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

Sorry for another delayed chapter. A lot of work came up in the last couple of weeks and with the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire my fanfics were pushed aside.

Here's chapter 39 I hope you enjoy it

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'

"- Telepathy

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

"Celebi." Ash gasped.

The Legendary looked at Ash with a smile on her face and gave him a nod. She then turned her gaze to the Team Firestorm grunts and their Pokémon, she glared at them with eyes filled with rage. She released a shockwave of psychic energy that knocked all the grunts and Pokémon off their feet. They quickly got back up and shrank back under Celebi's glare. A tornado filled with leaves started to slowly form around Celebi as her eyes glowed blue.

"You messed with the wrong human and now you are gonna pay for that."

"P-P-Poochyena g-get rid of that pixie." One of the grunts stammered.

Poochyena looked from his trainer to the massive tornado that was swirling around Celebi and his legs started to shake as he backed away from the Legendary.

'Screw that, I'm outta here.' Poochyena replied.

The Poochyena went to run but he was stopped as the powerful tornado started to pull him in. Poochyena whimpered as he was dragged into the whirlwind, he scratched desperately at the ground in attempt to stop himself from being sucked into the vortex however it was a futile attempt as the power of Celebi's Leaf Storm was just too powerful. Poochyena was trapped in the vortex of leaves and howled in agony as the leaves slashed his flesh. The rest of the grunts Pokémon and then the grunts themselves were all dragged into the tornado and screams of pain filled the room. After several moments the tornado imploded which sent all of the people and Pokémon inside it crashing into the walls. Celebi unleashed one more wave of psychic energy that knocked out any of them that were still conscious.

"Now you won't be bothering anyone again for a long time."

Celebi calmed herself down and then floated over to Ash, she smiled at him and then sat on his shoulder while she nuzzled him. Ash got over his shock at the legendary appearing and stroked her head which made her sigh happily.

"Celebi what are you doing here?"

"We can talk after we get out of here."

Ash nodded and then walked over to Vanya who has wide eyed and her jaw had dropped.

"I-is that a C-C-Celebi?" Vanya asked in disbelief.

Celebi turned to face Vanya and her eyes glowed blue, seconds later Vanya collapsed to the ground landing next to her brother. Ash immediately got on his knees and cradled the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Vanya! Celebi what did you do to her?" Ash asked angrily.

"The same thing I did to the grunts, I just knocked her out and erased her memory of me. I'm sorry Ash but she cannot know of my existence, it's too risky having other people know about me."

Ash could see the logic in Celebi's actions and calmed himself down.

"It's okay Celebi I understand. I guess I'll tell her that I distracted the grunts somehow and got them both out of the base. Come on we better go before someone comes and investigates all that noise you just made."

Celebi looked away sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry about that Ash, I was just really angry after what they did to you and I just snapped."

Ash gently took the grass type out off of his shoulder and hugged her tightly, Celebi snuggled into the embrace as she enjoyed being in Ash's arms. They held the embrace for a few moments and then broke apart, Ash placed Vibrava, Plusle and Minun on Vanya and picked her up bridal style while Celebi lifted Thalion up with Psychic.

"Right let's go."

Celebi nodded and led Ash towards the entrance to the base, an alarm suddenly started to echo through the base. Ash and Celebi picked up the pace as they realized that the unconscious grunts had been found and they had no doubt that the majority of the grunts in the base would be chasing after them now.

A few minutes later Ash and Celebi got out of the base and they quickly made their way out of Meteor Falls. Once outside Celebi gently placed Thalion on the floor and Ash put Vanya next to him.

"I need to go back into the G.S. Ball for now Ash just in case there are any people outside. When we're alone I promise that we'll talk."

"Ok Celebi."

The G.S. Ball and Celebi glowed and then the Legendary disappeared, Ash placed the G.S. Ball into one of his pockets and looked at Thalion and Vanya. He now started to wonder what he was gonna do now since there was no way he could carry them both.

"Stay where you are!" Someone yelled.

Ash looked away from Thalion and Vanya towards where the voice came from and saw several police vehicles lined up outside of Meteor Falls, he stayed still as instructed and watched as a few of the officers slowly approached him. He was relieved to see an Officer Jenny at the front of them.

"Ash? Ash Ketchum is that you?"

"Yeah it's me." Ash replied.

Officer Jenny turned around to face the other officers.

