I'm back with another chapter. Hope you enjoy. Also, I know that Ash's Team is a bit to strong (by that I mean a lot), but come on. In every new season, it's like Pikachu goes back to Lv. 5. Seriously, why do that when you can just let them be the same level. Anyways, I rambled to much.

Disclaimer: Look back at chapters 1-8

Prev:

It was a bright morning day when Zora awoke from his sleep. He noticed that Namonie and Emerald were meditating while Pignite was practicing some punching moves. He got up and yawned before going to the bathroom to do his morning rituals. He came out with a new hairstyle. His red spiky hair was growing a bit to long, so he put it in a ponytail. He also added some black streaks to his hair thanks to his transforming abilities. His head now looked like an Entei's white smokey hair with spikes. He was wearing a red shirt with an orange jacket and black pants. He also had on his green bandana on his arm along with his necklace on his neck. He grabbed his Pokeballs and returned Pignite and Emerald. Namonie climbed onto his head and they walked out of the room. They then headed out of the Pokemon Center, after he got his Pokemon checked up on, before walking towards the Gym.

At the front of the Gym:

Zora had managed to find the Gym and was currently at the front. He then noticed a familiar green headed trainer to him. The green headed trainer noticed Zora and walked over to him. The trainer was wearing a white shirt with a black under shirt and had on beige. He was also wearing a black and grey cap.

"Hello again... N," Zora greeted the mysterious trainer.

N only smiled.

Now:

"Why hello Zora," N stated as he chuckled. Zora just shook his head at the child like attitude of N's. He remembered when he first met N.

Flashback:

Zora had just gotten to Nacrene City and had transformed back into his human form. He looked around and saw that no one was outside. He walked into the city and headed to the Pokemon Center when he saw a green haired trainer looking at him. He waved at the trainer and saw that he had a purple and white cat along with a small grey Pokemon with a block of wood, a small grey bird, and a blue and black tadpole looking Pokemon. The trainer walked over to him and spoke out.

"Why hello there fellow trainer," the green haired boy said politely. Zora knew what was next. "I would like to challenge you to a battle if you will." Zora nodded and grabbed a Pokeball as Namonie jumped off of Zora's head. N looked intrigued at the Pokemon native to Kanto and Sinnoh.

"Alright then, name the battle," Zora said as he prepared for the battle. N chuckled again and grabbed his Pokeballs.

"A Two-on-Two then," he said as Zora nodded. N called for the grey Pokemon with the wood block and the tadpole Pokemon. "Timburr, Tympole let's go my friends." Zora nodded as Namonie went onto the field and he called his other Pokemon.

"Namonie, Pignite, show these two our bond," he said as both Pokemon were on the field. N looked on in slight awe as he has never seen a starting trainer whose Pokemon evolved before they reached the Nacrene Gym. "Let's start with an Arm Thrust Pignite and Namonie, use Slash on Tympole," Zora called out to his Pokemon. Timburr managed to dodge Pignite's Arm Thrust since he was slow, but Namonie literally disappeared and reappeared behind Tympole with glowing claws as she hit Tympole with a one-hit KO. N sighed before returning Tympole as he ordered Timburr.

"Use Low Kick on Namonie and then dodge," N told him as Timburr complied with the order. It hit Namonie,causing her to cry out in pain from the fact that Fighting types are strong against Dark and Ice types. Since she was a duo of both types, well I think you guess how painful it was. Timburr then dodged an Arm Thrust by Pignite and landed away from the two opposing Pokemon. Zora gritted his teeth as he thought of another battle plan.

"Alright, Pignite use Flamethrower and keep firing at Timburr so Namonie can regain her strength," Zora told Pignite as he nodded. N smirked at how Zora showed so much care for both his Pokemon.

'Maybe he's the one,' N thought. He shook his head as he told Timburr to dodge the waves of flame. Timburr kept dodging, but soon tired and got hit by a torrent of flames, also giving him a burn. Zora smirked, then did something that shocked N.

"Pignite, stand down," Zora said . Pignite was confused but followed his trainers order and stopped attacking. N was very confused now.

"Why are you stopping," N asked as Zora sighed. He then saw Zora's eyes change from sky blue to a lavender mixed with amesyth color. He then saw a light blue corona in his eyes. He then heard a voice in his head.

