Pokémon Trix: Tales of Soot and Ash

by Ohirume

Imagine a version of the Pokémon world where Ash Ketchum came into possession of the most powerful device in the world of Ben 10. Now imagine that written by some psycho. Yeah... Pokémon/Ben 10 crossover, sort of. Weird censoring. Tell me what you think. Due to this websites regular glitches/breakdowns, chapters and status updates will be posted on DeviantArt. Username: Ohirume1

63. Ch 57: Blastoise Island

**If you're being harassed by google ads infecting your page – go to the URL and replace the 'www' with an 'm'

It's less detailed, so navigation is more annoying. But that's the fault of the website for letting the ads start appearing**

Omega: *flips page and raises a brow* Beach Blank-Out Blastoise?

Faux: *looks up thoughtfully* Blastoise… beach… *perks up* Oh! That island with all the squirtle and wartortle.

Gem: *smiles and points* Oh, yeah. That blastoise that got Jigglypuff stuck in their cannon.

Nuevo: *eyes widen* Cannon? Like that mortar thing that jumped out of the lava?

Luke: You mean Magmortar.

Mizuro: *blinks* Huh. *raises brow* So, what else happened there?

Faux, Pike, Gem, Shadow Pearl: Team Rocket attacked.

Illavera: … is that it?

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

.

.

The One With All The Side Stories

.

Blaine sat at a large table in a conference room in his usual get up. The lab coat one.

To his right were Erika followed by Koga and then an empty seat meant for the Viridian Gym's representative.

Across from him was Violet Waterflower with Flint Slate to her left and Surge next to him. The empty seat to Surge's left was reserved for … Sabrina's doll.

The empty chair at the front of the table was meant for the person who called them in.

The Cinnabar native looked around, 'Kind of weird seeing everyone this soon.' He glanced at the psychic's empty seat cautiously.

Everyone perked up as they heard footsteps and looked back as a brown-haired man in an orange suit walked in with a stoic expression on his face.

Surge smirked, "Hey Gio, you actually showed up for once. Half expected you to send your secretary again."

Giovanni glanced at him before walking away to take his seat.

Surge sweat dropped, "I see you're the same as ever."

Flint stared in surprise, "Huh. Not often we see him here."

Violet leaned closer to Flint and whispered, "Hey, speaking of, did you hear that Sabrina might be showing up in person for once?"

Flint flinched and looked at her in shock, "Wait, seriously?"

Blaine perked up and looked at her in shock as well.

Violet nodded, "Yeah. But people have been saying that her personality has, like, taken a total one-eighty. It's like she's not even-"

"Not even, what?"

Violet and Flint flinched and looked towards the doorway. Koga, Erika, Surge, and Blaine tensed up and looked over in alarm. Even Giovanni looked at the door in surprise. They all found the Saffron Gym Leader levitating in the doorway with a very familiar expression on her face.

Sabrina looked at Violet, "Go on."

Violet started trembling and stared at her fearfully, "U- um- I- I- I- that-"

Sabrina stared for a moment before her eyes narrowed, "I see." She moved closer to the Water-type user and held out a hand to her, "Perhaps you need to be taught some manners."

Violet's eyes widened fearfully as she attempted to scoot her chair back. But she was blocked by the table. Everyone else's eyes widened.

Koga grimaced, stood up, and held out a hand, "Sabrina, wait-"

The sound of a party blower sounded out. Everyone perked up and stared in shock as a haunter appeared over Violet and opened its hands to drop two handfuls of confetti onto the girl. The sound appeared to come from its mouth.

Violet blinked in shock; confetti streamers still on her face, "Huh?"

Sabrina's mouth twitched before she burst out into laughter and fell back; still levitating, "O- oh, man! You should've seen the look on your face!" She continued laughing.

Violet just stared at Sabrina in shock; still covered in confetti, "Huh?"

Sabrina moved to stand on her feet and high-fived the Gas Pokémon, "Alright, Haunter! Hook line and sinker!"

"Haunt haunt-er haunter!" Haunter said happily. He smirked and moved closer to the girl with a hand next to his mouth and whispered something.

Sabrina perked up, blushed, and glared at him, "Okay, that's taking it too far."

Haunter slumped over shamefully, "Haunter."

Koga blinked in shock, "S- so … you're not going to hurt her."

Sabrina smiled at him; startling the ninja a bit, "Nah. We just wanted to a have a little fun."

Violet remained in shock, "Huh?"

Sabrina snickered before making her way over to her seat. Haunter followed her. Everyone else stared at the psychic in shock; except Violet.

Surge looked at the Psychic in surprise as she took her seat next to him, 'Guess she really has changed.'

Sabrina looked at the Electric Gym Leader and grinned; making him tense up a bit. She looked over at Giovanni curiously. After a second, she blinked in surprise before raising a brow in confusion.

Giovanni noticed, pulled up his sleeve, and brought up his arm to reveal an electronic bracelet on his wrist, "Telepathic inhibitor. I'd prefer it if my thoughts remain private."

Sabrina pouted, "Kill joy."

Koga sweat dropped, 'I wish I had thought of that.'

Sabrina looked at Koga sadly, "But that's just so boring."

Koga flinched and looked at her in surprise. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is going to be the new normal, isn't it?"

Sabrina smiled, "Probably."

Haunter snickered.

Flint forced a smile, "W- well, it's good that we're all here for…" He sweat dropped, "why were we called in again?"

Surge leaned back in his chair, "Beats me. Probably just another boring status report meeting."

Koga raised a brow, "But those are annual."

"And that isn't why you're here." Said a familiar voice.

The Gym Leaders all looked over as Nurse Joy in a full black outfit entered the room.

Erika perked up in surprise, "Nurse Joy? Why are you here?"

Flint looked at her, "League Inspector Joy, actually."

Joy nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Slate." She sat at the front, "Now-" She perked up and raised a brow, "Miss Waterflower, why are you covered in confetti?"

Violet snapped out of it and looked at her, "Huh?" She started pulling off the paper, "Oh, s- sorry." She glanced at Sabrina.

Joy stared in confusion before following the Cerulean teen's gaze and tensing up, "O- oh! Miss Esper, I didn't expect to see you here."

Sabrina smiled, "Yeah. I've been getting that a lot, lately. You were saying?"

The Inspector blinked, "R- right." She shook it off, pulled a remote out of her pocket, looked back at the wall behind her, and hit a button.

Everyone else looked over as a white screen descended from the ceiling and the projector turned on. An image displaying two pictures of male trainers smirking wickedly appeared.

One wore a blue jumpsuit with a red 'K' on top of a downward pointing green triangle. He had spiked, dark blue hair and wore a red cape and black gloves.

The other one wore green overalls with a yellow 'Y' on top of an upward pointing red triangle. He had a buzz cut, wore a black undershirt, an orange scarf, and gray gloves.

Violet cringed at the sight, 'Oh, dear Arc, their fashion sense!'

Joy looked back at the Gym Leaders, "These two are Yas and Kaz. Up until about three weeks ago, they ran fabricated Gyms in Dark City and terrorized the area through an endless gang war under the belief that the winner could make their gym official. They caused immeasurable property damage in the process."

She hit the remote again as an image of two large groups of trainers appeared; half wearing the same outfit as Kaz minus the cape and with red gloves and half wearing the same outfit as Yas but with an orange undershirt and no gloves, "They recruited wandering trainers for their gangs and increased their mayhem in the process. It's honestly a miracle no one was seriously injured. Or worse."

Surge frowned, "Yeesh. Those two sound like a real handful."

Koga cracked a small smirk, "That's rich coming from you, Surge."

Surge shot him a harsh glance.

Koga glanced back before looking at Joy, "So, were we called in to help gather information to convict these two?"

The league inspector shook her head, "No, we have all the information we need." She frowned, "It's the other trainers who were involved that we're here about." She held up a hand and snapped.

"Chansey!"

Everyone perked up and looked towards the doorway as a chansey walked into the room with her eyes glowing green. Their eyes all widened when nearly a hundred large files with a glowing outline matching the glow in Chansey's eyes followed the Normal-type.

"Chansey." The Egg Pokémon said while gesturing forward. The files all moved over to the table before the glow faded from them.

Joy smiled and petted the Normal-type, "Thank you, Chansey."

Chansey saluted and walked back out of the room.

Surge stared at the folders in shock, "Oh my Arc."

Joy sighed, "I know." She looked around, "These are the files of all of the other trainers involved. Many have pled that it was peer pressure, some claimed that they only ever did non-aggressive busy work, and others are remaining silent. We need to evaluate their files, evidence, and their statements to determine penalties ranging from license suspension and community service to license revocation to jail time."

Giovanni looked at her and sweat dropped, "But why are we in charge of this? Wouldn't the police be a better choice?"

"Yes, but the citizens of Dark City do not have a problem with the police." Joy responded somberly, "The damage caused by the Yas and Kaz Gyms isn't only property damage. Everyone living there became horribly antagonistic and fearful towards Pokémon trainers; fearing they may be recruited. Given that it all ended thanks to wandering trainers, most of those negative emotions have now shifted towards Gyms for, and I quote, 'inspiring them'."

Erika frowned, "So this is a publicity thing."

Joy nodded, "Simply claiming you were involved in the investigation could lead to problems if word got out and calling in any of the other Gym Leaders for this wouldn't be enough. The main eight are the highest authority Gyms per a region. It has to be all of you."

Surge sighed before picking up a folder, "Right."

Flint, Violet, Erika, and Blaine frowned and took one as well. Giovanni sighed, took one, and began reading.

Koga took a folder, "This is going to be a long night."

Flint frowned, 'I should probably call Forrest and let him know-'

"Uh, 'xcuse me."

Everybody perked up and looked over to find Sabrina raising her hand.

The Psychic-type user looked at Joy curiously, "Wouldn't it be easier if I just read all the suspects' minds to figure out what they did and why? Or maybe even see if they were brainwashed? Most are still in custody, right? Plus, I am the most negatively viewed Gym Leader in Kanto. If people found out I offered to help, that's sure to help with image. Both mine and the League's."

The other Gym Leaders all perked up in surprise.

Joy blinked while staring in shock, "Um … well … I- I wasn't sure if I should ask because you … um-"

Sabrina smirked, "Because I was a power mad lunatic?"

Joy tensed up and sweat dropped, "I was actually going to say because I thought you would deny the offer before I even asked." She shook it off, "But, if you're actually offering to help, I really would appreciate it. Just know that it would still be rather time consuming."

Sabrina shrugged; still smiling, "Eh, I don't mind. Dad can take care of the Gym and I'm bored."

Joy smiled happily, "Well, alright then. We can work out a date for you to come by later."

Sabrina and Haunter smiled while giving a thumbs up, "Sounds good./Haun ter."

Surge shot up his fists; tossing up the file in his hand in the process, "Woo!" He turned to face the psychic and held out a hand, "You rock, Sabrina!"

Sabrina grinned and high-fived him. Haunter looked at them and pouted sourly.

The file Surge had landed on its spine in front of the Grass-type user and opened.

Erika glanced at the document curiously before her eyes widened and she picked it up, "Uh … Flint?"

The Pewter Gym Leader looked at her, "Hm?"

Erika turned the file towards him. Flint jerked when he saw Brock's picture on a sheet.

Flint glared at Joy, "What is the meaning of this?! My son would never side with criminals!"

Violet smirked slyly, "Well, you have, like, been away from your family for a while. Maybe he's changed."

Flint tensed up and frowned shamefully.

"I don't believe you're in a position to say that, Miss Waterflower." Giovanni said before turning the folder in his hands to reveal Misty's picture.