"Everyone stand down. This boy is not who we're after. I want you all to enter Meteor Falls and arrest and suspicious characters. I also need the medics over here now" Officer Jenny

Ash quickly stepped aside as several police officers poured into Meteor Falls, a few medical personnel then walked over to Vanya and Thalion and began examining them. After checking the siblings they asked for stretchers to be brought over. Ash watched worriedly as Thalion and Vanya were placed on stretchers and then carried over to an ambulance. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up seeing Officer Jenny.

"It's okay Ash they'll take care of your friends."

"Yeah, yeah you're right."

"So Ash what are you doing here?"

"Well at first I was here to see Meteor Falls but then I spotted some Team Firestorm members and then everything went sideways."

Officer Jenny looked quizzically at Ash, she knew that tone meant that he didn't really want to talk about it but she needed to know at least the basics about what happened in there.

"What do you mean?" Officer Jenny asked.

Ash sighed and walked over to the nearby bench, he took a seat and was quickly joined by Officer Jenny.

"Here's the short version…." Ash started.

Ash gave Officer Jenny a brief explanation of what had happened in the base and by the end Officer Jenny had a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry about what happened in there Ash, I know you must be in pain at the minute which is why I won't ask you to give me a full report about what happened right now. I'll give you a couple of days to get your head straight and then I'll need you to go to the police station."

"Okay Officer Jenny. Thanks for giving me some time."

"No problem Ash. Now I want you to get in the ambulance with your friends and get a ride back to Rustboro so the cut on your head can get stitched up."

"Yes ma'am." Ash replied.

Ash walked away from Officer Jenny and headed over to the ambulance, he climbed into the back and squeezed between the two stretchers that Vanya and Thalion were on. He sat down and he felt his eyelids starting to get heavy, a few minutes later Ash's eyes fully closed and he fell to sleep.

Ash was woken by the ambulance suddenly stopping, the back doors of the ambulance burst open and Vanya and Thalion were quickly wheeled out. Ash waited for a moment and then got out of the ambulance and he raised an eyebrow when he saw that they were at the Pokémon Centre. One of the medics saw the confused look on Ash's face and walked over to him.

"We checked your friends and they are physically fine, they've just been knocked unconscious and you just need some stitches so we've brought you all here since the hospital is pretty busy. Nurse Joy is more than capable of looking after you."

"I have no doubt about that, the Nurse Joy in Rustboro stitched up my Noctowl after the attack on Devon Corp. Oh and thanks for the ride."

"No problem, just try not to get into any more trouble."

The medic got back into the ambulance and was joined by the three other medics, the ambulance then shot off with the sirens blaring. Ash quickly walked into the Pokémon Centre and was greeted by Nurse Joy who had a concerned look on her face.

"The medics told me that your friends were knocked out but they'll be fine. Did you get hurt as well?"

"Yeah I've got a cut on the back of my head."

"Okay follow me and we'll take a look at it."

"Actually can you take care of my Pokémon first? Team Firestorm attacked them with several Pokémon."

"Don't worry Ash, the Chansey and Blissey can heal up your Pokémon while I sew up your wound."

Ash nodded and gave Plusle, Minun, Vibrava and his Pokéballs to a Chansey and a Blissey who put the Pokémon and Pokéballs on to a trolley. Ash watched worriedly as the trolley was wheeled out of the main room. He then allowed Nurse Joy to lead him into a spare room. He put his head down so Nurse Joy could see the cut and he felt her start to gently move aside his hair to examine the damage. A loud yelp came from Ash as pain shot through his skull.

"Sorry Ash."

"It's okay, so how bad is it?"

"Well you got pretty lucky actually, it could have been a lot worse although I'm sorry but I think you're gonna have a nasty scar."

"I'll get over it, such is life." Ash replied with a shrug.

"People never take news like that so casually." Nurse Joy commented.

"Honestly Nurse Joy I've been through worse. I've fallen hundreds of feet into ice cold water, fallen down mountains, been attacked by several Pokémon and I've been trapped on the S.S. Anne when it capsized. At this point I'm amazed that I'm still alive so one scar that's not even gonna be seen isn't that big of a deal."

"Huh I was always thought my family exaggerated the stories about the things you've survived but it seems that they hadn't. Alright I'm going to give you an anesthetic and then I'll stitch you up."

Ash nodded and hissed as he felt a needle pierce his skin, a few minutes later the pain in his skull numbed which allowed Nurse Joy to stich the wound. When Nurse Joy was finished she wrapped a bandage around Ash's head to his confusion.

