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Lusamine gracefully stepped down the stairs of her private jet as she gazed at the bright lights of Saffron City off in the distance. "We're finally here," the Aether President said with ambition. Wicke, the president's deputy chief assistant nodded in agreement.

"So, I presume we will engage with our researchers at Silph Co. about their recent findings?" Wicke asked.

Lusamine firmly nodded, "Yes. The time to expand our empire here in Kanto has arrived!" she declared.

Meanwhile, our heroes: Ash, Serena, and Brock finally reached the mainland of Kanto after days of being cast out at the sea. Ash finds himself locked in an intense match for his fourth badge against the Gym Leader of Celadon City, Erika.

"Tangela: use vine whip on Bulbasaur! Gloom: use acid on Charmander!" the Gym Leader commanded as her two grass-type pokemon opposed Ash's two pokemon in a double battle.

"Charmander: knock both attacks down with your flamethrower!" Ash responded. Charmandedr opened its mouth and allowed the flames from its body spew out and negate both attacks with ease. Dust quickly settled on the grass battlefield within the Celadon Gym greenhouse.

"You can do it, Charmander!" Serena enthused from the sidelines.

Brock smiled and put his hand on his chin, "Hmm. Charmander has obviously improved since its battles with Lt. Surge and Leaf," the Gym Leader commented as the battle continued.

Ash gripped the tip of his hat and let out a proud sigh, "This badge is mine! Bulbasaur: use vine whip to send them flying! Charmander: finish them off with flamethrower while they're air-bound!" the trainer commanded. And without hesitation, Bulbasaur whipped up both of Erika's pokemon with its vines and Charmander roasted both of them almost effortlessly. Both Gloom and Tangela hit the ground in defeat as Bulbasaur and Charmander triumphantly remained standing.

"Yes! We did it!" Ash celebrated; along with Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu.

"Wow. Gym battles sure are intense," Serena said with a sigh of relief.

Brock nodded with his arms folded, "As Gym Leaders, our goal is to push trainers to their limits, doing the best we can to bring out the best in them and their pokemon so that no matter what they decide to do in life, they will be ready for anything," he said as Ash claimed his badge from Erika and held it up high.

"So, where are we off to next?" Serena asked Brock.

"The next Gym Leader will be in Safron City," he replied.

Ash clinched his fists as he celebrated with his pokemon, "Pokemon League: here we come!" the trainer declared.

Lusamine and her assistant, Wicke, arrived at the large Silph Co. building via limousine. The two were greeted by the front desk staff inside the upscale business, "Good afternoon, Ms. Lusamine. It's nice to see you," one of them said.

"Good to be here. Is everything ready for the conference meeting on floor 28?" she inquired.

"Yes, everything is ready madame president," the Silph Co. employee responded.

"Excuse me. Are you the Aether Foundation President?" a male voice spoke up from behind Lusamine and Wicke. Lusamine turned around to the sight of a young man with dirty blonde hair, a thin orange jacket and brown pants. Next to him stood a young woman with short brown hair, wearing a cool trainer uniform.

"I am. Who is asking?"

"The name is Trip," the boy said.

"I'm Neesha!" the girl added.

"It's nice to meet both of you."

"I hate to be forward, but I want to know if you're as strong as everyone says you are," Trip asserted with arrogance.

"You see, we're both on our first journey as trainers! We're going to challenge the Indigo Plateau!" Neesha added.

Lusamine smiled. "It's always nice to witness such pure ambition. Sure, I'll battle both of you," she said as she turned to the Silph Co. staffer, "Please have my researchers send down UB-01."

The staffer nodded and made a quick phone call. Less than a minute later, a strange blue pokeball was sent through a transfer system, the staffer gave it to Lusamine, who had a malevolent smile as she held it.

The Aether President fulfilled the wishes of the two young trainers as she opposed both of them across the spacious lobby.

"Ivysaur! Go!" Trip exclaimed as he summoned his grass-type.

"Shell Shocker! Go!" Nessha exclaimed as she summoned her Wartortle.

Lusamine inhaled deeply before releasing the pokeball, "I haven't felt like this in so long. I'm not just analyzing data or observing Nihilego, I'm actually battling with it. This is euphoric!" she thought to herself as she summoned a strange jellyfish-like pokemon.

The Silph. Co employees, along with Trip, Neesha and Wicke all looked on in amazement at the strange pokemon.

"Wh- What is that thing?!" asked a bewildered Neesha.

"Who cares? This is a once in a lifetime battle and I'm not going to get distracted! Ivysaur: vine whip!" Trip shouted. Ivysaur extended its vines and hit Nihilego, knocking the pokemon back slightly.

"I guess he's right," Nessha said hesitantly, "Shell Shocker: water pulse!" she commanded. Wartortle launched the attack, landing another hit on Nihilego, the damage was significant, seemingly. Lusamine, however, calmly examined her pokemon without retaliating.

"Is she not going to fight?" Nessha inquired.

