AN: Hey guys!

K: Howdy.

SV: It's been a while of working on Second Start, so I've come back here to get this chapter done.

P: These guys don't own Pokemon, and we'll let the chapter start rolling.

K: I'm good with that. Have fun everyone!

The three of them walked around the small, rocky area before Mount Moon. Mew had left a little earlier on, mentioning that she needed to keep an eye on the Tree of Beginning, since something odd was happening back there sometimes and she wanted to be careful. Ashley had spent a lot of time looking westward, towards the city that lay in a valley not far away.

'Ashley?' Volta asked her quietly. The two of them were a little away from Misty, and so could speak somewhat normally without drawing too much attention.

"Yes?"

'Can you see if there's something wrong with Misty? She looks kinda ill.'

"Sure, I can check. Hold on a second." Ashley closed her eyes, focusing on her red haired companion. Normal human Aura, but tinted with fear and worry, similar to how she'd been in the Viridian Forest. She said as much to her starter.

'There's no bugs here, are there?'

"Nope. Just Swift and Ves, along with the Paras that're sometimes around. We'll just have to ask her." Dropping her Aura Sight, she strode over to the Water trainer. "Hey Misty?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Is something wrong? You look about as panicked as you were in Viridian Forest."

"It's nothing, alright? I'm just a bit anxious, that's all."

"Sure." Ashley rolled her eyes. "Seriously, what's up?"

"It's just…" She hesitated, then went ahead. "I don't want to go back to Cerulean."

"Why not?"

"My sisters and I come from there. They always used to bully me, so I left a few months back." She admitted reluctantly. "I've been wandering around since then."

"Ah." Ashley pursed her lips, thinking. "You could go on ahead to Vermillion or Route 6 and wait there with Ves while I go battle the gym. That way, I'll get my gym badge and you'll be able to stay out of Cerulean."

"Actually…" Misty trailed off, then dropped her bag on top of a rock, searching for something. "Let me see…" Ashley and Volta exchanged a confused glance, and Misty grinned. "Here we are." She turned, showing them a small blue badge sitting in her palm. "I always carry extras, just in case I need to do a battle."

"So you're the gym leader?"

"One of them. My sisters run the rest of it."

"So, we can skip over Cerulean and do a battle elsewhere?"

"If you wouldn't mind, yeah. I left to try and prove a point to my sisters, and I don't think I've managed to do that yet."

"That's fine." Ashley assured her. "I've no problem with it, though I'd like to get through Mount Moon first, simply because we're here now so we might as well pass through instead of taking another route."

"Alright." Misty agreed. Any further conversation was cut off by a startled shout. Ashley's head snapped up.

"Volta?" She inquired, a slightly commanding note to her voice.

'A man, and a swarm of Zubat.' He replied, ears twitching while he listened. 'This way, I'll get them.'

"Good. Go." The small Pokemon dashed off, the slight blur of Agility showing how the speed increase had happened. His trainer followed, running much slower than the Pokemon, but still at a respectable speed. Misty lingered for a few seconds, looking at them confusedly.

How does she keep doing that? She thought, as she shook herself and followed them both at a walk. She was understanding her Pikachu- Volta- perfectly, but she's only had him about two weeks. I've known trainers who've had their Pokemon much longer, and they can't understand a word. Heck, I've had my team for nearly four years, and I don't know what they say. How does she do that? Much further ahead, and completely unaware of her partner's thoughts, Ashley was following Volta towards the disturbance. The little Electric type had much better hearing than she did, and she was nowhere near the point of using her Aura to improve her senses like some of the Kingdom's Lucario could. Then again, some of the Kingdom's Lucario could punch things hard enough to send them through the sound barrier, so perhaps they weren't an accurate representation.

'Hey! Get away from him!' Volta snapped up ahead, and a crackle of lightning gave indication that the swarm he was yelling at wasn't listening.

'Volta, charge up and run at them.' She called, running to catch up. Hopping over a rocky outcrop instead of taking the time to walk around it, she barely caught sight of Volta bolting between the Zubat, hitting some as he passed. With a panicked fluttering, they squeaked back into the cave, and Volta dropped to catch his breath. A familiar figure was crouched over, also getting his breath back. "Brock?" She asked, confused.

"Oh! Hey Ashley!" The darker trainer looked up and waved. "I'd've thought you'd be through the cave by now."

