This is the first of four chapters today.


"Are any of you guys Pokémon trainers?"

"Yeah," Ash said – stating the obvious, given that no fewer than four Pokémon accompanied the trio. "But we're kind of in a hurry, sorry – we don't have time to battle."

Lisa frowned. "Oh, that's a pity. Maybe later?"

"I'll let you know," Ash said, and kept going.

Lisa watched them go out of sight. "Well, that wasn't very polite."

Her Aipom clambered down from her shoulder and rummaged in her bag. Finding what it was looking for, it produced an old leaflet.

"Eeh?" it asked, pointing at the paper.

Lisa examined it.

"You're right..." She blinked. "Oh. Maybe it's a good thing we didn't get to fight, I can't imagine I'd have done well against Ash Ketchum..."

Aipom shrugged, and jumped back up to her shoulder.


The friends rounded the final bend, and their objective – a broad valley – came into view.

"Looks like we were right," Ash said softly, looking over the gigantic crystal edifice covering half the valley floor.

"What now?" Brock asked.

"Well..." Ash shaded his eyes. "I think we should use the river. It got us in without being noticed, so it should work again."

"What about teams?" Lucario asked.

"As soon as we're in, I'm going to want you on alert," Ash confirmed. "But the fewer of us there are, the easier it's going to be to sneak in. I think we should return everyone – and Pikachu, you should get in my backpack."

"Can I just check what we're doing?" Misty asked, as Togekiss returned to her 'ball.

"Well..." Ash trailed off, putting Pokéballs into his pockets and zipping up his bag with Pikachu in it. "The girl – Molly – she was... I don't know exactly how to put it. She was in a bad way, I guess. And I'm kind of hoping we can make sure she's okay."

He pulled his gloves tighter, feeling his Aura sing through them. "If I can get to her, I can try the same thing I did to you and Sabrina, Misty."

"Right."

"What do you need us to do?" Brock asked.

"I guess... help me through?" Ash suggested. "We don't know exactly what's going to happen in there. We'll have to decide at the time."

The others nodded.


"Okay, here goes."

Brock looked across the stretch of clear ground to the stream tunnel. "Didn't we do this at night last time?"

"That's right," Ash confirmed. "But we should be as quick as possible – the longer we wait, the worse things could get."

He winced. "I don't want someone else to be kidnapped like Mom was."

"Good point," Misty said, softly. "But how are we going to be sure we're not seen?"

Ash rummaged in his pockets, the movement making the bush they were hiding in rustle. "Noctowl, you ready for this?"

The shiny Pokémon formed in a flash of white light, ringed with sparkles. "Indubitably."

"Think you can disguise all of us?"

"Well, it'll be a little bit of a challenge, but I'm sure I can manage." Noctowl flared his wings, and took flight. As he did so, a faint shimmer covered his wings, and he faded to the normal brown colour of most of his species.

"No sense drawing one whit more attention than is absolutely necessary," he muttered, and circled a few times. "I have it. Onwards!"

Ash, Brock and Misty walked out into the open, a faint prickling sensation going up their spines at the thought of being ambushed by the illusory Entei.

"Do stay slow, there's good chaps," Noctowl added softly. His circling path lowered until his wingtips were barely above their heads, occasionally brushing with a feather. "There we go... theeeere we go... and done."

Ash sighed with relief as they made it into the crystalline tunnel roof.

"Thanks, Noctowl," he said.

"A pleasure." Noctowl did another circuit, then alighted on Ash's shoulder. "Hmm, I can most definitely see why Pikachu prefers it here."

"Do we need your help any more?" Ash asked.

"I believe not – we're now no longer in line of sight with the manor." Noctowl hooted softly.

"Okay. Thanks." Ash held up the Pokéball, and Noctowl disappeared into it with a pulse of red light.

"So far so good," Misty observed.


"Are we ready?"

"Three... two... one... rolling."

"I'm here outside the town of Greenfield," Roxy explained, a practiced sweep of her arm taking in the whole vale behind her – much of it covered with the expanding crystalline substance which had appeared so suddenly a few hours ago. "Experts from across Japan are being contacted, but as yet no hard information has come to light."

She pressed a finger into her ear. "Excuse me, I'm getting an update from one Professor Felina Ivy from the Orange Islands. Professor, can we-"

Another pause.

