Omega: I know I should have commented this earlier, but I'm kind of impressed by Trix's puppetry skills.

Ohirume: What can I say, I like Karakuri Circus. But in all honesty, marionetter was a last-minute thing. I planned the zipper on her back from the get-go, just not what it would do.

Seishin: Oh, that's why you named it after an altergeist. I thought that deck got on your nerves.

Ohirume: It does, but I like the name.

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

.

.

Seymour, The Mount Moon Nutcase

.

When Brock heard about Ash's 'weird gloves' from Misty, he expected them to be awkwardly colored or confusingly decorated. Not this.

Soot returned earlier with a decently sized log she happened to find. Brock just stared, speechless, as Ash chopped it into firewood with his 'claws.' Short, green nails seemed to protrude from Ash's own nails. With each swipe, the trainer would split the thick pieces of log in half, never faltering or getting stuck.

Then he propped up the firewood and lit it … by snapping.

Brock watched as Ash shook to flame from his thumb, "Where the Yvel did you get those?"

Ash removed the red glove and put it into his backpack, "Actually, I made them."

Misty spit out her drink, "What?!"

Ash pulled on his green gloves and looked at her confused, "huh?"

Misty walked over, "How could you have possibly made those?"

Ash cocked on eyebrow, "A needle and thread."

Misty's eye twitch, "No the thing with the claws and the flames."

"And the electricity manipulation." Soot called out

"Yeah and the- what?" Misty stared at the bag, then back at Ash, "You have gloves for that too."

Ash scratched the back of his head, "Well, not yet. They're a work in progress."

Brock spoke up, "Ash, why would you make all of these?"

Ash shrugged, "I try to be prepared for anything."

Brock was about to say something when Soot spoke up, "Sorry, but that's as good an answer as your gonna get. Dad's too stubborn."

Ash glared at her, "I am not stubborn!"

.

**Time Skip**

The next day, the group continued down the path. They planned to cut through Mt. Moon on their way to Cerulean City. When they made it to the mountain's entrance, they saw a guy in a lab coat being attacked by zubat.

"Help!" he cried out, panicking.

Ash raised a hand, "Soot, warning shot!"

Soot complied and fired a Shadow Ball at the screaming man. It detonated about a foot away from him and scared away the zubat.

Ash walked over, "Hey, are you okay?"

Honestly, he did expect the man to thank him. Just not like this:

He jumped up and pulled Ash into a hug like a Vice Grip, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was done for!"

Ash tried to struggle but failed to escape. He heard a small explosion that startled the nutcase enough for Ash to slip free.

He turned around to see Soot glaring at the man, "Sorry to do that but I'm pretty sure dad wasn't breathing."

He man adjusted his glasses and stared when he saw Soot talk.

She rolled her eyes, 'here we go again.'

The man had a huge smile on his face when he shouted, "YOU'RE THE PHANTOM CHILD!"

Soot flinched when she heard that, 'I thought everyone forgot about that.'

"Then that means-" he turned around to look at Ash, "You're Ashton S. Ketchum!"

Brock and Misty stared at each other, confused. Misty spoke up, "How do you know Ash?"

The man turned to look at her, shocked, "Are you kidding?! This boy and his Mightyena were blessing upon the scientific world!" He paused and gazed off into distance "Five years ago, a young boy was wandering in the forest and came across in injured Pokémon. The boy immediately brought it home, not knowing what it was. After the Pokémon was healed, it rewarded the boy with an egg. This egg hatched into a Pokémon like no other, the worlds first and only inherent Pokémon. The offspring of the Phantom Pokémon itself, the Phantom Child."

The crouched down and grabbed Soot's head, "I can't believe I actually have the honor of meeting you."

Soot growled, "Let go of my face."

Brock and Misty looked at Ash, stunned.

He responded by rubbing the back of his head, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys before. I honestly hoped everyone forgot about that."