'I know who you are N," the voice said. N looked around but noticed that only he and Zora were there. 'Yes it's me, Zora. I stopped the battle because I did not want to hurt your Pokemon anymore than it already is." N nodded in response as he noticed Zora's eyes change back.

"It was nice battling you, N," Zora said as he grabbed Namonie. He then handed N 300 Poke (their currency) and left, followed by Pignite. N stood there, staring at the money, before he to left.

Flashback end.

Zora shook his head as he saw that N had a Pokeball out. Zora sighed before he to grabbed a Pokeball. He stood away from N and sent his Pokemon out, just as N did.

"Come on out Emerald," Zora called out as his Snivy came out. N called out his as well.

"Come out my friend," he said as the grey bird from yesterday came out. It flapped up in the air before landing back on the ground. "We shall win this battle, Pidove." Pidove cawed in response.

"Emerald, start off with Growth and then start jumping around," Zora calle out his order. Emerald glowed as she absorbed the energy of the sun, and since it was so sunny Growth's power was increased. She then started to jump around the field as N called out to his Pokemon.

"Pidove, use Gust on Emerald," N told his friend as Pidove started to flap its wings. A small tornado was formed and headed towards Emerald. Zora had other plans though.

"Emerald, use your speed to get away from that Gust," Zora told her as she quickly disappeared. She then stood in front Zora as the Gust dissipated. "Now use Vine Whip to bring that birdy down." Emerald nodded as she brought her vines out and wrapped them around Pidove, bringing it down.

"Sniv Snivy (Is that all you've got)," she taunted as she made a 'come at me' gesture. N and Zora chuckled lightly before going back to the battle.

"Pidove, use Quick Attack to get near Emerald, then use Gust," N told Pidove. Pidove nodded and then flew at Emerald at intense speeds before flapping its wings right in front of her, creating another mini tornado. It hit Emerald as she gasped in pain. Zora gritted his teeth as Emerald was to weak to move now. He smiled though and held out his Pokeball.

"Emerald, return," Zora said as a red beam hit Emerald before going back into the ball, taking Emerald with it. N was once again confused. His father told him that people don't care for Pokemon, only that they care about wining. What was with this boy.

"Why'd you stop," N asked clearly confused. Zora sighed before answering. He clearly held compassion for his partners.

"Because I knew that I lost already," he told N. N was still confused. "I see that your still confused. WEll, as I've told you last night. I know that your the 'leader' of Team Plasma. You say that people mistreat Pokemon. That they only use them as tools. Well, you maybe right. However..." N was very confused now. Didn't he just say that he (N) was right. "That is only a small percent of the total number of people in the world. Think about what your father has told you. Do you really think that Pokemon are mearly being mistreated by people because they're evil. Think about it N, and when we next meet, I want an answer." With that, Zora walked towards the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon leaving a very confused and conflicting N.

'Could he be right,' N thought. He was very confused at the moment, and it seemed like he wanted to believe Zora. 'Is father really lying? Am I not right about my Ideals(1)?' With these thoughts in mind, N walked off towards the forest, but not before he looked back to see Zora looking at him and nod. N felt something stir in him as he nodded back and left.

With Ash and Iris:

Ash and Iris had just passed by Accumula Town, where they found the Battle Club and Ash had battled Trip once again. They had also found out that a runaway Tepig had been stealing the food from the Battle Club, to which Ash caught once they found it. Ash and Iris where currently on Route 2 , when they saw the tombstones. Ash had finished reading the words on the tombstones and had gotten a thoughtful expression.

"Wonder whose parents they were to," Ash thought when Iris spoke up. Pikachu and Meowth were sleeping in his pack and Zorua and Zoroark were still in their Pokeballs.

"They use to be Zora's adopted parents," Iris told him. "They died apparently on the day before Zora was going to become a trainer, and he was so depressed that he didn't become one till now. I only know this much only because the Gym leader of Oplecuid City brought me along with him to a meeting with the other Gym leaders. We met up with Prof. Juniper and she told us that much about him. I know there's probably more to him though." Ash nodded in thanks.

