Pokémon Globe and Compass Season 1: Festival of the Jubilee - Oskarlee - Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (2024)

Chapter 1: A New Beginning (Part I)

Chapter Text

On a sunny day on a grassy field, a boy with black spiky hair, olive skin, and brown eyes was walking on a dirt trail with a yellow rodent Pokémon with a lightning-shaped tail on his shoulder. He wore a white T-shirt with a red stripe in the middle under a blue vest with yellow zippers, darker blue shorts, and black and red sneakers. He was also wearing a red cap with a white visor, a black round rectangular C with a green circle in the middle, and a green backpack on his back.

Eventually, he arrived at a slope and looked at the landscape below. Dozens of white houses with red rooves were scattered throughout the field, with some farms near them. The boy immediately realized where he was and smiled in joy.

"I'm back, Pallet Town!" "Pikachu~!" He shouted, and the rodent on his shoulder even waved its hand to the village. Excited, he sprinted to a compact wooden house with a fence around it.

"I'm home, Mom!" He said, opening the front door. A woman with brown hair and eyes was doing the dishes, wearing a pink cardigan on a yellow shirt and a cyan skirt.

"Oh! Welcome back, sweetie!" She reacted as soon as she saw the boy, hugging him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great! I decided to stop by Pallet Town for a minute."

"I see... Well, what a coincidence, Ash. Do you know what special day is today?"

"Special day? Hmm..." Ash wondered, rubbing his chin. "Pika~?" His rodent also did the same thing.

"It's your adventure's first anniversary!"

"Oh, right! So it has been a year since we first met, Pikachu?" "Pika, Pika!"

"Do you remember when you met with Pikachu and started your adventure?"

"My... Oh."

Just then, the woman took out a birthday cake from nowhere with two candles shaped like "1" on it.

"Happy birthday, Ash!"She congratulated, and a creature resembling a pink clown popped a confetti popper.

"Really? I'm eleven years old now?"

"Yeah, Ash! Blow the candles!" Ash blew the "1" shaped candles on the cake and the clown creature clapped.

Some minutes later, Ash was sitting at a table with his mom, the former talking about the adventures he had while he was away.

"...And so, I want to be friends with every Pokémon in this world! I have no regrets about every choice I've made and never will, but... There's one thing I'm irritated about."

"What is it, Ash?"

"You see, I've ventured to eight regions until now. It feels like I've faced the entire world, but it also feels like something still awaits me somewhere."

"So you want to find what that is, right?"

"Right." Ash's orange phone with a face on it started to ring."You've got a call from Professor Oak."

"Huh?" "Pika?" He wondered, taking the call. Just as the phone levitated in front of Ash, an old professor, wearing a magenta shirt and light brown trousers under a lab coat showed up on the screen.

"Hello, Ash. Oh, are you home?"

"Yeah, Professor! What made you call me?"

"Nothing special. I just wanted to say happy birthday to you, Ash!"

"Thanks!"

"How's your journey going?"

"Going great. Though, I feel like I missed something..."

"Such as?"

"Uh, I don't know if I can explain this. But it feels like... A part of this world I've not known before?"

"Hmm... Ash, you've traveled eight regions as of now, but that's only part of the world to be exact. There are dozens of regions on this planet, and when you feel like you've been everywhere, you will find new places to venture into someday. That's what makes this world so fascinating!"

"So does that mean... There's a region I've not known about?"

"Well, I have countless places to show you, but I can pick this one region if I were to introduce you to only one of them. Would you like to go there?"

"Of course, Professor Oak! That's exactly what I was looking for!" "Pika pi!" Ash exclaimed, standing up from the table. "So, what region is it?"

"Well then, please come to my laboratory and I'll tell you the details."

"Got it!" "Pika!" He hung up and ran out of the house.

"Well, he's passionate as always... I gotta make him new outfits then, huh?" His mom said, standing up from the table too.

Some minutes later, Ash arrived at a two-stage yellow house with a round red roof on the left and a triangular one on the right. There was also a white wind turbine behind it.

"Hello, Professor!" "Pikachu!" He said, entering the lab. In the lobby, the old professor was drinking some tea at a coffee table.

"Oh, so you're here, Ash!" Professor Oak said, and Ash waited for him excitedly while running in place. "...What brings you here?" Ash immediately crashed into the floor in sudden embarrassment.

"Professor, you told me you'll introduce me to a region!" "Pika, Pipika!" They complained, gradually standing up.

"Oh, oh, right. Pardon me, Ash!" He apologized, taking out a remote controller that made a presentation screen descend from the ceiling and make all the lights turn off. Ash sat on the couch next to the table to watch the presentation.

"Have you heard about the term 'Another World Inside The World'?"

"No? Sounds interesting."

"I know, right? It's a term used to describe the region I'll talk about."

"Oh, I see. So what's its name?"

Moving to the next slide, Professor Oak revealed the name of the region."Terra region!"

"Terra region?"

"It's called like that because of its variety of landscapes and cultures visible in a single region! Let me show you some examples." The screen then went through some slides, showing a picture of a rainforest with trees many dozen meters tall, and a futuristic city with densely packed high-tech skyscrapers so tall and big that the ground and the summit could not be seen in the slide.

"Woah, what? Those places exist in this world? There's no reason I would not visit such a wonderful place!" "Pi, Pika pika!"

"Sure, here's the ticket!" The professor took out a cruise ticket and handed it to Ash. It read out:

TICKET TO TERRA REGION

PASSENGER NAME: ASH KETCHUM

ORIGIN SEAPORT: VERMILLION HARBOR DESTINATION SEAPORT: MAREY HARBOR

SHIP: TERRA CRUISE CABIN: A-41

Some days later, Ash was in a harbor in a city, with his mom to see him out. He was wearing a blue vest on a white hoodie with a red stripe, long navy trousers, and the sneakers he wore before as well as the green backpack on his back. His hat, this time, was mostly red with a white front panel, and a green tilted "L" logo drawn on it. It was the first hat he used to wear on his first journey around Kanto and Johto region, remodeled to symbolize the second saga of his adventure.

His backpack was full, but he only had Pikachu as his Pokémon as of now. His journey was just like the previous ones on the outside, but this time, he was not a rookie challenger but someone who had reached the summit once.

"Are you excited, Ash?" His mom asked.

"Yeah, of course! My heart is always single-minded when I go to a new region!"

Just then, the cruise to Terra region arrived, and Ash ran out to get on the cruise.

"Thanks for this outfit, goodbye mom!" Ash said, waving his hands. "Pika Pika!"

"Have fun, Ash!" His mom also waved back at him as he entered the cruise. As the ship started to sail, Ash stood on the deck and looked at the open sea.

"Here we come, Terra region!" "Piika-Pika!" They exclaimed, preparing for the adventure they were about to make.

Meanwhile, on the sea close to the city, a man, a woman, and an upright Pokémon that resembled a cat were riding a hot-air balloon that looked like the latter. They were resting in the wicker basket, their face filled with boredom. The man and the woman were wearing a white uniform with a red "R" drawn on it.

"No one's preparing for trouble, in this boredom we have..." The woman started, sitting in the basket.

"Should we have to make it double, when there's no one to fight?" The man added.

"Let's stop. We're getting tired of it..." The cat Pokémon interrupted, looking out into the sea with a telescope. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" The woman asked, standing up.

"That boy standing on the deck of that cruise... Is he the twerp?"

"Who?" She took out her telescope and observed the cruise the cat was looking at. She noticed Ash standing on the deck, shouting at the open ocean. "Wait, he is!"

"For real?" The man participated, also spying on the boy. "Yup, he is."

"Alright, comrades. Our mission is to capture his Pikachu as always. Let's g-" All of a sudden, a red and white penguin-like Pokémon with its tail working like a sack tapped her shoulder.

"Huh? Delibird?" The penguin's sack seemed full of various items which it took them out to the wicker basket. They were a metal stick with a button on one side, a laptop, a Pokéball, and a round hologram projector.

As they wondered what those items do, the projector levitated midair and started projecting a hologram of a midlife man with very short hair, wearing a black suit.

"Greetings."He said, surprising the trio."You three have been assigned on a mission."

"Giovanni sir!" They gasped, standing in attention. "Give us the orders."

The hologram showed a landmass, which was not what the trio had known before."This region is Terra region. It's a land known for its variety of landscapes and cultures, and we Team Rocket discovered there's a massive energy stored in this landmass that we can utilize. I'll be sending you three there, and your mission is to collect energy from the region through the device I provided you."

"Yes, sir!"

"Soon, when we're ready, we'll do a meeting to see the progress of our team. I expect good performance from you."The man said before the hologram faded.

"Well, if that's so... Guess we'll have to do that mission first." The man in a uniform sighed.

"At least we finally have something to do. Now, here we go, to Terra region!" The woman shouted out to the open ocean, pointing to it.

On another sunny day, there was a town with colorful houses aligned on the streets, and a pearl-white harbor pointing at the open ocean. It was still morning, so not so many people were out on the streets, and the ones who were out were either on their way to work or about to start something special. That's right, the day was not like any day else.

And in a contemporary, gray two-floor house in the silent streets, a boy slept peacefully in his room on the second floor. He had pale skin and chin-level evenly cut cyan hair and wore blue pajamas. He was resting easy alone, undisturbed until his orange cell phone started to levitate and shout: "It's 7:00 AM! You set an alarm for it! Wake up!"

The boy gradually got up, rubbing his eyes.

"Why did I set up that, again...?"

Wondering, he looked out the window to see the streets. Children similar age to him were walking on the streets already, with a Pokémon next to them.

"Wait, wait! It's that day!" The boy immediately ran to the living room, where a present box was placed on the coffee table. The boy excitedly opened it, and there was a red and white ball with a QR code drawn on the back and a letter. The boy took out the latter first and read it.

Dear Halley.

This letter is to inform you that you've reached the age of 10 to have the role of the Pokémon Trainer.
Through the QR code behind the Pokéball, you're able to download the Pokédex application only allowed for Pokémon Trainers.
As a Pokémon Trainer, you can challenge Gyms and the Terra League, participate in Pokémon Contests, contribute to the Pokédex, et cetera.

The League analyzed your personality from the interview with your guardian and selected the most suitable Pokémon for you to start your journey with.
The association does not force any Trainer to a path and encourages every Trainer in the region to achieve their goal.

We wish you the best of luck, and we expect you to realize your goal in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Terra League

Halley took out the Pokéball from the box this time and tossed it onto the ground to open it. When the ball opened a plasma-like substance poured out that took the shape of a blue armless bipedal creature with five leaves growing out of its head.

"Di?" The creature cried out.

"Hmm... What was this Pokémon, again? Rotom Phone, scan this!" Halley held the ball in his hand and showed the QR code to the phone. The phone automatically scanned it and started downloading the app, and it reminded the owner when the installment was complete.

"Terra Pokédex has been downloaded. Enjoy the fun."

"Alright... Can you scan this Oddish then, Rotom?"

The phone levitated right in front of the creature and started to scan it. The next moment, the picture of the Pokémon showed up on the screen.

"Oddish: Weed Pokémon, Grass/Poison Type. A Pokémon that buries its body in the ground and hides from predators during the day. It is often seen wandering in the night."

"I see... Hmm..." Halley crouched and started at the Weed Pokémon.

"Odi?"

"Hmm~?"

"..."

"Hmmmm~??"

"..."

"Ow, that's it. My eye hurts." Halley fell, closing his eyes.

"Pfffft..."

"Ah, sorry. Seems you're a master at staring contests, huh? So, you're my Pokémon?" Halley asked, getting up again. "Nice to meet you, Oddish!" He said, petting his Pokémon.

Some minutes later, Halley changed to his regular outfit, which was a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue tie under a beige school vest, with a lime green zip-up hoodie on it, black sweatpants with a white stripe on both sides and white sneakers. There was also a cuboid-shaped yellow backpack on his back. The first place they went together to was the back hill of the town, busy with countless trainers testing out their new Pokémons against those of the wild.

"Alright, what should we do here..." Halley looked around, walking up the hiking path with Oddish. When he was midway through a bridge on a rill leading to the town to the sea, he discovered a white insect Pokémon with small, green wings climbing a tree. It was not climbing up the trunk quickly, but rather groping it to see whether it was climbing in the right direction.

"Hey, let's be quiet," Halley whispered to Oddish, lowering his body. "Could that Pokémon be blind? Rotom Phone, tell me more about that Pokémon, but quietly!"

"Nincada: Trainee Pokémon, Bug/Ground Type. It lives in the dark underground, sensing its surroundings using antennae instead of its eyes because they're blind." The phone whispered.

"Blind? Then..." The rookie trainer looked at his Oddish. "Let's ambush it while it doesn't sense us. Oddish, use Acid!"

Oddish jumped out and inhaled, filling its mouth with air and then vomiting out a stream of purple poison at the blind insect. The acid stream hit the insect successfully and made it fall onto the ground, only leaving Oddish to finish it off.

"Nice job, now let's use it aga-"

"Di, di...?" Oddish looked at the fallen Nincada and stuttered in shock.

