Time for everything to change!

(Chronos's PoV)

Vermillion City. Kanto's biggest port, with connections all over the world. It's also a prominent stop for the world-traveling death trap cruise ship, the S.S. Anne. And of course, it was also home to one of the Gyms certified by the Pokémon League.

Anyway, our group had finally made it to here. The Professor had left to go back to Pallet (on his Dragonite, the show-off), while Bill had left his Lighthouse place to go home to his cottage on Route 25, since the giant Dragonite never showed up. As for the Egg I had received, its container was neatly tucked away in my backpack so nothing would happen to it. Wrapped up in my clothing, for added warmth, to boot.

"I'm hungry..." Ash moaned out.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. "Seriously? We were at Bill's place this morning!" I pointed out.

"Well, the fact remains that we haven't been by a decent laundromat in a while," Brock shrugged.

"Or a decent bath," Misty chimed in. Alright, I get it. Hygiene and all that.

"Plus I'm really hungry, and Pikachu is really tired," Ash added. Okay! I get it! I should probably heal my Pokémon too.

Anyway, we reached the Pokémon Center. Ash was about to enter, when somebody came out and ran right into him, knocking him over. It's strange though.

...Something about him...seems familiar...

(Leo's PoV)

Well, after a few days of walking, we were in Vermillion City. Of course, our first stop was the Pokémon Center, where we saw people rushing in their injured Pokémon...

"Man, Lt. Surge still doesn't know the meaning of the word 'overkill'...except for the person with a Pidgey. That's just the challenger being stupid," Krysta muttered. "Seriously, who in their right mind sends out a Pidgey to fight a Raichu!?"

"Agreed," I stated, as we all left our Pokémon with Nurse Joy. We chatted about miscellaneous and unimportant things for the next few minutes, until our Pokémon were all rested up.

"Well, onto the Gym then!" I declared, picking up my PokéBalls as Mel and I ran towards the Gym...but we bumped into someone on the way out the door.

"Ow...watch where you're going..." I heard a voice mutter. A familiar voice. My head snapped up. Sitting on the ground in front of me was Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Standing by him were Brock, Misty, and some guy I don't know. For some reason, he looks familiar, though.

(3rd person)

Suddenly, the view from Leo's eyes started coughing up static. Pulling back the camera slightly, it was on a split-screen with a view coming from Chronos's eyes. Static was all over the screen, and both sides of the screen were flipping out. Switching sides, flipping orientations, color palette messing up, the works.

"Tch. Feedback loop from both of them being in the same place. Stupid piece of junk," a voice said, before the Zap Plate was tossed at the screen. As soon as it bounced off, the static immediately engulfed the entire screen, before retreating and clearing up. However, the screen had changed to one view in the 3rd person.

"Hmm...third person. I won't be able to hear their thoughts as easily now. Oh well, that was an invasion of privacy anyway. Not like it really matters," Arceus commented to himself, before adjusting his seated position.

"Sorry," Leo apologized, standing up as Colress and Krysta ran over to him. "My name is Leo Tatsugami, from Celadon City. And this is my partner, Melanie."

"Wi~le maw!"

"Wow, I've never seen that Pokémon before!" Ash gasped, pulling out his PokéDex.

"Pokémon unknown. No data available," it beeped. Seeing this, Chronos pulled out his...and of course, Leo noticed how similar it was to his own. Namely, the fact that it looked like a smartphone.

"Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon. Mawile's huge jaws are actually steel horns that have been transformed. Its docile-looking face serves to lull its foe into letting down its guard. When the foe least expects it, Mawile chomps it with its gaping jaws. This Mawile is Female," it beeped.

"Huh. Didn't expect to see a Mawile or Larvesta in Kanto," he muttered to himself, which was unheard by anyone there except Leo.

"My name's Krysta!" Krysta chirped. "And this is my partner, Lila! ...Though Brock already knows that." Leo raised his eyebrow for a bit, but then remembered that Krysta had the Boulder Badge.

"Larvesta!" Lila chimed in.

"You know her?" Misty asked.

"She challenged the Pewter Gym a while back...I still remember that. It was my first ever mirror match!" Brock explained. "She used her own Geodude and Onix against my Geodude and Onix."