"Poor guy," Ash thought out loud. Iris agreed and they silently prayed for the lost souls. They then left after paying their respects and traveled along Route 2, coming across few trainers. They arrived at the entrance to Striaton City. They entered the city and went to a Pokemon Center where they got their Pokemon healed. Ash then decided to find the Gym and looked around with Iris. After a few hours, Ash was getting frustrated when he met a guy in a butler's outfit with grassy green hair.

"Are you looking for the Striaton Gym," the person asked. Ash nodded to which the green haired guy pointed at a restaurant looking building with the Pokemon league sign on the front. "It's right over there." Ash nodded and thanked the guy before walking towards the gym with Iris following while calling him a 'kid' for rushing off without her.

When Ash arrived in the building, he was surprised to see a regular restaurant instead of a gym. That's when a lot of waiters came and sat them down. They tried to explain that they were only there for a battle, but with all of the noise of 'What will be your orders', Ash got annoyed and shouted.

"I JUST WANT A BATTLE," Ash screamed as Pikachu and Meowth agreed. No one noticed that Meowth talked or that a green haired waiter had walked behind them. All of a sudden, all of the people in the restaurant (all females) screamed at the challenge of a battle with the Striaton Gym leaders. The waiters all grinned and lead the duo to a wall, where it opened up to reveal a battle field, along with three people. The first was a guy with the same clothing as the green haired person. But instead of green hair, there was blue, wavy hair. The second person they noticed had the same attire, but instead had fiery, red hair. The last person, they were surprised to see the same green haired person that showed them the Gym's location. They then greeted themselves.

"Why hello," the blue haired person said. "We are the Striaton Gym Leaders. I am the cool and collected Cress." The red head went next.

"I'm the fiery fighter Chili," Chili said. Green head went last.

"And I'm the calm and wonderful, Cilan," Cilan introduced himself. "As Cress said, we are the Striaton Gym Leaders." Ash was confused now.

"Wait, three leaders," he asked confusion in his voice. He then sighed before asking. "So who am I supposed to fight?" Cress sweatdropped before answering.

"Well, the challenger usually fights the one that their first Pokemon is weakest to," Cress said. "So who is your first Pokemon?" Ash showed them Pikachu and talked.

"Pikachu here is my first Pokemon and my best friend," Ash told them as Pikachu climbed on his shoulder and 'Chaaaaed' as Ash rubbed his head. Cilan nodded before talking again.

"Well, seeing as it's an electric type Pokemon, it seems that you get to pick who to battle," Cilan said as he saw Ash's confused face before continuing. "You see, if you had started with Oshawott, you would have battled me." Cress went next.

"If you had started with Tepig, you would have battled me," Cress explained as Chili went last.

"And if you had started with Snivy, you would have battled me," Chili stated as Ash nodded. He then made his decision.

"I want to battle... ALL THREE OF YOU," he stated as they stared at him in shock. They then started to laugh, which annoyed Ash. "Hey, why are you guys laughing at?" Cilan stopped laughing as he sweatdropped before he explained.

"Well, you see," he started. "A couple of days ago, a trainer came in here and said the same exact things. He battled all three of us in a Triple Battle, which is when three of your Pokemon are sent out at one time to battle." Ash was surprised but excited about the prospect of battling all three at the same time. "But our Pokemon haven't fully healed, so all of us can battle you, just not at the same time." Ash nodded sadly, but regained his spirit at being able to battle them.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's start this battle." The three nodded as Chili went up first. Ash grabbed a Pokeball and smiled.

"I'll battle first," Chili said. The other two nodded before Cilan went to referee.

"This is a battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the gym leader Chili," Cilan introduced as Iris was watching from the balcony. She was surprised when she heard that someone had battled all three, then thought of one person crazy enough to do that.

'Zora,' she thought.

"All right, go Pansear," Chili called out his fire monkey as it jumped at the chance to battle. Ash threw his Pokeball.

"Come on out Tepig," he called out his fire pig. Iris was confused as to why he didn't use someone else.

"Ash, your such a kid," she yelled at him. "Why didn't you use Pikachu or Meowth!" Ash shook his head before replying.

"I promised Tepig that the first gym we fight at, he would go first," Ash told her. She nodded and sat down. Cilan spoke out again.

