Soon the group of travelers returned to Jubilife Village and entered Galaxy Hall. They crossed through the lobby and arrived in Cyllene's office, which drew the Captain's attention.

"I trust you all have something to report?" she asked with the trademark monotone voice.

"Yes ma'am. I caught all three Pokémon you requested." Ash informed her.

"Can you confirm Akari?" she asked.

"Yes, Captain. I can confirm he caught all three on his own." Akari nodded.

"Impressive. Then I hereby hire you to the Galaxy Team Survey Corps Ash." Cyllene declared.

"Great!" he smiled.

"Congratulations!" Akari cheered.

"Great work Ash!" Laventon agreed.

"Allow me a moment to speak with the Commander." Cyllene informed them as she walked out of the office and left the three of them on their own.

"Well I'd say you've made quite the impression on the Captain, Ash!" the Professor beamed.

"You really think so?" Ash wondered, having not really heard any real emotions in the Captain's tone before.

"Oh yeah." Akari nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen her so surprised in my life."

"...Are you guys messing with me?" he wondered.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Nevermind…" he dropped it as Captain Cyllene suddenly returned to the room.

"Ash. The Commander would like a word with you." She informed him.

"Oh? Alright then." He replied.

"You can find him in his office on the 3rd floor." She added.

"Thank you, ma'am." He nodded as he and Pikachu headed up the grand staircase. As he went up the last flight towards the third floor, he saw a large and imposing man standing in his office and seemingly waiting for him. Ash's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the man, remembering yet another face from his own time. Quickly shaking off his surprise, he shored up his courage and walked in.

"So you're the famous boy that fell from the rift..." the man commented in a deep and intimidating voice.

"Y-Yeah..." Ash nodded.

"I am Commander Kamado. Founder of the Galaxy Team." He introduced himself.

"N-Nice to meet you, Commander. I'm Ash."

"I understand from Captain Cyllene you're quite skilled in survey work." The Commander continued.

"I am."

"I know firsthand how dangerous Pokémon can be. Do you truly believe you have the strength to face them in the wild?"

"I do." Ash nodded.

"Then prove it! Come at me!" Kamado suddenly ordered him, getting into a sumo wrestling stance in the process and startling Ash.

"Uhh...e-excuse me…?" he stammered in confusion.

"Now!" the Commander forcefully insisted.

"Uh…O-Okay?!" Ash responded as he ran at Kamado, clearly having no clue what he was doing. Sensing this wasn't going to end well, Pikachu leaped off Ash's shoulder just in time. Taking advantage of his confusion, Kamado grabbed Ash once he was close and then threw him to the side in a sumo throw, hitting the wall with a bit of force. "Ack!"

"Impressive!" Kamado laughed. "I like your spirit!"

"Ow..." Ash groaned as he got back onto his feet. "Th-Thanks I guess…"

"Very well. I'll accept you into the Galaxy Team Ash. Welcome." He declared.

"Thank you, Commander..." Ash replied, ignoring the lingering pain in his body.

"Continue to work with Akari and Professor Laventon on the Pokedex project and report your progress to Captain Cyllene." Kamado ordered him.

"Yes, Commander."

"Dismissed." With that order in place, Ash left the Commander's office and looked to Pikachu as the electric mouse hopped back onto his shoulder.

"That was weird..." Pikachu muttered.

"Yeah..." Ash nodded.

"Looks like there's a lot of people we've met that have ancestors here in the past..." he remarked.

"Yeah...Dawn, Professor Rowan...even Cyrus...it's a bit unsettling, to be honest…" Ash agreed.

"Yeah…but to be honest I'm more surprised that no one has seen May and Glaceon...I'm getting really worried about them..." Pikachu explained as his ears drooped down.

"Same here...I wish I knew where they were…this place is so huge and different from the Sinnoh we've traveled through…they could honestly be anywhere…" Ash sighed.

"You think they're ok...?" Pikachu asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

"They're a strong pair...wherever they are I'm sure they're safe…" Ash assured his partner as they finally returned to the main floor where Akari and Professor Laventon were waiting for him.

"Congratulations on becoming an official member Ash!" Laventon smiled.

"Oh!" Ash realized as he snapped back to reality. "Thanks, Professor."

"What say you two to a celebratory dinner at the Wallflower? My treat?" he offered.

"That'd be great. Thank you, Professor."

