AN: So I don't know if the site failed to send people notifications or if something else is wrong but literally no one has read the last two chapters, which kind of suck. I hope whatever happened won't be a recurring problem... I'll continue to make more chapters for now. But if by the end of book 1 almost no one is interested in this project like with the original story I don't know if I'll continue this.

The whole point of this project was to try to reach a bigger audience than World of Elestia did by tying it to Pokémon. But if that doesn't work I might as well stick with my original universe.

Ash was a nervous wreck, not only because he was about to meet the mayor of one of the most powerful organization of the region. But also because they were currently walking on the rails of the metro. What if at any moments a subway train came behind them and killed them all? Sonia seeing his nervousness reassure him. ''Don't worry the metro hasn't been operational since the Invasion. If it was working we would have taken the subway instead of walking there.''

What she said made sense and so Ash relaxed slightly. But he was still nervous about meeting the mayor. It took the a while but finally they arrived at another station this one was very different than the other one they had seen before. While the one from earlier looked like a market, this station was full of men and women wearing armors. Some of them had Pokémon following them around while other kept them inside their Draconid Gem. Many of them were standing in front of a post with many notices on them. After a while some of them would take off one of the papers with them and walk away. Other were preparing for the long journey ahead by putting the necessities in backpacks. Things like ration food, band-aids, knifes and a few Draconid Gems in case they encountered an Elestia they wanted to tame. There was also a few who were simply patrolling around the area looking for any troublemakers that would be foolish enough to attack or steal from them.

One woman in particular was sitting on a bench with a massive looking Mightyena. The woman smiled at the Pokémon before giving it a kiss right on the mouth and it wasn't some chaste quick kiss either it was a full on french kiss. Ash could see the woman and Pokémon tongues fighting for dominance.

When they broke the kiss a large trail of dog drool connected both of their mouth. The young woman looked slightly winded and had a large blush on her face while the Mightyenna panted happily and Ash could see the canine dick slightly peaking out of it's sheat before he looked away in disgust.

It looked like the rumors of the Trainers of the Ding Dong Resistance hadn't been exaggerated. And judging by the fact that no one else in the room seemed shocked or disgusted at the brash display of affection it looked like this was a pretty common sight to see around here.

Lillie had noticed the kiss too and her face was red like a tomato. However she did not seemed disaproving at the display. If anything Ash felt like he could detect some hints of envy in her expression. He really didn't know what to think about that.

Sonia for her part completely ignored the awkward tension in the room and continued her tour guide as if she hadn't noticed anything. ''As you can see this section of the metro is reserved to the Resistance. Since you have a Pokémon there's a good chance you will get drafted. But if you absolutely do not want to fight, I'm sure the mayor could take it into consideration. Pokémon can be used for things other than combat after all.'' Ash wasn't scared of becoming a member of the Resistance. After all he wanted to change the world. What better way to do it than join a group that wanted to do the same? But he didn't know if Lillie would want to join him. He wouldn't blame her if she decided to remain a civilian. After all it wasn't like Nebby would be much help out in the field.

A few of the Resistance members glanced toward them as they walked throught the makeshift military camp. But most of them were too busy to pay them any minds. Lillie was getting curious as to why they were here. ''So why are we here? I wouldn't expect a mayor to be in the military branch of the Community.''

At that Sonia chuckled before looking back at the girl. ''I guess I should have told you that first. But the Mayor of the Ding Dong Community is also the General of the Resistance.'' That made both Ash and Lillie gulp, that revelation had done nothing to calm their nerves at meeting the Mayor.

The small group arrived in front of a shabby shack evidently made after the Invasion. The word Mayor/General had been engraved into the door. ''Here we are, wait here while I talk to the Mayor.'' Sonia entered inside the shack and closed the door behind herself. The two teens could do nothing but stand awkwardly in front of the small wooden building while they waited to see the Mayor.

Ash couldn't help but imagine the Mayor as a big scary buff man who would judgmentally look at the street rat that he was with disdain before he would throw him out back out into Ringabell City, so that he could be eaten by the Winter Dragon.

But his daydreaming was stopped as Sonia came back out of the shack with a neutral expression. ''The Mayor is ready to see you.'' She said curtly. They entered inside the shack with trepidation which wasn't helped by the fact that Sonia left them as soon as they entered the building. The inside was a lot different than what they had expected.