"I made a pit stop for a team conference, so Misty went and got a bit lost. Had to find her before we got back." She replied, picking up Volta as she walked over. "But what're you doing here? I thought you ran the gym."

"I was, but some stuff came up and I thought-" He shook his head. "Nevermind. There's something really wrong inside Mount Moon. I went to try and find you, but got attacked by that Zubat swarm. Thanks for helping me, by the way."

'No problem.' The little Pokemon replied.

"Still, if something's up, I suppose we should investigate." Putting Volta on her shoulder, she picked out two Pokeballs. "Torna, Ves, help us out?" She released both. "Torna, fly back along the trail and guide Misty to us please."

'Roger that.' She mock saluted, taking to the air.

"Right, I understand the Pidgeotto, but why the Beedrill?" Brock asked.

"The best way to figure out what's going on is to ask some Pokemon that are in there." Ashley explained.

"Right, I get that. Why your Beedrill?" Ves giggled.

'Because I'm magical.' She projected, making the Rock trainer jump.

"She's telepathic?" He asked, surprised.

'Yepperooni! Dunno why, but I am!' She said cheerfully, buzzing a circle around them both.

"Well, I now see your point. Lead the way." Brock stepped aside, letting the Adept step through.

"First, a couple of preperation things." She paused at the entrance. "Volta, you ok after that?"

'Perfectly. Might need to be a little careful with using too much electricity, but I'm good.' Ves repeated it telepathically to Brock.

"Right. Ves, I'll assume you're fine, Torna should be when she gets back, and Swift…" She trailed off, thoughtful. "Hey Swift?" She asked, releasing him.

'Yes?' The Metapod asked. 'What's up?'

"Go ahead. It's if you want to, that is, but go for it." The little bug grinned, or at least seemed to, and started to glow white. Ashley stepped back a little, letting the evolution take place. A slightly larger bug took his place as Swiftstreak evolved into a Butterfree, who fluttered nervously for a few seconds before Ves went over to help him adjust. Their trainer chuckled, and held out her arm to let them both land there.

'Thanks Ashley.'

"Hey, it was your choice anyway." She reminded him. "Still, try and get used to it fast. We'll need to have you looking around the cave, since something's wrong."

'What is?' Ashley was about to answer, but the return of Torna cut her off.

"Give it a second." The group waited the few moments for Misty to arrive.

"Geez, you two really took off." The Water trainer laughed.

"Sorry. Volta heard something, so I followed what worried him. Anyhow, Brock says there's something up with the Pokemon in here, so we're going in on defensive. Swift was ready to evolve anyway, which helps."

'Hate to break this up, but what about Torna?' Volta asked.

'I'll fly around the outside and see if I find anything.' She replied. 'Maybe some of the local birds know something.'

"Right." Ashley agreed, after taking a second to let Ves translate to the others. "Be careful though, alright? We won't be around to help you at all."

'I know. I'll stay away from any Spearow, I promise.' She joked. 'If you need me, I think Ves can reach me with her telepathy. See you soon.' The bird took off heavily, circling once before heading around the mountain. Quickly, Ashley filled the other Pokemon and Misty in on what was happening, and the group heading in cautiously.

"It's not supposed to be this bright in here, is it?" Ashley asked, confused.

"No. I didn't pass through here that other time, but it was definitely dark in here." Misty told her, just as befuddled.

"I think we've found what's disturbing the Pokemon, though." Brock decided. "If there's this much light in here, the Pokemon probably aren't used to it. It's likely hurting them, or at least making them uncomfortable."

"Well, there's one way to check." Nodding towards Vespine, the two of them went over to a Sandshrew in the corner, who was half buried in the sand. Ashley crouched next to it, blocking it from the view of the others. "Hey there. Are you ok?"

'No no no.' The little Pokemon squirmed. 'It's too bright and dry.'

"Oh, you poor thing. Ves, can you…?" The little bee buzzed over to the bag Ashley had put down, since it held her Pokeballs and she didn't want to seem threatening, and took out a water bottle. Carefully pouring the water onto the little mouse, she asked another question. "Do you know what happened?"

'No.' He'd relaxed a bit with the water, and came up out of the sand. 'I saw a few people here with something, but some humans leave markers around anyway, so I ignored it. Then it got really bright, so I tried to get away.' Sighing quietly, he curled up a little.

