Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.

Here's chapter 22 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.

"- Human speech

' - Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Salem winced as she saw Pikachu crash down in front of her. The battle had gone badly from the start as Mareep had fallen to Wattson's Voltorb. Luxray had come in but then suffered badly at the hands of a Self Destruct from Voltorb. Wattson had then sent out Electibuzz which had managed to defeat Luxray after a long battle. This left Pikachu who took down Electibuzz but it had taken a lot out of her which was why Ampharos was now tossing her around. Salem was amazed that Pikachu managed to keep getting up and was now wishing that she had swapped Mareep for Jolteon as he would have been invaluable in this battle.

Ash watched on as Pikachu continued to get battered by Ampharos and knew that this match was pretty much lost. He looked to his right and saw that Plusle and Minun who had been dancing and cheering a the start of the battle were now looking glumly at the battle. To his left he heard Raichu growling and when he turned his attention to the mouse he knew that the only way Salem would win this is by Pikachu evolving. He picked up her bag and quickly opened it but he couldn't see the Thunder Stone at first. After rummaging around he found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

"Salem catch!" Ash yelled.

Salem looked at Ash as he threw the stone towards her. Salem caught the stone and looked from the stone to Pikachu and then to Wattson .

"You can use that if you want." Wattson said.

Pikachu slowly walked back to Salem, she would have moved faster but it felt like her body would give in to exhaustion if she tried. Once Pikachu was stood in front of Salem she watched as her trainer got on her knees and held the Thunder Stone out. Pikachu slowly extended her arm and touched the stone which forced everyone to shield their eyes as she shone white. A few seconds later the light died down revealing a Raichu where Pikachu had once stood. She quickly started to test out her new body and was impressed with both the speed and strength increase she had gotten.

Meanwhile she wasn't the only one who was impressed with her new form. On the sidelines Raichu was entranced as he watched her get used to her new body. Raichu blushed when he saw that thanks to her speed training as a Pikachu she gotten the more athletic build which meant that her more feminine feature could be seen. He had been blocking everything out until he felt something jab him in the ribs. He looked to his right and saw Meowth smirking at him.

"Hey Romeo you're drooling." Meowth commented.

Raichu's blush intensified and he quickly wiped away the drool that had in fact been trickling from his mouth. He stomped away from Meowth and sat on the ground feeling embarrassed as he heard Meowth still chuckling.

On the battlefield Raichu had finally stopped testing out her new body and was now stood in front of Salem ready to win this battle.

"Shall we continue our battle?" Wattson asked.

"Yes and thanks for letting me use the Thunder Stone."

"No need to thank me. Your Pikachu was clearly ready to evolve so I thought it would be fair for you two allow her to evolve. Now I believe we have a match to finish."

"Yes we do. Raichu use Thunderbolt."

"Match it with your Thunderbolt."

Bolts of electricity shot off of Raichu and Ampharos clashing in the middle of the battlefield. After a short battle Raichu's Thunderbolt started to gradually push Ampharos' back. Ampharos desperately tried to put more power into his Thunderbolt which was a mistake as the extra power made the attacks explode right in front of him. The explosion sent Ampharos flying back finally coming to a stop when he slammed into the wall behind Wattson. He quickly pulled got back on to the battlefield and was ready to continue.

"Use Signal Beam."

"Dodge it with Quick Attack then use Iron Tail."

Ampharos formed a white orb in front of him and shot a strange multi coloured beam at Raichu. The mouse quickly reacted by shooting off at an immense speed which allowed her to easily dodge the Signal Beam. She then charged at Ampharos who was looking around trying to spot her but could only see blurred white streaks. Ampharos then let out a pained cry as he felt something very hard slam into his side. He looked right and saw Raichu smirked at him, she then pulled her tail back and slammed it into him again. This made Ampharos collapse as he felt an immense amount of pain rushing through him.

"Hit her with a Thunder Punch."

"Duck underneath it and use your Thunder Punch then use Iron Tail."

