I'm back, people! Time for Chapter 12!

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Third Person's POV

'Court–Courtney?!'

Courtney looked up at the sound of her name, and smiled weakly. 'Hi, Tabs,' she croaked.

'What happened to you?' Tabitha asked. 'You look terrible.'

'Heh. I don't know what happened. But where are we? And what are we doing here?'

Tabitha shook his head, sadly. 'I don't know where we are, or why we're here, but all I know is that we're in a different world.'

They were in an alley, not too far from Kuro's house. Tabitha was taking a stroll along the neighbourhood, and stumbled upon a very weak Courtney.

'A different world…what could have caused this?'

'I don't know, like I said. But Kuro, I think…remember her?'

Courtney glared at the ground. 'Of course I do. That girl…'

'I currently stay in her house, along with Shelly and a bunch of other people.' Tabitha pointed in the direction of Kuro's house. 'Do you want to stay there, too?'

The former admin raised an eyebrow. 'Aqua admin Shelly…?'

'Uh, yes,' the purple haired man said quickly, his face turning red. 'But that's none of your business. Look, do you want to stay or not?'

'Fine, I will.'

-][-

Amanda's POV

'Kuro, let us in!' Someone banged on the door. 'It's me, Tabitha!'

'Coming!' I called out. I walked to the front door, flicking the lock open. I pushed open the door. 'Hey.'

Tabitha stepped in. Someone was behind him.

'…Courtney?'

The person turned. 'You!'

'Whoa!' I laughed nervously, stepping backward. 'Yeah, it's me.'

'C'mon Courtney, we gotta forget whatever she's done. We're on a truce now. Kay?' Tabitha patted her shoulder.

'Hmph.' Courtney folded her arms. 'Show me my room.'

-][-

'This will be where you're staying until…uh…we find a way to get back.' I pointed to Shelly and Hannah's room. There was (hopefully) enough space for a mattress.

'Am I by myself or…?' Courtney glanced at me.

'You're with this trainer called Hannah, and Shelly from–'

'I am not going in there!' she announced.

'Courtney, please. There's no other place for you to sleep.'

'I don't care!' she whined. 'There's an Aqua in the room!'

'Courtney.' I placed my hands on her shoulders. 'Calm down. We're on a truce, and besides; both Team Aqua and Magma are disbanded. Okay?'

Courtney muttered something in reply, shrugging my hands off her and walking into the room.

'Well,' I said to myself. 'That's done.'

-][-

Third Person's POV

'Heeeeeeeey!'

Kuro turned around. 'Whitney!'

The Goldenrod Gym Leader grinned. 'Wanna battle? Please?'

'Uh, I guess so…' Kuro smiled. 'But I won't go easy!'

'Alright!' Whitney grabbed the trainer's hand, dragging Kuro to the battlefield. 'Let's do this! Clefairy!'

Whitney's Clefairy popped out from its pokeball.

'Well then, Lucario, let's go!' Kuro said, calling out her loyal Lucario. 'We'll win this thing!'

'It'll be a two-on-two, okay?'

Kuro nodded. 'Sure. You get the first move!'

'Great! Clefairy, Metronome!'

The Fairy Pokémon wagged its fingers until they glowed blue, and Kuro braced herself for an attack. A brown orb was forming between the Clefairy's fingers.

'Alright! It's using Aura Sphere!'

'Argh! Hurry, Lucario! Counter it with your own Aura Sphere!'

Lucarios formed its own orb, and both it and Clefairy launched the spheres toward each other, making them collide and explode.

'Let's finish this! Lucario, end with Close Combat!'

'Clefairy–!'

The Aura Pokémon growled, rushing forward with incredible and hitting the poor Clefairy with a series of punches and kicks, knocking Whitney's Pokémon out of the match.

'Oh no!' Whitney cried. 'I'm so sorry, Clefairy. You tried your best.'

Once Clefairy was recalled, Whitney called out her strongest Pokémon; Miltank.

'Let's defeat this Lucario!'

