A/N: =O I got a review! I feel like dancing. =] Thanks for the kind words Jane Hawthorn. I hope it lives up to expectations! Made a change to Mason's Character Profile (which can be found in my profile as one of my stories) adding in an appearance that I realized I left out. =P You might be wondering why, seeing as he left last chapter, but who knows what's to happen next? Hope you enjoy!
As the sun began shining through the window, Tyrel was already up and ready to leave his room. He checked out of the pokemon center, thanking Nurse Joy for everything. He took a moment to breathe the morning air before heading next door to the pokemon gym. To his surprise, Max was waiting at the door for him, bags packed and everything.
"Alright, let's go!" Max cried, walking away, holding some kind of machine in his hand. Tyrel stood dumbfounded for a second before running to catch up with him.
"You know where you're going?" Tyrel asks.
"Yep. I've got a PokeNav. I used it a while back when I traveled through Hoenn and Kanto, it works fine. I take it we're heading through Oldale town?" Max was still looking at his PokeNav, hitting a few buttons.
"Yes, and we'll be taking a riverboat around into Slateport. It's faster than walking the trail."
Tyrel then pulled Max slightly toward him, helping him to avoid running into a sign. "Watch where you're going."
Max looked up for a second, then gave Tyrel an embarrassed look. "Sorry, won't happen again." He gave the PokeNav one more look-over before closing it and putting it into his pocket. He grabbed the straps on his backpack and walked on, remembering the voices he had heard last night.
The two of them walk on in silence for a few hours. Max's thoughts are bouncing around from excitement to sorrow as he thinks of being able to see his friends again, and then thinks of Jirachi and what kind of trouble he might be in. Tyrel knows there's something going with Max, but isn't going to press anything.
The two of them come upon Oldale town and are in and out of the small town within a few minutes, stopping only to rest for a few moments before continuing on their trail. Soon the sun is hot overhead and they come upon a stream. "Hey Max, what time is it?" Tyrel looks up at the sky to get a bit of an idea. Max pulls out the PokeNav and checks.
"Just about noon. Why? What time do we have to be there?" Max checks the PokeNav again to see how far they are from the docks that Tyrel mentioned. Given the rate at they've been travelling so far, they could reach their destination in about another hour.
"Not for a couple of hours more. We've got some time, why not rest here for a bit?" Tyrel asks, taking his pack off and fishing out his lunch.
"Sounds great, I'm starving." Max sets his pack down and sits on a nearby rock, pulling his sandwich out of his bag. The two of them set everything out before Tyrel opens up a few cans of pokemon food and sets them near the stream. He pulls his pokeballs off of his belt and throws them into the air, letting Charmander, Glaceon and Metagross out. Max gasps at the sight of his metagross.
"A metagross! No way!" Max runs up and examines the pokemon as it eats its lunch. "Metagross are the coolest!"
Tyrel laughed, "Yeah, I've had him since he was just an egg."
"I didn't know metagross had eggs…" Max was still looking over the giant pokemon.
"Neither did Professor Birch, that's why he gave me the egg."
"You know Professor Birch? And he gave you an egg!" Max looked at Tyrel with envy, "That's so cool! Why'd Professor Birch have a beldum egg though? And why'd he give it to you?"
"Well I also hatched my charmander from an egg. She was actually my first pokemon. I found her egg on Mossdeep island near my house. Being so young I didn't know what kind of egg it was, and to my surprise neither did Professor Birch." Tyrel took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Professor Birch didn't know what kind of egg it was? Why wouldn't he know something as simple as a charmander egg?" Max had forgotten completely about his lunch.
"Because they're extremely rare here in the Hoenn region. How often do you see a charmander around here? And how would an egg find its way all the way to Mossdeep Island?" Tyrel took another bite of his sandwich, noticing that Max wasn't eating. "After it hatched, Professor Birch told me that one of his assistants had found another egg in the ruins near Oldale and wanted to know if I'd look after it for him. It took quite some time, but it eventually hatched into a beldum."
"Woaahh…" Max continued to look on with envy. Tyrel simply pointed to Max's hands and he noticed his sandwich was falling apart. He quickly pulled what was left of it together and took a bite.
"After that I decided I wanted to figure out everything I could about pokemon breeding. Why was there a charmander egg on my island? Why was there an unhatched beldum egg in some ancient ruins?" Tyrel finished off his sandwich as his glaceon came up and sat next to him. "I started searching through Sinnoh for beldum in some of the more popular areas to find any answers I could. We tried a gym match once, but didn't have much luck."
Max chuckled, remembering his times with Ash and the gym battles he had. "Not everyone's cut out for battle, I guess."
