Welcome to another chapter of Escape to a Far Away Land. Before we start I just want to thank everyone who provided feedback on the last chapter, it was very appreciated and helpful. Also I must announce that Ash won't be catching a legendary anytime soon, as I've been advised it's not a smart move to make in this story.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, please let me know what you think.


Ash ran all the way back to the police station to tell his friends the good news. The guard who escorted him to Professor Gidyea's lab would normally ask him to walk, but this was an important moment for Ash, so decided to look the other way just this once. Once Ash got to the police station, he was surprised to see that everyone had been released from their cells.

"Ash what's the news?" asked Dawn, as Ash approached them.

"He's gonna help us get asylum in this region," said Ash.

"Really?" asked Brock.

"Awesome," said Bonnie.

"So, he's proven you're innocent. There were no drugs in your pokémon's system?" asked Gary.

Ash frowned.

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you guys," said Ash.

"What?" asked Dawn.

"Some of my pokémon came back positive for drug use," said Ash.

Everyone present was shocked beyond belief.

"But I swear it wasn't me who drugged them, please you gotta believe me."

"Ash we believe you," said Brock. "We believed you the moment you told us you were innocent."

"If we didn't, we wouldn't have spent the last three weeks traveling to a foreign region with you," said Gary.

"Not only that, but I doubt Professor Gidyea would've granted us asylum if he believed you were guilty," said Clemont.

"He does believe you're innocent right?" asked Bonnie.

"Yeah, the situation's just a lot more complicated than we originally thought," said Ash.

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn. "What did you guys discover?"

"The only pokémon that came back positive were ones that hadn't recently been in my possession. The ones that were negative included those I caught in Kalos, the ones I'd released and Pikachu," stated Ash.

"Meaning?" asked Brock.

"The only ones that tested positive were the ones in Professor Oak's care. Professor Gidyea believes Professor Oak was the one who drugged them," said Ash.

Gary had to sit down upon hearing this.

"Gary, are you ok?" asked Ash.

"No, I feel like I'm gonna throw up," said Gary.

It was bad enough that Gary's own grandfather had accused Ash of drugging his pokémon, but to hear his grandfather may have been the one who drugged them was just too much for Gary.

"Gary, I'm sorry," said Ash.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," said Gary. "I looked up to my grandfather. After I decided to become a Pokémon Researcher, I always hoped I could one day be as great as he was. Now I'm starting to see that I was chasing a fools dream."

"No, you weren't," said Brock. "Not only will you be a great Pokémon Researcher, but you'll become an even better one then your grandfather, because unlike him you're a good and honest person."

"Yeah, one passionate scientist to another, I can see you'll achieve great things in life," said Clemont.

"And if not in science, then definitely poetry," said Dawn, causing everyone to laugh a little.

"Thanks guys I needed to hear that. And you're right. I can't let the actions of my grandfather stop me from pursuing my dreams," said Gary. "Besides, Ashy boy's gonna need all the help he can get if he wants to clear his name."

"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour," said Ash causing everyone to laugh again.

"Now what do we do?" asked Bonnie.

"What do you mean?" asked Ash.

"The Professor here believes you're innocent and we've been granted asylum. What do we do now?" asked Bonnie.

"Well, the first thing we should do is get you kids to the local Pokémon Centre," said the guard who had escorted Ash to Professor Gidyea's lab. "I'd be happy to show ya. Especially since I'm about to go on me break."

"Thanks, we'd appreciate that," said Ash.

"Alright, we just need to get ya stuff from holding and we should be good to go," said the guard.

"Speaking of stuff, what's in the bag Ash?" asked Dawn, pointing to the bag Ash had brought with him from Professor Gidyea's lab.

"Oh, right I forgot," said Ash opening the bag revealing the pokéballs inside. "Professor Gidyea said we could have our pokémon back."

"Thank goodness," said Brock.

"Yeah, we're gonna need them to protect us more than ever in this harsh region," said Clemont.

"But Clemont, which pokéballs are yours?" asked Bonnie, pointing out the fact that nearly all the pokéballs looked identical.

"We may need to release them all first so we can figure out who owns each pokéball," said Gary.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. But wait till ya at the Pokémon Centre first, there's a bit more space there," said the guard.

"Yeah, that's fair," said Brock.

"Right well let's go," said the guard.

"Wait before we go, I need to tell them all about the conditions we need to follow while we're staying here," said Ash.

"Alright, I'll be waitin for ya's at the entrance. Just don't be too long me break doesn't last forever," said the guard.

The guard left so Ash could talk to his friends.

"What's this about conditions we need to follow?" asked Dawn.

"The asylum hasn't been officially granted yet and we can't leave town until it is. Professor Gidyea said he'll send us right back to Kanto if we try to leave town," said Ash.

"That seems reasonable," said Gary.

"Yeah, it helps prove we're trustworthy," said Brock.

"Anything else?" asked Dawn.

"Actually yes," said Ash. "Dawn, Clemont, I know this may sound a little odd and unfair, but you're gonna have to keep a close eye on Bunnelby and Buneary and make sure they don't run off."

"Why?" asked Clemont.

"Let's just say they're not looked upon fondly here," said Ash.

"Why not, they're adorable," said Bonnie.

"That may be, but they're not native to this region and they've spread across most of the land," said Ash.

"How does that make them pests?" asked Dawn.

"Well, if I had to guess they've probably caused a lot of damage to the ecosystem," said Clemont.

"Maybe we should ask someone," said Brock who went to speak to a nearby police officer. "Excuse me sir, why are bunnelby's and buneary's considered pests in this region?"

"Because those bloody mongrels destroyed the ecosystem and ruin the produce of farmers. They eat vegetable plants down to the roots meaning they'll never grow back," said the Police Officer.

