Seishin: If there's something strange in your neighborhood

Who you gonna call?-

Ohirume: YUKIRO!

Seishin: What? No. Ghostbusters.

Ohirume: You know that isn't what I meant!

Seishin: *pouts* Fine. Danny Phantom, then!

Faux: On it! Aura Transmution! Ecto!

Ohirume: Guys, no!

Seishin: Well, what do expect me to do?! Supernatural's opening doesn't have a song!

Faux: Aura Transmution! Grace!

Ohirume: Stop it! We already did the song thing!

Omega: In Yukiro's defense, that was way back in chapter 3 and he didn't even finish.

Ohirume: *eye roll* Whatever. I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

Seishin: Or Karakuri Circus

Ohirume: Wait, what?

.

.

Summer's End Festival (part 1): Maiden's Peak Merriment

.

The group of Brock, Misty, Ash, and Soot walked through the city; en route to the, somehow, undamaged pier. The main differences were Pikachu standing on Brock's shoulder, Misty holding Clefairy, Soot wearing Ash's belt loosely around her neck, and Ash wearing a massive cloak to cover his non-human, non-Pokémon form as he skated alongside the others. No one else was around, so he kept the hood down. For now.

Brock and Misty kept asking Ash stuff about the watch; not that the trainer minded. He was happy to finally get everything off his chest.

The current conversation was mostly about Power Integration.

"So," Brock continued, "your gloves don't actually do anything?"

"Well, for the most part." Ash responded with a raise claw, "My claws and the electric stuff comes directly from Power Integration, but I wasn't lying about my red gloves. They really do draw out and ignite my blood."

Misty raised a brow, "Then, why do you have all the extras?"

Ash shrugged, "They make it easier to explain everything. More or less."

Misty chuckled before asking, "What about the thing where you can understand Pokémon?"

Soot looked up at them, "Also, Integration. When he's human, his translation is limited to Pokémon from the same species or evolutionary trees as what's in the watch."

Brock looked at Ash with a raised brow, "Just when you're human?"

Ash sighed, "Yeah. When I'm one these things," He said as he raised a hand, "I lose my ability to understand Pokémon. From any species."

Clefairy looked at him and frowned, "So you really can't understand us anymore?"

Ash looked at her with a frown, "Sorry, Clefairy."

Pikachu spoke up, "But it'll come back when this wears off, right?"

Soot smiled sadly and nodded, "Yeah. Don't worry."

Brock spoke up again, "What about your Intimidate thing? Does it actually come from Marionetter?"

Ash shook his head, "Nope. Although Soot was serious about where the aspects come from. Scared feeling from Mightyena, eyes from Banette, and no clue on the hair thing. Marionetter doesn't affect the user at all."

Soot chuckled nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that."

Misty thought for a moment before looking at Ash, "So, what all can you turn into?"

Ash smiled, "I have 12 forms, but only 7 of them are Pokémon. There's mightyena, banette, braviary, vaporeon, pika-"

"I knew it!" Misty shouted as she pointed at him, "That vaporeon that I fished out of the river! That was you!"

Ash flinched before chuckling nervously, "Oh, right. Sorry about the Water Gun to the face."

Misty sighed, "I guess I can't blame you too much. I'm sorry for trying to catch you."

Soot blinked, "Wait, what?"

Misty sweat dropped, "I may have tried to catch Ash before the two us met."

Ash scratched the side of his head, "In her defense, I was in vaporeon form. Not a lot of trainers would pass up a chance like that."

Brock chuckled before realizing, "Wait, you were that braviary too?"

Ash nodded, "Yup."

Misty pinched the bridge of her nose, "And I yelled at you for 'sleeping through the attack.'" She frowned and looked upwards, "Geez. Now I really feel like a jerk."

Ash frowned, moved over, and put a hand on Misty's shoulder, "Hey, come on, Misty. Don't beat yourself up over that." He smiled sadly, "I wasn't mad before and I'm not mad now."

Misty smiled sadly, "Thanks. Still, I'm sorry."

Ash gave a soft smile in response, "Misty, you don't have anything to apologize for."

Misty rolled her eyes and smirked, "Fine. Then I'm sorry for interrupting."

