Shadow Gyarados Strikes Back!

A object fell from the sky and splattered onto Gyarados head, covering him in a sinister looking black ooze as a winged creature flew above them! Ash shot a quick look up but didn't see anything. Ash then glanced back in horror as Gyarados' scales turned a bright purple color, the spikes atop his back grew a fiery red while the light blue scales on his body changed to a black color! Gyarados' eyes then burst open to reveal the same red eyes he'd seen back when he met Pidgeot!

"GYA!"

"This doesn't look good..."

"Pika..." Pikachu flattened his ears against his head as Shadow Gyarados began rapidly circling the group with a loud fierce cry, several other Gyarados joined in as they heard his fierce cries and fearfully joined and acknowledged him as alpha!

"GYA!" A fierce wind began picking up and the two groups were hoisted through the air as the Gyarados' formed a large twister!

"Ash!" Chloe anxiously screamed. Ash tried to grab her hand only for her to blow out of the twister and fly off into the distance!

"Chloe!" Ash called out before anxiously looking around for Pikachu.

"P-Pika!" Pikachu swam through the wind as he tried to reach Ash!

"Ah!" Brock went flying out of the twister and the Rocket Trio went flying after him!

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off with a twerp this time!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Pikachu... Eevee...!"

"Pikachu!"

"Eevoi!" The two Pokemon tried to grab onto Ash before he was blasted out of the twister.

"Pika pi?!"

"Eevoi?!" The two gasped in horror as they watched him disappearing into the distance before they were launched out as well! After everyone was gone Shadow Gyarados called off the attack and shot the other Gyarados a look.

"GYA!" He growled in a threatening manner.

"Gya?!" The other Gyarados gasped and quickly swam away.

Shadow Gyarados smirked and turned his gaze towards a set of islands in the distance. "Gya!" He cried before swimming towards them, disappearing into the sunset as he left the Kanto region!

Hearty laughter could be heard as an old fashioned pirate ship sailed towards the Orange Islands, men and women dressed precisely like the pirates of old could be seen tossing various jewels up into the sky as they celebrated their recent haul.

"I can't believe we actually found the SS Anne's wreckage, the captain must be pleased!" A large bulky darker skinned individual eagerly exclaimed. He stuck out like a sore thumb on account of him refusing to wear a shirt or even a hat, his rough muscular physique was there for all to see. A large skull and crossbones tattoo was present upon his chest while small light blue triangular tattoos were present at various places along his forehead.

"No doubt, Matt." A beautiful dark skinned woman smirked at her crewmate. She had long waist length black hair and had apparently dyed two strands a bright blue color which matched her eyes. Fortunately she was wearing a top though that didn't stop some of her fellow pirates from ogling her attractive physique, especially as her blue leather outfit was rather tight! "We collected quite the haul, all those rich folks left all these valuables behind in their desperate bid to survive. There has to be at least a million Pokedollars worth of goods here!"

"Aye and we'll know for certain as soon as we make contact with the local black market." A rather fashionable pirate spoke while exiting the pirate's cabin, upon his arrival most of the pirates immediately turned and bowed to him signaling that he was the captain of the vessel. The man was significantly older, or perhaps just got unlucky, as there were silver strands of hair within his hair and large bushy purple beard. A red eyepatch covered his left eye, the scar present around it didn't leave a good sign though what was most peculiar was that the scar went over the eyepatch. A rather fashionable red pirate hat sat atop his head with a large purple feather attached to the brim of it while the remainder of his body was covered by a red suit that went out of fashion over a hundred years ago. His left hand was replaced by a hook while a peg leg replaced his right leg. "But there be a crystal Onix to the caves west of here, I say we capture it and sell it to a collector. We'd be set for life!"

"And maybe then I'll know my purpose in life!" Matt exclaimed with a hopeful expression. Being a pirate was fun and all but there was this empty feeling inside that ate away at him.

"Me? I'd like to get out of the pirate life, it was fun and all but it's starting to wear it's course. I'd like to actually do something with my life." The woman shook her head.

"Shelly I love ya but anymore of that talk and I'll make ye walk the plank!" The captain spoke while withdrawing an ancient blade from it's holster before pointing the tip towards her in a threatening manner. "Ye swore to serve your captain until either your or his dying breath, there'll be no leaving my crew so long as I still breathe! Don't forget that I, Captain Skunkbeard, am stronger than all of you landlubbers!"

