A/N: DaniJIE mentioned Deviantart, I used imageshack but I can't put on a link here and I'm not sure about leading people off site. I guess the map will have to wait for now.

Thanks for the review, Julie Togepi. Sure, Ash could give the Badge back, but then that would hardly solve anything. And Linnea isn't exactly good, after all.

The empire of the Fifth Gym Leader, Wade, was the largest of all the Gym Leaders, even though the majority of it was seawater. The only bits of land that he controlled were various islands scattered throughout the oceans surrounding Galea. There was nothing beyond the oceans- only the void now that the Gym Leaders had banished Galea to another dimension.

It had been so long since that had happened, though the Gym Leader had not aged a day since.

Wade had long since quarreled with the others since that moment- his disapproved of the greedy, selfish, and outright paranoid ways of his 'colleagues' for lack of a better word. Under his rule taxes were low, all convicts were given fair and unbiased trials, and orphanages and public works were built. He also didn't restrict the use of Pokemon as much as the others did- after all, he was still an extremely formidable battler. Unfortunately, this had led to the others accusing him to collude with Ash Ketchum to overthrow the existing regime.

Wade would often travel around, and he usually carried his palace with him as a nomad would. It could be set up within two hours and disassembled in half that time.

His court was currently in session, with many of his officers present in his palace that was set up in the island of Narda for the time being.

Crouching and bowed before him, was Alan Lazar, Selena's left-hand man who had sought, and had been granted refuge with Wade in exchange for some information that he possessed.

Alan Lazar was not a remarkable man, he was short and his glasses and everything about him screamed 'bureaucrat' and this was not a misleading impression.

Alan Lazar wiped the sweat from his brow as he was given permission to stand. He looked at Wade seated upon his throne, and slightly lowered his gaze. Wade was not very intimidating, save for the fact that he wielded the Torrential Badge. He was a man of middling height and short silver hair. His clothes seemed to be made up of patches that were alternatively silver and black, making it look like he had some kind of armor on, though of course, something like that was ridiculous- he had no need for any kind of protection. He wore a long regal turquoise cape and had yellow eyes that usually framed a smile.

But right now they didn't. Alan was sure that Wade didn't like him, and truth be told, he would never have approached Wade for asylum anyway. He had written to Linnea first only to be rejected, and she had very recently been deposed of by Ash. Vanessa had sent no reply to him, and so, he had tried Wade as a last resort.

"So, you've betrayed your mistress," Wade said. "Do tell me what it is that you know which you want to use to bargain your way here."

"Mi-milord Wade, I bear knowledge regarding Selena's ideas and plans, or at least, the part that was revealed to me," Alan said.

Wade frowned. "A part? Are you not her second-in-command?"

"Uh- well, you see, Lady Selena never tried and told any single person all of what she did. All of us, including my superior, Jenkins, know only a tiny fraction of what she wants," Alan said.

"And that was a good choice, no, seeing as there was someone like you inside her system," Wendy, one of Wade's officers, said.

"Well- perhaps," Alan sheepishly admitted. "But certainly Milord Wade knows how my Lady Selena can be- and she had begun to work on a plan so heinous I could have not possibly have stood by her any longer."

"What is she doing nowadays?" Wade asked. "Selena, I mean?"

"Very recently, she was involved in an active campaign against the pretender, Ash. However, she seems to have withdrawn lately. From whatever I can gather, I think she has given up on helping others defeat him and has assumed that both Milord and Vanessa are going to lose," Alan said.

Wade snarled. "That woman has ruined- absolutely ruined the campaign against this Ash Ketchum! Her first mistake was to blame me- me of all people! She accused me of being the one to bring him to Galea, that I was aiding him!"

Truth be told, Alan himself had believed it until recently. "So it is not true then? You didn't bring Ash here?"

Instantly, Alan regretted saying that. What had he been thinking?

Wade's gaze could have pierced through a Shuckle's defense. "Of course not you fool! I know what will happen to Galea should the barrier be removed! And why would I want someone to rid me of my own domain?"

"Forgive me, forgive me, I meant nothing by it," Alan said weakly, not pointing out that perhaps, Wade's hatred of the others had grown so much that he had thought it the only way to teach them a lesson.

Wade's people had suffered quite a lot. Thanks to their flourishing trade across the ocean, they were some of the richest people in Galea. The only Gym Leader richer than Wade was Selena herself, but money couldn't make food grow out of the ground and was largely useless with Linnea trying to starve them out. True, they had lots of seafood, but that did not have all the nutrients that one needed to survive for long.

Wade added, "Let this Ash come to me. I will crush him like a Durant!"

"I hope so," Alan said so softly that no one could hear it besides him. He had not defected to Ash for the very reason that he knew that if Ash succeeded, well, Galea was gone then.

