Pokemon Black and White: Redux Chapter 4: The Dreamyard, a pokémon fanfic

"Zzz...Zzz..."

The sleeping boys snored, dreaming their dreams and being enveloped in the mist. Ash and Hilda were surprised by the scene before them. Both of them were caught by the mist, sleeping without a care in the world. "Who are these two?" Ash uttered. "And what happened?"

"It was probably that Pokemon with the mist!" Iris pointed out the obvious, stating what Ash and Hilda should have known. "But what Pokemon can even do this? Nothing I can't think of."

"Hey! You guys! Wake up!" Ash kneeled down, trying to shake the red haired boy awake. He tried to move him while calling out to him but to no avail. His body remained in place as his dreams continued. "No good. They're completely out of it." Ash stood up before looking out into the distance. There was this issue plus the Team Plasma issue afoot. But Ash wasn't about to give up on them both. "Alright then...Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"On them?!" Hilda and Iris shouted in unison, not expecting Ash to do something like that.

"Pika..." Pikachu nodded, understanding what his trainer was trying to do. "Chuuuuu!" He unleashed his Thunderbolt at the two sleeping boys. 100,000 volts struck their bodies as they both screamed in pain, being shocked awake and standing up. "Pikaaachuuuuu!"

"Yaaaaaaah!" The two of them screamed, their hair sticking out and frizzed. They both looked around, seeing that the mist was now gone and that they were no longer dreaming. "Ugh..." The duo groaned. As wild as that decision was, it worked regardless.

"Hey! Are you two alright?!" Hilda asked, looking at them with concern. "That was a pretty nasty shock."

"I'm fine...I'm just a little shocked." The red-haired boy said, shaking his head. His hair was frizzy and sticking out. "But what happened to us?"

"From the looks of it, that mystery Pokemon got you, didn't it?" Iris asked. "The one that puts others to sleep and makes dreams come true."

"Ah, so that was it...Ah! I remember." The blue-haired boy had his mind recalled the events that transpired before this. "Where's Cilan?! Is he here?!"

"Cilan?" Ash repeated as there was a third person in the equation. That's when it clicked. These two plus the third person named Cilan made up three. And that meant only one thing. "Are you guys Gym Leaders?"

"Yeah, we are. I'm Chili and this is my brother, Cress." The two of them stood up, properly introducing themselves. "You're looking at the Gym Leaders of the Striaton City Gym. Well, right now, just two of us. Everything went south after we got this point. All that Dream Mist took us out in an instant."

"We were chasing them down. I think their name was Team Plasma. They ended up stealing some Pokemon while in the Gym, so we followed them all the way here. Next thing we know, all that mist came and hit us. We're not sure where Cilan went, but he was caught in the same mess. He might've gotten lucky, or maybe he was hit too. I don't know." Chili explained.

"What Pokemon's even beyond there in the first place?" Hilda asked.

"The Pokemon? Well, that would be Musharna."

"Musharna?" The three of them repeated the name of this Pokemon.

"It's a Pokemon that lets out mist from its forehead and from it, it easily creates shapes of things from the dreams it eats. Strange though...the mist never puts others to sleep. I thought it used Hypnosis or something similar, but the mist somehow made us drowsy." Cress explained. "Either way, that's not important right now. Where's Team Plasma?"

"We were following them too. And if I had to guess, they're probably gonna go for Musharna next." Ash looked onwards, seeing that there was still a lot of ground to cover. He was eager to go forth. "We should keep moving and find Team Plasma before they get away with all the Pokemon. Meet up with Cilan too..."

"That won't be easy though." Iris commented, looking around the Dreamyard. It was still a big place with so much room. They could hide just about anywhere and the Dreamyard could even lead them to other places in the city as well. It wasn't easy, but they had to try.

"I know. But that won't stop me." Ash said, ready to march off again.

"Neither will it stop us. Come on, Cress. Let's get going!" Chili punched the air before taking a few steps forward. However, his stomach growled and he fell forward. His hunger had gotten the best of him and was holding him back. "Ah! My hunger!"

"Chili!" Cress called out, grabbing him and helping him stand up again.

"I'm fine, bro! But I can't move an inch without some grub in my belly! I can't help it!"

"Well, how did this happen? Didn't you bring some food with you? We're supposed to bring some food before coming here."

"Well...I did. But after seeing the Dream Mist...my mind was still intact and...well..." Chili scratched the back of his head.

