A/N: Ok, firstly…. I'm so sorry! *kneels as she begs the forgiveness of the readers* I meant to have this up before Christmas but the characters weren't cooperating… In fact, I'm going to be extending updates to once every two weeks, so…. Heh…. *ducks the crowd throwing rotten tomatoes*

Right, answers to my darling reviewers (since there are a few important points that were asked and I want to clear up before we get on with the story:

Auriansmule: Pairings… I knew I forgot something! Ok all, IMPORTANT, it will be slash. Very understated slash, and Ash will not be together with anyone in this fic, but there will be very very very subtle undercurrents with Gary that can also be taken as friendship if you want to.

Red is paired with Lance. This is a background pairing that can be ignored if you want to, but he will be paired with Lance. There is canon pairings of Ruby and Sapphire, as well as others which I wouldn't reveal just yet as that would be giving out spoilers.

On another note, thanks for pointing out the spelling mistakes. This is why I need a beta (not to mention for brainstorming sessions when I hit a writers block…)

Jenakin Ramsobi: Blue and Green. I had this same discussion with my beta months ago *takes deep breath*. Ok, here's the deal. In the Japanese version, Gary's counterpart is called Midori, which means Green, and Leaf's is Aoi, which means Blue. There are currently three translators out there and in two out of the three translations this is how it is. The third follows the game version, where Red's rival is Blue (Gary) and the female is Green. So, you can have it anyway you like (I actually thought like you did but my beta set me straight), but this is the version I agreed on with my beta, so I'm sticking to it.

Glad you're enjoying the fic so far. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.

luis1113: Heh, I have plans for that. *insert evil laughter*. Will not spoil the plot but it should be revealed by the next chapter anyway

lightningblade49: Lance is on with Red actually, long background story there, but more will be revealed over the course of the story.

Chapter 5: Diamond and Pearl (and Platinum)

"What now Jessie?"

"Shut up James."

"Meowth! Da' both of you betta' lock ya traps cause if you get us caught at this stage, da' boss is gonna blow!"

The human members of Team Rocket subsided at the whispered admonishment from their Pokèmon teammate, even as they continued alternating between squeezing salt water from their hair and rubbing feeling back into their sore fingers. Hiding beneath the train platform, the two of them glanced up at the Meowth sitting on top of the wooden planks, playing the stray lookout.

"Shut up Meowth, you had a nice cozy ride in the train while we were hanging on for dear life while our fingers went numb and we were soaked with sea water."

Despite her words, the red head lowered the tone of her voice to a whisper directed at the cat while she and her partner began to dry themselves out before they attempted to mingle with the crowd above.

"I don't know about this Jessie, it still feels weird."

Turning to direct a glare at her worried partner, the female half of Team Rocket hissed,

"Quit your whinning James, and keep your voice down. We need to blend in and we can't do that with a giant R on our clothes."

The next day, the stray Meowth which had hitched a ride on the train strolled out of the station after spending a night in an out of the way corner. The station guards allowed it to pass, having been instructed by their counterparts in the other station to leave it alone. No one bat an eye at the red haired woman dressed in a black tank top, black pants and boots or the purple haired man in a loose black shirt and white pants following him out.

…...

"Wagh!"

"Pikachu!"

The watching yellow Pokèmon fell over laughing as he witnessed his trainer buried under the three Sinnoh starter Pokèmon they were helping prepare for the new arrivals. Pikachu's amusement was echoed by Crystal and Gold as they prepared breakfast for the three young Pokèmon, while Ash calmed the over exited starters and convinced them he was not a toy they could climb (or chew) on.

"I must say Ash, Professor Oak is right, you do have a way with Pokèmon."

The offhanded comment by the blue haired Professor in regards to how the trainer managed to get the three young Pokèmon into some semblance of order before she brought over the Pokèfood. The first stage Pokèmon let out a cheer as breakfast was finally served, abandoning their previous chew toy in favor of their stomachs.