While there was a desk full of papers like you would expect from a mayor the rest of the room was a lot more homey. There was three flowers on a desk, one was a rose, another a lily and the third one was something neither of them recognised. On the wall there was many pictures from what they assumed were the residents of the community there was everyone from soldiers, to civilians, children and even scientists. There was a small fireplace in the back of the shack that gave them much needed warmth. There was an old looking TV along with a DVD player. Which was surprising because electricity was a rare commodity nowaday.

But what shocked them the most was who was sitting in front of the desk. Instead of a buff looking man like Ash had imagined there was an old lady wearing a worn down sundress. Her long curly hair had long ago faded to white, her face had many wrinkles but her eyes hidden underneath a pair of reading glasses had a youthful glint in them that made her look younger than she really was. She smiled at the two of them like a grandma would before she gave warm cookies to her grandchildren.

''Hello young ones, I'm the Mayor and General of this amazing Community I hope the road to reach us wasn't too hard on you two. My grandaughter told me the two of you wanted to join us and that the two of you were Trainers. Well Sonia wanted me to let you join the Resistance, but that is a big commitment especially for ones as young as you.''

Ash shook his head. ''I can't speak for my friend. But I'm ready to serve in the Resistance. I want to change this world for the better. I didn't come here simply to hide like a scared prey in a cage!'' He exclaimed with a determined expression.

The old lady sighed at this. ''Young people these days, so eager to throw their life away for the greater good.'' She said with a tone of sadness in her voice. ''We have one of the best school in the country here, are you sure you don't want to go there?'' She asked in an almost begging tone.

Ash shook his head at the suggestion. ''I really don't have the kind of money I would need to go to a school.''

Lillie turned at him with an unimpressed raised of her brow. ''You could sell some of the Draconid Gems you got like you planned from the beginning. Beside you don't even know how to read, going to school could be really good for you.''

Ash was embarassed that she brought that up in front of the Mayor but he stubbornly shook his head. ''I don't have time to waste on school! The Pokémon are destroying more and more of our settlements every weeks and I need to do something! No one will save the world by learning how to count one plus one!''

Lillie looked at him disaprovingly but before she could retort the old lady adressed Ash. ''I'm sure our scientists would disagree with your assessment young one. But very well, since you're so determined to join the Resistance, I will let you join. But do not think you're going out there to save the world in a single day. You're not a superhero just because you have a Pokémon on your side. You will need to be trained before you can amount to anything.''

Then she turned toward Lillie. ''What about you little lady? What do you want to do? Will you go to school or are you just as determined to risk your life as your friend?''

Lillie sighed. ''I arleady been to school before so I don't need it, unlike him.'' She said with a glare toward him. ''Beside someone will need to keep this hothead in check before he get himself killed.'' Ash huffed at that, he wasn't a hothead! If he was he wouldn't have survived this long in the wild.

''Very well since it seems you're both determined to join the Resistance I will need to assign you a teacher. He will test you to know if you can survive out here. If he judge you cannot do it, I will assume both of you are too young to be put on the Resistance and will remain as civilians until I judge you are old enough to retry again.'' Ash wanted to protest at that, but he stopped himself. He knew by the old woman's sharp expression that this was the best deal he was gonna get. He would just have to prove he was more than ready to bring the fight to the Pokémon.

As soon as they exited the shack Sonia was waiting for them. The first thing she showed them was a communal area with showers. The two teens were more than grateful at finally being able to clean themselves in hot water. Unfortunately it seemed like the Ding Dong Community didn't have the ressources to make two showers area for both genders. So Lillie and Ash had to clean themselves while awkwardly trying to not look at each other.

Once they finished they quickly dressed themselves and returned to Sonia who pointedly did not ask why the both of them were blushing. After that the young woman led them to a seclude spot in the military station and gave them camping equipment like a tent, sleeping bags and a lantern. ''This is where you're going to sleep as long as long as you're in the Resistance. It's not ideal, but we can't really build a lot of homes inside a metro.''

''Wait, we're sharing the same tent?'' Lillie asked nervously.

