Do I seriously have to state that I don't own it at the beginning of every chapter?!

GXGXGX

"My brother?!" Syrus gasped. "Let me see!"

"Brother? Whoa, wait." Ash grabbed Syrus's collar as he zoomed past, stopping him in his tracks. "You can't interrupt his battle! You can go in after he's done."

"I gotta see my brother! Why would he come? Maybe he's changed back!" Syrus cried.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I doubt it," Aster noted. "From the sound of it, he's still got the goth-slash-emo look going."

Syrus noticeably sagged. Chazz smirked. "Yes folks, it is yet another stupid comment from Aster Phoen—OW! HE KICKED ME IN THE SHIN!"

"Shut up, Chazz, we're trying to listen!" Everyone else had gathered around the door and was trying to hear what was happening without disturbing the battle. A few moments later, they heard the referee shout: "Onix is unable to battle; the challenger wins."

Syrus banged open the door so hard it sounded like a gunshot. "ZANE! BASTION!"

Bastion, who was sitting in the bleacher as he watched his traveling companion (A/N: now, you see, if this had been the real third season, there'd be all these Zane/Bastion pairings instead of Zane/Aster) battle the Pewter City Gym Leader, jumped out of his seat and turned to the door. Meanwhile, Zane had wheeled around violently.

"SYRUS?!" they shouted together.

Jaden ran into the room and stopped beside his best friend. "…and Jaden! And-Chazz-and-Atticus-and-Jesse-and-Jim-and-Axel-and-Adrian-and-Aster!" he shouted, all in one breath. "Not to mention Ash, Drew, Dawn, and Max."

"Pardon me, Jaden." Bastion hopped down from the bleachers and approached Jaden and Syrus, along with Zane. "But who are most of those people?"

"Jesse, Jim, Adrian, and Axel were Duel Academy transfer students this year, from North, South, East, and West Academy, respectively," Aster said calmly as he waltzed into the room with the people he had previously mentioned, plus Chazz and Atticus. He nodded his head at Zane and smirked. "Truesdale."

Zane glared and sneered at Aster. "Phoenix," he spat.

"Oh, no!" Dawn moaned as she, Ash, Drew, and Max walked into the room. "Not another one! Can't you boys get along?!"

"Ash! Dawn! And…Drew?! Max?!" Brock shouted as he ran over from the other side of the Gym. "What's he—?"

"He's reformed," Ash quickly explained. "I battled him and won, so he went back to normal. Anyway, I think introductions are in order."

"Alright! I'll start!" Jaden volunteered. "Bastion, Zane, this is Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Ash, Dawn, Drew, and Max. Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Ash, Dawn, Drew, Max, this is Bastion and Zane."

"My turn!" Dawn raised her hand cheerfully. "Brock, this is Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, Atticus, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, and Aster. Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, Atticus, Jesse, Jim, Axel, Adrian, Aster, this is Brock."

"Everybody got it?" Ash didn't wait for an answer. "Good. Brock, the, uh, seven of them want to challenge you when you're done with their friends."

Brock grinned. "Perfect; I'm done. Bastion went first, and Zane just finished up."

"Oh, oh!" Jaden starting jumping up and down. "Let me go first! Let me go first! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

"Okay!" Brock laughed.

"Yesss! Get'cha game on, Brock!"

"…Uh…"

Bastion leaned over to whisper in Brock's ear, "That's what he says when he wants to duel…and battle, I suppose."

"Oh, okay."

GXGXGX

"You're up, Tropius!" Jaden shouted as he released the aforementioned Pokémon.

"Let's go, Geodude!" Brock cried as he released his first Pokémon.

"Tropius, use Razor Leaf!" Jaden ordered.

"Dodge and use Rock Throw! Then try a Tackle!" Brock countered. The dodge was successful, but Jaden wasn't so lucky.

"Tropius, dodge!" It was too late; the grass Pokémon was bombarded by rocks. Fortunately, it wasn't very effective. But then came the Tackle. "Tropius! You okay?" Tropius nodded weakly in response. "Great! Now try Gust!"

In the bleachers where everyone was watching, Max shook his head. "He should have stuck with Razor Leaf. Though it's easier to dodge, if it hits Geodude, it'll deal some major damage."

