Route 1, Kanto

Disgusting, horrifying, terrifying and traumatising. Those were just some of the words Hugo could think of to describe his recent experience. He's still in shock. Two of his beloved pokémon that he'd worked so hard to raise have been killed. He's witnessed a truly horrific murder of a totally innocent pokémon. So many thoughts are going through his mind as he paces through the hills of route 1 as quickly as he can. 'It's my fault.' 'I'm a pathetic disgrace.' 'I'm too weak.'

"Troubled, I see."

A voice beckons Hugo.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance to you."

Hugo turns 180 degrees, and an elderly man seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He's wearing a white robe all the way from his shoulders to his feet. He has a short beard and short grey hair. He looks very very old. At least 100, if not older. Hugo recalls that he had encountered this interesting individual once before, on his Sinnoh journey. He had helped him...sort of.

"You desire to grow stronger, correct?"

Hugo pauses for a long moment. He wants to choose his words carefully, being straight to the point. After what he's just experienced, he's in no mood for chatting.

"I was too weak. I need to be much stronger." He answers, emotionless.

"Come." The man beckons him to follow. They walk slowly up a nearby hill, then down again. At the bottom there is water. A lot of water. They are at the ocean. This is very strange, as Hugo was certain that route 1 wasn't next to the ocean.

"Three weeks." The man states. "Three weeks is how long you will need."

They walk right up to the shore, and there are two wooden rowing boats. The one on the left looks only big enough for one person while the one on the right is much larger. It's much much wider than a standard rowing boat, with easily enough space for ten people to sit in a row. It does look very unusual. The very old man slowly climbs into the one on the right.

"Empty." He points to the one on the left. Somehow, Hugo knows what this means. He reaches into his pockets, throwing in the little spare change he possesses. He tosses all his empty pokéballs in, until he only has four left on his belt. One by one, he grabs all four, pressing the button in the middle causing it to grow, then throwing it into the larger boat. His loyal Pokémon companions appear. Kabutops, Rotom, Tyranitar and Shinx. Tyranitar is surely way too heavy for this boat, but somehow it remains afloat even when all four pokémon are in. He then chucks all four balls in the small boat, so his only remaining possessions with him are his clothes.

"We're going somewhere." Hugo explains. All four of them nod. They can understand what he means, even with few words.

Hugo takes his seat in the boat. The old man begins using very long oars to row. He rows for several minutes. Rotom looks eager to lighten the mood and play around, but can't seem to find anything to play with given the lack of things around them.

Eventually, they arrive on a desert island. It's around 500 square metres in size. There are trees all over, with a small cave located in the centre. A short distance outside of the cave is a small pond of water.

Hugo and his pokémon get off the boat and begin looking around the island.

"Three weeks. Good luck." The old man calls. When Hugo turns around to look at him, he's gone. The boat too.

Hugo slowly wanders over toward the pond in the centre of the island. He stares at his reflection for a few seconds. He feels it's a reflection of a weak man. He's desperate to change that.

"Come on guys, it's time for some training."

Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh

"Happy birthday darling!"

"Huh? What's happening Mum?"

"Come on lazy! It's already 11AM. You don't want to sleep through your big day do you?"

"Ugh!"

"Come on Dawn! You're 19 now! You're an adult, so start acting like one and get up! There are family members coming to visit at noon."

Dawn sits up in bed, still dozy with sleep in her eyes. She isn't looking forward to being visited by her boring uncles and aunties and her weird cousins. On her bedside desk, a picture frame catches her eye. The picture is of her, exactly one year ago. She was celebrating her 18th birthday with her travelling companions Ash, Hugo and Brock. They hadn't done anything special to celebrate it. The boys had asked her what she wanted to do on her big day, and of course she'd said go shopping. She loved shopping. It was simple and low key. This was partly because she didn't like everyone making a huge fuss of her, partly because they all felt that they were being unfair on Hugo by holding big birthday celebrations, since they didn't know his birthday and he didn't really have family to celebrate with either.

