AAML: Diamond and Pearl version

by EchidnaPower

Follow me as I remake the DP episodes in order and in sequence, all so I can add the biggest star besides Ash himself. Misty! Watch her and Ash's love grow as they go on their journey. A Pokeshipping series. Also includes Penguinshipping, Handymanshipping, slight mentions of Contestshipping, and a Brock shipping to be named later. Oh yeah, there's PikachuXBuneary here too.

67. Historical Mystery Tour

So...yeah, I guess we can consider this my Christmas present to you all...of course, I dunno how much you're gonna like it. What was originally meant to be a rather small part of the Twinleaf Festival arc, mutated into a monster that I had absolutely no control over as my imagination ran wild with ideas and scenarios. You thought there were a lot of characters involved already? You ain't seen nuthin yet. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it looked really good in my head, I hope it comes out as good on here as it did in my imagination. I own nothing except the story.
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Chapter 67

Misty's POV

The Twinleaf Festival is now underway! After we had a little adventure in exposing a fake Prof. Oak, which strangely enough turned out to be James in disguise again, we all headed outside to wait for Prof. Oak to finish his lecture on the evolutionary stones. You know, it amazes me sometimes how dumb Team Rocket can be sometimes, they use plans that have already failed once and expect a different result. Ah well, the definition of insanity and all.

Of course, what does that say about us that a lot of times we fall for the same trick twice? I gotta give them credit for this much, they're some of the best actors I've ever seen and they have the disguises to go with that. Maybe they should just go into acting and save us all a lot of trouble, that would be nice. In any case, while we're waiting for the Professor to finish up his lecture so we can enjoy the rest of the festival, I'm gonna put Daisy through a little more training. I know I promised her that she was gonna be able to enjoy a sort of vacation, but I also told her I was gonna make sure she went back home with improved battle skills. If she's gonna be here, I'm gonna make sure she learns something!

Normal POV

It was fortunate that Delia had gone back inside to enjoy the rest of the Professor's lecture, because as a mother, she would find it instinctual to do some lecturing of her own, which would be aimed at a certain leggy blonde who was whining like she was four years old.

"Do we have to?!"

Misty rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes, Daisy. After this we're gonna spend the rest of our time just enjoying the festival, this is our last chance to do some training before the actual vacation starts!"

"But we already did this yesterday!" Daisy whipped her head back and groaned, "I came to Sinnoh to enjoy some time with my baby sister and my boyfriend, not go through Misty's boot camp!"

Misty sighed again, "Look, I promise, after this, we'll do whatever you want, but I wanna make sure you'll be ready when you head back!"

Tracey walked up to the blonde and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, which earned him her immediate attention. "C'mon Daisy, it won't be so bad, one more battle and we're done, then we can have all the time in the world."

Daisy relinquished a small smile and nodded at the Pokémon Watcher before turning back to her sister. "Ok sis, it's a deal. One more battle, then we can have some fun!"

"Perfect!" Misty then snapped her fingers, "Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we team up in a double battle?"

Ash gaped at his girlfriend, "Whaaa? But I thought you were my battle partner!"

"Oh relax, you're a good enough battler that you don't need me to bail you out." Misty smirked.

The whole group "ooohed" laughingly at that comment, as Misty sauntered over to Daisy's side of the battlefield with a little self-satisfied smirk, while Ash just watched her go with his jaw almost touching the ground.

"Looks like there've been shots fired here in Twinleaf Town folks!" Kenny laughed as he imitated an announcer.

Ash shot the male coordinator a dark look, "You think that's funny? You battle Misty and Daisy!"

Kenny stopped laughing immediately, "Whoa, relax man! It was a joke!" he held his hands up in a placatory gesture.

"Well now I'm turning your joke into my joke!" Ash crossed his arms over his chest smugly. "Go ahead, show me what you're made of!"

"You're being obnoxious Ash!" Misty scolded from the other end of the field.

"The last thing I want right now is to battle your Gym Leader girlfriend and her Gym Leader sister!" Kenny exclaimed, paying no mind to Misty's previous outburst.

Suddenly Dawn stepped forward and stood next to her best friend, "Don't worry Kenny, I'll battle with you!" she pointed her thumb at herself. "Together we'll show them just what coordinators can do in a battle!"

Dawn volunteering brought a grin to Kenny's face, and he pumped a fist in determination. "In that case, count me in! We'll make a great team!"

"Yeah!" Dawn high-fived Kenny and together they took the opposite spot on the battlefield.

The whole exchange had Misty in stunned silence as she stared blankly at Ash with her jaw slightly dropped. She was about to make a comment when Ash gave her a discreet wink over his shoulder and motioned his head towards the two coordinators facing off against her and Daisy. She looked at Dawn and Kenny, then at Ash, and back again before a huge grin broke out on her face as she realized what Ash had managed to do. "You sneak, I'll have to remind myself to give you a big kiss after this is over."

"I'll officiate the battle for you guys." Brock walked over to the side of the battlefield and began his usual announcing duties. "This will be a double battle between Misty and Daisy from Cerulean City, and Dawn and Kenny from Twinleaf Town! All trainers will have to choose one Pokémon each, and either side wins when the opponent's side loses both their Pokémon!"

"Alright Daisy, time to see just how much you've learned from all our training!" Misty grabbed a Pokéball and enlarged it before turning her head towards her older sister, "You ready to go?!"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Daisy sighed and pulled out her own Pokéball, "I hope this goes well."

"Let the battle begin!"

"Now! Mamoswine, come on out!"

"Alright Breloom, let's go!"

Both Dawn and Kenny threw out Pokéballs, and with two flashes of light, Dawn's Twin Tusk Pokémon and Kenny's Mushroom Pokémon appeared and shouted their names in determination.

"Dawn's not the only who can go big!" Misty did her windup and threw her Pokéball of choice. "Misty calls Gyarados!" With a huge flash of light, Gyarados materialized and gave a mighty roar as it looked down on its two opponents. "Anytime now Daisy." she tilted her head slightly as she glanced at her older sister.

"Ok, ok." Daisy took a deep breath and steeled herself for the battle. She wound up and threw her Pokéball, "Politoed, let's go!" With a flash of light, Misty's Politoed appeared and clapped happily upon its release.

"Hiya Politoed! How are you?" Misty put her hands on her knees and bent down closer to her Pokémon.

Politoed grinned and gave a thumbs-up, "Poli toed!" (Doing great!)

"Hey, you guys can catch up later! Right now, we have a battle to do!" Dawn shouted across the field, "Ok Mamoswine, let's start by hitting Gyarados with 'Ancient Power'!" As soon as Dawn called out the move, Mamoswine formed a ball of silvery light in-between his tusks and reared back before launching it towards the Atrocious Pokémon.

"Ok Gyarados, dodge that and retaliate with 'Hydro Pump'!" Gyarados maneuvered his snakelike body to avoid the shimmering sphere, and then he reared his head back and snapped it back down as a high-powered stream of water exploded out of his mouth.

"Nuh uh, that's not happening!" Kenny exclaimed. "Breloom, get in front of that and protect Mamoswine!" Breloom leaped in front of the Twin Tusk Pokémon and took the attack with a little difficulty, but for the most part it was able to absorb the 'Hydro Pump'. "Nice! Now, let's attack Politoed with an 'Energy Ball'!" Breloom recovered from the attack and formed a ball of green energy.

"Come on Daisy, you look like a Stantler in the headlights!" Misty shouted.

Just as Breloom fired the blast, Daisy shook her head vigorously and regained her senses. "Right...ok Politoed, jump up and dodge that!" Politoed immediately obeyed and jumped over the powerful grass-type move, and landed in a battle-ready stance. "Ok, now counter with a 'Water Gun' aimed at Mamoswine!" Politoed's mouth unloaded a powerful stream of water towards Dawn's Pokémon, but once again Kenny took action.

"Get in front of that!" Breloom again protected Mamoswine from the super-effective water-type attack, although it appeared that this time Breloom was struggling more as its face was contorted into a distinctly uncomfortable grimace.

"It took a second, but it looks like Daisy's starting to get into this." Tracey said as he used a pencil to draw up a sketch on his trusty sketchpad. "Love the strategy too. With Misty and Dawn ganging up on Mamoswine with their water-type attacks, Dawn and Kenny are being forced to stay on defense."

"I'm not sure why Dawn chose Mamoswine though..." Ash's hand found its way under his hat so he could scratch his head. "I mean, Dawn had to have known all of Misty and Dawn's Pokémon are water-types, so why use a Pokémon who's weak to water-type attacks?"

"Well this is just a friendly battle, maybe Dawn just wants to give Mamoswine some more battling experience." Brock offered.

Tracey smirked, "Ash's competitive instincts are just coming out on us, all he cares about is winning." he chuckled.

Ash crossed his arms and looked away from his two older friends. "So sue me." he grumbled.

"Piplup." (Me too.) The penguin scowled, angry over the fact that he hadn't been chosen to battle.

"Ya see? I'm not the only who gets competitive." Ash's frown grew deeper when Brock and Tracey just rolled their eyes at him.

"We're not gonna take that lying down!" Dawn pointed towards Gyarados, "Mamoswine, 'Take Down' on Gyarados, let's go!" Mamoswine charged forward and smashed its huge tusks into the midsection of Misty's dragon, who roared in pain at the damage it had just taken.

"Good idea Dawn! Let's take the fight to them!" Kenny exclaimed, "Alright Breloom, use 'Mach Punch' on Politoed!"

"Dodge it!" Daisy shouted.

Politoed leaped into the air to try and dodge Breloom's punch, but the Mushroom Pokémon used the speed granted by 'Mach Punch' to quickly turn around and punch the water-type out of the air. "Now follow up with 'Energy Ball' while Politoed's down!" Breloom immediately landed on the ground and charged up another grass-type sphere of energy.

"Aah! Misty, help!" Daisy gulped.