"Chili, you ate the whole thing?!"

"Maaaaayyybe." Chili admitted.

Cress sighed, rubbing his forehead and looking away for a moment. "You always get hungry after you have a dream...Why can't you ever bring food?"

"Sorry."

"Either way, it doesn't matter!" Hilda crossed her arms, interrupting them. "Deep in there, Team Plasma's got all those Pokemon and they could take Musharna too if we don't hurry!"

"Yeah. I say we keep going." Ash advanced right away.

"Huh? Oh, Right! Gotta find Cilan!" Chili and Cress exclaimed, following the other three into the deeper part of the Dreamyard. However, a small Pokemon would still be following Ash and the group. Hiding behind a tree, Tepig would continue to follow Ash, curious about the group, but mainly Ash.

"Tepig." It spoke quietly. Its body was still dirty from its constant stealing of food and moving around. It didn't want to make its presence known, so it moved away to hide further back. But it didn't go away.

The five of them advanced into the Dreamyard, looking for both Cilan and Team Plasma. As of now, the Dreamyard itself was a large open area with a huge amount of debris and old building materials, making it easy for someone like Team Plasma to hide. They didn't know where they were hiding, but it had to be somewhere around here.

"I wonder where they could have gone." Iris pondered for a moment. "This place is huge and it looks like a lot of the old buildings got destroyed from an explosion or something. A bunch of hiding spots too."

"Yeah, you can say that again." Ash replied, looking around for them. But after a few seconds, he stopped as his nose was picking up a particular smell. It smelled good, making Ash's mouth water a little. He was picking up the scent of berries. He turned to the others, who had noticed him stopping. "Do you guys smell that? Smells good..."

"Huh?" They each sniffed the air as well, with Pikachu, Hilda and Iris being able to pick it up. It was a sweet aroma. "It does smell pretty nice. Like...some Oran Berries or Pecha Berries. Maybe even some Bluk Berries. They all smell like sweet and sour fruit."

"Really? If that's the case...I know who's behind it!" Cress gasped, knowing one person that would generate something had a truly delicious scent. "It has to be Cilan!"

"Cilan?" Hilda and Iris repeated his name.

"Right! Out of the three of us, he's the best at cooking. If there's something around here that smells that good, it's probably because of his cooking!" Cress exclaimed.

"That sounds good. But why would he be cooking right now? We're trying to chase Team Plasma down!" Hilda asked, confused as to why the scent of food would be the indicator of his location.

"Beats me, but if we follow the scent, we should be able to find him and maybe Team Plasma!" Ash pointed in a direction, seeing some smoke billow out. He ran to the location with Pikachu and everyone else followed him.

"Ah! Hold on, wait!" Chili cried out, following the others and trying his best to keep up despite his hunger.

Following the trail and moving to a certain area, where things were eerily quiet. They looked around the open area, finding nothing of note, not even Team Plasma or the Gym Leader, Cilan. All they saw was an assortment of items laying around here, making this place seem a bit more like an outdoor storage area for trash. "Where are they...?"

"Hey! Over here!" Chili shouted out, pointing at a tree where there was smoke billowing from it. Everyone gathered at the tree to see what he was pointing at. He then took out a stick that had an apple and another fruit on it. One of them was an Oran Berry and another one was an apple. Both of them looked good enough to eat. "I knew I smelled something. I thought that was an Oran Berry for sure."

"Hey! Those look great!" Ash's stomach growled, making him a bit hungry. He was ready to bite into the Oran Berry and Apple.

"Ah, wait! No!" Hilda quickly grabbed Ash before he could eat the items, stopping him. She pointed out to them that the fruits and berries had a wire attached to it, indicating that something was afoot here. "Wait! That's a trap!"

"A trap? For what?" Ash asked, looking at the wire.

"I'm not sure but...someone could be waiting for us. It could be Team Plasma." Hilda pointed out.

"Nope. It's not. We recognize this cooking. This is Cilan's doing." But Cress quickly debunked that, explaining how Cilan was responsible for the cooking and that it was a trap set up by him. He grabbed the Oran Berry, eating it. "Mmmm...This is Cilan's work alright. Which means, he's close."

"How close?" Iris question. But very soon, she would receive an answer to that. A yell was suddenly heard in the distance as a voice was heard. All their heads turned to immediately see the man himself, currently running as fast as he could.

Cilan.