Soot nodded, "Same. The publicity got annoying fast. Can we just focus on the bigger picture for now? Mister, why were those zubat attacking you?"

He looked insulted when she said that, "Do not call me mister! I am Seymour, Seymour the scientist!"

Everyone groaned.

"As for the zubat, follow me!" Seymour ran into the mountain's entrance.

Pikachu grumbled, "That guy gives me the creeps."

They, eventually, decided to follow Seymour through entrance. For the sake of the zubat, not him. Inside the cave, there were hanging light strung up everywhere, illuminating the tunnels.

Ash frowned, "What's going on here?"

Seymour looked at him with a bright smile, "I knew you would notice! Someone has been hanging up these lights in here for the last few days."

Ash looked at him, "You've tried taking them down, right?"

Seymour nodded vigorously, "Yes, of course I have. But they're always back up the next day."

Soot looked around. There were wild Pokémon all over, disoriented by the light in their home. Zubat were flying around aimlessly and crashing into the walls. Paras were wandering around and planting their mushrooms everywhere. A sandshrew was even becoming dehydrated by the heat.

Ash brought out a bowl and a bottle of water. The drying Pokémon came over immediately.

She growled, "How could someone do this? These Pokémon are suffering."

Seymour became sorrowful, "I'm afraid it's because of the moon stone."

Soot's growl intensified, "Someone did this for one crummy evolutionary stone?!"

Seymour shook his head, "No, not A moon stone. THE moon stone. Whoever set up these lights must be here for it."

"That's horrible!" Misty commented with a frown.

Brock followed, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Seymour perked up again and ran over to Ash, "Would you really help?!"

Ash nodded, "I'm not letting whoever's responsible get away with this."

The scientist pulled Ash to his side, "YES! With Ash Ketchum and the Phantom Child, by my side, we'll put an end to this horrid attack!"

Ash sweat dropped, "Brock and Misty can help too y'know."

Seymour let go and ran deeper into the cave, "Come on! There's no time to lose!"

Everyone sweat dropped.

Ash turned to his friends, and shrugged, "He's not wrong, I guess."

The group sighed and followed the hyperactive man. They caught up to Seymour, who had tripped and fallen immediately after he started running.

Misty spoke up, "So, what's so special about this moon stone, anyway?"

Seymour looked down to Soot, "It's a meteor that crashed here centuries ago. It belongs to the Pokémon! Humans have no place in taking it!" He looked off into the distance, again, "When I was young, I always believed that Pokémon came from outer space, traveling to earth aboard the moon stone. I still believe it to this day."

One thought rang through everyone's head, 'This guy is completely nuts!'

Ash didn't want to discourage him. Too much, "That's … quiet the theory."

Seymour's smile didn't faulter, "Thank you! That means so much coming from you!"

They group heard cheering up ahead. They looked ahead and saw a pink Pokémon, about Pikachu's height. It was holding a rock and skipping happily.

Ash's eyes widened, "That's a clefairy!"

Seymour nodded, "Yes, they live here in the mountain."

Misty looked at Pokémon, happily, "Oh, it's so cute!"

Seymour ran in front of her, glaring, "You must not try to catch it. These Pokémon must remain here."

Misty's eye twitched, 'This guy is starting to bug me more than bugs.'

Ash looked at him, "We promise not to try and catch any of them."

Seymour smiled again, "Thank you for understanding, sir."

Ash sweat dropped, 'great, now he's calling me 'sir'.'

They heard a cry up ahead. "Hand ova' dat moon stone." a familiar voice said.

Soot was livid, "YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!"

Ash scowled and ran towards the source. He came across Meowth, who had the clefairy cornered. The other followed.

"You again!" Misty shouted.

Meowth was alarmed to see them, "What are you doin' here?!"

"Forget them Meowth, just grab the rock" Jessie and James could be seen further into the cave.

"Here!" Brock picked up a rock and threw it at the idiots, "There, you have your rock. Now scram!"

