Pokémon Trix: Tales of Soot and Ash

by Ohirume

Imagine a version of the Pokémon world where Ash Ketchum came into possession of the most powerful device in the world of Ben 10. Now imagine that written by some psycho. Yeah... Pokémon/Ben 10 crossover, sort of. Weird censoring. Tell me what you think. Due to this websites regular glitches/breakdowns, chapters will ALSO be posted on DeviantArt. Username: Ohirume1

61. Ch 55: Breeding Center

**I FINALLY found a way to turn on Reader View that should work regardless of device

So, if you wanna read without those ******* google ads infecting your page – go to the URL and replace the 'www' with an 'm'

It's less detailed, so navigation is more annoying. But that's the fault of the website for letting the ads start appearing**

Omega: *flips page before eyes widen* Uh … "The Breeding Center Secret"?

Mizuro and Illavera: *tense up and blush*

Faux: *sweat drops* Oh, right … that.

Pike: *shivers* Yeah, not fun.

Nuevo: *perks up before looking at Faux and Pike warily* … *looks at Seishin* Are we gonna need to up the rating?

Gem: *raises brow* What?

Seishin: *shakes head* Naw, don't worry. They're not uncomfortable because of anything like that. It's because of the Team Rocket encounter.

Illavera: *sighs in relief* Oh, thank goodness.

Faux: *raises brow* What did you think we meant?

Mizuro: … we'll tell you when you're older.

Faux: I'm only a year younger than you-

Mizuro: Doesn't matter!

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

.

.

Breeding Center Scammers Can't Catch A Break, Even When They're Actually Competent

.

The monitor lit up to reveal a man with brown hair and eyes wearing a dark purple tracksuit. He smiled upon seeing an identical man in a blue track suit on the other end of the call, "Ah, brother. It's good to see you."

The examiner smiled back, "Likewise. How are things in Johto?"

"Well," The brother said before a large ball of white-ish fur crashed onto his back; almost knocking him over. He groaned, stood back up, and looked at the Pokémon in disappointment, "Really? You're still doing this?"

"Mank mankey." The Pig Monkey Pokémon said happily before waving at the camera, "Man-key!"

The examiner chuckled, "Hello, to you too, Mankey."

The brother sighed before looking at the screen with a smile, "As I was saying, the preservation area here seems to be up to code. Ranger Mason is doing a fine job." He smiled slyly and put a hand to his mouth, "And, between you and me, a local pupitar seems to have taken quite a liking to her croconaw. I'm starting to imagine a little larvitar running around in the near future."

The examiner smirked while sweat dropping, "Y'know, it's comments like that that make me question how they allow you to be an annual inspector."

The brother grinned, "Well, it is only parttime. I think they know I mostly do this to study the local Pokémon." He raised a finger and a brow; smirking, "Now, if memory serves, an exam was scheduled yesterday. Is it safe to assume you're calling to talk about how it went?"

The examiner chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Yes, I get it. You're the smart one." He smiled, "Five people passed this time, but this exam was a very interesting one."

His brother raised a brow, "How so?"

The examiner brought up a pokéball with a green top and an 'S' on it, "Well first," He held the Safari Ball to the side as it burst open.

Tauros appeared in a flash and started looking around curiously. After a second, he noticed his new trainer, smiled, and walked up to lick his face. Mankey leaned in closer and stared curiously.

The man chuckled and petted the Normal-type, "we got a new Pokémon to train for the exams." He smiled at the camera, "One of the examinees showed a lot of promise with Arbok. The one with chest markings that sort of resembled a Bug-type's face. After they passed, I offered them Arbok, and they traded us this tauros, here."

The test examiner blinked in surprise, "Wait, that arbok? I thought it had been on a losing streak. What do you mean 'a lot of promise'?"

The battle examiner tensed up and glanced away in embarrassment, "I'll, uh … tell you the details when you get back." He smiled at the camera, "And that is not even the craziest part." He reached over, brought up an application form, and held it to the camera.

The brother blinked in shock before moving closer and squinting, "Is that a mightyena?"

The brother chuckled and pulled the form back, "Surprising, isn't it?" He put the form down and smiled, "But it is true. She took the exam in place of her trainer and tied with Nurse Joy -of all people- for the highest score among all other applicants. She even saw through our split role act and went as far as poking holes into what I am now assuming were your trick questions." He smirked and raised a brow, "Speaking of, a jigglypuff seen from above?"

The brother tensed up and chuckled nervously, "W- well, you have to keep people on their toes…" He straightened up and smiled, "Anyway, it sounds like I missed quite a bit. I'll have to watch the recording when I get back."

The examiner smiled and petted the Bull Pokémon, "Agreed. Soot Ketchum was very impressive. "

The brother nodded, "Agree-" He stopped and stared at his twin in shock, "W-wait a moment. Did you just say 'Ketchum'? As in Ash Ketchum?"

The examiner looked at the camera and blinked in surprise, "Um, yes? I believe that was her trainer."

The brother moved closer to the camera and blurted out; startling Mankey a bit, "As in the prodigy who founded Inheritance, met the Phantom Pokémon, and acquired the Phantom Child at the age of five?! That Ketchum?!"

The examiner's eyes widened in shock. He looked at the tauros next to him, down at the Safari ball in his hand, and then looked at his brother again, "P- prodigy?"

Tauros tilted his head and blinked in confusion before looking at the camera. Mankey noticed and shrugged.

.

*Ash and co.

Arbok emerged in a flash and took a deep breath; eyes closed, 'Okay, first day of training with a new trainer. No pressure.' He sweat dropped, 'Yeah right.' He shook it off and glared ahead determinedly, 'No, don't get psyched out. Just show him that-'

The Poison-type perked up in surprise when he found most of his new trainer's other Pokémon … not training?

He looked around and found his trainer, Miss Ke- uh Soot, Pikachu, Clefairy, the girl pikachu dressed like a raichu, a geodude, the orange haired girl's togepi, and the other three humans setting out plates and bowls around and at a table. The rest of his new teammates and the other humans' Pokémon were laying around the clearing without a care. All except for the psyduck that seemed to be wandering around aimlessly and the goldeen keeping an eye on the Duck Pokémon while suspended by an Aqua Ring.

None of the trainers even seemed to mind.

Arbok blinked in surprise and muttered, "What the Yvel?"

He looked over at Squirtle who was lying on his back under a shaded tree with content smile on his face. Bulbasaur sunbathed next to the Water-type; just outside the shadow.

Arbok slithered over to the pair and looked down at them, "Excuse me."

The Water-type frowned and opened one eye, "What do you wa-" He flinched, and his eyes widened upon seeing the silhouette looming over him.

Bulbasaur glanced over and his eyes widened when he saw Squirtle jumping ahead to swing Aqua Tail at Arbok. The Grass/Poison-type immediately brought out Vine Whip and shot it ahead to snatch Squirtle out of midair. Arbok lurched to the ground as a splash from the interrupted attack shot past him.

Squirtle glared down at Bulbasaur, "What are you doing?!" He glared at the Cobra Pokémon, "It's-" He immediately flinched and grimaced upon realizing which Arbok was looking at him in shock.

Nearly everyone else in the clearing looked at the trio in surprise. The rest glanced over to see what the noise was before going back to what they were doing.

Arbok stood back up, "What the Yvel was that for?!"

Squirtle waved his arms frantically, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I overreacted!" He smiled nervously and turned off Aqua Tail, "I'm not really used to having an arbok as a teammate yet. "

Arbok frowned, "What do you have against my kind?"

Squirtle groaned shamefully, "I didn't mean it like that." Bulbasaur put him back down before as he said, "We just know another arbok who's trainer is a criminal that we run into a lot. It's got some of us a little jumpy."

Bulbasaur nodded while frowning, "It's true."

"Oh…" Arbok said before glancing to the side, "huh. So, that's what Pikachu meant about attacking me due to a misunderstanding." He sweat dropped, "And why all of you flinched when you first met my friends and I."

Squirtle chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry again. We'll get used to it."

Bulbasaur looked back, waved a vine, and called out, "It's okay, everyone! It was a misunderstanding! Squirtle thought he was Team Rocket's!"

Everyone either shrugged, nodded, or sighed before going back to what they were doing. Soot translated for the humans before they nodded as well. Except Todd who blinked in confusion.

Bulbasaur looked up at Arbok, "Anyway, you wanted to talk about something?"

Arbok perked up and nodded, "Yeah." He looked around the clearing, "What's going on? How come no one seems to be training?"

Squirtle raised a brow, "What?" He looked around, "But Primeape's always-" He stopped and perked up upon noticing the Pig Monkey Pokémon sitting against a tree with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face, "Oh, right. Muk went to the ranch and Ash told him he couldn't punch inhabited trees anymore."

Bulbasaur smiled at Arbok, "We're just waiting for breakfast, right now. We'll start training after we eat."

"O-oh…" Arbok said before looking down thoughtfully, 'New training schedule. Gonna have to get used to that.'

Bulbasaur and Squirtle looked up at him before sharing a look.

Squirtle looked at Arbok again, sat back down, and patted the ground next to him, "Need a spot to relax?"

Arbok snapped out of it and looked at the Water-type. He smiled softly and nodded, "Thanks."

The Cobra Pokémon moved over to a sunny spot between the starters, coiled up before laying his head on himself, and looked ahead at the table. Though, he kept readjusting and fidgeting in some way. Usually with a nervous frown on his face.

Bulbasaur noticed and smiled softly, "Nervous?"

Arbok perked up and looked at him sheepishly, "Sorry." He took a deep breath, "I just… I've worked with a lot of trainers before, and some weren't… the nicest." He frowned, "I just wanna get to training, as soon as possible, so I can prove myself. I don't want him to regret-"

He stopped and flinched when Squirtle flicked him in the side and said, "Let me stop you right there." Arbok looked at him in surprise.

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon was looking up at him with a smile, "Bud, nothing you do is gonna make Ash regret making that trade for you."

Arbok frowned, "S- still, I don't wanna disappoint him."

Squirtle laid back down with his paws behind his head; eyes closed, "Well, then you're in luck. In all the time I've known Ash, I've never seen him become actually disappointed in any of us." He smirked slyly, "Sure, sometimes we get a less-then-nice look when we make a joke at his expense, but that's normal."

The Seed Pokémon chuckled before smiling at the Cobra Pokémon, "Just give it what you've got, and you'll be fine. Promise."

Arbok looked at him; still frowning, "But, what if my best isn't enough?"

Bulbasaur pointed at him with a vine, "Then you take a loss, train more, and get better."

Arbok continued frowning and looked down thoughtfully, "Still… what if I … lose too much?"

Bulbasaur sighed, "Okay, look. Soot acted as your trainer at that place Ash got you from, right?"

Arbok looked at him worriedly, "Yeah. But that's different. She's a Pokémon too. She could understand my friends and I and treated the three of us as equals during the whole exam. She listened to us and thought of exactly how to have us battle."

Squirtle's eyes shot open before he sat up and looked at Arbok in shock. He blinked before looking at Bulbasaur while pointing at Arbok, "Has no one told him about the watch, yet?"

Arbok perked up and looked at him in confusion, "Watch?"

Bulbasaur sweat dropped, "Apparently not." He shook it off and looked at the Poison-type, "Okay, all that stuff you just said about Soot, it is the exact same with Ash."

Arbok looked at him in surprise, "Huh?"

Bulbasaur smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Understanding us, listening, equals, all of it. He even prefers we call him by his name instead of 'master' or 'sir' or … something."

Squirtle pointed over at Charizard who was lying on his back next to Aerodactyl, "We know from example."

Arbok looked where he was pointing and his eyes widened, "The aerodactyl used to call him 'master'?"

Squirtle snickered, "Charizard, actually. It was back when he was a charmander. Took him a little while to break the habit." He smiled at Arbok, "Point is, you've got nothing to worry about. Just take it easy until training." He grinned, "Though, I wouldn't try slacking off. Ash is capable of acting serious."

Bulbasaur smiled, "If you're worried about something like a weakness or a move you haven't been able to work out, then that's just something Ash will wanna help you with. Especially if it's something that upsets you."

Arbok looked back and forth at the starters in surprise before looking ahead at Ash. The trainer perked up and looked over at him before smiling and waving.

Arbok smiled softly, "Huh…" He looked at Squirtle, "So, this watch thing-"

"Nope, sorry." Squirtle said with a sly smirk, "Not spoiling it."

.

*After Breakfast

"Arbok," Ash said as he stood up; catching his new Poison-type's attention. He smiled and pointed a thumb to the side, "we're gonna get started on your training." He looked at his Electric-type, "Pikachu, you wanna join us?"

Pikachu smiled, "Sure." He jumped up to his trainer's shoulder.

Todd stood up and held up his camera, "Oh! I'll come along too."

Ash, Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy tensed up. Brock, Misty, Electra, and Togepi shared a worried look.

Ash looked back at him, smiled nervously, and waved a hand, "Sorry, Todd. But this time it's a special kind of training. I prefer keeping my methods a secret."

Arbok tensed up and started sweating, 'Sp- special training?'

Brock and Misty sweat dropped while smiling nervously, 'Right. That old excuse…'

Todd frowned, "Aw, come on. I just wanna take a few pictures."

Soot sweat dropped, "Yeah, that's kind of the problem. If dad's training methods became public, we'd be hounded even worse than before." She pointed a claw at the Bird Pokémon, "Do you have any idea what some trainers would do to teach their Pokémon a move like Ominous Wind?"

