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

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who suggested Pokémon for Ash to trade for. I have chopped the list down to 19 so that I've got the list for what every Tauros will be traded for in the future. The poll for what Pokémon Ash will get at the final Trading Battle Event will be up soon, I considered putting it up now but the last poll is really close right now so I'm gonna leave it up for a while.

I was originally going to add this on to chapter 46 to make it one long chapter but I decided to take muzafarmansoor97's advice and upload it as a separate chapter just because it is easier to make all of you aware that I've posted this.

Albino Umbreon, Antony627AA and the guest reviewer draconic skysong correctly guessed that Julie from the last chapter was from Pokémon Play It which is the trading card game on pc so congratulations you three.

Here's chapter 47. 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. If I did Ash would have won a proper league by now and Unova would have never happened.

It didn't take long for Ash to find the clearing that he had trained in when he had been on the way to Mauville. Ash placed his bag by one of the tree's and sent out all of his Pokémon, they all looked around and then looked at Ash who had already taken the Pokémon food and bowls out of his bag.

"I'm gonna make some dinner for us. You guys go have some fun."

All of the Pokémon apart from Celebi who wanted to stick with Ash nodded and left Ash to prepare dinner, while he cooked the food Ash looked at the newest additions to his team and saw that they had separated themselves from the others and looked halfway between nervous and intimidated. Ash was about to abandon making dinner when he saw Pidgeot brake away from the majority of the group and go over to Pawniard, Zorua, Eelektrik and Axew. The quartet shrank back slightly as the large bird towered over them, Pidgeot leaned down so that she was at their level.

'Hello, would you like to come introduce yourselves to everyone?' Pidgeot said softly.

The quartet looked at each other and then nodded at Pidgeot who led them over to the rest of the Pokémon. Ash watched with a smile on his face as Pawniard, Zorua, Eelektrik and Axew followed Pidgeot and start to interact with the rest of his Pokémon.

A quarter of an hour later Ash finished preparing the food for everyone and he placed the food into the bowls.

"Guys it is dinner time!" Ash yelled.

The conversations all the Pokémon were having abruptly ended and they quickly made their way to Ash. Although Pawniard, Zorua, Eelektrik and Axew were hungry they were curious about why the other Pokémon seemed so eager to get their meal. They watched as everyone apart from Pidgeot started to demolish their food, the quartet shrugged their shoulders and tried a piece of the food. As soon as the first bite was swallowed all four of them started eating like the rest of the Pokémon. The sight of his new Pokémon eating like the others made Ash chuckle, he then turned his gaze to Pidgeot and Ash walked over to her. He then gently ran his hand along her crest which made her sigh in content.

"Thank you Pidgeot for making the new members of our family feel welcome."

'No problem Ash.' Pidgeot replied.

Ash gave Pidgeot a hug and then left her to eat, he sat down at the base of a tree and started eating his own dinner. He stopped when he felt something land on his left shoulder, he looked left and saw Celebi who dropped the last chunk of her dinner in her mouth and swallowed it with a satisfied look on her face. Celebi then nuzzled Ash's cheek which made Ash smile softly at her, he then started stroking her head while he finishing eating his own dinner.

When everyone had finished dinner Ash collected up the bowls and after cleaning them in the lake he put them back into his bag. While Ash did this the Pokémon went back to the conversations they had been having before lunch. What they didn't know was that Ash watching all of them as packed everything away, he was relieved to see that Pawniard, Zorua, Eelektrik and Axew fitting in perfectly. What worried him was how Raichu was behaving, he was sat slightly away from the others with a slightly sad expression and he appeared to be deep in thought. Ash knew that Raichu was thinking about his former mate which isn't surprising since it was here that he first realized that he had fallen for Chu.

As much as Ash wanted to stay and train here since it was a very good training area he could see by the look in Raichu's eyes that he really didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary. He packed away the last of the bowls and then walked over to his Pokémon who all crowded around him.

"Listen up guys. Today we'll stay here and then tomorrow we'll make our way north. You can all spend the day doing whatever you want." Ash announced.

Everyone nodded and then walked away, most of them decided to relax in shade of the trees except for Phanpy and Sandshrew who were battling each other. Ash wasn't surprised by this as he had noticed that since her defeat on the ship Sandshrew had started to train as much as possible, he had also seen how much harder Phanpy had been working presumably because he wanted to evolve and catch up with Croconaw and Quilava.