"Okay, we are going to have Professor Ivy on the line shortly." Roxy looked back into the camera. "We can all hope that her expertise on the subject allows us to get a speedy resolution to this crisis. Professor Samuel Oak has also been contacted, and he has informed us he is monitoring the situation from his home base in Kanto."

"Hey, Roxy?" her cameraman said, looking up from the viewfinder.

"What is it, Oli?" she asked, lowering her microphone. "We're live!"

"I know, Rox, but..." Oli pointed, and she turned to look.

"Goodness!"

Roxy took a moment to squint closer, trying to make out more details, and then turned back to the camera. "It appears that a number of trainers are making their way into the structure. I am not certain from this distance-" the camera panned off her, and zoomed in, "-but it appears one of them is the young Champion of the most recent Indigo Conference, Ash Ketchum. I'm not sure what he's doing in Johto, but he seems to know what he's doing."

Her support staff spoke in her ear again, and she turned back to the camera as it focused back in on her. "I've just been informed that Professor Ivy is now available. Professor, what can you tell us?"

Ivy cleared her throat, invisible to the reporter but being broadcast across the country. "Well – Roxy, is it?"

"That's correct, Professor."

"Well. My most recent area of study was on dimensional analysis, and I encountered a form of strange Pokémon called the Unown. This isn't quite what we saw last time, but it's quite close."

"Unown," Roxy repeated. "What do we know about these Unown?"

"Not a lot," Felina admitted. "They're powerfully psychic, we know that much, and they have a strange form of hidden energy. We think they work together in hundreds and thousands to produce the larger effects we see – individually they're not very powerful, but together they're so impressive some have misidentified them as a single, Legendary, Pokémon."

"That's chilling stuff," Roxy said. "Is there any good news?"

"Unown can be dealt with," Felina said, smiling. "As I say, individually they're not very powerful, and their ability to harmonize and produce such large effects can be disrupted with relative ease once close."

"So – can we focus in on those trainers again?" Roxy waited a moment. "Thank you. So, Professor, what do you think the chances are of these trainers doing what you suggest?"

"Well, I-" Ivy's voice broke off. "Is that Brock?"

"Professor?" Roxy asked, concerned.

Other voices came down Ivy's video link. Those watching at home could see three nearly-identical assistants crowded around Professor Ivy's computer.

"That is Brock!" one of them said.

"He'll be fine!" another added, sounding relieved.

"Excuse me!" Ivy said, quite sharply. "Sorry about that. I know one of the trainers quite well – Brock of Pewter. He's a Gym Leader who stayed with me for a couple of months."

"...well, it is a small world," Roxy commented. "Professor, thank you for the help. Can we rely on you for further analysis as this crisis unfolds?"

"Of course."


"You guys doing okay?" Ash asked, looking back.

"Kind of," Brock replied, wobbling as one foot sank into the water. He sighed, and there was a quiet splash as he gave up trying to stand on the surface. "I'll just wade, Ash."

"Okay," Ash nodded. "Misty?"

"I think I'm doing okay," Misty confirmed. Her foot clipped a ripple and produced a tiny spray of water. "Whoops – uh, sorry, Ash."

"Nah, it's fine." Ash brushed the water off his clothes. "You're doing fine, yeah."

"Thanks." Misty nodded.

For another couple of minutes, there was no sound except the creaking and groaning of the crystalline landscape as it expanded, and the occasional slosh as Brock trudged through the shin-deep water.

"Here we are," Ash commented, eventually.

"First hurdle," Brock agreed, looking up at the waterfall. "What should we do?"

He reached for a Pokéball. "Steelix is long enough."

"No, don't," Misty said, shaking her head. "You'll make too much noise. I think Seadra can carry me up, and we can probably- where'd Ash go?"

Brock was staring upwards. "He just jumped up the waterfall, that's where."

"That works, too," Misty admitted.

"Hey, guys!" Ash called down softly. "Grab on!"

There was the sound of two Pokéballs opening.


"Ready?" Ivysaur asked.

Bayleef nodded.

She extended her vines, letting them reach down the waterfall. A glance to the side showed her that Ivysaur was doing the same – and as she watched, roots extended from his feet, digging into cracks in the stone surface.

"Is that Ingrain?" she asked.

Ivysaur's reply turned into a grunt as he took Brock's weight. "Hup – that's right. Do you know how to-"

"No." Bayleef looked at his feet again, then down at hers. She concentrated, and a few wispy roots emerged from her own to worm into the flagstones.

Misty grabbed hold of her vines, and she lifted with a wince. Fortunately, Misty was quite light, and so the rather poorly executed Ingrain wasn't necessary.

