Pokemon: Remix Hearts

by Seanzilla1988

During an expedition for a Grimoir, the girls of Team Remix Heart are caught up in a strange wormhole and end up in a world filled with creatures known as Pokemon. Will they find a way home, or will they be stuck here? (Contains elements from the Pokemon games, manga, and anime. Set after the end of the Blazblue Remix Heart manga)

41. Chapter 41

GT: *trying very hard to not look at the annoyed Pokemon* I get it...I get it! We have not worked on this for a while! Stop giving us looks, please!

Luca: We've had to deal with him… *points at Charmeleon bound and muzzled* ...the entire time!

Hikari: *holds up a sign*'Such a mouth'

Berry: Chipapapapa! *holds up burnt doll clothes with tears*

GT: ...Please direct all complaints to SZ. *flees*

SZ: Wait, what?! *sees the Pokemon turn their attention towards me* ...we own nothing aside from original content! *flees*

---

Entry 040: Um...N-Noel Vermillion reporting. After we've dealt with a...a magician and a group of Exeggutor, we stayed at the local Pokemon Center when Yuki started getting sick from the pollen in the air. Said pollen was coming from a Poison and Grass-Type Pokemon nature preserve. F-from what Alakai said, they raise Bulbasaurs there for Professor Oak...Oh! Speaking of, we had to call him because of Koko getting sick, too, and ended up teleporting...um...well...I'm glad that La-san had extra clothes that actually fit. ...Um, n-not for me! For M…*a yelp went off and sounds of a scuffle*

Tsubaki Yayoi, replacing Noel for the moment due to outside interference. Professor Oak asked that we check on things at the reserve's main building since he had not yet received the new Bulbasaur for the next group of Trainers to come get one from his lab. We decided to help, of course, and headed towards there once our Pokemon recovered, though Noel and Kajun stayed behind due to their Pokemon still being ill from the pollen. Once we got there...we started to suspect Team Rocket was behind what was happening due to the rude greetings we've received from one of the 'workers.' With Makoto, Kage, Hanzo, and Alakai's help of course, we were able to get inside to confront them. However...it wasn't Jessie and James, nor Billy and Kit. Rather...it was two other Team Rocket members by the names of Cassidy and Butch….I'm starting to sense a naming pattern here.

It wasn't that hard to fight them off, especially with them using a Grass-Type while we have several Fire-Types. Once it was all settled, however, the experience caused something both good and bad. The good was that Ash's Charmander evolved into Charmeleon. However...the bad was that...well...I'll be blunt: from what Luca's translating, he reminds me of that rapscallion that was his former Trainer. Hopefully, La and Takuma's training will help get that rebellious phase out of him. ...I hope.

---

"...How did you even do this?" Oak slowly asked, dread in his tone.

"..." Eevee, Krabby, Muk, Gary's Krabby, Squirtle, and one of Ash's Tauros shared looks before tilting their heads...all while trying to not look at the ceiling where everything that had been on the floor was now nailed to it.

"...Oh don't you give me th-" Oak began before Muk glomped him from behind, "Gah!"

"(Yousa need hug~!)" Muk beamed.

"Ack! Ugh! Muk, off! Off!" Oak yelped as the others fled, "You all get back here! Oh, when I get my hands on all of you, it's canned Pokemon Chow from the store for you all for a month! Ugh...what I wouldn't do for an assistant or apprentice..." 'Hmm...I wonder if…'

"Yo gramps! You home?!" Gary's voice called from outside.

"Huh? Guh...ghh…!" Oak grunted, managing to get Muk off him to go to the door and opened it, seeing Gary, Leaf, and Red, "Ah! Welcome back! Wasn't expecting anyone to visit today."

"Muuuk~!"

"Oh not again," Oak squeaked before the trio moved back when Muk tackled Oak into another hug.

"...One of you two caught a Muk?" Gary blinked as he looked at Leaf and Red.

"Do I look like the type of girl that would use one?" Leaf argued in a deadpanned tone while Red just shook his head, Pika gagging and covering her snout with her paws.

"Oh...then who's…"

"He...belongs to Ash…" Oak grunted as he tried to move Muk off him.

"He has a Muk?" Leaf asked.

"Among others," Oak replied as they entered...and the trio looked up at the ceiling with Pika blinking twice, "...For the love of all things good, don't ask how this happened."

"...What...Pokemon does he have?" Leaf asked, "I recall he has a Tauros after that race at the Laramie Ranch."

"Not a Tauros…" Oak groaned as said mentioned herd galloped by, the resulting wind blowing Muk off as he smacked into a tree, "A herd of them from the Safari Zone."

"Hah?! He caught all those?!" Gary gawked before shaking it off, "So what? I can ca…"

"He also has a prank-loving Gengar, a championship-winning Primeape, a really rambunctious Eevee, all three starters with one having recently evolved into its second stage, and a Pidgeotto from Viridian Forest," Oak listed.

"Wait, what?"

"..." Red shrugged.

"You knew he had all three Starters?" Leaf asked, earning a nod, "Of course you knew. Yellow's always seems to talk to you the most of us."

"..."

"Well...that doesn't amount to the number of Pokemon he's seen, before and after I've upgraded his Pokedex for him," Oak added, making the trio blink, "...Oh...yes...I've been meaning to do that for yours as well."

"Wait. Ash got an upgrade for his Pokedex first?!" Gary exclaimed, "How come he got one first and I didn't, gramps?!"

"Probably because he asked first," Leaf noted.

"Indeed. Some Pokemon that aren't normally in Kanto have recently popped up and he told me about it. So I upgraded him to the National Pokedex," Oak explained, "Well...after I had a rather interesting conversation with his travelling companion Kajun."

"...Did she have a butterfly hair clip by any chance?" Gary asked.

"Yes," Oak nodded before blinking...followed by a sigh, "Let me guess, you tried to get them to go with you instead."

"...Maybe…." Gary replied...before flinching just as Leaf pulled out a paper fan with PokeDollar signs on it, "THEY DECLINED! THEY DECLINED!"

"Pika…" Pika deadpanned at Red, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh don't you get started on crazy stunts, Mr. Spent-A-Week-On-A-Mountaintop-Shirtless!" Gary growled, making Red smirk, "Besides...that Kajun girl and her red-headed friend scared me away...with the threat of not insulting Yellow again."

"Good…" Leaf smirked as she put the paper fan away, "So professor, what other Pokemon has Ash encountered?"

"Plenty. Some from here in Kanto, and many from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola," Oak explained as he pulled out a small computer tablet, "In fact, I...wait…" he muttered as he took a look, "...This can't be right…"

"Is everything okay?" Leaf asked as Red pointed at the ceiling, "Right, Red. Whoever did this didn't mess with your systems, did they, professor?"

"No no. It's just...well for one; Suicune isn't the only Legendary Ash has encountered. Another...It seems what he claimed back when he arrived at the Viridian City Pokemon Center was true…" Oak answered, making the three blink.

"Huh?" Gary pondered, "...Wait. This doesn't mean I owe you a million, do I?"

"No, no. You won fair and square on that," Oak replied, "However, are you aware of the secondary feature in the Pokedex when it scans a Pokemon?"

"A second feature?" Gary asked.

"Yes. It takes a picture of the Pokemon," Oak explained.

"It can do that?" Leaf blinked.

"Of course. If the Pokedex can't identify the Pokemon in question, it stores the picture until it has been upgraded with enough information for that new Pokemon," Oak explained, "And the Picture Ash's Pokedex took...was from after he began his journey as a Trainer on that very first day, even."

"...What...Legendary Pokemon did he see?" Gary cautiously asked.

"In order of which he encountered them, or in numerical order based on the National Pokedex?" Oak asked.

"Just tell me!"

"...Very well. Entei...Raikou…Suicune...and given the image for his official first Legendary encounter...Ho-Oh."

"WHAT?!" Gary and Leaf exclaimed as Red nodded, "YOU KNEW?!" Red shrugged, "Ugh...Of course he'd tell ya…" the two glared at each other, "Stop copying me!"

"I will fine you…" Leaf hissed, making Gary gulp and hide behind Red, "...Not as much as I'm gonna fine Yellow next time I see him!"

Red held a hand out to Professor Oak, "..."

"Ah, the pictures? Alright," Oak replied as he tapped on the tablet and turned it around, showing Raikou staring down at the image atop a Pokemon Center in a rainstorm, "Raikou…" he swiped it and the screen displayed a perfect image of Entei standing atop a rock formation in a forest, "Entei…" he swiped again, showing Suicune with the rider on her, "Suicune…" he swiped one more time and showed the setting skies with a rainbow shining amidst dispersing clouds...with a massive phoenix-like Pokemon glowing like it was made of gold, "And Ho-Oh."

"...I...wh…." Gary whispered in disbelief, hsi eyes wide as he looked at the image, 'Ash...Ash saw all those Legendaries...including Ho-Oh?! That...how?!'

"...Pika?" Pika whispered, tilting her head.

"..." Red raised a brow at Pika as she hopped onto Oak's shoulder to look closer.

"Pika~!" Pika awed as she swiped the screen, making it change, "Pika-pika!" she swiped it several more times before yelping and falling off Oak's arm at the skeletal Tyrantrum that it showed.

"Like I said, it takes pictures of everything you use it to look up," Oak chuckled as Pika scurried back onto Red's shoulder.

"Pika…" Pika whimpered before Red shook a little with a smile, "PI?!" she shook his head, tears down her cheeks, "PIKA~PIKACHU~!"

"I...ohohoho I am SO fining him when I see him!" Leaf ranted as she paced around, "In fact...where is he, professor?!"

"Let's see…" Oak replied as he typed on his tablet, "Ah. He's actually near the Raizen Mountains." Red looked at the tablet at that, "Just a few days away, actually. Seems he's actually making his way to them."

"...Red, I blame you for him going near a mountain range," Gary deadpanned.

"..."

"Oh don't try and argue!"

"..."

"Don't you use logic and facts on me."

"..."

"Now that's just rude…"

"Why's he going to the Raizen Mountains?" Leaf pondered.

"Well, on the other side of the mountains is a port where he can go to Cinnabar Island," Professor Oak replied, "Fuchsia City's port currently has a Gyarados migration going on, meaning the port is closed until they're all gone."

"Yeesh, his luck's always been a coin flip, hasn't it?" Leaf asked with a cringe.

"Vui?" she looked down to see Ash's Eevee.

"Aw~Aren't you a cutie?"

"Vee," Eevee deadpanned before putting the tip of his tail into his mouth and blowing hard, making a whistling noise.

"What the…?" Leaf began before a washbin landed on her head, "GAH!"

"After him!" Oak shouted, butterfly net whipped out as he gave chase after the laughing Eevee.

"..." Red shook a bit as a hand covered his mouth as Gary snickered.

"Fining…" Leaf rasped out, making Red and Gary panic.

---

"Ow...I thought I had it that time..." Ash muttered, holding his bitten and burnt hand.

"Stop moving your hand away," Tsubaki scolded, a bottle of aloe in her hand.

"But it stings…" he complained.

"Char…" Charmeleon huffed nearby, resting on his side as he laid on top of a rock.

"Charmeleon is a very rowdy one," Takuma spoke, "Normally, this happens to Pokemon gained via trade who are too strong for the new Trainer to control."

"Perhaps he picked up these bad habits from his former trainer upon evolving from Charmander," Kajun suggested.

"Who was his former Trainer?" La asked.

"A Trainer named Damien who was recently arrested due to Pokemon abuse and abandonment," Kajun replied.

"Think Cross, only really smug and too lazy to raise Pokemon properly," Makoto added.

"I suppose it's no shock that he has some emotional baggage," Takuma spoke, "Think of it like this: he's in his rowdy teenage rebellion years."

"(Called it...)" Berry deadpanned.

"I know you did," La sighed, handing the white and blue squirrel a small bag of PokeBeans.

"Is there anything we can do?" Tsubaki asked.

"Hmm...Only if Charmeleon is willing to accept Ash's feelings." Takuma spoke, "Most trainers find it hard to deal with Pokemon who have developed these types of personality problems, so not a lot of means of fixing it are out there."

"I'm not giving up," Ash stated.

=I am getting a lot of data from this= Alakai noted before he buzzed, his screen showing a phone on it =Ah! La, you have a phone call!=

"From who?"

=Checking the number...Oh, it's Takeru!= Alakai replied.

"Who?" Makoto asked.

=Her boyfriend= Alakai replied before yelping as she grabbed him.

"Excuse me for a moment," La apologized as she went off to pick up the call.

"Ooh~" Makoto replied to that reaction and revelation, "A phone call between love birds~"

"No listening or peeking in, Makoto," Tsubaki instantly ordered.

"I'm not the one you need to tell that to." Makoto smirked, "Oh where, oh where did our Noellie go~?"

"What…?" Tsubaki blinked before she noticed the shy blonde nowhere in sight, "...Noel, don't!"

"Hehehe…" Makoto laughed at Tsubaki's new plight.

"Well today turned out to be energetic so far," Ken noted.

---

"Okay, patch him in," La spoke once she felt she was far enough away.

=You got it!= Alakai beamed before his screen switched.

