Hey everyone...yeah, it's been a long time, I know. But as you all recall, this new Chapter 66 replaces the old one which was an announcement that my hard drive had crashed...and it stayed crashed. So I was forced to start this entire chapter over from scratch and needless to say it was very discouraging to say the least. However I finally managed to break through my doldrums and get this latest chapter to you.
I do have another announcement though. I had originally planned to make the Twinleaf Festival arc one huge chapter as they're all important in my eyes...but since I've been struggling to devote time to this story, I think you might all prefer if I just went one episode at a time and got them out to you sooner. Let me know if I'm right or wrong about that. In any case, that's all I have to say, please enjoy this next chapter, where Team Rocket tries a classic trick. Props to anyone who knows when they first tried it.
_
Chapter 66
Misty's POV
Ash is finally back! And he kinda learned a new trick or two...or five. It seems that after his little trip to Iron Island, he's now an Aura Guardian-in training, Riley's apprentice if you will. Now all of a sudden he's got these weird powers, like being able to tell who's around and what their intentions are through their aura! He also has the ability to read minds apparently...I made it very clear to my aura-powered boyfriend that if he ever tried to read my mind without permission, and I can't figure out what circumstances would ever drive me to give him said permission...I would pretty much kill him where he stood.
Ok not literally, but there definitely would be dire consequences for those actions. Also, Ash wasn't the only one with something new to show me. Riolu came back with a couple of new abilities as well, his aura seems to radiate through his paws when he battles and...the really freaky part...he can talk now! No not like Meowth, it's a form of telepathy, like the Lucario Ash told me about a while back. But still, now he has all of Ash's abilities and then some...and one final thing I should mention, Riolu's gonna be big...literally. According to Ash, Riolu's aura is so powerful that it's causing his body to grow exponentially faster than a normal Riolu, when I held him for the first time I realized that he actually seemed slightly bigger than he was before he left.
At first I was afraid of suddenly becoming the surrogate mother of a fifty-foot tall Riolu, but Ash said it wasn't strong enough for that to happen, so that was a major relief. But enough about Ash and Riolu, there's other stuff to talk about. Daisy and Tracey are here, and Daisy seems super excited about staying in the same house as a top-coordinator, who happens to be Dawn's mom in case you weren't aware. I guess I should be happy that Daisy's wanting to learn new things about battling...but I can't help but feel like she should be trying to learn a gym's style of battling, not a contest. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.
Then after watching Dawn and her mom duke it out in a double-battle, which Johanna won by the way, Kenny showed up saying how he came to celebrate the Twinleaf Festival...now normally I'd be conjuring up ways to hook up him and Dawn...but after seeing the consequences of my harebrained schemes, I made a promise to both Dawn and myself that I would stay out of it. As much as I love Dawn, my wanting to help her out in her love life is not worth risking my own. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days, with all of us together it should be real interesting. Of course...right now we have some explaining to do, Riolu decided to show off his ability to talk through telepathy in front of everyone and they're all freaking out.
Normal POV
As everyone talked amongst themselves, all expressing their mutual shock at the fact that Riolu had just talked, Riolu himself was looking at everyone in confusion and wondering why when he talked everybody started freaking out. "Daddy?" the Emanation Pokémon looked up to his trainer, "Did I say something bad?"
"No Riolu," Misty replied for him, "They're just confused like I was when you first spoke to me."
"Oh, well maybe I should go explain then!"
"No no!" Misty exclaimed quickly, "That won't be necessary, we'll take care of it."
"Hey guys, if you'll settle down for a minute we'll explain!" No one even heard Ash say that over themselves, "Guys? Hello!"
"Allow me." Misty smiled and stepped up, and stuck her thumb and index finger in her mouth to let loose an ear-piercingly loud whistle that got everyone's attention, "Alright everyone, we'll explain if you all just settle down!" After Misty's outburst, everyone suddenly quieted down and looked at her in shock. Smiling in satisfaction, the redheaded Gym Leader turned her attention to her boyfriend. "Ash, the floor is yours."
So Ash regaled to his friends the story of his training on Iron Island and how both he and Riolu learned to control their aura and gained all new abilities, not to mention Riolu's future series of growth spurts. "And so that's the story." he finally finished.
"Wow Ash, that's amazing!" Dawn walked over to Riolu and picked him up into her arms, making an attempt to weigh the young Pokémon, "Wow, you do seem heavier!"
"Yeah auntie Dawn! I'm getting bigger aren't I?"
"You sure are!" Dawn glanced at Ash, "And now you're an aura guardian? I think I need a second to process all this."
"Not me." Brock shrugged.
"You seem to be taking this awful well Brocko." Ash pointed out.
Brock just shrugged again, "This just seems like par for the course. I mean, I'll admit when Misty told me you'd used some kinda weird Jedi mind trick to visit her in her dreams I was skeptical..."
"That's an understatement." Misty scoffed.
"My point is," Brock continued, "This isn't even the weirdest thing I've ever seen traveling with you guys. Ash being an aura guardian? That's nothing compared to some of the stuff we've been through."
"Then you've been through some crazy stuff." Kenny said with wide eyes, "Dawn, you sure know how to pick your friends."
"I know right?" Dawn giggled, "You're probably one of the strangest choices I ever made."
Kenny narrowed his eyes at his childhood friend, "Very funny Dee Dee."
"Now now, no need for bickering, I'm sure we're all very impressed by Ash's new skills." Johanna said as she'd finally gotten over her own shock.
"Uh...yeah, that's one way to put it." Daisy stammered, "Um...so...now what?"
"Gotta admit, that bombshell you dropped on us kinda has us all stunned." Tracey admitted.
"See, you haven't traveled with Ash enough, you're not used to enough craziness." Brock said as he walked up to the artist and squeezed his shoulder, "It takes at least two years to desensitize yourself from all the wacky stuff a person goes through when traveling with him."