'Oh no you don't! Lucario, use Toxic!' Kuro commanded

Lucario shoved its palm forward, shooting several purple bubbles in Miltank's direction. Once intoxicated, it didn't do damage, however. Instead, it pulled out a berry (from where; Kuro didn't know) and ate it happily.

'That was a Lum Berry! Miltank's no longer poisoned!' Whitney cheered. 'Miltank, Rollout!'

'Lucario, watch–'

'Haha, too late!'

Eyes wide with horror, Kuro watched as Whitney's Miltank rolled around, slamming into Lucario.

'And the Close Combat lowered Lucario's defense, too…' she muttered.

Finally, Lucario collapsed, unable to battle. 'Yeah! We did it! Good job Miltank!' Whitney called to her still rolling Pokémon.

Sighing in defeat, Kuro retrieved Lucario. 'It's not over yet! Chica, we'll win this for sure!'

Whitney only laughed. 'Did you forget Blaziken is weak to Rock Type moves?'

'No, I didn't, in fact,' Kuro smiled. 'Chica, let's go!'

The moment her Blaziken materialised on the battlefield, it got hit with a powerful Rollout.

'We won't back down now! We can't, and never will!' Kuro shouted. 'Chica, Sky Uppercut, now!'

Chica's fists glowed blue, before it uppercut the rolling Miltank, doing a direct hit.

'Heh, nice try.' Whitney smirked. 'But it ain't over yet! Miltank, use your Milk Drink!'

Her Miltank paused in its rolling, standing up and restoring its HP.

'No! I won't ever let my Chica down…Never!' Kuro raised her left arm, till her knuckles were at eye level. Her silver bangle glistened in the sunlight. 'Let's do this together, Chica! Key stone, listen to my heart! Combine our hearts as one! Chica, Mega Evolve!'

Kuro tapped the pendant on her bangle, thrusting her arm forward in the direction of her Blaziken. Whitney had a shocked expression on her face, witnessing the entire process. Flame-like structures grew out from Chica's wrists, and its 'hair' grew into ear-like shapes on the top of its head.

'W–what's this?!' Whitney asked, eyes wide. 'I never knew Blaziken could evolve any further!'

'Watch and see. Chica, Double Kick!'

'Miltank, use–'

Before she managed to finish her sentence, Chica's foot met Whitney's Miltank's back.

'Let's finish this together as one, Chica!' Kuro looked defiant in the blazing sun overhead. 'Blaze Kick!'

With amazing speed, Kuro's Blaziken leaped forward, its foot ablaze. It kicked Whitney's Miltank hard, causing it to stop rolling and fall flat on its face, unconscious.

'We did it, Chica!' Kuro cheered. 'I knew you could!'

Whitney sighed. 'What could I have expected from such a strong trainer?'

Kuro's Blaziken glowed, suddenly shrinking back into its regular form.

'Thanks, Chica. You did an awesome job!' Kuro commented, recalling her Pokémon. 'That was fun, Whitney.'

'Yes, I agree!' Whitney scratched her chin. 'But…your Blaziken…'

'Oh, yeah! Some Pokémon, such as Blaziken, can Mega-Evolve.'

'Mega-Evolve, huh…' Whitney considered. 'Can Miltank Mega-Evolve?'

'As far as I know, no.'

'Awwwww, that sucks!'

'Heh,' Kuro scoffed. 'It's powerful enough as it is. It doesn't need a Mega.'

'True.'

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'Winonaaaaa.'

Winona sighed. 'What now, Flannery?'

'I don't want to sleep outside anymore.'

'Oh,' Winona murmured thoughtfully. 'I can't do anything about that.'

Flannery groaned. 'The floor is so hard, and cold, and sometimes wet, with ants crawling everywhere, and–'

'I experience it too, Flannery, you're not the only one.'

'Flannery?'

The Lavaridge leader blinked, turning around. She faced a girl with black hair, and green eyes. She pointed at Winona. 'And that's Winona, isn't it? Fortree City gym leader!'

'Do I know you?' Winona asked. 'Are you a trainer?'

The girl nodded. 'Yup! Wait, I should probably introduce myself, right? I'm Kuro!'

'Hello, Kuro,' Winona greeted. 'May I ask why you know us? Me and Flannery, I mean.'

