Ash screamed as he felt himself drop hard on the ground. He tried to pick himself up, only to have Melanie plunge on him a few moments later. He grunted in pain as he tried to figure out where he was.

A smooth cobblestone path lay before him. He noticed that it was surrounded by many grassy areas and fences. There was a forest path just below where he was and mountains far beyond. The nice clear breeze that he inhaled told him that he was near the ocean. He also noticed that there was a very large and complex building in the center, which, in his opinion, kind of took away from all the beauty that surrounded it.

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by Melanie's shrill scream. He shouted in frustration since he couldn't cover his own ears because someone was sitting on top of him.

"Gah! Melanie, Get off!"

"Ah! Where are we?"

"Get off me, Melanie!"

No sooner had he said that a bright flash shone from behind him. A few moments later it disappeared. Gary was seen standing in one of the grassy areas behind Ash.

"Gary?"

Gary looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where he was. Wasn't he just staring at his girlfriend before she mysteriously disappeared right before his eyes?

"Gary?"

Gary looked down to see his former rival lying down on the ground, a little girl on his back.

"Ash? That you?"

"Where are we?" Melanie began tearing at her eyes.

Ash had had enough. Rolling over, he pushed the paranoid little girl off his back and struggled to get to his feet.

"You have any idea how we got here, Gary?"

"No. Have you seen Harmony?"

As if on cue, another brilliant flash of light shone and a confused Harmony appeared a few moments, looking around trying to figure out where she was.

"Harmony!" Gary exclaimed.

Harmony snapped her head back to see her boyfriend and instantly a smile formed on her face. "Gary!"

The two embraced each other, happy to see the other again. Ash crossed his arms at the display, somewhat confused, while Melanie…well…

"What is going on around here?"

Again, another flash of light was shone, only this time, towards the plain closer to Melanie, spooking her, causing her to run straight into Ash, who in turn, fell face first on the cobblestone pavement.

A few moments later, Max materializes on the grassy plains.

"Damn it, Melanie! Get a grip of yourself!" Ash said as he again pushed the terrified ten year old off of him and began massaging his face.

Of course, when that ominous flash appeared right next to Max, Melanie freaked, and grabbed for Ash, only to accidentally hit him in the face and cause him to scream out in pain. And while he tries to massage his wound, Melanie is still looking for some kind of "protection" from Ash.

Meanwhile, Gary and Harmony seem fazed by the flashing of the next visitor, and within seconds, May appears.

Max smiled. Standing he began running over towards her. "May!"

Snapping out of her confused state, May looked up to see her younger brother running towards her. A large smile began to form across her lips as she herself got to her feet.

"Max!"

The two siblings embraced each other, pleased to know that the other was unharmed. The moment was spoiled, however, as one boisterous scream was heard from the center. My and Max, as well as Gary and Harmony, turned their heads to see Ash massaging his nose, and Melanie looking down in terror at a ball of light that had appeared in front of them.

A few moments passed, the ball got bigger, soon exploding and creating a large flash, causing Melanie to scream in terror, Ash to scream in pain, and the others to scream just because they had no idea what was going on.

When the flash died down, Melanie was shaking with fear, while Ash, well,…Ash wasn't really doing anything. Just sitting there in frustration with his eyes closed.

"Is it over. Is it over. Is it over," Melanie kept saying again and again.

"Char!"

Melanie's eyebrows wrinkled.

Was that Blaze?

"Umbre Umbreon-on!"

"Char! Charmander, Char Char!"

Melanie opened her eyes, astonished to see her starter pokémon standing before her.

"Blaze! It really is you!"

"Char!"

The little girl picked up the young fire-type pokémon.

"Blaze, I'm so glad to see you! Oh, I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Charmander Char!"

Ash kept his eyes closed and ignored the little girl. Two minutes in a new area, ten minutes in a new day and she had managed to injury him several places on his face like seven times, not counting when they were in Gateon.

A sudden tug on his leg alerted Ash out of his thoughts.

"Pika."

Ash's eyes immediately opened. He swa his partner and best friend looking up at him with a smile.

"Pikachu?"

"Pikapi!"

Ash blinked a couple times before enveloping his pokémon in a huge embrace.

"Pikachu, buddy, You're alright!"

"Pika Pi!"

"I'm so glad you're okay buddy!"