"Huh?" The blind insect Pokémon's body was suddenly covered in blue light as it got back up again. "Wait, what-"

The Pokémon covered in light began to change its shape drastically, splitting into two. When the light faded, there were two bug Pokémons in place, one light brown with a gray abdomen and a white crescent-shaped halo, and the other mostly black with its head and abdomen gold and its eyes red. It seemed like the Pokémon was no longer blind anymore.

"Rotom... We need information right now!" Halley stepped back in fear.

"Shedinja: Shed Pokémon, Bug/Ghost Type. A peculiar Pokémon that doesn't seem to move at all. Its shell is so hard that only very effective attacks can destroy it."

"Very effective...? Would Acid count, then?"

"I'm afraid not ."

"Oh."

"And the other guy? Ninjask: Shinobi Pokémon, Bug/Flying Type. A Pokémon that is considered to be one of the fastest in the world. It mainly feeds on tree saps." Rotom Phone scanned the latter this time.

"One of the fastest?!"

"The best choice right now would be to run, right?" The phone added.

"Yeah. Let's run-" Just as Halley and Oddish turned around to flee, the Shinobi Pokémon rammed at them, making them roll down the hill. "A-"

in the meantime, the cruise Ash was on ventured through the ocean for days. Team Rocket Trio flew their hot balloon to the Terra Region for days, and they were almost starving to death.

"Are we... there yet?" The woman asked one morning, with her upper body out of the basket.

"I would eat anything to live now. This sucks..." The man added.

"And.. That cruise. It's still with us after all those days." The cat Pokémon pointed at the cruise Ash was on, heading to the destination. "Are they also heading to the Terra region?"

"We should think so at this point. Should we stow away on there?"

"Yeah, let's do it now!" The woman agreed, about to jump off the balloon.

In the meantime, Ash and Pikachu walked out to the deck and looked at the sea. He was also bored with how long this took, so he yawned while standing on the front deck.

"Man, this is just too boring..." "Pi..." But luckily, a land mass became visible in the distance as they yawned, changing their mood immediately. "Wait, never mind, Pikachu! We're here!"

"Well, thank god... Seems like we're almost there." The cat Pokémon sighed in relief. The woman almost jumped out of the basket, but the man and the cat caught her in time and saved her.

"Woah, woah, woah! That was close..." The woman said right after getting saved by her comrades.

The cruise moored to the harbor next to a town with colorful houses, and our hero looked upon it with a smile.

"This cruise has arrived in Marey Town, Terra region. Make sure to take your belongings with you, and enjoy your vacation." The captain said to the passengers, about to set their feet on the world inside the world. Ash and Pikachu got out of the ship with their eyes closed, and when they were out enough to feel the breeze of the foreign seas, they opened their eyes and shouted out.

"We're finally here! The Terra region!" "Pi-Pikachu~!"

"So, what are we gonna do first?" Ash wondered, looking at the town map sign located right outside the harbor. "Should we just look around here first, or..." He noticed a stone island in the south, with Asian architecture on it. "Challenge the Gym right now? Hey, Pikachu! Do you have enough energy?"

"Pika!"

Some minutes later, Ash and Pikachu arrived at the southern end of the town, where a small artificial stone island was connected to the town by a red wooden bridge with a torii placed on both ends. On the island was a large Asian architecture covering most of the land surrounded by light brown walls with navy shingles, with a large wooden gate in the front with a logo shaped like a tilted Pokéball attached to a triangle.

"And we're here!"

Ash crossed the bridge and opened the wooden gate, revealing a long corridor with a large lobby. The lobby was a circular large room with an atrium and five corridors jutting out in five directions. In the center was a C-shaped counter with an opening leading to the steel elevator door on the center pillar of the gym.

"Welcome to Marey Gym. Are you here to challenge the Gym Leader or to sign up for a course in the gym?" The man on the counter politely asked.

"Challenge the Gym Leader." "Pika, Pika!" Pikachu nodded in addition to its partner's response.

"Understood. And your name is...?"

"Ash Ketchum!"

The man froze in place and hastily called someone using his Rotom Phone the next second.

"Hello?" The callee answered some seconds later.

"Excuse me, Leader. Do I have to sign a champion for the course?"

"What? Pffft... Of course not. Why are you asking me that?"

"Apparently, a champion plans to challenge the Gym."

"Woah, for real? Who is it?"

"Ash Ketchum."

"...Stay right here, I'm coming for you." The called party immediately hung up right after that. Some seconds later, the lobby was quaking, as if something massive was approaching them from afar. From a corridor, a tall muscular man was sprinting toward the lobby in excitement and a hurry. He had black, short hair, wearing a white sleeveless T-shirt with a khaki vest and dark gray sweatpants.

"MONARCH!!"

"WHAT THE-" "PIK-"

At the same time in the Pokémon Center in the town, Halley was sitting in the waiting room alone. He let out a long sigh to relax.

He lost. Even though he could not predict that Nincada would evolve at that exact moment, he still lost before he could even do something. Halley slowly raised his head to the ceiling.

"It will take some time for me to get better. Wait, perhaps this path isn't for me...? No, what am I talking about? It's just a battle, Halley."

Halley sighed again and made up his mind. "If I'm weak, all I have to do is get stronger, right?"

"Alright, Mr. Halley! Your Pokémons have been recovered!" The Nurse on the center counter said, holding a metal tray with a Pokéball on it.

Halley looked down on his Pokéball while walking out of the center. "Oddish... Sorry about that. Since we lost a match today, let's hope we can win ten times in the future!"

To lose is frustrating. Sometimes, defeat makes you want to give up. But it was too early to do so. Halley didn't know what he wanted to do, and that was why it would not look strange to choose any path he could imagine. That's why he had to give his all to everything he's given... Until a path is carved.

In the meantime, on the back hill was the Team Rocket Trio. They had just landed their balloon on it, and the woman was holding a metal stick their boss had given them. "I just have to press the switch, right?"

"Hmm... I think so. Go on." The man said.

Determined, the woman pressed the switch with her thumb, and it started to make a disturbing noise. Scared, she quickly hopped next to the man and hugged him hard as both sides of the stick transformed. On one side, a small turquoise-green cube emerged and grew, stopping when it was as big as a grown-up man's fist. On the other side, six insect-like legs came out and made the stick stand on the ground with it. The stick now transformed into something that looked like a bacteriophage.

"...Did it work?" The woman said, letting go of the man.

"Yeah, I guess?"

The bacteriophage walked around like a spider for some seconds, then stopped. A sharp spike jutted out among the legs, and the bacteriophage pushed it into the ground. As the cube on the top of it started to faintly glow, the trees near the bacteriophage started to wilt; It was draining the energy from the hill.

"It worked, Jessie, James! Now, all we have to do is protect this until it absorbs all the energy here!" The cat Pokémon said.

To Be Continued

Chapter 2: A New Beginning (Part II)

Chapter Text

Sometime later, Halley arrived at the Marey Gym and took Oddish out of its Pokéball.

"Odi?" Oddish wondered, looking up at the massive Asian architecture.

"Welcome to Marey Gym, Oddish! We're gonna take some courses here to get stronger. Are you ready?"

"Odi!" Oddish nodded with a smile.

"So you'd like to sign up for a course in the Gym, correct?" Some minutes later, the man in the reception asked.

"Yeah."

"Understood. Your classroom number will be 7."

Halley reached the classroom located on the second floor of the building and opened the door. Dozens of trainers were sitting at their table with their Pokémon, to either challenge the gym or train their skills. He found an empty seat among the occupied tables and sat there, with Oddish sitting on the table.

Some minutes later, the Gym Leader confidently entered the room and stood at the teacher's table. "Good afternoon, class. I'm Clash, the Gym Leader of this Marey Gym."

"Good afternoon!" The trainers replied, applauding.

"Yeah, thanks. So there must be a ton of new faces in our class today because the ten-year-olds this year received their Pokémon today! Alright, who's ten years old?"

The majority of the class raised their hand, including Halley.

"Mmm, that's a lot. Though, here's the catch. I won't be your coach today."

"Huh?"

"Come in!" Clash said to the person right outside the classroom. In response, Ash Ketchum nodded and gradually showed up in front of the class, the trainers' jaws dropped and their eyebrows rose in shock. The monarch stood at the teacher's table instead of Clash and said "Hi, everyone. I'm Ash Ketchum!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Every trainer in the class screamed in surprise, their fingers pointing to the monarch, their jaws dropping as low as they could and their eyes widening to the maximum.

"O... Odi?!" While the other Pokémons in the class had no idea why their trainers were screaming, Oddish was the exception.

"Ash Ketchum?!"

"The one who won the World Coronation Series last year?"

"Yup, the one!" "Pika!"

"Everyone, this is Ash Ketchum. He will be the one who will coach you today." Clash explained.

The time goes back to when Ash first visited the Marey Gym, trying to challenge it.

"MONARCH!!" Clash shouted out, as he sprinted to Ash in the lobby.

"WHAT THE-" "PIK-"

The Gym Leader went right in front of Ash in the blink of an eye and grabbed his hands.

"Holy moly, what brings you here?"

"Eh?" "Pika?"

"I didn't expect you to be here, man! You're here to challenge the Gym, right?"

"Yeah."

"Got it. Before you battle against me, you'd have to go through the Gym Test."

"What is it?"

"You're supposed to sign up for a day on the course if you were an ordinary trainer... But you're not. So how about this? Can you be the coach instead of me today?"

"A coach? I mean- I've never officially taught someone before though. Would it be okay?"

"You'd have more skill in battles than me, so why not? I believe you would be able to teach them well."

Halley looked at Oddish in front of him and noticed that Oddish was visibly surprised by Ash showing up. He knew Ash since he was a global celebrity for being the strongest trainer in the world, but it looked weird for a Pokémon who just met its trainer to know him. Especially when all the others didn't.

The monarch looked around the classroom and said "Woah, that's a lot. Alright then, guys. Do you have anything to ask me?"

Right after Ash finished his words, nearly everyone in the class raised their hands.

"Heh, this would take kinda long..." Ash answered the questions individually, eventually finishing all of them about an hour later. "So, no more questions? Can we start now?"

"Of course!"

"I want to learn so much from you!"

"Well then, guys. Let's go outside!" "Pikapi!"

The entire class went out to the sand beach on the island, doing some warm-ups before getting to the training.

"So... What are we gonna do?"

"Hmm... Oh, that would be good! Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped off its partner's shoulders and landed on the sand.

"Huh?"

"Rotom Phone, set a timer of three minutes!"

"Setting a three-minute timer."

"Uh, what are you trying to do?" One of the trainers asked.

"We're gonna play a simple game with simple rules."

"A simple game?"

"Yeah, basically, Pikachu will run away from your Pokémons for three minutes, and if any of your Pokémons lands an attack on it, you win!"

"That's... not that simple..."

"Also, two handicaps. Pikachu can't hurt your Pokémons in any way, and it can't use Quick Attack."

"Then... Maybe?"

"Our Pokémons can't move out of this beach for three minutes. Would you like to play it?"

"Hmm..."

"Yeah, why not?" Another trainer answered.

"So you're telling us to play tag against your Pikachu, while we're all 'It'? Sounds fun!" Another added.

Sometime later, Ash and Pikachu were standing in the center of the circle of other trainers, who had their recently received Pokémon out. Putting his arm out for the countdown, he said: "Are you ready, guys?"

"Yeah, we're good!" One of the trainers said.

"Ready... Set... GO!" Just as Ash raised his arm after that, the timer started ticking, and Ash sprinted as fast as he could not get caught in the attacks.

"Scorbunny, Ember!"

"Mudkip, Bubble Beam!"

"Eevee, Quick Attack!"

And just as Ash got out of the crowd, the dozens of Pokémons mostly used their attacks against Pikachu. A Pokémon with brown and cream-colored fur and long pointy ears first charged swiftly with its body glowing silver, but Pikachu easily dodged it by jumping upwards. But then, while it was airborne, a beam of blue bubbles flew toward it.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" However, the electric rodent glowed its tail silver blue and deflected the bubbles away from it. The barrage of bubbles was followed by a small pebble set on fire.

"Use Electroweb for that!" Instead of using its tail, Pikachu created a small orb of electricity on it and tossed it to the fireball. The orb expanded into a small net of electricity and trapped the fire inside, extinguishing it as it fell.

"Oddish, Acid!" Halley commanded, and Oddish spat out a stream of poison to Pikachu.

"Iron Tail again!" Pikachu effortlessly blocked the poison with its glowing tail and deflected it.

"Odi..." Oddish groaned, who seemed to have expected it.

"It's no use... Using simple attacks over and over again won't work," Halley said. "Rotom, do Oddish have any other moves it can use?"

"Let's see... It can use Growth."

"Growth? Oddish, can you use Growth?"

"Odi!" Oddish took a deep breath while facing the sun. When Oddish finished breathing, an orange energy shot out from the ground around it and it was covered with a faint green aura.

"What does this do, Rotom?"

"It increases the Special Attack of the user. Oddish is specialized in Special moves, but... You only have to land an attack once."

"Hmm... Oddish, use Acid, but not at other Pokémons!"

Oddish shot out a stream of poison from its mouth, and the pressure of the liquid seemed to be a little stronger than before. The poison was also glowing slightly purple.

