Thanks for staying everyone! I hope I can make worth the sacrifice. In fact, I'm planning an actual Ash/Bea one-shot to kinda compensate, working title is: "Aren't we friends?", the plot is already on my head, but I'm not sure of when it'll be ready it since I'm still focusing on this story

Which by the way has reached 400k words! And here's our first -more or less- harem chapter. With Nessa taking place as Ash's official second girlfriend (and in the tags!), along with plenty of side stories, including some girls we haven't introduced yet.

Hope no one had a stroke trying to read the title of this chapter, it's the name of the opening of an anime that may have or may have not inspired the chapter. "Fuzaketenaize" roughly translates to "I'm not messing around", so yeah, I'm not messing around with this harem thing, neither are our characters.

Let's get into it!

Pokemon School, Melemele island, Alola.

"Professor Kukui!" Mallow shouted bursting into the classroom.

"At least there's no door for Shemar Moore to kick here." Lana said appearing behind her friend.

"I told you I'd pay for your door!" Mallow complained.

"Uh, girls, I told you I'd be having a reunion with the Kahunas." Kukui answered and pointed at the four rulers who we're all sitting in desks, while Kukui was on his usual teacher spot.

"Hey there, ladies." Olivia was the first one to talk.

"Good evening." Hala continued.

"Eeeeh." Nanu rolled his eyes.

"Hi, girls!" Hapu ended waving at them.

"What's the matter?" Kukui asked to Mallow and Lana.

"Burnet has been calling you like crazy!" Mallow shouted. "Why didn't you answer?!"

"Well, I turn off my phone during my reunions, she knows that. And I trusted Delia to take care of her." Kukui replied. "What's the matter? Why are you two so agitated?"

"B-B-Because-!"

"BECAUSE IT'S BEEN NINE MONTHS!" Lana finally shouted as well. "NIEF! NUEVE! NEIN! YOUR BABY IS ON THE WAY AND YOU SHOULD BE WITH YOUR WOMAN RIGHT NOW SO START MOVING YOUR ASS TO THE HOSPITAL!"

"AND WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO?!" Kukui shouted as he ran of the classroom and the duo followed him, leaving the four Kahunas sitting.

"...Well, I guess the reunion is dismissed." Olivia said.

"What was the point of this meeting anyway?" Hapu asked.

"Something regarding Ash, I believe." Hala answered.

"Argh, don't start with that." Nanu replied. "Look, kid's great, I get it, but Acerola just won't shut up about him!"

"By the way you say it, it sounds like she fell in love with him." Hala said.

"Fell in love? Hah! That description falls too short!" Nanu complained. "She's got her whole life planned with him already! She wants me to be the clergy and everything!"

"And you accepted doing so?" Olivia asked.

"Have you seen her Rockruff face?" Nanu asked. "Of course I accepted, I won't live with that guilt in my head, guess I'll have to get used to the idea."

"So Acerola likes him as well..." Hapu said under her breath.

"As well?" Olivia asked smiling looking at the youngest of them.

"U-Uh, no, I mean..." Hapu looked around and then at Olivia again, who simply raised an eyebrow. "Yes, maybe I also like Ash."

"Well, hope you have better luck in love than me." Olivia patted Hapu's head.

"The champion and a Kahuna would be an interesting pair." Hala continued.

"If Acerola ends up crying because of you, I'll never forgive you." Nanu glared at her.

"Yeah, sorry, I kinda expected to talk with Kukui about the topic, but it seems like that'll have to wait." Hapu continued.

"Good news for you are that if the baby truly is born now Ash will definitely rush back to Alola." Hala said. "So you'll see him soon, I suppose."

"if that's the case, do you guys have any dating advice for me?" Hapu asked. "I know I want to do something, but aside from inviting him to a rematch, I'm not sure about what I should do with Ash."

"I'd like to give you some tips, but after what happened with Brock I think it's better for me to stay quiet." Olivia answered.

"Well, I could give you some advice." Hala said. "But I think it'll be better to let Nanu do the talking."

"Didn't you hear what I just said about Acerola?" Nanu asked.

"Come on Nanu, just some tips from coworker to coworker." Hala insisted.

"Fine, whatever." Nanu sighed. "I'll tell you exactly what I told Acerola, this is what you gotta do. Be as clingy as possible, spy on him to make sure he doesn't cheat, compare him to others, to encourage him to be better, make sure he knows you're the boss, never compromise during a fight and always speak in innuendos, you got all that?"

"Okay now..." Hala smirked. "Don't do anything of what he just said and you'll be fine."

"Hehe, got it." Hapu nodded.

"So, can we get out of these desks now or do we have to wait for Kukui to come back?" Olivia asked.

Back in Hulbury.

After quite some declarations, Bea accepted to share Ash with Nessa, the three of them have different ideas about how they'll make this work, now the question, can they even survive the first day?

"Ladies and gentleman, the dinner is served." Matthews said presenting them the table. A pretty big table needless to say, and while Ash and Bea expected all the 'luxury food' that was there, there were also more simple things, the whole table went from french fries to Creme brulee with almost everything that was in between in well.

"...Yeah, this is a little exaggerated." Bea said.

"Y-You think?!" Nessa asked embarrassed.

"H-Hey, I think this is all great." Ash did his best to cheer Nessa up.

"Sorry, I mean, this is quite impressive." Bea added. "But, do you really expect us to eat all that?"

"G-Guess I was just trying to surprise you guys." Nessa admitted. "One thing I can assure you tho, you two will never have to worry about money anymore. Just pick whatever food you like."

"That's easy for you to say, I don't even know what half of these things are." Bea said. "Is that berry looking at me?"

"Well, pretty much everything on the end of the table is sweets, since Ash told me you got a sweet tooth I asked for plenty of them." Nessa answered. "Just serve yourself."

"You think you'll make me okay with this relationship with just fancy sweets?" Bea asked.

"N-No, you know, it's just to ease the ambient a little." Nessa stuttered. "How about a Sundae?"

"Hmm... you'll live for today." Bea took the sundae and sat in the table and Nessa sighed relieved.

"Say, Ash. What would you like?"

"Well, I'm not sure, there's plenty of things here, I-"

"Hey, w-would it be okay if I feed you?" She interrupted blushing.

"Uh..." Ash simply blushed embarrassed at the idea.

"S-Sorry! I'm really nervous with all this." Nessa apologized. "I-I told you, this is my first relationship, I-I'm not totally sure what I should do, I feel like I'll mess up everything."

"It's alright, this is my first as well, and Bea's too, so I guess we can learn together." Ash said taking her hands. "And, well, I guess you can feed me if you want."

"T-That's great...uh, wait, where's Valerie?"

"Miss Valerie decided to not join you in dinner tonight." Matthews explained.

"Don't tell me she's depressed again." Nessa said worried.

"Oh no, please don't worry." Fredricks replied. "She told us to bring her dinner to her room and we did so, she was still studying Ash's Floette, she also mentioned that she wants Ash to spend as much time as possible with his two...ehem, lovers."

"I see...well, tell Valerie I appreciate that, but I'll have to talk with her later." Nessa said.

"Of course." Matthews said. "By the way, Miss Nessa, I think it should be obvious, but we promise we won't tell anyone about your situation.

"Thanks a lot guys, I knew you wouldn't." Nessa smiled at her butlers, but her face suddenly turned into a threatening glare. "Because your salaries depend on that."

"U-Understood." Fredricks gulped.

"Great, now I'll appreciate if you leave us three alone." Nessa continued.

"As you prefer, Miss." The two butler nodded and left the dining room.

Ash then sat down next to Bea and Nessa also took a seat. In her boyfriend's lap that was.

"...I guess I'll give you two some space." Bea stood up from her chair.

"Bea-"

"S-Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable." Nessa interrupted Ash and Bea looked at her. "I-I'm really sorry, I know I'm a intruder here, I'd like to give you priority, but I don't wanna hold back, it's not like I'm some girl Ash is cheating with, I'm also his girlfriend, I-I have the right! ...B-But you also have it, I don't want you to hold yourself back because of me, so if you want to do something with Ash then you can do it, I'm not gonna stop you."

"I..." Bea sighed. "Thank you, Nessa. I'm still trying to process this, but I won't get between you and Ash either."

"No worries, we're a team. Say, do you want to sit on his lap then?" Nessa asked.

"G-Girls, can I say anything?" Ash asked.

"Sssh, the girlfriends are talking." Bea told him putting a finger over his lips.

"Sorry Ash, you heard her." Nessa added.

"Actually, how about you sit on my lap, Ash?" Bea asked.

"W-What?!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, this will be fun." Nessa giggled and jumped off Ash. "Go ahead."

"I'm waiting..." Bea smiled sitting again.

"D-Do I really need to?" Ash looked into another direction embarrassed.

"You get on my lap right now or I'm gonna bridal carry you again." Bea said.

"You can do that?" Nessa asked laughing.

"He's pretty lightweight honestly." Bea laughed as well.

'Boy, they're teaming up against me already.' Ash thought as he laughed nervously. 'At least they're getting along, but this is with just two...H-How am I supposed to handle the rest?'

"Alright then, he's gonna sit in your lap and I'm gonna feed him." Nessa said.

"Let's do it." Bea agreed.

"G-GIRLS!"

And they did exactly that.

Freezington, The Crown Tundra.

Our story now continues with the loving single father, Peony Cosmos, a rather exuberant person, some people might say, he was sitting on his living room, concerned about his daughter, well, he is always concerned about her, but this time it was different, she had been acting different, all he knew was that she was supposed to have a reunion with Rose and when she returned, she simply looked dead inside, she didn't tell him anything about what happened, she was now spending whole days in her room, only going out to eat and even then, she wouldn't talk with him at all, he knew something was happening, but he had no idea what it could be, he called Rose and he didn't seem to know anything about it either.

Peonia's Rotom Phone suddenly ringed and pulled him out of his thoughts, she left it there in the living room, taking in consideration her current state, Peony supposed she just didn't want to talk to anybody, but that only made him worry even more, so he took the phone to see who was calling, and surprise, locked.

"Rotom, please let me see." He told the Pokemon inside the device.

"Sorry sir, but Miss Peonia is the only who can use this phone." The tech answered.

"This is my daughter we're talkin' about!" Peony exclaimed. "I don't know what's goin' on, but I have the feelin' that this could help, whoever's tryin' to call Nia might know about what happened and it could help her, don't you care about her?"

"Sir, I'm a phone, I need to follow orders." It answered.

"You better let me see!" Peony exclaimed.

"Or else what, old man?" The phone mocked him.

"OLD MAN?! Let me tell you somethin', you god damned piece of metal! If you don't unlock yourself this instant, I'm gonna melt ya down and pour ya on some baby shoes! Got that?!"

"Ok, ok! You win!" The phone gave in scared and unlocked itself, finally opening the video call.

"Uh, Mr. Peony?"

"Hello there Sonia, hope you didn't hear that rant." Peony greeted her.

"Oh, please don't worry about that, can I talk with Nia?"

"Do you know what's up with her?" Peony asked. "She hasn't left her room since she visited Rose, she doesn't even want to talk with me, what the hell happened?"

"Well, she must still feel bad about... wait, she didn't tell you?" Sonia asked.

"No, she didn't!" Peony exclaimed. "My Nia is feelin' down as never before and I don't what's goin' on, so I can't help her!"