Violet stared in shock, glared at Joy, and pointed at the file, "What the Yvel is this?! My little sister is not a criminal!"

Joy raised a hand, "That isn't how they were involved." She put her hand down, "Those two and their friend were the wandering trainers I mentioned. The ones who played a part in taking down the Yas and Kaz gyms. They went in under aliases and managed to get a recording of both Leader's confessing their motives and very blatant disregard for both the city and its inhabitants. We allowed them to go on their way."

Blaine raised a brow, "Then why are their files here?"

Joy frowned, "Because, while their actions were admirable, they did still put themselves in harm's way. Miss Waterflower was even rendered unconscious during the last fight."

Violet jumped to her feet and looked at the inspector fearfully, "WHAT?!"

Joy raised a hand again, "I examined her, personally, and she was not injured. She wasn't even bruised." Violet sighed in relief and sat back down. Joy put her hand down again, "According to the mightyena, it was forced to tackle Miss Waterflower out of the way of an oncoming golem … right into a cloud of the bulbasaur's Sleep Powder. She said she had chest pains from the shove, but that's it."

The Water, Rock, Electric, Grass, and Poison-type trainers perked up in surprise. Sabrina and Haunter shared a look while smirking. Giovanni glanced over.

Blaine raised a brow, "Wait, what about a mightyena?"

Surge looked at Joy in shock, "Hold it. Are you talkin' about Soot? You mean that Ash kid was involved in this, too?" He perked up before looking at the pictures in the revealed files and deadpanning, "Oh right. Those two were with him when they came by."

Koga looked at Surge in surprise, "You know him too?"

Surge looked at him, "Yeah. He annihilated Raichu with just his pikachu. Not to mention Soot started givin' advice to some of my other challengers who I already beat, and they started spreading the word. Gotta tell ya, I haven't been on that big of a losing streak in forever." He shrugged, "Honestly, it was a nice change of pace."

Violet looked around, "He came by my Gym, too. Misty was with him and they, like, fought a really awesome battle. We weren't able to finish 'cause these total psychos drove a stolen industrial vacuum through our wall and tried to steal our pool."

Blaine, Giovanni, Flint, and Surge looked at her in shock as she continued, "Ash managed to fight them off and save the rest of our Gym. We ended up giving him a Cascade Badge as a thank you."

Flint stared in shock, "Th- that's actually kind of similar to what happened when he challenged Brock. Forrest said the catwalk was destroyed when Onix got dazed and everyone was put in danger. Ash and Soot did this …" He frowned, "uh, mario- mirio- ugh, Tilly called it a puppet move." He sighed, "Anyway, they used that attack to save everyone. I even heard that Ash wound up in the hospital overnight in order to save Suzie, Tommy, and Cindy."

Everyone else stared in shock.

Koga blinked in surprise, "I- I must admit, I was aware of what happened at Cerulean and Celadon, but that is still rather … impressive, to say the least."

Blaine looked at the Poison Gym Leader, "This trainer visited your Gym, too?"

Koga nodded, "He did. And if I'm being honest, I'm a little jealous of him."

Most of the Gym Leaders and Joy looked at him in shock.

Koga let out a small chuckle, "Yes, I am aware of what I just said." He looked around the room, "But I am serious. The boy showed a lot of promise throughout his time in the Gym. And not just in the battle. Not a single one of my Gym's traps nor mine and Aya's underhanded tactics caught him off guard or even appeared to unnerve him. He even went as far as protecting Brock and Misty from certain traps."

The ninja smirked, "To have skills like that at such a young age, I'd dare call him a prodigy. Not to mention, he was lucky enough to be given the privilege to have a party limit of ten and to catch an impact repulsion muk. I could hardly believe it when it shrugged off Ariados's Smart Strike."

The ninja took on a stern expression, "Still," He looked at Sabrina, "the second largest surprise had to be the badges he showed me upon his visit."

Erika's eyes widened in realization before she looked at the psychic in shock, "Wait a sec! Sabrina, he got your badge too?!"

Sabrina grinned, "Yup. And not the usual way, either. Soot thrashed Kadabra like it was nothing." Everyone looked at her in pure shock as she frowned, "And then I went a little,"

Haunter opened his mouth as a wooden pidgey from a cuckoo clock extended out of his mouth as the corresponding cry sounded out. Everyone snapped out of it and looked at the Gas Pokémon in surprise.

Sabrina pointed at him, "Yeah, that." She smiled, "And one thing led to another and my dad managed to get in and bring me back to normal …" She gestured to herself, "or, well, this new normal." She smiled again, "All in all, it was a pretty good day." She slung arm around the Ghost/Poison-type, "Especially since that's when I met my buddy, Haunter."

"Haunter!" Haunter called out happily with a raised hand.

Everyone in the room stared in absolute shock, 'HE'S THE ONE WHO CHANGED HER?!'

Sabrina flinched and put a hand to her head, "Gah!" She looked around with a sour pout; hand still on her head, "Hey, not all at once. And did you all have to scream that?"

Joy sweat dropped, "You could have just not read our minds."

Sabrina deadpanned, "Actually, I couldn't. I've been picking up surface thoughts passively for years. It's like trying to voluntarily forget how to ride a bike." She sighed and looked at the Grass-type user with a smile, "Anyway, Erika, I think it's your turn to talk about your battle."

Erika perked up, "Oh, um … well, I guess my battle with him was kinda like Cerulean. It was pretty one-sided but then these two lunatics broke in just to steal an expendable perfume ingredient. Then they set off a bomb that set the Gym on fire."

Blaine's eyes widened, "That's how your Gym caught fire? I thought it was a battle gone wrong."

Erika looked at him, "It was, in a sense."

Surge perked up upon realizing something before looking at Erika with a sly smirk, "Wait a sec. Was that the day you saw your charcoal man?"

The Celadon Leader glared at the Vermillion Leader, "His name was Overheat."

Violet perked up and blinked in surprise, "Wait, that thing's real? I thought someone just, like, made up a bad rumor."

Blaine sweat dropped, "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Our next topic of this meeting."

Everyone perked up from recognizing the voice and looked over as a man with spiked red hair, wearing a dark blue and red outfit walked into the room.

Surge stood up and saluted, "Lance, sir!"

Lance chuckled softly, "Surge, I may still be ranked above you but formalities like that aren't necessary."

Surge blinked before chuckling nervously, "R- right. Sorry." He sat back down.

Joy stood back up and looked at Lance and held out the remote, "Your seat, sir."

Lance nodded and took the remote, "Thank you, Inspector." He took his seat and looked around, "It's good seeing all of you again." He looked at the father of ten, "Flint, allow me to officially welcome you back. It'll be nice to finally have a representative from Pewter again."

Flint perked up in surprise, "Huh? Hasn't Brock been coming to the annual meetings?"

Surge looked at him, "Actually, no. He only ever sent in written reports. Never even met him before he came to my Gym with Ash."

Erika nodded, "Yeah, same."

Flint looked at the Electric and Grass Gym Leaders in surprise before looking down thoughtfully, "Why would he do that?"

Sabrina looked at Flint for a moment before perking up, "Oh, no one told you about the schedule change. The meeting's held five weeks earlier, now. Same day."

Flint looked at her before looking down thoughtfully, "Five weeks earli-" He flinched upon realizing the date and slumped forward with a hand on his head, "Oh dear Arceus, that's Billy and Tilly's birthday."

Blaine nodded, "That explains it."

Lance glanced away thoughtfully, 'Guess I should've checked with everyone before changing the date like that.'

Sabrina looked at Lance, "Yeah, probably."

Lance jerked and looked at the psychic in alarm. He sweat dropped, "It's good to have you here as well, Sabrina. I believe this is the first time we've physically had you here."

Sabrina raised a finger, "You mean instead of my creepy doll."

"Yes…" Lance said monotonously, "instead of the doll." He cleared his throat, "Now, while you were initially called in for matters regarding the Yas and Kaz gyms, we have another matter that needs to be addressed." He hit a button on the remote.

Everyone looked and jerked a bit as a sketch of a humanoid figure with charcoal skin and a burning human skull for a head appeared on the screen.

"The Overheat." Lance said.

Flint stared in shock, "Woah. Now that is scary."

Erika sweat dropped, "I don't think the head looked that much like a skull."

"This is only an artist rendering." Lance responded, "No one managed to get a real picture."

Surge blinked in shock before looking at Lance, "W- wait … it really does exist? I seriously thought it was made up."

Lance looked at him, "The witness reports say otherwise." He hit the remote again as a handful of blurred or distant images of the burning Celadon Gym appeared on the screen. All of which with a small red figure barely visible at the top of the stairway, "That and a few security cameras from distant buildings managed to collect these pictures."

Erika pointed at Surge while sneering, "HAH!"

Surge groaned before looking at Lance, "Okay, so it is real. What is it?"

Lance sighed, "We have no idea. We've been contacting professors from other regions to see if there's anything about a newly discovered species."

Sabrina cocked her head, "Well, it kinda looks like a Fire-type human."

Giovanni looked at her; deadpanned, "So you expect us to believe a person became engulfed in flames and remained that way without being harmed?"

Sabrina looked at him and frowned, "What? No. I was just commenting on its appearance."

Giovanni sighed and looked at Lance, "Do we know anything about it? Is it any sort of threat?"

"That depends." Lance said before looking at the Celadon Gym Leader, "Erika, could you tell us all of what happened when your Gym caught fire?"

Erika perked up and nodded, "Of course. After the bomb went off, Ash, his friends, and all of my students there that day got to work evacuating the Gym and then we started putting out the fire from the outside." She looked down sadly, "In the confusion, Gloom was left inside the Gym. I tried to go back in to get her, but Misty stopped me. So Ash ran in, instead."

Flint, Violet, Surge, Joy, Lance, and Koga perked up and stared in surprise. Giovanni and Blaine looked at her in shock.

Erika clenched a fist on her lap; wrinkling her skirt, "After a little bit, Gloom let out a terrified scream. I was about to charge in after her."

She smiled and looked at the screen, "And that's when Overheat appeared. One of my students cried out in alarm and I saw him there with Gloom hiding behind his leg. She ran right to me with nothing more than a few specks of ash on her leaves. Overheat protected her."

"What happened next?" Lance asked.

The Grass-type user snapped out of it and looked at him, "Um, well Overheat started doing … something to absorb all the fire. When it was all put out, he just came down to us, told us his name, and rocketed away. Ash ran out of the Gym a moment later looking kind of worn out. Turned out he was looking for Gloom the whole time."

Blaine perked up in surprise, "It absorbed the fire?"

Erika nodded, "Yeah. It looked like he was shooting fire from his hands, but in reverse. I've never heard of a move that can do that."

Blaine crossed his arms and looked down thoughtfully, "That makes two of us."

Surge raised a brow, "So it kinda sounds like this guy isn't bad news. He went out of his way to put out the fire and save a Grass-type, right?"

"Perhaps." Lance said, "But there haven't been any reports or sightings of it since Celadon. It seems to have gone into hiding. We have no way to undeniably prove whether or not it is a threat. We can't assign a search party for something that might be docile."

Koga frowned, "So if it's a dead end, why is it a matter of discussion?"

Lance looked at him, "We'll get to that in a moment." He hit a button on the remote again.

Everyone looked at the screen and tensed up when they saw an image of a massive halfpipe-like ramp in the middle of a wooded area. The entire structure was made of light green crystal.

Blaine, Violet, and Surge's eyes widened, "Woah."