Ash chuckled, "Fair enough. The last three are pikachu, clefairy, and dragonite."

Brock looked at Ash in surprise and pointed at him, "You were the dragonite that saved the beauty contest and beat Gary."

Ash snickered, "Yeah, that was fun." He rubbed the back of head, "Also, sorry for making you guys worry after the whole missile thing."

"Oh please, Ash." Misty responded with a mocking glare, "If you're not gonna let me apologize for falsely accusing you, then you, sure as Yvel, don't get to apologize for that."

Ash chuckled.

Brock smiled before asking, "So, aside from Quick Attack, what are the other forms that aren't Pokémon?"

Ash was about to responded when Soot jumped in, "Sorry, but I think we're gonna have wait for that answer." She looked ahead.

The other's followed her gaze and saw their ship coming up in the distance; an attendant stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to it. Ash grimaced and quickly pulled his hood up over his head and his sleeves down over his claws.

Misty sweat dropped, "Is that really necessary?"

Ash nodded, "Trust me. Something like this tends to freak people out. Just be happy I'm not Stone Edge right now."

Brock raised a brow, "Stone Edge?"

Soot looked up at him, "Another of the weirdos. He's a lot bigger."

Misty looked at Ash with a deadpanned expression, "Do you name all of them after attacks?"

Ash chuckled, "Well, moves, technically. But, to be fair, I was five when I started naming them. I just decided to continue the theme."

The group made their way to the ship and handed their tickets to the attendant.

The man raised a brow when he looked at Ash.

"What're you lookin' at?!" Ash responded harshly in a slightly deeper voice.

The attendant flinched, "Nothing! Sorry sir!" He stepped aside to let the group up the stairs.

Brock looked over at Ash, "What was that about?"

"Sorry." Ash responded, "The angry tone just works with the scratchy voice."

Misty blinked, "Now that you mention it, you did, kind of, sound like an old man when you said that."

.

**Time Skip**

The group rented a room for their trip to Maiden's peak. They all sat around the room, ordered room service, and continued their conversation.

Brock, Misty, Pikachu, and Clefairy were currently laughing hysterically. Ash and Soot sat across from them; sans cloak.

Ash groaned, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."

Misty held back her laughter enough to say, "Sorry. It's just- Your mom actually uses this lockdown thing like that?"

Soot snickered, "Yeah. It's her most severe form of punishment. And I use the term 'severe' lightly, since her second worst is no dessert. She has him lockdown into something cute and parades him around on shopping trips and anything public."

Ash rubbed his temples, "Please don't remind me."

Soot pouted, "Aw, but how could I forget that time Overheat burned down grandma's garden?" She smirked, "Remember? She had you lock into eevee and dressed you in a-"

"SOOT!" Ash shouted as he blushed heavily, "Please! Stop!"

Soot deadpanned, "Oh, please. It's not like anyone knew it was you."

The reptile put his claws on the canine's shoulders, "Sweetie, I am begging you."

Soot rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Fine."

Ash let go and sighed in relief, "Thank you."

Soot smiled slyly, "Baby onesie."

"You- Grah!" Ash held his head in anguish, "Seriously! Why?!"

Soot's eyes narrowed, "Hey, just be happy I talked grandma out of the diaper."

Ash looked at her; wide eyed, "THE WHAT?!"

Soot blinked in surprise, "Oh. You didn't know about that." She chuckled nervously, "Well, you're welcome, then."

Brock, Misty, Pikachu, and Clefairy laughed harder.

"HEY! KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE!" The group heard along with banging from the walls.

"Sorry, ma'am!" Soot shouted back.

Brock looked over at Ash, "So, um, Overheat. Is that another of the … creatures? Also, do you have a better term for them?" He asked; trying change the subject for Ash's sake.

Ash sighed, "First, thank you. Second, yes, Overheat is another of the non-Pokémon. His contribution to Power Integration is the reason for all of the weird temperature stuff. And third, 'fraid not. The easiest thing we came up with is 'non-Pokémon'."

Misty blinked, "Oh, yeah." She raised a brow, "You said there were five, right?"