Displayed on the screen was a young man a year older than La with a slim, toned build. He had somewhat tamed light-brown hair with black roots on the back of his head. From the screen, one could barely make out a multicolored open jacket over a black shirt he wore.

=Hey, Cy…= he began.

"Takeru, remember that I'm going by my codename."

=Right, right, right. Sorry, La. Just too used to calling you by your real name=

"I know, but it's part of our job with PIA and IPP, regardless of which side of the Ultra Wormholes," La shrugged, "But none of that. How is everything with Kanto?"

=Third Kanto I've been in and just like the previous Kanto, it's not like the one where I'm from= Takeru replied =Like this Raizen Mountain Range. Wasn't in the last Kanto and certainly not from the Kanto I grew up in=

"You're near the Raizen Mountains?" La asked.

=Yes. Actually in a place called Crimson City= Takeru explained =They call it this because their main export is spices. There's even a festival that'll be starting up tomorrow called Fire Fest. Trainers with a Fire-Type get things half-off=

=ATTTSSSSUUUIII~!= a voice screamed as a blast of fire went behind Takeru.

=Ack! Edison! Ah...ah...Mizu...Mizu…Charlie, we need water!= Takeru panicked, throwing a ball out off-screen =Ah! Matte! Too much! Ano...G-Gotta go, La! Love you!= the screen turned off and turned back on to Alakai's face =How much do you think Edison mistook his tea cup for Joan's again?=

"Alakai!" La scolded, "...Still...Where's Crimson City?"

=That's actually our next stop before going to the mountains= Alakai noted as his screen changed to a map =See?=

"...Hmm...maybe this could work…" La pondered to herself.

=Eh?=

---

"Crimson City?" Ash blinked.

=Yes! It's a perfect place to get warm supplies for climbing up the mountains!= Alakai beamed.

"It sounds like a good idea. Mountain climbing can be difficult," Takuma spoke, "Some warmer clothing layers, extra food, and such could come in handy."

"Only issue is how much we tend to go through with food," Tsubaki noted.

=Not to worry! For tomorrow is the city's Fire Festival!= Alakai beamed =So long as you have a Fire-Type Pokemon, anything you purchase is half off! There's also all kinds of activities, booths, and even a tournament that focuses purely on Fire-Types!=

"Yes! We have tons of Fire Types on us!" Makoto cheered, earning a yip from Booster.

"And it'll give me time to train with Charmeleon! Right b-" Ash began before Charmeleon blew fire into his face, "...ack...I spoke too soon…"

"Best of all, a former Kanto League Champion will be there," La noted, making Ash, Takuma, and Ken look at her with wide eyes.

"C-champion?" Ash spoke.

"Oh I know!" Makoto cheered, "It's La's boyfriend!"

"Makoto, don't be ri…" Tsubaki began.

"How'd you guess?" La asked.

"Your smile," Makoto smirked, "You looked really happy when you said that part, and then you said it was the best of all...so I figure for you it is! Also Noel has this sixth sense for romance and twitches whenever she feels it in the air." she held up said blonde, who was scribbling in a notebook, "See?"

=Hilarious= Alakai snickered...before sweating a bit as Takuma, Ken, and Ash were all looking at him =...You shall not get me to reveal a thing about his team!=

"Get him," they spoke simply.

=ACK! NOT AGAIN!= Alakai panicked, barely avoiding the Blaziken, Pikachu, and Greninja that jumped at him and flew behind La =HELP! POKEDEX IN DANGER!=

"Hahaha...ah boys…" Makoto laughed.

"I'm...I'm just shocked Makoto was right," Tsubaki spoke.

"Ow…" Makoto replied jokingly.

"We had to hold Noel down to keep her from following and spying on you," Mai explained to La.

"She's such a romantic…" La chuckled.

"Well it sounds like a nice spot to rest before heading out," Brock added, "I can't wait to see what ingredients I can pick up there. I hear it's a hub for expotic spices from all over the world."

"...Who's turn is it to keep a close eye on Brock?" Mai asked in a deadpanned tone.

"Hmm…" Makoto and Tsubaki muttered, turning around before the latter slumped, then turned around as Makoto held her hand up.

"Hai...my turn…" Makoto dejectedly stated, "I just know all those spices are gonna give me sniffles."

"Hey, hey, hey. What's with that?" Brock asked.

=The Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy are both married, so no worries on that front= Alakai informed, as he revealed some social media posts as evidence =It's logical where he'd flirt first=

"I am not that bad," Brock defended. He then blinked as Takuma put his hand on his shoulder, he and Ken giving him the same look that read; 'Dude, come on, its us, your friends'.

"So what are the rules to this tournament?" Ash asked, practically bouncing in excitement.

=Checking= Alakai replied =Hmm...The results are in= his screen changed to a simulation of a field =Each Trainer gets just one Pokemon= the screen showed two trainers with a single Pokeball blinking above their heads =However, only Fire-Type Pokemon are allowed= the Pokeballs changed to the Fire-Type symbol.

"Oh, that makes sense what with the have a fire type and get an insta-discount in the shops." Makoto noted.

=The Winner of the Tournament receives a ton of Fire-Type items and products!= Alakai noted =Charcoal, Water Gems, Rock Gems. Anything that can help a Fire-Type in battle, it'll be part of the prize!=

"Hey that's pretty useful!" Takuma cheered, "Maybe something in there can help Charmeleon with his anger."

"(Anger?! Why you…)" Charmeleon growled before something went into his mouth, extinguishing his fire, "(ACK!)"

"(Cool down)," Hanzo ordered, lowering his outstretched hand.

"(I guess he needs more training)," Jin noted, picking Charmeleon up by his tail, "(How about training to get over the fear of water? Back into the river with ya.)"

"(Grr! Bring it, you oversized chicken!)" Chameleon barked.

"(...On second thought…Oi, Kage!)"

"(Yes?)"

"(Gh?!)" Jin jumped as he turned to see Ken's Greninja, "(...how do you do that?!)

"(A Shinobi never reveals their training outside of teaching apprentices)," Hanzo replied with Kage nodding in agreement.

"(Right...Anyway, we're training the little sparkster to get over his innate fear of water. Could you lend a hand...you know, up the level if you will?)"

"(Wait...what level...what level!?)" Charmeleon paused.

"(Up the level of lethality but will also up the level of experience gained)," Kage replied with a shrug, "(I'll just go get the weights, the barbed wire, and some mayonnaise.)"

"(Wait, wait, wait! What?! WHAT?! WHAT?!)"

'And this is this version of the one Satoshi-dono would always tell me was the strongest and coolest Fire-Type he's ever been friends with,' Hanzo thought.

---

"Thank you once more, Lady Aoiro, for being my Trainer for today," Velvet thanked, her staff replaced with a bright-red cane, as the two walked through a moderate-sized city, the buildings all painted the colors of fire with various fire-themed streamers and decorations scattered around, "With milady 'grounded' by Lord Giovanni, I was worried I would not be able to partake in the savings today."

"Of course. It is the least I can do," Aoiro nodded...before looking at a nearby restaurant, "That and I need help keeping my sister in line."

"YOU CALL THIS HOT?! I'VE HAD TOMATOH BERRIES HOTTER THAN THIS!" Karai's voice exclaimed from inside the restaurant.

"Well hopefully this doesn't…"

"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH MY COOKING, CHIBI!"

"Nevermind…" Aoiro sighed.

"Oh dear…" Velvet cringed.

"Ahaha...you...are a Big man," Karai chuckled before she was tossed out, "Ahh damn it!"

"Lady Karai, are you well?" Velvet asked as she used Psychic to help Karai up.

"Lousy shop had shit for spiciness," Karai snorted, "Seriously! This place is supposed to be known for its spicy food, and I've yet to have one meal that can burn my tastebuds!"

"First off...it's known for Spices...not spiciness," Aoiro corrected, "Spices are delicate ingredients that alter the taste and give it one of a kind flavor. Of course such depth and profound cooking is wasted on you who scarfs down junk food like candy, and often do stupid things like drink the hotsauce off the table."

"Oh come on! That's good stuff to guzzle down!" Karai defended herself before Velvet held a hand up while looking away from them.

"Lady Aorio, Lady Karai, they are here," Velvet noted.

"Hah? Who the hell ya talkin' 'bout?"

"Ash Ketchum and his group?" Aoiro questioned.

"Yes," Velvet replied, "I picked up Mr. Ketchum's thoughts. He will be participating in that Fire Tournament this afternoon."

"So ya knew it was them from the shorty's thoughts?" Karai asked.

"That and the older blue one's protection," Velvet replied.

"So the shorty's here...then that means..." Karai began with an excited grin.

"No," Aoiro cut her off.

"But you didn't even…"

"No."

"But!"

"No!"

"Mmm~! You never let me have fun!" Karai pouted as she sat down on the ground cross-legged, crossing her arms as she puffed her cheeks.

"...Do you refer to the one that resembled Lady Mu?" Velvet asked.

"Ugh...Forgot 'bout that," Karai flinched.

"Considering Butch and Cassidy's failure to obtain a sample, it will be up to us it seems," Aoiro noted.

"Ah what!? I don't want to do that! I don't even want to get close now given that...It's awkward and I don't wanna!"

"If you wish, I will perform the task," Velvet offered.

"Thank you, Velvet," Aoiro thanked, "But how to do so…" she looked over at a poster showcasing a Magmar and a Charizard trading fire-engulfed blows, "Perfect."

---

"Well, Crimson City sure lives up to its name," Brock noted.

"This is a lot of red, yellow, and orange," Misty noted.

"It feels warm...in a good way," Makoto added.

"The aura in the air is quite warm despite the cold aura coming from the mountains," Luca noted, his eyes closed, "Perhaps from all the Fire-Types I can sense."

"Whoa...There are so many fire types I've never seen before!" Ash cheered, fast walking ahead with Dexter out.

"Over there is a Magmar with a Magby," Kajun listed as she looked around, her Pokedex Notebook in hand, "Oh, she has a Rapidash and that man over there has a Talonflame all the way from Kalos."

"Look, a Volcarona!" Takuma pointed to a moth-like Pokemon flying behind a trainer.

"Oh~It...It's a Bug, but it's really pretty, too," Noel gasped before a football (soccerball to those in the US) bopped Makoto in the face.

"BWAH!" Makoto yelped as she fell flat on her back, "..." she jumped up, "Okay, who kicked the ball?!"

"Scor-scor-scor…" a voice giggled, making her look to see a small white rabbit-like Pokemon with an orange nose, eyes, tip of its feet and ears, and on the sides of its neck with bandages on the bridge of his nose and under his feet.

"U-usagi…" Noel awed with stars in her eyes as she stared at the little Pokemon as it scratched its nose.

"What Pokemon is that?" Ash asked, aiming Dexter, but got a negative sound.

=No data available= Dexter informed.

"A new Pokemon?!" Kajun asked, her eyes flashing for a moment.

"Pele!" a voice called before Takeru ran over and scooped up the snickering rabbit, "Ah mou, why do you always run off so fast when you spot one of those?" he turned to Makoto and bowed, "Gomen. He was recently hatched so I'm having to keep an eye on him." he straightened up before spotting La, "Oh! La!"

"Takeru!" La beamed as she hugged the guy.

"Scor? Scorbunny?" the rabbit Pokemon asked, looking up at Takeru while pointing at La.

"Yes, she is who I've been telling you about," Takeru replied.

"It's him! The mystery boyfriend!" Makoto exclaimed, "And the bunny is his...Wait, what is he?"

=This is Pele, a Scorbunny= a feminine voice came from Takeru's pocket before an orange phone popped out of it before it spun around, showing a face like Alakai's =Hello! I'm Athena!=

"Eh...a Smart phone version," Tsubaki spoke, looking closer.

"Where is Scorbunny from?" Noel asked.

=He's a Starter Pokemon from a very far off region called Galar= Athena happily explained =Galar is very far away from most regions, so it's somewhat isolated, and has some of the rarest Pokemon around! Scorbunny is the region's Fire Starter, of course=

"Scor!" Pele cheered, jumping around before jumping off Makoto's head and then off of Ash's and onto Takeru's shoulder, "Bun!"

=But to better explain= Athena cleared her throat =Scorbunny, the Rabbit Pokemon. Scorbunny uses its powerful legs to run and jump around its opponents, confusing and disorienting them. The soles of its feet can become very hot, and Scorbunny can kick opponents to damage and burn them, too! Scorbunny has a fire sac in its chest, which contains viscous fire energy. If Scorbunny is able to increase its heart rate and body temperature by running around and warming up properly, the true power of its fire energy will be awakened and its physical capabilities will greatly increase=

"He recently hatched," Takeru explained, scratching Pele's chin, "So he's learning everything he can. Right, Edison?" a silence followed, "...Edison?"

"Over here!" a voice called before a slender, raptor-like Charizard approached, wearing a silver necklace resembling armor plating with a few large bags in its claws and a Pikachu on its back, wearing a blue scarf and green-rimmed glasses, with a noticabled diagonal cut on the largest part of its tail.

"Is that a Charizard?" Mai asked in surprise.

"Yes, this is Joan," Takeru explained, petting the Charizard's head before the Pikachu jumped onto his free shoulder, "And this is my Starter, Edison."

"Eh? You also have a Pikachu starter?" Tsubaki blinked, earning a chuckle from Edison.