She smiles, but feels sad inside. It hasn't been long since she parted ways with the boys. Just under three weeks, to be precise. She really misses them though.

Dawn gets up, not bothering to change out of her blue night gown. She wanders downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Happy birthday sweetie." Joanna, her mum, says softly as she hands her a wrapped up present at the bottom of the stairs.

"Gee. Thanks." Dawn replies sleepily and unenthusiastically.

She unwraps her present which turns out to be some new clothes. Joanna knew that Dawn would love these clothes, but her daughter shows no reaction whatsoever.

"...Honey, I know why you're feeling down."

Dawn looks up at her with a blank expression.

"You miss your friends, don't you?"

There's a pause for a moment, until tears begin to well up in Dawn's eyes.

"Oh Mum! I tried to settle in back at home but it's just not the same! I really want to go back to travelling again! I'm sorry!"

Mother and daughter embrace in a gentle hug.

"I understand. After all your adventures, a regular job no longer seems an option for you. I considered this when I bought you this present."

Joanna hands a much smaller gift to Dawn. Curious, she quickly unwraps the present.

The young bluenette's eyes light up when she sees her gift. "A Plane ticket... To Kanto?!"

"Yes dear. I know you turned down the chance to go with Ash and his friends so you could accept that modelling offer, but it just isn't for you. I truly believe you can get back on the road to becoming a top coordinator if you set your mind to it."

"Thank you so much Mum!" Dawn squeals excitedly, embracing her in another hug. But this time, it's out of happiness rather than longing for comfort.

"That's my girl." A content smile forms on Joanna's face.

Pewter City, Kanto

"That's right. Two more days then I leave to begin my education, aiming to become a pokémon doctor." Brock seems to be speaking to a friend or relative on the phone in his bedroom. He's wearing his usual attire of late, a collared black shirt with orange stripes down each side, black trousers and black trainers. His brown hair is fairly short and spiky. He's fairly tall, but at just over six foot, he looks like an ant compared with Hugo.

"BREAKING NEWS!" The TV suddenly blurts out.

"Cinnabar Island's gym was today hit by an attacker with a mysterious weapon. The gym leader, Blaine, has allegedly been killed amid the chaos. Several witnesses reported a sort of stick being used to 'absorb' pokémon into it, and a gun being involved in the situation. In the event of the attack, several casualties were-" The news report is cut off. A middle aged man who looks very threatening appears on the screen. It's the same man who had attacked Hugo.

"Gym leaders of Kanto." He speaks in a very serious tone, addressing the camera directly.

"You must close all gyms down immediately. You have been warned."

"Woah! What was all that about? Sorry Bob I'll call you back." Brock puts down his phone and sits quietly in his room, contemplating what he just saw.

A short time later, another report comes on the TV.

"This just in, the Indigo League officials have officially announced that all Kanto gyms will be closed with immediate effect until an issue has been resolved. Repeat, all Kanto gyms will be closed with immediate effect until an issue has been resolved."

"I cannot believe this. What the hell is going on?" Brock paces up and down his bedroom.

Viridian City airport

A plane coming from Sinnoh lands on the airport runway before gradually coming to rest. Among the passengers to get off is Dawn. Now, Dawn is probably not the same Dawn you know. Maybe she used to be, but she has changed. At 19 years of age, she dresses differently now. She wears a brown vest and her favourite mini skirt. She now simply allows her hair to flow freely, not restrained by clips, bobbles or hats. She's around 5 foot 5, and her appearance now definitely attracts the attention of males, which Dawn is starting to become more aware of. Walking down the steps from the plane she looks around, curious as to what sort of views she can expect to see in Kanto.

A short time later, she departs the airport, bringing only a few clothes and of course her pokémon's pokéballs as luggage.

"Now… where the hell are those guys?"