Ash smiled, "Right. You know Quick Attack and we've already mentioned Stone Edge and Overheat. I call the last two Frenzy Plant and Calm Mind."

"What do they look like?" Brock asked.

"It's kind of tough to explain." Soot responded with an unsure expression, "It'd be easier to wait until Lockdown Mode wears off. Just know, for now, that they're all humanoid in stature."

Ash perked up, "Speaking of wearing off." He hit the symbol on his chest again.

Lockdown Mode in-effect. Approximate time until release: Fifty-five hours and twenty-two minutes.

Ash sighed, "At least its progress." He looked out the window at the orange sky.

Misty frowned, "I'm sorry about this."

Ash looked at her and smiled sadly, "Misty, you don't have anything to-"

"Ash, stop." Misty said with an annoyed look, "Can you, honestly, tell me that you wouldn't have done this to yourself if I wasn't standing there, next to you?"

Ash frowned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Look, I'm grateful that you don't blame me for this," Misty moved over and put a hand on his shoulder, "but I know this is my fault." She gave a soft smile, "So, stop being stubborn and just accept the apology, ya freaky heliolisk."

Ash laughed before smiling back, "Apology accepted. And, just so you know, it wasn't just because you were there. It was partially because of the tentacool army."

Soot grumbled, 'And completely because Quick Attack moves too fast to think of more than one plan.'

Brock frowned, "It must have been tough out there. It's still hard to believe that all of that happened."

Misty smiled sadly, "Well, it wasn't all bad. Everyone made it to safety and now the tentacool can live in peace." Her smile brightened as she pulled out a pokéball, "And-" She tossed the ball into the air. Horsea appeared and landed in Misty's arms.

Misty smiled brightly as she held the Water-type, "I got a new Pokémon!"

Brock smiled, "Congratulations, Misty."

Ash nodded, "You definitely earned it."

Horsea looked over at the source of the unfamiliar voice and flinched. He stared at Ash; wide eyed, "Wh-what is that?!"

Clefairy giggled, "It's Ash, our trainer. He has this watch-thingy that turns him into Pokémon."

"And, before you ask," Soot followed as she gestured to Ash, "this blue thing isn't a Pokémon and your guess is as good as ours."

Horsea blinked in surprise before tilting his head, "Huh."

Ash's eyes narrowed as he put a claw to his chin, "Horsea … Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something?" After a second, his eyes widened, "Oh crag! I left my pool in the city!" He ran out the door with a blue streak tailing him.

Brock stared at the open door in shock, "Wait, is he going run all the way back to Porta Vista? We left port hours ago."

Soot walked over to the door, closed it, and said, "Don't worry. Quick Attack's 'jogging speed' clocks in at over 100 miles an hour."

"Woah." The group of humans and Pokémon exclaimed as their eyes widened.

"I know, right?" Soot responded with a grin. She jumped back onto the bed and looked up with a thoughtful expression, "Given the speed required to run along the surface of water without kicking up too dangerous of a wake … as Quick Attack; he'll be back in, say … 5 minutes." She shrugged, "Give or take."

Misty glanced over at the closed door, "So-" She looked back at Soot with a smirk, "What else can you tell us about the eevee thing?"

Soot smirked slyly, "Grandma knows that she has to keep the watch a secret, so she didn't hold back on the embarrassment. Bottles, strollers, baby talk, the whole nine yards." She snickered, "Some people even thought I was his big sister." She stopped and grimaced, "All expect for one guy who thought I was his mother, for some reason." She shivered in disgust.

The group laughed again.

Soot rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Grandma had the same reaction. Anyway," Soot said, trying to get back on track, "after that, dad decided to evolve Eevee into Vaporeon to ruin any chance of that happening again."

Brock looked at her in surprise, "Wait, Ash has evolved before?"

Soot smirked, "I mean, dad's vaporeon form had to come from somewhere. So, far it's only been Eevee. But he did keep the Thunder stone from Vermillion to evolve Pikachu."

Misty raised a brow, "I thought Pikachu didn't want to evolve."

Soot tilted her head, "Huh?"

Pikachu looked up at Misty and sweat dropped, "I don't think she meant me."