"Little busy!" Misty growled back, "Gyarados, 'Hydro Pump'!" As Mamoswine kept pushing with 'Take Down', Gyarados reared his head back and unleashed a torrent of water that splashed the Twin Tusk Pokémon's face and sent it sliding across the now muddy ground and onto its side. "Now quick, 'Flamethrower' before Breloom uses its attack!" Having temporarily taken Mamoswine out of the battle, the Atrocious Pokémon turned and fired a fiery inferno towards the unsuspecting grass-type.

While Breloom did take the full brunt of Gyarados' attack, it did manage to get off the 'Energy Ball' in time before being enshrouded in flames. "No, Breloom!"

"Quick Politoed, roll out of the way!" Politoed was still on the ground after the vicious punch, but Daisy's command prompted it to roll out of the way and let the grass-type move fly by harmlessly. "Phew, that was close." Daisy wiped her brow of sweat.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed." Ash said with a grin, "Daisy's sure come a long way with her battling ability."

"I'll take credit for that." Tracey replied with a laugh. "In all seriousness, she's really been working hard ever since she became the head Gym Leader, I'm really proud of her."

"We're not done yet! Mamoswine, use 'Ancient Power' on Gyarados again!" Mamoswine got back on its feet and launched another shimmering ball of energy.

"Gyarados, 'Protect' again!" Gyarados again blocked the attack with a green barrier. "Do you know what the definition of insanity is Dawn?" Misty crossed her arms smugly over her chest.

Dawn just smirked. "Now Kenny!"

"Go Breloom, 'Stun Spore'!" Though slightly charred thanks to Gyarados' 'Flamethrower', Breloom managed to rush up to the now defenseless water dragon and let loose a cloud of paralyzing spores, one that clearly did its job as Gyarados immediately cringed and growled in pain as sparks enveloped its body. "Way to go Breloom!"

"Darn coordinator trickery, they baited me." Misty grumbled to herself. "Come on Gyarados, you gotta shake it off!"

"Dawn had Mamoswine attack Gyarados again, probably anticipating Misty would utilize the exact same defense as before, which let Breloom go in and paralyze Gyarados. Pretty impressive strategy there." Brock said.

"Yeah," Ash scratched his chin, "But how'd they know what to do and when to do it? It's almost like Dawn and Kenny are in each other's heads."

"Whatever the reason, Misty's gonna need Daisy's help now more than ever." Tracey commented, "C'mon babe, you can still win this!"

"Alright." Daisy nodded to herself and clenched her fists in determination. "Let's get back in this Politoed, use 'Water Gun' on Mamoswine!" As Politoed was already close to Mamoswine from its previous dodge, it didn't take much effort on the frog's part to turn and fire a super-effective water-type move at the giant pig. "Now, go in close with 'Double Slap'!" Politoed then leaped up and slapped the Twin Tusk Pokémon's face several times, each time seeming to enrage Mamoswine even more. "Way to go Politoed!" Daisy's cheering came to an abrupt end when Politoed started clapping and dancing in place after its successful attack. "Hey, focus out there!"

Unfortunately, Politoed's dancing had the added effect of further enraging Mamoswine as veins popped out of its forehead, if there was one thing the Twin Tusk Pokémon despised, it was being mocked. "Mamoswine," Dawn exclaimed warningly, "Whatever you're thinking about doing, don't!" Unfortunately, Mamoswine didn't feel like listening to the coordinator girl and surged forward with 'Take Down' without her consent, which sent Politoed flying through the air. "Mamoswine!"

"AAH! Politoed!" Daisy fumbled the frog's Pokéball before pointing it into the sky, "Politoed return!" The red return beam shot into the sky and retrieved the flailing frog into the safety of its Pokéball, "Phew, that was close." the blonde sighed in relief.

"Mamoswine, that was mean!" Dawn scolded with her hands on her hips. In response, Mamoswine just looked away dismissively. Dawn just growled and returned the Twin Tusk Pokémon to its Pokéball, "We'll talk later."

"Well...that was...an abrupt ending to say the least." Brock said with his eyebrows raised in shock.

"Looks like Mamoswine still has a few issues." Ash added with wide eyes.

Misty returned Gyarados just as Kenny returned Breloom, and then she turned towards her sister who looked rather downcast. "All things considered, that was a pretty good battle big sis, I'm impressed."

"You don't have to try to be nice Misty, I know I messed up." Daisy shook her head as she looked down at her shoes.

"No you didn't!" Misty walked up to her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, you've been working hard, and you're getting a lot better. You're miles ahead of where you were when you first started training!" Misty looked over her shoulder to glance at Tracey, "Ain't that right Trace?!"

Tracey got startled and looked up from his sketchpad when his name was called. "Huh? Oh-oh, yeah Mist, for sure!" he then went back to his drawing.

Misty rolled her eyes before going back to her pep-talk. "Listen sis, I've been training ever since I was old enough to even own a Pokémon, while you only started earlier this year. Considering how much you've progressed since then, I'd almost say you're a natural!"

Daisy blushed a little and smiled slightly at the compliment, "I wouldn't say I'm a natural...it's just...your boyfriend showed me how much fun it was when you win. But losing isn't fun."

"Trust me Daisy, no one knows that better than me." Misty patted the blonde's shoulder. "Just for the record though, we didn't lose this match, Dawn's Mamoswine just clashed personalities with Politoed," Misty glared at the coordinator girl, "Which led to some cheap shots."

"It wasn't my fault!" Dawn stomped her foot.

Misty again rolled her eyes, "My point is, don't get discouraged over something like this. You're getting really good, and the fact that you were able to keep up with this battle proves that. Double battles are a whole different animal compared to one-on-one matches, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you've never been in a double battle before, right?"

Daisy shrugged, "I've been in maybe...two? Including this one...with Tracey as my partner."

"Close enough. It takes a while to get the hang of it, right Tracey?" Misty again looked over her shoulder, and again Tracey had his nose buried in his sketchpad as his pencil flew across the paper at lightning speed. "Tracey!"

"Huh?! Wha-wha-wha?!" Tracey's head jolted up again, which drew sweat-drops from everyone watching, except for Misty, whose veins were currently popping out of her forehead in rage.

"I'm over here giving my sister - your girlfriend - a pep-talk, and all you can do is keep your face stuck in that notepad of yours!" the redhead snarled.

Tracey's bewildered expression quickly turned into a smug smirk. "No need to get all huffy, I have something better than a pep-talk, that's why I'm trying to focus."

"Oh really?" Misty turned her whole body towards Tracey and crossed her arms over her chest, "And what, pray tell, would that be?" she scoffed.

Instead of answering the redhead's question, Tracey walked around her to get to his girlfriend, and he showed her the sketchpad. "What do you think Dais?" he asked tenderly.

When her brain processed what it was she was looking at, her hand found a way to her mouth and she gasped in awe. "Oh Tracey, it's beautiful!" she lunged forward and embraced her boyfriend, who had no trouble reciprocating the affectionate gesture, "Thank you sooo much!"

Misty grunted and grabbed the sketchpad from Tracey's hand, "Alright, I'll bite. What's so...great..." her voice trailed off as she got a good look at the drawing. It was of her and Daisy battling together, both of them were in dramatic battle poses with their Pokémon flanking them in battle-ready stance, the word "sensational" was drawn in an arch across the top of the page in all bold and capital letters, with what appeared to be huge waves of water in the background. Realizing what Tracey had done, Misty's frown slowly morphed into a smirk, "Well...looks like you do have something better than a pep-talk."

"Hey, don't hog it for yourself, lemme see!" Dawn ran up and got in close to get a look, "Wow!" her eyes widened, "That's so cool!"

By now the others had gathered around to see the drawing as well, and they all expressed their approval as well. "I think this might be one of your best drawings yet Trace." When Misty got no response, she looked over to where he was, "Tracey?" Tracey was in no condition to respond, as Daisy had dragged the artist into a steamy kiss that had everyone rolling their eyes at the sight.

Once their kiss finally ended, Daisy looked into the artist's eyes lovingly for a moment before turning back towards her sister. "Thanks for the talk Misty, I appreciate it." she nodded. "And you're right, I just gotta keep practicing right?"

Misty smiled and nodded back, "That's all there is to it big sis."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go again!"

"Mmm...nah." Misty said with a smirk, "I think you've earned your keep now, it's time for the actual vacation to start if you ask me. Why don't we go see what the Twinleaf Festival has to offer?"

"Perfect! You guys can reintroduce me to my hometown!" a voice said cheerfully.

"I know that voice..." Dawn turned around and her eyes lit up when she saw who was standing there with a big grin on her face. "Leona!"

"You didn't think I'd miss my own hometown's biggest event of the year, did you?" she smirked.

Dawn ran up and gave her best friend a hug, "I thought you'd be busy with the hot spring or travelling to gyms! I'd been meaning to call you for a while now, but we've been really busy ourselves."

"No need to worry Dee Dee," Leona suddenly found it somewhat hard to breathe, "Uh Dawn...the hug is getting kinda tight!" she strained.

"This isn't a hug!" Dawn growled, "This is a warning, don't call me Dee Dee!" Dawn released her childhood friend before a smile reappeared on her face, "Now that that's settled..." Dawn leaned in and whispered conspiratorially in her ear, "I have some stuff I wanted to talk to you about!"

"Hey Leona, don't I get a hug?" Kenny had his arms open as he stood there with a childish pout on his face.

"Of course!" Leona glanced at Dawn for a moment before running up to give her other childhood friend a tight squeeze, "I've missed you too Ken-Ken!" Leona suddenly found it somewhat hard to breathe. "Huh," she strained, "This seems familiar."

"Don't call me that!" Kenny released Leona, who was now having to breathe heavily to get some air back in her lungs. "Honestly, what a way to ruin a perfectly good reunion for everyone." he crossed his arms over his chest in frustration.

"So...Ken-Ken huh?" Misty had her own arms crossed over her chest, but her demeanor was very smug. "Looks like what goes around comes around, eh Ken-Ken?" Misty grinned evilly.