Lance looked around the room, "This structure appeared during the butterfree migration earlier this year and we have no idea where it came from. As far as the public is aware, this is from a newly discovered style of Stone Edge called infinite-style."

Flint perked up and looked at the champion in shock, "Wait, infinite-style? You mean it's still there?"

Lance shook his head, "Not until recently. We managed to dig it up and moved it to an underground facility for studying. But experiments have proved … difficult."

Giovanni frowned, "How so?"

Lance hit a button on his remote. The screen shifted to an extensive layout of charts and diagrams; causing Surge and Violet to frown and sweat drop, "The material's strength borderlines indestructible. So much so that a rampardos exhausted itself just for a scratch. It took the combined effort of three Mega Evolved aggron using Double-Edge to finally shatter it. On their second consecutive attempt."

Most of the Gym Leaders eyes widened in shock.

"Um …" Violet said, "that's, like, a lot, right?"

Lance sighed, "Yes, Miss Waterflower, that is a lot." He looked around again, "It's also incredibly reflective and refractive, so lasers are out of the question. High frequency sound waves have been able to crack it but we're still trying to find a method that will allow us to cut it accurately. Which only makes this next part all the more shocking."

He hit the remote again. A picture of an adult man and three young girls appeared; all smiling. The girls each had a necklace around their necks with a golf ball sized, star-shaped gem on it.

Erika raised a brow, "Three little girls?"

"Their necklaces." Joy said.

Violet stared at the screen for a second before her eyes widened, "The gems! It's, like, the same stone!"

Koga looked at her in shock before looking at the screen again. His eyes widened, "You're right." He looked at the Sensational Sister in shock, "How did you notice so quickly?"

Violet looked at him; deadpanned, "Oh please. Like, who among us knows jewelry better than me?"

Haunter smirked and nudged Sabrina with the back of his hand, "Haunt, haunt-haunter."

Sabrina snorted. Everyone else looked at her in surprise.

Sabrina waved a hand, "Inside joke."

Giovanni looked at Lance, "So, this man actually had something that could cut it?"

Lance shook his head, "No. This man owns a hot air balloon stand for people to watch the migration up close. He said he was given the necklaces as an apology for having one of his hot air balloons destroyed and as payment for a second. Still, he allowed us to examine one of the necklaces and we discovered something even more surprising."

"Seriously?" Erika asked with a raised brow, "After all of that, what could be crazier?"

"The fact that the stones weren't cut into that shape." Lance responded, "According to examination, they were created that way and broken off from a source."

Flint tensed up, "I- I'm sorry, what?" He looked at the picture, "You're sure that didn't come from an attack?"

Lance shook his head, "We brought in a telepathic lucario to examine it. While there were signs of life, it said that it was exceedingly different from any known Rock-type attack. It claimed that it was closer to shed skin or a discarded shell or armor."

Erika blinked in shock, "Y- you said the stand owner was given those necklaces, right? Did he get the name of who gave them to him?"

Lance frowned, "He got more than that." He hit the button on the remote again.

The Gym Leaders looked once again as a security camera feed started playing; displaying the stand owner leaning back in a chair.

The man perked up, looked over, and stood up from his seat. A boy with a pikachu and clefairy on his shoulders and a mightyena beside him ran up to the counter. An orange haired girl and a spikey haired boy ran up to stand behind him.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"No. Way." Surge said in shock.

The man looked at Ash in confusion, "Um, can I-"

"Hey, sorry," Ash said frantically, "but the balloon you rented us was destroyed."

The man flinched, glared, and shouted, "What?!"

Ash waved his hands, "I know, I'm sorry." He put a hand to his chest, "But we need another balloon asap."

The man crossed his arms and glared, "And why should I rent you another one? Hot air balloons aren't cheap, y'know."

"I realize that." Ash said before he reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out the three necklaces from before, and placed them on the table, "Which is why I'm hoping you'll be okay with this as a payment … and an apology."

The stand owner looked at the necklaces, jerked, and stared in shock, "Woah." He picked one up and looked at Ash in shock, "Where on earth did you get-"

"WOW!"

The man perked up and looked back as the three girls from before ran up and looked at the necklace in awe. The shop owner looked at them and looked back at the necklace in his hand.

He sighed and looked at Ash, "Alright, fine. You have a deal." He pointed at something out of frame, "That's the only one I have left." He glared at Ash and pointed accusingly, "But don't you dare wreck it. That one's even more expensive than the last one."

Ash nodded, "Of course! Thank you!"

The group ran toward the balloon and out of frame. The security feed froze. The Gym Leaders all stared in shock.

Lance looked around, "Now do you get it? In both of these incidents, Ash Ketchum, Brock Slate, and Misty Waterflower were present. Yet, we have not heard anything about sightings from any of them."

Koga looked at him, "So you believe they are aware of these creatures, but are keeping to themselves?"

Lance looked at him, "That's one theory. But we don't have any concrete proof that they really are involved."

Flint stood up quickly, "Wait a second!" He put a hand to his chest and frowned worriedly, "I- I know how this looks, but I know my son. He wouldn't get involved in something dangerous." He perked up and glanced away, "Er, well…" He looked at Lance again, "He wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone or do anything careless."

Lance looked at him, "I am aware, Flint, but this is still only speculation. We can't rule out them being involved just yet. It is still possible that their presence at the time and possession of those gems really could be a coincidence, or that these creatures are truly not a threat and are choosing to remain hidden like most Legendaries."

Giovanni looked at the champion, "But it's also possible that these trainers are involved and not hiding the truth of their own free will."

Violet and Flint tensed up and looked at Giovanni in alarm.

Erika stood up and glared at Giovanni, "That's-"

"That's also plausible." Lance jumped in. Flint, Erika, and Violet looked at him in surprise. He sighed, "While everything we know so far puts Overheat and whatever made that crystal in a positive or at least neutral light, the negative scenarios are not out of the question yet. But, as I said, we don't have any concrete proof and nothing to bring these trainers in on. Reckless action aside, there records are clean."

Flint looked down worriedly.

Violet crossed her arms and frowned. After a second, she perked up, "Oh, wait a sec!" Everyone looked at her in surprise as she smiled at the psychic, "Sabrina. You could just, like, read that Ash kid's mind to figure out if he knows anything about that stuff, right?"

Sabrina leaned back in her chair, "Nope."

Violet perked up in surprise, "What? But you said you'd, like, do it to those other trainers."

Flint frowned; still looking at Violet, "That's different. The self-proclaimed Gym Leaders and the trainers with them terrorized a city. Recklessness aside, my son, your sister, and Ash haven't actually done anything wrong. It's an invasion of privacy."

"That and I literally cannot read Ash's mind." Sabrina said.

Everyone in the room flinched and looked at her in shock.

"Come again?" Erika asked.

Sabrina put a finger to her temple, "The dude has some insane mental barriers and even this …" She glanced upward in confusion, "really weird resistance to psychic energy. I can't even lift him telekinetically. He's like a Dark-type." She deadpanned and held up a hand, "And, before you ask, the mental protection part has a proximity effect. I couldn't read Brock, Misty, or any of their Pokémon's minds either."

Koga stared in shock, "Wha- What could cause that?"

Sabrina shrugged, "Heck if I know."

Haunter bobbed his hands up; his version of a shrug, "Haunt."

Everyone continued staring at her in shock. Lance and Joy shared a look.

Sabrina sighed, propped her head up, and held out a hand, "Look, way I see it, I'm not the only way to get info out of someone. You did it before I turned normal, right? Like, uh…" She perked up, pointed at Joy, and smiled, "Yeah, psychology. Thank you, inspector."

Joy sweat dropped, "You're welcome…" She looked at Lance, "But she does have a point. If Ashton Ketchum is exclusively a main eight competitor," She looked at the Fire and Ground-type users. "we have a general idea of where he'll be in the near future."

Koga nodded, "Right. Only Cinnabar and Viridian remain."

Blaine looked at Lance and Joy with a frown, "Yeah, but I don't have security cameras on my field or any of the rooms at my Inn, and I don't know anything about psychology. Not to mention, he has to find my Gym in the first place."

Koga looked at Blaine, "I doubt that will be an issue for him. The boy's sharp. He's one of the few I've seen using Flying-types to scout the mountain range." He sweat dropped, "I'm ashamed to say that doesn't happen often."

Joy looked at Blaine as well, "And I don't think you'll need to be a psychology expert to get something out of them. If Overheat is a negative factor, an unsettled or startled reaction to the name being blurted out like a warning would be clue enough. Your type specialty should help with that."

Blaine frowned, "Well … I'll give it a shot, I guess."

Lance nodded, "Thank you." He looked at the Viridian Gym Leader, "Giovanni?"

Giovanni looked back at him, "I'll hand over the security camera footage of the battle so that we may examine the mannerisms of the boy, his friends, and his Pokémon." His eyes narrowed, "However, given all that I have heard here today, I would like to make one request regarding the battle."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

.

*Present day

Blaine hung up before taking a deep breath and muttering, 'Alright, my part's done.' He put the phone away and started walking back towards the hot spring, 'It's all up to Giovanni now.'

He entered the area and perked up in surprise when he saw Ash and Soot talking to one of his darmanitan that was playing catch with the trainer's squirtle. All three were on dry land. Everyone else was still in the hot spring. Though, his Alolan vulpix was looking at Ash in awe.

Blaine walked up to him and raised a brow, "Is everything okay?"

Ash perked up and looked back at him, "Oh, sorry. We were asking about his ability to switch to Zen Mode at will. We've never had a chance to talk to one that could do that." He frowned, "You don't mind, do you?"

The Cinnabar Gym Leader raised a brow, "I guess not. Though, you could've just asked me how they do it. I still have the number for the breeder I got them from."

Soot shrugged while smirking, "Yeah, but we kinda have a thing about doing training ourselves."

Ash smiled and pointed a thumb back, "For example, none of my team has ever used a Technical Machine or been to a Move Tutor." He glanced away and muttered, "As far as I'm aware." He looked at the man again, "Arbok joined me no more than two weeks ago and already mastered Poison Jab and Protect. Our next goal is either Shadow Ball or Hidden Power. He's still deciding."

Blaine stared in surprise and looked at the spring, "Woah." He glanced away thoughtfully for a moment before looking at Ash again, "I don't suppose you could teach Iron Tail to Arcanine, could you? It usually has trouble working with Move Tutors."

Ash and Soot looked at him in surprise before sharing a glance.

Ash looked at him again, "Could we make it a sort of trade? Like move information for move training?"

Blaine raised a brow, "Move information?"

Ash raised a finger, "My method involves learning about a move myself and then using that information to teach a Pokémon. An in-person source helps me examine or breakdown the move a lot faster than just looking it up."

Soot smiled, "In other words, we would just need one of your Pokémon who knows the move to take part in the training alongside Arcanine."

Blaine blinked in surprise, 'That actually works?' He glanced at the trainer's team, 'Well, I guess the results speak for themselves.' He looked at Ash again, "I think that'll be okay. What move were you thinking of?"

"Does anyone know Throat Chop?" Ash asked, "I'm thinking of teaching it to my primeape."

Blaine frowned, "I'm afraid not."

"What about Ice Punch?" Ash asked.

Blaine shook his head, "Nope."

"Zen Headbutt?"

Blaine smiled, "Oh, yeah. One of the darmanitan." He looked around the area, "I think it was…" He perked up and pointed at one of the darmanitan in the spring, "That one."

Darmanitan sweat dropped and pointed to the side, "He meant my sibling."

Soot looked where Darmanitan was pointing and found a female Blazing Pokémon who was talking with Magmar earlier, "Oh, her."