"Ok!" Daisy shouted as she walked to the middle of the battlefield, "I am officially changing the subject to something a little less crazy! Can I have my turn battling Johanna now?"
"Oh no you don't Daisy!" Misty seemed to warp over to her sister's side, "You and me are going through Gym Leader training, after that I don't care what you do, but first you gotta deal with me!"
"Aww man!"
So for the majority of the rest of the day, Misty put Daisy through intense training. Needless to say, Daisy complained through a lot of it, but with a little help from her boyfriend, Misty was able to endure her sister's whining and make some progress. "Well sis, it was like pulling teeth, but I think we got somewhere today."
"I'm so glad." Daisy said with her narrowed at her little sister, "At least I won't have to deal with your boot camp anymore."
"For now at least." Misty giggled, "Maybe tomorrow we can get a double battle in; you can team up with Tracey and I'll team up with Ash."
"Sounds like a plan to me, I'm sure Riolu would love to try out his new power on an opponent." Ash spoke up, "Ain't that right Riolu?"
"You bet!"
Daisy shook her head at that, "I'll never get used to that."
"Oh I dunno, I'm over the whole weirdness factor, I think it's cute." Dawn giggled, then she turned her attention to her best friend who'd been quietly walking next to her, "So Kenny, what're you gonna do now?"
"Hmm?" Kenny's train of thought derailed, he'd been distracted by something that was on his mind. "I'm sorry Dawn, did you say something?"
"What's the matter Kenny?" Dawn asked curiously, "You seem distracted."
Kenny smiled and shook his head, "It's nothing, don't worry." Kenny looked up and saw that the group had reached his house, "Well, this is my stop...I'll see you tomorrow Dawn."
Dawn grinned and leaned in for a hug, "You got it, seeya Kenny!" Dawn released the boy and walked off, looking over her shoulder to wave to him. Finally Dawn looked away with a self-satisfied smile on her face. "So I guess we'll head home now too, it's getting kinda late."
Daisy didn't bother to comment on that last statement, she was too busy smirking at what she'd just seen. "Well well well, looks like we found the guy you're interested in after all!"
"Daisy," Misty said warningly, "Stay out of it ok? Trust me, I've learned the hard way that prying into other people's business tends to come back to bite you." Misty frowned a little as she thought back to her huge argument with Ash that almost led to her breaking up with him.
Daisy was about to comment anyway, but when she saw Misty's disheartened expression she decided to keep it to herself, "So...babe, Prof. Oak comes tomorrow right?"
"Yeah that's right, I'm gonna meet him in the morning and escort him here...I uh...don't suppose anyone wants to come with me?" Tracey looked around among his friends and saw that no one was willing to volunteer. "Well...guess I'm on my own."
"That's right Trace." Misty smirked.
Tracey sweat-dropped at that and hunched over, "Some friends."
So with that, the group had themselves a quick dinner and headed off to bed, they were gonna have to get up bright and early for the start of the Twinleaf Festival, and under the instruction of Johanna, they went to sleep early to get ready for the big day ahead of them.
Early the next morning, the group was woken up by the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon, and of course Ash was the first one to notice and as a result he was the first one up. Of course, once he got up, Riolu got up too, and that woke everyone up. "Come on everyone! Breakfast!" the Emanation Pokémon shouted.
Groans rang out simultaneously as the others fought off consciousness, but Riolu's incessant chanting of "breakfast" made any resistance futile. "You know, I think Ash is gonna have to put Riolu in his Pokéball from now on." Dawn grumbled into her pillow.
"What good would that do? Riolu could just pop out whenever he felt like it." Misty replied as she stretched out. She exhaled forcefully as she built up some much-needed determination to actually get out of bed, "I wonder if Tracey's already gone."
"I think I heard my mom talking to someone earlier, but then again I might've been dreaming, it's been soooo long since I slept in my own bed." Dawn grinned at the thought.
"Kids, breakfast!" Johanna's voice called from downstairs.
"Well alright! Come on guys, let's get something to eat!" Ash ran out of the room with Pikachu and Riolu chasing after him, leaving the others behind.
"Yup, Ash is definitely back." Brock laughed.
Misty sweat-dropped, "I wonder if he needs more training on Iron Island, I'd forgotten what it was like to sleep in."
"Aww, you don't mean that." Dawn wagged a finger at the redhead, "Don't act like you didn't miss him, not after that little show you put on for us yesterday." she grinned even bigger.
Misty blushed and looked away, "Yeah whatever."
After the heaping helping of eggs and bacon, Dawn and Misty got started on the dishes while Brock went to work on one of his natural medicines. Ash was busy feeding Pikachu and Riolu, and Johanna was finalizing an important aspect of the festival on her small red laptop. "There, that takes care of the schedule then." she sighed with satisfaction. The petite woman then got up from the couch and stretched a little bit before turning to face the teens working in the kitchen. "The Twinleaf Festival's almost here, and of course the first event is a Pokémon lecture by none other than Prof. Oak!"
"Perfect way to start things off, I feel a little sorry for Tracey though," Brock said. "Poor guy, maybe I should've volunteered to go with him."
"Oh he didn't go alone," Johanna assured with a dismissive wave, "Daisy went with him."
Misty's head whipped around and her eyes locked onto Dawn's mother, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? It almost sounded like you implied that my oldest sister Daisy voluntarily got up early to go with Tracey to pick up the Professor."
Johanna giggled, "She did, you shouldn't underestimate your sister so much, you know?"
Misty narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Did she tell you to say that?"
Johanna giggled again, "I'm not saying." As Johanna took a glance at a clock on the wall, her eyes widened in shock as she gasped, "Is that what time it is?! I thought it was much earlier!"