"Checkmate! If that's so!"

Sometime later, another orange energy shot out from the ground around Oddish. Its body was covered in a bright green aura at this point, which signified that it was much stronger than usual.

"So... Is this enough, Rotom?"

"Yeah, Oddish's special attack is now, like, stage six. It won't go any higher."

"Okay then..." Halley looked up to the sky and saw Pikachu fighting against the bird Pokémons.

"We have to make sure Acid hits Pikachu. We'll need a flying Pokémon to take Oddish there now." Halley looked around him to see the trainers focusing on operating their Pokémons and noticed a girl looking up at the sky while clenching her fists. Halley knew that her bird Pokémon was somewhere up there, and she was trying to land a hit on Pikachu any time soon.

She had bright orange hair with a long ponytail, yellow eyes, a white T-shirt with a gray wing icon drawn on it under an orange jacket, a black skirt with a white stripe, black shoes, and white stockings. She was so focused on battling that, even when Halley approached her, she was continuously looking at the sky.

"Fletchling! Use Peck!" She suddenly shouted out. Just then, an orange and gray robin glowed its beak white and started to fly rapidly through the sky, nearly hitting Pikachu.

"Tha... That's so fast!" "Odi!" Halley and Oddish reacted, noticing her Pokémon's performance. Thinking that interrupting her would be a nuisance for her, he turned away to find another person to request. But just then,

"What?" The girl asked, her eyes still focused on the sky.

"Huh?"

"You just came to me. What brings you here?"

"Uh... Excuse me but... Can you take my Oddish up there?"

"What? There are dozens of guys already doing that. What's the poi-" She looked down at Oddish for a moment and noticed its body overflowing with green energy.

"I mean, your Fletchling is fast. Like, really fast. So I thought it would be a-" Halley explained just after she asked.

"Ooh la la. How did you do that?"

"Huh?"

"Fletchling, come back!" She shouted, clapping her hands. The orange robin heard her and flew to her in seconds. Halley's Rotom Phone popped out of his pocket and scanned the robin.

"Fletching: Tiny Robin Pokémon. Normal/Flying Type. A usually calm Pokémon that will increase its body temperature and alter hormone balance once it's in danger."

"Can you give this Oddish a ride, Fletchling?" The girl asked, showing her Pokémon Halley's Oddish. Fletchling nodded and spread its wings for the weed Pokémon to get on, and flew up at swift speed just as Oddish got on it.

At the same time in the sky, Pikachu was still surviving against the army of bird Pokémons, and Ash proudly looked at it from below.

'Now that's Pikachu. About fifteen seconds to go.' He thought. 'They're also attacking in a more varied way now, too.' At that moment, Fletchling flew right past Pikachu again and dove down. 'Also, that Fletchling, is its ability Gale Wings?'

It was then Fletching rose to Pikachu again while spinning. The rodent easily dodged it by moving sideways, but it was then that it realized Oddish was sitting on the robin.

"Pi...ka?"

"Now, Oddish! Use Acid!" Oddish spat out a steam of purple acid to Pikachu at point-blank range, intensely glowing bright purple and with intense pressure. Pikachu would've been able to dodge it if it was a simple Acid, but the problem was Oddish was charging its energy all along to garner strength for this move.

From far away, it looked like a bright purple ray spinning through the sky. Some Pokémons even got caught up in the attack and fell to the beach, but that was the case with Pikachu too.

"Pi?!" Pikachu gasped, as the empowered stream of Acid hit its face directly. The electric rodent tripped over and fell to the ground, and the timer had five seconds left at that moment.

"Woah, for real?" Ash reacted, noticing Pikachu fall to the sand. "Alright, that's enough! Someone landed a hit on Pikachu!"

"What?"

"Somebody managed to do that?"

"Pika!" Pikachu answered, wiping its face off the acid.

"Yeah, congrats, guys!" Ash added, raising his thumb to the trainers.

"Pikachu... It must have been quite a strong attack, but it's wiping his face as if it's harmless. Just how strong is it?" Halley thought.

"So, hmm... Oh, hey!" Ash called, referring to the Fletchling user.

"Huh?" The girl stepped back in surprise as Ash ran to her in excitement.

"Your Fletchling was so fast back then! Is its ability Gale Wings?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew it. I used to have a Fletchling back in Kalos, but its ability was Flame Body. I wanted to see a Fletchling with that ability so much! So, are you the one who finished my Pikachu?"

"Pika?" Pikachu interrupted, raising its arm. "Pika..." It pointed at its face stained in purple, which was quite irrelevant to a bird Pokémon.

"Oh, I see. Then, who-"

"This guy right here." The girl turned to Halley and Oddish.

"Oh."

"So you're the one!" Ash exclaimed, running to him this time. "What's your name?"

"Ha, Halley?"

"Hey, guys! We have the MVP of the raid right here!" Ash announced, drawing everyone's attention.

"Eh? Huh? Uh..." While Halley nervously stammered, the trainers one by one gathered around him, filled with impression.

"Now, Halley. Can you tell us your impression of this?"

"Uh, I have two things to say, one is that I didn't win this alone." Halley turned to the girl with Fletchling. "She helped me a lot on this."

"Yeah, kinda. I took his Oddish there, even though it was him that landed the finishing hit."

"Doesn't matter. What's your name, by the way?"

"Solare."

"Alright, Solare. Oddish wouldn't have been able to hit Pikachu if it wasn't your Fletchling, right? You're the MVP, too!" "Pika, Pika!"

"Well, thanks, I guess."

"So, Halley. What is the other thing you'd like to say?"

"It's that..." Halley apologized to the trainers, saying, "I accidentally hurt some of your Pokémons. Sorry, everyone!"

"It's okay, man. What's wrong with it?" A trainer replied. "We all won, after all."

"Yeah, why are you apologizing? You carried all of us back then!"

"Thanks... I saw some of your Pokémons get hurt in the process, so I felt a little sorry for them."

Ash gently looked at him from behind, quite interested in the rookie trainer. Then, when he looked at the Rotom Phone again, the lesson time was already over.

"Oh, where did the time go? It's time we say goodbye now." "Pi..." Ash said.

"Wait, what?"

"Aww, already?"

"Yeah... Sorry. It was fun playing with you, though. See you all again sometime-"

"Nah, guys. You gotta see the climax!" All of a sudden, Clash suddenly jumped into the area, slamming the sand as if a boulder fell from the sky.

"Huh?"

"Wait, wait, right! I almost forgot that!" "Pikapi!" Ash and Pikachu gasped, realizing that it was not over yet.

"Ready to battle, monarch?" Clash asked, standing up.

"Of course, Clash!" "Pika, Pika!"

"Are you ready for some epic clashing, everyone?" Clash asked again, this time to the trainers.

"Heck yeah!" They exclaimed back, exhilarated for being able to see the strongest trainer in the world battle only a few meters away.

Sometime later, Ash and Clash stood in an arena drawn on the sand, surrounded by the trainers including Halley and Solare. The latter was standing on the edge of the arena between the two players, as the referee for the battle.

"Each trainer can use only one Pokémon, and Zetta-Zone is allowed." She explained the rules.

"Wait... What's allowed, again?" Ash asked, his eyebrows raised at the exotic word he had never heard of before.

"Zetta-Zone."

"Zetta-Zone? What's that?" "Pika?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, you haven't heard of it, monarch?" Clash added, showing him a square gray metal device with black highlights. There was a gray square gem installed in the center of it, which had a yin-yang drawn inside it.

"Yeah, I've never seen it before."

"I'll explain it as we battle. Shall we start now?"

"Okay then. I choose you, Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulders and landed on the arena, prepared to attack.

"Strike like a lightning, Pawmot!" Clash tossed his Pokéball to the battleground too, which opened to create a blue plasma and make an orange and tan bipedal rodent Pokémon come out of it. It looked similar to Pikachu except it was much larger, having yellow cheek sacs and pads on its forepaws. Halley's Rotom Phone flew out of its owner's pocket again and scanned the Pokémon.

"Pawmot: Hands-On Pokémon. Electric/Fighting Type. A Pokémon that is usually slow, but has surprising potential speed that will reveal itself during battles."

"Pawmot, huh? An Electric Type for an Electric Type? That's my favorite kind of battle." Ash said.

"Me too.Now, Pawmot. Use Arm Thrust!"

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu darted out while glowing its tail silver blue, jumping and spinning as it rapidly flew to Pawmot. Pawmot meanwhile, glowed its fists white and parried Iron Tail with them. Dozens of clashing noises came out from the arena from Pikachu's tail and Pawmot's fist colliding.

'Pawmot's an Electric/Fighting Type. It would be resistant to all of my Pikachu's attacks. This would be hard.'

At that moment, Clash tossed his device to the sky, which hovered midair and started spinning. The gray gem in it glowed brighter as it spun.

"Wha...?"

"The real battle begins now! Zetta-Statis!" The device enveloped and released a strong light covering the area, but the next moment, Ash realized it was not a simple light. Some seconds later when it got less bright, Ash and Pikachu found themselves standing on a tall skinny mountain, with a real stone arena placed on it. It was a forest of stone pillars as tall as skyscrapers, with the thick fog covering the ground. Clash and Pawmot were on the other side of the arena, and Solare was between them as a referee.

"Wh... Where am I? Where's everyone else?" "Pi...ka?" Ash and Pikachu gasped, looking around the exotic place.

"Inside a Zetta-Zone! You can't see others here because this is a separate space from our world."

"Woah... That's so cool! So what does it do?"

"You'll see. Pawmot, use Close Combat!"

"Pikachu, close in with Quick Attack!"

Pikachu glowed its body white and charged at Pawmot with immense speed, while Pawmot also darted out to it without thinking about defense. The former easily dodged the latter's flurry of attacks and decided to waste its opponent's power. After Pikachu evaded Pawmot's attacks for a while, Ash shouted out "Now, Iron Tail!"

Just then, his partner glowed its tail blue and slammed it onto the Hands-On Pokémon, expecting it to deal considerable damage to it. However, Pawmot easily grabbed it and tossed Pikachu away.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked Pikachu.

"Pika!"

"But... Its defense should have weakened after Close Combat!"

"Nah, not really," Clash said. "It should have outside here."

"Does that mean...?"

"My Zetta-Zone is Zetta-Statis. It can nullify any stat changes of the Pokémons inside it."

"Stat changes... Wait, so that means!"

"Which means, I won't have to worry about defense while using Close Combat!"

"That's crazy..."

"Now, monarch. What's your plan? Pawmot, Close Combat!"

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail then Electroweb to those pillars over there!" Ash commanded, pointing to two skinny mountains near him. As Pawmot's fist clashed with Pikachu's tail, the latter used the recoil to fling itself out of the arena. Then, it generated a yellow orb on its tail to throw it between two stone pillars in the distance, which expanded into a net of yellow electricity and attached itself between them. Pikachu coiled up its body to fall onto the net, which caused it to stretch away.

"Now, Quick Attack!" The mouse Pokémon glowed its body white as it spun on the net, and launched itself back to the arena when the net unstretched, at a speed so fast that it was uncapturable to the naked eye. Before Clash could even command, Pawmot got directly hit by the attack on its stomach, at a force so powerful that it immediately fainted in place.

At that moment, the background faded to white again and shattered to reveal the beach where the course pupils were watching their battle. Even though Ash didn't see them while in the Zetta-Zone, they seemed quite satisfied with watching the strongest trainer battle in the flesh.

"Pawmot is unable to fight, Ash Ketchum is the winner!" Solare announced, pointing her arm to Ash and Pikachu. The spectators applauded, congratulating and respecting the winner.

"I knew you would do it!"

"You were so awesome inside there, Ash!"

"Thanks... Though, can you guys see inside a Zetta-Zone? I couldn't see you while inside..." "Pika..." Ash asked, scratching his head with Pikachu.

"Congrats, monarch. This is your first Gym victory here." Clash added, applauding. Then, he answered, "And yeah, while you can't see things outside from inside, it works for vice versa."

"Oh, well... Curiosity solved! How do I get that Zetta-Zone, though?"

"Follow me!"

"Thanks for watching my battle, guys. You can go now! Hope we meet again!" "Pika-Pika!" Ash and Pikachu said as they followed Clash into the Gym.

As time passed, the trainers on the beach left one by one, to spend time with their Pokémon, venture around the town to get stronger, or challenge the Gym. Halley was also about to leave, but he struggled trying to find a decent place to visit with his new Pokémon.

"Hmm... Where should we go next?" He wondered while sitting on the beach with his Pokémon. Just then, Oddish's stomach grumbled, from using up a lot of energy in its battle against Pikachu.

"Odi..."

"Oh... We haven't eaten dinner yet, right? Alright then, let's go to the marketplace!" Halley decided, standing up.

"Odi?"

"Marey Marketplace is a marketplace in this town, and it's got everything you can think of! You deserve it, Oddish. You landed a hit on the strongest Pokémon in the world!"

"Odi??" Oddish also stood up, its face full of excitement.

"Yup, let's have some fun there! Now, let's go!" Halley drained Oddish into its Pokéball.