Jessie glared, "That's not what I meant!"

Seymour looked at Meowth, "Another talking Pokémon? Wait, Ms. Soot, could he be-"

Soot glared, "If your about to suggest the he and I are connected in any way what-so-ever, I will fire fang your ears off."

Seymour flinched and covered his ears.

Koffing and Ekans emerged and stared down the group.

Ash tossed a pair of pokéballs, "Pidgeotto, Butterfree, let's go!"

"Go, Zubat!" Brock called out.

Ash blinked, "When did you get a zubat?"

Brock pointed at the way they came, "It's one the one's Soot scared off earlier."

Ash blinked again, "Nice." Ash glared at Team Rocket.

They glared back, "How many times do we have to say it? One Pokémon per trainer!" Jessie shouted.

James looked at Misty, "You know what we mean right?"

Misty glared and pulled out a pokéball, "Misty calls Staryu!"

The Star Shape Pokémon emerged in front of her.

James blinked, "huh?"

Misty glared at them and pointed, "You crossed a line when you blinded Pikachu and Soot last time. I'm not gonna make the same mistake."

Brock looked over, "Wait, you've faced these guys before?"

Ash looked at him, "They attacked a Pokémon Center and then us in Viridian Forest. We won, but the Center took a lot of damage."

Seymour was still ecstatic, "Of course you did! Who else could do something so impressive?!"

Ash was getting tired of this, "Misty helped. Also, you realize that Brock is a gym leader, right?"

Seymour looked at Brock, "Oh, is that so?" he said in bored tone.

Team Rocket flinched, "Wait, gym leader?"

Brock smirked, "That's right. And I'm not letting you get away with this. Zubat, use Whirliwind!"

Ash followed, "Butterfree, Pidgeotto, help him out!"

The three Pokémon flapped and summoned a huge gust of wind that propelled the Poison-types back to their trainers.

Ash didn't let up, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Soot follow with Shadow Ball!"

Misty followed, "Staryu, help Pikachu with Watergun!"

The two humans and three Pokémon were shocked mercilessly. Soot followed and sent them flying. The intruders flew out of the cave faster than a Goodra on an ice rink … with a jet engine strapped to it.

The clefairy watched from the side. Seeing the attackers gone, it jumped for joy and ran over to the group.

She hugged Soot, "Thank you! That bad guy was trying to steal the moon stone piece. We couldn't begin the ceremony without it!"

Soot chuckled, "We were happy to help." She blinked "What ceremony?"

The other looked over when they heard this. Ash spoke up, "A ceremony?"

Clefairy flinched when he said that. Soot nodded, "Yeah, Clefairy said they couldn't begin without her piece of the moon stone."

Clefairy blinked and stared at Soot, "You speak like humans?"

Soot nodded, "Bingo." Clefairy tilted to the side. "That means yes."

Clefairy perked up and looked up at the surrounding humans. She ran over to Brock and pulled on his pants, "Come on. I want to show you the ceremony."

Brock looked at the Mightyena, "Uh, Soot?"

She chuckled, "Clefairy wants us to follow her. She said she wants to show us the ceremony."

Seymour ran over and crouched down, getting directly in the fairy-types face, "Will you really show us?!"

Clefairy became startled and hid behind Brock.

Ash put a hand on the freak's shoulder, "Calm down, Seymour. You're scaring her."

Seymour became embarrassed and started bowing. Yes bowing, "I'm so sorry, sir."

Ash was nearing his limit. He wanted to tell the man off but there were more important things to worry about.

Ash took a deep breath, ignored the man, and walked over to Clefairy. He crouched down to her level, "Clefairy, I'm grateful but, right now, we need to get rid of these lights. They're hurting the other Pokémon here."

She looked around, seeing what he meant. She looked back at him and smiled, "I'll help. That'll make it go faster."

Soot blinked, "She said she'll help."

