Ichigo has succeeded in winning his second badge. Now that he has, our heroes are continuing on their next journey. However, what they don't know is that they're going to have a familiar encounter.

"Lu!" All of them were just walking through the woods, but they stopped when they heard a strange call. They saw something drop out of the trees. When it landed down, they saw it was a Lucario.

"A Lucario?!" Orihime said.

"What's a pokemon like that doing out here?" Rukia questioned. Lucario got a look at them and was surprised to see them. Ichigo and Absol got a good look at that Lucario and he knew it.

"Could you really be who I think you are?" Ichigo questioned.

"Lucario, wait!" They heard someone call to Lucario and they saw someone they all knew well.

"Uryu!" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo!" Uryu said. Old rivals have now reunited in Kalos.

You're just a kid on a quest

To be the best of the best

Someday your destined for power and glory

You know you're up to the test

There's only one way to tell this story

Be a hero

Be a hero

All the power is at your command

Face your fears and show you're a hero

The future of the world is in your hands

Pokémon

(Ichigo's voice) Transcending the Transcend

"I can't believe you're really here." Ichigo said as the two of them shook hands.

"It's great to see you as well." Uryu said. "I knew once I arrived in Kalos, it would only be a matter of time until I run into you and your friends." The two of them weren't the only ones getting reacquainted. Lucario and Absol were as well. "It's good to see the rest of you as well."

"It's been a while, Uryu." Rukia said.

"Are you entering in the Kalos League like Ichigo?" Orihime said.

"Well, not really." Uryu said. "I arrived in Kalos just a few days ago on a different matter." All of them were a little curious as to what he meant like that. "Why don't we head to the nearest pokemon center. I'll explain there." They all head for the pokemon center. All of them were wondering what Uryu was doing in Kalos, and they can't shake the feeling that it wasn't good news.

...

The Pokemon Center

They all arrived in the Pokemon Center, but they saw a sign over it that said it was closed.

"That's a little unusual. Why would a pokemon center be closed?" Orihime said. They were all wondering that themselsves until Uryu spotted Nurse Joy coming out from around the side.

"Nurse Joy!" Uryu said and got her attention with all of them going to her.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Maybe. Why's the pokemon center closed?" Uryu asked.

"I'm afraid I had to close it for repairs." Nurse Joy said. "There's some sort of problem I'm trying to solve. I'm afraid until it is, I can't exactly run the pokemon center."

"What's the problem?" Ichigo asked.

"It's our water. It's not flowing into the center." Nurse Joy said. "Not a single drop is coming in. I'm afraid if we don't have water flowing in, it's going to be a little more difficult to run it. I was trying to see if there's a problem with the pipes or maybe somewhere else."

"No water is flowing in? That's a little weird." Rukia questioned.

"A pokemon center that can't run is not a good thing. Something must be done. Where does the water come in from?" Uryu asked.

"From the river. It's about a half a mile behind the center." Nurse Joy said. "I was thinking of going over there to check it out myself."

"Do you mind if we come with? Maybe we can help you." Uryu offered.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you." Nurse Joy said. All of them followed Nurse Joy to the river. When they got there, they were shocked to see that the river was completely dry.

"The water in the river is all gone!" Ichigo said.

"That's why the water isn't flowing in!" Rukia said.

"Oh dear. I don't know what could have happened. It was perfectly filled just yesterday." Nurse Joy said.

"That means the problem is somewhere up the river." Uryu said. "We need to look into this. Nurse Joy, you should head back to the Pokemon Center and do what you can. We can figure this out for you."

"I would be greatly appreciated if you can solve the problem." Nurse Joy said.

"A couple of us should go with her and try to help out." Uryu said.

"I'll go. I know a few things about treating pokemon." Rukia said.

"I'll go and help too." Orihime offered.

"I guess that means us guys are heading up the river." Ichigo said. Everyone agreed to that and got moving. As the girls headed back to the pokemon center to try and keep it running, the guys made their way up the river.

"According to the map, the river should lead to a mountain. That's where the water comes from." Uryu said.

"So?" Ichigo questioned.

"It's important we know that. The problem could be at the source of the water." Uryu said. "We need to understand where we're going so that maybe we can find a solution."