"The battle between Tepig and Pansear, will now BEGIN," he stated as they began to battle.

With Zora:

Zora had just finished getting his Pokemon checked out when he felt something was off. He shook it off when it came back twice as hard. He then turned to the direction of the feeling and headed that way with Namonie following. He ran into Pinwheel Forest and followed a path that looked like it hasn't been used in a while. He kept on running when he reached the clearing and stood in shock. In the clearing was N and his Pokemon all unconscious with a few Plasma Grunts surrounding them. They had their Pokemon out and it looked like they were going to kill N. Zora knew that this wasn't fake, when he noticed a certain man. The man had platinum blonde hair and was wearing a gold and blue colored robe. He had what looked like a white and orange colored Pokemon in his hands, and looked like he was chocking it. He heard the man talk.

"This is what happens when you disobey me boy," the man sneered at N as he tightened his hold on the Pokemon. Zora had enough and charged in with Namonie following.

"Namonie use Ice Beam on all of them," Zora shouted as Namonie froze the Plasma Grunts. The man was surprised and Zora took the chance to tackle hi, forcing him to let go of the Pokemon. It started to cough from lack of air before it noticed the fight. Zora was mercilessly pounding the man's face before he was thrown off. He hit a tree and screamed in pain. Namonie heard the scream and attacked the man, only to be blocked by a three headed Pokemon that was black, blue, and purple in color. She started to fire an Ice Beam and tried to get around the Pokemon. Zora got up and saw that the man was holding N up by his neck. Zora growled before shouting out.

"TRANSFORM," he shouted as he started to change. The light forced the man to drop N and shield his eyes. When the glowing stopped, Zora was now a gold, black, and red colored Pokemon. It was at least 5'11" and had two hands with three sharp talons. It's golden tail thumped in anger and its crimson red eyes showed pure hatred. "HAXORUS," the Pokemon know known as Haxorus yelled out in anger. It then charged a blue ball in its mouth before firing. "HAXORUS (Dragon Pulse)." The blue ball shot a very powerful beam at the black dragon like creature as it roared in pain.

"HYDREIGON," the man yelled as he returned the now fainted Pokemon to it's Pokeball. He growled before turning to the now human Zora. "You! You're the one that my grunts had a problem with. You will regret messing with Team Plasma." Zora only yawned which made the man face-fault before he growled even more. "You will regret this boy. Mark my words or my name isn't Ghetsis." The man now named Ghetsis ran off as did his now thawed grunts, leaving Zora with a seriously hurt N and his unconscious Pokemon. The white and orange Pokemon floated up to Zora and started to speak Pokespeech.

"Tini Vic Victini (Thank you for helping us)," it spoke. "Vic Tini Tini Vic Vic (You saved both of us. I'm Victini.)" Zora nodded before walking towards N.

"Are you okay N," he asked the wounded boy. N nodded before tears came out of his eyes. He looked at Zora with pain and hurt in his eyes along with betrayal and guilt.

"You w-were r-r-right, Z-Z-Z-Zora," he said as he cried. Zora wrapped his arms around him in a brotherly way and whispered calming words as N let loose and cried even more. Zora then heard a noise and looked towards the direction. He saw two people, a male and a female, walking out of the brush of the forest.

The male was white with what looked like a green shirt along with a grey business suit. He looked to be 5'2 with brown slicked back hair and glasses.

The female had a dark tan color tone of skin. She had on a white shirt and blue pants with what looked like a pink apron. She had a blue puffy hair style with a red and white band splitting it in between a north hemisphere and south hemisphere style. The two saw Zora and the hurt N and quickly ran over. Zora was still whispering comforting words to him as he was still crying slightly. N's Pokemon were by him now calming him as well.

"What happened here," the female asked as she started to tend to N's wound, with the biggest one being a long but not deep cut. Zora turned to them and snarled... and I mean actually snarled. The other two were scared now when they recognized who it was. "Zora," the female asked as Zora recognized who it was.

"Aunt Lenora," he said surprised that his 'Aunt' was there. Lenora sweatdropped a little at the aunt part. She nodded and tended to N's wounds again. The male then noticed the Pokemon.

