The Striaton Triple Threat!

"Striaton City, we've finally made it!" Ash's fists were clenched from excitement as his eyes quickly took in the sights.

"This is further than I've ever been before, it's completely new territory for me from here on!" Hilda grinned.

"Well I've been here before!" Iris boasted with a light smirk.

"Really? Well then I assume that you'll lead the way to the Gym then?" Brock asked, the Gym seemed a bit difficult to locate as the building didn't stick out as much as it had in previous regions the two Kanto natives had traveled through.

"I guess," Iris sweated lightly before pointing towards what appeared to be a restaurant. "It's in there."

Ash stared at the restaurant for a moment before quickly turning to look back at Iris. "Look I'm always down for eating delicious foods but that looks like a simple restaurant to me, are you trying to pull my leg again?" He asked while giving her an accusing look.

"I-It's not a trick, honest!" Iris waved her hands defensively. "The Gym is inside the restaurant, the Gym Leaders are chefs! The best in Striaton City and arguably all of Unova!"

"Huh, sounds like you've got competition Brock." Hilda smirked lightly.

"Cooking is an art not a competition. If somebody thinks his cooking is better then I've got no problem with it!" Brock stated while Croagunk croaked out in agreement with his trainer.

"Gym Leaders, eh?" Multiple Gym Leaders wasn't something unheard of, Misty's sisters shared the title of Cerulean Gym before passing it on to her and Liza and Tate ran the Mossdeep Gym together using the art of double battles to challenge a trainer's skill, it was just rare as it wasn't a common occurrence. "I can't wait to see their specialty, my team is eager to earn our first badge!" Ash started to head off for the restaurant before quickly pausing as he realized that he'd forgotten something.

"Oh right, should probably heal my Pokemon first." He sweated.

Directly below the four twerps although they would have no way of knowing were the Rocket Trio, Yamask and Frillish floated behind the three as they made their way through the city's sewer system.

"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Jessie cried out upon accidentally slipping, James had caught her just in time but her left foot still fell into the sewer water. "I've got this yucky sewer water all over my fashionable Team Rocket boot!"

"Meowth, we can just buy ya a new one later!" Meowth rolled his eyes before getting bonked on the head by his female companion.

"They don't sell these in Unova!" She shouted, her voice carrying through the tunnels before James quickly placed his hand over her mouth and cast a cautious look around before shushing her.

"Not yet, it'll only be a matter of time before we've got a branch established here and maybe we can even be the leaders this time!" James exclaimed with an excitable look.

Jessie let out a growl. "We better be, I can't believe our boss let that snobby Cassidy and her partner Bill run the Sinnoh branch. We're the ones who destroyed Team Galactic, we should be the ones in charge!"

"We did get a promotion though, we've been the boss' best field agents since those two got out of the way!" Meowth smirked. "And now we're working to take over a whole new region for him, we'll be our own bosses before long!"

"Right we just have to meet this Pierce bloke, whoever he is." James stated with a light shrug. "I tried looking him up in our Rocket database but can't get much information on him, all I know is that he apparently hails from Unova and that's probably why he got the job."

The wall started rising up next to them as a cloaked figured waved them in. "You three Jessie, James, and Meowth?" He asked.

"Er-Yeah? Whose asking?" James asked before Jessie bonked him on the head.

"Why did you just confirm who we are?! He could be with the international police!"

"Relax, I'm too smart to allow myself to side with those losers. I only work for our clear and obvious future ruler." The man pulled down his hood to reveal a smirk across his face. He appeared to be wearing a black cloak over his uniform much like Jessie and James currently were doing, not that anyone in Unova would know who Team Rocket was but there could always be a stray tourist or traveling trainer that picked them out of a crowd! He had a light skin tone along with long dark blue hair and piercing olive green eyes which looked the three Rocket stooges over before waving his hand. "Come on, it's time to meet your new associates."

The Rocket trio followed him into the next room where they saw Marcus, Johnathan and another individual who wore the signature lab coat that most Rocket scientists wore. He was far older than everyone else present but he had the look of a very intelligent individual! Much like Pierce he had a light skin tone but his hair was grey and short and curly, while his moustache was curved.

"Meet Marcus and Johnathan, they're both recruits we picked up from the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions. They will be perfect backup for your first assignment, we don't expect much opposition but Team Plasma is already making moves so we can't help but be careful." Marcus started sweating while Johnathan gave him a harsh glare. "Dr. Zager is one of our top scientists and will be joining us on our Unova operation, he'll be reading the energy that you collect and let you know when we've got enough. Stealing the source would be easy enough but we can't risk drawing too much attention to ourselves and ruining our plans."