Soot perked up and shook her head, "Oh. No, I meant dad's pikachu form. He just hasn't decided whether evolve now or go to Alola for the Psychic-typing."

"Oh." The group responded.

Clefairy tilted, "What else happened to Ashvee?"

Soot laughed, "Sorry, I've just, never heard that one before."

Pikachu laughed too. The humans looked at the Pokémon in confusion.

Soot noticed and said, "Clefairy nicknamed dad's eevee form as 'Ashvee'."

Brock and Misty joined in the laughter.

They stopped when the wall started banging again, "SERIOUSLY! SHUT UP!"

Soot rolled her eyes before quietly saying, "Anyway, dad got off easy with a thirty-six-hour time limit." She smirked again, "But, 'baby eevee' was at every party that weekend."

.

*Off the Coast of Maiden's Peak

Lockdown Mode in-effect. Approximate time until release: Forty-two hours and one minute.

Misty sweat dropped, "Well, it's better than last night."

Ash chuckled from under his cloak.

The group stood along the boats railing and looked out towards the sea. Their destination started to appear in the distance.

"Hey, look!" Misty pointed with a smile.

Soot smiled, "Maiden's Peak! We made it!"

Ash nodded, "We should be landing soon."

"Alright!" Pikachu and Clefairy cheered.

Brock sulked, "It wouldn't matter to me if I never saw land again. I just wasted another summer."

Ash looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? These last few months have been full of action."

Brock turned away, "For kids, summer means playing on the beach, splashing around and having fun. But for me-" He straightened up suddenly and shouted; startling the others, "Summer means bathing suits and girls to wear them!" He fell to his knees I sorrow, "And now bikini season's over. I'll have to wait another year to meet a girl."

Soot sweat dropped, 'Really, Brock?'

The ship docked a few minutes later.

Maiden's Peak welcomes the passengers arriving from Porta Vista! Said a man's voice through a loudspeaker, We invite you all to attend our annual summer's end festival! Now in progress!

Ash smiled brightly; hidden by the cloak, "A festival!"

Misty smiled, "It looks like fun. Let's check it out."

Brock was still sulking, "I'll ride the Ferris Wheel all alone." Something caught his attention; making him look over at a dock, "Huh? Who's that?"

Soot and Pikachu overheard and followed his gaze. They found a violet-haired woman in a white dress standing near the end of the boat dock.

Hearts filled Brock's eyes, "Whoa! What a knockout!"

Soot looked at the woman and frowned, 'Why am I getting this weird feeling?' She snapped out of it when she heard what sounded like a stampede.

Soot turned to see a large group of passengers exiting the ship and heading straight for Brock. She grimaced and tackled the Gym Leader out of the way as the crowd passed by. She sweat dropped, "Sorry, Brock."

Brock quickly recovered and looked back at where the woman was. She was no longer standing there, and Pikachu stared at the dock; frozen.

Brock frowned, "Where did she go?"

Ash put a claw a Brock's shoulder, "Come on Brock. This is a festival. There'll be tons of opportunities to mingle."

Misty nodded, "Yeah. Let's have some fun." She and Ash grabbed Brock by the arms and led him into the festival.

Soot and Clefairy were about to follow until they looked at Pikachu. The mouse was still staring blankly at the dock. The pair shared a look and moved over to him.

Clefairy tapped Pikachu's shoulder. He jumped and blinked rapidly.

Clefairy blinked in surprise, "Are you okay?"

Pikachu looked back at her with a confused look, "What do you mean?"

Soot raised a brow, "You were, kind of, staring at the dock that girl was on."

Pikachu tilted his head, "Really?" He looked back at the dock and blinked in surprise, "Huh? Where did she go?" He shrugged, "Eh, whatever." He ran after their trainer and motioned them to follow, "Come on. Let's hurry."

Clefairy smiled brightly and chased after him, "Coming!"

Soot frowned and glanced back at the dock before following.

.

*Maiden's Peak Festival

The group walked through the festival and took in the sights. There were dancers, rides, games, and people in various, strange costumes; some of which didn't resemble Pokémon. That last part was the main reason for this:

Misty looked around in awe, "Wow! Look at this place! So, what should we-" She looked over at Ash and flinched when she saw him without his cloak. She got in his face and whispered harshly, "Ash! What are you doing?! You said this would freak people out!"