Blaine tensed up, smiled nervously, and pointed at the female darmanitan, "R- right."

.

*Two days later

Everyone stood at the front of the Big Riddle Inn as Blaine saw the group off. The Gym Leader was back in the disguise he met the group in.

Also, Arcanine and the female darmanitan who were working with Ash yesterday were present. Though, the former kept looking at him curiously.

Ash noticed the Legendary Pokémon and sweat dropped, 'I guess he's still not over it.'

Misty raised a brow, "So are you heading back into town?"

"Yup." Blaine said with a grin while adjusting his glasses, "Gotta keep an eye out for potential challengers and fellow riddle enthusiasts." He looked at Ash, "And thanks again for the Iron Tail training. I can hardly believe you managed to teach it to Arcanine so fast."

Ash smiled sheepishly, "Don't thank me just yet. He's still not completely done with the move."

Blaine's smile faded and he perked up in surprise, "Huh?"

"Yeah, sorry." Ash said before smiling normally and raising a finger, "But he is at the point that he doesn't need any more assistance. It's a matter of endurance and target practice at this point." He looked at the Legendary Pokémon, "At your current pace, I'd say you'll have it down pat around the day after tomorrow."

Arcanine snapped out of it and nodded, "Oh, uh, right. I'll keep working on it."

Darmanitan grinned and pointed a thumb at herself, "And my sibling and I will make sure he actually does."

Arcanine tensed up a bit. Soot snickered and translated for the pair.

Blaine glanced at Arcanine before smiling at Ash, "Still, thank you for the help. I appreciate it." He held out a hand, "It was nice meeting you all. Good luck with Viridian."

Pikachu perked up in surprise, 'Viridian?'

Ash smiled and shook his hand, "Thanks. It was nice meeting you too."

Misty smiled and waved, "See ya, Blaine."

"Toge." Togepi said happily.

Brock nodded, "Take care."

Electra raised a paw, "Pika."

With that, Ash and friends made their way back down the mountain and towards the port. Once the Inn was out of view, Ash glanced back and around cautiously, and brought up the watch.

He sprang up the dial and spun it to find the darmanitan silhouette. Ash smiled, "Psychic, Belly Drum, Fire Fang, and Rock Tomb. After I'm done Zen Headbutt for my clefairy form, we'll have more than a few options for training."

Misty smiled, "Yeah, no kidding. And here I thought all the darmanitan were just trained to help in Gym Battles."

Ash looked at her, "Yeah, I thought the same." He hit the button on the side to retract the dial as he continued, "But they said that they, Magmar, and Magmortar are also the Gym's bodyguards. Aside from Psychic and Belly Drum, they all had different moves to compensate for a situation."

Brock looked up thoughtfully, "Huh. That does kinda make sense." He looked at Ash with a raised brow, "But wait, they all have Belly Drum too?"

Soot looked up at him, "Yeah. It's for the Zen Mode training, apparently. The ability normally only works when a darmanitan's health drops by at least half."

"Oh." Everyone else said with a nod.

"Okay, but" Pikachu said; catching Ash and the other Pokémons' attention, "why did Blaine say 'good luck with Viridian'? We left that City forever ago."

Clefairy blinked in surprise, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Ash translated for the humans before looking at Clefairy, "Viridian was actually the first city Pikachu, Soot, and I visited. Even before Pewter."

Misty smiled, "And it was just before that that I met Ash and Soot. That was also when Ash destroyed my bike."

Togepi perked up and looked at Misty in confusion, "Huh?"

Ash tensed up and glanced at her; deadpanned, "Misty, I paid you back for that."

Misty grinned, "Yeah, but it is still how we met."

Soot sighed, "It's also where we first ran into Team Rocket."

Brock frowned, "Oh, right."

Electra tensed up and frowned nervously, "Oh…"

Pikachu looked around, "See what I mean? We been through the city already and had a ton of stuff happen. So why did Blaine say that?"

Soot looked up at him, "Oh, because Viridian has a main eight Gym. Ground-type."

Pikachu, Clefairy, Electra, and Togepi perked up and looked at her in shock, "What?"

Brock raised a brow, "Well, yeah. The Gym's pretty well known."

"Wha- But-" Pikachu stuttered, "why the Yvel did we save it for last if it was the Gym closest to Pallet Town?" He perked up and glanced at Ash, "It is the closest, right?"

Ash chuckled, "Yes, it's the one closest to home." He smirked as his eyes narrowed, "But Viridian is the strongest Gym in all of Kanto. I wanted to make sure we were ready."

Pikachu blinked in surprise, "Oh." He scratched the side of his head, "I guess that makes sense."

Clefairy tilted in confusion, "Wait, but didn't you guys say that losing a Gym Battle just means we have to train more and try again later? Couldn't you have gone there once to see what it was like?"

Soot sighed, "Technically yes, but we didn't wanna risk it. Viridian has a losing penalty."

The shoulder riders all looked at her in surprise, "Losing Penalty?"

.

**Short Skip**

After reaching the base of the mountain, the group made their way back through town to get to the port and to a ship off the island. They walked along a road overlooking a beach to try and avoid the crowds.

Pikachu and Clefairy were frowning nervously as they sat on Ash's shoulders.

Ash noticed and smiled sadly, "Guys, it'll be fine. We've put in a lot of work to make it this far. We'll just give it our all like usual."

They walked down a flight of stairs and onto the beach.

Pikachu looked at him worriedly, "I guess. But you gotta admit that's a pretty unnerving thing to learn about all of a sudden."

Clefairy nodded; still frowning, "Yeah. You said it yourself, if we lose the battle, then-"

She stopped and everyone perked up when something ran out in front of them. They looked over to find a Water-type looking around frantically and panting slightly.

Misty smiled brightly, "Woah! A wartortle!"

Wartortle perked up and looked at her. They immediately tensed up, grimaced, and took a step back.

Brock perked up and held up his hands, "No. Wait. We're not gonna try and catch you."

Electra caught on and nodded, "Yeah, promise."

Ash kneeled down, "If something's wrong, you can tell us." He looked at his Bite Pokémon, "My hatchling speaks human. She can translate."

Soot smirked, "Yup. What he said."

Misty raised a hand, "And we can vouch for that because Soot just said 'Yup. What he said'."

Wartortle blinked in surprise, "Huh…" He shook it off and glared cautiously, "E- even so, this isn't a matter for humans."

Soot frowned and translated.

Ash sighed and reached back, "Look, if you can't tell us," He brought out a pokéball, enlarged it, and held it out, "how about another of your kind?" The ball opened in his hand.

Squirtle appeared in a flash and blinked. He looked over at Wartortle and smiled, "Oh, hey there."

Wartortle looked at him in surprise, glanced at Ash, and grabbed Squirtle's paw before pulling him further away, "Come on."

Squirtle stared in surprise as he was forced to follow, "Okay?" He glanced back at Ash and shrugged.

Once they were out of earshot, Wartortle whispered something to the other Water-type.

"Wait, what?!" Squirtle blurted out. Everyone jumped a bit.

Wartortle shushed him before whispering again, "But do you get it now? We need help. I need to find someone I can trust."

Squirtle glared determinedly and nodded, "Got it." He turned and called out, "Ash!" Wartortle jumped and stared in shock as the Tiny Turtle Pokémon pointed out at the water, "We need to go to-" He stopped and flinched when the Turtle Pokémon slapped a paw over his mouth.

Wartortle spun Squirtle around to face him and glared, "Are you out of your mind?! We can't let humans know where the breeding grounds are!" He immediately flinched and covered his mouth.

Soot's eyes widened, "Hold it, that's where you need help at?"

Clefairy raised a brow, "Breeding grounds?"

Ash perked up and looked at her in shock.

Misty frowned, "Is everything alright?"

Ash looked back at her, "Um, well-" He glanced around, stood back up, and motioned for her and Brock to come closer. The Gym Leaders did so before he whispered something.

Brock and Misty flinched and looked at him in shock, "The-" They jerked and cut themselves off before glancing around cautiously to make sure no one was listening.

Wartortle stared at the humans in surprise.

Squirtle snickered and glanced back, "Yeah, I think these guys are the exception."

Brock shook it off before frowning worriedly, "Okay, so how are we supposed to get there? We don't exactly have a boat."

Misty frowned and crossed her arms, "Yeah. And I doubt the pool would hold up."

Ash looked at her, "We could just fly there."

Misty sweat dropped, "Isn't the island a little too busy for you to use Dragonite this time? I don't think we can just hideaway in an alley again without being spotted."

Wartortle perked up and looked at Ash in surprise.

Ash smirked and pulled three pokéballs off his belt, "Who said anything about Dragonite?"

.

**Short Skip**

Ash and co. soared across the water on the backs of Charizard, Aerodactyl, and Pidgeotto. Ash and Soot were on the Flame Pokémon. Brock, Misty, Togepi, and Electra were on the Fossil Pokémon. And Pikachu and Clefairy were on the Bird Pokémon.

Wartortle and Squirtle led the way below.

Soon enough, they came up to a small island with a smoothed mountain that almost resembled a shell.

Wartortle swam up to shore and ran ahead immediately, "This way!"

Squirtle looked back as the three Flying-types touched down on the beach and everyone unloaded from them. Ash thanked and returned the trio.

"Come on!" Squirtle said while motioning ahead.

Everyone hurried after him. They all came up to a massive sandy clearing littered with squirtle and wartortle in their shells. On a large, flat rock further back was a blastoise in the same state.

Soot looked around in shock, "Woah."

Misty looked around and frowned worriedly, "Are they okay?"

Brock ran up to one of the Water-types, kneeled down, and put an ear to their shell. He sighed in relief and looked back with a smile, "They're fine. Just sleeping."

Ash frowned, "But that doesn't make sense. The squirtle line isn't nocturnal."

Wartortle looked at them worriedly and pointed at the Shellfish Pokémon, "Earlier today, she went swimming and just fell asleep out of nowhere. We got her back to shore but then everyone started falling asleep when they got too close. It's almost like she's using Sing from in her shell but she doesn't even know that move."

Soot frowned while sweat dropping, "I see…" She looked at the humans, "Okay, long story short, blastoise is inexplicably making everyone near her fall asleep. Been happening ever since she came back from a swim."

Misty groaned, "Great. Another sleeping problem." She put a hand on her hip, "You think we would've thought to get a Pokémon with Heal Bell or something after last time." She perked up and looked at Ash, "Wait, your chansey form."

Wartortle raised a brow, "Wait, what?"

Ash frowned, "It doesn't know Heal Bell." He looked back at Blastoise, "Still, we should probably see what the problem actually is." He started walking up to the sleeping Water-type.

Wartortle grimaced and held out a paw, "Hey, wait a second! You'll fall asleep too, remem-" He perked up and blinked in shock as Ash walked straight through the field of sleeping Pokémon, "ber?"

Pikachu smirked, "Yeah, Ash is immune to sleep songs. Whatever's going on, we should leave it to him."

Wartortle blinked, "Wow… it is really lucky that I ran into you all."

Soot smirked while sweat dropping, "I guess so." 'Not even sure we can call it "luck" at this point.'

Once he was only a few feet away Ash perked up in surprise. He hurried closer, kneeled down, and put a hand to his ear.

Misty blinked in surprise before frowning and putting a hand to her mouth, "What is it?!"

Ash looked back and called back, "Well, I definitely hear a melody! But it sounds like it's being muffled! Plus, there's a" His eyes widened in realization before he looked at Blastoise, "metallic echo."