"It would take time away from my research anyway," Tyrel replied defensively. "Anyway, almost as soon as we found another beldum, they joined and evolved into a metang. Not long afterward we encountered a wild metang that helped mine evolve into this metagross. We had a rough patch for a bit when he wouldn't listen to me, but we settled our differences and he's been a great pokemon ever since."
Charmander and Metagross had finished their meals and Metagross was wading through the water, dodging ember attacks from Charmander, a game they would play quite often.
"Then of course I got another egg while in Sinnoh that hatched into an eevee. It startled me by evolving into a glaceon while we were training near Snowpoint, a place known to have strange properties. The three of us having been roaming the world conducting our research ever since." Tyrel gave Glaceon's head a pat. Glaceon responded by burying her head into Tyrel's leg.
Max was thinking over everything Tyrel had said and suddenly got a perplexed look on his face. "If you've had Charmander for so long, how come your eevee and beldum evolved so much sooner?"
"These are the kinds of questions I want to be able to answer. I honestly can't tell you why because I don't know. Maybe Charmander doesn't want to evolve, maybe she can't evolve. Who knows?" Max was a little disappointed with this answer, but let it be and just finished his sandwich.
The boys sat and watched Metagross and Charmander play in the water. Eventually Glaceon joined them and all manners of splash fights and games of tag took place while the boys just watched and laughed. Little did they know they weren't the only ones watching the pokemon play. Not far away, a familiar pair of eyes peered through a set of binoculars with no-good intent.
"Looks like da kid's got a metagross, a glaceon, and a charmander. Da boss would pay big for any of those pokemon." Meowth lowered the binoculars as Jessie and James appeared behind him. "But we're not going to catch just any one of 'em, we're gonna catch every one." James and Jessie laughed quietly.
"It'll be a lot easier than trying to battle that twerp too," Jessie mentioned, "These kids will never see us coming!"
"I kinda miss the twerps though, even though they caused us so much trouble," James says sullenly, "We may have been blasted off more times than any of us can count, but those were our twerps. Sometimes I wish the boss hadn't re-assigned us…" None of them have recognized Max after a few years.
"Oh quit your whining," Jessie commanded, "The twerps all split up anyway and started being all lazy. We're lucky he didn't just fire us."
"Yeah, besides, once we get these pokemon back, the boss'll be so happy that he'll give us a huge promotion and we can pick wherever we want to go!" Meowth closed his eyes and began daydreaming about sitting on Giovanni's lap and pushing his persian out of the picture.
"What are we waiting for, let's go!" Jessie climbed out of the bush they were hiding in and James and Meowth followed.
At the stream, Tyrel and Max were putting their packs back on and getting ready to go. Suddenly a voice was heard coming from behind them.
"Hey! That's a great-looking glaceon you have there!" Tyrel and Max turned to see a spiky-haired boy with an umbreon.
"Thank you," Tyrel replied, "your umbreon looks great as well." The boy walked up and knelt down next to Glaceon, petting her.
"Did you evolve it from an eevee?" The boy asked.
"Yes, which I hatched from an egg" Tyrel answered matter-of-factly
"Mine too. They're great pokemon, aren't they?" The boy stood up and introduced himself. "My name's Gary Oak, and I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just passing by and couldn't help but notice your glaceon."
"Gary Oak…" Max thought for a second, "Hey wait! Isn't your grandpa Professor Oak?"
"That's right. He's the one who inspired me to become a Pokemon Professor myself. Do you know him?"
"Yeah! My friend Ash knows him really well! He's there with him right now, as well as my sister and a few other friends!"
Gary chuckled, "So you're Max, huh?"
Max paused for a second before answering. "Uh…yeah, how'd you know?"
"Ash told me about you. We've known each other since we were kids. He said he traveled through Hoenn with you and your sister. I'm actually on my way there now to meet up with him for his birthday. I was supposed to be there yesterday, but got a little caught-up. Funny I'd run into you here, huh?"
"Wow! That's just where we were going-" Max stopped to correct himself, "Well, that's where I was going, Tyrel's taking me to the ferry."
"Nice to meet you both," Gary said, "If you're heading to Kanto, I take it that means you're heading to Slateport right now?"
"That's right," Tyrel answered, "If you're going the same way, why not join us?"
"Sure." Gary and Tyrel shook hands and they set off. Max pulled the PokeNav out for a second to check their path while Tyrel recalled all of his pokemon.
Not far off, Team Rocket hid in the bushes, watching everything. Jessie was upset at Gary's arrival. "Grrr…It's the twerp's friend. There's no way we'll be able to get past him."
"Hold on a second, dey said dey was headin' back to Kanto to see the twerp, right?" Jessie and James nodded as Meowth talked, "So we follow 'em, stow away aboard the ship and when we gets to Kanto, we steal everyone's pokemon! Da boss'll have so many pokemon, he won't have any time to run tings anymore! He'll put us in charge while he takes time off just to count how many we brought 'im!" The three of them giggle for a second before returning to the binoculars to see where the boys are going.