"Her loss," Trip said preparing for another attack. "Ivysaur: vine whip, again!" the trainer commanded. Ivysaur again extended its vines and popped Nihelego twice, doing mediocre damage.

Suddenly, Lusamine's eyes shot open and she gazed at the battle filed with a nefarious expression, "SLUDGE WAVE!" she exclaimed with vitriol. Niheliego raised its tentacles and sprayed Ivysaur with the poison attack, instantly defeating the grass-type. "Ivysaur!" Trip shouted with a distraught tone.

An aura briefly surrounded Nihilego, indicating some sort of stat change. "Beast Boost," Wicke uttered.

"What is that?" one of the Silph. Co. employees asked.

"Nihilego gets a raise in special attack each time it defeats an opponent in battle," she answered.

"Well that's not stopping us! Shell Shocker: HYDRO PUMP!" Nessha responded. Wartortle opened its mouth and released an impressive stream of water hurling towards Nihilego.

"Sludge wave, again!" Lusamine commanded. Nihilego once again sprayed out its poison - which collided with hydro pump in the center of the lobby. Eventually, the poison attack pushed back hydro pump and overwhelmed Wartortle, defeating it.

"Madame President, that was..." Wicke said, trying to find words to describe what she just witnessed.

"I know. And just think, this is only the beginning," she replied recalling Nihilego. "We truly have a chance at achieving a transformative era of pokemon relationships and multiverse travel.

"Multiverse travel?" Neesha asked as she recalled her Wartortle.

Lusamine smiled at the two trainers, purposely bypassing her question. "It was great to meet you two. I can't wait to see you compete at the Indigo League!" the president said with a distinctly different attitude from what she had during battle.

On their way to Saffron City, and Ash's next Gym Badge, our heroes find a nice site in the forest to camp out near a fire, roasting marshmallows and enjoying the nice, cool and calm fall night, with nothing but the stars and fire illuminating their surroundings. Pikachu, Eevee, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Frogadier and Geodude all played around near by.

"So, Ash? I noticed you have a Charmander AND Bulbasaur. How did you get so lucky to get two starters?" Serena asked as she held her marshmallow stick near the burning fire.

"HA, thing is, I actually overslept on the first day of my journey and ended up with Pikachu!" Ash responded with a light chuckle.

"Pikachu?"

"Right. Pikachu and I didn't get along all that well at first, but now we're best buds!" the trainer said glowingly staring at his electric pokemon. "I met Bulbasaur at a hidden village, kind of like a pokemon daycare in the wild! And Charmander, well... Charmander was given to me by my dad."

"So, what about that, anyway? Didn't he sort of appear out of nowhere after a long time of not seeing you?" Brock inquired upon recalling the instance with Mr. Ketchum in Vermilion City.

Ash nervously chuckled while scratching the back of his head, "It's a long story," he said dismissively.

"I see," Brock said in an attempt to drop what seemed like a complex topic.

"What about you? Was Squirtle your starter?" Ash asked.

Serena smiled and shook her head, "I met Squirtle when it helped put out a dangerous fire on the first day of my journey. Eevee was my starter!" she explained.

"Wow.. So are you gonna compete in the pokemon league?" the trainer from Pallet anxiously asked.

"No. I think I want to be a Pokemon Performer!"

"Pokemon Performer?"

"Pokemon Performer's act as entertainers with their pokemon!" Brock chimed in. "There are two performance showcases in the Kanto region. The first, held in Lavender Town, is open to any trainer trying to be recognized as an elite performer. The competition is judged by two elite Pokemon Coordinators: May from the Hoenn region, and Dawn from the Sinnoh region. Contestants who reach the top 16 threshold will be invited to the grand performance, held on Cinnabar Island. That competition is hosted by a pokemon connoisseur, Cilan from the Unova region." he elaborated.

Serena nodded, "Yup! He's right! And I couldn't be more excited!" she enthused.

Ash blinked several times, trying to gather all of the information, "You sure do know a lot about this, Brock," the trainer said.

"You see, I follow this competition closely, because the world's most famous Pokemon Performer is the most beautiful woman yet to hopefully fall in love with me, Aria from the Kalos region! She also observes each competition, and even performs against the winner!" the Gym Leader said as he fantasized about the performer.

Serena giggled as Brock gushed; Ash tilted his head with a hint of obliviousness.

"Oh! I almost forgot to ask! What about your Frogadier, Ash?" Serena inquired.

Just as Ash prepared to answer, an eerie fog overcame the area and the camp fire abruptly died.

"Uh, that was weird," Brock noted.

"What's with the fog? I can't see anything!" Ash added.

"Heee heeee heee heeeee," the faint laughter of what sounded like a little girl could be heard in no specific direction around the group.

"What's gong on? Who's there?" Serena nervously cried out.

"Why don't you come and play with me?" the girl's sinister voice seemed to completely surround them as a light, cold wind picked up.

Thanks for reading! This chapter will be the beginning of what I'm calling the "Saffron City Wormhole arc". I would love to hear from you! See you next time!