"Got them?" Ash asked, and both Grass-types nodded. "Good! Now – guys?"

"Yeah?" Brock called back.

"Start walking up the side, okay? Ivysaur, Bayleef, reel them in to help!"

"Got it." Bayleef retracted her vines, bracing herself and leaning back to aid her balance.

Misty didn't come up in one smooth motion. There were fits and starts, moments when she came up very easily followed by moments when her entire weight was on the vines and Bayleef was forced to slow down to a crawl.

"You're doing fine," Ash said, watching carefully for any sign either Pokémon was starting to lose their grip.

"Are you sure?" Bayleef grunted. "I- gah!"

There was a crackle as the roots securing her forelegs gave way. She started to skid forwards on the slick, wet stone-

-and Ash grabbed her tail, arresting her movement.

"Ivysaur, you holding up okay?" he asked, keeping the pressure up and moving around to Bayleef's side to get a better (and more comfortable) grip.

"I'm fine," Ivysaur replied. The stones under him creaked slightly as he strengthened his grip.

"Okay, Bayleef, we're fine," he reassured her, shifting to using her legs for grip.

Bayleef nodded, and reeled in Misty faster – with Ash bracing her like this, she felt it was the better choice.


"Look, momma!" Molly said, pointing at the TV. "That's that boy they said was a Pokémon League Champion! What's he doing trying to get into our house?"

Suicune tilted her head. I do not know, dear. Perhaps he wants to meet you.

"The TV said they don't know how he did that bit where he jumped up the waterfall," Molly said, thoughtfully. "What do you think that means?"

It may mean he is dangerous, Raikou said. You should stay away from him.

"I don't know..." Molly frowned. "If he's a Pokémon League Champion, that must mean he's a trainer. I didn't know boys that young could be trainers."

She looked at Entei. "Papa, can I be a trainer?"

You can be whatever you want to be, Molly, Entei replied.

"That's nice. But..." Molly frowned. "Aren't I too young?"

You can be whatever you want to be, Entei repeated.

"Wow..." Molly said.

As she watched, the boy and his friends reached the top of the waterfall. Inaudible on the screen, he recalled both Pokémon, and then they headed further into the mansion.

I will make sure they do not make it any further, Raikou said.

"No, wait," Molly told him – not noticing how he treated it as an incontrovertible order.

She sat watching the screen, as – bereft of further footage – the anchorwoman started to talk about what was known of Ash Ketchum.

Prominent among this short feature was footage from his League battles at Indigo Plateau some months before.

"Wow!" Molly enthused, as the highlights reel wound on – ignoring the commentary, which included phrases like 'Shouldn't be possible', 'What was he feeding that Butterfree' and 'Oh, I remember this, it blew my hat off'.

"His Pokémon are really strong!" she said.

The Unown-created beasts exchanged a silent look. Then, Entei stood.

Your mother and brother will watch over you, he said, and Molly yawned – suddenly feeling very tired.

As she drifted off to sleep, Entei's voice cut in again. Dream of being a trainer, Molly. Your dream will come true.


Two floors down, in the anteroom, a sphere of at least four hundred Unown chanted in unison as they maintained the spell granting Molly's wishes.

She wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. She would have Pokémon.

Creating Pokémon was something the Unown could do. Without the spark of her active imagination to give them life, they would just be duplications without any initiative... but that was adequate.

U~nown...


"Okay, here we are," Ash said. "That's the way into the manor itself."

He grinned. "Does Ninetales want to do the honours?"

Brock nodded, releasing her onto one of the crystal flowers. "Ninetales!"

"Ah, this place." Ninetales took a breath. "Let's see if I can finesse this... Flamethrower!"

A horizontal blast of roaring flame erupted from her mouth, sparks showering from her tails and hissing in the water. The crystal wall shattered under the impact, and melted for at least an inch around her attack in all directions.

"Show-off," Brock teased.

Her tails flicked off small balls of purple-blue fire, which spiralled forwards and girdled her flamethrower in a continuous ring. The ring of deep flame moved forwards, still spinning, and aligned with the crystal wall – ringing off the open section of the wall from the crystal attempting to regrow it.

"I'll do it how I like, thank you very much," she retorted ending the flamethrower. "Will that do?"

"That's great, thanks!" Brock said. He approached the hole, and stepped carefully through it – making sure to avoid the flames.

