Omega: Filler?

Ohirume: Filler.

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

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Eevee Bros BRAWL

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After returning their Pokémon and packing everything up, the group continued on their journey. They were currently traveling along the trail of the dense forest. Pikachu and Clefairy finally got back their spots on Ash's shoulders.

Electra's repeated joy overloads finally caught up to her. She was currently curled up on Soot's back and sleeping with a content smile. By the way, it turned out she hated pokéballs too. Er, well … not hated. It was more along the lines of, she didn't like going inside it. Seeing the ball resulted in the overload that got her yawning in the first place.

"chaaaa." Electra yawned before snuggling into Soot's fur.

Misty smiled happily, "Aww. She's so cute when she sleeps."

Soot smiled, "Yeah." She glanced up at Brock with a smirk, "But, honestly, I'm still a little shocked she decided to join you, of all people."

Brock frowned, "It can't be that surprising." His new Electric-type's bindle could be seen poking out of his bag.

Misty smirked with a raised brow, "I'm actually with Soot here. Ash was the one hanging out with her the entire time we were at the tribe. You and I didn't even talk to her that much."

"Well, I'm not surprised." Ash jumped in with a smile before looking at Brock, "You're a breeder, so you don't train to battle. You had the least Pokémon on your team, so -out of the three of us- you had the most slots to spare. And you make the, and I quote, 'most crazily insane and amazing food she has ever eaten in her life.' And I really can't argue."

Misty smiled and looked at Brock too, "Okay, yeah. Agreed."

Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy nodded with a smile.

Brock chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Thanks. I guess it is pretty good." He perked up and smirked happily, "I almost couldn't believe it myself. I knew our Pokémon enjoyed my recipes but trying them myself-" He jerked and stopped in his tracks with a shocked expression.

The rest of the group stopped and looked at him in surprise.

Soot raised a brow, "You okay, Brock?"

"Trying them myself…" Brock muttered in shock. He smiled brightly and threw his fists into the air, "ALRIGHT!"

Everyone else flinched. Electra jerked awake and looked around frightenedly.

"I can't believe I haven't realized it until now!" Brock cried out happily, "I can finally taste test my Pokémon food recipes and even find out how to improve on them!" He looked at Ash with a bright smile, "Ash! You're a miracle worker!"

Ash sweat dropped and chuckled nervously, "Um … Thanks."

Pikachu and Clefairy stared at Brock in shock.

"Improve on them?" Pikachu muttered before he and Clefairy shared their shocked looks.

"That's possible?" The Fairy-type followed.

Misty chuckled before looking at Ash, "Speaking of-"

"Again, not yet." Ash said while holding up the watch to her, "It's only been half an hour."

Misty pouted and crossed her arms.

Electra looked around the group warily, "Wh- what's going on?"

Brock looked at her and chuckled nervously, "Sorry Electra. I got a little too excited."

Ash smiled down at her, "Change Lens stuff."

Electra looked over at Ash and perked up in surprise upon finally noticing Pikachu and Clefairy on his shoulders. She stared in mild awe.

Brock noticed and followed her gaze before smiling. Electra squeaked and flinched when Brock lifted her off Soot's back without warning. He moved her around to stand on his backpack.

Brock glanced back at her with a smile, "There you go. I thought you might like the view. What do you think?"

Electra looked at Brock in surprise. She looked ahead and her eyes widened in awe, "woaaaaah." She smiled brightly, "Insane."

Pikachu smirked, "I know, right? Trainers really make the best platforms."

Clefairy nodded happily.

Ash sweat dropped and glanced at his Mouse Pokémon, 'Really?'

Soot snickered, "She likes it."

Brock smiled, "Good to hear."

Electra just continued looking around happily. After a moment, she perked up in surprise and her ears started twitching.

Ash, Soot, and Pikachu perked up as well and started looking around in confusion.

Misty looked at them in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Someone's crying for help." Ash said calmly.

Soot nodded, "Yeah. But it doesn't sound like he's in trouble."

Pikachu looked towards a bush and pointed, "That way." He jumped down off Ash's shoulder and bound deeper into the woods. Everyone else followed.

Pikachu stopped and pointed towards a tree, "Over there."

Everyone looked over and perked up in surprise upon seeing any eevee in the tree's hollowed-out base. He wore a collar, was tied to a post, and sat next to a bowl of food and water.

Soot blinked in surprise, "An eevee?"

Eevee looked at them with a frown and his ears drooping, "Can you help me, please? I wanna go home."

Ash nodded, "Yeah. Of course." Clefairy jumped down before Ash ran over, grabbed the post, and started pulling at it, "I'll have you free in a second."

Eevee looked over at Ash in surprise, 'Did he just-'

Brock and Misty walked over to the Evolution Pokémon and kneeled down in front of him with worried frowns; catching his attention.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Misty asked.

"You weren't abandoned, were you?" Brock followed.

Eevee blinked as he stared up at them in shock, "Um, n- no. My partner-" He raised a brow, "Okay, sorry. But- can all of you humans understand me?"

Soot snickered, "Not at the moment." She pointed at Ash, "Out of these three, only dad can understand your kind."

Clefairy raised a paw happily, "And ours!"

Pikachu smirked, "Welcome to the club."

Misty nodded with a sad smile, "Soot's right. Sorry."

Eevee perked up and looked at Soot in surprise. Electra's eyes widened in realization and she looked at Soot.

Soot noticed Eevee staring and chuckled, "It is exactly what you think."

Electra's eyes widened further in shock.

Eevee blinked, "Whoa." He shook it off and looked at the Gym Leaders, "No, I wasn't abandoned. My partner brought me here and said that I needed to stay here for the day." He frowned again, "But, I really miss him. I just wanna go back home."

Soot glanced up at the Gym Leaders and translated. Electra's jaw dropped.

At around the same moment, Ash managed to yank the post out of the ground, "Got it."

Misty sweat dropped, "Couldn't you have just untied the knot or unhooked the leash?"

Ash looked back at her with a smile, "I thought that …" He looked at Eevee, "What was your partner's name?"

"Mikey."

Ash looked at Misty again, "I thought that Mikey might like this back." His eye twitched for a second, 'For better or worse depending on why he did this.'

Brock looked at Eevee with a smile, "And don't worry. I promise we'll get you back to Mikey."

Eevee smiled brightly and his tail started wagging, "Really?! Thank you so much!"

Ash smiled softly, "We're happy to help." He held out a hand, "Now, let me see your collar."

Eevee moved closer and sat down in front of Ash.

Ash propped up the small tag, "Stone Town. Number fourteen on the third block."

Brock perked up in surprise, "Wait, Stone Town? As in the Stone Town at the foot of Evolution Mountain?"

Soot glanced back at the Rock-type user with a smirk, "I'm not really surprised you know about it."

Misty sweat dropped, "Um-"

"Wait a second." Electra said in a daze while she continued staring at Soot in shock.

Ash and the other Pokémon all looked at her in confusion. Brock and Misty noticed and followed their gaze.

