Essence

by vincentgrey21

Ash has always wanted to be a pokemon master. When the time comes for him to pick out his first pokemon, he shocks Professor Oak with a peculiar request. One thing leads to another, and he ends up with a loyal Growlithe. How will this unique situation affect the boy's destiny?

8. Kanto 8

A/N: I just want to say thank you to all of you for being patient. The past couple of months may have been slow for me writing wise, but my wedding was amazing, and my wife and I have had a wonderful first month of marriage. You guys have been so great and understanding!

Here is Kanto 8, I hope you enjoy it. It may be a little different because of the fact that it primarily focuses on the human characters and their relationships. Please keep in mind while you are reading that Ash will be on his own again next chapter, so that's why this one focuses more on his relationships with Austin, Robert, Bill and Sabrina rather than his pokemon.

Kanto 8: Essence

"How does it feel to finally get some fresh air?" asked Ash as he and Austin stepped out of the backseat of the taxi that had taken them from the Pokemon Center to Silph Co. headquarters.

"Pretty damn good," retorted Austin while stretching his muscles after the short ride. "I thought I was going to go crazy in that freaking place. I'll never look at pokemon centers the same. A week in that place was overkill."

"Makes sense," said Ash with a shrug while shifting his line of sight over to the gargantuan skyscraper that stood before him. "A couple of days were enough for me."

"Lucky bastard," answered Austin, clearly jealous. "You were at the gym getting special training from Sabrina, while I was in a hospital bed twiddling my thumbs. It's instances like this where I am reminded that the world definitely isn't fair."

"That's for sure," muttered Ash, thinking back to the conversation that he had partaken in with Wallace right before he left for Hoenn.

After his discussion with Wallace, involving the information Sabrina had ripped from Ariana's mind, the ten-year-boy couldn't help but blame destiny for allowing Team Rocket to create a weapon capable of scaring even the likes of Wallace and Sabrina.

It wasn't fair. It simply wasn't fair that evil was brewing within Kanto's shadows and even some of the strongest trainers in Kanto didn't know how to put a stop to it.

It was wasn't fair that Ash was one of the few people in the region that knew about Team Rocket's plot, and he wasn't even close to being strong enough to do anything about it.

It pissed him off; the world was downright unjust. He had learned that just a few months into his journey.

All he could do was strive to get stronger and pray that everything would eventually work itself out. Obliviousness would have certainly led to their demise. The fact that they were now aware that Team Rocket was in possession of a creature that was probably as strong as a Legendary, meant that they could come up with a plan.

Potential for a plan gave Ash hope, and as long as there was a sliver of hope, the ten-year-old boy would keep his head up.

"Is that crap about Team Rocket's creation still bothering you?" asked Austin as they weaved their way passed the confluence of people that were passing by Silph Co. headquarters.

"Yeah," said Ash with a sigh, "I can't stop thinking about it…"

"I was like that all day yesterday," muttered the teenager while diverting his gaze toward the ground.

Prior to watching Ash's gym battle, Wallace had told Austin about the abomination while saying goodbye to him back at the Pokemon Center. Apparently, the Champion had deemed the information that Sabrina had ripped from Ariana's mind essential for both of them to know.

Either that, or destiny had revealed to Sabrina that they had to know, and she made the decision that Wallace was the most suitable person to tell them.

Whatever the case may be, Austin was now also aware of Team Rocket's abomination, which meant that he was currently in the middle of processing the same gut wrenching truth that Ash was.

"How are you coping, now?" asked Ash with curious eyes. "You seem to be handling it better than me."

"I'm just trying not to think about it too much," retorted Austin with a shrug. "I realized yesterday that worrying is useless. Until we know more, we can't do anything to change the situation."

"True..." drawled Ash as they approached one of the skyscraper's automatic, revolving front doors, "but if we don't think about it, how are we going to stop it from happening?"

"I'm not saying that I'm not going to think about it at all," said Austin as he looked Ash in the eyes. "I'm just saying that there is a time and place for everything. Right now, there is nothing the two of us can do. As soon as we get more information from Sabrina, I'll revisit the topic. But, for my own sanity's sake, I'm going to enjoy this tour and then focus on getting back to Johto."

"Gotcha'," said Ash as thoughts of his own journey popped up in his head, "I guess there's only so much we can control."

"Exactly," said Austin with a wink before gesturing towards the door. "Now, what do you say we go inside?"

"Yeah," retorted Ash with a smile and a nod, trying to take Austin's advice and suppress his thoughts about Team Rocket, "let's go."

XXX

"Welcome, boys!" exclaimed Robert as he greeted them in the copious, bustling lobby.

To Ash and Austin's surprise, Robert was sitting in one of the first floor's, luxury lounges, enjoying a cup of coffee with Bill, Sabrina and roughly a dozen straight-faced, intimidating men and women wearing pristine, red ACE trainer uniforms.

The lounge was located right inside of the front entrance, so it hadn't taken all but a minute for the head of the Montgomery family to track them down.

"Hey, guys," retorted Ash with a look of befuddlement on his face.

Austin barely managed a wave while a confused expression formulated upon his mug.

They hadn't been expecting Robert to meet them down on the first-level. Both of them figured that with everything that had gone on over the past couple of weeks, Robert wouldn't want to make an appearance on one of the floors that was available to the public.

Under normal circumstances, a public appearance by Robert Montgomery would draw a ton of attention. Given that less than a week ago, Silph Co. had revealed to the world that their CEO had survived the SS Anne catastrophe when everyone in the world thought he had been killed, things would be even crazier.

Ash figured that the public levels of Silph Co. headquarters were always busy, but it was rather evident that the first floor's current status was far from the norm.

There were thousands of people crowded together a short ways away from the lounge. Their eyes were glued on Robert as he gave them no mind, keeping his attention centered on Ash and Austin.

The onlookers were being kept at bay by a plethora of ACE trainers, who were dressed in the same red uniforms as the people sitting around Robert, Bill and Sabrina. Each one of them appeared to be armed with at least six pokeballs fastened around their individual trainer belts. Ash wasn't sure, but he assumed that at this point Silph Co. was being guarded by authentic ACE trainers and not mere trainees.

After the precedent events, there was no way that the League hadn't sent out some of its best to guard their beloved Robert Montgomery.

"Come and sit down while I finish my coffee," said Robert as he stood up from his seat and pulled two chairs over to the small table that he, Bill, and Sabrina currently sat at. "Don't mind the people. We've got some of the League's finest looking after us."

Ash and Austin did as Robert suggested and sat down at the table. However, at least in Ash's opinion, it was hard for him to ignore the echoing sound of all of the people looming around them. It was even more difficult to disregard all of the bright flashes that were being emitted by the multitude of cameras operated by the Kanto media and paparazzi that were doing their job amidst the chaotic assemblage.

"How do you put up with this?" questioned Austin, clearly annoyed as he settled into his seat.

"Yeah," added Ash, "it's kind of overwhelming."

"What—the people?" queried Robert before giving them a nonchalant shrug. "You sort of get used to it, I guess."

All of a sudden, Bill let out a fake cough, impolitely signifying that he was going to interject. "Psht! Only you, Father. I've never gotten used to this kind of scene."

"Neither have I," added Sabrina. "Quite frankly, I can barely stand situations like this."

While being blown away by the fact that Bill and Sabrina were actually agreeing about something, Ash watched as Robert gave Austin and him a jovial smile.

"Well, I guess everyone's different," said Robert before taking another sip of his coffee. "Anyhow, would either of you two like a drink before we tour the building? I put this little coffee shop in earlier this year, the baristas are highly adept when it comes to making lattes."

He paused as he took another sip of his drink.

"They're to die for…" murmured Robert with a look of bliss on his face.

Ash looked at Robert blankly while Austin simply shook his head as courteously as possible.

"Dad…" drawled Bill while rubbing his temples contemplatively, "they're ten and thirteen years old, I doubt they would enjoy the taste of coffee."

"I guess you have a point…" mumbled Robert as he rubbed the hair underneath his chin, "sometimes I forget how young these lads are."

Undeterred by the fact that Robert had just offered him a cup of coffee, Ash took his comment about their age as a compliment. He was happy that he came off as older than he actually was to the billionaire CEO. He always tried to act mature for his age. He had to if he wanted to become a pokemon master one day.

The world that they lived in didn't leave room for immaturity. Of course, that didn't mean that he had to be serious all of the time, but if he wanted to be a master he needed to carry himself with a special kind of demeanor. It took a mature trainer, capable of demanding the respect of a plethora of different personalities, in order to become a master.

Immaturity was a crutch for most beginner trainers, causing them to get left behind in comparison to the trainers that took their training seriously. Most beginner trainers didn't make it to the League tournament because they were too immature and didn't use their time efficiently to train and come up with applicable strategies.

Ash never wanted to be one of those trainers that got lost in their first year. Rather, he desired to be a trainer that found himself in his first year and set a solid foundation for a promising career. So far, in his opinion, he had done that. All he could do now was keep it up, which would become more and more difficult as the grind of travel wore on him.

He had faith in himself, though. Better yet, he had faith in his friends.

Ash's thoughts were put on hold as Austin asked an interesting question. "Why didn't you just have us meet you on one of the upper floors, where Silph Co. headquarters goes from public to private? Wouldn't that have been way less troublesome?"

"Maybe," retorted Robert with a smirk, "but then I wouldn't be able to give you a thorough tour. The bottom floors are just as much a part of Silph Co. headquarters as the top floors, and I want to be here to show you them. Besides, one day, both of you will be famous trainers, and you'll have to get used to this sort of attention. Think of it as practice for the future."

It was Robert's last comment that made Ash think of something critical that he had previously overlooked. He and Austin had just gotten put on blast by a profusion of photographers. Before today, they had flown under the radar. However, being caught in a friendly photo with Robert, Bill and Sabrina was sure to garner people's attention.

Not just any startup pokemon trainers got to sit down and exchange in casual dialogue with the Montgomery's and Sabrina Marvil. When those photos got out, people would most certainly be asking questions about the two mysterious kids that kept exorbitantly famous company.

Before Ash got an opportunity to delve deeper into his thought process, Robert abruptly stood up from his chair, snatching the attention of everybody around him.

"Alright, coffee's gone!" blurted Robert as he tossed his disposable coffee cup into one of the nearby cylindrical trash cans. "There's no time to waste. I know you two want to get going, so follow me."

Ash, Austin, Bill, Sabrina and the dozen, or so, ACE trainers stood up from their seats in subsequence to Robert's words before beginning to follow him.

As they congregated toward Robert, the Ace trainers formed a circle around them, creating a formidable barrier of protection. Each one of them removed a pokeball from their trainer belt in preparation for the unexpected.

Although Robert Montgomery was, for the most part, adored by the region of Kanto, the world was littered with psychopaths willing to throw away their lives in order to exterminate someone as famous as the head of the Montgomery family. Therefore, when in public, Ash assumed that it was required that Robert was always under the protection of the ACE Corps, especially now that the region was aware of Team Rocket's ascension out of the shadows.

Now, going off of the fact that this was the first time Ash had ever seen Robert with this much protection, he was pretty sure that the billionaire CEO broke this rule a lot. Robert was the kind of guy that did what he wanted when he wanted to. It was pretty evident that he would get frustrated by the strict nature of the League's protection.

Once they made their way out of the coffee shop and into the vast, busy first floor, the ACE trainers spread out, forming a wider scope of protection. By doing this, the ACE trainers also gave Ash and the group a lot more breathing room, allowing them to see much more of the lofty floor's features than if the their protectors were to sever more of the space in between them.

The first thing that came to Ash's mind as he used his eyes to scan the spacious first floor was surprise. For the most part, the first floor consisted of strictly restaurants and miscellaneous, non-pokemon related shops. He had been under the assumption that Silph Co. headquarter's public floors would bear primarily pokemon apparel.

Silph Co. was the monopoly of pokemon merchandise after all. It only made sense that headquarters would consist of their products. However, so far, that wasn't the case…

"By the look on both of your faces, I'd say you two are confused," said Robert as he centered his attention on the two boys.

Both of them nodded in response to Robert's comment.

The billionaire CEO smiled before proceeding to turn his attention to Bill, "Son, why don't you explain what is going on here at ground-level?"

"Very well," retorted Bill as he drew closer to Ash and Austin. "Unless you have prior knowledge of Silph Co. headquarters, it is rather predictable that you would be confused."

He paused with a shrug.

"The first three floors of Silph Co. headquarters make up the second largest shopping mall in all of Kanto, trailing solely the world famous Celadon Department Store."

Both boys' eyebrows lifted as they listened to Bill's explanation.

"My mother designed them," laughed Bill. "She loves to shop and wanted to give the non-trainer a reason to visit headquarters. Leave it to her to come up with something so brilliant. Five years ago, this floor was the only floor available to the public, and all that resided in it was an oversized pokemart."

He took a breath as he pointed towards a pair of colossal escalators that lay in the center of the spacious room, serving as the primary way to travel from floor to floor.

"We moved all purchasable pokemon apparel up to the third floor," informed Bill before using his hands to gesture towards everything that was around them. "The first floor was transformed into a food court and a shopping center, consisting of different vendors that we sponsor."

Ash looked around while keeping what Bill had just said in mind. He didn't want to take the time to acquire an exact count, but the ten-year-old boy estimated that, between the various shops and the tiny cafeteria restaurants, there were roughly fifty different businesses operating on ground-level.

Ash knew that Silph Co. had an outrageous amount of influence, but that many sponsored businesses on a single floor was unbelievable.

"So, you're telling me that Silph Co. sponsors every single one of these companies?" asked Austin inquisitively, saving Ash the trouble of asking the question himself.

"Precisely," replied Bill. "We have more clout over some than others, but more or less, we have a say within all of the different companies that operate on this floor."

"Even the restaurants?" asked Ash curiously.

"Yup," retorted Bill with a shrug, "even the restaurants."

"As a matter of fact," interrupted Robert enthusiastically, "a lot of these restaurants were started by my wife. Not only does Margaret have a good sense for fashion, but she also has a solid understanding of the restaurant business. More than half of these food establishments were founded by her."

"Like?" asked Austin.

As they walked around the first floor, Robert began to point towards several of the food establishments that were founded by Margaret Montgomery.

"That one over there, House of Ramen, is one of my favorites," said Robert as he pointed at a tiny sit-down restaurant in between two causal clothing shops. "Margaret came up with the concept, the name, the restaurant layout, and even the menu. I promise you won't find better ramen in all of Kanto!"

Ash's mouth started to water at the thought of savory ramen. His mother always made it for him growing up, and it was one of his favorite meals. Although he had a tough time believing that any ramen could be as good as his mothers, he trusted that the ramen in "House of Ramen" was good, especially since its recipes had been put together by a member of the Montgomery family.

"This one to our left is another restaurant started by Margaret," said Robert melodramatically as he pointed to another small, busy restaurant. "It is called, Sushi Deluxe. I swear there isn't a single roll on the menu that isn't delicious."

Although it didn't sound nearly as appetizing as House of Ramen, Ash could tell by the glee in Robert's eyes that it was good.

"They make good sushi, eh?" questioned Austin with critical eyes. "I'll have to check it out sometime. I love sushi."

"It's the best sushi you'll ever have," inserted Sabrina, speaking up for the first time in a while, "I am highly critical when it comes to my sushi, and I have never been let down by Sushi Deluxe."

"Interesting…" drawled Austin while holding a hand up to his chin, "I think I'll stop by after the tour."

"You won't be disappointed if you do," retorted Robert as they continued to explore the first floor.

After the conversation concerning sushi simmered down, Robert continued to point out the restaurants that his wife had installed, and every once in a while he would mention something regarding one of the non-pokemon related shops. For the most part, he seemed to talk about the stores that had the most draw, such as a few of the clothing, electronic, and specialty stores.

However, when Robert talked about the shops, the tour came off as rehearsed. Ash could tell that Robert didn't have a lot of passion for what he was talking about. Although Robert was a billionaire and always wore nice clothes and fancied finer things, he wasn't as materialistic as most would presume.