"Stealing energy?" James asked, tilting his head while Meowth and Jessie looked similarly confused.

"Isn't that a bit... beneath us?" Jessie asked.

"It's not just standard energy like electricity or solar energy," Pierce explained. "You see the Pokemon Musharna releases something referred to most as 'Dream Energy', others call it 'Future Energy'. There used to be a facility nearby that experimented on it as their Musharna could release a seemingly endless supply of the stuff without tiring out, they planned on utilizing it as a alternate source of energy but one day Musharna read the dreams of certain individuals within the company and her emotions became scared and anxious, causing her to accidentally blow the entire facility up! The facility remains are just outside of town and from what our scans suggest, she's still there. It is your job to go and siphon enough energy off of her for our future plans!"

"Sir yes sir!" The Rocket trio saluted before looking towards Marcus and Johnathan.

"So-" James began.

"Mind introducing-" Jessie continued.

"Yourselves?" Meowth finished.

"I'm Marcus, the strongest of the strongest and the best looking guy in all of Hoenn!" He smirked, flexing his muscular arms before kissing his muscles as the trio sweated.

"And I'm Johnathan, don't put me in the same boat as him I'm actually quite smart just... eccentric you could say? Despite the two of us not getting along we're actually..."

"Together!" Marcus smirked as he placed his arm around him, his hand resting on his shoulder.

"And that is why I got kicked out, they kicked him out of the Hoenn branch because he wouldn't stop blabbering about his muscles and showing off! They tried to make him wear a shirt as a final warning but he refused so he got banished, we met when we got assigned to the Johto branch and though we've had our ups and downs he's really the best partner that I could ask for."

"Got that right, I could wipe the floor with anyone we go up against!" Marcus laughed.

"Don't be so cocky." Meowth growled out.

"Yeah we know for certain that the twerp that's given us so much trouble over the years is here in Unova and in this very town as we speak!" James exclaimed.

"That so?" Pierce raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah though he's most likely at the Striaton Gym getting a badge." Jessie stated.

Pierce narrowed his eyes before pointing at the door. "Then go, we can't risk him interfering with our plans!"

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym and Cafe, how may we serve you?" Three individuals dressed in waiter garb greeted our four heroes as they entered the building. Despite being triplets they sure didn't look the part, the only similarity between them was their attire and light skin tone. The first had short green hair with the upper part of the front almost resembling a leaf, he had light green eyes. The second's eyes were red and had a fiery look to them, his red hair was fashioned in a way that resembled a fiery flame! The third had blue eyes and blue hair that ran across his face as if it were a stream of water!

"We've got a table large enough for your party right over there!" The red head exclaimed as he pointed towards a rather large table that housed five chairs, enough for all of them and Pikachu!

"Actually the food smells pretty good," Ash sniffed the air and licked his lips as the delicious aroma waved over in his direction. Pikachu gently tapped his shoulder, breaking Ash out of his spell as he was quick to shake his head before continuing. "Er-Actually what I meant to say was I'd love to take a seat but I've actually come to battle the Gym Leaders and I presume that you're the Gym Leaders? If so I'd like to challenge the three of you to a fight!"

"Indeed we are," The green haired waiter spoke. "I'm Cilan, a Pokemon Connoisseur and your opponent if you chose an Oshawott as your starter!"

"And I'm red hot Chili the chick magnet!" The red head boasted, giving Hilda and Iris a smirk. Hilda backed away with a disinterested look but Iris didn't seem to mind much. "If you chose Snivy then I'm your opponent!"

"And I'm Cress, calm as a flowing river stream." The blue haired man calmly spoke. "If you chose Tepig then you'll face me."

"Um," Ash cast the others a confused glance as they all shrugged, unsure of how this would work either considering that Ash's starter was Pikachu combined with the fact that Ash owned all three Unova starters! "I've got all three Unova starters and none were actually my first Pokemon, you see I'm from Pallet Town in the Kanto region and Pikachu here was my first Pokemon!"

Cilan, Chili and Cress looked at one another before whispering to one another as they appeared to be confused as to how to advance as well!

"Well how about this," Cilan proposed. "We'll make an interesting and surprising dish and allow for you to pick your opponent!"