Misty went through next, then Ash – being careful to make sure his cape didn't touch the Will-o-wisp either.

That done, Brock held out his Pokéball and returned Ninetales.

"That was easy," Misty said, as the hole healed up behind them.

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "But this is where it gets tough. Ash, you still want to do what we did last time?"

"Right." Ash nodded. "Guys – if there's any of my Pokémon you could use to help slow her down, let me know, I can get them from Oak."

"Is Charizard on offer?" Brock asked.

"Ha ha," Ash deadpanned, and his friends laughed. "You know what I mean."

"I do, you're right." Brock frowned. "Well, I'm guessing you'll want Lucario and Pikachu with you, they're the toughest Pokémon you've got on you."

"I'll take Totodile, if he's willing," Misty suggested. "And Kingler, and..." she sighed. "Squirtle. I guess."

"Heracross and Quilava?" Brock suggested.

"Sure." Ash pulled Dexter out of his pocket. "You heard?"

I did. Sending.

There was a click.

"Ash?" Oak asked. "We saw you on the television. Are you alright?"

"Just fine, Professor," Ash replied. Then blinked. "Wait. When were we on TV?"

"The bit where you climbed the waterfall," Oak informed him. "Professor Ivy was talking about you on the television – you and Brock."

Misty waited, then fumed. "Not me?"

"She only knew Brock because he's her boyfriend," Oak explained. "Oh, that's right, you wanted some Pokémon. Hold on a moment."

Transferring.

Two Pokéballs bounced to the floor.

"Okay, guys!" Ash said, opening the two new Pokéballs and those of his other selected team members for a moment. "You three ready to work with Misty?"

Kingler nodded. "I am indeed."

"Yes!" Totodile gave an enthusiastic – and toothy – grin. "This will be fun!"

Squirtle waited until they were done, then took a deep breath. Out came his sunglasses. "In this time of greatest need, Water Pokémon shall stand together as one! I, the great Squirtle, will lead them in their hour of true brotherhood alongside Misty of the Cerulean Gym, the Watery Gym Leader of the Kanto Plain! Together we will forge a new path which-"

Misty grabbed the Pokéball off Ash and returned him.

"I know it's impolite, but we need to get moving today," she said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, he'll just give the speech to the inside of the Pokéball," Kingler observed. "He'll call it another rehearsal speech."

"...right." Misty nodded uncertainly. "I'll take what I can get."

Ash passed her the other two Pokéballs, and she returned them. "Don't worry, Ash," she added. "I'll take good care of them."

"What about you two?" Brock asked Quilava and Heracross. "You ready for this?"

Heracross cracked his knuckle-chitin. "Of course!"

Quilava nodded, shaking her quills out. "I may not be much of a Rock type, but since when have you been a Rock type trainer any more anyway?"

"That's not true!" Brock said. "There's..."

He trailed off, blinking.

"That's a good point, actually," Ash agreed. "Ninetales, Steelix, Geodude, Stantler, Forretress and Crobat. Only one of those even is a Rock type."

"I'll get Sudowoodo eventually," Brock replied. "Shut up."


"Where are you going?"

Charizard looked back, poised to spring into the air. "My trainer's going to be in trouble. I need to be there in case he needs help."

Charla blinked. "That's... unusual. Most of the Charizard here are very independent."

"You're not," Charizard replied, then blinked and groaned. "I didn't mean it like – not in a bad... ergh, whatever."

The female Charizard shook her head. "You are absolutely terrible at this."

"Yeah." Charizard accepted that assessment, and then leapt into the air.

Charla followed, wings pumping as hard as possible to keep up. "What kind of trouble?"

"Legendary trouble." Charizard growled, and a lick of flame escaped his lips. "Some kind of super-powerful Entei. We fought it."

Charla gaped for a moment. "You fought Entei?"

"An Entei," Charizard corrected. "Not the real one."

He banked smoothly, driving directly for the Hale manor, and accelerated further.

Charla fell behind a little, then gave up the chase.

"...well," she muttered. "I suppose I'll hear about it on the news."


"I've still got no idea how this even works," Ash said, looking around the gigantic open field which had replaced some of the manor interior. "This is way too big to fit."

"Well, Ash, we don't know how much of this is real and how much is an illusion," Brock pointed out. "But since the Unown have their own dimension, and can create portals, it might actually be this big on the inside now."

Ash had another look, this time with his eyes closed, and did a double take. "Wow – you're right. It really is this big."

"Guess that answers that question," Brock said.