The trainer jumped back to his feet, brought up the watch, and spun the dial before hitting it.

Wartortle flinched and shied away as a large green flash shone out from the trainer. He looked again and his eyes widened when he saw a banette in the trainer's place.

"Wha-" The Turtle Pokémon muttered while staring blankly.

Squirtle snickered, "Yeah, there's that too."

Ash went intangible and dove into Blastoise's side. He reappeared from her other side a moment later; dragging a very familiar and dazed Normal/Fairy-type out by the hand.

The group sweat dropped, 'Of course…'

The Marionette Pokémon smiled and held up his other hand, "Got her!"

Jigglypuff looked at Ash tiredly, "Thank you." She took a step forward. And then fell forward, bounced off the rock, and fell on the sand; unconscious.

Brock frowned and called out, "Is she okay?!"

Ash looked at him, "Yeah! Just sleeping!"

Soot translated and then started walking up to the Balloon Pokémon, "I'm on it." She hoisted her onto her back and walked over to a shaded tree to set her down.

One of the nearby squirtle began shifting slightly. One by one, every other sleeping Water-type started doing the same. Wartortle looked around and smiled brightly.

He tensed up after a second and looked at the Gym Leaders worriedly, "You need to hide! Humans aren't supposed to be here!"

Ash tensed up, flew over to them, and hit the symbol on his stomach to switch back to human. He brought out the Lens case, grabbed two, and charged each of them on the watch.

He held the active disks to the pair, "Like at the Mysterious Garden."

Brock and Misty caught on immediately and took a Lens, "Right."

Electra jumped down to stand next to Pikachu and Clefairy, and Misty set Togepi down next to them. The trainers then removed their pokéball belts -just in case- and passed them to Soot for storage.

The Gym Leaders each placed the Lens on their chest, and they and Ash hit their respective device. The green light burst out again and faded to reveal a viridian-eyed vaporeon, a spike-haired pikachu, and a dragonite in place of the humans.

Wartortle's jaw dropped.

Togepi smiled, ran up, and hugged Misty, "Blue meema!"

Misty sweat dropped while chuckling sheepishly.

One of the wild squirtle popped his limbs back out of his shell and sat up with a paw on his head, "Ugh. What the Yvel happened?"

Brock ran up to him and held out a paw, "Are you alright?"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon looked at him. He smiled and took his paw to hoist himself back up, "Yeah. Thanks."

Soot, Misty, Pikachu, Clefairy, Electra, and Squirtle ran around to help the surrounding Water-types that needed it. Togepi followed Misty around.

Ash hurried over to Blastoise, put a claw on her back, and nudged her a bit, "Hey, Blastoise. Blastoise."

The Shellfish Pokémon's head and limbs appeared from the shell. Blastoise stood up, shook her head rapidly, and put a paw to her head, "What happened?" She looked at Ash and perked up in surprise. She smiled and looked over him, "Hello."

Ash smiled, "Hey. How are you feeling?"

Blastoise moved to stand back up, "Well-" She perked up before groaning and sitting back down. She put a claw on her head, "Ugh."

Ash jerked, kneeled down, and put a claw on her shoulder, "Woah. Maybe you should take it easy."

Blastoise grabbed his right arm and held it tight; smiling happily, "Good idea." She looked at him, "You'll keep me company, right?"

Ash blinked in surprise before smiling softly, 'I guess she doesn't wanna be alone.' He sat down next to her, "Sure. I don't mind."

Blastoise smiled happily and nuzzled up against his arm, "Aw. You're so thoughtful."

Wartortle groaned and face-pawed, "Freaking Yvel, not again."

The squirtle Brock helped up put his paws behind his head, "Yeah, but he is a dragonite. How often do one of them show up?"

Another wartortle walked up and crossed her arms while smirking, "This really shouldn't be a surprise anymore. I'd be more shocked if she didn't try anything."

Clefairy blinked in surprise, "What are you guys talking about?"

The rest of the group looked at the Turtle Pokémon in confusion.

Soot's eyes widened before she looked at the Shellfish and Dragon Pokémon on the rock. She cracked a smirk and snorted while trying to hold back a laugh.

After a few seconds, Pikachu, Brock, Misty, and Squirtle perked up, "ooooh."

Clefairy, Electra, and Togepi looked at them in confusion.

Soot smirked, "Well, on that note, I'm gonna go keep an eye out for Team Rocket." She started walking towards the shore.

Pikachu perked up and looked at her in confusion, "But they didn't show up at Cinnabar."

"Yeah." Soot said called back; still walking, "So it's probably a safe bet that we used up all our luck."

Misty sweat dropped, "Good point…"

.

*Undisclosed location

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie sat around a waiting room. Nerves were eating away at three of them.

Jessie was tapping her foot endlessly, Meowth was biting at his claws, and James was petting his Puppy Pokémon roughly enough to shake off loose fur.

Growlie frowned uncomfortably and looked at Meowth, "Is meeting with The Boss really this bad of a thing?"

Meowth snapped out of it and looked at him. He frowned, "W- well, not 'bad' really." He looked down worriedly, "But dis doesn't happen to us often."

James nodded, "Not to mention the timing. We just tried to steal Pokémon from Butch and Cassidy's fake breeding center." He gulped, "In other words, we tried to steal The Boss's Pokémon."

Jessie noticed something out of the corner of her eyes, looked over, and glared, "Speaking of."

The boys all looked over to find Butch and Cassidy walking their way.

Cassidy glared furiously before running up, grabbing Jessie by the arm, and pulling her up, "Alright, spill it! How'd you do it?!"

James and Meowth stood up and looked at the pair in alarm. Growlie jumped down and glared at Cassidy.

Jessie batted her hand away and glared, "Get your hands off me! And don't put this on us! We wouldn't have broken into your breeding center if you told us about it!"

Cassidy continued glaring, "Don't play dumb! You know I'm talking about Ketchum!"

Jessie blinked in confusion, "What?"

Cassidy clenched a fist, "Ashton Satoshi Ketchum! How the Yvel did you of all people get assigned to him?!"

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Growlie all blinked in surprise before sharing a look.

James looked at her, "Why do you care about the twerp?"

Cassidy's eyes widened in shock, "I- excuse me?"

Butch stared in shock, "Wait a second. Who do you think that kid is?"

Meowth raised a brow, "Da kid with da Phantom Child. We've been tryin' ta swipe her for Da Boss."

"You- what?" Cassidy muttered in a daze, "You mean you aren't the squad assigned to watch him?"

Jessie raised a brow, "I mean, I guess we are. The Boss said to 'monitor the boy' when we tried to call him from Pokémon Land."

James sighed, "But stealing the mightyena hasn't been going so well and neither has a lot of the side jobs we've tried along the way." He shrugged, "Still we get our paychecks just for sending in reports for whatever reason, so I can't really complain."

Growlie smiled, "Yeah. Working for a living that doesn't always involved battling is actually kinda fun. I never knew so much work could go into something like a progress report."

Meowth looked back at the Puppy Pokémon with a smirk, "Yeah. And since you joined, dose have only gotten easier." He shrugged, "Though, I still don' get why Da Boss seems so interested in just knowin' what the twoip's doin'. He hasn't even asked if we eva got close in swipin' da mutt."

Cassidy stared at the idiots in total shock, "Y- you have to be joking … right?"

The tRio and Growlie looked at her in confusion.

All six of them jerked up as they heard a lock click and looked over as a door opened.

Cassidy shot Jessie a glare before entering the room. Butch glanced at them and followed her.

James took a deep breath before he, Jessie, Meowth, an Growlie entered the room. The door shut behind them.

They all walked into a massive, dark room. On the other side of the room was a man with thin brown hair who wore an orange suit and sat in a large black chair with an unreadable expression on his face. He was petting a persian that sat next to him.

Standing to the man's side was a woman with dark purple hair, brown eyes, and glasses. She wore a black business suit, was holding a clipboard, and was looking at them with a stern expression.

Growlie's eyes widened at the sight of the man, 'Wait a sec. Is that who I think it is?'

Jessie, James, Meowth, Butch, and Cassidy took a knee and bowed their heads, "Sir!"

Growlie looked at them in surprise before sitting down next to James and bowing his head.

"At ease." The Boss said.

The agents all raised their heads and looked at The Boss. Growlie noticed and did the same.

The Boss looked at the woman, "Matori."

Matori cleared her throat, brought up her clipboard, and turned a page, "All of you are here in regard to the recent failure of the breeding center mission." She looked at the agents, "Do you have anything to say about that?"

Cassidy smirked, "Is there anything to say?" She pointed at the other team, "It's because of these two losers that mine and Butch's mission failed. They broke into our breeding center and tried to steal the Pokémon from us." She looked at The Boss, "Or, rather, from you, sir."

The tRio grimaced and started sweating nervously. Growlie glanced at the woman.

Matori nodded, "I see. Anything else?"

Cassidy smiled cockily, "I think I've made my point."

Butch smiled at his teammate.

The secretary looked at the tRio, "And what do you have to say?"

Jessie, James, and Meowth tensed up before sharing a nervous look.

Growlie frowned and started looking around thoughtfully. After a moment he perked up and looked at The Boss. He started barking repeatedly.

The Boss raised a brow. Meowth's eyes widened, and Persian raised a brow curiously.

Cassidy smirked, 'Now they're in for it.'

Matori glared at James, "Will you please shut that thing up?"

"Wait a sec." Meowth said, "He's sayin', 'Apologies for speakin' outta line, but we were simply followin' our own assignment. We found da breedin' centa -unaware of it being an operation- and decided ta raid it for da sake of da organization'."

Cassidy and Butch perked up and looked at Meowth in surprise before looking at Growlie. Jessie and James looked at the canine. Matori blinked in surprise.

The Boss's eyes narrowed, "So you claim your squad did not interfere with the mission?"

Growlie shook his head, "Not at all, sir. It is an unmistakable fact that we did interfere with agent Butch and Cassidy's mission. If we had reported our intentions to raid the building ahead of time, I am positive we would have been informed of the operation. Had we had the forethought to do this, we would not have gotten involved at all."

He looked at the man, "However, we are not at fault for the mission's failure. Rather it was because of us that agents Butch and Cassidy were given the opportunity to avoid failure."

Meowth took a deep breath after he finished translating.

Butch and Cassidy stared at Growlie in shock before sharing a look. Matori blinked in shock.

The Boss raised a brow, "Elaborate."

The Puppy Pokémon grinned happily, 'Gotcha!' "Upon breaking into the building through a poorly sealed window leading directly to the holding facility, we discovered that Ash Ketchum and his allies were already present in the same room, were fully aware of the truth behind the facility, and were insistent on leaving immediately. Likely, they had already collected evidence for the police before we arrived."

Cassidy and Butch's eyes widened in shock. Jessie stared at the Fire-type in surprise and James smiled happily.

Matori stared in shock, 'K- Ketchum?! That Ketchum?!'

Growlie smiled determinedly, "It was thanks to our interference that the trespassers were caught at all; giving Butch and Cassidy extra time to evacuate after being compromised. The true reason the mission failed was their own stubbornness and inability to make sure that all of the trainers had been apprehended."

Meowth panted a bit and held up a digit on his paw, "C- Can I get a drink, please?"

"Huh…" Giovanni muttered before looking at his secretary, "Matori."

She snapped out of it and nodded, "Yes sir. I'll get it a bowl."

Meowth tensed up and looked at her, "Could I get somethin' otha than a bowl?"

Matori glared at the Normal-type, "I don't take orders from Poké-"

"Just get him a bottled water, Matori." The Boss cut her off, "He's an agent as well."