Ash looked between the three with a thoughtful expression, it was a difficult choice to make and he couldn't come with a clean answer. Picking something at random wasn't the right way to go for a Pokemon Master either! "Why not all three of you?" Ash suddenly proposed. Hilda's jaw dropped while Iris facepalmed and shook her head, Brock merely smirked as that was the Ash he knew alright! "You all seem like incredible trainers and I'd love to battle you all!"

The three brothers looked on with surprise, Cilan gave Ash a respectful smirk before turning to face his brothers as they all gave a nod of confirmation.

"Alright we accept," Cress spoke.

"You'll battle us in a series of three one on one battles!" Chili raised his fist as he smirked.

"And once you've beaten two of us, you'll get your badge!" Cilan proposed.

"No deal, I want to win against all three of you!" Ash smirked. "It won't feel like a proper win otherwise!"

The brothers gave each other a nod before Cress spoke up. "Alright then, I'll start us off but first allow us to lead you to the battlefield!" The triplets led Ash and his friends further into the restaurant where a large battlefield was set up with tables set around it so that guests could enjoy their meal while watching a battle if they wished.

"You three can go ahead and eat if you like," Chili offered.

"No thanks, we'll wait on Ash!" Brock stated, Hilda nodded in agreement while Iris gave a light nod but didn't seem to fully agree on that.

"Alright then," Cress took his position on the far end of the battlefield as he turned to lock eyes with Ash as he also got into position. "You may choose whoever you wish, Ash. It's of no concern of ours." Cress offered with a smile.

"In that case, Snivy I choose you!" Snivy burst from her ball and raised her head with a light smirk as she gazed upon Cress and his brothers, remembering them from her previous trainer. He'd failed to beat them so she ditched, she hoped that Ash wouldn't lose or she might have to ditch again! She had faith in him but was fully prepared to throw her emotions for him and the team aside if he failed her!

"Panpour, let's give them a show!" Cress tossed a ball forward which burst open to reveal a blue and tan simian Pokemon, a puffy wave-like crest sat atop the monkey's head as the Pokemon cried out.

"Panpour!"

"Panpour the Spray Pokemon, the water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. Plants that receive its water grow large!"

"Alright Snivy, let's start off with Leer!" Snivy responded by leering at Panpour.

"Lick." Cress clapped his hand as Panpour stuck out his tongue and gave Snivy a lick, she began shaking in response and looked a bit grossed out while static electricity flowed through her arms and legs. "Now use Scratch."

"Dodge it!" Ash commanded, Snivy attempted to but found herself stuck in place due to paralysis allowing for Panpour to easily scratch her!

"Try another Leer then follow up with Leaf Tornado!"

Snivy cast off a leer and appeared to be successful in her next attack as well, her tail began shining a bright green color before the large swirling tornado of green energy appeared at the end of it. Snivy gave Panpour a focused expression before firing off the tornado at him, it flew across the field and sucked Panpour directly into it before battering the blue monkey around within and shortly sending him flying out moments later! Panpour let out a cry as he flew across the battlefield before landing in a defeated slump as Cilan raised his arm.

"Panpour is unable to battle, Snivy wins!"

Cress returned Panpour with a light smile. "No worries Panpour, you did your best."

"And now for me, I can't wait to give you a taste of my eva-" Cilan was interrupted as Chili had already eagerly rushed to take Cress' place, even pushing his brothers aside in his excitement.

"Now it's my turn! Let's show them our fiery heart, Pansear!"

A Pokemon that greatly resembled Panpour came bursting out but unlike Panpour, he was red and tan with a swirly tuft atop his head that almost resembled a flame!

"Pansear the High Temp Pokemon, when it is angered the temperature of its head tuft reaches 600 degrees! It uses its tuft to roast berries."

"Snivy return," Ash recalled Snivy to her Pokeball before reaching for the one containing Oshawott. "Oshawott I choose you!"

"Oshawott!" Oshawott burst out with an eager expression as he locked eyes with Pansear.

"Tail Whip!"

"Osha!" Oshawott turned his back to Pansear and began wagging his tail in a cute fashion.

"Leer then use Sunny Day!" Ash had a brief puzzled expression as he wondered what sort of game Chili was attempting to play here. Pansear leered at Oshawott as bright sunlight began pouring down upon the battlefield!

"Water Gun!" Oshawott opened his mouth and sprayed Pansear with a light stream of water, Pansear let out an annoyed cry as he shielded his eyes.

"Solar Beam!"

"Dodge-" Pansear was quick to move, holding his paws together before firing off a huge blast of solar energy that flew across the field before exploding! Oshawott was sent blasting into the air before landing in a defeated slump before Ash with swirls in his eyes as he groaned in defeat.

