Back at the Pallet House Hotel/Restaurant...

"Eeeeeveeeeeeee!" Acorn cried for the hundredth time.

The distraught Mew ran through the hotel at lightning speed, colliding with guests of all ages and species as she sought refuge in her mother's arms. Each time she hit something, she got up and kept moving.

"What in the world….?" Lucy thought as she watched the Eevee run. She decided to follow it.

Jessie, James, and Rumika were hanging out in the lobby of the Pallet House, taking a break from work. Jessie was just about to take another sip of coffee when Acorn flew into her stomach, crying and shaking with fear and panic. The hot coffee flew everywhere as all three humans screamed in shock at the Pokémon's seemingly random behavior.

"Hey! What's wrong!?" Jessie exclaimed as she and the others grabbed napkins.

"Veeee! Eevee Eevee eve veeee!" Acorn screamed.

"Acorn's saying that the fusion ate all of her snacks again and threatened to hurt her and your other Pokémon if she didn't come up with more snacks for it to it," Lucy translated. "Or at least that is what she thinks it said."

"I never knew Pokémon could be so nasty," James murmured.

"That thing's part Charmander, part, Bulbasaur, and part Squirtle, and 100% evil," Jessie said as she lovingly stroked Acorn's head. "Don't worry my sweet little princess. We'll fix it."

"I better find it," James sighed.

The fusion Pokémon, which they decided to call 'Diablo' because of its devilish personality, was sometimes receptive to James. As an experiment fusion, it was not nearly as powerful as the monster they had encountered the other night in the Baydon lab, but it was still giving them a hard time. It could use fire, water, and grass moves and at fairly high levels, and it didn't seem to have nearly as many weaknesses as the other grass, fire, or water-types. Giovanni gave it to them with the hope that James' special ability to bond with many different types of Pokémon would help to tame it—and because he didn't know what else to do with it.

Gary told them that it appeared to have had some brain damage done to it during the experiment, giving it an extreme temper and inability to bond with the other Pokémon. It was also selfish and rude, making it unpredictable. James decided to bring Mime Jr and Chimecho with him, since the fusion seemed to like some of James' cute Pokémon more than the others, and Chimecho's Heal Bell could sometimes calm Diablo down long enough for him to get it into a Pokéball.

He found the creature under Rumika's guest bed.

"Hey there," James cooed.

"Charrrrr!" it growled viciously.

"I know you like acorns, so Mimey, Chime, and I brought you some."

James reached out his hand. Diablo sniffed it and then ate the acorns out of his palm. When it was finished, it slumped back under the bed.

"You don't have to be afraid. We aren't going to hurt you or make you do things you don't want to do," James continued.

"Charrrr Charrrrr rrrrrrrr," it hissed.

"Chimecho, try soothing it with Heal Bell."

"Chiiiiiimmmee."

Diablo's grimace softened for a moment, and it lost its balance, rolling over limp.

"Return," James mumbled, holding out the Pokéball. Diablo's shape dissolved into it.

James locked the ball before Diablo could escape. As much as he hated locking it in there, he knew that he couldn't just have it roaming the hotel, terrorizing everyone in sight.

"You'd get it?" Jessie asked after he returned to the lobby.

"Yeah," James sighed. "I wish it could like us though. We gave it food, water, shelter, friendship, and all it does it attack us, threaten our other Pokémon, and cause trouble."

"Perhaps it's karma," Dawn said as she came up behind them. "Getting you back for all the trouble you used to cause."

James and Jessie frowned but Rumika welcomed her warmly.

"I think we suffered enough already," Jessie grumbled. "What're you doing here?"

Dawn handed them a large folder. "Gary wanted me to give you these papers. They contain information about fusions. And I wanted to pick up some of your homemade mochi while I was here."

"Mochi, coming right up," said James.

Jessie opened the folder. She flipped through until something caught her interest.

"It says that in battle, grass-water fusions and fire-water fusions are weak to electric types," she read aloud.

