Chapter 7: Mt Moon part 2

Alright, I am a little sorry this hasn't been updated since October, but I do have a system with updates, and I'm sure you noticed I have a lot of stories in progress. I would like more reviews on my pokemon stories though. But I'm excited my HP/SW xover has over a hundred favs and follows!

Also, I will change my poll on profile page back to the one for my other pokemon story for a week, so if your reading both and you are yet to vote, better pop over!

Pokemon list as of the beginning of this chapter:

Ash: Phanpy, Charmander, Pidgeotto and Butterfree

Brock: Onix, Geodude, Zubat

Misty: Starmie, Goldeen, Staryu

Jessie: Ekans

James: Koffing

Ritchie: Pikachu (Sparky),

Skyla: Tranquil

Ryan: Kadabra
Because the list would get too long, if a character has not appeared for two chapters, they're getting taken off the list, even if they appear in that next chapter, they'll be added back onto it then. Until Vermillion City at the earliest, I don't have Leaf or Gary appearing. Anyway, enjoy, this chapter isn't a too bad length.

In all honesty, whatever they planned to do for freeing the trainers seemed like a bad idea. No matter what they planned and what they came up with, they found heaps of room for it to go horribly wrong. The one they were going with had an extremely high chance of something happening.

But, when they came up with other plans, they found not much room for error and lots of problems, so they kept returning to this one. Nothing seemed to be good or safe: running back to Pewter City and coming back with strong trainers would be the best and safest, but they were worried about Team Rocket disappearing if they did that.

It was a simple enough plan: they would send out some of their pokémon, (one each,) the ones they thought could get around without been detected or had the best chance of doing so. Their team of pokémon will go around and attack and knock out as many grunts as possible while not attracting attention.

Meanwhile, Richie and Skyla would attack the grunts who were guarding the trainers they had captured, then release the trainers and go find their pokémon. The pokémon taking out grunts would help them with that and make their job easier by knocking out some of the guards before they got there.

In the meantime, Misty, Brock, Ryan, and Ash would use their Pokémon to make a direct assault. First, though, they were going to find someone to get the police or someone stronger than them: there was no way they could bring down Team Rocket on their own, despite what Skyla believed, though admittedly she had gone off that idea. They could (hopefully) save the trainers and their pokémon, but they thought they could only keep Team Rocket busy until the police and whoever else arrived.

They hadn't needed to go too far until they found a person, a cyclist to be exact. He was heading towards Pewter City, and while he was in a hurry, he did stop for them. He was a little nervous due to the lack of trainers and life, and then the vibrations: they had all put him off and he was very scared. He had gone down some longer and less direct routes, meaning he did not see Team Rocket, but he believed them when they said they were here. The cyclist was happy to help, and he charged off on his bike to get to the city. In the meantime, they would make a start in trying to bust Team Rocket.

"I wonder why no one has come to get rid of them?" Misty asked irritably as they walked. Richie, meanwhile, thought they were like soldier's walking into a battle, which was kind of cool, but kind of scary. He hoped they didn't die like most soldiers did: now that was a morbid thought.

"Who knows? These days the Pokémon League has gotten a bit slack, but then it is hard because Lance is champion of Two regions, and the elite four is either older, not that interesting in this sort of thing, or just gotten admitted and struggling to get used to their job. With any luck, this incident will kick them into action," Brock said thoughtfully.

"Hopefully. It is an embarrassment to the region otherwise," Ash nodded. "I like Lance, but he was asking for it and an idiot for agreeing to take on two regions."

"Cha!" Charmander nodded, agreeing.

"Don't worry. If they don't start being more efficient, Brock and I can make a fuss about it and get the Pokémon league to take action or shut down and re-start: I'm sure other Gym Leaders would feel the same because of one reason or another, and four gym-leaders is enough for a Pokémon League investigation. It will mean we don't have the strongest in power, at least for a little while but hopefully, a new champion and elite four would do something about this! I can recall complaining to the Pokémon League last time I went through Pewter City! Can't remember what it was about though," Misty said, getting onto a bit of a rant. "Lance will still be Johto Champion, as no one has a problem with him there and that is his native region and where he was champion first."