"Oshawott..." He groaned out.

Chili couldn't help but smirk and boast about his victory as he gave Hilda and Iris a certain look, Hilda looked away with a disinterested expression once more but Iris couldn't help but blush lightly. "You see I used to travel around with this friend of mine and he helped me realize that a good way to compensate for type disadvantage is to teach your Pokemon an attack that is super effective against those that your regular attacks won't do much good against! Then thanks to Cilan here I was able to teach Pansear how to use Solar Beam!"

"Pansear!"

Ash recalled Oshawott as he stroked his chin thoughtfully, pondering over who his third Pokemon should be while Hilda glanced back at Chili upon hearing his explanation.

"That friend wouldn't happen to be named Zach would he?" Hilda questioned with an interested expression. "I'm his sister."

"Oh shit, you're his sister!?" Chili exclaimed before quickly bowing his head with an apologetic expression. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know! Sorry but I don't date my friend's sisters, that can never end well!"

"That's okay, I actually wasn't interested in you. No offense! I-I just wanted to know if... has he called you recently?" Hilda questioned only for Chili to shake his head.

"We haven't spoken since he won the Unova League, sorry." Hilda lowered her head as Brock and Iris placed their hands on her shoulders to comfort her.

"Tepig I choose you!"

"Tepig!" Tepig burst from his ball, flames emitting out from his nostrils as he cast Pansear a light glare.

A dozing pink and purple tapir-like Pokemon levitated in the middle of the ruins of an old building, her eyes were closed shut as she appeared to be sleeping and a thick pink mist emitted out from a small hole atop her head.

"Is that Musharna?" Meowth asked.

"Hm, let me check my cards." James quickly looked through the Unova deck of cards that he'd purchased shortly after their arrival in the region.

"Yes, that's Musharna alright!"

"Perfect, Musharna you're mine!" Marcus grinned as he released an Onix. The Onix let out a roar before wrapping itself around Musharna and choking it as Marcus and Johnathan formed a sadistic smirk.

"What the hell are you doing?! It was sleeping before, we could literally have just stood here and taken the energy without it ever knowing!" Jessie shouted out.

"Yeah, there's no need for violence!" James shouted as Meowth nodded in agreement with his three friends.

"Please, we're just ensuring that Musharna can't escape." Johnathan rolled his eyes. "Pierce doesn't accept botched operations, we're saving our hides and yours! You're not the first we've worked with and you probably won't be the last!"

The Rocket trio continued to glare at them but didn't dare make a move unless they attempted to eliminate the Pokemon when they were done. Meowth began looking rather dizzy and dozy as the mist was quickly covering the area and rapidly expanding towards the city, James noticed and fished out a face mask from his pocket before covering Meowth's mouth and nostril with it causing Meowth to quickly return to normal.

"Tail Whip!" Tepig turned and began wagging his tail cutely in Pansear's direction.

"Leer then use Scratch!" Pansear cast a leer at Tepig before leaping forward and giving him a scratch!

"Tepig!" Tepig cried out.

"Tepig use Tail Whip again and follow up with Tackle!" Tepig began wagging his tail again before quickly charging at Pansear and pinning the monkey against the ground! Pansear was quick to go limp as swirls appeared in his eyes shortly upon impact, a groan escaped the monkey's mouth as he laid in defeat.

Chili hung his head as Cilan raised up his arm. "Pansear is unable to battle, Tepig wins!" As Chili left the field Cilan was quick to take his place before holding up his finger. "Now if you don't mind it's evaluation time!"

"Oh boy."

"Here we go." His brothers groaned out.

"Your Pokemon and you make quite the excitable recipe, their personalities are so different from your own yet you all get along so well and that really shows on the battlefield! Unfortunately however that might not be enough to beat the bond that Pansage and I share, Pansage let's show them what we've got!"

"Pansage!" A green and tan monkey burst out with a tuft in the shape of a leaf atop his head, the monkey gazed in Tepig's direction with a rather calm and almost happy look to it despite the disadvantage!

"Pansage the Grass Monkey Pokemon, he shares the leaf on his head with weary looking Pokemon. These leaves are known to relieve stress!"

"Tail Whip then follow up with Ember!" Tepig wagged his tail before firing off some fiery sparks at Pansage, pelting him with the ember as the monkey let out a pained grunt.

"Lick!" Pansage gave Tepig a quick lick, the pig's body shook as sparks appeared on his legs. Ash clenched his fists as these brothers really weren't fooling around!