"What's the matter mom?" Dawn asked.
"Prof. Oak's lecture begins in just a short while, Tracey and Daisy should've been back with the Professor a while ago!"
"That's strange, I wonder if maybe something happened on their way here?" Brock wondered.
"I hope not," Johanna frowned, "This is not good."
Ash stepped up with a determined expression on his face, "We'll go check things out for ya."
"That would be great." Johanna said gratefully, the worried frown still there, "The road they took is that way." Johanna pointed at a dirt road that led to a nearby marshland.
"Let's go guys!" Ash took off running down the road with his friends not far behind.
"Oh I do hope they find them." Johanna went back inside and took a seat as she began working on her laptop once more, but then just a few minutes later, she received a visitor.
"Hi Miss Johanna."
Johanna looked over her shoulder to see Kenny standing in the doorway with his Prinplup, "Oh, good morning Kenny."
"Where's Dawn? Is she here?"
Johanna smiled inwardly, "She just left actually, she went with Ash, Misty and Brock to see if they could find Tracey and Daisy. They went to go pick up Prof. Oak a while ago and they haven't gotten back yet. Why? Did you wanna talk to her?"
"Not really," Kenny replied with a nervous chuckle, "I was just wondering."
"I see. Well in that case, you could stay here and help me out, I still have some work to do and there isn't really anything I can do about the lecture until Prof. Oak arrives." She went back to looking at her laptop, but then she got more visitors.
"Good news Johanna!" the former top coordinator looked over her shoulder to see Cara introducing her to someone, "Our special guest has finally arrived!"
Johanna got up from her chair, "Great! We were so worried!" As Johanna walked up to the man, she got a closer look and she wound up staring at him for a few moments before smiling, "Guess what they say about videophones is true. You do look much younger in person you know? We'll be starting soon, thanks again for your help."
"My pleasure!"
Johanna, Cara and Izzy led the man to the lecture hall while Kenny and Prinplup looked on in suspicion. "Hey Prinplup...did Prof. Oak seem...off to you?"
"Prinplup." (Yeah.) the penguin nodded.
"I think we better keep an eye on this guy, something isn't right here."
Meanwhile, somewhere along the road to Twinleaf Town, the real Prof. Oak was currently having car trouble. "Please Tracey, relax. There's no need for you to continue apologizing."
"If I hadn't hit that pothole we would've been there a long time ago, and your lecture starts soon!" Tracey said as he replaced the tire on the car.
"I tried to warn you." Daisy said as she leaned against the hood of the car with her arms crossed.
"You warned me less than two seconds before I hit the pothole! No one has reflexes that fast!"
"Oh so now it's my fault?"
"Please, please! No need for bickering!" Prof. Oak exclaimed, "What's done is done, the issue is quite easily resolved, let's just fix the tire and we'll be able to continue on our way."
"Sorry Professor." Tracey sighed.
"Yeah, sorry." Daisy added.
"Much better." the Professor smiled and looked into the distance where the marshland was, "Now there's a sight! A most impressive looking marshland to be sure!"
"Yeah, muck and mud, real impressive Professor." Daisy rolled her eyes.
"Perhaps it may not be appealing to you Daisy, but I'll wager it's the home of some exciting Pokémon!" Prof. Oak started walking towards the marshland.
"Uh, Professor! All ickiness aside, don't you think you should stay with the car?!" Daisy called out.
"I'll be done in just a minute Prof. Oak, just hang on please!" Tracey added rather urgently.
"I'll be right back!" Prof. Oak waved dismissively without even turning around or stopping, "I'm just going for a quick look!" the Pokémon scientist continued on his merry way, much to the chagrin of the two young people.
"Oh great." Daisy face-palmed.
"Well there's no stopping Prof. Oak once he wants to go find Pokémon. This could be a problem." Tracey sighed as he continued working with the spare tire.
Just then, Ash and co. came running up to the car, "Guys! What happened?" Ash asked.
"Oh, Ash." Tracey took a moment to look and acknowledge them before going back to the tire, "We had a little accident and it's really slowed us down."
"No kidding, you guys were supposed to be there a while ago!" Misty exclaimed.
"It isn't from a lack of trying sis." Daisy huffed.
"Didn't say it was, relax ok?" Misty replied, "Where's Prof. Oak?"
"He decided to take a little stroll into that gross swamp." Daisy scoffed.
"Oh no!"
Dawn's sudden shout caught everyone off guard. "What's the matter Dawn?" Brock asked.
"That marshland is chock full of quicksand!" Dawn explained worriedly, "We gotta get him outta there before he gets stuck or something!"
"No time to waste then, let's go bring him back!" Ash turned to Tracey, "Get that tire onto the car, we'll be back before you know it!"
"I'm almost done." Tracey nodded, "Happy hunting guys!"
Ash responded with a nod of his own, "Let's go!" with that he led his friends into the marshland, on a quest to rescue the Professor before something went horribly wrong.
"Think they'll find him babe?" Daisy asked.
"You know them Dais, they always manage to pull off whatever they're trying to do somehow." Tracey replied as he finally tightened the last bolt on the spare tire, "There, finished...now we just gotta wait for them to come back with the Professor."
"It probably would've been easier if our surprise passenger had gotten out of the car." Daisy rolled her eyes. Just then, the passenger door opened, "Well well well, looks who's up, morning sleepyhead."
"Good morning Daisy, Tracey...say, why are we stopped in the middle of the road?"
Meanwhile, back at the lecture hall, ladies and gentlemen of all ages were coming in droves to listen to Prof. Oak give his lecture, much to the delight of Cara and Izzy as they were watching people enter from backstage. "This is the nicest turnout I've ever witnessed!" the elderly man said as the lecture hall continued to fill.
"For once I agree," Cara replied, "Thanks of course to Prof. Oak."