Ampharos called on all of his strength to get up and through his fist at Raichu however the punch missed by a mile. He looked down and saw Raichu who's fist was now crackling smirking at him. Before he could do anything to try and stop the attack Raichu hit him with an electric infused uppercut. The power behind the punch sent him into the air, Raichu jumped above him and her tail turned metallic again. She then swung her tail down and it smashed into Ampharos' face sending him crashing to the ground. Raichu landed gracefully in front of Salem and watched as Ampharos stagger to his feet. Salem was amazed that he had gotten up from that but even more surprised at the incredible power and speed boost Raichu had gotten. She saw Ampharos fall to his knees and saw that this was her chance to finish the battle.

"End this with Volt Tackle!"

Raichu became surrounded in electricity and charged at Ampharos. The Light Pokémon saw Raichu and tried to move his aching body but he couldn't move a muscle. Moments later he felt Raichu slam into him which was all it took to sap the last of his strength. Ampharos He gave Raichu a respectful look and then his eyes closed ad he collapsed.

"Ampharos is unable to battle. Since all three of Wattson's Pokémon have fainted Salem wins."

Salem let out a sigh of relief before being knocked to the ground by Raichu who had leapt at her. Salem giggled as Raichu nuzzled her and hugged her tightly. The mouse let her trainer get up when they saw that Wattson had walked over to them. He held out his hand showing Salem a Dynamo Badge.

"Congratulations Salem here is your Dynamo badge."

Salem took the badge with pride and placed it in her pocket with the Stone Badge and the Knuckle Badge.

"Thank you Wattson. You know if you hadn't let me use that Thunder Stone then you'd have won."

"I know but I let you evolve Pikachu because she was ready just like Chimchar was. If I thought that Pikachu wasn't ready then I wouldn't have allowed you to use the Thunder Stone."

Salem smiled at the old man and then turned to Ash who had walked over. He smiled at her and handed over her bag as Plusle and Minun jumped on to her shoulders. .

"Way to go Salem. That was a great match." Ash said.

"Thanks Ash."

Ash and Salem turned back to Wattson who was grinning at them. They both shook the old man's hand and clapped them both on the back.

"Thanks for the battle Wattson. I learned a lot from it" Ash said.

"Yeah and my battle with you was my hardest gym battle so far." Salem commented.

"Wahahahah! It was a pleasure to battle you both." Wattson replied.

"Goodbye." Ash and Salem said.

"Wahahahah! Go forth and endeavour youngsters! I swell with optimism, seeing a couple of promising young trainers like you. Farewell."

Ash and Salem walked out of the gym and headed towards the Pokémon Centre to get their Pokémon healed and swap some of their Pokémon.

They walked into the Pokémon Centre and handed the ones who had fought in the gym battles to Nurse Joy. She took the Pokéballs and Raichu from Ash and Salem and walked out into the back room. After a ten minute wait Nurse Joy came back out and handed the Pokéballs back to Ash and Salem as Raichu stood next to her trainer. Ash and Salem placed their Pokéballs back on their belts and then looked at both of the Raichu.

"Hey now that I think about it, isn't it going to be confusing calling them both Raichu?" Ash asked.

"Yeah you're right." Salem replied.

"Why don't you call him Rai and call her Chu?" Meowth suggested.

Ash and Salem were both impressed by Meowth's quick thinking. They looked at both of the Raichu and saw them nod while giving them a thumbs up. Ash and Salem smiled at Rai and Chu happy that they liked the idea. Ash then looked over to the phone area and his need to call both Professor Oak and Brock came to mind.

"Hey Salem I need to call Professor Oak. While I do that could you get us a couple of rooms for the night?"

"Sure."

Ash walked over to the phones while Salem started enquiring about a couple of rooms. He sat down as Salem went up stairs and he picked up the phone. He thought about calling Brock first but he wanted to swap his Pokémon and if he waited Professor Oak might not be there. So he dialled Professor Oak's number and after a few seconds the phone was picked up by Professor Oak who appeared on the screen.

"Hi Professor."

"Hello Ash. I'm glad that you called. I just had someone trade for one of your Tauros."