"That's just to make sure that your stitches don't get bashed and undone." Nurse Joy explained.

Ash saw the reasoning in that and he looked gratefully at Nurse Joy.

"Thanks for patching me up Nurse Joy. I guess I look like Basil Fawlty right now." Ash said jokingly.

"Yes you do a bit." Nurse Joy replied.

They both chuckled although Nurse Joy could see that it was forced on Ash's part. She felt sorry for the young trainer, Jenny had called to tell her that the trio were being brought to the Pokémon Centre and she'd told her that Ash had found out that his first love had been a complete act. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he was feeling right now.

"Listen Ash I know you're in pain right now but with time it'll pass, just don't let what happened affect your opinion on love."

Ash gave a small nod in response which made Nurse Joy feel even sorrier for the boy.

"I want you to stay in here tonight, it's mainly just a precaution but I don't think there's anything to worry about. Is there anything we can do for you?" Nurse Joy said.

Ash quickly remembered his Pokémon who were still in their Pokéballs.

"Yes can you let my Pokémon out of their Pokéballs? Some of them don't like staying inside Pokéballs."

"Okay I can do that for you Ash. As soon as they're healed I'll let them out."

"Thanks Nurse Joy."

"No problem Ash. Now get some rest."

Nurse Joy walked out of the room leaving Ash alone in the darkness, he rolled on to his side and looked out of the window at the full moon. The sight reminded him of Salem, the colour was just like the silver contact lenses she had worn to fool him. The memory made a tear trickle down Ash's cheek and a sob escaped from him, he sat up and his head fell into his hands as he cried. His right hand drifted away from his face and travelled up his shirt; gripping the fabric where the fragments of his broken heart were.

Ash wasn't sure how long he sat there crying but eventually his sobs died down, he wiped his eyes to dry any tears that were threatening to fall and he lied back down. He turned over so that his back was facing the window and closed his eyes. Ash tossed and turned several times before he finally managed to fall into a troubled sleep.

The bright morning sun beamed into Ash's room which awoke him up. The young trainer's eyes flickered open and he immediately noticed that there were several weights pressing down on various parts of his body. He looked down and saw Vibrava resting on his chest, he moved his gaze to the right and saw Glaceon and Kirlia on his right arm and then he swapped to the left arm and saw Raimodo. He looked past Vibrava and saw Plusle, Minun, Sandshrew, Sneasel, Togetic, Cyndaquil and Amaura either on his legs or next to them. Charizard, Heracross and Aerodactyl were all leaned up against the walls all pointing towards the door, Ash guessed that they had chosen to go on guard duty while the rest of them slept. Finally he spotted Raichu and Meowth sat on the chairs either side of the bed however unlike the others they were both wide awake and looked as though they were ready to strike.

"Morning guys." Ash said loudly in an attempt to wake the others up.

The Pokémon all woke up and they swamped Ash who was bombarded with nuzzles and hugs from them. The only exceptions were Charizard and Aerodactyl who were stood at the end of the bed but it was clear that both of the proud Pokémon were glad to see that their trainer was okay. Suddenly the G.S. Ball burst open and Celebi flew straight to Ash and hugged him tightly, Ash returned the embrace but looked worriedly at the Legendary.

"Celebi isn't it dangerous for you to be out? What if someone sees you?" Ash said.

"Don't worry about that Ash I have a plan. Watch what happens when the nurse comes in." Celebi replied.

Ash was worried that Celebi was going to knock out someone else however he trusted her so he'd allow her to show him what she had planned.

The sound of the door opening made everyone jump off the bed and they all faced the door in a defensive stance, the only exception being Celebi who had stayed in Ash's arms. Everyone relaxed when they saw that it was just Nurse Joy and they parted so that she could walk up to the bed.

"Good morning Ash. Aw that's a cute Eevee you have there." Nurse Joy said.

Ash was confused about what Nurse Joy was talking about, he looked down at Celebi who winked at him. Ash quickly realized that Celebi had somehow used her psychic abilities to hide her true appearance and make her look like an Eevee. He smiled at Celebi and tightened his grip on the Legendary which made her sigh happily.

"Yeah she's very cute." Ash said as he gently stroked Celebi's head.

Celebi felt her cheeks heat up and her face turned bright red thanks to Ash's words. She buried her head into Ash's shirt so that they wouldn't see her flushed face however Nurse Joy had seen her reddening face.

"Aw she's embarrassed." Nurse Joy cooed.