Tyrel, Gary and Max have already taken off on their path, drawing ever closer to the boat that will take them to Slateport city. Team Rocket follows, sticking to the shadows and remaining out of sight. Max's thoughts have been temporarily distracted and he gets to enjoy some nostalgia as he travels with his new friends, maintaining the PokeNav and enjoying a nice, sunny day.
In Kanto a familiar scene is taking place. A certain boy and his ninetails are chasing a haunter through the streets and small shops of Pallet Town, attempting to retrieve the boy's backpack. The difference is the determination the boy sees in his haunter, who hasn't turned around to insult him once, which is unusual for the unruly pokemon. The streets and shops are all the same as the day before, and the boy might be able to guess where the pokemon was headed if he wasn't so focused on keeping up with him.
Across town at Professor Oak's lab, the group is getting packed for a trip to Johto for the day. Ash's mom has bought six tickets for the magnet train in Saffron, which will take them to the heart of Goldenrod City, the shopping and fun capital of Johto and Kanto. Ash arrived ready to go and Misty, May, Dawn and Brock have all gotten their things together for the day.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Dawn cried, "I've never been to Johto before, let alone Goldenrod City!"
"I only got to pass through it in my time in Johto, but it looked like a blast!" May said, gleaming with anticipation, "There's so much shopping to be done!" She and Dawn grabbed hands and jumped for joy.
"Not to mention all the beautiful girls!" Brock began daydreaming, "There will be so many beautiful women just waiting for a young and handsome man like myself to ride by and sweep them off of their feet! I won't be able to pick just one, but there's plenty of love in my heart to go around-GAH!" Ow ow ow!"
Misty instinctively pulls Brock out of the room by the ear, "There's plenty of air in your head to go around, too." May and Dawn laugh.
"Well I'm going to go straight to the trainer store!" Ash grinned with joy. "Maybe they've got some new and fancy pokeball for me to try out! Or maybe they've got videos of me in the Silver Conference! Or the Lily of the Valley Conference!"
"I bet you I can find one of those 'Pokemon Personality' books," Misty said, "It's so exciting to find out what kind of pokemon personality you have!" They all began dreaming of the exciting times they would have in Goldenrod City until Delia spoke up.
"Hey Tracey…is that what you're wearing today?" She noticed that he hadn't changed since breakfast.
"Wait, what? Oh no, I'm not going!" Tracey waved his hands back and forth defensively. "I've got way too many things to do here, there's no way I could take the day off."
"But I bought you your ticket!" Delia cried as she became frustrated. "Ohhh, now what are we supposed to do?"
Professor Oak emerged from another room in the lab. "I'm sorry Delia, but I really could use Tracey's help around here. We were planning on excavating the land around the pond and expanding the waters for the water pokemon."
"I understand Professor, but that means I bought an extra ticket for nothing…" Delia frowned.
"Don't worry, mom. Maybe we can exchange it at the train station!" Ash gave his mom a thumbs up in hopes of cheering her up.
"I wish. Read the ticket." Ash held his ticket in front of him and read aloud.
"Mmm…Saffron…Goldenrod…Oh, non-refundable. Dang. That stinks…" Ash frowned as well and the group remained silent for a moment.
Suddenly May screamed and the group turned to see what was wrong. Deja vu sets in as they see her lift off of the ground and wiggle in place. This time, however, she hovers toward the door.
"What the…eh, hey!" Ash yells and makes a run for May. He's too late as the door swings open and she floats outside. The group all follow after her, attempting to reach her before anything happens.
Outside May is floating along even faster now, only a few feet off of the ground. "Waaahh! Not agaaaiin!" Suddenly she feels herself falling toward the ground and braces for the impact. Instead she's surprised when she feels a pair of arms lock around her and pull her tight, stopping her fall. She looks up to see Mason again with Noone beside him, both breathing heavily.
"Sorry…about…that…" Mason sighs between gasps.
"Hey! What's going on!" Ash yells as he makes his way down the hill next to May. "Hey what's the big idea!"
Meanwhile May is still looking up at Mason, not quite aware of just how comfortable she is in that moment. For just a few seconds he looks down and their eyes meet as she notices the color in them. A sudden flashback of Drew and his antics causes her regain her thoughts and she steps away from Mason, her face beginning to turn a dark red.
"Oh don't worry, I'm fine! I'm just lucky you were there to catch me," She says to Mason. Mason continues to breathe heavily, though only as a cover. It seemed odd, but for a moment he had forgotten completely about everyone else around them as he stared at May.