''Don't worry the tent is pretty big you will get more than enough space. Oh and please try to keep the noise to a minimum alright? The soldiers here get tired after their missions, they don't want to hear two teens going at it all night.'' Both Ash and Lillie faces turned red at the implications. But before they could refute her words Sonia was arleady quickly retreating from their view with a light cackle.

It took them almost an hour to set up the tent much to the amusement of the Resistance Trainers who watched as they struggled to make the tent stay upright for more than a few minutes. Once they were done they set up their sleeping bags inside and instantly fell asleep too tired to care how people would view their relationship once they saw them sleep in the same tent.

It was kind of hard to know if it was morning since they were underground. But since every Resistance members were starting to wake up and prepare for their next expeditions, Ash assumed that it was. Since the beginning of the Invasion he always had been a early riser. Daylight was precious when you were on the road. And he often had a lot of ground to cover for his next meal. This habit would serve him well since it seemed the people of the Resistance rose early as well.

Ash decided to wake Lillie, much to her annoyance. Unlike him the girl really hated mornings and would sleep in much often if she had the choice. Now that they were both woken up, Ash expected Sonia would come to tell them what they should do next. But instead another person came to greet them. Someone that immediatly put Ash on edge.

It was the same man from yesterday who was wearing a a large raincoat with the hood on and sunglasses and the large cape billowing behind him. The man sighed as he looked at both of them. ''I can't believe our General is making me babysit a bunch of snot-nosed brats.'' Ash glared at the the man, but if he noticed he didn't cared about it enough to react. ''Well it's not like I'll have to deal with you two for long, there's no way complete rookies like you two are going to pass my test.'' Then the man began to walked away but when he noticed nobody was following him, he frowned and glare at them. ''Come on follow me, I don't have all day.'' Clenching his jaw Ash began to follow behind the man. He really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with this guy for long.

Lillie did not seemed please about the man either. She wondered why the Mayor would give a suspicious and aloof looking man like that to teach them, instead of someone that would actually care about their job. ''So... What is your name, sir?'' Lillie wanted to at least try to be civil.

The man sighed. ''My real name doesn't matter anymore. You may call me Xofamai.''

At that both teenagers looked at the man with baffled expressions. ''That is a really strange name, why would decide to call yourself that?'' She asked curiously.

Xofamai did not responded to her question instead he stopped and pointed them toward a stall. ''I noticed yesterday that both of you lacked a coat, here is enough money for you to buy one for each of you. I really don't want to have General Magnolia mad at me for bringing you back with a cold.'' With that the man gave them five bills of twenty dollars and went to leave but he was immediatly stopped by Lillie.

''Wait! Where are you going?'' She asked him with a frown.

Xofamai stopped and his tracks and she could pratically feel the eye roll before he adressed her. ''I'll be waiting for both of you outside of the metro, don't make me wait too long.'' And with that he continued on his way to the exit leaving both teens alone.

''What a jerk.'' Ash said once he was sure the man was out of earshot. Lillie couldn't help but silently agree. This man was really not made to be a teacher of any kinds.

Lillie was the first to make her way to the stall. Behind the stall were displayed dozens of different coats for both male and female. Lillie froze as she realised she didn't know how to pick clothes. There were so many choices she really couldn't decided on what to pick. In the end her eyes fell on a white coat. The sterile and bleached color reminded her of many memories some good, but mostly bad. But for some reasons she couldn't bring herself to buy anything else either ''I'll take this one.'' She said quietly to the stall owner. The young woman at the counter smiled at her and gave her the coat. Then she looked at Ash who was looking at the coats with complete disinterest.

''Can I help you young sir?'' The woman asked with her best smile.

''I dunno, what type of coat would you recommend?'' Ash said with an unsure frown.

The woman seemed thoughtful at that. ''Well I would say your friend had a good idea black and white are the best two colors if you want to remain hidden while outside. The white color will help you hide into the snow while the black color would be very useful at night.'' Ash seemed thoughtful at that.

''Well I guess since Lillie arleady has a white coat, I will take a black one.'' The woman nodded before giving him a similar type of coat to Lillie except that it was black.

''That will be eighty-four dollars.'' The woman said with her polite smile in place. Lillie gave her the five bills of twenty and she received some changes in return. As he looked at Lillie he noticed she arleady had her coat on somehow. ''How did you dress up so quickly?'' He asked bewildered. Lillie only reponse was to shrug and walk away. Ash shook his head. ''Whatever just another strange thing on the list I guess.'' He muttered under his breath.