"So, basically what I said," stated Clemont.

"Anyway guys, do you think you can keep a closer eye on Buneary and Bunnelby while we're here?" asked Ash.

"Sure, but I still think Buneary's entitled to occasional fresh air. I'll just have to make sure she doesn't run off," said Dawn.

"I'll do the same with Bunnelby," said Clemont.

After they retrieved their belongings, they followed the guard to the Pokémon Centre. Having arrived in the Stralia Region at night, most of the group hadn't gotten to see what the landscape looked like. It was very different to what they expected. From what they had read, most of the region was a vast uninhabited desert, but the city they were in looked reasonably populated and they could see mountains in the distance which sported many trees.

"This is a lot less desolate than we were expecting," said Brock looking around the landscape.

"Well, what do you expect you're in the tropics," stated the guard.

"The tropics? I thought this whole region was a desert," stated Ash.

"Oh, don't get me wrong a lot of it is, especially the central area which has deserts stretching as far as the eye can see, but you're in the far north where everything's tropical. This region's weather isn't that different to the rest of the world. It's just in different areas," said the guard.

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn.

"Well, where you're from ya expect it to be cold in the north and hot in the south. It's the opposite in this region due to its position on the planet. The north is hot and tropical, while the south is cold," said the guard.

"This might seem like a silly question, but does it snow here?" asked Clemont.

"Oh sure, if you head far enough down south and climb the right mountain, you'll see snow. Not much mind you, but enough to have a decent ski. I went to the snow a few times with me parents when I was young," said the guard.

"Wow, the more I hear about this land the more fascinating it sounds," said Gary.

"Yeah, this is definitely an odd but fascinating place. I think you kids will really enjoy it," said the guard, before stopping at a building. "Well, here we are, the local Pokémon Centre."

The building looked similar to the Pokemon Centre's from the other regions.

"Anyway, I'd better be off. You'll all be staying here while ya asylum's being approved. Professor Gidyea will be around to check on ya later. In the meantime, try to get some rest, maybe have a good meal and something tells me most of ya pokémon will be pretty worn out after three weeks of travelling, so maybe let the nurse give em a check-up," said the guard.

"We will, thank you so much for everything," said Ash.

"No worries mate, happy to assist. See you round," said the guard. "But remember, until ya asylums approved you are prohibited from…"

"Leaving town," interrupted Ash.

"Ok good, I just wanted to be sure you knew," said the guard.

The guard left and the group of friends entered the Pokémon Centre. It was very humid outside, so the group felt very refreshed to be blasted by wave of cool air when they walked inside. Based on how hot it was outside, they had a feeling aircons were used regularly. They approached the main desk so the nurse could give their pokémon a check-up.

"Hello, can I help you?" asked the nurse.

The group was shocked, she looked just like all the other nurses they had met throughout their journeys. The only difference was that she was a lot more tanned, which they figured was due to the hot environment, and like the other residents of the region, she spoke with a broad nasally accent.

"Nurse Joy?" asked Ash.

"Yes, I'm Nurse Joy," she said.

"Wow, so there are also Nurse Joy's in the Stralia Region?" asked Dawn.

"Yeah, a group of us came here with the first settlers so we could heal peoples pokémon and to also expand our knowledge on different pokémon species. Unfortunately, our decision wasn't looked upon fondly by the rest of the family and we're now considered the black sheep by the majority of the Joy family," said Nurse Joy.

"Well, you can ignore all those hateful relatives," said Brock, entering his usual love-struck phase and taking the nurse's hand. "You're just as beautiful as any of them. I dare say even more beautiful, especially with that…"

Brock trailed off as he felt a sharp pain in his back. His croagunk had escaped from his pokéball and hit Brock in the back with a poison jab.

"Tan," said Brock weakly, before falling to the ground stunned.

"Cro," said Croagunk, while he dragged Brock away.

"Some things never changed," said Dawn causing Ash to laugh.

Ash turned back to face Nurse Joy.

"Anyway, we were hoping you could give our pokémon a check-up. We've been traveling for three weeks and they're pretty tired," said Ash.

"Oh yeah I heard of you kids. You fled ya home regions after one of you was accused of drugging ya pokémon," said Nurse Joy. "Don't worry, I've already been told ya innocent or at the very least the evidence shows it wasn't you who drugged them. Anyway, I'll happily give ya Pokémon a check-up."

This made everyone smile.

"Thank you so much," said Ash.

They handed Nurse Joy their pokémon, after which they went to the cafeteria as they were starving. Having spent three weeks surviving on rations while they were traveling and the last day eating prison food, the food in the cafeteria tasted like the best meal they had had in their entire lives.

After they were finished eating, they went to ask for rooms in the Pokémon Centre, which nurse joy gladly gave them. They were about to go and have a rest when Professor Gidyea walked through the entrance.

"Professor Gidyea," said Ash, catching the professor's attention.

"G'day, you kids settling in alright?" asked Professor Gidyea.

"Yeah, we were about to go to our rooms and have a rest, we're all still tired from travelling," said Ash.

"Probably a smart idea, but before you go, I have some news. What would you like to hear first, the good or the bad?" asked Professor Gidyea.

"I say we hear the good first. We've had a pretty tough few weeks," said Brock.

"I finished the paperwork on your asylum applications, we just have to wait for it to be processed. I've made a few phone calls and they've said granting you asylum shouldn't be a problem," stated Professor Gidyea.

This caused everyone to smile.

"What's the bad news?" asked Gary nervously.

Professor Gidyea sighed.

"They'll only agree to grant you asylum, if Ash agrees to surrender his drugged pokémon to my custody."