A New Friend

Chargestone Cave was quite the unusual sight as there were various large rocks that glowed an electric blue and appeared to spark off electricity spread throughout the cave. Axew curiously tapped a stone and let out a loud shriek that carried throughout the cave as he was given quite the electrical shock before Ash quickly released Krokorok who safely pulled Axew away from the rock.

"Don't touch anything else!" Iris scolded Axew for a brief moment before pulling the small Dragon back into her arms. "You could have gotten seriously hurt!"

"Axew ew!" Axew cried into her arms as he apologized, shaking from fear as he avoided looking at the sparking rocks.

"We should probably get going, Axew is sure to have drawn out a Pokemon or two." Brock was quickly proven correctly as a large silver rock went flying towards them causing Brock and the others to quickly dive down to the ground to avoid the attack! The culprit soon showed himself as a blue quadrupedal being made of rock appeared in front of them, large red crystals jutted out from various places on his body. It's red eyes focused upon the group with an enraged expression as he stomped his feet against the ground in preparation for another attack!

"A Rock type!" Ash exclaimed with clenched fists as an eager expression was quick to sweep across his face. "I could really use one of those, Mienfoo I choose you!"

"Foo!" Mienfoo burst from her ball and waved her fist at Gigalith in an challenging manner. Gigalith let out a growl as his red crystals started to glow before a blast of red energy poured out of them, combining into a big blast of energy as it soared towards Mienfoo!

"Power Gem!" Hilda gasped out, everyone quickly dove to the floor once more as Ash ordered Mienfoo to dodge, the Fighting type cartwheeled to the side and quickly resumed a combat stance as she locked eyes with Gigalith.

"Foo!"

"Focus Blast!"

Mienfoo used a different attack however, having seen Lucario in action during a very brief training session that Hilda had had with her brother had inspired the Fighting type. She clamped her paws together as a sphere of aura began forming between them, Ash's eyes widened as he realized what the attack was but remained silent as Mienfoo fired off the powerful aura blast! The attack burst and exploded upon making impact with Gigalith, the Rock type collapsed to the ground in defeat, swirls in his eyes while Pikachu and Ash cheered their teammate on.

"Way to go Mienfoo, you were awesome!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Foo!" Mienfoo crossed her arms as she gave Ash a smirk of acknowledgement shortly before her body became engulfed in a blue light. Her yellow and red fur began fading away while her primary color was now white with bits of purple coloring on various parts of her body such as her entire body from the waist down which wasn't much as her upper body was quite long! The ends of her long fur covered arms had purple markings while a smaller similar purple mark stood at the end of her tail! Strands of purple fur were present above her eyes while a pair of long furry whiskers had grown upon her cheeks!

"Mienshao!"

"Mienshao the Martial Arts Pokemon and the evolution of Mienfoo, it wields the fur on its arms like a whip. It's arm attacks come with such rapidity that they cannot even be seen!"

"Sounds like we'll have quite the exciting battles together!" Ash grinned at Mienshao who gave her trainer a light bow before he turned his attention back to Gigalith while enlarging a Pokeball. "And let's see what the Pokedex has to say about this one!" He threw the ball with one hand while his other activated the scanning function on his Pokedex once more.

"Gigalith the Compressed Pokemon, compressing the energy from its internal core lets it fire off an attack capable of blowing away a mountain!"

The ball smacked Gigalith and the Rock type proceeded to disappear in a beam of red light as the ball hit the ground and quickly began to shake. The ball let out a chime a few seconds afterwards to confirm the capture a success!

"Alright we just caught a Gigalith!"

"Pi Pikachu!" Ash and Pikachu posed, Mienshao remained on alert however and quickly raced off as she sensed a Pokemon nearby.

"Mienshao, something wrong?"

"Shao!" Mienshao pointed around the corner as a round shadow could be seen bouncing towards them. Mienshao quickly lunged at it before they could see whatever it was giving her a harsh serving of double slap! Mienshao collapsed on the spot as Jigglypuff revealed herself, a bright smile appearing across her face as she noticed an audience!

"Jigglypuff!" She joyfully cried out.

"Jigglypuff! Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash threw out his arm as he intended on catching her this time!

"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks began sparking as Jigglypuff held up her mic and began singing into it, Pikachu's cheeks began to calm as his eyes drooped.

"Jigglypuff, jiggaly lyy puf! Jiggaly puff, jigggaly!"

"Oh no, not her singing... not again..." Hilda groaned out as the five trainers along with Pikachu and Krokorok collapsed as they fell into a deep slumber. Jigglypuff continued singing for a few minutes before an eye eventually opened and she caught sight of her sleeping audience causing her to puff out her cheeks as she whipped out her marker and began rapidly drawing upon their faces!

Hilda's dreams consisted of both her brother and N as even in her dreams she wondered where the two people she loved most were.

