So chapter 35 it is. I again have a little preface thingy, hence why the chapter title isnt right below the A/N. This is a transitioning chapter, so it is kind of blippy, as you can tell by the plethora of page breaks; but a lot happens so it's all good. :)

I personally really like the next chapter. Oh and again a big thanks for all of you who keep sticking with this story even though it is so long, Pichus for all of you!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! :)

Ghetsis paced back and forth in his office. 'Where is that boy?' he questioned to himself, his eyes flicking up to the door then back to the ground where he had been walking back and forth for the past ten minutes. N hadn't been late for anything in his life and Ghetsis had come to expect nothing less, so when N was late for once, it had struck worry into his mind.

His head snapped up when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" he said and the door creaked open to reveal the younger version of himself.

"You said you wanted to see me Father?" N questioned, looking around the small room where there were at least twenty guards, all packed closely together.

"Yes N, we have finally found what we have been looking for" Ghetsis said, excitement dancing in his one red eye.

N looked shocked and quickly closed the door behind him.

"You have? Where is it?" N asked, his hands shaking with excitement and anticipation.

Ghetsis smirked and walked around behind his desk to pull open a drawer. He lifted a wooden box out and walked back to stand in front of N.

N reached towards the box, not able to contain his excitement any longer but Ghetsis pulled it away from him and gave a warning glance.

"Now remember N, remember all of your goals, and remember what this stone means to us" Ghetsis made sure and put emphasis on the word 'us'. He knew it was all in the boy's hands to get the legendary Pokémon out, but he still wanted a slice of the success that came along with it.

N nodded and this time Ghetsis allowed him to open the box. N's eyes shone bright, in a way that hadn't been seen before as he carefully lifted out a bright white stone.

"So this is it?" N questioned, a smile cracking onto his face.

Ghetsis nodded.

"Wow" N whispered and brushed his fingers over the Light Stone, the key to what he had been working towards his entire life.

Chapter 35: Slipping Into Old Routine

I grumbled as someone's hand shook me awake. I finally gave in to opening my eyes and realized it was Ash.

"What do you want?" I snapped, not happy being awoken this early.

"It's time to go!" he said, obviously excited.

I mumbled to myself as I got out of bed and got dressed for the day. I brushed my hair and tied it up in its usual ponytail and quickly put on my cap.

"You ready yet?" Ash poked his head back in after only leaving me alone for five minutes.

"Yes Ash" I said with a smile on my face at how eager he was this morning.

We headed out towards Cianwood City and I was again brought back to the happy feelings of traveling with my Kanto friends. Ash always walked ahead either whistling to himself or talking to Pikachu about his next strategy; Misty walked beside Brock and I, playing with Togepi who would squeal in delight every few seconds; and I just walked hand in hand with Brock, assessing the scenery, taking in all I could.

"How far away is Cianwood City?" I asked.

"We should be there by tomorrow" Brock replied, again taking a look at the map.

"Gotcha" I said with a smile.

After we had been walking for about half an hour I heard my X-transceiver ring and I picked it up, still walking.

"Hello" I said and someone that I didn't expect showed up.

"Hi White" and I saw Cheren's familiar face.

"Oh, hi Cheren what's up?"

"I can't find you anywhere, I wanted a battle, where are you?" he asked, looking like he was beginning to pout.

"I'm in Johto Cher" I said with a chuckle.

"Oh" he said looking surprised, "Well I guess that would explain it"

"Why don't you call Bianca up for a battle?" I asked.

"She is pretty easy to beat, no offense to her, but you are more of a challenge; since I haven't exactly won against you before" he said with a scowl.

I laughed, "Well, we will be sure and have a battle when I come back" I said.

Cheren nodded and I said a quick goodbye.

"Who was that?" Brock questioned.

"Cheren" I answered flatly.

Brock made a face, "Should I be jealous?"

I burst out laughing, "No, Cheren has been my best friend since I was two; I don't think you need to worry about him being anything more than a friend"

Brock nodded to himself and we continued on.

We set up camp early because Ash had decided he wanted to get some training in before the sun went down.

"Come on out" Ash called and out came his Bulbasaur and Chikorita.

"Chika Chika" the tiny grass Pokémon trilled, quickly running over to rub against Ash's leg.