Pidgeotto perked up and looked over at them, "Huh?"

The photographer looked at the Normal/Flying-type before looking at the pair with a raised brow, "Is that something special?"

"… let's just say, it's not easy nowadays." Soot said.

Ash glanced at Arbok before perking up and looking at his Water and Grass starters, "Hey Squirtle, Bulbasaur, you wanna tag along, too?"

Arbok snapped out of it and looked at the boy in surprise. Bulbasaur smiled, nodded, and stood back up.

Squirtle smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Squirt!" He stood up as well.

Ash smiled before looking around at the others, "Everyone else, basic exercises and move practice!" He pointed at the Fossil Pokémon without looking, "Aerodactyl, if you have questions, ask Charizard." He looked at Brock's Rock Snake Pokémon, "Onix, could you-"

Todd and Arbok jumped and looked over as five boulders crash landed behind Ash.

Ash smiled, "Thank you." He looked back at his Fighting-type, "Primeape, use those for Brick Break and Thunder Punch practice. After they're all pebbles, see if someone will volunteer to spar with you." He glared and pointed, "And you know for a fact that when I say 'volunteer', I do not mean provoke someone into attacking you. Especially wild Pokémon."

Primeape rolled his eyes, "I get it."

Ash looked back at the table and held up a hand, "We'll be back in an hour."

With that, the group of six started making their way towards another clearing. Albeit Arbok followed anxiously. Todd just watched sadly as they disappeared.

The photographer perked up and smirked, 'Well, my best pictures are taken when-'

"Don't even think about it, Snap." Misty said casually.

Todd flinched and looked back at her in shock, "What?! How'd you know what I was thinking?!"

Misty smirked, "Well I know for sure, now."

Brock looked at him, "Seriously though, losing Ash's trust isn't easy but I suggest not testing it." He sweat dropped, "Also I guarantee you'll get caught. They are very serious about keeping this secret."

Todd blinked in surprise before looking back at where the others went. He sighed before looking over at Primeape right before he chopped off the tip of a boulder.

The photographer smiled and brought up his camera, 'Well I can still get a few good shots, here.'

.

*Ash, Soot, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Arbok

Soot smiled sadly, "So… just like the old days, huh?"

Ash sighed, "Yeah, I hate it too." He glanced away sadly, "I can't stand lying like this again."

Pikachu frowned, "I know what you mean. I hate to say it but having Todd around kinda complicates things." He looked at Ash, "Should we just tell him about the watch so things can go back to normal?"

Soot deadpanned, "And have him fangirl even worse than when he found out about me? And then publish it?"

Pikachu looked down at her, "I know, but what else can we do? Ask him to leave?"

Ash looked at him, "We can't do that. It wouldn't be fair to Todd." He sighed and looked ahead again, "We'll just … have to give it time until we can trust him with it."

Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Arbok followed the other trio from a few feet back; just out of ear shot.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Squirtle asked.

Bulbasaur shrugged, "Probably either stuff about Todd or brainstorming new moves for Arbok."

Arbok perked up and looked down at him, "Wait, new moves? Is that what he meant by 'special training'?"

Squirtle looked up at him with a grin, "Yup. And before you ask, yes, it has to do with the watch. So, I'm afraid you won't be getting anything else out of us."

Bulbasaur smiled as well, "Just be patient. And try not to faint when you see it."

Arbok sweat dropped, "Is his watch really that big of a deal?"

.

*Three minutes later

Arbok fell back and crashed to the ground as he slipped out of consciousness.

The mightyena, squirtle, bulbasaur, and nidoking in the area were all looking down at him while sweat dropping. Pikachu was rolling on the ground and laughing.

Bulbasaur sighed, "We tried to warn him."

Pikachu calmed down after a second and wiped away a tear, "Oh freaking Yvel, I love that part."

Squirtle looked up at Ash, "Should I wake him up?"

Ash frowned, "Actually, I think Bulbasaur should do it. Vine Whip's base power is a lot lower than Water Gun's and Arbok is resistant to Grass-type attacks."

Squirtle crossed his arms and pouted, "Fine."

"On it." Bulbasaur said before he brought out a vine and smacked Arbok in the face.

The Cobra Pokémon jerked awake and sat back up, "CHA!"

Bulbasaur retracted his vine and looked at Arbok, "You okay?"

Arbok frowned and rubbed his head with his tail, "Uh, y- yeah… Though I had this wild dream where-"

"Yeah," Pikachu said with a sly smirk, "not a dream."

Arbok perked up and looked at him, "What do you-" He stopped and his eyes widened when he saw the Drill Pokémon standing behind the Mouse Pokémon, "O-oh…" He moved back to full height and looked up at his new trainer in shock, "S-so, the watch can … turn you into a … nidoking."

Soot snickered, "Lot more than just Nidoking. And now, you can probably guess the real reason I call him 'dad'."

Arbok snapped out of it and blinked in confusion, "Real reas-" He flinched, his eyes widened, and he started looking back and forth between the pair, "Oh… woah."

Ash grinned, "Yup." He kneeled down and pulled Soot into a hug, "She's my adorable little hatchling, alright."

Soot sweat dropped, "Dad, you remember that a nidoking's ability is Poison Point, right?"

Ash smiled and nuzzled her, "Nice try. Dan said Nidoking's ability was Sheer Force."

Soot glanced away sourly, "Worth a shot." 'Darn over efficient trainers.'

Ash snickered before standing back up and smiling at Arbok, "Anyway, I was thinking over a few attacks for you earlier. I wanted to get your opinion, first." He held up a fist and clenched it before his hand started glowing purple; making Arbok's eyes widen, "First thing I thought of was Poison Jab. "

Squirtle raised a brow, "Wait, what? How's he gonna use that? He doesn't have arms."

Soot looked at him, "Oh, his style will be different to compensate. Probably either tail-tip, hood ridge, headbutt, or one of the materialize styles."

Squirtle blinked in surprise, "Really?"

The Dark-type smirked, "Yup. Believe it or not, some of my kind actually have headbutt-style Sucker Punches." She looked up thoughtfully, "Though it is kinda weird, in hindsight. I mean, our forepaws aren't that inept."

Ash smiled at the Water-type and raised a claw, "It's kinda like how doduo and elgyem can learn Steel Wing, and how a gastly can learn Fire, Ice, Thunder, and/or Sucker Punch before evolving into Haunter."

Squirtle stared blankly, 'They can?'

Arbok blinked in surprise, 'Poison Jab…' He looked down thoughtfully, 'A new Poison-type attack with a lot more power. And Miss Ke- Soot did say my Attack was higher than my Special Attack. Not to mention the STAB.' He smiled at Ash, "Alright, let's-"

"Second," Ash continued before slapping the watch's symbol on his chest. He lit up green and reemerged in mightyena form. He held up a claw as a green sphere appeared on the tip, "either Hidden Power or Shadow Ball."

Arbok's eyes widened, "Huh?"

Soot smiled and nodded, "Poison Sting isn't a bad move, but it's not all too versatile." She moved to a one-paw handstand as a Shadow Ball appeared on her outstretched forepaw, one of her hind paws, forehead, and on the tip of her tail.

Arbok's jaw dropped at the sight. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu sweat dropped while deadpanning, 'Show off.'

Soot snickered, "Shadow Ball and Hidden Power styles don't dictate where they can form on the user. Or, at least, the sphere styles don't." She dispelled the four Ghost-type attacks and stood back on all fours, "There is a predetermined starting point varying between users, but those can be overcome with practice."

Ash smiled, "The same goes for whether it's lone-sphere or swarm style." His eyes narrowed as nine more Hidden Power appeared in midair around him; making Arbok flinch.

Ash noticed and chuckled, "Don't worry, it's Grass-type." He dispelled the spheres, "And third," He hit the symbol again and switched to the kangaskhan forms. The infant jumped out of the pouch and pointed back at the adult as he held out his arms and formed a light blue dome, "I was thinking Protect could be pretty useful."

Arbok blinked in shock.

Pikachu looked up at Ash in surprise before looking over at Ash with a raised brow, "Wait, since when did you know Protect?"

Ash grinned at his Electric-type, "Lucid dreaming."

Ash smiled down at him, "Protect doesn't take very much physical practice. It's mostly mental preparation after cracking the basics."

Soot sweat dropped while smirking, "So Power Integration allowed you to perfect an attack while human … and asleep. That almost sounds like cheating."

Ash both sighed in unison, "I know…"

The infant shook it off and smiled, "Anyway, we think it can help you out a lot. Dodging and retaliating can be pretty effective, but there are still limits. Your strategy needs to be about taking as few direct hits as possible, so Protect will be a ton of help."

The adult smiled and raised a claw, "Plus if you're Protect ends up being a screen-style instead of dome-style, then-"

"Wait a second!" Arbok blurted out.

Everyone else jerked and looked at him in alarm.

Arbok tensed up and sweat dropped, "S- sorry…" He frowned, "But isn't that a bit much for just one Pokémon? Especially one you just got?"

Ash raised a brow as the dome around him faded, "Well … it's not like I expect you to learn all of these by the end of the day."

Arbok blinked in surprise, "Huh?"

Ash smiled up at him, "Well, yeah. We're just brainstorming ideas for the long run so I can come up with a schedule." He held out a paw to the side, "We can start on one of them if you want, but I want it to be your choice."

The adult raised a claw, "My only condition is that you forget Wrap for the first move you wanna start on."

Arbok perked up in realization, 'That's right!'

'Your only problems are that you've trained to battle up close and that Wrap is in your move set.'

Arbok looked down thoughtfully, 'Wrap involves coiling around the opponent and holding them in place. But with my defense, I can't handle it of they struggle or start attacking him while-' He perked up, 'wait!' He shook his head rapidly before looking at the adult, "That isn't what I meant."

Both Ashes perked up in surprise.

Arbok frowned, "I mean, this sounds like a lot of time and energy being put into one Pokémon you only just got." He looked around at his teammates, "Don't you feel the same? I'd basically be the newbie taking all of our trainer's attention."

Squirtle raised a brow, "But isn't it kinda obvious that you'd get the most attention, right now? You said it yourself, you're the newbie."

Bulbasaur nodded, "Yeah. We can't have you falling behind. Everyone else would agree." He glanced away and sweat dropped, "Well, Primeape might be a little upset that he can't spar with Ash."

Pikachu put his paws behind his head, "And this really isn't anything new. I've been with Ash since the day he became a trainer and he's done this with everyone else whose joined us, so far. I don't really have any reason to start complaining now."

Soot nodded, "Same."

The adult kangaskhan scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "Though, I guess I am putting a lot on you all at once."

The infant kangaskhan smiled sadly, "I guess I just assumed that you wanted to catch up as soon as possible. Y'know, on account of your dream."

Arbok looked at him in surprise, "My dream?"

"To participate in the league." Both Ash said in unison.

Arbok's eyes widened in pure shock, "W- wait what? How do you know about that?"

Soot smirked, "I may or may not have told him about what you, Weezing, and Meowth said before you joined us." She put a claw to her muzzle in a shushing manner, "Don't worry, I didn't say anything too personal."

The adult smiled, "Since then, I've been thinking over a regimen to get you caught up." He scratched his cheek and smiled sheepishly, "Though, I guess I went a little overboard."

The infant mimicked himself, "Yeah, sorry. I kind of assumed you'd be anxious. Especially after I asked your old trainer to let Weezing and Meowth watch the League with him."

Arbok's eyes widened even further, "You … what?"

Ash smiled down at Arbok, "I assumed you three didn't have general access to a TV. Weezing, herself, pretty much said that you three had to sneak into the lounge and hide behind the couch whenever the League came on."

Ash smiled up at Arbok and shrugged, "I just thought, why not make it easier for your friends? It'll be your big debut, after all."

Arbok just continued staring at the Parent Pokémon in shock. After a few seconds, he cracked a small smile and started tearing up, 'So this is what they meant…'

The adult noticed, flinched, and held out a paw, "Woah! Arbok, are you okay?!"

Pikachu, Soot, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle looked at him in alarm.

The infant walked up and frowned sympathetically, "Look, we can take training a little slower if-"

"No. I'm fine." Arbok said quickly while wiping his eyes with his tail. He smiled at Ash excitedly, "I wanna get started on training right away. Let's start with Poison Jab."

Ash both blinked in surprise before smiling, "Alright, then."

The infant ran back up to the adult before he hit the symbol on his stomach. The pair became engulfed in a green flash before Ash reemerged in nidoking form.

The Poison/Ground-type grinned, "Let's get to work." He clenched a fist as it lit up light purple.

Arbok glared determinedly.

.

*The next day

Continuing towards Cinnabar Island … *sigh* again, Ash and co. stopped to take a break in a city. Todd was taking pictures of Togepi as he played with Misty while Pikachu, Clefairy, and Electra -in her purple and gray jacket and white belt- laid back against a tree. Soot was lying on the ground next to them.

Brock looked at Ash who was looking over the map, "So this city really doesn't have a Pokémon Center either?"

Ash frowned, "Doesn't seem like it." He looked around, "Still, I can see a few hotels from here. I guess we can rent a room or two for the night. Maybe a suite."

Electra perked up and looked at him curiously, "Hotel?"

"Big building with a bunch of rooms that people can pay to rent out for a while." Soot said casually, "Suites are like two connected rooms that you can rent as one room. A lot of skyscrapers are hotels."

Electra stared in awe before smiling up at Brock.

