I'm back…and still haven't inherited Konami—ergo, I don't own GX or Pokémon.

And this chapter's gonna be following Jim.

GXGXGX

Professor Oak exited his lab to find the group of duelists chatting and attempting to practice releasing and recalling their Pokémon. "Now that you have your Pokémon," Professor Oak started, "I'm going to show you how to battle and control your Pokémon, as you will need to be able to battle to help us defeat this threat."

GXGXGX

"She won't pick up," Ash sighed into his phone. "I'm really worried, Brock. Neither of them has responded to any of my phone calls since…you know…"

"Yeah," Brock agreed on the other end. "I know."

"I even took a boat to Hoenn and had Charizard fly me to Petalburg; no one home."

"Seriously?!" Brock sounded surprised. "So that's where you were yesterday."

"Why? Did you come over to my place?"

"No; Gary did."

Ash scowled. When he didn't answer, Brock continued: "Misty was with him."

"…"

"They said Norman sent Gary to battle."

"…What did you tell them?"

"That you weren't home."

"…And?"

"I told them that you weren't home, haven't been since you…you know…battled May, and to 'get their white-clad asses the hell out of here before I call Officer Jenny.'"

"You didn't." There was a hint of amusement in Ash's voice; Brock could tell he was grinning.

"Sure did. Hey, have you been in contact with Professor Oak in the past week or so?"

"Um…no, not really. Why?"

"Well, he told me that he brought over some kids from a whole other world to help fight Team Roc—Light. He said they were showing up at his lab today and that, though they've never even heard of Pokémon before about yesterday, they will be invaluable in fighting back…and saving our friends."

"Really?" Ash's curiosity was peaked. A whole other world? And they're going to help us—with minimal Pokémon experience?

"Yeah. Oh, and by the way, he wants you to come meet them tomorrow; help them out, give them pointers—stuff like that."

"Great," Ash moaned. "So now, on top of Misty, May, and Gary problems, I have to babysit a bunch of kids who probably don't even know how to throw a Pokéball?"

"Kids?" Brock laughed. "They're about two or three years older than you!"

"You're right—they aren't kids. I bet when it comes to how much they know about Pokémon, they're just toddler-level."

"Doesn't matter. Professor Oak wants you over there by tomorrow." Brock hung up.

Ash sighed. "Great. Just great."

GXGXGX

Before nightfall, Professor Oak had gone over releasing, returning, catching, and battling Pokémon to perfection. He also had the duelists memorize their Pokémon's moves. He even had Jaden and Syrus battle each other using only Piplup's Bubblebeam and Sushi's Ember to demonstrate the importance of type differences.

Then, he told them about battling trainers, Gym battles, coordinators, and Contests. He said that, along the way to defeat Team Light, they could participate in Gym battles or Contests. Upon hearing the definition of each, Atticus (predictably) chose to be a coordinator. After a little hesitation, Syrus did, too. However, everyone else decided to try their luck with Gym battles.

"Now, I shall test your skill," Professor Oak started. He gave them all two Pokéballs each. "I want you to go out into those woods there and catch one wild Pokémon each. The second ball's for if you miss."

The group of duelists took the Pokéballs and nervously ventured into the forest.

"Maybe we should split up, mates," Jim suggested. "Then when we see a Pokémon, there won't be a mad scramble to catch it."

"Jim's right," Axel agreed. "Let's meet back here when we're done, so we can all finish together."

Everyone agreed and they went off on their separate ways. Jim went with a path that was covered with dense underbrush. This should be a snap. Jim smirked as he inspected the ground for tracks. If I can track animals at home, I can surely do it just as well here.

Immediately, Jim found some tracks to follow. Um…okay, maybe not just as well. He had never seen tracks like those before. Jim shrugged and began to follow the tracks. I may not know any of these creatures, but I have to catch one either way.

Following the tracks, he came to a small cave, where the tracks ended. "Should I go in?" Jim wondered aloud. "Aw, heck. I little adventure never hurt anyone. Might want to add some protection, though. Rise, Skull Knight." Jim released his Cubone, which promptly zoomed into the cave. "Crikey! You're fast for a little guy." Jim sprinted his Pokémon—at least, until he slammed into a rock suspended in midair. "What the—?"

"Cubone!" Skull Knight cried excitedly from under the floating rock.

"Geodude!" The floating rock cried back.