I chuckled, "I guess you have an admirer Ash"

He scratched the back of his head and smiled, "I guess so"

"Dinner will be ready in about forty-five minutes" I heard Brock chime in and we all nodded.

"Hey!" Ash called, "How about we have a battle"

"I don't know Ash" I said; I hadn't been planning on battling with him anytime soon.

"Yeah, and you can battle against Bulbasaur with Thundurus"

I gave him a hesitant look.

"Hey, Bulbasaur is a grass type so electric attacks shouldn't do much."

It took about five minutes but finally Ash convinced me. I quickly took out my pokedex and scanned Thundurus' ball to see what moves he had. My eyes widened, his moveset was impressive; his past trainer had taught him some lethal combinations.

"Okay Bulbasaur"

"Okay Thundurus"

Soon they were both out.

Brock was sitting on a rock, cutting up vegetables and Misty was sitting beside him, peeling a potato.

"Alright, this is a match between Bulbasaur and Thundurus; begin!" Brock said quickly, obviously wanting to get on with the match.

"Okay razor leaf" Ash called and the leaves came flying out of Bulbasaur's back.

I wasn't used to battling with Thundurus so my reaction time was a little off.

"Uh, thunderbolt" I called, not sure if he was even going to obey me, but he did.

He let off a low sound and a huge electric attack flew out from him. The bolts flew in every direction and started tearing up the ground around him. I jumped as one hit about a foot from me.

"Jeez" Misty cried, running behind a tree that then got hit with a bolt and fell down with a large boom.

Brock skidded out of the way right before one hit the rock he had been sitting on and ran like a mad man trying to keep the vegetables he had been cutting from getting fried.

"Woah stop!" I yelled and Thundurus ceased his attack.

We all sighed in relief and when I looked across the field realized Bulbasaur was knocked out.

'Well I guess one actually hit him' I thought to myself while assessing the damage around me. There was rubble everywhere, knocked down trees, and multiple holes in the ground.

"We need to work on aim" I said with wide eyes.

Thundurus looked around and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking sorry for what he had done. I worked with Thundurus for the remaining amount of time Brock was cooking and realized we didn't need to work on aim as much as we needed to work on controlling his power. I had told him to use iron tail and he had smashed into the tree so hard he sent it flying into three more, knocking them all into a Beedrill nest. That was sure a fun experience… not.

Thundurus had looked upset when I had told him he needed to take it down a few notches and crossed his arms in defiance. I shook my head and returned him as Brock called for dinner.

We ate what had to have been the best stew I had ever had, the whole time filled with conversation about Ash's next gym battle. Or more accurately; Ash and Misty arguing about it.

"You're too cocky Ash; you are just going to be disappointed when you lose"

"I'm not going to lose, and I am confident not cocky"

"Your ego is huge, and yes you are going to lose"

"Am not"

"Am too"

"Am not"

I leaned against Brock and he chuckled.

"I guess I didn't exactly miss this" I said with a laugh and he nodded.

After the delicious meal we all climbed into our sleeping bags. When I was back in Unova I had meant to pick up a bag of my own but had forgotten and so once again I snuggled in with Brock.

He grinned. "I'm really glad you forgot"

I rolled my eyes but smiled.

"Have you dealt with Ash's snoring?" I questioned.

He nodded, "Watch"

In about a minute Ash rolled over onto his back and the snore that sounded more like a chainsaw once again erupted from his mouth.

Brock let out a low whistle and Pikachu waddled over to grab Ash's hand.

"Chuuuuuu" he called and lightly shocked Ash.

Ash surprisingly didn't wake up but when he relaxed again he oddly enough wasn't snoring.

I gave Brock a confused look and he shrugged, "It seems to clear his sinuses or something"

I laughed and snuggled into Brock's chest. He began shaking and I looked up to see him looking really nervous.

"What's wrong Brock?"

He didn't answer but lifted my chin so he could plant a kiss on my lips. My eyes widened in surprise but quickly closed and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I pulled back after a few seconds and Brock smiled.

"Thank you" he whispered.

I made a face, "You don't need to thank me for that silly"

I giggled and again snuggled nearer to him.

I could feel him sigh and heard his heart rate quicken. I smiled and drifted off to sleep.