"...I'm really sorry, Mr. Peony, but if she didn't tell you then I shouldn't be the one who does." Sonia replied. "Either way, I need to talk with Nia about something important, and that topic is gonna play a part on it."

"Fine, let's hope she wants to talk with you, just do what you can to make her feel better." Peony accepted and went to his daughter's room to knock the door. "Nia, can I come in?"

Peonia was laying down in her bed and didn't answer at all.

"...Listen, I... your friend Sonia wants to talk with you." Peony insisted and knocked again. "She says it's somethin' important."

Still in silence, Peonia went to open the door, but only by a little, Peony understood this and passed her Rotom Phone through the gap without saying anything, Peonia then closed the door again, her father simply sighed and walked back to the living room.

"Sonia, what do you want?" Peonia asked weakly.

"Nia... I'm really sorry to see you like this." She answered.

"It's nothing... just my first broken heart, I'll get used to it, I doubt it'll be the last... Uncle Rose wass always saying that I had to be careful with whom I ended up falling for, you know, the chairman's niece and all that, money, power, blah, blah, blah...I really hoped I could have something with Ash, even after he left the Tundra, he just seemed like the perfect guy and I'm sure he would have gotten Dad's and Uncle Rose's approval."

"Listen Nia, I'm really not the person who should tell you this." Sonia sighed. "But I think you deserve to know."

"Know what?" Peonia asked.

"One quick question first, Nia, do you still love Ash?"

"Does that matter?" Peonia asked rather uninterested.

"Please Peonia, answer me." She insisted.

Hearing Sonia calling her by her full name suddenly made Peonia take the conversation more seriously. "Yes, I do..." She admitted. "But he's Bea's boyfriend now, there's nothing I can do."

"Not exactly." Sonia took a deep breath. "Listen Nia, I'm gonna tell you something important right now, I really, really, really shouldn't, but I can't stand seeing my friends like this!"

"Calm down, what's the matter?" Peonia asked.

"Huff, here it goes, they're probably gonna kill me, but Ash is with Nessa too."

"What?! H-He's cheating on Bea?!" Peonia exclaimed.

"No! No way! H-He wants to be with both of them." Sonia answered.

"B-Both?" Peonia asked while processing that. "Ash is... with the two of them."

"Yes, he said that he couldn't stand breaking Nessa's heart so he took her in, Bea was hesitant at first, but she accepted in the end, they're both his girlfriends now."

"And why are you telling me this?" Peonia gave herself a facepalm. "If anything, knowing that yet another girl is with him only makes me feel worse!"

"Don't you get it?! H-He accepted Nessa even though he was with Bea already, so that means you still have a chance, you told me Ash said your feelings were important to him, perhaps he'll let you be with him too."

"Are...you sure?" Peonia asked. "W-What if this is all a misunderstanding and he just breaks my heart even more?"

"Of course I am sure! I was there, I saw it all! I'd never play with your feelings!" Sonia assured. "Nia, I understand how you feel, but Ash never actually rejected you, he doesn't know how you're feeling right now, you need to be direct and clear with him."

"But even if he accepts me that'd mean that I'll have to share him with other girls..." Peonia held her head for a moment.

"I know, I know, but Ash really seemed determined to make it all work, and Nia... I've never seen you cry like that and now Peony tells me you haven't left your room since you heard my call with him, if you're feeling this bad because of him, if you want to be with him so bad, wouldn't share him be better than having nothing?"

"...You said he just accepted Nessa, right?" Peonia asked. "Does that mean they're in Hulbury?"

"Uh, yeah, they're still in Nessa's Mansion." Sonia answered. "I'm pretty sure she'll make them spend the night there."

"...I'm on my way." Peonia stood up and smiled. "I...I'll try my best."

"Good luck, Nia." Sonia cheered on her.

"Thanks for telling me. Hope Ash, Bea and Nessa don't beat you up over it." Peonia giggled and then cut the call.

"Go for it, Nia..." Sonia smiled. "We can't all be saved...but if this works then I might tell Gloria next, heh, sorry about the trouble Ash, but that's what you get for making all of my friends fall for you, I'm gonna move some strings here."

Back with Peonia, she quickly took a bath and changed herself, there was a light blizzard outside and the sun was already falling, so she put on some warm clothes, Nia then looked at her reflection in the mirror before leaving her room, thinking for a moment what she was about to do. "...Isn't the smallest chance of victory enough of a reason for us to keep on fighting?" Peonia asked herself and smiled. "Well, better third than friend I guess...Dad, I'm leaving!" She shouted running out of her room.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Peony stood in front of her before she could reach the front door. "First off, glad to see you're doin' better, but WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN' ON RIGHT HERE?!"

"I need to go to Hulbury!" Peonia exclaimed. "I-I have to talk with Ash!"

"Ash...wait, he was the reason you were acting like that?" Peony asked. "I suspected you liked him, but what did he-? Did he reject you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He didn't reject me!" Peonia answered. "He never rejected me, and that's why I need to go to Hulbury, I need to be sure! I need to know!"

"What do you need to know?" Peony continued.

"I need to know...if he can love me too..." She answered trying to not give away the whole situation.

"...So that's why you've been actin' so weird, huh? Young love...well..." Peony walked to the door and opened it for her. "What are you waiting for?"

"Thanks, dad." Peonia replied and then hugged him.

"No probs Nia, I'm glad to see you taking these steps to grow up...but you're gonna tell me the outcome of whatever happens, got it?"

"I promise." Peonia nodded and ran out of the house, onward to the train station to go directly to Hulbury.

"That's my daughter, alright." Peony smiled as he watched her leave. His own Rotom Phone then ringed and he answered as it was none other than his brother. "S'up, Curly? You're not gonna believe this! Nia is in love with Ash!"

"Sure, good to know, Peony." The chairman rolled his eyes.

"What? You already knew?"

"Perhaps, those two met in my tower some days ago and...Listen, I was hesitating to tell you or not to tell you, but I give in, check you mailbox, I send you a picture."

"Oh, really? A picture of w...ASH KETCHUM, YOU SON OF A B-!"

Meanwhile in Hulbury.

"I suddenly feel in danger." Ash said.

"Do we really have to sleep all together?" Bea asked while the three were in Nessa's room. After quite an embarrassing dinner for Ash, the trio decided to call it a day and then sleep. Ash and Bea were wearing their usual pajamas, while Nessa had a short black nightgown.

"As I told you, my bed is big enough." Nessa answered. "And I asked Fredricks and Matthews to bring you guys extra sheets, that way we won't have any tug wars."

"Yeah, sure." Bea took the left side of the bed, meanwhile Nessa to the right side, leaving Ash in the middle of them. "Goodnight, Ash."

"Goodnight Bea." He answered. "And Goodnight Nessa.

"Hehe, goodnight boyfriend." Nessa gave him a light kiss on his lips. "And goodnight Bea."

"...Yeah, goodnight." Bea answered rather coldly.

A roughly and hour, Ash couldn't bring himself to sleep, he opened his eyes and glanced at Nessa and heard some light snores from her, Ash smiled at this considering it a little adorable and wondering if Nessa was aware that she does that. Ash then turned around to look at Bea and found her with her eyes open looking at him.

"Uh, hey there, Bea." He said.

"So...you're sleeping in a bed with two women." Bea said. "Does that makes you feel powerful perhaps?"

"I-I'm sorry about this again, but my feelings weren't going to disappear... no matter how much I wanted them to, I'll have to make a bigger effort, but you can be sure I'll make you two the happiest girls in the world, even if it isn't the right thing." As Ash ended his short speech a sleepy Nessa hugged him from behind with a smile.

"Well, she looks really happy, I'll give you that." Bea giggled. "Sorry for being harsh on you, I know your heart is in the right place...and I'll admit I enjoyed that little session we had in the dinner."

"You had to bring that up." Ash blushed embarrassed and Bea did her best to contain her laughs, not wanting to wake up Nessa.

"Ash, just curious, what do you think your Mom will say about this?" Bea asked.

"I'm not quite sure." Ash answered. "I talked with her about the problem I had with you and the girls, and well, she kinda seemed happy of all the attention I've been getting, but I'm not sure how she'll react to this, I just hope she accepts you both, either way, whatever happens I promise I won't let anything or anyone take us apart."

"I know you wouldn't." Bea took his hands and gave him a kiss on his lips. "Sorry to make you worry. Let's just sleep for now, ok? Love you."

"I love you too."

Wedgehurst outskirts, Galar.

"Inteleon, Air Slash!" Gloria's starter jumped in the air as it drew several white lines and then shot them as arrows at Roxie's Scolipede, which then fell defeated.

"Scolipede is unable to battle!" Marnie gave the announcement. "Inteleon is the winner and the victory goes to Gloria!"

"Alright!" Gloria jumped excited.

"That's was amazing, Gloria!" Roxie congratulated her. "You couldn't even scratch my guys when we first met, you've grown a lot, I'm sure Ash will be really impressed."

"I hope so, Inteleon is really looking forward to his rematch with Pikachu too." Gloria answered. "And if I want to be Ash's girlfriend then I need to be as strong as him."

"You really take that seriously, don't you?" Roxie smirked.

"Of course I do." Gloria assured adjusting Ash's hat in her head. "I'll be Gloria motherblessed Ketchum before you know it! And Victor is gonna live in our garage!"

"Hey!" The older brother complained while preparing the dinner in a campfire.

"Well, then I'm really sorry Gloria." Roxie continued. "I don't want you to end with a broken heart, you're a really great friend, but there's no way I'm leaving Ketchum to you."

"I supposed you'd say that." Gloria grinned. "As a member of his fan club, I guess you can imagine I was expecting competition, do you have an idea of how many girls like him?"

"I can make myself the idea." Roxie laughed. "Skyla is obviously crazy for him, then there's Elesa, Bianca, Iris and Georgia, all of them are into him, they're just not as obvious, I also met with this girl with donuts in her hair and another one with ridiculously short shorts while they challenged my Gym together, they said Ash inspired them as trainers, just like you, yup, those two definitely like him as well. Heck, I'm even starting to suspect of Billy Jo, she's been reading 'It's (not) your fault' way too much recently."

"And the list of girls goes on." Gloria sighed. "Ash has all those options, some of them are really famous people like you, so I need to stand out, I'll make sure he notices me, so I'm sorry as well Roxie, but I won't leave Ash to any of those girls, neither to you."

"Hmmp, it's a challenge then." Roxie offered her hand and Gloria shook it.

"Those two..." Victor looked at the scene from afar.

"Still worried, I suppose." Marnie walked to him.

"How couldn't I be?" Victor asked her. "As much as I trust Gloria with this, the possibility of my little sister getting her heart broken isn't exactly relieving."

"Yeah, about that, sorry to tell you this Vic, but... I'm team Roxie here."

"You what?!" Victor exclaimed.

"No offense, but Roxie's like family to me." Marnie said.

"Well, Gloria's my literal family! And she'll be yours eventually!" Victor blushed after hearing himself. "...uh, technically, I mean."

"I'm looking forward to that day too." Marnie booped his nose. "But eeeh, I just think Roxie has a better chance."

"Why exactly?" Victor asked.

"Well...Gloria is great and all, and she knows lots of things about Ash, but she can be a little too hyperactive sometimes, I'm not sure if she's ready for a relationship."

"I don't see anything wrong with that, after all Ash can be a little hyperactive too, so they'd be quite the energetic couple; and I'm sure they'll learn together."