Zach's eyes shot open as he felt somebody placing food in his mouth, flashbacks of Team Plasma doing the same to him before they brainwashed him flashed through his head and he quickly pushed out his arms as he expected to find himself back at Plasma Castle only for his eyes to be greeted by the sight of quite the lovely looking villa along with quite the beautiful individual who was most certainly not Team Plasma, or perhaps that's what his hormones were telling him. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously for a moment as the girl rubbed her head before looking up at him with a slightly annoyed expression.

"The heck was that for, I saved your life!"

"Pip Piplup!" A blue penguin Pokemon that Zach had never seen before angrily leaped up and down.

"S-Sorry, so sorry! I-I thought you were Team Plasma, I-I didn't hurt you did I?" Zach raised his eyebrow while offering her his hand as he helped pull her back up to her feet.

"Team Plasma? So Unova has crazy lunatics wanting to take over the world too, eh?" The girl's words confirmed what Zach assumed, she was definitely not from here. "Why would Team Plasma be after you?"

"I-It's a really long story, I don't want to bother you with the details." Zach looked away from her, mostly he just didn't want the girl to assume he was lying nor did he want her pity. "I-I should go-Ah!" He attempted to stand up only to fall on one of his knees as it gave out. "R-Really shouldn't have taken that short cut..." He growled out.

"Well you aren't going anywhere on that leg, why don't you rest up here? I'm visiting a friend but she had to leave on account of champion business, perfectly understandable but it's so boring waiting for her to return and I could use the company! Besides from what I gather neither you or that Lucario of yours can cook!" The girl lightly giggled out as Zach tilted his head.

"You know what a Lucario is?"

"Of course, I come from Sinnoh silly! You're in the champion's villa!"

"C-Cynthia's villa?!" Zach's eyes lit up as he attempted to stand back up only to quickly fall back onto his knee. "I-I should go, I'm not worthy enough to be in her presence let alone her villa!"

The blue haired girl grabbed hold of his arms before pushing him back onto the couch. "You're going to make your injury worst, just relax! You don't have to stay if you don't want to but I'm sure a friendly face will be better than the lonely white walls of a Pokemon Center room!" Zach remained silent as he was inwardly torn, he was attempting to avoid making friends out of a fear that he'd lose them but there was also a part of him that was craving company as he spent years trapped within his own mind with nobody to talk to.

Lucario silently flickered his gaze between the two before Zach softly spoke out. "O-Okay, I'll stay... but once I'm able to go, I'm going. I-I'm Zach by the way!"

"Zach, huh?" The girl tilted her head. "Pleased to meet you Zach, my name's Dawn!"

"Dawn... that's a nice name." Zach faintly smiled before blushing as his stomach rumbled loudly. Dawn let out a light giggle before pointing towards the nearby table where food rested on a plate.

"That's for you, I-I hope you don't mind but I had to feed you and Lucario in your sleep as you two were well... incapable of doing so." Dawn rubbed the back of her neck as she gave off a sheepish smile.

"Piplup..." Piplup cast Lucario a glare as he remembered the jackal yeeting him out the open window upon waking up. Lucario flashed him an apologetic look but the penguin only crossed his flippers as he turned his back to the jackal.

"Thank you for that... you saved our lives so I guess we owe you one..." Zach released a light sigh as he began digging into the food.

"Oh don't worry about that, I don't mind at all! I couldn't just leave you-" Dawn waved her arms in front of her before a huge blush crossed her face as Zach let out a pleased groan upon feeling the food touching his tongue.

"It's the best thing I tasted in years!" Dawn glowed bright red as it was the first time anyone had complimented her food let alone gave it such praise.

"T-Thank you, I-I haven't really cooked for other people before. I-I didn't even know how until my friend Brock parted ways with me and Ash," The mention of those two caused Zach to briefly pause as he looked towards her. She knew Brock and Ash?! "Brock taught me how to cook before we parted ways and I've been cooking for myself ever since, really helps out since I travel alone now which is admittingly rather lonely." She chuckled before gazing towards the ground. Zach smiled lightly before placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I-I know how that feels, I haven't seen my traveling companions in over five years!"

Lucario flicked his eyes between the two as he silently continued to watch.

"Oh you've been traveling the world too?" Dawn asked while Zach paled lightly before looking away from her.

"Y-You could say that..."

A few weeks had passed and Zach's leg had recovered just enough that he could stand properly for a few minutes. He turned his gaze towards the bedroom where Dawn was sleeping, the two of them had forged a friendship over the past few weeks and Zach didn't deny that he was starting to feel a way towards her that he never thought he'd feel again after forcefully bailing on Skyla. He'd have liked to stay and continue their friendship, perhaps even advance it further but his thoughts kept drifting towards his dream. He couldn't bare dragging Dawn into his life only for her to get hurt, or for him to wind up missing out on a date with her as Team Plasma either captured him again or worse.

"Sorry Dawn but I've got to go..." He softly muttered as he silently opened the door to the villa and stepped on out. Piplup's eye jerked open as he heard the front door opening, the penguin quickly looked out the window and saw Zach walking down the beach with a light limp to his step while Lucario quickly walked alongside him.

