"Hey, guys, wait up!" Akito's voice called out.
"Akito?" Emi asked before looking over and beamed. "Akito!"
"Hi, Emi." Akito smiled once he stopped in front of the girl he liked.
Emi soon hugged her boyfriend after not seeing him for so long.
"Aw!" The new girl smiled.
"Dawn, this is Akito." Emi said.
"Ah, yes," The new girl then said. "I've heard so much about you and your brother, sister, and cousin."
"And we've heard about you." Estelle smiled.
"Good to meet ya." Vincent added.
"So, you're Akito..." Dawn said to the boy around Emi. "Then you must be Vincent and... Felicity?"
"I'm Estelle actually," Estelle said before seeing her cousin catching up. "That's Felicity."
"Ohh." Dawn smiled.
"Bonjour." Felicity smiled to Dawn.
"Hello, there." Dawn smiled back.
Ash, Emi, and Brock smiled to see their old friends getting along well with Dawn so far.
"So, where are we headed?" Estelle asked.
"There's a Pokemon Contest in Alamos Town." Brock replied.
"I was sure we would've gotten there by now though." Dawn commented.
"Ooh, what's a Pokemon Contest?" Estelle smiled. "Is it like a beauty contest?"
"You could say that, though Pokemon are mostly judged by their conditions and moves and usually has two rounds." Dawn smiled back.
"Ooh." Estelle smiled back.
"Brock, shouldn't we be there by now?" Emi soon asked.
"Almost... And there it is!" Brock replied as they soon looked over the hill to see civilization. "Alamos Town, right over that hill!"
"We made it!" Pikachu beamed.
"Wahoo!" The Fudo siblings cheered.
They all soon began to run that way to go into the town.
"I betcha as soon as we get there, we'll find lots of great battles!" Ash smiled.
"Oh, yeah!" Akito smiled back.
"I've got to get ready for the contest!" Dawn smiled. "So many dresses to wear in so little time!"
"Maybe I could compete too," Estelle smiled back. "I just love wearing dresses."
While they were running, a slightly older red cat seemed to be hiding away, though looked to the group as she seemed to recognize them from somewhere.
"Hold on!" Ash said as he saw something.
They all stopped running and looked over only to see that Alamos Town was a lot farther than they thought and there was a very large cliff shown across from them with a body of water in the middle.
"Uh, Brock, did you forget to mention something?" Emi glared.
"Uh, it looks like we're on the wrong shore." Brock said nervously as he looked at his guidebook.
"Huh?!" Ash and Pikachu asked.
"And I'm exhausted." Dawn pouted.
"How are we going to get there?!" Vincent complained.
"Would you all like a lift?" A voice asked them.
Everyone soon looked up and all around to find out where the voice came from.
"Is that a hot air balloon?" Pikachu asked.
The group soon looked up. There was in fact a hot air balloon and inside was a blonde girl. Of course, with her being a girl, it was love at first sight for Brock.
"Hi, there." The blonde girl smiled and waved.
"Howdy!" Her Pokemon added.
"Is that a Chimchar?" Akito smiled.
"Looks like one to me." Estelle added.
They were soon in the hot air balloon.
"We can't thank you enough for your kindness!" Brock beamed to the blonde girl. "So, my name, dear, is Brock, would you be so kind as to tell me your name?"
"My name's Alice." The blonde girl smiled.
"Alice, huh?" Felicity smiled back. "We met a girl named Alice sometime ago, and we had quite the adventure together."
"Yeah, and it was an adventure we will never ever forget." Estelle added.
"Did she happen to have a cat?" Alice smiled.
"Yes...?" The others replied.
A red cat was soon shown coming from behind Alice's legs who looked up to all of them.
"No way." The group smiled.
"You guys know Alice from Alamos Town?!" Brock asked.
"It would seem so." Felicity giggled.
"Yeah." Estelle smiled.
"I can't believe I don't have you written down in my little Blue Book of Babes!" Brock cried out as he flipped through a tiny book.
The others rolled their eyes and sweat-dropped to Brock's little moment while Alice glanced at him.
"Brock can be interesting." Akito said.
"So I see..." Alice replied to that.
"I'm such a dummy!" Brock whined. "There's only one thing to do: let me take you out!"
Emi simply at this before counting down from 3. Suddenly, Croagunk came out to stun Brock briefly.