The grass type felt as if her whole body was on fire now and was certain that by this point she would probably be mistaken for her shiny form. To Celebi's relief Nurse Joy turned her attention away from her and focused on her patient.

"How are you feeling today then?" Nurse Joy asked.

She instantly regretted asking the question as she saw Ash's smile fade. He knew that he'd let his guard down momentarily and hastily tried to reassure Nurse Joy with the best forced smile he could muster. Sadly for Ash it wasn't particularly convincing as Nurse Joy looked at Ash sadly.

"Ash…" Nurse Joy started although she was immediately cut off.

"So how are Vanya and Thalion?" Ash asked.

Nurse Joy could tell that he didn't want to talk about Salem which was understandable.

"They're both awake and they seem to be fine." Nurse Joy replied.

Ash looked at Nurse gratefully for going with the subject change. He then felt relief wash over him at hearing that the siblings were gonna be okay, he wasn't sure if he could have lived with himself if something bad had happened to them.

"That's great to hear. Can I go and see them?"

"Sure, just let me check that your stitches held and then you can go."

Ash placed Celebi on the bed and sat up which allowed Nurse Joy to remove the bandages; she was pleased to see that the stitches had held and she bandaged his head back up and left the room.

Once Ash was sure that Nurse Joy was gone he picked up Celebi who was grinning.

"How did you do that?" Ash asked.

"I met the Latios and Latias from Altomere a few years back and although they couldn't teach how to morph into another being they did teach me how to manipulate psychic energy so that I can appear as if I'm someone or something else." Celebi replied.

"That's a useful skill to have. Right I'd better get up and go see Vanya and Thalion."

Ash placed Celebi back on the bed and picked up his belt that was sat on the bedside table, he stood up and he wrapped the belt around his waist and fastened it. He then walked over to the wall where his trench coat was hanging from a hook. He took the item of clothing off of the hook and put it on, he raised the hood on the coat and was relieved to find that it covered the majority of the bandages as he didn't really want to walk around looking like a Basil Fawlty lookalike. He turned around looked at his Pokémon who were all studying him intently.

"Alright guys I'm gonna recall you now so that I can go see Thalion and Vanya if that's alright with you."

Most his Pokémon were fine with being recalled apart from Glaceon, Kirlia and Raimodo who were adamant to stay out with their dad which didn't surprise Ash, he had intended to keep them out anyway. Ash quickly recalled his Pokémon and placed their Pokéballs back on his belt. He then looked at Celebi who was fidgeting on the bed, he walked over to the bed and took a seat next to the Legendary.

"Hey what's up? Do you want to go back in the G.S. Ball?" Ash asked softly.

"Actually Ash I was wondering if it would be okay if I stayed out of the G.S. Ball and maybe sat on your shoulder as we travel." Celebi asked as she once again turned bright red.

"Of course you can stay out and as long as the others don't mind then you can sit on my shoulder all day long."

Celebi smiled and launched herself at Ash, despite her tiny size the grass type managed to knock Ash onto his back.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how cramped it feels to be stuck in that thing for all that time."

"Hey that reminds me, I wanted to know why you were in the G.S. Ball? After the incident back in Johto I thought you resided in the Ilex Forest."

"No I never actually lived in the Ilex Forest, on several occasions I have gone there to check on the Pokémon but I'm not bound to it. I only appeared there during that… incident due to my close proximity to the forest."

"Okay so why were you in the G.S. Ball?"

"Arceus saw the trouble you were getting into with Team Rocket and knew that you would at some time need someone to protect you so The Legendary Council gathered to decide who will be your guardian. Mewtwo was quite adamant that it should have been him so that he could repay the kindness that you'd shown him however he had duties to the clones and due to Team Rocket's knowledge of him it would only put you in more danger. He reluctantly agreed that he wasn't the best option and there was a big argument between several of us about who should go with you. I could see that there was only one way that I'd be chosen so I flew straight at the G.S. Ball and tapped it. I was sucked inside and the G.S. Ball locked until the time came that you needed my help."

"I can't believe you were willing to trap yourself inside that thing for all that time just to protect me. I mean you'd never even met me so why were you so determined to be my guardian?"

"Ash we may not have met but your exploits were often discussed between the Legendries and we all started to watch the boy who would befriend any Pokémon, take an attack to make sure a Pokémon was safe and would stand up for what's right. After seeing some of the things you did I knew that I had to be your guardian."

"Well I'm glad you're here Celebi."