Matori looked at him, "Understood sir." She turned towards a door and exited the room.

The Boss looked at the blue haired man, "That's quite the growlithe you've found, James. I'm surprised it was able to relay the details of that day as well as it did."

James smiled, "Growlie actually has an incredible memory. Growing up, he usually studied with me and has even used that knowledge to help out a lot."

The Boss looked at Growlie, "Is that so? Name all of the evolutions of an eevee and how to obtain them."

Growlie smiled and started barking.

Meowth frowned and cleared his throat, "Jolteon, vaporeon, and flareon use a Thunda, Wata, and Fire Stone; respectively. Leafeon uses a Moss Rock and glaceon uses an Ice Rock. Espeon, umbreon, and sylveon require a bond with the lattamost needin' a Fairy-type move. The first two depend on the time of day."

The Boss nodded, "Hm. Hidden Power. Describe all known styles. Don't bother with determining Type."

Growlie continued smiling, "Generally, there are three styles. Sphere, beam, and pulse. Sphere-style has white, blue, green, and red variants. Whether it's multi-sphere or lone-sphere is subject to change through training. Beam-style has a white energy cannon variant and a red laser variant. The latter is most common with unown but still shows up in other species. And pulse-style has a black and white variant. The latter also has a rare pseudo-style for a Psychic-type Hidden Power that causes the target to be telekinetically incapacitated before firing."

Meowth translated throughout the mini-lecture before sticking his tongue out and mumbling, "I hope dat secretary hurries."

The Boss perked up slightly, "Impressive." He petted his Normal-type, "And how do you think you would fare against Persian, here?"

The humans and Scratch Cat Pokémon jerked a bit.

Growlie blinked in surprise, looked at Persian, and looked at him again, "I wouldn't stand a chance. I can tell with only a glance that Persian is incredibly experienced and well trained. If I had to battle him here and now, it would be smartest for me to surrender immediately."

Persian smirked. Meowth blinked in surprise before translating.

The Boss cracked a small smirk, "Even a good judge of strength and capable of thinking rationally. I suppose this explains why the quality of your reports have improved so much recently."

Meowth and Jessie sweat dropped.

"You've found quite the Pokémon, James." The Boss said.

James smiled, "Thank you, sir. He's been a lot of help ever since joining us."

"I'm sure it has." The Boss said, "Turn it over to the tamers. I'm sure it will make a fine asset."

James and Growlie frowned as their eyes widened in shock. Jessie and Meowth looked at The Boss in shock before looking at James warily.

Matori walked back into the room with a bottled water in hand. She looked at Meowth, rolled her eyes, and walked over to hand it to him.

Meowth snapped out of it, looked at her, and took the bottle, "Uh, th- thanks."

"Well?" The Boss said.

James tensed up and started trembling terribly. He reached back to grab his Fire-type's pokéball from his belt.

"Growl?"

James flinched and looked over to find Growlie looking back at him. The Puppy Pokémon frowned worriedly with his ears drooping. James just stared back for a moment.

"I can't…" James muttered under his breath after a moment.

The Boss's eyes narrowed, "What was that?"

"I-" James said shakily before looking down again, "I can't do that, S- Sir." Everyone looked at him in shock as he continued, "Growlie … he was my only friend as a child. He was one of the only good things about my old life and I- I left him." He clenched a fist angrily, "I left him with my fami- with those people! People that only wanted him gone!" He took a shaky breath, "I nearly lost him once. And I can't do it again."

James sniffled; tears falling from his face as he kept his head down, "I can't hand him over to the ta- to- to you, Sir. I- I can't…"

The room went silent.

"I see." The Boss said monotonously, "Is that your final answer?"

James took another shaky breath; still looking downward, "It- it is, sir…"

The boss looked at Jessie and Meowth, "And you stand by his decision?"

Jessie and Meowth tensed up and looked at him in surprise. They looked at James and Growlie before sharing a look. Their looks turned determined and they looked at The Boss, "We do."

Cassidy glanced at them, 'Idiots.'

Growlie looked at his trainer before glaring determinedly and looking up at the boss, "Growl grow growl growlithe growlithe Grow growl growlithe growlithe growlithe grow growlithe growl. Grow growlithe growl growl-ithe, Grow growl growlithe growlithe growlithe growl. Grow growlithe growl."

His eyes narrowed, "Grow growl growl-lithe growl-ithe."

Meowth looked at him in shock. Persian perked up in surprise.

The Boss noticed his Pokémon's reaction and looked at the Scratch Cat Pokémon, "Meowth. What did it say?"

Meowth looked at the Boss before frowning, "H- he said … ''James is da only traina I will eva allow myself ta belong ta. No matta what you do, I will neva obey someone else. Not even you. I-'" He gulped and lowered his head, "'I swear my life on dat'."

James's eyes widened in pure horror; head still down. Jessie looked at her teammate in a mixture of worry and fear. Growlie's expression remained unchanged.

"Very well then." The Boss said, "A single growlithe makes no difference." James tensed up and started trembling as he continued, "But disposing of one like this for selective obedience would be a terrible waste."

The agents present perked up and looked at him in shock.

"S- sir?" James muttered.

"A Pokémon that will obey any trainer is of great value. One this intelligent yet so devoted to a single trainer far exceeds that. Afterall," He reached over to pet the Classy Cat Pokémon, "can even one of you so much as imagine Persian obeying anyone except for me?"

Everyone's eyes widened at the implication. But none of them said a thing. Persian ignored them and pushed into his trainer's hand.

The Boss cracked a small smirk and looked at James, "Absolute loyalty can cloud judgement and a person's ability to reason. Too little loyalty can lead to a rebellion. If matters regarding the growlithe's ownership are the limit of your ability to deny me out of selfishness -even enough to strike this much fear into you- then I see no problem with this request."

Jessie and Meowth stared up at him in awe. Butch and Cassidy stared at him in shock.

James looked at him in pure shock, "R- request?"

"For … 'Growlie' to be assigned as a member of your squad in the same manner as Meowth." The Boss said as his expression returned to normal, "Consider this a reward for your work up until this point. Continue and we will see how things go."

James stared in pure shock and awe. He started tearing up again and sniffled before bowing his head again, "Thank you, sir!"

Growlie smiled brightly as his tail wagged. He immediately tensed up and mimicked James, 'Right. Business.'

The Boss noticed the Fire-type's reaction and cracked a small smirk again. He looked at the now official quaRtet, "Jessie, James, Meowth, Growlithe, you are dismissed. Return to your assignment at once."

The humans and Scratch Cat Pokémon stood back up and saluted. The Puppy Pokémon sat up and nodded. They all smiled determinedly, "Yes sir!" "Growl!"

They turned and walked out of the room. The door closed behind them.

After a few seconds, Jessie, James, and Meowth let out a breath and fell back to sit down.

Growlie sighed in relief and sat down next to James, "Yeah, no kidding."

James looked at him, smiled softly, and pulled him into a one-armed hug. Growlie smiled and started licking his face.

James chuckled, hugged him tighter, and sniffled, "Hey, I told you that tickles."

Meowth looked up in a daze, "We just got rewarded by Da Boss…" He let out a brief chuckle, "woah…" He looked at the bottle, opened it, and started downing the thing.

"Yeah…" Jessie muttered in shock. She smiled, "Maybe this surveillance thing really is worth it." She clenched a fist and grinned wickedly, "So just imagine what we'd end up getting for bringing the actual Phantom" She tensed up and glanced around, "Child … to The Boss."

Meowth wiped his mouth and smiled determinedly, "And even until den, we finally got us a steady income! We may not even need ta ask for loans anymore!" He sweat dropped, "Maybe…"

Jessie stood up, "So let's get back to it right away!"

Meowth jumped up, "Yeah!"

They both perked up and looked at James still holding Growlie tightly; only half listening to them. The pair shared a look and smiled softly.

Meowth smiled and put his paws behind his head, "But, no reason we gotta rush leavin' base or can't relax in da balloon a bit. We still gotta run inta da twoip again, anyhow."

Jessie kneeled down and slapped James on the back; making him grimace in pain, "Come on, you two. Our squads got a job to do."

James glanced at her in annoyance before sighing. He stood back up, looked at two of his teammates with a determined glare, and nodded, "Right."

Growlie stood up and held up a paw, "Let's go!"

The quaRtet started walking towards the field their balloon was parked in.

Meowth glanced at Growlie, "By da way, did ya really have ta say dat whole 'swear on my life' thing? I think ya nearly gave James a heart attack."

James sweat dropped, "No kidding."

Growlie sweat dropped while smiling nervously, "Sorry. I was just trying to get my point across. I probably could've chosen something less dramatic." He looked back ahead, 'Still, to think the Viridian Gym Leader is our Boss.'

.

*Back inside

"Cassidy, Butch," Giovanni said, "as punishment you are assigned to desk duty and grunt work for the next two months."

Cassidy flinched and stared in shock, "P- punishment?! You can't actually believe that mutt, can you?!"

"Actually, I do." The boss said, "The detailing and reasoning of that day's events were without flaw and well described. To say it did so better than you would be a drastic understatement."

Cassidy tensed up slightly before standing up and putting a hand to her chest, "St- still, it admitted that those idiots interfered with our mission! Why are Butch and I the only ones getting punished?!"

"Because, unlike them, you don't seem to understand what exactly your failure has done." The boss said sternly.

Butch perked up and stared in surprise, "What? Sir, I understand that we lost the Pokémon and ended up putting ourselves in the police system, but we're only two agents. Not even high-ranking ones at that. The police didn't even have time to interrogate us before we were broken out."

Giovanni glanced at his secretary, "Matori."

The woman nodded, pulled a remote from her pocket, and hit a button. A low-quality but still understandable audio clip began playing in the room.

Sir! Team Rocket agent Cassidy reporting!

Cassidy's eyes widened in shock upon recognizing her own voice.

Sir! Team Rocket agent Butch reporting!

Butch stared in shock, "Is- Is this-"

At ease. Said a distorted voice. Both agents flinched as it continued, How is the breeding center operation going?

Very well. As planned, we've collected lots of promising Pokémon.

We're currently taking stock.

Good. Have there been any complications?

The audio paused.

What is it?

W- well-

A few of the trainers requested that their Pokémon not stay the full week and will pick them up earlier than hoped. To keep our cover, we have to return them. Unfortunately, this includes some very promising ones.

On account of that, we don't think it would be wise to send any Pokémon to headquarters, just yet. We have to account for the plans of other trainers changing last minute.

They heard a sigh, Very well. It's a necessary sacrifice to avoid compromise. I expect today's report by tomorrow.

Yes sir!

It paused again.

Do you think that was the right call?

I didn't see another option. If The Boss found out he was in the building, he might've forced us to retreat ahead of schedule. We can't risk all of our hard work going up in smoke because of him.

You might be right.

The audio stopped.

Cassidy and Butch just stared in shock. Neither could bring themself to say a thing.

"This was the evidence the growlithe mentioned." Giovanni said, "That audio -my disguised voice- was recorded on a Pokédex." He raised his voice, "Ash Ketchum's CUSTOMIZED Pokédex! This is in the hands of the police force because of you!"

Butch's eyes widened in pure, fearful shock. Cassidy stared in shock before falling back to her knees and looking down in a daze.

"If it weren't for the audio quality, someone could unscramble it!" The Boss continued before glaring, "Not only did you lie to me, but you put the operation and nearly the entire organization in jeopardy by not pulling out after seeing him! Had you followed my orders, you could have vacated the scene with the acquired Pokémon in tow and destroyed the evidence linking Team Rocket to the crime! You were explicitly told that he is not to be trifled with!"