"Greetings and Bienvenue," Edison greeted with a bow.

"Who said that?" Noel blinked.

"I did," Edison replied, "A pleasure to see you once more, La."

"Hello, Edison," La greeted, scratching the Pikachu's chin, "No troubles with a Professor mistaking your tail for a slice of cheese again, right?"

"That was only the one time with Samson and you know it!" Edison exclaimed, his cheeks glowing in embarrassment.

"No wonder she wasn't shocked by the talking Meowth," Ken muttered.

"I think Noel wants to cuddle the two shoulder riders," Makoto giggled.

"Noel?" Edison repeated before Pele pointed at the blond looking at the two with wide, excited eyes, "...Why is it that every young woman wants to hug me? Good heavens. Ah, very well. Shall we get this over with, young Pele?"

"Scor!" Pele beamed as he jumped over to Noel's shoulder and looked down at Yuki, "Scor? Scor-bun?"

"She's from Alola, so she's an Ice-Type and not a Fire-Type," La explained.

"Bunny…" Pele nodded before petting Yuki, "Scor-bun-scor."

"...I wonder how he'd react to Honey?" Makoto pondered.

"Bun?" said Buneary blinked, poking out of Makoto's tail.

"Bun?" Pele pondered as he looked over at Honey, "Bun?!"

"No, she's a Buneary," Takeru explained, "Not a Shiny Scorbunny that fell into a Wooloo's coat."

"What is a Wooloo?" Ash asked.

=Allow me~= Athena replied as her screen changed to display a sheep-like Pokemon covered in a giant ball of wool =Wooloo, the Sheep Pokemon. The white fur that covers their bodies grows throughout their lives, and it will fully grow back in three months even if the Wooloo has been completely shorn. The fur is used for clothing and carpets and the like, and it is very popular as a specialty product of the Galar region. Wooloo live as a herd and mimic the actions of their Trainer or herd leader. They dislike conflict, and if they need to escape from enemies, they will simply roll away= at that, she showed a video of a Wooloo rolling around like a tumbleweed in the breeze...with a corgi-like Pokemon covered in electricity chasing it while barking happily.

"CORGI!" Noel beamed as she looked at the screen with Yuki, the latter's tails wagging while watching the rolling sheep, "What's it called?! I must know!"

=That would be Yamper= Alakai replied as his screen showed a better image of the corgi-like Pokemon =Known as the Puppy Pokemon, Yamper has a tendency to be drawn to things that are moving quickly. It can chase after people and Pokémon or even go charging at vehicles!. Yamper has an organ in its body that generates electricity, and this organ is activated when Yamper runs around. Yamper can't store the electricity it generates, so it's often seen running around with electric sparks crackling around it=

"Oh, kawaii…" Noel cooed.

"Vul~!" Yuki yipped before several stomachs rumbled.

"Guess we're all hungry, huh?" Takeru asked, "We were about to go get some lunch. I don't mind paying for everyone."

"Sweet! F-" Makoto began.

"Four plates max," Tsubaki instantly spoke.

"Mou…"

"They really are as colorful as you've said!" Takeru laughed.

---

"She's from another world like Hanzo?" Ash repeated as they were all seated at a private booth near the back so they could exclaim and shout to their heart's content without bothering others.

"Yes," Takeru replied as he looked over at Joan, who was drinking a bit of bright-red steaming tea while curled up around the smaller Pokemon that were eating from their bowls, "She was lost, no 'master' as she likes to call Trainers, so I took her in."

"It did take a bit of convincing, though," La noted, resting a hand on his leg, "Takeru...lost a good friend a few days before and it took everyone in his party and me to convince him that he wasn't replacing our friend."

"Wow…" Ash awed.

"No one gonna talk about how it seems portals that suck people from other worlds seem to be normal round these parts?" Makoto muttered.

=Oh, they're quite often= Alakai noted as he showed a page of data on his screen =At least well over a hundred Ultra Wormholes form and disperse in a single day in the Kanto Region, but the chances of anything coming out of one or going into one is less than one in a hundred thousand. There's also the fact that most of the time, these Ultra Wormholes are barely the size of a thimble and are rarely big enough for anything large to go through. Trust me, I am the Pokedex for a scientist that researches these phenomena after all=

"Kay..." Makoto muttered as if knowing something...which technically she did.

"She's been a faithful member of our family and one I have always been grateful in knowing," Edison noted as he took a sip of his own tea beside Pikachu, "Ah, a spot of ketchup in a cup of earl grey tea hits the right spot."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded.

"Do all Pikachu love ketchup?" Mai asked.

"Does Ash have a Clear Bell?" La replied with a wink.

"Ketchup contains several key vitamins and minerals in a normal diet for us," Edison replied, "Though moderation is key. Too much will cause us to act like newborns and shock ourselves."

"Pika-pi…" Pikachu nodded.

"Hm? A Clear Bell?" Takeru pondered as Ash looked around before showing Takeru it, "Ah~! That's so cool! I hope you'll train hard to be ready for when it rings."

"And making sure a certain trio of idiots don't steal it," Makoto added, making Takeru raise a brow.

"A trio that's part of Team Rocket keeps trying to steal our Pokemon and we fear they'll steal it," Tsubaki explained.

"Interesting…" Takeru muttered as if going through Deja vu.

"What trio?" Edison asked.

"(Their names are Jessie, James, and they have a talking Meowth. They…)" Pikachu began.

"Who?" Edison and Takeru asked, looking at Pikachu.

"(...Uh...D-Did I say something wrong?)" Pikachu asked.

"Those three are after you?" Takeru asked, scowling.

"Um...Yes?"

"...Pardon me," Takeru apologized as he headed for the restrooms.

La cringed, "I forgot about that."

"Forgot what?" Ken asked.

"Those three? Jessie, James, and Meowth? That Pokemon I mentioned before of Takeru's? ...James' Koffing killed him," La explained, earning shocked looks from the original group.

"That infernal trio…" Edison growled, clenching his paws tightly enough to draw blood.

"Wait...he's met them before!?" they all gawked.

"Several times," Edison replied as Joan let out a growl, "None of us will ever forgive them for ending the life of our good friend Karl."

"I never took those idiots to be able to do anything," Takuma spoke, earning Edison's attention.

"Yeah...they kinda fail at...everything." Misty added, making the talking Pikachu blink.

"Can't even make a decent pit trap. Without falling into it themselves..." Makoto muttered.

"(The trio here are more like the trio I encountered, just lacking experience)," Hanzo informed, earning a nod from Edison.

=So who's going to participate in the tournament today?= Athena asked =Master is going to be in it with Joan so Pele can see what Pokemon Battles are about!=

"Scor?" said Scorbunny asked, popping the bottle of red-tinted milk he was sucking on.

=You'll be rooting Joan on, won't you?= Athena asked.

"Bun~!" Pele beamed with a nod.

"I'll be entering Jin," Takuma cheered, turning to his Blaziken who was lazily drinking a cup of coffee with the others.

"Ruby," La replied.

"I'll be bringing in Vulpix," Brock noted.

"Booster all the way!" Makoto beamed.

"Flare!" said Flareon beamed.

"Me and Charmeleon are planning to enter," Ash added, "I hope it will help us bond."

"Bond?" Edison repeated.

"His Charmeleon has become very stubborn and doesn't follow orders since he evolved," La explained.

"Really? That didn't happen with Joan," Edison noted as Takeru returned.

"Ash's Charmeleon used to belong to a very bad trainer that abandoned it," Takuma explained, "Looks like that trauma has resurfaced upon evolving."

"I really hope I can connect to Charmeleon again," Ash sighed, "He's a great Pokemon and a good friend, even if he acts like a jerk right now."

"I see…" Takeru noted, "Well, maybe he just needs to see just why bonds are important. I hope you and I can battle in the tournament this afternoon."

---

"...Tournament, eh?" Karai whispered to herself, her ear against the wall of the restaurant the group was in, "Very interesting...and Pachirisu gal is competing…"

"You are not using any of your Pokemon you've used around them already," Aoiro ordered.

"Gah!" Karai yelped, spinning around to see the two, "How the…?!"

"Your thoughts were about Ms. Nanaya and commenting on her figure," Velvet replied.

"You stop poking around in my head…"

"You really should. It's a particularly disgusting place," Aoiro smirked.

"I plan on using Amnesia when we return home," Velvet replied.

"Hey. I can appreciate the female body anytime I want," Karai huffed, "Especially if it's Pachirisu gal's body."

"...It's mostly her chest, isn't it?" Aoiro deadpanned.

"...Maybe…" Karai muttered.

"She's mentally declaring 'long live oppai' and other such things."

"Outta my noggin!" Karai barked.

"Then behave," Aoiro countered.

"Nevah!"

"Well then she won't leave your 'noggin' and you will never have privacy ever again."

"...Lady Aoiro, must I?" Velvet asked in a private link with Aoiro.

"No, not really, but she doesn't need to know that." she whispered.

"Fair, Lady Aoiro."

"You are no fun…" Karai complained.

"You can't use Velvet since she will have a mission during that time," Aoiro added.

"Drat!" Karai snapped, "...Wait...I can use that one…"

"You're not using Blackfire."

"I know that...I mean my other Fire Type~"

"...Burn anything outside the ring and I swear I'll make it so you won't feel anything below the neck for a week."

"Teacher taught Serenade and I a way to make one think they're paralyzed from the neck down, Lady Aoiro," Velvet offered.

"Perfect," Aoiro smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Karai waved them off.

"I believe that will be the best we can g-Oh! Silver asked me to check if they had those here!" Velvet noted as she scurried off to a store.

"...Remind me again why our scary sis has the nicest Pokemon ever?" Karai asked, "Seriously, I saw her giving lollipops to the grunts in the medical ward the other day."

"Mu said she liked Fenikens, so Kira took extra care of her and raised her right," Aoiro answered.

Karai nodded, "Yeah...She did. Then again, anything fluffy and adorable always caught her eye, even if it wasn't as cute as before when it evolves."

"Indeed."

---

"So glad we got everything before this started," Tsubaki noted as Luca sat by everyone's stuffed bags, filled with everything they'd need for the trip upwards...before forming a bone club made of green energy and swiftly whacked a long pink tongue coming for the bag of food, letting it zip back to a pudgy pink Pokemon who scurried away.

"This will be good training for my Aura Sense," Luca chuckled, "Especially if a Fire-Type tries to sneak a bite."

"Oh, it's starting," Noel noted as everyone in the stands looked at the battle field before them.

"Welcome to the Fire Festival's Fire Tournament! For those of you joining us for the first time, this tournament is for Fire-Type Pokemon to battle in! All the Trainers participating today will only use a single Fire-Type and a single Pokemon only! And to the winner, they will receive one of everything a Fire-Type Pokemon will need and several items Trainers will need to handle Fire-Types! And to top it off, we have a special guest all the way from Hoenn to help judge the tournament!"

"Special guest?" Mai blinked at that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the granddaughter of Fallarbor Town's Gym Leader, Flannery Moore!"

The audience applauded towards a nearby judge's table. Sitting at it with a small blush was a young woman with her long red hair pulled up into an eruption shape held up by a blue band in her hair. She had eyes as red as her hair along with a belt just as red on her jeans. She had black shoes and a snug-fitting black tee with a fireball printed on the chest. A pair of Pokemon resembling slugs made of magma was standing beside her, looking around and tilting their heads. What she was sitting on was a large black tortoise shell with a vent on the top while a long orange turtle's head and neck poked out, giving a yawn before going back into its shell.

"Those are Slugma and a Torkoal," Kajun noted, looking at her Pokedex Notebook.

"I heard she named her Slugma Mag and Meg to tell them apart," Ken noted.

"...Brock, no," Misty frowned, instantly grabbing Brock the moment he shot up with hearts in his eyes.

"But…!"

"Mimikyu," Brock looked down to see Kyo looking up at him.

"I asked Kyo to pop out anytime he senses you want to flirt today," La explained.

"Ah…" Brock shivered as Kyo's shadow arms wrapped around him in a hug, "...I'll...just sit down." he did so and Kyo let go and simply cuddled into his lap.

"Good boy," La giggled as she gave Kyo a bag of Pokebeans that he pulled under his costume.

"So does anyone know who the first match is?" Misty asked.

"Without further ado, Flannery, if you'd please activate the roulette?" the announcer called.

"Alrighty," Flannery shrugged before pushing the button before her, causing the screen above her to display a pair of wheels that spun around until skidding to a halt.

"Our first match is Brock Slate against Makoto Nanaya!" the announcer declared.

"Sweet! I'm up first!" Makoto beamed as she shot up and ran onto one side of the field, "Let's go, Booster!"

"Flare!"

"Alright," Brock smiled as Vulpix walked out with him, "Let's give it our best, Vulpix."

"Vulpix!" Vulpix yipped in agreement.

"Now that both competitors are ready, let the match begin!" the announcer declared.

"Let's go!" Flannery cheered as her Slugma let out a blast of fire in unison to signal the start.

"Quick Attack!" Makoto ordered.

"Flare!" Booster complied as she rushed up to Vulpix at high speed.

"Confuse Ray!" Brock ordered.

"Vulpix~!" Vulpix cried out as her eyes glowed yellowed before releasing a beam that hit Booster, causing her to stumble as she began to shake her head and dart around.