"You can say that, but I think Roxie being more mature could be better to balance it out, you know? To kinds take control of the situation. And she's a lot better at flirting with Ash too."

"Not everything has to be about flirting." Victor pointed out. "Being direct, like Gloria is, can be better."

"How about this? Let's have a bet." Marnie suggested. "If Roxie becomes Ash's girlfriend you'll have to make me a big favor, but if Gloria become his girlfriend then I'll make you a big favor instead."

"What do you mean with big favor?" Victor asked.

"I don't know, whatever you'd like." Marnie winked. "I'm certainly sure about what I'll ask you to do though."

"A-Anyway." Victor blushed embarrassed again. "I don't think we should do a bet based on my sister and your best friend."

"Scared of losing?" Marnie asked with a teasing voice.

"G-Give me that hand..." Victor gave in and they shared a handshake to officialize their bet. "But we won't say anything about this to them."

"Got it." Marnie nodded.

"Uh...they know we heard everything, right?" Gloria whispered to Roxie.

"Let them live their world of lies." Roxie answered. "Hey, that's a nice title for a song. Inhabiting a world of lies, making up a dreamy life. To try and not cry, with the memories of what we were once..."

Back in Hulbury.

After the short talk, both Ash and Bea fell asleep, but Ash woke up again after a few hours. He glanced at Bea first, but this time she was indeed asleep, Ash then felt that Nessa wasn't hugging him anymore so he turned around and found her sitting on bed, looking down at him.

"You know? You look cute while doing pretty much anything." She smiled. "But seeing you sleep is way too adorable."

"Hey there, Nes-" Ash stopped flat once Nessa moved herself and sat on his lap.

"Hmp, I told you I'd love to see your blushing face all the time, now that I can do it, I'm definitely making the most of that." Nessa then gave him a quick devilish smile. "Ash, I can't sleep...what do you think we should do about it?"

"Uh..." Ash tried to talk, but she laid down on his chest and interrupted him with a kiss.

"I don't know how I could live without your lips for so long..." She whispered to him and held his cheeks to kiss him again, her long black hair falling sideways almost covering their faces, Ash did his best to follow her lead, but Nessa was quite a bit more eager, she finally took a break and pulled away after roughly a two minutes of back and forth kissing, leaving Ash gasping for air.

"You tired already?" Nessa laughed a little.

"I-I'm fine, just...huff, j-just give me a second." He tried to talk.

"Hehe, sorry, I feel..." Nessa held his cheeks again and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "I still don't totally believe what happened today, I'm a little scared this might be just a dream."

"It's not a dream." Ash assured as he caressed one of her cheeks. "I am your boyfriend."

"You don't know how happy it makes me hearing you say that." She answered. "Listen, it's not like I'm complaining, but I've thought about what Bea said before she accepted, regardless of how we feel, that doesn't change the fact that I'm second...Ash, are you still a virgin?"

"W-Where did that question come from?" Ash closed his eyes embarrassed.

"Please just tell me." Nessa insisted.

"Y-Yeah, I-I still am." He admitted blushing.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of, I mean, of course I am too." She said. "D-Does that mean Bea and you haven't done anything of that at all?"

"N-Not exactly." Ash's words almost came out on it's own, but the last thing he wanted was lying to her.

"Really? Then what did you two do?" Nessa asked quite interested.

"M-Maybe she took off her..." Ash was somewhat embarrassed of continuing. "Y-You know...her..."

"You saw her boobs." Nessa smiled and stuck out her tongue. Ash simply nodded.

"And just that?" She continued.

"Uh, yeah." Ash didn't want to talk about the whole biting part since he felt that was something private for Bea, he already felt bad for telling Nessa what he saw without Bea's permission.

"Well, guess there's only one thing to do then." Nessa was about to take off her nightgown, but Ash quickly took her wrists to stop her.

"N-Nessa, you don't have to do that." He muttered trying to look away.

"You don't want to see?" Nessa asked with a teasing smile.

"...I'd be lying if I said I don't." Ash admitted embarrassed and Nessa let out a giggle. "But you shouldn't do it just because Bea did it first, I-I don't want you girls to take this as a competition, I want to make it as fair and square as I can for everyone."

"Fair and square? So you want to take us both at the same time?" Nessa continued to tease him.

"N-Not quite what I mean."

"But you're considering it." Nessa smiled.

"..."

"Come on Ash, as noble as you are, you're still a human, with two girlfriends no less, and from what I understand you're planning to have a full harem, geez, even if you won't take advantage of the situation, that does not mean you can't let the situation take advantage of you."

"I-I suppose that makes sense." Ash admitted. "Well, as long as you girls are okay with it."

"Good, but I won't do anything tonight, fine? You still should watch out for me though, I'll be ready for that special moment when it arrives.

"We'll think about that later, ok?"

"As you wish." Nessa shrugged shoulders. "Now give me those lips."

Nessa once again began to assault Ash with kisses as she pinned him down, but all that noise and movements didn't go unnoticed.

"Could you two calm yourselves while we're all in the same room at least?!" Bea broke their moment after they woke her up.

"Pfft, what a mood killer." Nessa sat on top of Ash in quite a suggesting position. "There's no reason to be jealous, I was just making use of my moment."

"This is is still pretty weird." Bea said.

"It's only weird if you make it weird." Nessa answered. "I haven't complained while you two kiss. Right Ash?"

"I-I guess..." He replied.

"Shall we continue then?" Nessa smiled looking down at him.

"Before you restart all that, Ash, which one of us kisses better?" Bea asked.

"Don't start with that." Ash sighed tired.

"Or do you just preferred Peonia's just because she had lipstick?" Bea continued.

"I-I don't think any of you did worse than the other." That was all he could come up with. "Y-You have different styles and it's not like I'm a judge or something."

"So Peonia kissed you too." Nessa said. "Hmm, I haven't met her personally yet, Peony said he was going to introduce her to the Gym Leaders in our next meeting."

"She helped us when we went to the Crown Tundra." Ash answered. "Then I helped her become a Gym Leader as her first Gym Challenger and... well, things happened."

"With 'things' he means that Peonia confessed to him and kissed him in Wyndon, she asked Ash to reject him then because she thought it would be better for him to be with me, but he couldn't reject her."

"I didn't feel like I could, even if she wanted me to." Ash said.

"You're always worrying about others..." Nessa said. "Ash, uh, kinda off topic, but do you mind that I'm a model?"

"Uh, no, why would I?" Ash asked.

"I'm just saying, since I technically... show off my body to strangers." Nessa facepalmed after hearing herself. "W-Wait, no! That's not what I mean! Well, I guess, but, ARGH! B-But I swear I've never modeled in bikinis or anything revealing!"

"Not sure if I buy that." Bea said. "Your Gym outfit is pretty revealing on its own."

"You're not helping Bea!" Nessa complained blushing.

"Hey, hey, it's fine." Ash tried to calm her down. "I really don't mind, I mean, I did some modeling sessions with you after all, I don't see the trouble."

"Sorry, it's...a little embarrassing out of a sudden now that I have a boyfriend, I really like me work as a model and as a Gym Leader too, but I feel like having two works could eventually not let me enough time to be with you, maybe I should retire, I have enough money anyway."

"Nessa listen, Bea told me when we became a couple that there was no reason to change just because of we were together." Ash took both of Nessa's hands. "So I don't want you to change just because we're dating now, I want you to keep doing the things that you like, because if you're happy, that'll make me happy as well."

"I swear I love you." Nessa caught him in another kiss. "Ash, remember you're my first for everything...you can touch me anywhere you want."

"A-A-Anywhere?" Ash stuttered blushing.

"Anywhere..." Nessa smiled and gave him a quick lick on his cheek. "I'm all yours."

"GO TO SLEEP!" Bea shouted.

Next day in Blackthorn City, Johto.

Jasmine was walking through the streets of the city, she scheduled a meeting with Whitney and Clair there, after a bit of strolling, she made it to Clair's house and waiting for her in the entrance was none other than Whitney.

"Look who it is..." Whitney was the first to talk.

"Uh, h-hello there Whitney." Jasmine answered rather nervous

"...Hey, Jasmine, have you ever had a dream where a devil opens your guts and strings them up to play them like a guitar?"

"I really didn't need that image in my head." Jasmine replied grossed out.

"Yeah, never mind..." Whitney looked around. "Have you talked with Ash lately?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I knew it." Whitney interrupted. "I bet he forgot about you already."

"Look, I'm really sorry about that discussion we had the other day, I don't want things to be like this, I mean, you and I were quite good friends before, I don't think we should become enemies just because we both like Ash, he wouldn't want us to fight for him."

"Isn't the fate of two women who love the same man fight to death for him?" Whitney asked.

"Uh...no, I mean, I've met with other girls that like Ash as well, and they weren't hostile at all about the topic."

"Other girls..." Whitney took a deep closer to Jasmine. "How many girls?"

"W-Well, I personally met with four, Bea, Flannery, May and Dawn, not sure if there's anymore since Ash left to Galar."

"Bea, Flannery, May and my good friend Dawn, huh?" Whitney then made a mischievous grin. "Thanks for telling me."

'...I feel like I just made a mistake.' Jasmine thought.

"So Ash is in Galar, I've heard it's a nice place." Whitney giggled. "Of course I already knew he was there, what kind of future wife would I be if I wasn't aware of where my Ashy is at all times?"

"At all times?" Jasmine asked.

"Hey, nice to see you two made it." Clair suddenly opened the door of her house. "Come on in, girls."

Clair guided Whitney and Jasmine inside her house and the three Gym Gals sat together in a table.

"And so, the Johto GGs' reunion begins." Whitney smiled.

"Still not totally fond of that name." Clair said.

"Here, I brought you something." Whitney pulled out a bottle of MooMoo Milk from her bag and served it in three glasses for them. "Drink up!"

"Heh, thanks." Clair took the glass in her hand and started to drink, Jasmine also took her glass but she stood looking at it in silence.

"Whitney... this is Miltank milk, right?" The Olivine native asked.

"Of course! What else would it be?" Whitney smiled again, but Jasmine got a bad feeling from that.

"I...think I'll pass." Jasmine put the glass down in the table again.

"Well, more for me I guess." Clair drank her whole glass and then drank Jasmine's. "This thing is really... yawn... r-really..." Clair suddenly fell face-first to the table.

"C-CLAIR?!" Jasmine shouted.

"Huh, that was easier than I expected." Whitney said.

"D-Did you just kill her?!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Yup, and now you'll help me get rid of the body." Whitney stuck out her tongue.

"WHAT?!"

"Pfft, chill out, it was just a sleep pill." Whitney raised Clair's face to show she was still breathing and then let it drop again. "I'm just experimenting, there's still time."

"And why did you do that?!" Jasmine shouted.

"Kinda felt like it." Whitney shrugged shoulders. "I told you I've been experimenting recently and this seemed like a good chance to run a little test."

"J-Just what is your problem?!" Jasmine continued.

"I think you mean our problem." Whitney giggled pulling out her Ash plushie.

"L-Leave Ash out of this! Are you out of your mind?! J-Just think about what he'll say if he sees you doing something like this!"

"Hehe, yeah, he's so innocent sometimes." Whitney blushed and bit her index finger. "I got something very special saved for him, I bet he's gonna love it as much as he loves me."