"Why don't you try it out?" said Dawn.

"We will. Thanks, for the info, Twerpette."

"Anytime."

James returned with a poster with over 100 different photos of different types of mochi.

"So, which kind do you want?" he asked excitedly. "We got a few new flavors,"

"I can see that", Dawn blinked. "Um…just last week you only had twelve different types. You sure have been busy expanding your dessert department."

"Hey, Team Rocket works at the speed of light, need I remind you of our motto?"

"No, I'm good."

After Dawn ordered her desserts and left, Rumika and Mondo decided to go back to home as well. Mondo lived with Duplica near the house of Imitae, which she kept open a few nights a week, and Rumika mostly stayed at the mansion she inherited. She had tenants paying her rent so that she could afford to maintain the property and not get lonely. Jessie, James, Meowth, and Lucy were hanging out on the porch with a bunch of their Pokémon when the children called to video chat with them.

XO

"Mom! Papa!" Jocelyn exclaimed. "We're having so much fun!"

"Oh, Princess I'm so happy for you," James responded.

"Are yous all keepin' dem humans in line?" Meowth asked Lily and Logan.

"Sure are," the twins replied.

"How are you, Annastasia? Meet any cute guys/girls?" Jessie asked.

Annastasia rolled her eyes. "No, but I will keep up the search."

"Jay, what about you?"

"Um, no boyfriends or girlfriends yet…" he answered awkwardly.

"I mean in general, Sweetheart."

"Oh. I'm doing great. Yeah, this journey's awesome. I caught two Pokémon already…and I'm still alive!"

"Good for you!"

"I miss you all so much," James sighed. "This place isn't the same without you."

"Wobbaffffetttt!" Wobbufet added.

"Awe, we miss you too," said Logan.

"That goes for you too, Wobbuffet," said Annastasia.

"Wobba, wob!"

All of Jessie and James Pokémon took turns talking to the kids. When they were done, James asked Annastasia about Michio.

"He's coming along," she replied. "Sorta…he's not getting any worse."

"Good. If he does anything you don't like, you know what to do," said Jessie, making a punching motion with her fist.

"Um…uh…no dear," James said as he gently pushed Jessie out of view of the video camera.

"Hey!" she protested. She pushed and hit him, but James held his ground, holding the sides of the camera while he talked to his eldest daughter.

"I don't know how much longer I can go on like this…." he gasped.

"Not long!" Annastasia heard her mother yell in the background. "You're hogging her! She's three-quarters mine!"

"Jess, that's not how genes work!"

Jessie continued to try to push James, but he kept talking.

"Anyway…. remember to be yourself and always do your best," he told Annastasia. "That is all that you ever need to do."

"Got it," Annastasia replied.

"Let me speak to her! I love her too!" Jessie yelled as she tackled James to the ground.

Lucy and Meowth looked on in amusement and slight pity for James, who somehow managed to keep the camera on him so that Annastasia couldn't quite tell what was going on in the room behind him, although she could pretty much guess by the expression on his face.

"I'm going to give your mother the phone before she kills me," James said breathlessly.

"Great," Annastasia chuckled.

Jay, Jocelyn, and Annastasia talked with Jessie for a while, and then Meowth and Lucy forced the phone away from her so that they could talk to their kids. They talked about their new Pokémon, the struggles of traveling and camping, and how they had all the members of their group, minus Michio, had earned their Strength Badges and were heading to the next destination, which was the Pewter City Gym. Jessie, James, Meowth, and Lucy told them about their latest mission and their new Pokémon, Diablo.

"Take care," James told everyone before they ended the phone call.

"Rock those battles!"

"Beat dem Gym Leaders ta dust!"

"Bye-bye, my princesses and prince. We'll talk this time tomorrow!"

"Bye!" the kids all replied together.