'Oh!' The trainer laughed. 'I travelled in Hoenn once, about two years back.'

'Really? I don't really remember you. No offense, of course,' Flannery added quickly.

'Nah, it's fine. You guys need a place to stay?' Kuro offered.

'Yes!' Flannery replied immediately, while Winona considered this.

'Flannery, don't be rude. We'd love to stay, but…'

'The problem is that we have so many gym leaders and other people staying I don't know if we have enough space for you two…' Kuro grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. 'Even I have to sleep on the sofa.'

'Oh, then nevermind.'

'Unless,' the black haired trainer started, 'I bring you back to Hoenn.'

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'How are you bringing us back?' Flannery asked. 'I don't think it's possible.'

'But it is,' Kuro insisted. 'I'm sure. I've done it before. I even brought two kids from Hoenn, one a trainer and the other a coordinator, here. The coordinator, Ruby, went back yesterday to get his ribbons. The trainer, Sapphire is here to challenge the Hoenn gym leaders…which means I have to bring all of them back now!'

Winona was quiet for a while. 'How do we gather the rest, then?'

'Alakazam,' Kuro suggested. 'It has Teleport. By the way, is Stone here?'

'Hm? Steven? Yeah, I think. And no need for Teleport. Flannery, you have your PokéNav, right?' Winona asked.

'I left it in the gym,' the fire trainer admitted. 'Sorry.'

'Never mind,' Winona dismissed. 'I'll just use mine.'

She pulled out her PokéNav from her pocket, dialing in something, then putting the device to her ear.

'Hello? Wattson?'

'Winona?' Wattson's voice buzzed through the speaker. 'WATT's up? HAHAHAHA!'

'Ugh, bye.' Winona groaned, ending the call. She turned to Kuro. 'Sorry about that, he's a bit…weird.'

'I know,' Kuro agreed. 'I've experienced it first hand. Hard to battle with his attitude.'

'And I have to have a meeting with him every week. Anyway, let's call Wallace instead.' The Fortree leader dialed in another number, once again placing her PokéNav to her ear.

'Hey, Winona,' Wallace greeted, after picking up the call. 'Why'd you call?'

'Uh, Flannery and I met a trainer early on, and she said she can bring us back to Hoenn…' Winona glanced nervously to Kuro's direction. 'I don't know if we can trust her, though. But she claims to have battle the Hoenn League before.'

'Please describe this person, Winona.'

'Eh…Black hair, green eyes. Quite a hard and determined look, I guess.'

'Aha!' Winona could hear Wallace snap his fingers on the other end of the line. 'I vaguely remember her. Can't remember her name, though. It was a few years back, I think.'

'Is her name Kuro?'

'Yes, that's the one!'

'Alright, how do we meet up with you…?' Winona thought aloud.

'Like I said, my Alakazam's Teleport,' Kuro piped up.

'Alright. We'll wait here, so be back soon!'

-][-

About fifteen minutes later, Kuro and her Alakazam reappeared (teleported) with nine people behind her: Sapphire, Roxanne, Brawly, Wattson, Norman, Tate, Liza, Wallace and Steven Stone.

'

'Right!' Kuro clasped her hands together. 'Let's go to Hoenn! Go, Absol!'

'Why an Absol?' Steven questioned, intrigued. 'I still don't understand how we're going back, though.'

'I'm going to open up a portal to Hoenn, and you're going to go through,' the trainer explained. 'Clear enough?'

Not quite, Steven wanted to say. But he kept quiet anyway.

'Absol, make the portal!'

Kuro's Absol roared defiantly, doing a series of moves. Immediately after, a dark hole appeared in front of them.

'This is the portal,' Kuro said, gesturing to the gaping hole. 'Let's go.'

Once stepped through to the other side of the portal, she smiled to everyone. 'Well, welcome home!'

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I'm sooooo sorry for the extremely long update! I have barely any time to write that much anymore, but now it's the weekend so I'll try to keep up. Also, I am halfway through chapter 2 on Our Journey, so don't think I abandoned it! Oh, and expect an OC x Grimsley story soon ahaha!