Free from the task of keeping the various Pokèmon distracted, Ash was finally able to settle down and ask the question that had been bugging him,

"Why do you have starters from Sinnoh? I thought every region have their own starter Pokèmon?"

The trainer watched as Crystal cast Gold a familiar warning glare, silencing the other man even as she answered the question,

"We actually have starters from every region here, it just so happened that the three coming today had shown interest in the Sinnoh Pokèmon.

"After all, all Pokèmon are native to this region, and since the Professor in charge is supposed to provide the native starters, well... Anyway, I have almost every Pokèmon on the Pokèdex, and Gold is the best breeder out there, so it's not hard getting the necessary Pokèmon ready, we just don't have all the starters out for the new trainers to choose from."

"That's my doing."

Gold cut off Crystal's matter of fact explanation with an expression Ash had yet to see on the breeder's face before. The seriousness in the other man's eyes as he addressed the visiting trainer reflected the passion he felt on the subject matter, even as he elaborated in a quiet steady tone at odds with his usual loud flair,

"The Pokèmon here are available to many trainers, but it is just too confusing and just stupid to offer every single starter upfront. I don't know how the other Professor's do it, but I make sure that before their tenth birthday, every trainer will have information on the starters, divided by the regions offered to them. They will then inform Crystal which regions starters they want to choose from. This will force them to think and consider carefully before making their choices, instead of choosing, then abandoning their Pokèmon because they're too 'weak'. It's cruel and irresponsible."

"I guess that makes sense."

The memory of his many fire types, who were probably chosen for power but abandoned when their trainers were too lazy and impatient to train them, Ash could see how this method may aid in staving off people abandoning their starters for similar reasons. Before he could comment on this however, his attention was diverted to the various starter Pokèmon that had finished their breakfast and turned their attention to the silly humans talking around them. It seemed that something was missing…

"Hey, where did the Chimchar go?"

"What?!"

Twin yells startled the remaining starters, causing the Bulbasaur and Totodile to huddle behind the young teen. Even as the Professor Crystal and Gold tried to calm the other nine down, and Ash coaxed the grass and water types out from behind him, a triumphant call alerted them to another Pokèmon that had gone missing from the room.

Turning, the three of them saw the yellow mouse dragging the missing monkey Pokèmon back, the small fire type obviously sulking as he was led back to the gathering of humans and Pokèmon,

"Ha! Good job Pikachu!"

Grinning, Gold petted the electric type even as he returned the still pouting starter to his Pokèball,

"In you go Chimchar, if you're not going to behave you can return to your Pokèball."

"They should all return to their Pokèballs anyway, it's almost time for the trainers to arrive."

As she spoke, Professor Crystal grabbed two of the Pokèballs, returning the Turtwig and Piplup back to their own Pokèballs and placing them on the tray that had been prepared for the new trainers. As if the Professor had summoned them, they heard a cultured, feminine voice call out from the front door,

"Professor Crystal? Hi, it is Platina Berlitz with my friends, Pearl and Dia? We are here for our Pokèmon?"

The words sent the room's occupants into a flurry of activity as Crystal hurried to the front of the lab with a parting hissed,

"I'll stall them, you lot get ready."

Summoning back the various Pokèmon, the two males could hear her great the newly arrived trainers as they hurried to lay the Starters on the trays.

Checking the identification markings on the Pokèball in his hands, Ash focused on sorting the Pokèmon by region, even as he heard Gold snarl in frustration,

"I wish we were still using the old school Pokèballs, these identification markers are a pain!"

The breeder waved off the teen's curious look as Pikachu did one last check on the Pokèmon before turning around to chirp a confirmation at the two remaining humans in the room. That was all Gold needed before he hurried around and began to wheel the tray to the front of the lab, taking care not to jostle the Pokèballs as Ash followed behind.