"Skunk!" A large purple and tan colored skunk cried out as it took it's place alongside his trainer.

"Captain! There be a horde of Lapras to the west!" The ship's lookout shouted.

"Lapras, eh?" Money symbols flashed in Skunkbeard's eyes as a large horde of Lapras came into view. The species wasn't anywhere near as endangered as it once was due to protective regulations, in fact there was actually an overabundance of them but that didn't mean their shells weren't sought after. "Alright lads, these Lapras will fetch us quite the bounty once we kill and harvest them. Now let's get going and-"

"Uh captain?" Matt pointed towards some fiery looking scales that began rising up from the ocean. "I think something else has found the Lapras!"

"Something else? Bah, I won't let that pest steal my prize!" Skunkbeard snarled as he thrusted his sword outwards to point towards the scales. "Skuntank use Dark Pulse!"

"Skunk!" A pulse of black-purple static energy formed within Skuntank's mouth before being fired upon the rising scales.

The crew began joyfully cheering at the sight as they expected the creature to faint as most wild Pokemon did, though the cheering came to an abrupt end as Shadow Gyarados emerged with the water with an enraged roar before quickly turning his head towards the pirate crew. Skunkbeard's jaw dropped as he felt genuine fear flow through him as Gyarados locked eyes with him.

"Ahhh!"

"We're all going to die!" Some of the crew began diving off the sides of the ship in a desperate bid to flee.

Shelly and Matt were frozen by fear as Gyarados began charging up a powerful orange-yellow energy beam before firing it upon the ship, the attack began direct contact with Skunkbeard and Skuntank's feet before exploding, the whole ship quickly went up in flames before blowing apart causing the crew to plummet overboard and disappear beneath the surface though a few bodies floated atop the water surface and remained lifeless while Skunkbeard's hat floated up to the surface and floated beside them. Shadow Gyarados rummaged through the wreckage to look for survivors before turning his attention towards the Lapras horde who were watching with curious expressions while some swam forward to offer their assistance to the drowning pirates.

"Laaaa!"

"Laaa!"

Rage filled Gyarados' eyes at the sight, his blood began boiling as a violent red color filled his eyes. "GYAAAAA!" A dark red energy beam fired from his mouth and flew towards the Lapras, much like Agatha's Pokemon before them the Lapras quickly turned to dust upon impact causing the Lapras further along the back to utter terrified screeches as they attempted to swim away.

"Laaa!" A younger Lapras screeched out as he saw his parent get blasted, tears filled his eyes as he attempted to rush forward to help before being stopped by his mother. The mother Lapras gave the approaching beam a quick look before shooting an apologetic look towards her son as she blasted him with Hyper Beam, the explosion was enough to blow her son out of the attack's range but poor Lapras was close enough to see his mother turn to dust before him.

"Laaa..." More tears flowed through Lapras' eyes before an enraged look appeared as he turned his gaze towards Shadow Gyarados. The lethal attack had come to an end as Lapras charged towards the Shadow Pokemon, a beam of ice charged within his mouth and fired towards Gyarados only for the Pokemon to quickly vanish beneath the wave. Lapras fired the ice attack where Gyarados once stood before shooting a quick glance around as he attempted to locate him. "Laaa?"

"GYAAAA!" Shadow Gyarados emerged behind Lapras and fired off another Hyper Beam, one much stronger than the one his mother used. Lapras let out a pain filled cry as some blood was spilt while his body was flung into the air and flew towards the nearby island. Gyarados seemed confident that Lapras was taken care of however as he made no attempt to pursue him. The Shadow Pokemon merely smirked before vanishing beneath the ocean waves.

Matt and Shelly were lightly breathing as their unconscious forms remained floating above the water thanks to the assistance of some driftwood, at first glance one could easily assume that they were dead allowing them to escape from the Shadow Pokemon's violent carnage. They drifted along the ocean current for hours before eventually being found as a strong pair of arms lifted them up onto a boat, the driftwood sunk moments after they left indicating that they were rescued just in time. Matt and Shelly's eyes slowly opened up, the sun shined down upon their faces making it hard to see their savior's face as they looked up at him.

"T-Thank you, sir..." Matt was quick to bow and began kissing the man's shoes while Shelly looked up with a bit of admiration.