"Me too."

Celebi hugged Ash one more time and then flew out of Ash's arms and landed on his shoulder. Raichu, Meowth, Glaceon, Raimodo and Kirlia then jumped off of the chairs and bed and stood in front of Ash. The only ones who hadn't moved were Vibrava, Plusle and Minun who were all stood on the bed. Ash walked back to the bed and picked up the trio of Pokémon who all snuggled into Ash's embrace.

"You fancy a ride? I don't wanna capture you yet as you'd be sent to Professor Oak's Lab."

As he said that Ash suddenly realized something that he should have thought of earlier.

'Salem knows where Professor Oak and all of the Pokémon are. I've gotta warn him just in case Team Firestorm attack the Lab.'

Ash bounded out of the room and over to the phones, he mashed Professor Oak's number in and was praying that the old man would pick up the phone. The phone rang and rang and rang but there was no response, the longer the phone rang the more worried Ash got for Professor Oak and the Pokémon.

'Crap what if they already got there. What if he's been captured or attacked or…' Ash was broken out of his thoughts as Professor Oak appeared on screen.

"Hello Ash. Why have you phoned me today?" Professor Oak said.

"IneedtowarnyouthatSalemisamemberofTeamFirestormand." Ash babbled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Ash. Calm down and tell me what's wrong."

Ash took a few deep breaths and slowly clamed himself down.

"Thanks Professor."

"It's okay Ash, now tell me what the problem is."

"I found out yesterday that Salem is a part of Team Firestorm so I wanted to warn you and ask you to take Electrike and Mareep from her."

Professor Oak looked sadly at Ash, he knew that his former student had loved Salem so it must have been heartbreaking for him to find out that she is part of Team Firestorm.

"I'm sorry about Salem, I know you cared about her deeply. Unfortunately Ash I'm afraid it's too late for Electrike and Mareep, she called me last night and asked me to send them to her. I feel sorry for all of her Pokémon, especially the newer ones as I doubt they had any knowledge of her true identity. I wish we hadn't lost them all to her." Professor Oak said sadly.

"We didn't lose all of them. I saved Plusle and Minun who want to come with me."

"Well that's some good news. Do you want to transfer any Pokémon back to keep them with you? Or would you rather have them be instantly sent here when you capture them?"

"I want to send back Charizard so I can keep my new Vibrava with me, Plusle and Minun on the other hand will arrive at the Lab shortly. I think they could do with a rest after what happened."

"Ok Ash send me Charizard and I will prepare for Plusle and Minun's arrival."

Ash placed Charizard's Pokéball in the transfer machine and watched as it vanished and appeared in the machine behind Professor Oak. Ash saw Professor take the Pokéball and send out Charizard who walked out of screen.

"Thanks Professor. I'll leave you so you can get back to work." Ash said as he went to hang up the phone.

"Ash wait a second!"

Ash did as the Professor asked and put the phone against his ear.

"What is it Professor?"

"I was thinking that maybe you should return to Pallet for Christmas. I'm sure your mother would be thrilled and I think that maybe you should take a short break from your journey so you can get your head straight. What do you think?" Professor Oak said.

Samuel watched as Ash seemed to internally debate about whether he should come home. After a few minutes Ash made his decision and looked straight at Professor Oak.

"Well I….." Ash started.

Notes

Guys I've put a poll up for whether or not Ash should return to Pallet for Christmas. The poll will be up for a week and then the winning vote will determine the next chapter.

Ash can now carry up to 14 Pokémon at once and that will be the most he can carry at once. So he's not gonna be able to carry almost everyone around with him like some of you were asking.

If anyone wants to complain about how Celebi can use her psychic powers to appear as something else then my response is that this is a fanfic so there are no limits to what can be done.

No Ash is not gonna be paired with Celebi before anyone asks.

The Basil Fawlty lines were a reference to a TV show called Fawlty Towers which was an absolutely hilarious show.

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 & Aerodactyl

Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Hitmontop, Togetic, Sneasel & Celebi

Hoenn - Marshtomp, Ninjask, Shedinja, Treecko, Vibrava, Zangoose, Sableye, Raimodo & Kirlia

Sinnoh - Monferno & Glaceon (Shiny)

Kalos - Meowstic & Amaura

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Celebi, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Sneasel, Sandshrew, Vibrava, Raimodo, Aerodactyl, Amaura, Togetic, Kirlia & Glaceon - Not officially caught - Plusle & Minun