Robert was passionate about pokemon and products that revolved around them. The stuff that he truly cared about would be on the upper floors. For now, he was just trying to be a good host.

One of Ash's favorite things up to this point, besides the building itself, was the look on all of the ACE trainers faces as they listened to Robert speak. Ash could tell that they were enjoying the tour as well. Most of them had probably just recently been transferred to Silph Co. headquarters, and even if they hadn't, they had certainly never been shown everything firsthand by the CEO himself.

He also got a kick out of all of the spectators that were following them from all directions. At the beginning, he had been overwhelmed by them, but as time went on, they simply became a source of amusement.

They cheered and screamed for Robert like he was a glorified god, and there were times where it was hilarious. Every once in a while, one of the many females would call out to him in a suggestive manner; when that happened, Ash couldn't help but burst into laughter, especially when he saw the look of disgust that was delineated across Bill's face.

Robert was his father after all, which probably made it hard for him to hear some of the ways that people talked about him.

Speaking of Bill, there were plenty of people in the crowd that were fans of the young billionaire. Sometimes, Ash forgot just how famous Bill was. At this point in time, he had gotten so used to seeing Bill as a close friend that it was hard to remember that he was one of the most famous people in all of Kanto.

Sabrina also heralded a lot of attention. There were several people calling out to her, and she seemed to attract the gaze of many of the encompassing men. Ash wasn't necessarily surprised by that; Sabrina was extremely attractive. Besides, despite her impact on the city, Ash had a feeling that Saffron's general populace didn't see her very often.

In just a short amount of time, Ash had gotten to know Sabrina pretty well. One thing he had definitely come to understand was that Sabrina was naturally introverted. She loved the people of Saffron, but that didn't mean that she liked to be around them. Large confluxes of people made her uncomfortable, and rarely do people like to feel uncomfortable on a frequent basis.

Ash couldn't see her showing herself in public like his very often. It just didn't seem like something that she would do…

Of course, not everything about the glob of lively people was amusing.

The thing Ash liked the least about the crowd was the awkward, jealous glares that he and Austin were on the receiving end of. For a good number of the populace, it would be a dream come true if they got the opportunity to meet a member of the Montgomery family, let alone become friends with them.

The fact that two no name trainers, like Austin and Ash, were engaged in friendly conversation with Robert and Bill, clearly pissed people off. The jealous onlookers were likely asking questions like, why them, or who the hell are they?

However, despite the fact that Ash disliked the looks that he was getting, he didn't get mad. If anything, this was just a reminder of how messed up the world could be, which was a realization that he had accepted a long time ago.

Anyways, once Robert had shown them everything that was noteworthy on the first floor, he took them on a brief jaunt up to the second floor. For the most part, the second floor was an extension of what was on ground-level, consisting of primarily non-pokemon related shops.

It wasn't all that interesting, and it didn't take long for Robert to get bored and take them up to the third floor, which was the first floor that actually caused legitimate excitement to stir within Ash.

As he stepped off the escalator and on to the third floor, Robert used his hands to dramatically gesture toward everything around him.

"As Bill said earlier, on the third floor we have the biggest pokemart in all of Kanto—even larger than the pokemart in the Celadon Department Store!"

Ash's eyes widened as he looked out at all of the pokemon apparel that was in front of him. There were rows upon rows of merchandise neatly extending throughout the entirety of the floor. With one look, he could see just how stocked the aisles were. They were full to the brim with just about every Silph Co. Product that pokemarts were allowed to carry.

If Ash were by himself, he wouldn't even know where to start. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to make that decision, since Robert was the one responsible for showing them around.

"If it's sold in a pokemart, you can find it here!" bragged Robert with a bit of pride in his voice as he led them over to the far left side of the store. "The number one draw about this mega pokemart is that we never run out of anything. Our staff works on overdrive to make sure that the shelves are always fully stocked, and we have the best customer service in all of Kanto!"

He paused as he pointed behind himself toward a surplus of busy check-out stations, "We have over thirty check-out stations and at least fifteen of them are always manned. With that many people working the counters, it's almost a guarantee that you will never have to wait in line!"

Ash watched as a gaggle of Silph Co. employees worked their tails off to ensure that the shoppers got out as fast as possible. The cashiers scanned any items being purchased efficiently and quickly, whereas the baggers placed the items in plastic bags like their life depended on it. It was actually rather impressive. The mega mart operated like a well-oiled machine, displaying a perfect image of exuberant productivity.

"There are essentially twenty-two aisles that make up the entirety of the store and each one of them is fully-loaded with the type of items that it is designated to hold," said Robert as he turned his attention away from the check-out area and pointed up towards the signs that were suspended above each individual aisle.

"Just like every other pokemart in the world, underneath each aisle's designated number, we have specified what it contains," continued Robert while pointing to the large, square sign that was suspended over the aisle furthest to their left. "Our busiest aisle is Aisle One, which is where all of our potions are located. All up and down Aisle One, you can find various types of potions."

Ash used his eyes to quickly scan the entirety of the store, and he noticed that Robert was right. Even as he spoke, Aisle One was definitely the busiest of all of the aisles. It didn't really surprise Ash, potions were a hot commodity amongst trainers. It was considered idiotic to travel without them, so virtually every trainer in Kanto frequently purchased them.

"Do you need to restock your supplies?" asked Austin as he nudged Ash in the side. "Might as well get everything you need while we're here. That way, you can head straight to Celadon from here."

"I'm actually good," said Ash, "I've got tons of potions and all of those full-restores from the SS Anne tournament."

"Well, is there anything else you need?" interrupted Robert. "Aisle Two is where all of our pokeballs and great balls are. Aisle Five is where you can find our status healers. Aisle Eight consists of all of our repels, and there are tons of other things you can get here. Do you need any food? Aisles fifteen through twenty-two make up our grocery section."

Ash racked his brain as he tried to think of something that could be useful to him during his trip to Celadon. His backpack was loaded with all of the essentials, so there wasn't really anything he necessarily needed. However, maybe there was something that would come in handy. He was at the largest pokemon center in all of Kanto. It would be a shame for him to not take advantage of his visit somehow.

"Your backpack looks like it's heavy," said Austin. "What about some depository cases?"

Ash's eyes brightened up at the brilliant suggestion. His backpack was starting to get heavy. Even though his bag was specially designed with specs similar to a pokeball, in the way that it could shrink all of the items inside, it couldn't do anything about an item's weight.

Professor Oak had designed it, and although the professor was an excellent pokemon researcher, he didn't specialize in the area of technology. He was adequate enough to design a device capable of manipulating an item's size. However, it took an expert to diminish density.

Silph Co. had scientists that made a living off of creating technology that denied the natural laws of physics. Not only could depository cases shrink an items size, but they also diminished the weight and density to that of a feather. The idea of lessening the strain on his back by purchasing a surplus of depository cases sounded amazing to the ten-year-old boy.

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Ash as turned around and surveyed the signs above the aisles in order to track down where the mega pokemart kept its depository cases.

"Aisle Ten," informed Bill, using his eccentric voice for the first time in a while. "That's where we keep all of the items pertaining to storage."

"Gotcha'," said Ash as he began to shuffle his way toward Aisle Ten, "I'll be back in a second!"

"Hold up!" blurted Austin as he took off in a jog in order to catch up with Ash. "I'll help you pick some out. There are a lot of different sizes. If you've never had anyone explain them to you, you'll get confused."

"Thanks," said Ash as he heard Bill, Robert and Sabrina snicker behind them.

Simultaneously, he watched out of the corner of his eyes as a quartet of ACE trainers ambulated around them, providing a barrier of protection. Ash was a little bit confused by it at first, but then he remembered all of the bizarre looks of contempt that he had gotten from some of the bystanders.

As long as they were within close proximity to the likes of Robert, Bill and Sabrina, they would need some level of protection. Jealousy could make people do crazy things, and nothing made people more envious than situations such as this one.

"So, how much stuff are you trying to store in a case?" asked Austin as they made their way over to the storage aisle.

"Err...let me think…" muttered Ash while mentally sifting through everything that was in his backpack, "Well, my highest priority is all of the really heavy stuff."

"Well, what's the heaviest thing that you have in there?" asked Austin.

"My moonstone," answered Ash. "It sucks lugging that thing around."

"How much do you think it weighs?"

"Somewhere between twenty and thirty pounds," retorted Ash. "It's pretty heavy."

"Yeah, that's a lot of weight to put on your back," said Austin. "However, that's not that much weight for a depository case. Even the smallest size can handle fifty pounds."

"Fifty pounds, really!?" blurted Ash. "How much can the biggest one hold!?"

"A couple tons," replied Austin with a shrug, "which is more than enough to transport a car without breaking a sweat."

"Damn…" drawled Ash with an astonished look on his face, "technology is crazy."

"That's an understatement," said Austin with a smirk as they passed underneath the massive, blue sign that read: Aisle Ten.

Ash simply nodded in response to Austin's statement before using his eyes to examine all of the different objects that were being displayed around him. There were tons of different products such as backpacks, storage compartments, ordinary containers, badge cases, etc.…

He was kind of overwhelmed by how much stuff was jam-packed into a single aisle. It wasn't until they reached about the middle of the aisle that Ash finally spotted where they were keeping the depository cases.

Located on both sides of him was a surplus of black and grey boxes. All of them had the words "Silph Co. Depository Cases" on the sides of them, which was adjacent to the total amount of cases in each box, as well as the weight capacity of each individual case.

They were sold in all sorts of different bundles. Ash saw some that were packaged with solely small fifty pound cases, whereas others consisted of only massive two ton cases. There were even variety packages, which included all sorts of different sized cases.

"Since the heaviest item in your bag is only about thirty pounds," said Austin as he pointed towards a box of depository cases on the bottom shelf, "it would make the most sense to get a twelve pack of the small ones."

"True…" drawled Ash, "but what if I need to carry something heavier in the future?"

"Like what?"

Ash used his brain to filter through possibilities, "Maybe a saddle. I have to get one for Pidgeotto when he evolves."

Austin scoffed, "Dude, you're crazy if you think a pidgeot is going to need a fifty pound saddle. Fearow's saddle is barely twenty pounds, and it's made out of tauros' hide. The only aerial pokemon that require saddles thick enough to add up to fifty pounds are dragon-types, and that's only to protect the rider from their sharp scales."

"I guess you're right," said Ash. "What do people usually use the larger depository cases for then? I mean, how many people travel with things that weigh more than fifty pounds?"

"Eh, they're typically used for things that you wouldn't be able to carry without them," retorted the teenager. "Depository cases have opened the door for all sorts of options that were previously impossible. You can use them to carry an abundance of evolutionary stones. Some people use them to carry their entire wardrobe. I've even known people that have traveled with a full-sized grill. Honestly, the possibilities are endless."

"Gotcha'," answered Ash. "I can't really see myself carrying anything that big. However, I might as well get one of the variety packs. You never know what might come up. Besides, it's not like it'll hurt."

"The variety packs are a lot more expensive, though," muttered Austin as he pointed at the most reasonably priced variety pack. "Look, the cheapest variety pack is three-thousand pokedollars; that's expensive as hell. A twelve pack of the small ones is only one thousand pokedollars, which is a freaking bargain."

"Money's not really an issue right now," said Ash with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah," replied Austin with bright eyes. "I forgot about the prize money. Say no more. Get a variety pack, my friend."

In subsequence to Austin's words, Ash reached down and picked up the variety pack that his teenage friend had previously pointed out.

"Let's see…" drawled Ash, "it says right here that it contains four fifty pound capacity cases, three one-hundred pound capacity cases, two two-hundred pound capacity cases, two five-hundred pounders, and one massive one-thousand pound capacity case."

"Yeah, dude," said Austin, "you're never going to use all of that space, but at least you have options. Go for it."

"I'm going to," retorted Ash with a smile. "I may not use all of the space in these cases, but that's okay. They'll come in handy."

"Gotcha'," said Austin with a nod. "So, do you want to keep looking around, or should we head back over to Robert and the others?"

"I say we head back over to Robert and the others," replied Ash. "For the most part, this place is just a really big pokemart. If there is anything else important to see, I'm sure Robert will show us."

"I agree," answered Austin, "let's go back."

It only took the boys a couple of minutes to get back to the rest of the group, and when they did, Robert immediately started raving about the cases that Ash had picked out.

"Great choice, Ash, great choice," said Robert while patting Ash on the back. "That is probably our best option as far as depository cases go. Lots of brilliant options in that box, that's for sure."

"Thanks," drawled Ash. "I figured it was. It seems to be the most well-balanced of the variety packs. I think I'll be able to put most of it to good use."

"You most definitely will," answered Robert.

"Yeah," added Bill, "now you don't have to be so frugal about what you purchase or find during your travels. Also, it's the perfect thing to have before going to the Celadon Department Store. Now you won't have to hold back."

"That's what I was thinking," replied Ash with a small smile.

All of a sudden, Sabrina interjected, "Did you see anything else you liked, Ash Ketchum?"

"Err…yeah, but nothing I need to get right now," said Ash. "I'd rather get on with the rest of the tour. Besides, I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing a lot of shopping in Celadon. I don't want to overdo it right now."

"Understandable," retorted Sabrina with vacant eyes and a nod.

"What about you, Austin?" asked Bill. "Need anything?"

"I'm good for now," answered Austin. "As far as supplies go, I have plenty."

"Splendid!" exclaimed Robert. "Let's go to the next floor then. There's a guarded elevator in the back. That's how we'll get to the fourth floor. From here on out, the rest of the floors are restricted to Silph Co. staff only. So, it will no longer be necessary for all of these ACE trainers to follow us around."

Excitement started to boil within Ash as he anticipated the rest of the tour, but there was one thing that he thought Robert was forgetting about.

"Hold on…" said Ash, "before we go, shouldn't I check out?"

There was an awkward moment of silence before Robert and Bill looked at each other and laughed.

After a brief chuckle, which confused Ash and Austin, Robert ceased his laughter and looked Ash in the eyes.

"Come on, Ash…" said Robert with a massive grin, "the Montgomery name is on every product in this store, and you put your life on the line to help save me. You can't possibly think that I would make you pay for that?"

"Wait, are you saying that I can have this for free?" questioned Ash with a look of astonishment. "But, it's three-thousand pokedollars."

"I fail to see your point," answered Robert with a puzzled expression.

"Dad," inserted Bill with a nudge, "three-thousand pokedollars is a lot of money for most people. Don't be an ignorant billionaire."

"Oh...of course," replied Robert with an embarrassed expression on his face, "sometimes I forget."

"Completely understandable," said Austin, chiming back into the conversation. "With the kind of money you have, I'm sure it's hard not to lose sight of its value every once in a while."

"That my friend is an understatement," replied Robert as he fixed his expensive, designer suit. "Anyways, let's get going. Next stop is the fourth floor."

"Alrighty!" exclaimed Bill.

"Sounds good," said Austin.

Sabrina answered affirmatively with a nod.

"Thanks, Mr. Montgomery," stammered Ash as he ruminated about the free gift that he had just gotten from the billionaire CEO.

"No need to thank me," answered Robert with a shrug. "It's not that big of a deal. You're a friend, lad, and I take care of my friends."

"Hey, old man!" interjected Bill with a sour expression. "Ash is my friend, not yours!"

Ash laughed as he watched Robert chuckle at his jealous, overdramatic son.

"Bill, Bill, Bill…" jeered Robert. "We're all friends. Don't be so envious."

Bill responded by sticking his tongue out at his father like a disrespectful child, causing everyone in the group to burst out into laughter.

Ash had to admit, this was a scene he had never expected when he left Pallet on his journey. I mean, how could he have?

He had formed legitimate friendships with so many amazing people in just a few months. It almost felt like someone, or something, was watching over him from above, blessing him in unimaginable ways.

He couldn't wait to find out what other unbelievable things would happen to him throughout his travels.