Weirdly her backpack also seemed bigger than it had been in the last few seconds. But maybe he was just beign paranoid.

Once outside Ash was very thankful for his new coat as an icy wind blew throught the morning air and blew cold snow into the atmosphere. ''It's hard to believe we're still in the middle of spring when you see this place.'' Lillie said with a shiver.

Xofamai was waiting impatiently for them while tapping his foot on the snow. ''Finally, now we can get on the road.'' He said before walking into the streets. But then midway trought he stopped and turned toward Ash and Lillie. ''Oh right, you should put this on yourself.''

He presented them with a green canister with no label on it. Ash looked at it with suspicion. ''What is it?''

''It's something that will hide your scent from the Pokémon, that is why we managed to escape Kyurem so easily yesterday. Being surrounded by the four of us helped you to go unnoticed. But now that it's just us three you should cover yourself too.'' Ash was still suspicious, so Lillie rolled her eyes and decided to be the first to spray herself.

Ash sniffed into the air. ''It doesn't have any smell, are you sure this will mask our scent?''

Xofamai rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. ''Yes I'm sure, now just put it on.'' With a grumble Ash took the canister and began to spray it all over his body. Once he was done Xofamai rudely took back the canister and put it back into his backback.

They walked out of the city in silence, every time the teens would try to start a conversation Xofamai would shush them. Which did nothing to adhere them to him. One positive was that it looked like the spray was working on masking their scent. That was until a Sandshrew made of ice emerged from a moat of snow and hissed at them before trying to swipe Ash.

Almost with inhuman speed Xofamai came in front of Ash. Then he lifted up his raincoat to revealed a belt with three Draconid Gems on them. He took up the red one and called out the name of the creature inside. ''Scorch come out!''

A large and red anteater appeared in a flash of light. Before it master even called out a command it arleady knew what to do. The Heatmor released a deep breath and released a stream of fire from it's long snout. It burned down the Sandshrew in front of it until it became nothing more than a puddle of water on the ground.

As soon as the threat was gone Xofamai recalled his Pokémon and put back the gem on his belt then he turned toward Ash with a condescending expression. ''Just because they don't smell you doesn't mean they don't see or hear you. Next time try to stay out of sight and stop making so much noise. You might as well paint a target on your back.''

Ash was fuming at the man and was going to give him a piece of his mind. But he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking behind himself he noticed Lillie who shook her head at him. With a sigh he resigned himself to stay silent, while following the rude man in front of him.

It took them a while but eventually they exited the limits of Ringabell City. Xofamai stopped walking once they arrive in front of a wooden area. Inside they could hear the cries of many Pokémon many of which sounded like flying types.

''This is where your test will take place.'' Xofamai said in a completely bored voice.

''Okay... So what am I supposed to do?'' Ash asked once he realised the man didn't say anything else.

''You will need to tame another Pokémon in these woods.'' He said while finally turning his gaze to Ash.

The raven haired was surprised at the request. ''...Alright, I'm not sure how I feel about having more of these things with me. But I'll do it if it get me into the Resistance.'' Lillie sighed at this, she had been hoping that he was beginning to like Pokémon but apparently not. ''Let's go Lillie, we'll get a Pokémon in no time.''

Xofaiamai stopped them in their tracks before they could even begin. ''No, the test is only for you Ash.''

At this both the boy and the girl turned at him with disbelieving stares. ''What? Why?!'' Ash asked with shock and anger in his voice.

''Because the test would be unfair if she participated, considering what she is.'' He said while giving her a pointed look. At that Lillie eyes widened in horror and she took a trembling step back. How had he known?! She had tried so hard to pretend to be normal. How had he seen through her?

''What?! You think she can't do it because she's a girl?! I knew you were a jerk but-.'' Ash started but was soon interupted by Lillie.

''Ash just go! I'm taking care of this!'' She said in a panicked tone.

Ash looked at the blonde girl with a look of confusion but seeing her pleading expression as she looked at him made him sighed. ''Fine, whatever you say. I'll be back with a new Pokémon in no time.'' He said with a confident smirk on his face.