"If you think I'll let you do something like this to Ash you're very wrong!" Jasmine stood up. "I'm gonna call him this instant and warn him about you!"

"About what exactly? That drug I put on the milk will dissolve in a few minutes, there will be no proof." Whitney smiled and then looked down at the plushie. "Besides, I'd love to talk with my sweet Ashy personally, oh, he'll be so thrilled to see me, and who do you think he'll believe? The flat grumpy old lady? Or the young beauty and her twin mountains?"

"Could you stop with those commentaries! I'm barely 23! And I'm a B cup!"

"Borderlining A." Whitney added. "And you don't even have a good backdoor to compensate your lack of front stats like Lyra has."

"Shut up, you tittied demon!"

"That's gotta be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Whitney laughed. "But they're natural so die of envy if you want."

"Those things are bigger than your head! How do you even walk with them?!"

"Hey girls..." Clair began to wake up and talked to them between yawns. "Do you think Ash has a... Mr. Girafarig or a Mr. Donphan?"

"What?" Jasmine asked.

"Hmmm, I'd go for Mr. Donphan, but who knows?" Whitney answered. "I'd be fine with either of them. Why the question?"

"I just had this crazy dream about him and he was only wearing boxe..." Clair stopped once she fully regained her senses.

"He was wearing what, Clair?" Jasmine asked.

"H-HE WAS WEARING A VERY FORMAL OUTFIT AND WE WERE BOTH JUST TALKING ABOUT BATTLES! NO ONE WAS NAKED AND I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT ASK HIM TO TIE ME UP NICE AND TIGHT!" She shouted blushing.

"...uh, what was that last part?" Jasmine asked.

"IT'S NOT LIKE I LIKE HIM OR ANYTHING!" Clair shouted and ran to the bathroom.

"...Wait, if Clair if the Tsundere and Whitney is the Yandere then what am I supposed to be...?" Jasmine asked herself and then looked at Whitney. "Whatever, I still have to talk with you, psycho."

"You really don't get it, Jasmine? It's just love! Love will make you do crazy things!" Whitney giggled. "Besides, I doubt I'm the craziest stalker Ash has."

Sootopolis City, Hoenn.

"Lisia's dairy. Month: X, Day: X, weather is clear." The ex-contest champion said to herself. "Retired life is...quite boring, I must say."

Lisia was simply resting under the sun of Sootopolis in front the pool of her mansion, she didn't have much to do since May defeated her and she announced her retirement, aside from a few interviews of course, but there was one thing she thought about to ease the boredom.

"Good evening Miss." One of her butlers approached her.

"Butler #358! My man!" Lisia smiled at him.

"My name is Manners, Ma'am." He answered.

"Yeah, yeah, what's the report of today?" Lisia asked.

"Why, of course, Ash Ketchum spy report, day 5." The man pulled out a paper.

Wait, uh, we need an clarification there, Lisia was spying on Ash? Yeah, well, only recently, to put it simple, after she retired, she returned home and turned the TV, resting on her Altaria as a pillow, suddenly a thought came to her: "...I'm still single." That was something that had bothered for a while, but it suddenly became more important, sure, she was still pretty famous, she could probably get any man if she wanted, but it was the classic 'They'll only love me for my status' situation, Brendan seemed like the perfect choice since they had already met before she became an idol, but he had a girlfriend already, and he was one of Lisia's dearest friend, she'd never do him wrong... so she centered her sight on Ash. Although that was only because her uncle Steven mentioned Ash was in Galar so she grew interested and did the most reasonable thing she could think off... send a group of spies to tell him what he was doing. Why, you ask? Because she had the money to do so!

"Ehem, let us start." Manners continued. "While we lost track of them after they left Wyndon, we found them again in Stow-on-the-Other-Side, at around 7:30 AM, Ash and Bea left the Stow-on-the-Other-Side Center and flew on a flying taxi directly to Hulbury, your spies followed them and they arrived to the Gym Leader Nessa's mansion around at 8:00 AM, but she was battling a challenger in her Gym so they had to wait for her, Ash and Bea then meet up with two friends of the Gym Leader, Professor Sonia and the Kalos Gym Leader Valerie, they then discussed the origins of Ash's Flabébé, continuing, Nessa returned home and took Ash to talk alone, presenting him the Lapras he once set free, which was now in Nessa's care. After quite a wholeheartedly talk with Ash trying to reject her feelings, they kiss, and then are confronted by Bea."

"Wow, that sounds straight from a novel." Lisia said. "Glad I had this idea, Ash life is way more interesting than mine."

"Oh, but I have not finished, Miss Lisia."

"There's more?" Lisia asked.

"Indeed, after the confrontation, Ash claimed to love Nessa as much as he loves Bea, and the three get to an agreement, Nessa and Bea are currently both Ash's girlfriends."

"The what?!" Lisia exclaimed.

"As you heard." Manners nodded.

"So Ash is having more than one girlfriend." Lisia said. "Hmm...this seems like the perfect way to mess up with May."

"Oh, but I thought you were in good terms with the lady."

"That doesn't mean we aren't rivals anymore." Lisia answered. "Annoying May a little wouldn't be so bad."

"I suppose, so you're gonna tell May about this situation?"

"Nope, I have something else in mind." Lisia continued. "Tell the spies to retire... Uncle Steven is still in Galar, right?"

"Correct Miss, he's currently on the Wyndon Pokemon school giving a talk to some students along The Gym Leader Roxanne as far as I know, I remember you though, the two of them are in a stone hunting expedition onward to Circhester, so they'll probably leave Wyndon soon."

"Well, tell him to wait and prepare himself for me to tag along!" Lisia exclaimed standing up and scratching. "I've been considering exploring anyway."

"What are you planning Miss?" The butler asked.

"I'm gonna be Ash Ketchum's next girlfriend!" Lisia smiled with her signature 'cute' pose.

"I see...but are you sure about that Miss?"

"You mean about the sharing thing?" Lisia asked.

"Not exactly. Even if you have retired, your schedule is somewhat busy, plenty of interviews and all that, you think you can balance that with a relationship?"

"Please. It's not like Ash will be my priority at all times. I'm sure he can handle himself so I can just toss him away whenever I need it and then pick him back up later, the other girls will help keeping him busy."

"Well, that's...quite the plan."

"Prepare my things!" She ordered.

"A-As you wish."

Wyndon Pokemon School, Galar.

"All right, kids. And that's how I helped the people of Kalos defeat the Zygarde Giant Rock, one of the most dangerous things this world has ever seen." Steven talked to a classroom, standing in front of the students along Roxanne. "Any questions?" He asked and plenty of students raised their hands so he picked one. "Uh... Yeah. Girl with the sad eyes." He pointed at her.

"My name is Regina." She said rather annoyed. "You mentioned that Diantha and you cleared the way for Ash and Alain and then you two were trapped by the vines, right?"

"Correct." Steven nodded.

"And why didn't you, like, break yourself free?" Regina asked.

"Well, I did set myself free later thanks to Metagross, but I thought it'd be better to leave it to Ash and Alain." The champion explained.

"Why? You're a regional champion whose skills are world-recognized and they were literally two teens." She continued. "Wouldn't it had been better that you kept intervening?"

"...No." Steven answered. "I trusted them and it worked, sometimes it's not that bad to be the supporting character. Anything else?"

"Have you ever met Lance?" Another kid asked.

"Have you ever raised your hand?" Steven asked back and the kid did so.

"There. Yeah, I have met Lance." Steven answered. "And like everybody else who's ever met him, I think he's a bit dramatic sometimes."

"What about Cynthia?" Another student raised his hand.

"Oh, yes, Cynthia's great, she's got this whole stone cold beauty thing, you know?" Steven answered.

"How about Alder?" Yet another student raised her hand.

"Alder's nice, a bit of a weirdo sometimes though." Steven said. "Don't tell Wallace about this, but I'm almost sure Alder spent an entire party eye-effing me from across the room."

"Steven!" Roxanne scolded him. "That's not proper!"

"Please Roxanne, all of these students are at least 15, they hear worst things in their homes." Steven defended himself. "Besides I said, "Effing". Any more questions?... Yeah, Kalosian tuxedo."

"Does your Metagross have a nickname?" The kid asked.

"Yes, it does! That's a great question!" Steven clapped. "My Metagross' nickname is Meta." As Steven said this another student raised his hand. "Yeah, you Akaninger cosplayer."

"Why is your Metagross's nickname so unoriginal?" He asked.

"Think you can do better?" Steven asked.

"How about Legion, for he is many?" The student suggested.

"...Damn it, that's better." Steven admitted. "Any more questions?"

"Did you become champion legitimately?" Regina raised her hand again.

"Why, of course." Steven assured. "Why the question?"

"I'm just saying, since the past champion is now your husband, one of could think you two had some kind of agreement." Regina explained.

"Guess that makes sense, but no. I defeated Wallace in a fair battle, our relationship had nothing to do with it."

"Do you want to be my dad?" Another kid asked.

"What?"

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but does anyone have a question for me?" Roxanne raised her hand. "None of you have asked me anything so far."

"...Who even are you?" One of the students said.

"Y-Your teacher introduced me to you along Steven earlier." She sighed. "Uh, my name is Roxanne Petra, I'm the Gym Leader of Rustboro City in Hoenn."

"...Who cares?" The same student asked.

"Uh, don't you have any questions about being a Gym Leader?" Roxanne asked.

"Well, what do you do?" Regina asked.

"Oh, well, as a Gym Leader I mostly just stay in my Gym waiting for challengers to come and then I battle them." Roxanne explained.

"...And then?"

"Well, if they win I give them a badge, and that's pretty much it."

"Why's being a Gym Leader so boring?" The same student asked.

"Why are you my least favorite kid in this class?" Roxanne asked back.

"Because I can see right through you, and I know you're a loser!" He responded and most of the students laughed.

"Yeah, being a Gym Leader sounds lame." Another student began.

"You don't fight important people."

"You don't travel regularly."

"You don't even fight gods, can you guys believe this?" The students laughed again and Roxanne sighed defeated.

"Uh...Alright kids, that was a great session." The teacher stood next to the Hoenn natives. "It's time for recess, say thank you to our special guests."

"Thank you, Steven!" They all said.

"...Sure." Roxanne rolled her eyes.

"It was a pleasure everyone, how about some high fives, huh?" Steven stood next to the door and the students high fived with him as they left the classroom.

"Why did I accept coming with you?" Roxanne asked.

"Well, you're a teacher, I thought you'd like it." Steven answered.

"I'm a teacher to my students." Roxanne replied. "To these ones I'm probably worth less than a substitute, and let me tell you, that's really low."

"Well, sorry about that." Steven replied and his Phone then ringed. "Give me a sec...butler #358! how are you dude?"

Steven left the classroom as well and Roxanne was the only one that stayed there, she sighed again and sat in one of her students desks, without much else to do, she looked in her purse and pulled the same magazine from the other day, going directly to the page with Ash. "Hmm... I wonder how he'd look in a teacher uniform... yeah, I definitely have a problem." She blushed after hearing herself and imagining the situation. "...I wonder if he'd be into paddling too..."

"Uh, excuse me." A feminine voice called her back to reality.

"Y-YES!" Roxanne quickly closed the magazine and looked at a student standing in front of her, doing her best to calm down. "Y-Yes, can I h-help you? Uh..."