Later today, he would hit the road again. It would just be him and his pokemon, trekking Kanto in route to their next destination.

However, for now, he had the rest of Silph Co. headquarters to see. His thoughts about his forthcoming adventure could wait until later. He wanted to soak up every last moment he could with his friends.

Most likely, after today, he wouldn't see them for a while.

XXX

Floors four through ten were rather boring and didn't take that long for them to explore. They consisted of solely office space, and everyone, including Robert, wanted to pass through them as fast as possible.

Ash wasn't quite sure why Robert found it so essential to show them every nook and cranny of Silph Co. headquarters, however, it was pretty clear that even he didn't enjoy the floors that he had just shown them.

They did get to meet some semi-important members of Silph Co. headquarters' staff, although now that they were exiting the elevator onto floor eleven, Ash had already forgotten their names.

"Floor eleven is our manufactory floor, which is where we manufacture all of our goods on a large scale," explained Robert as they walked out into the momentous room.

The first thing Ash noticed was the hiigh-reaching ceiling. It was at least three times as tall as the rest of the floors' ceilings, giving the room a much more voluminous feel. If Ash had to guess, he would say that the manufactory floor took up at least three, maybe four, floors worth of space.

"Essentially, this is where we make all of our purchasable capture devices, potions, repels, etc.…" said Robert. "Anything that has grounded instructions, or a formula that is set in stone, is produced here in tremendous quantity."

"Gotcha'," retorted Austin, "so this is basically where you make all of the basic items."

"Yeah, pretty much," answered Robert. "To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, I'll tell you some of the things that aren't produced here."

"Like?" asked Austin as he used his eyes to scan over his surroundings.

Ash did the same as he tried to process everything that was going on around him. The floor was flooded with busy workers wearing hard-hats, goggles, work clothes and thick gloves. As they walked by, they tipped their hats or gave a courteous wave. However, Ash could tell that they weren't overexcited by Robert's presence, signifying that the CEO most likely made plenty of trips to the manufactory level.

There were conveyor belts that were packaging a multitude of items, while the workers tinkered at their designated stations, making sure that whatever products they were working on didn't have any fallacies.

Ash noticed several different heavy pieces of equipment such as forklifts, robotic work cells, wire strippers, vibration wielders, torque tools and conformal coating equipment. The eleventh floor was a fully functioning factory.

Ash never would have guessed that something like this existed within Silph Co. headquarters, especially on a floor as high as the eleventh floor. It would be one thing if it was underground. It seemed much more logical to have a manufactory in a basement than on one of the upper-levels.

But, then again, who was he to question Silph Co.? He was just a ten-year-old kid after all. Robert probably had a perfectly sensible reason for putting a manufactory on an elevated level…

"Well, for starters, we don't make any of our items that aren't sold at a pokemart here," said Robert, breaching Ash's thoughts with his impassioned voice. "Things like ultra balls and full restores are made in the upper labs?"

"Upper labs?" queried Ash, clearly intrigued.

"Yeah," replied Robert as they watched a conveyor belt carrying finished great balls bring them over to a high-tech packaging machine, "there are five labs occupying floors twelve through sixteen. In those five labs, we do all of our experimentation as well as produce some of our rarer items."

"Interesting…" drawled Austin as they left the great ball conveyor belt and walked over to an assembly line of workers that were checking the packaging on some super potions. "Is each lab responsible for a specific item?"

"More like a field," replied Bill for the first time in a while. "Each lab is dedicated to a specific type of item."

"What do you mean?" asked Ash.

"Hmm…" murmured Bill as he raised his hand to his chin, "basically, they're distinguished by departments—medical, storage, capture devices, tools and TMs."

"Oh, I get it," retorted Austin. "So, if they are classified under one of those five categories, they would have essentially been created by that department."

"For the most part," said Bill. "That's how they are designed. The whole point of our labs is to discover new scientific breakthroughs. Once they complete one of their products, and get approval from my father, they send the instructions or formula down to this floor, so that it can be mass-produced."

"That's really cool," said Ash. "We'll get to see the labs, right?"

"Absolutely," answered Robert with a smile, obviously flattered that Ash had taken such an interest in what was going on at headquarters. "Like I said earlier, I'm going to show you everything. Thorough means thorough; you will see the entirety of the tower."

"Awesome," said Ash with a massive grin.

"Shall we proceed to the next floor, Robert," inserted Sabrina, who like Bill had been relatively quiet since the beginning of the tour, allowing Robert to do the majority of the talking. "The boys' minds say that they're eager to ascend to the labs."

Ash couldn't help but smile at how Bill and Sabrina were acting. It was clear how much they cared about Robert in the fact that they were allowing him to have his moment with Austin and himself.

Robert had been anticipating this tour for a couple of days now, and it was evident that it was important to him. Sometimes, the best way to show how much you cared about someone was to not get in their way. Right now, Bill and Sabrina were trying their very best to do that.

"Is that right, boys?" asked Robert. "Are you ready to move on?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Ash with bright eyes. "I can't wait to see the upper labs!"

"I'm ready," replied Austin with a smile, "unless there's still something cool to see on this floor?"

"You've pretty much seen it all," answered Robert. "Everything is out in the open. The eleventh floor is one of my favorites, but that's only because of its significance and production. All of the truly fascinating things are above us."

"Alrighty then," said Austin with a shrug. "Let's go up."

"Back to the elevator it is then," replied Robert as he adjusted the expensive looking watch on his wrist. "It's time to see the fun stuff."

XXX

The first couple of labs were fascinating. Between the Medical Lab and the Storage Lab, Ash would have to say that he preferred the Storage Lab.

While the Medical Lab was interesting, it was also complex and hard to make sense of. The scientists and fancy equipment were entertaining to watch at work, but unless Robert explained things to the group, Ash had no idea what they were doing.

The scientists used way too much medical jargon to decipher what they were talking about, and there was no way to figure out what they were working on based off of the visualization of the different chemicals that they were handling.

It was also an awkward environment. None of the scientists paid them any mind. It reminded him of Lavender Town due to the overall lack of acknowledgement, albeit It wasn't quite as eerie, since the only reason the scientists were ignoring them was because they were overly engrossed in their work.

Nevertheless, it was perplexing. How could such brilliant people lack so much awareness when it came to their surroundings?

Despite the fact that he couldn't understand a vast amount of what was going on around him, the information that Robert shared with them was incredible, especially their development plans.

Apparently, Silph Co. was working on a product called Full Revive, which when finished would be able to not only wake a pokemon up from unconsciousness, but it would also be able to fully replenish a pokemon's health like a full restore.

Obviously, like a full restore, it wouldn't be permitted to be sold at pokemarts. However, it would be very beneficial for the League officials that would be authorized to use it, especially now that Team Rocket had emerged from the shadows.

Standard revives were a hot commodity to those that could afford them. Ash could only imagine how popular a full revive would be amongst the League…

Other than the fact that Ash could make a lot more sense of what the scientists in the Storage Lab were saying, there were a lot of things that he really liked about the Storage Lab.

First of all, the scientists were kind and attentive, taking the time to acknowledge them. Some of them even introduced themselves to Ash and Austin, which was a major positive after being ignored by all of the scientists in the Medical Lab.

Ash also enjoyed listening to them speak about how all of their products worked. They didn't use nearly as much jargon, so Ash could actually understand what they were saying as opposed to the scientists in the Medical Lab. In addition, he actually preferred physics over chemistry. In his opinion, it was way more interesting.

The fact that modern scientists could bend matter to their will blew his mind. He could get way more into that than the formulas that scientists in the medical field used to create their products.

Of course, as a pokemon trainer, he had to have a general knowledge of both types of sciences. In the world of pokemon, there were just way too many components of each field to not be informed of both…

Nevertheless, all thoughts of the first two labs were put to rest when they arrived on the fourteenth floor, which was where the Capture Device Lab resided.

He had never seen so many capture devices in his life. Pokeballs, great balls, ultra balls—there were thousands.

Scattered amidst the expansive room were hundreds of cubicles, and at each cubicle there was a tech specialist that was tinkering with a pokeball, great ball or ultra ball. Piled on their desks were several more capture devices, which were either finished or pending to be fiddled with.

As Robert led them away from the elevator and further into the room, they had to watch their step in order to avoid tripping on a plethora of mechanical spheres. The ground was littered with red, blue and black as pokeballs, great balls, and ultra balls were scattered about like mines in a minefield.

"Dammit, this place is a bloody mess again," groaned Robert as he stepped over a large pile of great balls. "Leave it to the techies to be able to function in such disarray."

"Does this happen a lot?" queried Austin as he used his foot to clear a path through an extremely cluttered section of the room.

"Enough for it to be annoying," spat Robert with a scowl. "This room is full to the brim with some of the most brilliant tech specialists in the world. Unfortunately, their type tends to be content to be disorganized. I may love this floor, due to what is accomplished here, but I can't spend too much time up here. The clutter irritates me."

"Gotcha—" managed Austin before getting cut-off by an old, nasally voice.

"Boss, what brings you to the fourteenth floor on this fine day?"

The owner of the voice looked to be in about his sixties and had a very peculiar appearance. His hair was long, grey and shaggy, resembling that of a homeless person. It covered his eyes, so that they were hidden from the world. He wore a big, black t-shirt with an image of a pokeball in the center of it, as well as a pair of tattered black sweats that looked about as old as he did.

Last but not least were his two bright, yellow slippers that both resembled a pikachu. Ash had to admit, they looked comfortable, albeit they weren't even close to being appropriate for a work environment.

However, after a second glance around the room, it didn't appear as if any of the techies were wearing proper work attire. The majority of them were dressed in t-shirts and either sweats or pajama bottoms. It was pretty clear that they abided by their own set of rules.

"Hello, Sebastian," muttered Robert while adjusting his suit. "I'm here for a tour."

"A tour?" questioned Sebastian. "For Sabrina and Bill, but they've been here hundreds of times? What's the point?"

"It's not for us…" muttered Bill while rolling his eyes and gesturing toward Ash and Austin, who Sebastian had somehow failed to notice up until now, "it's for the boys."

Reacting to Bill's words, Sebastian turned his head in the direction of Ash and Austin. If the dark-haired boy was able to see his eyes, he would assume that they would be looking at him in a confused manner.

"Hmm…" drawled Sebastian as he suddenly raised his hand to his chin before turning his head back toward Robert. "Boss, what do I do? I'm not good with children."

"Treat them like adults, and introduce yourself," retorted Robert, slightly amused. "These childrenare very dear friends of mine and deserve your utmost respect."

"Really?" replied Sebastian with a bit of bewilderment in his intonation. "But, they look like regular kids to me."

"Well, they're not," said Robert in an edgy tone. "They happen to be one of the main reasons that I am standing here right now. If it weren't for them, I would probably be dead."

"Hmm…I see, I see," said the shaggy, old man as he scratched the back of his head. "So, you kids saved the boss?"

"We helped," answered Ash with an awkward smile.

"We just did what we could," retorted Austin, slightly flustered. "A lot of people helped."

"Hmm…" mumbled Sebastian, "you two both seem like a couple of earnest young men…"

He paused before reaching out to shake their hands, "I am Sebastian Trobee, head scientist of the Capture Device Department, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," answered Ash as he shook Sebastian's hand. "My name's Ash Ketchum. I'm a pokemon trainer from Pallet Town."

Sebastian gave Ash a nod of acknowledgement before turning to his attention to Austin.

"I'm Austin Turner from Fuchsia City," said the chiseled faced teenager while he also shook Sebastian's hand. "I'm a pokemon trainer as well."

After shaking both of their hands, Sebastian gave them an awkward grin before turning his head toward Robert.

"So, you're here for a tour…" mumbled the old techie. "Why didn't you tell me ahead of time, Boss? I would have had the squad tidy up a little bit."

"Psht!" Robert blustered, "you, tidy up, I don't believe it for a second!"

"Boss!" scoffed Sebastian, clearly offended. "That was uncalled for."

"What do you mean it was uncalled for?" questioned Robert. "Sebastian, we've been having this same conversation for years, and things never change. The last couple of times I've come to this floor this place has been a pigsty."

"But, but, but," stammered Sebastian, "our lives revolve around capture devices. Doesn't it make sense that this room would be flooded with them? Do they really constitute for what you would call a mess?"

"They do when you have to watch every step you take because you're afraid of slipping on a pokeball," said Robert. "All I ask is that you keep them off of the ground. As long as you finish your work, I don't care how unorganized your workers' stations are. However, since I have to come down here on the occasion, I would appreciate it if you would pick all of the capture devices up off of the ground. At my age, I'd rather not take a tumble if I don't have to."

"Fair enough, Boss," said the old techie. "We will try and keep them off of the ground."

"Thank you," retorted Robert. "Now, would you mind leading the way to the vault…I would like to show Ash and Austin what we have stowed away inside."

Sebastian's body tensed up as he registered Robert's words, "B-but, Boss—"

"No buts!" scolded Robert. "If it weren't for these kids, it would have fallen into the clutches of Team Rocket a long time ago! If anyone has earned the right to see it, it would be them!"

As Robert laid into Sebastian, Ash watched while they got a multitude of surprised stares from the technical specialists around them. Up to this point, almost all of them had stayed immersed in their work, thus the change in the atmosphere was especially apparent.

"Alright, Boss, I understand," mumbled Sebastian while slouching his shoulders and dropping his head. "Follow me."

"Wise choice," huffed Robert as he adjusted his watch. "Bill, Sabrina, boys, let's go. I wish to show you what you risked your lives to protect."

All four of them nodded as they began to follow Sebastian and Robert to the other side of the fourteenth floor.

XXX

"Wow, look at it," said Ash with gleaming eyes as he stared ahead at the pristinely designed capture device.

It was spherical in shape, just like every other capture device, although its upper-half was dark purple with two fuchsia pink circles at the very top. Located right above the release button was a bold, white, capital M, signifying its name: Master Ball.

"This is it," said Robert with a smile as he carefully handled the Master Ball. "The Master Ball: the ultimate capture device. It is capable of catching any pokemon, of any level, on the first try."

"Damn…" drawled Austin, "I like the way it looks."

"Thank you," inserted Sebastian with a smile, "I came up with the design. I'm glad you like it. I had a tough time choosing between purple and silver. However, we decided to stick to Saffron's prestigious colors. It was born here after all."

"A great choice," added Sabrina, bearing one of her rare smiles. "It's beautiful. I desire to have one of my own."

"I'm sorry, Sabrina, but that's just not possible," retorted Robert as he showed the Master Ball to each of them slowly in order to give them a good look. "The Master Ball is one of a kind, and we plan on keeping it that way."

Sabrina's initial reaction was a minuscule frown before she nodded her head in understanding.

"But, Dad?" questioned Bill, "this is a monumental breakthrough. You can't keep it to yourself. The Master Ball could change everything."

Once everyone had gotten a good look, Robert placed it back in the small, armored safe that it had previously resided in. The safe was located within a massive vault in the far corner of the fourteenth floor. The vault required a multitude of different fragments of Robert's DNA such as a strand of hair, a swab of saliva, a finger print and even a pinch of blood.

Needless to say, there was no way that Team Rocket would have ever gotten in without having kidnapped Robert. The corrupt organization had all of the major details planned out perfectly. Luckily, destiny put Ash and his friends in the right place at the right time…

"That is exactly why it must remain alone and a secret," replied Robert with sincerity in his voice. "Bill, can you imagine what would happen if the general populace could get their hands on something like this? It would be a disaster. No longer would catching powerful pokemon require skill. Anyone with money could become powerful beyond measure."

He paused.

"The Master Ball can catch anything and everything on the first try. The stamina of the pokemon doesn't matter. Its power-level doesn't matter. Its breed doesn't matter. Nothing matters. The Master Ball will always win. It is absolute."

"Well, if you don't plan on making any more of them, I presume that you have no plans of allowing the Master Ball to be available to the League?" asked Bill.

"As of now, I have no plans of making it available to anyone," said Robert. "If it were up to me, it would remain stowed away in this vault until long after my death."