"We've going to try and get rid of the lights for you." Ashley promised. She put the water away, passing it to Ves, and placed a gentle hand on his back, releasing a small pulse of healing Aura. "Can you tell me anything else?"

'There was two humans. They had a little Pokemon too, like your Pikachu over there, but I didn't see what it was.'

"Right." Already forming her own conclusions about who these people were, she dropped the inquiry. "Thanks for the help. We'll go and try to get rid of the lights."

'Thank you.' He started to dig again, going back underground. The others joined over with her.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Ashley?" Misty asked.

"About the two people and Pokemon?" She replied rhetorically. "Well, I'm thinking it's our friends the moron trio."

"That's about the conclusion I was drawing, yes." The redhead laughed. "So, what's first?"

"Well, I'd say we drive the Rocket's out if they're still here, just so they don't go hanging any more lights about. Volta, if you can track around, see if you can find the generator for the lights."

'Right. I think I can do that.' He scampered up to a rock and sat down, sparking slightly as he looked around for any electrical signals that were larger than the lights around them.

"What's he doing, anyway?" Brock didn't seem to have followed the conversation about Team Rocket, but he seemed curious about this, so she explained.

"He's looking for electrical signals. Sufficiently powerful or skilled Electric types can feel electrical charges really well, but any of them can find them with enough thought. That Togedemaru I mentioned could do it fairly easily."

"Actually, how did you get what they were saying when you were testing?" Brock inquired. "Did your Beedrill help you then?"

"No, I'd taken Ves back to her hive with a Luxray I'd borrowed for a while to help me."

"Then how'd you understand?" Ashley froze for a second, rapidly trying to compile some sort of excuse to explain away how she'd understood. Fortunately, she was saved by a small wailing coming from an adjacent corridor. All six dropped their task to follow it, letting Ves and Ashley lead the way. Rounding one of the turns, they found a young Cleffa crying.

"Hey there." Ashley said quietly, crouching down next to it. It jolted away, startled, and she smiled gently. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. What's wrong, little one?"

'They took it!' She cried.

"Took what?"

'The Moonstone! I was going to join the others with my piece and then I got attacked! They took my shard piece so we can't finish the Moonstone!' The little Fairy was clearly upset, so Ashley carefully picked her up.

"Don't worry. We'll help get it back." Turning back to the group with the Fairy type in her arms, she grinned. "Volta, keep looking for the generator. Swift, Ves, we're going to need to keep this little one out of trouble."

"Did someone say trouble?" A voice echoed.

"Make it double." In union, everyone except Brock and the Cleffa facepalmed.

"And theory confirmed!" Ashley groaned, cutting the growing motto short. "The moron trio is here."

"Hey!" Jessie yelled. "We aren't idiots!"

"You'll need to prove that." The Adept challenged, more than ready to get rid of them even with their short appearance.

"Then we will." The pink haired trainer clearly had a very short temper, as she took a Pokeball and glared at James to help her. "Ekans, go!"

"Koffing, go!"

'Shall I?' Volta asked.

"No, keep up with your own stuff. Swift, Ves, you're up." The two Bugs moved into position between them. "Gust!"

"Poison Sting!" The duo countered.

"Ves, Fury Attack! Swift, drop Gust and Confusion to hold them!" The two Poison types were surrounded by a pale pink aura, which held them still so that Vespine could charge in with a Fury Attack unharmed. The Poison Sting continued forwards, through no more were added to the cloud of them, and after about four hits Swift had to drop the two Pokemon to dodge around them. Finally living up to his name, he dropped quickly underneath the Poison moves to catch the Pokemon again with a blast of Psychic energy, knocking them into the wall as Ves moved around to join him.

'Good one Swiftstreak.' She praised.

'Thanks partner.' He grinned. 'I'm still getting used to the flying, but it's certainly easier than walking.'

'It was the same for me. Course, I'd had a couple of months to get used to it before I joined you guys, but when I first evolved, I felt the same.' The other acknowledged.

"Hey! Why don't ya pay attention ta us!" Meowth shouted, earning a surprised glance from Brock.

"Yes, the Meowth can talk. Why is that any different from Ves?" Misty interrupted the coming question, already well acquainted with the talking cat, thanks to the two meetings they'd had.

"I guess it's not." He admitted.