"My name is Koharu, but you can call me Chloe if you prefer." She introduced herself. "I'd like to apologize for my classmates' disrespect, they can be really annoying at times, but I personally enjoyed your explanations."

"My, thank you, but I didn't do much, they do have a point, being a Gym Leader can look boring when you give it a first thought."

"I don't think so." Chloe answered. "After all, you're a key step in many trainer's career, Gym Leaders are really important."

"Wow, thanks." Roxanne smiled. "Are you planning to be a Gym Leader too perhaps?"

"I'm still not sure about what I'd like to do." Chloe answered. "I've been considering lots of things, but I don't have a chosen path just yet, just like my Eevee, she just can't decide in what she'd like to evolve to...can I ask why did you become a Gym Leader, Miss?" That question caused Roxanne to let a short chuckle. "Uh, did I say something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no, not at all." Roxanne answered. "Not many people call me Miss, it makes me feel old sometimes, but I kinda like it, now, to answer your question, I'm not just a Gym Leader, I've been a teacher in Rustboro trainer's school since I was 14."

"Fourteen?!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Yup, imagine everyone's faces when they first saw me enter the classroom, most of the teachers used to call me 'Mrs. Young' jokingly, it was fun, as for the Gym... well, the Hoenn League proposed to built a Gym in Rustboro and the teachers and I agreed with a condition, it had to be connected to the school, we wanted filmed matches for the student to learn, some live fights, even some work in the Gym for students to grow, and they accepted, the council of the school then chose me as the Gym Leader and well, I'll admit I was hesitant as first."

"And why did you accept?" Chloe asked.

"For the same reason I first became a teacher, to help young trainers forge a better future for everyone." Roxanne said. "As you said, I'm a key step for many trainers and I'm proud of that."

"So in the end, you knew what you wanted to from the start, wish I had that luck."

"I'm sure you'll find something that suits you, Chloe."

"I hope so." She sighed.

"Do you have any main options at least?" Roxanne asked.

"I guess, well, the three basics would be trainer, coordinator and breeder, they all have their perks but it's hard to choose, then there's the fact that my parents work in a lab and I literally live there, but I don't think that's for me...but maybe I'm just exaggerating, I mean, if I become a professor that'd make them happy, but...would it make me happy?"

"Wow, those are plenty of buts." Roxanne giggled.

"What did I tell you?" Chloe shook her head. "I've been a serious mess lately."

"Alright Roxanne, change of plans." Steven walked back into the classroom. "We'll be staying in Wyndon for today."

"Why exactly?" Roxanne asked.

"Apparently, Lisia wants to join us in the expedition so she told me to wait for her here, she'll be taking the next flight from Hoenn to the Wyndon airport."

"Lisia, the excontest champion?!" Chloe exclaimed and the two looked at her. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to overhear you!"

"It's fine, don't worry." Steven said. "But yeah, that's the Lisia."

"You mentioned contests as one of your options." Roxanne said to Chloe. "Perhaps meeting Lisia could help you decide."

"Hmm, maybe..." Chloe said.

"But now that I think about it, Steven, she rejected your offer to come with us before we left Hoenn." Roxanne said. "And I really doubt your niece would want to look for rock with us, she's not the type who likes to get her hands dirty."

"Yeah, I think I can make myself the idea why she wants to come to Galar." Steven smiled. "Perhaps the same reason you've been carrying that magazine around with you."

"It just took me off guard seeing Ash in a suit, alright?!" Roxanne blushed.

"Well, if my suspicions are correct, Lisia has been taken a little off guard by him as well." Steven replied. "So, at least it'll be amusing to see you two fight for Ash's heart."

"I have no intention of fighting." Roxanne said firmly. "I just want to talk with Ash, and if doesn't work out, it'd simply mean it wasn't meant to be, I'm not fond of drama."

"Of course, well, Lisia is far more persistent, if she really likes him, she could take things a bit too far... she's quite scary sometimes. Anyway, let's find an hotel to stay, shall we?"

"Right behind you." Roxanne stood up from the chair. "It was a pleasure to talk with you, Chloe. It cheered me up, thank you."

"Pleasure was mine, Miss Roxanne." She answered. "Hope we can meet again soon."

"Sure, maybe we could visit your parents' lab later." Roxanne said.

"Eh...the last time a champion visited us it didn't go exactly smooth." Chloe laughed nervously. "I lost my ID and while Ash tried to give it back, I misunderstood things, I called the police because I thought he was going to attack me."

"Well, that's a little exaggerated." Steven said and Chloe nodded ashamed.

"So you already met with Ash?" Roxanne asked. "How, uh, H-How is he?"

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"I-I mean...has he changed?" Roxanne asked.

"That was just when I meet him so I wouldn't be able to judge, but...a friend of mine travelled with Ash for a while and he seemed...just like she said, he's really kind and polite, even with people who were aggressive towards him."

"I see...either way, I'm really looking forward to seeing him again." Roxanne smiled. "Thanks again, Chloe. Be safe." She said as she left the room along Steven.

"You too." Chloe waved at them as they left. "Hmm... I really misjudged Ash, apparently everyone thinks he's a fine individual... Perhaps we could spent some time together next time we meet, maybe he could help me decide what I want to be...but why am I suddenly thinking like that about him?"

Back in Hulbury.

The rest of the night went rather smoothly for Ash, Bea and Nessa, the trio woke up almost at the same and they had a pretty normal breakfast, but Valerie was still nowhere to be seen. Nessa then suggested to show the city to the two and they accepted, Ash was now waiting outside the main door of Nessa's mansion along Pikachu, waiting for his girlfriends to finish preparing themselves.

"And that's what happened..." Ash gave his partner the best resume he could make of what happened with Nessa, considering he stayed in Valerie while it all happened.

"Kapi..." The mouse held his head after hearing the whole thing, not like he was judging Ash, polygamy was something rather common for Pokemon, but this was the first time he saw it in human, he was rather thinking. 'Why did we have all that drama if you were going to accept them all anyway?' But he was glad Ash had settled with something.

"I know it sounds crazy, but well, we survived the first day." Ash said. "I have to make this work, I need to."

"Thanks for waiting, Ash." Bea called him as she came out of the door, wearing her simple white shirt and a short black skirt, along white/orange sport shoes.

"N-Not a skirt." Ash blushed and tried to look away embarrassed.

"Yes, a skirt." Bea smiled and walked to him to held his chin. "I may be okay with this, but I'm gonna make sure you focus of me, even if you don't want this to be a competition."

"S-Sounds fair." Ash admitted.

"Alright guys, we're ready to go." Nessa called them and came out of the door as well, the Gym leader was wearing a pair of denim shorts, along a red sleeveless shirt, red sandals and a straw hat. "How I do look, Ash?"

"Y-You, uh, N-Nessa, you look beautiful." He stuttered blushing and Nessa laughed at this.

"T-This is so exciting, our first date together!" She exclaimed happily taking Ash's hands. "W-Where should we even start? Where would you guys like to go?"

"I don't know, this is your city after all." Ash answered. "Why don't you guide us?"

"Hmm, there's plenty of things to do in Hulbury. Listen, for now, let's just go for a stroll together, if you see something you like in the way we'll stop by, how does that sound?"

"Let's give that a try." Bea accepted.

"Sounds great, but one thing first." Ash looked at Pikachu. "I want you to stay with Valerie and take care of her, ok?"

"Pika?" The mouse raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, she's just been a little weird, I want to make sure everything's okay, so you and Flabébé stay with her, got it?" Ash said.

"Chu!" He nodded.

"Hmp, thank you Ash, I still haven't got a chance to talk with Valerie." Nessa said. "Say Pikachu, are you fine with me being Ash's girlfriend?"

"Pi..." Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulders to Nessa and she caught him in her arms, Pikachu then looked up at her and smiled. "Kapi!"

"Aww, thank you!" Nessa hugged him rather tight and Pikachu did his best to suppress the instinct of electrocute her, while this happened, he glared angrily at Bea, still not forgiving him for what she did, if anything, Pikachu would rather have Ash dating any girl in the world except for Bea.

"Guess I deserve that." Bea sighed. Pikachu then ran back to the mansion to go to Valerie's room."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll forgive you." Ash tried to cheer Bea up.

"I hope so Ash, I really do..." Bea answered.

"Forgive you for what?" Nessa asked.

"Uh..."

"We'll tell you about it another time." Bea replied and the trio began with their date in the city, taking a stroll at the harbor street of Hulbury.

"I love this place." Nessa talked as she looked at the sea. "I've lived my whole life close to ocean, there just something charming about the big deep blue, to think we still haven't explored even a fifth of the se-" While Nessa was distracted with her fantasy, a blue Pokemon suddenly jumped on top of her head and then landed in front of the three trainers.

"Oh, hey, A Froa-"

"YOU!" Nessa pointed angrily at the Froakie.

"That's the same Froakie from where we were fishing?" Bea asked.

"It is!" Nessa exclaimed. "He's been running around the city since then, and he escapes me every damn time!"

While Nessa complained, the Froakie rolled his eyes and began to jump away.

"Get back here, you discount Tympole!" Nessa shouted as she started to run after the frog.

"Nessa, wait!" Ash followed her.

"Of course..." Bea sighed and followed her as well.

Nimbasa City, Unova.

"Ingo disappeared?" Skyla asked.

"Yeah, some days ago." Elesa answered. "Emmet said he was doing his usual work and Ingo simply wasn't there a second later."

"But how's that possible? Ingo would never leave without telling Emmet."

"Tell me about it." Elesa sighed. "I've known those two for a while and you're right, they always know where the other is, there's no way Ingo would just leave like that...I've never seen Emmet so concerned, everyone in Nimbasa is worried and I... I feel like they're counting on me to do something."

"I'll try to help as I can, you know you can grab a lot of information while flying, I'm also friends with some Search and Rescue pilots, maybe we could organize an aerial search for him."

"Sounds good." Elesa nodded. "We already have some search teams in the Nimbasa outlets looking for him, but Emmet doesn't like them, he says that kind of things are only when people are looking for...you know."

"Hey, don't be sad." Skyla put a hand over her friend's shoulder. "Why don't we take a ride in the Ferris Wheel? That always cheers you up."

"I guess I could give it a try to clear my head."

"Then let's g...hey, wait a sec, the Ferris Wheel..." Skyla thought for a second until she finally remembered what happened last time they were in the Ferris Wheel. "...TOO YOUNG FOR ME, HUH?!"

"I really thought that airhead of yours will make you forget." Elesa sighed.

"S-So you like Ash too?!" Skyla shouted.

"Yes I do, but Skyla, that really isn't my priority at the moment."

"That's not fair, Shirley!" Skyla suddenly made a pout. "First you escape the conversation and now you're using Ingo as an excuse! Are we seriously not going to talk about this?!"

"Well, what's there to say? You like a boy who's younger than you." Elesa said.

"What's wrong with that?!" Skyla blushed embarrassed. "If he can travel the whole world with no issue then he can date a girl slightly older than him, he's probably more mature than me in any case!"

"That I can confirm." Elesa rolled her eyes.

"And what are you looking at me like that for?!" Skyla shouted. "Y-You're even older than me and you want to stick to that seventeen year old too, don't you?!"

"Please, we both know you're just gonna use your body as a lure to get what's on his pants, I just want to get closer to him, because I know he's beautiful in the inside too, so don't group me with you, you deviant."

