Author's Note: In Season Two of the Pokemon anime, in the episode "The Mandarin Island Miss Match", Ash and the group ran into Lorelei of the Elite Four, except she was called "Prima" instead. Since we are mainly trying to follow the anime, for this story, Prima will be Lorelei's false name (or an alias), a name that everybody knows her as and calls her, except the Elite four, who know her real name.

Also, because of Agatha's old age around the time that Ash met her when he was younger, she is deceased in this story and her granddaughter, Karen (an Elite Four member from the Gold/Silver/Crystal video games), has taken her place in the Elite Four. We are aware that the two of them are not related, but we thought that it would be an interesting touch for the story.

With that said, let the chapter begin!

Normal POV

The Elite Four sat around a table. Lance, the Kanto Champion, sat at the head of the table. Lance was now in his forties. His red hair was still spiked in its usual way, but it was shorter now and his yellow eyes had become slightly darker. He wore a dark blue jacket and pants to match with orange stripes on the front and at his wrists. His black cape was wrapped around him and on his feet were black boots with orange stripes.

Sitting to Lance's right was Karen, who specialized in Dark type Pokemon. Karen was in her thirties and had joined the Elite Four a few years ago, after the death of her grandmother, Agatha, who was a former member of the Elite Four. Karen's light blue hair was down to her mid back. She wore a yellow tank top, white knee-length shorts, and yellow heels.

Next to Karen was Lorelei, but almost everyone in the world knew Lorelei only by her alias, Prima. Lorelei was in her early fifties now, but looked like she was still a young woman, barely forty years old. Her red hair was pulled into a ponytail and her glasses framed her red eyes. She wore an open half jacket - which was blue - over a red top with a black skirt and black heels.

Sitting to Lance's left was Bruno. Bruno was now in his late fifties. His hair was now mostly gray, but black could still be seen. He was wearing white karate gi pants with a black belt around his waist and a white karate gi jacket on. Next to Bruno was Koga.

"So Koga, why did you request the meeting?" Lance asked.

"Well, I've been informed by a reliable source that Team Rocket is possibly back together again and may have had something to do with Ash's disappearance a few months ago. He did, after all, disappear around the same time that Team Rocket re-emerged. I was also told that Team Rocket is searching for something called the "Temple of Legends", whatever that is." Koga explained.

"There's no way that Team Rocket could be back. It simply isn't possible. How could they reform when their leader hasn't had any contact to anyone in years?" said Lorelei.

"Well, I think it could be possible. Who knows? Team Rocket could have others who are willing to do anything to get revenge. Team Rocket may be back." Bruno said.

"I don't exactly know what to believe. I find it doubtful that they could be back, but there's a part of me that believes it could happen. Also, I believe the theory about Team Rocket having something to do with Ash's disappearance. After all, he has had many run-ins with them in the past." said Karen.

Lance was quiet, listening to what each member had said. Finally, after the other four had given their thoughts, he spoke. "We have no information or leads on Team Rocket, but if they are indeed back, we need to be prepared. We need to find the Temple of Legends before Team Rocket does, because whatever they want with it, it can't be good. Karen, I want you to look into the Temple of Legends, search the archives, the history records, find out its location, what it is, and what it does."

"Yes, Lance." Karen said.

"We need to alert the police force about this as well. We need to get the word out to every cop in Kanto, tell them to remain on alert for anything suspicious that might be related to Team Rocket." Lorelei suggested. "I'll take care of that."

"Good thinking, Lorelei." Lance agreed. "It seems that we may not have to find a new Pokemon Master after all...if he's alive, that is."

Adam's POV

I never thought that I would ever be this hot and tired. If anything, I was beyond thirsty. Neon Town...why did we have to go through A DESERT to get to it?! I don't think I'd ever sweated as much as I had today! The sun was high in the sky and to make matters worse, there wasn't a cloud close enough to the sun to offer us any shade. Even Pikachu and Pichu were sweating and Jason and Michelle almost looked like they were ready to collapse!

As we climbed to the top of another sandy hill, I looked up and spotted the tall buildings. Neon Town was just over this hill! After about ten minutes, we were entering the Pokemon Center.

"One room, please." I said in a dry, raspy voice as I placed my Pokeballs into the tray. Jason and Michelle dropped their Pokemon off, too.

We walked to the drink machine and got some water, greedily drinking it down. Once we finished, Michelle faced us and said, "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to go and get cleaned up."

Michelle walked off towards the showers. Jason and I decided to go, too. After all, we had been sweating all day and our clothes were sticking to our bodies. We all met up again after we were done and went to get our Pokemon. Pikachu and Pichu were finishing their water as we approached the front desk.

