Sorry for the late update. I had a competition. And a clinic. And a concert. I know, I'm so good at excuses, right? Anyway, I was a bit iffy on this chapter. I didn't know how to introduce this weird idea I had back when I first wrote this. Tell me how I do (comment, please), and if you need any more explaining, it'll probably be out next week.

Heehee, I missed you guys.

Pidgeot shivered. Where did her flock go?

Their scent was fresh, and piles of snow clustered around bare trees.

The Normal and Flying-Type narrowed her eyes. Pokemon had been resting on the branches.

Were the hatchlings okay?

Was Ash okay?

"We're almost there!" Swellow cheered.

"I doubt it," Tauros muttered. "Watch there be another peak behind this one—oh, there it is."

Noivern held a claw to his mouth in an attempt to suppress his giggles.

By then, everyone on the team had developed a resistance to the cold, even the young Dragon and Flying-Type.

A wave of exhaustion flooded over Ash as he attempted to drag the ransacked loot to a corner of the cave. The Trainer was incredibly dizzy, even with Vivi in Sylveon form holding his wounds close with her ribbons. In the end, Garchomp had to walk over and carry the bag for the teen.

Charizard and Sceptile had collapsed on the cavern floor, and the Fire and Flying-Type was fast asleep. His teammate laid on the ground next to him, jotting down notes in a foreign Pokemon alphabet and muttering to himself.

Garchomp helped his Trainer lean on Charizard's back, and moved the giant lizard's wing to rest above the teen, who smiled as the Dragon and Ground-Type tucked him into the warm, makeshift blanket.

"Congrats of the evolution," the Trainer complemented the pseudo-legendary. From his spot on the floor, Sceptile winked at the newly-evolved Pokemon, and the dragon immediately nodded back, face gleaming at the approval.

Talonflame suddenly flew into the cave, carrying a large roll of white gauze in her beak. She landed next to her team, dropping the fabric at Vivi's feet.

"Thanks," the Sylveon spoke up. With her spare ribbons, she immediately started to patch up the Trainer's hands.

Talonflame turned to Garchomp. "How do you feel?" the Kalosian Pokemon asked her teammate.

"You should be asking Ash that question," the Mach Pokemon replied.

"I'm fi—"

"Your pulse is fast," Sylveon commented, wrapping ribbon feeler around her Trainer's arm to keep him from squirming. "Pidgeot says that Humans never admit when they are sick."

"Don't listen to Pidgeot. Plus, I'm not sick," Ash retorted.

"I'm letting go of your—"

"Ah! Please, no!"

"Told you."

"When did you get such a sassy attitude?" the teen asked, exasperated.

"Pikachu says—"

"Don't listen to anything Pikachu says either, please."

"Okay."

"Did you say something?" the Electric-Type asked, yawning loudly from the other side of Charizard.

"Go back to sleep."

"Ash, you get weirdly defensive when you're in pain," Pikachu remarked.

The Trainer cowered under the glares of his Pokemon.

Sceptile walked over to the gathered group. "Ash, are you perchance moving your Aura out of your hands?"

"Yeah. Uh...Aura doesn't compress well."

"Alright. I need to get to the library," Sceptile announced. "I wasn't able to find anything in Viridian, Mahogany, and Goldenrod, but…" he paused, "I think I can find what I need in Canalave City."

Garchomp narrowed his eyes. "But that's in Sinnoh," he muttered loud enough for his teammates to hear.

"You can fly," Pikachu suggested.

"So can you."

"Please. Magnet Rise only works for like five minutes before I need to concentrate on using it again. Plus, it's exhausting."

"Does that mean I can use it in battle?" Ash asked.

"No."

"He threw up last time," Sceptile remarked.

"You shoved me off a mountain!" Pikachu retorted.

"I think we're waking up Charizard," Garchomp commented.

The Flame Pokemon's snores grew louder.

Vivi snickered. "We're getting off topic," she mentioned with a whisper.