Ash was right; the Gust attack made contact, but Geodude was only slightly more fazed than Tropius had been by Rock Throw (without the added Tackle).

"Um, okay, let's try Razor Leaf again," Jaden commanded, slightly unsure.

He got lucky. Razor Leaf made contact and finished the battle easily. However, the battle with Onix wasn't as easy of a time—Jaden made the decision to keep his Tropius out, which was injured from the battle with Geodude.

Onix defeated it within the first two moves, forcing Jaden to resort to the Psyduck he had caught. Jaden, after a few failed psychic-type moves (with Ash and Max in the bleachers muttering in unison, "Use Water Gun, idiot, Water Gun"), finally used Water Gun twice, only winning the second time.

GXGXGX

After Jaden, Chazz, Aster, Jesse, Jim, Axel, and Adrian battled Brock and won (A/N: I figured it would get boring after a while recounting all seven battles), Bastion and Zane decided to tell them why the heck they were there.

"Well, before you even started your third year at Duel Academy, Chancellor Sheppard invited us over here," Bastion explained. "We've been traveling here for awhile; after all, you got your very own tour guides, while we were on our own. Professor Oak told us to head for the Pewter Gym, since we decided that we didn't think Contests were exactly our speed."

"So you just as much about Pokémon as we do?" Atticus raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"If not more," Zane asserted. "We spent a lot of time with Oak before heading out here. But you know more about Team Light and the people here than we do, from the sound of it." Syrus avoiding looking at his brother; the Zane he knew would respect Professor Oak enough to call him Professor.

"Yeah," Chazz nodded. "We'll tell you—"

"Later," Dawn snarled. "They'll tell you later. Right now, we've got some important business to take care of…"

GXGXGX

"What's your favorite color? Material? How about some of these jeans—OH, LOOK! A SALE!" Dawn sprinted away from Aster to look at a hat sale in the corner. "Aren't they just adorable?! We'll take them all!"

"Um, Dawn?"

"Yes, Aster?"

"You can, you know, relax. I really don't need all those hats…" Aster stared at the gigantic pile of hats Dawn was hoping to purchase.

"Oh, but you do!" Dawn picked up three different hats. "These three you can't live without, see? This one matches your eyes, this one matches your hair, and this last one matches your skin tone! The rest of them can match the outfits we'll buy you!"

Aster glanced pleadingly at the others as Dawn gathered up every hat on the table. "A little help, please?"

Zane snickered. "You're on your own, Ass-turd."

"Hey, that's a good one!" Drew exclaimed. "Mind if I borrow it?"

Zane grinned evilly. "Anytime."

Aster turned pleadingly the two people in the group who knew Dawn well and didn't wish him physical harm (well, one of them probably did, but they were on a truce). "Ash, Brock, would you help me out here?"

Brock looked toward Ash, who closed his eyes and grinned confidently. "Hey, Dawn. If you spend all your money on hats, you won't have enough money for all the outfits."

Dawn blinked. "Oh. Thanks, Ash; you're right! But you just have to get this hat, Aster—the one that matches your eyes."

Aster sighed, thinking: Out of the fire…

Dawn paid for the bright blue hat, jammed it onto his head, and practically ripped his arm out of his socket as she pulled him to the clothes section.

…and into the frying pan.

"What did you wear before that suit?" Dawn questioned, rummaging through the clothes. "I mean, we should find what you're most comfortable in."

"Well, um…I wouldn't be caught dead in what I wore before the suit, personally." Aster stole a sidelong glance at Drew. "Not here, at least."

Dawn glanced back at him. "Why's that?"

"Um…well…"

"Hey, Sy?" Jaden suddenly asked.

"Yeah, Jay?" Syrus turned to Jaden.

"Remember that pic of Aster that one time with the D? The clothes he was wearing then?"

"Oh, yeah…" Syrus eyes widened in realization; then he burst out laughing. "H-he was wearing…"

"Shut up!" Aster hissed. Suddenly, he realized something. "Hey! When did you two see that picture?!" His eyes narrowed and he growled dangerously: "When were you two on my boat?"

"You have a boat?" Max's mouth dropped open in shock.