When they were almost in Team Rock zone, they went and found other ways into the area, such as tunnels dug by other pokémon. Though they were all small, too small for the humans, it was okay, though, as it was for their pokémon to take. If there was any sign of team rocket, they got rid of it, even if it was just a poster. Then Ash released Butterfree and Pidgeotto, while Brock released Zubat, Ritchie released his Butterfree, Ryan released Kadabra, Skyla released woobat, and Misty sent out Staryu.

Misty didn't have any good Pokémon for the job, but hopefully, a pokémon who knows some useful moves for this task would be good enough: she did have a few of those. Staryu looked up for it, so hopefully, he'd succeed. Staryu was a very keen pokémon and adored Misty so it would give her everything it had.

After explaining to the pokémon their plan and what they needed to do, they went off and split up into their groups. Ash, Misty, Ryan, and Brock went to their entry point and were ready for battle. While it was tempting to separate here and go forward in pairs, they decided to attack them as a team. Safer and hopefully easier that way.

"Hey! Get them!" a grunt cried, spotting them. Three others came over, and Ash and co found themselves surrounded. The grunts released a pair of Ratatta, a Zubat and koffing respectively.

"Charmander go!" Ash cried to his partner. Charmander nodded and jumped into action. Ash had released Charmander to walk with them for extra support, and now he could go into attack mode much easier. Misty had sent Starmie out, Brock sent Onix out and Ryan released a Wartortle; then the battle started.

These grunts had one Pokémon each and were not very strong to start with. However, they got word around about the intruders before they could defeat them, and Ash and friends were soon be surrounded by other grunts. They had about eight attacking them at once at one point!

They were still only at the edge of the Rocket infested trap/area, though. Right now, they ducked behind some rocks to watch a familiar trio: Jessie, James and Meowth, working like many other people they'd passed. A green-haired man and a girl with long blonde hair done in pigtails were watching them, standing over them, laughing at them. They seemed to be taking great pleasure in the fact, Jessie, James and Meowth were working hard while they weren't.

"Isn't this the best? I mean, we always had a higher rank than those three," the woman said, shooting a look at the rocket trio. "But having them work for us is something else, right, Putch?"

"it's Butch!" The green-haired man growled, glaring at her. Then he said, regaining composer, "Sure is. It is an honour to be second in command for this important operation! If it keeps going smoothly like it has been going, it will raise our profile, Cassidy. We may even get a promotion!"

"Exactly! Next stop, is us on the board of executives! Then we can order the entire association around!" The woman, apparently called Cassidy, cried excitedly, stars appearing in her eyes. Butch and Cassidy looked like they were slightly older than Jessie and James, which Ryan thought was interesting.

Charmander, while they listened, was thinking about how curious about Team Rocket was. There were two people out of all the members of the gang he'd seen dressed in white: all the others were dressed and only wore black some of them, albeit quite a few were dressed with white gloves and boots. What was the meaning behind that? Was there some reason? Or was it just one of those things? Charmander would like to know, though it wasn't vital. Like pokémon, like trainer, Ash was having the same thought.

"As much as I don't like those three, it seems they have history with those two," Misty said, referring to Butch and Cassidy and their Rocket Trio.

"Yes. You must feel a little pity for them considering they are been treated like slaves," Ash said, and Ryan nodded.

"Agreed. They are watching them like hawks: I'd imagine they can't do a thing wrong," Brock nodded, sadness entering his voice.

The group pushed on then, wanting to avoid detection of Cassidy and Butch. If they were second in command for this mission, they must be fairly strong, or Team Rocket's crazy. Misty, Ash, Brock and Ryan didn't want to battle anyone that high profile, at least not at this point.

"Why do you suppose Jessie and James wear white while all the others wear black?" Ash asked, not being able to help himself. Charmander perked up, as did Starmie. Starmie was curious, and it had theories, but it knew the humans would know the truth, or have a better idea than it ever could.

Brock had returned Onix as soon as they finished battling, which was five or so minutes earlier, as it would attract a lot of attention having such a big pokémon out. It was a big risk leaving the other two out, but they all felt safer this way, so it was a risk, but a worthwhile one.

"Maybe they are disgraced so they have to wear them?" Misty suggested.

"it's possible that currently they hold some kind of special position or are special. Though, that isn't likely considering how they are treated," Brock said, thinking. He was always the wise one.