"Hey Pawniard, Zorua, Eelektrik and Axew can you come over here please? I want to find out your moves and Abilities." Ash yelled.

The quartet got up out of the shade and quickly made their way over to Ash, they stood in front of him. They watched Ash take the strange red box that they knew was called a Pokédex off his belt and point it at Eelektrik.

"This Eelektrik is male and has the ability Levitate. He knows the following moves – Headbutt, Thunderbolt, Acid and Thunder Wave."

Ash wasn't surprised by Eelektrik's move set, it was difficult for electric type to learn anything outside of electric and normal moves

"I can tell that your disappointed by your move set but believe me you're move range is better than I expected. I thought that you were only gonna have electric moves so seeing Acid and Headbutt is a pleasant surprise. I think that we should start off with Toxic and Iron Tail, the former is good for weakening your foes and the latter will give you a good coverage move."

Eelektrik nodded at Ash as he agreed with new his trainer's logic. Ash was glad that Eelektrik agreed with him, he then pointed the Pokédex at Axew.

"This Axew is female and has the ability Rivalry. She knows the following moves – Dragon Rage, Night Slash, Dragon Dance and Iron Tail."

Ash looked at Axew who was stood with a cocky grin on her face and was impressed both by the moves she knew and the confidence she exuded. From the moment he saw her Ash knew that the little dragon was destined for greatness but he hadn't been expecting to see Dragon Dance, Night Slash and Iron Tail in her move set.

"Well I could tell before I scanned you that you were gonna be a tough dragon and I have to say that you have an impressive group of moves. I think the best moves we can start with are Dragon Claw and X-Scissor, they'll both maximize the potential Dragon Dance gives you."

Axew had to suppress a blush at the praise Ash had heaped on her. To everyone's surprise Pawniard then leapt in front of Ash's Pokédex and stood with his arms crossed. Ash chuckled at the dark type, he could see that Treecko was going to have some competition for coolest on the team. That is until Charizard tells them both who the real badass is.

"This Pawniard is male and has the ability Vital Spirit. He knows the following moves – Feint Attack, Slash, Swords Dance and Metal Claw."

Ash raised an eyebrow at the ability, he didn't think that Pawniard was capable of having that ability. He shook the thought away and refocused on what moves he should help Pawniard learn first.

"I think like Axew we should start with X-Scissor then maybe look to add Brick Break to you move pool."

Pawniard simply nodded in response and stepped aside so that Zorua was now in line with the Pokédex.

"This Zorua is female and has the ability Illusion. She knows the following moves – Fury Swipes, Pursuit, Taunt and Feint Attack."

Ash nodded and he mulled over what to teach her next, she didn't have a very wide move set right now and there wasn't many moves he could teach that would diversify that. The only real choice she had right now were Shadow Ball and Hidden Power.

"Well that's a solid start, I think that we should work on Hidden Power first for some coverage and then Shadow Ball. What do you think Zorua?"

Zorua nodded and then sighed which confused Ash, he didn't know what he'd done to garner such a reaction. He crouched down in front of Zorua and gently placed his hand on her back which made her look up at him.

"Hey what's wrong?"

'I just wish you could understand me so for once I could be called by my real name.' Zorua yelled angrily.

Ash turned his gaze to Meowth who had come over when he heard Zorua start yelling and he hoped that the cat would give him a translation of what Zorua said so that he could help with whatever was making her upset.

"She wants to be called by her name rather than be called Zorua." Meowth said.

"I'd be more than happy to call her by her name. So what's your name?" Ash asked as he looked at Zorua.

'I'm Nox.' She said shyly.

"Her name's Nox." Meowth translated.

"Nox, that's a pretty name."

Zorua blushed at Ash's compliment and was incredibly glad that her black fur was hiding her burning cheeks. Ash picked up Nox and hugged the shy dark type, he then placed her on the ground and stood up.

"Alright you guys can go and do whatever you want now."

The quartet nodded and Ash watched as the newest additions to his family joined in with the others. Axew, Nox and Eelektrik chose to rest in the shade and talk with the Pokémon lying there while Pawniard joined in with Sandshrew and Phanpy making it a three way battle. The sight brought a massive smile to Ash's face, he sat down at the base of a tree and continued to watch his Pokémon, he felt something land on his lap and saw Celebi looking up at him with her bright blue eyes. Ash smiled softly at here and pulled Celebi close to him, he started to gently stroke her head while he watched his Pokémon enjoying themselves.