"Assuming this even is Prof. Oak." Kenny thought to himself suspiciously. The man that Cara and Izzy had brought in certainly looked like Prof. Oak, but his demeanor was completely off considering all the stories Dawn had told him about the world-renowned scientist from Kanto. This man looked like he was ready to throw up at any moment, and every time someone addressed him he would nearly jump out of his shoes, "It's one thing to be nervous about giving a lecture on stage in front of hundreds of people, but this guy looks like he wants to commit suicide before going up there."
"So Professor," Johanna spoke up without turning around, "I understand you're going to be speaking about the interrelation between Pokémon and evolutionary stones right?" but when Johanna did turn around, the man was suddenly not there, "Uh...hello?"
Suddenly the man reappeared with cold sweat dripping off his forehead, "Isn't that special?" he chuckled, "Run that by me again?"
"Hey, you don't look so good." Kenny pointed out with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, don't worry," the man pulled out a handkerchief from his vest pocket and wiped his brow, "It's just pre-lecture jitters I assure you, it never really gets any easier to speak in front of a crowd you know." he laughed rather boisterously.
"Oh of course, no need to explain." Johanna waved dismissively, "I know exactly how you feel. Whenever I would have to give a speech during my time as a top coordinator I would always freeze up for a moment until I could regain my composure." she giggled.
"What a coincidence!" the man responded, "As a matter of fact, sometimes that happens to me too! So please, don't be alarmed if I don't say anything for a minute or so!" he laughed again.
"No need to worry, everyone is just really excited to see you, they'll be more than content to wait until you finally get used to being up on stage." Johanna said reassuringly before turning away again.
Kenny turned away as well, but not before sending another suspicious glare the man's way. "Miss Johanna, doesn't something seem a little off about the Professor?"
"He does seem a little bit on edge, why don't you go get him something to drink, there's a cooler with water bottles around the corner."
Kenny mentally slapped himself, Johanna had noticed something was wrong, but she was attributing it to a totally innocent cause. "I can't accuse this guy without any evidence, Miss Johanna might kick me out if I misbehave...I guess I'll just have to wait until he makes a mistake...come on Dee Dee, hurry up and get here already!"
While that fiasco was going on, the real Prof. Oak was going through the marshland as he continued his search for Pokémon. As he walked through some tall marsh grass, he witnessed a Poliwhirl jumping into a large puddle of water and start to play in it. "This calls for a poem!" the inspired scientist said, "Poliwhirl leap! Through the silence, into the deep!" The Professor chuckled, "I knew I was onto something out here, so much inspiration, why this marshland is a veritable Pokémon treasure trove!" Rather pleased for himself for coming up with yet another poem on the spot, his attention was grabbed by a rustling in the brush nearby. "I wonder what Pokémon I'll see next?"
The Pokémon revealed itself when it parted the grass and walked out. "Politoed."
"Excellent! It's a Politoed!" The scientist made eye contact with the frog-like Pokémon for a few moments before gesturing for it to come closer, "Come here, Politoed Politoed." But just then the Politoed snapped its fingers, and out of the brush on either side of the Pokémon scientist emerged two Quagsire who walked up to him at Politoed's behest. "Oh, this is excellent! And another creative burst!" Prof. Oak once again began reciting a poem he'd just thought of, "A Quagsire team, and a friendly duo is just how they seeeeEEEM!" the Professor suddenly found himself being lifted off the ground by the two Quagsire, "Come come, where are you three taking me?"
It was at that point that Ash and his friends had finally found the Kanto-based Professor, but thanks to the tall grass they couldn't see what was going on. "Hey look, there's Prof. Oak!" Ash pointed over the grass.
"Professor! Hey Prof. Oak!" Brock called out. When he didn't get a response, he became confused, "That's weird, maybe he didn't hear me?"
"I've got a better question. Why's he walking even further into the marshland?" Misty asked as he watched the retreating form of the Professor gradually grow smaller in her view.
"Hang on...he's not alone." Ash closed his eyes and reached out with his hands as he tried to get a good read on the nearby auras. After about a moment, Ash's eyes opened in surprise, "What the?"
"So what's the verdict?" Misty asked.
"You gotta see it to believe it." Ash led the group to a pathway away from the tall grass, and when they finally got a clear view, they saw two Quagsire carrying Prof. Oak away with a Politoed leading them. A sight they never would've believed if they hadn't seen it for themselves. "I know he loves Pokémon...but playing with 'em when he's got a lecture to give?"
"It does seem far-fetched for someone as responsible as Prof. Oak, are you sure they're just playing?" Misty asked.
"Their auras are blue, there's nothing bad going on...but it does seem like there's more to this than we're seeing."
"We better follow them and see where those Pokémon are taking Prof. Oak and why." Brock suggested.
"Right, and we better hurry! I doubt Mom can stall for much longer!" Dawn exclaimed, "Let's go guys!"
Dawn didn't realize it, but Johanna wasn't feeling any need to stall as she still believed the real Prof. Oak was sitting in a chair right behind her. Or so she thought. "Oh, going somewhere?" Johanna found the faux Oak on his knees on the ground opening the door just a crack, "I'm about to go up and introduce you."
The man quickly turned around as he sat on the floor, looking up at the former top coordinator in horror, "See, I just remembered an important engagement!"
Suddenly Izzy and Cara came up to him and they both grabbed one of his arms and lifted him off the ground as they started to carry him towards the stage. "You'll deal with that after the lecture!" Izzy said.
"Right now, time's a-wastin'!" Cara hummed.
"Yeah," Kenny and Prinplup made an appearance with their arms and flippers crossed, "It'd be real unlike you to just bail on a lecture you promised to give Prof. Oak."
"Nobody's perfect." the man whimpered lamely.