Kenny narrowed her eyes at Leona, who was trying her absolute hardest not to explode into laughter. "Now see what you did?!" he growled.

Brock chuckled before walking into the middle of the discussion, "Alright, let's not get hostile here. We're here to have a good time with friends and family, so let's just go and do that!"

"I'm with you Brock, I wanna go and get something to eat, I'm starved!" Ash exclaimed as he gripped his stomach. "Come on, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Ash ran off towards the festival with Pikachu right on his heels.

"Ash wait!" Misty stretched her arm out in the direction Ash had run off in, but she quickly dropped it again and just sighed, "He's speaking with his stomach again."

"Actually...I'm kinda hungry myself." Dawn laughed sheepishly as she scooped Piplup into her arms.

"Then why are we standing around here like a herd of Tauros?!" Leona exclaimed, "Come on, I wanna see what's out there!" Leona grabbed Dawn and Kenny's wrists and dragged them away to the festival, and the others followed close behind them.

By the time they finally got to the festival area, it was quite clear that Prof. Oak's lecture had already ended, as the festival with bustling with activity at every booth and attraction there was. "Wow Dawn, your mom set up the best Twinleaf Festival I've ever seen!" Kenny exclaimed as they walked through the midway.

"No kidding! I've never seen one so busy before!" Leona added. Suddenly the girl's eyes lit up when she spotted a particular booth. "Wow! You even managed to get your hands on a Goldeen Scooping game!"

"Oh yeah, I remember." Kenny chuckled, "That one year we had one of those things, Leona spent the whole day and all of her money just scooping Goldeen non-stop."

"Can I help it if I'm a master Goldeen Scooper?" Leona shrugged smugly before rolling up her sleeves, "So guess what I'm gonna be doing today?!" she said almost hungrily.

"C'mon Leona," Dawn tugged on her friend's arm, "We have all day for you to make those poor guys go bankrupt on Goldeen, hang out with us for a little while." Dawn then smirked, "Besides, you remember what happened last time don't you?"

Leona crossed her arms and pouted angrily. "Yeah, Mom and Dad wouldn't let me keep them all. I got stuck having to keep only one."

"That's not so bad," Misty spoke up, "Look, no one loves water-Pokémon more than I do, but you're making it sound like you had like twenty Goldeen that you wanted to keep!"

"Actually it was thirty," Leona replied. "But who's counting?"

"Apparently you are." Kenny snickered.

"Not that this story isn't interesting and all, but weren't we trying to find someone?" Daisy asked.

"Oh yeah, has anyone seen Ash?" Misty added.

As the group looked around the area, it was Brock who finally managed to spot their friend. "There he is!" Brock pointed to where the black-haired trainer was standing. "Looks like he found a cotton candy stand...and he's got Riolu on his shoulder."

"Oh no, he's gonna introduce Riolu to cotton candy?!" Misty exclaimed in horror. "That's gonna be a huge mess!" the redhead ran to try and stop a literally sticky situation, but by the time she got there, Riolu had already stuck his face headfirst into the white spun sugar. "Too late." Misty groaned.

"Hey Mist! Glad ya found us, want some Altaria cotton candy?" Ash held out his stick to her, and the redhead just sighed in exasperation as she took a small piece for herself and slowly ate it. "Riolu really likes the stuff too, don'tcha Riolu?"

Riolu's face emerged from the cotton candy, and it now sticky sugar all over its face, not that Riolu minded, "This is awesome!" Riolu dove back into the cotton candy with gusto.

Misty sighed, "I hope you realize that you're the one who's gonna have to clean him up. I'm not gonna let you get away with being the fun parent while I'm the one who has to be all strict all the time."

"Does Ash have the ability to be strict?" Dawn laughed.

"Fine, whatever." Ash rolled his eyes good-naturedly before walking towards the arcade area. He looked over his shoulder as he walked, "So Mist, whaddya say we go and see if I can't win ya a pr-aah!" Ash was suddenly knocked to the ground after bumping into someone, "Ouch."

"Hey come on, come on! If you crazy festival people don't watch where you're going, I'm gonna have to fine all of you!"

"Fine? Oh no, don't tell me." Misty face-palmed.

"Barry? What are you doing here?!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Huh? Hey, it's you guys!" Barry grinned and got in-between Dawn and Kenny, wrapping his arms around their necks, "Looks like the Twinleaf Trio is gonna get to rock the Twinleaf Festival! Awesome!"

"Yeah, great." Kenny grumbled lowly, "When did you get here Barry?" he said loudly enough for the hyperactive trainer to hear.

"A couple hours ago," Barry released the two other Twinleaf Town dwellers and pointed at himself with his thumb, "Ya see, I took a break from the rigors of training and came home just for this occasion!" Barry then looked at the whole group and his expression morphed into one of curiosity, "Hey, how come every time I see you guys there's more of you?"

"More of who?" Ash asked.

"More of you!" Barry repeated himself in agitation, "I mean you," he pointed at Tracey, "And you," then at Daisy, "And you!" Finally he ended with Leona, who upon laying eyes on her, his own eyes widened. "Wait a second, I know you!"

"Really?" Leona crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him, "Refresh my memory."

"Yeah! You were the one who won all those Goldeen that one year. Man, I remember it like it was yesterday, you were all like 'shoop shoop shoop', just scooping Goldeen like there was no tomorrow! I gotta say, I was pretty impressed." Barry grinned cheekily and leaned in towards the brown-haired girl.

Leona sweat-dropped and instinctively backed up a couple of steps. "Um...thanks?"

"What's with that look?" Barry frowned and stood up straight before snapping his fingers. "Oh, I get it. You were probably a little intimidated by being so close to a guy with such dashing good looks." He stuck his nose in the air as his cocky grin returned, totally oblivious to the annoyed groans of the others. "Well, as my good friend Dawn would say, no need to worry. I already have a girlfriend, so you don't need to worry about me possibly seducing you or anything. You have met my good friend Dawn, haven't you?"

"First of all, ew." Leona cringed. "Second of all, yes, I have met Dawn before, in fact she's my best friend, we grew up together...and third of all...EW!" Leona cringed again before putting her hands on her hips and frowning in annoyance.

"Who is this creep?" Daisy leaned down and whispered in her little sister's ear.

"One of Ash's rivals, he can be a nice guy sometimes, but most of the time he's just like this: a royal pain in the butt." the redhead whispered back.

Kenny stepped up to the blonde male, "Back up just a sec...you said you had a girlfriend? Who...who is your girlfriend?"

"Oh yeah!" Barry jumped in front of Ash, "I told you I'd win our bet Ash!" he pointed his finger close to Ash's face before standing tall with his hands on his hips. "I just happen to have the awesomest of awesome girlfriends, and she's here at the Festival even as we speak!"

Misty looked over at Dawn, who just gave a bewildered shrug and a shake of her head in response. With that reassurance, Misty allowed her curiosity to take over, "And who might that be?"

"Barry! There you are!" a young woman appeared from around the corner, and everyone's (with the exception of Kenny, Daisy, Tracey and Leona) jaws dropped when they realized who it was. "You know you can't just leave me behind like that, I have no idea how to get around, and no amount of kiai is gonna help me navigate a town I don't know."

"CANDICE?!"

"Oh hi everyone!" Candice gave a cheerful wave, "I didn't think you were gonna be here!"

"Us? This is my hometown!" Dawn pointed at Candice, "I'm the one who should be asking you what you're doing here!"

"Yeah, the Sinnoh League isn't over yet, shouldn't you be at the Snowpoint Gym? What happens if a challenger comes looking for you?!" Misty added.

"Pfft, please." Candice waved her hand dismissively, "I told you, the Snowpoint Gym gets the least amount of challengers of any gym in Sinnoh, and the majority of the challengers who do show up, show up when it's warmer. I might as well be closed this time of year."

"O...k..." Dawn scratched her head, "But that doesn't answer my question...what are you doing here? As in here in Twinleaf Town?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for the festival!"

Now Misty took a turn, "Yes, that much is very obvious..." she shook her head in frustration. "Let me try...what are you doing here with Barry of all people? And why is he calling you his girlfriend? There's no way he's telling the truth."

"He's telling the truth Mist." Ash spoke up somewhat hesitantly.

Misty turned her head to glare at Ash, "Shut up Ash! There's no way you could possibly..." the redhead's eyes widened in realization when she saw Ash's motioning towards Riolu who was still on his shoulder. She smacked her face with her palm and sighed, "Lousy aura powers." Misty took a deep breath to compose herself. "Never mind...ok fine, he's telling the truth." She looked over at Candice. "Last question before I lose my mind...why?"

"Why...what?" Candice tilted her head in confusion, "I don't understand the problem here."

"Don't worry about her Candice, she's just jealous that you're prettier than she is." Barry grinned at the ice-type Gym Leader and draped his arm over her shoulders.

"You're too sweet!" Candice cooed in response.

"I'm gonna gag." Misty growled. "The next time Ash and I get too affectionate, somebody just slap me in the back of the head."

"There's no need for you to be jealous hammer girl." Barry snickered.

"What have I told you about calling me that?!" Misty raged and pulled her mallet from out of nowhere.

"Whoa, easy Misty." Brock said as he and everyone took a few nervous steps back.

"Relax sis, what's the big deal if this guy got a girlfriend?" Daisy gasped in shock, "Unless..."

That got Misty to quickly turn on her big sister, "No! I know what you're thinking, and no! That's not it! In fact, not just no, heck no!"

"Will somebody please explain what's going on?!" Candice exclaimed.

Misty then turned on Barry, "Well?!"

"Well what?" Candice glanced at Barry, "Barry, what is going on here?"

Barry shrugged nonchalantly, "I've got nothing to hide." the blonde trainer looked Candice right in the eye, "A while back, I made a bet with Ash that I could find a girlfriend prettier than Misty, and as luck would have it, I found you! You're positively gorgeous, and on top of that you're an awesome battler, and you've got real spunk! Or, as you would call it, your kiai levels go through the roof! So not only did I win my bet with Ash, I managed to find someone I really like in you! I mean, I gotta be the luckiest guy on Earth! You could have any guy you wanted and you chose me? Granted, I am pretty awesome myself, but you take awesome to a whole new level!"