"It is possible there is something we aren't seeing," Ryan said as they were attacked by three more grunts. Ash was battling a Raticate: they were starting to get to the tougher guys now. Brock and Misty cursed as their pokémon started to get pushed to the limit this early on.

"Charmander! Use ember!" Ash cried.

"Char!" Charmander cried, releasing ember attack.

"Dodge!" the grunt cried, a little too late. Despite how powerful his Raticate looked, a strong trainer this grunt was not, or at least, not a good or smart trainer. All his commands were sloppy and or late, but he was still putting up a good fight for an already tired Charmander. He was slightly over-weight and had purple hair, and was the second most unpleasant-looking person Ash ever saw.

"Metal Claw!" Ash called.

"Dodge!" the rocket cried.

"Combine Ember and Metal Claw!" Ash cried.

"Dodge, dodge, dodged!" the grunt cried desperately.

Charmander did his best to hit, but he was struggling a little. He did hit a few times, which did a bit of damage. It would be good to use Focus Punch, but Ash didn't want to risk Charmander getting injured in the charging time. Ash decided to try a different move.

"Dragon Rage! Rapid-fire!" Ash said, hoping he was not pushing his partner too much.

Charmander happily agreed though, which reassured Ash somewhat. As long as he had energy and wanted to keep fighting, Ash would let him. Raticate avoided more than half the attacks, and he got hit by the rest, except one which it had destroyed with a super fang. However, that had tired Charmander out, and he fell onto one of his knees.

"Too weak to keep fighting? Pathetic: Kanto is the poorest excuse for a major league region," The grunt taunted, and both trainer and pokémon shot him a deathly glare. Pity looks can't kill.

"Charmander, are you alright?" Ash asked, worriedly. Charmander was still up per say, but Ash could tell he should be down, as that was a cause of going down on one knee like that.

"You could at least order it to stand up and fight, kid. No wonder it's so weak, with a soft-hearted, fluffy, pathetic trainer like you," the grunt continued to taunt.

Charmander's tail flared up, signifying Blaze had kicked in. Ash would never rely on it, for two reasons. One, it was cruel to get a Pokémon so weak to activate it on a regular basis, and with Charmander at least, it was touch and go wherever or not it activated. Charmander always kept going until he fainted in tough battles like this, but the ability hardly ever kicked in. Ash might ask Professor Oak about it when they reach the next stop with a phone.

There was a possibility it was a defect in his Charmander, and the ability is supposed to kick in every time his HP was low. It didn't matter though, that line of thought was abandoned as a glow surrounded Charmander, which was the cause of the tail flare, most likely. Ash realised what it was after staring at him for a while.

"Evolution! He's evolving!" Everyone including the Team Rocket Grunts cried.

Charmander grew in size, and a pointy thing appeared on the back of his head. Ash was grinning as he saw his Charmander's features had sharpened and his skinned had gotten a much richer red. Ash knew Charmander was now Charmeleon.

"Yay! Well done, Charmeleon!" Ash cried, pulling his pokédex out.

´Charmeleon, flame Pokémon. Though fights could excite this Pokémon when excited it may breathe out bluish-white flames.'

"Alright! Ready to fight?" Ash asked grinning. Meanwhile, the purple-haired grunt looked at them both, swallowing nervously.

"Char!" Charmeleon roared, his tail flaring up. Ash realised blaze had kicked in now, but he made a note to heal him after.

"Alright! Ember!" Ash cried.

"Cha!" Charmeleon cried, releasing embers more powerful than before: it almost looked like flame burst or flamethrower.

"Dodge!" the grunt cried.

The attacks had sped up too: the Raticate had no chance. After that, Charmeleon used Focus Punch and defeated the opponent. "No!" the grunt cried as his Raticate fainted.

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Ash cheered as the grunts ran off, and went and congratulated Charmeleon, who was very proud of his new form. He, Brock and Ryan gave the fire-lizard a quick check over, and while they were not doctors or nurses, between them they had a bit of experience and had seen pokémon evolve and knew what to look for when making sure nothing bad came out of it. They all had also read books on what to look for, too: he looked fine.