Meanwhile, Clash led Ash and Pikachu into his office, which was a brown wooden room with an old-styled interior and pieces of furniture. There was a cabinet on one side that nearly covered the wall, with hundreds of small drawers on it.

"Wait a minute, so you wouldn't have the badge case as of now..." Clash said, searching the cabinet. Some seconds later, he took out an octagonal case and a yin-yang-shaped badge. He put the latter inside a notch in the former and handed it to Ash. "Here you go, this is your badge case."

Unlike rectangular badge cases in other rectangular regions, the badge case in the Terra region was octagonal, with eight small badge notches surrounding a large octagonal hole in the middle.

"What's this hole in the center for?" Ash asked.

"It's for the reward you would receive after winning in a Terra League! Since you can participate in it after getting eight badges, good luck."

"Mmm... Wait, and what about the Zetta-Zone?"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot..." Clash searched the cabinet again, to take out the metal device he had during his battle, and a space blue square gem with a brighter blue Saturn drawn on it. He inserted the gem into the device and handed it to Ash.

"This Zetta-Zone is called Zetta-Magic. It would be a great one for you, so try it out when you have time!"

"Okay then, see you later!" "Pika-Pika!" Ash and Pikachu said, leaving the office.

"See ya, thanks for working as a coach here!"

In the meantime, Team Rocket was waiting for the bacteriophage to drain all the energy it could contain. Meowth had the laptop on his lap, and there was software running on it that displayed "90%" on the laptop screen. Jessie meanwhile, looked down at the marketplace, starting to be crowded with people as the sun set. "Guys."

"Yeah?" James replied.

"It wouldn't hurt to go down there for a minute, right?"

"Huh?"

"But, we have to protect this-"

"FOR HOW LONG?!" Jessie shouted in annoyance. "We've stayed an entire day here, guys! I'm getting tired of this..."

James and Meowth were already hugging each other and shivering, but the former said with a trembling voice. "Then... Come back as fast as you can, we might leave any time soon."

"Time for some shopping!" Jessie shouted out, running down the hill with excitement.

To Be Continued

Chapter 3: A New Beginning (Part III)

Chapter Text

In the evening, Halley joyfully walked through the streets, excited to show his Pokémon a must-show place in his town. Sometime later, he stopped at a large square in the town's center, with a fountain in the middle that had a stone egg with thickly outlined shapes. There were countless market booths around it, already busy with numerous customers buying goods.

"We're here, Oddish!" He said, taking out his Oddish. The weed Pokémon looked around the place right after it came out of its ball, then turned to his partner.

"Odi?"

"Now, now..." He took Oddish in his arms and carried it. "We're gonna walk around here, and tell me if anything appeals to you."

"Odi!"

About half an hour later, Halley was carrying a plastic bag in his hand, stuffed with Pokémon foods. His backpack was also much heavier than before.

"Hope I can walk around with this..." He said, chuckling.

At the same time, Ash Ketchum also arrived at the marketplace. He was fascinated by just how many people were in the place, and how various kinds of goods they sold.

"This place is so big!" "Pi-ka!" He exclaimed, looking around the marketplace for fun. Anything he could imagine could be found there, such as the national dishes of the Terra region, various Zetta-Cores or Pokéballs, and so much more.

Some minutes later, when Ash felt peckish, he visited a churros truck in the town square where people were already standing in line. He could tell that this truck was a must-eat truck in this town. As he waited in the line, he noticed Halley walking past the truck.

"Oh, hey, Halley!" "Pikachu~!" He and Pikachu joyfully said, waving their hands to him.

"Huh? Uh... Yeah, hi?"

"What are you doing now?"

"Just buying some stuff?" Halley showed him his plastic bag.

"Oh, cool! Wanna try out the churros here too? It's my treat!"

"Huh? That?"

"Yeah, It won't take too long. Can you wait here for a minute?"

A few minutes later, Ash ordered three long churros and gave one to Halley.

"Thanks." "Odi!" Halley replied, with a faint smile on his face.

"You said you are the one to land a hit on Pikachu, right? Can you tell me how you did it?" Ash asked.

"Uh, so, Oddish can use Acid and Growth as of now. It would be impossible for Oddish to hit Pikachu directly, so I decided to use Growth to gather strength. Well, it's the only thing I could do, but using Growth increased the pressure of acid Oddish would shoot out. The more pressure it has, the faster it will fly. I also needed a flying Pokémon to reach Pikachu high up in the sky, so I requested Solare about that."

"You thought all that in, like, three minutes?" "Pika??"

"Uh, umm..." While Halley stuttered, his partner nodded instead of him, agreeing it was all Halley's plan. "Kind of? I didn't expect Solare to help me though, to be honest... She was quite reserved."

"Nah, that doesn't matter. The fact that you could think of that on your first day as a trainer is... Woah." "Pika, Pika!"

"Thanks, haha..." Halley smiled much more vividly than before, scratching his head.

"Solare... Yeah, she's quite reserved..." Ash said, changing the topic. "Though, she doesn't seem like a bad guy."

"Yeah, I know. She helped me out, after all. By the way, what brought you to this region?"

"About that? You know, being the strongest trainer in the world isn't my goal."

"Wait, really?"

"My goal is to be a Pokémon Master. It's like being friends with every single Pokémon there is, and that's why I've visited this region. To be friends with the Pokémons living here!"

"Mmm... And... Why are you challenging the league when you're the strongest trainer in the world already?"

"That's also related to what I've just mentioned. There's nothing greater than Pokémon Battles for meeting and bonding with new Pokémons!"

Halley silently nodded, encouraging Ash's goal.

"And Halley, do you have a goal?"

"Huh? ...no, not yet."

"Well, It's okay. It's your first day after all." Just as they chatted, they arrived at the fountain in the middle of the marketplace. "Hmm, what's this?" "Pika~?"

"That's the fountain of the jubilee. It's the landmark of this town, and it's known for the little Togepi egg on the top." Halley explained, pointing to the stone egg on the fountain.

"Why is there a Togepi egg up there?"

"It's related to a festival that annually takes place here."

"A festival?"

"It's called 'Festival of the Jubilee'. Have you heard about the Pokémon Togekiss?"

"Togekiss? Yeah, I know them."

"Togekisses have a habit of visiting peaceful places and giving the residents blessings. Marey Town is known for being the most peaceful place in the Terra region, and because of that, a Togekiss usually visits the back hill over there around this time of the year." Halley pointed to the back hill.

"Mmm... So, would we be able to see the Togekiss soon?"

"It would be kinda hard. I mean, anyone would be able to know that it's there by finding the Togepi eggs scattered around there, but only a small minority gets a chance to see the Togekiss itself."

"Hmm..."

"And while Togekiss resides there, a festival is taken in this town. People show their talent, compliment each other, and try not to make any unnecessary conflicts. The Togekiss gifts the town kindness and happiness in return."

"Hey, that's cool! So, when does the festival begin?"

"Hmm... I think in about a week."

"Guess I would have to stay here for a while then."

"It's a great festival, so good choice."

"Huh? Hey, Solare!" Ash waved his hand to the front, where Solare was passing by with Fletchling on her shoulder.

"Good evening." She replied with a straight face.

"What are you doing now?"

"Just passing by."

"Churros?" Ash asked, showing her one of his churros.

"I'm fine, thank you. I just tried that one." Solare refused.

"Oh... Okay."

Then, all of a sudden, something, most likely a Pokémon, grazed past Halley's hand that was holding the bag. "Huh?" His hand was open when he looked down at it, and the plastic bag was gone. "Wait, what?!"

"Look over there!" Ash pointed to the back side of the town, where Ninjask was flying to the back hill while holding the plastic bag in its arms.

"Ninjask?!"

"Fletchling, Peck!" Fletching flew out of Solare's shoulder swiftly and darted to the Ninja Pokémon, overtaking it and landing on top of it to slam it to the ground.

"Woah... now that's fast." "Pi..." Ash whispered.

"Faster than Ninjask?!"

Solare sprinted to Ninjask and Fletchling before the former could get away, and snatched away the bag from it.

"Here." She said, giving the bag to Halley.

"Yeah, thanks." Halley received back the plastic bag and looked at Ninjask, who was seemingly the one who fought against him some time ago. The ninja Pokémon powerlessly stretched its arms to him with desperate eyes, as if it was begging for help instead of trying to avenge him. Soon enough, Ninjask gradually closed its eyes and collapsed feebly to the floor. "What...?"

"Ninjask?" Ash ran out, concerned about the Pokémon's condition. "Are you okay?" "Pi-ka-chu?" There were no serious injuries found on its body, puzzling him even more. "That's... strange."

Just then, Jessie was passing by them, garmented in the products she had bought in the marketplace. Ash hadn't noticed her yet, but judging by the condition of the Pokémons here, she thought to get back to the hill again and prepare to leave the region.

"It didn't faint because of an injury... If that's so!" Ash turned to Halley, and asked "Halley, can you give that food to this guy? Just a little!"

Halley thought for a second and nodded. "Sorry, Oddish!" He took out a pack of Pokémon food and opened it, giving it to Ninjask.

Ninjask woke up some minutes later, and the first thing it did was finish the food Halley had given it. Then, it looked at the back hill again, like something was there.

"What's wrong, Ninjask?" "Pika~?"

"Ninjask!" Just then, Ninjask flew up and grabbed onto the food pack Halley was holding as if it was asking for permission this time. Halley nodded, letting go of the package for the ninja Pokémon to have it. Before flying to the back hill again, Ninjask looked back at the three trainers again, as if it was telling them to follow it.

In the meantime, Jessie ran in a hurry to where her comrades were, who were already about to leave with the bacteriophage device. The cube on the top of it was glowing intensely, and the legs had disappeared, making it look like a mace.

"I'm back. Now, let's go, hurry!" Jessie said.

"We were about to do that, now, hop on!" Meowth replied, getting on the balloon that was almost ready to fly.

"Now, Fletchling. Use Peck!" Just then, Solare flew to them while hanging on her Tiny Robin Pokémon's legs, letting go of it when she was close enough to the balloon and making Fletchling pop it.

"WHA-" Meowth gasped, baffled about their plan about to fail at its last stage.

"Now, who are you?" Solare asked, landing on the dry ground. The place around where Team Rocket was all dried up, the trees withered and the Pokémons were suffering from hunger. The device drained not only the energy from the ground but also from the Pokémons living in the habitat.

Taking off her garments to reveal her uniform and standing back to back with James, Jessie started. "P-Prepare for trouble..."

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth finished, poking its head out of the basket.

"Team Rocket..." Solare whispered, retreating her robin onto her shoulder. "So, what are you going to do now? You've got nothing to use to run away."

"Wait... She makes sense. What are we gonna do now?" James and Meowth also asked Jessie.

"Then we use... this!" Jessie tossed the Pokéball their boss had given to them as a last resort. However, when the ball opened and a blue plasma came out to take the shape of a Pokémon, Solare gradually stepped back in fear and Team Rocket's hope rose.

"Oh no..." She reacted.

"Oh yeah..." The trio whispered.

Meanwhile, Ash and Halley arrived at a place near them, both shocked at the trees withered up and the Pokémons starving. Ninjask was also there, feeding a round blue rodent leaning on a dead tree the Pokémon food Halley had given it. The mouse had a round spherical body, a zigzag-like black tail with a blue ball, round ears, and a white belly. Even as it was chewing on the food, its stomach grumbled from getting its energy drained by the bacteriophage.

"No way..." Halley whispered, his eyes widened.

"Who would even do this?" Ash added, approaching Ninjask and the mouse Pokémon. Just then, they heard a threatening roar nearby, most likely from a Pokémon.

When Ash and Halley darted to where the sound came from, Fletchling was battling against a blue quadrupedal draconic Pokémon, with a long, tapered tail, three flat fins on both sides of its head, and a pair of red crescent wings.

"Wait... That Pokémon!" "Pika?!" Ash and Pikachu gasped, realizing that Solare was in danger. Halley's Rotom Phone also jumped out of its user's pocket, scanning the draconic Pokémon.

"Salamence: Dragon Pokémon. Dragon/Flying Type. An unusual Pokémon that gained the ability to fly as it evolved because of its desperate desire to do so."

"A Salamence?! And wait..." Ash noticed that something was riding the Dragon Pokémon, and when he squinted to try to figure out what it was, he was even more shocked. "Team Rocket?!" "Pi-Pikachu?!"

"Team Rocket? What's that?" Halley asked.

"They're bad guys that try to capture Pokémons, including my Pikachu! Now, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-CHUU!!"

The next moment, Pikachu released its electricity to the Dragon Pokémon, trying to strike it down. Solare also took the chance and drained Fletchling into her Pokéball, leaving the battle up to Ash. However, it looked like the shock was not flowing through Salamence's body, but something that was on it.

Above the Salamence, the Team Rocket trio had their eyes closed shut in fear, but the electricity didn't reach them. When they opened their eyes, a cyan balloon-shaped Pokémon with a black tail that had eyes was standing in front of them, glowing its body in rainbow colors and receiving the damage instead of its comrades.

"Wobbuffet!" The trio cried out.

"Wo...bu..." The Pokémon groaned trying to deflect the attack, while Pikachu also strengthened its attack.

"Pi..."