But before he could enter the forest Xofamai grabbed Ash by the shoulder. ''Wait there's one more detail you should know about. You have to tame a Pokémon without any Draconid Gems or else you will fail the test. Give me the empty gems you have on you. I will return them once you return from the woods.''

Lillie looked at the man in outrage.''Are you crazy?! Trying to capture a Pokémon without Draconid Gems is suicide!'' She exclaimed with a scowl on her face.

At that Xofamai made a low raspy chuckle which sent shivers down their spines. ''If it's too hard for you then I guess you're not ready to join the Resistance. The soldiers of the Ding Dong Community risk their life everyday to keep people safe from wild Pokémon. Sometime that mean having to deal with situations where the odds are staked against you. If you can't manage this test, then you are not ready to become members of the Resistance.'' He said with a tone of finality.

Ash narrowed his eyes at him. ''Fine I'll do it! I'll become a member of the Resistance whether you like it or not!'' With that said he ran toward the woods with only his green Draconid Gem in his pocket.

Lillie tried to run after him but Xofamai quickly grabbed her arm. Looking back at the man with narrowed eyes. Lillie's body became cloaked in a ethereal blue aura. Then it exploded toward Xofamai viciously. But much to her shock the blast of energy she had created barely made a scratch on him. ''W-what are you?! And how did you know my secret?!'' She demanded to him.

Xofamai smirked at her and shrugged innocently. ''Me? I'm nothing special, as for how I knew your secret General Magnolia told me. She always had a gift to see people for what they really are.''

Lillie scoffed at him and glared with barely concealed distrust. ''Fine, let's assume I believe that the mayor was the one that gave away my secret. There's no way in hell a normal human could take my attack like this without any scraches!'' She said while pointing accusingly at him.

At that Xofamai chuckled which made her scowl larger than it arleady was. ''Your powers are really weak when you're like this. Is it really that surprising that you didn't manage to hurt me?''

Lillie paused at that, what he was saying was true but she still couldn't help but feel he was hiding something really important. ''Fine, if you're really just a normal person then let's see why you're hiding your eyes like this!'' Lillie tried to make a lunge for his sunglasses but he quickly tripped her up and she fell down into the grass.

''Oops, my leg slipped away there for a second.'' He said in a mock apologetic tone. Lillie growled under her breath quickly lifting herself from the ground, she lunged at him once again...

Ash was begining to think he wouldn't find a Pokémon to put on his team. He saw plenty of flying types in the trees. But catching a bird Pokémon before it flew away was hard even with a Draconid Gem. Without one it would be nearly impossible and so he tried to find something a bit easier.

His luck came around when he heard something rustling sound into a bush. Ash hid behind a tree. He developed a grin when he spotted a squirrel-like Pokémon emerge out of the bush. The Pokémon was a lot more fluffy than a normal squirrel to the point that it made it look like a big ball of fur. It's fur was mostly white except for a pale blue stripe of fur that covered all of his back and and his massive tail. But his fur stopped short when it came to the legs. Instead the legs were made out of some sort of flexible steel-like material.

It was a Pachirisu an electric and steel type Pokémon. At least it was in Orchestralia, apparently in other regions it was only a pure electric type and it didn't have those metallic legs.

Orchestralia did not really have many Pokémon species that was exclusive to it unlike some other regions in the world. But it did have a few Pokémon of the same species that differ slightly from their counterpart in other regions, researchers called them regional variants, Pokémon that were technically the same species, but had adapted differently to their environment. Slightly changing their appearance and typing in the process. Ash decided that this Pokémon would make a good addition to his team. So with that in mind he took his only remaining Draconid Gem and called out his loyal Pokémon.

''Sandy come out!'' The Deerling emerged from the gem in all her glory. The rodent Pokémon instantly grew alert as it saw the new creature that had appeared out of nowhere. ''Sandy catch that Pachirisu with your vines!''

She stomped on the ground and a few vines appeeared where the rodent was standing. But just before the vines could take a grip on the Pokémon it vanished with a spark of electricity. Ash realised it hadn't really disappeared. The Pokémon was just extremely fast. It ran behind Sandy and slammed into her while electricity cloaked his entire body.

