Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.

Legend:

"A human or a Pokémon is talking."

'A human or a Pokémon is thinking.'

"A machine is being used."

Chapter 24:

(Pallet Town—Professor Oak's Laboratory)

Professor Oak was currently looking around in his personal library for something that his colleague, Professor Birch, had asked him about. He knew that he had it somewhere in here, but he was having a little bit of trouble remembering where he had placed it. Maybe he should invest in getting some sort of organizational system.

"What was it called again...?" Professor Oak asked himself, pausing in his search. "Was it "Legends"...? No..." He shook his head, dismissing the thought. "It wasn't that, but it did have a form of legend in the title... "Legendary Heroes"? No. "The Legend of Kanto"? No. Why would Birch want a book on Kanto, anyway...?"

It was really bothering him. Professor Birch had asked about the book he was looking for because he hadn't the time to go out and get it himself. Birch had said that he needed it because he had a lead that could explain Ash's Pokémon Egg. Birch needed that book to see if his theory wasn't a rumor that had been spread about or if it was really true. After all, it was very doubtful that a Legendary Pokémon would—

"That's it!" Professor Oak exclaimed as he spotted the book he needed, just as he remembered its name. Picking it off the shelf, he then looked at the book. "Gotcha, little fella."

And wouldn't Birch be happy when he transported this over to him! Not only would he be helping Birch solve the mystery of Ash's strange Pokémon Egg, he would be taking something off of his colleague's to-do list. Professor Oak felt responsible. He hadn't made Birch get involved. Then again, he had accidentally forwarded his email to Professor Elm about Ash's egg to Professor Birch...

Professor Oak's eyebrow scrunched up in thought. "... I'll send him an offer to help with some of the projects he's got going on." He said before nodding to himself . It sounded like a good way to help his too-busy colleague. He laughed, "After all, two brains are better than one!"

XXXXXX

(Two Weeks Later—Saffron City—Pokémon Gym)

At the moment, Ash Ketchum could be found battling with his Paras against a brown-haired Psychic, Terry Whittle, and his Drowzee. He had quickly discovered that Terry was no small threat, after the first time he had lost to the older boy, because of a combination that everyone else in this Gym seemed to have. Well, every Psychic, considering that the strategy only worked with a Psychic.

"Use Spore!" Ash ordered quickly. Since he had started battling Psychics at this Gym, he had found it frustrating that they could read his mind and counter every move he made before he even said it aloud. To counter this, he had started to order commands as soon as he thought of them.

In response, Paras began to click his claws together before spores began to form in the air between them. The crab-like Pokémon then sent the spores forth with a final click and push of his claws. In the middle of the battlefield these spores clashed with Drowzee's Poison Gas. The spores were able to absorb a large amount of the gas despite their small size, but ultimately failed to hold back the attack, which then snuck closer to Paras.

'I hate it when they don't talk...' Ash thought to himself. In battle Psychics ever, if rarely, spoke to the other Trainer or to verbalize their commands. It made it both creepy, as the Psychic stared very intently at the person they were fighting, and frustrating because they didn't give a hint as to what their plan was. "Poisonpowder, Paras!"

It was a snap decision, like his other orders have been, but why not fight fire with fire?

The mushrooms on Paras' back quivered as light purple powder fell off of them and formed into a small, growing cloud over Paras' back. With a "Ra", this cloud was sent forward to clash against Drowzee's Poison Gas. The two attacks clashed only seven feet away from Paras where they came to a stop. Neither attack was able to pass through the other, leaving a stalemate. And then it happened.

A smell of something cooking and the sound of something sizzling came before the poisonous mixture of gas and powder ignited. There was a great kaboom that temporarily made Ash's ears ring as he was blinded by a bright white light, shielding his face with his left arm. The room seemed to shake for a moment and Ash stumbled before he slipped and fell onto his knees. He tried to make sense of what had just happened but could not.

When everything stopped spinning and he could see again, Ash looked up. He saw Paras on the ground, looking as if he had taken a Flamethrower, lying on the ground, unconscious. A little bit away was a scorch mark on the floor and, beyond that, Terry and his Drowzee.

"I didn't think that would've caused that big of an explosion, so I apologize." Terry said with a small half-bow.

Ash's eyes widened, "You caused that explosion?! How?"

Drowzee were known mainly for their Psychic-Type moves, of which they had a natural talent for Hypnosis. The species could also learn Normal-Type and some Poison-Type moves, but that was it. Drowzees didn't have the ability to learn any other type of move. Especially not any kind of Fire-Type moves.