After they hung up the phone, Annastasia and her siblings walked back over to camp. Takeshi, Soledad, June, and Amber were still talking to their parents. Michio was alone in his tent, and Nolan and Lexi were talking by the fire. Their Pokémon were all out and either resting, eating, or playing.

"When we called last night, they weren't that worked up," Jay commented.

"I think we stressed them out by waiting so long to get back to them. This time they were expecting us, and they were excited for us to be on time," Annastasia reasoned.

"Also, dey like ta fight," Jocelyn added.

"Flaaa."

"It's 'they' not 'dey'" said Jay.

"Nope!" the seven-year yelled stubbornly. She and Flaafy ran off to join the others.

"I am going to see if Michio wants to borrow my phone to call his family," Annastasia told Jay. "See ya soon."

"K, Sis, I'm going to bed," Jay replied. "I want to do some studying before I go to sleep. I realized that I really don't know much about Tauros. I suppose I should learn since I have two of them now."

"Let me know if you want help. Otherwise, goodnight."

"Night."

"We were going to play cards," Lilly told Annastasia as she made her way towards Michio's tent.

"June's got a ton of Pokémon cards," said Logan. "Wanna join?"

"No, thank you," she replied. "I'm exhausted."

"K. night."

"Yep, see you in the morning."

Jocelyn, Flaafy, Squirtle, Lily, and Logan all headed to the tent that they were sharing with Amber and her Pokémon. Jay met up with Takeshi, who was finished telling Brock and Autumn about his first win at an official Pokémon gym battle. Everyone was either washing up or settling now for some quiet time before bed.

"You in there?" Annastasia called as she shook Michio's tent.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," he grumbled, emerging from the tent.

"Chuuuu," said Pikachu.

"I know you don't have a phone anymore, though you might want to use mine to call your family or friends in Alola," Annastasia offered. "I forgot to ask you earlier."

"I have no desire to contact my parents and I don't have any friends," he replied.

"Oh," she responded. She was a bit surprised by his tone. He sounded…sad.

"You really have no friends?" Annastasia replied.

"I don't need friends," he responded. "Stop trying to sound sorry for me."

"I'm not sorry for you."

"Good."

Michio tried to go back into his tent, but Annastasia kept talking.

"Your family will want to hear about your journey so far, even though you haven't earned any badges yet."

"I have nothing to tell them."

"Sure?"

"Positive."

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Annastasia started to walk away, but she was once again bothered by Michio's sour attitude. 'I have nothing to tell them,' she repeated in her head. She turned around and walked towards him. Michio tried to conceal the fact that he was watching her, but Annastasia didn't miss a beat.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Michio sighed.

Annastasia didn't seem to notice (or care) and instead extended her hand. "Let's be friends."

Michio took a step back. Annastasia dropped her hand and stepped forward, prompting Michio to step again.

"I don't need friends," he murmured.

"As I said, if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she smiled.

"Tarrrrrria," Bleu sighed.

"Pup!" Lil-G barked.

The two Pokémon followed her back to her tent, where Amber and her Pokémon were waiting for them. She was just finished getting dressed in her pajamas. She began talking immediately.

"Dad was soooo proud of me for winning my first real gym battle. I didn't get to tell him until just a few minutes ago. Yesterday when I called both my parents were busy doing something for Giovanni. He says that 100% he is going to be there when we go to Cerulean. Knowing my mom, she's gonna be extra tough on me because I'm her daughter, but Pip and I will handle her!"

"Pichuuu!"

"I'm also very proud of you," said Annastasia.

"Takeshi's face when Cyndaquil defeated that that Eevee was priceless," Amber continued. "He was so happy. I wish he had more confidence in himself when it came to Pokémon battling. They all need that, especially him, June, and even Jay."

"Jay too?"

"Jay's ego's complicated. I think little doses of victory will go a long way for him."

"Amber, that's a wonderful observation. I agree."