Brock noticed and smiled, "Hotel, it is."

"Yes!" Electra cheered as she jumped to her hind paws, "This is gonna be insane!"

Todd looked at Brock curiously before a brief jingle went off followed by, "And, now a weather update."

Everyone looked at a building across the street. It had a large screen depicting a brunette pointing around a map.

"Our area will remain clear and sunny today with highs in the upper 70s, so get-"

Ash smiled, "Sounds like it'll be a good day."

Todd smiled as well, "It should be great for taking pictures."

Misty, Soot, and Pikachu sweat dropped, 'That would be the first thing on his mind…'

The weather girl put her pointer down and bowed before the screen changed.

"Pokémon love power!" Cried out a woman as she rose up on the screen; catching the group's attention. She had yellow hair and purple eyes, and wore pink triangular earrings, a white coat, and a purple undershirt, "Find it at our five-star breeding center, where every Pokémon is treated like a loved one."

She gestured to the side as an image of a charmander appeared, lit up white, and reemerged as a charmeleon, "This guest evolved into a charmeleon" The image lit up again and emerged into a charizard, "and then into a charizard in just a few short days. At the five-star breeding center, a little pampering goes a long way."

She put her hands together, "Let our experts provide your Pokémon with our love and care." She got closer to the camera with a raised finger, "So, why go through all the fuss, when you can bring your Pokémon to us?" She winked.

Todd smiled, "Woah. That sounds incredible."

Soot sweat dropped, "It sounds hard to believe."

Clefairy looked at her, "Didn't you guys say Butterfree evolved twice in just a few days?"

Soot deadpanned, "Fair point."

Pikachu raised a brow, "But, uh … what exactly is a breeding center?"

Soot translated.

Ash smiled at Pikachu, "They're a new gimmick going around to help trainers raise their Pokémon. Usually younger trainers. You can think of it like the salons on Scissor Street crossed with a daycare."

Brock smiled, "And the good ones can even help a Pokémon evolve."

Pikachu tensed up and grimaced.

Clefairy smile brightly, "Really?!"

Soot smirked while sweat dropping, "Yes, but not even they can bypass stone evolutions without the required stone."

Clefairy slumped forward, "Aw…"

Ash smiled softly and reached over to pet her.

Misty smiled and stood up, "Let's check it out."

.

*Breeding Center

"There's no need to push!" The yellow haired woman from the ad called out happily to a crowd of rowdy trainers, "We have plenty of rooms left in our luxury suites! We guarantee your Pokémon will soon be like new and some may even evolve!"

The crowd only became more excited.

The woman cracked a small smirk, 'Perfect. This is going better then we could've hoped.' She noticed a small group walk up to the crowd and glanced over. Her eyes immediately widened in shock, 'What the?! Is that-'

She snapped out of it, looked at the crowd, and gestured inside with a somewhat forced smile, "P- please make a single file line, everyone! We'll have all of you checked in shortly!" She turned and ran inside.

She approached the front counter where a man with green hair, brown eyes, and the same outfit as her was working with a customer.

The man smiled as he petted the trainer's charmander, "Aw, what a little cutie." He put a ribbon with a numbered badge around the Fire-type's neck and picked them up, "We'll be sure to take great care of it." He placed the charmander on a conveyor belt as it started moving the Lizard Pokémon to the back.

He smiled back at the boy, "Thank you for-"

He was cut off when the woman ran up, grabbed him by the arm, and smiled at the trainer, "Excuse us a moment." She rushed him into a nearby room and slammed the door shut.

The charmander's trainer blinked in confusion.

"Butch, we have a problem!" The woman whispered harshly.

Butch blinked in surprise, "What do you mean, Cassidy? Business is booming."

"Not that!" Cassidy said, "That trainer from the Saint Anne is here!"

Butch raised a brow.

Cassidy glared, "The Ketchum kid! The one who started the trainer riot and knocked out fifteen grunts!"

"Wha-" Butch nearly blurted out. He jerked and started whispering, "Are you sure it's him?!"

Cassidy nodded, "Positive." She looked down worriedly and bit her thumb, "This could be bad. With him here, the whole operation could be in jeopardy."

"Hey. It'll be fine, Cass." Butch said as he put a hand on her shoulder, "The Boss just said to leave him alone and let the operatives in charge of monitoring him handle it. As long as we keep our cover, we should be fine."

Cassidy took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah. Right. I overreacted." She looked back at the door to the lobby, "Still, just seeing him is pretty unnerving."

Butch looked at the doorway, "Well we weren't a part of the Saint Anne mission, anyway. He shouldn't recognize us."

"Excuse me?" Someone called out from the front; catching the duo's attention.

Cassidy took a deep breath, cracked her neck, and put on a kind smile before walking back through the door, "Sorry about that. Now how can I help-" She looked at the trainer in question and immediately tensed up.

Butch walked in after her, looked at the trainer, and raised a brow. After a second, he tensed up a bit, 'She's one of his friends!'

Misty smiled, "Hi. I can check one of my Pokémon in here, right?"

Cassidy perked up and forced a smile, "Y- yes, of course." She smiled sadly and raised a finger, "But you will have to wait your turn in line, miss."

Misty sweat dropped while smiling sheepishly, "Well, I was waiting in line." She looked back.

Butch and Cassidy perked up in surprise before following her gaze. Their jaws dropped when they found about half of their potential clients crowded around Soot. They were either staring at the talking Pokémon in awe or listening to her intently.

The other half were around Ash as he pointed to each of his gym badges and talked about the corresponding battle that he went through to get them … minus the interruptions for four of them. The entire time, he spoke with a nervous smile on his face. He shot Soot a harsh glance for a second.

Soot noticed and smirked before continuing her explanation to a girl with light blue hair about different ways her mankey could use their Night Slash egg move to counter certain Psychic-type attacks. The trainer and Fighting-type stared in awe before sharing an excited look.

Finally, there were a few other kids standing around the table and petting Pikachu, Clefairy, and Electra. Brock was also at the table with Togepi with in his arms and Todd was trying to show off some of his photos. Unfortunately, the younger trainers weren't very interested in pictures.

"That is until one of the trainers" Misty continued; still sweat dropping, "recognized the, and I quote, 'advisor Pokémon who kickstarted Lieutenant Surge's losing streak'. And then she brought up her trainer's main eight badges to divvy up some of the attention. No one's said anything about me moving up in line yet, so-" She shrugged.

Cassidy blinked in shock, "I- I see…"

Butch stared blankly, 'That mightyena actually did that? Freaking Yvel.'

Cassidy shook it off before smiling at Misty, "Anyway, you wanted to check in a Pokémon?"

Misty smiled back and brought out a pokéball, "Yeah. This one." She held out the ball to the counter before it burst open.

Psyduck appeared sitting on the counter and put his hands on his head, "Psy?" He tried to stand up before Misty grabbed him by the waist and pushed him back down.

Cassidy smiled and leaned closer to the Water-type, "It's so cute. Don't you just adore those eyes? They're bright and bouncy as ping-pong balls."

Misty sweat dropped, "Well, I'll give you that much."

Cassidy looked at her, "So, then, is there anything special you'd like us to do?"

Misty frowned, "Yeah, but telling you now, I'm not asking for a miracle." She looked at the Duck Pokémon worriedly, "We found out pretty early that his headache is a lot worse than usual, for a psyduck. So much so, that he can't swim."

The pairs eyes widened in shock.

Misty sighed, "Yeah, I know. I've taken him to Nurse Joy before and there's legitimately nothing wrong with him."

Butch frowned and crossed his arms, "Geez…"

Cassidy looked at Misty, "So you want us to get rid of its headache?"

Misty looked at her with a raised brow.

Cassidy smiled and waved a hand, "I kid. I kid. I know that isn't possible." She put her hand down, "Still, toning down the headache. Does that sound right?"

Misty smiled sadly, "More or less. Although my friend and I have been trying to teach him Calm Mind for a long time now to try and help him. But we haven't even had luck in getting him to pay attention. If nothing else, then some progress on the move would be nice." She frowned and raised a finger, "Also, we're only planning to be in the area overnight, so I can only leave him here until around this time, tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Butch walked over to the computer.

Cassidy smiled happily and put her hands together, "Of course, miss! While we won't be able to give it a proper massage, I can guarantee we'll have its headache problem under control by the time you pick it up." She winked and raised a finger, "Afterall, the motto here is: 'A little Pokémon love power works miracles'."

She reached under the counter, pulled out a ribbon with the number '12' on the badge, and placed it around Psyduck's neck. She then picked him up and placed him on the conveyor belt before it started moving him to the back.

Misty waved at the Water-type, "Good luck, Psyduck. Have fun."

"Psy." Psyduck said as he disappeared.

Misty sweat dropped, 'Probably just another random sound. Really hope these guys know what they're doing.'

Butch walked over and handed Misty a form with Psyduck's picture on it, "And here you are, miss. Just show this to us tomorrow and we'll bring it right out. You'll pay then."

Misty smiled and took the form, "Thank you."

Cassidy smiled brightly, "And thank you for choosing Big Sis' Daycare. We hope to see you again sometime."

Misty raised a brow, "Well, thanks. But that's something I wanted to ask, too. Why does this place have 'daycare' in its name?"

Cassidy smiled sheepishly and scratched her cheek, "We may have jumped the gun with our name."

"We're working on getting it changed." Butch followed, "You're not the first person to ask."

Misty shrugged before looking back at the lobby and waved the form overhead, "We're good to go, guys! Psyduck's checked in!"

Soot looked at her before pointing at a boy with a bulbasaur in his arms, "Certain styles of poison slime attacks are non-flammable and can help with raw fire. Test with supervision." She looked at a boy with a rattata sitting next to him, "Attract didn't work on Smoochum because Rattata's a girl." She then looked at a girl with a bellsprout and weepinbell; deadpanned, "And for the last time, there is nothing wrong with Bellsprout. Weepinbell knows Magical Leaf because it's an egg move. A bellsprout literally cannot learn it through training." She shifted her eyes and vanished on the spot.

The trainers and perked up in surprise. Some started looking around in shock.

The boy with the rattata looked down at his Normal-type in surprise, "Wait, you're a girl?"

Rattata jerked and looked at her trainer in shock. She groaned and slumped forward in annoyance.

Ash stood back up and smiled nervously, "Sorry. I guess I'm out of time."

"Wait a second!" One of the trainers asked, "What about Saffron?! How'd you beat Sabrina before she changed?!"

Ash smirked and put a finger to his lips, "That one's a secret. Though it did help that I had a Dark-type" 'form.'

Ash and Misty walked over to the table before Pikachu and Clefairy jumped up to their trainer's shoulders. Brock handed Togepi back over to Misty as Electra jumped up to his backpack. The group walked out the front entrance a moment later. Albeit with Todd in a bit of a slump. Soot reappeared as the trainers passed a window.

Butch and Cassidy let out a relieved sigh, 'Thank Arceus, he's gone.'

Cassidy smiled at the trainers, "Next please."

.

*Ash and Co.

Misty looked at Ash with a sheepish smile, "So no hard feelings about me handing off Psyduck like that, right? I know you've been working really hard with him on Calm Mind."

Ash smiled, "Seriously, I'm okay with it. My usual method wasn't working anyway. If they can help him, I'm all for it."

Soot snickered, "That and he's your Pokémon, Mist. It's your call."

Misty smiled, "Thanks." She looked down thoughtfully, "Still, I just hope they can actually pull it off."

Brock smiled, "Well, if nothing else, it'll prove how effective that breeding center is."

Electra waved a paw, "Yeah, yeah. Cool." She pointed ahead and glared determinedly, "Now! Let's find the hotel!"

Brock chuckled and petted her, "Alright. Alright." He looked at Soot, "She said she wanted to go to a hotel, right?"

The Dark-type smirked, "Correct."

Todd looked at the others curiously, "Hey, how do you guys always seem to know-"

"That looks tasty." Clefairy said aimlessly while looking at a building to the group's right.

Ash, Soot, and Pikachu looked at her before following her gaze.

Soot perked up and stared in shock, "The Yvel?"

Everyone else looked as well.

Todd smiled, "Oh, hey. A restaurant."

Brock smiled, "Come to think of it, I guess it is around lunch time."

Soot pointed a claw at a poster on the door, "Yeah, that's not what I'm focused on, at the moment."

They all glance at her again before looking at the poster. The humans' eyes widened.

Electra looked at the poster and squinted, "All. The, uh … letter 'U'. Can … eat. Free…" She looked at Soot, "So, there's a human food called a 'free' or is it like freeing something from a cage?"

Soot snapped out of it and looked at her, "Neither. In this context, 'free' means you don't have to pay."

Pikachu looked at the poster in shock, "So … we can eat as much as we want for nothing?"

Misty smiled excitedly and raised a fist, "Alright! Dessert bar, here I come!"

Ash frowned, "I doubt it's that straight forward. It's probably a punch card thing or there's a condition where you have to beat someone in a battle, first."

Electra looked at Ash curiously, 'Punch card?'

Misty smiled determinedly and pulled out a pokéball, "Well if it's a battle, I'm all for it!"

The door to the restaurant opened to reveal a man in a chef uniform smiling at them; catching the group's attention.

The man waved, "No need for a battle, miss. I'm not a trainer anyway." He raised a finger, "The buffet's free on one condition."

Electra blinked in surprise, "Buffet?"

Brock glanced at her with a smile, "You'll see."

Todd blinked, "What's the condition?"