"And to answer your question, they don't care because you're not a threat." Ashley grinned. "To show you proof of that, go ahead you two." They laughed, before Swift shot forward at a slightly ridiculous speed, crashing into Meowth and knocking him into his teammates. At the same time, Ves pushed the now knocked out Poison types from the wall and added them to the pile, trapping the three below their Pokemon. "And fire." Both Bugs were returned, and Ashley dove out of the way, still holding Cleffa. The reason for this was shown a moment later, when Volta was revealed to have been charging behind her back. Both her companions traded a startled look, then decided Ashley had the right idea and followed suit. Yellow light flared, and the group of Rockets was sent flying out through a convenient hole in the ceiling. Faintly, the cry of "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" was heard, as well as a twinkling sound. A small, black stone dropped to the ground where they had been, and Cleffa gasped.

'That's it! That's the shard they took!' She struggled out of Ashley's arms and over to the piece, while Ves released herself again to translate, with Swift following soon after. The little Pokemon grinned widely. 'Thanks for helping get it back.'

"No problem." She replied. "Maybe Swift and Ves can escort you where you need to go while we go and find out how to break these lights."

'No problem Captain!' The Beedrill mockingly saluted. 'Come on Swift, you heard the boss. Let's help this little one back.'

'Alright Ves.' He laughed. 'So, where do you need to go?'

'Ummm…' She looked around for a moment, then pointed. 'This way. We go to a cave with the Moonstone in.'

'Right. We'll see you around later.' Ves waved. 'You'll have to figure out Volta's words yourself, though, so good luck with that.'

"I'm sure we'll manage." Ashley laughed. "Now go on." Both Bugs fluttered away, following the Cleffa they'd helped, while Volta sparked slightly.

'I think it's this way.' He announced, walking down one of the hallways. 'Come on.' They followed him quickly, not wanting to lose him in the twisting cave system they were navigating. Sometimes he'd stop, ears twitching as he tried to locate the generator he'd been following, and the rest would stop too, waiting for him to find it again. The walk was mostly silent, due to the fact of no one having anything to say about what was going on. Eventually, Ashley broke the silence.

"How close are we Volta?"

'Pretty close.' He replied. 'It's that way a few metres, I think.' He pointed a few times, trying to make sure the others got the message.

"So, that way?" Ashley pretended to guess.

'Yup, I think so.' He continued walking, the slight crackling sound following him as he sensed for the generator's massive power bank. 'It's a pretty powerful signal, so I'd think we're getting close. We'll be able to shut the lights off real… soon?' He broke off, confused.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned. She needn't have asked. A few seconds later, all of the lights went out with a small crack. Misty shouted in alarm, and everyone jumped. Instinctively, Ashley swapped to Aura Sight, the years of practising Aura in dark areas coming back to her. When Mew had helped her learn, it was mostly learning the simple things like Aura Sight and Aura Sphere, as well as reaction tests. This had lead to Mew making a cave appear, blocking the light, and getting her to swap to Aura Sight in order to find her. This had later been improved by Mew firing small attacks at her; nothing serious, but a few Water Guns and Sand Attacks to try and distract her, as well as give an added bit of pressure to being able to get Aura Sight working quickly. As such, one of Ashley's natural instincts was to switch to Aura Sight to find the Pokemon that would be attacking her shortly. After a few seconds of nothing more following, she relaxed, instead using Aura Sight to check on her companions. Misty and Brock were fine, if a bit frightened. Volta was also fine, just confused. Everything else was different shades of blue, and in the distance she could see Torna's Aura pattern, as well as the shades for Swift and Ves. A massive group of pink signaled the Fairy type, which Ashley guessed was from the Cleffa and Clefairy, perhaps with some Clefable there too. However, the main thing that caught her eye was a pattern with practically no colour that might indicate a type. It was, however, panicked enough that it made her worry.

'What on earth was that?' Volta asked the air, confused.

"Is everyone alright?" Ashley asked, pretending not to understand Volta and also pretending she didn't know already.

"Yeah." Misty replied shakily. "I'm fine."

"I am as well." Brock confirmed.

"Same here. Volta, can you give us some light, maybe?"

'Not like you need it, Adept.' He laughed, before sparking his cheeks to make a dim, yellow glow. As he did, Ashley disabled her Aura Sight and turned around to face her friends.

"What do you think happened?" Misty questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe the generator got turned off somehow?" Brock guessed.