"My brother and I owe you our lives, how can we ever repay you?"

The man stroked his chin for a moment before emitting a light chuckle. "Well it just so happens that I'm putting together an organization, one dedicated to helping the Pokemon of this world by expanding the sea."

Shelly and Matt gave each other a look, the two were looking for a purpose in life and it appeared that fate had come knocking with the perfect solution to their problems!

"So what do you two think? Will you join Team Aqua and help the world become a better place?"

The siblings shared a smile as they turned to their saviors and gave a quick nod. "Yes!"

A young male around the same age as our heroes sat on a beach in the early hours of the day, sketching away at his sketchbook while a small blue mouse Pokemon sat beside him. The man's eyes lingered towards a Machamp that was stretching beside his trainer, his eyes quickly darted between the Pokemon and the sketchbook as he sketched away. The mouse Pokemon's gaze remained on Machamp before suddenly shifting to the side as her ears twitched.

"Marill?" The mouse questioned as she picked up what sounded like a Pokemon in distress. "Marill!" The mouse turned towards her trainer and leaped up while frantically pointing further along the beach.

"Huh, what is it?" The boy questioned while looking up from his notepad.

"Marill!" Marill continued frantically pointing towards the source of the disturbance before rushing off, forcing her trainer to follow her. The man shot a glance towards Machamp before sighing out as he closed his notepad before following after his Pokemon. The pair raced along the beach before coming to an abrupt halt as they came across some rough looking boys who could be seen standing beside a bruised and bleeding Lapras while laughing and taking selfies.

The boy took one look at the sight before growling out, his hands balled into fists as he made his way towards them. "Hey, did you have anything to do this with?!"

The tallest of the three turned around and crossed his arms as he looked the boy up and down. His sleek blonde hair was oiled back while black leather jackets were present upon the trio's upper bodies while a fierce looking blue Dragon Pokemon could be seen patterned across the back of the jacket, hinting that they were possibly affiliated with a gang of some sort. "Listen pal, we may be new around here but you don't want to mess with us Salamence boys!"

"Johnny's right, we'll put the hurt on you!"

The third merely grunted and pounded his fists against each other in a threatening manner.

"Roy, Brick... shut up, I can handle this." Johnny sighed out before giving the local boy a light push. "Now I suggest you get out of here!"

"I'm not going anywhere, that Lapras is clearly hurt and needs medical attention!" The boy shouted while flickering his gaze back towards Lapras.

"Marill!"

"Well it ain't getting any, least not until I catch it!" Johnny laughed.

"Yeah, hehehe..." Roy laughed.

"Catch it?" The boy looked the three over before frowning. "Look I don't know what region you three are from but I'm pretty sure that none of you are sixteen years old, catching it here is still a crime! Besides that Lapras is in no condition to be caught."

"Well whose going to tell on us? You?!" Johnny threw back his head and laughed before giving the boy another push causing his notepad to come falling loose from his arms.

"Yes-Hey!"

"Ooooh!" Roy picked up the notepad and began flipping through it. "Looks like we've got quite the artist here, we could probably sell these sketches for a fair bit of-" Roy went silent and handed the notepad towards Johnny.

"Eh?" Johnny looked the notepad over before forming a rather sinister smirk as he saw quite the detailed drawing of Machamp and his trainer's muscular physiques. "Well well well, forget letting you go... beating you will be a nice change from the autistic brat and that girlfriend of his we usually beat on, in fact we just might do worse to you!"

Brick gave the notepad a glance before shooting his friends a questioning glance which soon turned to a look of alarm as he realized why Johnny and Roy wanted to beat on the local trainer. Sweat nervously poured down his face as he glanced towards the side.

The boy nervously stepped back, Marill following with him as Johnny and Roy stepped closer. The sketch artist may be a trainer but he wasn't exactly strong, he only had two Pokemon and they rarely ever battled nor had much experience.

Johnny was quick to lash out, punching the boy directly in the face which sent him falling towards the ground. Roy laughed out while Brick silently looked to the side as a light trail of blood poured from the boy's nose.

"Ow..."

"Marill!" The blue mouse attempted to tackle Johnny only to be sent flying back by a swift kick!

"And now, we finish this. Come on Roy, let's beat him to-"

"Thunderbolt!"

