AN: Hi guys, next chapter here!

P: How's everyone doing?

SV: This is mostly a training chapter today, with a bit of forward progress on the end of the forest, and new Pokemon.

K: Don't own Pokemon, nothing to talk about, let's go!

Chapter 17.

'This is so stupid.' Ash broadcast.

'I know.' Mia sighed. 'Even with the patience of a few millenium, I don't think I've ever come across anything as annoying as Misty in a forest.' The small group had been in Viridian Forest for a day now, even though Mia knew the way perfectly, they wanted to do more training and get a few more team members. They had ended up skipping the training session they had planned for last night, leaving it for when they chose to camp later. Bolt was sitting on Ash's shoulder, with Crimson with Misty again. The small mouse had been bouncing around for most of the day, but suddenly froze, ears twitching and staring at a point in the forest.

'Ash? I think we should leave. Soon.'

"What's wrong bud?" He asked, looking at him in concern. The question was quickly answered, when a low chorus of "Beeeedriilll…" came for the point he was looking at.

"What was that?" Misty asked shakily.

"A Beedrill swarm." Mia replied, closing her eyes and starting a Psych scan of the area. "I think something disturbed them. We should go and help. Crimson?" The Charmander got her meaning quickly, and wiggled free of Misty's hold to walk next to her trainer. Bolt jumped down too, ready to follow them.

"Why? If it's a swarm, we should run the other way." Misty argued.

"And leave them to hurt someone? No way." She retorted. "Come on. You can stay here if you want, but we need to help." The Mew and Mew hybrid ran off, leaving the redhead behind.

'Any sort of plan?' Ash asked.

'I was just going to do a Flare Shock or two on them.' Mia admitted.

'Right.' Ash took a look psychically as well. 'Should work. It doesn't seem to be a very big swarm. Ready, you two?'

'Of course.' They replied.

"Now!" Mia instructed, as they burst into the clearing. While both attacks did their jobs, the source of the swarms anger was clear. A Pidgeotto and Scyther were crouched at the edge of the clearing, injured.

'I'll get them.' She said, running over. 'Keep an eye out.'

'Right.' Ash replied. "Keep up the Flare Shock! Keep them away!"

"It's ok, it's ok, I'm not trying to hurt you." Mia was talking quietly to the two Flying types. "Just let me help."

'Retreat!' One of the swarm members yelled, and the entire group flew away. Ash turned to Mia, who had laid a hand on the Scyther, who seemed worse off than the Pidgeotto, and was using Heal Pulse.

"You two good?" He asked the two starters.

'Of course. That was nothing.' Bolt grinned.

'Plus, they are weak to Fire types.' Crimson added, grinning as well.

"Yes, I know." Ash rolled his eyes. "I meant do you need a healing boost, since Mia's handling those two."

'Nah, I'm fine for now.' Crimson said.

'Same here. May need one later though, depending on the number of Beedrill we need to fight.' Bolt continued.

"Sure thing bud." He crouched down to let Bolt climb to his shoulder, then picked up Crimson. He looked back at Mia, who had now moved onto the Pidgeotto, and smiled. "Quick work."

"Of course." She smiled back. "I have way too much psychic power and plenty of practise using it." She lifted her hand. "There, you should be fine now."

'Thank you.' He said.

"Not a problem. What were you doing in Beedrill territory all alone?"

'We got lost.' He replied. 'I don't really have a flock, and I met Scyther here a few weeks back. We ended up losing out way back to our home and neither of us know the way.'

"We'll try and help. Our friend won't be around for a while, so we have some time. I'll scan around and see if I can find anything." Mia leaned against the tree and closed her eyes, activating a Psych Scan to trace the patterns back, following the Scythers path as it was easier to see and less likely to be confused with any others.

'Thank you both for helping us, but why bother?' The Scyther asked from behind the Pidgeotto.

"Why wouldn't we? If a person or Pokemon is in need, we should help them. It's as simple as that." Ash shrugged. "I don't think you should need a reason to help someone, unless you know that they aren't good people. And even then, I still don't think it's right to leave them in trouble."

