A few days passed, and it was time for the three friends to attend the exclusive tour of the pokeball factory that Ash had won. Dawn had Piplup out of it's pokeball, and was carrying it in her arms as they walked up the hill. They got to the top, and saw that there were already some other Trainers waiting outside. A blonde girl wearing a flowing green skirt, who was standing next to a little boy, holding his hand. A guy that would have been just a few inches taller than Brock, who had a little girl by his hand. And three weirdos in trenchcoats and dark sunglasses. Brock, Dawn and Ash focused their eyes on the factory.
""It doesn't look spectacular" Ash said, confused.
"Pika..." Pikachu agreed with it's Trainer.
"It just looks like an ordinary factory to me..." Dawn stated, trailing off.
"Looks can be deceiving," came a familiar voice as it pushed through the crowd of Trainers, "Thought you would have learnt that from contests by now"
The friends turned their attention towards the voice.
"Zoey!" Dawn exclaimed.
"You must have received a golden pokeball aswell" Brock stated.
"Yup" Zoey said, holding out her golden pokeball.
Just then, they heard a loud trumpet, which caused Pikachu and Piplup to cover their ears.
"Attention, Trainers!" Came a voice from the loudspeakers that were at each end of the big pearly gates, "Once the gates open, please enter in an orderly fashion, and present your golden pokeballs to me. Once your pokeballs have been collected, your one of a kind tour will begin"
"Collected?!" Jessie, who was one of the Trainers in trenchcoats and dark sunglasses, retorted as they followed the others through the gates, "Is he meaning to tell me I can't actually USE my precious pokeball?!"
She held her golden pokeball in her hand, cupping it.
"And after all the effort I went to to get it aswell" Meowth added, huffing.
"Settle down, the two of you," James said, trying to calm his colleagues, "Focus on why we're here in the first place. Pokemon and pokeballs galore, remember?"
"Hey, yeah, that's right!" Meowth said.
"Fine" Jessie huffed, handing a man in a red doorboy suit her golden pokeball.
They followed the others down a red and white carpet, where standing in front of the giant doors to the factory was another man in a red doorboy suit.
"Trainers, and company-" He began, but Meowth cut him off.
"Company?!" Meowth retorted.
James gave the Pokemon a nudge as the other Trainers glared at the three of them, and the man continued.
"It is my great pleasure, and with great honor, that I present to you, the owner of this fantastic factory, and your personal tour guide this evening," he announced, "Pokey Pete!"
"Pokey Pete?" Ash asked.
"You've seriously never heard of Pokey Pete?" Zoey asked the three friends, "Of all your time in Sinnoh? The guy who created almost all of the pokeballs in the Sinnoh region?"
"Can't say I have" Dawn replied.
"Wow," Zoey said, "What rock have you been living under?"
As trumpets blared, the factory's giant doors opened to reveal a giant pokeball. Two Munchlax's came out from inside and began rolling the pokeball down the carpet.
"Whoa, Munchlax!" Ash exclaimed.
"Amazing" Dawn stated, pulling out her pink Pokedex.
"Munchlax," her Pokedex began saying, "The Big Eater Pokemon, and the pre-evolved form of Snorlax. It hides food under it's long body hair, however, it forgets it has hidden the food"
The Munchlax rolled the pokeball to the front of the group.
"Munch-lax!" The two Pokemon exclaimed as they pulled a pose and the giant pokeball began opening.
It opened to reveal a small chair inside, and inside that chair was a man with curly blonde hair, a red velevet jacket, and a red and white top hat. Just then the chair began rolling out of the pokeball, and you could see that the chair was indeed a wheelchair.
"Ohmigosh, is he-?" Dawn asked, covering her mouth.
"I'm not sure," Zoey said, confused, "It is possible, all the adverts just have him from the waist up"
Pokey Pete wheeled his chair right up to the front of the group, and stopped at a halt. And all of a sudden jumped up, causing some gasps from the Trainers, pulling the same pose the Munchlaxs were.
"Huzzah!" he exclaimed as the pokeball closed, and the Munchlaxs rolled it back through the large doors.
"Welcome, Trainers, special guests," Pokey Pete began, then noticing Pikachu, Piplup, and the short man resembling a Meowth, "And Pokemon. To the greatest pokeball factory in all of Sinnoh. You all should consider yourselves very lucky to have received one of five golden pokeballs, allowing you to experience a tour of this factory like no other. In fact, not even the residents of this town have been inside my factory, that's how lucky you Trainers are. Shall we begin?"
Pokey Pete lead the group in through the large doors, where the red and white carpet continued on on the inisde. The walls were lined with wallpaper with various pokeballs and Pokemon on them.
"What you will be experiencing on this tour will amaze you, possibly even astound you," Pokey Pete explained as they walk, "You will be experiencing pokeballs like you've never experienced them before, and of course, for participating in the tour, you will get a box full of pokeballs of your choice"
He put up a finger and gave it a little wiggle.