Ash chuckled as he looked at the Fairy-type, "You really want us to see this ceremony, huh? Alright, let's get to work and we'll head there right after."

He turned back towards his friends, "Brock, Misty. Think we can get Starmie and Geodude out to help too?" The two of them nodded and brought out their respective Pokémon.

Ash smiled, "We'll work from either side of the tunnels and meet at the entrance. If you see any kind of light source, don't hesitate to check. Also, take a flashlight, we don't want any accidents."

Everyone nodded and got to work.

.

**Time skip**

With everyone helping, the lights were down in a matter of minutes. They were about to rest but Clefairy-

"The lights are down. Now, Ceremony." She pulled on Ash's shirt as he sat.

Ash chuckled at the puffball, "Alright, alright. We'll come see it."

Everyone groaned as they were forced to stand up. They made their way through the cave and came across a massive cavern. On the other side stood an oval shaped boulder that rivalled a snorlax in size.

Misty stared, "Woah."

Brock followed, "Is that?"

Seymour looked at the rock with stars in his eyes, "It's the moon stone!"

Ash was speechless at the sight of the stone. He looked down when he felt Clefairy pulling on his pants leg. She pointed to a pathway leading to the floor of the cavern and ran down it; motioning for the group to follow.

Ash spoke up, "Come on. Clefairy wants us to follow her."

They followed to the ground below. Clefairy ran over to the stone and placed her moon stone fragment into it. It was like a puzzle piece.

The completed moon stone began to glow. "Let the Moon Stone ceremony begin!" Clefairy called out.

Multiple clefairy started pouring into the cavern. The grouped watched as most of the Fairy Pokémon began dancing around the moon stone, with a few others standing off to the side. Their escort walked back over to them.

Soot looked over at Clefairy, "You're not going to dance, too?"

Clefairy shook in disagreement, "I'm waiting for the end. For the chance to evolve."

Soot was surprised before remembering something, "That's right. Your kind evolve when you come into contact with a moon stone." She looked at the boulder, "I guess the rules are different for a stone like this one."

Ash overheard, "So that's it. This ceremony is about the clefairy evolving."

Clefairy looked up at him, "More than that. It's about honoring those before us. Their memories live forever in the moon stone."

Soot smiled sadly and relayed the message. Ash mimicked Soot's expression and looked over the moon stone.

And, of course, Seymour had to say something, "What a discovery! It's incredible that these Pokémon could have such a rich culture."

Nobody responded, deciding to enjoy the display before them. But it didn't last long.

Three familiar laughs rang through the cavern. Everyone's eye widened at the sound. Team Rocket was up at the entrance looking down at the moon stone.

Jessie smirked, "So, this is where the moon stone has been hiding."

James smirked as well, "Once we take it, our Pokémon will be powered up like crazy."

Ash glared, "Beat it! A moon stone doesn't have any effect on koffing, ekans, or meowth. You're wasting your time here."

Jessie laughed, "Even if that's true, we'll surely be able to sell it for a good price."

Brock glared, "Forget it!"

Misty glared as well, "You're not getting anywhere near the moon stone. It belongs to the clefairy."

Meowth smirked, "We'll see about dat."

James tossed a pokéball into the air, "Koffing, Smokescreen!"

Smokescreen quickly filled the area, obscuring everyone's vision. Ash was about to send out his Flying-types when the ground started rumbling. He could hear motors and a diesel engine through the smoke. He quickly released Pidgeotto and had her get rid of the smoke with whirlwind.

But it was too late.

The smoke cleared. Team Rocket and the moon stone were gone, and a gaping hole sat next to where the boulder was.

Ash sank to his knees in shock as he saw this, "n-no." he said weakly.

The clefairy all broke down at seeing the relic had been stolen. Most began crying from the loss.

Misty was shocked, "How could they do this? That moon stone meant everything to the clefairy."

Ash started trembling.

Brock noticed, "Ash?"