"Waaaahaa!" Cilan screamed, running away from a Pokemon that was chasing him. He had a bowl of food on a stick that was still cooking, having it roast over an open flame as he fled for his life.

"Cilan!" Cress yelled, getting the man's attention. Cilan would stop, seeing that the others were here. The man had green hair, similar to how Chili and Cress were with their Red and Blue appearances. However, it looked like grass. And he had an apron on him as well. The Pokemon in question he was running from was scanned by the Pokedex.

"Mandibuzz. The Bone Vulture Pokemon. It makes a nest out of bones it finds. It grabs weakened prey in its talons and hauls it to its nest of bones. Watching from the sky, they swoop to strike weakened Pokémon on the ground. They decorate themselves with bones. They adorn themselves beautifully with bones. This is supposedly an effort to attract males, but no male Mandibuzz have ever been found."

Not only that, but three Team Plasma grunts were seen behind Mandibuzz, most likely with her as the four of them pursued CIlan. "Ah! Team Plasma?!" Iris bellowed as Team Plasma plus Mandibuzz came to a halt upon seeing these new faces.

"Hah...Oh...!" Cilan panted, breathing in and out as he rushed to his brothers' side. "Glad I spotted you all..."

"Why didn't you brig out your Pokemon?!" Chili instantly questioned him.

"S-Sorry. I had a plan in motion but they caught me by surprise. I thought my plan would've been better, but it seems like they caught on to what I was doing. I tried using my cooking as bait, Team Plasma took my Poke Ball."

"That's right. Right here." One of the grunts held up Cilan's Poke Ball as she showed it to them all. Already, Team Plasma have got their hands on Pokemon that were with Gym Leaders.

"What's the big idea?!" Ash roared at them, stepping forward. "I thought you guys wanna free Pokemon! So what's up with this?!"

"Pika?!"

"Oh, we do. But in order to free the Pokemon from their Trainers, we have to do things a bit differently. So, by capturing Pokemon and taking them, we're actually helping them in the end by freeing them." The grunt replied.

"By taking the Pokemon off the hands of their Trainers, we can free them right afterwards into the wild." Another grunt explained. "Getting our hands dirty is the best way to go about it."

"As if!" Ash clenched his hand. "I'm not gonna let you take away Pokemon from others just for your goal! No way! If that's what you're gonna do, then I'll stop you!"

"Ash..." Hilda quietly said.

"That's big words coming from you. You'll learn soon enough that our goal is inevitable." The other two grunts held out their Poke Balls. Throwing them out, out emerged two Pokemon of the same species. A Pokemon known a Patrat as Hilda instantly held out her Pokedex at them.

"Patrat. The Scout Pokemon. Using food stored in cheek pouches, they can keep watch for days. Extremely cautious, they take shifts to maintain a constant watch of their nest. They feel insecure without a lookout."

"You guys. Let Pikachu and I handle this." Ash said to the others. "You should go and see if Musharna's okay."

"You'll take them on by yourself?!" Iris couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I mean...are you sure?"

"Positive." Ash's eyes narroed. He was 100% serious about it, his passion truly showing.

"Not a bad idea. Come on, Cilan. Before you're chased down again." Cress promptly pushed Cilan forward. He and Chili would follow their brother as they made a run for it to the further part of the Dreamyard, leaving Ash and Pikachu here.

"B-Be careful, Ash!" Hilda stuttered, worried for Ash. She didn't stay there for long, running with the other two brothers. Iris followed behind, deciding to leave this battle to him.

"You're doing this by yourself? Is this guy crazy?!" One of the grunts snickered. The other grunts were equally amused by the situation, not taking him seriously. They believed Ash doing this himself was ludicrous.

"You should've kept the rest of them around. You had a clear advantage. Now, we'll absolutely overwhelm you and free your Pokemon right afterwards! Patrat! Use Bite!"

"Pat! Partrat!" Both of the Pokemon leapt forward. With their teeth sharpening and extending, the duo were aiming to land their Bite right onto Pikachu, hoping to clamp their teeth down hard. But before the duo could get any closer, Ash would make his move.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Pi!" At high speeds, Pikachu ran forward, leaving behind a white streak as his body glowed white. His sheer speed was enough to take the Patrat off guard as his body collided with both of them at the same time, pushing them back and hitting their heads as a result. The Patrat were still in mid air as Pikachu was still in front of them.