"Well said," the Forest Pokemon agreed. "I heard that Canalave City's libraries have old myths in them. If I can get there, maybe there'll be something on Aura."

The Sylveon started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Garchomp asked.

"We forgot that Gallade can use Teleport!" she exclaimed. Around her, groans awoke some of Gary's Pokemon.

By the time Gallade and Sceptile were back, the late afternoon had set upon the Johto Mountain Range. Most of the Pokemon had woken up by then and were enjoying a meal or playing a card game (Ash was pretty sure it was 'Artic-UNO' or something like that).

"Hey," Pikachu greeted his teammates.

"Hey yourself," Sceptile replied, ignoring how his teammate stuck his tongue out at the Hoenn Starter Pokemon. Gallade collapsed next to him, groaning about long-distance traveling.

"Did you find anything?" Ash asked. A small grimace could be seen on the teen's face, even though it was obvious that he was trying his best to hide it.

The Grass-Type shrugged. "Yeah. By the way, I'm pretty sure you made a fatal mistake, so next time, get someone to teach you."

"Awesome."

"How long have you been trying to hold all your Aura in?" Sceptile asked.

"Uh, a few hours or so…"

"No wonder you're sweating like that," the Forest Pokemon remarked. "I think you should be dead by now."

"Thanks, doc," Ash grumbled.

Charizard, who was still supporting his Trainer, yawned. "Just get to the point already. He's been shivering since noon."

"Shivering?"

"Just tell me how this works, Sceptile," Ash insisted.

"Oh. My bad," the Grass-Type apologized. "Okay. Apparently, one's Aura signature resembles the host."

"I knew that already," the Trainer spoke up. "You have a green Aura and Charizard has a red one."

"Are you claustrophobic?" Sceptile asked.

"No."

"He hates being confined," Pikachu revealed, walking over and sitting on his Trainer's lap.

"Your Aura is the same," the Grass-Type explained, taking out his notebook. "I guess it's also hard-headed, self-sacrificing, and very stubborn, too. Do you know how to stop the flow of Aura?"

"I—"

"Oh wait, you'll probably kill yourself. Uh…can you make a displacement for your Aura to settle in?"

"I mean—"

Pikachu's eyes lit up. "His Talonflame wings! That'll do."

Sceptile frowned. "It's pretty risky, but I guess you could try it. Ash, make wings."

"Do I have to? I actually hate—"

"Ash," Charizard muttered, "you should get off of me before you do it."

"Oh, sorry." the Trainer apologized. With a grunt, he shakily stood up, immediately grabbing onto his Grass-Type for support. Charizard rose next and stretched in satisfaction.

Ash concentrated, and a few seconds later, two glowing appendages had grown from his back. Immediately, the teen felt his entire body relax and sighed in relief as most of his pain ebbed away.

"I think he feels better," Vivi commented as she greeted her Trainer. "What do you think, Gardevoir?"

"He's definitely relaxing," the Embrace Pokemon replied, closing his eyes. "Uh, there's a bit of relief, a lot of sleepiness, and he's also thinking about using my ability to sense prominent emotions in battle."

"How did you know that last part?" the Trainer asked.

"I guessed."

"Hey, I'll be outside," Vivi announced, turning into an Eevee when she saw that there wasn't much to do, and went to watch Gallade practice martial arts at the mouth of the cave. Ash, Pikachu, Sceptile, Talonflame, Garchomp, and a cranky Arcanine were the only ones left in the area.

"Your Aura has a large concentration in your hands," Sceptile was explaining. "That's why they were so vulnerable to attacks."

Pikachu frowned. "His palms have always been like that. I'm pretty sure he's fainted from having his hands stepped on. And that was years ago."

"That's actually pretty funny," Garchomp commented with a grin.

"I don't remember that."

"Maybe we don't notice it because you wear gloves all the time," the Grass-Type surmised. "Why do you even wear them? It's not like it's a fashion statement for Trainers."