Candice blinked a few times before speaking. "Wait...lemme see if I got this straight...you made a bet with Ash that you could find a girlfriend who was prettier than Misty...and by finding me, you won that bet?" Candice crossed her arms and frowned, "I honestly don't know if I should be insulted and enraged or flattered and happy."

"For what it's worth, Barry really does like you a whole lot." Ash said.

Everyone's eyes were now on the Riolu-toting trainer. "How...do you know that?" Candice asked slowly.

Ash just shrugged slightly. "I can feel it in his aura. He's not using you or anything, he really does like you. But he is enjoying this whole 'winning' thing a lot." Ash glared at Barry, "For the record Barry, I happen to think Misty is at least twice as pretty as Candice." Ash glanced at the ice-type Gym Leader, "No offense intended."

"Offense accepted." Candice deadpanned with her arms crossed, "I'm so confused right now...you said you can feel that he likes me in his aura?" Candice shook her head and held it. "I feel a headache coming on."

"Join the club, I have no idea what's going on here." Leona said helplessly.

"It's a long story." Kenny scoffed, "So are we just gonna stand around and talk about relationships all day, or are we gonna enjoy what we all came here to enjoy?"

"I second the motion!" Dawn raised her hand cheerfully, "All in favor, say I!"

"I!" Everyone but Ash and Barry exclaimed.

Barry stomped his feet in frustration, "No no no! I am not letting Ash get away with what he said about my awesome girlfriend!" Barry got up in Ash's face and sneered at him, "Now look here Ash, Candice is at least three times prettier than Misty and there's no way you can argue otherwise!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I happen to think Misty's four times prettier than Candice!" Barry was about to retaliate but the black-haired trainer cut him off. "Actually no, Misty's not four times prettier than Candice," Ash missed Misty's angry glare, "Misty's actually prettier than Candice times infinity!" Barry raised a finger and opened his mouth, but was again cut off. "And one!" Ash crossed his arms and grinned smugly, as he watched Barry's expression grow even more frustrated.

"Are you two quite finished?" Brock said in annoyance.

Barry growled and backed up a few steps. "There's only one way to settle this." Barry pointed at Ash, "Ash, I challenge you to a battle!"

"You've gotta be kidding!" Kenny exclaimed.

"I'm serious! It's all about battling, I didn't just come here to hang out at the festival, I came here to win the Pokémon Battling Event 'cause that's the main attraction!" Barry held up his fists with excitement, "And if I'm gonna protect my lady's honor, then I might as well kill two birds with one stone and get a good warm up in for the event!"

Ash looked over his shoulder at Dawn, "There's a Pokémon Battling Event?"

"Oh yeah, every year they have one." Dawn laughed sheepishly, "I guess I kinda forgot about it until it got brought up just now." Dawn smiled, "We can go enter now if you want, entries are usually open until about an hour before the event, and that won't be until tomorrow."

"Uh uh!" Barry shook his head, "First we gotta settle this! Follow me you guys!" Barry took off running towards the forest.

"Hey, get back here Barry!" Ash chased after him.

"Ash!" Misty reached out but Ash had already taken off. "Great. If there's one thing Ash refuses to ignore, it's when someone challenges him to a Pokémon battle." she sighed.

"Now that they're gone...did anyone else find that whole exchange more than a little bit awkward?" Leona asked, and was replied to by several agreeing murmurs. "You sure know how to pick your friends Dee Dee."

"That's what I said." Kenny laughed.

"Don't call me Dee Dee!"

"Ahem!" Brock cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to keep another fight from breaking out. "Well, we might as well go after them, someone's gotta keep an eye on them and I say the more the merrier."

"I don't think so!" Daisy yanked on Tracey's arms and kept him from following the others, "I came here to have a nice vacation from the gym, and so far this vacation has been anything but!" Daisy smirked at the artist and hugged his arm, "So while they babysit the two stooges, you and me are gonna enjoy the festival like we planned in the first place!"

"Don't call my boyfriend a stooge!" Misty blurted, "Only I get to do that."

The others face-faulted, but quickly recovered, "Well fine, we'll see ya later!" Daisy yanked Tracey away, but they still managed to hear one final passing comment from the blonde Gym Leader, "I've never seen something so pathetic in my life."

"Have to admit, that whole 'prettiest girlfriend' debate was pretty pathetic." Kenny commented.

"I happen to be flattered he thinks I'm so awesome, I've never met someone with as much kiai as Barry before." Candice said admiringly, "Ya see, that's why I like him so much."

"To each their own, right?" Dawn laughed, "Well, let's go find your boyfriends, I guess." With that said, the group all walked off in the direction that Ash and Barry had gone in, and soon enough they found both trainers facing off against each other, with Ash using Riolu and Barry using his Heracross. Only they weren't moving. "Um...I feel like I'm gonna regret asking this..." Dawn rubbed the back of her neck, "But why are you two having a stare-down?"

Without looking away from Ash, Barry replied. "Because we didn't have a referee." he said without hesitation.

"Uh huh...so...you want me to do it?" Dawn asked.

"That'd be nice." Barry replied, once again not looking away from his opponent.

Dawn sighed and glanced at Misty for support, "I was right, I regret ever asking." Dawn turned back to the two battlers, "Look, you both know the rules. One on one, first Pokémon down loses, good luck, battle begin."

Despite the coordinator's apathetic officiating, Barry was extremely pumped up. "Alright! Ok Heracross, let's start by-"

"There you all are!"

"Now what?!" Barry barked.

The group turned to see Johanna and Delia both hurrying over to them. "We've been looking all over for you!" Johanna exclaimed before her eyes found Barry. "Oh, hello Barry! I was wondering when I'd find you here." Johanna looked over to her daughter, "You see Dawn, Barry's father and I have been friends for a long time."

"I never knew that." Dawn said in shock.

Barry closed his eyes and crossed his arms smugly. "Of course." His eyes quickly opened again though as he pointed at Johanna. "Wait, who's she anyway?"

Dawn frowned, "She's my mom, Barry." she deadpanned.

Barry laughed sheepishly, "Right, got it." he bowed slightly at Johanna, "Nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too." Johanna smiled at Leona, "And it's good to see you again too Leona, it's been a long time since I saw you last!"

"The feeling's mutual for sure!" Leona replied.

"So how come you were looking for us?" Brock asked.

"Oh right!" Johanna said as a small frown appeared on her face, "You see, we've had some mix-ups in the booth assignments and we've had some people call in sick, we're short several booth workers! I've already got Noelle working as an emergency stand-in, but we need more help."

"And you want us to go and help out right?" Candice asked.

"I know you kids had your heart set on enjoying yourselves, but I have no one else to turn to!" Johanna said, her voice oozing with remorse.

"It's no problem Miss Johanna, I'd be glad to help out!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Me too!" Leona raised her hand.

"Make it three!" Brock raised a determined fist.

"I wouldn't mind helping out, maybe I can get to see what's so great about this festival from the point of view of someone who helped set it up!" Candice exclaimed.

Thank you all so much!" Johanna exclaimed with her hands clasped, "I guarantee you'll all have some time to enjoy yourselves before the day is over!"

"What about us?" Ash asked.

"Well...we seem to have enough people helping out...Delia, would you be willing to come and get the kids if we need them? I really have to get back to the festival grounds!"

"Of course, that's not a problem!" Delia said airily, "Now Ash, you behave yourself."

Ash sighed in exasperation, "Yes Mom."

Once Johanna, Delia and the others walked off, Barry turned his attention back to Ash. "That's your mom?" Barry asked before crossing his arms with a smirk, "What, you need your mommy to follow you around so you don't get hurt or something?"

"Ok that does it!" Misty suddenly blurted, "Forget my honor or whatever, I challenge you to a battle!" Misty grabbed a Pokéball and clutched it tight, as she held her free hand above her head, "I've had it up to here with your constant competitiveness with Ash and your irrational obsession with putting him down and trying to be better than him! I'm gonna knock you down a peg, or are you too scared to face me?!"

Barry scowled, "I'm not scared of anyone! You want a battle, you got one!" Barry turned to Ash, "Move over Ash, I'm facing off against Misty first!"

"Good grief." Ash walked over to his coordinator friend and sat down with Riolu and Pikachu, who both shared his frustrated expression, "Well today's been eventful, huh?"

"Understatement of the century Ash." Dawn replied.

"Piplup." (No kidding.)

"Alright, I'm going all out! Misty calls Gyarados!" With a huge flash of white light, Misty's water-dragon emerged and roared fiercely at Barry's bug/fighting-type. "We've had this matchup before, you lost."

"Who cares?! This time it'll be different!" Barry exclaimed determinedly, "Same rules as before, let's get busy! Heracross, use 'Horn Attack'!" Heracross flew forward and slammed its horn into the belly of Misty's dragon who growled at the damage taken. "Yes! Direct hit! The truth is, I'm a gazillion times stronger than you'll ever be in a gazillion years!"

"You sure know how to talk the talk but I've yet to see you walk the walk!" Misty countered, "Gyarados, tag Heracross back with-"

"NYAAAHAHAHA!"

Barry's sudden outburst put the battle to an abrupt halt, "What's with you Barry?" Dawn asked.

"He's crazy." Riolu said, much to the amusement of the others.

Barry didn't even hear the Emanation Pokémon's telepathy as he was too busy looking into the sky in shock, "Whoa, well I'll be a yellow-nosed Makuhita!" Barry pointed into the sky, "Check that out!"

The group looked into the sky, and saw a Pokémon flying overhead, "Whoa, it's a Xatu!" Ash said.

"Really?" Without taking her eyes off of the Pokémon, Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and gave it a scan.

"Xatu, the Mystic Pokémon. This unusual Pokémon can see the past and the future as well. It watches the sun's movement all day long." the Pokédex chirped.