Pewter City

"Be careful Brock. Kanto isn't the same as when you were growing up." A woman stands at the door of Brock's house as he wears a backpack, ready to depart.

"I understand your worries Mum, but I'll be fine. I need to speak with an old friend to discuss the recent news. I still can't believe we spent all that time travelling together and I never got her number." Brock explains quickly, eager to get moving.

His Mother smiles. "Okay, remember to call me daily!"

"Mum! I'm twenty-five years old! I don't need to call you every day!" With that, Brock takes off. Through Mount Moon and onwards to Cerulean City is the plan.

Viridian City

"Did you hear the news?" A skinny man asks to his friends. One is female, the other a chubby male. As he asks this, Dawn is walking by attempting with limited success to read the map of the city she'd picked up at the airport. Interested in what news he's referring to, she halts her walk. Still staring at the map in her hands, she begins to eavesdrop.

"I did. I just can't believe it!" The chubby man says with his head in his hands. His voice is ridiculously deep.

"It's every pokémon trainer's worst nightmare!" The skinny man agrees. "I just can't understand what sort of evil prick would do such a thing!"

"It's been confirmed now, too." The woman pipes in. "He's dead. Gym leader Blaine is dead. They found his battered body under the rubble of the wall that collapsed in the Gym." Upon hearing this, Dawn's eyes widen.

"So now the next Indigo League's been cancelled. I heard they're cancelling all of this season's contests too!" The woman continues to explain. Upon hearing this, Dawn gives out a loud gasp.

"Excuse me." She taps the chubby man on the shoulder, getting all three of the stranger's attention. "What exactly is going on?!"

Cerulean City

"Ha! I told you Croagunk. It may have been a while but I still know Mount Moon like the back of my hand." Brock is busy boasting to his Pokémon as the pair of them enter Cerulean City.

"Now, let's hope Misty hasn't moved recently or we're pretty much screwed and we'll never find her."

"Me? Move?! Yeah right! This is the best city in Kanto!"

Brock turns around to see a woman familiar to his peculiar eyes. Misty looks very similar to how she looked when he last saw her, despite that being several years ago. The ginger woman ties her hair in a ponytail. She now wears white shorts, but for some reason, a yellow hoodie; This seems a bit much for the warm Kanto weather. Brock, being used to the cold climate of Sinnoh by this point, has been saying that it feels like he's in Alola, it's so much warmer.

"Ah, I get it. You're wearing that to hide your small tits."

Misty promptly gives Brock a hard slap in the face. "You haven't seen me in years and the first thing you do is insult my tits?! What a crappy friend you are!"

"Says you! How many times have you been texting and phoning Ash these past few years?! I couldn't even get your number!"

"I hardly ever messaged him. What are you.."

"Yeah, sure. You're all like 'Ooh, Ash. Send me a sexy picture of yourself training I can masturbate to.' then you expect me to believe you're just 'friends'?!"

"What a load of bollocks! As if I said that! You know we're not all totally obsessed with sex like you, Brock."

"Huh. It's nice to see you again Misty." Brock says in the most sarcastic tone he can.

"Sure, whatever." Misty grunts. Brock then gives her a cheeky grin. "Don't you dare say what I think you're-" She begins to grumble with gritted teeth.

"You're just wishing I was Ash, aren't you?" Brock grins from ear to ear as he says this, he turns around and runs as fast as he can.

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU YA STUPID PRICK!" She bolts after him with both her fists clenched.

Viridian City

"I'm terribly sorry. I certainly haven't seen anyone matching your description." Nurse Joy shakes her head with a frown.

"I've asked all the Joys who do shifts here now, haven't I?" Dawn asks, crossing her arms and tapping her foot with impatience.

"I believe so. Your friend clearly hasn't been here. I think we'd remember seeing someone tall enough to bang their head on our doors. They are quite high." The Nurse glances over to the automatic double door at the entrance.