Ash was about to respond until a child ran up to him. The boy looked up at him in awe, "Woah!" He looked over at Misty while pointing at Ash, "Hey lady, what kind of Pokémon is this?"

Misty grimaced and started stuttering, "W-well-."

"Actually," Ash interrupted as he crouched down, "I'm a person. This is a costume I made."

The boy's eyes lit up, "Wow, really?! Could you make one for-"

"There you are!" The boy's father ran over, "What have I told you about running off?!"

The boy pouted and pointed at Ash, "But dad, look at his costume!"

The man glared, "It isn't polite to point at people." He looked at Ash and lowered his head, "I'm so sorry, sir. My son has a bad habit of getting into trouble."

The boy pouted, "Hey!"

Ash smiled, stood back up, and waved a claw, "It's okay. I know how children can be. My little girl can be a handful too, sometimes."

Soot overheard and glared at Ash.

The man sighed in relief, "Thank you for understanding." He grabbed his son's arm, "Come on. You had your mother and I worried sick." He walked away; pulling the boy alongside him. The kid pouted as he was forced to follow.

Ash chuckled as they left and looked over at Misty, "That's why. A lot of people here are wearing costumes; some of which look homemade. If anything, losing the cloak helps me fit in."

Misty blinked in surprise before looking around to see what he meant, "Huh. Good point."

Soot walked up between them, "See? He's fine." She smiled brightly, "Now, how about some games?"

Misty smiled and nodded, "Sounds like fun."

Ash frowned, "Not a good idea. Quick Attack gives me an unfair advantage in most games."

Soot pouted, "Aw, come on, dad. Just a few."

Ash sighed, "Fine. But I'm just going to stand by and watch." He smirked, "That is, until we find a rigged one."

"Sweet!" Soot cheered, "Let's go!"

Ash looked back, "Come on, Brock."

He stared in confusion when he saw the Rock-type trainer a few feet away; on his back. A short, old woman with was staring him down with a magnifying glass.

Ash blinked, "What the?"

Misty and the others heard him and followed his gaze.

.

*Brock; a few minutes earlier

Brock followed Ash and Misty at a distance. He was still sulking. But, this time, it was more about the girl he saw earlier.

"She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He mumbled.

"Hey, you there!" Came a scratchy, feminine voice from behind him.

Brock quickly looked back and smiled, "Are you the-" He flinched and fell back upon seeing a short, old woman with white hair, "Ah! You're not that beautiful-"

The woman glared, "Who's not beautiful?!" She suddenly pulled out a magnifying glass and got in Brock's face; freaking him out, "Beware! Not of an old beauty like me, but of a beautiful young woman! Or you'll meet a cruel fate!"

Brock perked up and got on his knees, "That girl on the dock! You know her?! I have to meet her!"

Ash, Misty, and Soot ran over to him. Pikachu and Clefairy stood on Ash's shoulders. The mouse and fairy were still trying to adjust to the different shape and had to hold onto his head. The lack of ears and hair didn't help.

"Brock, what's going on?" Misty asked; a little worried.

Soot frowned and her eyes narrowed, 'That feeling again.'

The woman looked over at Soot, blinked, and held up her magnifying glass again as she got in Soot's face, "Hm. Interesting." She, then, set her sights on Ash and did the same, "Very interesting."

Ash and Soot shared a confused look.

Ash sweat dropped, "Um, thank you, ma'am. It took a lot of work to get the costume the way I wanted."

The old lady put away the magnifying glass, "I was referring to your relationship with this odd young phantom."

Everyone's eyes widened at that. Brock seemed to have snapped out of it.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Soot asked.

The woman looked at Soot with a raised brow, "And even more surprises." She left without another word.

The group all looked at each other in confusion.

.

*Maiden's Peak Shrine

The old woman walked into shrine's entrance and closed the door behind her.

She snickered, "Looks like I have two playthings this year." She shifted to sly, fanged grin, "And a very unique pair."