"May wears them. I think that Ritchie guy did too…"

"And Alain," Pikachu added.

"Plus, they're cool."

"Maybe the reason why your Aura is so concentrated is because you wear gloves," Sceptile hypothesized. "We could test that, you know, with—"

"I'll be outside, practicing my speed." Talonflame interrupted.

"Don't you have a social life?" Pikachu asked.

"I do, it's just that my dive against a Koffing didn't go as well as I hoped."

When the Fire and Flying-Type left the cave, Pikachu rolled his eyes. "This is what I had to deal with throughout all of Kalos," he complained. "At least Hawlucha isn't here. He'd make Ash get up at 4 am to train or something."

"Doesn't he already do that?" Sceptile asked.

The Fire and Flying-Type flew out of the area, and Pikachu rolled his eyes. "This is what I had to deal with throughout all of Kalos," he muttered to the rest of them. "At least Hawlucha isn't here. He'd be up at 4 am in the morning, urging Ash to make all of us start combat training or something."

"You haven't told us how you got rid of Team Flare in Kalos," Garchomp brought up, urging Pikachu for a story.

"Oh, so you want to hear about how Ash and Greninja were all like…Arceus, it's a long story. At least it wasn't Unova, where the air messed with all my electric currents. I officially hate Zekrom now, and Volt Tackle just…didn't work anymore. Thank Arceus Ash bothered to check to see that I just couldn't work in Unova air…"

Garchomp knew that Pikachu was getting off topic but honestly didn't care. He enjoyed the Electric-Type's stories either way. A huge part of the Dragon and Ground-Type missed the adventures he had with Ash when he was still a Gible, and he'd become nostalgic whenever he was reminded of the fun he had with his Trainer.

"And don't get me started on Ash's team. There was the lovesick Oshawott..."

"Guys!" a voice cried out. "Are you okay?!"

"Gary!" Misty exclaimed, surprised at the sight of the newest Kanto Gym Leader running up to catch them. "Did Team Rocket get you too?"

"Yeah. I was in some kind of plane or something, but it got knocked out of the sky. I found myself here. Can I join you guys? I'm trying to get back to civilization, but it's not working too well."

"That is what we are trying to do here as well," Cilan replied with a genuine smile. "Say, does anyone feel hungry? I think we can stir up some—"

"No, it's fine. I can cook," Brock offered.

"You can cook?! We'll see about tha—" Chili started, but was shushed by his brother Cress with a calm but annoyed look.

"Why don't we stop for the night? It'll be easier to navigate when the sun rises again," Norman suggested. He missed his family but knew that he had to stay calm. Pryce nodded to him, and the two older men walked to the front of the group.

Gary scratched his head. "So no one has any Pokemon with them?"

"Nope," Erika sighed, thinking of her precious team back at the Gym, as well as the poor girls that would have to stand up against people like Brock…

The Viridian City Gym Leader watched as everyone in the group contributed to a makeshift campfire with wood and leaves.

As Gary returned to the campsite with an old pail of water (a wild Vulpix had helped him find one), he found Brock sitting on a nearby stone, trying to calculate the time and distance away from the nearest city.

"Hey Brock," he called to the older teen. "Why are you here instead of Forrest? I thought he was the official Gym Leader."

The Rock-Type Trainer laughed. "Yeah, Forrest should've been taken, but I took over the Gym for the week. My brother was in the middle of the aftereffects of his first rejection."

"His first of many," Gary muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Oh. Nothing."

"Gary," a feminine voice spoke up from behind him. The Viridian Gym Leader turned around, seeing Sabrina from Saffron City. Beside her, the Vulpix that had helped him earlier had a giant grin on its face. All six of its tails were wagging excitedly.

"I'm so glad I was able to be helpful to this lady. Maybe these nice people are Trainers. I'll make them battle me, and maybe a strong one will catch me!"