While the two humans maneuvered the tray, Pikachu ran to the front of the lab, where Professor Crystal was entertaining *coughstallingcoughcough* the three trainers, intent on warning the Professor that the Pokèmon were ready. Even as he slid out the door, he could hear an unfamiliar male voice call out,

"Cool! It's a Pikachu, Professor, I want that as my starter!"

"I'm afraid Pearl, that that Pikachu has a trainer, he belongs to my guest, Ash, but if you three will come this way, we can get you your Starter Pokèmon."

On cue, Gold rolled the tray with the Starters into the room, with Ash following behind. As they did so, they were in time to witness two boys, one of them obviously the one who wanted Pikachu begin to speak,

"Speaking of Pokèmon."

The voice belonged to the boy that looked like he could be Barry's twin, if Barry were ten again and decided to darken his hair to a dark blonde. Even the orange and white striped jacket and long green scarf was the same. Ash had a hard time keeping himself from calling out to the boy with the wrong name, but was saved from the embarrassment when the boys companion replied,

"Speaking of Pokèmon…"

The brunette wore a zipped up black jacket with an off-green strip circling across his chest. A red beret with the Pokèmon association logo was peaking up from the side of the hat. The drawl in his voice and droop of his eyes made Ash wonder if this kid had almost overslept the way the teen trainer had when it was time to pick up his first Pokèmon.

"Speaking of Pokèmon, did you know that if a Pikachu held a Light Ball in the daycare centre its offspring will learn Volt Tackle?"

"Really?"

The brunette then began to rummage around the backpack that he was carrying on one shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"I've got an old toy ball I want to give him, it's filled with air so it's really light."

Whack!

The bemused audience watched the blonde hit his friend over the head, even as he shouted,

"I said Light Ball as in the hold item, not a light ball you idiot! You are light in the head!"

The two of them then straightened as Professor Crystal began laughing, Gold already holding his stomach on the floor at the feet of a grinning Ash, even the girl, half hidden behind the two comedians seemed to be giggling. Seeing as his host and her friend were incapacitated at the moment, he took it on himself to praise the duo,

"Pokèmon Manzai! That was really good, it's been ages since I heard a Manzai."

The duo preened at his words, the Barry lookalike puffing out his chest as his friend allowed a lazy but pleased grin to cross his face.

"My name is Ash, and I think you've already met Pikachu. You must be the new trainers Professor Crystal was telling me about."

"Oh, so that is your Pikachu?"

The teen looked up at the feminine voice, and almost swallowed his tongue as he dimly wondered what it was about this region and lookalikes. Granted the girl standing before him was as similar to Dawn as he was to Red. The dark blue hair was half tied, the back flowing free while the top was pinned in place by two dull yellow hair ornaments to both sides of her head. Aside from that, the facial features was like that of his Sinnoh companion, but slightly shorter, with sharper edges, especially around the eyes, giving the girl a more mature look than her ten years of age. This impression was supported by her demeanor, where most of Ash's younger companions stood like they were about to take action at a moment's notice, the way this girl held herself was reminiscence of Brock and Cilan, patient and steady.

Even the girl's style of dress was conservative, it being a long sleeved reddish pink dress with four decorative pink buttons on the front of the skirt. A white scarf wound around her neck with the two ends hanging out the front.

Quickly recovering himself, the teen swallowed his shock as he held out his hand to shake,

"Yes, and you must be Platina. I heard you arrive while I was in the back room."

"That is correct."

Despite her appearance, Platina's handshake was firm and confident, even as she gestured at her friends with her other hand,

"And this is Pearl,"

A wave at the Barry lookalike,

"And Diamond, we're training to be professional performers for Pokèmon Manzai someday!"

"Call me Dia"

The dark haired boy spoke up as attention was turned to him, lazy grin never leaving his face.

The introductions were interrupted by an amused Crystal, who was enjoying the interaction between the four trainers, and was further amused as,

"I have never seen trainers less eager to get their Starter's as the three of you."