The Deerling cried out in pain as she felt the electricity course throught her body and then she fell on the ground with a thud. ''Sandy! Are you alright?!'' Ash asked with a concerned look plastered on his face. Sandy grunted and slowly lifted herself from the ground and growled at the small creature who was still crackling with electricity.

But the Pachirisu wasn't interested in the Deerling anymore instead it focused it gaze on the one giving the commands. It smirked maliciously and then leapt toward Ash. The boy uttered a few colorful curses and then dove on the ground just in time to dodge the charging Pokémon by a hairbreadth. It hit the trunk of the tree that stood behind Ash with a loud crack. Had it been the other form of Pachirisu the squirrel might have broken a bone by crashing into the tree at such a high speed. But the Pachirisu used it's iron legs to take most of the impact and ricocheted against the trunk and hit Ash in the back of his shoulder.

The boy cried out in pain and started to panic as he felt his entire arm starting to go numb. But before he could even lift himself from the ground, the Pachirisu bounced off another tree trunk and hit him square in the chest sending him tumbling back on the ground. Then it jumped off in the air and reached the top of a tree branch from above and aimed it's body straight back down toward Ash for the third time. This time if it hit him this could finish him off for good. With a surge of adrenaline Ash managed to roll away on the ground and escaped the attack just in time.

Seeing that her master was in great trouble Sandy stomped frantically on the ground with her hooves. She managed to grow dozens of vines from the soil. As the electric squirrel jumped toward Ash it's body cracling with electricity. It angled it's body toward Ash for the finishing blow but it was stopped in mid-air by the vines Sandy had created. It began trashing angrily in the grasp of the vines and barked toward Ash in a high pitch tone.

Slowly Ash managed to lift himself from the ground with his remaining working arm and smirked victoriously at the Pokémon. ''Finally you're mine! From now on you are my Pokémon! To seal our bond together, from this moment foward your name is Bolt!''

In response the Pachirisu barked loudly, it's body was engulfed into a giant wave of electricity that burned down the vines all around it. ''Oh crap...'' Ash gulped as the Pokémon became free from his prison and resumed his attack on him...

Lillie was breathing heavily, she looked ready to drop on the ground at any second while Xofamai looked no worse for wear. ''You're not going to remove my sunglasses no matter how many times you try.'' The older man said in an almost apathetic tone.

''We'll see about that, hyah!'' Lillie tried to pounce on the man but he had arleady predicted her movement and crouched just before she could hit him. This result in her crashing on the ground once again. She groaned as she laid on the grass deciding he wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

Seeing that she wouldn't try to get up anymore Xofamai took a pack of cigarette from his pocket and lit up one of them with a lighter. ''Ugh, you're a smoker too? Are you trying to be unlikable?'' Lillie asked with a sneer directed at him.

Xofamai didn't respond instead he inhales a puff of smoke and let it all out toward the blonde girl who proceeded to cough as the smoke assaulted her nose. When she recovered she glared hatefully toward the man who acted as if nothing was wrong.

''So... When were you planning to tell what you really are to the boy?'' He asked in a completely disinterested tone.

''It's none of your business!'' Lillie replied defensively.

He tsked in response before turning his gaze to her. ''Yes it is, if your boyfriend somehow manage to pass my test. I don't want something like this to tear apart the trust you have with each others. Going on missions with you brats will be dangerous enough as it is. I don't want to deal with teens drama on top of it.''

''He's not my boyfriend!'' She protested angrily with a blush on her face. ''And speaking of the test, what were you thinking making him capture a Pokémon without a Draconid Gem?! The gem allow human and Pokémon to understand each other. How is he supposed to gain the trust of a creature that doesn't even understand him?!''

Xofamai shrugged in response and looked unconcerned. ''Well if he isn't able to do it, then he has no place in the Resistance.'' Lillie was about to protest at him but he continued without missing a beat. ''This is not a game kid. people risk their life everyday to make this damn world a better place. Eventually that boy will work with other people other than you and me and what do we say to the Community if he's not ready and get his teammates killed? There's a reason the general was so reluctant to draft a fourteen and fifteen years old in the Resistance. She putted me in charge of you two because she knew I wouldn't hold back to make sure you were ready for this responsibility.''

Lillie lifted herself from the ground and crossed her arms. ''You say you're testing us, but thus far Ash is the only one that's being tested.'' She said with an unconvinced tone.