"It's simple," The chef said, "just show me my favorite Pokémon and you can have all you want for free."

Misty smiled brightly, "Really?! What Pokémon is it?!"

The chef smiled and raised a finger, "Well, what say we have a little fun with it? Show me what all Pokémon ya have to see if ya got it. I'll show you a picture afterwards."

Ash shrugged while smiling, "Alright."

Soot raised a forepaw, "Let me take a guess, first. It isn't mightyena, pikachu, clefairy, or togepi."

The chef perked up and looked at her in shock, "Woah." He shook it off and looked around at the humans, "Though, its guess-"

Ash's eyes narrowed, "Her guess."

The chef blinked in surprise, "Oh, uh, sorry. Her guess is right. None of them are my favorite."

Soot shrugged, "Fair enough."

"I guess, I'll try first." Ash said as he pulled five pokéballs off his belt, "I'll start with the smaller ones."

He tossed the five balls upward, "Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Primeape, Arbok, come on out."

The spheres burst open as the Water, Grass/Poison, Normal/Flying, Fighting, and Poison-type each appeared in a flash in front of the man.

Primeape perked up and looked around before groaning and slumping forward, "Freaking Yvel. It's a leisure thing."

The chef looked at the quintet of Pokémon in surprise before looking at Soot and then at the Pokémon on Ash's shoulders. He looked at Ash, "Wait a sec. How many Pokémon do you have with you?"

Ash chuckled nervously, "Ten. The professor who sponsors me did it without asking." He smiled normally, "Anyway, the other two are a charizard and aerodactyl, and I have a krabby, muk, and a few tauros at the professor's ranch."

The man stared in surprise, "Huh. Impressive." He shook his head, "But sorry. None of them are right."

Pidgeotto jerked before glaring, "Rude."

Soot looked at her, "Not what he meant. We're trying to see if we have his favorite species."

Bulbasaur nodded, "Ah."

Pidgeotto stopped glaring, "Fair."

Brock pulled out three pokéballs and tossed them up, "Then how about these?"

Geodude, Zubat, and Vulpix appeared in a flash. Geodude quickly put a hand over the Bat Pokémon to shade him.

Zubat sighed in relief and smiled at him, "Thanks."

Brock smiled, "My other Pokémon is an onix."

The chef shook his head, "Still no."

Misty tossed up four pokéballs, "Then it's my turn."

Staryu and Starmie appeared and landed on the ground in front of Misty as Goldeen and Seadra appeared above the ground next to the siblings.

Vulpix looked at the Goldfish Pokémon and smiled, "Oh, hey. You finally cracked levitation."

Goldeen frowned uncomfortably and fidgeted a bit, "S- sort of. I'm still working on stamina."

Misty smiled and held out her hands, "Well?"

The chef frowned, "Well, the types right for the most part. But sorry, ma'am."

Pikachu and Electra slumped forward, "Aw…"

Soot stepped forward, "But they are a Water-type, right?" She looked back at Misty, "You might have one back home."

Misty perked up in realization, "You're right!" She looked at the chef, "What Pokémon is it?"

"My favorite Pokémon" The chef said as he grabbed a photo from his pocket and held it out, "is this one."

Everyone looked at the photo. Most immediately jerked in shock.

The photo depicted a psyduck lying on their side and looking upward while on a purple pillow.

Misty's eye twitched, 'Are you freaking kidding me?'

Todd perked up, "Hey, that looks like a picture I took."

Soot glanced at him with a raised brow, "I thought you didn't like posed shots."

Todd tensed up and chuckled nervously, "W- well, sometimes the client takes priority."

The chef put the picture away and put his hands together, "I think psyduck is the greatest thing since the invention of the microwave oven. I'm such a big fan that, whenever a customer brings in a psyduck, I let 'em eat for free."

Nuevo: *raises brow* Interesting analogy.

Illavera: A chef talking about how useful a microwave is…

Mizuro: *shivers* Yeah. You can just hear Gordon Ramsay screaming.

Seishin: *Gordon Ramsay voice* You don't microwave a salad, you ******* donut!

Nuevo: *snorts while trying to hold back a laugh*

Mizuro and Illavera: *perk up and look at Nuevo in shock*

Mizuro: Did we just find a show Paul likes?

Illavera: Maybe. *looks at Mizuro* We need to act fast.

Mizuro and Illavera: *grab Nuevo before hastily leading him to a back room*

Nuevo: Hey! What the **** do you think you're doing?!

Brock sweat dropped, "Wait, really?"

Soot raised a brow, "Well, it's not the worst policy. Not every trainer would be willing to put in the work to train a psyduck."

Seadra blinked in surprise before looking around, "Hey, where is Psyduck anyway?"

Pikachu looked at him, "Misty checked him in to a breeding center so that they could try and teach him Calm Mind."

Starmie sweat dropped, "Those poor workers."

Misty hurried up to the chef, "How late are you open today?"

"Closin' times at eight, miss." The chef said.

Misty smiled excitedly, "Perfect!" She returned her team before hurrying back down the road to the breeding center, "We'll be back soon!"

Everyone else perked, returned their Pokémon as well, and followed her. The chef stared in surprise as they left.

.

*Big Sis' Daycare

"What the Yvel?!" Misty cried out while looking at the door, "How can they already be closed?!"

Brock frowned and rubbed the back of his head, "I guess we'll just have to pick him up tomorrow like we planned."

Ash looked at the Cerulean girl with a sad smile, "And we don't have to get the buffet for free. At least, maybe not today."

"No way!" Misty shouted; startling the others, "I'm getting to that dessert bar, now!" She started looking around.

Ash sweat dropped, "But we have enough cash to pay f-"

"There!" Misty cut him off while pointing at an alleyway, "Let's see if there's a back entrance!" She hurried over and disappeared around the corner.

Everyone else sighed before following.

"Hello!" Misty shouted while pounding on a door, "Anybody there?! I need to get the Pokémon I left here! Come on! Anyone?!" She grabbed the doorknob to rattle it but perked up in surprise when the knob turned.

Ash blinked in surprise, "Wait, it's not locked?"

Electra looked at Soot, "That's weird, right?"

Soot sweat dropped, "More like irresponsible."

Misty peaked inside, "Um, hello? Is there anyone who can help me?" She walked inside.

Everyone else followed slowly. The group made their way down a bright hallway with a dark pink carpet. Doors, pictures, and various other decorations could be seen all around.

"Where is everyone?" Ash asked.

"Those two from the front couldn't have been the only workers here, could they?" Todd asked.

Soot frowned, "Starting to seem like it. But a facility like this shouldn't be that easy to manage."

Misty walked up to a random door and opened it to reveal a dark room. Ash looked in and his eyes widened in shock.

Misty put a hand to her cheek and called out, "Is-" She was cut off and flinched when Ash slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Quiet!" Ash said in a harsh whisper.

Misty shot him a harsh sideways glare as the others walked up to the doorway.

Soot's eyes widened as well, "Wh- what the?"

Misty looked at her in surprise before Ash pulled his hand back. She looked at him worriedly before looking around and whispering, "What do you guys see?"

"Cages…" Ash muttered.

Everyone -except Soot- looked at him in shock. Brock reached into his backpack, pulled out a flashlight, and turned it on before moving it around the room. Everyone without night vision grimaced at the sight of entire aisles worth of cages sitting everywhere. Each one with a Pokémon crammed into it.

"Wh- what the Yvel is this?" Misty muttered in shock as she walked into the room slowly.

Brock followed her and shined the flashlight around, "The Pokémon…"

Clefairy frowned worriedly and nudged closer to Ash's head, "Th- this is a breeding center?"

"No." Ash said while staring in shock, "This definitely isn't a breeding center."

Todd looked around in shock, 'What the Yvel have we gotten ourselves into?!'

Soot looked to her side and perked up; still whispering, "Psyduck!"

Misty and Brock looked at her before moving over and kneeling down. They stared in shock when they saw the Water-type staring back at them with a much sharper expression than usual.

"What the Yvel?" Misty asked, "Did they actually-"

Brock perked up upon noticing something and frowned, "No, they didn't." He reached between the bars and pulled a small yellow tag off of Psyduck's head; just above the eyes, "They just pulled his eyes back with tape." He pulled off the other piece of tape.

Psyduck's expression returned to normal before he rubbed the spot where the tape was, "Psy…"

Misty gritted her teeth and clenched a fist, "Those sons of glitches…"

Togepi looked up at Misty worriedly, "Meema…"

Ash and Soot perked up upon noticing something out of the corner of their eyes and looked over.

"Brock." Ash whispered.

The others looked at him before Brock shined his flashlight over at a large claw carrying one of the cages across the room. They all followed it to a large conveyor belt that moved the cage through a flap to another room.

Ash glanced back and motioned forward. Brock, Misty, and Soot nodded before the three trainers and their Pokémon all leaned against the wall and crowded around the hole. Todd frowned worriedly before hurrying over and following suit. The conveyor belt stopped moving a second later.

"The next Pokémon's a sandshrew." The green haired man's voice came from the other room.

"Hm." The yellow haired woman's voice followed, "Looks like it's in pretty good shape. It could be useful if we teach it to use Fury Swipes."

"Let the tamers worry about that." The man continued, "Right now, we just have to worry about picking out the good ones. We have a lot to choose from."

The woman chuckled, "Just goes to show how many trainers are suckers."

The pair started laughing. Sandshrew could be heard whimpering.

Ash gritted his teeth and whispered, "So it's all just a big scam."

Misty frowned, "We've gotta do something to stop them."

Todd looked at her in shock and whispered harshly, "Wait, what?! What do you mean stop them?! We have to get out of here and tell the police!"

"Not without evidence." Soot whispered back, "If we go to Jenny, she'll have no reason to believe us."

Brock glanced at her with a raised brow, "Even after the K-9 training academy?"

Todd perked up and looked at the breeder in surprise.

Ash glanced at him, "Reputation might not be enough. It'd be better to get concrete evidence."

Todd looked at him in surprise before looking down worriedly. He perked up and looked at Ash, "What about my camera? I can take some pictures of this place to show the police."

Ash smiled and nodded, "That'll work. You guys get to it, I'll see if I can figure out anything else."

Pikachu and Clefairy jumped down to Soot's back before everyone else spread out around the room.

Ash perked up when he heard a electronic click and looked back at the flap.

"Report." Someone said in a heavily distorted voice.

Ash noticed something from Technopathic Clairvoyance before pulling out his Pokédex, opening it, and hitting a few buttons. He leaned closer to peak through the slits and held his Pokédex up to it.

On a large monitor, he saw a man in an orange suit sitting in a black chair with his face blacked out. A persian sat next to the figure with a content smile as he petted them.

Ash stared intently as the screen's code began slowly appearing in his line of sight. His eyes widened in shock, 'They're-'

The woman saluted at the screen, "Sir! Team Rocket agent Cassidy reporting!"

The man followed suit, "Sir! Team Rocket agent Butch reporting!"

"At ease." The man said; causing both agents to put their hands down, "How is the breeding center operation going?"

Cassidy smiled, "Very well. As planned, we've collected lots of promising Pokémon."

Butch smiled as well, "We're currently taking stock."

"Good." The Boss said, "Have there been any complications?"

Butch and Cassidy tensed up, their smiles faded, and they shared a look.

"What is it?" The Boss asked harshly.

The persian turned to glare at the pair.

Butch glanced away, "W- well-"

Cassidy cleared her throat before looking at the screen, "A few of the trainers requested that their Pokémon not stay the full week and will pick them up earlier than hoped. To keep our cover, we have to return them." She frowned, "And this includes some very promising ones."

Butch glanced at his teammate in mild surprise before frowning and looking at the monitor, "On account of that, we don't think it would be wise to send any Pokémon to headquarters, just yet. We have to account for the plans of other trainers changing last minute."

The Boss sighed, "Very well. It's a necessary sacrifice to avoid compromise. I expect today's report by tomorrow."

Cassidy and Butch stood at attention and saluted, "Yes sir!"

The screen went dark.

Butch sighed in relief before looking at Cassidy, "Do you think that was the right call?"

Cassidy looked at him with a frown, "I didn't see another option. If The Boss found out he was in the building, he might've forced us to retreat ahead of schedule. We can't risk all of our hard work going up in smoke because of him."

Butch frowned and looked down worriedly, "You might be right."

Ash's eyes widened, 'What?! There's someone Team Rocket's Boss is that afraid of?!' He stood back up, closed and pocketed his Pokédex, and leaned against the wall with a hand to his chin, 'Those trainers in the lobby were all too young so it had to have been someone who came in either before or after we showed up. But who the Yvel is it? A high-ranking G-men operative? An International Police detective? An undercover Ranger?' He frowned, 'But even then, why would their boss be afraid of-'

He perked up in realization, 'Wait! That's right!' He looked back at the curtain in shock, 'Team Rocket's boss! If I could re-wire their computer to cancel the blackout and voice filter, we could find out-' He frowned, 'No. No, I can't risk him sending backup.' He looked back at the cages as Todd took a picture of a pidgeotto, 'Not with this many Pokémon on the line.'

Todd looked over at the conveyor belt before pointing his camera at it.

Ash noticed before grimacing and rushing over to him while whispering, "Wait. We can't let them know we're here."

Todd looked at him in surprise before looking at the hole. He perked up upon realizing what he meant, "Oh." He nodded before looking at the belt for a moment. He turned off the flash, moved over to stand next to the hole, and pointed his camera at the belt going outward before snapping the picture.