Seishin: EVERYBODY DO THE- *sci-fi portal sound*

"FLOP!"

The old woman blinked in surprise, "What the-"

*SLAM*

She flinched as a boy with white hair fell from the ceiling and landed flat on the ground; face-down. She stared in shock and looked up to see a grid-patterned portal collapse in on itself.

Yukiro moved to sit down and smiled at the woman, "Oh, hey Gastly."

The disguised Ghost-type jumped as his disguise shattered, "What?! H-how did you know what I was?!"

Yukiro smiled innocently, "Oh, Rob just watched the original episode."

Gastly blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

The white-haired boy tilted his head, "What? I thought you were a fourth wall breaker, too. Because, y'know, mongoose."

Gastly continued to stare in confusion, "Wha-" He shook it off and glared, "Whatever, what do you want with me?!"

Yukiro waved his hands, "Whoa, calm down, spooks. I ain't a ghost buster or a Winchester." He suddenly pointed to the side and glared, "Go to The Empty, Chuck! You should have stayed in Nevada with Amara!" He blinked before saying, "Oh, sorry guys. Spoiler Alert." He chuckled nervously.

Gastly stopped glaring and followed Yukiro's gaze to see nothing but the shrine wall. He looked back at Yukiro, "What was that?"

Yukiro looked back and smiled happily, "Oh, nothing. Anyway, I'm here to make things interesting."

Gastly raised a brow, "What do you mean, 'interesting?'"

Yukiro shrugged, "Well, I know you're not here to hurt anyone. You just want to keep the rumor alive and have some fun. Right?"

Gastly blinked in surprise, "Um, yes, that's right."

"Good." Yukiro reached into a small box on his belt and pulled out two thin pieces of cardboard, "Now, I won't regret giving you these for the battle next chapter." He looked to the side again and frowned, "Yeah, sorry about that, readers. Blame, Rob."

Ohirume: HEY! The combined chapter would have been over eleven-thousand words! Splitting it up made sense!

Yukiro looked at the ceiling and glared, "That's just an excuse to increase the chapter count!"

Gastly blinked in surprise at the sudden shouting.

Ohirume: No, it's- I mean- The longest chapter so far is number 10 with 8k words. And 6k is around the average for this story.

Yukiro's glare deepened and he pointed up, "That's your excuse?! Yeah right, Rob! You're just being lazy!" He put a hand to his chin and smirked, "Maybe N-san's hate review was right about this story being terrible."

Ohirume: For the last time, it's not a hate comment! They were giving constructive criticism about Soot and voicing their opinion about the storyline! Plus, they never said the word 'terrible.'

Yukiro rolled his eyes, "As if, they needed to!" He blinked in surprise, "Wait, isn't this chapter before the next comment response?"

Ohirume: … Oh, right.

Yukiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Great. Now this conversation will barely make any sense."

Omega: I didn't make any sense to begin with.

Gastly stared, slack jawed, as Yukiro yelled at the ceiling, 'What the actual Yvel.'

Yukiro read the previous line and looked over at Gastly, "Oh, right." He held the cards up high, "Double Ability Activate!"

A bright light filled the room; making Gastly shy away. When the light faded, Gastly's eyes widened when he looked at Yukiro, "Wh-what are those?"

Yukiro smirked as he held his crossed arms out in front of him, "Some powerful weapons from the circus." He looked to the side yet again, "And most of the inspiration for Soot's Marionetter."

.

**Time Skip**

"Welcome." Said an old man standing in front of a large shrine. He stood next to a covered picture and spoke to the large crowd before him.

"To celebrate the summer's end festival, we will now display the shrine of the Maiden's greatest treasure. For two-thousand years, this painting has hung within the shrine of the Maiden. Once each year, it is removed from the shrine and displayed to the public during this festival."

Soot blinked, "We, literally, could not have shown up on a better day." The others stood next to her.

The priest reached for a cloth covering the painting, "As I unveil the painting, please gaze with reverence!" He yanked the cloth off the painting.

Ash, Misty, and Clefairy stared at the picture in awe, "Wow."

Pikachu and Soot's eyes widened "That's the-"

Brock stared at in shock, "It can't be."