A question stirred within Ash's mind as he listened to Robert's words.

"Why was it created then?" asked the ten-year-old boy. "If you don't plan on using it, why go to the trouble of making it, especially when its existence puts you at risk to people like Team Rocket?"

"Good question, Ash," answered Robert with an amused smile as he turned his attention over to Sebastian. "I'll let the brains behind its existence answer for me."

Sebastian raised his hand up to his chin as he appeared to be in deep thought, "Boss, there are several reasons why the creation of the Master Ball was necessary.

"That's true," retorted Robert, "but what's the primary reason? Why did we start the project in the first place?"

"Ah…protection of course," answered Sebastian with a quirky smile.

"Protection?" queried Austin. "How can a capture device protect you?"

"Austin Turner has a good point," added Sabrina. "Up to this point, the existence of the Master Ball has only caused trouble for Saffron and the Montgomery family. How exactly does it offer us protection?"

"We're not talking about protection from an organization like Team Rocket," said Sebastian matter-of-factly.

"Then what are you talking about?" asked Bill with curious eyes.

"We're talking about—" started Robert before getting interrupted by Sebastian.

"I got this, Boss," he interjected. "It's rare that I get an opportunity to talk about my creation."

"Okay…" drawled Robert, "I apologize for interrupting. Continue then."

"We're talking about protection from pokemon," said Sebastian. "The creation of the Master Ball was necessary to ensure that we can protect ourselves in case of a catastrophe."

"…Protection from pokemon? A catastrophe?" queried Ash, clearly intrigued. "What are you talking about?"

"Ash, you're aware of Legendaries, right?" retorted Sebastian as he stuck his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants.

Everyone in the bare vault went quiet at the mention of the word Legendaries.

"I'll take that as a yes," replied Sebastian with a brief burst of laughter. "Anyways, since you've heard of Legendaries, I assume that you are aware of the ones that are rumored to dwell within Kanto."

"Moltres, Aritcuno, Zapdos and Mew!" blurted Bill, unable to control himself.

That is correct, Bill, although I wasn't asking you," huffed Sebastian before turning his head back toward Ash. "You do know of these four Legendaries, right?"

Ash responded with a nod while reflecting back on the stories that Professor Oak had told Gary and him growing up.

"Of these four Legendaries, which one is said to be the strongest?" asked Sebastian with anticipation in his eyes.

Ash didn't even have to think about it.

"Mew," retorted the ten-year-old boy with confidence in his answer.

"Correct," answered Sebastian. "Researchers that have devoted their lives to studying Legendaries would classify Mew as an S-rank Legendary, which would make Mew one of the rarest and strongest pokemon on the planet."

"S-rank?" questioned Austin. "What does that mean?"

"S-rank is one of six classifications that scientists use to sort out how rare and powerful a Legendary is," explained Sebastian. "The six classifications are C, B, A, S, SS and SSS. C is the lowest and SSS is the highest. Most Legendaries fall in the C through A range. A handful of Legendaries bear the S-rank. And only a few Legendaries occupy the range SS to SSS."

"Damn…" drawled Austin, "I've never heard of a classification system before."

"That's because it's information that is withheld from the general public," said Sebastian. "However, since the boss trusts you enough to show you the Master Ball, I assume he has no qualms about me sharing this with you. "

"None whatsoever," interjected Robert. "I would have told them if you didn't."

"That's what I thought," retorted the scientist with a smirk before pivoting his eyes back over to Ash and Austin.

"Anyways, given that, Mew, the highest ranked Legendary in Kanto is an S-rank," said Sebastian, "and that Mew is rumored to be extremely placid, Kanto doesn't have a lot of tragic legends in its past. Therefore, there isn't a big focus on the Legendaries in our region, which has resulted in an utter lack of defense against them if something unexpected ever occurred."

"Unexpected…" said Ash. "But Legendaries are legendary for a reason. Few have been seen in recent years, and the ones that have didn't do anything that could be labeled as threatening. I'm confused. What are you guys so worried about?"

Sebastian opened his mouth to respond, but was quickly cut-off by Robert, who clearly wanted to be the one to answer Ash's question.

"That's not entirely true…" interrupted Robert with a solemn look on his face, "there was one incident."

"An incident?" asked Bill, who looked confused for the first time since the conversation began.

"What are you referring to, Robert?" asked Sabrina, clearly intrigued.

Ash's nerves spiked the second that Sabrina finished asking her question. It was rare that Sabrina didn't know about something. Not only was she usually in the loop because of her status as a gym leader, but she also had an incredible amount of insight due to her psychic powers. The fact that Sabrina didn't know about this incident worried him.

"Before I tell you what happened," said Robert, "I'd like you to try and list all of the Legendary pokemon sightings that have occurred within the past ten-years. Most of them are common knowledge, so it shouldn't be that hard."

Ash took a moment to think as he tried to remember all of the Legendary sightings that he had either heard reported through the news or had been told to him by someone he knew. He hadn't done a ton of research on this topic himself, so for the most part he was going off of occurrences that he had randomly heard about.

"Well, five years ago, there was a supposed sighting of a zapdos in an abandoned power plant north of Lavender Town," said Sabrina. "It had been feeding off of the electricity from some of the machinery that was still functioning. I got a call to go check it out, since I was the closest gym leader that wouldn't be at a disadvantage. By the time I got there, it was gone, but there was a lot of evidence that something exorbitantly powerful had been dwelling within."

She paused as she released a sigh.

"The place was an utter wreck, and all of the plant's electricity had been entirely drained. It was completely barren. There wasn't so much as a fraction of an ampere, and all of the electric pokemon that used to make the abandoned power plant home were gone. Although I didn't see it myself, I have no doubt in my mind that a zapdos dwelled within that building. The aftermath of its presence was way too powerful to be anything but a Legendary."

"Yeah, I remember that," said Bill. "It was a big deal. There hasn't been a wild Legendary sighting in Kanto since then."

"That's true," said Austin. "I was pretty young when it happened, but the only other Legendary sighting I've heard of in Kanto was when a moltres was spotted looking out at Knot Island from the very top of Mt. Ember. All of the pictures came out pretty blurry, so some people think that it's a conspiracy. However, the people on Knot Island that saw it with their own eyes swear it was a legitimate moltres."

"Yup," said Robert, "those are the only two documented sightings in Kanto over the past ten-years. Kind of crazy, wouldn't you say? How they remain hidden is a mystery to me, especially when you factor in some of the foreign ones' mind boggling immensity?"

As Ash soaked in the fact that only two documented Legendary sightings had taken place in Kanto over the past ten years, he remembered something pivotal that had happened to him at the beginning of his journey.

In subsequence to his struggle to outrun the angry flock of spearow that had tried to kill him in between Pallet and Viridian, Ash had seen a miraculous pokemon.

Although he hadn't thought about it for a while, the image would forever remain ingrained in his head. He had seen a gigantic, golden bird with rainbow colored wings soaring above him. Its presence was mesmerizing, and he knew that it couldn't be anything other than a Legendary.

He didn't know its name, but it most certainly wasn't one of the four Legendaries that were said to live in Kanto.

His guess was that it was either foreign or an unknown Legendary. Most likely, it was the former rather than the latter. Ash doubted that something willing to fly in broad daylight, so close to Viridian City, had gone completely incognito throughout history. The world was old, and pokemon along with mankind had occupied it for a long time; surely someone else had seen the golden avian before.

"Ash Ketchum, I believe you have something you would like to share with us," said Sabrina, stealing Ash's attention away from his internal rumination.

Obviously, Sabrina was referring to his memory regarding the majestic bird he had seen at the beginning of his journey.

During the time that Ash had spent training with Sabrina, the psychic virtuoso didn't have any of her powers, so Ash didn't have to worry about the thought that Sabrina was reading his every thought. Now that she had fully-recovered, Ash had yet to get used to the fact that she could be inside of his head at any moment.

More than likely, she had gotten curious as to what Ash was pondering about after noticing his concentrated disposition. Ash also recognized the fact that Sabrina likely already knew about his miraculous experience. She had sifted through his memories when they had first met. There was no doubt that the memory of a Legendary would stick out amongst the rest.

"Did you see it?" queried Ash, already knowing her answer.

"Yes," said Sabrina as she nodded her head with vacant eyes. "I've been aware of this encounter for a while now. The moment we met, this memory shined bright amongst your psyche."

Ash formed a half-hearted smile, "figured as much."

"What are you guys bloody talking about?" questioned Bill with a look of frustration. "I don't like being out of the loop."

"It sounds to me like Ash has something he's been keeping to himself," said Austin as he folded his arms impatiently.

"Ash, my lad, what is it?" asked Robert with a curious expression. "You can tell us anything. You know that, right?"

The ten-year-old boy stood firm, although he had been slightly flustered because of the tirade of questions.

"I'm not hiding anything," said Ash earnestly. "There has been a lot that has happened ever since I met you all of you, so I haven't thought much about what I saw. Not to mention the fact that I'm not exactly sure what it was."

"You've got my attention," said Robert as he centered the entirety of his focus on the dark-haired boy.

"Bloody hell!" blurted Bill with an elated expression on his face, "you've got mine as well!"

"Me too," said Austin as he scratched the back of his head.

"This sounds interesting…" drawled Sebastian as he raised his hand to his chin, "elaborate please."

"Hmm…" drawled Ash as the memory of the golden bird illuminated within his head, "um, well, it happened on my first day as a trainer."

Ash could feel the intense gaze of everyone around him as they listened attentively to what he had to say.

"Growlithe and I were about an hour or two outside of Pallet, on our way to Viridian City, when we decided to stop and train."

He paused.

"We had been working on Ember when he lost control because of fatigue. There was a stray flame that got away from him and landed behind a large slab of rock," Ash gulped as he remembered the sound of the spearow that had been the recipient of the Ember. "All of a sudden, I heard an ear-shattering screech that nearly busted my eardrums. It was awful."

"What was it?" asked Austin in a curious manner.

Ash let out a quick burst of laughter as he thought about how rotten his luck had been at the time. "It was a spearow."

"Bloody hell," scoffed Bill. "That friggin' sucks. Of course, it was a spearow—one of the most aggressive pack-oriented pokemon in all of Kanto. My guess is that its cry wasn't just a reaction to the Ember. It called its pack, didn't it?"

"Yup," retorted Ash as he shook his head on account of his misfortune. "Next thing I knew, Growlithe and I were running for our lives from a flock of pissed off spearow."

"How'd you get away?" asked Robert. "Spearow are relentless little buggers, especially when they're in a pack. There's no way they ever got tired of chasing you. What happened?"

Ash let out a sigh as he remembered what had happened next. "Well, obviously there was a lot of stuff going through my head at the time. I thought about becoming a decoy and letting Growlithe escape, but I came to the conclusion that sacrificing myself wouldn't work. Even though I had only known Growlithe for a couple of hours, he was way too loyal to just let me die."

"Good choice," said Sabrina, matter-of-factly. "You're right. The growlithe line is way too loyal for a plan like that to work. It would have just been suicide for both of you."

"I know," retorted Ash, "that's why we just kept running. Battling wasn't an option because of our severe lack of numbers, and we had been chased way off path, so the chance that someone would come to our rescue was nonexistent."

"And…?" questioned Austin with wide-eyes. It was pretty apparent that he was completely engrossed in the story.

"Just when I was about to give up hope, I smelt fresh water. I owe it to Professor Oak. If it weren't for everything he taught me about the wild, I would be dead."

"Fresh water?" queried Bill. "How did the smell of fresh water save you?"

"I had been running alongside a river," replied Ash, "but I was too exhausted to notice it until I was hit with the smell. Once I tracked down the river with my eyes, I noticed how strong the current was. It was powerful, and a current as strong as this one had to be going somewhere."

"A basin," guessed Bill.

"Exactly," said Ash. "It led to a basin. At the time, I wasn't positive that I would be able to use it to get away. However, as I continued to gain ground, I started to hear the crashing sound of what had to be a waterfall. It was way too loud to be anything else. I could hardly hear myself breathe as I continued to run."

"What happened next?" asked Robert with anticipation brewing in his eyes.

"The waterfall happened," retorted Ash matter-of-factly. "It came up fast. And when it did, we did the only thing that we could."

"Damn!" blustered Austin, "you jumped?!"

Ash simply nodded.

"How did you know you'd make it? There's no way you could have possibly known how far the drop was!" retorted Austin.

"I didn't," answered Ash with a shrug, "I had no other choice, though. At that point in time, we couldn't stop. It was either we jumped, or we were killed by the spearow."

"Good point," said Robert. "Often times, when we're backed up into a corner, we do things that we never thought we could."

"It was definitely one of those situa—" managed Ash before being interrupted by Bill.

"What did you do with Growlithe?" interjected the pokemon researcher. "That much water is bad for a fire-type. In combination with the shock from the fall, it could have killed him."

"That's why I returned him," said Ash with a nonchalant shrug.

"Are you saying you returned him right before you jumped?" questioned Sebastian.

"Nope," answered Ash as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But, now that you mention it that probably would have been a good idea."

Everyone in the room gave him a look of astonishment as they processed what that meant.

"Bloody hell, Ash, you returned him while you were falling?!" asked Bill.

"Yeah," replied Ash. "It took a lot of concentration, but I managed."

"Damn…" drawled Austin. "That's incredible."

"You can say that again," added Robert before whistling signifying that he was impressed.

"I kind of find it hard to believe," said Sebastian with doubt in his voice.

"I can assure you that he is not lying," articulated Sabrina with a slight edginess to her tone. "Ash Ketchum's memories match his story."

In response to Sabrina's words, Sebastian's eyebrows lifted, depicting that he was at least somewhat astonished.

Ash simply ignored Sabrina and Sebastian's comments while preparing to continue his story. This had already gone on for way too long. He just wanted to finish sharing his experience, so that Robert could finish explaining why the creation of the Master Ball was necessary.

"Anyways," said Ash, interrupting the trivial side conversation that was going on around him, "as soon as I returned Growlithe, I hit the water. It was awful. I didn't get a chance to prepare myself for the impact, so it was extremely harsh. The collision with the water almost knocked me out, but I managed to remain conscious enough to realize that I was sinking fast."

He took a breath as he paused.

"The momentum of the fall, in combination with the gravitational pull caused by the waterfall, had caused me to plummet deep within the basin. If I would have lost consciousness when I hit the water, I would have definitely drowned. Fortunately, I didn't. I can still remember the suffocating feeling of running out of air as I desperately tried to swim up to the surface. I've never been so exhausted in my life."

"What happened to Growlithe's pokeball when you hit the water?" asked Bill curiously. "Did you manage to hang onto it?"

"Yes, I did," answered Ash. "There was no way in hell I was going to let go of that pokeball. Who knows where it would have ended up if I let go?"

"Good point," retorted Bill. "However, it's pretty extraordinary that you managed to hang on to it regardless of how determined you were."

The ten-year-old boy was about to reply to Bill's response, but Austin quickly interrupted.

"So, given that you're here with us right now," said the teenager, "it's pretty obvious that you managed to make it to land. What happened after that? Did you lose the spearow?"

Ash placed his hand on Growlithe's pokeball, which was fastened to his trainer belt, as he recounted the rest of the story.

"The second I surfaced, I checked to make sure that the spearow had stopped following me. There was no sign of them. They must have thought I was killed by the impact because they were gone. My plan had worked, and we were finally safe."

Ash mindlessly unclipped Growlithe's pokeball as he shared what had happened next.

"Once I made it to land and took a moment to catch my breath, I released Growlithe. We just laid there for a while, completely barren of energy. We shared a sentimental moment together, gazing up at the clouds as we rested in the fact that we were both still alive."

He looked down at his starter's pokeball as a small smile formed across his face.

"I remember saying something to Growlithe, but I can't remember exactly what it was. What happened next kind of stole the moment."

"What happened?" questioned Robert.

"Yeah, Mr. Ketchum," said Sebastian while raising one of his eyebrows, "what did you see?"