"Chuuuu!" A thunderbolt crackled along the beach before making contact with Johnny, Roy and Brick causing the three to cry and grunt out as electricity surged through them before they fell against the ground in an unconscious heap.

Ash, Brock and Chloe could be seen racing onto the scene with Chloe soon stopping to utter out a startled scream upon seeing just how severe Lapras' injuries were. Brock and Croagunk made a dash towards the injured Pokemon and quickly began tending to it's injuries while Ash raced towards the local boy before helping him up as he offered him his hand.

The boy wiped off his nose before flashing Ash an appreciative look as he took hold of Ash's hand with his other hand before he was pulled up to his feet. "Thanks..."

"Don't mention it, did you happen to see what happened here?" Ash questioned towards shooting a glance towards the three unconscious thugs. "Did they do this to Lapras...?"

"Laa..." Lapras weakly groaned out, his gaze remained locked on the group as Brock continued tending to his injuries.

"Actually I'm not sure, they wouldn't answer my question... though seeing how they intended on catching it and didn't even use a Pokemon when attempting to beat me up, I doubt it." The boy pointed towards Lapras before pointing out towards the ocean. "You see, Lapras can't be found on land and are usually found at sea. Something else had to have done this..."

"Sure must have been powerful to knock Lapras this far..." Chloe commented while squinting her eyes as she peered towards the distance. "The island's current goes pretty far out."

Ash briefly flashbacked to the events of the SS Anne's wreckage where another of those strange looking demonic Pokemon appeared and sent him along with his friends and Team Rocket flying quite far from the wreckage as they landed within Cinnabar Island's theme park! He scratched the side of his cheek as he couldn't help but wonder if this was a coincidence or not, the Pokemon was still had large as there wasn't any footage or sighting of it and it wasn't that far from where the SS Anne wrecked. But there wasn't any sign of the mysterious Pokemon as he turned his gaze towards the ocean. Ash then turned back towards the sketch artist before holding out his hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum by the way."

"Tracey Sketchit." The boy smiled as the two shook hands.

"Sketchit...?" Chloe tilted her head lightly while glancing towards the sketchbook that laid beside Tracey's feet. "Is that yours then?"

Tracey blushed lightly while a light chuckle emitted from his throat. "Y-Yeah..."

"Stop right there!" Ash, Chloe and Tracey all tensed up as a police whistle was blown. They slowly turned their heads while Ash and Chloe shared the same shocked expression as they saw an Officer Jenny rushing towards them. It appeared that the family also had members outside of the Kanto region itself! "You all are under arrest for abusing Pokemon!"

"What?! Hold up now, it wasn't us!" Chloe screeched out.

"Yeah, we just got here!" Ash shouted out.

"Pika pi!"

"Eevoi!"

"Officer Jenny please, you know me! I'd never abuse a Pokemon!" Tracey pleaded.

Officer Jenny came to a screeching halt as she took note of Tracey's presence. "Tracey..?" Officer Jenny gave him a look before turning her attention towards the unconscious thugs. "So did they do this?"

"I-I'm actually not sure but they did hit me." Tracey pointed towards his nose where a light bruise could be seen.

Officer Jenny gave it a quick look before narrowing her eyes as she leered towards the thugs. "Well I can arrest them for assault, that'll keep them around for questioning. And I'll give Joy a call, she can tend to Lapr-"

"No, don't! I've got it taken care of." Brock gave Officer Jenny a wave as he came up from behind Lapras, bandages wrapped around his hands while a serious look remained upon his face. He may still be a flirt but he did know when to shut up and get serious. "No need to bother her, I'm sure that there are plenty of Pokemon at the Pokemon Center that need looking after. I've got this handled."

Officer Jenny took a step closer and admired Brock's handiwork. "My my, I must say that you're quite the doctor!"

Ash and Chloe gave each other a questioning look while Brock's cheeks turned a dark shade of red though he kept his attention to Lapras as he resumed his handiwork. "That's nice of you to say, miss but I'm no doctor. I'm actually a Pokemon Breeder!"

"Croa..." Croagunk silently watched Brock as he seemed to know something that Brock hadn't realized yet.

"Well regardless, it's quite lucky that you came across Lapras. He might just pull through thanks to you!" Officer Jenny beamed.

"Laa..." Lapras didn't seem thrilled with the idea as he glanced towards the ground.