He looked over the pictures and smiled, "Okay. I think I have all the shots I need."

Brock, Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy hurried over and the breeder smiled, "Good. Now let's get out of here."

Misty walked up to Psyduck's cage and kneeled down, "Not just yet." She grabbed the bars and started pulling; speaking through clenched teeth, "I can't just leave him here!"

Soot deadpanned, "Mist, pokéball."

Misty stopped pulling on the bars and froze for a moment. She then quickly pulled out the Duck Pokémon's pokéball and returned him.

The Gym Leader stood back up, held up the pokéball, and smiled sheepishly, "What would I do without you, Soot?"

Soot smirked, "Still have your Pokémon trapped in a cage."

Everyone flinched and looked over to find a window rattling frantically. They all grimaced before ducking away behind one of the walls of cages.

Soot and Ash peaked around and appropriately deadpanned when they saw four figures drop in from the window.

Meowth stood up and smirked, "Poifect. We're in."

Jessie looked around while smirking, "Breaking into this breeding center was genius. It's a burglar's dream."

Everyone else -except Todd- perked up upon recognizing the voices and groaned.

Todd's eyes widened, 'B- burglars?!'

Meowth smiled at her with a raised paw, "I told ya dis place was gonna be packed with Pokémon."

Jessie smiled excitedly and clenched a fist, "And we're going to steal every last one and get back on The Boss's good side."

James glanced away sorrowfully and muttered, "You have to have been on his good side in the first place to get back on…"

Growlie frowned and nuzzled up against his trainer.

James smiled down at the Fire-type softly and petted him, "Thanks, Growlie."

Jessie glanced at them with a small smile before pointing at a cage, "Come on. Hurry up and start picking."

James looked at her, smiled, and nodded, "Right."

The male rocket agent pulled out a lockpick and rushed over as he got to work. Jessie, Meowth, and Growlie stood around him as they watched.

After a moment, James smiled, "Almost got-"

"You really don't know what this place is, do you?"

The quaRtet flinched and turned around in shock to find Ash standing next to a cage and looking at them with a bored expression. Brock and Misty stood up from behind the cage as Soot walked out to stand next to Ash. Todd just stared at the others in slack jawed shock; still hiding.

"What the Yvel are you guys doing here?" Soot asked.

Meowth glared back, "I could ask you da same t'ing!"

Ash flinched and put a finger to his lips; whispering harshly, "Zip it! You'll get all of us in trouble!"

Jessie pointed accusingly, "How did you get in here, anyway?!"

Meowth smirked and pointed a digit, "Don' tell me you goody-goodies finally decided to become baddy-baddies."

James glared, "This is our score! Buzz off!"

Brock glared at them, "Will you just listen?! This isn't a real breeding center! It's just a front for other thieves!"

Misty held out an arm while glaring too, "Yeah, seriously! Does this look like a place Pokémon can relax in?!"

James perked up and started looking around. He raised a brow, "Actually, you have a point. This is kind of weird."

Meowth sweat dropped, "So … you're actually here stoppin' otha baddies."

Jessie glanced away sourly and grumbled, "The one time we successfully break into a place like this. Freaking Yvel…"

Ash rolled his eyes and glanced back at the cages. He perked up in surprise and raised a brow, "Uh, Todd? You gonna come out?"

Todd stood up slowly and looked at Team Rocket warily. After a second, he jerked and pointed at them in shock; whispering harshly, "Wait a second! You're those people who tried to steal from the exam center!"

Jessie looked at him in surprise before looking at Ash, "Who's the new twerp?"

James raised a brow, "Yeah. He looks sort of familiar."

Ash pointed a thumb at the photographer, "Todd Snap. He's a photographer who started traveling with us about a week ago. You might've seen him in the Pokémon Times."

Todd flinched and looked at the trainer in shock, "Ash!"

Meowth tensed up and glanced away, "Uh, y- yeah… maybe dat's it."

"I thought something seemed off."

Everyone flinched as the lights turned on. They all looked over as Cassidy and Butch walked into view. Jessie, James, and Meowth perked up in surprise.

Cassidy smirked while looking around at everyone in the room, "And I was right. Looks like a few-" She spotted Ash and tensed up.

Ash and Soot perked up in surprise. Butch glanced at her before following her gaze. He gritted his teeth and nudged his teammate.

Cassidy snapped out of it and smirked again, "You don't know who you're dealing with."

Butch smirked as well, "But we'll be glad to show you."

"Prepare for trouble and make it double!" The pair said in unison.

Everyone in the group -except Todd and Ash- perked up in surprise.

Cassidy grabbed her lab coat and tossed it upward to reveal a black version of Jessie's uniform with white gloves, "To infect the world with devastation!"

Butch tore off his coat and tossed it aside; revealing the same styled uniform, "To blight all peoples in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

The female agent smirked, "Cassidy!"

The male agent grinned, "Butch!"

Cassidy held out a hand, "We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

Butch mirrored her, "Surrender to us now, or you'll surely lose the fight!"

Soot blinked while staring blankly, "Wait, so …" She glanced at the tRio, "you guys don't just do that for the Yvel of it?"

Meowth glared, "Of course, we don't!"

Jessie stood up and glared at the pair, "And why are you two here, anyway?!"

James glared as well, "We already called dibs on this place!"

Cassidy smirked, "Is that right? Well, this is our breeding center mission."

Jessie, James, and Meowth immediately flinched, stared in shock, and paled. Growlie looked back and forth between his teammates and the pair in confusion.

Butch blinked in surprise, 'Since when did they have a growlithe?'

Ash and Soot glanced back at the four of them in surprise, 'They know them?' They glanced at Cassidy, 'Is that why she paused?'

Misty pointed at the duo while looking at Jessie, "You know these guys?"

Jessie snapped out of it, groaned, and crossed her arms, "Unfortunately. We know them from rookie training."

Soot smirked, "I take it you and they aren't on the best of terms?"

Meowth deadpanned, "Dat's an undastatement."

Cassidy blinked in surprise, 'What the?' She glanced at Ash, 'Don't those two idiots realize who he is?'

Butch stared in confusion before his eyes widened in pure shock, 'Y- you've gotta be joking.'

Cassidy glanced at her teammate before looking at the tRio again. After a second, her eyes widened in shock, 'THEY'RE THE ONES MONITORING HIM?!'

Ash noticed their expressions before glaring and kneeling down next to Soot. He removed his gloves, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Change Lens case before tapping the face of the watch with it. He then placed the case on Soot's back, "Get ready to run. I'm taking care of their computer. We can't let them call for backup."

Soot glanced at him as her eyes blipped to and from their inherent state. She nodded, "Alright. Good luck."

Todd looked at him in shock. His shock shifted to confusion when Ash reached into his bag and slipped on a pair of yellow gloves.

Ash held out a hand, "Soot!"

The Dark-type opened her mouth as a Shadow Ball with an orange core appeared in her mouth. Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie looked back and grimaced before running over to the twerps. Cassidy and Butch stared in surprise.

Soot reeled back before firing the sphere at the claw track on the ceiling. The attack detonated violently, and a thick sheet of smoke filled the area. The agents flinched and turned to run out of the cloud.

As they did, Ash shot between them faster than either of them could react. They could only stare in shock as Ash dove through the hole to the control room.

Cassidy grimaced and looked at Butch frantically, "Stop him!"

Butch nodded and ran out the secondary entrance.

Cassidy looked back as the cloud faded and gritted her teeth when she saw the main entrance swing shut, "Crag!"

.

*Ash

The trainer typed away frantically while looking around at the screen; Clairvoyance at full throttle.

"Open up!" Butch shouted as he banged at the locked door.

Ash glanced at the door before glaring at the monitor again. The door continued banging violently as the hinges started coming loose.

Ash gritted his teeth, 'Crag. It's really just a communicator.' He clenched his right arm into a fist and reeled back, 'They covered everything.'

Ash glared with Intimidate and shot his fist into the monitor. The entire screen shattered in an instant and threw countless shards of glass to the floor as a massive surge of electricity was sent into the trainer. The Pokémon in the room all stared in shock.

Ash clenched his left hand into a fist as electricity started crackling all over his body before he placed his right hand on the keyboard. The entire room lit up as the electricity surged through the console and overloaded the entire system; bursting half the room's lights in the process.

Ash took a deep breath before he heard the door crash to the ground. He glanced over to find Butch staring at the monitor in absolute shock.

The agent looked at Ash, grimaced, and reached behind his back. Ash smirked and triggered Intimidate before kicking off to shoot towards the man.

.

*Soot, Misty, Brock, Todd, Pikachu, Clefairy, Electra, Togepi, Jessie, James, Meowth, Growlie

Ohirume: Holy ****, that was a long one!

The massive group continued running down the hallway towards the exit.

Todd glanced back worriedly, "Is Ash gonna be okay?"

Jessie glared ahead, "The Phan-"

Misty cleared her throat and glanced at her before nudging her head towards Todd. Todd perked up and looked at Misty in confusion.

Jessie glanced at them before looking ahead again, "Phan … tom brat's trainer can take care of himself."

Brock nodded, "Right now, we just need to get out of here and get to the police."

Soot perked up when she heard something click and looked up. The Bite Pokémon grimaced before jumping to her hind paws and shoving Misty forward. As she fell back to her forepaws, she reached back, bit down on Pikachu's tail, and tossed him forward.

"Ah!" Misty cried out as she lurched forward and tightened her grip on Togepi. She managed to regain her balance but flinched when she heard a metallic crash and looked back to find everyone else trapped in a cage. Pikachu was sitting on the ground next to her and staring at the cage in shock.

"AH!" James shrieked as he grabbed the bars, "We're trapped!"

Soot's eyes narrowed and shifted. She walked up to the bars and reached out a claw to them. Everyone else flinched when they heard a clink.

Soot frowned, sniffed the bars, and gritted her teeth, "Seal polish. Same crag they use to make ink for specter seals."

James frowned, "Aw man. Those two get all the good stuff."

"What else do we do?!" Misty asked worriedly, "I can't just leave you like this!"

Togepi nodded while frowning worriedly, "There's gotta be something!"

Soot's ears twitched before she gritted her teeth and looked at the girl, "I don't think you have a choice!" She swung her left forepaw towards Misty. The Change Lens case flew out of her appendage, between the bars, and clattered on the ground in front of Pikachu. Todd and the Rockets looked at the case in confusion.

Soot glared at Misty as her eyes returned to normal, "Hide!"

Misty nodded before grabbing the case and rushing around the corner. Pikachu hurried after her.

Cassidy walked up to the cage with a sly smirk on her face, "Looks like our security system worked." She turned to face the cage; still smirking, "I'd say it was a good investment." She perked up upon noticing something.

Soot gulped, 'Crag! Did she notice?!'

The agent glared before reaching between the bars, grabbing Todd's camera, and yanking it out of his grip, "Nice try."

Soot glared, 'Okay, not better. But could be worse.'

Todd tensed up and glared, "Hey! Give that back!"

Cassidy smirked, "Sorry. But you won't be needing this where you're going."

Jessie glared, "What do you mean by-"

She stopped when she and everyone else heard heavy breathing and looked over. The group and tRio's eyes widened in pure shock.

"Y-" Meowth muttered in shock, "you're jokin'…"

"Freaking Yvel…" Butch huffed as he trudged over to the cage with Ash slumped over his shoulder, "This kid's heavy…"

He stopped next to the cage and dropped the trainer on his back next to it; revealing a dart in his leg. Ash gritted his teeth from the impact.

Soot looked at him worriedly, "Dad!"

Clefairy glared at the man furiously. Pikachu gritted his teeth while peeking around the corner; cheeks sparking. Misty noticed and put a hand on his head. The Mouse Pokémon snapped out of it and looked back at her before frowning.

Ash slowly managed to turn to look at Soot. He smiled tiredly, "H- hey…" He glanced around the cage before he cracked a small smirk.

Cassidy pulled the dart out of his leg and smirked while looking at it, "Tranquilizer, huh? Guess he put up a bit of a fight." She smirked down at him, "You must be pretty tough to still be conscious after one of these."

Butch looked at her before shooting a sideways glare at Ash, "Y- yeah…"

The female agent didn't notice and pointed towards the cage, "Alright, load him in." She started walking towards the lobby.

"Hey!" Jessie shouted, "Where do you think you're going?!"

Cassidy glanced back with a smirk before looking ahead again.

.

*Out front; moments later

"Burglars!" Cassidy cried out 'worriedly'; back in her breeding center uniform, "Oh, I'm still shaking like a leaf, Officer!" She looked back at the building, "Thank goodness our security system stopped them before they hurt the Pokémon!"

Jenny smiled and saluted, "Don't worry. We'll make sure these thieves are punished. Thanks to you, our city's a little safer."

Behind her, two cops were wheeling the massive cage containing most of the group and Rockets over to an armored police truck with a machoke waiting next to it.

Ash had already regained enough strength to sit himself up against the cage. Soot and Clefairy were nudged close to him just in case.

Butch glanced at the cage warily; also back in uniform. He snapped out of it, looked at Jenny, and nodded, "Th- thank you, Officer." He frowned, "However, I can't help but feel guilty for resorting to such extreme measures as a tranquilizer."

Jenny smiled sadly, "Well, if he was as violent as you say, I'm not sure I can fully blame you. Just try something a little tamer, like Sleep Powder, next time."

Butch smiled sheepishly, "Honestly, I'd rather there not be a next time."

Ash glared at the pair.