"A bird," answered Ash with a massive grin. "Growlithe and I saw a giant bird."

"A giant bird?" queried Bill, clearly desiring more details. "Are you referring to the King's Nature? Is this where you found Pidgeotto?"

"No," retorted Ash, "I didn't run into Pidgeotto until the Viridian Forest. This was something else. It was unlike anything I had ever seen or heard of before; whatever it was had to be a Legendary."

He focused his eyes solely on Bill as he continued.

"Bill, its presence was even greater than Dragonite's. All it did was soar over me, and I could sense that it was different."

A look of glee formed in his friends' eyes as they thought about what Ash was sharing with them.

"Everything this boy says is true, right, Sabrina?" asked Sebastian as a flurry of emotions could be spotted flickering within his eyes.

"Yes," retorted Sabrina with a small hint of agitation in her voice. "He hasn't so much as exaggerated. How many times do I have to tell you, everything Ash Ketchum has said completely aligns with his memories."

"I'm just making sure," retorted Sebastian. "The claim that Mr. Ketchum is making is monumental. A Legendary hasn't been spotted in Kanto for quite some time. I just wanted to make sure that what he just told us is true before I get too excited."

"I understand," answered Sabrina, reclaiming her typical emotionless disposition, "but there is no more reason to doubt. Unless I say otherwise, Ash Ketchum is being truthful. Quite frankly, you're pissing me off. I shouldn't have to keep reassuring you. Ash Ketchum is a trustworthy trainer, and he has no reason to lie."

Sabrina's words meant a lot to Ash. Over the past couple of weeks, he had gotten the hint that the gym leader had grown rather fond of him. However, her emotionless countenance made her hard to read at times. It made him happy to know that someone like Sabrina had his back, albeit he understood where Sebastian was coming from.

The head of the Capture Device Department had only just met him. And despite the fact that he was in the company of some rather trustworthy people, it made sense that a man as intelligent as Sebastian would be skeptical of a first-year trainer. Ash was only ten after all, and a lot of kids his age told all kinds of fabricated lies in order to get attention.

Simply put, Sebastian's skeptics made sense. Ash wouldn't hold it against him.

In reaction to Sabrina, Sebastian turned his attention towards Ash. "I apologize if I offended you. However, I've heard a lot of outlandish stories over the years, so I tend be a bit of a skeptic. Anyways, since Sabrina has confirmed that you are indeed telling the truth, I have to ask—do you think you saw one of the three elemental legends of Kanto?"

The room became quiet as everybody anticipated Ash's answer.

"No…" retorted Ash as he decisively shook his head, "it wasn't one of the three elemental birds; at least, it didn't look like it. I've seen paintings and sketches of Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. It didn't look like any of them."

There were multiple looks of confusion as Austin, Bill, Robert and Sebastian listened to Ash. For obvious reasons, Sabrina was the only one to remain calm. Most likely, she already knew the identity of the pokemon Ash had seen. A trainer as knowledgeable as her definitely knew a fair amount of information regarding all kinds of Legendaries.

"Wait," answered Robert, "Ash, if it wasn't one of the three Legendary birds of Kanto, what could it be? The only other Legendary known to be native to Kanto is Mew, and it is said to be a bipedal, feline pokemon."

Ash pivoted his eyes between Robert and Sebastian as he answered. "I believe you guys mentioned something about foreign Legendaries. Maybe it was one of those?"

"Hmm…" drawled Sebastian, "It's definitely possible. There isn't anything that binds a Legendary to their native region. As a matter of fact, many believe that most of the Legendaries originated from the same place before being distributed by the Creator."

"Creator?" questioned Ash, whose question was accompanied by a plethora of interested eyes.

"Eh…" retorted Sebastian, disregarding the topic with an additional wave of his hand, "it's just an old legend. Let's not get off topic."

He paused before engaging Ash with a much more serious disposition.

"Can you describe the avian's features?" asked the scientist. "Did you get a good look at it?"

"I can, and I did," answered Ash quickly and definitively. "I'll never forget what it looked like. It was magnificent."

All of a sudden, Sabrina interjected. "If you need any help, let me know. I can see the memory too after all. I'm sure you'll manage, but I'm here just in case you need my assistance with a description."

"Thanks, Sabrina," said Ash with a smile as a vibrant image of the majestic, golden bird shimmered amidst his thoughts. "I'll be fine, though. I remember pretty clearly what it looked like."

"I knew you'd say that," replied Sabrina, bearing a faint smirk. "I just figured I would extend the offer."

Ash gave Sabrina a friendly nod before turning his attention back over to Austin, Robert, Bill and Sebastian.

"Would you please share now, Mr. Ketchum?" asked Sebastian. "I'm starting to get anxious."

"The old man's got a point, Ash," inserted Bill. "Don't leave us hanging any longer."

Robert and Austin both nodded in agreement as they waited for Ash to speak up.

"Alright, alright, jeez," laughed Ash. "Let's see…

He took a moment to close his eyes while he pictured as clear of an image as he could. He saw gold, red, yellow, green and white—which were all different colored feathers he remembered seeing on the bird.

He remembered the glowing green stripe that wrapped around the avian's neck, the golden yellow beak that pierced the heavens as it soared, and the black rings that encompassed its primordial, red eyes.

Ash recalled the brilliant, yellow crest on top of its head, and he remembered the rainbow colored trail that it left in the sky every time it flapped its prismatic wings…

"…A golden rainbow" murmured Ash as he daydreamed over the beautiful Legendary.

"A golden rainbow?" asked Austin. "I thought we were talking about a Legendary."

"We are talking about a Legendary," answered Ash as he regathered his sense of reality. "When I think of the bird, I picture a golden rainbow. The bases of its wings were red and gold and the tips were green. However, as it flew, it painted a beautiful rainbow in the sky. It was breathtaking."

"…Golden" started Robert with bright eyes.

"…Rainbow" finished Bill as he racked his brain.

"What else!?" questioned Sebastian excitedly. The scientist's eyes shined bright and a massive grin was beginning to form on his face. "What else do you remember!?"

Ash could tell that the scientist had an idea of what it was. He just needed a few more details in order to be sure.

"It had a large, yellow crest on top of its head," said Ash with confidence, "and black rings around its scarlet red eyes. When it flew over me, I couldn't help but feel happy."

As soon as Ash finished his last sentence, Sebastian let out a burst of joyous laughter, acquiring the befuddled attention of everyone in the room.

"Ash Ketchum, no wonder everyone here thinks so highly of you!" exclaimed Sebastian as he jovially patted the ten-year-old boy on the back. "You've been acknowledged by the very essence of divinity! The Legendary you saw will only show itself to the anointed one."

"Huh?" questioned Ash. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, Sebastian," interrupted Robert, "what in the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Robert," retorted Sebastian. "You've heard the legend of the chosen."

"…Cho—" managed Robert before Bill abruptly interrupted.

"'Until the day that the pure of heart is approved by the Guardian of the Skies, no eyes shall fall upon her rainbow wings. When the tower fades, her presence will follow, waiting for the day the chosen's journey begins' bloody hell," mused Bill with a look of astonishment on his face. "Ash...you saw Ho-Oh."

"You're bloody kidding me!?" exclaimed Robert.

"Ho-Oh?" queried Ash. "What's a Ho-Oh?"

"Now, just for clarification purposes, I'm assuming you guys aren't talking about the little owl creature in Johto, right?" asked Austin in a befuddled manner.

"No, Austin Turner, that is a hoothoot," retorted Sabrina with an amused expression on her face. "Ho-Oh is a legendary fire/flying-type native to Johto—at least according to legend. To my knowledge, no one has seen it since ancient times. The only proof of its existence available to the public is a sacred flame that has burned for centuries in the Dragon's Den in Johto, and a shrine that exists at the top of the Tin Tower in Ekruteak City."

She paused.

"The shrine has a statue of Ho-Oh, which is titled: Guardian of the Skies. Guardian of the Skies is referenced in a multitude of different pieces of ancient literature. However, it's most famous appearance is in the Legend of the Chosen One, which is a legend that supposedly has been passed down to all of the regions since the beginning of time."

"Wow…" drawled Ash, "so, let me get this straight. Does that mean I'm part of a legend?"

"If you saw Ho-Oh, it's possible," interrupted Sebastian. "However, I can't know for sure. I'm not an expert on ancient prophecy, and the Legend of the Chosen One is a lengthy one. Unless one of these guys has a copy of it on them, you're going to have to wait for a definite answer."

He took a breath as he raised his hand to his chin.

"The only parts I know have to do with the 'Guardian of the Skies' and the 'Guardian of the Sea', which are references to Ho-Oh and another Legendary from Johto named Lugia. Ho-Oh's role is to approve and bless the Chosen One at the beginning of his/her journey, and Lugia's role is to help the Chosen One with a great task. The rest I don't know."

"I only know the part about Ho-Oh," said Bill, "I kind of wrote the legend off as a fairy tale and never extensively looked into it."

"Same," added Robert.

"I've never heard of it at all," said Austin with a shrug.

"Other than Ho-Oh and Lugia, I know there are some references of Mew, but I don't know what they are," added Sabrina, "Anytime I've tried to study the legend, I've gotten a strange feeling that told me to stop. I didn't think it was worth the trouble to dig. I figured if destiny wanted me to look into it, I would get a more positive feeling about it."

"That makes sense," retorted Austin as Ash took a moment to process what was going on.

"Does anyone here have a written copy of the prophecy?" asked Ash. "If so, is there any way I can borrow it?"

"I have a partial copy at the gym," said Sabrina, "but if you truly want to pursue the idea that you might be the Chosen One, you should probably get a complete copy."

Bill interrupted, "I'm pretty positive that there is a complete copy in the library at the Montgomery Lighthouse. That place is full of rare and valuable books. I think I remember coming across it pretty recently."

"There is," added Robert as he turned his attention towards Bill. "Your grandfather was rather fond of prophecies and legends. He kept a copy somewhere in the library. I remember listening to him read out of it when I was a kid. Most of it went over my head, but I do remember the part about Ho-Oh rather clearly."

"Gotcha'," answered Ash before looking at the younger of the two Montgomery's. "Bill, do you think that you can track that copy down and send it to me whenever you return to the lighthouse."

"Absolutely, my friend!" exclaimed Bill as he nodded his head. "That shouldn't be a problem."

"Great," said Ash with a straight face as he mused about the prospect of playing an instrumental role in history.

At this moment in time, he didn't quite know how he felt about it. He had a feeling that the role of the Chosen One would lead to a surplus of inconvenient circumstances similar to what he had dealt with on the SS Anne and in Saffron. If that was the case, Ash could see the legend becoming a nuisance. He was just ten after all, and his dream was to become a pokemon master, not a historical icon.

He had no qualms about helping out when necessary, but if necessary turned into all of the time, his outlook might change. He wasn't a superhero or an anime character. He was Ash Ketchum: a ten-year-old boy with a big dream.

Now, maybe it was possible that his dream and destiny's purpose for anointing him as Chosen coincided. However, Ash didn't want to think about that right now. If it was meant to happen, destiny will put it all in place.

Besides, all of this stuff about the Chosen One had yet to be confirmed. It was highly possible that everyone was getting excited for nothing. He hadn't read the legend. As a matter of fact, he'd never even heard about it.

Until Bill sent him that copy sometime in the future, he would choose to keep his mind focused on his journey. That was really all he could do. He would wait until he studied the prophecy himself, surely then he would be able to find out if there was any truth to the claims that his friends were making.

"What's on your mind, Ash?" asked Bill with curious eyes. "You've gotten quiet all of a sudden."

"Um…yeah," drawled Ash, "I was just thinking that I would rather think about this later. Right now, it would be nice if we could finish up this conversation and see the rest of headquarters. There's not much I can do about this prophecy until I read it myself."

"Understandable," retorted Robert as he folded his arms and leaned back against the wall to get comfortable. "Where were we before you told us about Ho-Oh?"

"We were talking about Legendary sightings," articulated Sabrina. "We were discussing how prior to Ash's sighting of Ho-Oh, there had only been two documented Legendary sightings in a Kanto within the past ten-years."

She paused.

"You were supposed to tell us about an incident that had happened recently," said Sabrina monotonously, "something involving a Legendary."

"Ah...yes, the incident," muttered Robert with a frown as he twisted his mustache. "It all started about a year ago. That's when they disappeared…"

"Disappeared?" asked Ash with curious eyes.

"Who?" added Bill.

"The who is unfortunate, although it's not quite as complicated as the what," retorted Sebastian, confusing everyone in the room other than Robert.

"Wait a second," said Bill as he scratched the back of his head, "what the bloody hell does that mean?"

"It means…" said Sebastian, "that approximately one year ago, a group of whose and a group of what's vanished without a trace."

Sebastian's words were immediately answered by a slap in the back of the head by an annoyed Robert.

"Stop being so confusing!" scolded Robert before turning his attention back over to the rest of the group. "In normal human terms, Sebastian is trying to say that a group of people and a group of places are missing."

"Okay…" drawled Bill, "so now I understand what you're talking about—"

"How is that possible?" interrupted Austin. "What exactly do you mean by without a trace? Like, the people were kidnapped? The places were destroyed? I don't get it."

"Without a trace means without a trace," retorted Sebastian as he gingerly rubbed the spot on the back of his head where Robert had slapped him. "They seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. We have no idea what happened to them?"

"Hmm…what people and what places have vanished?" asked Bill with a contemplative disposition.

Robert cleared his throat, garnering everybody's attention, before speaking up.

"Before I tell you, I need you to promise that you won't tell anybody about this. This is highly classified information. Lance and the Elite Four went to great lengths to make sure that what I'm about to tell you didn't get out to the public. We don't want to freak out the general populace."

Ash nodded, agreeing to stay quiet. If the Champion had deemed the information too much for the public to handle, he figured that there had a good reason. The League didn't keep secrets for no reason.

There was a purpose for everything they did. At least, that's how Ash had always perceived things. Who knows, maybe he was justifying their decisions because he looked up to the position that they occupied.

Robert continued.

"I'll start by explaining the situation regarding the disappearance of the places, since they were the first to go," said Robert as he fiddled with his tie. "It happened within the span of a week. Eleven large, unpopulated, tropical islands that served as wild pokemon reserves disappeared."

He paused.

"They were isolated and protected by the League. Only a small division of League officials and researchers were aware of their existence and allowed clearance to conduct research on the islands."

Everyone in the room looked at each other in bewilderment while soaking in what Robert had just said.

"Eleven wild pokemon reserves secret to the public and most of the League," said Bill, "Where? Information is one thing, but how do you hide eleven islands? They must be far away."

"Actually, they aren't," retorted Bill, "they're just a few hundred miles north of Kanto and about five hundred miles east of the small Holon region. The eleven islands make up an archipelago that used to belong to the Holon region, albeit it was Lance's idea to quietly purchase it from Holon roughly five years ago."

Robert let out a sigh before continuing.

"Lance originally intended to populate the untamed archipelago and turn it into the site of an unofficial summer gym circuit, resembling the Orange League, but it didn't work out."

"Why not?" questioned Ash with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Yeah, why not?" asked Austin. "It sounds like a pretty good idea to me."

"When I first heard about it, I asked the same thing," said Robert. "However, Lance had a good reason to terminate the project. It was way too dangerous. Those islands were uninhabited by humans for a reason. They're different."

"Different?" questioned Austin. "Why?"

"Without going off on another long tangent, the quick answer is that they're home to a lot of exorbitantly powerful wild pokemon. Due to disgruntled native pokemon, any attempt at establishing a town or a city failed. For whatever reason, the majority of the species are feral and do not take well to human occupancy," explained Robert."

"Weird…" drawled Bill before raising his eyes curiously, "I thought you said that the islands consisted of reserves."

"They do," retorted Sebastian, cutting off Robert. "However, they don't resemble your typical bordered reserves that exist in mainland Kanto. Once Champion Lance deemed them too dangerous to colonize, he decided that they would serve well as self-sufficient wild reserves in and of themselves. Other than a select few pokemon researchers – who work out of structures that more closely resemble fortresses than pokemon labs – and the ACE trainers that guard them, no one dwells within the islands."