"Now, Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Ash declared as Pikachu's tail suddenly began to glow with a white shine, turning hard and steel. He swung his tail to the left, slamming it right onto Patrat's body, smacking the two Pokemon away. "Pat! Pat!" The two of them were slammed right into Team Plasma's chests, hitting them with a good amount of force. The two grunts were sent flying into the grass as Mandibuzz was now the only one left.

"M-Mandi?!"

"What's up with this strength?!" The last grunt gasped in absolute shock as his fellow grunts were on the ground dazed and befuddled. "Mandibuzz! Use Fury Attack! Hit em' hard!"

"Mandi!" He commanded as the vulture would screech and then fly forward, aiming her beak at Pikachu.

"Pika! Pi-Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped out of the way, dodging her attacks as Mandibuzz kept using her beak, trying her best to peck at Pikachu.

"Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika...!" Pikachu slid on the ground as his cheeks would sparkle, unleashing his Thunderbolt right at Mandibuzz. 100,000 powerful volts shocked the Pokemon's body, making her flinch as the pain of electricity coursed through her body.

"Ugah! Use Shadow Ball, Mandibuzz!"

"Buzzz!" Mandibuzz fired off a Shadow Ball right at Pikachu as the orb flew through the air. But it was easy to avoid as Pikachu moved out of the way.

"Iron Tail!"

"Chu-Pika!" Leaping forward, Pikachu delivered the finishing blow with his hard and shining tail, hitting Mandibuzz square in the face and sending her crashing back into the grunt's chest, taking him down in the process. Mandibuzz fainted right away, being unable to battle anymore. It was a one sided affair.

"What is that...strength?" The grunt groaned. "How...can he be...so strong?"

With them being out of commission, Ash could focus on finding Cilan's Poke Ball. He went up to them, searching their pockets. However, to his surprise, nothing. No sign of Cilan's Poke Ball whatsoever.

"Where's Cilan's Poke Ball?" He asked. Pikachu looked up at his Trainer, curious to know where it was. "They don't have it on them. And if they don't..."

"W-We're not the only Team Plasma members here..." One of the grunts smirked, revealing that there were more than just these three in the area. This means the rest were somewhere else. Somewhere deeper in the Dreamyard.

With Hilda and the others, they ventured deeper into the Dreamyard to find Musharna before it was too late. And due to them moving this far, closer and closer, they were reaching the near end of this Dreamyard. As of right now, they could only run forward. And Hilda, despite her worries for Ash, was confident in his skill to battle.

"Hey! Look over there!" Iris pointed ahead of her, seeing someone. Up ahead, they all saw it. The Pokemon that caused all the Dream Mist.

Musharna.

They gasped at the sight of this Pokemon, but soon saw that the remaining Team Plasma Grunts were right around it. Hilda took out her Pokedex, immediately reading its data.

"Musharna. The Drowsing Pokemon and the evolved form of Munna. The mist emanating from their foreheads is packed with the dreams of people and Pokemon as its forehead changes into many different colors depending on the dream that was eaten. When dark mists emanate from its body, don't get too near. If you do, your nightmares will become reality."

"So that's Musharna..." Hilda silently said. But her attention quickly drew to what Team Plasma were doing to this Pokemon. Team Plasma was using a net to ensnare the Pokemon in their grasp, not letting it get away.

"Come on! Bring out that Dream Mist already!" A grunt yelled out as he was shaking the Pokemon around. "Come on! Make some!"

"It's been ages! Hurry up!" Another grunt complained.

"M-Musha..." Despite being known as this enigmatic Pokemon of the Dreamyard, it was being pressured and cornered by the grunts to use its ability. Musharna was frightened by them. They were all holding onto the net to make sure it couldn't run off and escape.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Hilda bellowed at them, grabbing their attention as she was the first one to speak.

"Hm? Is those Gym Leaders again. Along with two brats..." One grunt uttered.

"What does it look like we're doing? We're trying to get some Dream Mist." Another pointed at them. "Musharna and its Pre-evolution Munna emit a mysterious vapor called Dream Mist, which shows people their dreams. We're going to use that to make people want to release their Pokemon." Another explained. "That's our plan."

"What? How can you use Dream Mist for something like that?" Chili questioned. "There's no way something like Dream Mist would make others release Pokemon."

"Oh, but it can. And we're going to make sure it happens. To ensure that all Pokemon are free!"

"By putting Musharna in a net?!" Iris couldn't help but yell out, finding this whole thing ridiculous. "What kinda plan is this?!"