"Ok, I'm going out to introduce you, this is so exciting!" Johanna walked out on stage with a microphone in hand, "I'd like to thank you all for waiting! Folks, it's lecture time! Our topic today: the interrelation of Pokémon and evolutionary stones. So please welcome our guest of honor," Johanna gestured her arm towards the backstage as she gave the cue for the faux Oak to come out, "Prof. Oak!"
The fake Professor was carried onto the stage and thrown towards the podium by Izzy and Cara, and as everyone in the audience gave him their applause, he promptly froze up and stared blankly into the audience with a horrified expression on his face. "Hmm, that's strange, he doesn't look so good." Cara commented from backstage.
"It's almost like he isn't the real Prof. Oak." Kenny dropped a not-so-subtle hint with his arms still crossed out of frustration.
"Well he did say it takes him a few moments to get used to it, let's wait and see what happens." Johanna replied.
Kenny's palm found its way to his forehead with a loud slap, and he motioned for Prinplup to follow him as he headed outside. "This is getting us nowhere, the only way we'll be able to expose this fake is if we find the real Prof. Oak, and that means we need to go find Dawn and the others, so let's go Prinplup!"
"Prinplup!" (Got it!)
They ran outside and Kenny rushed down the street, "There's only one road that leads to this part of Twinleaf Town so that has to be the direction they went! Hang on Dawn, I'm coming for you!"
So while Kenny and Prinplup hurried to find them, Ash and the others had lost track of the Pokémon scientist. "Where could he have gone?" Dawn wondered.
"Professor!" Brock shouted, but got no response. "Nothing, yelling is probably gonna be a waste of time."
"And so is looking for them, this marshland is huge!" Misty added, "Ash, can you use your aura to try and track them down?"
"I'll give it a shot." Ash closed his eyes and held out his hands in front of him pointing in slightly opposite directions, as he stretched out with his aura and made an attempt to find the Professor. "I think...I might be getting something..." Ash strained to get a better read on the auras he was sensing, "I think I found them!" Ash's eyes snapped open and he took a few deep breaths before speaking again, "They went that way, let's go!"
"Ash wait!"
Ash was about to take off running before Dawn blurted that out, "What's the matter?"
"I told you this marshland is full of quicksand, it's dangerous out here and we gotta be careful where we walk or we're gonna find ourselves in a lot of trouble!" Dawn explained.
"But we can't just leave Prof. Oak hanging!" Misty countered before looking at her boyfriend with a thoughtful expression, "I don't suppose you can use your aura to find which parts of the ground are dangerous to walk on?"
Ash shook his head, "I can kinda see the surrounding area with aura, but there's no spots on the ground that look different from the rest of it." Ash crossed his arms, "Maybe I need more training or something, I dunno." he sighed.
"Don't worry about it Ash, it's not your fault." Misty said reassuringly, "We'll have to think of another way."
It was then Piplup forced his way out of Dawn's arms and hopped onto the ground as he gestured towards himself. "Piplup, you're gonna lead us?" Dawn asked.
"Piplup!" (Exactly!)
"Piplup's a water-type, he'll probably know where it's safe..." Brock scratched his chin, "Or...he could get us totally lost again." he mumbled to himself, remembering the little fiasco while they searched for Cresselia a while back. Piplup took a few steps forward before looking back and smiling reassuringly at the teens, "Looks like Piplup came through!"
But then Piplup began to sink where he was standing and he began to panic as he sank deeper into the sand, "Looks like we spoke too soon!" Misty exclaimed.
"Dawn, have Buneary use 'Ice Beam', quick!" Ash grabbed Buneary's Pokéball off Dawn's belt and tossed it, and a second later Buneary emerged.
"Ice Beam', let's go!" Under the coordinator's command, Buneary unleashed a freezing beam that struck Piplup head on, stopping him from sinking but also trapping him in a huge block of ice. "Alright, let's get him out of there." Dawn sighed as Piplup groaned in the ice. Once Piplup was free from the quicksand thanks to a little help from Charizard, Pikachu pulled out a tiny hammer and chisel and started to chip away at the ice encasing the little penguin. "Thanks for your help Charizard." Dawn said as Ash returned his dragon.
"This seems to happen a lot." Brock chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck, "First Cresselia and now this."
"Don't remind me." Dawn moaned. Finally Pikachu found a weak spot in the ice and the ice fell apart and freed the confused penguin. "Piplup, when are you gonna learn?!" Dawn scolded with her fists on her hips, "Don't volunteer for a job you don't know how to do!" But Piplup just chirped in denial and went to go try again, "Are you even listening to me?!" Luckily, before Piplup could get very far, he was stopped by an orange and black hand, "Croagunk?!"
"Of course! Croagunk's the one who really knows his way around the marshland!" Brock exclaimed, "Lead the way Croagunk!" Croagunk did just that as he leisurely walked ahead of Pikachu, Piplup, Buneary and the humans. After a few minutes of tense silence, Croagunk stopped in his tracks which drew gasps from everyone, while Piplup decided to keep walking...and found himself sinking once more. Croagunk casually lifted Piplup out of the muck and looked ahead with determination, "Way to go Croagunk!" Brock said. Croagunk scoffed at Piplup before continuing on.
"Hey Piplup?" Dawn picked up her Pokémon partner and nestled him in her arms, "I think we might be better off if we listen to Croagunk from here on out." Piplup looked down and chirped with disappointment at that. "How much further Ash?"
"We should be getting close, they finally stopped moving."
"Oh I hope so, Mom must be so worried by now."
Dawn was right about that, Johanna was worried, but not about finding the Professor, but rather why the Professor on stage had yet to say anything even after several minutes of remaining frozen in the exact same position. "I wonder if there really is something wrong with Prof. Oak."