After that, Ash, Ryan, Misty and Brock continued, not before Ash returned Charmeleon after using a super potion on the injuries. They kept going and battled more grunts and more grunts. Ash was using Phanpy now, giving Charmeleon a rest. He would quite possibly need to use him later. Phanpy, meanwhile, was doing fine and having the time of his life.

After what felt like forever, they came around and were in the doorway to another room. Here, grunts were cleaning fossils and other things they had dug up. Brock had to admit, for bad guys with a terrible track record, they were taking very good care of the fossils and ordinary rocks. Surprisingly, there were only ten grunts actually on guard: maybe their Pokémon, Skyla and Richie had gotten the others? There were a few tents, so maybe they had the pokémon or trainers in this area? A possibility, anyway.

Ryan also noticed that and suspected the same as Brock. He suspected they wanted the fossils to return to their pokémon forms, and maybe they were looking for evolution stones? He didn't know. It occurred to Ryan there might be Mega Stones here in Kanto: he had no idea what they were or where they were, except they allowed pokémon to access special powers in new forms and were hard to come by.

In the middle, overseeing everything going on in this room, there was a guy with short green hair and he was fairly tall. He wore long white boots, black shorts, A flat-cap, a black polo shirt and finally long white gloves. He probably had a red R on his shirt, too. None of them could see that at this point, so it was just a guess. He was also wearing a smirk, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"That has to be the boss of the mission: I'd expect he's an admin or executive: don't ask which one's higher because I don't know," Ryan whispered.

"We have no chance against him!" Misty exclaimed quietly.

"Executive and admin could be the same rank," Ash unhelpfully suggested.

They then entered the room (only a little) feeling nervous. How long until the police arrived? They knew with even ten grunts and an admin who was probably very powerful, they wouldn't last very long. If they were defeated before the stronger trainers came, they were done for.

"What shall we do then?" Misty asked, impatiently.

"Well, we came here to get rid of them," Brock said, though looking nervous.

"Yes, but how long will we last?" Ash asked, deciding he did not want to go and battle those rockets, as he had a bad feeling about that idea. They walked away from the room to discuss this, and Ryan and the other two were having similar thoughts.

"I don't kn—Huh?" Ryan started but stopped and they all turned as they heard footsteps. They turned to see their pokémon (who had been getting rid of grunts) getting rid of grunts, Skyla, Richie, and a group of trainers; there were quite a few, though not that many considering how popular path was for people to take.

Ash didn't think he knew any of them, which was a relief: he couldn't stand the idea of Leaf or even Gary being held hostage by Team Rocket. They could have Damien though: Ash didn't know him at all, but from his encounter that boy was horrible.

"Are these your Pokémon?" a girl with short bobbed green hair and a purple fedora asked. Ryan then noticed with the exception of Sparky, Skyla and Richie had no pokémon out: Skyla (at least) must have returned woobat already-there was a possibility Richie only battled with Sparky and had returned Happy.

"Yes," Ash, Misty, and the other two nodded.

"Well, thanks to them and your friends, we could get free and get our Pokémon back," a bug-catcher said.

"What now?" another asked.

"Two choices," Ash said. "One, we go and face the admin and ten or so grunts in the next room and risk getting royally trounced and re-captured. Or two, we wait for the help that should be coming."

Brock and Misty looked surprised about this, but they thought considering there were other people now involved, maybe it was for the better. It was a sensible and the most obvious idea, just they did not expect Ash to say it: then again, he was so mature in some ways and so immature in others, so who knew?

Skyla glanced around, and then said, "I know I wanted to defeat than before, think we should do your second idea. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to get captured. I don't want to risk losing my friends!"

"We should watch them and if they try to move on, try and distract them," an older trainer suggested.

"Great idea," Ash nodded.

Then he and Misty returned Pidgeotto and Staryu. He and Brock returned Butterfree and Zubat a few minutes later when they returned, looking a bit tired and beaten, but still plenty of fight. All the while, the trainers nervously glancing around, hoping Team Rocket didn't hear them. They should have gone further from the room hosting the Admin: it would have been safer.

Right then, there was a loud bang, shouting, and pokémon cries and humans crying out. Something had happened; someone had arrived. Brock was delegated to see what was going on. Meanwhile, Cassidy and Butch came and found them, along with fifteen grunts and then a reluctant Jessie, James and Meowth trailing behind them. They looked like they wanted to turn tail and run, but were not quite brave enough.