Soot sweat dropped, "Is everything al-"

"YOU SPEAK HUMAN?!" Electra cried out in shock.

Everyone flinched.

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**Time Skip**

Electra bounced excitedly on Brock's backpack with an overjoyed smile plastered on her face. This was something the Pewter Gym Leader would have to get used too. The uncomfortable frown on his face made it clear that that had not happened yet.

Misty sweat dropped with a nervous smile as she held Eevee, "I didn't really think she'd get this excited over you speaking human."

Soot sighed, "Yeah. Though, I really should've seen it coming."

Clefairy put a finger to her bottom lip and looked up curiously, "I kind of thought she'd be more excited that we're heading to a town."

Electra looked back at them; expression unchanging, "It's both! First, I get a trainer! Then, I find out a fellow Pokémon I'm friends with can speak human! And now we're actually going to a real human town?!" Her smile somehow managed to brighten even more as she squealed happily, "So freaking Insaaaaaaaaaaaane!" She looked back ahead, and her tail started wagging wildly, "I can't wait to get there!"

Ash glanced at her before looking ahead and smiling, "Well, it looks like the wait's over."

Electra looked back at Ash in surprise before looking ahead again. Her eyes widened in awe upon seeing a cluster of white buildings at the base of a massive mountain.

Misty smiled down at Eevee, "Looks like we'll have you home pretty soon."

"Yay!" Eevee cheered.

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*Stone Town

The group made their way through the rather simple town. Though, that wasn't how Electra saw it.

The little human enthusiast looked all around the town in absolute awe.

"A real town…" Electra muttered, "There are white tents made of flat rock everywhere. All covered in glass with little openings made of wood. And they even have different colored tops." A small tear started to form in her eye, "So insane…"

Ash looked at her with a soft smile, "Those 'tents' are actually called houses. The wooden part is a door and the top portion is the roof. Though, you're right about the glass and what the doors are for."

Brock smiled back at her, "You can think of a house as a human's version of a nest. Just, a lot more complex." He grinned, "And, if you think this is impressive, wait until we get to a city. Some have giant buildings called skyscrapers that seem to reach into the clouds and look like they're almost completely made of glass."

Electra looked at her trainer in shock before looking into the sky. She let out an overjoyed squeal with a bright smile and started bouncing again.

Eevee stared at Electra in surprise and blinked, "Wow. She really likes human stuff, doesn't she?"

Pikachu sweat dropped, "Obsessed might be more accurate."

Ash translated for the pair.

Misty chuckled, "No kidding. You should have seen her tent when we first met her." She looked at Ash with a raised brow, "By the way, what's so special about Stone Town anyway?"

Ash looked at Misty with a smile, "For starters, Evolution Mountain is practically made of Evolutionary Stone veins. Stone Town here was established at the base forever ago and has become one of the best places in Kanto to get Stones."

Brock nodded, "Yeah. Namely Fire, Water, Thunder, and Leaf Stones."

Clefairy perked up and smiled, "What about Moon Stones?"

Eevee looked at her and blinked in surprise, "What's a Moon Stone?"

Pikachu smiled sadly, "I'm guessing that means no."

Clefairy slumped forward sadly and pouted, "Aww."

Misty blinked in surprise, "Wow." She looked down at Eevee with a smile, "I guess that means you can evolve whenever you want."

Eevee smiled sadly, "Uh, yeah. And I've got three whole options."

Soot snickered before looking up at the Normal-type with a raised brow, "It's a Yvel of a lot more than three, kid."

Eevee looked at Soot in surprise, "Huh?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah. Your kind actually have eight evolutions. The Fire-type flareon, Electric-type jolteon, Water vaporeon, Psychic espeon, Dark umbreon, Grass leafeon, Ice glaceon, and Fairy sylveon. And only five of them are through the use of an item."

Eevee stared at Ash in shock, "Seriously?" He looked down; feeling a little dazed, "Geez. And I thought picking from just three would be hard."

Ash smiled sadly, "Yeah. Sorry." He translated for Brock and Misty.

Misty smiled softly and pet him, "I'm sure it'll be alright." She grinned, "Though, if you want my opinion, I'd definitely have to choose vaporeon." She glanced at Ash, "Speaki-"

"It hasn't even been an hour since you asked last time." Ash interrupted quickly.

Misty sighed.

Pikachu looked ahead and flinched, "WHOA!"

Everyone jerked, followed his gaze, and flinched at the site of the actual mansion at the end of the road. Everyone except Eevee, that is.

The Evolution Pokémon smiled brightly, "It's home!"

Soot looked up at him in shock, "This is where you live?!"

Electra stared in awe, "Insane."

Clefairy gulped, "Y- yeah."

After taking a second to cool down, the group made their way through the gateless entrance. They all perked up in surprise at what all they saw inside.

Clothed tables covered in food littered the front lawn and a large handful of people and Pokémon could be seen enjoying themselves. There was even a large fountain with a few Water-types swimming around in it.

Brock smiled, "Woah. It looks like a garden party."

Ash smiled as well, "Yeah. And a nice one."

Soot sweat dropped with a nervous smile, "Let's just hope it's open invite."

Misty looked around before spotting something. She pointed ahead, "Hey, look."

Everyone looked over right as a guy with spiked up yellow hair tapped a poliwhirl with a Water Stone. The Tadpole Pokémon lit up white and emerged a moment later as a poliwrath. A handful of surrounding trainers applauded.

The spikey haired guy looked at a girl with blue hair and smirked, "Congratulations. Poliwhirl evolved into Poliwrath."

"Thank you so much." The girl said.

Misty smiled, "Wow. They evolved with a Water Stone."

Soot looked around the lawn, "Yeah. And not just her."

All around, they found a wide selection of fully evolved Pokémon. All Stone based.

A cloyster, starmie, vileplume, and victreebel could be seen in the fountain along with Poliwrath. An exeggutor, raichu, and ninetales could be seen with their trainer.

The yellow haired guy could be seen carefully petting a jolteon. To his right was a guy with dark blue hair that resembled fins who was petting a vaporeon. On the left was a guy with red hair with a tuft on the front that resembled a flame. This one stood next to a flareon and had his arms crossed.

Misty blinked in surprise, "You're right."

Brock looked around in mild awe, "They've all evolved with those Stones."

Clefairy smiled, "Coooool."

Pikachu sweat dropped, "Um … yeah." He looked at Ash worriedly, "You're gonna keep those things away from me. Right?"

Ash chuckled and pet him, "Don't worry, buddy. I'll keep you safe."

Brock glanced back at Electra with a smile, "Same. I know you want to be the Alolan version."

Electra smiled, "Thanks Brock."

"Good work!" Someone called out.

Everyone looked over at the yellow haired guy. He was standing back up as he spoke to the crowd, "Now that we've seen a round of evolutions, how about comparing attacks, eh?"

He looked over in the groups direction and perked up in surprise, "Eevee?"

The red and blued haired guys perked up in surprise and followed his gaze, "Huh?"

Misty blinked in surprise and looked down at the Normal-type, "So, which one is Mikey?"