As the Xatu flew over the treetops, Barry raised a determined fist, "There's no time to goof off! Heracross, let's move!" Barry and Heracross ran after the psychic/flying-type.

"Hey, what about our battle?!" Misty called out.

Barry looked over his shoulder as he ran, "Sorry! But I've got no time to be battling at the moment since it's finally here!"

"It's here?" Ash repeated, "What is 'it'?" Ash took off running after the blonde trainer and his Heracross, and the others followed him. "Come on Barry, wait up!"

"Where are you going?!" Dawn added.

"Duh, straight ahead!" he replied. "I'm positive I saw it a long time ago!"

"Saw what? We have no clue what you're talking about!" Misty exclaimed. But then Barry suddenly stopped in his tracks, and the group gasped at what they were seeing. "I guess that's what he's talking about." she said in awe.

"Yes, I knew it...so it wasn't a dream after all..." Barry said almost to himself. What the group was currently seeing was a small, colorful circus tent with various psychic-type Pokémon doing tricks in front of it, such as an Alakazam juggling spoons and a Mr. Mime balancing on a unicycle. There was even a Seel balancing on a ball. On top of the tent was Xatu, looking up into the sky. "It's all real..."

"Dawn, is that part of the festival too?" Misty asked.

"Well...I doubt it...even if it were, no one would come all the way out here to watch..."

"It was before and during the festival." Barry explained without looking at the other three teens, "But at the time I was too young, so they wouldn't let me go in the tent back then...but now I'm sure I qualify."

"Something seems really weird about this." Misty said suspiciously.

Ash reached out with his hands, "That's weird..."

"What is it Ash?" Dawn asked.

"I feel some strange energy around this tent...but I can't exactly figure out what it is...or what it even means..."

"Can you tell if it's good or bad?" Misty asked.

"It's not bad..." Ash concentrated harder, "I think it might be psychic energy..." Suddenly a man dressed in a puffy yellow clown outfit emerged from the tent, "Ok, what's with this guy?"

"Hello hello!" he said cheerfully as he skipped over to the teens, "So you must be Pokémon trainers! Wonderful, glad you've come!" he stopped in front of Barry and held out his hand towards the circus tent, "Time's a-wastin' so let's go!"

Barry raised his fists in excitement, "You don't have to tell me twice!" Laughing childishly, Barry ran with Heracross towards the entrance.

"Hold on, go where exactly?" Misty asked with her eyes narrowed at the clown.

Paying the redhead no mind, the clown simply led them towards the entrance, "Please, come! Trainers and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes are welcome!" he exclaimed, "Allow me to escort all of you to a wonderful place that connects the past, present and the future!"

Once they were right in front of the entrance, Ash gasped, "That energy just spiked sky high! Get away from the door!" Unfortunately it was too late, as a bright white light shined through the doorway and blinded the humans and Pokémon. When Ash opened his eyes, he found himself in a field with tall foliage surrounding him. "Huh? What's this?" Ash got up as he'd been kneeling, and placed his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, "Pikachu, Riolu, Misty! Anyone out there?! Dawn, Barry!" No response.

"This is just getting too weird..." Ash closed his eyes and reached out with his hands, "That energy's still really strong...and it's definitely coming from a psychic-type." Suddenly the ground started to rumble, and Ash looked up, and up, and up to see an absolutely enormous Nidoking and Nidoqueen walking past him. "Nidoking and Nidoqueen? But those Pokémon don't get that big!" Ash then found himself having to duck as he heard loud buzzing, and a swarm of Combee flew overhead, also much larger than usual. "Combee?" Ash then saw several other Pokémon starting to go by, all of them paying him no mind, but also multiple times larger than normal.

"No way all of those Pokémon are just bigger than normal...but if they didn't grow...then..." Ash looked at his hands, "Did I shrink?" Ash gasped in realization. "That must be what the energy's doing! All this green around me is grass!" Ash then heard angry growling behind him, and he looked up to see three angry Mightyena snarling at him. "Mightyena?! Whaaa!" Ash took off running, and would have surely been overtaken if he hadn't fallen into a small hole in the ground. Not noticing where he had gone, the Mightyena all looked around in confusion before running in the same direction they were before.

Once it was safe, Ash climbed out of the hole and sighed with relief. "That was close." Taking a moment to catch his breath, Ash looked up again and saw a Natu chirping as it hopped away, "A Natu..." Ash closed his eyes, and gasped again when he opened them, "Natu's where the energy's coming from! I gotta find the others and let them know so we can get outta here!"

Speaking of the others, Dawn was currently walking alongside a stream, looking for her friends as well. "Piplup! Ash, Misty, Barry, HEY!" Dawn moaned, "This is no good." The coordinator gasped as she heard a loud squawk overhead, and she hid behind some rocks that had crumbled off the canyon she was walking to next to. After the Fearow flew away, Dawn saw a Feebas and a Magikarp splashing in the water by the stream, also much bigger than usual. "How did they get so big and I get so small? Not only that, where am I?"

Dawn heard a quiet chirp, and she looked over and saw a Natu on the ground, silently looking at the water, "Natu...wait a sec, isn't that related to Xatu somehow?" Dawn reached for her Pokédex to give the Pokémon a scan, "Good thing my clothes and Pokédex shrunk along with me."

"Natu, the Little Bird Pokémon. Natu evolves into Xatu, and skillfully picks from cactus plants, avoiding buds and spines. It appears to skip about to move." the Pokédex chirped.

When Dawn put her Pokédex down, Natu was already skipping away. "I can't just stand around here, I've gotta find Piplup!" Dawn pulled out a Pokéball, "I need everyone's help!" Dawn tried to enlarge her Pokéball, but pushing the button to do did nothing, sending a cold chill down the shrunken coordinator's spine. "Oh no...my Pokéballs aren't opening up!" Dawn gulped and put on a brave face, "No choice...I'll find Piplup myself!" her voice wavered a little, but she gathered her courage and took off running into the unknown.

As for Misty, she was dealing with similar issues, as she too had been shrunken and couldn't summon her Pokémon, "Great, I'm the runt again, except this time it's actually true! Went from five foot eight to less than a foot in the blink of an eye, literally!" The redhead took a seat on a rock and wiped her brow of sweat, looking over the huge river that was simply teeming with water-Pokémon that were all gigantic compared to her. "If the circumstances weren't so dire, I'd think this was awesome." Misty closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Ok...lemme think...this whole shrinking thing happened before with Sabrina four years ago...which means Ash's aura was right on the money, it's gotta be psychic-energy that shrunk me."

Misty was interrupted from her deductions when a large Psyduck waddled by, and the redhead leaped behind the rock she was sitting on to hide. "Psyduck...at this rate I'd be glad if I could get even his Pokéball to open up, it's hard to cover all this ground when you're maybe ten inches tall." Once the Psyduck was gone, Misty came out of hiding. "I've gotta find Gyarados, he was already out of his Pokéball, he can help me." the redhead gulped, "Assuming he doesn't mistake me for a snack or something." Misty was about to walk off again, when she saw a small Natu skipping past her. "Natu? That's the devolved form of Xatu! I better follow it, maybe that's the key to getting out of here!" Misty ran after the Little Bird Pokémon, who now wasn't all that little thanks to the shrinkage. "Wait up Natu!"

Finally there was Barry, who was happily sitting on top of a huge boulder, watching all of the different Pokémon run by, completely oblivious to the fact he'd been shrunken to a mere ten inches tall. "Wow, these Pokémon are huge! Who knew this place would be so fun? I'm sure glad I came here!" Barry looked down when he saw a small chirping sound. "A Natu?! Oh yeah! Heracross has gotta see this! I wish Candice was here to see this too, she'd love this place!"

While Candice wasn't in the middle of an adventure with her new boyfriend, she was in the middle of helping Brock and Leona run one of the booths. "Hey folks, step right up and play the 'Hit the Camerupt' game! All ya gotta do is hit the Camerupt and you'll win yourself an awesome prize!" Candice went into a windup like a baseball pitcher and threw the small, green rubber ball, and she made a direct hit on the wooden Camerupt cutout, which made little wooden steam puffs pop out from behind the two humps on its back. "Eee-yes! Direct hit!"

"Curb your enthusiasm a little bit huh? It's not like you get to win a prize or anything." Leona grumbled.

"Hey, I gotta be me! I put all the kiai I can into everything I do, and if you want people to come and see what you're up to, you gotta make sure to put kiai into convincing them to do that!"

"You're just upset that you didn't get assigned to the Goldeen scooping game." Brock chuckled.

"Well can ya blame me?" Leona said with her eyes narrowed at the breeder before turning her attention to the booth across from them, "I mean look at those kids! They don't have a clue what they're doing! I think I just heard one of them say that the game is rigged when it's not! It's all about the technique!"

"Hmm...I think I found where your kiai lies." Candice grinned cheekily, "You know, it probably wouldn't be good for the festival if kids thought that the games were rigged, why don't you go over there and show them how it's done?" Candice didn't get the chance to blink before Leona ran out of the booth. "This should be fun to watch."

Just then Kenny walked over, now wearing a light blue staff jacket, "Who let Leona go to the Goldeen scooping game?!"

"I did!" Candice replied, "Why, is something wrong?"

"There will be if someone's not there to keep Leona under control." Kenny put his hands on his hips, "Once she gets started scooping, there's no way to stop her until she's got them all."

Leona skidded to a stop in front of the booth with an insane gleam in her eye, "Move over chumps! Let a real scoop master show you how it's done!" Leona grabbed a scoop from the Wobbuffet that was working the booth, "Gimme that you!" Leona glared into the tank full of Goldeen, and the three booth workers huddled together to watch. Of course, the fact that it was Leona caused a certain amount of apprehension for the three workers...especially since their names were Jessie, James and Meowth.

"It's the hot spring girl!" Jessie hissed into her partner's ear.

"Yes...but all twerpness aside, this girl's good." James replied, which invoked curiosity from his two friends. "Note her efficient stance, those eyes...waiting for the magic moment to move...this girl just might be the infamous Goldeen scoop master!" James's statement caused Jessie and Meowth to gasp in horror.