'Our trainers are odd people, but they're definitely kind.' Crimson smiled.

'I can tell.' Scyther smiled slightly. 'You both are very lucky.'

'Indeed. I've moved around a bit, heading a little outside the forest and over near that mountain in the distance.' Pidgeotto pointed to the north east with a wing. 'I've seen very few trainers, and a couple of them sure didn't seem to treat their Pokemon very well.'

'Trust me, these two are great.' Bolt grinned. 'I'm not entirely sure they're even capable of mistreating a Pokemon.' Crimson snickered.

'You got that right.'

"Hate to interrupt your group chat, but I think I've found where you need to go." Mia said, opening her eyes again.

'Really?' He asked.

"Yep." She pointed. "Go that way for around 15 meters or so, then turn left. Keep going for a little while, then right. After that, you should be in an area that you recognise, so I think you can find your way from there."

'Thank you.' He took to the air. 'Come on Scyther, let's go.'

'I…' She glanced between Ash and Pidgeotto.

"Let me guess; you want to go with us, huh?" Mia grinned.

'Wha…? How did you know?'

"It was kinda easy to tell from your hesitation."

'I… yeah, I would like to come with you.' She suddenly looked awkward. 'If that's ok with you guys, that is.'

"Of course it's fine." Ash smiled. "Come on, you can join my team."

'Thank you.' She smiled, and fluttered over to him.

'Well in that case,' Pidgeotto said, landing next to Mia. 'I'll come with this one. She helped us out, after all, and I need to keep an eye on you.'

"Well, I'm game." Mia pulled out a Pokeball and held it out. "Tap it when you're ready."

"Same for me." Ash said. Both Pokemon exchanged a glance before tapping on the button in the center. Three shakes and a click, and the capture was finished.

"Are they all gone?" Misty crept around a tree.

"Yep." Mia smiled. "Bolt and Crimson got rid of them for us."

"And both of us got new captures out of it." Ash continued.

"Really?" Misty asked, interested. "What are they?"

"The Pidgeotto and Scyther that the Beedrill were attacking." Mia said. "I had the Pidgeotto, and the Scyther took a shine to Ash."

"Great. Another bug." Misty shivered.

"Well, this is a forest. Bug Pokemon are bound to be the most prominent thing around." Ash argued. He checked the time. "It's starting to get late. Let's find a place to camp, then we'll go and do some training."

"Alright." Mia said. "Why don't we just camp here? It's a good clearing, and I think there's a river over in that direction." She pointed. Bolt's ears twitched.

'Yeah, there is.' He nodded. 'Good ear.'

"Well, I guess that's settled." Mia put her bag down and started pulling camping equipment out of it.

"I still don't understand how all that fits in there." Misty shook her head.

"Remember I mentioned that I came from the Faraway Isles? Well, there's a mystic on one of them, not too far away from my home island, and she made this enchantment when she heard that I was going to try a league challenge or two. It should last a few years before it needs refreshing. I'm not really sure where it drops the stuff, but I think it's that really small island that my family own." She told her.

'You are really good at telling lies.' Ash smiled.

'Had to be. Spent time as a human before, so I picked up a lot of good ways to spin a tale that doesn't sound suspicious.' She smiled back. "Do you mind helping me set this up?"

"Sure thing." Ash said aloud. Both him and Misty moved to help, and got each of the tents set up in no time.

"Right, let's go get some training done." She said, standing up. "Come here Crims." Her Charmander walked over, having been standing out of the way while they were setting up, and was picked up by Mia. As normal, she curled her tail up towards her stomach, if only for the appearance. "We'll be going pretty far from the camp, in case it gets destructive or calls a horde of Bugs upon us because we disturbed them."

"Yeah, that's fine with me. I'll get started on cooking if you want." Misty offered. "I'm not great, but…"

"No, it's fine. I'm pretty good at cooking, so I'll deal with it when we get back." She reached into her bag with one hand and pulled out a second bag. She opened it too check what was inside, then nodded and threw it over. "There's a ton of biscuits in there if you want any."

"Right, let's rock." Ash smiled. "See you in a bit." The two of them walked into the forest for about five minutes. He glanced around. "We safe?"

