taking a bite of his steak.
Looking around in the City, Max had to drag Brock by the ear while Ash combed through the Music selection picking up the newest CD link to Michiru and Haruka's album.
After a little break from all the shopping, the group of four finally arrived at the gym; however, when Ash knocked the door turned into a platform, "What the hell is this," Ash shouted as they held onto the handlebars.
As the ride made sharp lefts and rights near the end of it was Raikou growling at him, "My Arceus, that was awesome," Max shouted.
Hearing a might laugh, the group turned to see a mechanic wearing an aviator's jacket, "Nice to see someone enjoying the ride," he said laughing.
"So I take it that you're here for my gym badge," he said staring at Ash.
"Yup, so are we going to do this or not?" Ash grinned getting a laugh from the gym leader.
"If you're that prepared, let's get over to the battlefield," he said
Traversing deeper into the gym, the assistance that was with the gym leader stood between Ash and said gym leader. "This will be a gym battle between Wattson and Ash shall now begin, both sides are allowed to use three Pokémon but only the challenger is allowed to substitute. Now trainers reveal your Pokémon," he said.
"Give them a shock, Magnemite," Wattson shouted laughing at the end.
"Lock and load Treecko," Ash called out, surprising Wattson.
"I like you, Ash always going for the uphill battle showing your great potential," Wattson said laughing, "But it won't win you the battle alone, Magnemite: Sonic Boom," he shouted.
"Dodge with Quick Attack then respond with Bullet Seed," Ash counted.
On the field, Treecko was a blur stopping only to fire its attack before vanishing once more. However, it tripped on one of the pebbles that came from the explosion giving Magnemite the chance to attack.
"Oh no, this is bad," Max said with May being worried.
"This is Ash we're talking about, he'll pull through," Brock said, "Just have a little Faith," he added with a knowing tone.
"Treecko: Agility," Ash shouted. Seeing his Grass-type Pokémon appear above gave him an idea, "Double Team," watching him multiple caused Magnemite to panic.
"Magnemite: Thunder Wave," Wattson yelled out but was shocked as all the clones exploded in a puff of smoke.
"Now use Pound," looking above, everyone saw Treecko doing somersaults slamming his tail on Magnemite's screw causing a critical.
But as Treecko fell to the ground, "Magnemite: Gyro Ball," Wattson instructed.
Taking a magnet to the face isn't a feeling that Treecko would want to experience a second time as he crashed into the ground face first. But as he got up, everyone was surprised to see a bright blue glow. "No way Treecko's evolving," Max shouted excited to see something like evolution for the first time.
Similar to a theropod dinosaur in appearance; it is primarily green with a red underside. There is a belt-like green stripe across its belly. Grovyle's hands have two clawed fingers and powerful legs with bird-like feet. Its well-developed muscles make it an expert climber and allow it to leap quickly from branch to branch. Grovyle has three long leaves on its wrists, a large leaf on top of its head, and two tails that have a leafy appearance.
Pulling out his Pokédex Ash scanned his evolved Pokémon.
Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. Grovyle is well known for its dexterity in the treetops, as it is often seen jumping from branch to branch. Even the fastest of Pokémon cannot catch a Grovyle in wooded areas.
Looking further, Ash raised an eyebrow, "Grovyle: Agility followed by Double Kick." Faster than before, Grovyle appeared in front of Magnemite and with a super effective move, the Electric/Steel-type was finished.
"Magnemite is unable to battle the winner is Grovyle," the referee shouted.
"See I told you," Brock said, "The evolution was unexpected but with how hard Ash trains his Pokemon it was unknown when Treecko would evolve," he added.
"You did well Magnemite, now Voltorb start this all with a bang," Wattson shouted sending out his second Pokemon.
"Voltorb?" May asked pulling out her Pokedex.
Voltorb the Ball Pokemon. This mysterious Pokémon uses strong Electric attacks and is often found near power plants. Use extreme caution; Voltorb may explode without warning.
Thinking it over, Ash turned to Amaris, "Want to have a whack at it?" While he knew that Amaris isn't much of a fighter but he at least wanted to ask.
"Your will be done," Amaris whispered so that only Ash and Pikachu only heard it.
Seeing Amaris jump off of Ash's shoulder, Max turned to Brock, "Hey Brock what Pokemon is Amaris?" May was also confused as she's never seen it before and thought it was a Pokemon from either Kanto or Johto.
"Amaris is a Purrloin from the far-off Unova region, a couple hours by boat from the Sinnoh region. Unlike Kanto through Sinnoh, where at least some Pokemon are common, Unova has a whole region full of Pokemon not seen outside its borders," Brock explained.
"So that's way my Pokedex isn't getting anything," May said.
"Voltorb: Rollout," Wattson ordered.
"Amaris jump and use Snarl," Ash countered.
To May and Max, they were confused as to why Ash kept Amaris attacking even if it wasn't hitting the opponent. "I can see that you are confused I take it," Brock said.
"Yeah, why is Ash still having Amaris attacking even if it isn't working at all?" Max asked as his brain was overloading.
"Doesn't Rollout grow in power every time it is used?" May asked.
"For your question May, yes it does grow in power and that is what Ash is counting on," Brock said, "Just keep watching," he added seeing the confusion on their faces.
Back on the field, Voltorb rolled into one of the holes and was sent flying, "Now Amaris: Double Team followed by Taunt," Ash ordered. In the air, Voltorb saw multiple forms of Amaris all taunting him in different ways, and it was enough that Voltorb exploded.