"Looks like Leona's attracting a crowd again." Kenny shook his head, "I sure hope Dawn's having a better time than we are."

To say the least, Dawn was not having a good time. "Man...I wonder where Piplup and everyone else could be." Dawn shrieked in fear and flinched when an attack suddenly landed right in front of her feet. When she looked up, she saw several Ariados crawling on a giant spider web they had spun. "Ariados?! Not again!" Dawn suddenly found herself wrapped in webbing as she was pulled up and trapped into the web. "Stay away from me!"

"Piii plu plu plup!"

The Ariados were all suddenly knocked away from the web by a powerful 'Bubblebeam'. When Dawn opened her eyes, she looked down and saw Piplup glaring at the lone Ariados that had been left on the web. "Piplup?! Is it really you?!" Piplup launched another 'Bubblebeam' that dissolved the webbing trapping Dawn, and the penguin caught his shrunken trainer in his flippers before she could fall to the ground. "Wow, thanks for saving me!"

Piplup put his trainer down and put his flippers on his hips with pride. "And look, you're still the same size as you were before, looks like whatever caused me to shrink only worked on me, not Pokémon...but wait...that means that Ash, Misty and Barry might be shrunken down too! We gotta find them!" Before the duo could go looking for their friends however, the Ariados returned and attacked them. "Piplup, look out!"

Piplup leaped in front of Dawn with his flippers spread out protectively, and just as the Ariados swarm unleashed a barrage of 'Poison Sting', Piplup activated 'Bide' and absorbed the hits before blasting the Ariados away. "Nice job Piplup, now let's go while we still can, we've gotta find Ash, Misty and Barry!"

Ash was currently walking through a forest, calling for his friends and periodically reaching out with his aura in an attempt to find them. "Someone's close by, I can feel it...if only this psychic-energy wasn't throwing my aura all outta whack." Ash looked around and his eyes widened, "I know this place...it's the Viridian Forest!" Ash looked up into the sky, "And the storm...just like my first day as a trainer!" Ash suddenly felt something under his feet that wasn't grass or dirt, and when he looked at it, he saw Spearow tail feathers. What made it worse was the fact that they were still attached to the Spearow. "Uh oh..." Ash gulped, "Déjà vu." Ash took off running as the angry Spearow flew after him, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" The Spearow was about to trap Ash in its talons when it was blasted from behind by an attack.

"Pikapi!"

"Daddy!"

Ash turned around and saw Pikachu and Riolu running up to him, and they both tackled him, laughing happily. "Guys, you found me!" Ash laughed right along with them. "And it looks like you guys are still big, so the psychic-energy only affected me!"

"There's a lot of it Daddy, it's all over this place!" Riolu exclaimed. Suddenly the Spearow got back up and squawked angrily, and Riolu turned around with his paws glowing with aura, "If you wanna get to my daddy, you'll have to beat me first!" But then the Spearow flew into the air and was soon joined by several more Spearow. "Hey, that's not fair!"

"Never mind Riolu, let's just get outta here!" Ash yelled.

"Pikapi, pika!" (Ash, get on!) Pikachu used his tail to scoop Ash and placed him onto his back, and the electric mouse ran off with Riolu trailing behind just as rain started to pour down on them from the lightning storm.

"It's just like our first day together Pikachu! I think the psychic-energy might be trying to recreate the events that took place when we first met!" Ash grunted as he was almost bucked off of Pikachu's back, "What I haven't been able to figure out yet is why!"

"Look out!" Riolu exclaimed as several Spearow flew ahead of them and managed to knock the shrunken Ash off of Pikachu's back. "Daddy!"

Ash slid against the muddy ground and was immediately swarmed by the angry Spearow. "Get off! Leave me alone!"

"Come on Pikachu, let's help!" Riolu growled and jumped up into the air, his paw glowing with energy as he unleashed an aura-powered 'Force Palm' attack which got the Spearow to back away from Ash.

Once the birds were far enough away, Pikachu charged his electricity and unleashed a mighty 'Thunderbolt' that knocked out the attacking Spearow, just like the first day they met. "Pika." (It's over.)

Ash slowly got up and wiped the mud off of his jacket, wincing a little as he did so. "Almost exactly the same as four years ago." When Pikachu and Riolu walked up to him, expressing their concern, he held a hand up in reassurance, "It's just a little sore, don't worry." Ash put his jacket back on and sighed. "Nice job you guys."

"What do we do now?" Riolu asked.

"I'm not sure Riolu..." Ash scratched his chin as he thought, but then he snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up, "Pikachu, if everything is happening the same way it did four years ago, then...boy this is a long shot...do you think maybe we'll find Misty by the river she fished us out of?"

Pikachu smiled, "Pika pika chu!" (Worth a shot!)

Ash hopped onto Pikachu's back again, and together they all ran towards the river they first met Misty at four years ago. "Riolu, make sure you stay scanning for Misty with your aura, I'm gonna try and help you as much as I can, maybe together we can disrupt the psychic-energy that's got us trapped here!"

"Ok Daddy!"

Ash looked straight ahead through the rainstorm, "Hang on Misty, we're coming for you!"

"Great, I lost that Natu." Misty was actually walking alongside the river, and she reached a certain spot that caused her eyes to light up in awe, "I recognize this place..." she took a few more steps forward and smiled, "Wow, it's the river I fished Ash and Pikachu out of all those years ago! Man, talk about a trip down memory lane." Misty looked over and saw her old fishing pole with the hook currently in the water, "My old fishing pole!" the redhead snickered, "I wonder if I'll find Ash if I reel in the hook...worth a shot I guess."

Misty went over and started reeling in the hook, which was a huge chore since her arms could barely wrap around the baitcast. But much to her horror, instead of finding Ash hooked on the line, she found an angry Tentacruel on it, with two more Tentacruel appearing on either side of it, and they were all readying to fire a barrage of 'Poison Sting' attacks. "Oh no...I recognize those Tentacruel...there's no way I can survive those attacks at this size!"

She shrieked and closed her eyes as the attacks came flying towards her, but she never felt them as she was knocked back by something completely different. She shook her head to recover and when she looked up, she saw an absolutely gigantic Pokémon in her line of sight. "Gyarados! It's you!" Gyarados reeled back and unleashed a 'Hyper Beam' that sent the three Tentacruel blasting off, and then he roared in victory. "Gyarados! I'm down here! Gyarados! GYARADOS!" After yelling at the top of her lungs, Gyarados still hadn't looked down at her, "I know I'm gonna regret this." Misty stomped over to the dragon and started beating on him with her fists, "C'mon you dense dork! Look down here!"

Once he started feeling Misty's hits, Gyarados swung his head down and glared angrily at the source of the contact. "Don't gimme that look, if you'd heard me I wouldn't have had to hit you!" When Gyarados's brain registered what he was seeing, his eyes widened and he bent to get an even closer look just to make sure. "Yes Gyarados, it's me! It's Misty!" Gyarados lowered himself as much as possible and carefully nudged the tiny redhead with his face, "Alright, alright." Misty laughed, "It's good to see you too. Now we just gotta find Ash, Dawn and Barry and find a way to get back to our normal size."

"Mommy!"

Misty turned and saw Riolu beaming at her, "Riolu!" Misty ran up to the Emanation Pokémon and hugged him, "It's so good to see you."

Riolu giggled as he hugged her back, "You're tiny too Mommy."

"Yeah, I am." she rolled her eyes and pulled away from Riolu. "Do you know where Ash is?"

"Misty!"

"Pikachupi!"

Misty looked past Riolu and saw Ash riding Pikachu, and as soon as they got to her, Ash leaped off the mouse's back and raced to embrace her. "Ash, you found us!"

Ash pulled back to look at her, "Yeah, it looks like my theory was right after all."

Misty tilted her head in confusion. "Theory? What theory?"

Ash released the redhead and looked around, "This whole place is filled with psychic-energy, and for some reason it seems to be recreating events that happened in our lives. I just got attacked by a flock of Spearow after I accidently stepped on one's tail, Pikachu and Riolu came to my rescue!"

"You would do something like that." Misty laughed.

Ash crossed his arms and made a face, "Well it's not like I threw a rock at it this time."

"Noted." Misty smirked, "But I see your point, I was just attacked by three Tentacruel that looked suspiciously like the ones that belonged to the Invincible Pokémon Brothers, and Gyarados came out of nowhere and saved me just like he did back then."

"That's how I knew where to find you, I figured that if everything was happening the same way it did four years ago, I should gamble that you'd be at the river that you originally fished me and Pikachu out of when we first met, and once we got close enough, Riolu and I combined auras and managed to sense exactly where you were!" Ash frowned, "The only thing I can't figure out is why these things are happening."

Misty stood in thought for a few moments before she gasped, "Ash, do you remember what the clown said before we got here? He said he would take us to a place that connects the past, present..."

"And the future..." Ash breathed, "You're right Mist, that must be what's going on! The psychic-energy is taking events from our past and making us relive them! Huh, I guess if you look at it that way, this place can be fun."

"I was thinking that myself, but at the same time I was also thinking that I would have been able to enjoy this more if we weren't only ten inches tall.

"Actually...I have another idea about that."

"I'm all ears."

Instead of answering, Ash turned to Riolu and put on a determined expression, "I need your help Riolu, we've gotta combine auras and see if we can't disrupt the psychic-energy that's making us small."

Riolu nodded with his own determined expression. "Ok Daddy."

With another nod, Ash sat down Indian-style and held out his hands, and Riolu did the same with his paws. "Ok, close your eyes...focus your aura...make a barrier around me and focus on breaking up the psychic-energy!" Both trainer and Pokémon began concentrating, and their hands began emanating a mystical blue glow as they channeled their powers. Sure enough, after a few moments, Ash slowly began increasing in size.