Four days later the group was getting closer to the end of the forest, as they walked along the path Ash glanced at Raichu and saw that once again he was looking around the area with a sad expression. Ash was starting to get worried about his best friend as he had been doing this since they'd been walking through the forest. He was almost certain that he was reliving moments he'd spent with Chu as they'd started to get a lot closer during the trip along this path.

"Hey Raichu are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly.

'Yeah I'm fine.' Raichu mumbled in response.

Ash knew that Raichu was lying but he wouldn't make his best friend say anything he wasn't ready to. He knew that he was still heartbroken over Chu but he didn't know why, it had been a long time since they'd found out the truth and he'd assumed that Raichu would have gotten over the worst it by now like he had. He had expected Raichu to just feel a dull ache whenever he thought of Chu just like he did when he thought of Salem. He had asked Professor Oak and Meowth about it back in Pallet Town but neither of them had any clue about why Raichu was still so down about Chu. Ash then mentally slapped himself as he realized that there was one Pokémon he could ask about this who would know what Raichu's going through… Espeon.

"I'll need to bring over Espeon soon. Maybe she can explain to me why Raichu is taking this so hard." He thought.

Ash turned his gaze back to the path ahead and he could see that the end of the forest was incredibly close, he was ecstatic to see the gradually thinning tree line as it meant that they were getting incredibly close to the Daycare Centre. A few minutes later they exited the forest and they were greeted by a familiar building. Ash grinned as he saw the home belonging to the Daycare couple in front of him, he'd enjoyed George and Catherine's company when he'd been there before and was looking forward to seeing them again.

Ash was unsure how George and Catherine would take the news about who Salem truly was since Catherine in particular had gotten quite close with her. He decided to deal with that when the time came, he approached the front door of the Daycare Centre and watched as the Pokémon in the surrounding fields were relaxing in the sun. He knocked on the door a few times and waited for someone to open the door. He heard the sound of the lock being opened and the front door creaked open revealing Catherine who's face lit up as she saw the boy stood in front of her and she hugged him tightly.

"It's good to see you Ash." Catherine said.

"It's good to see you too." Ash replied.

Catherine broke the hug with Ash and then looked around him spotting Meowth, Raichu, an Eevee and Raimodo who had grown considerably faster than she had expected. The reptile stared back at Catherine as he remembered her from the day he hatched.

"I see that Raimodo is getting big and strong." Catherine commented.

Raimodo blushed at the compliment and to everyone's surprise he pushed himself up so that he was standing on his hind legs and using his tail to balance himself. He then stepped forward and wrapped his forelegs around Catherine and held her close to him. Tears formed in Catherine's eyes and she returned the embrace, happily running her hand along the reptiles back. When Catherine released her grip on Raimodo a bemused expression appeared on her face as she suddenly realized that a certain silver eyed girl wasn't here.

"Ash where's Salem?" Catherina asked.

"I think it would be best if I explained inside." Ash replied.

"Okay Ash come in." Catherine said as she stepped aside.

Ash, Raichu, Meowth and Raimodo walked into the Daycare Centre and Catherine closed the door behind them, they followed Catherine through the Daycare Centre and into the house. Catherine led them into the living room and Ash sat down on one of the chairs with Celebi in his lap. Raimodo, Raichu and Meowth decided to sit on the floor surrounding him and watched as Catherine smiled at them and then left the room.

While Ash waited for Catherine to return he looked at Raichu worriedly, he knew that George and Catherine would want to know everything about Salem which could bring back bad memories of Chu. He didn't want to put Raichu through anymore heartache so he quickly came up with an idea to get Raichu out of the room. He took all of the Pokéballs he had off of his belt and then tapped on Raichu's shoulder which made him turn around and look at Ash.

"Hey Raichu can you take everyone outside and keep an eye on them for me please? I don't want to keep them in their Pokéballs for too long."

'Sure Ash.'

Raichu knew that this was Ash's way of letting him get away while they talked about Salem so he wouldn't be reminded of... her. He looked gratefully at his best friend and took the some of the Pokéballs and Meowth took the rest of them. Raichu then led Raimodo and Meowth out of the living room leaving Ash and Celebi alone, Ash looked down at the legendary wondering why Celebi had stayed here.