"Get them!" Cassidy cried, releasing a Drowsy.

"Go!" Butch cried, releasing Ash's favourite (not) Pokémon: Raticate.

"Phanpy!" Ash cried, releasing Phanpy while everyone else released a pokémon. The Team Rockets who attacked them didn't stand a chance, even with multiple Pokémon.

Ash faced Butch's raticate: he did not know how that happened. Phanpy used a rollout attack, and raticate dodged then used quick attack. Ash called for Phanpy to use rollout again, and this time they hit, however, after hitting the third time, Raticate fought back with bite, meaning Phanpy couldn't escape.

"Phanp!" Phanpy cried in pain.

"Use natural gift!" Ash called, forgetting he did not have a berry: as a result, it did not affect. Ash sure remembered that then.

"Now! Quick Fang!" Butch called, calling for a combo, which was probably a quick attack combined with a hyper fang or something similar.

It was exactly what Ash had thought, and Phanpy was flung away from the rat: well, that worked for Ash. "Bulldoze!" Ash cried, using a move to help the other trainers as well.

Several of the rocket pokémon fainted as a result, sadly not Raticate, or at least not yet. A few moves later it fainted, though.

As Cassidy, Butch and the other grunts ran away, Jessie, James and Meowth cried, having not battled, "We're sorry! Let us go!" then they ran away after their friends/workmates. That confused everyone, but Ryan did not find it that surprising.

Right then, Brock returned, missing out on the fun and not having much idea on what he missed out on. Looking around he could work it out. "The Pokémon G Squad and the Elite Four have come!" he cried, shaking his head and forgetting about what the others could have been up to.

"Really?" Richie cried, sounding surprised. He hadn't expected all those fancy people to come, just the police force and maybe one or two fancy trainers such as the nearby frontier brain and a veteran trainer.

"Yep. You should come and see for yourself," Brock suggested.

Everyone nodded. After returning their pokémon and thanking them, then they approached the next chamber. Though Brock told them it was safe to look, a few were fearful they'd get captured, again, so they were careful, but not that careful as they would have been if Brock had not said that.

#################

Brock was right, though no one had doubted him: they were just been cautious. They had no reason to suspect he was secretly part of Team Rocket, and there was no way he could be convinced in that sort of time: but just because they believed him doesn't mean they believed him.

Twenty people in all had arrived since before, and it was twenty more than what was here earlier. Most of the twenty were wearing a dark red outfit with a big G on the front, and best of all: they had capes. Skyla, if no one else, like the capes: she thought they looked like superheroes, and she loved superheroes.

That aside, this is the Pokémon G Squad. They even had their leader, and the regional champion of Kanto and Johto, Lance. It was amazing to see him in the flesh. Every single trainer here had watched at least one of his battles, if not multiple: Ash had watched as many as he possibly could, and he had spent a lot of time picking up techniques and other things from his battles, too.

Agatha, Bruno, Lorelei, and Blaine were there as well: the elite four. Ash was surprised to see Blaine, as he thought he'd retired. Then again, he could have to stay on until they get a replacement, or he hadn't left yet but was leaving, or just maybe Ash's brain didn't remember correctly. Any of those, even the last one, could be possible.

"I'm glad we didn't go in there: we would have been flattened in a matter of seconds," Misty said as Blaine's Magmortar defeated several Golbats with one fire blast: amazing, no one had ever seen that happen before, at least not in the flesh.

Despite the fact the G Squad and Elite Four were much stronger, the power of the admin, executive; whatever they're called, was made clear, and the other grunts were pretty strong too. Especially a female one with a shiny Ninetails: that was a pretty powerful pokémon. There was something familiar about her, but Misty couldn't place it. She suspected she was someone important: if so, she was acting as a spy or quite possibly a government traitor. However, Team Rocket was defeated fairly quickly, but the fight was rough and all the attacks were powerful.

"Yeah," Ash, Richie and Skyla agreed whole-heartedly. Everyone else was having thoughts along similar lines. What was amazing was that the machines and boxes with fossils cleaned up or the yet to be cleaned up rocks had not been damaged by a hit or destroyed. Ash wondered if there was psychic-type behind that, as there were a few psychic pokémon battling, or though some could be invisible, too.