Ash looked up and glared at the hole Team Rocket's machine made. His hair seemed like it was being lightly blown upward and his pupils had constricted into slits. The humans started shaking in fear at the sight and not knowing why.

Pikachu stepped forward, confused, "Ash, what's going on?"

Soot put a leg in front of the mouse. He looked up at her. She shook her head and point to Ash's watch.

Pikachu understood, "Power Integration?"

Soot nodded, still not saying anything.

"That stone was the only thing tying the clefairy to their ancestors." Ash declared, voice dripping with rage, "I'm not letting them get away!"

He broke into a sprint and jumped straight into the hole. Everyone felt their fear vanish as he did.

Seymour fell back, "W-what on earth was that?!"

Misty was still trembling, "It felt like I was being stared down by a rabid scyther."

Brock couldn't bring himself to speak.

Soot ran in front and faced them, "That's not important! I promised I'll explain later, but right now we need to stop Team Rocket before they get away with the moon stone."

Their clefairy overheard and walked over, tears in her eyes, "Y-you'll really help?"

Nobody needed Soot to translate that; already getting the message. Everyone shook themselves out of it and nodded. They began the chase to stop Team Rocket.

.

*Team Rocket

The tRio's drill burst out of the ground with the moon stone in the back.

"We did it!" Jessie cried out in joy.

"We finally won!" James joined in.

Meowth was just as excited, "Just imagine how da boss'll react ta dis."

Their cheers were cut short when they heard a screech from behind them. They turned to see a banette coming out of the hole they made. It had a green symbol it's stomach and was glaring at them.

It shot into the air and jumped on to Jessie's head.

She panicked and started trying to hit it, "Get out of my hair you dumb doll!"

Meowth jumped up, "Eat Fury Swipes!"

The banette smirked and hung in front of Jessie's face. It held on by her hair. Meowth was shocked when his claws went straight through the Pokémon and hit Jessie in the face. The woman was out like a light; face covered at scratches.

The Marionette Pokémon jumped off the falling woman and sat on the control panel, laughing at Meowth, "You don't know much about Ghost-types. Do you?"

James released his partner, "Koffing, Tackle that thing!"

The banette sat there and took it. Koffing hit the panel and destroyed it. Banette was unfazed.

It laughed again, "Wow, you guys are dumb."

Meowth pulled out a remote from James's pocket, "I'll show you who's dumb!"

He hit a button and several metal arms popped out of the machine and started swatting at the Ghost-type. It was forced to dodge repeatedly.

During this, an onix burst out the hole, carrying Brock, Misty, and everyone else. Except for Pidgeotto who flew out shortly after.

She looked at the scene before her, "Wait, where's Ash? And who's that Pokémon fighting Team Rocket?"

Pikachu squinted, "I think that is Ash. Look, the symbols on him and everything."

Brock looked around, "Where did Ash go? I thought he was ahead of us. And where did that banette come from?"

Soot spoke up, "I noticed in the tunnel that there were additional holes, probably dug by Ekans. Dad might have taken a wrong turn. As for the Banette; Team Rocket might have disturbed it with all the digging, or maybe it's a friend of the clefairy." Everything she said was a lie.

Luckily, the humans bought it. Misty spoke up, "So what do we do?"

Soot looked at scene, "I'm pretty sure Banette's already noticed us. It hasn't thrown an attack at us, so it knows we're here to help. I say we do just that!"

She ran into the mayhem and spat a Shadow Ball at one of the arms.

Meowth glared and pointed the remote at her, "Take dis!"

He pressed a button and Soot was batted away by one of the arms. She fell to the ground, landing on her left foreleg. She tried to stand up but failed. Ash was still flying around, trying to stop Team Rocket's machine. He couldn't get any good hits in with all the arms in the way.

Soot growled, 'Crag! I need to do something. Marrionetter should do the trick, but I need a user.'