"Uh oh," Ash added, as they approached the stairs – free standing in the middle of the field. "Here we go."

Down the stairs came Entei, with a twelve-year-old Molly Hale on his back. When he reached about ten feet from the base of the stairs, he took a long floating leap and landed in front of the friends.

Molly got off his back. "You're Pokémon trainers, right?"

Ash made ready to head forwards, then stopped and checked with aura sight – and blinked. "Guys," he said, quietly but urgently. "I can't do the Aura thing here, this isn't the real her."

"Right." Brock stepped forwards. "I'm a Pokémon trainer. Brock of Pewter, Gym Leader!"

"They said you were a gym leader on the TV," Molly agreed, looking him up and down.

She glanced back at Entei, who nodded silently – leaving it up to her.

"All right, I'll battle you!" she decided. "For the Boulderbadge!"

Brock patted his pockets for a moment, and confirmed he did indeed have some Boulderbadges with him.

"As the Gym Leader," he said, selecting Pokéballs as Ash and Misty continued on towards the stairs, "I set the conditions of the match. It is to be a six on six match, with each Pokémon only fighting once. All six matches will be fought, even if the winner is clear before that."

"Right!" Molly nodded, and got back up on Entei. The artificial Pokémon jumped away – a hundred metres or more – and the space between her and Brock glowed, transforming into a Pokémon battlefield.

"Steelix, go!" Brock called, throwing his first Pokéball.

"Wow," Molly said, as the big Steel-type materialized. "That's a big Pokémon."

She held out her hand, and a clear blue Pokéball appeared in it from nowhere. "I prefer cuter ones! Aron!"

"Earthquake!" Brock ordered.

Steelix wasted no time, slamming his tail into the ground in a powerful Earthquake.

"Jump!" Molly said, and the virtual Aron bounced into the air and avoided the shaking underneath.

"Now return it! Bulldoze!"

Brock winced, as the Aron produced its own intense shaking. Steelix went sliding backwards, growling, with his skin dinged and dented.

"Her Pokémon are much stronger than real ones," Brock muttered – he'd remembered that detail, abstractly, but not the reality of it. "Keep it up, Steelix! Use Rock Polish to help you dodge the next attack! Now – Earthquake again!"

Molly pointed, thoroughly enjoying herself. "Aron, you can take it! Now, use Metal Burst!"

A ball of energy built between Aron's pincers.

"Oh, no!" Brock concentrated, watching it build. "Steelix – dig now!"

The attack fired. Faster than normal, it rocketed across the arena and hit Steelix as he dug into the ground.

There was a blast of air which knocked both Brock and Molly staggering backwards a few steps.

When it faded, Steelix was clearly unconscious.

"Not bad, Steelix," Brock said, returning him. "Okay, challenger!"

Molly giggled, then stood up straight. "Yes, Gym Leader?"

"You have to return your Aron now. He's won, so he can't fight again."

"Got it!" Molly agreed, and the Steel/Rock type dissolved in a cloud of blue light. She conjured another Pokéball, and waited as Brock sent out Ninetales.

The nine-tailed fox took a deep breath. "I'll do my best, Brock."

"That's all we need to do, Ninetales," Brock agreed.

"That's a cute Pokémon," Molly said. "Mine's cute too! Eevee!"

"Careful," Brock warned, as the Eevee appeared. "Don't get complacent."

"I know." Ninetales paced back and forth, then wheeled on one paw and charged in.

"Okay, Eevee!" Molly instructed. "Use Take Down!"

"Vee!" the Eevee said – no words, just noise – and charged in return.

When she was about a second away from contact, Ninetales dug in her paws and sprung backwards-and-up, into the air. Flame built at her muzzle, and she launched a Fire Blast straight down.

"Eevee!" Molly cried, just before the attack hit.

Ninetales landed on dainty feet, back where she'd started... and blinked.

Rather than a scorched and damaged Eevee, an immaculate Flareon stood there in the middle of the five-pointed star of scorched ground.

Molly jumped, and the scorch mark healed up. "Good work, Flareon!"

"But..." Ninetales said, pointing. "That was an Eevee."

"What just happened?" Brock asked. "Did your Pokémon just evolve out of nowhere?"

"Of course she did!" Molly replied. "That's allowed!"

"Well... I guess," Brock admitted. "Usually it takes a fire stone, though..."

"Well." Ninetales began to walk again, then to run – accelerating and multiplying herself with double team until there were nine-tailed foxes running around Flareon in a continuous circle.