"Yeah, I know…and when June's Bulbasaur whipped AJ's Jigglypuff, knocking it out in just a few blows, I was super impressed. Even though AJ defeated them the first time, they went back and killed it. Goes to show what can happen when you never give up."

"Mmmhmm."

Annastasia snuggled up against Lil-G and Bleu and yawned involuntarily. Amber sensed she was done chatting for the night and let her go.

"Goodnight," Amber whispered as she hugged Pip, who always shared her pillow. "Sweet dreams."

XO

The next morning, Misty and Ash joined Brock and Autumn in the rec room above the Pewter City Gym.

"How's everything?" Misty asked as they took their seats.

"Fantastic," said Autumn. "The preparations are going just as planned. Ritchie and Sakura arrived a few minutes ago and the others are on their way."

"Forrest better appreciate you for all this," said Misty.

"Ah, we'll see," said Brock. "Either way, this party we'll be just what all of us need. Either way, we mostly did it for Miette."

The surprise party was to celebrate the engagement of Brock's brother Forrest and his former girlfriend Miette.

"I still never heard how they met," said Misty, eager for a romantic tale.

Autumn beamed. "At the time, Miette was the Kalos Queen, three years standing. One day Forrest was walking alone in Dendemille Town when Pokémon thieves attacked him. Using her Meowstic and Slurpuff, Miette defeated the thieves with hardly any trouble. He had no idea who she was or that she was regionally famous since he had never been to Kalos, but the two of them made an immediate connection."

"Awwe."

"I know!"

"So cute!"

"Really!"

"Alright, calm down," said Brock. "It's cute but let's ease up on it a bit."

"It really is a coincidence that of all people, Forrest ended up with Miette, Serena and Jessie's old rival," Ash commented.

"It's no coincidence! They were made for each other," Misty said dreamily.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guesso."

"Pikachuuu."

"Azumarill."

"I feel like we haven't had an adults-only party since the kids were born," Misty said as Brock poured everyone a glass of wine.

"None for me," said Misty. "I hate wine."

"How?" said Ash.

"I'm not telling you because you should already know."

"She's right," said Brock. "Even I knew that."

The talked about random subjects until Ash brought up Team Rocket.

"My parents called and told me about Team Rocket's latest mission," he said. "Giovanni sent a bunch of agents down to infiltrate this old research facility in Toka that used to belong to Team Rocket. It had been abandoned years ago, but then a few TR spies noticed some activity on their radar. It turns out someone was doing Pokémon experiments out there, dangerous, expensive experiments. He sent agents to shut them down."

"Hence that Bulbasaur-Squirtle-Charmander fusion that Jessie and James got saddled with," said Misty.

"Diablo. Dawn and Rumika told me about it. It sounds terrifying," said Autumn.

"Well, it can't be that all the fusions are bad," said Ash.

Misty looked at him quizzically. "How many of these fusion experiments are there?"

"Ah, well, you know…several."

Misty started to get a bad feeling.

"You offered to take them, didn't you?" she asked.

"Give me a chance to defend myself!" he replied.

"Ash!"

"Most are going to James' nanny and Pop-pop's estate…I figured I could at least take a few off their hands. Otherwise, they'd be stuck in their Pokéballs in the TR labs. And I already interacted with them—they aren't so bad."

When he finished explaining himself, he winced in anticipation of Misty's disapproval. To his surprise, Misty smiled and she kissed him on the cheek.

"I think that is actually pretty sweet," Misty responded.

"So, you aren't mad?" he asked.

"I wish you told me first, but then again I've come to expect your impulsive behaviors. I bet some of them are water fusions—I'd like to see those."

"Yeah, they are pretty cool. I was going to make it a surprise…"

"How many did you get?" Brock asked.

"Five total. Right now, they are all at home, inside their Pokéballs. I figured once we get back, we could start training. They already met Pikachu, and though they seem a little off, I think once we bond a bit, everything will be fine."

"What do you mean by 'off'?"

Ash was about to explain when he was interrupted by Iris.