"Ack! Booster, what are ya doing?!" Makoto exclaimed, "No, no, no, no, no! Don't hit the wall!"

"FLARE!"

"And...she hit the wall…" Ken muttered..

"That was Confuse Ray. When a Pokemon is hit by it, they become confused for a bit," Brock explained, "More often than not, they'll hurt themselves in the confusion."

"Oh no...Booster!" Makoto panicked as her poor Pokemon was now running in a circle chasing her own tail, "Ah geez...oh! Try and use Dig!"

"Flare~!" Booster groaned before she ended up using Flamethrower instead, breathing a stream of fire at Vulpix.

"Ahh! I said Dig; not Flamethrower!" Makoto freaked.

"That confusion hits hard," Mai noted as the fire engulfed Vulpix...only for it to be soaked into her tails, "Uh...what just happened?"

"Flash Fire," Kajun explained, "A Fire-Type with that Ability can't be harmed by Fire-Type moves and get stronger from them."

"So fire attacks are essentially non-effective," Misty noted.

"Guess that means if Booster regains control, she will need to use non Fire-Type moves," Ash spoke.

"But Flareon also has Flash Fire...how will Brock deal damage?" Ken noted.

"Vulpix, Extrasensory!" Brock ordered.

"Vul…" Vulpix began as her eyes flashed as Booster was lifted up into the air, "Pix!" with that, the force lifting the poor confused Booster stopped, letting her flail and fall back down to the ground.

"What the flip?!" Makoto gawked, "When did she know that?"

"Oh, she taught Yuki Confuse Ray in return for Extrasensory," Brock replied.

"Flar…." Booster groaned before her legs kicked and she pushed herself up, shaking her head and regaining her senses, "Flare!? Flareon!?" she cried, jumping from left to right before turning to Makoto as if asking what happened.

"Ugh, we're in for it now. Booster, use Swift!"

"Eon!" Booster shouted as she let out a barrage of stars from her mouth.

"Vulpix, stop them with Extrasensory!" Brock ordered.

"Vul!"

Vulpix's eyes flashed and stopped the stars, but it was a struggle as they kept piling up with the newer stars slamming into the older ones.

"Come on, Booster! Keep adding 'em on! Swift and Swift again!" Makoto cheered on.

"Flareon~!" Booster yelled as she kept firing more and more stars at Vulpix.

"It's become a battle of wills," Kajun noted, "How long can both Pokemon use one attack will decide this."

"Come on!" Makoto cheered.

"Just hang on a little more, Vulpix!" Brock added.

Both Pokemon grunted as the two attacks continued to clash. It eventually became too much as the Swift stars began flashing, indicating they were about to detonate. Soon enough, that they did, filling the arena with smoke and dust. Vulpix blinked as it looked around confused.

"Dig!" Makoto cheered as the ground cracked as Booster rushed out and slammed head first into Vulpix from below.

"VULP?!" Vulpix yelped in surprise as she was sent flying into the air.

"Flareon have high physical attack stats and Dig being a Ground move makes it especially effective," Kajun noted.

"Yes!" Makoto cheered, "Way to go, Booster! Now let's wrap it up with Quick Attack!"

"Vulpix, quick! Counter with Confuse Ray!" Brock called out.

"No you don't! Booster, dive down into Dig!" Makoto ordered as Booster jumped and aimed down at the ground and burrowed right into it just before the flash could hit it.

The ground shifted and moved as Booster still kept her speed from Quick Attack while tunneling through the ground. Eventually, the ground exploded as the Flareon jumped out and once more slammed into Vulpix. Vulpix let out a cry as she crashed down onto the ground near Brock. She struggled to get up before collapsing, her eyes replaced with swirls.

"And we have a winner!" Flannery declared as the Slugma to her left let out a Flamethrower into the air, "Flareon wins!"

"Booyah!" Makoto whooped as she quickly scooped up Booster, "We did it, Booster! Free badge and…!"

"Makoto…" Tsubaki frowned from the stands.

"Eh heh heh.. Kidding I'm kidding," Makoto chuckled sheepishly as she approached Brock, "Seriously though, great match."

"It was fun," Brock agreed, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Flare!" Booster cheered nuzzling Vulpix, helping her stand back up in the process.

"Vul…" Vulpix spoke.

"And now for the next contestants!" the announcer declared once the two had left.

"Let's spin!" Flannery called as she pushed the button once more.

"And our next contestants are…" the announcer spoke before the wheels stopped, "Ash Ketchum and Takeru!"

"Looks like we're up," Takeru noted as he got up.

"Sweet!" Ash beamed as he got up, "Let's go, Charmel-!"

*FWOOSH~!*

"Char…" Charmeleon huffed, already resting on his side as a burnt and crispy Ash stood there.

"Ow…" Ash grunted.

"Hmm...That's not good," Takeru noted before Joan snorted before letting out a few growls at Charmeleon.

"Char?!" Charmeleon snarled, earning a few more growls from Joan, "Char…" he ran out onto the field, pointing repeatedly at Joan and the field, "Charchar-charmeleon! Char-char!"

"...What'd she say?" Mai asked.

"Oh several buttons that those with Charmeleon's personality have," Edison replied from his spot on La's lap.

"Oh…"

"Let the match begin!" the announcer called out.

"Go time!" Flannery called as both her Slugma fired Flamethrower into the air.

"Joan, Flamethrower," Takeru ordered.

Joan's eyes narrowed before she released a Flamethrower at Charmeleon. Charmeleon growled as he raised his arms to take it, but grunted as the sheer force of the blast knocked him over and sent him skidding to Ash's feet. Charmeleon growled, getting back up as he glared as Joan.

"Tail Whip," Takeru ordered.

Joan growled before turning around, pausing when her back was mostly to Charmeleon. In a single flick, she swung her tail...and unleashed a pressurized blast of air that slammed into Charmeleon, sending him tumbling back to Ash's feet once more.

"It was surprising when we learned that some moves she learned acted not only as a stat lowering move, but also as an offensive attack when they're normally just stat affecting," La noted, "She actually taught everyone in our ohana how to do those moves in return for learning the ones that can't do the attack half of it."

"Interesting," Kajun noted, writing that info down on some notepads, "This'll come in handy…"

"Are you going to try to give Charmeleon some advice?" Takeru asked, looking at Ash.

"Oh! Charmeleon, be sure t-WOAH!" Ash yelped when Charmeleon tried hitting him with Flamethrower.

"Char Charmeleon Char!"

"It's worse than I thought…" Takeru whispered to himself before speaking aloud, "Joan, light hits please."

"(Yes, master)," Joan replied before rushing at Charmeleon and began to deliver slaps with her tail to knock him around.

"Whoa! She's fast!" Makoto gawked.

=It's her build that lets her get away with that speed= Alakai noted =Oh! Charmeleon's using Rage!=

"So it was dependent on Rage as well. Quite the storm of unfortunate circumstances," Takeru spoke, "Joan, avoid its attacks. Let it exhaust its own energy."

"CHAR!" Charmeleon roared, constantly trying to slash at Joan in his rage-induced state, only for the fully evolved Pokemon to simply fly out of the way to the other side of the battlefield each time he got close, "CHARMELEON!"

"He's waiting for Rage to run out of power and Charmeleon stamina." Tsubaki realized.

"A Trainer's talent is but one factor to raising a Pokemon, another is the Pokemon's own personality," Takeru began, "Sometimes some Pokemon, like people, need a good dose of reality. Which is how Joan feels. So...we shall help Charmeleon learn this," he spoke just as Joan landed once more, "Thunder Punch!" he ordered just as Charmeleon lunged at her.

Electricity erupted from Joan's right fist. Just as Charmeleon neared, she swung and got him on the underside of his jaw. He let out a cry as he was sent into the air, his body erupting in electrical shocks. He snapped his fingers and Joan shot up into the air before slamming her tail on the airborne Charmeleon, sending him crashing down onto the ground and actually broke it apart.

"Wow…" Ash awed slightly.

"Ash!" Takeru spoke up, "You are a kind trainer with great talent, but Charmeleon is a very difficult Pokemon in his current state. Earning his bond and trust could be very difficult, but so long as you honestly try then you are already going above and beyond. But that doesn't change the fact that your Charmeleon is a blockhead who deserves a good lesson now and again."

"Y-Yeah," Ash nodded.

"I also notice that you have a Key Stone," Takeru noted as Joan pulled Charmeleon up by his tail, letting the second stage Fire-Type Starter try to swipe at her again, "If you can gain his trust and bond with him, I hope you'll find a Charizardite."

"(...Why do you carry that?)" Joan asked, her tail pointing at Charmeleon's blanket.

"(Huh?)"

"(That blanket. Why do you carry it?)"

"(What's it to you?!)"

"(It seems out of place with someone as temperamental as you. Did you steal it from a hatchling to show how strong you are?)"

"(WHAT?! NO!)"

"(Then why would someone like you keep such a thing? It doesn't suit one as unrefined as you, so what reason could you have to keep such a thing?)" she went on, "(If you don't know the answer then maybe it's because you've already forgotten why you hang on to that rag.)"

"(Huh?)" Charmeleon questioned, his grip loosening enough to let Takeru spot the Mega Stone he kept in it.

"Ah, you already have one," Takeru noted before snapping his fingers, causing Joan to lightly toss him over to Ash, "Well, I may as well let you see what you two will achieve when you trust one another bond."

"Huh?" Ash pondered before Takeru pulled back his sleeve to reveal a black wristband that had a blue gem on the top...with a Key Stone on the underside of it, "?!"

"Joan," Takeru spoke as the raptor-like Charizard flicked the piece of armor on her neck, causing it to flip around to reveal a Mega Stone.

"Mega Evolution," Takuma spoke as Takeru tapped the Key Stone on his band, causing it to light up.

Joan's stone began to shine as well before the bolts of energy shot out of both and collided. The bolts returned to Joan's as she began to glow.

"When the trust between Trainer and Pokemon is at its zenith! Joan, Mega Shinka!" Takeru called out as the glow grew strong enough to hide her details and leave just her outline.

Joan's body transformed, becoming more muscular and larger. Spikes emerged on the back of her neck as her horns grew longer and sharper with a smaller one growing beneath both horns. The horn-like bits on her wings grew thicker and became curved spikes as the bottom halves of them gained a shredded design. Two curved spikes emerged on the front and back of her shoulders as the glow died down, revealing the orange of her body had become charcoal black as the underside of her body, the insides of her wings, and the tips of her shoulder spikes and her head horns became a deep cobalt. Blue fire billowed out of the sides of her jaws as the flame on her tail had turned blue as well. She swung her arms before her before swinging them out as her eyes snapped open-revealing them to have turned a brilliant crimson-, letting out a massive roar as the symbol of Mega Evolution with an 'X' behind it briefly appeared before her. The roar actually caused a burst of air that nearly knocked everyone over and nearly caused Flannery's table to fall on her if her Torkoal hadn't poked out and caught it.

"Mai...Is that…?" Makoto began with wide eyes.

"Yep. That's the dragon I saw when I licked the Charizardite Ash has," Mai replied.

=Mega Charizard X!= Alakai exclaimed =The Mega Flame Pokemon. The power of Mega Evolution gives Charizard so much power that its body has become pitch black and its flames have become the hottest flames imaginable! Due to Charizard's two Mega Evolutions, the nickname for Mega Charizard X is 'Envoy of the End'=

"Well that's not dark at all…" Makoto spoke, "But so cool…"

"Dragon Claw," Takeru ordered.

Joan snarled, her voice deeper and gravellier, before swings her claws out. Red energy erupted off them before reshaping into far larger, sharper claws. Charmeleon grunted as he was struck and sent skidding back across the ground. The poor Pokemon coughing in pain from the amazing force behind that attack. Another strike like that and he wouldn't be able to get back up for this fight.

"(So...would you like to stay down? I do not like overkill,)" Joan spoke as Charmeleon grunted.

"(I ain't goin' down…)" Charmeleon growled.

"(So you say, but I doubt you could do anything alone. You are rejecting a Master who could make you stronger)," Joan spoke, "(Pokemon of amazing power exist without Masters yes, but the power we gain with one we form a true bond of trust with is even greater. You felt it once, did you not? Back when you were a little Charmander?)"

"Char?" he paused for a moment at that.

"Tail Whip," Takeru ordered.

Charmeleon coughed in pain as he was sent skidding across the ground and towards Ash. Charmeleon grunted, pushing himself up as best he could. He then blinked, turning to Ash who was giving him a look of concern. He blinked slowly before collapsing, his eyes replaced with swirls, his last thoughts were of the look Ash was giving him.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle! Charizard wins!" Flannery declared as the Slugma on her left fired Flamethrower once more.

Joan glowed before reverting to her normal state. Takeru sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I really hope that this got through to Charmeleon," Takeru noted as Joan walked over to him and began nuzzling against him, "I know, we can only try our best." he smiled, returning the affection.

"That's kinda weird," Ken noted, "Normally, when I think of Charizards, I think they're always looking for another fight."

"Not really. That's mainly wild Charizard without a home or one that relishes battle," La replied, "Joan only fights when she needs to. The rest of the time, she's often the figurative mother Blaziken to the younger Pokemon we have."