At that Xofamai gave the girl one of his rare smirk. ''I knew you would try to attack me after I confronted you about your identity. You've been taking my test since the first time you tried to take my sunglasses away.''

At that Lillie eyes widened and took a step back. ''This was all a test?!''

He nodded in response and putted both of his hands in his pockets. ''Yep and thus far I got to say I'm not impressed. You sacrifice too much of your energy by maintaining this useless disguise. Reveal your true form and face me at your full power.'' He said in a challenging tone.

''There's no way I'm showing my true self to you!'' She said before lunging at him. Xofamai jumped just as she was about to grab his legs. The girl landed on the ground with a roll and then she glared at the man who was still smoking his cigarette nonchalantly. ''Even in this form I'm definitely gonna get these glasses!'' She exclaimed before running at full speed toward him.

''What a stubborn girl...'' Xofamai said with a shake of his head.

Meanwhile Ash was sprinting at full speed in the forest as a deadly ball of electricity ran toward him. ''I don't understand! Aren't I supposed to become your partner once I name you?!'' He was responded with a bolt of lightning that narrowly missed him and charred the bark of the tree beside him. But it seemed as if luck was against him because the bolt of electricity had cutted the tree deeply and it started falling in his direction. ''Fuck!'' He yelled loudly.

He quickly jumped out of the way but Ash fell down on his ass, as the tree hit the ground at full force and shook the earth all around it. The Pachirisu jumped on top the fallen tree and smirked evily at the boy. ''Come on! Can't we be friends?!'' The squirrel responded by running toward him with the sound of crackling electricity following him.

Ash knew that he couldn't outrun the Pokémon for long, it was way quicker than him by a long shot. So he did the first thing he could think of and quickly removed his coat and held it in his hands like a matadore would hold a cape. Then when the squirrel was close enough he threw the coat over it with all his might.

He regretted his actions immediatly as the Pokémon trashed violently and sent sparks of lightning everywhere.''Stop struggling alright?! I'm your new master now and your new name is Bolt understood?! You don't serve the Dragons anymore!'' He exclaimed loudly.

Somehow his words seemed to have an effect on the Pokémon this time and it stopped struggling altogether. Ash stood there not knowing what had happened to make it finally relax on his aggression. Gulping loudly he decided to slowly lift the coat and see if it would attack him again.

The Pokémon was still glaring distrustfully at him but it made no attempt to attack him this time. Soon they heard the sound of hoofsteps coming their way. Sandy came running toward them looking at Ash with a worried expression. But she relaxed slightly when she saw that he was more or less okay. His arm still felt tingly but he could move it a little bit now, which was a good sign.

The boy looked at the Pachirisu and shakily gave it his hand in a sign of friendship. The electric and steel type looked at the hand suspiciously but it decided to sniff at it for a few seconds. Taking an even bigger risk Ash began to pet the top of the head of the squirrel. He instantly retracted his hand as electricity suddenly came foward.

Sandy cried in alarm and put herself between Ash and the small rodent, all the while glaring menacingly at it. Well as menacing as a baby deer could look anyway. Ash patted Sandy on the head reassuringly. ''It's okay Sandy I think I just startled it, go wait close to that tree.'' The Deerling didn't seem to like that idea at all. But once she saw that Ash was determined to do this she reluctantly backed away from both of them.

Ash took off his backpack and took a can of dried fruits from inside. He quickly opened the can and offered a dry grape to the wild Pokémon. The squirrel sniffed at it cautiously and then quickly took the piece of dried fruit and proceeded to eat it further away from Ash. The Pokémon licked it's lips once it was done and looked at Ash with a more relaxed gaze once it saw he was holding another piece of fruit toward it. This time the electric rodent was less reluctant to take the food and ate it close to the boy.

Ash tried once again to pet it. The Pokémon froze instantly as soon as his hand touched it's fur but then it continued to eat while Ash continued to pet him a few more times. ''Hey I know we kind of started on the wrong foot. But I promise we will make a good team if you join me. I still don't know how I feel about Pokémon, but I began to realise that I need your help if I want to change this world. All I can promise in return is that I will try my best to keep you from serious harm. I will also make sure you never go hungry again.''