Standing there at the front desk were Nikki and Trevor. Nikki turned slightly and saw us. She smiled and waved. "Hi, hi!" she cried happily.

"Hey,"

"Oh Michelle, as I told you after our last contest, the next contest will be held here. It's in three days." Nikki said.

"Really?" Michelle asked.

Nikki nodded and she looked to where Pichu was.

"Umm, where's your Eevee? And what's with the Pichu?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Pichu is Adam's newest Pokemon. Eevee evolved and stays in her Pokeball now. Growlithe evolved, too."

"Really? What-" Nikki started.

"Just because your Pokemon have evolved, doesn't mean that you're any stronger or that you're going to win. Your Pokemon may have more power, but you need to control that power in order to win a battle. And I'm willing to bet that you have no control over those new Pokemon. After all, how many battles have they been used in?" Trevor said, cutting Nikki off.

"That's what I thought." Trevor said when Michelle didn't answer him.

Michelle looked embarrassed by what Trevor had said, because she knew that he was right. Jolteon and Arcanine hadn't been in any battles since evolving. But I bet she had a plan. After all, she still had time to practice with them before the contest.

Michelle looked at Nikki. "You're from here, right?" she asked.

"Yes, Neon Town is where we live! Hey, how would you three like to come and see our house and stay for supper?" she asked.

"What? No, Nikki. Mom and dad don't want to be bothered by others, especially people they don't know." Trevor said.

"Our parents won't mind. In fact, I know that they'll be thrilled to meet some of the friends that we've made on our journey."

"Sure," said Michelle.

"Yay!"

Trevor sighed and muttered a sarcastic 'great', looking annoyed.

"Come on!" Nikki cried.

We followed the siblings through town. After a little while, we stopped in front of a two story house that was an off-white color with a wooden door. Nikki lead us into the house and it looked very welcoming. Wooden floors, light walls, and music was heard. A staircase was off to the side of the hall.

"Mom? Dad?" Nikki called.

A clatter was heard and a woman who looked to be in her thirties appeared. She had dark red hair that was curled loosely, dark pink eyes, and she was tanned. She wore a black tee with white shorts. A man appeared behind her, looking to be in his thirties as well. He had blonde hair that was cut in a crew cut, dark green eyes, and he was tanned. He wore jeans and a white tank top.

"Oh, you're back!" the woman cried, running and hugging Nikki and Trevor. Nikki hugged back and Trevor just stood there. The man walked up and hugged Nikki and ruffled Trevor's hair.

The group followed the parents into the living room, which was very homey. There was a black couch, black chairs, and a table. A television was hanging on the wall.

"Well, make yourself at home."

Trevor walked off to his room and a door was heard closing. I guessed that he wasn't in the mood to talk to us.

"Oh, mom, dad, this is Adam Ketchum, Jason Oak, and Michelle Waterflower." Michelle said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alice, and this is my husband, Markus." Alice greeted.

"It's nice to meet you." we said, bowing our heads.

"Can they stay for supper?" Nikki asked.

"Of course! So what's happened since you and Trevor left on your journey?"

Nikki explained that she and Trevor had been traveling around. He had been doing his gym battles and she had been doing her contests.

"We met Michelle, Adam, and Jason one day when they walked up to us when we were having a practice battle. Trevor...he didn't like them. He still doesn't. He insults them and he's rude to them." Nikki explained.

Alice sighed and Markus looked sad.

"He hasn't changed a bit. Well, I suppose since he's not here at home, he has to pick on other people instead." Markus said.

Nikki saw that we were confused, so she said, "Trevor wasn't always like the way that he is now. He was nice...before that terrible day."

"What happened?" I asked.

Alice sighed and looked at us. "It happened two years ago, when Trevor was eight. He had a friend named Valerie...they were best friends, very close. One day, Valerie and Trevor wanted some snacks. Since the store was just a little ways away, we let them go by themselves." she said, frowning.

"From what Trevor told us, he decided to take a shortcut through an alley to get to the store. But the alleys here aren't straight. This one was a twisting alley and they got lost. All of a sudden, a man with long blonde hair jumped from the shadows with a club and attacked them." said Markus.

"The man pushed Trevor to the ground and grabbed Valerie, trying to take her away, but Trevor saw them. He tried to fight the man, but he hit Trevor across his head with his club. The man left Trevor in the alley unconscious and dragged Valerie away.

"When Trevor woke up, he was in the hospital. He was fine, other than having a skull fracture. The police asked him questions about what had happened to him and he talked about the kidnaping. It turned out that the blonde-haired man was a wanted criminal who had been on the loose in Neon Town for many months, having committed many crimes. He was facing charges for theft, kidnaping, murder, and rape."