"I guess it just goes to show even the scarier looking Pokemon can be big old sweethearts if raised properly." Makoto noted.

"Case in point," La thumbed at Manny, humming to his scar-ridden self as he rolled a lint brush on his Alolan shirt beside her. He then realized attention was set on him and fumbled to hide the lint brush while trying to nonchalantly whistle.

"Well...I hope Ash is able to help Charmeleon get to be like that," Noel spoke.

Speaking of Ash, he crouched down next to his Pokemon as he slowly put his hand on his back, earning his attention. Ash smiled, rubbing his back slowly, "It's okay...we'll get stronger, and win next time!"

"Meleon…" he grumbled before growling in annoyance when Ash began to move his hand away.

"He says 'He didn't say stop that nice rubbing,'" Takeru chuckled as he pulled out a bright yellow bottle with a green liquid inside of it.

"Char-char…" he grumbled as Ash decided to continue.

"A Full Restore," Takeru offered the bottle.

"Thanks," Ash smiled as Charmeleon kept grumbling while crossing his arms.

"Shall we move on to the next match, folks?" the announcer asked, earning cheers as Takeru and Ash went back to their seats.

"That was great!" Makoto cheered as they returned.

"I think we made a good chink in Charmeleon's ego armor." Takeru smiled.

=I am so glad to finally see you Mega Evolve!= Athena squeed, zipping around him and Joan =You never showed it off at all when we were in Galar! All I got was data on the Dynamax and Gigantmax, but never your Mega Evolutions! And this was the first time you've shown me one! Oh, it was amazing! Stupendous! Fantastic!=

"And this is why he didn't want to show it," Edison chuckled.

"Wait...what's Dynamax?" Makoto asked.

"And Gigantimax?" Noel added.

=Well I can't say much but think of it almost like Mega Evolution...only it's not an exclusive club. Gigantimax however is a little exclusive, but it only happens in Galar and nowhere else=

"Tsubaki...can we go to Galar?" Makoto asked with excitement and stars in her eyes..

"Mm-Mm!" Noel nodded, she really wanted a Yamper after seeing it.

"Pix!" Yuki yipped, earning a giggle from La and a chuckle from Edison, Luca, and Takeru.

"You're much too young for chasing Wooloo to jump in their wool, hatchling," Edison noted.

"It does sound like an interesting region…" Tsubaki noted.

"They say it has one of the most unique Pokemon Leagues in the world," Takeru added, "Though it's not easy to get into it as others as well…" he chuckled.

"Eh?" the girls blinked.

"Galar has a high level Pokemon league. To even begin to compete, you need a sponsorship." Takeru began, "Then you need to challenge the Gyms which are changed and rearranged each season. Then there is either the Pokemon League or Elite Four challenge to get a chance to challenge the Champion."

"Elite Four Challenge?" Makoto blinked.

"A method of gaining a chance to challenge the champion by fighting the Four strongest trainers after the Champion," he explained.

"You mean like how the Elite Four are Loreli, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance here in Kanto?" Brock asked.

"Exactly!" Takeru smiled, "I haven't met the Elite Four of Galar, but I did meet their Champion while I was there for a bit. He's pretty amazing, and his Charizard is way stronger!"

=He has an undefeated streak right now, too!= Athena beamed.

"Which is more amazing in Galar where Pokemon battles are even more intense!" Takeru smiled, "I hear he's excited to sponsor his little brother when he's ready for his journey."

"Nepotism for the win…" Makoto whispered jokingly.

"Wow. Galar sounds kinda awesome," Mai spoke.

"It also has the world's largest Pokemon Nature biome: the Wild Area," Takeru spoke, "A large nature preserve where powerful and rare Pokemon roam free."

"Really?" Kajun blinked in interest at that.

"Yep, lots of amazing and unexplained things happen there," Takeru went on, "After Pele has gotten a little older, I plan to return to the Galar region and begin a new adventure!"

"Ahh...cool."

"Ladies and gents, it's time for our next contestants!" the announcer called out.

"Spinning!" Flannery called as she pushed the button.

"And our next two tainers are...Billy Vs Karai!"

"...Why do I feel…" Makoto began.

"WHOO! The Ultimate Safari Zone Hunter has returned!" Billy roared as he ran onto the field, his Houndoom running after him.

"Oh not him again…" Misty groaned as she felt a headache coming on.

"Why us?" Tsubaki sighed.

"Alright! Wh-..." Billy began before a pillar of flame rose up.

"WASSUP BITCHES~~~~!?" Karai's voice cackled as she slid onto the field on her knees, doing a riff on her guitar.

"GH?!" Billy and Houndoom tensed in fear.

"AHH! NOT HER!" Makoto freaked as she bolted behind Mai and Tsubaki.

"Oh no…" everyone else sighed.

"Who that?" Takeru innocently asked.

"A trainer with a REALLY dangerous Charizard," Mai answered.

"And she keeps staring at me like a piece of meat!" Makoto added, "And not in the food sense either!"

"...what is she doing here?" Kit whispered, standing in the bleachers across from the group, "...Did the boss call on her and…?"

"Agent Kit," Aoiro whispered behind her, making Kit tense.

"L...lady White Truth…"

"I'm surprised to see you both here," Aoiro noted, "Fortunately, I have a task for you both when he loses. We need you two to cause a commotion that will give Velvet an opportunity to obtain something one of those in the group Ash Ketchum travels with has."

"...and what is this task if I may ask, milady?"

"That is top secret for now," Aoiro stated before looking out at the battlefield.

"Huh...Billy, eh? Still talking hot shit I see," Karai noted with a toothy grin.

"Y...yeah…" Billy nodded...while his legs shook like crazy, "Oi oi! Stop that, legs!"

"You need a minute twitchy?" Karai joked.

"N….no!" Billy barked, "Besides, me and Houndoom are gonna topple you off your high horse! Right, b-OI!" he barked when a shaking Houndoom jumped into his arms, "Don't 'Scooby Doo' me now, buddy!"

"..." Makoto looked at Kajun.

"Great dane is replaced with a Midday Lycanroc," Kajun whispered.

"Awesome," Makoto smiled.

"Hmm...what to use.." Karai pondered before smirking as she pulled out a pitch black Pokeball, "Oh I got it~ Oh Phantasm, let's go~"

With that, she tossed it out. The ball opened, letting out a burst of blue flames that transformed into a strange Pokemon. It resembled a pitch black chandelier. It had a striped, round head, and round, pupil-less yellow eyes. There was a ring of small, black spikes on top of its head with a tall, purple flame in the middle. From a black spike below its head, black arms curled upward, each tipped with purple fire.

=Chandelure, the Luring Pokemon and the final form of Litwick= Dexter informed =Chandelure's fires do not burn its victims physically, instead burning their spirit. After hypnotizing its opponent by waving these flames, it absorbs the victim's spirit. It is said that the spirits burned up in its ominous flame lose their way and wander this world forever=

"...Well that's not creepy," Makoto deadpanned.

"They're a Pokemon native to Unova," La noted, "Hospitals tend to have Priests live in them to perform daily prayers to evict them from the hospitals to prevent that from happening to patients."

"How did you…?" Ken began to ask.

"Before I turned eleven and moved in with my grandmother in Alola, I was born and grew up in Unova," La replied, "And you never asked."

"Ooh! Sassy La…" Makoto smiled.

"She does that," Takeru smiled, wrapping an arm around La's waist.

"It's also a really powerful Pokemon, with amazing special attack stats, a diverse move pool, and most times an ability that discourages direct contact," Takuma added.

=Only thing it lacks? It can't learn moves through experience= Alakai noted.

=It's true. Chandelure are a Pokemon that require moves to be taught to it instead of learning it through battling= Athena added.

"Um...Wh-Why is her Chandelure glowing like that?" Noel asked.

=Glowing?= the two Rotom repeated as they looked at Phantasm, who was giving off a faint glow =?!=

=It has the Shadow Tag Ability?!= Alakai exclaimed =I thought those kinds of Chandelure went extinct centuries ago!=

"Shadow Tag?" Mai repeated.

"Shadow Tag is an ability that prevents a Pokemon from escaping a battle either by running away, teleporting, or even being returned to a PokeBall," Takeru explained.

"Grr...n...no way we can lose! Houndoom, Crunch!" billy ordered.

"Oh no...A fast Pokemon with a Dark Type move. Whatever shall I…" Karai began in a 'worried tone' before smirking, "...Oh I know~ Phantasm, Trick Room."

Phantasm's eyes glowed for a moment before an energy wave hit the entire area, causing Houndoom's movements-despite being scared- to slow to a crawl.

"The heck...why...oh...Why do I feel sluggish…?" Makoto groaned.

"Trick Room causes a gravitational distortion that makes those fast slow and those slow fast," Edison explained.

"Oh...that explains that…" Makoto muttered, "Kinda...not...really."

"Oh...No…" Billy said in slow motion.

"Wow, he must be panicking…" Mai noted.

"Of course he would. If her Chandelure has the move I think it does, then he's a goner," Ken replied.

"Okay Phantasm, let's go with some Laser Focus!" Karai ordered, an eye closed as she used her hands like a 'camera.'

"Chande…" Phantasm replied as their eyes flashed, making Houndoom tense in its slow state.

"Now...Hidden…" Karai began before doing a loud riff on her guitar, "POWAH~~~~!"

Phantasm raised its arms as orbs of energy began floating around it, and began spinning, they slowly changed into an orange color as the ring expanded and contracted with each revolution. Finally the orbs stopped before shooting forward and flying around at erratic angles that no one could anticipate. Houndoom looked around rapidly only to gulp as the orbs all stopped and suddenly all aimed and shot at the poor, Pokemon causing a huge explosion.

"Ohh…cra-" Billy egan as the gravity changed back to normal, Houndoom rocketing right into him as they two were sent crashing into a bench, "Oof!"

"I was just about to say something stupid get in the poor thing's way. Life has a funny way of working out, don't it?" Karai giggled.

"Ugh…" Billy groaned, both his and Houndoom's eyes replaced with swirls.

"Houndoom is unable to battle! Winner is Chandelure!" Flannery cheered as the Slugma to her right this time fired a Flamethrower, "And first time someone on the left side won, eh Meg?"

"Slug," the Slugma on her right smiled.

"...What just happened?" Ash blinked.

"Laser Focus, a move that can make the next attack a guaranteed critical hit," Kajun explained, looking at her AttackDex notebook, "And Hidden Power, a Special Attack that changes Typing depending on the Pokemon using it. Her Chandelure's Hidden Power was that of a Ground Typing, so it was super effective on Houndoom."

"Wait...so does that mean if Pikachu had Hidden Power, he could…" Ash began.

"It's more or less a gamble when it comes to Hidden Power being learned," Ken spoke, "Your Pokemon may end up with an Ice Type Hidden Power, or a Dark Type Hidden Power."

"Sometimes you can get lucky and it's a type that gives your Pokemon a type of move it could never learn like a Fire-Type having a Water-Type Hidden Power and etc." Takuma added.

"But it could also backfire and just be the same type as your Pokemon, which makes it kinda superfluous…" Takeru chuckled.

"Oh...darn," Ash slumped a bit.

"...Was hoping to teach pikachu another move to help it with Types strong against it?" Ken asked.

"Yeah...well I have Iron Tail, but it doesn't hurt to have a back up plan."

"Hmm...there is Grass Knot."

"Pikachu can also learn some fighting moves like Brick Break or Focus Punch," Takuma explained.

"There's even Z-Moves exclusive to Pikachu," La added as she held up a Z-Crystal with a Pikachu's tail design in it, "Though it does need to know the move Volt Tackle to use it."

"A specialty of the Pichu evolutionary line," Edison noted, "La was kind enough to introduce me to a young woman in Alola that allowed me to learn it from the Pikachu the young woman raised."

"(Oh! I can do something like it!)" Pikachu noted, "(I use Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Thunderbolt to do it, though.)"

"Iron Tail to conduct the Thunderbolt and Quick Attack for the needed speed and knowledge of turning one's body into a ramming weapon," Edison nodded, "You're well on your way to learning it, my fellow Pikachu."

---

"Ugh...This sucks!" Billy groaned, "We got taken out so fast while we were so slow~!"

"That's what you get for thinking you could ace this tournament," Kit deadpanned, adjusting her glasses a bit.

"How was I supposed to know Black Ordeal was competing?!"

"My ears are ringing~!" a recently named girl sang.

"GH?!"

"You know since you lost so poorly, I think I…" Karai began before her ear was grabbed, "OWOWOWOWOWOWOW! Bitch! BITCH!"

"Hello again." Aoiro smiled simply.

"GAH! Lady White Truth!" Billy freaked before instantly bowing.

"At ease," Aoiro stated, still keeping a grip on her sister's ear, "I need you and Kit to do something for me...a distraction."

"...Do we look like those old fogies Jessie and James?"

"Excuse me?" Aoiro questioned.

"He means we'll do whatever it is you need right away, Lady White Truth," Kit informed, covering Billy's mouth.

"Good...If he said anything else...you'd both be demoted to gopher duty," Aoiro replied simply.

"Yes, ma'am," Billy and Kit gulped.