During the fight, a stray grunt tried to make off with a bag of fossils, but Ryan's Kadabra stopped him in his tracks and grabbed the bag before he and the hiker jumped the grunt and tied him up. A G Squad member saw this and gave a thumbs up, making them both blush: not every day you got approval from a member of the Pokémon G Squad!

Twenty minutes later, everything was over. The rockets were arrested and taken off, and several members of the G Squad came over to the younger trainers and asked them questions, then checked them over for injuries and made them check they hadn't lost anything. After that, the trainers were allowed to leave, not without being told Ash, Skyla, Richie, Brock, Ryan, Misty and the rest of the trainers were in for a reward.

Ash, Skyla, Richie, Ryan, Misty and Brock were getting something other than a little bit of money, much to their surprise. They all got told to try and avoid engaging with Team Rocket were possible, and only do something like this happened again, and even then they still advised against it.

"Wait up, youngsters," someone called out as they started to leave. The trainers sprung around to see Agatha was still here: they thought she had gone with the rest of the elite four after arresting the Rockets: Gloria and Kebin of the G squad had questioned them and checked them over.

"Sure. But why Mrs Storm?" a girl with short purple hair asked. Ash didn't know what she was called. Agatha's surname was Storm, though no one was sure what her maiden name was. They assumed it was a married name, with her being a Mrs and all, but there was a chance it wasn't quite like that.

"A few of them got away, girl: they had friends who attacked us, and I want to accompany you to the base of the maintain, just in case they are still hiding among the rocks or in one of the caves," Agatha said sourly. She was not very happy, and she looked like she'd like to go and murder someone, or at least set her gangar on them: debatable on which one was worse. Now, Ash hoped to not battle it for a long time, as that thing was a monster.

"How did they get away?" Skyla and the green-haired girl, Lily, asked.

"We were ambushed, plain and simple: sometimes even the best can get taken by surprise and defeated. Several members escorting the rockets were pushed over, allowing them to escape," Agatha explained, sounding very sour, (still.)

"In that case, we would be glad and thankful," the bug-catcher, Antony, said.

As they walked with Agatha, a few people asked her questions to do with Pokémon training, but Ash meanwhile, thought. Apparently, not all the trainers who had gone through Mt Moon had been captured, only the young and promising-looking ones: the grunts battled the trainers, then captured them if they were any good, otherwise left them lying there after stealing their pokémon. Gloria assured them the pokémon would be given back, much to his at least, relief.

It was obvious that they were after new recruits. While some were just robbed of their pokémon, others were allowed to pass through untouched, though they were directed down another path or went there on their own. But other than fossils, maybe mega stones, and new recruits, what were they up to? Ash asked Misty that question.

"Not much is known about the goals of Team Rocket. Whatever it is, it can't be good," was all she replied with. Misty was as stumped as he was, in all honesty. She had tried and tried to work out it, and she didn't manage it.

"Agatha," Misty called to the ghost master.

"What?" Agatha asked.

"Do you have any idea what Team Rocket's agenda is?" Misty asked.

"They want to take over the world and perhaps get rid of the rest of us. Lance thinks they are just a gang out to make money, but I've heard the words and whispers and I happen to agree with them. I have listened to insiders and gossips, and I told him. But did he listen? No! But, you young people! You never listen to us older ones anymore," Agatha said, quite sore on the matter.

Everyone believed her, and most shivered: after seeing what TR did firsthand, most were willing to believe that. The oldest of them was the hiker, John, and he was middle age but had not seen many of the horrors of this world. Hardly any of them, most being Ash's age, would have never considered people murdering others and taking over the place. Ash had to admit it: it was a scary thought.

Getting excited when they finally got out of Mt Moon, and Agatha stayed with them until they were down onto the none-mountain terrain, Agatha said, "Now, it is half a day's travel from here to the crossroads. One goes to Cerulean City, the other is a route around and eventually loops down to Vermillion City. I'd imagine most of you would be going into the city, though."

"Yes, that's right," Skyla nodded, and most the others nodded. The bug catcher and the green-haired girl were the only ones who didn't. Brock and Misty were unsure: they would have to talk to Ash. Misty hoped Ash would wait, as she didn't want to go there, and a few months and she could battle him and give him a badge.