"WHO'S A DEVIANT?!" Skyla shouted.

"Pfft, I really needed this." Elesa smiled.

"Miss Elesa!" Another voice called running at them.

"Wait a...Bianca?!" Skyla asked.

"Uh, yes, very nice to see you Miss Skyla." She answered. "It's been quite a while."

"Girl, you look...so cute in glasses!" Skyla exclaimed holding her cheeks.

"W-Well, thanks." Bianca answered embarrassed. "They're mostly for reading, but I do think they suit me nicely."

"What are you doing here?" Skyla continued.

"Bianca is my new manager." Elesa answered.

"She what?"

"Correct, since I'm not much focused in battles anymore, Miss Elesa offered me this work some weeks ago." Bianca explained. "it seemed like a great opportunity, besides, I wanted to repay her for the help she gave me with my father. I also work with professor Juniper in her lab."

"Bianca, please tell me you have good news." Elesa said.

"I don't, unfortunately." Bianca answered. "There's no trace of Ingo, it's like he was swallowed by the earth."

"Don't say such a thing." Elesa held her head.

"But I have some more or less news tho!" Bianca continued.

"Like what?" Skyla asked.

"I told an old friend of mine about Ingo's disappearance, she works for an organization of elite trainers and researchers, I can't promise anything, but if we get lucky she might get us some help."

"Wow, who would have thought you had contacts, Bianca?" Skyla said.

"Well, I have some too." Elesa said. "I've been trying to get as much help as possible, early today I was calling my friend Nessa in Galar, but she didn't answer, huh, she must be busy with something important."

"Oh, I met with Miss Nessa while I traveled to Galar." Bianca pointed out. "She seemed like such a calm and composed person."

Meanwhile with Nessa.

"Golisopod, First Impression! Bring me his head!" Nessa released the Bug type and this dashed forward instantly, but the Froakie quickly jumped out of the way causing him to miss the mark and hit a building. The Froakie then tossed plenty of Frubbles, restraining Nessa's Golisopod and leaving him stuck to the wall.

"Not that thing again!" Nessa complained. "Argh, Barbaracle, Shell Smash!" Nessa released the bivalve and this used the ordered move, boosting his attack and speed. "Now Razor Shell!" She ordered but Froakie tossed the Frubbles to Barbaracle's head's eyes, and with their leader incapacitated, each limb tried to move on its own causing the body to fall down.

"Oh, come on!" Nessa ranted as the Froakie jumped away to an old harbor. "It doesn't matter what I do, he knows how to counter each of my Pokemon!"

"It's seems like he has no trouble fighting enemies bigger than him." Ash said preparing a Poke Ball. "Let's try this then. Grookey, I choose you!"

"Well, guess I'll help too." Bea pulled out a Dive Ball. "Clobbopus, let's crash!" She called and the Pokemon stood side by side.

"Bea!" Nessa ran to hug her. "You really kept him despite everything, thank you!"

"Uh, yeah, well, Clobbopus seemed nice and all that." Bea answered embarrassed. "So, thank you for giving him to me."

"I knew that little one suited you!" Nessa smiled.

"Girls, I'm glad you're getting along, but the Froakie is escaping." Ash pointed out.

"Let's get him! Clobbopus, Mud shot!" The octopus jumped and shot a barrage of mud in front of the frog, stopping Froakie's run.

"Grookey, use Branch Poke!" Grookey's stick illuminated with a green light and then elongated as a staff, he the dashed at the Froakie and tried to smack him, but Froakie put his hands together summoning a short white knife to defend himself and slash Grookey down.

"Well, doesn't that bring back some memories?" Ash smiled looking at the Froakie. "Grassy Surge!" Grookey smacked the end of his stick on the street, covering the place in a grassland.

"Now Grassy Slide!" Grookey jumped forward at high speed and stabbed Froakie directly with his stick as a spear, knocking down the frog.

"Clobbopus, Bind!" The octopus jumped on top of Froakie and held both his arms immobilizing him. "Go for it, Nessa!"

"Let's do it! Dive Ball, go!" Nessa tossed the ball, but despite being held, the Froakie managed to do just the right hand movements to form a black orb between his hands, he then tossed the orb to the floor, summoning a Smoke Screen, the smoke caused Clobbopus to let him go and once Froakie was free he tossed some Frubbles to stop the Poke Ball and then slashed the octopus several times, leaving him knocked out, Grookey then jumped in and tried to attack, but the Froakie tossed another Smoke Bomb right on his face, he then blocked his vision with some Frubbles and slashed him down several times as well, leaving Grookey defeated too. Froakie then jumped out of the smoke and landed on top of a light pole afterwards, looking down at the trio.

"He really doesn't want to get caught." Bea said as Ash and her returned their Pokemon.

"That only makes we want to catch him more." Nessa smiled excited. "Hmm... I'd like to fight him myself, but he already saw all my Pokemon and knows how to fight them."

"How about you burrow my Dewott?" Ash offered his Poke Ball. "He's a Water Type too, maybe he'll suit your style."

"Let's give it a try." Nessa accepted the offer. "Dewott, on stage!" She called onto the otter who looked at Ash and then at her. "Alright, Dewott, I'll be needing your help for this one, ok?" Nessa asked and the Unova starter nodded.

"Dewott's moves are Razor Shell, Air Slash, Aqua Jet and Trump Card." Ash explained.

"Got that." Nessa nodded. "Ready for another round, Froakie?"

"Fro..." The frog jumped out of the light pole and prepared another cut blade.

"Let's do this, Razor Shell!" Nessa ordered and Dewott jumped forward to attack, Froakie did his best to counter, but Dewott's bigger swordsman experience gave him a quick advantage and he knocked down Froakie after some slashes. "Great, use Trump Card!"

Dewott summoned six glowing cards and the one he chose turned his Scalchop into a Leaf Blade. "Go for it!" Nessa cheered on and Dewott attacked, knocking Froakie down again. The frog then tossed varios Frubbles that got stuck Dewott's arms, restraining his moves. "Use Aqua Jet!" Dewott jumped in the air and the water washed away the Frubbles, he then bashed Froakie with the attack knocking it down a third time.

"You got this Nessa!" Ash cheered on.

"Kie!" Froakie summoned one Cut blade on each hand and joined them into a longer katana-like blade as he ran towards Dewott.

"Air Slash!" Dewott responded and both water starters slashed through each other, Dewott then put his Scalchops back on his hips and smiled satisfied, a few seconds later, Froakie feel down with swirls on his eyes.

"Here it goes again, Dive Ball!" Nessa tossed another ball and after the three signature wags, the sparks took place confirming the capture.

"I caught a Froakie!" Nessa celebrated. "Thank you, Dewott!" She said taking the otter in a hug.

"Great work." Ash smiled.

"Not bad at all." Bea admitted.

"Heh, thanks you guys." Nessa let go of Dewott and hugged the two. "This was a work of the team." Nessa then released Froakie and the Kalos starter jumped on top of her head giving a sigh but nodding.

"You finally gave up." Nessa smiled again. "Welcome to the gang, I'll take care of you!"

"I'm happy you finally caught him." Ash smiled at Nessa and then looked up at the frog. "I haven't seen a Froakie a while, I mean, it wasn't that long ago, but it's a little nostalgic you know?"

"You mean your Greninja, right?" Bea asked remembering the stories Ash told her.

"I saw your battles in the Kalos league." Nessa said. "Too bad you lost, but you two were amazing in sync, it was really inspiring and one of the reasons I wanted to have my own Froakie, I'd love to see what you and Greninja can do with my own eyes."

"I'd like to show you, but my Greninja is still in Kalos." Ash answered.

"Well, Valerie will be back to Kalos in a month or so." Nessa answered. "Maybe we could all go with her."

"Sounds great." Ash agreed. "I was planning to go back to Kalos at some point anyway, I promised my friend Korrina I'd go to visit her."

"Korrina's the Shalour Gym Leader, right?" Nessa asked. "Valerie told me about her coworkers, I heard she's a really good friend of yours."

"She definitely is." Ash smiled.

"Let me guess, she's also in your to-do list." Bea said.

"I wouldn't say that, but I definitely need to talk with her." Ash answered. "And it's not exactly a to-do list, I just... I feel responsible for them to an extent, you know?"

"Well, it makes me glad you're so responsible then." Nessa smiled at him and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "Thanks again for the chance, for everything." She told him as she took one of his hands and stood by his side. "And thanks to you, Bea."

"Yeah, it's fine." Bea answered taking Ash's free hand. "I suppose you're not that annoying." Bea looked away for a moment and Ash took the chance to plant a kiss on her lips.

"H-Hey!" She was about to complain but Ash's smile stopped her rant.

"What? I haven't kissed you in a while." Ash was now the one to use the teasing look on her and leave Bea blushing.

"Now that's a side of you I want to see more often." Nessa hugged him from behind. "But do you really think you can beat two girls in a flirting game?"

"Huh, yeah Ash." Bea smiled and hugged him from the front to then kiss him. "Can you really handle both of us?"

"G-G-Girls, as much as I'm enjoying this I don't think we should do this in public." Ash stuttered blushing to the limit.

"Please Ash, there's nobody here besides us." Nessa said.

"Uh, I'm here too actually." Another voice called, the trio looked in the direction where it was coming from and they found Peonia looking at the scene.

"Uh, S-Sorry to break the moment girls, but I need to talk with Ash." Peonia continued and the two girlfriends parted away embarrassed.

"Uh, Nia..." Ash paused to find the right words to explain, he didn't expect to find any of the girls so soon. "T-This is-"

"It's fine, please don't worry, I-I know already." Peonia interrupted.

"You do?" Nessa asked.

"Yes, I..." Peonia looked at Bea and nessa. "You're both with him now, correct?"

"Y-Yeah, that's how things are." Nessa answered.

"Guess there's no point in denying." Bea said. "We're still a work in progress, but yup."

"Yes Nia, they're both my girlfriends." Ash added.

"I see...but Ash, can you really make this work?" Peonia asked.

"I'll admit I'm not 100% sure, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes for the sake of both of them." Ash answered. "And I've been thinking about you too, about your confession and that kiss."

"I've been thinking a lot about you too, like you have no idea...I-If this is how things are then..." Peonia looked at them and took a deep breath. "Ash, w-would it be okay if I become your girlfriend too?"

Meanwhile in Kalos.

"You know Diantha? When you said I could spend my vacations in Kalos with you, I really didn't think we'd seize the day exploring an evil team's old base."

"Sorry Cynthia, but I received an alert about this place so it's my duty to answer it."

"Don't talk me about duties right now." Cynthia sighed.

The two champions were walking the halls of an abandoned Team Flare base, while Diantha's Gardevoir led them using flash to illuminate the place, they were responding to a denounce of 'suspicious activity', the duo eventually made it to a room full of screens, but everything was turned off as there was no power in the building.

"Hmm I haven't been in this place before." Diantha said. "There could be things of interest here, I need to check those computers."

"How exactly?" Cynthia asked. "Everything here looks burnt and dead."

"Watch and learn." Diantha took her purse and pulled out a small red cube with the image of Team Flare's logo and a USB port in each one the its faces. Diantha then connected the cube to a computer and every single one of the screens turned on at the same time, along with the lights of the roof, the air conditioner and every other device in the building.