Ash immediately frowned upon noticing. "Lapras, what's wrong?"

"Laa..."

"He's saying that his entire horde was simultaneously wiped by a powerful nightmarish Gyarados!" The Rotom Phone spoke out from Ash's pocket. "And he doesn't know how to move on."

"What..?" Tracey shot a questioning glance towards the ocean while Ash, Chloe and Brock all froze up and shared a silent look as they realized what had done it.

"Gyarados!"

"Pika pi!"

"Eevoi!"

"Croa..."

"Huh?" Tracey blinked. "You've met this Gyarados before?"

"Yeah and it wasn't pretty, he summoned a bunch of other Gyarados and sent us all blasting off!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika pika Pika!"

"But we're stronger now than we were back then, we can probably take him now!"

"How do you expect to find him?" Chloe questioned. "Charizard hates flying over water and Pidgeot would easily be sent flying if Gyarados tries that same stunt again. We got lucky last time, for all we know we could be sent flying straight into a volcano or the bottom of the ocean!"

"Chloe's right, you need a Water type that can move across the water." Brock added on. "It's the fastest measure."

"But Kingler can't float and Kabutops won't be able to attack back if I'm holding onto him." Ash frowned.

"Er-If I may... why not ask Lapras?" Tracey suggested. "Lapras' species love ferrying humans around on their backs and I'm sure that Lapras would be eager to fight back against Gyarados seeing how he killed his friends and loved ones."

Ash thought it over for a moment before turning his gaze towards Lapras as Brock finished tending to the Pokemon's injuries. "What do you think, Lapras? Would you be okay helping me track down Gyarados and putting a stop to his reign of terror?" By 'putting an end to it', he meant to catch it. Last time he encountered a nightmarish Pokemon, he beat it and Pidgeot was seemingly cured.

Lapras gazed towards the ground and was silent before eventually rising his head with a determined expression. "Laaa..." He softly spoke while nodding, showing that he was up for the challenge.

"Alright then, let's go fight Gyarados!" Ash grinned while turning to face his friends. "You two stay here, I can handle this."

"Oh no you don't, that may be true but if something happens I don't want to be left in the dark." Chloe stated while forming a tight grip on his hand.

Brock flashed his friend a light smirk while placing a hand atop his shoulder. "Count me in too, I'm with you until the end!"

Tracey felt rather creeped out by the ideal so he decided to stay out of it. "Good luck you guys, sounds like you might need it."

"See anything up there, Pidgeot?" Ash called out towards his bird Pokemon as Pidgeot swooped through the sky above.

"Cooo!" Pidgeot shook his head.

Ash frowned before shooting a glance towards the water's surface as Lapras ferried them along the ocean. "What is it's down there?"

"Then we can't do much about it, you can't see far underwater or at least we can't." Chloe shrugged. "Lapras and the other Water types can probably see."

"Huh, Kabutops I choose you!"

"Tops!" Kabutops burst from his ball with the majority of his body soon disappearing from view as it vanished beneath the water, his head floated atop the water while his eyes locked onto Ash. "Tops..?"

"Kabutops, I want you to look underwater and see if you can locate a nightmarish Gyarados."

"Tops...?" Kabutops tilted his head to the side. "Tops!" He exclaimed, stating that a lot of Gyarados could be scary.

"He has black scales." Ash sweated. "It's hard to miss." He never met a shiny Gyarados so he wasn't sure about their natural colors were just yet.

Kabutops gave a swift nod before vanishing beneath the ocean, he began glancing around and noticed a disturbing lack of ocean Pokemon causing him to tilt his head in a questionable manner. "Tops...?" Kabutops swam a bit further downwards while continuing to look around, not noticing a pair of bright red eyes flash from a nearby ship wreckage until it was too late.

"TOPS!" Ash, Chloe and Brock all leaped up from shock as Kabutops was blasted out of the ocean before landing atop the water surface with a loud splat noise. His body went limp but still showed signs of life causing the three to share a sigh of relief.

"He must have taken him by surprise." Chloe frowned.

"Or we underestimated Gyarados." Brock stated.

"He's definitely down there..." Ash glanced over Lapras' side before uttering an alarmed shout as Gyarados shot up directly in front of him. "Ah!"

"GYAAAA!" The Shadow serpent roared while leering down at them.

"Gyarados!"