"Wow, thanks, Croagunk." Emi said to the amphibian Pokemon.
"It was my pleasure." Croagunk replied.
"Which of you owns this Croagunk?" Akito asked Ash and the others.
"Erm... That would be mine." Brock said, a bit weakly.
"Now, since you know Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity, I suppose we should all introduce ourselves." Emi suggested.
"Good idea, Emi," Dawn agreed as she started. "I'm Dawn, and I'm entering Alamos Town's Pokemon Contest."
"Hi, I'm Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu, and my sister, Emi." Ash added.
"Pleased to meet you." Emi smiled at Alice.
"It's nice to meet you too." Alice smiled back.
Chimchar soon took a breath to breathe more fire into the balloon as they were getting closer into town.
"This is the way to travel; you know, just as long as there's no sudden gust of winds." Akito smiled.
"Oh, I can see the town from here, it looks so beautiful." Emi beamed.
"Awesome, we're really moving!" Ash smiled at how fast they traveled.
"What a pretty lake." Dawn smiled.
"It sure is, Dawn." Estelle smiled back in agreement.
"This is great." Vincent smiled.
"Not as pretty or great as Alice!" Brock interjected.
"You're quick." Ash commented about the recovery.
"He's used to it." Dawn smiled playfully.
"So, Alice, what do you do around here?" Felicity asked the blonde girl.
"Well, I work part-time as a hot air balloon tour guide, but I also spend most of my time at the Music Studio." Alice smiled before she took out a leaf at first.
"What's the leaf for?" Vincent asked.
"Watch this." Alice smiled as she took the leaf close to her mouth and blew on it which seemed to make music.
"Ohh... Leaf Whistling." Akito smiled to that.
This seemed to attract flying Pokemon like Pidgeys and Pelippers.
"Ooh, they like it." Estelle smiled to that.
Alice smiled to the flying Pokemon as she continued to play a small song.
"That song sounds so nice." Felicity smiled.
"Thank you, Felicity," Alice smiled back. "Also, this way, the Pokemon can show me which way the wind is blowing. Okay, Chimchar!" she then called out.
"I'm on it!" Chimchar replied before blowing more fire.
"Almost there~..." Dinah purred as she looked down below with them.
"You said it." Vincent said.
"Hi, Chimchar, I'm Pikachu." Pikachu smiled as he came beside the other Pokemon.
"Hey, Pikachu!" Chimchar smiled back to him.
"Ah... So peaceful." Felicity smiled.
"Are those... Hot Air Balloon Pokemon...?" Emi asked as she saw something flying through the skies.
Akito and Estelle soon brought out their Pokedexes to find out about those Pokemon.
"One at a time... I'll go first cuz I'm a lady." Estelle smirked.
Akito rolled his eyes with a small smirk to that.
"Some of them seem to be Drifloons." Estelle said.
"Okay, and as for the bigger one?" Vincent asked.
"Drifblim..." Akito said before chuckling. "That sounds fun to say!"
"Is that an actual hot-air balloon next to them?" Vincent asked.
Everyone soon took a look.
"Huh, I suppose it is," Estelle replied, seeing the other hot air balloon. "Who's up there?"
Akito soon took a look for himself to see if it was a friend or foe, and where he soon saw that it was Cassidy and Butch.
"Who is it, Akito?" Estelle asked.
"Team Rocket." Akito narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, great." Emi groaned.
"Say, this balloon thing is catching on." Butch smirked.
"Like we're gonna catch Pikachu where Messy and Lames failed horribly!" Raticate laughed about the ex-Team Rocket members.
"Oh, you better believe it." Cassidy smirked before seeing the hot-air balloon Pokemon. "Huh?"
The Pokemon seemed to surround them.
"More balloons?" Cassidy blinked.
"Three Drifloons and a Drifblim!" Raticate said.
"Oh, they're so round and cute; say, I could take one of them for a walk," Cassidy smirked as she grabbed a giant net to catch one of the Pokemon with, only to miss various times. "Oh, just come here, you stupid things!"
The Balloon Pokemon seemed angered from that before blowing Team Rocket away with Ominous Winds as punishment. Of course, they totally deserved it after what Cassidy said.
"What did I do?!" Cassidy cried out. "Ben, do something!"
"My name is Butch!" Butch replied.