Eevee looked back up at her, "None of them. Those are his older siblings."

Soot translated quickly.

The trio smiled, "Eevee!" They hurried over to the group.

"Where'd you run off to?" The yellow haired one asked, "We were worried about you, Eevee."

The blue haired one took Eevee from Misty's arms, "Yeah. Thank you for finding Eevee for us."

The red haired one turned to look at his brothers, "This is great!" Everyone looked at him as he continued, "We've got our star back! Now we can go on with the show!"

Ash and co. shared a confused look, 'Star?'

The trio of brothers turned around and the yellow haired one called out, "Mikey! Hey Mikey! Eevee's come back!"

The group all perked up and followed their gaze. Ash's eyes narrowed and he started reaching back slowly.

That is until a young boy with brown hair appeared from behind a table. He started walking over with his head down.

Ash jerked and his eyes widened, 'He's just a kid?!' Everyone else stared in surprise.

Ash quickly grabbed the post that Eevee was tied to, and threw it back and over the lawn wall. No one seemed to notice.

Eevee smiled brightly, "Mikey!" He jumped down from the blue haired brother's arms and ran over to the kid. He jumped into the boy's arms and nuzzled up against him.

The brother trio all looked at Mikey as the red haired one asked, "How could you lose it? You've gotta be more careful."

The blue haired one followed, "You might not get your trainer license if this happens again."

The yellow haired one pointed back at the group, "You were lucky that these three were kind enough to bring it back here."

Mikey looked at his brothers before glancing at the group. He frowned and turned to walk back into the party crowd.

"Why'd they have to bring you back so soon?" The boy muttered to Eevee in a sad tone.

Ash and Soot jerked and blinked in confusion, 'So soon?'

Pikachu glared at the boy. Electra frowned and her ears drooped.

Brock, Misty and Clefairy noticed all of this.

Misty leaned closer to Ash and whispered, "Think you can fill us in?"

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**Short Skip**

Mikey's brothers -apparently named Sparky, Rainer, and Pyro- stood across from Mikey with Eevee still in the boy's arms.

Seishin: Wait. Which brother is which?

Omega: … are you kidding?

Seishin: Duh. ;P

Ash, Brock, Misty, and Soot stood amongst the crowd and watched. Pikachu and Clefairy were still on Ash's shoulders. Electra sat on Brock's backpack and was happily chowing down on a sandwich from one of the tables. She was a little more interested in the assortment of human foods than what the brothers were talking about.

"Listen Mikey!" Sparky said loud enough for everyone to hear, "One day you'll be a Pokémon Trainer just like us."

Rainer spoke up next, "Do you really think you can win your first battle with an unevolved Eevee?"

Pyro followed suit, "All of us won our first battles because we've evolved our eevees. There's no other way to win. The key to a first victory is evolution."

Soot sweat dropped and muttered, "Ah. Surge disciples."

Pikachu groaned and crossed his arms, "Of course."

Mikey looked up at his brother sadly, "But I don't care about battles."

"Don't care?!" The trio of brothers and eeveelutions called out.

Everyone flinched.

Misty frowned while sweat dropping, "I'm starting to get an idea of what happened earlier."

Brock nodded with a frown, "Yeah."

Electra shot the brothers a glare and muttered, "Battles aren't everything." She went back to eating.

Rainer spoke up again, "Everyone's waiting to see what you evolve Eevee into, Mikey."

"You've got three choices." Sparky said.

The group deadpanned, "Really?"

Eevee blinked in surprise, "But the boy with the hat said-"

"A Thunder Stone will make it a jolteon!" Sparky called out dramatically with a smirk, "When a jolteon gets mad, the hairs on its body turn into needles! Then it fires them at its opponent!"

Soot sweat dropped and muttered, "That ability isn't tied to emotion. That's just how they use Pin Missile."

"A Water Stone will make it a vaporeon." Rainer said in the same manner as Sparky; albeit not as loud, "It can melt into water and make itself disappear."

Misty perked up and whispered to Ash, "Does your vaporeon form know Acid Armor?"

"No, but it's okay." Ash whispered back, "I found out how to melt without needing to know the move or be in water."

Misty and Brock stared at Ash in shock, 'That's possible?!'

"A Fire Stone will make it a flareon!" Pyro called out excitedly, "With a blazing flame attack released from its internal fire sack, flareon is the strongest evolutionary choice of all!"

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Sparky shouted at Pyro angrily, "My jolteon is the strongest of all!"

Pyro smirked with his head held high, "Too bad you're the only one who thinks so."

Rainer walked up to Mikey with a kind smile, "Come on, Mikey. I'm sure you'll make the right choice and make it a vaporeon."

Mikey looked down at Eevee sadly. The Normal-type looked back up at him sympathetically.

Brock frowned and muttered, "They sure are competitive. This is a lot of pressure to put on the two of them."

Misty frowned, "Poor guys."

Ash stepped forward with a frown; catching the four brothers' attention, "Hey, come on. Ease up on them a bit. By the looks of it, Mikey still has a few years before he can get a trainer license and Eevee's still pretty young. Why do they have to decide right now?"

Mikey looked at Ash in surprise.

Sparky frowned, "We're throwing this party just for Mikey and his eevee."

Rainer smirked and raised a finger, "You should know you have to start training early if you want to become a master."

Pyro pointed at Ash, "Yeah. One day you're gonna evolve that pikachu and clefairy into raichu and clefable, aren't ya?"

Ash frowned, "Actually, I won't. Pikachu doesn't want to evolve and Clefairy …" He glanced to the side, "well, she does." He shook it off and looked at the brothers again, "But that's beside the point."

Rainer blinked in surprise, "How could you know that you're pikachu doesn't wanna evolve?"

Soot sighed before walking up and sitting next to Ash, "I'd say he has a pretty good way of knowing."

The four brothers and a large portion of the crowd looked at the Dark-type in shock and/or awe.

The Bite Pokémon rolled her eyes before continuing, "Look. Pikachu said in his own words that he doesn't want to evolve. Ever. He had a bad experience with a raichu who looked down on anyone who wasn't fully evolved and grew to hate his own evolved form."

Electra perked up and looked at Pikachu in surprise.

Ash nodded, "Thankfully, he's toned down on the hate."

Pikachu glared at Ash, "What makes you say that?"

Ash shot the Mouse Pokémon a confused glance before looking at Electra. Pikachu followed his gaze.

The male Electric-type groaned and crossed his arms, "Okay, fine. You have a point."

Ash smirked before looking back at the brothers, "Look. I can understand why you think so highly of evolution, but that isn't how I do things." He frowned, "I'm not forcing anyone on my team to evolve if they don't want to."

Brock and Misty nodded with a soft smile, "Yeah."

Sparky put a hand to his chin and raised a brow, "So, what I'm hearing is that you need a Thunder Stone."

Everyone jerked and stared at the guy blankly.

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**Time Skip**

After … that, the group split to just enjoy the festivities. Thankfully, the brothers didn't have a problem with any of them letting out non-stone-evo Pokémon.

Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen, and Horsea swam around in the fountain while Misty sat at the edge and watched them. Psyduck was wandering around while holding his head.

Brock, Vulpix, and Electra stood by one of the tables and enjoyed in the wide selection of foods. Zubat was still in his pokéball due to the bright sun and zero available shade. Onix and Geodude decided to stay in their pokéballs to sleep.

Ash, Soot, Pikachu, Clefairy, Muk, and Charmander were at one of the tables as well. Squirtle swam around in the fountain with Misty's Pokémon. Pidgeotto was soaring around happily and kept an eye on Mankey. Namely because the Pig Monkey Pokémon kept trying to stir up a fight with some of the other trainer's Pokémon. Bulbasaur and Krabby chose the same thing as Brock's Rock-types.

"Electra! No!" Brock shouted as he and Vulpix ran over to the front door. The breeder picked up the pikachu and looked down at her with a frown, "I keep telling you, we can't just go into someone's house like that."

Electra looked up at him with a frown and her ears drooping, "But I just wanna see what's inside. What's so wrong about that?"

Vulpix sighed, "Because it'd be breaking and entering. You should know pretty well how different humans are from Pokémon. Forcing your way into someone else's home isn't okay. You could get yourself or Brock in trouble."

Seishin: Tell that to the main character of any of the handheld games. ( ·ᴗ ·)

Mizuro: What?

Ohirume: Don't ask.

Brock nodded, "Whatever vulpix just said, I'm sure she's right."

Electra pouted and crossed her arms.

Sparky, Rainer, and Pyro walked over to him with a smile. Their respective eeveelutions walked alongside them.

"So those pikachu and vulpix are yours. Right, Brock?" Sparky asked.

The Pewter Gym Leader looked over and nodded, "That's right." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "And I'm sorry about Electra. She's never been in a town before today and is really curious."

"It's no trouble." Rainer said.

Pyro held up a Fire Stone, "We actually came over to give you these."

Sparky nodded and held up a Thunder Stone, "You can use these to evolve them into ninetales and raichu."

Brock frowned and moved Electra to his shoulder, "Thank you, but I can't accept."

Rainer frowned, "Don't tell us you agree with that Ash kid."

Brock glared at him for a moment before sighing, "It's not just that." He gestured to his pikachu, "I talked to Electra with Soot's help a while back. She does want to evolve, but into an Alolan raichu. Not a Kantonian one."

Electra nodded with a smile. The trio and their Pokémon perked up in surprise.

Sparky sighed, "Alright, fine. I guess I can't argue that." He held out the Thunder Stone again, "But you're still gonna need this for when you get to Alola."

Brock smiled and accepted the rock, "Thank you."

Pyro raised a brow, "What about the vulpix?"

Brock perked up and looked down at the Fox Pokémon, "Do you want to evolve?"

The brothers looked at Brock in surprise. Vulpix looked up at Brock for a moment before tilting her head with an unsure expression.

Brock raised a brow, "Do you think you might want to some day?"

Vulpix looked down thoughtfully as she considered that. She started nodding slowly before picking up the pace and looking up at Brock with a smile.

Brock smiled, "Some other day, it is."

Jolteon, Sparky, Flareon, Pyro, Vaporeon, and Rainer stepped forward and glared, "Don't be dumb!"

Brock, Vulpix, and Electra flinched.

Sparky smirked with a clenched fist, "Evolution is what Pokémon are all about!"

Rainer nodded, "It's like we said before, it's the key to victory!"

"You can't win with an unevolved Pokémon." Pyro added before pointing at Brock, "All you're doing is holding your Pokémon ba-"

The flareon trainer stopped, flinched, and his eyes widened in shock. As did Sparky and Rainer. Brock tensed up and grimaced.

After a few seconds, the three brothers gasped and started looking around frightenedly.

"W- what the Yvel was that?!" Rainer blurted out.

Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon looked up at their trainers in confusion, "Huh?"

Electra blinked in surprise, "What are they talking about?"

Vulpix looked up at her, "We'll tell you later."

Brock shivered before glancing towards a table. He gave a quick thumbs up as he mouthed the word, 'thanks.'

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*Ash

Ash smiled back with a thumbs up. Most of the surrounding party goers were looking around either warily or fearfully.

Muk glanced around at them before sweat dropping, "Never thought I'd be this grateful to not be a human."

Charmander sweat dropped with a nervous smile, "Yeah." He looked up at Ash, "You're intimidate must be really powerful, huh?"

Soot swallowed before grinning slyly, "You mean like this?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Pikachu, Clefairy, Muk, and Charmander frowned uncomfortably.

Pikachu perked up and blinked in surprise, "Wait. That's it?" He looked up at Ash in confusion, "That's what everyone else feels when you use intimidate?"

Ash chuckled, "Yup. Targets aside, my intimidate is no different from Soot's ability."

Clefairy looked at him with a raised brow, "Then why does everyone always look so freaked out when you do it?"

Soot smirked, "Because no human has ever felt the effects of Intimidate before dad got the ability. None of them know how to deal with it."

Ash nodded, "Whereas putting up with that level of shock and fear is a lot easier for Pokémon. The overall effects are a lot less debilitating."

Muk raised a brow, "So, really, it's because humans are frailer?"

Soot blinked in surprise before shrugging, "Yeah. I guess so."

Ash sweat dropped, "Do I wanna know what he said?"

Pikachu snickered, "Probably not."

"Um, excuse me?!" Someone called out.

Soot's eye twitched, 'Son of a-' She looked over with a bored expression and saw a man standing next to his exeggutor a few feet away. She walked over, "Let me guess. You want me to translate for him."

The man smiled cheerfully, "If it's not too much trouble."

Soot sweat dropped, 'Yeah. Sure.' She sighed and looked the Coconut Pokémon in the eyes on the center head, "Alright, shoot."

Ash looked at his hatchling with a sad smile. He perked up in surprise when something came down and landed on the table. He looked over in confusion, "Pidgeotto?"

The Bird Pokémon frowned, "Ash, we've got a problem."

.

*Misty

The Cerulean Gym Leader watched with a smile as most of her team swam around in the fountain, "Feels nice, doesn't it? There's a lot more room than the pool."

Horsea looked over to Misty and nodded happily.

Starmie turned to face Misty as well and started saying something.

Misty sweat dropped, "Was that about the Lenses?"

Staryu nodded.

Misty sighed before smiling sadly, "Last I heard from Ash, it'll be another hour. Besides," She glanced around, "I think this is a bit too public."

Goldeen looked around before sweat dropping, "Agreed."

A cloyster looked over and blinked in confusion, "What?"

Squirtle glanced at the Bivalve Pokémon before taking on a sly grin, "Oh, nothing special. They're just talking about how my trainer's gonna turn this girl into a vaporeon later."

Misty's Pokémon flinched slightly. Misty perked up upon seeing that and glanced around warily.

Cloyster stared at Squirtle blankly for a moment before deadpanning, "Ha ha. Very funny." She swam away from them.

Goldeen swam over to Squirtle, jumped, and spun to slap him in the back of the head with her tailfin.