"Pip Piplup!" He cried out.

"Huh? Piplup what's going on?!" Dawn quickly shot from her bed before following her partner Pokemon's gaze as he pointed frantically out the window. Dawn frowned as she felt slightly betrayed by the sight, it was clear the two were both feeling lonely and they'd become such good friends that Dawn had been considering asking if he'd like her to be his traveling companion. She felt feelings towards him that she'd never felt for another individual before! Dawn's gaze turned to his leg as he continued limping causing her to let out a sigh. "Come on, let's make sure he at least gets out of town."

"That ocean breeze sure feels nice, doesn't it...?" Zach stopped for a moment as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of the ocean breeze hitting his skin, the sound of waves hitting the water surface filling the air. Lucario joined his trainer and in his moment of relaxation he failed to realize the arrival of several individuals clad in black.

"There you are, the former Black Knight!" Zach's eyes widened, he'd never met the individual but he had recalled hearing Ghetsis speak to them on a few occasions. He turned his head and was greeted by the sight of Pierce who now wore black robes with purple swirls dotted across it along with the Team Plasma emblem on the center of his outfit. He didn't recognize the grunts other than the one simply known as Scar. "You've outlived your usefulness and Ghetsis can't have you running around least you interfere with his plans, it's time to put you in the ground where you belong!"

"Excadrill use Drill Run!"

"Excadrill!" The mole Pokemon began rapidly spinning before blasting across the beachy ground as he made his way towards Lucario!

"Tri Punch!"

"Tri Punch?! You didn't tell us that it was him!" A Plasma grunt gasped out as one of Lucario's fists glowed an icy blue while the other a fiery red, the jackal punched at the charging Excadrill only for his blows to be little more than a tap! Zach and Lucario let out a gasp as Scar laughed.

"Lucario was starved for years while you were brainwashed, you really think he's still level 80?! What a dumbass!"

Excadrill slammed against Lucario and the jackal immediately fell to his back, swirls present in his eyes as he laid in defeat. Pierce looked towards Zach's belt before letting out a laugh. "Even your sister is stronger than you now, you really shouldn't have left the group cause now we're gonna ensure that you don't escape. You're the one who let Kyurem out so only you can seal him away, if you die then he's never getting sealed away! Haxorus isn't here to save you this time!" Pierce laughed as Zach found himself and his downed Lucario surrounded by various Pokemon including Watchog, Krookodile, Liepard, Excadrill and Scar's Ferrothorn! Zach looked around before lowering his head as he accepted his defeat, least this way he'd ensure that Hilda wouldn't get hurt.

"But I am, Whirlpool!"

"Who dares?!" Pierce shouted before he and the others would themselves muffled out as a large whirlpool circled around Zach and scooped all the Team Plasma members along with their Pokemon up before sending them flying away!

Zach looked up as he wondered who had saved him only to feel his heart quickly beat as he saw Dawn and Piplup looking at him, regret quickly filling him as he lowered his head once more. "Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye..."

Dawn gazed after the Team Plasma members before looking back towards him. "They had you two held prisoner..? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I didn't want to bother you with it..." Zach looked away from her. "I-I wanted to protect you from the truth, p-part of me wanted to tell you as the weeks went by but I was afraid that you'd simply think I was making it up for attention."

"So you do like me then?" Dawn tilted her head as she wondered why he left. "I thought that the friendship might have just been an act when you left like you did."

"I-It's not! Y-You're the first friend I've made in years!" And that was the truth as he'd only ever spoken a few words to Hilda's friends. Zach looked up and flashed her a genuine smile before turning back towards the ground. "I left because I... I was worried that you might get hurt! That I might lose you like I lost Haxorus, Zebstrika, Beartic and all the others!" He sniffled lightly, feeling tears coming as he remembered Haxorus' death, though it had been almost three months it still hurt and probably always would!

Dawn listened as Zach continued filling her in on everything that happened, her hand rested on his shoulder as she comforted him.

"So you're going to the Valley of the Dragons to confront this Black Knight guy?"

"Yep, I'm putting an end to him before he kills my sister! I've lost most of my Pokemon but I refuse to lose my sister too, I'd do anything to protect her!"

"And he's made of Dream Energy so you're technically not killing him." Dawn mused as she lightly stroked her chin before offering him a light smile. "Tell you what, I'll go with you! It's obvious that those Team Plasma guys are still after you and you're not fit to protect yourself so why don't I come with you and protect you while you show me around? We can go there together." She offered with a warm smile.

Zach stared into her eyes for a moment as his cheeks turned red, he really wanted to say no but something inside him was screaming 'Yes!' over and over. He flashed Dawn a light smile as he gave a light nod, Dawn returned one of her own shortly afterwards.

"Alright then we'll travel there together, it feels so good to have a traveling companion again don't you think, Piplup?"

"Piplup!"

Zach smiled at her words but inwardly he was hoping that he wouldn't come to regret bringing her along.

Next up, Skyla~