"I heard you planning to take advantage of the poison smokescreen to have your Paras use a combination of Stun Spore and Fury Cutter. If that had happened, then that Stun Spore could have pushed the Poisonpowder/Poison Gas cloud towards Drowzee and made him unable to dodge." Terry explained with his usual blank expression.

"You caused an explosion because you didn't want to lose?" Ash demanded incredulously. Any other person in his place would feel the same, too, if they had almost been caught in an explosion. A thought occurred to him, "You still didn't answer my question. How did you do it?"

Terry placed a hand on his Drowzee's head, "Simple. I knew that I would come across a situation where Drowzee would need an advantage. I sought out Sabrina's guidance and she suggested that I buy a TM so Drowzee could learn a move to provide him that advantage."

So that was how Drowzee had done it: a Technical Machine. Technical Machines, TM for short, had been designed to teach a Pokémon a move that it couldn't learn naturally. Of course, it could still be used on a Pokémon that could learn the move later which would be a huge waste, considering how expensive TMs were. According to his dad, and what he had seen of them in stores, just one TM costed around ¥10,000.

Still, some Trainers would be willing to do anything, pay anything, to get a TM. TMs would provide the Trainer a new ability that they could teach their Pokémon. By doing that, they could have a hidden advantage that, when pulled out, could turn the tide of battle into their favor. It didn't mean that they would necessarily win. It just meant that they would have a higher chance of winning.

Ash sighed as he recalled Paras back to his Poké Ball, "I guess I can understand..." His eyes narrowed in Terry's directions, "but that doesn't mean that I like it! You could've blown up the whole room with that move, Terry!"

"I agree."

Both Trainers turned around to see that their conversation had drawn the attention of every other Psychic in the room. Really, Ash knew they were probably staring because of the explosion, but that didn't help the creepiness factor that it caused. He shuddered.

The new speaker was a woman with long, strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white blouse, a knee-length black skirt, and a pair of black slippers. Really, if Ash hadn't seen the woman levitate her Poké Balls around her hand, or read his mind in a battle they had had, he would've assumed that she was a regular Trainer.

"That stunt you pulled could have done more than leave a scorch mark on the floor, Terry. It could have killed Ash's Paras, your Drowzee, or grown big enough to kill both you and Ash." The woman—Samantha Roberts—said in a clipped tone. "You also forget that we are inside Ms. Sabrina's Gym; like Ash said, that explosion could have "blown up the room" and destroyed this Gym."

Terry winced slightly, "I apologize for my mistake, Mrs. Roberts."

"As you should." Mrs. Roberts said before glancing around at the other people crowding around, "Now, as for you lot... Ms. Sabrina is running a Gym; it's not a gawking club. So either get back to training or get out."

The next several seconds were filled by the frantic efforts as the crowd hastened to obey Mrs. Roberts. Ash had been interested to find out that Mrs. Roberts was one of Sabrina's assistants that helped her run Saffron's Pokémon Gym. Heck, he hadn't even known that Gym Leaders needed help running their Gyms before. But, it was true. Mrs. Roberts did a lot of paperwork, maintained order and helped the Psychics training at the Gym when Sabrina couldn't, and a hundred other things.

So, after seeing what Mrs. Roberts had to do, Ash couldn't imagine the Saffron Pokémon Gym running without her. She was just that important to the Gym and all of the people who came by—challenger of the Gym, customers for their Teleport Transport service, or just regular Trainers coming to train—that one couldn't imagine it without her.

"And Ash...?" Mrs. Roberts said, turning towards him once the stampede had ended. "Ms. Sabrina's session with Anabel is over for today."

Ash smiled, "Thanks, Mrs. Roberts!"

While he and his parents had been allowed to attend Anabel's first session, they had been banned from the rest. Admittedly, Ash had felt a little hurt about this, thinking that Anabel didn't want them—him—around anymore. That had been before his parents had set him down and explained what Sabrina had told them. This process would be very trying for Anabel and their presences could only make it worse. Eventually, they would be brought in one-by-one as Anabel learned to master her powers, getting her used to feeling a greater number of people's emotions.

It was mainly because he had been kicked out, though, that Ash had started training at the Gym. He couldn't exit the building, without Anabel with him, without causing the very consequences that everyone was worrying about. So, he had paid the fee to train at the Gym. The rest, as they say, was history.

While he had been losing almost all of his matches here, Ash wouldn't say that it was a bust. He had managed to raise his team by several levels, learn a couple of moves, or practice using a move differently.