Sure enough we arrived in Cianwood City by around noon the next day. Ash proudly strutted into the town like he had lived there all his life and marched straight to the gym. He knocked a few times on the door… nothing.

We were finally informed that the gym leader who was apparently named Chuck was down at the beach training. We all trudged down to the beach and my eyes widened when I saw the sight.

"Machoke, submission" the man called and the Machoke used a submission attack on his trainer, sending him flying. The man hopped right back up however and we continued to watch his odd training regimen until he realized he had onlookers.

"Hi, can I help you?" He questioned in a booming voice that caused both Misty and I to jump.

"Are you Chuck?" Ash questioned hesitantly.

"Sure am" the man said, puffing out his chest.

"Well then I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle" Ash said, also puffing out his chest.

The man gave a devious grin and led us all back up to the gym. Brock, Misty and I sat in the stands, awaiting what was sure to be a good battle.

"Alright Ash, I hope this is a good one" Chuck bellowed, his mustache quivering as he smiled.

"It will be" Ash said with a determined look.

Chuck called out his Machoke and Ash his Chikorita. They battled for a few minutes, no attacks making much damage; that was until Chuck used submission and it really did a number on Chikorita. I leaned forward, again engrossed in the battle I was watching. With a bright flash of white Chikorita evolved. I personally believe the only reason she evolved at that moment was because she wanted to please Ash, as she obviously was very fond of her trainer. Chikorita who was now a Bayleef, managed to beat the Machoke using speed and skill and we now eagerly awaited Chuck's second Pokémon. He called out a Poliwrath and since Bayleef was a grass type, Ash had the advantage. They both landed attacks, neither backing down. But with a well-timed double slap from the Poliwrath, Bayleef was knocked out.

Ash looked sad at first, but the determination was flickering in his eyes wildly after a few moments.

"You ready Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika Pika" the small electric Pokémon chirped and stood, ready to battle.

It was a brutal battle to the end, and once again I was squeezing Brock's hand so tight that I'm surprised I didn't break it.

"Thunderbolt" Ash called. And with that, everything was over and Ash was victorious.

"Yes!" Ash yelled and pumped his fist into the air. My death grip on Brock lessened and he let out the air that he had probably been holding in since I had latched onto his wrist.

"Good job Ash" Chuck said with a slight smile and handed him his badge.

"Alright, I got the Storm badge" Ash said and held it out in front of him as if showing some invisible person.

"Pi-Pikachu" Pikachu squeaked, and made a peace sign with his tiny hand.

"So where's the next gym Brock?" Ash questioned that night while polishing his badges, a wide grin from ear to ear appearing on his face.

"Um, let me check" Brock said and leaned over the edge of the bed to grab his bag. We were once again in a Pokémon center room and it had two sets of bunk beds.

Misty's head poked down from the top one and watched Brock who was beneath her. "I hope it isn't too far away" she said.

"From what this says it is in Olivine City" Brock piped in, "And we should be able to make it there in… a week and a half"

Misty frowned but shrugged, not happy or sad with how long it would take.

"Alright then, Olivine City it is" Ash said, putting the badges back into his jacket. He laid his hat on the ground and flopped down, Pikachu curling up in a tiny ball on his chest.

Misty laid down also and I again decided to stick with sleeping in the same bed as Brock.

And so for the next four days we slipped back into our traveling routine. We walked almost all day, and met some very interesting Pokémon and people while we were at it. We camped out at night and trained before bed and in the early mornings. Thundurus and I got rather close, but I was still having troubles with him. He would refuse to listen to my comments about how he needed to control his attacks, so we would usually leave smashed trees and holes in the ground in our wake. However on the fifth day since Ash won his fifth badge, Professor Oak called.

"Hi White"

"Hi Professor, why are you calling?" I asked. He had called my X-transceiver and I figured it was important if it couldn't wait until a Pokémon center.

"I just wanted to know how training with Thundurus is going" he said, and I could tell he was trying to transition into the real question.

"It is going good, he has calmed down now"

Oak's eyes lit up and he cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, if he really is decent now, I would love it if I could do some research on him for a while"

I smiled. Thundurus' training seemed to have hit a dead end with his attitude and so I figured it would be good for the bolt strike Pokémon to have a rest.

"Sure, I'll transfer him at the next Pokémon center"

"Good" Oak said with a wide grin and hung up.