The wild Pokémon cocked it's head curiously at him but it didn't react otherwise. Ash sighed, ''Well I guess if you want to be my partner you can come with me. I can't really force you if you don't want to.'' With that he gave the rest of the can to the rodent and began to walk away.

The Pachirisu quickly gulped down the rest of the dried fruits and then it looked back at the retreating form of the human who had trusted him despite the fact that it had spent almost an hour attacking him. Making a decision it ran toward the him as fast as it's small metallic legs could carry it. Once it was close enough it jumped on Ash's leg and climbed all the way to his head where it sat comfortably.

At first he was shocked that the rodent had climbed on him. But as he looked up and saw the squirrel looking down on him curiously he chuckled. ''I guess you decided to come with me? You know I never thought I would ever befriend another Pokémon. But you're not that different from the animals that used to live here. Maybe Lillie was right, maybe the real enemies are the Dragons and not you guys.'' Then he thought about the freaky bipedal Pyroar who had relentlessly tried to kill both him and Lillie. ''Then again maybe not all normal Pokémon are good either. This stuff is more complicated than I thought.''

Ash stopped talking once he noticed that the squirrel-like creature had fallen asleep on his head. ''I guess you don't really care about that philosophical stuff.'' He said with a chuckle. In the distance he could see that he was coming closer to the edge of the forest. He could hear Lillie running and yelling at someone. Fearing that something bad had happened he hurried toward the sound and froze in confusion at the spectacle that met him.

Lillie was trying to pounce on Xofamai and the man was dodging every single attacks while casually smoking a cigarette. ''What the heck is going on here?'' He asked with a baffled expression. Lillie instantly stopped what she was doing once she heard his voice and was looking sheepishly toward him.

Meanwhile Xofamai was looking at the Pachirisu sleeping on top of Ash's head with a neutral expression. ''So you actually did it, to be honest I didn't think you were ready but it look like I misjudged you. I just hope the General won't be too disappointed by the outcome.''

Ash was looking at the man in confusion, but the man had arleady turned toward Lillie. ''As for you, you still haven't passed my test. Do you really want to make your friend fail after he managed to capture a Pokémon without any Draconid Gems?''

''How am I supposed to catch those damn sunglasses?! You predicted all my movements!'' The blonde girl yelled in frustration.

At that the older man took another breath of nicotine before responding to her. ''I think you misunderstood, the test was never about taking my glasses. Even with your full power you wouldn't be able to take them.'' Lillie growled at him but he wasn't finished talking. ''Your test is to reveal and use your true form. If we're in a situation of life or death I don't want you to jeopardize our life just so you can keep your disguise in place. You can keep pretending to be human outside of missions, I don't give a shit. But when we're on missions you should use all your abilities to their full potential if you want to survive.''

Ash was beyond confused at the exchange. ''Lillie, what is he talking about?''

''Don't listen to him! He's clearly just a senile old man!'' Lillie said with a nervous smile on her face. Xofamai was not amused at the girl's claim. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. She sighed in defeat as she saw that Ash hadn't been convinced by her claim either. ''Fine I guess I wouldn't have been able to keep this from you eternally anyway.''

The girl was suddenly engulfed into a eerie blue light that soon covered the entire clearing. Ash had to cover his eyes with his arms from the sudden assault on his eyes. The light also woke up Bolt from atop of Ash's head. The small rodent looked at what was happening with a curious stare.

Xofamai didn't looked surprised at all by this new development and was waiting patiently for the light to die down. Once it did Ash stood there mouth agape. Standing in the place of where Lillie used to be was a foreign yet slightly familiar creature he had never seen before...

Entry from the Pokédex

Subject: Orchestralian Pachirisu

Despite being part steel type, this variant of Pachirisu has actually weaker defenses than it's Sinnohan counterpart. However it more than make up to this weakness by being a lot more quick and mobile in the air. It is believe that due to the fact that Orchestralian Pachirisu came from a land where both it and Emolga competed for food against each other. This variant Pachirisu had to develop it's aerial mobility to compete against it's flying rival.

It fearlessly jump from tree to tree as it search for food and can use it's strong leg to propel itself like a torpedo and bounce off from tree to tree. If you find yourself in a wooden area with trees that has many holes in their bark, it is very likely that a scurry of Orchestralian Pachirisu live there.