"We're just doing what we need to do. It's nothing personal. And you Gym Leaders are gonna get in our way again. We won't let you stop us, especially not you two either." The grunts held out their Poke Balls, ready to battle.

"Aw! I still don't have Pansage on me!" Cilan held his head, gutted that he couldn't do anything about this at the moment. But his brothers certainly could.

"Heh. You don't gotta worry about that, Cilan. We'll clean up here and call it a day." Chili let out a proud grin as he and Cress stepped forward.

"That's right. Chili and I can take these three on together."

"You think we're scared of two Gym Leaders? Hah! We'll take you down and then get out of here!" The grunt replied as the other two were still keeping the net wrapped around Musharna, not wanting the Pokemon to get away. "Purrloin, go!" The first grunt called upon the Devious Pokemon.

"Purr!"

"Go, Patrat!"

"Patrat!" Yet again, two other grunts had Patrats on them. For Purrloin, Hilda held out the Pokedex once more, reading up on the Devious Pokemon.

"Purrloin. The Devious Pokemon. Its cute act is a ruse. When victims let down their guard, they find themselves trapped by the Pokémon's menacing claws and hearting the stinging pride from its laughter. A rivalry exists between this Pokémon and Nickit."

"Go for it, Pansear!

"Go, Panpour!" Both of them called upon their own Pokemon, summoning Pansear and Panpour. The two Pokemon looked rather similar, appearing to be in the same species as one other. Hilda was on a roll today with these Dex Entries. Her Pokedex read up on each of them, providing information on both Pokemon.

"Pansear. The High Temp Pokemon. This Pokémon lives in caves in volcanoes. The fire within the tuft on its head can reach 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Very intelligent, it roasts berries before eating them. It likes to help people."

"Panpour. The Spray Pokemon. The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. Plants that receive its water grow large. It does not thrive in dry environments since it loves water sweet."

"Panpour, Water Gun!"

"Pan-Pan!" Panpour fired out its water at high speeds, launching a powerful Water Gun at the three opposing Pokemon.

"Dodge it, Purrloin!" Purrloin jumped up and out of the way of the incoming water.

"Pat! Pat!" The two Patrats moved out of the way, making the attack miss completely. Pansear jumped to avoid it too as Panpour's attack hit nothing but the grass and the dirt. Pansear and Purrloin were both on the ground, with the Patrat's above in the air. "Pan-Pour!"

"Use Fury Swipes, Purrloin!" Purrloin rushed at Pansear with its claws sharpened.

"Purrrr!"

"Pansear! Flamethrower!" In response to this, Pansear opened its mouth as a powerful stream of flames was shot at the Pokemon, hitting the cat right on the chest.

"Use Scratch, Patrat!" The Patrats came in with their own claws, intending to scratch the two of them as Purrloin fell.

While this battle went on, Hilda, Iris and Cilan approached Musharna gently. The Pokemon seemed scared, looking at all of them with fear. They tried to soothe it, showing that they mean no harm to it. "Just carefully get close..." Hilda said. "Don't make it panic...It looks pretty scared right now." Hilda carefully grabbed onto the net as the three of them were close to Musharna, who was trembling at this moment. "It's okay, Musharna...we're here to help. Not to hurt you. We just gotta be careful and..." Her eyes focused on the net, trying to see where the knots were at to undo them. "Ummmm..."

"That one. That one." Iris pointed to a specific area. Hilda quickly pulled it, making the net loose around Musharna, allowing the Pokemon to finally escape. However, it was clear that Musharna was greatly weakened, unable to use much energy as a result.

"Musha..." It weakly spoke. It wasn't able to muster enough strength to even defend itself. As the battle between Chili and Cress with Team Plasma raged on, Hilda and the others tried their best to protect Musharna.

"Are you alright?" Hilda asked, slowly crouching.

"Hm? Hey!" One of the grunts spotted this, grabbing the attention of his allies. "They freed it!"

"What?! Ugh!" Another grunt groaned. "Stop them Purrloin! Fury Swipes!"

"Loin!" Leaping off the ground, the Pokemon charged at the four of them with its claws out. However, Axew was quick to act, spotting Purrloin approaching.

"Xew!" Jumping out of Iris's hair, he would get in Purrloin's way, crashing into the Devious Pokemon. Both of them took some damage, with Purrloin falling back and even fainting in the process.