Brock looked at the cops, "I'm telling you, you've got the wrong people! This whole place is just a front for a scam!"

Todd looked at them fearfully, "They're the crooks, not us!"

Meowth glanced at him, "Speak fa yaself."

Machoke grabbed the cage, lifted it up near effortlessly, and placed it in the back. Everyone jumped a bit from the impact.

One of the cops glared at them as he returned the machoke, "Tell it to the judge."

The back of the truck slammed shut. All of the cops loaded back into either the truck or nearby police car before the vehicles drove away.

Cassidy smirked and crossed her arms as the truck disappeared from view, "That went better than I hoped. Maybe that Ketchum brat wasn't as tough as we thought."

Butch's eyes narrowed, "No. He was worse." He glanced at his teammate, "Cass, it took three tranquilizers to weaken him that much." Cassidy looked at him in shock as he continued, "I don't think the first one even slowed him down." He looked down angrily, "And I only got the other two shots off because Mightyena distracted him. I almost considered sending out Cloyster too."

Cassidy stared at him in shock before looking down the road, "What Pokémon did he use to battle it?"

"He didn't." Butch said, "It was just him." He took a deep breath, "And that's not the worst of it. The communicator's toast."

Cassidy flinched and looked at him in shock, "What?!"

Butch motioned towards the entrance, "Come look."

The pair walked back into the building. They failed to notice Misty, Pikachu, and Togepi glancing at them from the alleyway.

The Water trainer looked at the direction the truck went, "Guys…"

Pikachu and Togepi frowned worriedly while following her gaze.

Misty reached into her pocket, pulled out the red case and opened it to find all six Change Lenses with a green light above them. But all blank. She frowned worriedly, 'What am I supposed to do with inactive-' She stopped and perked up upon seeing a folded piece of paper stuck to the top of the case.

She pulled it off, unfolded it, and perked up upon recognizing Ash's handwriting. Pikachu noticed, jumped up to her shoulder, and looked as well.

"If you're reading this," Misty whispered, "it means something happened and you might need these to help us. If the case made contact with my bare hand and the watch, then" Her eyes widened, "the default setting has been enabled?!"

Pikachu and Togepi's eyes widened before they shared a look.

The Gym Leader shook it off and continued reading, "The activation code is the three words Soot or I hate hearing the most in alphabetical order."

Misty looked down thoughtfully, "Three words they hate…" She perked up in realization, looked at the case, and her eyes narrowed, "Lilium. Prodigy. Sweetie."

Misty, Pikachu, and Togepi's eyes widened in shock as all six disks immediately filled in green with a pikachu silhouette on them.

Misty smiled brightly and whispered, "Ash, you genius!"

Togepi smiled brightly as well.

Pikachu smiled, "Pikapi." He looked at the paper again, perked up, and pointed near the bottom, "Pikachu-pi."

Misty glanced at him before looking at the sheet again. She blinked upon seeing two more parts written on the sheet.

"Brock, Misty, if you're reading this, good luck. I have faith in you. Also, I'm sorry you're only just learning about this function. I wanted this to be exclusively for emergencies."

"Todd, if you're reading this, I have a lot of explaining to do when this is over. Please read this entire note out loud to whichever of our Pokémon are with you, follow their instructions, and try not to freak out."

Misty stared in shock before chuckling softly, "Doesn't always think ten steps ahead, huh? Like Yvel you don't, Ketchum."

The trainer ran further into the alley and kneeled down to place Togepi on the ground as Pikachu jumped down from her shoulder. She pulled out five pokéballs and tossed them into the air. They burst open as Staryu, Starmie, Seadra, Goldeen, and Psyduck each appeared in a flash.

Psyduck perked up and blinked.

Goldeen flopped up to start levitating as she and everyone else on Misty's team started looking around the clearing in confusion.

"What the Yvel?" Staryu asked.

They all perked up when a green flash burst out and looked over to find Misty in pikachu form; Lens visible on her chest.

Goldeen frowned, "Misty, what's going on?"

Starmie stared blankly and looked around, "And … how did you change without Ash here? "

Pikachu walked up to stand next to Misty and looked back at them, "Apparently Ash set up a backup with the Lenses. We only just learned about it, too."

Misty frowned, "And everything's just gone to Yvel lately." She looked back at the green door they all used earlier, "The breeding center I left Psyduck at turned out to be a Team Rocket operation."

Seadra nodded, "Oh. So, what was the problem?"

Pikachu looked at him, "The fact that it isn't Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie running it. It's different people."

Staryu, Starmie, Seadra, and Goldeen tensed up as the latter twos' eyes widened.

Misty looked back at the group with a frown, "Yeah. I know. They caught us sneaking around the building and convinced the police that we were the criminals. Everyone else just got hauled off to jail."

Staryu flinched, "Say what now?!"

Starmie looked down in shock, "Oh dear Arc, that's bad."

Togepi frowned, "Really bad."

Goldeen glared determinedly, "We have to help them! …" She sweat dropped, "How do we do that?"

Pikachu smiled, "Todd took a few pictures of the place for evidence," He frowned, "but they stole his camera."

Misty held out a paw, "If we can get it back, we can prove everyone's innocence and stop these guys." She looked around at everyone, "Any ideas on how to do that?"

"I have one."

Seven of the present Pokémon flinched from the unfamiliar voice and looked around in shock.

Pikachu glared and called out, "Who said that?!"

Misty flinched again when she felt something tap her on the back and looked back. Psyduck smiled and waved at her. She groaned and started looking around again, "Not now, Psyduck. We're being-" She perked up and her eyes widened, "spied" She looked back at the Duck Pokémon in shock, "on…"

The others noticed her reaction before looking at Psyduck too.

Pikachu raised a brow before perking up in realization and staring in shock, "Ps- Psyduck?"

The Water-type smiled again, "Hello."

The septet just stared in pure shock. And then Misty fell back and fainted. At the same time, Goldeen fell back to the ground; having lost her focus.

Togepi snapped out of it and looked at Misty in shock, "Meema!"

.

*One wake up, lens time out, and re-transformation later

The eight Pokémon all sat in the middle of the alleyway as seven of them stared at Psyduck in shock. The Duck Pokémon sat across from them with a calm smile on his face.

"S- so …" Misty stuttered, "they actually taught you Calm Mind?"

Psyduck nodded, "Yup."

Staryu stared in shock as well, "So they weren't frauds?"

Psyduck continued smiling, "Oh no, they were. But they're frauds who know how to use a Technical Machine."

Misty tensed up and her eyes widened. She groaned before slumping forward; ears drooping, "Freaking Yvel. Why didn't I think of that?"

Togepi blinked in confusion before looking at Pikachu, "What's a Technical Machine?"

Pikachu shrugged.

Starmie looked at the hatchling, "They're these special disks that a trainer can use to teach their Pokémon a move near instantly. They're standard issue for higher ranking Gym Pokémon but are sold in stores too."

Goldeen looked at him as well; holding herself up with Aqua Ring, "It's like a shortcut for move tutoring."

Pikachu nodded, "Ah. So that's why we've never used one."

"So" Staryu said to Psyduck, "not that I'm not happy they did that, but … why would they do that? How does it benefit them?"

Psyduck shrugged, "From what I heard, it was to build their reputation before bailing. Misty was planning to pick me up tomorrow, after all." He raised a finger, "And now, before any of you ask, I-" Psyduck said before he frowned and his eyes widened, "honestly have no idea why my headache was so severe. I am just as confused as you are." He smiled, "But, thankfully, not as confused as I was before."

Seadra blinked in surprise, "Y- yeah … seems like it."

Togepi smiled brightly, "So you're really all better, now?"

"Kinda…" Psyduck said before he put a finger to his temple, "The effects from Calm Mind only weaken the headache instead of getting rid of it and it wears off after a few minutes. I'm not really in a stable enough mindset to use the move again after going back to normal." He smiled, "Which is why I've set up mental triggers in my own subconscious."

Misty perked up as she and everyone else -except Togepi- stared at him in shock. Togepi tilted in confusion.

Psyduck snickered, "Yeah, I know." He crossed his arms, "Anyway, I set up two different ones and both are pretty straightforward. The first one is the sensation of being released from my pokéball. You can thank my ability to bust out randomly for that one."

Misty raised a digit on her paw, "Speaking of-"

"I don't know why I do it either." Psyduck interrupted as he looked at Misty, "And the second trigger," He smiled, "you say my name."

Pikachu perked up and blinked in confusion, 'Wait what?'

Goldeen's eyes widened, "Th- that's it? All we have to do is say your name to make you intelligent?!" She jerked and sweat dropped, "Uh, no offense."

"Oh, none taken." Psyduck replied before shaking his head, "But that's not what I meant." He pointed at his trainer, "It only works if Misty says my name."

The female Mouse Pokémon perked up in surprise, "Huh? Why just me?"

"It wasn't entirely by choice." Psyduck replied, "I did still have a headache while trying to do it, so my focus was limited. I only had the capability to set the trigger to one voice." He smiled kindly, "So, I chose you. I mean, you're my trainer, aren't you? Who better to trust with something this important?"

Misty stared in shock. She smiled softly, "Psyduck…"

Psyduck smiled back before straightening up and looking around with a determined expression, "Okay, back to business. We need to get that cam-" He stopped and perked up. He then put his hands on his head and shifted to a blank expression, "Psy."

Pikachu blinked in surprise, "Wow. Good thing he told us about the triggers when he did, huh?"

Misty sweat dropped, "Agreed. Psyduck."

The Duck Pokémon perked up as his eyes blipped light blue. He shook it off and looked at Misty, "Thank you." He looked around the group, "We need to get the camera and save the others." He smirked, "So, here's what I have in mind."

.

*Police Station

After arriving, everyone had their pokéballs and backpacks confiscated -including Electra's- and were moved from the cage to a massive holding cell. Thankfully, they were allowed the Pokémon they already had out … with precautions.

Jessie was sitting on the bench as Meowth sat on the ground next to her. James sat against the wall the bench was attached to with Growlie sitting next to him. The Puppy Pokémon was stuck with dog shoes on his forepaws that prevented him from using Dig. The male agent kept looking at Todd curiously.

Ash and Soot sat against the opposite wall with a specter seal stuck to her forehead and Clefairy in her trainer's lap. Brock sat on the ground next to them with Electra in his lap. The Fairy-type was lucky enough to not need any kind of restraints. But Electra was stuck with a pair of rubber seals.

Ash tried to convince Jenny and the other officers that he recorded Butch and Cassidy's confession on his Pokédex, but they didn't believe him. Partially because the video from the K-9 academy hadn't reach them yet but mostly because Pokédexes didn't normally have that kind of function.

Todd sat between Ash and Brock with his knees pulled up to his chest and a worried look on his face.

"Well, this stinks." Ash said.

Meowth sighed, "No kiddin'. Afta all dis time, we get turned in by our own teammates, of all people."

Soot smiled sadly, "Hey, look on the bright side. We don't have to pay for a hotel, tonight."

Electra pouted, "But I was so excited."

Brock petted her and looked around the room curiously, "Y'know, I'm kind of surprised they put us all in just one cell."

Jessie lied back on the bench and put her hands behind her head, "It's an overnight holding cell. Extra-large, by the looks of it. They'll move us to regular cells in tomorrow."

Soot sweat dropped, "Why does it not surprise me that you know that?"

The Rocket agent smirked, "Well, you know what they say. With beauty comes wisdom."

Ash looked at her and raised a brow, "Don't you mean 'with age comes'-"

Jessie shot him a glare, "No, I don't!" She looked around the cell, "Also, I call dibs on the bench. So, get comfy."

Nearly everyone else sweat dropped.

James continued looking at Todd before perking up, "Oh, I remember you now." He pointed at Soot, "We hired you to capture her."

Meowth tensed up.

Todd's eyes widened in shock, "W- wait what? … You were that elderly couple?"

Jessie flinched, sat up, and glared at him while shouting, "Who are you calling-" She stopped, blinked, and looked down thoughtfully, "Oh, wait. Right. Those were the disguises we used." She looked at Todd, "Yeah, that was us."

Soot raised a brow, "Why did you hire a photographer to take pictures of me?"

Jessie glared down at the Scratch Cat Pokémon, "Yeah, why did we?"

Meowth tensed up and glanced away, "I, uh … misread da article and thought he was a poacha. We thought we were hirin' him ta steal ya."

Electra, Clefairy, and Soot stared in shock before all three busted out into laughter.

Meowth glared at them, "I get it! I messed up!"

Ash smiled, "Though, that does explain why you canceled on him. I'm guessing you were hiding in the bushes and spying on Soot and Aerodactyl's battle?"

Growlie nodded, "Yup."

Todd stared in shock before looking at Ash, "H- how are all of you so calm, about that?"

Ash looked at him with a raised a brow, "Huh?"

Todd jerked before blurting out, "Wha- seriously?!" Everyone else jumped a bit as he continued, "We just got thrown in jail because of something involving an evil organization and now I find out the same the crooks who tried to steal from the league exam center were in my house a week ago, hired me to rob you, and spied on us?! Do you not realize how crazy that is?!"

Everyone else in the cell just looked at the photographer blankly.

"Wow…" James said before looking at Ash, "He really doesn't know about us, does he?"

Ash sweat dropped, "I didn't think he'd react this way."

Soot looked at the photographer, "Sorry to break it to you Todd, but" She pointed a claw across the room, "these guys showing up wherever we go is nothing new. They've been following us for months. They were even the ones who caused the cave-in at Grandpa Canyon."