"Pika Pikachu!"

Umbreon smiled at the loving display.

When the two let go of each other, Pikachu hopped back onto Ash's shoulder.

"No place like home, huh buddy?"

"Pika!"

"I'm just wondering how we all got here," Gary said as he and Harmony stepped off of the nice healthy grass and onto the smooth cobblestone to join Ash and Melanie. May and Max did the same.

About a few moments later, the last flash for the day was seen as the person behind the transportation appeared. Umbreon immediately ran to his side.

"Wow, that took longer than I expected. It was suppose to transport us here simultaneously. Guess I could give it to Professor Krane to work out the kinks," Michael said as he began stretching.

"Uh, Michael, were you the one who transported us here?" Ash asked, looking at the young trainer with suspicion.

"Yep. Though, I couldn't have done it without Umbreon," he said as began petting his pokémon on the head.

Ash was still confused. "What?"

"We didn't really get a good chance to talk back there because of crowd and because of the fact that we got separated. So I just got Umbreon to use Psychic, pressed a control on this here machine on my arm, and poof! Here we are," he said, pointing to the mechanical device on his arm.

"Least I don't have to go through the trouble of catching Shadow Pokémon with this one."

Ash blinked. "What?"

"Never mind."

Ash furrowed his brow as he started looking around in confusion. "Hey, where's Brock?"

"There were more of you?" Michael asked.

"Ash, he went back in the pokémon center to get something, remember?" May reminded him.

"Oh right."

"Oh, man!" Michael said as he slapped his forehead.

"What's wrong, Michael?" Harmony asked.

"Jovi! I left her back in Gateon! Aww man! My mom's gonna kill me! I mean, Gateon isn't far from where I live so I'd be there in a few minutes. I'd get there faster on my moped too."

"Wait a minute, you live here?" Ash asked in disbelief, "I thought this was a research facility?"

"It is."

"But…"

Ash was cut off as a woman came running out of the HQ lab. "Michael?"

"Over here mom," the young boy said as he weakly waved his hand.

The woman sprinted towards her son, despite the fact that she was wearing white high heels.

"Michael, I heard screams. Don't tell me you were using that portable teleporter Professor Krane devised for you?"

"Mom, it's not that big of a…"

"Where's Jovi?" The woman asked, worriedly looking around.

"Mom, there are other people present."

The woman looked down at her son scornfully before noticing the confused onlookers standing in front of her. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.

"Oh. Hello there."

"They could hear you mom." Michael said, embarrassed.

"Be."

"I'm sorry you had to hear my little outburst there," she said quite sweetly causing her son to sweatdrop, "My name's Lily. I live here alongside with Professor Krane and my two children."

"I already told them that, Mom."

"It's very nice to meet all of you."

"It's…uh…nice to meet you too," was all Ash could get out as he and the others just stared nervously at the two residents.

Michael turned to face his mother. "Mom, these trainers are new to the region. They're here to compete in the Colosseums and Pokémon Contests being held this year."

"Is that so?" She questioned.

"Yes, Ma'am," Ash answered, "We were actually on our way to Pyrite Town when we were surrounded by Michael's crazed fans and had to be zapped here."

"I see," she said giving her son a stern look, "You do know the colosseums don't start for another five days?"

"Told yah," Gary said as he folded his arms.

"But I suppose it's always best to get a head start on things," Lily said as she made her way back to the lab, "I'll see if I can find someone who owes us a favor to drive you children down to Pyrite and Phenac."

"We greatly appreciate it."

"Pika."

Nodding her head, Lily began walking back towards the HQ lab only to stop moments later and storm back towards her son.

"Michael!"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Where's Jovi!"

Michael winced. He was hoping his mother would forget when he brought up Ash and the others. "She's by Acri."

"Michael Wesel Legend. What have I told you about dropping Jovi off by Acri and leaving her there without my permission?"

"She's a friend of the family."

"That wasn't my question."

"But Mom…"

Michael was cut off as the sound of a motorcycle approaching the HQ took his attention. The group turned to see Officer Jenny pulling up with small blue-haired little girl and Brock behind her.

"There you guys are!" Brock said as he hopped off the motorcycle and over to join his friends.

"Brock!" Ash exclaimed happily.

"I've been looking all over for you guys."