"Flamethrower!" Molly instructed.

Just as with Ninetales' fire blast, Flareon's flamethrower did nothing at all, and Molly frowned.

She was about to give an order, but then stopped and gaped as Flareon rose into the air.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Extrasensory!" Brock replied, recognizing it. "It's a Psychic move my Ninetales knows!"

"Psychic type," Molly said, nodding. "So a Dark-type is immune to it!"

Ninetales prepared to send Flareon slamming back to the floor, and then abruptly lost her grip.

"What!?"

Umbreon landed on the floor on gentle feet. "Umbreon," it said, and fired a Dark Pulse.

"How does that make sense?" Brock asked, as Ninetales jumped out of the way of the first Dark-type attack and countered the second with a blast of Flamethrower.

"Eevee evolve into lots of different Pokémon!" Molly replied.

"That doesn't even-" Brock winced as an attack hit home on Ninetales' flank. "Okay, Ninetales – Fire Blast!"

Ninetales nodded, spinning flames off her tail to speed the charging process on another Fire Blast. She launched it, sending it volleying out at Umbreon, and growled as she turned into a Flareon and absorbed the attack. "That is getting on my nerves... my fire stone wasn't cheap..."

"Worth it, though," Brock replied, and she smiled.

"Right!"

This time, Ninetales fired a Dark Pulse.

Rather than reverting to an Umbreon, though, Molly's peculiar Eevee glowed – and changed into something neither of them had ever heard of.

The Dark Pulse crackled across her pink fur, mostly dissipating, and then the Pokémon smiled at them.

"Sylveon!" it announced, shaking out its long furry tendrils.

"What's that?" Brock asked.

"Do you like her?" Molly asked. "That's a Sylveon! It's a really pretty evolution of Eevee!"

"Okay, that's ridiculous," Ninetales said, tilting her head. "Did she just come up with this?"

"I don't know," Brock replied. "Dark-type attacks didn't work... maybe fire will! Flare Blitz!"

"Got it!" Ninetales loped forwards, flame crackling over her fur.

Sylveon charged forwards herself.

"Use Moonblast!" Molly said, pointing.

Just as the two Pokémon met, Ninetales opened her mouth and fired a fully charged Flamethrower. Sylveon fired her own Moonblast – an attack neither Ninetales nor Brock had encountered before – and the resultant explosion sent both Pokémon flying, clearly out of it.

Entei leapt into the air and caught the unconscious Sylveon, who reverted to an Eevee, and Brock returned Ninetales before she landed.

"A draw," he said. "That was an interesting Pokémon you had there."

"Thanks!" Molly beamed. "Your Ninetales was amazing!"

She pulled a third Pokéball out of thin air. "Spinda!"

As the perpetually-dizzy little bear formed, Brock took one of the ones Ash had lent him. "Quilava!"


"You're kidding," Gary said. "Again?"

"I'm afraid so, Gary," Oak said with a sigh.

As his grandfather spoke, Gary yawned. One of his Pokéballs opened, and Umbreon padded across to the hotel room TV and tuned it to a news channel.

"Thanks, Umbreon," he muttered. "Sorry, Gramps. Umbreon was setting up the TV for me. Wow, that looks bizarre..."

"Yes, Ash does have a habit of getting into this kind of mess," Oak agreed.

"You're telling me." Gary yawned again, and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, Gramps, it's about two in the morning here."

"I understand." The Professor sighed. "I don't expect help, not really – I know you're still looking for a Pokémon that can teleport – but... I thought you should know."

"Yeah." Another yawn. "Thanks for letting me know, Gramps. Did this happen last time too?"

"It did," Oak confirmed.

"Right." Gary rubbed his temples. "Okay... well, keep me posted. I'm going to go get some coffee, and postpone my appointments this morning."

"I will," grandfather assured grandson, and rang off.

"Mocha for me," Umbreon said flippantly, knowing Gary's ear-bud link to Dee would translate for her, then sobered. "I hope they're alright."

"So do I," Gary said. Umbreon hopped onto his lap, and he scratched her for a moment, watching the news reports from Japan. "So do I."


AN:

Into the Unown tower...

Since things went differently in Shamouti, this is the first time Ash and co. are saving the world on television. Molly, meanwhile, loves cute Pokémon - and, having seen that highlight reel of Ash's League battles, knows they can be really, really strong.

And Gary Oak Is Still In Kalos.