"What in the f-"

"This cube is a gadget called King's Credential." Diantha interrupted as she took a chair and started to scroll the files of one of the computers. "It's like a master key, but better, it has full control of all the devices designed by Team Flare, it was built by and for Lysandre, but Malva snatched it before the Zygarde incident and then she gave it to me before she was arrested to help me dismantle everything."

"Well, that thing sounds quite convenient." Cynthia answered.

"It is." Diantha answered. "It also serves as a USB more or less, it had plenty of blueprints, I've also been recollecting a lot of information of Team Flare after it all happened and I'm storing it there."

"I see, but what are you looking for exactly right now?"

"Well, as I mentioned, I've been recollecting a lot of information, I've been in many other of their labs before." The actress answered as she looked the files. "Team Flare did plenty of things that honestly scare me, an experiment to gain eternal life, a mass destruction weapon test, even an experiment to force and maintain Mega-evolutions on wild Pokemon...but this is the one that I'm interested the most at the moment."

Diantha opened a graphic that showed a black sleeveless combat suit, with long black shoes and gloves, along a black electronic helmet, which glowed out an orange "E" letter.

"This is one of the last of Team Flare's experiments." Diantha continued. "Codename: Essentia."

"A spandex suit?" Cynthia said.

"That is not spandex. The material is a self-assembling nano-fiber formed with an intercellular shape memory alloy." Diantha answered. "Anyway, the person who used the suit is the problem. Her name is Emma Matiere." The champion showed a profile picture of the girl in the computer, she had dark skin, violet eyes and curly black hair tied in pigtails. "From what I've learned she was captured and brainwashed by Team Flare, they made various experiments on her, like a lab rat."

"And with what intend?" Cynthia asked.

"You know about the main objective of Team Flare, right? Similar to what you faced against Cyrus, Lysandre here tried to create a "perfect new world" by eliminating the current one."

"Now I'm wondering if those were roommates in college or something." Cynthia said.

"The important thing is, Emma was a prototype on experiments to make the perfect humans for that world." Diantha explained. "She was biologically modified to an atomic level, the suit gave her enhanced speed and strength but it's more for disguise than anything, the experiments gave her powers of her own."

"What do you mean with powers?" Cynthia kept asking, feeling a mix of worry, surprise and interest.

Diantha sighed and showed video footage of Emma using the suit. "There's plenty of things she can do. First off, she can harness elemental energy, to put it simple she can use several Pokemon attacks, she can also render herself intangible, change her physical appearance at will and generate extreme amounts of power, but that "success" wasn't enough, Team Flare ran field tests on her too, they weaponized her, she stole for them, she spied for them...she killed for them, and she wasn't even aware of anything, it's like the rest of her mind turned off while his brain focused only on her mission, but she saw the reports, she knows what she did unfortunately...the main problem was that the more she used her powers, the more inestable they became."

"And where is she now?"

"...First I need you to see something." Diantha opened the files inside the King's Credential and looked for a video she had saved. "This was recorded two days before Team Flare's attack."

The video that Diantha opened showed Team Flare Admin Xerosic in a laboratory, while Emma was behind him, sitting inside a glass cell wearing the Essentia suit, bar the helmet, which was in Xerosic's hands.

"Dr. Xerosic reporting." He talked to the screen. "213 hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds since... "the glitch"... Subject declining rapidly. All procedural interventions have failed. Outcome would be death...what a shame, all this time and resources wasted."

"P-Please, I don't want to do this anymore." Emma talked in a weak voice.

"Did I say you could speak?!" Xerosic shouted.

"N-No, wait, I-I'm sorry-"

"Perhaps we should fix that with a controlled shock." Xerosic pressed a button in a nearby keypad.

"No, no, no-!" The cell began to electrocute Emma, but she managed to absorbed the electricity for a moment." I won't let y-" Emma tried to stand up, but her body appeared to visually glitch and she ended up falling to the floor panting.

"Hmp, still impressing nonetheless." Xerosic admitted as he turned off the electrocution. "Regardless of your personal outcome, I see this as an absolute win, I've learned a lot from this experiments, the next test subjects won't have fails, but either way, you don't have to worry, you won't need to do this anymore, thanks to those glitches you stopped being of use for Team Flare."

"Please." She weakly lifted herself. "If I'm really not of use anymore, just let me go, I-I won't tell anyone."

"I'm giving you a chance to remain silent, Essentia."

"That is not my name!" Emma shouted.

"And she talks again..." Xerosic prepared another shock, but Diantha paused the reproduction.

"...I really don't think you want to see the rest of the video." She said.

"What happened to her?" Cynthia asked.

"Apparently, Xerosic left her to die alone in that lab during the Zygarde attack. Luckily, after Team Flare was defeated some grunts gave away locations, Emma was still holding on and Agent Looker took her with him."

"Did she die? What about that thing Xerosic said of her declining rapidly?"

"Emma is still alive, I told you, the main reason of her decay was her powers, but with the help of Looker and his agency they had managed to keep her under control...but that brings to my current problem, the reason I'm collecting all this data, Looker told me that despite being controlled, Emma suffered a big 'glitch' recently, she was...very close to dying and she's been having some weaker sequels since then. Looker is really worried, he told me the foundation is considering stop supporting Emma, but she's like a daughter to him, so he asked for my help in this, that's why I've been searching in Team Flare's old bases, hoping to find a solution for Emma, a cure perhaps."

"Well, after all you've told me, I'm definitely going to help as well."

"Thank you, well, the agency is from Sinnoh, maybe you can convince them to keep helping, but let's focus on here for now. Listen, pretty much all the computers in this place are working now, so here." Diantha gave her a USB. "Look for another room with computers and try to find some data, if you found anything about the suit or Emma herself download it, I'll check it up later."

"I can do that." Cynthia answered taking the device.

"Alright, I'll stay here with the King's Credential checking these ones, call me if anything happens."

"Sure." Cynthia nodded and left the room, walking around the halls of the building until she made it to what seemed to office of someone of authority, with a single big desk that had a computer on top of it. Like Diantha said, everything was turned on, even an old coffee machine, so Cynthia went to the computer and started to scroll, however after watching some of the files, Cynthia began to hear steps approaching the room. "Diantha, is that you?" She asked and the steps suddenly stopped.

Cynthia then walked out the room, but there was nothing to be seen in the halls. "Hmm..." The door of the office suddenly closed on its own, Cynthia didn't faze and quickly opened it and entered again, but there was still no one else but her. "We have to get out of here...Garchomp!" Cynthia released her ace and returned to check the files inside the computer, her Garchomp suddenly tensed and began to smell the area. "Do you sense anything, girl?"

"Chomp!" Garchomp shot a sudden Draco Meteor to a wall and this was countered by a giant Water Shuriken. A Greninja then came out of the shadows and looked at Cynthia.

"A Greninja?" Cynthia asked perplexed. The Greninja then looked at the computers next to her and tossed another Water Shuriken at them, but Garchomp stood in the way and stopped it, thinking he was aiming at Cynthia, and coincidentally, Cynthia thought the same. "I don't know what kind of sick Team Flare experiment you are, but you're not making it out of this alive! Use Scale Shot!"

Garchomp roared and several scales were sent flying from his body to Greninja, but he quickly dodged them all. Greninja then prepared another Water Shuriken and this froze solid after he tossed it, creating an icy explosion once it hit Garchomp.

"Uh, did you hear that?" Diantha asked to her Gardevoir and she nodded." Cynthia must be in trouble." Diantha then took the King's Credential and let her Gardevoir guide her.

"Stone Edge!" The fins on Garchomp's arms elongated and were covered in rocks, she then tried to use them as blades against Greninja, but the Water type countered with Night Slashes, landing a cut on the shark's face, which was followed by another Ice Shuriken that left Garchomp on the floor.

"Use Dragon Rush!" Cynthia ordered and Garchomp charged against the frog, but the latter dodged the move causing Garchomp to crash against the wall, the place then started to crumble and parts of the ceiling above Cynthia began to gave in and fell.

"Kouga!" Greninja shot another quick Shuriken destroying the debris and saving Cynthia.

"Did you just-"

"Chomp!" Garchomp tried to attack with her fins again, but Greninja tossed another Ice Shuriken right onto her chest, followed by a quick combo of punches and kicks powered by Aerial Ace and a quintuple Night Slash, all of them too fast for Garchomp to counter. The shark then fell down again and Greninja raised his arm, preparing another huge Ice Shuriken as Garchomp recovered.

"Greninja, wait!" Diantha finally made it to the room and stood in front of Garchomp along her Gardevoir. "It's me, Diantha! Please calm down, she's a friend!"

"...nin." Greninja stopped the move and lowered his arm.

"There." Diantha sighed relieved and then looked at Cynthia. "I leave you for what? Like 5 minutes and you just engage yourself into fighting!"

"H-He was the one who started!" Cynthia complained.

"And you continued..." Diantha gave her an accusing glare and then looked at the frog. "Nice to see you again Greninja, but what are you doing here?" Diantha looked at her Gardevoir and the Psychic's eyes illuminated, Greninja then began to talk and Gardevoir translated and transferred the words to Diantha's mind. "Got it, that makes sense."

"Uh, what am I missing?" Cynthia asked.

"Right, sorry, Gardevoir is translating for me, it seems like Greninja tends keep an eye on Team Flare's old bases to make sure nobody restarts their plans, he saw you in the computer and he thought you worked for them, so he apologies for fighting with you." Diantha explained.

"Well, apology accepted." Cynthia looked at Greninja. "I apologize too, I also jumped into conclusions." She said and Greninja nodded.

"I'm a little surprised we haven't met you until now, considering I also tend to check Team Flare's labs." Diantha said. "Anyway, glad I stopped you two before it was too late, I feel like this place could crumble to dust any second. Let's end the lookout and just leave."

"This is one of your Pokemon then?" Cynthia asked Diantha.

"Nope, this Greninja here belongs to Ash Ketchum." Diantha answered. "Ash left him here in Kalos to take care of the aftermath caused by Team Flare's attack."

"So one of Ash's Pokemon can go toe-to-toe with Garchomp on his own?" Cynthia asked surprised. "That's quite impressive."

"Take in consideration that Greninja is a special case." Diantha said. "He is one of Ash's strongest Pokemon, when they're in sync he can transform into an even more powerful form called Ash-Greninja, and I have to admit, if our battle hadn't been interrupted Greninja might have defeated my Mega-Gardevoir."

Greninja nodded proud at the statement while Gardevoir made a so-so gesture with her hand, the frog then rolled his eyes causing Gardevoir to giggle.

"Too bad we never got a chance for a rematch since Ash got second place in the Kalos league." Diantha continued.

"You almost lost to Ash?" Cynthia asked. "Hmm, seems like I missed a lot."

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't know about Greninja." Diantha said. "It was kind of the hot stuff during that League."

"Well, I haven't been as attentive to Ash as I'd like to be." Cynthia added. "I know what he did during the Zygarde incident, but I haven't heard anything of his trainer career since I met him in Unova."

"So you don't know he's a champion?" Diantha asked.

"...HE WHAT?!" Cynthia exclaimed moving her hair to look at Diantha directly with both her eyes.

"Hmph, I tend to forget that you do have a left eye." Diantha laughed. "Like, can you see through your hair or something?"

"ASH IS A CHAMPION?!" Cynthia shouted again.

"Yes, he won the first league in the region of Alola, thus becoming the first champion there."