"Fury Swipes!" Pansage leaped at Tepig and began furiously slashing and scratching at Tepig.

"Ember again!" Tepig's nostrils flared up but failed to fire off the attack as he suddenly flinched from the pain.

"Leech Seed!" Pansage threw some seeds at Tepig that quickly grew into vines which wrapped around Tepig and began draining away his energy while Pansage began to look healthier!

"Tepig use Ember, quick!"

Tepig's nostrils flared up as he fired off the sparks, the attack flew through the air and struck Pansage as the grass monkey began flailing his arms about as his body caught on fire, rolling around on the battlefield as he snuffed out the flame!

Cilan snapped his fingers as Pansage began seeping away more of Tepig's health "Let's end this with Fury Swipes!"

"Ember as he approaches!"

"Tepig!" Tepig's nostrils sparked up but quickly died out as he fell to his knees, Pansage was quick to begin scratching away at him before Tepig fell over in defeat as his eyes turned to swirls. "Tepig..."

"Tepig is unable to battle, Pansage wins." Cress spoke up.

"No fair, I wanted to say that!" Chili shouted.

Ash returned Tepig with a smile. "You did great out there Tepig, Snivy will finish things from here." He looked up before throwing the ball containing his trusty grass snake. "Snivy I choose you!"

"Snivy!" Snivy burst from her ball once more with a prideful smirk.

"Attract!" It was time to fight fire with fire as Snivy performed a seductive posed that enamored Pansage whose eyes turned to hearts as he began drooling at the sight of her.

"Now launch yourself into the air with Vine Whip and Tackle him!"

"Dodge that!"

"Pansage!" Pansage ignored Cilan and continued to drool and admire Snivy.

"Sni!" Snivy launched herself up with her vines before projecting her aim at Pansage as she fired herself in his direction before quickly pinning the grass monkey to the ground as she slammed into him. The two slid across the battlefield floor before Pansage came to a collapsed heap beneath Snivy, swirls in his eyes as Pikachu and Ash let out an excited shout.

"Alright, we did it!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Snivy!" Snivy raised up her head and smirked, feeling grateful that she won this time around as she really liked Ash and didn't want to leave him.

Cilan returned Pansage but didn't look upset at all, merely clapping his hands as a smile crossed his and his brother's faces. "Well done Ash, you're the first one to challenge all three of us."

"And win at that, thought I had you for a moment there!" Chili smirked.

"You are definitely worthy of the Trio Badge," Cress said as he held out his hand, offering up a golden badge that was shaped like a bowtie and had the colors of all three brother's specialty in the middle of it.

"And you better win the Unova League or you'll be sorry!" Chili added on.

Ash took the badge with a smile before nodding at the three brothers in appreciation as he held up the badge. "Alright we just got... the Trio Badge!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Snivy!" Snivy smirked while Iris groaned and silently shook her head.

"Such a kid..."

"I hate to say it Brock but this food rivals yours!" Hilda exclaimed as both Iris and Ash were stuffing their faces with the food that the brothers had cooked up for them.

"Like I said before, not a competition. Cooking is just a hobby of mine not a profession!" Brock laughed. The only way his mind would likely change was if a cute girl he was interested in commented on their cooking.

Not long after they finished up the food and thanked the triplets who bowed in appreciation from their kind words.

"No no, thank you for the great battle Ash." Cress smiled at the raven haired boy.

"Yeah, it was awesome! I hope we can battle each other again someday!" Chili exclaimed as he pumped his fists, his eyes flaring with excitement while Cilan silently watched Ash and his friends leave the restaurant with a look of longing before a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"We'll be sure to stop by if we're ever in the area again, see ya-" Ash waved before him and Hilda suddenly began looking quite tired as purple mist flew into the restaurant upon it's doors opening up, both of them shortly collapsing to the restaurant floor along with Axew, Pikachu and Croagunk as the others let out an alarmed shout of concern while the triplets were quick to rush over to aid the fallen trainers.

"Ugh my head, where am I?" Ash asked as he rubbed his head before opening his eyes to discover that he was in a dreamscape of some kind, purple clouds covered the blackened sky and a pink mist covered up his surroundings.

"Pi..." Pikachu soon stirred before finding himself on his shoulder. "Pika pi?!"

"I'm not sure what's going on either, one second we were fine the next we just passed out. What's up with that?"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu was quick to point out a pink bubble that flew through the fog before popping open to reveal a familiar sight, the Pokemon known as Mew!