"Pika..."

"Tox!" Electricity crackled from Toxel's cheeks as he leaped from Ash's shoulder in order to attack Gyarados.

"Toxel, don't!" Ash quickly lunged forward and yanked Toxel from the air, pulling him into his arms and holding him close to his chest. "Electric type attacks are effective against Gyarados but you can't use Electric attacks on water. The ocean is filled with life and you will harm and potentially even kill them if you do that! Let somebody else handle it."

"Tox..." Toxel frowned before eventually nodding.

Ash quickly thought over a strategy before grabbing for a Pokeball as Gyarados prepared to fire off a Hyper Beam.

"Gengar, I choose you!"

"Gengar!" Gengar burst out and flashed his opponent a cocky smirk which soon vanished upon seeing the seriousness of the situation. Gengar didn't need to be told what to do, his eyes shot bright blue while a similar color surrounded the attack and froze it in place before sending it flying back towards Gyarados!

"GYAAAA!" The shadowy serpent uttered a pain filled cry as the attack exploded within his mouth. The serpent snarled out before blasting Gengar back with a powerful geyser of water.

"G-Gengar..." Gengar grunted out before shaking himself off as the attack died out.

"We may not be able to use an Electric type attack on him now but if we launch him into the air, it's fair game! Use Psychic to fling him into the air!"

"Gengar!" Gengar's eyes shot bright blue while his hands flew upwards causing Gyarados to launch up towards the sky above!

"GYAAAA!" Gyarados flew up and began spiraling downwards before coming to an abrupt stop as he levitated high above the group, leering down at them with a menacing expression.

"Oh right, I forgot that Gyarados can fly." Chloe sweated.

"I didn't even know they could..." Ash sweated. Apparently Team Rocket didn't either has they continued utilizing the Meowth Balloon rather than their personal Gyarados. "Alright Gengar, Pikachu... use Thunderbolt!"

"Gengar!"

"Pika!"

"Tox!" Toxel eagerly leaped forward as electricity crackled from his cheeks. The baby Pokemon was eager to help his teammate and big brother out but all that released from his cheeks was a pathetic yet cute small streak of electricity that died out before it could get anywhere close to Gyarados. Toxel sweated before hanging his head in shame while both Gengar and Pikachu's attacks blasted Gyarados simultaneously.

"GYAAAAA!" Lapras couldn't help but smirk as he heard Gyarados release the pain filled cry. Electricity surged throughout the Shadow Pokemon's body while the color began leaving his rage filled eyes as they rolled up into his head. "Gyaaa..." Gyarados lost consciousness and began dropping towards the water below.

"Alright, way to go you guys!"

"Pika pi!"

"Gengar!" Gengar flashed a victorious smirk as Gyarados fell towards the ocean.

"Huh, it doesn't appear like he's changing back." Ash tilted his head as a confused expression formed across his face. "I don't understand, Pidgeot transformed back after I beat him... why didn't it happen to-"

"Ash, look!" Brock shouted out causing Ash to turn towards his friend before gasping out as he saw the Rainbow Wing glowing a bright golden color.

"What? What are you two looking at?" Chloe shot the two a questioning look before shifting her eyes upwards. "Oh... the feather's glowing!"

"Pika..."

"Eevoi..."

"Croa..."

"Tox..."

"Gengar..." All of them stared at the feather as it continued to brightly glow before emitting a bright colorful rainbow light that surrounded the area around them. Gyarados began to mutter out and stir as his scales began reverting back to their normal shade of blue.

"Oh wow, look!" Chloe pointed towards Gyarados as the color began reverting across his entire body while a small shadowy blob formed near the tip of his head. "It appears that the feather is what changes the Pokemon back to normal!"

Ash was silent for a brief moment as he thought back to the previous encounter, the Rainbow Wing had been with him but it was inside of his pocket. "So it wasn't simply because I beat Pidgeot... maybe it was both?" He questioned.

"Sounds like there's quite the mystery behind that feather." Brock stated. "It's quite powerful..."

"And maybe the source has the answers." Ash was more determined than ever to find Ho-oh but the discussion would soon come to an abrupt end as Lapras suddenly lunged towards the stirring Gyarados with an unusual rage filled cry.

"Laaaaa!"