"Don't you want to go and spend time with the others?" Ash asked.

"I'd rather stay with you Ash." Celebi replied

Ash smiled at the Celebi and hugged her tightly while gently stroking her head. Celebi sighed happily as she relished the attention she was getting from Ash and she snuggled into his embrace. For Celebi moments like this made spending what felt like eons in that accursed ball worth it and she cherished every moment she had with Ash.

A few minutes later Catherine walked back into the living room with an incubator containing the mystery egg in her arms, George then came in carrying a tray with three cups on it. The Daycare Couple sat down on the sofa opposite Ash and placed the incubator and the tray on the table. Catherine offered a cup to Ash who released his grip on Celebi who already missed the feeling of Ash holding her close. Ash took the cup and he gulped down a mouthful of tea. He then placed the cup on the table and looked at George and Catherine who were both wondering the same thing.

"So Ash why isn't Salem with you?" George asked.

Ash sighed and had another mouthful of tea, he then looked at the elderly couple sadly as he knew that this would be hard for them to hear.

"She isn't here because she isn't who we thought she was. She's actually a member of Team Firestorm."

Looks of pure shock appeared on George and Catherine's faces, they had both spent time with the young girl and neither of them had ever seen anything that would hint to her being evil in any way. They looked into Ash's eyes hoping that he was just joking but they knew by the seriousness in Ash's eyes that he was deadly serious.

"I-I can't believe it. I would never have thought that there was an evil bone in her body." Catherine said.

"I know that it may seem hard to believe considering how she behaved around us but I found out how clever she actually is. She fooled us all by utilizing a computer chip that was coded with the emotions that she showed us. Every word she said and every tear she shed was because of the computer chip."

As they both processed the information they'd just heard they remembered that Ash and Salem had been dating at the time. They looked at Ash sadly as they couldn't even begin to imagine how Ash must have felt when he discovered such a horrible truth.

"Are you okay Ash? We know that she meant a lot to you." Catherine said.

"Yeah I'm fine now although at first I wasn't but thanks to my friends and family I was able to get over her."

Silence took over as George and Catherine mulled over what they'd just hear, suddenly Ash's stomach growled which made him blush and drew a chuckled from Catherine and George.

"Would you like something to eat?" Catherine asked.

"Well I guess I am kinda hungry so if you don't mind I'd love some of your delicious cooking." Ash said.

"Okay you wait here Ash, we'll go and cook something up. Could you keep an eye on the egg while we're gone?" Catherine replied.

"Sure." Ash replied.

Catherine and George walked out of the room which left Ash and Celebi alone. Both of them stared at the mystery egg for a moment wondering what could be inside of it. Ash then opened the incubator and picked the egg up, he held it close to him as he looked at the mystery egg.

"What are you? Why won't you hatch little one?" Ash murmured.

Ash had hoped that the egg would do something in response even if it was just a small bit of movement but to his disappointment he got no response. He was about to place the egg back in the incubator when it suddenly glowed for a few seconds, Ash then took another look at the egg and was sure that the pink hue had gotten darker. His head snapped up when he heard a tray clatter to the floor and he saw George and Catherine standing in the doorway watching him and the egg with wide eyes.

"I-it glowed." George and Catherine said in shock.

Notes

Before anyone starts complaining about Pawniard having Vital Spirit as an ability despite the fact that it's one he shouldn't have, I've given him it because the abilities Pawniard has aren't that good in a story however in the games they are very good. The abilities he can have are: Defiant – raises attack when a stat is lowered, Pressure – makes the opponent use double the pp each attack and Inner Focus – makes you immune to flinching.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like. It really helps me know what I am doing right and what I can improve on.

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

Ash:

Kanto - Raichu, Meowth, Butterfree, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros (x20), Snorlax, Sandshrew, Jolteon (Shiny), Vaporeon (Shiny) & Aerodactyl

Johto - Croconaw, Meganium, Quilava, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Hitmontop, Togetic, Sneasel, Espeon (Shiny) & Celebi

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

Sinnoh - Monferno & Glaceon (Shiny)

Unova – Axew, Eelektrik, Pawniard & Zorua (Nox)

Kalos - Meowstic & Amaura

Pokémon currently on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Celebi, Togetic, Raimodo, Sandshrew, Vibrava, Phanpy, Pidgeot, Axew, Eelektrik, Pawniard & Zorua (Nox)