"Hiya!" Mew cheerfully waved at Ash before tilting her head. "What brings you to my home?"

"Your home?"

"Pika?" Ash and Pikachu gave each other a look before looking back at Mew.

"And where are we exactly?"

"Dream World."

"What?"

"Pi?"

"It's a special place that Pokemon and aura wielders used to access in their dreams a long time ago but that art has long since died out so I have this whole land all to myself!" Mew giggled out.

"Aura wielders? Wait, I have aura so is that how I got here?" Ash asked only for Mew to shrug.

"Honestly I don't know, I'm not to interfere with the chosen one's path so I've stopped spying on you for awhile." Mew blinked before waving her tail lightly. "Though I can show you a brief visualization of what's to come if you like with my Future Sight!"

"Future Sight? But isn't that inter-"

"It's still a possible future silly," Mew smirked, winking at Ash before touching his and Pikachu's noses with her fingers. A series of brief images flashed quickly through Ash's brain, first he saw what appeared to be Team Plasma and Team Rocket battling it out in a desert somewhere before the scene advance to a large creature rising out of a meteor before freezing some unknown individual before the ice shattered apart and annihilated the person inside, followed quickly by an image of him and his current group traveling through the snowy mountains although there were two additional members which he recognized as Cilan and the other as Hilda's brother which was followed by the setting of the Unova League where he saw Bianca and Cheren standing opposite him alongside some trainers he hadn't met yet, one had hair like a Qwilfish and had a Liepard standing at his side, another had dirty blond hair and had a large Snivy-like serpent Pokemon wrapped around his leg, the next was notably younger and had spiked brown hair along with a headband while a different Lucario stood by his side, followed by what appeared to be a Pokemon ranger with an Eevee sitting atop his shoulder. Ash could only assume that those were rivals he'd yet to meet! The final image was that of a faraway region where Ash stood with a honey blonde girl, Brock, and a blonde inventor!

Ash blinked in confusion for a moment before looking at Mew as she giggled out. "I think your friends are trying to wake you now."

Hilda awoke to find herself in a similar position, her eyes darting around the dreamscape as she found herself alone. "Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing through the empty wasteland. Hilda narrowed her eyes and tried pinching herself awake as she wondered if this was just another nightmare. What she found strange was that this didn't wake her up, almost as if she was consciously present in whatever land this was.

"Hello? Anyone know where I am?!" Hilda called out, nobody answered her but she did see a figure running in the distance although it didn't appear to be running from her. Hilda quickly sped off in pursuit, summoning all the energy she had as she quickly gave chase. Pursuing the figure through the dreamscape wasteland before eventually cornering them as they came to a halt in an alley way. "Hey, I was shouting at you! Why did you keep running away from me? You got something to hide?"

"Flame Charge!"

"Zeb!" The alley way lit up to reveal Zebstrika as the flame cloaked zebra Pokemon charged at Hilda causing her to quickly leap out of the way before shouting out. "What the heck was that for?!"

"Discharge!" Zebstrika turned around and fired off several sparks of electricity, giving Hilda quite the shock as she felt the electricity flowing through her bones.

"A-Aaaah!"

"...Stop." Zebstrika soon disappeared in a cloud of mist as the figure stepped out from the shadows and looked her over. "Hilda...? Oh Arceus, they got you too didn't they?!"

Hilda's eyes widened as she was met by the sight of her brother, he looked completely different, taller and his voice was deeper than when they'd last talked but that was perfectly reasonable as she'd grown as well during that time! "You're alive!" She threw her arms around him as tears began to flow from her eyes while a large smile formed across her face. "I knew it, I knew it!"

Zach wrapped his arms around her as he stared off into the distance. "I am but I might as well be dead." The shadows faded away to reveal the smashed remains of Pokeballs. "My closest friends are all dead and I'm trapped here forced to see it happening over and over again! Months and months, years and years of it..." Not to mention the fact Skyla probably hated his guts now, his feelings for her had faded while trapped in this prison but he still felt an immense amount of guilt despite it not being his fault. There had been brief seconds where he escaped before falling back into his prison but the first was only recently when he learned of Hilda still being in Unova.

"Lucario..." Hilda lowered her head. Neither knowing that the jackal was actually still alive at this time. "Who did this to you?!" She growled out. "I'll make sure they pay!"

"Ghetsis... it's pointless though, he's already won. We're both his slaves now."

"Ghetsis...? That Team Plasma prick?!" Hilda growled out as she spat venom from her mouth. "I'll make him pay as soon as I get out of here, rest assured!"