"Whoa!" Ash, Brock and Chloe all fell over and clung tightly to Lapras' shell while a bright orange-yellow energy beam began to form within Lapras' mouth! Ash's eyes widened as he realized what Lapras was about to try so he grabbed hold of the back of Lapras' head before quickly swinging himself around to throw himself between Lapras and Gyarados. Gyarados woke up at that precise moment and froze up as he saw his life flashing before his eyes, shock soon replaced that as he saw a stranger throw himself between the attack. Lapras froze up and let out an alarmed cry as guilt flashed across his face. Ash grunted out as he fell towards the water but Gengar was quick to catch him, utilizing his Psychic attack to keep Ash levitating safely above the water. A bit of blood trekked down his jacket as he did take Hyper Beam from it's source but fortunately it wasn't enough to cause him harm, Lapras was a bit younger after all.

"Laaa..." Lapras nudged his head against Ash as he tried apologizing to him. "Laaaa!"

"Bzzzt. Long story short, he's apologizing to you but wondering why you did that."

Ash was surprised how helpful the Rotom Phone was being lately as it usually kept quiet until he scanned Pokemon.

"Lapras... it's not Gyarados' fault. I know how losing family feels, my dad went missing a very long time ago and I've long accepted that he's dead. My mother has too..." Ash frowned while looking towards the water surface. "But that doesn't mean you should go and get revenge by killing Gyarados, he's innocent! I've seen this before, the Pidgeot up there? That's mine and he went through the same thing that this Gyarados did. He was causing mayhem throughout the forest and even kidnapped my girlfriend, Chloe! But after I beat him and he transitioned back to normal, his true persona revealed itself. Pidgeot's reserved but quite calm and peaceful, he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Cooo!" Pidgeot licked his beak as a wild Venomoth flew by.

"...Okay wrong choice of words but Pidgeot isn't one to cause senseless violence. Gyarados' species may be aggressive but I doubt this one would kill your entire horde, right?"

"Gyaaa..." Gyarados gave Lapras an apologetic look while slowly nodding his head. He may give into rage and harm others but he'd never outright kill another Pokemon! "Gyaaa!" Gyarados didn't expect Lapras to forgive him and felt awful for what had happened, offering the Pokemon the sincerest of apologies.

Lapras gazed towards Gyarados and continued leering for a bit before eventually lowering his head as he accepted Gyarados' apology. "Laa..."

Gyarados smirked lightly. "Gyaa..." He muttered before diving beneath the ocean waves, disappearing from sight once more.

"Wait!" Ash shouted out before hanging his head as he groaned out. "I was going to catch it..."

"Probably for the best, Team Rocket does own one." Brock pointed out. "It'd be confusing if they were in the same space as the other."

"Especially since they're both blue." Chloe nodded in agreement while giving Lapras' head a light pat. "Besides I'm pretty sure that Lapras is going to need some new friends after what happened here today."

"Laa..." Lapras lowered his head as his saddened expression returned. He may have forgiven Gyarados but that didn't mean all of his problems just went away, he wasn't sure what to do know or where to go next.

"Lapras..." Ash frowned as he saw the saddened expression Lapras had. His gaze drifted towards his belt before flickering back towards Lapras as he pulled a Pokeball loose.

"La..?" Lapras slowly turned to glance towards Ash.

"Lapras, how would you feel about joining my team? I'm competing in the Orange League and will need transportation across the ocean so we'd be spending a lot of time together, I'm also working towards becoming the World Champion so you and I can grow stronger together as well! What do you say, are you interested?" Ash offered Lapras a smile while holding the empty ball towards him.

Lapras silently gazed towards the Pokeball before cracking a light smile as he gave a small nod of his head. "Laaa!"

Ash and Pikachu shared a fairly large grin before hugging Lapras' neck. "Then welcome to the team, Lapras!"

"Pika pi!"

"Laaaa!"

"So you caught Lapras?" Tracey asked as the group sat around the Pokemon Center's café later that day. Tracey offered them a look at his sketchbook while they relayed the events of the day to him.

"Yep, he's going to transport us around the islands and help us conquer the Orange League!" Ash excitedly exclaimed.

"Pika pika!"

"The Orange League?" Tracey asked before forming a light smile. "Well I'm sorry to say but your Rotom Phones won't pick up much signal out at sea so your map apps won't be much use."