"It's working Ash! You're growing! Keep it up!" Misty exclaimed.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Ash reached his full height of five foot nine. As soon as he did however, he fell over backwards with a loud exhale, as did Riolu. "T-That...was tough...that Natu must be really strong...but I think we broke the influence the psychic-energy had on me..." he said breathlessly.

Misty ran up to Ash's now normal-sized face, "But are you ok?"

Ash turned his head to the left and his eyes fell on the tiny redhead, and he gave a weary chuckle, "Gives new meaning to the term 'Mini-Misty'."

"Very funny." Misty grumbled.

Ignoring her barb, Ash slowly sat up and held his head in his hand. "Wow..." he gave one final tired huff before getting back on his feet. "The perspective is better at least, we'll definitely be able to cover more ground." Ash looked down at his ten-inch tall girlfriend, "You want us to try you Mist?"

"Do you think you can? You almost knocked yourself out just doing it on yourself!"

"I can give it my best shot." Ash shrugged helplessly, "Riolu, you up for another round?"

Riolu was still on his back, but his determination to help his "mommy" got the little Emanation Pokémon back on his feet, "We'll do it together, let's make Mommy big again!"

Ash nodded and sat down in front of Misty, "Ok Mist...it felt kinda weird for me, so I'm giving you a warning now...if you want us to stop, tell us right away."

"Got it Ash." Misty nodded, and watched as her boyfriend and his Pokémon both reached out to her, and the warm feeling of their auras enshrouded her. "That's...actually kinda nice, it feels warm, like whenever you hug me." the redhead blushed. Just like with Ash, Misty slowly started increasing in size as well, but as the process dragged on, she noticed that Ash's expression was becoming increasingly strained, "Ash, are you ok?"

"Can't...talk...right now..." Ash strained.

The water-trainer had only made it to about two feet tall by this point, and her concern for Ash and Riolu was growing faster than she was. Their aura connection had gone from a warm and loving feeling to a more forceful and aggressive type, and when beads of sweat started trickling down their faces at an alarming rate, that was the breaking point for her. "Stop Ash! No more! Stop!"

"Pikapi!"

Ash and Riolu both gave out forceful exhales and hunched over in exhaustion, their breathing extremely heavy and sweat still dripping from their faces from the exertion. "Need...more...practice...I guess..." the black-haired trainer said in-between gulps of air. Taking a second to glance at Misty, Ash noticed that he'd been at least somewhat successful. "I guess...it's a small victory...no pun intended...promise."

While still quite small, Misty was big enough to give Ash a much-deserved embrace, "I know Ash, you did your best. Take a break, then we'll go find the others."

"The others..." Ash gave a dry chuckle as he wiped his brow with his sleeve, "I couldn't even get you to half your normal height, how am I gonna take care of Dawn and Barry?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Misty replied sternly. "Now relax, you're no good to any of us if you knock yourself unconscious."

"Maybe I should've spent some more time training with Riley, he'd probably be able to make this whole mess go away all at once."

Misty crossed her arms, "And what makes you say that?"

"Riley kept telling me and Riolu that we had a really strong aura, stronger than even his...but the difference is that he knows how to control it, Riolu and I still have a lot of practicing to do." Ash took another deep breath, still not totally recovered. "We figured out the basics. We can sense people and different energies, find out whether their intentions are good or bad, but Riley can make shields and stuff. Heck, I bet he can even make his own 'Aura Spheres'. For us, it's exhausting to do that, so doing stuff like this? We still have a lot of practice ahead of us."

Misty's expression turned sympathetic. "Kinda sounds like using aura is like working a muscle. You have to work it out and exercise it if you want it to get stronger."

"That's what Riley said too." Ash sighed, "Sorry I couldn't get you back to normal Mist."

"Stop apologizing, I'm not blaming you for failing, it's not like you can master something like this in one day." Misty looked at herself, "Besides, it's not like it was a total fail, I'm at least twice as big as I was when you started. Seems like your aura is the perfect counter to whatever psychic power is affecting us, if it weren't, we'd both probably have shrunken back down by now."

"Guess you're right." Ash relinquished a small smile, "Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

Misty smiled back and hugged her boyfriend, "Kinda feels weird to hug you like this."

Ash gave his first real laugh in a while, "If it makes you feel any better, it feels weird being hugged while you're like that. Not in a bad way or anything, but it's different."

Misty also laughed, "Yeah, have to say I prefer the usual method." Then she frowned a little, "I wonder how Brock and the others are doing, I'm not sure if I feel sorry for them for missing out on the adventure, or if I'm jealous of them for having the sense to stay away from Barry's crazy antics that got us into this mess."

Brock for his part was bored out of his skull, as was Kenny, as both males leaned on the counter of their booth in boredom. "Wonder how much longer she can keep this up?"

"You talkin' about Candice or Leona?" Kenny replied.

Candice, to her credit, was still enthusiastically trying to bring people to their booth, "Come on folks, show some kiai! Only real masters of hand-eye coordination can aim this rubber ball right where it needs to go!" Candice turned around and launched the ball at the wooden Camerupt, almost nailing Kenny in the face in the process. "Oops! Sorry Kenny!"

Kenny had ducked just in time, and was now glaring at the ice-type Gym Leader, "Can't you give it a rest? Everyone's just watching Leona scoop all those Goldeen, I don't even think there's a line at Prof. Oak's booth anymore, and that was backed up ever since he started signing autographs after his lecture."

It was true, a gigantic crowd had swarmed the Goldeen scooping game, and they were all in awe over the fact that Leona had already successfully scooped more than half of the booth's supply without shredding a single scoop. "Wow, look at all the Goldeen she's gotten!" a young boy exclaimed.

"She hasn't even ripped a single scoop! We're talking true Goldeen scoop master for sure!" another boy exclaimed.

To say the least, Team Rocket was not pleased with what was going on. "That jerkette twerpette, she'll clean out our Goldeen cache in no time!" Jessie hissed.

"And if one dudette walks away wit da whole lot, Sayer's gonna clean out us!" Meowth snarled.

"Fear not!" James exclaimed suddenly, "Real life skills to the rescue!" James took a scoop for himself and smirked confidently, "Our mansion fountain made for good training, you're looking at one skilled scooper!"

"I'm just getting warmed up folks, watch as I catch the rest of these Goldeen in record time!" Leona raised her scoop to get back to it.

"Young lady, I insist you stop that scoop!"

Leona looked up and saw James standing in front of her with a confident smile and his eyes closed, head pointing towards the ground, "What's with the dramatic pose?" she snickered.

James paid the barb no mind. "You're good, but here in the Sinnoh region, that adds up to one thing." James opened his eyes and glared at her as he held up two fingers, "Second-best."

"Ha!" Leona barked, "So who's the best around? You? Please, I could beat you with my eyes closed. Heck, I could beat you if I had to scoop with my feet!"

"Then perhaps a challenge?" James said coolly, "If I am victorious, you have to forfeit every single one of your Goldeen."

"Fine." Leona shrugged, "And when I win, all of your Goldeen will be mine to do whatever I want with them!" Leona held up her scoop and pointed it at the Team Rocket member in disguise, "Ten minute time limit, whoever gets the most Goldeen in their tank wins...oh, and if a scoop happens to fall apart, it means instant disqualification. Ya got that?!"

"Agreed."

Suddenly a cold gust of wind blew by, putting goosebumps on the arms and legs of a certain female Team Rocket member. "It's freezing Meowth!" Jessie hugged herself for warmth, "Why the chill?!"

"Dat's da wintry wind of fate." the Scratch Cat Pokémon said dramatically, "If James blows dis duel, our golden Goldeen scoop gig's kaput! Then we'll be blowin' in da wind too!"

"I can't believe what I'm watching." Kenny shook his head, "Leona loses her mind when it comes to this game."

"You gotta admit though, the customers sure like it." Brock replied.

"And you gotta admire how much kiai she's showing, she's not gonna back down from a challenge no matter what!" Candice exclaimed with excitement, "Show 'im what for Leona!"

Kenny sighed, "Never mind Dawn, I pick strange friends."

In a matter of mere minutes, almost all of the Goldeen in the tank had either been scooped into Leona or James's smaller tanks, with both competitor's shouting out with determination. "Wow, that guy who runs the booth is a real Goldeen scoop whiz!" a boy exclaimed.

"Well he might be a whiz, but that girl is so amazing that she's nothing less than a true Goldeen scoop master!" a young girl replied.

With only one Goldeen left in the tank, both competitor's dove their scoops into the water, though James was just a second faster than Leona. "Yes!" Unfortunately for the Team Rocket member however, "NOOOO! Not that! Impossible, I've never ripped a scoop in my life!"

"There's a first time for everything!" Leona went in for the metaphorical kill, and scooped the last Goldeen in the tank and tossed it into hers. "Game, set, and match. All of your Goldeen are now mine to choose what to do with them!"

James fell to his knees in sorrow. "As we agreed...I will forfeit all of our Goldeen to you, I have been humbled by a true Goldeen scoop master."

"Ya got that right." Leona held her scoop over her shoulder and addressed the crowd. "Well everyone, I won all of the Goldeen here, and now I get to choose what to do with them!" Leona expected a lot of grumbling despite the fact that the majority of the audience was rooting for her, and she wasn't disappointed. "And so I've decided to put all of the Goldeen back into the tank and let you try to scoop them for yourselves! Consider it my donation to the greatest game the Twinleaf Festival has ever seen!"

James looked up at the young teen with watery eyes, "Do you truly mean what you're saying?"

"Of course! This game should be enjoyed by everyone! And you can't have a Goldeen scoop game without Goldeen to scoop, am I right?" Leona held out her hand, and James took it and stood up tall.

"Young lady, I owe you a sincere apology, I misjudged you terribly." James bowed, "You are truly worthy of your title as Goldeen Scoop Master!"

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." Leona addressed the audience once more, "So come on everyone, get scooping!" Leona tossed her scoop into the air and walked away from the loud cheers of the crowd, completely unaware of the wrestling match she had sparked between the two boys who desperately wanted to keep her scoop as a souvenir.