The mysterious cyan Pokémon seemed to be winning in the tug-of-war, slowly moving forward while getting electrified by Pikachu.

"...FFET!"

Eventually, it reflected the electricity to Pikachu at double the power, but the mouse Pokémon dodged it perfectly. Halley's Rotom Phone scanned the cyan Pokémon this time.

"Wobbuffet: Patient Pokémon. Psychic Type. A passive Pokémon that will counter with extreme force when attacked."

"Long time no see, twerp!" Jessie greeted.

"Here to give us your Pikachu?" James added.

"Well, we're fine, because we have a mission to accomplish!" Meowth nagged Ash and Pikachu.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet finished with a salute.

"Wh- What are we going to do?" Halley asked Ash, panicked.

"Then... Alright, that's it. I'm using it!" Ash exclaimed, taking out his Zetta-Zone device from his pocket. "Pikachu, let's do it!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and landed on the ground, facing its enemies. Ash tossed the device into the air, which stopped in midair and spun faster and faster. The blue gem in it glowed brighter and brighter as it did so.

"Let's fight with all our might! Zetta-Magic!" Ash's device stopped to envelop and release black energy, covering the area in seconds.

"What's going on?!" Jessie looked around, confused.

Some seconds later, four prismatic flames ignited in the distance with a crackle, making a square. Then, with a click, the night sky with a navy Milky Way showed up as if the lights were turned on inside a stage. The place where the flames were revealed itself to be a silver blue pyramid with four pedestals that supported the flames, and there was a gray planet with dozens of moons revolving around it, their orbits indicated with circles. The area around Ash was teleported into the Zetta-Zone as a floating island, with hundreds of smaller round blue stone platforms revolving under it. Below those was a thick, glistering blue fog covering the ground.

"Wh- What is this place?!" Meowth screamed in panic, trapped in a dimension where it didn't know where or how to escape.

"This is it, now they can't run away!" "Pikapika!" Ash and Pikachu confidently exclaimed. "Pikachu, Electroweb!"

"Pikapikapikapika..." Pikachu generated a yellow orb of electricity on its tail and started spinning. "Chuu-Pika!" Then, it tossed the orb to Salamence, expanding into a web of electricity as it flew.

"Salamence, Flamethrower!" Jessie commanded too, and Salamence breathed fire from its mouth to repel the Electroweb. The web eventually shattered before reaching it, revealing Pikachu who was about to land another attack using its tail.

"Now, Iron Tail!" Pikachu glowed its tail silver blue and swung it onto Salamence's head, but Wobbuffet jumped between them to receive the attack instead.

"Wo... bu..." Wobbuffet glowed its body red this time, and pushed back against the mouse Pokémon's Iron Tail, doing another tug-of-war against it.

"Chuu..." Pikachu was winning this time, with Wobbuffet gradually getting pushed behind. "Pi...KA!" With a shockwave, Wobbuffet was knocked back to its comrades, who were also trying their best not to fall off the Dragon Pokémon.

"Wobbuffet..." Spirals were in its eyes, indicating that it was unable to fight.

"How do you like that, Team Rocket?" Ash taunted. Then, he prepared another attack to send Team Rocket blasting off again. "Pikachu, Thunderbo-"

But all of a sudden, the background faded to white.

"Huh?" "Pika?"

"Wait... Did the Leader not tell you about this?" Solare asked as the background shattered to reveal the forest they used to be before activating the zone.

"What the?!"

"Zetta-Zones deactivate when you defeat any of your opponent's Pokémon!"

"Wait, for real?!" Ash gasped, turning to Solare in surprise.

"We're free! Now, let's get outta here!" Jessie exclaimed in joy, hugging James unintentionally.

"Yeah, finally, we have our mission accomplished!" James replied.

"Wait! Before we leave..." Meowth interrupted, gathering in a circle with its comrades.

"?"

"Jessie, James, we now have our mission complete, right?"

"Right," Jessie answered.

"The twerp's Pikachu must have taken some damage against Wobbuffet, correct?"

"Yeah." James nodded this time.

"So why not aim higher? Don't you think we'd be able to win against Pikachu right now, with this Salamence our boss had given us?"

"Perhaps...?" James pondered uncertainly.

"Wait, that makes sense. We used to always target Pikachu, right? So you think this would be the best chance to capture it?" Jessie asked back.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Meowth nodded.

"Do you agree with us, James?" Jessie asked again.

"Well... I'm convinced. Let's do it." James agreed.

After their conversation, the trio stood against Ash, Halley, and Solare, with a nasty smile on their face.

"Team Rocket! What are you up to now?" Ash asked with a serious expression.

"We changed our plan, twerps," Jessie announced. "Now, give us your Pikachu! Salamence, Flamethrower!"

"WHA- Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu glowed its body silver, moving at immense speed and dodging the Flamethrower.

"Salamence, do you have any other move you can use?" James asked. Salamence nodded in response, roaring at the sky all of a sudden.

The sun then started to shine brighter, making the temperature rise to the point that it felt like a hot summer day even though it was just an evening in spring. After that, it nodded to James, telling him that everything was ready.

"Now, use Flamethrower again!" Salamence breathed out fire again, but the flame was much larger and hotter than before. Halley and Solare got down in a hurry, feeling the sheer heat of the inferno Salamence created.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack again!" Pikachu once again evaded the attack by maneuvering at swift speed around the forest.

Oddish was right next to Halley, and it was shivering in fear from facing such a threatening being, covering its face with its leaves.

"Oddish..." Halley said, embracing the Weed Pokémon in his arms.

All of a sudden, Ninjask joined the battle and rammed Salamence's head at immense speed, distracting it from Pikachu.

"Ninjask!" Ash exclaimed in relief.

The Dragon Pokémon aimed for Ninjask this time, but it was interrupted by Fletchling before it could even breathe anything.

"Solare!"

"Watch out, Fletchling!" Just as Solare shouted out, the Tiny Robin was engulfed in flames in an instant. "FLETCHLING!" When Solare ran out to receive the falling Fletchling, its body was severely burnt, definitely unable to battle.

"No way..." Halley whispered, watching Fletchling get drained to its ball while lying flat on the ground. Even though he knew it was his first day as a Pokémon trainer, and therefore was the weakest he could ever be, the fact that reality doesn't always go easy on people like him frustrated him.

What could he do in such a situation?

What would happen if he took action right now?

Would he even survive?

Before Halley could finish thinking, Oddish was gone from his arms and was taking deep breaths while facing the bright sun.

"O- ODDISH!" Halley gasped, his eyes widened.

But when he looked at Oddish, despite being out in the sun for only a few seconds, its body was overflowing with energy.

"Huh? How? You were..." Halley looked up to the blazing sun and realized something. "Rotom, do you know what Oddish's ability is?"

"Let's see... It's Chlorophyll! Oddish becomes much faster while it's exposed to the bright sunlight like now!"

"Then why is Growth stronger than it's supposed to be?"

"Because Oddish is exposed to a stronger sunlight, duh!"

"Oh, then..." With an idea coming into his mind, Halley picked up Oddish and started running around Salamence. Ash, noticing Halley doing so, understood his plan immediately.

"Ninjask, Pikachu! Let's focus on distracting Salamence!" Ash suggested.

"Pika!"

"Ninjask!" Nodding, Ninjask generated dozens of clones around itself, surrounding Salamence and hindering its view. The clones then all started flying around, giving no room for the dragon to look outside the flock. And just as Salamence breathed in to use Flamethrower again, Pikachu jumped in front of its face and smirked.

"Pi~"

Then, the mouse Pokémon tossed a ball of electricity into the Dragon Pokémon's throat, electrifying an stunning it before it could even execute an attack.

"Uh oh." Team Rocket whispered as the electricity flowed into their body too, making them shake violently.

At the same time, among the clones of Ninjasks, the real Ninja Pokémon created a green glowing baton and passed it to Oddish, who received it by biting it with its mouth. The baton immediately shattered after that, the clones turning to Oddish in an instant.

"You can do it, Oddish! Deal as much damage as you can to that thing!" Halley encouraged, determined to win this battle.

"Odi..." Oddish and its clones gathered energy on their leaves and released a sticky green tentacle to Salamence, stopping it from moving.

"What on earth is this?!" Jessie screamed, shocked by the dozens of tentacles binding their dragon.

"Huh? What move is that?" Halley wondered, puzzled about Oddish executing a move he hadn't seen before.

"Let's see... It's Mega Drain!"

"Woah, your Oddish already learned a new move? That's quick!" Ash reacted. "Now, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pi-ka..." In front of Salamence and Team Rocket, Pikachu charged electricity on its red cheeks. "CHUU!!" Then, it discharged the electricity to the villains, causing an explosion to occur and sending them blasting off.

"Uh oh, we're blasting off again...!" They cried out, flying far away and eventually disappearing out of sight. They left their bacteriophage on the ground as they flew away, which Ash picked up.

"Woah, woah!" Halley darted out to receive Oddish as its clones disappeared in an instant. The Weed Pokémon smiled as it landed on Halley's arms, proud of what it had done in the battle.

"Yeah, that's right, Oddish! You did a great job!"

At that moment, multiple female police officers in blue outfits and green hair arrived at the place.

"Good evening, kids. Are you okay?" One of the police officers asked, getting off her motorcycle. "We got a call that the Pokémons in the hills are starving! Do you know the cause?"

"Yeah, I'll explain," Ash explained to the officer everything he had seen on the hill, one by one.

"Why would they?"

"I'm not very sure, but I think it's related to this." He showed her the bacteriophage, the cube still intensely glowing.

"So, this contains their energy?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. We'll take an inspection of this." Ash gave the officer the device. "Don't worry about the Pokémons. We'll take good care of them after housing them temporarily in the Pokémon Center, then release them back into the wild again once they're healthy enough. Regardless, thanks for fighting bravely against them!" The officer saluted.

"Thank you!" "Pika!" Ash saluted back with a smile. Just then, Ninjask went next to him and tapped on his shoulder. "Huh? What's wrong, Ninjask?"

"Ninjask!" The Ninja Pokémon cried, stretching out its arm.

"Oh," Ash stretched his fist in response, doing a fist bump with Ninjask. "Great job back then!"

"Pikapi, pi..." Pikachu pointed at Ash's backpack, understanding what Ninjask was trying to say.

"This?" Ash said, taking out a Pokéball from his bag. Ninjask nodded in response. "Oh, I see. If that's so!" Excited, Ash turned his cap backward and tossed the ball to the Ninja Pokémon. The ball opened up as it touched the cicada, draining it inside and closing again. After shaking a few times, the Pokéball made a clicking sound.

"I just caught a Ninjask!" Ash exclaimed, holding the Pokéball up high.

'Woah, really?" Halley asked curiously, approaching him.

"Yeah, to be honest, I didn't expect it to be this quick..." Ash scratched his head. "Though, where's Solare?"

"She left. Uh, some minutes ago. She hurried to the Pokémon Center after getting permission from the officer." Halley explained.

"Oh, I see."

Sometime later, Ash and Halley descended the hill, finally free from Team Rocket for now.

"Ash, how strong is Team Rocket to be exact?" Halley started.

"Team Rocket? I usually just blast them off, but... They aren't that weak. Also, that Salamence was strong."

"Usually?" Halley asked again, looking at Ash. "Do you mean you saw them multiple times?"

"A lot, to be honest."

"Ow... I feel bad for you."

"Not really. They unintentionally help me out sometimes."

"R-really?" Halley stuttered, baffled.

"Yeah... That doesn't mean they're good guys, though. Let's forget about what happened today. That would have been a frustrating experience for new trainers like you and Solare."

"I know, but... That doesn't mean they won't show up anymore." Turning to Ash, Halley requested: "So, Ash Ketchum. Can you train me?"

"Huh?" "Pika?"

"I know, I don't know what I want to do yet, but... I don't want to be a complete nobody when I or anyone I know is in danger!"

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and smiled, then replied: "Got it, let's meet again on the back hill tomorrow morning!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow! Bye!" "Pika-Pika!" Ash and Pikachu waved their hand as they reached the entrance of the hiking path, going a separate path from Halley's.

"Thank you!" "Odi!" Halley replied, waving his hand back. Oddish didn't have arms, so it used the tentacle created by Mega Drain to wave.

Some minutes later, Ash visited the Pokémon Center in the town. The first thing he noticed was Solare sitting in the waiting room, covering her face with her hands. Ash immediately realized what she was doing, so he decided to not touch her directly. Instead, he wrote a small letter on a Post-it note and stuck it behind the chair in front of her so that she could see it.

I'll be training Halley tomorrow on the hill.
Come join us if you want to!

Ash Ketchum

To Be Continued

Chapter 4: It's Time To Be Creative

Chapter Text

The next morning when the sun was still rising, Halley was already wide awake, preparing breakfast for himself and his Oddish. A pair of toasts jumped out of the toaster in the kitchen, which Halley took out and put some ham and cheese between them to make a simple sandwich. About three were already made and placed on a plate next to the toaster.

Then, he went to the living room with the toasts to wake Oddish, asleep on the couch. He gently poked the weed Pokémon's face, and it gradually opened its eyes.

"Hey, Oddish. Breakfast's ready. Remember the get-together with Ash today?"