"But hold your choices until you've actually seen what you like" he said.
"Can I have a Furret?" the little girl with the man asked Pokey Pete.
"I'm sorry?" Pokey Pete asked her.
"I want a Furret" the girl repeated.
"We're giving out pokeballs, not Pokemon, little girl" Pokey Pete explained to her.
"But Daddy said I could have a Furret if I came here!" the girl retorted.
Pokey Pete simply looked at the man with a menacing glare.
"I said I'd catch you a Furret, not that they'd give you one" The man told the girl.
"Then catch me one, Daddy!" The girl begged.
"I will, dear," The man said, "Just later"
"But I want a Furret now!" The girl screamed.
"Later" The man said in a harsh tone.
"But, Daddy-" The girl kept going but Pokey Pete shushed her.
"I'd recommend you wait that little blonde head of yours for that special Furret," he said, getting down to her level, and poking her on the nose, "Else, you might not get very far on this tour"
He motioned for the Trainers to keep following him down the carpet.
"Wow, talk about spoiled" Dawn stated as they followed Pokey Pete.
"Pip-lup!" Piplup agreed, crossing it's flippers.
"I wonder what he meant when he said she wouldn't get very far on the tour" Brock said.
"Not a clue" Zoey replied.
They arrived at another pair of large doors, and Pokey Pete turned to face them.
"This is the first room, amongst many, on the tour," he said, "Prepare to be amazed. Prepare to have your eyeballs burst at the seams. For this is the original room. Or for lack of a better word, the Pokeball Room!"
The doors swung open as he lead the group into the room. Every member of the group let out loud gasps of shock, wonder and amazement. The room was a bright green field of flowers, and endless sunlight.
"This, my dear friends," Pokey Pete remarked as he lead them down a set of stairs, "is my recreation of what a normal pokeball looks like on the inside. This is what I was talking about. Each room will be based on specific pokeballs, you may feel free to explore the room, and if you like the feel of it, that room's pokeball design will be the box of pokeballs you take home. Simply remain in the room you like, and the Munchlax will present you with your box of pokeballs. Now, as I said, feel free to explore the Normal Pokeball!"
The group all separated as they explored the breathtaking scenery for a few moments.
"This is amazing" Zoey said as she walked over to a shrubbery of blossoms followed by Ash, Dawn and Brock.
"So this is what being inside a pokeball looks like" Brock said, taking in the beautiful sights.
"What do you think, Piplup, did he get it right?" Dawn asked Piplup, looking down at it.
"Piplup!" Piplup exclaimed, it's eyes wide open with a gleam, flapping it's flippers maniacally.
"From the way Piplup's reacting, I'd say he did a pretty good job of it" Zoey said.
"What about you, Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking up at his pal on his shoulder.
"Pi-ka..!" Pikachu grunted, squinting it's eyes.
"Looks like Pikachu gets uncomfortable even in makeshift pokeballs" Brock stated, noticing Pikachu's reaction to the environment.
"Hey, it's okay, buddy," Ash said, petting Pikachu on the head, "They're not real pokeballs, just keep telling yourself that"
"Pi..." Pikachu said awkwardly, it's ears down.
"Hey, this whole tour might just let you two get to know Pikachu and Piplup more..." Zoey said as they walked around a corner of another set of bushes.
"Now you know why I refuse to be caught!" Meowth said as he, Jessie and James walked up to the same bush Ash and his friends were just at, "It's just too nicey nice!"
"But it's beautiful," Jessie said, "How can you not admire such divine beauty?"
"Easy," Meowth said, "By not getting caught"
"Oh, come on, Meowth, I thought you were a hopeless romantic, so this should be just your style" Jessie told it.
"Hopeless, maybe, but I ain't no romantic," Meowth said, spitting the word 'romantic', "That side of me was done with a long time ago"
"Can I remind you two that we're not here to admire, or in Meowth's case, despise, the rooms" James cut his friends off.
"We know that," Jessie huffed, "But look around, James, there's nary a pokeball stash in sight"
"Not to mention any good Pokemon, either" Meowth said as it looked around.
"Then we need to figure out how to get our hands on some" James stated.
The three put their heads to their chins for a moment, and then Meowth had an idea.
"The good pokeballs, and rare Pokemon are probably in the rooms ahead, most likely the furthest room from here" he said.
"Should we just continue with the tour then until we get there, then make our move?" James suggested.
"No!" Jessie said, slapping James on the back of the head, "We can't just mosey on along with the other Trainers! We need to get there before they do, so we have the perfect opportunity to snatch them and then leave with our prize!"
"Are you suggesting we drift from the group, and sneak around the factory?" James asked.
"That's exactly what she's suggesting" Meowth said.
With that, the three turned the corner of the bush opposite the one Ash and his friends had turned, in search of the best room in the factory.