"Wah!" Squirtle cried out as he fell forward and disappeared into the surprisingly deep fountain with a splash. He reemerged a moment later and glared at the Goldfish Pokémon, "What the Yvel was that for?!"

Goldeen deadpanned, "Are you kidding?"

Misty blinked in surprise, "Um…" She stood back up with a nervous smile, "I'll just leave you all to … whatever this is."

She looked over at Mikey sitting on a bench with Eevee in his arms. The boy was looking down sadly and Eevee looked up at him with a sympathetic frown.

Misty frowned. She perked up and started walking over to one of the tables.

"Hey, Soot?" Misty asked.

Soot groaned, "What?" She turned to glare and flinched slightly at seeing who it was, "Oh. Sorry, Mist."

Misty smirked with a raised brow, "Everyone's been bugging you to be a translator, haven't they?"

Soot sighed, "Yup." She perked up in realization and shot Misty a wary glance, "That isn't why you're here, is it?"

Misty sweat dropped, "Well, um …" She glanced back at Mikey, "Sort of."

Soot followed her gaze and smiled softly, "Alright. This one, I'm okay with."

Pikachu looked over at the girls before following their gaze.

.

*Mikey and Eevee

"You guys hungry?"

Mikey and Eevee looked up and saw Misty holding out a plate of sandwiches with a kind smile on her face. The talking mightyena was standing next to her with Ash's pikachu on its back.

Everyone looked in surprise as Psyduck stole a sandwich from the plate and ate it immediately.

Misty's eyes narrowed, "Psyduck, that wasn't for you."

Psyduck looked up at her blankly, "Psy?" He reached for another sandwich.

Misty held the plate up and pushed him back while glaring, "Hey! These aren't for you! If you're hungry, go to Ash or Brock!"

"Psy-y-y-y-duck!" The Duck Pokémon whined as he tried to reach the plate.

Eevee tilted his head in confusion as Pikachu pinched the bridge of his nose.

Soot deadpanned, "Really?"

Misty looked down at her, "Let me guess. He didn't say anything that time either."

Soot sighed, "That he did not." She glanced at Mikey and saw him staring back at her in awe. The Dark-type sweat dropped before shaking it off and smiling, "Mind if we join you?"

Mikey nodded with an excited smile.

Misty sat down on the other end of the bench and put the plate down between them. Mikey took one of the remaining sandwiches and started eating. Pikachu and Eevee moved over to the plate and started eating too. Soot was currently walking back from chasing Psyduck over to a table.

"How is it?" Misty asked.

Mikey looked back at her with a smile, "Really good. Thanks."

Misty smiled, "You're welcome." Her smile saddened, "Hey, Mikey?"

Mikey blinked in confusion, "Hm?"

"If you don't mind me saying," Misty said, "It doesn't really seem like you want Eevee to evolve."

Mikey looked down sadly, "Well … I don't know. I was trying to hide Eevee from my brothers, just until the party was over." He perked up and looked at the girl with a smile, "Then they couldn't force me to make it evolve."

Soot sat down by the bench and frowned, "Still, Eevee really missed you. We only came across him because he was crying to go home."

Misty nodded, "We almost thought he was abandoned."

Mikey perked up in surprise and looked down at Eevee worriedly, "Really?"

Eevee looked up at him with a frown and his ears drooping.

The brown-haired boy frowned, "But I really was gonna come back for you later."

Eevee perked up and nuzzled the boy.

Mikey smiled sadly, "I don't really care if Eevee evolves or not. I just want him to be my best friend."

The Water-type trainer smiled, "That's great."

Mikey looked up at her in surprise, "Huh? You really think so?"

Misty nodded happily, "Yeah." She raised a finger with a sad smile, "Still, you shouldn't have hidden Eevee like that. All you were doing was running away from your problems. You should've told your brothers how you feel."

Pikachu glanced at the trio in question warily, "Yeah. If they'll listen."

Eevee looked at them with a sad smile, "They really can be a bit stubborn."

Mikey smiled sadly, "You're probably right."

Soot smiled, "By the way, you might want to get an Everstone."

Mikey looked at Soot in confusion, "But I thought Everstones couldn't stop other kinds of Stones from working."

Soot smirked, "Look who's done their homework." She shifted to a regular smile, "They don't. But it will stop Eevee from evolving into one of his non-item evolutions."

Mikey's eyes widened in shock, "W- what?"

Soot snickered, "Your brothers might not know as much as you think they do. The eevee species actually have eight evolutionary options. Espeon, umbreon, and sylveon are the forms they can evolve into without the use of an item. All they depend on is your bond during training, time of day, and whether or not Eevee knows a Fairy-type move." She perked up and looked at the Normal-type, "Do you happen to know Baby-Doll Eyes or Charm?"

Eevee shook his head, "Although, I used to."

"Then sylveon's off the table." Soot said casually before looking up thoughtfully, "Unless you get a Heart Scale."

Mikey stared at Soot in shock. He looked down; feeling a little dazed, "Geez. And I thought picking from just three would be hard."

Misty smiled softly, "That's actually the same thing Eevee said when we told him about his other forms."

Mikey perked up and looked at Misty in surprise, "Huh? How do you know that?"

The Bite Pokémon held out a paw to him with a smirk, "Soot Ketchum. Talking mightyena. Nice ta meet ya."

Mikey looked at her before chuckling nervously, "Oh. Right."

Eevee blinked in surprise, "Huh?" He looked at Pikachu in confusion, "But wasn't your trainer the one who told her and the other human that?"

Pikachu looked back at him with a smile, "Ash doesn't always like humans knowing that he can understand some Pokémon. Brock, Misty, and a few others are the only ones who know." 'And even then, it's not always the full truth.'

"Mikey!" Sparky called out.

They looked over and saw the boy's brothers looking at them as Sparky continued with a smirk, "Have you decided on Eevee's evolution yet?!"

Mikey frowned, "Um…" He looked at Misty.

The Cerulean Gym Leader nodded with a soft smile, "Go ahead."

Pikachu and Eevee nodded with determined smiles, "You can do it."

Mikey smiled and nodded.

"A jolteon, right?" Sparky said.

"A flareon, right?" Pyro said.

"A vaporeon, right?" Rainer said.

Mikey took a deep breath and stood up. He looked at his brothers with a determined glare, "I want to-"

He stopped and flinched when a series of firecrackers started going off all around. Most of the party goers started jumping around frantically.

"It's show time everybody!"

Brock, Misty, and all of their Pokémon's eyes widened before they groaned.

Except Electra. She flinched upon recognizing the voices, "Wait. Was that-"

Team Rocket's balloon hovered downwards.

The eevee brothers ran over and glared at them.

"Who invited you?!" Pyro shouted at the tRio.

Jessie and James jumped down from the basket, landed on a table, and you know the rest.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

The pair paused for a second as they and Meowth shot over to a table and started eating ravenously.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Dat's delicious!" Meowth called out.

Soot sweat dropped, "Y'know … sometimes I can't help but wonder why we let them finish with that."