I saw Michelle shift in her chair, looking sad. Nikki was frowning and staring at her hands.

"Valerie was missing for a while. A few weeks later...her body was found just outside of town. She had been stabbed to death. Trevor took it the hardest when he found out that Valerie was gone...something inside him changed that day. He became a cold and angry person.

"To this day...the murderer...was never caught. Nobody knows what happened to him. He was never seen in Neon Town again after that kidnaping."

Michelle's POV

Three days had passed since we arrived in Neon Town. Adam, Jason, and I had spent those days training and preparing. Adam and Pikachu trained Pichu in how to use its electric attacks in battle, Jason had trained his Charizard to control its amazing power a little better, and I had practiced with Jolteon and Arcanine, getting them ready for their first contest since evolving.

Now it was the day of the contest. Time to see if my training would pay off. I stood backstage in my contest outfit with Adam and Jason. I spotted Nikki in her contest dress. She was with her parents, who were talking to her.

"Good luck today." Jason said, giving me a hug.

"Yeah, good luck. One more ribbon is all you need." Adam said, giving me a hug, too.

"Thanks, guys. You'd better go before the contest starts." I said, giving a smile.

They nodded and walked off. Nikki hugged her parents as they left.

"Hi, hi! Guess what?" Nikki cried as she stopped in front of me.

"Hey, Nikki! What is it?" I asked.

"I have four ribbons, going for my fifth one today." she said, revealing her four ribbons.

"Really? I have four ribbons, too." I said.

"Well, I wish both of us the best of luck. We'll get our fifth ribbon and meet each other in the Grand Festival."

"You know it!"

"Good afternoon, everyone! I'm Jillian, here to welcome you to our Neon Town contest! Now let's meet our wonderful judges!" Jillian cried.

"We have Shawn Contesta!"

"Glad to be here and I can't wait to see what's in store today." Shawn said.

"Next, we have the President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Tatsu!"

"This is going to be exciting!" he cried.

"Lastly, we have our very own Nurse Joy!"

"I'm happy to be here and I wish all of the coordinators good luck." she said.

"Well, you've met our wonderful judges. It's now time to meet the coordinators! Entry number one, you're up!" Jillian cried.

The contest continued on and it came to my turn.

"Good luck!" Nikki called as I walked off.

"Thanks,"

"Next up is Michelle!" Jillian announced.

I ran out and jumped down the steps. "Jolteon, showtime!" I cried, tossing the Pokeball. Jolteon appeared, surrounded by bubbles.

"Use Thunder!" I cried. The electricity hit the bubbles, causing them to pop and water rained down.

"Jolteon enters with a shocking technique to show off it's power!"

"Now, Jolteon! Use Quick Attack!" Jolteon sped towards the wall.

"Jump and use Thundershock!" Jolteon jumped up, flipped in midair, and used the attack, sending electricity across the stage in a spiral pattern.

"A wonderful performance." Shawn said.

"Jolteon had a blast!" Mr. Tatsu cried.

"You both showed a strong bond and the amount of training put into this was very evident." Nurse Joy said.

I walked backstage and saw Nikki. "Hey, when do you go on?" I asked.

"I'm on after a few more people." Nikki replied. "Great job, by the way. Jolteon did great for its first performance."

"Thanks,"

The contest went on and it was soon time for Nikki to perform.

"And now, the next coordinator, from right here in Neon Town, please welcome Nikki!" Jillian announced.

The crowd cheered loudly, obviously excited that one of their own hometown coordinators was in this contest. After all, she was their resident Top-Coordinator-in-the-making.

Nikki ran out and twirled, tossing her Pokeball. "Bulbasaur, showtime!" Nikki cried.

Bulbasaur? I didn't know that she had a Bulbasaur. Either Bulbasaur was newly caught or I just hadn't seen it in a contest. Nikki had been in a couple of contests that I hadn't entered, so maybe Bulbasaur was used in those before?

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf, then use Vine Whip!" Nikki cried. Leaves shot out and Bulbasaur hit the leaves with its vines.

"Now use Synthesis!"

The crowd cheered loudly when the performance was over. Nikki walked backstage and over to me.

"Good performance, you really got the crowd on your side! I didn't know that you had a Bulbasaur." I said.

"Yeah, Bulbasaur is fairly new. I've been practicing with him for a while and today was his debut."

"And now it's time to show the eight coordinators who will be moving on to the battle round."

Nikki and I both made it into the next round. I was going up against a girl named Tia and Nikki was going up against a guy named Nate.

"Hey Michelle, make sure you make it to the final round." Nikki said.