Soot looked over at the others. Seymour was just- no, and Misty's nice but she might mess up after seeing a bug. That left Brock.

Soot looked to him, "Brock, get over here! Hurry!"

Brock ran to her side, "Don't worry, I'll help you."

Soot shook her head, "No, I need you to open the zipper on my back!"

Brock was shocked, "What?! But I saw what Ash was doing back in my gym. There's no way I could do that as well as him."

Soot managed to roll over, her back facing Brock, "I'm not asking you to. I just need a user. I'll guide you through it." Soot closed her eyes and opened them to their Banette design.

Brock was still unsure but opened it anyway. The strings shot out Soot's back and latched on to Brock's finger.

Soot smiled, "Listen closely. Curl you fingers like your halfway through making a fist. Then cross your arms with your left is over your right; from your perspective. Make sure they're touching each other half-way between your wrists and elbows."

Brock complied and Soot stood on all fours again.

She smiled, "Good. Now, without uncurling you fingers and with your arms still touching each other, rotate them clockwise into a cross shape with your right pointing upward. Then quickly pull you left hand to your left so that it's directly in front of your shoulder."

Brock followed again. Soot stood on her hind legs.

"Now, position your left hand so that your palm faces your right hand and straighten the fingers on your left hand. Rotate your right wrist and arm clockwise so that the back of your hand faces your left palm. Pull the two together directly in front of you so that your right wrist lays in your left palm."

Brock followed again, albeit shakily. Soot's forepaws were now pointing on in front of her, claws pointing upward and pads showing.

Soot smiled, "Alright this is easy part. Your connected hands are now acting as a guide for me, like a joystick. I'll fire shadow balls on my own, you just focus on the aiming."

Brock was speechless, 'All of this just for targeting?! And Ash made it look so easy.'

Brock pointed his hands at Team Rocket's machine. Soot followed and started firing Shadow Balls from her paws and mouth.

Ash dodged as the barrage hammered at the machine. He looked over to see Soot being controlled by Brock. He smiled, 'that's my girl.'

He moved over to Soot's side and started firing as well, "So, I got lost in the tunnel and this guy attacked out of revenge?"

Soot blinked twice, their sign for 'yes' in this situation.

Ash nodded, "Good call. Fake tunnels or bad at directions?"

She blinked once.

Ash sighed, "Thanks"

Team Rocket's drill was starting to lose its arms fast. The treads were the next to go.

James grimaced, "Oh, man! This is bad!"

They were out of mechanical arms to attack or defend. They were left without treads and had nowhere to go. They were … confused when the Shadow Balls stopped suddenly.

Meowth looked up from behind the broken wall he hid behind, "Huh?"

Brock became confused, "Soot, what's wrong?"

Soot was still facing the drill, forelegs forward, "We can't damage the moon stone. It's too important."

Brock grimaced, "So, how do we get it back?"

Soot's ears twitched. Ash turned around and saw the clefairy jumping out of the hole by the dozens.

Soot grinned, "I think they have it covered."

The clefairy all gathered around the destroyed drill and started waving their pointer fingers in the air.

Misty was confused, "What are they doing?"

Seymour adjusted his glasses, "I think that's Metronome. A move that can result in anything."

Soot's frowned, 'Metronome?! Why would they use such a risky move? And why all of them? The combined effects could be catastrophic.'

Ash was staring too; unsure of what to do next.

The fairy-types stopped and pointed at the drill. They all started glowing white.

Soot's eye widened, "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!"

The drill exploded violently.

Team Rocket flew through the air. They weren't any worse off than before the explosion … yeah, I don't get it either. If you want to argue, take it up with the anime.

Jessie woke up, "Ugh, my head- wait, what's going on?!"

Meowth was right next to her, "What's it looks like? We lost."

James held his head in sorrow, "I really thought the drill would work."

Jessie growled, "Those twerps are really starting to get on my nerves."

"Looks like we're blasting off again!"