"Volta?" Ashley inquired, glancing down.

'It's just gone.' He confirmed. 'No signs of power at all. It might be destroyed.'

"Think you can follow where you thought it was?"

'It's possible.' He acknowledged. 'Follow me, I'll do what I can.' The group walked after him at a much slower pace than they had before, due to the darkness making it much harder to find their way around. Ashley was occasionally flickering between Aura Sight and regular sight, checking where they were against where the panicked Aura signal was. To her surprise, they were heading almost straight for it, though they obviously took detours from the almost direct path to head around the corners that appeared in the naturally maze like tunnels of Mount Moon. Soon enough, Volta stopped dead, sniffing the air.

"We're here?" Ashley asked, lowering her voice slightly for a reason that no other in the group could disconcern.

'Yep.'

"I think there's something here, and that something turned off the generator. I say proceed carefully, just in case it's hostile."

"Right." Misty and Brock took Pokeballs off their belts, ready to call for a quick attack if it was needed. Ashley and Volta went first, the Pikachu still sparking enough to provide light, though most of it was going back to his voltage wells, ready to attack. Meanwhile, Ashley charged a minute amount of Aura to her palms, keeping them faced away from her companions behind her. If worst came to worst, she had no qualms about revealing her talents to them and explaining later, but there was no reason not to be cautious if she could avoid it until later. As such, she had enough Aura in her hands that she could form an Aura Sphere in a few seconds, in which hopefully Volta would attack to help buy time for Misty and Brock to release their Pokemon and help them out. And if she got hurt doing it… well, Mew was another thing she might have to explain away sooner than she might like.

Luckily for them, it all seemed to be a false alarm. Nothing jumped out and attacked them, even after they had been in the cavern for a good few minutes, plenty of time for a surprise attack. Eventually, Ashley lowered her Aura slightly, still holding enough to attack, but less likely to need to.

"I guess there's nothing here." Brock said, breaking the expectant quiet that had befallen the group.

"Guess not." Misty stepped forwards, away from them, and looked over the generator that had been powering the light system. "So, this is the thing?"

"Looks to be it." Ashley confirmed, also stepping over. "I wonder what happened to it?" Volta hopped up, still crackling slightly but making sure to keep it away from the main parts, to avoid setting it off, and sniffed around.

'There's a weird scent here…' He muttered. 'It's not like any Pokemon I've smelt before.' Ashley stepped away a little, appearing nonchalant about it, and went to look at the walls. As soon as her back was turned, she routed her Aura back upwards, reactivating Aura Sight between blinks. Taking a second to search the area, she blinked again, confused. The unpatterned Aura was close, on her left she guessed, and seemed even more worried than it had been. Carefully, she stepped closer, and the Aura shuffled back slightly in time with her movement. Instead, she looked down, staring start towards the Aura before disabling her sight and dropping into a crouch. The entire group looked over to her, evidently confused, but she raised a hand, signalling for them to be quiet. She crept over, nearing the little thing that gave off the pattern she'd been feeling. For a moment, a little green shape poked out from behind a rock, but it was gone in a flash. It was enough for the Aura Adept, though, so she spoke quietly.

"Hey there. Are you ok?" She asked, purposefully keeping her voice low and calming, like she had done for the other Pokemon in the cave, but at a much more caring scale. The creature didn't answer, so she kept talking. "We won't hurt you. We're friends here. Don't worry." Nothing moved for a few minutes more, and Ashley had nearly given up when a small, green head emerged. "There you are. See, we aren't going to hurt you." The creature seemed to agree, as it fully revealed itself a moment later. Ashley blinked. It wasn't like any Pokemon she had learned about before, with Mew or otherwise. It was flat, practically two dimensional, and a perfectly uniform emerald green, with a patch in the centre that was a slightly darker shade. It seemed to only have one eye, the other being nothing more than a tiny spot of white, but it didn't appear to be from damage. In fact, it didn't seem to be injured at all, despite the small whining sounds it was making. "Are you ok?" It seemed to nod. "Can you talk?" The little dark patch on its back lit up for a moment, then flashed a few times in a seemingly random pattern. After it faded, she glanced at Volta, who shook his head. "Ok, maybe you can, but we can't understand you." It whined again, depressed. "We'll try though. Are you lost?" Nod. "Do you know where you are?" Shake. "Do you live here?" Shake. Pointing at Volta. "Do you know what Pokemon that is?" Nod, and a sound that was like a chuckle. "Do you know a lot about Pokemon?" Another nod and chuckle. "Are you a Pokemon?" A nod, followed by a shake of its head, then a small wiggle. "So… sort of?" Ashley guessed, to a nod and cheerful sound.