"Good, Karai will fill you in on the details. I need to see to the actual important part of this operation. Which I know if I tell any of you...you'll mess it up," Aoiro replied before finally letting go of Karai.

"Ah...I'm gonna look like a god damn elf one of these days…" Karai complained, holding her ear.

"Then behave once in a while," Aoiro quietly scolded.

"Your orders for the distraction?" Kit asked.

"Simple. Declare that the Legendary fire Pokemon Moltres was seen in the middle of town. Knowing Ash Ketchum, he'll come bolt there immediately with a few of his friends trailing after him," Aoiro explained, "Considering Ms. Nanaya is still in the tournament, Noel Vermillion will stay behind to watch and support her. This will give Velvet enough time to extract what we need from her without her knowing."

"L-Lady Grey Void is here as well?"

"No. The leader is having her remain at the main base for further orders. Velvet is currently using a vacation day for the festival," Aoiro replied as Velvet appeared, carrying several large bags in her hands and several dozen more above her head via Psychic.

"You called, Lady White Truth?" Velvet asked.

"I was only telling them what you were doing at the time."

"Ahh...okay," Velvet nodded before noticing the two, "Oh, hello!"

"H-hi…" they waved back.

"Alright enough small talk with the expendable agents, on to business!" Karai cheered.

---

"I wonder what the next match will be," Ash spoke as they all watched another round start and end.

"Considering we're going into the next round of the tournament, we may be seeing some repeats from earlier battles," La noted as Manny waved a fan over the groaning Ruby who was smoking.

"(Who let that fire learn how to Emboar while on sumo?)" Ruby groaned.

"(I don't know...but at least you didn't call it a pig and then he got all upset,)"

"And we have the last match of the first round!" the announcer called out, "Flannery has spun the roulette and...it's Takuma vs Cross."

"Cross?" Ash spoke in shock.

"He's here…" Mai scowled.

"Hmph...didn't think I'd meet you sad excuses for trainers again," the group looked over to see Cross walking down the stands, preparing to head out onto the field with his Incineroar.

"Not him again," Makoto groaned.

"I guess I better get going," Takuma grunted, getting up as he rolled his shoulders. He flipped up his Pokeball as it opened and let Jin appear next to him.

"A Blaziken...hmph…" Cross scoffed before looking over at Ash, "Hey, weakling. Watch and learn how a real Trainer battles."

"Grr…" Ash growled, about to get up before Kajun put a hand on his shoulder, "?"

"Don't let him get to you...He's just trying to force his way onto others," Kajun stated.

"Ash…" Takuma spoke as he stopped, "I ask you do pay attention," he added, "Not to Cross...but how a real trainer deals with these types of people."

"...Show him no mercy, Incineroar," Cross ordered as his Pokemon stomped onto the field.

"Don't go taking my line before me, brat…" Takuma replied as Jin jumped onto the field.

"(That's the boy that reminds you of Gin and his Feraligator?)" Ruby asked, "(I've only seen him for a few moments and I can already connect the resemblance to that red-headed thieving punk who corrupted my buddy.)"

"Now that both teams are ready, let the match begin!" the announcer declared as Flannery's Slugma let out a burst of flames.

"Flamethrower," Cross ordered.

"Jin, block it," Takuma ordered as Jin shot his arm out and let the fire crash into his hand only to be split and dispersed to the sides harmlessly.

"Eh?!" Ash gawked at that, "I know both are Fire-Types, but how can his Blaziken do that?"

"Flamethrower!" Takuma ordered as Jin cupped his hands and shot them out and unleashed a blast of fire back at Incineroar.

Incineroar grunted, letting it hit him. Jin and Takuma blinked as they saw that. The two looked at each other and nodded, realizing the tactic they were attempting to employ.

"Jin, Power-Up Punch!" Takuma ordered.

Jin ran forward as he began striking Incineroar with his glowing fists. Each strike forced the Heel Pokemon back one step after another. Incineroar grunted as one after another each punch hit.

"Throat Chop!"

"Counter with High-Jump Kick!" Takuma shouted.

Incineroar growled as he thrust his claws forward, only to cringe as his claws just hit Jin's knee. Incineroar grunted, holding its hand as he backed up a step. Its fingers twitched endlessly from the impact. It then looked up and grunted as Jin's knee slammed into his chin, sending him skidding back.

"Tsk…" Cross spoke, "Incineroar, back off and use Bulk Up!"

"Sky Uppercut!" Takuma ordered, swinging his fist up.

Jin dashed forward faster then Incineroar could react to as a glowing blue fist did as the attack's namesake implied. Jin grunted as he twisted his body and launched both himself and Incineroar up into the air as Jin's body spun around, the glow of his fist leaving a spiral pattern in the air.

"What?" Cross blinked.

Jin landed on the field as he skipped around a few times. He began moving from side to side as each skip picked up speed until he looked like a blur moving from side to side. Incineroar grunted, landing on his back before pushing himself up and gawking at how Jin seemed to get faster and faster by the second.

"Ah, I see," Takeru noted, "Cross is trying to get Incineroar to trigger his Ability by letting his opponent deal damage to him in the beginning. Letting them get their hopes up only to crush them in the end."

"But Jin is just too fast...Incineroar can't get a hit in," Brock added.

"It seems Cross hasn't dealt with a Trainer that has a Pokemon use a speed-based battle strategy," Kajun noted.

"Jin has the Blaziken line's Hidden Ability, Speed Boost, and he began with a barrage of Power Up Punch," Tsubaki added.

"And even then Jin has Mega-Evolution," Makoto added.

"In the end, Cross is fighting someone he's not a match for," Takeru summarized.

"Use Throat Chop!" Cross ordered.

Incineroar growled, charging again only to miss as it looked like his attack went through Jin. Incineroar blinked and turned around only to find the Blaziken missing. He then coughed in pain as he was kicked in the stomach, making him stumble back.

"Power-Up Punch into Aerial Ace!" Takuma ordered.

Jin slammed a punch into Incineroar's stomach, causing him to double over. Jin jumped and flipped around as he swung his glowing leg and kicked the back of the Heel Pokemon's head, sending him face first into the ground.

"Blaze Kick into Sky Uppercut!"

With that, Jin swung his leg low as it was covered in fire before kicking Incineroar up into the air. Jin began spinning around on his hands, forming a small ring of fire. He flipped to his feet before he spun around and punched his glowing fist into the fire before jumping up using the spin to add more momentum to his rising Uppercut as he struck Incineroar in the stomach. Jin rose into the air, appearing as if forming a tornado of fire, before dispersing the flames and tossing Incineroar down to the ground.

"Flare Blitz and Bravebird," Takuma said simply as Jin roared and was covered in a mass of fire that quickly exploded into a blue color and outward into wings.

Takuma held his hand up before swinging it down just as Jin shot down, the fire taking on a bird shape just before impact. The explosion went outwards with great force making everyone cringe and brace themselves lest they be knocked out of their seats. The field cracked and began to dent downward from the force as the smoke cleared slowly. As it did, everyone saw Jin sparking from the recoil lift his leg and put it down on Incineroar's chest.

"Incineroar is unable to battle! The winner is Jin the Blaziken!"

"Whoa…" Ash awed at that as Takuma helped Jin stand.

"You did great, buddy…" Takuma replied, "That last one really takes a lot out of you," he joked, holding up a Sitrus Berry for him.

"...Grr…" Cross growled, returning his Incineroar to its Pokeball as he glared a venomous stare at Takuma.

"I'm an expert at Mega-Evolution," Takuma spoke, making him stop, "You weren't worth it."

"And that's a burn right there," Makoto noted.

"...Grr…" Cross growled, about to reach for one of his Pokeballs before stopping, "...You're not even worth it…"

"Hmm?" Takuma raised a brow as Cross walked away.

"Besides...you'll see your place soon enough when I take down a Legendary…" Cross whispered to himself as he left the area.

"...Is that why he's like that?" Makoto raised a brow.

"Hmm?"

"I'll tell you and the other girls later, Tsubaki," Makoto whispered.

Takeru and La glanced at Edison and Manny. Edison motioned to Manny, who let out a few growls. The couple nodded before sharing looks.

"How can someone be so mean?" Noel pondered.

"I'm not sure," Makoto replied, "...Mai, if I go pin him when he's all alone, can ya lick him?"

"PFFFFT!" Mai spat out the water she had been drinking and began to cough due to some of it going down the wrong pipe, "Wh-What?! Ew! No! Makoto, why?!"

"To see who shoved that spiked rod up Cross' rear and gave him that type of mentality."

"Oh...STILL NO!"

"...Why did she spit her drink out at Makoto's idea?" Ash asked.

"I'm sure your mother or another responsible adult will tell you when you're thirteen," La assured.

"Thirteen? Aw man…"

"Patience is a virtue," Edison noted.

"Just don't be too patient. Otherwise, your friend who's tired from an all-nighter mistakes your tail as a slice of cheese," Takeru joked.

"Gah! Must you bring that up?!" Edison exclaimed, his cheeks bright pink as he hugged his tail.

"We'll be taking a thirty minute break to let the contestants heal up their Pokemon," the announcer informed.

---

"Okay...What is it you wanted to talk about, Makoto?" Tsubaki asked once she, Noel, Mai, and Kajun met with the squirrel girl in their shared room.

"It's about Cross..and I think I may know why Cross has the mentality he has more or less," Makoto answered, "...Oh, and we MAY need to keep the Rainbow Wing out of sight from him."

"...why…?"

"He wants to take down a Legendary...not capture. Take down."

"Excuse me?!" Tsubaki gasped.

"And I thought he was bothersome before," Luca noted with annoyance.

"Chipa-pa! Pachipachiri!"

"She says 'Yeah! Ash has dibs on Suicune and Ho-Oh already and he should…' Yeah, I'm not translating what she said after that," Luca informed as a bar of soap from the bathroom was shoved into Berry's mouth, "Thank you, Hikari."

"Kirlia…"

"Still...the fact he wants to take down a Legendary Pokemon explains his whole 'strength is the only thing that matters' mentality. He wants to 'stand at the top of the food chain' more or less," Makoto stated.

"Unfortunately, Legendaries tend to only show up in times of crisis, in rare random encounters, or-if you're like Ashton-require an item for them to appear before you such as the Clear Bell or the Rainbow Wing," Kajun noted.

"...V-Vul…"

"Yes, Yuki?"

"Vul...pix-pix pixvul vul-vul vulpix."

"He was looking at Ash when he talked about battling a Legendary Pokemon?" Luca repeated.

"He must have seen the race and Ash getting the Clear Bell," Makoto guessed, "...Meaning he would want the Clear Bell by force…"

"If he did, h…." Luca paused before tensing, looking at the door, "...Seems we had someone listen in on us...three someones at that."

"?!" the girls tensed at that.

"...It's La and Takeru isn't it?" Mai guessed.

"It is…most likely they must've noticed the same thing you did with Cross."

"...ugh…" Tsubaki sighed a bit, "Might as well let them in…"

"Esp…" Koko sighed as her eyes glowed, causing the door to open and let La squeak as she fell on her face.

"I warned you not to lean into the door to listen in," Edison noted.

"Mmm…" La puffed her cheeks at that as Takeru helped her up.

"Gomen nassai," Takeru apologized, "Hanzo told us you seemed to be acting suspicious to him."

"Where is he?" Kajun asked.

"He's keeping watch of Ash since Takuma brought Cross up," La replied.

"Ah…soka."

"Hai...but we can all agree; Cross is playing a very dangerous game thinking he can take down a Legendary," Takeru frowned.

"The best metaphor I can think of is he's a dull chainsaw with a hair trigger…" Makoto spoke up.

"Oddly fitting…" the couple mused in response.

"Still Trainers like this are dangerous. They train their Pokemon up to be exceptionally dangerous to others. And facing younger Trainers, they are nightmares and dream enders," Edison spoke, "When we first made our journey together, Takeru and I encountered one who constantly showed up in our journey. It always seemed to escalate with one time he tried to push Takeru off a ship we were on, only to fall off instead."

"Yeesh. Guy didn't like ya one bit?" Makoto asked.

'More of a Legendary messing with his brain to despise me and my Pokemon,' Takeru thought before replying, "Well, the first day we became Trainers, I beat his Eevee with Edison and he did not like that."

"...Seriously?"

"Seriously…" Takeru nodded, "Didn't help that a few days later, he lost again on Route 22 when I met him there to see what Badges there were in the League. He had a Spearow and Eevee while I had Edison, Amelia, Smith, Karl, and Comstock with Comstock already fully evolved. It was completely one-sided."

"And to rub it in, I beat his Eevee when, well…" Edison trailed out.

"He forgot how to use Electric-Type moves at the time," La giggled.

"Gyah! Must you?!" Edison fumed.

"Yes," La immediately replied with another giggle.

"D'oh…"

"Yeesh...and I though Gary had an ego," Makoto muttered.

"Hmm? Who's that?" Takeru asked.

"Rival of Ashton's that would constantly try to push him down and brag about his skills," Kajun answered, "...Does not help he is usually seen with an entourage to help feed his already inflated ego…"

"He even asked us to 'dump Ash' and join him as more of his personal cheerleaders…" Mai added with a deadpan.

"Gary...Gary...Wore a lot of blue? Reddish-brown hair? Traveled with a group of cheerleaders in a red convertible?" Takeru asked.