"Hi, Sabrina," Gary greeted the other Gym Leader. "What's up?"

"I need to talk with you."

The young teen hoped that his worry didn't seem too obvious. "Okay," he replied, then turned to Brock. "Can you excuse us? We'll just be around these woods."

"No problem. thanks for getting us some water."

When the two Gym Leaders were out of hearing range, Sabrina turned to the young teen.

"Gary Oak, why aren't you running a Psychic-Type Gym?"

"Because you're already the Psychic-Type Gym Leader in Kanto…?" the Pallet Town Trainer replied, unsure of what to say.

"That's not what I meant," the Saffron City Trainer spoke using telepathy, smiling slightly. "You know what I mean. Your grandfather doesn't have psychic power. How do you?"

"It's a long story, Sabrina," the other Gym Leader replied, also using telepathy. "I'm sure you can get it out of my mind somehow." This made the other psychic user laugh aloud. "But…can you train me to become better? I've just...realized my Psychic affinity recently, so I'm not as confident as I should be."

"You seemed confident when you teleported in."

"I mean, it's pretty easy compared to…reading minds or something. Why haven't you teleported the Gym Leaders out?" Gary asked. Beside him, Vulpix stared at the two Humans in confusion. Why weren't they talking?

"It is better for them to think that I can't do it. Plus, I have a feeling they like the experience of being lost, and maybe even miss it. Aren't some of these people old companions of Ash Ketchum, probably the greatest Pokemon Master—ever?"

"He's not a Pokemon Master," Gary replied aloud, laughing.

"Oh really? Huh. That must be the future, then. Arceus, even my own powers confuse me sometimes."

"Wait. About your point earlier…yeah, they did travel with him," the Viridian Gym Leader realized.

"I'm surprised that you've been able to keep this conversation going for so long," Sabrina noted. "Most psychic-users can barely bend a spoon. You didn't get your affinity through lineage or genetics, right?"

"Well, actually…"

"Ash, you're not resting," Talonflame observed.

"I'm trying to," came a sore reply.

"You're too tense," Garchomp added in helpfully.

"Sir, I require you to relax," Gallade's proper, formal voice chastised the Trainer.

"Ash, you're trying too hard," Pikachu remarked with an annoyed tone, although overwrought eyes gave the impression that he was worried.

"I find it funny that he's still shivering. Is that bad?" Charizard asked, letting his Trainer rest on a wing.

"Of course it's bad," Sceptile replied. "You're a Fire-Type, and he's not reacting to the heat you give off—"

"Yes, I do agree that I'm fashionably hot."

"That was not what I-"

"Guys, I'm fine," Ash muttered. The entire group tensed up (except for Talonflame, who was new), but relaxed as they realized that Pidgeot wasn't present to correct Ash's views on feminism.

"You're focusing too much," Ash's Grass-Type pointed out. "Sooner or later, those wings will look pretty real from the amount of your life force you're focusing on them."

"They're Aura constructs, not wings."

"You're incredibly stubborn, you know?" Pikachu asked.

"Wings are biological."

"Aura is biological," Sceptile retorted with a smirk.

"Screw you."

The Electric-Type crossed his paws. "And there he goes, becoming all defensive like that when he's vulnerable."

"Pikachu, I am going to take away your ketchup supply."

"That's absurd! A form of abuse! Pokemon Lives Matte—"

"How do you even find all this information?" Talonflame spoke up, interrupting her distraught teammate.

"He looks in Professor Oak's database, then the library," Vivi answered. "Then he just knows. I think I want to be like Sceptile when I'm older."

"That's nice," Charizard grumbled.

"He's smart."

Garchomp, who still was new to his evolution, stumbled a bit as he started to laugh. The young Eevee was either one of the most intelligent Pokemon to walk the earth—or just plain naive, and the Mach Pokemon was willing to believe that it was the former.