"And why is that?" Cassidy asked; head still down. Butch and Matori looked at her in shock as she continued, "He's just some overpowered freak who started a riot on the Saint Anne. Why is the loser squad assigned to watch him? Why are they being rewarded for it after ruining our mission?! If he's seriously a threat, why are we just watching him?!" She glared at the boss, "Why don't you actually do something about hi-"

Cassidy froze and her eyes widened fearfully, "S- sir, I- I meant no-"

"I will consider that outburst as one brought on by stress and your recent failure." The boss said coldly, "A third month has been added to your punishment. Dismissed."

Cassidy gritted her teeth, stood back up, and saluted, "yes sir."

Butch stood up and saluted as well, "Yes sir."

The pair turned and exited the room.

Matori looked down thoughtfully.

Giovanni noticed and glanced at her, "Something to say?"

Matori snapped out of it and looked at him, "Apologies, sir. I just-" She frowned, "I'm sorry but I feel as though agent Cassidy had a point. If Ashton Ketchum is truly a person of interest, why are agents Jessie and James assigned to him? Their track record more than suggests that-"

"I am aware of their track record, Matori." Giovanni cut her off; still petting Persian, "But I have my reasons. This is not a matter of discussion."

Matori bowed respectively, "Yes, sir. My apologies."

.

*Blastoise Island; ten minutes after the group arrived

Soot yawned while looking out at the ocean. She looked around again and groaned, "Welp … this was a waste of time." She got up and started walking back to the beach. She entered the area and looked around.

Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Clefairy, Togepi, and Squirtle sat around with the wartortle they met in the first place, the female wartortle from before, and two squirtle. Also, the Gym Leaders were forced to Lockdown earlier to keep from revealing that they were human. Neither really minded, though.

Some of the younger squirtle were playing around with Togepi. Another wartortle was keeping an eye on them.

Jigglypuff ran off when no one was looking.

And Blastoise was sleeping while still cuddled up to the ever-oblivious dragonite.

Soot looked at the group in the middle of a conversation.

"So…" Pikachu said while glancing at Ash and Blastoise. He looked back at Wartortle while sweat dropping, "Your eldest sibling does this often?"

Wartortle sighed, "Unfortunately. I'm sorry I dragged your friend into this."

Misty smiled and waved a paw, "Hey, it's fine. This was definitely important." She raised a brow, "Though, I didn't expect all five of you to be siblings."

"Actually, only four of us are siblings." The first squirtle added casually.

The girl Turtle Pokémon smiled and pulled the second squirtle closer, "Yeah. This adorable little one's all mine."

The second squirtle sweat dropped, glanced at her, and spoke monotonously, "Thank you for clarifying, meema."

The girl chuckled before looking at the group, "My mate and I are still trying."

Brock raised a brow, "Still trying?"

The second squirtle looked at Brock, "Oh, apologies. Meema was referring to her and my male meema's attempts to have a female hatchling. Due to the low female gender ratio of our species, whenever a female hatches it more often than not becomes a life goal of hers to have at least one female hatchling for the sake of the species."

The female wartortle smiled, "Our meemas lucked out."

The squirtle held a paw to the side, "To accomplish this, a female and her mate will try rather often to have a female hatchling, resulting in more than a few male hatchlings."

The group stared at him blankly.

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon noticed, "My male meema is a slowking. According to my meemas, I take after him."

The female smiled, pulled him into a hug, and nuzzled him, "He's our little genius."

The squirtle deadpanned as his mother cuddled him.

Wartortle pointed back, "Our sibling pretty much goes after any male she thinks looks nice." He raised a brow, "Though, ironically, she's not attracted to others of our kind."

His squirtle sibling started counting on his digits, "Lapras, poliwrath, tropius, and somehow a tyrantrum." He looked out to sea, "According to her, she met him on an island with a big volcano."

Electra perked up in realization, 'Restored fossil.' She smiled as her tail slowly began wagging.

Misty glanced at the breeder with a sly smirk, "I guess she's kinda like you Brock."

Brock sweat dropped, "Thank you for that…"

The slowking's hatchling looked at the group curiously. He raised a brow, "Y'know, I am still rather surprised each of your trainers allowed you all to come here without them. Even with the supervision of a dragonite, it's rather difficult to believe."

Wartortle tensed up and looked at the group. Brock and Misty shared a nervous glance.

Squirtle smiled happily, "Oh, yeah. They're really considerate."

Pikachu smirked, "This isn't even the first time we've done something like this. A while back we visited the mysterious garden where bulbasaur go to evolve."

Clefairy smiled and nodded, "Yeah, that was pretty cool."

Soot looked at them in surprise before looking at Ash and Blastoise. She groaned as her ears drooped.

Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Electra, and the two wartortle perked up and their ear/head fin twitched. They looked over at Soot and the others followed their gazes.

Clefairy smiled, "Hey, Soot. Any sign of Team Rocket?"

"None." Soot said; still looking at her father, "Pikachu, Squirtle, stay with dad." She walked over to the pair.

The male Mouse Pokémon and Ash's Tiny Turtle Pokémon perked up and looked at her in confusion, "What?"

Almost everyone else stared in confusion. The youngest watched curiously.

Ash noticed Soot approaching and smiled, "Hey, Soot."

"Hey." Soot said before sitting down, "You two look comfy."

The Dragon Pokémon looked at the Shellfish Pokémon, "Yeah. I guess she just wanted some company. The whole jigglypuff thing might've startled her."

Soot sweat dropped, "Uh huh…" She raised a brow, "By the way, how soon should I be expecting my little brother or sister?" She looked at Blastoise, "Or is she still thinking it over?"

Ash looked at her in surprise and deadpanned, "Ha ha, very funny."

"…" The Bite Pokémon groaned, "Dad. Where are we right now?"

The Dragon/Flying-type raised a brow, "The squirtle line" He jerked and looked at the fully evolved Water-type cuddling his right arm, "breeding" He looked down at his current form, "grounds…" He looked at Soot, "You're not entirely joking this time, are you?"

Soot pointed a claw at the Shellfish, "Not if it's up to her."

Ash glanced at Blastoise and frowned uncomfortably, "Oh…" He smiled nervously, " W- well, maybe she's just being nice-"

Soot pointed a claw back at the others, "According to her three siblings, she's gone after four dudes. One was a tyrantrum on Cinnabar and you get one guess where he came from." She pointed at Blastoise, "She's practically a female Brock."

Ash stared blankly before looking at Blastoise. He tried to pull his arm out of her grip. She frowned and tightened her grip in response; somehow still asleep.

Ash frowned and looked at Soot; antenna drooping, "Please help."

"Way ahead of you." Soot said before looking back towards the ocean. Her eyes widened, "Woah!"

Everyone in the area looked over as she rushed through the area and towards the beach. Blastoise still didn't wake up.

Once the Bite Pokémon disappeared from view, she called out, "Everyone! You gotta see this!"

The group and Wartortle caught on and perked up.

Wartortle stood up and waved at the rest of his kind, "Come on! This might be important!" He ran after Soot.

Misty stood up and looked at the Spike Ball Pokémon, "Come on, Togepi!"

Togepi smiled and ran towards her, "Coming meema!" The squirtle hatchlings all ran after him, followed by the caretaker.

After a moment everyone except Pikachu and Squirtle cleared out of the area.

The Electric-type and Water-type looked around cautiously. Pikachu smiled, looked back at Ash, and gave a thumbs up.

Ash nodded. He looked at Blastoise and slowly moved to stand up; trying to keep his arm steady, 'Okay, anything with a thinner arm should work.' He frowned and glanced down at the symbol, 'Still, I'm nearing my time limit.' He gulped, 'I'll have to risk human and hide away to recharge.'

He took a deep breath, 'Okay. Three. Two.' He hit the symbol on his chest and became engulfed in a green flash. The watch user reemerged as a human, slipped his arm out of Blastoise's grip with nothing but a light graze, and jumped down from the rock.

Ash smiled and looked towards a bush, 'Now to just-' He flinched when he heard something fall over and looked back.

Blastoise was lying on her side with an uncomfortable frown on her face. She started stirring awake.

Ash grimaced, 'Crag!' He quickly hit the button to spring up the dial and slapped the watch.

Blastoise shied away as a bright flash shined out. She blinked awake and started looking around. She perked up in surprise when she found another blastoise looking at his own claws in shock.

Pikachu and Squirtle stared in surprise.

Ash looked at her and tensed up, "Oh, uh, I-"

Blastoise deadpanned and stood back up, "Sorry, bud. You're not my type." She started looking around for 'Dragonite' and ran towards a tree line.

Ash stared in surprise before he, Pikachu, and Squirtle sighed in relief.

"So this is what you and your friends were hiding."

The trio flinched and looked back. They found the squirtle with the slowking parent looking at Ash curiously. Wartortle stood behind him.

Wartortle slumped forward shamefully, "Sorry. I tried to stop him."

The squirtle walked up to Ash and looked over him curiously, "Very interesting. Is it safe to assume Brock and Misty are human as well?"

Ash blinked in surprise before frowning uncomfortably, "Let me guess, their mannerisms?"

"Among other things." The hatchling responded. He looked at his aunt before looking Ash in the eye, "I believe it is in your best interest to leave now."

Ash tensed up and glanced away shamefully, "Right… I'm sorry for trespassing like this."

The squirtle shook his head, "Your true species is not the reason."

Ash looked at him in surprise, "Huh?"

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon looked back towards the beach, "Judging by the so-called 'trainer disks' that Brock and Misty claimed to be wearing and the phrase 'Lockdown Mode' that came from them earlier, I assume that the items that allow you all to do this have a time limit before you are forcibly reverted to your true form." He looked at Ash's chest, "Seeing as your symbol is still green like theirs was before, I suppose you have not activated that function. Is that correct?"

Ash blinked in shock, "Um … yeah. That's exactly right."

The squirtle nodded before looking over Ash again, "And judging by the fact that your current form resembles my meema's sibling near perfectly despite being the opposite gender, can I also assume that you are capable of acquiring new forms in an instant by means of contact with the device?"

Pikachu blinked in shock, "Also correct."

The small Water-type nodded again and looked Ash in the eye, "That is why I believe it is best for you to leave as soon as possible. If she saw you revert and learned of your abilities in full, I can only dread the lengths she would go to in order to make you stay. That and what all she would do in order to give you as many new forms as possible."

Wartortle sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. Our sibling really likes variety. We're hoping a ditto washes up here and they hit it off."

Squirtle sweat dropped, "Got it…"

Ash looked back at Blastoise who was looking around the sky with a paw shading her eyes, "Still, won't she be disappointed if I just ran off without saying anything?"

The squirtle looked at his aunt, "Yes, but not for too long. 'Dragonite' would not be the first to be 'scared away' by her overly forward approach. 'They' would not be the first Flying-type, either."

Wartortle sighed, "Yeah…" He looked at Blastoise and called out, "Sibling! Our guests are leaving!"

Blastoise waved back without looking, "Yeah, Pecha sounds good! Thanks!" She continued looking around intently and muttered, "He couldn't have gotten that far, right?"

Wartortle and his nephew sweat dropped before they started walking towards the beach. Ash, Pikachu, and Squirtle followed.

Squirtle perked up, "Oh, wait." He looked back, "We still need to know her move set."

Wartortle raised a brow, "What? Why?"