Todd's eyes widened in shock.

Jessie raised a hand, "Guilty."

Todd flinched and looked at her before looking around again, "You're serious, right now…"

Everyone else nodded.

Todd looked down in shock and put a hand on his head, "Dear Arceus. And I thought what happened at Grandpa Canyon would be the wildest experience of my life."

Soot snickered, "For us, that's more like the third craziest thing. This year." Todd jerked and looked at her in shock as she pointed at the Rockets, "First was definitely when we visited a friend in Matcha City and had to get these three out of the Pokémon Transfer System network. Hard to beat getting your body virtualized and having to escape a flying vaccine program shaped like a syringe."

Jessie shivered, "Don't remind me. We barely made it out of their alive."

Ash snickered, "Hey, at least you got devirtualized the painless way. I got blown up, remember?"

James deadpanned, "Yeah, we know. You nearly gave us panic attacks."

Todd stared in shock before looking around, "W- what was the second craziest?"

Meowth looked at Soot, "Lemme guess. Gettin' stranded on Pokémon Land after escapin' da Saint Anne."

Soot smirked, "Actually, I was thinking the human sized puppets that Gastly used at Maiden's Peak." She looked up thoughtfully, "So I guess Grandpa Canyon's actually the fourth craz-" She perked up, "Oh, no, wait. Tentacool army destroying Porta Vista. That is definitely number two."

Todd looked at her in pure shock.

Growlie blinked in surprise, 'Wow. I missed out on a lot.'

James sweat dropped, "Agreed. That is the last time I so much as look at stun sauce."

Brock smiled, "Good to hear." He raised a brow, "Still, where did you get that gunk?"

Meowth held out a paw, "Believe it or not, Nastina. We tried askin' where she got it, but she threatened not to pay us if we asked questions, so-" He shrugged.

Soot sweat dropped, "Yeesh." She looked at James, "That woman makes Jessebelle seem like a saint."

James sweat dropped, "I'm not sure I'd go that far…"

Todd looked around at everyone in pure shock. After a second, he looked downward in a daze.

.

*Breeding Center; the following morning

Cassidy frowned worriedly while organizing papers on the counter, 'How the Yvel did this happen? Just one day and everything nearly falls apart. First we see that Ketchum brat, he and his little friends find out the truth about us, and now our reputation will plummet because of the "attempted robbery." We can't even contact The Boss anymore. And to add insult to injury'

She clenched a fist as her eyes narrowed; screaming internally, 'WHY THE YVEL ARE JESSIE AND JAMES THE ONES KEEPING TABS ON HIM?!'

She looked down angrily; gritting her teeth, 'Hundreds of high-ranking operatives and The Boss chooses the two buffoons with a worse track record than most grunts?! I mean, come on! Domino! Annie and Oakley! Even freaking Attila and Hun would be better choices! And those guys suck at surveillance!'

Omega: *flinches and spits out drink* Wait! What were the names of those last two?!

Cassidy groaned, 'It doesn't make sense.' She stopped and snapped out of it when she heard the sliding doors. She shook it off and smiled kindly, 'Later. Right now, the mission is still on.' "Welcome to-" She stopped and perked up in confusion when she didn't see anyone, "Hello?"

"Dra!"

Cassidy flinched and leaned forward to find a seadra and starmie at the counter and looking up at her. She blinked in confusion, "What the-" She flinched and lurched back when the pure Water-type inhaled and fired a freezing stream of water at her.

Ice Beam shot past and froze a pillar behind the counter. Starmie then jumped up and shot towards a door near the counter with a spinning Tackle; shattering the window in the process. Seadra dove through the window to follow them.

Cassidy grimaced before chasing after the pair, "Get back here!"

After the door slammed shut, the front entrance slid open again. Misty -back in pikachu form- and Staryu peaked inside and looked around cautiously. Psyduck sat on the ground behind Misty; currently not Calm Minded.

The Mouse Pokémon smiled before she and the Star Shape Pokémon shared a look and nodded.

Misty looked back, "Psyduck."

The Duck Pokémon perked up and got up on his feet. He looked at the pair determinedly, "Let's go."

They nodded before the trio rushed inside. Pikachu, Goldeen, and Togepi peeked around the corner from the alleyway.

Pikachu frowned and whispered, "Good luck."

The trio rushed over to a door behind the counter. Psyduck held out a hand as his eyes lit up light blue. The entire door took on a matching blue outline before the doorknob turned and the door swung open.

Misty stared in shock before looking at the Duck Pokémon and whispering, "Since when could you do that?"

Psyduck looked at her with a raised brow as his eyes returned to normal, "I've always known Confusion."

Staryu faced him, "And how were we supposed to know that without you telling us?"

Psyduck sweat dropped, "Right… okay, for future reference, my fourth move is Scratch, and my ability is Damp."

Misty smiled, "Good to know."

The trio rushed inside and found themselves back in the hallway Misty and the others were in before.

Psyduck closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he held out his hands and opened his eyes again; revealing them to be light blue again. All of the doors lit up blue before opening slightly.

Psyduck stopped his attack and looked at the others, "We have three minutes. Hurry."

The pair nodded before all three of them split up to search the rooms. Every so often, they'd hear some kind of crash ring out from another part of the building followed by Butch and/or Cassidy screaming for Seadra and Starmie to stop.

Misty ran to her third door and peaked inside. She perked up and smiled happily upon finding Todd's camera sitting on a table next to a television. She jumped up and grabbed the camera before jumping back to the ground.

'Guys! Misty found it!' Misty jerked upon hearing Psyduck's voice in her head, 'Starmie, Seadra! Keep it up for forty more seconds and then bust out into the alleyway! Pikachu! Have their pokéballs ready!'

Misty looked back at the door in slack jawed shock, 'He can use telepathy?!' She shook it off and ran back into the hallway to meet up with Staryu and Psyduck.

The Star Shape Pokémon faced Psyduck in shock and whispered, "You can use telepathy?!"

Psyduck smiled, "Yup." He rushed back to the front, "Come on!"

Misty and Staryu followed. The trio rushed back through the lobby, out the front entrance, and over to the alleyway. They stopped and flinched when they heard glass breaking.

The trio pressed up against the wall and peaked around to find the back door with its window destroyed and Seadra and Starmie disappear into their pokéballs as Pikachu held them. The male Mouse Pokémon lit up white from Quick Attack and zipped around the alleyway to disappear behind a nearby trash can. Togepi was already waiting behind the can with another Pokéball in his arms.

Butch shoved the door open and looked around frantically, "Where'd they go?!"

Cassidy shoved him aside and looked around too. She gritted her teeth and looked at Butch, "Split up and find them! They couldn't have just disappeared!"

The pair spread out to search the alleyway. Soon enough, Butch started approaching the trash can Pikachu and Togepi were hiding behind.

Misty grimaced, 'Crag! I've gotta do something!' She perked up and looked down at her chest.

Butch knelt down and reached out to the can. Togepi started trembling and nudged up to Pikachu frightenedly. Pikachu gritted his teeth as his cheeks started sparking.

Butch stopped and perked up as a green flash appeared in the corner of his eye. He looked over to find the nearby street.

"Hello?! Is anyone here?!" Someone called out from inside.

Pikachu and Togepi's eyes widened upon recognizing Misty's voice. Cassidy and Butch perked up and looked back at the building.

Cassidy glared while harshly whispering, "Seriously?! We have a customer right now?!" She clenched a fist, "I didn't even have time to clean up from those two!"

Butch frowned and stood back up, "Hey, we'll be fine. Just … tell them the last customer's squirtle got spooked, or something. "

Cassidy took a deep breath, "Right."

The pair walked back into the building and closed the door behind them.

Pikachu sat down with an exhausted look on his face, "Dear freaking Arc, that was close."

Togepi sat down, "Yeah."

Misty hurried into the alleyway with Staryu and Psyduck behind her; the latter holding the camera.

She looked at the pair worriedly, "Are you guys okay?!"

Pikachu smiled tiredly, "I'll live."

Togepi ran up to Misty immediately and hugged her leg, "Meema!"

Misty smiled sadly, picked him up, and hugged him, "I'm sorry, sweetie. That must've been scary."

Togepi nodded and nuzzled closer to her, "Yeah. Thank you, Meema."

Psyduck smiled and held up the camera, 'Alright. Now let's get this thing-' He stopped as his eyes started losing focus.

"Psyduck." Misty quickly said.

The Duck Pokémon snapped out of it, 'to the police station.'

.

*Police Station

"You've got the wrong guys, I swear!" Todd whined to Jenny, "We're not the crooks!"

Jenny glared at him, "If you're trying to win sympathy, it won't work. The judge is gonna throw the book at you thieves."

Clefairy and Electra tensed up.

Soot looked at them, "Not literally."

"Hey! You can't just go back there!" Someone from the front called out.

"I'm here for the breeding center case!" Everyone perked up from recognizing Misty's voice, "You've got the wrong people and I have proof!"

Jenny blinked in surprise before glancing at the cell and rushing towards the front. She hurried into the room to find two cops blocking off a red-haired girl with a togepi in her arms and a pikachu standing next to her.

One of the other cops noticed Jenny and nudged the other before both moved out of the way.

Jenny walked up to Misty, "What do you mean, you have proof?"

Misty removed her bag and pulled out a camera out of it, "Right here. Photographic evidence that that breeding center is a scam."

The other cops perked up and shared a surprised look.

Jenny frowned and held out her hand, "Let me see."

Misty handed her the camera before she started skimming through the pictures. She immediately tensed up and her eyes widened as she skimmed through over a dozen pictures of caged Pokémon. She glanced at the time stamp and grimaced.

Jenny looked back at the other cops, "Get those kids out and get that boy's Pokédex!"

.

**Short Skip**

Everyone -including the quaRtet- crowded around Ash in the lobby as he typed away on his ID. After a second, he smirked and held it out.

Sir! Team Rocket agent Cassidy reporting! Cassidy's voice came from the device.

The cop's eyes all widened.

Sir! Team Rocket agent Butch reporting! Butch's voice followed.

At ease. Said a distorted voice, How is the breeding center operation going?

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie's eyes widened upon recognizing the distorted voice. They all shared a nervous look.

"Wait a second." One of the cops said, "Who the Yvel is that?"

Ash stopped the recording and frowned, "From what I heard, Team Rocket's Boss."

Everyone flinched and looked at Ash in shock.

One of the cop's eyes narrowed, "Team Rocket…" He perked up and glared at the quaRtet, "I thought I recognized those unif-" He stopped and his eyes widened when -instead of the two agents and two Pokémon- he found inflatable dummies of all four of them sticking their tongues out mockingly.

The Meowth one had a piece of paper on its head with "See ya, suckas!" written on it.

Everyone else looked over and their eyes widened as well.

"H- how did they-" Brock muttered while looking around the room, "When did-"

Soot sighed, "Adding it to the list."

"Don't worry about them. They're not the problem, right now." Ash said before hitting play again.

Very well. Cassidy's voice said, As planned, we've collected lots of promising Pokémon.

We're currently taking stock. Butch's voice said.

Good. Have there been any complications? The Boss's distorted voice asked.

The audio went silent for a moment.

What is it?

W- well-

A few of the trainers requested that their Pokémon not stay the full week and will pick them up earlier than hoped. To keep our cover, we have to return them. Unfortunately, this includes some very promising ones.

On account of that, we don't think it would be wise to send any Pokémon to headquarters, just yet. We have to account for the plans of other trainers changing last minute.

The Boss sighed, Very well. It's a necessary sacrifice to avoid compromise. I expect today's report by tomorrow.

Yes sir!

It went silent again for a second.

Do you think that was the right call?

I didn't see another option. If The Boss found out he was in the building, he might've forced us to retreat ahead of schedule. We can't risk all of our hard work going up in smoke because of him.

You might be right.

"Holy Yvel…" One of the cops muttered, "That really was their Boss." He looked at Ash, "Do you have any other information on him?"

The other cop looked at Ash, "And who were they talking about near the end?"

Ash frowned, "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who they were talking about. I just know it was someone who was in the building yesterday." He looked at the first cop, "And, no. His face was blacked out on the monitor and the call was untraceable. All I know about him is that he has a persian."

Jenny glared determinedly, "Still, it's a start. For now," She held out a hand and called out, "All units! Back to that breeding center, asap!"

.

*A block away

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie ran from the station as fast as they could.

"Okay, I admit it." Jessie said, "Those dummies were a good purchase."

Meowth smiled, "I know, right? Cheap as dirt, compact, and custom appearances?! It's a whole package deal!"

James sighed, "Still, I kinda wish we didn't decide against checking my new weepinbell into that breeding center. I would've liked it to evolve."

Growlie looked up thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess them doing that wouldn't be that hard to believe."

Meowth perked up and looked at the Fire-type in confusion, "Huh? Doin' what?"

Jessie and James looked down at the pair in confusion.

Growlie looked at him, "Using a Leaf Stone on Weepinbell. That's how they evolve."

Meowth's eyes widened before he skidded to a halt, "Wait, what?!"

Everyone else stopped and looked at him in surprise. Though Jessie and James did so because they didn't know what Growlie said.

.

*Fake Breeding Center

Cassidy and Butch perked up as a police siren sounded out in the distance and looked out the front windows as it got louder. An armored van and two police cars stopped out front.

Cassidy looked at her teammate with a raised brow, "We didn't call them about the seadra and starmie, did we?"