As if her words had were the spark that started the flame, the three trainers surged forward, towards the tray holding their, maybe, future companions and the smirking Professor standing beside it.

"Now Platina, earlier you mentioned that you and your companions are interested in Pokèmon from the Sinnoh region. So let me introduce the starters you get to choose from,"

Removing the first Pokèball from the Sinnoh set, Crystal introduced the starter Pokèmon from Sinnoh,

"Turtwig"

"Chimchar"

"And Piplup"

"Hey! My cousin started with one of those!"

All attention in the room was suddenly focused on Pearl, who was pointing at the Piplup with a look of recognition on his face. As he noticed the attention, he scowled at the others, grousing defensively,

"What? My cousin is from Sinnoh, so he got a Piplup from Professor Rowan. Actually, I think it's evolved into Empoleon by now…"

The blonde trainer-to-be's musings were interrupted by Crystal, as she enquired,

"Does that mean you are choosing Piplup as your starter Pokèmon?"

Instead of an instant agreement or protest as Ash had been expecting, Pearl took his time, looking at the Piplup closely, even as the water type studied his potential trainer in return. The blonde's gaze was not calculating, but seemed to be considering many factors, before he spoke up,

"Based on her stance and attitude, she looks like a serious natured Pokèmon. No offence Piplup, but I think you're too serious for us to form a team, especially as first Pokèmon and first trainer combo. Friends?"

"Piplup"

The blue penguin Pokèmon nodded solemnly, accepting the unexpected analysis from the boy, even as Gold looked pleasantly surprised and Ash tried to wrap his mind around those words coming out of Barry's face.

Definitely have to stop thinking of him as Barry.

The Pikachu trainer felt his respect for the other boy rise, alongside his shame for judging the younger trainer by someone he had probably never met. Luckily for the Kanto traveler, his rising guilt was halted as Platina stepped forward, bending down so she could better meet the newly rejected Piplup's eyes,

"Pleased to meet your acquaintance Piplup, I think you and I will get along very well"

"Piplup!"

The water type nodded at the girl, walking over to her and shaking her outstretched hand with his tiny flipper.

"Done!"

The moment was broken by a grinning Crystal, who handed Platina Piplup's Pokèball, as she helped the new trainer rise, the small penguin nestled in her arms,

"Congratulations Platina, you are now Piplup's new trainer."

The delight that crossed the girls face as she glanced down at her new Pokèmon made her look like the excited ten year old she was, instead of the mature teen she presented herself to be.

The watching Professor smiled as she watched the new trainer get to know her Pokèmon, before turning to the remaining two,

"Now, as for you two…"

"Whooaa!"

Her attention was caught by Pearls yelp, as the Chimchar leapt onto his face, before scurrying to cling to the side of his head and pulling at his cheeks.

"Ow… C'mon Chimchar, leggo! Hey!"

"That's odd…"

The attention of the rooms occupants, sans Pearl, turned their attention to the thoughtful Professor as she continued,

"That Chimchar rarely approaches people, he's more likely to run off and hide or explore. He has a bit of a naughty streak."

"Naughty streak eh?"

The blonde performer-in-training grinned at the fire monkey he had successfully pried off his head, his amusement growing as the tiny Pokèmon grinned back, not the least guilty over the distress he had caused the boy.

"Hey Dia, I'll take this one, if you don't mind taking…. Dia?"

Looking over his shoulder, only to find empty space where his friend once stood, Pearl cast his glance about, only to find Dia kneeling in front of the final Pokèmon, which was happily munching on his friends supply of emergency biscuits and sandwiches.

"So, you're a Turtwig, eh? Then I'll call you… Wig!"

"Turtwig!"

Grinning at the dark haired boy, Pearl turned his attention back to the Chimchar, which had climbed out of his hands and was now clambering across his head again,

"Hey, cut that out. Let's see… I'll call you… Chimhiko! What do you think Chimhiko?"