"That's awesome Professor. What Pokémon did he give me for Tauros?"

"You have gotten a Meowstic."

Ash was in shock, he had never expected to get a strong psychic type like Meowstic for one of his Tauros.

"Do you know why he wanted to trade Meowstic?"

"Well all he said was that the Meowstic's personality didn't match what he wanted."

Ash could understand why most people would feel that way. Meowstic were known for having a stoic, virtually emotionless nature. They always wore a blank expression which made it almost impossible to know what they are feeling. Some had even theorised that Meowstic were devoid of emotion but Ash didn't believe that for a second. However theories like that were one of the main reasons trainers didn't tend to train Meowstic. Most trainers were also unnerved by the lack of emotion they showed.

"Ok well thanks getting me Meowstic Professor."

"It's my pleasure Ash. So what can I help you with?"

"I want to exchange some Pokémon. I'm sending you Charizard, Wartortle, Meganium, Treecko, Monferno and Sandshrew. In return could you send me Meowstic, Heracross and Kingler?"

"Okay Ash I'll go get them."

Ash placed his Pokéballs in the machine and waited for Professor Oak to return. A few minutes later he returned and placed three Pokéballs in the machine in his lab. They both pressed a button and Ash watched as his six Pokéballs vanished and three quickly took their place. He picked up the Pokéballs and quickly placed them on his belt.

"Thanks Professor. See ya"

"No problem Ash. Farewell."

Ash and Professor Oak hung up and then Ash dialled Brock's number into the phone. He looked around and didn't spot Salem so he felt safe to talk. After a minute or so the phone was picked up but he was disappointed to see that it was one of Brock's sisters who had picked the phone up.

"Hi Ash."

"Hi Suzie is Brock there?"

"Sorry Ash but he's not here."

"Oh well do you know when he'll get back?"

"It will be at least a week."

"A week? Where has he gone?"

"He's gone to Hoenn. Misty came here yesterday and told him she was going to something called the Togepi Festival that's being held in Hoenn."

"Ok well thanks for the information Suzie. Goodbye."

"Bye Ash."

Ash put the phone down and sighed wondering what he was gonna do now. The only thing he could do was go to the Togepi Festival but he didn't know where it was or when it was taking place. Sadly Nurse Joy was in the emergency room working on some of the Pokémon who hadn't had as much luck against Wattson. Since he had nothing else to do Ash decided that he might as well meet his new Meowstic

Ash threw Meowstic's Pokéball and it appeared in the Pokémon Centre quickly looking around the room to analyse it's surroundings. He was quite pleased to see that it was a female Meowstic as they focus more on attack than defence. Ash saw that Meowstic was now looking at him and was shocked to see that she wasn't looking at him with a cold emotionless stare. She was in fact smiling brightly at him and her eyes were soft and caring. This was the complete opposite to what he was expecting, Meowstic was now looking at him strangely and Ash realised that he still hadn't said anything. He got down on his knees so he was at eye level and smiled at her.

"Hi, my name is Ash and I'm your new trainer."

Meowstic looked at Ash for a moment trying to read him, then to everyone's surprise she stepped forward and hugged him. The action shocked Ash however he quickly returned the embrace. After a while she pulled back and smiled at him. Ash smiled back and he gently rubbed her head which made her purr.

"Well you're not exactly what I was expecting." Ash admitted.

The smile on Meowstic's face vanished and she looked down sadly. Ash was confused and was wondering what he'd said wrong. He then became worried when he saw a tear trickle down her face. He quickly picked the feline up and hugged her tightly.

"Hey why are you upset?" Ash asked softly.

Meowstic looked up at Ash through tear filled eyes and muttered a response. Ash looked at Rai who was stood next to him.

'She says that you're her third trainer now. Her previous trainers wanted her to be a cold hearted battler like the rest of her species but it wasn't in her nature which is why she's been traded.' Rai said.

Ash felt sorry for Meowstic, it must have been terrible for her to be traded just because of her personality. He looked at the feline and wiped her tears away.