"I see now, Ash used the power right back at it but then Voltorb went and used Explosion," Max realized.
"Tell me where did you get the idea of using Rollout against me?" Wattson asked.
"Whitney of the Goldenrod Gym back in the Johto region," Ash answered, "Except it was a Miltank that used Rollout and it was my Totodile that made trenches in the dirt to stop Miltank," he explained.
"Magneton let's give it your all," Wattson shouted.
"Roar with Pride, Baldur," Ash called out.
"What Pokemon is that?" May asked as it wasn't showing on her Pokedex.
"Litleo is a Pokemon from the Kalos region, a place that is known to have Pokemon from each region including Unova," Brock explained.
"Magneton: Tackle," Wattson shouted.
With his Fearow like eyes, Ash was able to estimate how close Magneton was to colliding with his reincarnated companion, "Baldur: Fiery Roar," as Magneton got closer the combined power of Echo Voice and Fire Spin left a burning effect on Magneton.
"Magneton: Magnet Bomb," Wattson ordered out. Outlined in blue electricity, the magnets flashed before light blue orbs appeared sending themselves at Litleo.
"Counter with Will - O - Wisp," Ash said. Eyes glowing neon blue, ghostly flames appeared before they moved to intercept the Magnet Bomb.
Meeting in the middle, it created an explosion where the blue flames appearing through the smoke. "Wow that looks amazing," May said mystified.
"If I were you I would keep track of what happens so you can use them for your own performances," Brock said.
"Won't Ash be mad about that?" May asked.
"No, Ash believes in learning from action so I don't think he would mind you learning from him," Brock replied, "And I would also keep a notebook around for those moments of sudden inspiration," he added.
Using the explosion to his advantage, "Flame Charge," Ash shouted.
Bursting through the smoke, Litleo made a direct hit. "Now Fire Fang," Ash followed up ending the fight.
"Magneton is unable to battle, and with all of Wattson's Pokémon unable to battle the Winner is Ash Ketchum," the referee announced.
After getting his badge, Ash went to explore the marketplace, when he saw something that caught his attention. Looking at the little charm bracelets, he saw a silver bracelet but the middle, and only charm was a water droplet in the form of a heart.
Flashback
"Hi Ivory-chan," Lionel said as he entered the palace gardens.
"Leo-kun," Ivory said smiling.
It was a couple of days since the triple soul bond, and while it was strange at first the three was able to make it work as all three truly loved each other.
"Even without the soul bond, the three of you would have been together eventually, the bond just amplifies it before locking it in place," Sailor Venus said as it was true the month following the meeting, the three, despite not knowing about the soul bond, were starting to fall for each other.
"Here, I bought this in another part of the galaxy," Lionel said showing the charm bracelet that Ash saw.
"It's beautiful," Ivory gasped looking at it as she allowed Lionel to put it on.
"It works similar to Sorine's necklace except that it's a naginata staff," the young Prince said.
Without any hesitation, Ivory said, "Flowing Lion," on each separate charm there was the engraving on it in the language of the Lunarians.
Flashback End
"Excuse me, sir? How much for the bracelet?" Ash asked the salesman.
"Oh this little thing, would five Pokédollars do?" he asked as he saw the young man stare at it as if there were some memories attached to it.
"Keep the change," Ash said handing the man a ten.
"Thank you, my boy, now I know this isn't any of my business but can I was why you stared at it for so long?" he asked.
"I bought my Girlfriend something exactly like this a while ago but it was lost when her house was on fire. She had to move away after that and I haven't seen her since," Ash said saying a half-lie, "I was hoping that when I see her she'd be surprised when I have one in my hand."
"Ah true love, it's nice to know that it still exists in this world of quick relationships and even quicker heartbreaks," the man said waving Ash off.
Seeing that no one was looking the man retreated to the back room and placed a circular device on the desk, "Sailor Pluto the Prince has come by and bought the charm bracelet," he said.
"Good work, the prince would be surprised when he realizes it the same one from all of those years ago," Pluto said. It seems that while searching for signs of the prince and princesses, Sailor Pluto found civilians and other people related to the moon and woke them on. Informing them of the situation at hand, they clearly agreed to surprise Ash and the rest of the scouts by having Pluto hide the fact that she has found the people that once lived in the palace and the surrounding areas.
Time Gates
Watching from her gates of future events, Pluto was cursing up a storm in her native language, "Those fools, don't they have any idea what they're doing," she screamed wanting to pull out her hair. In the gates, she saw a skirmish between Aqua and Magma but what they didn't know was that there was a Yoma prison right beneath their feet but it was too late as the mountain exploded and all current scouts along with the prince were knocked out as news choppers hovered over the area recording everything live.
The only good news was that one of Lionel's generals were awake, "But how to prevent this from spilling over," she asked herself.
After the fight, during a press conference explained what just happened and who they are. Effect: criminals are more willing to go out into the open in hopes of using the scouts to their advantage. Or the Government is going to hunt them down in order to form their own hit squad.
Wipe everyone's mind of the incident. Impossible as it is on the world news.
Use illusion magic to make it seem it was a gas line explosion. Impossible as there will be news cameras.
Sighing, Pluto had to go for option A as it seemed like the best solution, "I really hope this doesn't backfire on us," she whispered praying to her mother for guidance.
"I take it you found out about their plan?" Sailor Draco said appearing.
"Yes, do you know how they plan to do it?" Pluto asked.
"Team Magma plan to steal a meteorite then bring it to a machine to erupt Mt. Chimney," Zinnia answered.