"Yes," Tsubaki replied.

"Ah, I've met him," Takeru replied, "Had a quick battle with him when I was travelling from Viridian to Vermillion through the Diglett Tunnel."

"He was not expecting his entire team to be one-shotted by Charles," Edison chuckled.

"Charles?" Mai repeated.

"My Blastoise," Takeru replied.

"You have a badass Charizard and a Blastoise? Huh...Mix in a Venusaur and you and Ash'd be Starer Buddies," Makoto noted.

=Master Takeru, you're going off the original topic again= Athena noted, coming out of his pocket.

"Oh. My apologies," Takeru chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "...What were we talking about again?"

=Cross and him looking directly at Ash when he stated his goal of defeating a Legendary Pokemon under his breath after Takuma's Blaziken beat his Incineroar that Makoto heard with her Squirrel-like ears= Athena replied =Which makes me want to go off topic to address them and oh why are you a hybrid of human and creature?!= she zipped over to Makoto =Please! I need the information to add to my database! Was it a genetic experiment gone wrong?! Was it a Teleportation device and you had a Squirrel Pokemon in the other side or holding onto you, resulting in a mutant transformation of sorts?!=

"...Urge to hurt…rising…" Makoto muttered, her eye twitching violently as she began to raise her clenched up shaking fist.

=Alakai!= Athena called as she zipped into La's pack and pulled Alakai out =I need your Ultra Radiation Scanner!=

=Gah! I was having a peaceful nap!= Alakai snapped as Athena poked at his screen =Gah! Will you stop that?!=

=No time!= Athena replied as she spun him around to face the girls =FOR KNOWLEDGE~!=

"...I think I just met Kajun's counterpart in a Pokemon," Makoto sweatdropped.

=Ugh...Fine, fine! I'm turning on the scanner already! Just stop poking m...Huh?= Alakai blinked several times as he flew around them =Huh?! La, Takeru!= he zipped over to the two and his screen changed to a picture of the girls with a faint white glowing coming off them =These girls are giving off FALL Readings!=

"You girls are Fallers?" La asked.

=Oh, that's great! She's from another world where humans have Pokemon traits!= Athena sighed in relief =Curiosity satisfied…=

"She's really hard to read!" Makoto complained, "Also...I mean...what? We have no idea..."

"Save it, Makoto…" Tsubaki sighed, "Professor Oak noticed it first, and mentioned things known as UUltra Wormholes and Ultra Beast."

"A-and a company known as the Aether Foundation," Noel added.

"That's run by a woman known as Lusamine," La explained, "At least...where I'm from."

"I never heard of it...mainly because it wasn't where I'm from," Takeru admitted.

"...Huh?"

"Perhaps we should reintroduce ourselves to you girls," Takeru noted, "My name is Takeru of Pallet Town, Champion of the Kanto Pokemon League...from another dimension."

"Professor Cyber Sol, born in Nuvema Town, former Champion of the first Alola Pokemon League, and Agent La of the Interdimensional Pokemon Research division of my home dimension's Aether Foundation," La introduced with a bow.

"Whaaaaaa….." Makoto gasped in shock, her ears and tail sticking up.

=While on research assignments or when vacationing like these two are doing as a pre-wedding trip, Cyber is required to use her codename 'La' and introduce herself as that to anyone unless they are fellow Fallers= Alakai explained =Our job is to find and study various dimensions through the Ultra Wormhole due to a method only La has=

"One job ended up with me meeting Takeru," Cyber explained, holding the other's hand, "Well...After a berserk Legendary Pokemon created by Team Rocket in his dimension ripped my soul out of my body and connected it to his soul on his first day of travelling to be in the Pokemon League."

"Cyber...Cyber...I don't think that's the best story to start off with for explaining how we first met," Takeru chuckled, given the girls' expressions, "Don't worry. It all worked out...kinda...sorta...I mean, we now have this weird thing where we sense each other's feelings...and our allergies act up at the same time. And I now live with her."

"And I'm guessing the Scorbunny isn't from this dimension then which is why the Pokedex doesn't work on him?" Makoto asked.

"Oh no. Pele is from this dimension," Takeru replied, "I just wanted to see the difference between the Galar from Cyber's dimension is to this Galar and ended up with his egg."

"Scor!" Pele cheered, poking out of Takeru's jacket with an applesauce packet in paw as he ate away.

"So you're both like us...kinda…" Mai spoke, "Is the long and short of it. Do these Fallers happen often in your worlds?"

"A bit, yes," La replied, "The International Police from my dimension have several Fallers in their ranks."

"Nope. First Faller ever was Cy' here," Takeru replied, "And, well...last one, too."

=Do not ask= Alakai ordered before the PA rang.

=Ladies and Gentlemen, the next round is beginning in five minutes! Please make your way back to the field!= the announcer called.

"I guess we'll have to talk about this in greater detail later," Tsubaki spoke.

"Agreed," Cyber nodded.

=Yay! New things to learn!= Athena cheered.

=...Why did you pick her again out of all the other Rotom you were offered?= Alakai groaned.

"Because she's adorable and easily excitable about learning things!" Takeru beamed, "Especially history!"

"Hm?" Noel noticed the slightest of flinches from Cyber at this bit of information.

---

"Billy, where are you?" Kit demanded as she walked in the forest outside of town.

"Workin' on somethin'!" Billy's voice grunted, "Got this from those three! Just need to tighten down some parts!"

"Those three? Oh, you don't mean the Stooges, do you?"

"Hey. They may be old hasbeens, but at least they can think of some awesome mechs and traps to use!"

"What happened to them anyway?" Kit pondered as she soon came upon Billy.

"Eh, reassignment from what I heard. Somethin' 'bout the guy they were targeting suddenly becoming a more serious threat to Team Rocket or somethin' like that," Billy replied.

"Oh right...I wonder what job they got?" Kit wondered in pity.

---

"Hurry up, you two! The sooner we find the ideal spot, the sooner we can enjoy it all!" Jessie commanded, far ahead of James and Meowth as the two were carrying several large bags on their backs and in their hands while they walked through a jungle, "Ah, to think! Finding that Twerp and his group was the best thing ever! No worries over angering the Ace Admin Trio and getting fired! No more having our plans fail because of those Twerps!"

"Ya know what I miss? Bein' able ta feel my spine…" Meowth wheezed.

"This is quite nice. I've never been to the Alola Region," James noted.

"Meaning there are tons of Pokemon for us to catch here!" Jessie beamed, "Once we set up base, we capture as many rare and valuable Alolan Pokemon here and return them to the boss!" she looked around, "Now let's see…"

"Wear~!" a squeaky voice called out.

"Hm?" the trio looked ahead to see a Pokemon walked out from behind a tree, looking at them.

It was a large bear-like Pokemon that also seemed to resemble a stuffed animal. Its body was mainly black fur with pink paw pads and three white toes on each foot. It had a fluffy pink tail and a pink head with a line of white fur that went over its head and covered the ears to make them look like fake animal ears. It had a white muzzle and big black eyes.

"Wait. That's…" James began as he pulled out some cards and began to look through them, "Let's see...Oh! A Bewear!"

"Beware what?" Meowth asked.

"No. That is its name," James explained, "It first originated from here in Alola, and are quite powerful Pokemon."

"Be~?"

"A hug?" Meowth asked, "Dat bear jest asked if we wanted a hug."

"Aw~! How cute!" Jessie replied, "Of course I'd love one!"

"BEWEAR~!" Bewear cheered as it ran up and scooped her into a hug.

*CRACK!*

"GH!" Jessie squeaked out, "Ah...gah...ahahaha…"

"Oh dat didn't sound so good," Meowth noted.

"Well, it is part Fighting-Type," James noted before Bewear scooped him and Meowth up, "Gh?!"

"BE~!"

*CRUNCH!*

---

"Eh, who cares?" Billy shrugged, "Now let's get this distraction goin'!"

---

"And spin!" Flannery cheered, pushing the button to start the roulette, letting it slowly halt on some images, "And first up is...Makoto Nanaya!"

"Sweet!" Makoto beamed.

"And her opponent is Karai!"

"NOT SWEET!"

"OH HELL YES!" Karai beamed.

"(Yeah, I'm just...uh...yeah)," Cherry noted as she jumped out of Makoto's tail and onto Ash's head.

"(Wait for me!)" Berry yelped as she jumped tail as well to land on Ash's lap.

"(Ack! No please! Not the crazy lady!)" Booster panicked.

"(Ah could probably take her…)" Honey offered, "(..wait. Shoot..Ah'm not a Fire Type…)"

"...Anyone wanna trade places with me?" Makoto asked...no begged the others.

"Makoto, let me give you some advice," La noted.

"Yeah?"

"Suck it up and deal with it," La deadpanned before Manny picked her up and dropped her onto the field.

"...Aw man.." Makoto pouted.

"Oh this is gonna be fun~" Karai grinned as she hopped onto her place on the field, "I am gonna make you into my personal toy~"

"...I NEED AN ADULT!" Makoto snapped.

"You are an adult!" her friends and La exclaimed.

"I'm an adu..." Karai began with a grin.

"No. No you are not…" Aoiro deadpanned in Karai's head.

"Wow. She does not wanna battle her," Flannery commented, "...But...rules are rules...but…" she looked over at Karai, who gave her a flirty wink...making her shudder slightly, "...Let the battle begin!"

"Come on out, Phantasm~" Karai smirked, tossing out the Pokeball as she let the Chandelure out.

"...(I am going to die-e-e-eeeee…)" Booster sobbed.

"First off...let's start with Shadow Ball," Karai smirked.

"Ack! Booster use Dig!" Makoto panicked.

"Flare!" Booster panicked, quickly digging under the ground just as the orb of dark energy shot overhead.

"Okay, where's that little fluff ball planning to jump out of…" Karai muttered, scanning the field for signs of diturbed ground.

"Operation Kaboom, Booster!" Makoto called.

"Operation whaaaa…." Karai trailed off as the ground begin glowing with head, "Clever Girl…" she spoke in a bad accent.

A plume of fire and ground shot upwards spiraling around into a fire tornado. The unprepared Phantasm was swept up in it. Its cry of pain and shock could be heard as it was swept around in the attack due to its force and own surprise.

"Oh she finally got that combination working," Kajun noted, "Interesting…"

"...That's gonna be a problem…" Karai muttered, "...Phantasm, Trick Room!"

"Oh Sh...!" Makoto tensed once the move hit the entire area once more, causing her and Booster to slow to a crawl...even the fire tornado was slowing down, "...Ooooooooot."

"Now...Laser Focus," Karai smirked.

"?!" Makoto tensed at that.

"Now…Hidden Power~"

'Think think...think...What can we do? How do we counter this attack, Ah!' "Booster, Lava Plume! Intercept the attack!"

"Flaaaare!" Booster slowly barked in confirmation.

"Say what?" Karai blinked just as Phantasm prepared to fire the Hidden Power.

Booster's fur ruffled up as the Hidden Power came at her. With a cry, her body released a plume of flames just before the Hidden Power reached her, making an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Booster was replaced with a hole in the ground.

"Again with Dig?" Karai asked, "You're getting rather predictable, Mako-chan."

"Do not call me that. We are not friends, I barely even know you, and I want to take a restraining order out on you for harassment of the Not safe for work type. That's right! I'm censoring myself. There are children present. You should learn how to do it, crazy lady!"

"I'm not crazy; I'm kinky," Karai argued simply.

"No, you're really crazy," Makoto replied, "Oh, and Metal Branding."

"Metal what?" Karai blinked.

Under the ground, Booster grinned as her tail lit up with a metallic sheen. The metallic sheen then ignited with flames, turning it a bright red. As the Fire Spin from the last combination began to die down, Booster shot out in the center of it. She spun around in a ball and slammed the glowing red tail right into Phantasm's head, sending it slamming down into the ground and leaving an imprint shaped like it in the ground.

"..." Karai slowly blinked as the dust settled, revealing Phantasm practically buried in the ground with their eyes replaced with swirls, "...WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"

"Pretty sure I won…" Makoto smirked, "Heard Chandelures have high Special Attack stats...meaning they must be glass cannons. High attack...VERY weak defense."

"She is right about that," Ken admitted as he looked at the group, "If you use a Chandelure, be extra cautious if someone uses a Pokemon that knows Stealth Rock."

"Or in the case of this match, a Flareon that makes up combination move names," Takeru chuckled.

"Chandelure is unable to battle! Flareon wins!" Flannery cheered as Mag fired a flamethrower into the air.

"Wait, but...I...and you...and this...and...buh…" Karai rambled.

"We won, Booster!" Makoto beamed as she caught the Flareon just as she jumped into her arms, "Ha! Suck it, ya crazy psycho hose beast!" she laughed as she pointed at Karai.

"(Alright, alright. You've teased enough)," Manny deadpanned as he picked her up and walked back to the others, "(Yeesh. Though I do feel for ya. A trip to this one version of Sinnoh and this one Purugly kept chasing me and I swear that one day I saw her sniffing one of my shirts!)"

"You, uh...You don't want to know what he's recalling," Edison muttered, covering his face with his tail.