"Bravo Leona, well done!"

Leona gulped when she heard the voice of Johanna, despite the fact her voice seemed to carry not an ounce of disapproval. "Uh...hi Miss Johanna, sorry I kinda got a little carried away." she laughed nervously.

"Don't you worry about a thing, it looks like you've made this game the biggest success the Festival's ever had!" Johanna said as the two young boys came running up to Leona, looking up at her with wide, admiring eyes.

"Thanks for showing us the game isn't rigged after all, that was the greatest thing I've ever seen!" the more rotund boy said, "Actually...I was hoping we could ask you to autograph this?" the boy held out Leona's scoop while his friend held out a marker, and the brown-haired girl blushed a little before taking the marker and signing her name in cursive along the edge of the scoop. "Wow...Leona, the Goldeen Scoop Master! Thanks so much!"

"No problem, now go get those Goldeen!" Leona turned and headed back to her booth where Johanna and her friends were waiting for her just as the two boys hurried back to the game. "So, what'd you think Ken Ken?" Leona grinned cheekily.

"Don't call me that." Kenny grumbled.

"That was one of the greatest things I've ever seen!" Candice exclaimed.

"I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed myself. That was one of the greatest ways to get people excited about something I've seen in a long time." Johanna said with a smile, "I'm proud of you Leona."

"Thanks Miss Johanna, that means a lot coming from you." the girl blushed bashfully, "I just wish Dawn could've seen me kicking butt!"

"Hey yeah...it's been a while since I saw Dawn and the others, I wonder where they are?" Kenny said.

Dawn had actually spotted Natu again, and was currently riding on Piplup's head as they chased after the Little Bird Pokémon. "Natu, wait up!" Just as Natu disappeared into the brush, Dawn and Piplup dove in after it, and the coordinator shrieked just before she and Piplup slammed into Barry and Heracross. "Oh man..." she rubbed her head, "Huh? Barry, it's you!"

"Man I have had it up to here!" Barry shook a fist at the sky, "Somebody's gonna get fined like they've never been fined before!"

"Knock it off with the imaginary fines already, just be glad we found each other!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Huh?" Barry opened his eyes and saw who it was he and Heracross had run into, "Oh, it's you Dawn, glad to see you're alright, it'd be pretty bad if the youngest member of the Twinleaf Trio got hurt on my watch."

Dawn rolled her eyes at that, "Have you seen Ash or Misty yet?"

"Nope, but man oh man what an adventure it's been! I found this old tree that I smeared honey on a long time ago when I caught Heracross, and there was this huge jar of honey there on the ground just now and I did the same thing again, and I caught Heracross again! It's been one huge trip down memory lane!"

"Yeah, for us too." Dawn smiled at Piplup, but then spotted a familiar set of tail feathers, "Hey, it's that Natu again!"

"Huh? You've been chasing Natu too?! I think it knows something about what's going on here, or at the very least it knows how it can get us back to our regular sizes!"

Natu disappeared into the brush again, and the two teens chased after it. "Natu, wait!" Dawn cried. Once they got out of the foliage however, Dawn screamed when her eyes were suddenly filled with the normal-sized form of Ash and a slightly less-shrunken Misty. "It's Ash and Misty...I think."

"Dawn?" Ash looked over and saw Dawn and Barry both waving their arms, "Misty, they found us!"

"I can see that Ash." Misty rolled her eyes and clambered over Ash's legs to meet her friends, "Glad to see you guys are alright." she looked down at them, "All things considered."

Barry looked up at Misty and frowned deeply, "I hate to sound childish, and goodness knows I never do." Barry missed the collective eye rolls of his friends, "But how come you didn't shrink down as much as me or Dawn?!" he stomped his feet angrily, "And Ash doesn't look like he shrunk at all!"

"I did shrink down, but I managed to use my aura to break the hold all the psychic-energy around this place had on me, so I grew back to normal." Ash explained.

"Your...aura." Barry said with an eyebrow raised and his eyes narrowed, "So what, now you're some kind of aura master or something?" he said skeptically.

"More like I'm in training." Ash replied, "I was planning on doing this for all of you but I wore myself out, I only managed to double Misty's size before I couldn't do it anymore, and both times I did it with Riolu helping me."

"Don't make me do it again Daddy, I can't anymore." Riolu whined wearily.

"Don't worry Riolu, you've done more than your fair share today." Ash petted his young Pokémon.

"WAAAH!" Barry screamed, "Your Riolu just talked! It talked, it talked! But it can't talk! But it did talk! But-" Barry was suddenly knocked down by a mild 'Bubblebeam', which snapped him out of his panic attack. "Hey, who did that?!"

Misty loomed over the blonde menacingly, needless to say, being twice his size added an extra element of intimidation to Misty's temper, "If you'll just chill for a second we'll explain."

"Yeah sure, no problem." Barry laughed nervously, backing up as he did so.

"Long story short, I have the power of aura, I learned how to use it, and now Riolu can speak with telepathy like another Lucario we once met." Ash said.

"Oh, well is that all? Ok then." Barry replied with a shrug, "Bear in mind however that as soon as we get outta this mess, I'm gonna freak out all over you about how unfair it is that you have cool super powers and I don't."

Misty was about to yell some more, but Ash spoke up first, "Misty, don't. We gotta focus on getting outta here, yell at him all you want after." Suddenly the Natu appeared, and when its eyes landed on Ash and Misty, it ran over to them and started pecking them with its beak, "Hey, Natu! What gives?! Get away!"

"Natu seems really angry with you guys!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I bet I know why!" Barry shouted, "It's because Ash messed with Natu's psychic-thingy with his aura hoosiewhatsis!"

Ash managed to grab Natu in his hands, who just continued to try and peck at him. "Look, Natu, I'm sorry if I messed up what you were trying to do, but I get what you wanted us to see, and we appreciate it!" Natu stopped struggling for a moment, "You wanted us to go down memory lane and relive important events in our lives, and we did! We had a great time remembering how we met our Pokémon for the first time, but now we just really wanna go back to the real world...so...can you help us?" Ash put Natu down, and the bird walked over to a more clear area.

"What's Natu doing?" Dawn wondered.

"Natu!" Natu's tiny sounding voice sounded out, and an image of the circus tent materialized over its head.

"Hey it's the tent!" Barry exclaimed, "But where in the world did it go?" Once the image disappeared, the group was met by a raging Camerupt that had appeared out of nowhere, "Look out! Angry Camerupt on the loose!"

Ash grabbed his friends and dove out of the way before Camerupt could run them over, "Something's weird about that Camerupt's aura...I don't think attacking it blindly is gonna help!"

Barry suddenly gasped and started pounding on Ash's arm with his fists, "Put me down! I know what we need to do!" Ash honored Barry's demand and knelt down to safely place his friends on the ground. Once his feet met the grass, Barry ran over to Camerupt's side and pointed at the three blue rings on it. "You gotta hit it on its side!" When he was met with confused looks, Barry pulled at his hair and groaned loudly, "Don't you see?! It's just like the game at the festival! You gotta hit its side!" Barry then barked out an order, "Ok Heracross, use 'Double Edge'!" Heracross's wings opened up, and the bug/fighting-type slammed its body into one of the rings on Camerupt's side, and immediately one of the smokestacks on its back started spewing smoke.

Misty smiled as she figured it out, "I get it! Aim for the bullseye! Ok Gyarados, use 'Hydro Pump'!" Gyarados gaping maw unleashed a torrent of water that hit the middle ring on Camerupt's side dead-center, and the second smokestack started spewing smoke as well.

"This last one's mine!" Dawn exclaimed, "Piplup, 'Bubblebeam' go!" Piplup fired at the final ring, and the last of the smokestacks began spewing smoke, which caused the Camerupt to vanish as if it were never there, "Huh? It's gone!"

Then Natu reappeared, and it with a shrill cry of its name, a blinding white light began to shine from it that forced the group to squint. But just before it got too bright to see, a brief image flashed for each human there, causing each one of them to gasp in awe. Then they heard a voice in their heads, "What you've just seen is a possible future for your life. The future is never set in stone, but if you continue on the path you're on, you may very well be able to live out the future I've shown you. I hope you've enjoyed your time in my world of past, present and future."

The light finally dissipated, and when the group opened their eyes, the circus tent was gone, and they were all back to their normal sizes. "We're back to normal!" Dawn cheered.

"Yes! Finally!" Barry jumped up and down with joy.

Ash and Misty on the other hand were blushing so deeply that they could barely look at each other. "Did you see...what I saw?" Misty asked.

"I dunno...depends on what it was you saw..."

"I know what I saw! I'm gonna be a top coordinator someday!"

"And I'm gonna win the Sinnoh League!" Barry grinned smugly, "Just as I always expected." Barry then looked into the sky and saw Xatu flying off, "Xatu! Hey, slow it down! I've got questions!" Barry started running to chase the psychic/flying type, but he rammed into someone and was knocked to the ground. "Hey! Watch it you! I'm gonna have to fine you now ya know!" Barry blinked and for once became quiet when he saw who it was he ran into, "Dad?"

"Dad?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, Barry!" the man got up and took Barry's hand to help him up. "Sorry son, I didn't even see you."

"Hey, no problem! It's good to see you!"

"Barry, this is your dad?" Ash asked.

"Yes indeed, and you must be Barry's friends." the man replied. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Palmer, the Tower Tycoon of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier!"
_

A/N: I decided to end it here, like I said, a small chapter that quickly mutated into...well...this. 15,000+ words later and possibly the most meaningless episode of the Twinleaf Festival arc is complete. I was originally just gonna get it over with, but as I kept watching the episode I kept seeing more and more unique opportunities arising that got me to just keep writing. I dunno if I'm a genius or a lunatic, I'll leave that for you readers to decide.

The next chapter will pick up right where this one leaves off, as there's still some things that need to be worked out between the characters, especially Ash and Misty considering the look into the future Xatu gave them. What was it they saw? You'll have to wait and see. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year!