"Forrest and Miette are coming!" Iris whisper-shouted. "Everyone, hide!"

The party of about 40 guests and their Pokémon childishly hid behind the furniture while Brock answered the door.

"Hey, Forrest, Miette," Autumn greeted the couple as they entered the room.

"What's the emergency? Is anyone hurt?" Forrest asked frantically.

"Surprise!" everyone shouted as they jumped out at the unsuspecting couple.

"What's going on?" asked Miette.

"There wasn't an emergency, we threw a party to celebrate your engagement. Congrats," one of their old friends explained.

Everyone showed the couple with compliments, gifts, and kind words. Then it was time for food, music, and games.

The friends partied just like old times, playing games that were way too inappropriate to even think about with the children around, and singing and dancing like they were still teenagers. It wasn't until 2:00 pm the next day that some of them started to come to their senses.

"What happened?" Ash asked Misty in a hoarse, tired voice.

Misty held her head and squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her temples. She murmured something that was incomprehensible.

"I think we pushed it a little too far last night," said Tracey, who was also holding his head in pain.

Brock silently handed them water. Ash yawned and gulped the whole thing down in one chug. Pikachu and Misty did the same.

"Chuuuuu," Pikachu sighed before going back to sleep.

"This place is a mess," Dawn said as she surveyed the room. "Glad it's not my responsibility."

There were empty bottles, plates of food, board games and other items thrown all over the place. Some of the furniture was overturned and the majority of the guests were still asleep in makeshift forts composed of cardboard boxes and bed sheets.

"I guess it proves we know howda party," Dawn continued.

"Stop...the morning...talk," May complained, rolling back on top of Drew, who moaned and pushed her off of him.

"It's two hours past noon."

"At least we got some sleep," Misty commented as she got up and stretched.

"I'm going back to sleep, night guys," said May.

"Same," several of their friends replied.

"It's not like we have anything else to do," Ash murmured as he lay back down. "Not since Amb…"

He was snoring before he could finish his sentence.

XO

Around 4:00 pm, Giovanni dialed Ash.

"Hello?" Ash answered. He still sounded sleep deprived, despite spending the entire day resting on the floor of the rec room above the Pewter City gym.

"You sound like shit," Giovanni remarked.

"I feel like shit," Ash mumbled. "Brock threw a party…"

"I called for a status report on the fusions you agreed to train."

"Oh, yeah…I'll report back late; Mist and I didn't getta chance to play with them yet."

"I would like that report as soon as possible. Upon my initial inspection, my agents and I found that they were not too powerful, however, recent events have me reconsidering that assessment. I want you to pay close attention to them, push them in training, and let me know what you find."

"Yes, Sir."

Ash only registered about half of Giovanni's words.

"Do it when you are sober; I want an accurate and detailed analysis," he continued. "Involve Misty. I trust her more than I trust you."

"Won't let ya down, Sirrr," Ash slurred.

"Goddammit, Ash, drink some coffee and pour cold water over your face before you make an ass out of yourself! You know what tends to happen when you aren't thinking straight!"

"Got it, Sirrr."

"I will call tomorrow. Try to have something useful to tell me by then."

Ash set his phone down on the coffee table and got up to get ready for the day. Or, technically it was the evening. The other guests had either left hours ago or were helping Brock clean up the place.

"You all should stay a few more hours," Brock told a handful of them. "You can't drive yet."

"Its fine," said Iris. "We have connections with billionaires that don't mind sending out a private jet and a few cars."

"Thanks for a fun night," Forrest told everyone.

"Anytime!" they responded together.

AN: I skimmed over Takeshi and June's first gym battles because I wanted to focus more on some of the other characters and the main plot. As you probably figured, I am not going to go into detail on every gym battle since that would take way too much time. So, I've chosen only to describe the battles that are unique, and coming up some of these battles do get interesting. Thank you for your opinions and feedback so far, and as always, reviews are appreciated:)