"Ugh… that buffoon has gone and gotten himself killed hasn't he?! I knew it! Seriously, he can't even make it through ONE route without me there to mother him?! What sort of idiots do I hang around with?"

"Normally, I'd recommend contacting the police about a missing person, but they've got their hands tied at the minute with what's been going on lately..." Joy explains.

"If I go over to Route One and find out he's given up because he got too hungry, I'll be cross." A frustrated Dawn stomps out of the pokémon centre, intent on locating Hugo's corpse.

Cerulean City

Brock and Misty are now sat on a bench near Cerulean cape. It's quiet, so they are able to discuss what they need to without anyone eavesdropping. "So what are you planning to do about the gyms being closed?" Brock asks.

Misty rolls her eyes. "What do you think? Sit here twiddling my thumbs? I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, obviously."

"Huh? How's that gonna work?" Brock stares at the cave, pondering the possibilities.

"You're gonna come with me to Cinnabar!" She remarks in a demanding tone.

"Oh, am I now? I don't recall agreeing to this arrangement." Brock feigns surprise. In reality, he was expecting this from Misty.

"Put it like this. You're coming with me or I'll shove my fist up your arse!"

Brock doesn't move an inch, simply sitting there with a big grin.

Misty puts her face in her hands and groans. "Bad choice of wording. You'd probably enjoy that."

"Ahem."

"Ok, you'd definitely enjoy that."

Brock grins. Neither of them have changed one bit.

"You make me sick." She spits at him.

"Thank you."

"COME ON JUST SHAG ALREADY!" A male voice bellows from behind.

Brock and Misty turn around to see some creepy man with a camera who was hiding behind a tree. He legs it as fast as he can away from the scene.

"You know, if you'd just given me your number, I wouldn't have had to travel all this way just to turn around and go back. You could've just told me the plan and came over to me!"

"I know. But your suffering is my happiness." Misty grins. She won't admit it, but she's missed Brock.

Unknown location

Hugo and his four pokémon have been on a desert island, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, for three weeks now.

"Come on, faster!" Hugo and Shinx are sprinting around the circumference of the circular island as fast as they can. They reach a large banana tree and stop. Hugo then gets down to the sand and begins doing push-ups. There's a grimace on his face as he struggles more and more with each repetition. Eventually, he makes it to forty and stops. He then grabs onto a sturdy branch on another tree and begins performing pull-ups. As he's doing this, Shinx is repeatedly climbing up and jumping off a small rocky cliff nearby. It's not big, but still very impressive for a pokémon with no hands. Kabutops is surfing around the edge of the island. It's particularly difficult as it has to create its own waves in the calm water. Tyranitar is possibly the most impressive. Despite its huge size and weight, it's following Hugo's training; running around the island, doing push-ups, even squats are included. Lastly, there's Rotom. The ghost type is probably the least hard-working, but even so, its speed and attack power have definitely increased in the last three weeks. There are now many holes in the ground as a result of Rotom practising its attacks.

The group are able to train so much due to one thing; there's a small pond in the middle of the island. It's not much bigger than a standard table, but the water within seems to do something very strange. Every time Hugo or his pokémon take a drink, they seem to regain their energy really fast. Some kind of special water, maybe? Who knows?

Hugo and Shinx are racing another lap of the island. With the advantage of much longer legs, Hugo strides into the lead. They both put in a final burst of effort as they approach the banana tree they use as the finish line. So much so that Hugo stumbles over the line, landing with his chest on the soft sand below. As he lies on the sand catching his breath, he notices something: Two boats are floating on the calm water, around a hundred feet from the shore. They are the same boats that they'd arrived in.

Hugo stands up straight, not bothering to get any of the sand off of his clothes. He jogs over to the water and dives in, beginning the swim towards the boats. Upon reaching them, he climbs into the smaller boat. Inside are all of his things; his pokéballs, his money and there's even a fresh change of clothes (the exact same clothes he's currently wearing.) He'd not thought about it, but his clothes probably stink. He glances back over to the shore where Kabutops, Shinx and Tyranitar are standing, watching him. Rotom is floating next to them.