"Lady Karai, we have received word from Billy and Kit. Please leave the area," Velvet warned in Karai's head, "...And you need to see Serenade about your top thoughts. I'm sorry, but they just shoved themselves in my mental face. I'm sorry again, but you may have to be the second one to visit Serenade for therapy after what I saw. Sorry."

"I...wh...you…SHE..." Karai sputtered, her face red with anger...before she began to bawl out, "IT'S NOT FAIR~!"

Velvet teleported to beside her, 'Oh dear. She's doing a Whitney again.' "Delphox…" she put a hand on her shoulder before teleporting away.

"See? Nuttier than an acorn tree," Makoto deadpanned.

"(WHERE?!)" Berry and Cherry exclaimed, looking around.

"Expression, you two," Makoto deadpanned, having a feeling what they were looking for.

"Chi/Emol…" the two squirrel Pokemon pouted at that.

"Alright! Onto the ne…" the announcer began before something exploded in the distance, causing an alarm to go off, "What's going on?"

=Warning! Warning! Moltres has been sighted within the area! Warning! Warning! Moltres has been sighted within the area!= the announcer shouted.

"Oh, what are the chances…" Most of the older Trainers blinked.

"...You are a Legendary Pokemon Magnet," Ken gawked at Ash.

"Eh? Really?" he blinked.

"I'm starting to think so!" Ken exclaimed.

"First one there gets to call dibs!" Takuma cheered.

"D-hey!" Ash complained as Takuma and Ken ran off, "Oh no! I wanna catch it!"

"Oh for...ASH!" Misty snapped.

"Not again, Ashton…" Kajun sighed.

"Boy, talk about crazy, huh, La? Takeru?" Brock asked, earning no response, "..." he looked to where they had been only to see nothing but empty seats, "Oi vey…"

As people began to talk and some began to panic, no one saw a pair of scissors move quickly in the air and cut off a bit of Noel's hair without making it obvious before the lost hair floated away with them.

---

"Yeehaw! Ride 'em, birdie!" Billy cackled inside of a two-man control room with Kit.

"I regret this so much," Kit sighed, "And why is that third tiny seat be...that's for their Meowth, isn't it?"

"What? I followed da blueprints they gave me to da letter!" Billy defended himself.

"Is that why it takes so much effort to move this thing?"

"Well, do you have a Pokemon that knows how to work controls?" Billy asked.

"No...but I know I hate you. And you're stupid…" Kit argued, "And since you are so adamant of liking this thing..." with that, Billy felt a pair of boots up against his back as Kit leaned back, "Mush."

"Oh hahaha…" Billy grumbled as he pulled a lever.

Outside of the cockpit, the massive phoenix-shaped robot they were within made a turn in the air. It gave a roar before firing a missile from its beak, making a fiery explosion on the road.

"Why's Moltres attacking!?" one of the people screamed as they began to flee.

"I don't know! ...Did we leave that offer to Moltres at the statue?" another asked.

"We did, but last I checked, there were crumbs."

"...Was there an IOU?"

"Yeah wh…LARRY!"

"OH GEEZ!"

"Guess someone messed up," Ash muttered as he, Takuma, and Ken ran through the crowd of fleeing people.

"Something looks odd about that Moltres...it's not flying like a normal...well bird type pokemon." Takuma noted as he looked up.

"...That's not Moltres," Ken frowned.

"Huh?" Ash blinked at that.

"The flames that come off of Moltres are natural...the flames on that 'Moltres' are man made," Ken explained, "...It's an imposter! An impostore!"

"Eh?" many people blinked at that for a moment as they stopped panicking...until a missile blew up nearby, making them panic again.

"Even with it being a fake, it's still a threat," Edison noted.

"...Wait a second. You're not Pikachu," Ash noted.

"Considering your reaction to hearing a Legendary in the area, I'm not surprised you didn't double check the Pikachu you brought," the glasses-wearing Pikachu deadpanned, "Still, quite a marvelous-yet horrifying-machine. Whoever made this focused on detail as well as practicality."

"But it's still a machine...so is it a drone or piloted?" Takeru asked, "If it's a drone, everyone can just shoot it down with things like Hyper Beam…"

"But if not...well we don't want to hurt the idiot pilots...too much," Edison agreed.

=OI!= Billy's voice snapped from the fake Moltres.

"...It's Billy and Kit again…" Ken muttered.

"Of course it is…" they all sighed as the others caught up.

"How do we take it down if it has pilots then?" Ash asked.

"Well first we'd need to damage it with strong but not altogether extremely destructive moves," Takuma spoke.

"Or short-circuit it with a strong enough electric attack," Takeru noted as he looked at Edison while Pikachu hopped off his shoulder onto Ash's.

"...I'm going to get fat again, aren't I?" Edison questioned before sighing in exasperation when he nodded.

"Takuma, you seem like a guy who loves battling," Takeru noted as he pulled out a PokeBall with a lightbulb sticker on the white half, "I'd strongly suggest you try out Galar after the Indigo League because of what I'm going to do with Edison."

"What do you mean? ...Are you gonna stuff his face with so much food he gets super chubby and can make bigger blasts because of the fat conducting more?" Makoto asked.

"...You could say that," Takeru answered.

"Hey, dose are da stinkers who keep messin' wit' us!" Billy noted, "But who's the guy with them?"

"Unsure, bu he seems to be planning something," Kit noted.

Takeru held up the Pokeball to Edison, returning him into the ball. The other gem on his bracelet flashed before the Pokeball began to glow. It flashed before expanding to the size of a beach ball seemingly made of solid light. Spinning around, Takeru grabbed the ball with both his hands and reeled back.

"Edison...GIGANTAMAX!" Takeru roared before throwing it behind the group.

The Pokeball opened in a burst of red light. At first, it revealed a shadowed form of Edison before it doubled in size. It doubled once more and then tripled that, becoming as huge as an entire ten story building! Edison landed on his feet, breaking the ground beneath him. His scarf and glasses were gone while his body had become chubbier and rounded. His tail had elongated with more bends in it and had become a glowing yellow/white mix. Above him, several red clouds had formed around his tail.

"Pi…" Edison called out, his deep voice rumbling.

"What the…?!" Billy and Kit exclaimed as the fake Moltres skidded to a halt midair.

"Oh...my…" most of the others gawked, seeing this for the first time ever.

"He's a Chunkachu…" Makoto spoke.

"Pi…" Edison deadpanned.

"Uh...What happened to his voice?" Misty asked.

"When his Gigantamaxes, he tends to lose the right spots in his vocal chords to speak like a human," Takeru explained.

"...And you said Galar, right?" Takuma asked.

"Yep," Takeru replied before turning to look at the Mecha-Moltres, "Edison, G-Max Volt Crash!"

"...An electric attack of that magnitude…" Kit began with wide eyes as Edison got down on all fours, "...Billy, we need to make a tactical retreat! NOW!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Billy yelped as the Mecha-Moltres instantly turned and began to fly off, a panicked look on its face.

"Pika!" Edison declared, everyone looked as his tail shot electricity up into the air which quickly arched back down and struck the Mecha Moltres.

Everyone flinched as a thunder clap and flash surprised them. Electricity could be seen floating in the air. The Mecha Moltres floated there for a moment, sparking relentlessly as it began to glitch and began falling slowly to the ground. Once it hit the ground, it began falling apart in sections until small explosions caused it to break apart even more. Eventually it all stopped as the remains of what must be its cockpit was left with two poor people shocked to such an extent they were left twitching messes as their hair poofed up into afros. Edison glowed before changing back to normal...still in the air.

"...Oh...dash it all," Edison groaned before yelping as he fell only to be caught by La, "Oh! I hate when that happens! Thank you, my dear."

"What the heck was that?!" Ash asked, stars shining in his eyes.

"Exclusive to the Galar Region: the Dynamax," Takeru explained, "With the right item, any Pokemon can become a massive form with some getting a new look known as Gigantamax. There's also the side effect of the Moves Pokemon know becoming Max Moves with Gigantamax Pokemon gaining G-Max Moves."

"Ech...The only downside-for those that like it-is that it lasts only for three attacks instead of an entire battle," Edison explained, "I wanted out of it, so I put all three of them together into one shock. I hate feeling like I'm fat. I exercise so I am not fat, darn it!"

"...It's pronounced 'Gah-Lar,' right?" Takuma asked.

"...You just want to fight a Dynamax Pokemon, don't you," Ken deadpanned.

"Yes...yes I do." he smiled.

"Wait, so can any Pikachu become the Chunkachu?" Makoto asked.

"PIKA?!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"Look at how strong it was!" Makoto argued.

"...If it makes you happy, Pokemon like Butterfree, Charizard, and even Eevee have one," Takeru added.

"Really?" Noel asked interested now.

"Yup. I think even Tyranitar has one."

"...Well I know where I'm going next," Takuma spoke.

=I have pictures of Gigantamax Eevee and Charizard if you want to see them= Athena offered.

"Please for the Eevee!" Noel replied as Nymph and Yuki mewled in agreement.

"What's it look like?" Makoto asked.

"Very...fluffy," Takeru replied, "It's essentially just a giant Eevee with a bigger mane...and makes everyone wanna hug it." a thud made them look to see Noel, Nymph, and Yuki had all fainted with hearts replacing their eyes, "And causes Cuteness Overload."

"...wow," Makoto and Mai slowly blinked.

"...Is there a Gigantamax Lapras?" Misty asked.

"It made a big ol' Splash on us," Takeru chuckled, earning a glower from Edison.

"I smelled like an ocean for a month battling it!" Edison complained.

"Everyone always acts like this when they first see a Dynaman or Gigantamax," La rolled her eyes as Manny dragged over the two Rocket grunts, tied up in ropes.

On a nearby building, Aoiro blinked several times, "...What. was. That?"

"From the thoughts I'm getting from the top of the talking Pikachu's head, that was a phenomenon from the Galar Region known as Dynamax. Or, to be more specific, a unique variant called Gigantamax," Velvet replied before holding up a bag with Noel's hair trimmings, "I was able to get some genetic samples to test and made sure to keep her hair nice and cute."

"...Ahem! G-good then," Aoiro nodded, "Let us retrieve my sister and return to base, and inform my father about Galar and this Dynamax."

"Uhm...Where is she exactly? I think we lost her in the commotion."

"She should be where you left her."

"Oh yes...the hot…springs…Oh dear…"

---

"You are a Really strong old lady!" Karai cried as she was thrown out a door, "What's with this place and the business owners all being jacked?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry~!" Velvet frantically apologized once she appeared with Aoiro via Teleport.

"I regretted nothing up 'till the point the really strong old lady who owns the place grabbed me...somehow dressed me...and then lifted me up over her head...and chucked me like last week's garbage." Karai explained.

"...Vegetable only meals and no guitar sessions for a week."

"HAH?!"

"Come on. Velvet got the samples we need to do a DNA test," Aoiro informed.

"And I got you some new fire-printed guitar picks! ...Oh, wait…Ehhehehehe...oopsie. Sorry. Already forgot about the grounding."

"Mmm…" Karai pouted before the trio vanished via Teleport.

---

"Think they'll stop twitching anytime soon?" Ash asked as the two Rocket grunts they captured continued to uncontrollably twitch.

"Most likely. I've been shocked a few times by G-Max Volt Crash and I've turned out fine," Takeru shrugged as the two were loaded into a police ambulance and taken away.

"...And we've been shocked by Pikachu a few times, yet we've dealt with light paralysis. Those two? ...Looks like they'll be out of it for a while," Makoto noted.

"MY DO!" Billy's voice screamed.

"...or enough for one of them to scream at least…"

"Well I guess the tournament has to be canceled after this…"

"Seems like it," Takeru noted, "Seems the hotel I'm staying at wasn't damaged. You're all more than welcome to spend the night in it. It's a suite."

"Cool!" Ash awed.

"It sounds like a good idea, yes," Tsubaki nodded, "We'll need to be well rested when we climb the mountain."

"A good meal and a nice long rest sounds perfect," Brock added.

"We'll eat out," Makoto stopped Noel before she could speak.

"So long as it's not from a store that specializes in spices," Edison noted, "I've burned my tongue several dozen times in the last two days we've been here from spices being snuck into my tea and meals." he glowered at one Pokeball, "Prim and proper she may act, but she likes pranking me."

"It's kinda fun being able to understand what a Pokemon is saying," Makoto muttered, "But it also somehow feels less cute compared to hearing their normal voices."

"Well I never…" Edison huffed.

"It all depends on one's perspective," Takeru chuckled, patting Edison's head, "Come on. I know a place near my hotel we can eat at."

"Let's go!" Makoto cheered.

"YEAH!" Ash beamed, raising his hands in the air excitedly.

"...So it's true…" Cross whispered with a frown, hiding behind a nearby corner as he noticed the Rainbow Wing lightly poking out of Ash's jacket, 'He has it...that...pathetic Trainer has it...the Raizen mountains...where Ho-Oh is said to reside...If anyone is to face Ho-Oh…' he turned and began to walk away, a dark look on his face as Marshadow's eyes appeared on a nearby shaded alleyway, "Is me…"

---

GT: Well...That's not good.

SZ: no..no it is not…

Z0: Uh-oh...They're fault this time.

SZ: Yup...but how will our heroes deal with this? Tune in next timr guys!

GT: Please read and review!