"So I guess this little one also belongs here then?" Officer Jenny said as she approached the group standing in front of the lab.

"Jovi!" Lily push passed her son and enveloped her youngest child in a hug.

"Hi Mommy!"

"Jovi darling, I'm so glad you're all right."

"See Mom, I told you she would be okay," Michael said nervously, earning a scornful look from his mother.

Officer Jenny put her hands on her hips as she gazed upon the display. "I found this little one playing around the port with a Minun. Thought I'd have to give her a stern talking to until I realized who she was."

Lily slowly got up and extended her hand to the officer.

"Thank you for bringing Jovi back, Officer Jenny. I promise it won't happen again," she said, glaring at her son as her voice ran over the word "won't."

Nodding, Officer Jenny tipped her hat as she started for her motorcycle.

"It was really nice meeting all of you. See you later kids."

"Bye, Officer Jenny ," they all said in unison as they watched her speed of on her motorcycle.

"You kids must be tired considering the day you've had," Lily said as she faced the group once more, "Tell you what. Why don't you rest here a while. I'll call a former worker of mine's and tell him to give you kids a lift to Pyrite and Phenac so you can register."

"Wow really?" Ash said enthusiastically.

Lily just nodded her head as she took out her cell phone and began dialing. "And I'll deal with you later, young man," she told her son and strolled in the HQ without another word.

Michael scowled.

"Haha, big brother get in trouble with Mommy," Jovi said as she pointed outwardly at her older sibling.

"Jovi…if you know what's best for you, you'll go straight inside and not say another word."

"Big brother just upset he got in trouble with Mommy."

"Jovi…"

"Whats-eves…Jovi go inside now. Jovi play hide-and-seek with Adon. Let's go, Mimi. Bye big people!" Jovi waved as she and the electric mouse ran inside the HQ, leaving a steaming Michael behind.

"Oh, I cannot wait until she hits her teens!"

"Be…"

Exhaling loudly, Michael tried to calm down. "Sorry about that, guys. My sister can get me so angry. Anyways, like I was saying, you guys can just sit back and relax for a while. My mom's gonna see if she can get you a ride, so you have nothing to worry about in that department."

"Thank you," Ash and May said in unison.

Gary cleared his throat as he stepped up to Michael. "Hey, Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not competing in the colloseums like my friend here."

"You're not?" Michael questioned.

"My name's Gary Oak. I'm a fellow pokémon researcher. I'm supposed to be meeting with…"

"The professor! Oh yeah. I remember. Professor Krane was talking all about you yesterday. Well come on, he's inside." Michael said, motioning him to follow him inside.

Gary felt Harmony hook her arm inside of his. He looked over to Ash.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna go meet this Professor Krane guy. I'll catch up with you later."

Ash sighed as he watched his former rival walk into the Pokémon HQ. He looked towards his friends. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"Well, this is an HQ. No doubt there's some kind of PC in here. You can probably get your teams ready for the tournament. I think they have some kind of battle simulations or something here as well. Might help to build up your skills too," Max said smartly.

"That's a great idea, Max!" May exclaimed.

"Yeah. A few practice battles before my tournament entry might do my team some good!" Ash pumped his fist in the air.

"Pika Pi!"

Melanie smirked.

"It's a computer simulation, Ash. As in virtual reality? You're not going to be using any actual pokémon in your battles," Max said matter-of-factly, causing Ash to fall anime-style on the ground.

"Yeah, well. A battle's still a battle no matter what, right?" He said nervously.

"Piiiika."

Brock put his hand to his chin as he looked up at the gray clouds.

"Hey guys. It might be best to go inside. Looks like some rain may be coming in."

The group nodded their heads as they started for the HQ's double doors. Sensing a slight oddity about his friend, Ash decided to speak up.

"Hey, Brock?"

"Yeah Ash?"

"Why weren't you going all googly-eyed for Officer Jenny earlier?"

Brock nervously began rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Well, um…you guys ever heard of a taser?"

"Yeah, it's like a stun gun, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, well, um…let's just say she considered me a 'threat' and I'm now afraid to go within thirty feet of her."

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. Just a quick note. A poll is being held for this fiction. I encourage you all to vote and to give an honest response as to how you feel. Your votes will determine some major plot twists in this story. The poll will remain opened until the next chapter is updated. Thank you! And thanks for all your wonderful reviews!