"Odi!" Oddish got up in an instant right after Halley's words. He then picked up a sandwich in both hands, moving one to the front of Oddish's mouth so that it could eat it, and eating the other himself.

"Do you like it?"

"Odi!" Oddish nodded with a smile, taking a large bite off its sandwich.

"I love to hear that!" Halley replied, smiling back and petting his Weed Pokémon.

After finishing their breakfast, they called Ash to see where he was.

"Contacting Ash Ketchum..."

"M...mm? What's up, Halley?" "Pi..."

"Good morning. Am I late?" "Odi?" Halley asked.

"Late...? Wha... Oh, right, right! Gotta hurry!" "Pikapi?!" The call ended right after they exclaimed in a hurry.

"Don't tell me they... They just woke up?" Halley chuckled. "Well then. They'll be there soon, so let's go!" "Oddish!"

When Halley and Oddish went to the back hill, the forest was empty of Pokémon, giving off a vibe of a park rather than a wild habitat. They seemed to be the only ones there, which gave them a weird feeling.

And just as they felt so, Solare was seen in the distance, clinging to the legs of the now fully-recovered Fletchling to fly to the hill and arrive at the place.

"Solare!"

Just as she was almost there, she let go of her Tiny Robin Pokémon's legs and landed in front of Halley. Then, dusting off her body and standing up, she said: "Good morning. So, this is where we're going to train?"

"Yeah... How's your Fletchling? Is it okay now?"

"Yes, it's okay now," Solare said, looking at the Fletchling on her shoulder. "Is Ash here yet?"

"Uh... not really."

"Hi, guys!" Ash shouted out from far away, running up the hill with Pikachu. "We just woke up... Sorry for being late!"

"Yeah, it's okay. So, are we going to start training now?" Halley asked.

"Of course. Now, let's begin!" "Pika pika!"

Some minutes later, Ash stood against Halley and Solare, maintaining some distance so there would be enough space to battle. Pikachu stood in front of Ash, while Oddish and Fletchling were in front of their respective trainers.

"So, guys, the rules are nearly the same as yesterday, except one thing."

"What is it?" Solare asked.

"Pikachu is allowed to use one move instead of zero."

"Wha-?" Halley gasped.

"Don't worry, Pikachu will attack weak enough for your Pokémons to withstand some hits," Ash assured. "And before we start, I'll give you guys some time to make a strategy. Tell me when you're ready!"

"Okay then..." Halley and Solare nodded, turning around.

"So, shall we show each other our cards?" Solare said.

"Yeah, right. Oddish can use Growth which can empower its attacks, Acid which can shoot a stream of acid, and Mega Drain which can drain energy from the opponent."

"Fletchling can use Peck which makes itself much faster and Growl which can scare the opponent and weaken their attacks."

"Growl? Didn't know that."

"Yeah, I had no chance to show it to you until now."

"And about Pikachu... Ash's Pikachu can use Thunderbolt which can discharge electricity around it, Iron Tail which can use its tail to strike, Quick Attack which makes it move faster, and Electroweb which is a net made out of electricity. So, what move should we allow it to use then?"

Ash and Pikachu watched the two newbie trainers strategize, with a smile on their faces.

"It's rare to see new trainers develop that fast. Don't you think they'll eventually get through this training too, buddy?" "Pika!"

Sometime later, Halley and Solare turned back to Ash and nodded. "We're ready now."

"So, what move?"

"Iron Tail," Solare said.

"Got it! Rotom, set a timer of three minutes!" Ash commanded to his phone, which popped out of his pocket and showed a three-minute timer on its screen. Pikachu, Oddish, and Fletchling all prepared themselves for the battle about to begin.

"Ready... Set... Go!"

Just as the timer started to tick, Pikachu started darting around the forest.

"Oddish, get on Fletchling!"

"Fletchling, use Peck at Pikachu!"

Oddish hopped onto the Tiny Robin Pokémon, who spread its wings and flew at immense speed to Pikachu.

"Now, Iron Tail!" But before they could reach it, Pikachu slammed the ground with its tail to jump and knock them away from the impact. Fletchling balanced itself in time, also still having Oddish on its back.

"That was close!" Halley reacted.

"Fletchling, use Growl!" Fletchling let out a loud piercing cry, sending shockwaves to the airborne Pikachu. The shockwaves landed directly, making Pikachu block its ears in irritation.

"Did that work?" Halley asked, quite surprised.

"Not yet. Use Peck again!" Solare commanded again, and Fletchling rose to the Mouse Pokémon at swift speed again.

"Parry it with Iron Tail!" But just like before, Pikachu used Iron Tail to spin vertically and slam Fletchling's head from up. The Tiny Robin Pokémon rapidly fell from the impact, conscious yet stunned from the attack.

"Odi? Odi, oddish!" Oddish shook Fletchling as it fell, trying to wake it before hitting the ground.

"Oddish, hop off!" Halley shouted, and the Weed Pokémon jumped off the robin before it hit the ground. Thanks to it, Fletchling could flap its wings to rebalance itself and land on the ground safely.

"Are you okay, Fletchling?!" Solare asked, frustrated.

"Oddish, use Acid!" Oddish spat out a stream of purple acid to Pikachu while its ally was recovering.

"Iron Tail again!" However, the electric rodent received the attack with its tail and swung it around, reflecting the stream to Oddish.

"Odi?!" The stream hit Oddish right on its eyes, blinding its vision.

"Oddish!" Halley gasped.

"Now, Fletchling! Use Peck!" Fletchling, after recovering from the attack, spread its wings to fly to Pikachu again. However, its speed was much slower than when it was not hit by Iron Tail, enough for Pikachu to evade it. "What the?!" Oddish was grounded still blinded by Acid, and Fletchling was not fast enough against the mouse Pokémon. The two Pokémons stayed the entire match struggling, eventually not landing any attacks onto the Mouse Pokémon.

"Time's up!" Ash's Rotom Phone announced.

"Good game! Nice work, Pikachu!" Ash added, doing a fist bump with Pikachu. "Pikapi!"

"Oh, come on..." Halley sighed, sinking onto his knees. "Odi..."

"Fletch..." The newbie Pokémons lay down on the ground in exhaust.

Sometime later, Halley and Solare were in the waiting room of the Pokémon Center while their Pokémons were recovering. Halley was feeling down from feeling the distance between the strongest and him, and Solare was simply staring at the floor with her face pale, concerned about Fletchling. Just then, Ash and Pikachu walked into the place, with two bottles of water in the former's hands.

"Here, drink this!" He gave the bottles to the two trainers, who both opened them in place and drank them.

"Man, this is so tiring..." Halley said, closing the bottle. "Well, I was the one who requested it, but..."

"I know, I know. This would be difficult for new trainers like you." "Pika, pi!" Ash replied, and Pikachu nodded. "So the assignment I'll give you is to succeed before the Festival of the Jubilee starts."

"So... about a week left then."

"Take your time, I know you'll be able to do it! Now, I'll be outside while you guys take a break." They encouraged, getting out of the waiting room.

"Solare, I've been wondering..." Halley started.

"Go on."

"Why did Fletchling become so much slower?"

"Wait! Hold on, let me explain it!" Halley's Rotom Phone popped out of his pocket to explain the situation. Halley and Solare both looked at the phone, curious.

"What's the reason?"

"You see this?" Fletchling showed up on the phone screen, who was most likely Solare's Robin. "This is your Fletchling." The phone explained, turning to Solare.

"I see."

"Its ability is Gale Wings. It allows Fletchling to use Flying Type moves at immense speed, but only when not damaged."

"When it's not damaged...?" Solare wondered. "Why haven't I known that earlier?"

"When it's not damaged..." Halley whispered, putting his hand under his chin. "Then... What should we do? Would Oddish be able to protect Fletchling while it's attacking?"

"No, I don't think so... Then, should we go all out with the first strike?"

"We could, but then we have to be able to attack as strong as possible, right? Should we do some training before we challenge Ash again?"

"You're right. Okay then..." Solare said, standing up.

"Trainer Halley, Trainer Solare, your Pokémons have been recovered." The Nurse on the counter said, holding a tray with two Pokéballs on it.

"Oh!" Halley stood up too and headed to the counter to pick up the two Pokéballs with Solare. "Yeah, let's go!" Then, he nodded, walking out of the Center with Solare.

Ash and Pikachu were secretly watching them from a distance, with a smile on their faces.

Some minutes later, the two trainers were where they battled against Team Rocket yesterday, with their Pokémons next to them.

"Now, let's begin." Solare started, preparing for the battle.

"I know. Get ready, Oddish!" Oddish walked out to the front of its trainer and lowered its body, preparing to battle.

"En Garde, Fletchling!" Fletchling flew out and hovered in front of its trainer, too. "Now, Battle Start!"

"Oddish, use Acid!"

"Fletchling, use Peck!"

Oddish squirted out a stream of acid from its mouth to Fletchling, who glided so swiftly that it easily dodged the move and struck its opponent in seconds. Oddish was flung away from the impact back to Halley, with spirals in its eyes. "Odi..."

"W- With a single strike?!" Halley gasped, crouching to check his Pokémon's condition. "Are you okay, Oddish?"

"Odi?" Oddish blinked to make its eyes return to normal and stood up. "Odi!"

"Again?" Solare asked, her Fletchling returning to where it was at the start of the battle.

"Wait, I call a time-out!" Halley declared, making a T-shape with his hands.

"Okay, go on."

"So, Oddish..." He then sat down on the ground with Oddish to strategize. "Fletchling is a really fast guy. We wouldn't be able to land any hits on it before it hits us."

"Odi." Oddish nodded.

"Then why not let them attack us?"

"Odi?"

"That's right. We aren't going to attack first. Instead..."

Sometime later, Halley and Oddish stood up, ready for a rematch. "We can do it, Oddish!" "Odi!" They shouted out at once.

"Here we go, then. Fletchling, use Peck!"

Fletchling glowed its peak silver and charged at Oddish with immense speed, but the Weed Pokémon patiently waited for the attack while bending its knees.

"Hm?"

"Now, Oddish! Jump away and use Mega Drain!" "Odi!" Just as the robin approached, Oddish dashed sideways to dodge the attack and summoned a green tentacle from its leaves.

"Wh-"

"Bind it!" The tentacle wrapped around Fletchling in time, binding it and draining out yellow energy from it.

"Get out of it, Fletchling!" The Tiny Robin Pokémon struggled, getting out of the tentacle in seconds. "Now, use Peck!" Since it took some damage from being bound in it, it was unable to use the superspeed Peck and instead charged at a speed visible to anyone who could see.

"Use Mega Drain again!" The reduced speed made Mega Drain much easier to work, letting Fletchling get bound by the tentacle again. This time, Fletchling was not healthy enough to get out of the tentacle, letting Oddish drain all its energy.

"Hmm..." Solare pondered, approaching the unconscious Tiny Robin Pokémon and holding it in her arms. Soon enough, the robin opened its eyes and flew out of her arms. "Alright then, the battle's over. Let's train individually now."

During their breaks, Halley discussed with Oddish the tactics they should use in their next match while sitting on the ground.

"Solare would come out differently on the next round. What should we do then?" Halley asked.

"Odi?" Oddish wondered, noticing Solare and Fletchling behind its trainer.

"Huh?" When Halley turned around, Solare was monitoring Fletchling flying around the hill. However, the robin wasn't using Peck, as if it was trying to get out of a rut of relying on the move. "They're practicing flying at high speed without Peck... How should we train then?"

"Odi..." "Hmm..." Oddish and Halley closed their eyes and pondered about what training they should do. But when they opened their eyes, a familiar person stood next to them. "Wha-?" When Halley looked up, Ash and Pikachu were looking down at him.

"Hi! Do you need help?" "Pika?" He asked.

"Uh... yeah, I do," Halley said, dusting his sweatpants off while standing up. "We don't know how we should train... I mean, I know we have to defeat your Pikachu in a week, and we even battled against Solare a few times, but..."

"Oh, I get it!" Ash said. "You mean just like how Solare is training Fletchling over there?" He then pointed to Solare and Fletchling.

"Yeah, like that."

"Okay then, I can help you with that. There's something Pikachu and Fletchling have in common. Do you know what it is?"

"Speed?"

"That's right!" "Pikapi!" "They're both fast Pokémons, but sadly Oddish isn't as fast as them. Have you won against Fletchling?"

"Yeah, I did. Since Fletchling becomes much slower when it's attacked, I told Oddish to give its all on dodging the first Peck, then took the chance to bind Fletchling with Mega Drain."

"Okay, sure. Try that on Pikachu this time." Ash suggested, and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder at that moment.

Ash and Halley maintained some distance from each other, with their Pokémons in front of them. "Ready?" The former asked.

"Yeah, we're good." Halley nodded.

"Now, Pikachu. Quick Attack!" Pikachu charged in a zigzag pattern instead of heading straight toward Oddish, confusing Halley.

"Huh...? Huh?!" "Odi?!" Because of that, Oddish couldn't find an appropriate direction to dodge the attack, letting Pikachu encircle it and ram it from behind.

"Odi!" With a short yelp, Oddish got knocked back and fell to the ground.

"A..."