"Purr..."

"Oh! Nice thinking, Axew!" Iris would pick up Axew, congratulating him while his eyes were all dizzy. Now there were just two opposing Pokemon left. But for Cress and Chili, that was no problem.

"Well, they cleared that up. Now let's finish up here." Chili grinned, ready to go. The Patrats were also knocked down to the floor. "Flame Thrower, Pansear!"

"Water Gun, Panpour!"

Both of them unleashed their attacks at the Patrats, a mix of Fire and Water approaching them. The two Patrat widened their eyes, unable to defend themselves from both of these attacks approaching at the same time. Thus, they took a direct hit and fainted as well, making Team Plasma's loss a reality. As a small explosion went off and with the Patrat fainted and unable to battle any further, Chili and Cress were victorious over Team Plasma.

"No way!" The grunts stepped back in shock. They couldn't believe what happened. Losing so easily was not what they had planned. Their plan to take Musharna's Dream Mist had fallen apart and now, they were faced with total defeat. As one of the grunts fell on his back after witnessing defeat, a Poke Ball would roll out, that Cilan recognized.

"Ah! There it is!" Cilan spotted his Poke Ball, the one he had that Team Plasma took. He quickly picked it up, glad to see that he had his Poke Ball back.

"I can't believe we lost..." A grunt muttered. "This was a complete disaster!"

"But the Dream Mist...what did we even come out here for?!" Another clenched his hand, aggravated by this.

"We can't go out like this...we need that Dream Mist!" The third grunt turned his head, locking onto Musharna. Even when outnumbered and overpowered, the instinct to try and get the Dream Mist was potent.

"Musharna..." Mushara opened its eyes, looking up at Hilda and Iris, seeing the two girls before her. "Musha..."

Right before Team Plasma could do anything else, something was felt. An ominous chill hit the area that the entire group felt. Everyone stopped in their tracks and felt it, like something was about to happen. And they were right.

"H-Huh...?" Cilan was the first one to feel this, sensing the change in atmosphere. His face showed concern and shock, wondering what this sudden feeling was.

"C-Cold..." Iris felt this chill as well, looking around the area and feeling a bit scared. She stepped forward, looking at the trees and grass.

"What is this?" Hilda asked, not liking this strange sensation either. And suddenly, she got her answer as right behind the grunts, a certain man appeared, almost as if he stepped out of the shadows themselves.

It was Ghetsis.

"What are you doing, goofing off?" Ghetsis spoke in a cold manner, glaring down at these three grunts. His voice terrified them as they turned their heads, frightened by his presence alone. He didn't yell at them. Instead, his voice was as low and chilling as it usually was. But there was more to it. Just as they looked at him standing behind the grunts, all of a sudden, it looked like he appeared in two places at once, standing in front of them and bewildering the grunts.

"L-Lord Ghetsis?!" The grunts exclaimed. His presence was a frightening one as Hilda, Cilan and Iris were scared stiff by him. The man towered over all of them and made them look at him with pure terror. Ghetsis glared at all the grunts before turning his attention to Hilda and the others, including Musharna.

Hilda was perplexed by what she was seeing. She blinked for a moment, the visage of two Ghetsis' vanishing as now there was only one, facing them all. Just why did he have such an intimidating presence?

"Are you not fulfilling your duties? Our goal is to liberate the Pokemon...and if you cannot fulfil your duties...your punishment shall be most severe." His words were venomous and the grunts' faces were now full of terror and shock.

"W-We're sorry! It won't happen again!" The grunts bowed in respect, apologizing to their superior. But even their apology was a frightening one.

"We'll get right to it!"

"Please...please...please forgive us!" The Gym Leader brothers and Hilda couldn't help but look on, not believing the scene that unfolded before them. The grunts ran for their life, giving up on the Dream Mist entirely out of fear of Ghetsis.

As the trio of grunts scurried off in the opposite direction, Hilda couldn't help but feel relief that they ran off. But with Ghetsis still around, it didn't mean things were over just yet.

"Hmph." He grunted. He glared at the grunts running away and then focused his gaze back onto the remaining members, which included Hilda and the others. With his gaze locked onto them, Hilda was unable to move at all. She felt afraid to even move an inch. Iris and the Gym Leaders were also unable to do the same.