"I'm in." Akari chimed in.

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered. The three of them left headquarters and headed out to enjoy dinner together.

The next morning as the sun rose once again and shone in on the sleeping trainer and his partner. Pikachu was the first to rouse and slowly opened his eyes. He looked over at Ash and smiled a little at his sleeping trainer. He nudged Ash gently and the young man began to stir.

"Hmm..." he mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes as well. He was greeted with the sight of Pikachu smiling at him which made him smile back. "Hey, Pikachu."

"Good morning." The electric type replied with a nuzzle. The two shared a small laugh when a knock sounded at his door and a familiar voice came through.

"Ash? You awake yet?" Akari called.

"Yeah. I'm awake Akari." He replied as he pulled himself out of bed.

"Could you come out here when you're ready? I have a favor to ask of you." She informed him.

"Sure thing. Be out in a second." He answered.

"Thank you." She said. Taking a quick moment to get ready, Ash and Pikachu then headed outside where Akari was waiting.

"Good morning." She greeted him with a bright smile.

"Morning." He echoed her greeting. "You said you needed something?"

"Right. Well…the truth is I was wondering if you would have a battle with me?" she requested.

"Wait really? A battle?" Ash asked, taken aback by her request.

"Yeah. I was really impressed with how you handled your Pokémon yesterday so I wanted to give battling you a try with my two Pokémon." She explained.

"Oh. Well alright then, sure I'll battle you." He nodded.

"Thanks, Ash. The training grounds are over there on that hill. We can battle there." She continued, pointing to a building on the other side of headquarters with a large battlefield in front.

"Sounds perfect." He agreed. The two of them walked down the road to the Training Grounds and each took a spot at the opposite ends of the battlefield.

"Ready?" Akari asked.

"Always." Ash nodded. Akari took a deep breath and grabbed a pokéball from her pack.

"Ok. Oshawott let's do it!" she called as she threw her pokéball and released her partner onto the field.

"Osha!" Oshawott cried out.

"Let's go Rowlet!" Ash decided, throwing out Rowlet's pokéball.

"Row!" Rowlet cheered.

"Oshawott use Water Gun!" Akari called her first attack. Oshawott obeyed her order and fired Water Gun at Rowlet from his mouth.

"Dodge then use Leafage!" Ash countered. Rowlet flew up into the air and easily dodged the Water Gun. He then flapped his wings and fired off his Leafage attack, making it rain down on Oshawott.

"Oh no look out!" Akari yelled to Oshawott. Her partner tried to dodge, but several leaves from the attack hit their mark and made Oshawott tumble backward.

"Nice work Rowlet!"

"Row ro!"

"Oshawott are you ok?!" Akari asked worriedly. Oshawott got back up quickly and nodded to her with a determined look.

"Osh!"

"Way to go! Use Razor Shell!" she ordered him. Oshawott grabbed his scalchop off his stomach and ran at Rowlet as the scalchop grew a blade made of water.

"Use Leafage at his feet!" Ash called. Rowlet flapped his wings again and fired Leafage at Oshawott's feet, tripping him up and causing him to fall and his attack to fail.

"Wott!"

"Oh no!" his trainer gasped. Oshawott struggled to get up, clearly tired, and had taken a good amount of damage from Rowlet's attacks. "Can you keep going Oshawott?"

"Wott osha!" he nodded.

"Alright. Water Gun one more time!" she called. Oshawott fired another Water Gun at Rowlet with all the power he had left.

"Dodge it!" Ash countered, prompting Rowlet to fly out of the way just as he did before, but this time Akari was ready.

"Now Tackle!" Oshawott quickly charged into Rowlet's flight path and landed a hard Tackle.

"Let!" Rowlet yelped as he was knocked backward by the hit. However before he could recover from the hit, Akari called her next move.

"Follow up with Razor Shell!" Oshawott produced another blade of water from his scalchop and landed the hit while Rowlet was dazed, knocking him to the ground.

"Rowlet!" Ash gasped.

"Way to go! Wrap this up with Tackle!" Akari grinned. Oshawott nodded and ran towards Rowlet as fast as he could while the Grass Pokemon struggled to his feet.

"Don't give up Rowlet! Use Leafage!" Ash yelled. Rowlet spread his wings wide and fired Leafage when Oshawott got too close, leaving the Water Pokemon nowhere to go and he got hit and sent flying.