"Are these Pokemon yours or his," the male asked as he gave each of them a sitrus berry. They ate them happily and the male turned back to Zora. Lenora and the male still didn't notice Victini.

"The Sneasel is mine, but the others are his," he told them. Lenora nodded. "Hey Uncle Hawes? Why are you guys here?" Hawes chuckled before answering.

"We actually saw you running towards the forest and followed you encase there was trouble," he answered to which Zora nodded. "And then we heard what sounded like fighting followed by explosions. We then came upon this sight." Zora sighed before he looked at Victini.

"Are you what they were after," he asked the little Pokemon to which it nodded. Hawes and Lenora were shocked at seeing the LEGENDARY Victini that was right in front of them. Zora then pulled out a couple of sandwiches from his backpack and handed them to the Pokemon. "Here, you must be hungry. They are made of my own blend of Oran and Sitrus Berries mixed in with some Lum Berries." Victini took it and ate with vigor. This caused a laugh from Zora, Lenora, Hawes, and N, who had some bandages on him. Zora smiled at N, before N fainted to which Zora caught him. He grabbed his Pokeballs and returned N's Team before pocketing them away into N's bag. Zora looked at Lenora and Hawes, who nodded and they headed towards town. Zora looked back at Victini and waved good-bye. "It was nice to see you Victini, but we have to go and heal our friends. Bye." With that, they left towards town. Victini stood there contemplating things before coming to a decision. It turned invisible and flew towards the town to look for Zora.

With Ash:

Ash gritted his teeth as Zorua was blown back by another Bullet Seed by Cilan's Pansage. He had already won against Chili, but lost against Cress and his Panpour. Now it was just Cilan and his Pansage vs. him and Zorua.

"Zorua, go for another Faint Attack," Ash told Zorua as he disappeared. He then reappeared next to Pansage and hit him with full force. Pansage flew back and landed on his feet panting a little. Cilan was taken back by the attack, before he concentrated.

"All right Pansage," he told his grass monkey. "It's time to use the power of the sun. Use Solarbeam." Pansage nodded before he gathered energy from the sun which then turned into a ball of energy. Pansage grabbed the ball and released in a yellow beam of light. Ash was worried. Zorua had taken a very large beating even though it was a higher level then Pansage. He then came up with an idea, though it was a long shot.

"Zorua, use Faint Attack to dodge at the right moment," Ash called out to Zorua, who nodded. "Then use Night Daze while Pansage is trying to regain it's energy." He said at the right time, because not a moment to soon did the beam reach Zorua.

BOOM

A cloud of dust covered the battle field.

"ZORUA," Ash yelled.

"PANSAGE," Cilan yelled as well. The dust cleared to reveal...

With Zora (hahahaha):

Zora had just gotten N to the Pokemon Center and into his room. Lenora and Hawes had gone the Officer Jenny's to tell them about Team Plasma. Zora sighed as he re-attended to any of N's wounds that weren't covered. N's Pokemon were with Nurse Joy in the I.C.U. Team Plasma really did a number on them and Zora promised that Team Plasma would pay for this.

He had just finished when he heard a small, 'Tini'. He looked around and didn't see anything besides Sneasel, Emerald, and Pignite who were all sleeping on the floor. He heard the sound again and then saw a sandwich float out of his bag before it disappeared in bites. He sighed before chuckling slightly.

"Victini, you can come out now," he said to apparently no one. Nothing happened before a small whit and orange body came out of thin air. Victini looked at Zora with big blue eyes and laughed childishly.

"Tini Vic Vic Victini Tini Vic (Hey Zora! I just wanted to ask you something. Is that alright?)," Victini asked and upon seeing Zora's nod continued. "Tini Tini Vic Tini Vic Vic Ti Vic Victini (Well you see, I was trapped in this tower after my first owner kept me there to keep me safe from evil humans. Well a couple of weeks ago, those guys found my 'home' and blew up the door before storming inside. They said that they wanted to use my powers to liberate Pokemon, or something like that, and tried to catch me. I escaped and later found that boy. But those guys found us and attacked, when you came and helped us.)." Zora nodded unsure of what it would say next. "Tini ti Tini Vic Victini (Well, I want to join your team. I want to become strong so that I can defeat those people if they try to catch me again.)." Zora was shocked. A legendary Pokemon, the Victory Pokemon no less, wanted to join his team. Zora nodded but wanted for Victini to make sure.