The moon stone shattered in the explosion. Fragments flew everywhere. Everyone watched in horror, thinking they failed the clefairy. Turns out they were completely wrong.

The clefairy cheered and ran around trying to catch a piece. The moment one of them did, they become engulfed in white light.

Seymour watched in awe, "OF COURSE! The moon stone exploding must be how the ceremony ends. That's why Clefairy had a piece of it when we found her."

Misty blinked in surprise, "But I thought it was part of their heritage."

Soot sweat dropped, "They sure have an interesting way of showing it."

She looked back as best she could, "Can someone go ahead and zip me back up?"

"Banette could probably-" Brock paused when he saw the Ghost-type had vanished, "Where did it go?"

"Probably back to its home. Team Rocket's gone, so it might've stopped caring, or something." Soot responded.

Brock shrugged and reached out to close the zipper. The problem was that he was still in control.

His movements caused Soot to do a triple front flip and land on her face.

"Maybe someone else should close it." She said, voice muffled by the dirt.

Misty moved over to close it. The strings vanished and Soot gained control again.

Brock became sheepish, "Sorry about that."

Soot shook her head and smiled, "Don't be. You were really impressive out there. And besides, I've had to do way worse things because a simple mistake. A Pokémon should not have to swallow her own tail." She shivered after saying that.

Everyone tried to hold in their laughs. Soot rolled her eyes and grinned, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

She tried to stand up but yelped and fell to the ground. That stopped the laughs.

Brock ran next to her, "Soot!"

She pulled in her left foreleg up in pain "Don't worry, it wasn't you. I landed on it earlier. Now might be a good time to patch me up."

Ash emerged from the hole behind them, trying to catch his breath.

Seymour immediately noticed, "Mr. Ketchum, you're okay! What happened?"

Ash looked up at him, "Got *huff* lost. *huff* Lots of *huff* fake tunnels."

Ash noticed Soot and got his second wind, "Soot!"

He ran over to her and got to on his knees, "Are you okay?!"

Soot looked up at him and put on a smile, "I'm fine. Just landed on it funny."

"Don't worry, I'm almost done." Brock reassured him.

Ash sighed in relief, "Thanks, Brock."

Ash looked over at the remains of the drill, "Geez, what did I miss? Wait, where's the moon stone?!"

Soot chuckled, "Everywhere, kind of. Turns out the ceremony ends with the clefairy blowing it up and using the pieces to evolve."

Ash blinked and looked around, "That explains all the clefable."

Ash spotted their clefairy friend from earlier, sitting on ground. She was still a clefairy.

Ash frowned and walked over to her. He crouched down to her level, "Hey, are you okay?"

Clefairy looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She ran over to him and sobbed as she hugged his right arm.

Ash started petting her with his left hand, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll evolve next time."

Clefairy kept holding on to Ash as she cried softly.

.

**Time Skip**

The group decided to set up camp near the Rocket-made entrance to the mountain. Clefairy was still with them, sitting on the ground next to the soon-to-be firepit.

Ash turned to Seymour, "Hey Seymour, do you think you could get some us some firewood?"

Seymour lit up at the request, "Yes, of course sir! It would be my honor!" The scientist ran off into the woods.

Misty blinked, "I thought we still had firewood from last night."

Ash turned to look at her, "We do, I just wanted to get rid of him for a bit."

Brock and Misty couldn't argue that. Brock still felt the need to ask, "Any reason why?"

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Your kidding, right? He's been ignoring, if not insulting, you guys all day and bugging Soot and I because of that 'Phantom Child' stuff."

Misty chuckled, "I'm kind of happy you noticed too." She frowned a bit, "What is a Phantom Child anyway? And what about that thing you did in the cave that, um-"

"Made you guys fear for your lives." Ash replied somberly, "Yeah, I have some stuff to explain."

Everyone sat in a circle as with Soot sitting next to Ash and Pikachu on the other side.