"Oh no Oshawott!" Akari panicked.

"Yes!" Ash cheered. Oshawott crashed to the ground and fainted, earning Ash the win. "Alright! The first round goes to us!"

"Wow…" Akari sighed as she recalled Osahwott to his pokeball and gave him a small smile. "You did great Oshawott. Take a nice long rest."

"You were awesome Rowlet." Ash smiled as he returned Rowlet as well. Akari meanwhile took out her other pokeball and took a deep breath, which drew Ash's attention.

"Let's go!" she called as she threw her pokéball. Her Pokemon materialized on the field and both Ash and Pikachu's eyes widened in shock. The Pokemon shook out her yellow fur and sparked her cheeks, indicating she was ready for battle.

"Pika!" she declared.

"Huh?! You have a Pikachu?!" Ash gasped.

"Yup. This is my very first partner, Pikachu." Akari introduced them.

"Wow…" Ash whispered before he looked at Pikachu. "Can you take her bud?"

"You bet I can." Pikachu nodded as he hopped off Ash's shoulder and ran onto the field.

"Ready Pikachu?" Akari asked.

"Pika pi!" her Pikachu nodded.

"Use Quick Attack!" Ash called out. With a burst of white speed energy, his Pikachu charged toward Akari's Pikachu with Quick Attack.

"You use Quick Attack too!" Akari yelled. Her Pikachu obeyed and ran in with her own Quick Attack. The two Pikachu collided with one another both trying to overpower each other. After a momentary stalemate, Ash's Pikachu overpowered her and forced her back. She skidded backward but didn't seem to take much damage.

"Now use Thunderbolt!" Ash called. His Pikachu sparked his cheeks and then fired a powerful Thunderbolt at Akari's Pikachu.

"Dodge and use Thundershock!" Akari countered. Her Pikachu was able to dodge Thunderbolt and fired off her Thundershock, which did hit Pikachu but didn't cause much damage at all. "Follow up with Thunder Wave!"

"Pika!" her Pikachu yelled as she launched Thunder Wave from her cheeks. Ash's Pikachu watched in confusion as the sparks surrounded him in a makeshift trap, confusing Ash as well.

"What is she up to? She has to know Pikachu can't be paralyzed…" he thought.

"Now Quick Attack!" Akari called out. Her Pikachu ran in quickly and when Ash's Pikachu tried to dodge, he found himself unable to escape the electric field around him.

"Huh?!" he gasped.

"What the?!" Ash gasped. Akari's Pikachu slammed into Ash's Pikachu, knocking him out of the field and onto his back.

"Once more Pikachu!" Akari called, sending her Pikachu into another Quick Attack.

"Don't give up Pikachu! Iron Tail now!" Ash decided.

"On it..!" Pikachu replied through gritted teeth. He got up and quickly struck the ground with Iron Tail, sending out shock waves across the ground that tripped up Akari's Pikachu and caused her to fall.

"Now use Thunderbolt full blast!" His Pikachu fired his best Thunderbolt at her and the attack made contact, causing her to cry out in pain before fainting, giving Ash his second win.

"Pikachu!" Akari gasped as she ran onto the field and picked up her partner worriedly. "You ok?"

"Pika…" her Pikachu nodded as she looked at Ash's Pikachu and softly blushed. "Chu chu pika..."

"Heh…yeah I know how you feel." Akari smiled a little.

"Akari I think we should call it here." Ash called to her as he and Pikachu walked over.

"Yeah…" she nodded as she stood back up to face him and Pikachu. "I think so too. Thanks for that battle, Ash."

"No problem. It was fun." He smiled, earning a smile back from her.

"Now that I know how strong you are, I can ask for my real favor." She suddenly announced.

"Wait what? Real favor?"

"Warden Mai in the Obsidian Fieldlands asked me to help her out with something, but I'm not very good at battling. So I thought maybe you could handle it instead given how strong you seemed to be." She explained.

"I see..." he gave a small nod of understanding.

"So what do you say? Can you help me out?" she asked.

"Sure I'm up for it." He agreed.

"Me too." Pikachu nodded.

"Thanks, Ash." She smiled. "She works at Deertrack Heights in the Obsidian Fields so we should be able to find her there." Akari added.

"Alright. Then let's get going." He declared.

"Right." She nodded as they began walking towards the east gate together.

To be Continued...