"Meowstic I promise that I will never get rid of you. I think you are a very special Pokémon who will be a wonderful addition to our family."

The smile returned to Meowstic's face and she nuzzled Ash happily which made Ash laugh as her fur tickled his skin. When she stopped nuzzling him Ash spotted Nurse Joy behind the main desk. He recalled Meowstic and walked over to Nurse Joy.

"Hey Nurse Joy do you know anything about the Togepi Festival?"

"Yes I do in fact I think I have a poster around here somewhere."

Nurse Joy disappeared behind her desk and started rummaging through the shelves which were stacked with various bits of paper. After a few minutes she finally found the poster, she yanked it out which was not a good decision as it made all of the things that had been stacked in top of it fall off the shelf littering the floor. Nurse joy stood back up with a blush on her face showing her embarrassment and handed a poster to Ash. He looked at the poster and was interested especially when it said that there would be a doubles tournament with a mystery prize. However he realised that they would have to get a move on tomorrow as the festival starts in four days time.

"This sounds awesome. I've gotta go and compete in this tournament."

"I actually went to the festival last year and it was a lot of fun."

"Well I will definitely check it out. Hey do you need a hand picking up all of that stuff?" Ash asked as he looked at the paper covered floor.

"Thanks Ash I'd appreciate that."

Ash jumped over the desk and with the help of Rai, Meowth, Ralts and Eevee they started to clear the floor.

Once all of the paper had been picked up and organised Ash walked upstairs and found Salem and her Pokémon lying on the bed. Ash, Rai and Meowth all went and took a seat on the bed while Eevee and Ralts chose to remain on Ash's shoulders.

"Hey Salem where is the key to my room?" Ash asked.

Salem shoved her hand in her pocket and pulled out a key and presented it to Ash.

"Here you go."

Ash took the offered key and pocketed it.

"Thanks. So shall we go and see if there's anything to eat in the cafeteria? We haven't eaten in about.." Ash looked at his watch. "Nine hours! How have we gone nine hours without eating?"

"Well I'm guessing that our gym battles distracted us. Also we had a pretty big breakfast thanks to Catherine and George."

"True. Anyway are coming with me?"

"Yeah I have to admit I am feeling hungry."

Ash, Salem and their Pokémon left the room and after Ash put his bag in his room they went to the cafeteria. They returned to their rooms an hour later with full stomachs. Once in their rooms they sent out their Pokémon and spent the rest of the evening with them before finally lying down and going to sleep.

The next morning Ash and Salem woke up bright and early. After telling Salem about the Togepi Festival she had also been desperate to get to the Mirage Kingdom and compete in the tournament which was why they had gotten up earlier than usual. They handed their rooms keys to Nurse Joy and walked out the Pokémon Centre and headed towards the northern exit of Mauville City which led to Route 111. The journey to The Mirage Kingdom would take about three days which when the tournament starts in five days time meant that they were walking at a faster than normal speed.

As lunch time approached Ash and Salem started to look for somewhere to stop and have lunch. As they were looking Ash spotted a couple of trainers lying down by the path, he quickly made his way over to them worried that they were hurt. He turned them over and his eyes widened at what he saw, Rai and Meowth then walked over and had a similar reaction to Ash. Salem looked curiously at the trio and when she looked at the trainers she burst laughing as the drawings that littered their faces. She stopped laughing when Ash, Rai and Meowth backed away from the trainers and started looking around worriedly.

"Where the hell is she?" Ash mumbled.

'I-I don't know.' Rai replied.

"I thought dat we'd seen da last of her in Johto." Meowth added.

A bush to their right shook and the trio let out a surprised yell. Salem looked to the bush and watched as a small, round, pink Pokémon walked out of the bush. Salem squealed at the cute little fairy type Pokémon in front of her. She walked forward and picked up the Pokémon giving it a tight hug.

"This Jigglypuff is so adorable."

Ash watched Salem hug the Pokémon that had followed and drawn over him for over over three years. Jigglypuff then placed her microphone to her mouth which made Ash quickly pull five Chesto Berries out of his bag and pass four of them to his Pokémon. Ralts and Eevee looked confusedly at their dad wondering why he had given them the berries.