"What?!" A startled expression formed across Ash's face. "Then how are we supposed to get around?! None of us know the area, all the islands look the same to us!"

"Well I could come with you guys... if you want." Tracey offered. "You see I may live here but I've spent a fair bit traveling around the islands so I know them pretty well, or at least well enough to pick out the important ones. After all, I wouldn't get much sketching done if I stayed here all the time. The only 'new' Pokemon I come across usually belong to tourists or Orange League participants such as yourselves."

"Wow, these drawings are quite good! Almost as if a professional made these!" Brock exclaimed while Chloe silently gazed towards Marill. She recalled the blue Pikachu haunting her dreams since their journey started and recalled another member joining their group, maybe that person was Tracey?

"I'm sorry to ask but what region is that blue Pikachu from? I've never seen it before." Chloe questioned him.

"Huh?" Tracey glanced towards Marill and lightly sweated upon seeing some similarities between her and Pikachu before swiftly shaking his head. "Nono! That isn't a 'blue Pikachu', it's a Marill!"

"A Marill?" Ash gave Marill a questioning look while retrieving the Rotom Phone from his pocket.

"Marill the Mouse Pokemon, when it was first discovered it was given the name 'Pikablu' as people mistook it for a variation of Pikachu. When fishing for food at the edge of a fast running stream, Marill wraps its tail around the trunk of a tree. This Pokemon's tail is flexible and configured to stretch!"

"Now that you mention it, it does look a bit like Pikachu..." Ash muttered.

"Pika..."

"Marill!" Marill puffed her cheeks and turned her back towards them.

"It says they're usually native to the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. No wonder we've never seen one before!" Brock exclaimed.

"Well if Marill live here then who knows what else we'll come across during our travels here!" Ash grinned while turning towards Chloe and Brock. "So what do you two think? Should we add Tracey to our group?"

"Why not? He knows the islands better than we do and might help us from getting lost!" Chloe was quick to nod in agreement.

"That and he's sure to know where the most populated beaches are!" Brock exclaimed while hearts appeared in his eyes at the mere thought of the beautiful women in bikinis. "Just imagine all those beautiful women, surely one of them will accept me as their boyfriend! You and me can work together, Tracey. We'll find you a girlfriend too!"

Tracey sweated. "I actually don't swing that way but I do know where the best beaches are, I'll gladly show them to you."

"Oh." Brock blinked before offering his friend an apologetic smile. "Thank you."

"Well then it's settled, welcome to the group Tracey!" Ash smiled while offering his hand to him.

Tracey shook it and smiled back at his friends. "Thank you, I'll be sure to help out in any possible way!"

"Marill!" Marill chimed out in agreement with her trainer, eager to see more of the islands.

"So where do you want to go next?" Tracey questioned.

"Well we're actually on our way to Professor Ivy, you see Professor Oak asked me to pick something up"

"You know Professor Oak?!" Stars filled Tracey's eyes as he squealed out. "Oh my gosh, you've got to introduce me! It's my life dream to meet the guy, he's my idol! Did you know that he was once a Pokemon Watcher too?!" The three then began to sweat as Tracey began rambling on about Professor Oak's past in a fanboyish manner as they all left the Pokemon Center to continue their adventure.

Yeah, Tracey's not straight. If that 'scene' with Johnny made you uncomfortable, don't worry it made me uncomfortable too. Him and Tracey are never going to cross paths again so you'll never see another scene like that. Gyarados may have gone down quick but served his purpose, he showed Ash how Shadow Pokemon are cured. I already explained why he didn't catch it so...

Matt and Shelly made their debut, I briefly showed Courtney and Tabitha though in an earlier chapter but I didn't drop their names. Archie and Maxie will have their backstories shown in Delta Emerald but let's just say they already know the Emerald Hero(By name, not status) and there's a reason they're able to afford submarines, large ships and helicopters lol

Sorry for the release gap, I've just been heavily depressed the past two weeks. I've honestly been tempted to just start Delta Emerald and focus on the non-Ash elements, I always did struggle to find a reason for Ash to travel with the Emerald Hero and May, and Shadow Pokemon are actually absent from Hoenn/Sinnoh's stories. I'm thinking or rather hoping that writing for my favorite childhood region will help cheer me up

Anyways, next time Ash meets Professor Ivy and retrieves the mysterious GS ball! And no, Brock's not leaving lol