"Very well. I'd suggest travelling together to that point. Might as well: it is a pretty straight route with not a lot going on," Agatha suggested.

"We will probably stop overnight, though," Richie said, glancing at the sun that was close to setting.

"Probably a good idea, everyone needs rest and travelling at night is not the safest. Now, I will see you again soon: train hard, young ones! I want to see some of you try and challenge the elite four before I retire. That will not be long now," Agatha said, bidding her farewell.

"Bye!" the others cried, waving. They turned and walked off, taking the trail that would take them to Cerulean City.

Agatha smiled as she watched them leave: she believed the kids would do great things, especially the black-haired boy, Ash, she thought he was called. Although, she could see a lot of potential in the Pikachu boy, too.

##################

An hour and a half later as the sunset, the trainers stopped. Several tents were set up in a circle, and in the middle, there were chairs and logs, then a large fire with several pots over it. The green-haired girl whom Ash discovered was called Lily Thornbury, and the Hiker named John Mclimer were helping Brock make dinner. There were six other trainers: Antony Gregger, Chess Miles, Sybil Brown, Shauntal Spirit, Rose Smith, and Draconiren (Draco for short)Mortis, and they were mostly playing card games or playing with their pokémon or grooming them. Meanwhile, Ash and Misty chatted to Skyla and Richie.

"So your from, from… what was it again?" Ash said, embarrassed he had forgotten were Skyla was from.

"Seriously?! I just told you! Unova!" Skyla exclaimed, huffing annoyedly.

"Ah! That's right! There isn't a league there, is there?" Ash asked.

"No, there isn't. Some people are wanting that to happen, though, including my mother. Sadly, as of yet, it isn't going very far: in the meantime, people like me have to travel to other regions. I'm from Mistralton City, which is a hub for planes arrive at, local and international flights. My father is one of the chief pilots!" Skyla boasted.

"Wow? Really? Can you fly a plane then?" Richie asked, looking at her in awe. He thought it would be cool to do that.

"Yep! I love flying-types and flying planes! I am going to be a pilot too, one day," Skyla nodded. After that, they helped feed the Pokémon.

Skyla had four pokémon: a Tranquil, Woobat, Ducklett and Fearow: tranquil and ducklett were Unova Pokémon, as was woobat, but she had caught that here. Richie had his Pikachu, which was his starter, then he owned a butterfree and a charmander. He liked nicknaming his Pokémon: Pikachu was called Sparky, Butterfree was Happy, and Charmander was Zippo Zippo was close to evolving.

As they ate, Richie asked, "So who's entering the league? Well, planning on it?"

Lily, Antony, Brock, and Misty were the only ones who gave a firm no. Lily wanted to wait a year before she did them, and Antony wanted to become a Coordinator, which was an unusual choice for a bug-catcher. He had entered one contest but hadn't got a ribbon yet. He was heading to a town called Violet Village: between Cerulean City and Vermillion City, there was a contest happening there: he had to take the route around Cerulean City to get there. He would then head to another one in Vermillion a short time after. Rose was unusual as she wanted to do contests and gym battles, but everyone wished her luck besides that.

They chatted for a while, and laughed at jokes, mostly John's. Eventually, everyone started to get tired, so they all turned in for the night. It had been an eventful day, and for a lot of them, it was quite traumatic, and some of them had been captured for a couple of hours and days even.

Before that, Misty and Brock asked Ash, "What are we going to do, now? Travel wise, as there is a choice up ahead."

"We're going straight to Vermillion City: you said you did not want to go to Cerulean, and you can battle me and give me my badge in a few months, so why not go around?" Ash said.

The other two nodded, and Misty was relieved: she was glad Ash had said that. She shouldn't be surprised: Ash was a good friend, and a smart one. She knew he would not do something they did not want to know as long as there was a reason he thought was good and he could do that.

Because there are so many great pokemon beyond Unova, the regions don't exist but the pokemon may appear, and trainers from those regions will appear, with the explanation being 'from a faraway region.'

I've also decided to make each region a separate story, as these stories are going to be long, and it will be easier for the readers to keep track of that way. Orange Islands will be included into Kanto and Battle frontier Hoenn.

I'm out now. Bless you all and have a great day/night!