"When Jigglypuff starts to sing eat the berries. Trust me."

Eevee and Ralts nodded trusting their dad wholeheartedly. Jigglypuff then started to sing making Ash and his Pokémon take a bite out of the berry. Salem smiled as she heard Jigglypuff sing but after a minute she started to feel drowsy, she looked down at Chu who had fallen to sleep. She listened to Jigglypuff for a few more seconds until everything went black. Ash quickly moved forward and caught Salem before she hit the ground, he gently laid her on the ground and watched as Jigglypuff glared at Salem and Chu. She removed the cap from her marker pen and walked towards Salem.

"Wait Jigglypuff just listen to what I have to say and then you can do what you want."

The fairy stopped where she was and looked at Ash willing to hear him out..

"Jigglypuff your species are known for your singing because it is like a lullaby which means it puts people to sleep."

Jigglypuff looked down sadly at Ash's words, a sense of guilt and sorrow built up in her.

"Hey I'm not mad at you. I can understand why you drew on us after all I'd be pretty mad if someone fell asleep while I sang to them."

Ash watched as a small smile made it's way back on to Jigglypuff's face.

"I have an idea you see my mother owns a restaurant and she's always looking for some entertainment for the customers. What I am suggesting is that you sing for the people in the restaurant."

"Uh boss there's still the problem of people just falling to sleep?" Meowth said.

"I was just getting to that. The answer is simple we make sure that any customers have either a meal or drink that uses Chesto Berries. That way they won't fall to sleep."

All of the Pokémon nodded seeing the logic in Ash's plan.

"So what do you think?"

Jigglypuff nodded which brought a smile to Ash's face.

"That's great, in a few days I'll send you to my mother. I know for a fact that she'll love you."

Suddenly Ash heard a groan to his right, he looked down and saw Salem waking up.

"What happened?" Salem asked.

"You fell asleep and had it no been for me well you'd look like those two trainers." Ash said as he pointed at the still sleeping trainers.

Salem looked gratefully at Ash and then at Jigglypuff who was pouting. Salem got up and took Jigglypuff from Ash, the Balloon Pokémon looked away from Salem.

"I'm sorry Jigglypuff, for what it's worth I think you have a very good singing voice." Salem said,

Jigglypuff looked at Salem and could by the look in her eyes that she was being genuine, the Balloon Pokémon patted Salem shoulder and responded. When Jigglypuff had finished talking Salem looked at Meowth hoping for a translation.

"She says dat you're forgiven."

Salem smiled and hugged Jigglypuff tightly which the Balloon Pokémon enjoyed.

"So what are we gonna do about them?" Ash asked.

"Well how long are they gonna be unconscious?" Salem replied.

Ash was about to answer when they heard the trainers groan.

"Well I think that answers your question." Ash stated.

"Personally I think we should leave them. It could be kinda embarrassing for them to wake up and find two trainers laughing because of that marker pen all over their faces."

"I agree. Come on guys let's get going."

The group quickly ran away from the young trainers who woke up and laughed at each other because of the drawing on the others face, they then turned bright red when they found out that they had similar drawing on their face.

Notes

Next chapter we start the Mirage Kingdom storyline which was one of my favourite parts of the original version of this story.

I felt that Jigglypuff needed a bit more to her story as she just faded out of the animé.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.

Ash:

Kanto - Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros(x24), Snorlax, Sandshrew & Eevee (Shiny)

Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Tyrogue & Sneasel

Hoenn - Marshtomp, Nincada, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye & Ralts

Sinnoh - Monferno

Kalos - Meowstic

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Meowstic, Heracross, Kingler, Sableye, Tyrogue, Ralts & Eevee + Jigglypuff (not officially captured.)

Salem:

Kanto - Raichu & Jolteon

Johto - Chinchou & Mareep

Hoenn - Plusle & Minun

Sinnoh - Luxray

Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Mareep, Chinchou, Luxray, Plusle & Minun