"Yep." Mia replied, her eyes lighting up. "How should we do this?"

"Well, we need to check them over with the Pokedexs, the explain about the Mew thing. I'd say this may take a while."

"Ok." Both Pokemon climbed to the floor, and Mia pulsed out a pink aura, teleporting them all once again.

Chapter 18.

Crimson and Bolt shook their heads.

'That still feels a little weird.'

"Yeah, it will." Ash agreed. "Took about a month for me to get used to it. I'm still not used to teleporting myself."

"Yeah, practising teleportation is a must." Mia agreed. "It can be really useful to use in battle to get around behind an opponent to surprise them, so being disorientated by teleporting is pretty useless, and a death sentence if the conditions are bad."

"Let's not talk about that right now." Ash winced. "Let's get all these guys set up and then we'll go practise my teleporting."

"Right." Mia agreed readily. "Team, come out!"

"You guys too!"

'Ready to go!' The got into a fighting stance, before relaxing, confused.

"Calm down guys, this is training time."

'Right. How'd we get here?' Weedle asked. 'Did we get out of the forest that fast?'

'No.' Pidgeotto replied. 'We joined a little while ago, and we were really deep in the forest then.'

"You're right about that. We're still in the forest in the real world. This is our pocket dimension/training ground/storage box." Ash smiled. "Mia made it."

'Wait, what?' Caterpie blinked.

"Yeah, but before we go on to all that, let's get the Pokedex and stuff done." Mia said. She took out hers and pointed it at each of her Pokemon in turn.

"Weedle, the Hairy Pokemon. Its poison stinger is very powerful. Its bright-coloured body is intended to warn off enemies. This Weedle is male and has the ability Shield Dust. This Pokemon knows the moves Poison Sting and String Shot."

"Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon and the evolved form of Pidgey. Pidgeotto claims a large area as its own territory. This Pokemon flies around, patrolling its living space. If its territory is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws. This Pidgeotto is male and has the ability Keen Eye. This Pokemon knows the moves Tackle, Gust, Sand Attack and Quick Attack. It also has the egg move Uproar, though this has not been unlocked yet."

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokemon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely. This Charmander is female and has the ability Blaze. This Pokemon knows the moves Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen and Metal Claw. It also has the egg moves Dragon Pulse and Crunch, which have not been unlocked yet." The assembled teams looked over at her starter, impressed.

'It's not that good, but I'll work on it.' She said, embarrassed

"Crimson, that's great! I can't believe we didn't bother to scan you before."

'That's probably because it's literally your job to know the movesets of every single Pokemon.' Crimson suggested.

"That could be it. I should write a book." She chuckled.

"Moving on!" Ash said, scanning his own team.

"Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon. Caterpie has a voracious appetite. It can devour leave bigger than its body right before your eyes. From its antenna, this Pokemon releases a terrifically strong odor. This Caterpie is male with the ability Shield Dust. This Pokemon knows the moves Tackle and String Shot."

"Scyther, the Mantis Pokemon. It slashes through grass with its sharp scythes, moving too fast for the human eye to track. This Scyther is female with the ability Technician. This Pokemon knows the moves Quick Attack, Leer, Focus Energy and Pursuit. It also has the egg move Silver Wind, though this has not been unlocked."

"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Pichu. It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs. This Pikachu is male with the ability Lightningrod. This Pokemon knows the moves Thundershock, Growl, Tail Whip, Play Nice, Quick Attack and Iron Tail. It also has the egg moves Volt Tackle and Disarming Voice, which have not been unlocked yet."

'Well would you look at that.' Pidgeotto rolled his eyes. 'Both the starters are super powerful.'

"Pidgeotto, quit it. You'll all be equal eventually." Mia scolded.

"And anyway, you'll likely pick up most the egg moves that it's possible for you to get anyway." Ash grinned.

"Anyway, next order of business is nicknames. I'm planning to give you all names so that you don't get lost, and if we battle the same Pokemon it doesn't get confusing."

'Sounds good. What've you got?' Weedle asked.