"What do you think happened?" Chad questioned.

"Don't know. I guess we'll know when we get there." Ichigo said. They all kept going up the river and it was still dry. They kept going up until they reached a cave. "This must be the mountain, but the river is dry here as well.

"So the problem is somewhere inside." Chad said. They were about to go inside, but Uryu held out his arm and stopped them.

"Look." Uryu said. All of them looked inside and saw a poor Skorupi injured as it came out of the cave. Uryu hurried over to it and held it in his arms.

"What's wrong with it?" Ichigo asked.

"It looks like it was attacked. Hang on. I got some first aid." Uryu said as he reached for some. He worked on Skorupi and was able to tie a bandage around it. "That should do it. Try and take it easy."

"Not bad. You actually know what you're doing." Ichigo said.

"There's no question on that. You're the one that holds questionable methods." Uryu said with Ichigo a little offended. "Lucario, sense if there are many people inside."

"Lu." Lucario stood in front of the cave. Lucario sensed inside the cave and could feel the presence of many inside. Lucario confirmed there was and it was just as Uryu thought.

"Leavanny, come out." Uryu said as he called on another pokemon.

"Leavanny!"

"Leavanny, I want you to use your threads to leave a trail so we can find our way out of the cave." Uryu said. Leavanny did what it was told as it placed silk threads on the cave walls.

"Is that really necessary?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course it is. There's no telling where we're going in that cave." Uryu said.

"Uryu, something else is going on and you know it." Chad said. "I feel like there's something you're not telling us."

"Later. We need to get going." Uryu said. With no time to lose, all of them hurried inside the cave. Uryu seemed to know what he was expecting, but the others weren't. They moved deeper and deeper into the cave until they saw light at the end.

"What's that?" Ichigo asked.

"Stay low. There's some unwanted company in here." Uryu warned. All of them hurried to the light, but tried to stay hidden. They tried to get a good look into what was going on and spotted it. There appeared to be some sort of excavation going on in the cave. The problem was that Chad and Uryu knew these people.

"Captain Gin, nothing yet."

"Really? How tedious." Gin said.

"It's Team Transcendent!" Chad said.

"No way!" Ichigo said. Ichigo and his friends encountered Team Transcendent numerous times before in Unova and Johto. They're a mysterious organization that no one knows their true intentions, but they will stop at nothing to ensure they get whatever it is they are after. Gin is one of the commanders. "What are they doing here?"

"Ichigo, look..." Chad said as he pointed to the river. They all looked and saw large rocks were blocking the water.

"That's what happened!" Uryu said. "All their digging must have blocked the river!"

"Those creeps. I can't stand them. They're not getting away this time." Ichigo said as he was ready for a fight and ran out ahead.

"Ichigo, no!" Uryu called, but Ichigo didn't stop.

"Absol!" Absol hurried out to help Ichigo.

"Team Transcendent!" Ichigo called and got their attention. "I don't know what you're doing, but it stops right now!"

"I remember you. You're that meddlesome boy that keeps trying to get in our way." Gin said.

"Start talking. What are you creeps doing here?" Ichigo said.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Gin said as he reached for his pokeball. "We're in the middle of something important and we're not going to let you or anyone get in our way. Steelix, help out and get rid of this foolish boy."

"Uro!" Steelix came out of it's pokeball and stared down at Ichigo with it ready to crush him.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Uryu ordered. Lucario stepped in and formed a blue orb. Lucario tossed it and blasted Steelix right in the face. Uryu and the others stepped out to help out Ichigo. "You really couldn't wait! We could've taken them by surprise!"

"Oh my. More annoyances, but at least things are being entertaining around here." Gin said. He snapped his fingers and some of his men sent out Magnemite to help in this battle.

"You want a battle? You got one." Ichigo said. "Absol, Razor Wind!"

"Lucario, Aura Sphere again!" Uryu said. "Leavanny, help us with Leaf Storm!"

"Sableye, come out and use Power Gem!" Chad said as he let out his pokemon.

"Absol/Lu/Leavanny/Sableye!" All four pokemon attacked with the Magnemite unleashing electric attacks. It caused a large explosion, but some of the Magnemite were blown back.

"Steelix, Iron Tail." Gin said. Steelix had it's tail glow and smash it against all of them.