"Come on guys. It's time to go."

Mount Moon

"WOW! She's F-I-T!" Brock wolf whistles at a woman in the distance.

"Stop it! Can't we just walk in peace?!" Misty complains in her usual angry tone.

"Look, this is my hunting ground. All the fit birds come to Mount Moon. They all wanna see Clef-"

"OH CRAP!" Misty suddenly freezes in her track.

"Oh, don't tell me..." Brock groans, hoping she doesn't ask what he expects she will.

"You've got spare repels, right?" Misty asks, more out of hope than expectation.

"I just used my last one! I told you I was running low and you said you'd pick some up from the shop."

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did! Don't even try to pretend-" At that moment, Brock's last repel runs out.

"RUUUUUUN!" Brock and Misty scream. They begin sprinting through Mount Moon as quickly as possible. Hundreds of Zubat come swarming in, screeching and making a huge amount of noise.

Route 1

"Ugh! Why is Kanto so bad for phone signal?! I can't even call the missing person helpline!" Dawn is getting frustrated as she paces around route 1, trying to search for her lost companion. "That's it! I give up! He's gotten himself killed!"

"Since when did you talk to yourself so much?" A familiar voice asks Dawn from behind.

Dawn turns around, filled with rage. She steps towards them and with as much force as she can she swings her leg up and kicks them in the balls. As she tilts her neck up to look at him, she sees that Hugo appears to be in really good shape. She wouldn't ever admit it to him, but having him with her makes her feel much safer, as he's the type of guy who people looking for a fight wouldn't dare to go near. However, all she feels at the moment is anger towards him.

"Ooooooh..." Hugo collapses to his knees, both hands on his crotch as his eyes are watering.

"What the hell?! How dare you go missing like that?! Didn't you ever consider people might worry about you?!" Dawn stomps her feet, taking out her frustration on Hugo.

"Look, it's a long story..." Hugo manages to say, still on his knees holding his crotch.

"Well tell me it." Dawn sits down, folding her arms.

"Uh, well, ya see, there was a crazy man with a big stick who attacked us, then there was an old dude who took us away on some boats, then we trained on this island with magic water, then I rowed back here, and my Pokémon are dead now, and… oooooh. It's not been good, Dawn."

Dawn stares at Hugo as they both sit on the short swaying grass atop a hill on route 1. He looks a lot better physically. He's way more muscular than the last time she saw him, which was less than a month ago.

"Have you been on drugs?" She asks in a sad tone, expecting that to be the case.

"No." Hugo stands up. "I didn't think there was any water on Route one, but there it is..." He turns and points behind him, expecting to see the boat he'd gotten out of a few minutes ago floating in the water. Instead, he sees a flat grassy area. There appears to be nothing special about this area.

"Hugo, are you feeling okay?" Dawn stands up, placing a hand on his shoulder, which she can barely reach.

"Look, there's certain people, like me and Ash. Weird things just happen to us, y'know?"

"Bad things are happening Hugo."

"You mean like pokémon being murdered by strange men? I found that out the hard way."

"What do you mean?" Dawn's eyes widen.

"Drifblim and Hippowdon. They were both killed by some psycho with a stick."

"Impossible!" Dawn exclaims with a high level of surprise in her voice.

"What are you doing here, Dawn? You're supposed to be in Sinnoh. You were going to become a model."

"I changed my mind. Look! That's not important. Something bad has happened-"

"Dawn. It was your dream. You just gave up that easily?"

"I SAID IT'S NOT IMPORTANT!" Dawn screams much louder than she means to. The effort of shouting so loud leaves her having to catch her breath.

"Come on!" She grabs his arm, pulling him along with her. "You're coming with me to Viridian."

"Dawn… what's going on?" Hugo asks as he's pulled along at a pace.