Misty and Pikachu groaned.

Electra stared in shock, "W- what are they doing here?"

Vulpix sighed, "You get used to it."

James wiped his mouth before looking ahead with a grin, "Weezing!" His Pokémon emerged from the balloon basket, "Use-"

"Now!" Ash called out.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock when a glowing wheel shot down from the sky, through the tRio's balloon, and drove the Poison Gas Pokémon into the dirt faces first. Team Rocket stared back at the deflating balloon in shock.

The 'wheel' sped across the lawn before slowing into a tumble. Pidgeotto managed to stop and laid on her back in a dazed heap.

Clefairy jumped onto Ash's shoulder as he ran over and propped up the Normal/Flying-type's head. He smiled, "Nice job. You're getting better at that."

"Thanks." Pidgeotto groaned before putting a wing to her head, "How do you deal with the motion sickness?"

Clefairy translated.

Ash chuckled and whispered, "Not well."

"Hey!" Meowth shouted angrily, "Dat was a cheap shot and ya know it!"

Misty glared and shouted back, "You're one to talk!"

Electra looked back at Misty in surprise. She perked up and looked at Meowth in shock, "No freaking way."

"Yup." Muk said before flicking an entire sandwich into his mouth, "He's a human talker too."

Charmander bit down on a sandwich in his paws, "'e doesn' talk as well as Soot, t'ough."

Sparky perked up and looked around at Ash, Brock, and Misty in surprise, "Wait, do you all know those two?"

Meowth glared at the yellow haired brother.

Ash sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. They're a band of crooks who kidnap Pokémon."

"What?!" Rainer blurted out worriedly, "Then why aren't you more worried?!"

Brock shrugged, "We run into them a lot."

Ash started stretching, "We'll handle this." He looked back and called out, "Hey, Mankey-"

"Wait!" Pyro called out. The brothers and their eon's walked up to stand in front of everyone and glared at the tRio with cocky smirks.

"These crooks crashed our party." Sparky called out, "So leave this battle to us."

Rainer grinned, "We'll show you all just what a fully evolved Pokémon can really do."

Ash sweat dropped, "You're still going on about that?"

James looked at his Poison-type worriedly, "Weezing, can you still battle?"

Weezing managed to get up shakily and shook wildly before looking ahead at the eeveelutions with his usual expression, "Weezing."

Jessie pulled out and tossed a pokéball, "Go Arbok!"

The Cobra Pokémon materialized next to Weezing and glared, "Chabok!"

"Jolteon!" "Flareon!" "Vaporeon!" Sparky, Pyro, and Rainer called out, "GO!"

The evolved eevees glared and jumped forwards into their fighting stances.

Soot smirked, "This should be fun."

Misty and Pikachu chuckled. Mikey and Eevee looked ahead with worried frowns.

"Arbok!" Jessie called out, "Poison Sting!"

Rainer's eyes narrowed, "Vaporeon! Counter with Water Gun!"

Pyro smirked, "Flareon! You counter with Flamethrower!"

Arbok fired a swarm of glowing white needles. The Bubble Jet Pokémon inhaled and unleashed a large stream of water at the oncoming attack. At the same time, the Flame Pokémon shot a large stream of flame at the same target. The two attacks collided in mid-air and cancelled each other out into a mist. The Poison Sting still shot through.

"Flare!" "Vay!" The pair cried out as the needles struck.

Everyone in the group stared in shock and most muttered, "What?"

Mikey's frown saddened.

Rainer glared at his red-haired brother, "What was that Pyro?! I had that attack covered!"

Pyro glared back, "No! I did! Flareon would've handled that attack way better that Vaporeon."

Rainer's glare intensified, "As if!"

Sparky moved to the front with a smirk, "Let me show you a real Pokémon! Jolteon! Pin Missile!"

Soot sweat dropped, "He's joking, right?"

James grinned and held out an arm, "Weezing! Sludge!"

Jolteon jumped in front of Flareon and Vaporeon and fired a barrage of needles from the tips of his fur. Weezing retaliated by spraying black sludge from his mouths. The gunk swept away the needles before washing over the three eons and forcing them back.

Sparky grimaced, "Jolteon! No!"

Rainer smirked with his arms crossed, "So much for 'showing us a real Pokémon'."

Sparky glared back at his brothers, "Like either of you did better!"

Brock stared in shock, "Are they serious?"

Ash sighed, "Mankey may get his chance after all."

Mankey -who moved to stand next to Ash earlier- took on a sly expression and crossed his arms, "Fine by me."

The tRio each had bright smiles.

"Dis battles in da bag!" Meowth said excitedly.

James laughed, "We've lost so many times that I almost forgot what it felt like to win!"

Jessie grinned wickedly and clenched a fist, "Then, let's finish this and collect our prizes!"

Soot sweat dropped, "They just forgot we were here. Didn't they?"

Pikachu sweat dropped as well, "Probably." He glanced towards Eevee and his eyes widened in surprise.

Jessie and James pointed ahead, "Weezing! Tackle them!" "Arbok! Use Bite!"

The pair shot towards the downed Electric, Fire, and Water-types.

"Take Down!"

Team Rocket's smiles faded when a brown blur shot into Arbok's side and rammed him into Weezing. The pair shot to the side and laid on the ground in a heap.

"What da?!" Meowth cried out in shock.

Eevee skidded to a halt in front of his upper evos and glared at the Poison-types. The brothers looked in surprise and jerked slightly when Mikey ran up beside them.

"Mikey?!" They shouted in shock.

"What are you doing?!" Rainer said, "It's dangerous over here!"

Pyro smiled, "Yeah. But, don't worry, Flareon and I have this covered."

Rainer shoved his red-haired brother and pointed a thumb into his own chest, "He means Vaporeon and I do!"

Sparky smirked and got in front of the others, "They're both wrong! Jolteon and I will-"

"STOP IT!" Mikey blurted out while glaring up at them; making them flinch, "Don't you get that you're losing because you're fighting each other?! These bad people are here to steal our Pokémon! So why are you still trying to one-up each other instead of trying to stop them." He clenched a fist angrily, "This is exactly why I tried to hide Eevee from all of you!" He flinched and his eyes widened upon realizing what he just said.

The brothers' eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, what?" Pyro asked.

Sparky kneeled down in front of their younger brother, "Mikey, is that true?"

Mikey frowned and nodded, "I don't wanna evolve Eevee." He looked back at his Evolution Pokémon with a soft smile, "And he doesn't wanna evolve either."

Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon perked up and looked at Eevee in surprise. The Normal-type frowned with his ears drooping and nodded.

Rainer step forward, "Why didn't you tell-" He cut himself off and put a hand to his chest, "We would've under-" He stopped again and rubbed the back of his neck.

Pyro frowned shamefully, "We never really gave you a chance, did we?"

Sparky frowned, "Mikey, we're sor-"

"Blah blah blah." Jessie interrupted, "We're in the middle of a battle, remember?"

James smirked, "That is, unless you're ready to give up now."