"I will. You make sure that you do, too." I said as I walked to the stage, since I was first.

"To my right is Michelle and to my left is Tia. Five minutes on the clock, and begin!" Jillian cried.

"Arcanine, spotlight!" I cried.

Tia frowned and tossed her Pokeball. "Bellsprout, go!" she cried.

"Use Flamethrower!" I cried.

"Dodge it!"

After only two minutes into the battle, the buzzer went off, since Bellsprout had fainted. It was an easy battle, mainly due to the fact that I had a type advantage.

"To my right is Nate and to my left is Nikki! Five minutes on the clock, and begin!"

"Eevee, showtime!" Nate cried.

"Gastly, curtain!" Nikki cried.

I was shocked. I hadn't seen Nikki use Gastly since the time when we first encountered her and Trevor in their training battle just outside of Cerulean City. Nikki ended up winning the battle.

Later on, it was the finals and it was Nikki and I facing off against each another. We both needed one last ribbon to enter the Grand Festival, but only one of us would walk away with that ribbon today!

"It's time for the final battle! To my right is Michelle and to my left is Nikki! Five minutes on the clock, and begin!" Jillian cried.

"Arcanine, spotlight!" I cried.

"Gastly, curtain!" Nikki cried.

"Use Flamethrower!"

"Shadow Ball!"

The two moves collided with one another and fought for dominance before they canceled each other out.

"Gastly, use Night Shade!"

"Use Extreme Speed!"

"That's not going to do any damage. Normal attacks have no effect on Ghost Pokemon." Nikki said.

"I know...but I'm not using it to attack!" I was using it to dodge and get close for my next attack!

"Fire Fang, Arcanine!" I cried.

After a few minutes, it was almost the end of the battle.

"Gastly, use Hypnosis!" Nikki cried.

"No!" I cried.

Arcanine was put to sleep and then the buzzer went off.

"Time's up! The winner is...Nikki!" Jillian cried. The crowd erupted into cheers for their resident coordinator.

Nikki looked at me and I smiled back at her. I then returned Arcanine and walked across the stage to her.

"Great battle, Nikki. Now go and get your final ribbon. You've earned it." I said, holding my hand out.

"Thanks, Michelle. You and Arcanine put up a great fight." Nikki said, shaking my hand.

"Nikki, we understand that this is your fifth ribbon. You can now compete in the Grand Festival." Shawn said.

"Yes, it is. I'm glad that my final ribbon was won in a contest here in my hometown in front of my friends and family." Nikki said.

"Well, the best of luck to you."

"Thank you,"

Backstage, Nikki's parents were congratulating her on winning and being able to go to the Grand Festival. Even Trevor sounded happy for her. I overheard her saying that she wanted to stay one more day at home before leaving to continue traveling with her brother since he still hadn't collected all of his gym badges yet.

Once we said goodbye to Nikki and her family, we were on our way. "Well, we're leaving. Congrats on winning, Nikki." Jason said.

"Thanks,"

"Don't worry, I'll see you in the Grand Festival, Nikki. There are still a few more contests to be held before the Grand Festival, so I still have a chance to win my fifth ribbon." I said, bowing.

Adam said goodbye to Nikki and her parents. Then he looked at Trevor, who was standing by himself. Adam approached him. "I know why you act the way you do, Trevor. You lost your best friend two years ago." he said.

Trevor looked at him. "How did you know?"

"Your parents told us."

"I lost my best friend that day because I couldn't protect her from that man. I was too weak. I hate the weak, and weak trainers and coordinators, too. I swore to myself that when I became a trainer, I would become as strong as possible so that nothing bad like that would ever happen to me again. If only I knew where that man was right now..."

Normal POV

Outside of Neon Town, a very familiar-looking ship was approaching. A blonde-haired man dressed in the usual Pokemon Hunter attire stood in the bridge, looking out of the window.

"Land here and start harvesting any Pokemon you find." he said.

"Yes, sir!"

The man smiled a cold smile. "It's been a while since I was last here. Two years, in fact." he muttered.

Author's Note: So the Elite Four hold a conference to hear Koga's warning about Team Rocket that Adam warned him about in Fuchsia City. What will happen now that they are aware of the coming danger? What will their investigation uncover?

Meanwhile, Adam and the gang learn the truth about Trevor and why he acts the way he does. Michelle's first contest with Jolteon and Arcanine ends in defeat and Nikki wins her final ribbon. But Michelle still has time to win her final ribbon, since there are more contests still to be held!

But who is this man that appears to be another Pokemon Hunter working for Team Rocket? What connection does he have to Neon Town?

Find out the answer to all of these questions and more in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!