"WE'RE GETTING OFF TOPIC, PEOPLE!" Dawn screamed. "Aster, what did you wear before? Tell me now."

"…" Aster crossed his arms stubbornly.

Jaden started laughing. "He wore pink!"

"And he dressed like Drew!" Syrus added. "Except his pants only went to his knees and he wore a pink jacket, not a purple one."

Pretty soon, everyone in the room was laughing, even Drew.

Aster's face turned red—again. "It's not that funny!"

"You said your name wasn't funny, either," Ash pointed out. "Plus, this isn't just funny; it's ironic!"

"Just shut up," Aster muttered. "Come on, Dawn; let's find an outfit."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Dawn exclaimed.

GXGXGX

Two hours later, Aster and Dawn were finally finished. It took so long because Aster and Dawn could agree:

"Aster, the 'simple' look is so dead!"

"I've worn a gray suit for the past six years of my life! I'm not looking vibrant, gaudy clothes! Especially not a prince-like suit with gold armor-things on the shoulders!"

At this point, Ash laughed. "Dawn likes prince-suits and armor-things." (1)

"Shut up, Ash."

Eventually, Aster got his way. He got off the hook with some blue denim cargo pants, a men's tank top, white sneakers with blue stripes, and some blue gloves, which came with the hat Dawn had insisted on. The baseball hat and gloves matched his eyes exactly (A/N: you know how in GX their eyes are two different shades?), with the bill of the hat being a darker shade than the rest of it. The gloves were exactly like Ash's, except for the color—where Ash's gloves were black and green at the end, Aster's were light blue and dark blue at the end.

He could have done without the hat and gloves, but Dawn insisted.

"Does anyone else need a makeover?" Dawn asked gleefully when they were finally done. After deciding that everyone was fine, she skipped out of the store happily. "Come on, guys! Drew, how about we train some more with Syrus and Atticus, kay?"

Drew agreed and the four scampered off to show Syrus and Atticus the Contest Hall and help them prepare their act.

"So…who wants to train?" Ash asked the remaining eleven. He swore he could hear a cricket. "…Lunch?"

"Lunch!" Jaden cheered. Everyone else agreed and Ash reluctantly brought them to the closest restaurant with a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet.

GXGXGX

Halfway through the meal, Chazz found a marker and a napkin.

Five minutes later, Jaden, who was still stuffing his face, had a napkin on his back, which read as follows:

"Im a loseer. And a moreon. Chaz is tha bestest."

It was then that Ash noticed something…"Idiot! I can't believe I didn't notice that!"

"Notice what, mate?" Jim asked.

"The similarity!" Ask exclaimed.

"You know what 'similarity' means?" Aster smirked as he feigned surprise.

"I thought we were on a truce?" Ash asked, irritated.

Aster shrugged.

"Anyway…" Ash growled. "Chazz—you're just like Gary! You even look like him!"

"Who?" Chazz was miffed, fairly certain that Ash would be comparing him to someone who was thoroughly unlikeable.

"Gary! My rival!" Ash's face suddenly fell. "The last time we battled, he beat me…" He let his forehead fall onto the table. "We're doomed."

"I thought you were a Pokémon Master!" Jaden gasped. "Someone beat you?!"

"He's a researcher," Ash explained. "It would only count if he wanted to be a master as well."

"So Norman won't be the toughest one to beat then…" Bastion realized.

"Wait, Gary's in Team Light?!" Jaden gasped.

Chazz rolled his eyes. "He's only told us about twenty times."

"We should probably get going…" Brock noted. "The others are probably done. Just grab them some food."

GXGXGX

They met up with Syrus, Atticus, Dawn, and Drew and returned to the Pokémon Center to practice battling some more. The rest of the day passed quickly and finally, the day of the Contest was upon them. After the Contest, they made plans to head to Cerulean City to get some bikes.

GXGXGX

Alright, so in future chapters (not 100% sure when) I'm going to take a break from Pokémon and look at how the others are faring back on Duel Academy.

And as for footnotes:

That would be a Penguinshipping reference…however, Kenny will not appear in the story, and neither will any other Sinnoh characters, with the possible exception of Paul. Key word: POSSIBLE exception.