"Are sure about this Victini," he asked the Psychic-Fire Type. "Because I won't force you to do this." Victini nodded in a serious manner. "All right then." With that, Zora pulled out a Pokeball and expanded it. "Pokeball GO." The red and white ball flew at Victini and hit him in the head. He was then absorbed by a red light and the ball only shook once before pinging signaling a capture (super catch). Zora picked up the ball and let Victini out. "Welcome to the team Victini." Victini smiled before taking a nap with the other four Pokemon. Zora returned his attention to N who was stirring.

Back with Ash:

Ash cheered as he held up the Striaton Gym badge. When the smoke had cleared, an unconscious Pansage was seen with a loudly panting Zorua still standing. Cress had declared Zorua and Ash the winners when Zorua fainted in Ash's hands. He then received the Gym badge and quickly went towards the Pokemon Center. In the center, Ash got his Pokemon healed by Nurse Joy and he went towards the computers to call Prof. Juniper and Oak. He called the Lab and the call was instantly picked up by a worried looking Delia.

"Ash, Where have you've been," she asked the boy who sweatdropped. Iris was walking into the Center looking for Ash.

"Well I'm at the Striaton City Pokemon Center. I just won the Gym Badge," Ash explained showing the badge to his mother who giggled at her son's antics. Prof. Juniper and Oak then appeared on the screen after they heard what happened.

"Ahh, Ash my boy," Oak said as he saw the badge. "Already won the first badge eh?" Ash nodded. "That's very good." Juniper started to talk then.

"Did you give the package to Zora yet," Juniper said only to be disappointed when he shook his head.

"He was already passed this city with it's badge a couple days ago," Ash explained. "At least that's what the gym leaders said." Juniper nodded before she remembered something else. Iris had just found Ash by then and was listening to the conversation.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," Juniper said when Oak started to panic as well. "Ash, did you know that if traveled through at least 3 regions and obtained their Gym badges that you can increase your party carrying capacity to 12?" Ash shook his head no. "Well would you like to accept?" Ash nodded furiously wanting to be able to carry more of his friends around. Oak laughed a little and typed something on Juniper's computer, getting a 'HEY' from her.

"Alright Ash, all you need to do now is connect your Pokedex to the computer and I'll do the rest," Oak told him. Ash nodded and connected his Pokedex to the computer. A beep was heard and he took his Pokedex. He went to the I.D page and it said

'Trainer: Ash Ketchum

I.D #: 3982637

Regions Traveled through: 4

Badges won: 32

Carrying Capacity of Pokemon: 12'

Ash nodded to the Professors that information was recorded. He then pocketed his Pokedex, said good-bye to the trio and shut the computer off. He turned around and screamed when he saw Iris. He then calmed down, they chatted and he went to collect his Pokemon. Once doing so, he headed outside of the Pokemon Center and went towards Route 3 when he heard someone calling him. He saw that Iris was next to him so he started to look around. He saw a familiar green haired gym leader and stopped to see what he wanted. Cilan had a pack on his back and that confused Ash.

"H-Hello Ash," the grass gym leader huffed. "I'm glad I caught you in time. You see I did some thinking and... I wanted to know if I could join you on your journey?" Ash was surprised but didn't show it. He nodded but had to know why.

"Why though Cilan," he asked the connoisseur. Cilan gained his breath before talking again.

"Because I want to see the entire Unova region and to increase my connoisseur abilities," he told Ash. "I want evaluate people and their Pokemon." Ash nodded and agreed along with Iris. "Great. Thank you for this opportunity. They then headed towards Route 3 with Pikachu and Meowth on Ash's shoulder and head respectively. Ash was confident that he could win the badges and find Zora to give him that package.

That's a rap. Wonder what'll happen next, huh? Stay tuned to find out. Also, I'm gonna keep on switching between Ash and Zora until they meet up. And that'll probably be next chapter, hopefully. Anyways stay tuned for the next Pokemon B&W: Zora Fire.

'Kyroshiro Out'