Eevee was now at level 25, Pidgetto was at level 20, Rattata was at level 21, Beedrill was at level 20, Clefairy was at level 17, and Paras was at level 19. Eevee had learned how to use Covet and Take Down, Rattata had learned to use Sucker Punch, Beedrill had learned how to use Rage, and Clefairy had learned to use Follow Me and Bestow. And he had gotten some help from his dad in training Clefairy how to to use Sing differently.

That had certainly paid off last week when Clefairy had managed to counter Drowzee's Hypnosis. Admittedly, it hadn't been enough for him to defeat Terry, but it had allowed Clefairy to get in a few good moves before Drowzee had finished her off.

Ascending the the second floor via the staircase Sabrina had taken them up on their first day, Ash then saw Anabel leaving "her" training room. When she saw him, a smile tired smile appeared on her face before she began to walk over.

Usually, Anabel was very exhausted after her training sessions and wanted to be alone. On those days, Ash did his best to make sure his friend was okay, even if that meant just sitting around and reading a book while she crashed. On the better days, Anabel would take them out to do something or just hang out in their room at the Pokémon Center.

"Hey." Anabel said as she came to a stop a couple of feet away from him. "Get some good training in today, Ash?"

Ash smiled. It seemed that today was a "good day", if Anabel was willing to talk with him. "Yeah, I did. Against Terry." He said as they began to walk back towards the staircase, "I didn't win, but that has happened a lot since I began training here."

"To be fair, you are going up against Psychics." Anabel said.

That was just like Anabel. Knowing that he was feeling down about something and then saying something, or pointing out something, that would make him feel better. Hearing it now made him smile and a warm feeling to expand in his stomach. Anabel was coming back.

"Yeah, but they're really good. And Terry, well... he caused an explosion in our match." Ash replied.

Anabel's eyes widened, "So it was you guys that caused that shake I and Ms. Sabrina felt?" She stepped closer to him, noticing his ruffled clothing with a new concern. "Are you okay, Ash? You could have gotten hurt!"

"I'm okay. I promise." Ash tried to reassure her, but Anabel wasn't having any of it. She stared at him until he broke down and started to explain. "It happened after I had Paras block Terry's Drowzee's Poison Gas with Poisonpowder. He was reading my mind, saw the plan I was forming, and believed that I could actually pull it off. So, he had his Drowzee use some form of Fire-Type move and that ignited the gas, causing the explosion."

Anabel latched onto him, burying her head into his shoulder. "T-That idiot..." She sniffled slightly before clutching Ash tighter, as if to make sure he was still there. "He could've really hurt you, Ash..." She shook her head, "Just because he didn't want to lose? What a jerk..."

If Anabel had seen Terry at that moment, she would probably tear him a new one. The jerk had caused an explosion that could have killed Ash. She would've never been able to see him or spend time with him ever again. Anabel didn't know if she could take a loss like that. Just the mere thought of it caused her heart to plummet to where her stomach was.

"You will be pleased to learn, then, that Terry is receiving his punishment by Mrs. Roberts, Anabel." Sabrina stated as she walked into view of the two Pokémon Trainers. Said Trainer broke apart at the sound of her voice, saying her name in shocked surprise. "Mrs. Roberts will ensure that he will not to repeat such an action again."

"Terry won't get in that much trouble, will he?" Ash asked.

"He is going to get a sufficient amount of punishment for what he has done so that he will not repeat such an action again." Sabrina paused, considering it. "He will most likely be assigned various demeaning chores to do as soon as he arrives here, to dissuade him from causing another explosion lest he get those same punishments again."

"That sounds smart."

"It's one of various behavior modification techniques that people have developed." Sabrina said before she turned around, "Come. There is something I would like to discuss with the two of you."

Ash and Anabel exchanged looks.

"Is it bad? Do I need to call my parents?" Ash asked.

"You can contact your parents if you wish to do so, but it isn't "bad"." Sabrina said before she gestured towards Ash's backpack. "It's about something my Psychics have noticed one of your Pokémon doing and about that Pokémon Egg in your backpack."

XXXXXX

(Saffron City—Police HQ)

Chief Jenny could be best described as frustrated at the moment. The reason for this was simple: the task force she had assembled to investigate the death of that Rocket Grunt had yet to find anything. She hadn't been expecting the group to unearth the mole(s) within her police force that easily, but she had thought that task force would be able to handle it.

After all, the team was being led by two of her most experienced officers: Timothy Jackle and Sarah Belle.

Timothy and Sarah were legends in sniffing out the truth in a situation. They spotted holes in a suspect's story more quickly than a supercomputer could process data and had solved numerous cases each, just by confronting their suspect with the holes. So... it should have been no problem for them to have found a hole in one of the police officer(s) story and narrow down the pool of suspects. Despite their skills, however, the suspect pool remained broad.