The near colorless picture depicted the same woman from the dock with a sad look on her face.

Brock started walking towards the painting; slumped forward, "She's so incredibly beautiful."

Ash was about to stop him when he heard another, unfortunately familiar, voice.

"She's the girl of my dreams. Don't wake me up." James said as walked out the crowd; slumped over as well.

Misty and Soot glared and were about to stop him when Ash stopped them, "Wait."

Soot looked up at him in confusion, "But, dad-"

"I know." Ash interrupted, "Let's just see how this plays out."

Misty looked at Ash with a raised brow.

Brock and James kept walking towards the painting; seemingly in a trance.

The priest got in their way and started pushing them back, "Stay back! The woman in this painting perished over two-thousand years ago! She was in love with a brave and handsome young man, but he left her and sailed away to fight in a war. She vowed to herself to wait for him to return." The priest frowned slightly, "But her true love never returned. The maiden refused to leave that spot on the cliff and, eventually, her body turned to stone. To this day, she waits for her love to return."

Brock stepped forward, "Please tell me. Where's this rock?"

The priest blinked in surprise, "Maiden's rock is not far from this shrine." He pointed in another direction, "It's just that way."

Brock looked at where he pointed and hurried that way, "Thank you!"

His friends followed soon after. Team Rocket, led by James, followed.

.

*Maiden's Rock

Brock stared at the human shaped stone in awe, "So, that's Maiden Rock. It's the most beautiful rock I've ever seen."

Soot raised a brow, "I mean, I guess she's pretty" 'and deceased.'

"If she were my girlfriend," Brock declared, "I'd make sure she was never out of my sight."

Ash and Misty looked at each other in concern.

Ash walked up and put a hand on Brock's shoulder, "Hey Brock, how about we go find some games." He smirked, "You can see how fast Quick Attack can throw a fastball."

Misty smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Let's go back to the festival and have some fun."

Brock kept looking at the statue, "Why don't you guys go back? I want to stay a bit longer."

Soot frowned, "Are you sure?"

Brock nodded; still looking ahead, "Very."

"You remember where we agreed to stay tonight, right?" Ash asked.

"The Pokémon Center near the port." Brock responded, "I'll make it back by curfew."

The rest of the group shared a concerned look.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be okay." Brock reassured.

Ash frowned but still nodded, "Alright. We'll see you later."

Everyone, except, Brock, started making their way back towards the festival.

They stopped and flinched when they heard shouting followed by a splash. The jerked back around and found Brock still sitting there. They all shared a look and shrugged before walking back to the festival.

.

*Festival; evening

After a bit of searching, and a few overheard complaints, Ash and the others managed to find a ball-throwing game where the owner put glue on eight separate stacks of bottles. The jerk had the price to play set at 2000₽ and his only prize was an assortment of over twenty evolutionary items. A sign above them said that they went to anyone who could knock down all the stacks with one ball, each.

The attendant did have a crowd surrounding his stand, but not in the way he had hoped. The crowd was loaded with previous players. They all watched in anticipation as Ash destroyed the guy.

The blue lizard smirked as he lazily tossed the ball up and down in his claw. The game only had four stacks remaining. The cracked and broken bottles from the other stacks littered the floor of the stand. The attendant was sweating like a snover in a sauna.

Misty chuckled, "This really doesn't seem fair."

"Oh, it's not." Soot responded with a smirk, "But, it's his own fault. Dad hates cheaters."

Ash reeled back and threw the ball. It flew towards the stack like a cannonball and stuck. The glue didn't stand a chance as the ball tore through the bottles and sent them to the ground. One of the bottles shattered when it hit the ground.

The attendant gulped, "N-nice shot." He looked over at Ash and forced a smile, "But, surely, you must be getting tired by now."

Ash thought for a bit and shrugged, "Naw. Though, this is getting kind of boring."

The attendant smiled brightly, "Oh, well we wouldn't want you to become bored now. Would we?" He walked forward and reached for the remaining balls, "I'll just take these back and-"

Ash put a claw over the rest of his ammo, "Not what I meant. This is just too easy."