"Okay, Robert, Sebastian, I think everyone understands your description of the islands," said Sabrina. "Would you mind elaborating about their disappearance?"

"Oh, of course, the disappearance…" muttered Robert as he scratched the back of his head. "It's pretty self-explanatory, although that doesn't change the fact that it is hard to believe. A year ago, they mysteriously vanished. One second they were there and the next they were gone. No explanation. No logic. Nothing. It's as if they never existed."

Their eyes collectively glanced back and forth as they tried to come up with an answer to the bizarre phenomenon.

"Obscuration? Unstable coordinates? Rapid descent? Surely, there is an answer. Islands just don't vanish, Dad!" blurted Bill.

"Calm down, Bill, don't you think that Kanto's best researchers would have considered all of those solutions. There is no weather phenomenon that has made the island difficult to reach. The coordinates have surely changed, but they were never unstable beforehand, and the archipelago wasn't a drifting island," retorted Robert.

He paused.

"Rapid descent is impossible, nevertheless, we looked into it," continued Robert. "The island didn't sink. Kanto's had submarines dive as deep as five-thousand meters, and they found nothing. We've had high-level wailord dive even deeper—nothing."

"But, what other natural means are there?" asked Bill.

"None that could explain something like this," snorted Sebastian. There's nothing natural about this situation."

"Well, if it wasn't natural, is it possible that they could have been destroyed?" asked Austin as he folded his arms in a confused manner.

Ash immersed himself within his thought process as Sebastian responded by shaking his head.

"There would be leftover ruins or at the very least fragments of debris," said the scientist. "Destruction is typically messy after all, and destruction of that level always leaves scars. There are none, though. So, it's highly improbable that we are dealing with decimation."

"Well, if they didn't vanish naturally or unnaturally, what other option is there?" asked Austin.

"Supernaturally," interrupted Ash with wide eyes.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," added Sabrina while surveying Ash with calculating eyes.

"A supernatural cause, eh?" questioned Bill as he scratched his chin. "I guess that's the only thing it really could be."

"Hold on a second…" drawled Austin with a look of bewilderment, "when you say supernatural, what exactly are you implying?"

"Honestly, I'm not one-hundred percent sure," said Robert with a frustrated sigh. "However, it has to be some kind of pokemon. At least, that's the only logical explanation I can think of."

"Logical!" blustered Austin, "how is that logical!? What pokemon could make an entire archipelago suddenly disappear?"

"The kid has a point, Dad. Even a surplus of elite level mystic-types couldn't pull off something of that magnitude," angled Bill. "Only a Legend—"

Bill stopped himself mid-sentence when a small smile formed across Robert's face.

"…Bloody hell."

"Now we're getting somewhere," interjected Sebastian as he examined all of the astonished faces in the vault. "I'm surprised it took you so long to figure it out. The entire premise of this conversation has revolved around Legendaries. We brought this incident up on account of the fact that we were discussing protection from them."

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone took a moment to work it out on their own.

"Wait," said Austin, severing the lack of noise, "you think a Legendary did this?"

"There's no other answer," retorted Sebastian as he looked the teenager in the eyes. "Only something with unimaginable ability could do something like this. It is outside the realm of normality, which is where Legends reside. Only a Legendary could do this. It's the only feasible explanation."

"Sebastian is right," reassured Robert. "Obviously we're not a hundred percent sure, but the culprit of the disappearing islands is probably a Legendary. They're the only beings capable of such a feat."

"Okay…" drawled Ash, speaking up as he racked his brain, "so let's say it is a Legendary. Which one do you think it is? Do you have any in mind?"

"We do," retorted Robert, "there are multiple possibilities, but we think we've narrowed it down to a few."

"And?" queried Bill. "Would you please share them with us?"

"Of course," answered Robert while straightening out his sleeves, "Sebastian, would you tell them what we've come up with?"

The scientist scratched his chin in thought before answering. "Well, like the boss said, we have a few theories. However, there is one that I am presently leaning towards…"

He took a breath as he removed the shaggy hair from his eyes.

"I believe I mentioned the Legendary classification system, right?" asked Sebastian with a raised eyebrow.

He acquired a collection of nods in response to his question.

"That's what I thought," said Sebastian. "Now, without confusing you guys, I would like to explain that not just any Legendary could pull something like this off. We're probably looking at an S-ranked Legendary or higher. The classification system is based off of power, duty and lore. If the system is correct, anything classified as A or lower wouldn't be capable of a feat of this magnitude."

Just like everyone else in the room, Ash simply nodded his head. Sure, he had a lot of questions that he could ask. But, at this point, he just wanted to get to the point. All of the fluff could be explained later. Judging by the fact that nobody else asked any questions, Ash assumed that their logic was operating on the same wavelength.

"Based off of where we are in the world, and the fact that the Legendary is most likely S-ranked or higher, we are probably dealing with Mew," said Sebastian matter-of-factly.

Their jaws dropped at the mention of the celestial psychic.

"M-m-mew?" questioned Bill with wide-eyes.

"Damn…" drawled Austin, "really!?"

Sabrina had a small smile depicted across her face. She had probably read Robert and Sebastian's minds a while ago and found out what Legendary they suspected, so she didn't look too surprised. However, she was a psychic specialist, and several legends clearly suggest that Mew is one of the strongest psychics in the world. It's only natural that she would be happy at the prospect that the Legendary's existence was real and not just a myth.

"Why Mew?" asked Ash, unable to suppress his curiosity, despite the fact that he was trying to limit his questions. "Other than the fact that Mew is rumored to live in this part of the world, and it is an S-ranked Legendary, what other evidence do you have?"

"Its skill set," retorted Sebastian without hesitation, "Mew is said to be an astronomically powerful psychic. On account of the fact that the islands disappeared unnaturally, without any sign of destruction, we have reason to believe that they were teleported, especially when you factor in the next day disappearance of the Nurse Joys working out of small town and rural pokemon centers."

Ash scoffed as he soaked in the newest bit of information.

"The people that disappeared were Nurse Joys?!" questioned Ash.

Even Sabrina looked surprised as Ash's question echoed off the walls of the walk-in vault.

"Yes, Mr. Ketchum," said Sebastian with a solemn look on his face. "The day after the archipelago vanished, thirty-three Nurse Joys suffered a similar fate."

"Thirty-three!?" blustered Bill, "bloody fuc—"

"You mean to tell me that thirty-three Nurse Joys have been missing for a year, and this has been kept a secret from not only the public, but also the majority of Kanto's League officials!" shouted Sabrina, raising her voice.

"That would be correct," said Robert, "insane, right? I do not blame Lance for his decision to keep it a secret, but it blows my mind that he managed to pull it off. The Nurse Joys were replaced the following day, and the family vowed to remain quiet. Despite their considerable loss, they trust that they are out there somewhere, and Lance will find them."

"How were they replaced so fas—" said Ash before cutting himself off, "never mind, conspiracies regarding the Joy family aren't really appealing to me at the moment."

"Good call," retorted Sebastian, "let's refrain from opening up another can of weedle."

"Hold on a second," interrupted Austin. "How do you know that these two events are related? Couldn't it just be a coincidence that they occurred so close together?"

"There's a chance, but it's highly improbable," answered Sebastian as he scratched underneath his chin. "First of all, the islands most likely vanished by means of teleportation. It's literally the only remaining logical answer for the archipelago, and the Nurse Joys were definitely kidnapped by teleportation."

"Okay…" drawled Austin, "I understand why the only logical option for the islands is teleportation, but what makes you think the Joys were teleported. Do you have proof?"

"We do," said Robert, "there are videos."

"Videos?" asked Austin.

"Of what?" questioned Ash.

"All pokemon centers have security cameras," answered Robert. "Whatever kidnapped the Joys was sloppy. It didn't destroy the cameras. Therefore, at all of the Pokemon Centers in which Nurse Joys were taken, we found footage of what took place."

"Really?" said Ash, "what did it show?"

It was quiet for a second as Robert evidently mused about a solid description.

"All of the Nurse Joys were standing at their respective front desks when it happened. Simultaneously, at thirty-three different pokemon centers, a white light, identical in appearance to the light emitted during teleportation, appeared out of nowhere and seemingly swallowed them. When it faded, they were gone, and there were no living eyewitnesses. If it weren't for the cameras, we would have no idea what happened. Whatever took them did it at a time when all of the pokemon centers were void of any visitors, and the rest of the staff was in the medical wing."

He paused.

"Scary isn't it," continued Robert. "Thirty-three Nurse Joys and an entire archipelago gone within forty-eight hours. The only proof, other than the fact that they're missing, is thirty-three different pieces of security footage, which all look nearly identical, albeit the fact that they happened at different pokemon centers in Kanto. This is like something straight out of a horror flick."

"When they vanished, did you catch a glimpse of whatever teleported them?" asked Ash.

"No," retorted Sebastian, "nothing else is on the video, just the light and the Nurse Joys. The league's most brilliant tech experts have even managed to diminish the light in the video, and there is no being within it. Despite the fact that it sounds absurd, it appears that whatever performed the teleportation did it from a distance."

"Isn't that impossible?" asked Austin, "I know a powerful psychic doesn't have to touch what it teleports, but doesn't it have to at least see what it's doing. Could the culprit have found a breach in each camera's line of sight and been hiding somewhere within the room."

That's unlikely," said Sebastian. "The cameras are placed strategically, so that they can see every part of the centers, including the medical wing. Besides, whatever took them was probably not aware of the cameras. Otherwise, it would have destroyed them."

"Keep in mind," said Sabrina as she looked Austin in the eyes, "just because a psychic of my level needs to be relatively close to what it's teleporting, If Mew is the Legendary responsible for this, it is bound to operate on an entirely different set of rules. I may be strong, but Mew is an ancient Legend for a reason. I wouldn't even begin to put a cap on what it is capable of."

"Wisely spoken," answered Robert, with a smile, before using his eyes to look over everyone in the vault. "An S-ranked Legendary, like Mew, can't be put in a box. Who truly knows what kind of power it wields."

"Why, though?" questioned Ash. "I thought Mew was a peaceful creature. Isn't that what the legends say? What motive could it possibly have for relocating an entire archipelago and kidnapping a bunch of Nurse Joys? Something doesn't add up."

"Didn't," said Sebastian with a smirk, "something didn't add up. However, a few things have been unveiled over the past week that could explain it."

A light bulb turned on in his head as Ash instantly figured out what Sebastian was referencing.

"It was the abomination…" muttered Ash, "it was the beast that Sabrina saw in Ariana's thoughts. The one who's DNA was spliced from Mew."

"That's the conclusion that we've come to," answered Robert with a frown. "Mew may not have a motive to do something like this, but a creature born with similar qualities by an organization like Team Rocket…Well, I'm sure you know where we're going with this."

"Shit…" cursed Bill, "we're in trouble, aren't we?"

"Something around the same power level as a Mew is under the control one of the biggest criminal syndicates in the world," articulated Sabrina with troubled eyes, "so, I would say, yes, we're in trouble."

Ash glanced over at Austin, who was clearly disturbed by the direction that the conversation was going. The ten-year-old boy's mind all of a sudden jumped back to the conversation he had partaken in with his teenage friend on his first night in Saffron, when Austin was fretting about the reason Team Rocket was going after the Master Ball.

It had turned out to be even worse than they imagined. Team Rocket had either gone after the Master Ball in order to take away Kanto's only defense against the abomination, or they needed the Master Ball to help control their creation themselves. Who knows, maybe it was a combination of both.

Nevertheless, whatever the reason was, one thing was made clear, the Master Ball was essential for Kanto's survival.

If the monster ingrained in Ariana's head was actually responsible for the disappearance of the archipelago and the Nurse Joys, Team Rocket's plan was momentous, dangerous and complex. No one outside of the organization knew exactly what they were up to, but hopefully they would find out more as Sabrina continued to examine Ariana's mind.

"Essentially," retorted Sebastian, continuing the conversation and penetrating Ash's rumination. "At the very least, Kanto has been threatened, and that threat is what birthed the Master Ball."

"Therefore…" interrupted Robert as he fixed his suit, "to answer your question that originally started this conversation, Ash, the Master Ball's existence is absolutely necessary. Despite the trouble it has caused us, we would be in a much more hopeless position if it hadn't been created. Its value is priceless. If it wasn't, Team Rocket wouldn't have come out of hiding to try and attain it."

Ash simply nodded his head. It seemed as though all of the trouble he had been through over the past couple of weeks was for a lot bigger of a purpose than he had originally thought. He hadn't just helped save Robert. He hadn't just helped shutdown Team Rocket's greed and deny them a fancy capture device. He had been a part of protecting the region, which was something way bigger than himself.

"So, now that we know all of this," said Bill, "is there anything we can do to help?"

Robert shook his head before answering. "At the moment, no, there isn't. Once we get more information, we will revisit this topic. As for now, let's show the boys the rest of headquarters, so that they can get going. I wasn't expecting to have this conversation with them yet, and I don't want to hold them up on their individual journeys any longer."

"I agree," added Sabrina as she ran her fingers through her hair, "there is nothing we can do about any of this until we learn more."

"Which is entirely up to you and your psychic powers," retorted Bill as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and formed a sarcastic smirk. "No pressure."

Sabrina shook her head in annoyance while Robert interjected.

"I know this has been a lot to process for all of you," said the head of the Montgomery family, "but it's really important that you continue to live life in pursuit of your dreams. Time will unveil your roles in all of this, and everything will work out. Let Sebastian and I worry about all of the little details, and when something big comes up, we will let you know. For now, let's get moving."

"Okay," said Ash as he tried to ingest all of the information that had just been thrown around.

"Understood," stammered Austin with an overwhelmed expression on his face.

Ash readjusted his backpack as it became clear that after the long conversation, they were about to start moving again.

"It was nice meeting you guys," said Sebastian as he eyed Ash and Austin, "and after the conversation we just had, I'm sure I will see you again. I'm going to hang back in the vault for a bit. I have some notes filed away in here that I would like to review."

"Nice meeting you, too," retorted Austin as he reached out to shake Sebastian's hand, who quickly reciprocated the gesture.

"Thanks for being open with us," inserted Ash as he intercepted and shook Sebastian's hand before the scientist had a chance to return it to his side.

"Of course," retorted Sebastian, "any friends of Robert are friends of mine. It was nice getting to talk about my work."

Ash smiled at that while Robert spoke up. "Thanks for your time, Sebastian. See you soon."

"Mhmm…" replied Sebastian as Robert began to lead the group out of the vault.

Right as Ash and the rest of the group were about to reach the door, the ten-year-old boy heard Sebastian's voice call out from behind them.

"Hey, Mr. Ketchum!" bellowed Sebastian, causing Ash to quickly turn around. "Don't forget to look into that stuff about you being the Chosen One! Just in case you really are, I think you should find out as soon as possible!"

"Gotcha'!" retorted Ash, with a wave, before turning around and continuing to follow the group outside of the vault.

Sebastian was right. He needed to look into the fact that he may be part of an ancient prophecy. However, for now, he wanted to focus back in on touring Silph Co. headquarters.

He couldn't look into the prophecy until he got a copy from Bill anyways, and presently there was nothing he could accomplish in regard to Team Rocket's abomination, so he figured he might as well focus in on the here and now.

In his opinion, that was the best thing he could do.

XXX

After seeing the rest of the impressive upper labs, Ash found himself standing in front of Robert's personal desk, which was pushed up against the far wall of the building's luxurious top floor.

Robert's office was a lot smaller than the rest of the floors, but that didn't mean it was any less interesting.

They stood atop magnificent pearly white tile, and for the most part, the walls consisted of sturdy, transparent glass, gracing them with a beautiful view of the city. The only two walls that didn't consist of glass were the wall that bore the elevator and the wall directly behind Robert's desk.