"Oh…so that must be a Pokémon…" Jim mused. "And it must be…a Geodude!" he exclaimed, recalling that Professor Oak had mentioned that the only thing Pokémon could say is all or part of its name. "Come on, Skull Knight! Let's try to catch it!"

Jim backed up slightly as Skull Knight raced over to him. "Use Bone Club!" Skull Knight, clutching the bone it always carried around with it, raised the bone, leapt into the air, and slammed into the Geodude, which caused it to fall to the ground. "Follow with a Tail Whip!" SK turned and lashed at Geodude with its tail. The Geodude wasn't down yet, however, as it tackled SK as soon as it had recovered. The impact sent SK into the cave wall.

Jim saw Geodude readying another attack and thought fast. "Wait!" he called as SK stood up next to the wall it had just smashed into. The Geodude pulled back. "Wait for it…" The Geodude tore through the air, aiming right at SK. "There! DODGE!" SK narrowly leapt out of the way as Geodude smashed into the wall. It didn't get up."

"That should do it." Jim grinned as he took out a Pokéball. "Go, Pokéball!" The ball hit Geodude on the head and bounced off, emitting a red light along the way. The light engulfed Geodude and pulled it into the ball. The Pokéball shook once…twice…three times…then it beeped triumphantly.

"Alright!" Jim cheered. "I caught my first Pokémon! Didja see that, Shirley?! And it's all thanks to Skull Knight over here." Jim smiled lovingly at the proud Pokémon beside him. "Come on. I doubt the others had as much luck as I did, but we should go wait for them, anyway."

GXGXGX

When Jim reached their meeting place, he received a shock when he saw that Aster was back already.

"You're back? Already?"

"Is that such a surprise?" Aster retaliated icily. His expression softened so much that he actually smiled. "Me and Riolu make a good team." The smile quickly disappeared and the teen looked away.

After a few moments of silence, the others weren't back yet and Jim had something bothering him. "Um…Aster? If you don't mind me asking, what's your problem?"

Aster looked at Jim, slightly startled at his abruptness—he had one eyebrow raised. "My…problem?"

"Yeah, your problem." Jim scowled. "Every opportunity ya get, ya make fun of me or Shirley—" Shirley growled in agreement "—and I want to know why."

Aster blinked. "I dunno. I guess…cause you're so easy to make fun of. Seriously, you carry a crocodile around on your back. It's like a giant, green, scaly, 'Kick Me' sign with teeth."

Jim turned to Shirley. "No offense, Shirley, but he's got a point. Don't worry though, sheila; I ain't getting rid of ya."

Aster snorted. "You're talking to it. That's like Jaden, Chazz, and Jesse and their decks."

"Hey, at least Shirley's a living being, and at least Jaden and Chazz just talk to the air. Jesse says forty-some pieces of paper are his 'family.'" Jim chuckled. "I think that kid might just be insane."

Aster laughed with him—at that completely mutual moment, Aster and Jim would end their equally mutual "argue" relationship. Sure, they wouldn't be best friends, but at least Aster wouldn't making fun of Shirley anymore. And to think, it was all because of Jesse and his supposed insanity.

GXGXGX

Finally, about an hour later, everyone made it back.

Jim had found out that Aster caught a Poochyena, Jaden a Munchlax, Syrus a Togepi, Chazz a Ghastly, Atticus a Skitty, Jesse a Meowth, Axel a Magby, and Adrian a Nincada.

The group exited the forest together, holding their two Pokémon-holding Pokéballs in front of them proudly.

GXGXGX

Well, they all have their first Pokémon that they actually caught themselves.

Oh, and Jesse's Pokémon are going to be loosely based off his Crystal Beasts: Eevee=Ruby Carbuncle (well, when it evolves) and Meowth=Amethyst Cat (also when it evolves).

IMPORTANT:

OMG! Misty and Gary joined the Society of Light?! They sorta represent Alexis and Chazz in that way…I did mean to do that. But anyway, time for the important stuff: in case it wasn't clear (which I know it wasn't), since Norman took over the SoL, May and Max kinda represent Aster, since Norman's their father and all. Norman had May battle Ash…who WON (I know it didn't mention that)!

BTW, don't worry, this won't be Yu-Gi-Oh GX rewritten with Pokémon characters (that's kinda stupid—everyone reading this already knows what happened)—IT WILL BE DIFFERENT!

Peace.