"I'm not dead—that's the good part," Ash announced. "The Aura has stopped trying to flow into my palms, but now I can't feel them…which is a problem that we can fix, right?"

"Well, it should take some time for your hands to heal fully, and not just physically, but on the Aura scale as well," the Grass-Type informed the Trainer. "Then, you can let all the pressure out of your wings and they'll probably disappear."

"Good. Well, that settles life. And they're Aura constructs, not wings!"

Arcanine cocked her head at the scene. Pikachu was sitting next to her, relaxing from a night of worry.

"I like how he's not fazed at all that he had almost died, and then—"

"He's already died before. Honestly, it'll just get Xerneas mad at him or something. Next thing you know, he befriended another Legendary Pokemon."

"True," the Legendary Pokemon (the species) agreed.

"I'm kinda glad he hasn't caught one, though. He has enough on his plate already," the Electric-Type remarked, yawning.

"Still, he's lucky to have Sceptile."

"Somehow, Ash always gets the enthusiastic ones. Trust me when I say that he knows what he's doing nowadays. Now, back in the old times, it was a different story."

"Gary's worse," the Fire-Type retorted, bringing up their old argument.

"Nah. you never saw—"

"He drove a convertible. At age ten. He almost killed us every day."

"It's cold outside, isn't it?" Ash asked Vivi as he sat down beside her. The Trainer turned to see the Evolution Pokemon gazing out into the frosty air, and realized that he hadn't completed his promised training with her.

"It is," the Eevee agreed.

There was a pause. "Don't you still have to learn Glaceon?"

A nod.

"Oh, you're in for a treat. Do you want me to take you swimming in ice-cold water, or flying above these mountains?"

"I'd very much like both," Vivi replied excitedly.

Garchomp looked down over the cliff that the hideout was stationed at. Talonflame was to his left, urging him to jump.

"C'mon. One last time. Ash managed it."

"I thought that was because you micromanaged his wings to the point that they were practically perfect," the dragon protested.

"That's not important," the Fire and Flying-Type insisted. "Just jump, and make sure your takeoff is secure."

"I'm not sure I can—"

Talonflame placed a wing on Garchomp's back. "Just have confidence in yourself," the Scorching Pokemon instructed. "You're a fully-evolved pseudo with power that rivals Charizard, Sceptile, and Pikachu. Heck, you'd probably beat them up in a fight. I know you were a bit timid as a Gabite, but you have to find your identity as a Garchomp. And Garchomp as a species—they fly."

The newly-evolved Mach Pokemon hesitated, then realized that his teammate was right.

Garchomp jumped.

And let the air currents guide him.

AN: DONE! Thank you for reading once again (chapter 21...never thought I would make it this far). It's a pleasure to write and look at these amazing comments. It really brightens up my day.

Comment time!

-AgitatedDog9288: Yeah, I agree. But I felt bad (and had some stuff to do last week) so I gave you guys an early update. Hope this one was just as good to you.

-bladetri: Me too :P

-Pokeevee57: Please update. I love all of your updates. And my bomb shelter hasn't been hurt severely...whew!

Alright, I have a pretty cool announcement.

I've decided that I should contribute to the fandom. So what does this mean?

There's this thing called an OC that some people hate and others love. I have my own too (although they're all too insignificant to notice, and mostly consist of the average Trainer losing to Gary Oak).

No, I'm not looking for OC ideas in this story. It'll just trigger some people.

By the time April ends and May begins, I'll have started a story that includes all the OCs that you guys give me. PM me names, descriptions, Pokemon, etc. that you want to see in the upcoming story, and when EOTR ends (it'll be sad), chapter 1 will be up. (Make them as OP or as stupid as you want, but note that I can't stand OP characters that aren't Ash and will most likely tweak a few things.)

And I haven't forgotten my other ideas, either. Don't worry, it'll be pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to making it as comedic (if not, more) than what I have now.

Ah! I'm still looking for cover art!

Thanks,

Crestilia