The two walls that weren't made out of glass were actually Ash's favorite features in the room. They were designed similarly to the Montgomery Lighthouse's front door, albeit the walls depicted hieroglyphic-like images of what appeared to be every pokemon known to Kanto, instead of just fully-evolved species.

Painted on the ceiling was a ravishing mural, nearly identical to the painting of the three elemental birds of legend at the Montgomery Lighthouse. The only differences included its size and colors. The mural was massive, occupying the entirety of the top floor's ceiling, whereas the colors were much brighter and appealing to his eyes.

Displaced around the room were multiple pieces of standing décor.

There were a couple of life-sized statues of pokemon. The one that stood out to Ash the most was a granite carved statue of a dragonair that was coiled up alongside Robert's desk. Its eyes were made out of sapphires, causing it to have a noteworthy air of mystique.

In addition, there was a large, marble globe in the center of the room. Ash didn't really get a chance to examine it, but hopefully once Robert was done giving them their gifts, he would let them explore the room a little bit before they took off.

Ash didn't know when he would get another chance to see Robert's office, so he figured he should get a good look while he had the opportunity.

"Well, boys…" said Robert as he sat down in the most extravagant swivel chair Ash had ever seen, "what did you think of Silph Co. headquarters?"

"It was amazing," retorted Ash as he spotted Austin, out of the corner of his eye, staring at the two small, exquisitely wrapped presents sitting on top of Robert's immaculate desk.

"Yeah," stammered Austin, "it was unbelievable. Thank you for showing us."

"No thanks necessary," said Robert with a giant grin, "the fact that you enjoyed yourselves is all that matters."

Ash and Austin both smiled at Robert's comment before Bill spoke up.

"What was your favorite part?" asked Bill. "Is there anything that specifically stood out to the both of you?"

"The Master Ball," answered both of the boys, in unison, without batting an eye.

"Really?" questioned Robert. "Even considering the serious chat that we had?"

Both boys nodded as they looked at each other.

"Other than the initial shock of the disappearances, I think we're just happy to know the truth," said Ash.

"Yeah, we've suspected that the existence of the Master Ball had to do with Legendaries for a while now," retorted Austin as he turned his attention over to Ash. "Neither of us knew the severity of the situation, but now that we've had a little bit of time to process things, I think we're relieved that we know what's going on."

"Yup," said Ash, "but just because it was our favorite part doesn't mean that I want to keep talking about it. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm tired of serious talk. I just want to enjoy my last moments with you guys before I hit the road again."

"Same," added Austin as both boys used their eyes to survey the group.

"Understandable," said Robert. "Anyways, other than what occurred on the fourteenth floor, is there anything else in particular that you liked?"

Ash took a moment to reflect on everything that he had seen while Austin answered immediately.

"I liked the factory," blurted Austin. "I thought it was interesting to see how efficient everything was. It was the first time I've ever seen anything like that before."

"Ah, yes, the factory is definitely an interesting place to visit," explained Robert. "It shines a light on all of the hard work that goes into making most of the items that you use on a daily basis."

They nodded in agreement as Robert pivoted his focus over to Ash.

"What about you, Ash?"

"I really liked the TM Lab," said the ten-year-old boy. "There were a lot of cool things in there."

"Yeah," replied Robert, "the TM Lab is rather sensational, and the scientists I've got working in there are brilliant. It's almost impossible to walk out of that place without being impressed by what they have accomplished. They're quite the overachieving group."

Ash nodded his head once again to what the billionaire CEO had to say before Bill interrupted.

"Those are two of my favorite floors to visit as well," said Bill. "I don't think I could pick one over the other, though."

He paused as he shifted his line of sight over to his father.

"Anyhow...Dad, what do you think? Should Ash and Austin open their gifts now? I know they're dying to find out what is inside, and it's about time for them to get going. We don't want to waste anymore daylight. If we wait too much longer, it'll be dark before they reach city limits."

"The idiot's right," added Sabrina, speaking for the first time since they entered Robert's office, "the boys' thoughts are starting to stir. They're ready to see what is inside the boxes. Besides, if you want to take them to the roof, we've got to get moving. Daylight is a precious thing while on the road, and I'm afraid this tour has taken way longer than originally anticipated. If we wait around too much longer, they'll be forced to leave tomorrow, unless they want to travel in the dark."

Ash watched Bill huff at the fact that Sabrina called him an idiot while Austin responded to Sabrina. He also couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was going to get to go to the very top of Silph Co. headquarters. The dark-haired boy knew that very few people got the opportunity to look out from the highest point in all of Saffron.

It was supposed to be one of the greatest experiences Kanto had to offer. Ash had to admit, despite all of the trouble he had gotten himself into at this point in his journey, he had also been extremely lucky. Not everyone got the opportunities that he did, and experiences such as this one were important to him.

Not only was it his dream to be a pokemon master, but he also wanted to see everything that his home region had to offer, and thus far, he was well on his way to accomplishing that goal.

"Yeah…" drawled Austin, "there's no way I'm going to fly to Johto at night. That's way too sketch. I trust Fearow's eyes, but still…"

"That would just be stupid," retorted Ash as he severed his rumination, "especially since you're going to be flying over Mt. Silver."

He took a breath as he reflexively placed his hand over Growlithe's pokeball.

"I don't plan on traveling in the dark either," said Ash, "but I'm anxious to sleep under the stars with my friends again. It's been way too long. I definitely want to hit the road today."

"I understand," retorted Robert with soft eyes. "There's no need for you to convince me."

He paused as he made a small hand gesture towards the beautifully wrapped gifts, "Go ahead. Open them."

Both boys' expressions brightened up on account of anticipation. They simultaneously reached forward before exclusively picking up one of the gifts that were right in front of them. Neither of the gifts had names on them, and Robert didn't correct them, so Ash figured there wasn't an issue in regard to which gift belonged to whom.

Once they each had their present in hand, it didn't take long for Austin to start ripping apart the golden wrapping paper like a kindergartener on their birthday.

Despite the hilarity in the scene, Ash wasn't surprised in the least. Austin had shown him numerous times that he was extremely materialistic, and there are very few things more exciting to a materialistic person than opening up a present.

Nevertheless, although he was internally making fun of Austin for behaving like a five-year-old, Ash proceeded to follow suit, tearing off the wrapping paper with zero regard for its precedent artistry. He was a kid after all. What else was he supposed to do? The wrapping paper would just be thrown away after anyway…

When the golden paper that had covered the gifts had been completely removed from what it was once concealing, two small, black boxes were unveiled. They looked almost identical to the TM box that Sabrina had given him after their match, albeit the bold, white, printed words read, "Silph Co".

"What's this?" asked Ash as he held the black box in his hands.

"Open it up and find out," replied Robert with a smirk while leaning back in his desk chair.

"Huh?" questioned Austin, causing Ash to quickly open the box before his friend spoiled the surprise, "a gift card?"

Just like Austin, Ash was confused. Inside of the box was a plastic, platinum colored card. The dark-haired boy removed it from the box to exam it further. What he found was that it had no detailed features. It wasn't like a credit card or a debit card. There was no name or company etched into it. It had a magnetic stripe on the back, but other than that it was blank, consisting of nothing but its platinum shade.

"I don't mean to be rude," said Ash, "but I don't get it. What is this card for? It's blank."

"Yeah," added Austin as he carefully observed both sides of his card, "I'm confused…what do we do with it?"

Robert smirked as he sat up in his chair and placed his elbows on his desk. "Well, my lads, those are Silph Co. Platinum Cards. Never let them out of your sight. They have just become the most valuable item the two of you own."

"The most valuable item we own?" asked Austin as he held his Platinum Card in between his index and middle finger, "but it's just a piece of plastic…"

"True," said Robert with a smile as he pointed at the card in Austin's hand, "it is just a piece of plastic. However, what that piece of plastic can do is head and shoulders above any other gift I could give you. The Silph Co. Platinum Card has just opened up the door to all kinds of new possibilities for you guys. Less than forty people in all of Kanto have one of those, and all of them are either high-ranking League officials or top shelf Silph Co. employees."

He paused as he took a breath and leaned back in his chair, "You two are now the youngest people in the world that have been issued one of those by me."

"Okay…" drawled Ash as he kept his eyes glued on the shiny piece of plastic, "so obviously it has a special purpose…"

"A special purpose," spat Robert with a quirky smile, "that would be an understatement. Those two cards give you free access to anything that can be bought at a pokemart and then some. All you have to do is show your card at any pokemart or Silph Co. owned company, and they will give you whatever you want for free."

"Anything we want…" drawled Austin, completely entranced by what Robert had just said.

"…For free" added Ash, equally as shocked.

"Yup," retorted Robert, "pretty mu—"

"There are only two exceptions," interjected Bill as he held an identical Platinum Card up to the boys, showing them that he had one of his own, which didn't surprise Ash.

He was Bill Montgomery, Robert Montgomery's son; of course he was one of the select few that got to carry a Silph Co. Platinum Card.

"Exception number one is actually more of a comparative rule of thumb than an exception," said Bill. "Be reasonable with how many items you get at one time. Other trainers need to buy supplies at the pokemarts too. Don't completely clear the shelves. I know it'll be hard not to overstock your supplies, but try and be respectful."

"Good point, Bill," added Robert while he winked at the boys. "We're placing a lot of trust in you guys. Trainers need supplies, and Silph Co. still needs to make a profit. Don't run rampant with those cards. Take care of the company, and we'll take care of you, got it."

"No problemo," said Austin—his eyes sparkling as he continued to examine the Platinum Card. "I promise not to go crazy with it."

"Same," inserted Ash with a look of gratitude. "You can trust me."

"Of course I can," said Robert. "I never thought for a second that I couldn't."

He paused as he turned his attention back over to Bill.

"Anyways, Bill, would you please finish what you started? Tell them what the other exception is."

"Sure," retorted Bill as he leaned up against his father's desk and looked the boys in the eyes. "Exception number two is much more concrete and will not require any diligence to abide by. The Platinum Card cannot be used to acquire TMs. I'm afraid from this day forward it is the only Silph Co. product that you will still have to pay for."

"Why's that?" asked a bemused Austin.

"Yeah," said Ash, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but why are TMs the only items that are off-limits?"

"Well, there are a couple of reasons," retorted Bill, "but the primary reason that the Platinum Card won't work for TMs is because it is our only product with more than one developer. Silph Co. only owns half of all TMs' copyright. Therefore, it is against the law for us to give away any TMs that haven't previously been purchased. It would cause friction in our partnership with Zeta Corp, whose scientists are partially responsible for the birth of the first Technical Machine."

As soon as Bill mentioned the name Zeta Corp, a light bulb went off in Ash's head. This, of course, wasn't new knowledge to the ten-year-old boy. Zeta Corp was another large-scale, global corporation that operated out of multiple regions across the world. It wasn't quite as big and influential as Silph Co., albeit you would have to be living under a rock not to know its name.

Like Silph Co., it was a trainer-oriented company, although it focused primarily on the production of apparel. Nevertheless, Zeta Corp had its scientists, and every once in a while, they would come out with a product that was more revolutionary towards the progression of the pokemon trainer such as TMs.

Ash remembered reading somewhere that the first TM was actually designed by a Zeta Corp scientist, but they didn't have the proper technology to manufacture it. Zeta Corp did specialize in clothing and accessories after all. Despite the fact that it had a department of science that didn't mean that it had the resources to develop something like a TM.

No, Zeta Corp's science department was more suited to come out with things like customized pokemon food and vitamins. In order to properly manufacture something as complex and big as TMs, they would have to bring in another party. That's when the partnership between Silph Co. and Zeta Corp was established.

The CEO of Zeta Corp, whose name presently alluded Ash's memory, reached out to Robert Montgomery. And Robert, being the revolutionary that he is, obviously jumped all over the opportunity.

The rest is history. Zeta Corp and Silph Co. have shared a healthy relationship for quite some time now, having collaborated in regard to TMs ever since their birth.

"Oh, that's right…" drawled Ash, "I knew that. In that case, I understand. It only makes sense that you would need Zeta Corp's approval for something like the authorization of free TMs."

Austin simply nodded his head, probably finding Ash's response suitable enough.

"Correct," retorted Robert, taking back control of the conversation from Bill, "and that is something that I don't quite feel comfortable asking Sage. His company isn't quite as financially secure as ours at the moment, and I would rather not stir the pot in any way, shape or form. Our relationship is good right now. I'd like to keep it that way."

As soon as Robert said the name Sage, Ash was able to put a full name together. The name of Zeta Corp's active CEO was Sage Zeller: head of the Zeller family. Ash didn't know too much about him, other than the fact that he was the face of the Zeller family, which is one of the richest families in the world.

"I get it," said Ash, "there's no need to justify yourself. Thank you for this gift. TMs or not, it is more than I deserve. I couldn't be happier."

"Good," replied Robert. "That puts a smile to my face."

He paused as he locked his eyes on Austin.

"What about you, Mr. Turner?" queried Robert with one eyebrow raised. "Are you happy with your reward?"

"Please!" scoffed Austin, "Of course, I am! This is awesome!"

Robert smiled as both of the boys shined bright with genuine gratitude.

"Besides, free TMs might have been a bit overboard anyway," said Sabrina with a small smile of her own. "Let's not make money completely irrelevant. This way, you have a little more incentive to beat traveling trainers. Of course, the desire for experience should always be enough motivation, but it's nice to know that you are working towards something else."

"Yeah," laughed Robert with a wink, "Sabrina is right."

He paused for a second.

"Also, Ash, don't forget where you're headed. Not only is the Celadon Department store in your near future, but so is the Game Corner. There are some awesome prizes that you can earn if you are willing to fork up some cash, including rare pokemon. Now that you have a Platinum Card, you can use that to get essentials. Have a little bit of fun. Take some risks with your earnings from the SS Anne, it could pay off."

Ash would be the first to admit, he wasn't much of a risk taker when it came to something like money, but Robert had a point. Now that he had a Platinum Card, money was no longer a crutch.

Of course, getting third place in the SS Anne tournament had given him a pretty big cushion. However, that didn't change the fact that money had a way of getting away from people, especially if you weren't careful with it.

However, as of right now, that cushion had just gone from big to colossal. No matter what balance his trainer money management account read, he would always have his Platinum Card. The means to survival were now free, leaving him with plenty of leeway to use his money on luxury items and recreation.

He'd heard plenty of stories about trainers walking away from the Game Corner with incredibly rare pokemon. Now, he had an opportunity to be one of those trainers. He wouldn't be stupid. He wouldn't blow all of his money, but he could now afford to spend a good chunk of it.

"Damn…" cursed Austin, flashing Ash a look of jealousy, "Celadon would be your next destination. How lucky can you get? You're going to have so much fun with all of that cash, especially now that you don't have to worry about how much you spend."

Ash responded with a chuckle, "Ah, come on…don't be like that. No one's saying you can't come with me."

"I wish," angled Austin, "unfortunately, if I want to compete it the Silver Conference, I can't wait any longer. I'm already three weeks behind schedule because of everything that has happened. I have zero regrets, I'd do it all over again if I had the choice, but I have to get back to Johto ASAP."

"I know," Ash snickered, "I was just kidding. Besides, it's not like all of your prize money is going anywhere. You can always make a trip with Fearow once you get all of your badges."

"True," said Austin with a devious look in his eyes, "I could, couldn't I—"

"Boys," interjected Robert, "I don't mean to interrupt, but if you want to hit the road before dark, we really should get going. That is, if you guys still want to go up to the roof. If not, take your time."

"We're done," retorted Ash."

"Yup," said Austin, "I have nothing left to say."

"Alrighty then," cackled Robert as he stood up from his desk chair. "Well, now that you've received your Platinum Cards, let's finish the tour."

Everyone nodded before following Robert out of his office and back over to the elevator.

XXX

"Wow, Growlithe, look at all of that," said Ash as he and his starter looked out at the city from the roof of Silph Co. headquarters.

Growlithe let out a playful yip while soaking in the beautiful scenery. The pup had his head poking through the railing in order to get the best view possible.