"Ash, a champion..." Cynthia trailed off letting her hair in the usual position. "Wow, that's a lot to think about, I knew he had potential, but that's a pretty big deal. Why didn't Goodshow tell me about that?"

"He didn't tell me either, I just found out in a magazine some weeks ago." Diantha said. "Hopefully Ash can attend to our next meeting to give us an explanation. I mean, he must be the youngest person to ever become champion, someone will need to instruct Ash with his corresponding duties and responsibilities."

"Yes, he'll need help...well, maybe I could do that." Cynthia suggested. "I'm still in vacation and it'd be great to see Ash again too, I bet he's grown up quite a bit since the last time I saw him."

"You sound excited." Diantha giggled.

"Maybe I am." Cynthia smiled with a light blush.

"So that's how it is..." Diantha noticed the expression. "Cynthia, I'll admit he's quite charming and I don't want to judge you, but isn't he like half your age?"

"I've always preferred younger boys, they're better at keeping up my pace." Cynthia answered.

"...Alright, I'm gonna leave this room and pretend that didn't sound creepy at all." Diantha said.

"What? I don't think Ash would mind."

"Ash, Ash, Ash. Why does everything that happens in this world has to be about Ketchum?!" Another voice complained, the champions and their Pokemon then looked at the door of the office, finding an unexpected guest.

"Domino?!" Cynthia shouted.

"Oh, you've heard of me? I'm flattered." Domino answered releasing her Liepard and a Shiny Roserade.

"A Team Rocket agent?" Diantha asked looking at her uniform. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm glad you asked, because I'm obviously the type of person who goes around telling her evil plans to everyone." Domino answered.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...So?" Diantha asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you, bitch!" Domino shouted.

"Garchomp, Dragon Rush!" Cynthia ordered.

"Liepard, Copycat!" Liepard's eyes illuminated in black and white light and thanks to her Ability Prankster she performed the move herself before Garchomp could even charge it, knocking down the shark onto the desk with the computer and destroying it.

"Gardevoir, use Moonblast!" Diantha ordered.

"Roserade, Petal Blizzard!" The shiny Roserade spun in her place creating a tornado of black and purple roses that blocked the attack and knocked down the Gardevoir. "Sludge Bomb!" Domino ordered again and Roserade shot the move at Gardevoir but Greninja protected her with a Water Shuriken.

"Fine, we'll have it your way." Diantha activated her Key Stone and looked at Cynthia. "You follow me?"

"Don't need to ask." Cynthia took one of her hairpins, revealing her key stone and pressing it as well, Gardevoir and Garchomp both mega-evolved at the same time and stood side to side to Greninja ready to fight.

"You know, Domino? For someone who claims to be so smart, fighting against two champions on your own doesn't seem like the brightest idea you've had." Cynthia smiled. "You really think you can beat us with those little Pokemon of yours?"

"My dear Cynthia, who said anything about beating you?" Domino giggled. "Use Neurotox!"

Roserade combined her Sludge Bomb with a Stun Spore that Liepard then mixed with a Thunder Wave, both Pokemon then shot a Shadow Ball each and the moves turned into a poisonous cloud that surrounded Cynthia, Diantha and their Pokemon, the women tried to move out of the cloud, but the effects of the Paralysis moves immobilized their bodies.

"W-What- What's this?!" Cynthia shouted.

"Neurotox, Paralyzing Poison for the homies, a little experiment of mine." Domino smirked as the champions and their Pokemon fell to the floor coughing. "Don't worry girls, I only use it to slow down people, the effect will only last a few minutes, I have no intention of killing you... for now that is, but keep in mind that I could perfectly do it in this instant." She laughed. "Anyway, as fun as it was to meet you two, there's a reason I came here. Ingrain." Domino looked at Roserade and she tossed a few seeds to the ground, the seeds then grew into vines that dove into the cloud and came back with the King's Credential, giving the cube to Domino. "All of Team Flare's tech at my disposition, that Essentia girl you mentioned sounded really interesting, thank you for bringing this thingy to me, Miss Diantha." She laughed as she began to walk away.

"G-Give that back!" Diantha shouted between coughs.

"Sure, because telling will clearly help." Domino laughed.

"JAAAA!"

"What?" Domino looked back and Greninja jumped out of the cloud with his tongue wrapped fully around his head to cover nostrils and mouth, his tongue the returned to the usual while Greninja stood up, but the sparks of the paralysis were still surging from his body.

"Hmmm, that was quite derpy-looking, but intelligent I guess." Domino admitted. "You must be Ash's Greninja, pleasure to meet you, I've been keeping an eye on your trainer." As Domino said this, Greninja prepared a duo of Night Slashes and pointed then at her.

"Oh, worried about him?" Domino laughed. "Don't be, I'm not gonna hurt him just yet, but he and I have a little score to settle, so believe it or not, I can't wait to properly see him again... anyway, I suppose you won't let me go." Domino then looked up to the ceiling, noticing the cracks caused by the fight between Garchomp and Greninja. "Well, if you're truly one of Ash's Pokemon, that means you have his morals as well." Domino smirked and pulled out her tulip, turning it into a staff and pointing it at the roof as it charged a blast of electricity. "Your friends and you should get out of there, this building seems quite fragile, don't you think?"

Domino's staff finally shot an orb of electricity at the roof of the room and the whole place started to crumble. "Classic hero situation." Domino continued. "Stop the villain or help the poor people trapped in the fight, it's gotta be one or another, so, what are you gonna do?"

"Gre..." Greninja gave Domino an angry look, but ran back to the where the champions were.

"Pathetically predictable." Domino smirked as her Pokemon and her left the scene satisfied, outsmarting two champions and one of Ash's strongest Pokemon definitely was a huge boost to her ego, nevertheless, she kept shooting with her staff, destroying as most of the place as possible until she made it safely out of the falling building. "Said and done." Domino smiled holding the King's Credential in her hand as she walked away to her meeting point.

Back inside, Greninja quickly stood in front of the toxic cloud, summoning a big Shuriken and making it spin as a fan to blow away the gas, the ace Pokemon were the first to react, Garchomp covered the champions with his body, giving Gardevoir time to summon a psychic dome over them as the debris kept falling.

Once the dust settled down, Gardevoir put down the dome and the champions could already move again, the two stood up and looked around seeing how the whole building had collapsed.

"Close call, thank you for saving us, Greninja." Cynthia said.

"She took the King's credential..." Diantha clenched her fists. "And all the data I had collected about Emma and Team Flare inside it."

"There's no way this was a coincidence, she knew we were coming, she knew what we were going to do, she knew that you had the credential." Cynthia said. "Domino must have been the one who made the denounce, she lured us here."

"How could I be so stupid?" Diantha scolded herself. "I need to call Looker, Emma could be in danger."

"You heard what she said about Ash?" Cynthia asked. "What if he's in danger too?"

"Well find a way to contact him as well."

"If Domino dares to hurt him, I swear I'll kill her!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not the only woman who'd do that?" Diantha asked.

Somewhere in Sinnoh.

"So, how are reports, Looker?"

"I'm gonna be honest, Emma... these are way better than I expected."

Much like in the video, Emma was currently inside a glass cell, but she was wearing her usual clothes, a ragged blue blouse with a white collar, an orange skirt, ragged black pants, and orange shoes.

The place where she was confined also didn't look like a typical cell, it had a big bed, a TV, a fridge and other basics inside. Meanwhile, Looker was outside of it, with Emma's Espurr, Mimi, on his shoulder, both were glaring at some reports about Emma's recent decay.

"So, can I come out now?" Emma asked. "As comfortable as you make this place for me, I'd like some fresh air."

"Yes, it seems like you come out, and sorry about locking you here, but it's for your own safety, you know this cell neutralizes your powers when they become too much for you to handle, and it's either that or keeping you in the suit to do that."

"Listen, thanks for worrying, but I'm feeling fine." Emma assured. "I really don't think I need either of them to control my powers anymore."

"I'll admit you've grown to control them quite well." Looker smiled. "Fine, let's set you free, shall we?" Looker was about to open the cell with his ID, but then he received a call on his Rotom Phone, he left Mimi down in the floor and walked away from the cell, not wanting Emma or Mimi to hear whatever that was going to be, since whenever someone calls him directly it tended to be really bad news.

"Uh, yes Diantha?" He answered. "What? What do you mean... hey, hey, calm down, talk slowly...what? How did that happen? ...A-Are you sure, but that means...I see, thanks for telling me...please, inform me of whatever that happens." Looker cut the call and suddenly punched the wall, he then sighed and walked back to Emma's cell.

"L-Looker..." She noticed Looker couldn't bring himself to see her eye to eye. "What happens? What did they tell you?"

"I'm sorry..." He talked. "You have to stay in containment."

"B-But you just said I could come out!" Emma complained. "Y-You're gonna lie to me too now?!"

"Listen, there's been a change of plans, I can't let you out, it's dangerous."

"I can control the glitches!" She shouted. "It's no big deal! Y-You know I'd never hurt anyone again!"

"I know you wouldn't, but this isn't just about you!" Looker finally shouted. "There are people that could hurt you!"

"What?" Emma walked away from him. "...D-Don't tell me Team Flare-"

"No, it's not that." Looker interrupted. "It's something else...someone attacked Diantha and they took the King's Credential from her, all that data about Team Flare machines and experiments, you include sadly, all of that is the wrong hands now."

"Y-You think they'll try to-"

"They won't." Looker glared firmly at her. "they'll never get to you, not while you're under my care, I swear I'll keep you safe, I won't let anyone use you again... You trust me, right?"

"...You're the only I can trust, Looker."

"Thanks, say goodbye Mimi." He told the Pokemon and she waved at the girl. "I'll make personally sure you're well fed and comfortable as always, please try to rest."

Looker left the room and Emma sat in the floor hiding her face between her legs. Even if she was protected, even if Looker wanted the agency to feel like a home to her, most of the time it didn't feel any different from what she suffered in Team Flare's labs. "This nightmare will never end, right?" She asked herself.

And that's it!

Writing this chapter was harder than I'd like to admit, not saying I was pushing myself too hard, but as the first harem chapter I had a lot to think about, I hope it worked. Peonia is next and the next chapter will be a lot more focused in Ash and his girlfriends.

The Lumiose episodes were great, I totally expected Bonnie to ask Drasna the big question.

As for that leak, pfft, I don't even know what or who to believe anymore, guess I'll wait for the episode. But honestly, I don't want Serena to be in it, like, of course I want her to return, but not in an episode that's meant to be focused on Chloe and Lisia's debut.

Speaking of Lisia, you guys really thought that her calling Ash 'handsome' in chapter 24 was going to be a one-off? Yeah sure, Nessa calling him 'cutie' in chapter 2 was meant to be a one-off and look where I am now, I was just waiting for the moment.

Also, this is the longest chapter in the story so far, with 18,609 words, yes, including these ones, the previous longest chapter was 'Tomorrow starts today' with 16,836, while the second (now third) was 'To Each their own' with 16,526.

But well, enough numbers, I'll see you next time in "That specific issue", here's a little preview:

"Not in my watch, you Mr. boy scout, round-face, shorts wielding, clype deep bachle, gather uping blate maw, blethering gomeril Jessie, Oaf-lookin' schtooner, Nyaff plookie shan, Milk-drinking Soy-face shilpit, Mim-moothed, sniveling worm-eyed hotten blaugh, vile stoochie, cally-breek tattie!"