"Chad, we'll take care of Steelix. You take care of the lightweights." Ichigo said.

"Leavanny, give him a hand with that." Uryu said. They all agreed and got moving so that Absol and Lucario can take on Steelix.

"Foolish boys. You really should learn not to meddle in affairs that have nothing to do with you." Gin said as he reached for his keystone. "Steelix, Mega Evolve." Gin unleashed energy from his stone with it combining with the stone that Steelix had. It changed it's forms and now became Mega Steelix.

"You want to play that way? We can play that way too." Ichigo said as both he and Uryu had keystones with their pokemon having their respective mega stones.

"Beyond evolution! Mega evolve!" Both of them tapped into their stones and unleash power. Lucario and Absol had the energy connect with their owns allowing them to become Mega Lucario and Mega Absol.

"Absol, Razor Wind!" Ichigo ordered.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Uryu ordered.

"Steelix, Flash Cannon." Gin said. Both sides used their attacks and caused a large explosion to go off. As for Chad, he kept fighting off the grunts. Sableye and Leavanny helped out and were able to get them out of the way.

"Who wants to be the one to tell me what you're doing here?" Chad said as he was trying to intimidate them into talking, but no one was saying a thing. That was until one with a computer did.

"Captain Gin! A full scan of the mountain shows that it's not here!"

"It's not. What a waste of time." Gin said. "No reason to stay around here anymore. Steelix, provide us cover with Sandstorm." Steelix generated a sandstorm and blew the perfect cover for them. Ichigo and his friends tried to resist the Sandstorm, but it was a powerful one. When it finally settled, Team Transcendent was gone.

"Hey!" Ichigo called as he didn't want them to escape again. "Come back here and let's settle this!"

"Ichigo, leave it." Uryu said. "Our first priority should be to get the water flowing again." Ichigo hated to let Team Transcendent go, but he knows Uryu is right. "Come on. Let's clear the rocks out of the way." Once they got back to what they had to do, they were able to clear the rocks away by everyone working together. The water started to flow and the river was filled again. That means that water was flowing back into the pokemon center. Team Transcendent might have escaped again, but at least the pokemon center can be running again.

...

The Pokemon Center

"Really?! Team Transcendent is here?!" Rukia said. Once the guys got back and they made sure the pokemon center was running again, they told the girls all that happened in the mountain.

"Yes. It seemed like they were looking for something, but they didn't find it." Uryu said. "In fact, Team Transcendent is why I'm really here."

"Say what?" Ichigo questioned.

"Unova's champion, Yamamoto, asked me to help in the investigation of Team Transcendent." Uryu said. "We're trying to figure out what their true goal is, but we've had no luck. That means I won't have the time for gym battles."

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Ichigo said. "Today has shown me that you're prepared for almost anything. Just be careful. Those guys can be dangerous, especially their boss: Aizen."

"I didn't know you care." Uryu said. "By the way, Orihime, Pokemon Talent Star is appearing in Coumaroo Town. Ichigo, Chrolie City isn't that far from there. There's a gym there."

"Really? Thanks, Uryu." Orihime said.

"Thanks a lot, Uryu." Ichigo said as he held out his hand and Uryu took it.

"Best of luck to all of you." Uryu said. Lucario and Absol said their parting words to each other as well. Two people that were once rivals now part ways on good terms as Ichigo and his friends hit the road again. They were all moving again, but Orihime had her mind somewhere else.

"Orihime, is something wrong?" Rukia asked.

"It's Team Transcendent. I can't believe they're here too." Orihime said. "What are they after?"

"I see your concerns." Rukia said as none of them like this. "First Unova, then Johto, and now here. They seem to spread trouble everywhere they go; and no one seems to know what they're after. Why are they here?"

"I just can't stand those guys." Ichigo said as he pounded his fist into his hand. "Next time I see them, they are going down."

Team Transcendent are in Kalos, but they're actions are more mysterious than ever. Our heroes hope for the day they get answers, but they just might get those answers...sooner than they think.

To Be Continued...

Pokemon Question: Okay, future trainers. The answer to the last question was...Gulpin! Gulpin's body is mostly it's stomach. Here's the next question. What pokemon's scales can be used to treat illnesses?