"Just do something!" Cassidy told him.
"Now, uh, maybe we can talk about this and reach an understanding?" Butch smiled nervously to the Pokemon who looked angry.
"I don't think they're really in the mood to talk!" Raticate told him.
The Balloon Pokemon then began to literally blow them away.
"We're blasting off again!" Butch, Cassidy, and Raticate cried out as they flew with the Ominous Winds into the sky.
"They totally deserved that." Akito said.
"They gone?" Estelle asked.
"Knowing them, for now, but yeah." Akito replied.
"Look at those towers!" Dawn smiled.
"What are those towers called?" Vincent asked.
"Those would be the Space-Time Towers." Alice smiled.
"Here, listen to this," Brock said as he looked into his guidebook. "The brilliant architect, Godey, designed the Space-Time Towers 100 years ago."
"And that's where we hold our Pokemon Contests, girls." Alice added.
"Ooh!" Estelle smiled excitedly.
"Girls." Akito and Vincent said in a Yakko and Wakko tone.
"Boys." Estelle smirked the same way in a Dot tone.
"100 years? That's like ten years times..." Ash paused a moment to do some Math.
"Ten?" Emi guessed.
"Uh, you're right, but I knew that." Ash smiled sheepishly to his sister.
"Oh, Ash..." Pikachu even sighed to that.
"It's just smooth sailing from here." Vincent smiled.
"Why is it called The Space-Time Towers, I wonder?" Felicity thought out loud.
"Let's see..." Brock said as he soon looked through his book. "Ah, here, it explains right here. The tower on the right represents time, and the one on the left represents space."
"Hey, I could've told you that." Ash commented innocently.
"Uh-huh, sure." Estelle smirked playfully.
"What's that?" Pikachu asked himself, looking around.
Something strange flowed in the wind as it blew against the hot air balloon.
"Whoa!" The group yelped.
"What the Merde was that?!" Felicity asked, feeling off balance at first.
Whatever it was, it stopped, and everyone continued to fly into the new region.
"Is everybody okay?" Alice asked as she comforted Dinah.
"Y-Yeah, we're okay." Emi said.
"What was that?" Brock wondered.
"I hope it's not a storm." Felicity said.
"I'm sure it could've been the air currents, but it sure was strange," Alice replied. "Sorry if you guys got scared. I know what; I'll give you the grand tour!"
"Sounds perfect." Estelle smiled.
"Well, Alice, you sure have changed a lot since we last saw you... In a good way though." Akito added.
"Yes, it seems so, I was always hoping I'd see you guys again." Alice beamed.
"Same here." Felicity smiled.
Emi smiled with the others as this felt exciting and they were close to landing the hot air balloon.
Once they landed, they soon came outside to explore Alamos Town while Chimcar climbed onto Alice's shoulder while Dinah walked beside the girl.
"So when did you get Chimchar?" Vincent asked.
"We met sometime after I met you all," Alice said as she pet her Chimchar. "I came inside to have tea with my sister. Our parents soon came home and they asked us what we were up to the day. Of course, Lorina told them about my tutoring, which you already know how I feel about. I tried to tell them about the adventure I had, and how I met you all, so, my father thought I could use another companion to test my independence."
"And I'm guessing that's where this little cutie came in?" Estelle smiled as she gently scratched under Chimchar's chin.
Chimchar smiled to Estelle, liking how her touch tickled so far.
"That's right," Alice smiled back. "You know, at most times, I'm still not sure if Wonderland actually happened or not, but I'm glad it did, because it made me a lot more brave and outgoing."
"If it wasn't real, then why do I have this?" Estelle asked before bringing out her pocket watch.
"You still have that...?" Alice whispered out of shock.
"Mm-hmm." Estelle smiled and nodded.
"So then it was real." Alice smiled back.
"Yes, it was..." Estelle said. "I guess you haven't been to Wonderland since, huh?"
"No, I haven't... I've thought about it several times after our first meeting though," Alice replied as she pet Chimchar. "Lorina insists it was just a dream though."
"Oh, trust us, it wasn't." Akito said.
"At least you guys, Chimchar, and Dinah believe me." Alice smiled.
Felicity and her cousins smiled back to that as they explored the town, seeing the many people and their Pokemon.
"How about some cotton candy?" Alice suggested.
"Mm." Felicity smiled.