"Well then? You haven't mentioned anything very useful to me," Wade said. "Was that all you wanted to say?"

"No, sire- I've only started at the root of the problem," Alan said. "You see, I had known for a long time that Lady Serena despised His Majesty, the Emperor."

"And not without reason," Wade muttered. "What has that pompous brat done about this situation? I haven't heard from him longer than Vanessa!"

"Yes, but it is not simply inaction," Alan said. "Lady Selena believes that she should occupy His Majesty's place. For several months I noticed unusual activity, though I held my tongue, most notably, that Selena had ordered siege machines and had begun constructing warships. I had no clue as to what they were for, but with time I began to learn of a grander plan- that Lady Selena intends to attack His Majesty!"

It had none of the dramatic effect that he had anticipated. Instead, Wade looked at him, bored, and said, "She can't attack His Majesty, you imbecile. The Accord forbids it."

"But that is the main thing!" Alan said. "There is a loophole in the Accord!"

Wade seemed mildly interested now. He didn't say anything though, so Alan continued. "After the Accord was first presented to the Gym Leaders, both Selena and His Majesty added something extra to the final version before signing it. It was only a line, or so I gather, so no one noticed the change among the hundreds of pages that made up the Accord."

"How do you know this?" Wade asked.

"I overheard one of the members who had printed the Accord say something," Alan said. "They were later found dead, so I'm assuming that yes, it was true."

Wade tapped his forehead with a finger. "And what is this extra line, hmm?"

"I do not know," Alan confessed sheepishly. "The versions that Selena handed out as copies do not have it."

"Hmm," Wade said. "I long since suspected this- it was odd that Selena and His Majesty would have singed the Accord. After all, they are both very strong and could have benefited from taking the territories of weaklings like Marley."

"Also," Alan said. "I believe- though I cannot prove- that she intends to strike a deal with this Ash Ketchum, to either attack His Majesty together, or use him as a sort of auxiliary. I think that's why she has stopped trying to end him."

"Is that all?" Wade asked.

"That is the specific point of information, yes," Alan said. "Though I also know more about the minute details of Selena's administration-"

"I really don't care for the minutia of what happens in her realms," Wade said. "The real question, though, is that you are a traitor, Mr. Lazar, and as such, why should we let you live?"

Alan began sweating even more profusely. "Milord- we had a deal!"

"And you had a deal too," Wade said coldly. "With your mistress to serve her. And you turned on that." He glared at the tiny man prostrated before him and said, "And yet, you have turned somewhat useful for me and I don't particularly care for Selena right now. Wendy, take a look at what else he can say, and if something seems important, inform me."

Wendy nodded as Wade got up and left.

"So, we haven't gotten a reply yet?" Professor Sycamore asked.

"Well, Professor, I'm not sure that they can send us a response back," Clemont said, fiddling with a large machine that was attached to a small microphone and jockey. "Sure, sending waves to this place is one thing, but I don't know if we can receive any. You know, maybe this Galea place is kind of like a one-way window or something."

"Ah yes," Sycamore said. "And I haven't heard much from Professor Oak either, I think he still believes that Ash was caught by Team Rocket." As such Professor Oak had turned to finding Ash through Ash's extremely large network of friends- which was so large that Oak practically had eyes looking everywhere by now, but had no luck on that front.

The radio was still transmitting though, and several thousand miles away, a Team Rocket spy satellite's software zoned in on the words 'Team Rocket' and began intercepting all previous communication, though the admin in charge would only get the lyrics to a children's nursery song, so as you can imagine, she was not particularly bothered to tell her superiors.

"I think I might as Bill from Kanto or Lanette from Hoenn for help," Clemont said.

"Professor Oak hasn't heard anything either," Sycamore said. "Even with Dawn, May, Serena, Brock, Tracy, and all the others looking. It just makes me that much more sure that he's found a way into the place."

"Well, from whatever I've read, it's a pretty terrible place to be," Clemont said. "I hope we can find a way to get him back in time."

"Mmm," Sycamore said. "Then again, how much time is 'in time' exactly with the temporal differences?"

On the rocky coasts to the north of what used to be Linnea's domain, a single rowboat approached the shore. The only passenger disembarked and had barely taken twenty paces when a sentry spotted him.

"Halt!" the sentry said. "Who goes there? State your name and business!"

The man who had came from the boat said nothing, but simply held up an envelope with a seal that shimmered in all colors known to the human eye. He carried a milk-white flag in the other hand.

"That's a Gym Leader's seal!" the sentry gasped.

"I am an emissary," the man said. "I carry a message for Sir Ash Ketchum."

A/N: As you might have imagined, I'm bringing Team Rocket into the story. Having a story about Ash without them is kind of like having a story about Ash without Pikachu. I also want to bring some of his friends, right now I'm thinking maybe May and Brock? Do let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading, and do review if you liked!