"Chimchar!"

The newly named Chimhiko finally stopped his movements, perching on Pearls shoulder as he called out his agreement. The blonde trainer turned to the final person of the trio expectantly, only to receive a blank look in reply,

"Aren't you going to give your Piplup a nickname?"

"Why? I did not realize it was compulsory?"

Seeing that the blonde was about to explode at his companion, Crystal quickly defused the situation with the ease of long practice,

"And it is not. It is entirely up to the trainer whether they wish to give the Pokèmon in their care nicknames, there is no right or wrong way to go about it."

"Then I will not change Piplup's name."

Groaning in defeat but not willing to go against the Professor, Pearl just bit his tongue and accepted Chimhiko's Pokèball from the Professor. Grinning at his new Pokèmon, he decided to let the matter slide, just this once, as he basked in the feeling of getting his new partner,

"Well partner, welcome to the job of helping me guard Platina!"

"Um… guard?"

Confused, Ash interrupted the moment as he wondered if he misunderstood the relationship between the three trainers. He had been enjoying watching the three get to know their new Pokèmon, glad that the pairing worked out in the end, but Pearls offhanded comment threw him for a loop. As the blonde glanced at him, he allowed his confusion to show on his face, even as he eyed the elegant female curiously. Luckily, Pearl answered his question, albeit with a performers flare, waving both his hands to present and frame the sole female of the trio,

"Well, let me explain by first presenting…. Platina Berlitz, daughter of the researcher Sir Berlitz, and heir to the Berlitz fortune. We are old childhood friends of hers and her dad asked Dia and I to watch over her on her Pokèmon journey."

As Pearl's explanation wound down, Platina stepped forward, Piplup still cradled in her arms as her cultured voice continued where her blonde companion left off,

"My family is made up of scholars and researchers and I wish to follow in my father's footsteps. I decided that I had learned all I could from texts and research notes and the best way to learn about Pokèmon is to go on a journey across the region and experiencing all I can. Since Pearl and Dia are being trained by professional bodyguards, my father requested their presence on my journey."

"Trained by professional bodyguards?"

The newly revealed heiress' explanation to Ash's question was interrupted by a sheepish Pearl as he took back the thread of the story,

"Long story of mistaken identity there, but anyway, Motou is very safe thanks to the Region Leaders, so Sir Berlitz decided Dia and I were enough to guard Platina, especially since we have a direct line to Uji and Paka, our trainers."

Ash nodded as he eyed the female trainer in a new light,

"So you're an heiress… wow, no wonder you're so mature. You're more mature than I was at your age!"

Platina's stance did not change, but the smile that crossed her face was soft and kind,

"Thank you for your compliment, and if I may request a favor of you Ash, would you please honor me with a Pokèmon battle? I believe it would be a learning experience for Piplup and I to battle a trainer of your experience and ability."

"And here is where I have to stop the flow of conversation."

Crystal cut in, firmly putting a stop to Ash's acceptance as she shot an apologetic glance to the Pikachu trainer,

"Sorry Platina, but Ash doesn't have any real knowledge on how we battle in Motou, and I would prefer that he could actually watch an actual battle before participating in one. Perhaps you two could postpone the battle until Ash has actually watched one of the videos I have from last years league?"

"Or, they can do better"

All attention turned to Gold at his excited injection into the conversation. The breeder was barely containing his excitement as he bounced on the tips of his toes, grinning in a very familiar way, that had Ash unconsciously backing away and Pikachu hiding behind his trainer's legs, carefully peeking out the side.

"Red and Green are currently preparing to battle each other. I convinced them to wait until Ash could watch since he's never seen a Motou battle before, and they've been getting ready all morning."

Winking at the four trainers, Gold pointed to the door of the lab,

"So, you four are going to get the rare chance of witnessing the Champion and Origin Town Gym Leader go at it in a no holds barred, high level battle. Shall we get going?"