"I don't think luck had anything to do with it," he says. Suddenly Poof appears in front of May, smiling as big as he can. She's startled for a second, but relaxes when he moves closer and hugs her. Soon he's glowing red as Mason recalls him into his pokeball, dropping the pack behind him once more. "I really am very, truly sorry about that. Apparently he really likes you and I guess he wanted to say goodbye before we left. I made the mistake of taking my eye off of my pack for a second and he was off, but he knew where he was going this time."
Just then Misty's azurill came racing past them and jumped into Mason's arms. He gave it another tug on the ear and it cried out in happiness, causing everyone to laugh.
"It's really no problem," May said, "He was just as gentle today as he was yesterday. And you'll have to give him a hug for me sometime." May smiled.
"Sure." Mason smiled back. He put Azurill down and he ran back and jumped into Misty's arms again. A pokeball opens from May's belt and Glaceon appears. She and Pikachu run up to Mason and jump on him, almost knocking him over. He scratches Glaceon ears a few times and ruffles the hair on Pikachu's head. The two of them cry out in joy at being able to see Mason once more. After a moment Mason puts Pikachu back on the ground and he runs back to Ash as Glaceon continues to rub her head against Mason's leg.
"You know, the pokemon all seem to really like you, and Poof obviously likes May," Brock said, causing May to blush again, "you wouldn't happen to be busy today and tomorrow, would you?" Everyone turned to Brock, confused as to what he was getting at.
"Aside from the normal schedule of just walking to wherever the trail leads, no. Why?"
"We happen to have an extra ticket for the magnet train," everyone's faces lit up as they realized what Brock had planned, "and it also happens to be non-refundable. If you haven't got anything planned, why not join us? It's going to be a blast!"
"Well, I dunno." Mason looked down toward where Noone would normally be, but was surprised to see that she was already sitting across from him, rubbing her head against May's leg. May reached down and scratched her behind the ear and Noone gave her a smile. Everyone laughed at the sight of the two trainers' exchanged pokemon. "I guess that settles it, then!"
After a few moments of celebrating everyone returned to the lab to make the final arrangements for the trip. Mason got changed into some more comfortable clothes and met everyone downstairs where Delia was going through a quick checklist to make sure everything was set.
"Come onnnn Mom! We're ready, I promise! Can we just go?" Ash asked, growing impatient.
"There! All set!" Delia put her checklist into her purse and opened the door, "Time to go! Everyone load up into the van!" The group all ran out of the lab, yelling their goodbyes to Tracey and Professor Oak as they went. They all piled into the van, ready and eager for the trip to Goldenrod. Brock sat up front with Delia as the navigator, Mason and Ash in the middle seats, Noone and Pikachu buckled up between them, and the girls sat together in the back. Delia started up the van and the group took off, headed for Saffron City.
Somewhere far off on a small island lies the rubble of a once-operational flying fortress. The remnants are those of the Flying Palace, owned and operated by Pokemon Collector Lawrence III, who was obsessed with capturing Lugia and the legendary trio of birds to add to his collection.
Having lain on such a small and desolate island, the remains of this giant machine have been undisturbed for years. There now stands a man amongst the scattered and broken pieces, holding a picture and digging through the rubble. For a moment, it seems as though he is ready to give up, until he spots an object in the distance. He makes a run for it, scattering torn and smashed garbage as he goes. He clears as much trash off of the object as he can and examines it. It's not operational, but in tact. He grins as he pulls out a PokeGear and makes a call.
"Sir, I've found it…Yes sir, of course…It won't run right now, but it's fully intact and…Understood. Immediately." The man puts the PokeGear away and pulls out a remote control, pressing one of the buttons. A submarine appears near the coast and a crew of men rush to the scene. "Pack it up. Be careful, it needs to remain intact."
The man walks off, at first chuckling, and then bursts into maniacal laughter.
A/N: And scene. I hate leaving it like this, but again, if I were to continue it'd be twice as long before we could stop again. Still, these things seem to be getting longer and longer. I can only hope that's a good thing!
Tyrel and Max have begun their trip to Kanto, along the way meeting up with none other than Gary Oak! The three of them continue on their trail, followed closely by Team Rocket, who are up to their normal schemes. Thanks to Poof, Mason's been reunited with Ash and friends, and at the perfect time! As Tracey was unable to go on the trip to Goldenrod, Mason agreed to fill in for the day. What kind of exciting adventures await in Goldenrod? And a surprise visit from his old friends leaves Team Magma ex-member Butler no chioce but to become part of something far more sinister than anything he's ever done. More fun and suspense in the next chapter!
P.S. Going to add a Char. Profile for Tyrel. Seeing as how things went with Mason's, I'll probably do it as another chapter, dunno yet.
Please review! Anything, good or bad, will brighten my day!