Ash looked down at him and pointed at the watch's symbol on his chest, "When I scan a Pokémon, I get the same moves and ability that they have. I can't scan myself with my Pokédex to find out what they are." He glanced away, "I've tried."

The squirtle nodded, "Oh. Her moves are Dragon Pulse, Ice Punch, Hydro Pump, and Flash Cannon. Her ability is Rain Dish."

Wartortle smiled and pointed back at his elder sibling, "Our male's meema is a Kingdra. She and I inherited Dragon Pulse." He then demonstrated by blowing out a puff of purple flames. He smiled at them, "Sibling learned Ice Punch from a female delibird when she was a wartortle. Old friend of hers."

"My meema and her younger sibling inherited Brine." The squirtle followed.

Ash and Pikachu looked at him in shock before looking back at Blastoise. Squirtle looked up at Ash and grinned excitedly.

Wartortle snickered, "Our sibling may be a handful sometimes, but she's no pushover."

The quintet made it to the beach where all of the Water-types and group were looking around the ocean … for nothing.

The female wartortle looked at Soot with a raised brow and her squirtle sibling next to her, "What exactly did you see?"

Soot pouted sourly, "I can't describe it. That's why I was trying to get everyone here." She glanced back and perked up, 'Well this is interesting.'

The squirtle noticed and looked back. He blinked in surprise, "Sibling?"

His sister looked at him in confusion before following his gaze and perking up in surprise. The group looked and their eyes widened upon seeing the symbol on his chest. The rest of the native Water-types looked as well and stared in confusion.

Ash raised a claw, "Sorry, but no. I just looked similar. Trust me, I was surprised too." He smiled and put a claw to his chest, "I'm one of Dragonite's teammates. Our trainer sent me to tell everyone it's time to go back."

The slowking's hatchling glanced at him, 'Not bad.' He looked at his meema, "Dragonite is already flying back."

Wartortle sighed, "And sibling was still asleep when he left."

The female wartortle and the squirtle tensed up before groaning.

Ash chuckled sheepishly before walking over to the water. He dove in and floated to the surface with his shell showing, "Come on, guys!"

Brock smiled at the female wartortle, "Thanks again for having us."

She looked at him before smiling, "We should be thanking all of you. If you didn't come by when you did, we really could've wound up in trouble."

Misty smiled, "We were happy to help. Just make sure your sister is a little more careful when she's out swimming."

The female blinked in confusion, "Sister?"

Misty tensed up and forced a smile, "I- I meant your sibling. Humans call their female siblings 'sister'. My sisters and I kind of built up a habit of using human terms."

One of the other wartortle perked up, "Wait, sisters? As in plural?"

A squirtle next to them raised a brow, "But you're a vaporeon. How many female siblings do you-"

"Their trainer did send a blastoise to pick them up and has a dragonite." The slowking's hatchling jumped in, "Considerate or not, I don't believe keeping them waiting would be the best idea."

The pair tensed up and sweat dropped, "Sorry."

Misty chuckled sheepishly before walking towards shore, jumping up, and diving into the water. She resurfaced and looked at Togepi, "Go ahead and climb onto Ash, sweetie! I'll be right beside you the whole time! Promise!"

"Okay!" The Fairy-type called out before running up to the Water-type.

Clefairy smiled and waved, "It was nice meeting you all." She ran up and jumped onto Ash's back.

Brock walked after her, smiled, and waved back, "Take care."

Electra followed suit, "Bye."

"See ya." Soot said while walking over to Ash.

Pikachu leaned closer to Wartortle and whispered, "You'll keep the whole 'human' thing secret, right? We don't want anyone to panic or think they have to move islands."

Squirtle frowned and whispered, "Also we don't want Blastoise to try tracking us down."

Wartortle chuckled softly and whispered back, "Well, I'll have to tell my younger siblings, but we'll keep it quiet. Promise."

Pikachu smiled, "Thank you." He started walking towards Ash.

Squirtle patted his upper evolution on the back, "Take care, dude." He ran towards shore and jumped into the water to float next to his trainer.

After everyone finished loading onto the massive Water-type, he began swimming back towards Cinnabar with Misty and Squirtle on either side of him. The squirtle and wartortle on shore all waved as they floated away. Everyone on top of the Shellfish Pokémon waved back. The island disappeared from view after a little while.

Soot smiled down at her blastoise father, "So you scanned the big sis, huh?"

Ash sighed, "Yeah. It was another accidental one."

Squirtle grinned, "But so worth it with that move set. If you're planning Hydro Pump training, sign me up."

Misty perked up and looked at Ash in shock, "You know Hydro Pump, now?!"

Clefairy smiled excitedly, "What else is there?"

Pikachu looked at her, "Flash Cannon, Dragon Pulse, and Ice Punch. Kingdra male meema."

Soot grinned, "Sweet!" She sweat dropped and glanced away, 'One of the moves we asked Blaine about … of course.'

Pikachu smiled, "Guess we've got some work to do."

Ash smiled determinedly, "Yeah. And we're gonna need it for Viridian."

.

*Main Eight meeting; past

Giovanni looked around the room, "Is that acceptable?"

The other Gym Leaders stared at him in surprise. Lance blinked in surprise before he and Joy shared a look.

The Champion looked back at him, "Well, we can make the arrangements without much of an issue. But you've never been one to request something like this."

The Ground-type user cracked a small smirk, "Well, very few trainers pique my interest." He went back to his stoic expression, "But there is a more justifiable reason. Our goal is to learn more about him in the battle, isn't it? Given the circumstances, I feel this may be the most efficient way to do so without raising alarm."

Joy looked down thoughtfully with a hand to her chin, "You make a fair point." She looked at the Viridian Leader, "But enforcing this out of the blue might not be the best choice. I believe making it a secondary option would be wiser."

Giovanni nodded, "Very well. Optional it is."

Lance smiled and nodded, "Alright." He looked around, "Any objections?"

"Well," Surge started; catching everyone's attention, "it's not really an objection. More like a comment." He raised a brow, "Could we add some kind of incentive for him to take the challenge?"

Flint raised a brow, "What kind of incentive?"

Surge shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe offer some kind of special prize if he takes the challenge and wins?"

Giovanni deadpanned, "So an Earth Badge."

Surge looked at him; deadpanned, "You know that's not what I mean."

Koga crossed his arms, "I actually agree with Surge. Adding an additional prize under the condition that he accepts the challenge might convince him to accept."

Erika smiled, "I like the sound of that."

Giovanni sweat dropped, "Just for him? Isn't that showing favoritism?"

Violet looked at him with a raised brow, "Aren't you the one who, like, came up with the bonus challenge in the first place?"

"… point taken." Giovanni admitted. He looked at Lance, "Still, my intention in this was only to learn more about him. Even if he is a main eight competitor who helped out three Gym Leaders in a crisis, throwing around privilege like that could pose a problem if word got out."

Lance cleared his throat, "About that… I believe this trainer would be the exception." The Gym Leaders looked at him in confusion as he looked at Joy, "Inspector. If you may?"

Joy nodded before looking towards the door and calling out, "Chansey! That last file, please!"

"Chansey!" The Egg Pokémon called out before walking back into the room with a single, large folder in her arm. She stopped and handed it to her trainer.

Joy smiled and took the file, "Thank you."

Chansey saluted and left the room again.

Joy cleared her throat and looked at the Gym Leaders, "When I was relaying the Dark City incident to Officer Jenny and brought up the name 'Ketchum', I was more than surprised to find out that he's helped in a lot more than this. Since then, I have been doing some research into him and ended up creating a portfolio. To keep things simple, I will only be reading from the table of contents."

Surge blinked in surprise, "Say what now?"

Joy opened the folder, "Following Mr. Ketchum's challenge at the Vermillion Gym, he reportedly kickstarted the Saint Anne trainer riot during a spontaneous, large scale Team Rocket attack, helped hasten evacuation when the ship began sinking, and formulated the escape route for the Porta Vista evacuation during the massive tentacruel crisis; saving countless lives in the process."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Then there's the Butterfree migration incident where he, Brock, and Misty stopped poachers from kidnapping the entire swarm." Joy continued, "The three of them then assisted Officer Jenny with a four day long missing person's case in HopHopHop Town and solved the case within two hours. They later exposed a major flaw in the Giva Resort Dam project on the outskirts of Fuchsia that the construction company was unaware of. Completing the dam would have flooded a highly inhabited forest."

Koga perked up in surprise, 'That was them?!'

Joy flipped the page, "They later fought off a group of poachers attempting to kidnap a kangaskhan herd from a preservation area." She sweat dropped, "Twice. Then they assisted Doctor Franz Kogami Schaffer in both resolving a pressing issue with the Transfer System network and … " She took a deep breath, "And according to Dr. Schaffer, Mr. Ketchum 'played a vital role in the completion of the Virtual Pokémon porygon'."

"I-" Flint stuttered, "Excuse me?"

"And then, finally, Dark City." She said before flipping the page, "We've also received reports of their assistance on a smaller scale from a handful of towns, cities, and villages that they passed through. Medicine delivery, exposing a serial scammer at the Summer's End Festival at Maiden's Peak, substituting for a Laramie in their annual race and winning, clearing a blocked river to end a drought and stop a soon-to-be famine … the list goes on."

Everyone in the room -except Lance- stared at her in shock.

Blaine looked at the psychic, "You're positive this kid isn't psychic?"

Sabrina raised a hand, "Cross my heart. Immune or not, I would've felt something."

Haunter put a hand to his chin, "Haunter haunt haunt haunter?"

Sabrina glanced at the Ghost/Poison-type and sweat dropped, "I seriously doubt he's part absol."

Giovanni shook it off and looked at Lance, "Okay, so they've done a lot of good. Still, the rewards or compensation for these acts must have been sufficient enough that anything more is not warranted."

Lance shook his head, "People said they were only ever thrown small scale celebrations, thanked profusely, or given small and practical rewards such as travel supplies and foo-" He stopped and perked up as a phone began ringing.

"Sorry." The Inspector said before pulling out her phone and looking at it, "Family." She answered, "Hello?"

"Hey sis." Nurse Joy said on the other end, "So you said to call if I heard anything about that Ash kid, right?"

League Inspector Joy raised a brow, "Yes?" After a few seconds, her eyes widened, "Oh. Um … wow. Yes, thank you, sis." She hung up, closed the folder, and stood back up with it in her arms, "My apologies, everyone. This information is outdated."

Erika's eyes widened, "What? What did they do this time?"

"Volunteered to treat Pokémon that were victim to a massive truck crash and that were sent to a hospital to lessen stress on a Pokémon Center. My sister emailed a more in-depth analysis." Joy said before turning and walking out of the room.

Everyone stared blankly as she left.

After a few seconds, Giovanni cleared his throat and raised a finger, "I retract all previous arguments against an incentive."

Sabrina smiled excitedly, "Sweet!" She propped her head up with a fist, "So, what should we make the prize?" She perked up, looked at Violet, and sweat dropped, "I don't think jewelry would be the best choice."

Violet tensed up before slumping forward.

Flint looked at the Water-type user before looking down thoughtfully with a hand to his chin.

.

.

Ohirume: Credit for the "Blastoise is female and attracted to Ash" and "Ash gets a blastoise form" ideas go to Icewolf9879.

*sweat drops* Though, I may have changed a few things from their suggestion.

Seishin: *raises finger* Namely that Icewolf wanted Blastoise to be attracted to the blastoise form and they didn't mention anything about her Brock-isms.

Gem and Faux: *sweat drops* Brock-isms?

…

The new comment response will be posted on "Random-ish stuff on the side" on 7/14/2021 at approximately 11:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.