"Yeah, that doesn't always work." Ash criticized. "Also, you can't expect your opponent to be slower when they're attacked. So, how about this? I'll do that again, and your task is to find a better way to counter fast attacks."

"Hmm..." Halley put his hand on his jaw and thought. "Alright then. Let's try it again."

Pikachu charged out a short distance repetitively as it approached Oddish, not giving it room to dodge just like in the previous match.

"Oddish, use Acid!" Oddish squirted out a stream of acid from its mouth, but Pikachu easily evaded the attack and rammed the Weed Pokémon again. "O- one more time!" Halley requested.

In the next match, Oddish used Mega Drain to counter Quick Attack, which the rodent also dodged easily. "Odi!" Oddish yelped again as it got knocked behind by Quick Attack.

"This also doesn't work..." Halley reacted. "Wait... Then what should I do?"

"Hmm... You know, Halley. Just because a move does something doesn't mean you have to use it that way. It's time to be creative." Ash advised.

"What do you mean?"

"Pikachu, let's show him, Counter Shield!" "Pikapi!" Pikachu lay down on the floor and started spinning, using Thunderbolt to form a tornado of electricity around it.

"Wha- What's that?!"

"Halley, can you try attacking Pikachu?"

"Oddish, Acid!" Oddish shot out acid at the tornado, but the poison didn't get through it as if it were used against a thick wall. "How?!"

"That's just a Thunderbolt! It's a simple move that discharges electricity, but I utilized it to make it a defensive move. This is how you become creative."

"Creative..."

In the meantime, in a café in the town, Team Rocket was taking a rest sitting around a round table and sipping a cup of coffee while wearing a beige trenchcoat and a black fedora to hide their identity. For some reason, they all had a contented smile on their face.

"Ah, what a nice day in a café." Jessie started, sipping her coffee.

"Yeah, a perfect break after having our mission ruined by some twerps," James added.

"Doesn't matter now. We're all gonna get scolded by the boss anyway." Meowth said, using the laptop that was the only thing left given to them. "Now, guys. Let's watch some videos for now." However, all of a sudden, the laptop received a call from someone named "Zer0". "Huh?!"

"What's wrong?" Jessie wondered, looking at the laptop screen to find out that they'd received a call. "What?!"

"Who's 'Zer0'? It's most likely not the boss, then... Should we accept it?" James asked.

"Uh, uhh..." Meowth stuttered for a second, but then recklessly clicked "Accept". "Alright, I don't care what happens now!"

The next thing that showed up on the laptop screen was simply a purple "VOICE ONLY" text.

"Huh? So is it not the boss?" Meowth wondered.

"Good afternoon, Team Rocket." A distorted voice came out, but the accent and the tone were quite different from the boss: it sounded much younger.

"Who... are you?" Jessie asked.

"I can't tell you, but you may call me... Zero. You've recently failed your mission, correct?'

"How did you know?"

"It's a secret. Anyway, because of that, I'm here to help you."

"How?" James asked this time.

"Do you know the name of the town you're in right now?"

"Let's see... It's Marey Town." Meowth answered.

"Correct. Have you heard about the Festival of the Jubilee?"

"Um... no."

"Every spring, a Togekiss visits the back hill in the town for a week. During this period, a festival is held in the town to celebrate it, and this festival is called the Festival of the Jubilee. It's about to start in a week."

"Okay, so... What does that have to do with us?"

"Now, listen closely..." Zero told Team Rocket the plan they should follow, one by one. "Now, does it look practical enough?"

"Hmm... That doesn't sound too hard." Jessie said.

"Of course, this plan considered your strengths and weaknesses in the process of making. It's specialized for your team."

"So, then... What should we do for now?" James asked again.

"I'll send you some items to help you soon, and when you receive them, I'll contact you again. Until then, enjoy your time in the town." The voice said, finishing the call. The trio went silent for a few seconds after so.

"Well well well... Prepare for trouble!" Jessie started with a smirk.

"And make it double!" James continued, also with a nasty smile.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth joined, holding its hand up high.

Just then, Wobbuffet also popped out of Jessie's Pokéball and joined the motto. "Wobbuffet!"

To Be Continued

Chapter 5: Finding Marill

Chapter Text

One day in the morning, the back hill was surrounded by a blue forcefield, which intrigued the villagers and made them gather around the hill. Halley was among them, watching the hill with Oddish with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Halley!" "Pikachu~!" Ash showed up, waving his hands to Pikachu with a smile on their face. "What's going on?" He then went next to Halley, wondering about the situation.

"Remember when the Pokémons living there were taken to the center when we fought Team Rocket?"

"Oh, yeah! Have they recovered now?"

"Correct! They're currently being released to the wild again!" Halley answered, snapping his fingers.

"Wow, that's a good news!" "Pika~!"

Just then, the forcefield faded away and allowed the trainers to enter the hill again. Nurse Joy walked out and stood in front of the crowd, announcing: "Good morning, everyone! The Pokémons have been successfully released to the wild!" The villagers applauded too, welcoming the wild Pokémons back.

"That's good news! By the way, Ninjask used to live here, right?" Ash said, taking out his Pokéball. "Come out, Ninjask!"

The first thing Ninjask did after coming out of its Pokéball was to look around the place, only to notice the hill populous of wild Pokémons just like before it was invaded by Team Rocket. "Ninjask?"

"Ninjask, would you like to say your last goodbye to Marill?"

"Ninjask!" Ninjask nodded, excited about their adventure but also a little sad about leaving its friend.

Some minutes later, Ninjask led Ash and Halley up the hill with numerous Pokémons around, happy to finally return home.

"They all look so happy!" "Pikapi!" Ash exclaimed, smiling back to the Pokémons.

"Ninjask!" Sometime later, Ninjask stopped at a large pond with Water Type Pokémons looking for their home and swiftly flew around it. But as it browsed the pond, it realized something was wrong. "...Ninjask?"

"What's wrong, Ninjask?" Ash asked, tilting his head.

"Ni... Ninjask!" Ninjask stammered, not knowing what to do.

"Do you mean... You can't find Marill?" "Pika?!"

"Ninjask!" Ninjask nodded.

"Uh, maybe it's somewhere else?" Ash suggested. "Let's find it together!" "Pika, pi!"

Ash, Halley, and Ninjask searched the entire hill after so, just in case Marill was spending time somewhere else. However, even though they'd searched for hours straight, the mouse was nowhere to be found.

"Ni- Ninjask?!" Ninjask put its hands on its head, not knowing what to do.

"Uh... Where did it go?" Ash wondered, scratching his head.

"Hmm, the last time we saw it was when Ninjask fed it some food..." Halley thought, putting his hand on his jaw. "Wait, then did they take Marill to the Center in the first place?"

"Huh...? Perhaps..."

Some days ago, while Ash and Halley were fighting against Team Rocket, Marill was recovering from the Pokémon food Ninjask had given it. Ash's Zetta-Magic shattered at the time, and Team Rocket was discussing whether they should target Pikachu.

"Ninjask?" Ninjask asked, worried about the blue mouse.

"Ma..." After feeding itself enough food, Marill got up, picking up from the hunger. "...rill!"

The sun suddenly shone brighter at that moment, making the place feel like a hot summer day.

"Ninjask?!"

"Marill?!"

The two Pokémons covered their eyes with their arms, dazzled from the sunlight. The next moment, the area in front of them was engulfed in flames, and that was when they noticed Salamence.

"Ni... Ninjask!" While Ninjask flew out to help Ash's team, Marill burrowed down to the ground and hid in the pit, praying that the dragon wouldn't notice it. It stayed there trembling for quite a long time until not even the slightest noise could be heard.

"Ma... rill?" About an hour later, when Marill dug out of the ground, the moon was glimmering brightly, and the entire hill was silent. It used to be quite so every night since most of the Pokémons would go to sleep, but... It just felt weird this time. As if it was the only Pokémon living on the hill. It searched the entire hill for other Pokémons for hours, but the hill was empty just like it expected.

"Marill...??" Not knowing what to do, Marill went back to its burrow and spent its night there. However, it spent the entire night wide awake, terrified about the thousands of Pokémons in the wild disappearing to nowhere.

"Marill..."

The next morning, the Aqua Mouse went outside again, looking down the town with determination. It thought nothing would change if it stayed in the place shivering, so it decided to set out on a quest to find the lost Pokémons and the vibrant hill back.

The first place it went was the marketplace, which was filled with merchants busy opening their shops in the morning. Because it knew there would be at least one trainer who would try to capture it, it decided to burrow down the ground and find an appropriate location to come out.

Marill dug down the hill again, much deeper this time. It first dug straight down for some time and changed direction to make the cave lead to somewhere in the marketplace. It advanced while digging the ground with all its might to find its lost friends back.

"Mari...!"

However, when the Aqua Mouse punched the soil to dig out another lump of dirt, a concrete wall showed up.

"Ma...rill?" Raising its eyebrows, it punched the wall at full force to shatter it and reveal a cave. Marill jumped off to the mysterious cave and looked around. It was nearly perfectly straight and round except for the ground, where two platforms surrounded the river in the middle. The river itself was far dirtier than the lake in the mountain, giving off a stinky odor.

The rodent wandered around the cave for a while to find a way out of the place and discovered a shaft in the ceiling. It stood below it and looked up to see what was on the other side, and saw some holes where sunlight shone through. Thinking it would be a way out of this place, Marill lowered its body and covered itself in aquatic energy to launch itself upwards through the shaft.

The manhole cover flew away as the Aqua Mouse emerged from underground, engaging dozens of people in the marketplace.

"Huh?" A boy turned around and noticed it ascending like a water rocket.

"Is that..." Another boy next to him added, his jaw dropped.

"A MARILL??" They both shouted out, taking out their Pokéballs. Marill immediately realized it had been spotted, and launched itself back to the manhole.

"It's running away! Come out, Vullaby!"

"Come out, Froakie!"

The two boys tossed their Pokéballs into the manhole and jumped into it themselves too, while the Aqua Mouse was flying away in a hurry while covering its body in water. The two Pokéballs opened up, revealing a stout vulture Pokémon wearing a skull as its diaper, and a sky-blue frog-like Pokémon with yellow eyes surrounding its neck with bubbles.

"Vullaby, Tailwind!" The vulture Pokémon flapped its wings forward, causing a strong wind to blow against Marill.

"M- Marill??" The blue mouse covered its face with its arms, struggling to open its eyes from the tailwind.

"Froakie, Quick Attack!" The frog Pokémon glowed its body silver and charged at Marill at immense speed, catching up to it in mere seconds.

"Get them!" When the frog was about to reach the mouse, it hopped higher to ram its opponent who was still flying midair.

"MARI-"

At that moment, from the dark corridor of the sewers, a hoard of white mice of various sizes turned up and dogpiled on Vullaby and Froakie.

"What the?!" The two trainers gasped and stepped back in confusion. They called their Pokémons back to their Pokéballs and hurried away.

"Ma, Marill?" Marill safely landed on the ground and looked behind, noticing the two Pokémons piled in dozens of mice.

"Fi?" One of them then showed up behind the Aqua Mouse and chirped, as if it was asking it if it was okay.

"Ma, mari..." Marill answered, scratching its head in confusion.

"Fi..." The white mouse went even closer to the Aqua Mouse and gazed at its eyes.

"Marill?"

Some minutes later, Marill found itself being held aloft by the army of mice, being taken to their shelter. "Ma... rill?" It chuckled, not understanding why the entire army of mice acted this way.

Soon enough, the mice put Marill on the ground again, introducing it to their shelter which was a massive area filled with platforms, hamster tunnels, and Pokémon food bowls.

"Fififi!" One of the white mice looked at Marill and pointed to the center of the area, where a table with Pokémon food bowls aligned on it was. Dozens of mice were feasting while sitting at the table, with some seats vacant here and there for the Aqua Mouse to join.

"Marill!" Marill gladly joined the feast and devoured the food in its bowl, nearly forgetting about its friends in the process.

"A Marill?" The Pokémon Center Nurse asked back.

"Yeah, do you know if any Marill was registered while the Pokémons were being rescued?" Halley repeated.

"Let's see... I'm afraid not." She replied.

"Uh... Seems like Marill wasn't rescued back then."

"Wait, for real?" "Pika?!" "Ninjask?!" Ash, Pikachu, and Ninjask gasped at once. The latter seemed to be especially shocked by its friend being lost and possibly...

Ash and Halley walked out of the center, still in panic.

"Uh oh... This is a bad news! Where should we find Marill, then?" Halley said, putting his hands on his head.

"Wait, Halley! What if Marill just wasn't rescued and left the hill to find others?" Ash assumed. "Then how far do you think it would have gone by now?"

"If that's so... It would've gone far by now. Somewhere like... Silva Jungle?"

"Silva Jungle?" "Pika?"

"I'll tell you about it later. Though, there's a chance that someone in the town had already captured it."

"Really? Then..."

Ash and Halley printed out dozens of missing Pokémon posters with Marill's picture embedded in them, to hang it here and there in the town.

"I think we've hung them everywhere in this town," Halley said, holding his remaining posters in his hands.

"Good job, Halley!" Ash grinned, raising his thumb. "Now, all we have to do is wait..."