"Right. Weedle, I thought of Dart, and Pidgeotto, I came up with Arch."

'I'm game.' Dart the Weedle said.

'Arch sounds a little weird, but I'm good with mine too.' He nodded.

"And on my end, Caterpie I had Flutter, and Scyther, Sarie."

'I like it.' Flutter 'smiled'.

'So do I.' Sarie nodded to Ash.

"I'm glad." He smiled back.

"Onto the next item on the agenda, blowing your minds." Mia giggled. "Please turn away from the resulting explosion."

"Ok 'Mia', calm down." Ash rolled his eyes.

"Fine. And… swap!" Both starting glowing white, with a little bubble array covering Ash and hiding him from sight. When both appeared as a Mew and shiny Mew, Mew pouted.

'I still don't get why you get a cool swapping sequence, and mines just like 'Hey, I glow and now I'm a different creature!' Like, it's so boring!'

'I'm sure you can replicate it.' He grinned at the other four members of the teams. Crimson and Bolt had heeded the warning and walked over to the training posts that were set up.

'What.' Flutter blanked.

'I was rude to Mew?!' Dart yelped. 'No wonder Crimson went off at me like that.'

'I guess that explains how you were able to heal us so quickly.' Arch deadpanned.

'And where we are right now.' Sarie continued.

'Yeah, this is a pocket world where we hold what Mom calls 'Mew Games'. We've repurposed it for training, and that house on the hill is storage.'

'Yep!' Mew said happily. 'So, whenever we do training, we'll do it here! And plus, time doesn't move outside until we leave, so we can use it as much as we want!'

'We'll have to be careful though.' Ash warned them. 'We don't want people getting suspicious about you getting too powerful too fast after all.'

'Err… Miss Mew?' Sarie asked timidly.

'No need for formalities, but what's wrong?'

'How come you have Master Ash?'

'Actually, we haven't told Bolt and Crimson the story yet either.' Ash realised. 'We should do that after. Also, same for me please. No formalities needed, and in the real world Mew is referred to as Mia to avoid any problems.'

'Ok.'

'What will we be doing as training, then?' Arch interrupted.

'Rock party.' Mew answered. She raised her voice. 'Bolt, Crimson, come over here!'

'Ok!' Both of them ran over.

'Right, for the brief. Bolt and Crimson will be working together, on a slightly higher tier than the others, then Flutter and Dart in a team and Arch and Sarie on the other.' Mew instructed.

'How this works is you're trapped in a dome with your partner. I'm sending in hordes of Rock type Pokemon. Just defeat them all.' Ash took over, then passed it back to Mew.

'For the bugs, five rounds 'cause you're the weakest, no offense-'

'None taken.'

'The flyers have ten because they can fly and are more powerful, and the starters have fifteen since they've done this before.'

'Meanwhile, I'm going to try and teleport without getting dizzy.' Ash told them.

'And I don't know yet, probably help Ash out.' Mew shrugged, then clicked her fingers. The Pokemon floated in their groups. 'Now,' She grinned, and each team was placed in a separate dome. 'Let the training begin!'

AN: And you won't see it!

T: Awwww.

K: Hey, let's be reasonable here. If we showed every single training day, we'd never get anything done.

T: Not like you do anyway.

P: Be quiet! They have to keep these chapter manageable so people don't need to put aside hours to get to read them!

K: Thanks Pix. Now, an alert. Shadow's putting a pole on her page later today/tomorrow.

SV: The topics for which Pokemon we should use for Damien when the episode rolls around. Obviously, that's quite a ways away, but I'd like to get your opinions. As you may or may not know, these tend to be written quite far in advance, though the AN's are usually same day or the day before.

K: So, this pole goes up now in order to let us write in advance and still have a conclusive answer when it comes to writing.

P: Something else is that the training will be shown if it's either a) important to the plot, or b) a special minigame.

SV: Again, this means we don't have to make up too many games.

P: Also, that new story got posted on this account, and it's a triple upload as it's Shadow's birthday!

T: No age given, of course. But yeah, the triple upload is to celebrate that!

K: Ok girls, I believe that's all we need to talk about, so see you all next time!