After that, Ghetsis said nothing, simply leaving as he walked backwards. His visage disappeared into the shadows behind him. With the tall man leaving, everyone was finally able to relax. The Gym Leaders, Hilda, Iris and their Pokemon let out sighs of relief. The Dreamyard was quiet once again as the man left. Everyone was stunned, unable to believe what just happened. The air had gone still.

"Hah..." Hilda clutched her chest. She could feel her own heartbeat. Ghetsis's appearance left them all terrified and with a deep feeling of unease in their hearts.

"Guys! Hey. guys!" And right after he left, along came Ash and Pikachu. Ash was running through the grass and trees as he was searching for Team Plasma, but he had missed the action that occurred. Everyone else turned to look at him as he approached them. He had an excited expression on his face. "Man. I guess you guys handled it well, huh?

"Yeah...we handled our side..." Hilda sighed. Ash being here brought back some sense of calmness to them, as if his presence was a good sign of safety. Ash locked onto Musharna, seeing the Pokemon for the first time and naturally being amazed. But now was not the time to be fully amazed. Not with Musharna injured.

"I don't it can do much in this state! Quick! Let's get over to the Pokemon Center!" Iris suggested, picking up the Pokemon. Everyone was in agreement, and so, the group of six, along with Axew and Pikachu would leave the Dreamyard, having had their fair share of adventure today.

All the while, Tepig silently followed them, mainly focused on Ash as always. The Fire Pig Pokemon still didn't know if Ash was a trainer, but he had a good feeling that he was.

"Tepig." The little pig would quietly speak. He then followed them from behind, hiding in the trees.

After a long walk out of the Dreamyard and towards the Pokemon Center, everyone had gotten the Pokemon treated in the Accumula Town Pokemon Center. For Pikachu and the others, it wouldn't be a problem, but for Musharna, it would take some time.

"Thanks for the save. It could've been ugly if you all didn't show up." Cilan said, thanking his brothers and Ash's group, of course. "Big apologies if we kept you all waiting for your Gym Battle. We've had to deal with this."

"No problem." Iris waved her hand, letting the Gym Leaders know that they weren't mad.

"Alright. Musharna may have taken some heavy damage, but she'll only need a day to recover." Nurse Joy said, having finished treating the Pokemon in the back of the Pokemon Center.

"Alright...A day is fine." said Hilda, thanking Nurse Joy. The others agreed, knowing that Musharna's recovery was top priority. But for Cilan, he had an idea in mind.

"This calls for a celebration of some kind, don't you think?" Cilan raised a finger. His brothers and the others looked at him as he was smiling at everyone. "We did stop them from getting all that Dream Misty and we got the Poke Balls back."

"We can celebrate by making it up to these two and giving them their Gym Battles." Cress replied, speaking to Hilda and Ash.

"Yeah! You guys are in luck!" Chili grinned, having the same thought as his brother. "Unless you wanna chill out for a little bit."

"I'd like that." Hilda held her head, preferring to take a break herself for a little while.

"Okay. Meet us at the Gym later and we'll get started." Cilan winked at the group, smiling.

"That works." Hilda nodded. She was ready for her Gym Battle, but not now. Not when they just stopped a plan like that.

With all of that settled, the Gym Leaders were ready to depart and get back to the Gym. Hilda and Ash's group would wait at the Pokemon Center, taking a moment to breathe and have their minds collected.

Outside, not far from the city Tepig was on his own, currently mimicking the battle Ash had back at the Dreamyard. After witnessing him and Pikachu take down the Team Plasma grunts with ease, Tepig had to know.

He was inspired to be with Ash, but he wanted to be sure that he was the Trainer to follow and join. And so, he would pretend to fight, pretending that Ash and Pikachu were in front of him. He moved around, dodging the invisible attacks he had in his head.

Tepig then unleashed his Ember, shooting the fireballs at his invisible targets and jumping backwards. After dodging and unleashing attacks of his own, Tepig would then take out a stick from the ground, swinging it around and pretending that he was striking at something in front of him. After a bit of swinging and pretending, he stopped, looking up at the sky with a smile. In his mind, he had bested his imaginary foes and had gotten a better understanding of what battling Ash would entail.

Tepig was a Pokemon with a strong passion for battling. He loved it and wanted nothing more than to become a powerful Pokemon alongside a strong trainer. So, with this new information in hand, Tepig would head for Accumula Town, looking for Ash.

However, he wouldn't have to start looking. Because as soon as he turned around, without him noticing that he was had recently shown up, there he stood.

Ash.