"Oh don't be silly Johanna, he was just being modest when he said he gets stage-fright, he's just drinking in the adulation as a scholar and a showman should." Izzy said reassuringly.
"Impressive." Cara commented.
Johanna crossed her arms and frowned, "I dunno...he still seems to be taking an awfully long time, wouldn't you say Kenny?" Johanna looked over her shoulder, but was surprised to see that Kenny was no longer there, "Kenny? Hmm, I wonder where he went." Suddenly Johanna was surprised by the man on stage suddenly grabbing the microphone and shouting into it.
"Greetings youth! And thank you for your patience!" the crowd began to cheer once more as man worked the crowd, "Listen, are those voices I hear?! And is it all for me whom they cheer?!" he continued his monologue as he thrust his arm into the air and pointed towards the sky, "Delivering data at a breakneck pace, crushing ignorance and leaving knowledge knowingly in its proper place! A poet! And I'm poetically in your face!"
"What a relief, I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever get started." Johanna sighed.
"How nice," Izzy said, "What a master showman."
"Still, there's something...different about watching him live." Cara mentioned passively.
"Alright! Let's get this party started!" the faux Oak walked out from behind the podium, "But first I'd like to ask you a favor, if you all would be so kind as to lend me your Pokéballs, I can then use them in today's lecture! Whaddya say?!" the children in the audience eagerly agreed, and a line instantly formed to leave their Pokéballs on stage in hopes that their Pokémon would be used during the lecture.
"This is odd...he never told me he was planning on doing anything like this." Johanna scratched her chin in thought.
"You worry too much Johanna, he's obviously trying to turn this into an interactive lecture, the children are loving it!" Cara replied.
"I suppose...still...I'm beginning to wonder..."
Meanwhile, back in the marshland, Croagunk had finally led everyone through the quicksand infested area and in front of a large cave, "Ah ha...something must be going on in that cave." Brock said.
Ash held out a hand and closed his eyes, "Yep, the Professor's in there alright, and so are Politoed and those Quagsire."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get 'im out!" Misty exclaimed determinedly.
Just then however, Politoed and the two Quagsire emerged from the cave, and the two Quagsire took it upon themselves to barricade the trainers and their Pokémon from the cave. "Looks like they aren't gonna let us in peacefully." Dawn commented.
Pikachu's cheeks began to spark in anger as he got ready for a battle, but he was stopped by Croagunk who had blocked off the electric mouse with his arm. Then the poison/fighting-type stepped forward and croaked determinedly, and that prompted Politoed to come out from behind the two water/ground-types and face off against him.
"Hey, what's going on?" Dawn asked in shock.
Brock crossed his arms, "Unless I'm mistaken, I think Croagunk just challenged that Politoed to a duel!"
"Hey, head to head? That's great!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
The two frogs stared each other down, size-wise, Politoed had the obvious advantage as it was much bigger than Misty's, which was only slightly bigger than Croagunk, but Croagunk had the advantage of having a trainer and actually getting some real training. After a few more moments, the two frogs leaped into the air and attacked, Croagunk activated his 'Poison Jab' while Politoed put its right foot forward with 'Mega Kick'. They then landed and kept their backs turned towards each other.
"So wait...who won?" Misty asked.
Politoed made the first move as it turned slightly to the left to take a smug look at Croagunk, but then it cried out in pain and held its stomach as the effects of the 'Poison Jab' took effect. "Looks like Croagunk did!" Dawn cheered. Suddenly Croagunk was surrounded by the two Quagsire who had been angered by the defeat of their leader, "Uh oh, they don't look too happy!"
Pikachu, Piplup and Buneary rushed over to backup their friend, but before a brawl could break out, Politoed held out its hand and called the duo of water/ground-types off. He then stepped up to Croagunk and did a sort of salute of respect as it tapped its chest a couple of times, then it walked ahead and went back to the cave.
"So...I guess we're supposed to follow Politoed then." Misty guessed.
"Yeah...my guess is that Politoed recognizes Croagunk's strength and it's letting us by out of respect for him." Brock explained.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ash ran into the cave with his friends not far behind, and finally they found who they were looking for, "Prof. Oak!"
The Pokémon scientist had been bending over to get a closer look at a Lombre that was sitting in a dark corner, and he stood up straight and turned around to see Ash and his friends coming towards him in a bit of a rush, "Ash! Hi everyone!"
"Professor, is everything alright?" Ash asked.
"Of course it is!" Prof. Oak replied, "It's me who should be asking you that!"
"We were really worried about you sir," Brock explained, "We saw this Politoed and these Quagsire carrying you away and we came to find you!"
"No need for that." Prof. Oak waved dismissively, "These Pokémon are as nice as nice can be."
"So why'd they bring you all the way out here?" Misty asked.
Prof. Oak frowned and turned back to the reason he'd been brought to the cave, "I believe it has something to do with Lombre."
"That's a Lombre huh?" Dawn pulled out her pink Pokédex and scanned it.
"Lombre, the Jolly Pokémon. Lombre is a playful trickster. If it spots an angler, it will tug on the fishing line to interfere." the Pokédex chirped.
Piplup walked up to the saddened Lombre and tried to make friends with it, but instead of reciprocating the gesture, the water/grass-type just turned away from Piplup, who now had to be consoled by Pikachu and Buneary as he'd failed yet again to do what he was trying to do.
"It doesn't look like a playful trickster to me." Dawn said, "Not by a long shot."
"I would agree." Prof. Oak replied, "It's supposed to be, but something's off." Politoed then gestured towards the Professor with a pleading facial expression, "It would appear Politoed wants me to do something to lift Lombre's spirits."
"That's amazing! How can you always understand what Pokémon are feeling Professor?" Dawn asked.