"A sort of Pokemon? What the heck is it?" Misty sounded worried, as she would when Bugs came into the equation, and Brock laughed.

"Well, I'd guess that's what Ashley's trying to find out."

"I am, yes." She rolled her eyes discreetly at Volta, who giggled before going back to looking at the little Pokemon, who seemed to be smiling as well. "So, are you from a different region?" It sat there for a minute, thinking, before shaking in an approximation of a shrug. "You don't know?" Nod. "Well, let me get you out of this cave at least. Maybe you can find your way back from there." It nodded again, so she gently picked it up and settled it on her right shoulder. "Volta, do you think you can lead us back?"

'Sure, I think so. I'll just follow our scents back.' He smiled. 'Just gimme a sec.' Motioning for the humans to step back, he dropped into the machine and released a powerful shock, blasting apart the inside with a huge flare. He popped out again, grinning. 'Broke it down. Nothing in there's working again.'

"Good one." His trainer smiled back, gesturing for him to lead the way before glancing at the thing on her shoulder. "Did you break that machine?" It nodded slightly, wobbling for a moment before Ashley put a hand up to hold it steady. "I would ask why, but we don't understand you." It nodded again, sighing. "I guess you wish we could as much as we do, huh?" It seemed to laugh again and nodded, nudging her cheek. "Maybe we'll run into you again, and we'll be able to understand you then." She kept up a small conversation the entire walk back, telling the little Pokemon about Kanto. By the time she had finished describing the region, the little thing looked very confused. "I guess you really aren't from this region, are you?" It shook its head, seeming to be thinking more to itself than answering her. "Well, I don't know what I can do to get you home. Maybe my cousin's friend could help." It twisted its head, confused, and she elaborated. "My friend Crysta is a researcher in training in a region called Unova. She's pretty smart, so she might be able to get you home."

"Do you think she knows what the little guy is?" Misty asked, remembering the letter from back in Viridian.

"Maybe. Though if it isn't native to Unova or Sinnoh, it feels unlikely. We could always call Professor Oak, or see if we run into him. Heck, I could call Crysta and see if I can borrow Strike for a few days, just to visit Pallet Town and see him firsthand." Ashley reasoned. "But how about it? Would you like to stick around with us for a while until we can find a way to get you home?" It nodded happily, and she smiled. "Alright then. I'll call Crysta tomorrow and see if I can borrow Strike for a while."

'Hey Ashley! We're nearly out now!' Volta called from the front of the group.

"Really?" She asked, then looked around the others. "Oh yeah, we are." Walking out of the cave, she grinned, then was immediately attacked by Torna.

'Where on earth were you?! I was flying around and saw a massive burst of electricity send something flying past, and I was confused, so I waited around a bit until Swift and Ves came out and they said you four were going to turn off the lights in there, then when all the lights went out we thought you'd be back but you were super late and-'

'Alright Torna, let her breathe.' Vespine laughed, hovering over.

'Oh, sorry.' She released her trainer, who laughed.

"Don't worry too much Torna. And to explain, we ended up having a friend turn the lights off instead. This little guy." She pointed to the green Pokemon on her shoulder, steadying herself slightly as Volta hopped to the other.

'Oh! What kind of Pokemon are you?' Torna leaned forwards, peering at it. It flashed a few times, excited, but deflated when no one responded.

"No one seems able to understand what it says. I'm going to call Crysta tomorrow and see if I can borrow Strike for a while so I can head home and see the Professor. Maybe he'll know something."

'Good plan, but there's a problem.' Volta said. 'You'll need to go to Cerulean City to get Strike from Crysta, and we planned to dodge around it.'

"Right, I'd forgotten that." Ashley grimaced, looking back at the Water trainer, who shrugged.

"We'll just go with your other idea. I'll stay in the woods around the town for a while, you get Strike and head to Pallet Town, and I'll meet you back near the Cerulean Pokemon Centre when you're done. Just send word ahead." Ashley's eyes lit up.