"You think I haven't tried? I've tried to get out to make sure that you... that he did nothing to you. It's pointless." Zach collapsed to his knees before staring up at the sky. "I always dreamt of being a champion, I could have been the youngest champion ever! I had other plans too, plans to settle down with a nice girl someday and also buy you a crate of Lava Cookies but it's funny how things work out, I'm stuck as a mind controlled puppet with no means of accomplishing any of that! Not that it'd make any difference either way, it won't be the same without Lucario and the others."

"Hold up, those cookies were on your thought this whole time?!" Hilda blinked as a warm smile crossed her face.

"Of course, I promised you didn't I? Frustrating that I couldn't keep that promise but I had no intention of breaking it."

Hilda threw her arms around him once more while leaning her head up against her brother's. "I'm not a slave and I promise that you won't be for long either, I'll track you down and free you from your prison!"
Zach's eyes widened upon hearing that before he quickly shook his head. "Forget about me, save yourself. I don't want him capturing you as well or worse!"

"I can't do that, I already promised you." Hilda smiled before kissing her brother on the cheek. "I'll see you soon, big bro!"

Ash and Hilda awakened to find themselves in a lab of some kind as they looked around before spotting Brock, Iris and Cilan looking over them with concerned expressions while a feminine figure in a lab coat quickly raced about the room in a hurry.

"What's up?" Ash asked as he rubbed his head.

"You've been passed out for over an hour!" Iris exclaimed with a visible look of concern as she reached to touch his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Why did the mist even work on these two?" Brock questioned. "Every other human we've seen is just fine including us! Why were these two excluded?"

"Do any of them happen to have aura bloodlines?" The researcher asked as she adjusted her glasses. Brock glanced at Ash before nodding for him.

"I can't speak for Hilda but Ash does."

"I-I have no idea what you mean by that but my brother does have a rather unusual closeness to his Lucario partner." Hilda stated lightly, avoiding touching the subject of what she saw for now.

"Aha, you are from one then!" The researcher grinned before extending her hand to shake theirs. "The name's Fennel, I'm a top researcher for Dream Energy and the one that everyone turned to during this crisis." Fennel then hung her head before looking out the window towards the Dream yard. "I believe that my old friend Musharna is causing this but she wouldn't be doing this on purpose."

"Mun!" A pink tapir-like Pokemon with a purple floral design across it's body levitated next to her.

"Munna the Dream Eater Pokemon, Munna always float in the air. People whose dreams are eaten by them forget what the dreams had been about!"

Hilda was quick to edge away from it upon Ash's Pokedex reading out it's data.

"Musharna the Drowsing Pokemon and the evolved form of Munna, with the mist from its forehead it can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten."

"Munna and Musharna, eh?" Ash asked as Fennel gave a light nod.

"Can you guys please go check on her? She should be in the ruins just outside of town, I'd go myself but I should really stay here and help with this crisis. Oh and you'll want to wear these!" She handed Ash and Hilda some face masks before giving one to Pikachu, Croagunk and Axew as well. "To avoid falling back asleep, the rest of you should be good to go!"

"I'd like to help you guys out!" Cilan spoke up. "This is my city and if there's trouble then I'm not going to sit back and do nothing!"

"That's the spirit!" Ash clenched his fists. "We're happy to have you with us Cilan!" He remembered the image Mew showed him of Cilan being part of the group, perhaps this was where Cilan joined up with them?

"Do be careful though with all the mist it's hard to tell what exactly is out there."

"Just a little bit longer and... done!" Dr. Zager's voice spoke through the communication device. "Now get out of there stat!"

"Yes sir!" Jessie, James and Meowth gave a salute despite him not being there, James lugged the vacuum onto his back as he turned to face Marcus and Johnathan.

"You two gonna let that poor thing go now?" He asked.

"Heh, nah! I'm gonna end it so it can't squeal!" Marcus smirked.

"Besides can't risk Team Plasma getting their dirty hands on it!" Johnathan added as the Rocket trio looked sickened.

"You can't do that, it's a living being!" James shouted.

"Besides whose gonna hear it 'squeal' without me or another talking Pokemon around to translate!" Meowth hissed out.

"Yeah, so let it go right now!" Jessie threatened as she waved her fist at the two of them.

"Sorry but we gotta make sure the boss man wins, I'm sure you understand." Marcus laughed, not seeming the least bit sorry.

"No, we don't understand." James growled out as Yamask and Frillish took their position before their trainers.

"Let her go..."