It was wondrous. The sun was still shining radiantly in the sky, and the temperature was absolutely perfect. It was a little windy, but that didn't deter him from the moment. In fact, it actually enhanced the mystique of the setting, giving Silph Co. an overwhelming resemblance to the peak of a great mountain—except, instead of a rural valley, they were looking out at a bustling cityscape.

The others were scattered about, enjoying their own moment on top of what felt like the world.

Austin was basking in the view with Golduck by his side, whereas Robert and Bill were getting some quality father and son time on the opposite side of the roof.

Sabrina was the closest to Ash in terms of proximity, albeit she seemed the furthest away because of the way she stared at the sprawling city as if there was nothing else that existed.

"What a great way to close out our time here," said Ash, leaning up against the roof's thick metal railing, "so much happened here. It's kind of surreal to think that we're finally leaving."

The puppy pokemon let out a decisive grunt that signified that he agreed with what his trainer had said. Growlithe had been with Ash since the beginning, and he knew more than anyone that their time in Saffron had been different than everywhere else.

They had been involved in things that weren't even on their radar when they had first started out on their journey. Saffron had forced them to grow up. It had exposed them to a whole new side of the life that they lived, plunging them into the thick of evil plots, League matters and primordial legends.

Saffron was an important benchmark in their adventure together, and no matter how many times they revisited it, they would never forget their first experience, putting their lives on the line in order to stop Team Rocket.

However, even though a lot had happened in Saffron, Ash was practically salivating at the thought of setting out for Celadon. As he gazed out at the lively city, his craving for contingency ricocheted against every fragment of his existence. He wanted to see new places. He wanted to meet new pokemon, and he wanted to discover the depths of his pokemon's potential.

It was time to move forward. He had been stagnant for way too long.

"Take one last look, Growlithe," said Ash as he kept his eyes fastened on Saffron, "It's time to go."

Growlithe didn't make a sound as Ash could practically feel him immersing himself within the moment.

The ten-year-old boy gave his first pokemon a couple more minutes to enjoy the view before giving him a soft pat on the head.

"Come on," chirped Ash with a smile, "It's time to say goodbye to the others."

Growlithe nodded as he gave his trainer his undivided attention. The view was nice, but his yearning for the road shifted his focus in a second.

XXX

"Good luck, Ash," said Austin as he stood in front of the elevator. "Have a fun trip to Celadon. Keep in touch."

Just like the teenager had promised earlier, he wanted to stop by Sushi Deluxe before he departed. It was pretty obvious to Ash that Austin had a fascination with sushi, judging by the fact that he was still trying to fit it in his schedule even though the sun was nearing its time of descent.

"Thanks, I'll give you a call sometime soon," retorted Ash. "Have a safe trip to Johto. Take the Silver League by storm."

"Oh, I will," crowed Austin with a wink. "No doubt about it. Also, make sure to let me know if anything weird happens. Between Sabrina's palm reading and all of that prophecy crap, it's pretty clear that there will be a lot on our plate in the future."

"That's for sure," replied Ash, "I'll also let you know if anything happens involving that creation of Team R—"

"Don't worry about that right now," interrupted Robert, grasping both of the boys' shoulders. "We'll keep you filled in. Just focus on your journeys for now."

Both boys nodded as they sensed the sincerity in the elder Montgomery's voice.

There was a quick moment of silence, while they assimilated the sudden surge of seriousness, before Bill terminated the quiet atmosphere.

"Sayonara, Austin," said Bill with a solemn look on his face.

Ash's thoughts immediately shifted back to the time he was leaving the Montgomery Lighthouse. Back then, Bill had gotten extremely emotional when Ash was saying goodbye.

Once again, Ash could tell that a similar experience was about to unfold. After all, Bill was the most overemotional man he knew. What kind of goodbye would it be if a few Montgomery tears weren't shed?

"See you later, Bill," said Austin. "It was nice getting to know you. Call me if anything comes up. You've got my number."

"W-will do, my friend," stammered Bill as he clearly fought back tears. "It w-was nice getting to know you as well."

The melodramatic pokemon researcher proceeded to lean over and give Austin a hug, sniffling throughout the entire process. Ash couldn't help but snicker under his breath. Austin's confused face was way too priceless. Despite all of the time that Austin had spent with Bill over the past week, it was clear that the billionaire researcher's theatrical personality could still catch him off guard.

"This is unbearable," interjected Sabrina in an emotionless voice. "Give the child some space, idiot. No one wants to get smothered in your causeless emotions."

In response to Sabrina's harsh words, Bill instantly let go of Austin and turned around with a face full of anger. "What did you say, witch!?"

"I said stop acting like a pubescent teenager," retorted Sabrina with a look of amusement on her face. "It's repulsive."

Right before Bill erupted, Robert quickly jumped in between the two quarreling siblings. "Bloody hell, both of you, shut it! Now is not the time. We're saying goodbye to a friend."

Both of them glanced over at eAustin, who was trying his hardest not to explode with laughter.

Sabrina was the first to shape up as she quickly realized that she was acting just as childish as Bill. "Sorry about that, Austin Turner. I wish you the best of luck during your travels and eagerly await seeing you again in the near future."

Ash watched as Austin couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "Bye, Sabrina, thank you for everything you've done for us."

"Likewise," retorted Sabrina before getting interrupted by a slightly less enraged Bill.

"Yeah…sorry about the outburst," apologized Bill as he gestured towards Sabrina. "I just can't help it sometimes; she rubs me the wrong way."

Austin laughed. "It's okay. The two of you crack me up. I'm actually going to miss this."

"Same," added Ash as he smiled and looked over both Bill and Sabrina.

This time, Sabrina actually managed to refrain from verbally retaliating. It was pretty obvious that she didn't handle being scolded by Robert very well.

Ash's train of thought was interrupted when Robert began to say goodbye to Austin.

The elder Montgomery held his hand out to Austin, who immediately reciprocated the gesture. "Fly safely, my lad, and have a splendid time in Johto. There are a lot of amazing places to see, and the pokemon are fascinating. If you need anything, give me a call."

"Thanks, Mr. Montgomery, I'll call if anything comes up…"

He paused as a small smile crept up onto his mug.

"Don't go getting yourself kidnapped again," jested the teenager. "I'd rather not have to make another trip to Kanto for a while."

Robert chuckled as he grasped Austin's shoulder. "Trust me, child, it won't happen again."

"I'll hold you to that," chided Austin as Robert lifted his hand from his shoulder. "Anyways, I'm gonna get rollin'. If I don't go now, I'll be spending another night in Saffron."

He pivoted his eyes from Robert and focused them solely on Ash, "Next time I see you, we'll have a rematch. I'm expecting a better battle than what we had on the SS Anne."

"Absolutely," retorted the dark-haired boy as he watched one of his best friends back up into the open elevator.

The teenager smiled as he pressed one of the buttons on the elevator's control panel. "I'll be waiting..."

A smile formed on Ash's face as the elevator door closed, and his friend was no longer standing in front of him.

He was quiet for a moment as he reflected on Austin's absence before he was jolted back to reality by the sound of Sabrina's monotonous voice.

"Well, are you guys ready?" questioned Sabrina. "Now that we've said goodbye to Austin Turner, I'll teleport us to the western edge of the city. We can say goodbye to Ash Ketchum there."

A grin stretched across his face as he once again relished in the fact that Sabrina would be rescuing him from a tedious trip out of the city. She had offered to teleport him on their way down from the roof, and he couldn't be happier about it.

"I'm ready whenever you guys are," retorted Ash.

"Go ahead, Sabrina," added Robert.

"Give me a second to prepare myself!" blurted Bill, "teleportation makes me sic—"

Sabrina didn't even give Bill a chance to finish his sentence as they vanished in a flash of incandescent light.

XXX

"Route Seven is a straight shot to Celadon," said Sabrina as they stood outside of Saffron City's western gate, staring ahead at the large expanse of rural terrain. "Just keep going west and you'll eventually get there. If you travel from sunrise to sunset at a good pace, you could make it in about a week. However, that is a bit unrealistic. Without looking into the future, I estimate it will take you about a week and a half."

Ash simply nodded his head; Sabrina wasn't telling him anything that he hadn't already figured out on his own.

"Well, Ash my lad, for the time being, I guess this is it," said Robert in a sincere tone, initiating the farewell. "I wish you the best of luck during your trip, and like I said to Austin, do not hesitate to call if you need anything."

"See you soon, Robert," retorted Ash with a smile as he reached for Growlithe's pokeball, which was fastened around his trainer belt like usual. "Thanks for everything. I'll keep in touch…

He paused before continuing, "Stay away from Team Rocket."

"Will do, my boy," answered Robert while reaching down and ruffling Ash's hair. "Don't worry about me. Team Rocket may have fooled me once, but it won't happen again. Just worry about taking care of yourself."

Ash let out a brief bit of laughter in response to Robert before Sabrina began to utter a goodbye of her own.

"Farewell, Ash Ketchum," started Sabrina, "I have thoroughly enjoyed the time that we have spent together. I have high expectations of you moving forward. Continue to walk the path that destiny has set out for you. Whether you are just another cog in the grand scheme of things, or you are the fated Chosen One, continue to grow. The potential I have seen in our short amount of time together is impressive…"

She habitually ran her fingers through her hair while a rare smile formed across her delicate face, "Call the gym if you need help teaching Haunter how to properly use Psychic. Also, make sure that Clefairy and Haunter get plenty of time to meditate. Their mental barrier training will be for naught if you don't do anything to maintain the foundation that we have already built."

"Bye, Sabrina," said Ash. "I've enjoyed our time together as well, and I will try my best to grasp destiny's plan for me. I'll definitely give Clefairy and Haunter time to meditate, and I'll be sure to call the gym if I need help with Haunter."

"Last but not least…" replied Sabrina, "let me remind you to keep your eyes peeled for wild abra on your way to Celadon. They're rare, but you wouldn't be the first person to run into one on Route Seven. If you are one of the lucky few to find one, do not hesitate to have Haunter use Mean Look. Wild abra are very jittery and non-confrontational. They will teleport away in a heartbeat. The key to catching one is Mean Look, and your Haunter has that ability. Take advantage of it. The abra line would be a great addition to your team. Trust me."

"I'll keep all of that in mind," answered Ash as he handled Growlithe's pokeball in preparation to release him.

Ash couldn't wait to hit the road with his best friend by his side, especially since he hadn't gotten to spend much time with him today. There were too many rules involving which floors allowed pokemon, and which floors didn't, within Silph Co. headquarters that Ash figured it would be easier if he just let Growlithe rest.

Travel and training would be rigorous over the next week or so anyways. Therefore, Growlithe could use the time off of his feet. When they were on the road, his puppy pokemon was always by his side. Unlike the others, he didn't get many opportunities to rejuvenate inside of his pokeball.

Thus, other than the brief amount of time they had spent together on top of the world, today had been a rather dull day in terms of spending time with Growlithe. He couldn't wait to make up for lost time.

"Ash," drawled Bill as he abruptly stumbled out of a thick patch of brushwood.

Bill had barreled out of sight immediately after they passed through Sabrina's teleportation. He had muttered something about how he had to puke and had been gone for the past five minutes.

There were a couple of times that Ash thought he heard the sound of someone hurling in the distance, but he wrote it off as a squawking pidgey or spearow. It sounded way too inhuman to be Bill, but maybe he was wrong.

"A-Ash, I'm going to miss you," stammered Bill—sweat dripping from his face. "Have fun on your journey. I'll give you a call as soon as I get back to the lighthouse."

An uncomfortable expression crawled across Ash's mug as a sweaty Bill wrapped him up in a big hug.

"I-I'll miss you too, Bill," managed Ash as he tried to wiggle his way outside of Bill's grasp, "but I'm sure we'll see each other soon."

"You promise?!" blurted Bill as he reluctantly let go of his dearest friend.

He let out a sigh in response to Bill's overdramatic behavior. "Yes, Bill, I promise."

As soon as Ash finished his sentence, Bill quickly wiped the tears that we're starting to fall from his eyes, "Bloody hell, Ash, why didn't you say so earlier!? You got me crying for no reason."

Ash scratched the back of his head in reaction to Bill's outlandish behavior as he watched Sabrina and Robert roll their eyes out of his peripherals.

"Anyways…" said Ash as he pressed the release button on Growlithe's pokeball, "I'm sure Growlithe would like to say goodbye. After all, you're his friend as well."

Another series of tears began to cascade from Bill's eyes as Growlithe appeared in a flash. "Shit, I'm such a blighter—how could I have forgotten about my good friend Growlithe?!"

Bill crouched down and gave Growlithe a hug as he blubbered out a plethora of indecipherable nonsense. The things Bill said were hard enough to understand when he was emotionally sober. When the Pokemon researcher was having one of his frequent dramatic outbursts, it was almost impossible to make sense of him, especially when he had his face buried within Growlithe's thick fur.

Ash couldn't help but laugh at Bill's antics and the look of confusion that was depicted amidst Growlithe's current expression. Under normal circumstances, he would have let the moment drag out until either Growlithe got extremely annoyed or Bill got too tired to continue. However, right now wasn't a good time. He only had about another hour of daylight left, and he'd rather not setup camp so close to Saffron.

"Alright, Bill, I think that's enough," managed Ash in between laughter. "Growlithe and I really need to get going."

"Oh…alright," groaned Bill as he let go of Growlithe and took a couple of steps backward towards Robert and Sabrina.

The puppy pokemon proceeded to give Ash a quizzical look that half portrayed gratitude for saving him from Bill's animated clutches, but also cursed him for putting him in that situation in the first-place.

Ash just smirked. Despite the strange look Growlithe gave him, he knew he would have been more upset if he didn't give the fire-type the opportunity to say goodbye. As a matter of fact, he still vividly recalled the time that Growlithe had gotten mad at him because he didn't give the pup an opportunity to say hello to Bill over the xtranceiver.

Ash's thoughts were permeated when Sabrina, out of respect for Ash, got the attention of Bill and Robert. "Okay, now would be an appropriate time to leave Ash Ketchum be. Prepare your minds for teleportation; I will take us back to headquarters."

"Mother of—" managed Bill before erupting in the bright flash of radiant light that corresponded to Sabrina's teleportation.

Ash took a brief moment to process that his friends no longer stood in front of him before looking down at Growlithe. "Well, that was rather sudden."

The puppy pokemon let out a bewildered yip, agreeing with his best friend.

"So, they're gone…" Ash sighed as he looked down at the ground, "I'm going to miss them."

Growlithe retorted by cuddling up next to Ash's leg and releasing a quiet murmur, acknowledging Ash's doleful feelings.

The dark-haired boy leaned over and scratched his starter behind the ears while looking him in the eyes, "It's okay, buddy. We'll see them again soon. Besides, this moment should be exciting. We're off to Celadon: home of our first real gym battle!"

Growlithe's countenance immediately brightened up, mirroring his trainer.

The ten-year-old boy proceeded to stand up from his crouched position, adjusting his hat throughout the process.

He laid his eyes on the great, untamed domain that resided in front of him before taking a step forward.

"Follow me, Growlithe, we're headed west."

XXX

To be continued…

XXX

A/N: Alright, so I know it is a rather short chapter in comparison to my others, but I thought that this would be a good spot to cut it off. Also, I apologize for saying that Kanto 8 would include the trip to Celadon. I had to omit it until next time. I figured getting a chapter out to you guys now was more important than the chapter length. Regardless, it's still nearly 30k, so it isn't my shortest by any means.

I also want to stress that my story isn't just about the characters, but the setting is also incredibly important to me. I don't want to leave anything unexplored, which is why I thought that this chapter was incredibly important to my story. I wanted to fully explore Silph Co. headquarters. I know that it won't be anyone's favorite, but trust me…I had to write it. Next chapter will dive deep into the traveling aspect of Essence. I can't wait! The adventure is just getting started! Kanto 9 is in the works! Don't forget to favorite, follow and review.

Much love, vincentgrey21