"Mariri, Marill..." As it ate with the white mice, Marill explained why it ended up there and that it was trying to find its friends and restore the back hill.

"Fi fi?" The white mice around it nodded as they listened to its story, quite intrigued.

"Fififi!" Just then, a white mouse hurried into the area.

"Fifi?" The mice at the table whispered to each other, confused about the situation.

"Fi!" The mouse who entered showed them an empty Pokémon food can, indicating they'd run out of food.

"Fi?" A white mouse on the table's far edge chirped, who seemed to be the tribe leader. "Fi, Fifi?" It took out an open metal can with dozens of sticks and passed it to the mouse next to it to let it take out a stick. The mouse then passed the can to the mouse sitting next to it, and so on.

Some passes later, Marill's turn came. It curiously took a stick and passed it to the mouse next to it. As it inspected the stick it had chosen, it noticed that the end of the stick hidden inside the can was stained black.

Later when the can returned to the leader, it took out a stick with a black end, just like Marill's. "Fi?" It raised the stick, asking others who picked a stick just like it.

From here and there on the table, a mouse raised a stick with a black end, including Marill.

"Fi, Fifi!" The leader nodded and stood up from the table, along with other mice who picked a black stick.

Marill then realized it was a casting lot to decide who would go get the Pokémon food for others. It quite regretted picking up the black stick, but it knew there was no way to turn back now and followed the other mice outside.

As the squad walked through the sewers, the leader mouse ran to the front of others and showed them a marketplace map above the sewers. Where the Pokémon food shop was was colored in red.

"Fi!" Then, the leader mouse ran out and stopped to point its hand at the sewer wall. It then looked at Marill and nodded.

"Marill!" Nodding, Marill confidently started burrowing into the wall. The white mice carefully followed the Aqua Mouse making a tunnel for them, who suddenly changed direction upwards to make the tunnel reach the shop. Soon enough, Marill came across a marble tile instead of dirt, which signified that there was a building right above it.

Marill put its ears on the tile to check if anyone was behind it. There wasn't that much sound coming out of it, but Marill could hear a sigh.

"Man, this is so boring..." A young girl's voice came out from the shop.

Being aware that there was someone inside, Marill slowly lifted the tile and looked inside the shop. Just as expected, it was a small Pokémon food shop with numerous Pokémon foods on display. A girl was on the counter, her eyes half-closed and her arms on the table. She had brown long hair, a gray oversized sweater, and black oversized pants.

"I'm not sure whether having a customer right now would be good or not..." She yawned, falling asleep on the counter.

Taking the chance, Marill completely removed the tile and let the squad sneak into the shop.They all took out numerous cans of Pokémon food from the shelves and stacked them next to it, quietly and slowly so that the girl wouldn't notice.

Once they had enough food taken out, the mice held their stack of cans in their arms and tiptoed to the burrow to send the cans to the sewers. Just as the mice nearly sent all the cans, they turned to Marill to notice the tower of cans it took out from the shop shelves. It was as tall as a grown-up man, but Marill was holding it in its arms like it was nothing.

"F- fi?!"

"Marill..." Marill wasn't having any problems holding the cans, but it seemed to have some trouble keeping its balance. It staggered as it headed to the burrow, the stack of cans wobbling. Eventually, the tower collapsed, making the cans drop to the floor and make a lot of noise.

The white mice immediately ran into the burrow in a hurry and relocated the tile to where it was supposed to be, only leaving Marill and the girl in the shop. The Aqua Mouse looked around to find a place to hide, only to notice the girl standing in the distance, her arms crossed.

"Well well well. I had some cans disappearing from the shelves these days... And seems like YOU were the one behind all this, huh?" She said.

Some minutes later, Marill was trapped in a cage on the counter, with the girl staring at it. She was eating a bag of chips, and she seemed like she wouldn't give a crisp to the Aqua Mouse.

"Marill~?" Marill looked at the crisp she was putting in her mouth, and the girl intentionally chewed the crisp in a way that would make the loudest crunch to annoy Marill.

"Nah."

"Mari..."

The girl and Marill just stayed there for hours, the former watching over the latter.

"Hey, this is kinda boring, not gonna lie." The girl started.

"Mari..."

"Well then." She continued, holding a spoon in her hands like a microphone. "Do you wanna hear me sing?"

Right after that, the girl started singing a song for Marill, in a way so clean and beautiful that the Aqua Mouse nearly forgot the situation it was in.

The sun will shine, and the flowers will bloom
As the world comes alive...

"Mari..." Marill stood dumbfounded after her performance.

"Pretty cool, right?" She said, looking at the Aqua Mouse.

"Ma, mariri!" Marill nodded, clapping with its arms.

"Well, if I'm a good singer, what's the point?" The girl inclined on the plastic counter seat and continued. "I'm supposed to just spend the rest of my life in this tiny shop."

"Mari??" Marill asked, its meaning closest to "Why?"

"My family ain't living that well, you know." She said with a hopeless sigh. "I want to be a Pokémon Trainer like others... But I can't. There's no way my grandpa could live without me."

Marill gave the girl a pitiful look. "Mari..."

"Well, why did you come here, Marill?" The girl asked.

"Marill!" Marill pointed out of the window, at the back hill.

"The back hill...? Wait, do you live there?"

The mouse nodded.

"Oh, I see... I've heard that the Pokémons there were sent to the Pokémon Center because they were seriously ill yesterday..."

"Ma, marill??" Marill stuttered, thinking that its friends were dying.

"Uh, but don't worry too much. I've heard that they're stably recovering! We would be able to see them back on the hill soon. Are you here to see them?"

"Marill!"

Some minutes later, the girl strolled to the Pokémon Center with Marill next to her. They both were smiling, happy about this situation.

"You know, Marill... I've never really gone on a walk with a Pokémon before."

"Marill?"

"Yeah... So, when you meet your friend again, what will you do?"

"Mari..." Marill thought for a second and ran to the girl's legs, hugging it.

"Hu- huh?!" The girl gasped.

"Marill!"

"Uh, you're going to stay with me?"

"Mari, mari!"

"Okay, okay! You can let go of me now!" Marill let go of her leg right after. "Wait, I haven't told you my name yet, right?"

"Mari!"

"Okay, my name is Myla. Nice to meet you!" The girl said, petting the Aqua Mouse.

"Marill!"

When they arrived in the Pokémon Center, Myla showed Nurse Joy a Ninjask with her Rotom Phone.

"A Ninjask?" The nurse asked back.

"Yeah, so this is your friend, right?" Myla asked Marill, who nodded back.

"Let's see... I'm afraid, there are no Ninjasks registered in the center."

"Oh."

"Ma..." Marill stammered, shocked that its friend was not even being cared for in the center.

Then... Where could it be? Perhaps... When it flew away to help those humans... It... it...

With the worst situation automatically coming into its mind, tears ran down Marill's face. "Ma... ri..."

"A... Are you alright, Marill?" Myla asked, holding the round mouse in her arms to calm it down. But it was no use, and Marill started crying uncontrollably.

At this point, the mouse didn't even know what was going on. It wanted all this pain to end. No matter the truth, Marill wished to find just where on earth Ninjask was and see it.

When Marill opened its eyes after an eternity of tears, it was lying on a bed with Myla next to it, sitting on a chair. Sunlight shone through the window next to the bed, reaching the opposite wall of the room.

"Good morning, Marill." Myla said. "I've hung some posters around here just in case Ninjask's... somewhere around here."

"Mari...?" Marill whispered, nearly having given up on finding its friend.

"Let's not give up yet. Who knows if we would be able to find Ninjask?"

"Mari..." Marill still looked depressed.

Myla silently gave the Aqua Mouse a pitiful look for the next few seconds, making silence go by. When Marill was about to close its eyes again to look away from reality, the girl started humming a song different from what she had sung Marill yesterday.

No matter how I try, the more that I walk
The soles of my shoes, they keep picking up dirt

"Mari...?" Marill turned to Myla, a little intrigued about the song.

No different to us, the more we hurt
The souls in our hearts, they just keep getting cloudy

Marill stood up from the bed, gripped to the song's lyrics.

And when it gets too hard, and nothing seems to work
I think about the reason why you kept pushing forward

I’m meant to be the savior but you saved me instead
I tried to hold your hand but you just held me in the end

"Mari..." Marill nodded. The first encounter with Myla wasn't great. It was trapped in a cage as a punishment for trying to steal the goods from Myla's shop, but Marill was the only one to appreciate her singing skills. And now, just like Marill helped her, she was encouraging Marill to stand up and push forward. Just like how a little round mouse went all the way here from the back hill.

I hope the light will shine upon the journey ahead
I promise that our strength will overcome all our weakness
And each step you take on the road to the future
Is yet another win for the brave and fearless

The lyrics, and the amount of emotion she put into the song, it was enough to make Marill recover the will to keep moving forward.

Like filling up your lungs right before you scream
Or when you get a running start before you leap
We all need to cry, so that someday we’ll smile
And none of us believe that it means we’ve lost

Long Hope Philia

"So, Marill. Shall we keep searching for Ninjask?" Myla asked right after the performance.

"Marill!" Marill nodded with excitement.

And so, they spent hours searching around the town, visiting every single house there was to ask whether they had any Ninjask. It was not easy, and they heard dozens of "no" here and there.

"Well, this is hard..." Myla said, wiping the sweat on her forehead with her hand. "But we're not done yet!"

"Marill!!" Marill shouted out, still energetic.

"Wait, is that..." A man said in the distance, pointing at Marill. "Excuse me!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you that someone's looking for Marill?"

"Wait, for real?"

"Marill?"

"Yeah, here!" The man showed them the poster Ash and Halley had hung around everywhere in the town. "Do you think this could be talking about this Marill?"

"Yeah, it must be! We did it, Marill!" "Mari~!" Marill jumped into Myla's arms and hugged each other.

In the meantime, Ash was resting in Halley's house with Pikachu, Ninjask, and the house owner himself. They were all sitting seriously on the couch, praying that there would be someone who would show up with Marill. All of a sudden, Ash's Rotom Phone started ringing.

"You've got a call from 4272379832."

"Accept!" Ash shouted out with determination.

"Excuse me, are you looking for Marill?"

"Yeah, did you find it?"

"Ni... Ninjask?" Ninjask raised its head, nervous about what the caller would say next.

"Yeah, we did! So, all I have to do is just meet you on the fountain of the jubilee?"

"Yeah, see you soon!" Ash said, ending the call and standing up. "Guys, we found Marill!"

"Really??" "Pika?!" "Ninjask?!"

"Yeah, now, let's hurry!" Ash rushed out of the house immediately after.

Ninjask put its hand on its chest and sighed in relief.

Later, Ash first reached the fountain where Myla and Marill were waiting. Ninjask easily caught up to him with its swift speed, and as soon as Marill came to its eyes, it halted and looked at the Aqua Mouse. Marill also looked at the Ninja Pokémon, tears gathering up in its eyes.

"Ma... Ma..."

"Ni, Ninjask..."

"Marill!!"

"Ninjask!!"

Marill and Ninjask both ran out, hugging each other.

"Ma, mari! Marill!"

"Ninjask..."

Halley arrived at the place too at the moment. Looking at the wild Pokémons reunite, Ash wiped off the tears dripping from his eyes. Myla also seemed happy with Marill finding its friend back, but it was then that she noticed Ash Ketchum.

"Wait... Ash Ketchum?"

"Oh? Yeah. What's the matter?"

"A..." Myla chucked, caught completely off guard by such a celebrity showing up in the town.

"Well, thanks for taking care of Marill!"

"Tha... Thanks? haha."

"Well, it's great we found Marill... But what now?" Halley interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"I mean, Marill is her Pokémon, unlike Ninjask who's yours. No?"

"Uh, not really. I'm not a Pokémon Trainer." Myla explained.

"Huh? Why?"

"I also can't go with you guys. I have a family to feed, sorry. I'll leave it up to Marill."

"Oh..."

"Wait, how about this?" Ash suggested an idea for her.

In the evening, Ninjask was playing catch with Marill, Pikachu, and Oddish in the front yard of Halley's house. Ash and Halley watched them while sitting on the grass. Peace was finally restored at last.

"Finally..." Ash sighed in relief.

"Well, it's great being like this, but... What about Marill? Should we send it back to the wild?"

"I dunno, I'll leave it up to Marill. If it wants to stay with us, we'll let it."

In the meantime, Ninjask and Marill seemed to be talking about something. The latter nodded and walked to Ash and Halley.

"Oh, what's up, Marill?" Ash asked.

"Mari, mariri!"

"Well, looks like it wants to stay with us! Then, who's Pokémon are you gonna be?"

"Mari..." Marill thought for a second, but couldn't decide.

"Well then, we won't capture you for now. Take your time to decide who you want your trainer to be!" Ash suggested, and Halley nodded.

"Marill!"

"So, fist bump?" Ash showed Marill his fist to bump its one against, and Halley did so too.

"Mari!" Marill jumped to hit both of the fists with its hands, and the strength was enough to make Halley grab his fist after the fist bump.

"Ow! How's this guy so strong?"

Everyone in the area laughed, enjoying a tranquil evening at last.

To Be Continued