Meowth grinned and crossed his forepaws, "If so, we'll be takin' our prizes."

Arbok and Weezing managed to get back up and moved in front of their trainers again.

The quartet glared back at the tRio.

Sparky stood back up, "Mikey, I promise we'll make it up to you in a bit. But-"

"Yeah." Mikey jumped in with a nod, "I get it."

Pyro's eyes narrowed, "Then let's show these crooks what the four eevee brothers can really do!"

Sparky, Rainer, and Mikey nodded. Their respective Pokémon crouched down into their fighting stances.

Jessie frowned and muttered, "Outnumbered again." She spoke up, "Arbok! Acid!"

James clenched a fist, "Weezing! Another Sludge!"

"Dodge it!" The brothers called out.

Arbok and Weezing fired off their attacks again. The Evolution and evolved Pokémon all jumped out of the way.

Sparky and Rainer shared a look and grinned. They looked ahead again, "Vaporeon! Water Gun!" "Jolteon! Amp it up with Thunder Shock!"

Vaporeon inhaled deeply as Jolteon jumped into the air. The Water-type shot a stream at Arbok and Jolteon unleashed a bolt of lightning alongside the stream. The attacks connected before striking Arbok.

"Chaaaaaa!" The Cobra Pokémon cried out as the electrified water pushed him back.

Jessie grimaced, "Arbok no!"

James glared, "Weezing! Sludge them!"

Pyro held out a hand, "Not so fast! Flareon! Use Fire Spin!"

Flareon inhaled and quickly shot a large spiral of flame towards Weezing. The Poison-type flinched and looked around frightenedly as the flames formed a cone around him.

Mikey held out a hand, "Eevee! Shadow Ball!"

A solid black sphere with a purple core formed in front of Eevee's mouth before shooting towards the trapped weezing. It struck the flaming spiral and exploded violently. The Poison-type blasted backwards and landed on the ground in front of his trainer.

"Ahh! Weezing!" James cried out.

"Now!" Rainer said with a clenched fist, "Let's finish this!"

"Yeah!" Pyro, Sparky, and Mikey nodded.

"Flareon!" "Vaporeon!" "Jolteon!" "Eevee!"

"USE SWIFT!"

Team Rocket flinched and looked at the quartet of Pokémon frightenedly. Their eyes all widened in shock at the sight of the blizzard off golden stars approaching them.

The tRio deadpanned, "Crag."

.

*Blast-off scene

Jessie laid on her side with a bored expression, "Another loss, another blast-off."

James had his arms crossed while upside down, "Still better than that crazy guy with the guitar."

Meowth sighed, "Yeah, dat was jus' weird." He cocked his head with a raised brow, "Come ta think of it, di'n't dat shiny green guy kinda look like an older twoip?"

Jessie perked up and looked up thoughtfully, "Now that you mention it, yeah. It was uncanny."

James put a hand to his chin, "Maybe it was the guy the Phantom got his human form from?"

Jessie looked at him with a raised brow, "What?"

James looked back at her and nodded, "I mean, yeah. That ditto had to see something to turn into it, right? Maybe it's the same for the phantom."

Meowth considered that, "Huh." He shrugged, "Maybe."

"We're blasting off again!"

*ding*

.

*Back on the ground

"Alright!" Mikey called out as he jumped for joy.

Eevee ran over to Mikey with a bright smile, jumped into his arms, and started licking the boy's cheek. Mikey couldn't help but laugh happily. Rainer, Sparky, and Pyro looked over with sad smiles. They all shared a look and nodded.

"Mikey." They all said in unison.

The brown-haired boy looked over in confusion, "Yeah?"

Sparky smiled softly, "We wanted to say sorry about before. We really should've listened to you."

Pyro nodded with a regular smile, "Even though you always said you didn't wanna battle, you really were great out there." His smile became somber, "Still, we're sorry."

Rainer smiled sadly as well, "If you really don't want to battle or for Eevee to evolve, then that's fine by us."

"Well, actually," Mikey said with a smile; making his brothers perk up in surprise, "I think I get why you all like to battle so much." He took on a determined smirk, "I've decided that I do wanna be a trainer like you guys." He looked down at Eevee happily, "But I still want my partner to be Eevee. As he is."

Eevee smiled happily and nodded, "Me too."

The three older brothers blinked in surprise before going back to their usual smirks.

"Well then," Sparky said, "It looks like we all have some work to do."

Mikey looked up at him in surprise, "Huh?"

Rainer nodded, "Yeah. If you're battling with Eevee, then you're gonna need to start training some more. Something we'll be happy to help with."

Pyro grinned and clenched a fist, "That's right! By the time we're done, Eevee's gonna be as strong as an unevolved Pokémon can g-" He stopped, jerked, and sweat dropped with an embarrassed smirk, "I- I mean the strongest eevee there is."

Mikey laughed before looking at his brothers with a soft smile, "Thanks guys." He smirked and clenched a fist, "So, should we start now?"

Eevee jumped down from Mikey's arms and crouched down, "Yeah! I'm ready whenever!"

"Later." Sparky said with a grin, "But for now," He threw up a fist, "let's all celebrate you're first win, little bro!"

Mikey, Rainer, and Pyro smirked and threw up a fist as well, "YEAH!"

The quartet looked back at the party and jerked in shock. Only Ash, Brock, Misty, and their Pokémon were still present. Misty was sitting back on the edge of the fountain. The talking mightyena and Ash's pikachu had moved back to the table Ash was at. The pidgeotto had fallen asleep on an empty table. The mankey was looking at the four of them with an annoyed expression before it turned away sourly. None of the other Pokémon had moved from where they were.

"What the Yvel?!" Pyro said in shock.

The four brothers and their Pokémon ran over to the table Ash was at.

"Ash, what happened?!" Sparky asked worriedly, "Where is everyone?!"

Ash swallowed before starting, "A handful ran away when Team Rocket showed up. A few more followed when we said who they were. More got scared and ran when Weezing swept away you're Pokémon with Sludge. And the rest left when you blasted them off." He went back to drinking.

Rainer blinked in surprise, "But then, why didn't any of you get scared off?"

"It's like Brock said." Soot jumped in; catching their attention, "We run into them a lot." She propped herself up on the table and bit down on a sandwich.

The surrounding Pokémon and Brock all nodded. Except, again, for Electra.

She looked around at everyone warily, "So, them being at the tribe really wasn't a freak thing?"

Clefairy shook in disagreement, "Nuh uh." She looked up at her trainer and held up a glass, "Hey Ash, can I have a refill?"

Pikachu held up a glass to Ash too, "Me too?"

.

**Time Skip**

Despite everything that happened, the rest of the party went off without a hitch … as much as a party with only seven trainers and their twenty Pokémon can go.

Ash, Brock, and Misty returned their Pokémon, and everyone was currently standing at the archway as the brothers saw the group off. Pikachu and Clefairy took back their spots on Ash's shoulders. Electra was standing on Brock's backpack again.

Ash shook hands with Sparky while smiling, "Thanks again for having us. It was a fun party."