"Right now!" Meowth hissed out as he activated his Shadow Claw attack, having managed to learn some new attacks while the Rocket trio were training despite his previous seeming inability to do so, turned out it was just laziness!

"Onix!" Marcus smirked as the rock snake began squeezing the air out of Musharna.

"I don't think so, Shadow Ball!" Yamask fired off a shadowy ball of static energy at the rock snake.

"Water Pulse!" Frillish blasted a powerful pulse of water from her mouth, striking the rock snake and causing it to let out a pained roar before releasing Musharna as it fell face forward against the ground with a loud thud!

"Musha!" Musharna flew over to the Rocket Trio before hiding behind Jessie.

"Musharna is joining Team Rocket, you're not killing her!" Jessie growled out as she turned to Musharna, Marcus and Johnathan didn't look pleased but they raised up their hands in defeat and turned to head back. "Would you like to join us Musharna? We'll make sure those meanies don't hurt you again!"

"Mushar!" Musharna cried out before tapping the ball with her snout, disappearing in a beam of red light right as Ash and his friends showed up!

"Team Rocket?! I should have known!" Ash growled out, quickly throwing out his arm as he ordered out an attack. "Thunderbolt!"

"Not today twerp!" As the ball chimed out the Rocket trio threw down smoke pellets, covering up their escape.

"Rufflet!"

"Pidove!" Ash and Hilda released their Flying types to clear up the smoke but they were already too late as Team Rocket made their escape!

"Musharna was... stolen?" Fennel looked saddened as Ash and his friends explained what happened, not knowing the whole truth about what had occurred. Technically it wasn't stolen as it was wild and willingly went with Jessie.

"We're sorry we couldn't stop it, Team Rocket was already making their escape when we got there!" Ash lowered his head in apology as Officer Jenny raised up an eyebrow.

"Hold up, did you just say Team Rocket?! I heard about them, they're the organization that is terrorizing the Kanto region! They must be planning on establishing a base here in the Unova region!" She exclaimed while pounding her palm with a fist. "We can potentially nab the big fish after all these years! And get you that Musharna back!"

"I promise you Fennel, Team Rocket won't set up a base here I assure you!" Ash promised before staring off. It'd been quite some time since he dealt with two different organizations, if it was just the trio he wouldn't suspect much but there were also those other two Marcus and Johnathan? Along with who knows how many others! He couldn't help but get a rather grim feeling as to what would happen if Team Plasma and Team Rocket clashed!

After healing up their Pokemon and staying the night at the local Pokemon Center, Ash and his friends went to enjoy a nice breakfast at Cilan's restaurant before setting off for Nacrene City and Ash's second gym battle!

Hilda looked rather tired as she sat at the table, constantly leaning forward while her eyes kept closing shut. She'd hardly slept a wink all night as she thought about her brother and tried thinking of how to track him down, he had to be in the region somewhere if Team Plasma had him and she wouldn't rest until she found him!

Ash was eating although notably less than usual as his thoughts were focused on both the villainous organizations however his thoughts were thankfully diverted as Cilan approached the table and began speaking up with a light cough. "So you guys are traveling through Unova together right?"

"Right!" Ash exclaimed with a light smile as he seemed to know where this was headed.

"Well would you like a guide? I'm not just a Pokemon Connoisseur you see, I'm also a Connoisseur at reading maps and can safely lead you from one city to the next!" Cilan boasted lightly as he tapped his chest. "Plus I can treat you to some more of my evaluations!"

"Please take him with you." Cress pleased.

"And I can work towards becoming an S ranked Connoisseur!" Cilan shouted out as he punched at the air, Pansage copying his trainer's action as he stood alongside him.

Ash looked towards Brock and Iris who nodded in response, showing their approval of the addition to their group as Ash formed a large smile before holding out his hand to shake Cilan's. "Welcome to the group Cilan, we're happy to have you!"

Cilan grinned before bowing his head in appreciation. "Thank you, I'll do my best to make sure you don't regret this!"

"Well done you three," Pierce complimented the Rocket trio as they returned and handed him the vacuum full of dream energy. "We'll make good use of this real soon, until then I want you to report to Nacrene City where I'll meet up with you and give you your next assignment."

"Sir yes sir!" The Rocket trio saluted, though they looked notably more uneasy than they had been before.

Ash earned his first badge in the Unova region along with a new friend!

And Team Rocket is making moves while bolstering their own numbers with Musharna joining their ranks!

Next time: The Daycare Liberation, Team Plasma strikes!