Prof. Oak smiled and kneeled down in front of Politoed, "Why it's nothing you can't do, just open your heart and join it with the Pokémon's heart and you're there."
"I get it, kinda like how I use aura." Ash commented.
"I beg your pardon?" Prof. Oak said in confusion, "Never mind, I believe what really happened is that Politoed smelled something I was carrying." the scientist pulled something out of his pants pocket and showed it to the teenagers. "Here we are."
"Hey, a water stone!" Misty exclaimed, "I get it! You're gonna use the water stone to evolve Lombre into Ludicolo!"
"You're certainly a sharp one Misty." Prof. Oak smiled, prompting the redhead to giggle bashfully, "The fact is, Politoed is the leader of the marshland and seems to want to coax this timid Lombre into evolving. I brought it since my lecture concerns the connection between Pokémon evolution and stones, but this works too." Prof. Oak put the small blue stone into the hands of Politoed and watched as Politoed showed it to the suddenly curious Lombre.
"Here we go." Misty said in anticipation. Sure enough, the Lombre touched the stone and was shocked when it started to glow brightly, and moments later Lombre did as well as its form grew much larger. When the light dissipated, Lombre was a Ludicolo, and it began dancing around the room with Politoed with joy.
"And now it's a Ludicolo, just like that!" Dawn pulled out her Pokédex again.
"Ludicolo, the Carefree Pokémon. If Ludicolo hears festive music, all its muscles fill with energy. It can't help breaking into a dance."
"Talk about lifting its spirits!" Brock laughed as he and the others watched Ludicolo pick up Pikachu, Piplup and Buneary into its oversized hands and start dancing in circles with them.
"Well, you did it again Professor, you're amazing." Misty said.
Prof. Oak laughed as another burst of inspiration came to him. "Then, time for a poem!" he began to recite, "The water stone...giving Ludicolo a joyful tone."
Dawn squealed like a fangirl as she held her cheeks and tried to hide her blush, "Wow! And I got to hear him right now in the flesh!"
"Dawn!"
Dawn was broken out of her reverie by a familiar voice, "Kenny?" she turned around and saw Kenny and Prinplup sprinting towards them, and they both hunched over and gasped for breath when they reached her, "What are you doing here? And how'd you get past all the quicksand?"
"I should be asking you that!" the boy raised his head to look up at his best friend, "You guys gotta hurry, there's some fake Prof. Oak at the lecture hall and he's ruining the lecture!"
"There's a WHAT?!" Ash blurted, "Come on Professor, we gotta move!" Ash grabbed Prof. Oak's arm and pulled him out of the cave, "Bye everyone, have fun!" Ash addressed the Pokémon. As all the Pokémon waved goodbye to their new friends, Croagunk led the humans back through the marshland at a full sprint. "We gotta hurry and get back there before that faker does something terrible!"
"Yeah, I dunno where he came from, but he's definitely not a Pokémon expert!" Kenny added.
It took a few minutes, but they finally made it back to the car, where they were treated to a surprise, "Wh-Mom?! What are you doing here?!" Ash blurted.
"I came to keep the Professor company during his trip here, but never mind that, we're really late!" Delia replied, not even bothering to give his son a hug, deciding instead to just buckle him in. "Drive Tracey!"
"Hang on tight everyone!" Tracey jammed down the gas pedal and the car sped off with everyone crammed inside the car. Two minutes later, the car screeched to a halt in front of the lecture hall, and everyone hopped out of the car and ran inside as quickly as possible.
Once they got backstage, they saw the fake Professor dancing around in front of a huge pile of Pokéballs, "An imposter!" Prof. Oak frowned deeply and his forehead wrinkled in disgust, "I'll handle this." the Professor strode confidently onto the stage and addressed the crowd, "Sorry I'm late everyone, I had a Pokémon emergency that needed my attention!" then the Professor glared at his fake counterpart, "As for you...your time on stage is up!"
Johanna watched as her daughter came onto the stage with her friends and another Prof. Oak, and she gasped at the sight, "What is going on here?!"
"I was trying to tell you Miss Johanna!" Kenny exclaimed as he pointed an accusing finger at the faux Oak, "This guy's a fake! Dawn and the others found the real Prof. Oak in the marshland dealing with an emergency!"
"Indeed I was!" Prof. Oak then glared at the box of Pokéballs on stage, "And what, pray tell were you planning on doing with all these fine young peoples' Pokéballs?"
"This accusation is preposterous! I'm the real Prof. Oak!"
"No, that would be me."
"I'm the real Prof. Oak!"
"I'm Prof. Oak, phony!"
As they argued back and forth, a young boy in the audience raised his hand and shouted towards the stage, "Excuse me?" everyone stopped to give the lad their attention, "My Tyranitar has been acting up for weeks and now it won't listen to anything I say. "So I figure the real Prof. Oak should be able to figure out why that is."
The real Prof. Oak smiled and nodded, "I'd be happy to help, let's take a look at your Tyranitar." Moments later, the boy's Tyranitar appeared on stage as he threw its Pokéball up at the stage, and it roared with rage which frightened everyone in the audience, "Now now everyone, no need to be alarmed." Prof. Oak made eye contact with the angry Tyranitar, and after a few moments of tense silence, Prof. Oak nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. Yes of course, you poor thing. That must hurt."
"What'd you find Professor?" Tracey asked.
Instead of replying to the artist's question, Prof. Oak got down on one knee in front of Tyranitar, "Now don't be scared." the Tyranitar slowly raised its gigantic foot and put it in front of the Professor's face much to the fear of everyone watching. To his credit, the Professor never flinched and just got closer to its foot, "Don't worry, it'll be over soon...alright..." Prof. Oak reached for Tyranitar's foot and pulled something out, "I've got it!" Once the object was out of its foot, the Tyranitar stomped its foot a couple of times before gratefully nuzzling up to the Kanto-based scientist. "Aww, no need to thank me."