"Thanks. What about you Brock? Are you heading back to Pewter now?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping I could come with you."

"Oh? How come? I thought you ran the gym?" Brock looked evasive for a moment, so she spared him the bother of answering. "Eh, nevermind. Just wait around with Misty, I guess. I'll try and be back as soon as I can, but knowing the Professor he might take a while."

"Right." Both trainers agreed, so Ashley returned her team. "Are you going to catch it?"

"Actually, that's a good idea." She looked at the little green Pokemon on her shoulder. "Would you mind if I did that? It'd mean we could travel a lot faster." It nodded, so she put out a hand for it to move onto while she removed an empty ball from her belt. "Just tap the little button." Holding it out, the Pokemon wriggled forwards and poked it with the little protrusion on its face. When nothing happened, they blinked.

"Why didn't that work?" Misty asked.

"Well, the only time that happens is if the Pokemon is already caught." Brock replied.

"Is that it?" Ashley asked the little Pokemon, who shook its head. "So, you're not caught, but uncatchable?" It shrugged. "I guess you wouldn't know either. Well, we'll just have to put both of you in my bag for the trip." Volta groaned.

'That'll be fun.' Ashley chuckled slightly, but gave no other indication that she understood.

"We'll go off to Cerulean, then. I'll send word ahead somehow. I'll do my best to be back the day after tomorrow either way, so I'll see you guys then." As the Adept ran off towards the city, the two of her friends started talking behind her, a conversation she didn't listen to out of simple courtesy. They were almost out of sight when she stopped, her attention drawn to a sign with a small, black scribble on the side. It was handwriting she knew well, since she'd mocked the terrible scrawl a few times when hurriedly borrowing notes for class to catch up, mostly happening when she'd spent a weekend practising Aura and ended up blowing herself up, resulting in a day off to recover. It hadn't happened often, luckily, but she'd still ended up needing to steal the notes from the previous day's classes to read herself. Silently, she read it. Gary was here. Good luck Ketchum. She giggled quietly. "Typical Gary." She shook her head and continued towards Cerulean at a slightly more peaceable pace than before. Volta was probably confused, but now was not the time.

AN: So, we've got a new teammate!

K: Temporarily.

P: Don't be a spoilsport. Even if it's only one chapter, it's still cool.

SV: Yes, it is. Speaking of which, did anyone figure out what the mystery Pokemon is?

T: Shadow, they have to have done. After all, if they've played through Pokemmmhhm- *Is jumped on by Pixie.*

P: Shut. Up. Some people still haven't gotten the game yet.

T: Right, sorry.

SV: But yeah, it's a temporary partner at the moment. Anyway, other than that, we've got the thing with Cerulean. No, it's not an error. While Ashley does have Crysta's X-Transceiver number, she's going to Cerulean so they have access to a transfer machine, since Crysta's in Johto at this point.

K: I don't know if Shadow's figured out how this stuff works yet, but I assume that's next if you have, right?

SV: Correct. Trade machines work as they do in the anime; each trainer puts the Pokeball of the Pokemon they're trading, and the ID of the trainer gets swapped when it's traded between trainers. If the swap isn't a trade, it's best to get a Nurse Joy or other league official like a Professor to change the holder ID of the trainer, which takes a little longer to pass through the systems than a trade does. Transfer machines are my take on what the anime uses to send Pokemon to the Professor, for instance, if Ashley have six Pokemon and wanted to catch another without sending it to the lab, she could use a transfer machine to send a Pokemon to the lab and catch the new Pokemon.

K: If that took too long to read, trade machines are for swapping Pokemon, ID swaps can be done by league officials but it's faster to just use a trade, and transfers are between two people without sending a Pokemon in return, like Crysta giving Strike without a return Pokemon from Ashley.

P: Yes, that was definitely shorter.

SV: Quiet. But yeah, that's what the difference is. Anyway, third, look! Gary's been mentioned!

T: Shadow's said before that Gary will be making mostly anime appearances, but there are a few exceptions. These have been sort of awkward to write, but hopefully they'll be bearable.

P: To be honest, the only person complaining is Ki, but for your peace of mind as well.

SV: Now, I don't think there's anything else to talk about, so we'll leave it off here. If anyone has any questions about something that happened in the chapter that we missed off here, leave a review and we'll get back to it next time. Hope you've all enjoyed, leave a review, and we'll see you next time!