Ash took a second to remember the story and began, "Seymour wasn't wrong about that story earlier. The one about where Soot came from. I didn't tell you guys because I was worried that you'd start going crazy. Kind of like Seymour, now that I think about. It was less than a year after we found out about Soot's abilities that professor Oak published his findings on inheritance."

Brock perked up, "I've heard about that before. I read about it some old articles about breeders trying to replicate it. All of them said that the attempt was a failure, but not what inheritance actually was."

Ash nodded, "That sounds about right. The easiest comparison to inheritance is actually egg moves. Moves that a Pokémon can inherit from a parent. Inheritance is when a Pokémon inherits traits or abilities from a parent that don't naturally show up in their species. The traits would be from the father."

Misty spoke up, "Like Soot's zippers and the way she can walk through stuff."

Soot nodded, "Don't forget my eyes. They can change to match my inherent species. Oh, also I can turn invisible."

Ash chuckled and continued, "Soot has Banette inheritance, which shouldn't even be theoretically possible. Banette and Mightyena are in no way compatible."

Soot shrugged while smiling, "I'm an enigma."

Ash pet her head, "After news got out, a lot people started coming around to try and study Soot or to get me to trade or sell her. We ended up with a lot of restraining orders. Attempts to replicate it all failed and the news died out fast. Or so I thought." Ash sighed.

Brock frowned, "So that's why Seymour has been so interested in you guys."

Ash nodded, "Yeah. I accidently founded the concept of inheritance when I was five. People all thought I was some prodigy." Ash didn't look happy about saying that.

Misty was still uneasy about earlier, "And the thing you did in the cave?"

Ash frowned. He was always scared about people finding out about that.

Soot jumped in, "It's because of marionetter." Brock flinched, "Calm down Brock, nothing will happen to you. It was because we practiced too much when we were younger. The prolonged exposure and over consistent use affected dad forever."

Ash frowned, but Soot continued, "The shape of his pupils is from my Banette side, the fear you felt is from my intimidate ability, we still haven't figured out the connection to his hair floating, and it only works on humans. There haven't been any other effects."

Ash spoke up; not wanting to hear Soot blame herself anymore, "I'm sorry about earlier. Normally, I can control it and use it at will, but sometimes it just happens when I get too angry." He looked down sadly, "It makes it hard to make friends." Ash wasn't lying about that part.

Pikachu's ears drooped at hearing that.

He heard someone walk over and felt them put an arm around is back. Ash looked up to see Misty smiling at down at him. Brock followed suit. Pikachu jumped into his lap.

Ash was surprised, "You guys aren't mad?"

Misty chuckled, "Please, compared to every other crazy thing about you, this is a cake walk."

Brock smiled too, "We're your friends, Ash. Nothings going to change that."

Ash smiled softly as he heard that and pulled them into group hug, "Thanks guys. I promise I'll try harder to control it."

Soot nuzzled up to Ash and even Clefairy walked over to join them. Everyone sat in silence until-

"Hey, I got the firewood!" Seymour yelled upon his return.

Ash sighed, "Thank you, Seymour."

"Way to ruin the moment" Misty muttered, not loud enough for the man hear.

Ash walked over and was about to prop it up for the fire, but, "Seymour, this wood is soaking wet. Where did you find it?"

The man looked up, "Down by a river. Why? Is something wrong with it?"

Ash deadpanned, "You've never been camping before, have you?"

Seymour threw the wood into the firepit, "Well it can't be that hard, right?"

Everyone groaned at hearing that.

Soot sighed, "This is going to be a long night."

.

.

Omega: Wow. I am thankful that I never met that guy.

Faux: I envy you.

Gem: Same.

Omega: Okay, if you guys are actually saying that, then I'm even more thankful now.

…

Ohirume: For the record, I actually acted out all of the movements Soot instructed of Brock. Y'know, to make sure it was possible for a human to move like that. Nonfiction human anatomy is not my best subject.