'Damnit!' Chief Jenny slammed her gloved fist on the top of her desk. I'f Timothy and Sarah can't narrow down the suspect list, the the bastard(s) responsible for that attack must have hidden their tracks well.' She thought with an aggravated expression on her face. 'How good are these people?!'

XXXXXX

(Saffron City—Pokémon Gym—Sabrina's Office)

"Welcome." Sabrina greeted from behind her desk as Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum entered the room. Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum returned her greetings as they walked over to the two available chairs in front of her desk, next to where Ash and Anabel were already sitting down. "I'm glad that you could come."

Jonathan gave a brief nod, "The moment we heard that this was about that strange Pokémon Egg that Ash found on Mt. Moon, we came right over."

While Jonathan and Delia had come with Ash and Anabel to the first couple of Anabel's training sessions, they had slowly backed off. Jonathan hadn't wanted the two children to come to rely on him and Delia too much, as they were supposed to be learning how to rely on themselves. And while the children had, so far, neither Delia nor Jonathan wanted the children to lose that. So, they had backed off a bit.

Now, though, was an entirely different manner. This was about that egg that Ash and Anabel had found on Mt. Moon. The egg that wasn't in the current Pokémon Breeder's handbook or recognizable by any Pokémon Professor. An egg that had apparently resided within the legendary Moon Stone for countless years and, defying the laws of nature, continued to live without a hint of decomposition or petrification.

To say the least, Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum were as excited about whatever possible information that Sabrina may have learned about the egg as Ash and Anabel were. Jonathan was probably even more so, with the way he had marveled at and studied the egg when he had first gotten his hands on it, considering the fact that he was practically bouncing in his seat.

"I have been contacted by a colleague Professor Oak, Professor Birch, this morning with news regarding Ash's Pokémon Egg." Sabrina began to say before she pulled out a book, titled "Legendary Pokémon Sightings". "According to his research, this egg could be involved with the sighting of Rayquaza in 1549."

"Rayquaza...?" Ash asked.

Turning towards Ash, Jonathan then spoke. "Rayquaza is a Legendary Pokémon that is rumored to spend most of its time flying through the atmosphere. Unlike some other Legendary Pokémon, Rayquaza hasn't been around at one location long enough for Pokémon Professors to gain any knowledge about its behavioral patterns."

Ash and Anabel blinked.

A Legendary Pokémon was involved with this? With his Pokémon Egg? While it didn't sound as crazy as his "the Pokémon Egg is an alien" theory, it was very hard to believe. Legendary Pokémon were a group of extremely rare and powerful Pokémon that were untamable. It was really rare to sight a Legendary Pokémon, which was one of the reasons that—besides their power—Legendary Pokémon were called "Legendary".

Young children were brought up with stories about Legendary Pokémon. In Kanto, the children were told stories involving the "Legendary Birds": Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. These birds were rumored to have the ability to change the weather with their mere presence and their attacks more powerful than any other creature—besides another Legendary—in their respective type.

"So... you're saying that my egg could be involved with a Legendary?" Ash asked slowly.

Sabrina closed her eyes, "The Sighting of 1549 was one of the most significant sightings of Rayquaza because, unlike the other sightings of it, Rayquaza didn't come to rest. It came to do battle."

"Battle...?"

"Yes. According to the written accounts of that time period, a comet had crashed into the outskirts of a village. According to what was written, that comet changed into two identical Pokémon before Rayquaza appeared and attacked them." Sabrina stated, opening the book to a dog-marked page and pointing to the crude drawing within. "Rayquaza defeated them and banished what was left of them into the ocean."

Without knowing it, Ash wrapped his left arm around it. He startled when he felt a warm feeling brush against the inside of his left arm and looked down. The egg seemed to be pulsing slightly, pulsing gently, like a heart. The movement and warmth soothed him much like his mother had when he had woken up crying from a bad dream when he was little.

"So, you're saying that this egg could be like those other two Pokémon from a long time ago?" Ash asked.

"Professor Birch thinks that they could be the same or a similar species of Pokémon from outer space." Sabrina stated before she paused for a moment. "Professor Birch has also been digging into anything related to that village in which the battle took place occurred nearby and he found something. Ten years ago, Pokémon Professor Lung was doing a field study in that area and discovered an egg that has a 90% similarity to Ash's egg."

To everyone listening to the Psychic Gym Leader, it felt as if someone had just flipped a switch. They had began to connect the dots even before Sabrina was even half-way into her explanation, but hearing it was a different matter. It made the situation, and their thoughts about it, real. And that wasn't something to be taken lightly.