The man gulped again, "W-well, I'm sure there are some more challenging games that you could try, instead. Why don't you forget this rickety old thing and go find one? I'll even give you a refund."

Ash chuckled, leaned in closer, and whispered, "And let the cheater win?" The owner grimaced. Ash continued with a smirk, "Why would I do that when I could just humiliate you in front of everyone you scammed?"

Ash stood up straight again and spoke loud enough for everyone to here, "How about this? If I can take out all three stacks-" He picked up a ball and held it up, "with only this ball, you have to give a refund to everyone who played this rigged game."

The crowd gasped at the challenge.

"Yeah!" Soot shouted, "Get 'em, dad!"

"Pi Pikapi!"

"Cle fair y! Cle fair y!"

The owner looked over at the Pokémon in surprise, 'Dad?' He smirked, 'Gotcha!' "Deal!" He shouted, "But if you can't," He pointed over at Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy, "then I get those Pokémon!"

Misty sweat dropped, "Uh-"

Soot's ears drooped, "Oh, he should not have said that."

The man smirked and shrugged, "But if you give up now, we can just forget about the whole-" He glanced over at Ash and flinched when he saw the lizard glaring at him.

Ash sighed and walked away from the stand; still holding the ball. The audience frowned.

The attendant didn't seem to notice the ball and sighed in relief, 'Oh, thank Arceus!' He smiled and spoke to the crowd, "Alright everyone, nothing to see here. Please go back to whatever you were-"

*BOOM* *CRASH*

The attendant jerked around to find the remains of the stacks littering the ground. The bottles were destroyed along with the man's hope … and any chance of repairs. Some of the bottle fragments were even lodged in the wooden support beams. The ball was still spinning as it dug into the back wall.

Everyone in the crowd, except Soot, stared at the scene; slack jawed.

After three more seconds, the ball skid to a halt and fell to the ground. The ball popped like a balloon right as Ash slammed a fist onto the table.

The attendant jerked around again to see Ash smiling at him wickedly, "Pay up."

.

*Pokémon Center

"Ash, how did you do that?!" Misty said with an excited smile, "Was it like a sonic boom, or some kind of air manipulation, or uh-"

"Misty," Ash chuckled, "it's a little simpler than that. I just threw the ball and the middle one and let the fragments destroy the other bottles."

Misty's eyes widened, "That's simple to you?!"

Ash shrugged, "I told you; Quick Attack gives me an unfair advantage."

Misty smiled again, "Still, that was awesome!" She started laughing, "I don't think I'll ever forget the look on that guy's face."

Soot snickered, "Same." She looked over at the box of prizes and frowned, "Too bad about this stuff, though."

Ash frowned and picked up the only real items among them; a Dusk Stone, a Dragon Scale, and a Metal Coat. The rest of the items were either painted rocks or surprisingly well-made cut-outs.

Ash sighed, "It could be worse. They all could have been fake." He smiled slyly, "But it did give us a reason to notify Officer Jenny."

The group laughed.

A clock started ringing as a cuckoo pidgey popped out of it, "11 o'clock. Curfew time. Curfew time. Curfew time."

Misty blinked in surprise, "Didn't Brock say he'd be back by now?"

Ash frowned, "Maybe we should check on-"

He was cut off as the Pokémon Center's gate started sliding down over the doors and locked into place.

Ash deadpanned, "Never mind."

Soot sighed, "Crag."

.

.

Ohirume: *growls* I swear! I If Yukiro messes everything up, he is dead!

Omega: Can't you just write him out of there if it annoys you that much?

Ohirume: That's too much Deus Ex Machina even for my taste.

Omega: This coming from the nutjob who made Faux and I.

Faux: Nine Wands!

…

Faux: *pouting* I wish my big reveal could have gone as well as Trix's.

Ohirume: Yeah, sorry about that.

Laura: What do you mean?

Faux: *sigh* Misty was furious, Brock barely said a word to me the whole way home, and my team wouldn't stop giving me disappointed or warry looks. I still don't know what mom told them, but it helped.

Pike: Sorry we were so tough on you.

Faux: It's okay, bro. That's in the past.

Pike: Thanks.

…

I already have the aliens listed somewhere else. But you guys are free to guess who's who.