"I changed my mind. I wanted to enter contests, but now they're cancelled."

"Well that makes your decision easier, right? You can go back to being a model?"

"SHUT UP ABOUT THAT MODELLING CRAP!"

Hugo can see that his friend is not in a good mood. Neither is he after the loss of his two pokémon. He won't let his face show that though. He's determined to get to the bottom of why that man did what he did and put it all behind him.

The pair walk in silence for a few minutes until they arrive at the gates of Viridian city. Dawn releases her tight grip on Hugo's arm and sits on a nearby bench. Putting her head on her knees and hands on her head, Hugo can hear soft sobbing noises coming from her.

"Hey, uh… look. I'm not good at this stuff but… you can just tell me what's wrong, y'know?"

"What's the point?" Dawn asks, not bothering to move her head and look up. "You wouldn't understand. You're a boy. All boys are the same."

Hugo sits on the bench beside her. "I get it." He says quietly.

"You missed the adventuring, right?"

Dawn finally lifts up her head, revealing her eyes are now bloodshot from tears.

"I couldn't do it, okay? I tried to pursue my dream, but after our journey, my hopes and dreams are even bigger than what they used to be. I'm a spoiled brat."

"Not true. And there's no need to worry. I get it. So, why are the contests cancelled?"

Dawn gives Hugo a seriously serious stare. He's not used to such serious levels of seriousness. It's so serious, it makes him feel seriously uncomfortable. "You haven't heard, have you? Blaine, the fire-type gym leader, was killed!"

Hugo flinches. "By what? Or Who?"

Dawn speaks quietly and sounds a little depressed. "Some man with a strange weapon is what I heard."

Hugo frowns. "So I'm guessing all the gyms are closed now too."

Dawn gives Hugo a sarcastic thumbs up "You got it, genius. They may re-open them again if they manage to find a successor for Blaine, but I'm not sure many people would fancy the job for fear of being the next victim."

Dawn stares at Hugo for a moment. "So… what actually happened to you?"

Hugo stares at the ground, not making eye contact. "Let's just say… a strange man killed two of my pokémon...and his own Pikachu."

Dawn's eyes widen with surprise. "WHAT?!"

Hugo looks towards the ground and shakes his head sadly. "This sucks. We've gotta do something."

At that moment, among the various passers-by is a fairly tall, middle aged man. He has short brown hair, cut in a style so that it's flat at the top. He's wearing a black suit and red tie with black work trousers as well as some expensive looking black shoes. His walk looks more like a march, until he notices Hugo and Dawn. He stops and turns towards them.

"I must compliment you young man. You obviously work hard to have gained such a physique." The man speaks clearly yet his words somehow seem powerful. Hugo takes this as a fancy way of saying 'you look strong.' "Thank you." He replies, curious as to why this man is bothering him.

"I must say, I have been looking for a person such as yourself who may be able to assist me with an important job. I'll give you this, and I'd like you to consider my offer." The man hands Hugo what appears to be a business card of some sort.

"Unfortunately, if you do agree to this, for confidential reasons your missus will not be allowed to come with you." He gestures towards Dawn. "Nevertheless, I hope you will agree to this arrangement and I shall see you shortly." The man gets back to his 'march' through town, leaving Hugo and Dawn curious as to who he was.

Dawn peers over Hugo's shoulder as they both read the card in his hand.

On the card is some plain black text:

'To those interested: Please consider coming to the adress: 04 Firered Road, Viridian city at 11PM on Thursday. Come alone. -G'

"Weird." Hugo comments. "Do you think I should trust him? That's in only a few hours time."

"No." Dawn says very quickly, before realising she's talking to Hugo. "Which is exactly why you will, isn't it?"

Hugo grins. "You know me too well."