The reason was simple: Ash has discovered an egg belonging to a species of creatures coming from another planet. Each of them knew of the legends and rumors surrounding Staryu and Starmie, but those rumors hadn't been proved; there was no evidence to back them up. This, however, had the discovery of a very similar egg to Ash's egg, the studies in Hoenn about that egg, and the word of a well-respected Pokémon Professor.

It felt—

The room shook violently as the sounds of explosions—close and distant—shattered the air. The chairs rattled in their positions while small small objects fell from their perches and onto the floor. Some glass pieces shattered into millions of silvery pieces while other things hit the floor with a single dent or without any damage at all.

"What's going on?!"

The pupils in Sabrina's eyes gained a bluish hue for a moment before subsiding. "It appears..." She began to say in a tight voice. "That this Gym and the city itself is being attacked. They bombed the entrance with Voltorb."

"Someone's attacking us?" Ash asked as he and the others slowly got up from their chairs, clutching onto the desk to stablize themselves on the rocking floor. "Who?"

By this point, Sabrina had already called out her Kadabra and was making her way to the door. She could have simply telported to where those grunts were battling her Physics, but it would be dangerous. If they did, she and Kadabra could appear in the path, or in the middle, of an attack. They could also be incapitated before they could do anything of use; despite her and Kadabra's skills, one surprise attack was all that was needed to take them out.

Besides... there were a number of grunts that had apparently snuck past her Physics. It would be minor token to... deal with them as she and Kadabra made their way towards the main floor. And when they did, there would be no mercy.

Hearing Ash's question, however, caused Sabrina to pause in the middle of the settling hallway. She turned, eyes outlined with blue psychic power. "You know the answer to that already, Ash. Who else but Team Rocket would dare to organize such an attack?"

Ash's Pokémon Team:

Eevee (Female): Level 25.

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Sand Attack (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), Growl (Normal), Bite (Dark), Quick Attack (Normal), Covet (Normal), and Take Down (Normal).

Pidgeotto (Male): Level 20.

Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), Gust (Flying), Peck (Flying), and Whirlwind (Flying).

Rattata (Male): Level 21.

Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), Hyper Fang (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Pursuit (Dark), Quick Swim (Normal), and Sucker Punch (Dark).

Beedrill (Male): Level 20.

Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), Fury Attack (Normal), Twineedle (Bug), and Rage (Normal).

Clefairy (Female): Level 17.

Attacks: Sing (Normal), Pound (Normal), Metronome (Normal), DoubleSlap (Normal), Defense Curl (Normal), Follow Me (Normal), and Bestow (Normal).

Paras (Male): Level 19.

Attacks: PoisonPowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Sleep Powder (Grass), Spore (Grass), Leech Life (Bug), and Fury Cutter (Bug).

Anabel's Pokémon Team:

Kadabra (Male): Level 27.

Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), Confusion (Psychic), Psychic (Psychic), Disable (Normal), Miracle Eye (Psychic), and Ally Switch (Psychic).

Butterfree (Female): Level 20.

Attacks: Confusion (Psychic), Poisonpowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Harden (Bug), Sleep Powder (Grass), String Shot (Bug), Gust (Flying), and Supersonic (Normal).

Sabrina's Pokémon Team:

Kadabra (Female): Level 40.

Attacks: Psychic (Psychic), Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), Confusion (Psychic), Kinesis (Psychic), Disable (Normal), Miracle Eye (Psychic), Ally Switch (Psychic), Psybeam (Psychic), Reflect (Psychic), Telekinesis (Psychic), Recover (Normal), Psycho Cut (Psychic), and Future Sight (Psychic).

A/N: Author's Note: Well, that's the end of this chapter. Tell me how you guys liked it in your reviews and/or PMs! Things such as what I did well, what you liked, and what I could improve upon.

I apologize in advance if you guys found the two week time-skip annoying or irritating. If I hadn't included that, however, you guys would have to deal with two weeks worth of filler. And I don't think I have the heart to keep you guys from the anticipated Attack on Saffron. The things that happened in that period will be elaborated on in the following chapters.

I am writing this in the library right now as some jerk hacked into my labtop and fried it from the inside-out. It's lucky that I managed to save my works or this chapter would have come out much later... Still, because of this, there will be a delay in my stories until I can get a new labtop. When I do get it, my priorities will be:

1. Uploading a Scarecrow Mainfan's Christmas Party challenge story that my co-author (Sharkteeth) and I have been working on.

2. Working on and uploading a new chapter of Amity's Arrancar.

3. Working on and uploading a new chapter of Fate: Chaos.

To finish this off, I would like to wish everyone a happy holidays. Thank you and goodnight.