Turns out the next Pokémon center was just a few hours walk away and I went ahead and gave back Thundurus.

"Thanks White" Oak said, carefully placing the Master Ball on the desk in front of him.

"It's going to be weird only having five Pokémon" I said absentmindedly.

"Well" Oak started, "There is actually someone who seems to want to be with you"

I gave him a confused look and soon saw my Litwick's face on the screen.

"Litwick-wick" it chirped with a smile as it saw me.

"Hi there, so are you wanting to come and train with me?" I asked, an amused look on my face.

It nodded feverishly and Oak sent it over.

That night I went ahead and brought it out to meet the others. It fit right in without even trying and as I looked around I realized how perfect this bunch of Pokémon felt. It felt like after Litwick had joined, I finally had all of my family members there; and in that moment I realized I had my final team. I smiled to myself and picked up the small candle Pokémon, careful not to burn myself on its flame.

"You ready to train?" I asked. It nodded and we began.

Litwick was a natural, and since I was used to dealing with fire types it made my life a lot easier also.

It turned out in that small town there was also a trainer's school and we got a free day of lessons. I learned a lot there about my Pokémon; and I also learned Pineco was rather fond of blowing up in Brock's face. That of which I thought was hilarious, and Brock would give me a stern look every time I laughed, a smile soon breaking out on his face also.

The next day was devoted to training. I watched Ash for a while before I turned to my Pokémon and began working with them. I mainly focused on Drilbur. The tiny Pokémon was a handful but very powerful. After every win or every compliment he would dance around happily and tug on my arm, making sure I had seen what an amazing job he had done.

I sat down and looked out the window of our Pokémon center room that night. I watched the stars and I could hear the soft breathing of my sleeping traveling companions. I remembered watching Chuck that day on the beach, literally training with his Pokémon and my hand found its way up to Talace's ball. I thought for a moment before I quietly left the room and went out into the large field beside the Pokémon center. I called Talace out and decided to try a new type of training.

"Okay Talace we are going to try something new here" I said hesitantly. He gave me an asking glance and I explained how Chuck trained with his Pokémon. Talace stomped the ground and refused to hit me with an attack. I shook my head and told him I had something else in mind.

"Your arm thrust is the only fighting move you have, and it could come in handy, however a move like that can be easily blocked, so we need to work on your combinations; which will make it more difficult to stop"

Talace nodded and I proceeded to talk to him about different ways to throw a punch. I honestly hadn't ever punched anything or anyone so I figured maybe I wasn't the best teacher but Talace seemed to learn quickly and his large fists were soon mimicking mine.

"Right" I called and threw out my right arm, Talace mirrored me.

"Left" I called and we both threw a left handed punch at the air.

Soon we got quicker at it and it began to be almost like a dance, mirroring each other in perfect synchronicity. After about a half an hour I told Talace what a great job he had done and returned him for a rest, clicking his ball into place in the necklace. I smiled to myself as I walked back into our room but jumped when I realized Brock was now looking out the window. He turned around when I came in and he smiled.

"I saw you training" he said in a soft voice.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up"

He shook his head, "It was mesmerizing"

"What?" I whispered, still trying not to wake up Misty or Ash.

He shrugged, "You two work in complete harmony with each other; it was almost like watching a movie"

I blushed lightly and climbed into bed and Brock followed.

I put my head on his chest and rested my hand beside me.

I heard Brock grunt and felt him lift up my hand. I looked at him skeptically. His brow was furrowed and he looked almost confused.

"What's this?" he asked, motioning to N's ring that was still lightly flickering, creating a low glow.

"Oh, N gave it to me" I said absentmindedly, again resting my head on his chest.

He again grunted and I shifted my eyes to look up at him.

"Is that a problem?" I asked with a smile in my voice, amused that Brock was jealous.

"No, I guess not" he said quietly, letting go of my hand.

"He hasn't called for a couple of days" he added and I scrunched my eyebrows together. Brock was right; N hadn't called for the past two days.

I shrugged, "I guess he's busy"

Brock sighed and I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. He again turned a dark shade of pink and I chuckled.

"Goodnight Brock" I said.

"Goodnight sweetheart" he said without pausing; I guess he was finally getting used to the name.