"Awesome! You figured it out just by looking!" the boy cheered as he rushed up and hugged his Tyranitar.
"This poor little thing was very angry because it had a painful thorn stuck in its foot, quite simple really." Prof. Oak explained.
"Very impressive, but that's nothing I couldn't have done given the opportunity!" the faux Oak exclaimed indignantly, "Where's another Pokémon that needs help? I will prove my authenticity!"
Once again the two Professors started going back and forth, "We'll be here all day at this rate!" Dawn groaned.
"Ash, I think you can solve this problem, if you get my drift." Misty whispered.
Ash nodded and walked up to the two Professors and got in-between them, "Enough is enough! I can prove which of you is the real Prof. Oak right now!"
"And how do you propose to do that Ash?" Prof. Oak asked.
Ash looked both men in the eye, "I can read your auras, then we'll know for sure which is the real Prof. Oak!"
"Ash honey, are you feeling alright?" Delia asked with concern, "What on earth are you talking about?"
"You explain Misty..." Ash waited for his girlfriend to nod before turning his attention back towards the two men. "Alright, I'm gonna close my eyes, and I'm gonna use my aura to read your auras. Understand?"
"Not really, but I trust you my boy." Prof. Oak stated.
Ash nodded and closed his eyes, activating his aura vision. After a moment, Ash gasped in horror and jumped back as his eyes snapped open, "James?!"
"James?! As in Team Rocket?!" Dawn asked.
"Oh no, you're trying to impersonate me again?!" Prof. Oak growled, "How would you like to have another poetry contest? That exposed you last time!"
"Preposterous! I am the real Prof. Oak!" before he could defend himself any further though, the Tyranitar used its tail to hit James up and out of the building through the roof, "Looks like I'm blasting off again!"
"How on earth did he know who that was?" Delia asked.
"I told you Mrs. Ketchum, Ash has the power to sense people's auras, it's something he learned earlier in his journey, and it's also an important part of Riolu's training." Misty explained.
Delia smiled and clasped her hands together, "That's my son."
"That certainly was an interesting experience Ash, I hope you wouldn't mind explaining it further after this lecture is over?" Prof. Oak asked.
Ash smiled and nodded, "Sure thing Professor."
Johanna stepped up and addressed the crowd, "Well now that that's been settled, everyone please come back up and retrieve your Pokéballs, and make sure to give the real Prof. Oak a warm welcome as he gives his lecture titled: the interrelation of Pokémon and evolutionary stones!" as the crowd cheered and all came up to meet the real Professor, Ash and the others all walked off the stage and headed into the lobby of the lecture hall.
"Way to go Ash, you exposed the fake!" Tracey exclaimed.
"More creepy aura powers, this is just too weird." Daisy sighed wearily.
Suddenly Ash found himself being glomped by his mother as she came up and kissed him several times on his head, "There's my boy, the hero of the afternoon!"
"Aww come on Mom!" Ash whined as his friends all chuckled at his embarrassment. Once he was finally released, he tilted his head slightly up to look at his mother, "So you decided to come up with the Professor after all?"
"I couldn't find a good reason not to, and besides, I kinda got used to seeing you more often." Delia hugged her son again much to his embarrassment. "And you never did tell me about all these new abilities of yours, now I'm curious!"
"It's kind of a long story." Ash chuckled.
"I'm not in any rush."
"Oh..." Ash sighed, "I thought Misty told you the story already?"
"I told her what you were doing Ash, the whole story would've taken way longer than that." Misty explained, "Although I am a little concerned though...that's twice that James has tried to impersonate Prof. Oak now, remember back in Johto in Maroon Town?"
"Yeah, he actually convinced everyone that he was the real Prof. Oak during DJ Mary's radio show...at least this time we figured it out before it got too out of hand." Ash said, "But you know what this means? It means Team Rocket is hanging around the festival somewhere, we'll have to keep a sharp eye out for them."
"Can't you just use your aura to sense them?" Kenny asked.
Ash shook his head, "It takes a lot out of me to do that, I can't constantly be using my aura or I'll burn myself out."
Misty wrapped her arm around Ash's shoulders, "No one's expecting you to Ash, you did more than your share today." Misty looked around at her friends, "We're just gonna have to make sure we keep an extra sharp eye out for them."
"I wonder why Team Rocket decided to try and impersonate Prof. Oak in the first place, surely they realized there was no way they would be able to simply walk away with all those Pokéballs so they must have had another motive." Delia reasoned.
"I dunno Mom, they are pretty dumb." Ash snickered.
"I will give them this though, they're really good with disguises." Daisy spoke up, "They're terrible trying to come up with their own fashions, but they're great at copying other people."
Everyone sweat-dropped at Daisy's somewhat irrelevant statement. "Well once the Professor's lecture is over, the Twinleaf Town Festival's gonna be in full swing!" Kenny exclaimed.
"Yeah! It's gonna be great this year, I can feel it!" Dawn added as she pumped her fist.
"Sounds good to me, so how about we go check things out?" Daisy asked.
"Nice try big sis." Misty smirked, "Remember we still have a battle to do! Get ready for some serious training, it's still gonna be a while before Prof. Oak's lecture finishes!"
"AWW MAAAAAAN!"
And so with yet another Team Rocket foiled, Ash and co. are now getting ready to take part in the Twinleaf Town Festival, and with all their friends along for the ride, there's no telling what their next adventure might be.
_
A/N: Well I hope you guys enjoyed this update. I really am trying to get this out quicker but I've been working really hard lately and I can't keep procrastinating. I'm doing my best, believe me. I'm not dead, I'm still writing, and I'm gonna try and answer all your reviews so please do so, I love getting feedback. See you guys next time, which hopefully won't be as long.