"No." Butch responded before looking at the vehicles, "Maybe they're following up from yesterday?" He flinched and his eyes widened when Ash, Brock, Misty, and Todd exited the police cars with their Pokémon, "Oh … crag."

Cassidy blinked in confusion before looking back out front and flinching. She looked at her teammate, "Get to the control room!"

The duo dropped everything and charged through the door to the back. They hurried through where the door was before Butch knocked over a pile of boxes and pulled a lever down that was hidden behind them. A pair of thick metal doors slammed together in the doorway. The caged Pokémon in the room flinched.

Butch sighed in relief, "Good. Now we just have to wait for backup. The Boss will know something's wrong if we don't contact him by the end of the day."

Cassidy glared at the door, "But are you sure they won't be able to get through that?"

Butch smirked, "Positive. Those doors are solid steel, and the passcode is over twenty characters long. No one's getting through unless they know the-"

He stopped and his and Cassidy's eyes widened when they heard a clank. They looked over in shock as the doors slowly opened to reveal the group and Jenny.

"H- How…" Butch muttered.

Jenny looked at Ash in surprise, 'Wow. Must be one Yvel of a hacker.' She deadpanned, 'Actually, this shouldn't be a surprise. He's a kid who upgraded his Pokédex with a recording device.'

Jenny crossed her arms and glared at the Rockets, "So you thought you could get away with framing these kids and steal all these Pokémon, huh?! You're under arrest!"

Cassidy grimaced before throwing a pokéball, "Raticate!"

Ash immediately tossed a pokéball in response, "Arbok! Enter the fray!

The Mouse and Cobra Pokémon each appeared in front of their trainers and stared each other down. Raticate tensed up slightly as Intimidate activated.

Cassidy held out a hand, "Use Super Fang!"

"Glare!" Ash called out.

Raticate's fangs lit up white as they prepared to lunge. Arbok's eyes narrowed and lit up light blue. Raticate immediately flinched as a small bolt of electricity traveled across their body.

Ash smirked and held out a hand, "Now, Poison Jab!"

Arbok smirked and disappeared in a blur. Raticate could only stare in shock as Arbok reappeared less than a second later with a short, glowing purple blade extending from his hood. Arbok shot by and delivered a harsh blow to the Normal-type's chest. Arbok's blade dispelled right before Raticate fell forward with their eyes swirling.

Butch and Cassidy could only stare in disbelief.

Soot smirked, 'Materialize blade style. Now that's a rare one.'

Butch and Cassidy grimaced as Arbok turned to glare at them and took a step back. Arbok smirked before slithering over to sit next to his trainer.

Ash smiled and petted him, "Good job."

Jenny glanced at Ash with a smile before walking up and crossing her arms, "Ready to surrender? If you come quietly now, we won't use excessive force."

Cassidy looked around at the group blocking their only escape, down at Raticate, and then at Ash. She gritted her teeth furiously before looking down and slowly raising her arms. Butch glanced at her, frowned, and put his hands up.

Jenny nodded, "Wise choice."

Two more cops rushed into the room and brought the pair's arms down to cuff them. Jenny walked up and took all of the pokéballs from pair's belts and held one out to return Raticate.

The two officers led Butch and Cassidy out towards the hallway and towards their cars. Cassidy shot an angry glare at Ash as she passed. Ash noticed and smirked.

Jenny walked back to the group and smiled sadly, "I'm sorry again for before. I can't believe I actually fell for their lies."

Brock smiled, "It's not like we can blame you, really. You were just doing your job."

Ash put his hands behind his head and smiled, "You had no reason to doubt those two. If I were in your shoes, I might've done the same."

Soot smirked slyly, 'Yeah. After searching the entire compound for any clue saying that the 'burglars' were telling the truth.'

Jenny smiled, "Well, thank you. But I still wanna make it up to you all." She pointed a thumb back, "What if I treat you all to lunch?"

The Group -except Todd- perked up before sharing a look and smiling. Todd looked at them before perking up.

Misty smiled at the officer, "Sounds good. But mind if we pick the place?"

Jenny chuckled, "Well, as long as it's not too expensive."

.

*Restaurant

Jenny sweat dropped while sitting at the bar, 'I said "not too expensive". Not free.'

Misty held up an empty plate and smiled happily, "More please!"

The chef smiled at her, "Right away, miss!" He pulled Psyduck closer and nuzzled him, "Afterall, how could I say no after you brought this cute little psyduck to visit? And such a smart little guy, too."

The Duck Pokémon glanced at him in with a smirk, 'Hey, you know this is only for today, right?'

The chef nuzzled him more, "I know, but I can't help it. But it's not everyday someone brings in a telepathic psyduck."

Psyduck chuckled and rolled his eyes.

Brock sweat dropped while smiling sheepishly, "I'm gonna need to get used to that."

Electra blinked in surprise, "Same."

Ash sweat dropped; having not 'heard' the telepathy, "Yup…"

Todd deadpanned, 'Everything that just happened, and that is what they have trouble believing.'

Misty smiled, "Well I guess it's a good thing he hasn't evolved then, isn't it?" She perked up and looked at the Duck Pokémon, "Come to think of it, I never asked. Do you want to evolve someday?"

Psyduck deadpanned, 'I was born with a headache so severe that I couldn't swim or talk. If I ever get a chance to get rid of that permanently, I am taking it.'

The chef and Jenny perked up and looked at the Water-type in shock.

Misty chuckled, "Alright, I get it. I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page."

Soot blinked in surprise, "What'd he say?" She sweat dropped, "Wow, it feels weird saying that."

Brock relayed what Psyduck said before smiling, "And hey. I guess that means we get to be the translators sometimes."

Soot smirked and raised a brow, "Yeah? Well, I hope you have fun with it. It can be exhausting."

Everyone in the group started chuckling. Todd looked around at them all before looking down thoughtfully.

.

**Short Skip**

After saying their goodbyes to the restaurant owner and Jenny, Ash and friends continued on their journey. After a few hours, they all came up to a fork in the road with a sign pointing in each direction. One sign had a picture of a volcano on it and the other had a regular mountain.

Soot sweat dropped while looking at the signs, 'Who the Yvel designed these?'

Brock pulled out his map, opened it, and looked over it. He smiled, "Looks like we're taking the right path. Literally."

Ash looked at the map before smiling, "Even better, the port isn't that far from here. We can be on a ship to Cinnabar in just three days."

Misty pumped a fist, "Yes! Finally!" She tensed up upon realizing something and scratched her cheek, "Oh. I guess that means we didn't have to do the admission exam as a precaution."

Pikachu chuckled, "Well, if we didn't, we wouldn't have Arbok."

Soot smiled and translated. She smiled determinedly, "Now, let's get to that Gym already!"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered. Well, almost everyone.

"Actually," Todd said; catching the others' attention. He pointed down the other path and smiled sheepishly, "I think I'm gonna head to the mountains to take pictures."

Everyone else perked up in surprise.

Soot blinked, "Wait, really?"

Todd nodded, "You all head to Cinnabar without me. I don't wanna keep you from your destination."

Ash frowned, "Todd, we don't mind. We've taken tons of detours. Most for the sake of touring. We have a backup now, remember?"

Brock held out a hand to the side, "Plus Cinnabar's bound to have a ton of interesting Pokémon to photograph."

Todd frowned and shook his head, "It's not just that." He looked at the group, " I thought the most intense thing to happen in my life would be what happened at Grandpa Canyon. I never expected…" He looked back in the direction of the city, "all of that."

He looked back at them and smiled sadly, "And then I find out that that craziness is just Wednesday to you all. I mean, I definitely expected some kind of excitement. But I thought it would just be some intense battles."

Misty frowned, "I think I get what you mean."

Brock scratched the back of his head, "I guess we've just gotten used to it."

Todd continued smiling sadly, "I've had a lot of fun with you. But I just don't think I'm cut out for that kind of excitement. At least … not as often as you are."

Ash smiled sadly, "I understand." He took a step forward and held out a hand, "Still, I'm sorry to see you go. I hope we can all meet up again, someday."

Todd smiled sadly and shook Ash's hand, "Me too."

Brock walked up and shook his hand, "Good luck out there."

Todd smiled, "Thanks, Brock."

Electra held out a paw, "Pika."

Todd looked at her, chuckled, and shook her paw with a finger, "You take care too, Electra."

Misty smiled softly, "Thanks for your help, Todd. Take care."

"Toge!" Togepi said happily.

Todd nodded, "Thanks, Misty." He smiled down at the hatchling, "And you too, Togepi."

Pikachu and Clefairy smiled and jumped down from their trainer before jumping up to Todd's shoulders and nuzzling him.

Todd chuckled and started petting them, "Hey, come on. That tickles."

The shoulder rider smiled before jumping back down and up to Ash again.

Soot smiled up at Todd, "It's been fun, Todd." She pointed a claw at his camera, "And, hey, one more for the road?"

Todd looked at her before looking down at his camera. He smiled at the group again and nodded, "Sure."

He looked around for a second before running to the spot between the signs. Everyone watched as he set up a tripod, messed with his camera for a bit, and placed it on the stand.

He stood back up and ran over to the others. Everyone else smiled and crowded around him.

"Say cheese!" Todd said while smiling.

Everyone smiled, "Cheese!/Pi!/Pri!/Ry!"

The camera flashed.

.

.

*****Pseudo-Comment Response*****

From Red Mad Man (Trix chapter 60):

(Given the length of this comment, I split it up as follows)

Hey! I read this a while back and I'm duprised that you're still continuing this story!

Seishin: *tilts head* A while back? Your last review before this one was in February.

Ohirume: *sweat drops* Also, as stated before, I have no intention of dropping this story. Some chapters just take longer than a month to write.

If something happens and I can't post anymore, I WILL post a notice.

Tho I must ask for a roll-call of all the dimension hopping characters. I worked out Faux is Ash from the original anime and Pike is his pikachu and Gem is someone from there too but I truly do not now anybody else (excrpt Ohirume, the writer which I noticed was refered to as Rob a few times). So if you could explain yourselfs that would be nice.

Faux: *chuckles nervously and scratches cheek* Sorry, but that's not exactly who I am. I'm an ancestral inherent zoroark.

Gem: *scratches back of head sheepishly* And Faux and I aren't from the same world.

Ohirume: *holds out hand to the side* There is something in the works that will shed some light on everyone else, but it won't be out for a while.

But until then, "Random-ish stuff on the side" chapter 7 – Omega: johnymike98 collab.

Omega: The collab reveals who Mizuro and I are.

As for the story itself I love the characters and the story itself. I wanted to ask what made you pick mightyena as the pokémon Soot would be. I don't mind that decision, I'm just curious.

Ohirume: *shrugs* No heavily impactful reason, to be honest. I just wanted something more unique.

Riolu/Lucario, Zorua/Zoroark, or almost any other fan-favorite Pokémon would seem like the most obvious choice and have been done in a ton of other stories.

The problem is that most sacrifice believability and logic just to make things cooler. Namely if they're added in on or before day 1.

Don't get me wrong, I love their designs and abilities too and a lot of stories make the 'Ash gets a fan-favorite/something OP very early' concept work. But that number isn't exactly high.

Poochyena/Mightyena are more common, easier to justify, and have hardly been done. Though, the species' natural design definitely helped.

The banette inheritance was some spice mostly built from reading too many Danny Phantom stories. Specifically "Pondus Omnium: The Weight of All Things" by NoSignalBlueScreen and everything from RedHeadRocks1010.

Also 2 more questions and I'll be done. 1: Are the Oramge Island going to be included? I always loved that part of the anime and I've seen some disrespect being thrown its way.

Ohirume: *nods* Oh, yeah. Orange Islands will definitely be covered.

2: If you plan on doing Johto how much of the filler will you cut? Because to be honest there is no way you can include all of it, there's too much and a lot of it is really cringe.

Ohirume: *shrugs* I'll have to re-watch it, myself, and see what can be cut without messing up too much.

I love what you did with dome filler episodes so far tho, like Dark City, but even then I'm pretty sure nobody expects you to go thru it all. And thats all so far, I love this story and I read it twice btw already.

Ohirume: *smiles* Thank you, Red.

.

From Timothy45 (Trix chapter 60):

(This comment has been split up as follows. Not for length, but for convenience)

Great job on the chapter. Hope the pandemic isnt slowing you down much. Also a few questions.
1. Will ash be having any alien encounters before the league or will that be post kanto league?

Ohirume: *smirks* You'll have to wait and see.

2. Since the reboot still included itself as a part of the whole ben 10 omniverse (especially with the recebt special) Think Professor Paradox will make an eventual apperance? Might give you guys some good company.

Seishin: *raises brow* Paradox wasn't in that special.

Ohirume: *shrugs* But his inclusion isn't off the table. Wait and see.

3. Any of the stuff introduces in the reboot you feel likeadding diwn the line in your own unuque way? like the omni-armor and such.

Ohirume: *frowns* Doubtful.

I've already verified that Trix's omnitrix is a prime timeline pre-Omniverse variant. Not a reboot one. Including those modes on a whim would lead to a few logic errors.

Omega: That and Trix doesn't have an omnitrix key.

Ohirume: Now, technically, I could just go with my "Different Dimension, Different Definition" gimmick like I did with the 'all of Trix's forms are male despite logic' concept to make it so he does have access to them. But that seems kinda cheap.

Also, I actually have something else planned for down the line. I don't really wanna give any hints to spoil it but keep an eye out in future chapters.