Brock scratched the back of his head with a sad smile, "Still, we're sorry about Team Rocket scaring everyone off."

Sparky smiled and waved a hand, "Hey, no problem. It's not your fault they showed up."

Pyro smirked, "Yeah. It's not like you invited them."

Soot sweat dropped, "Well, you're right about that."

Misty sweat dropped as well, 'Not sure if they would've shown up without us, though.'

"Miss Misty?"

Misty looked down at Mikey before crouching down, "Yeah?"

Mikey smiled and whispered to her, "Thanks again for helping me. I'm not sure I would've been able to tell my brothers without your advice."

Misty smiled softly and whispered back, "I was happy to help. Besides, I kind of knew where you were coming from. My older sisters used to bug me about stuff I didn't care about too."

Mikey looked at Misty in surprise before smiling softly, "Still, thanks."

Misty smiled happily before glancing at Ash. She perked up in surprise when she saw the watch was green again.

Ash noticed, put a hand behind his back, and gave a thumbs up.

Misty stood back up and looked at the older brothers, "Would you guys happen to know if there's a good fishing spot nearby?"

Rainer smiled, "Actually, yeah." He pointed into the distance, "There's a pretty nice lake about a mile south of here."

Misty smiled brightly and looked at Ash. The boy glanced at her and smirked.

.

*The lake

"So," Electra said with a frown, "how often do you- uh, we usually run into those Rocket people?"

Pikachu looked up with an unsure expression as he wore Ash's hat, "Um … it's kind of hard to narrow it down. Though, it happens pretty often."

Soot shrugged, "I don't think we've ever gone two whole weeks without running into them since Viridian City."

Electra's ears drooped and she looked at her trainer, "So, when Ash said I didn't know what I was getting into by joining you guys, that's what he meant?"

The spikey-haired pikachu shrugged; the green Lens could be seen on his chest, "Maybe a little. Though, I think it was mostly the 'we're actually human' thing."

Electra looked down worriedly, "hmm."

"Hey, don't worry!" Clefairy said cheerfully with a determined smile, "We've beaten them every time before and we're gonna do it again every time they mess with us!"

Soot snickered, "I'd be afraid to jinx it if we were talking about anyone else. But, Clefairy's right. Even if Jessie and James each manage to gather a full team, we'd still outnumber them by six. And that's not including you, dad, Brock, Misty, or anyone else who might join us."

Brock smiled, walked over to Electra, and put a paw on her back, "Yeah. It'll be okay, Electra. We promise."

Electra looked up at Brock and smiled softly, "Thanks."

.

*Meanwhile; IN the lake

Misty looked around in awe as she sat on the bottom of the lake. She'd been underwater before, but that had nothing on this.

The water was clearer to see through than any pair of goggles would've allowed or the cleanest swimming pool imaginable. The way she could feel the water's movements across her scales and fins was even more refreshing than the wind through the pikachu form. The thing she probably appreciated second most was that the form let her choose her density/buoyancy in the water … even if Ash had to teach her how to control that. The first was undoubtedly the water-compatible lungs and gills.

Omega: I … what?

Faux: Most Water-type Pokémon can breathe underwater and can breathe air.

Nuevo: *raised brow* So, they're all like lungfish?

Laura: The Yvel's a lungfish?

Ohirume: *obviously reading off something* They are a species of freshwater rhipidistian fish that belong to the subclass Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining characteristics primitive within Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air.

Seishin: What can't google do? ;)

Ohirume: Wha- How'd you know I used google?!

Seishin: ,':\ I read the action descriptor. Also figment.

Omega: That still doesn't explain the "water compatible lungs."

Ohirume: Oh, I just made that **** up. Though, to be fair, a vaporeon literally can melt into water. So, non-fiction biology is pretty much void.

Omega: … In all honesty, I've heard weirder.

The part she was still coming to terms with was the fact that she could hear everyone around her. She knew that Water-types could take commands from underwater, but still…

"Is it everything you thought it would be?" Ash asked.

The viridian-eyed vaporeon with a hair tie on her left ear and green Lens on her stomach looked over at the brown-eyed vaporeon floating a little above her. Goldeen, Squirtle, Horsea, Staryu, and Starmie were with him.

Misty smiled softly, "And then some." She took a deep, relaxed breath before looking up at the surface with a sad smile, "I've only ever dreamed about this kind of thing before. I'm almost afraid I'll wake up."

Horsea swam down and nuzzled her happily, "I don't think that's gonna happen."

Squirtle snickered and crossed his arms, "We're about a week and four pikachu transformations past dreaming."

Goldeen smiled softly, "You're wide awake, Misty. No doubt."

Staryu and Starmie nodded, "Yeah."

Misty chuckled softly before nuzzling her Dragon Pokémon back, "Thanks."

"Oh, and Misty?" Horsea said as he backed up a bit, "One more thing."

Misty raised a brow, "Yeah?"

Horsea took on a cheerful expression, "You're it!" He swam away as quick as he could. Squirtle and the rest of her Pokémon smirked -if possible- and sped away too.

Misty jerked, "Wha- Hey!" She got back on all fours and glared at them, "That wasn't fair!"

"Too late now!" Staryu called out.

Misty pouted angrily. She perked up and looked up at Ash.

Ash smirked, "Not gonna work, Misty."

The female vaporeon grinned, "We'll see about that."

Misty bounced off the lake bottom and swam towards Ash as fast as she could. Ash just continued floating in place. Misty's eyes widened in shock when Ash faded away in front of her and she shot through where he was. She stopped and looked back to Ash. He was already reforming and now facing her.

"Told ya." The male vaporeon said with a sly smirk.

Misty glared, "Oh, come on! I don't know how to melt yet!"

Ash grinned, "Yup. Now, you might want to hurry. A vaporeon may be a naturally faster swimmer than the others, but you are still in training."

Misty grumbled before sighing. She looked back at Ash with a smirk, "Fine. But I still want you to teach me how to melt."

Ash raised a brow with a smirk, "Of course. It'd be pretty petty of me not to after I told you it was possible."

Misty smiled, "Thank- Woah!" She was cut off by a small current hitting her in the back of the head and flipping her around.

"Come on, Misty!" Squirtle called out in a sly tone, "I thought you were a vaporeon! Not a slowpoke!"

Misty glared into the water, "I'll make you eat those words, shell boy!" She sped off after him.

.

.

Gem: *frowns* Sparky … why does that sound so- WAIT A SEC!

Faux: *chuckles* Finally realized it, huh?

Illavera: What?

Pike: *grin* Sparky is also the name of another pikachu. They belong to a trainer named Ritchie.

Nuevo: *sweat drops* So, the anime reused a human's name for a mouse?

Seishin: That they did. :P And, to make it weirder, that pikachu's Japanese name was Leon. Leon!

Yugo: *perks up and stares at Seishin in shock* What?

…

Ohirume: Eh … Midnight on Saturday. 7:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday. What's the difference?

Omega: *deadpanned* Seventy-six and a half hours.

Ohirume: *grumbles* I got tired of waiting. Alright?