Dawn frowns. "Okay, but you better be careful… wait a minute! The nerve of that man! He called me your-"

Firered Road, Viridian City

"Of all the stupid things to do! You leave your pokémon at the pokémon centre now of all times? You seriously lack the patience to wait FIVE MINUTES for them to be healed?!" Dawn is once again frustrated by Hugo's actions as they approach the building they're looking for. It's a detatched brick house with a long driveway. A total of four cars are parked outside, but it's too dark to see what kind. Cars are incredibly expensive in the pokémon world. He must be one very wealthy dude. The house itself, however, appears no different in design to all the other houses on the street.

"Oh come on. What's the worst that could happen?" Hugo puts his hands on the back of his head, spreading his elbows out.

"You get killed!" Dawn answers his stupid question.

"Hey, I'll be fine. Look. It's just a regular building. He's just some normal dude. Probably wants me to lift some heavy boxes around for him.

"He specified no companions, was very secretive about it AND wanted to meet at night. You think it's all to lift boxes?!" Dawn questions yet another stupid remark.

"No need to worry. I'll be fine. You wanna wait around while I go in?"

"That's my line! And this is stupid! You want a little girl like me to wait around in middle of the street late at night, defenseless?!" Dawn can't believe how someone can be so ridiculous.

"You're, like, nineteen now. You'll be fine." With that Hugo begins walking up the driveway.

"Yeah, and not once have you asked me if I had a good birthday!" Dawn yells from behind. "Ugh! Boys!"

"Yeah I know. I prefer girls too!" A familiar voice calls from down the road. Dawn turns around to see Brock walking towards her, looking very happy to see her. He's with some ginger woman Dawn doesn't recognise.

"I got your text." He explains. "Because unlike SOMEBODY you actually gave me your number." He looks directly at the ginger woman when he says 'somebody.' "Wish Hugo could have a phone. Would make things easier."

"Buy him one then?" The ginger girl asks.

Brock and Dawn stare at each other. "You haven't met Hugo, have you Misty?" Brock asks. "We've bought him one twice. Both times he lost it the next day."

Dawn chuckles. "Let's not exaggerate now Brock. The first time it actually lasted 2 days."

"Ugh! So basically, he's another Ash?" Misty groans.

"That's right! You haven't met Dawn, have you?" Brock asks Misty.

Misty shakes her head. "I haven't, but I've heard good things." She shakes hands with Dawn and smiles, which surprises Brock. He never once got her to smile since he'd met up with her the other day and Dawn managed it within a minute of meeting her.

"So you decided to pursue more contests after all, huh?" Brock asks, having been informed via text what Dawn was up to the past few weeks.

"That's right. A last minute decision I know." Dawn pretends to laugh. "And now they're cancelled..." "For the time being." Misty chimes in. "Once we find out what's going on and sort it out, things can get back to normal again."

"Hey..." Brock interrupts. "I thought for sure you'd try to meet up with Hugo. Were you not able to find him yet?" He asks, curious as to the whereabouts of his close friend.

Dawn shakes her head. "The idiot was hard to track down, but I found him in the end. At the moment, he's in there meeting up with some man about something..." She points over to the building. She then realises that Brock and Misty had distracted her while Hugo was entering the building. She never saw who answered after he knocked on the front door.

"Hmm… sounds suspicious, but very much like Hugo. He's way too trusting." Brock scratches his chin, pondering what to do about the matter.

"Tell me about it!" Dawn agrees. "He even left his pokémon at the centre!"

Misty face-palms. "By the sounds of it, he's Ash 2.0! No doubt the fool's been killed in there by now."

Brock looks concerned. "What exactly is he doing in there?"

Dawn explains their brief encounter with the man earlier that day.

"Can you tell us more about this man?" Brock asks, so Dawn does her best to describe the appearance of the man in detail.

"Uh-oh." Brock says when Dawn is done with her description. He and Misty slowly turn their heads to face each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Misty asks. "Of course! Very few would recognise him, but we know who he is from our adventures with Ash." Brock agrees.

"Giovanni!" They exclaim together.