Chapter 3! Please tell me what you think! :)

By that afternoon, after Ivy had forced the weirdness of that guy Ash out of her head, she decided to stop by a local pond on her way to the next town for lunch and a rest. She set her egg down by her backpack, and kept an eye on it as Pikachu helped her lay out a picnic blanket. Once that was done, she got out some of her homemade Pokémon food out. She then brought her backpack and the egg over to her picnic blanket, and let out a content sigh.

Taking her four other PokéBalls out, Ivy asked, "Ready to see some of your old friends again?"

"Pika!" Pikachu replied excitedly.

"Alright," Ivy smiled. She tossed her four Pokéballs up in the air, and called, "C'mon out, everyone!"

From the PokéBalls emerged four Pokémon: Ivysaur, Gyarados, Arcanine and Dragonite. All four seemed more than ecstatic to see their Trainer once again. They all attacked her with affection. Ivysaur pounced on her and licked her face, as did Arcanine, Dragonite lifted her into the air with a hug, and dropped her down to Gyarados in the pond, who tossed her up onto its head with its tail, and she held onto its crest, laughing as the enormous Pokémon swam around the lake with her in the air.

Once Gyarados placed her safely on the ground, Ivy was recovering from her absolute fit of laughter.

"I'm glad to see you guys too!" she exclaimed, beaming at all of her Pokémon. "It's been quite some time, but I hope you're ready to compete in my home league, the Abuna League, and go to all my home region Contests!"

All of the Pokémon cheered in response, as their Trainer beamed back at them. Ivy trotted over to pick up her new egg, which she held up to present to her Pokémon.

"And pretty soon, this egg'll hatch, and we'll have a new member of the family!" Ivy told her Pokémon.

Again, all her Pokémon cheered happily. Ivy felt full of joy, reunited with her old friends and a new one on the way. She felt ready to take on the Abuna League.

Ash Ketchum sat in his room at the Pokémon Center, trying to strategize for his upcoming battle with the Star City Gym Leader. Nurse Joy had told him that the Gym Leader specialized in Ground-type Pokémon, so he knew Pikachu would be of no use...speaking of Pikachu, he just couldn't get that Ivy girl and her Pikachu out of his head.

It was just...strange. That Ivy girl looked so much like him, if he'd been a girl. Same hair color, same eye color, same skin tone...they even dressed similarly, like boy and girl versions of the the same outfit. It was uncanny, even to Ash, who was usually oblivious to almost everything that everyone else found obvious. Ivy even had a Pikachu, who would've been identical to his, if it didn't have the tuft of spiky hair on the top of its head.

Could it all be one big coincidence? It must be.

A sudden knock at the door broke Ash from his thoughts. Sighing, he rose, leaving Pikachu sitting on the bed to watch him. Thinking that he'd find Nurse Joy or Chansey on the other side of the door, Ash was more than surprised when an unfamiliar girl with bubblegum colored curly pigtails beneath a baby blue bandana nearly knocked him off his feet with a hug.

"IVY I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE HERE!" the girl screeched in a nearly unbearably annoying voice. "I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET UP IN GRAPEVINE TOWN!"

In the nicest way possible, Ash removed the girl from him, holding her at shoulder length with an uneasy smile, as he said, "Um, sorry, I'm not Ivy. My name's Ash.

The girl stared at him for a minute with her bright blue eyes, and then suddenly leapt and winced in embarrassment. Taking a step back, the girl's face flushed, as she uncomfortably replied, "Oh, wow, I'm so, so sorry...I thought...I thought you were my friend, Ivy….sorry, I don't mean you look like a girl, really...it's just you look a lot like her from the back, if she got a haircut, and you're wearing the same colors as she usually wears, and her Pikachu always rides on her shoulder….and wow, this is so embarrassing…"

Laughing, though laughing awkwardly, Ash scratched the back of his head, and responded, "Oh, no big deal. I met Ivy earlier. She has the Pikachu with the spiky hair and she wears her hair in long braids, right?"

"Yeah," the girl in the overalls nodded, eyes widening. "That's Ivy."

"Yeah, I get it, we look similar and both have a Pikachu," Ash said. "Anyway, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, I'm Daisy!" the girl grinned, flashing a cutesy smile and a peace sign with her hands in pink and green gloves. "I'm from Mauville City, in the Hoenn Region!"

"And I'm from Pallet Town, in the Kanto Region," Ash informed her. "Since you're from Hoenn, do you know May Maple? I used to travel with her."

Immediately, Daisy's eyes lit up, as she held her face with excitement, exclaiming, "You mean THE May Maple?! Daughter of the Petalburg City Gym Leader, Norman?! You actually travelled with her?! WOW!"

Backing off awkwardly, Ash was relieved with Pikachu bumbled over curiously, as he said, "This is my partner, Pikachu."

"Oh, what a sweetheart!" Daisy exclaimed, helping herself to pinching Pikachu's red cheeks.

She succeeded in making the Pokémon as uncomfortable as she'd made his Trainer. However, before she could do anything else, all three of their stomachs roared with hunger, causing everyone to blush.

"You want to grab some lunch with me, Ash and Pikachu of Pallet Town?" Daisy asked.

Since Ash was polite and didn't know anyone else in the region, he nodded, and said, "Sure."

About an hour later, Daisy, Ash, and Pikachu had finished eating their lunch in the cafeteria. By now, Daisy seemed less crazy to the two, and they'd all been getting along pretty well. Daisy was even full of useful information about the Abuna Region - like the fact that the Star City Gym Leader only accepted challengers on Fridays, and that today was Saturday, so Ash would have to wait a week to challenge him. But, the next town over had a Gym that accepted challengers any day of the week, so it'd make more sense if he went there for his first Gym Battle.

Also, Daisy said her first Contest would be held there in a few days. So, they planned to travel there together, where Daisy wanted to meet up with her old friend, Ivy, a fact that Ash didn't know how to process.