"I remember that!" Krysta chirped. "Course, George has evolved into Graveler since then."

"Same with Geodude," Brock nodded.

"Who's that Pokémon?" Ash interrupted, aggravated that his Pokédex couldn't identify Lila either. Chronos sighed, before pulling out his own again.

'I swear, you're going to make me waste all the battery, Ash,' he groused to himself.

"Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. Said to have been born from the sun, it spews fire from its horns and encases itself in a cocoon of fire when it evolves. This Larvesta is Female."

"Moving on then," Colress cut in. Shock visibly spread across Chronos' face, as he recognized Colress.

'What the hell is Colress doing here in Kanto?! Shouldn't he be in Unova or something?'

"My name is Colress."

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Ash introduced enthusiastically. "And this is my partner, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

"My name's Misty!"

"Krysta already said it, but my name's Brock." There was a silence for a moment, before Chronos realized that they were all staring at him.

"...Oh! Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "I'm...Chronos Rivers, also from Celadon." This, of course, came as a shock to Leo.

'Chronos Rivers!? That's the name of one of-! ...Oh,' he thought. '...I see. So that's how it is.'

"Hey, you're both from Celadon! Maybe you've met before?" Ash asked.

'Question here is, are you asking to help protect my true identity, or did you forget I'm not actually from Celadon? ...Ah, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.' "Nope. I've never met this guy before in my life," Chronos denied. "Celadon's a big city, after all."

"Well, perhaps we might have had a small conversation before," Leo said cryptically, walking past them in such a way that he was right by Chronos, before whispering. "Isn't that right, OathToOblivion?" Chronos's eyes widened in shock, confirming Leo's suspicions. "Well, see ya around. I've got a Gym Battle to win." Leo, Krysta, and Colress all walked off towards the Gym, leaving behind the others.

After they had left, Chronos continued to stare after them. 'How did he...?'

"What's up?" Misty wondered. Chronos shook his head to snap out of it, before turning back to the group.

"That guy. He knew my Penname from back home," he muttered.

"'Penname'? You did mention that you were a writer," Brock noted.

"Well, like I said, it wasn't really official, or anything. Just some stuff I slapped together on the fly. Wasn't really any good," Chronos denied. "Anyway, the point is, he knew something that only someone from my world should know. Or at least, someone that knew me," he finished.

"Does that mean he's a friend of yours?" Ash wondered.

"Possibly. But I've never known anyone named Leo Tatsugami...wait a tic," Chronos stopped his train of thought. "'Leo', 'Tatsugami'. That's one huge Fourze reference!" he realized.

"Fourze, as in Kamen Rider Fourze?" Misty asked skeptically.

"Yeah, that's the one! Although, I never pegged you as the type to watch Kamen Rider, Misty," Chronos belatedly realized.

"Uh...howaboutwejustgoinsidetheCenteralready!" she said rapid-fire fast, before booking it inside. The three males outside looked at each other and shrugged, before following her inside.

After a few minutes walk, they arrived at the Vermillion Gym, which had lightning bolts crisscrossing the actual building. And standing outside was-!

"Well well, another baby here to get beaten," Lt. Surge, who was standing outside the Gym, laughed. "And Krysta! You've already beaten me, so I guess you just came back with your boyfriend to watch him get beaten?" he questioned of the anti-Ice trainer.

"We're just friends!" Krysta and Leo shouted in unison, blushing with bright red faces.

"As you would put it, could you please 'cut the crap', Surge?" Colress asked with a sigh.

"Man, you really haven't changed, Colress! Always so stiff! No fun unless it's for your research!" Lt. Surge laughed.

Leo blinked. "You two know each other?" he asked.

"I did research on Pokémon that have served in the military before. Notably, Surge's Raichu," Colress explained.

"Yeah yeah, whatever! Can we just get on with the battle!?" Krysta pleaded.

"Yeah, sure," Surge said dismissively, motioning them inside. Once there, he walked up to the Gym Leader's side of the arena, while Leo took his spot at the challenger's position. Surge's referee, one of his old army buddies, walked to his position.

"This will be a one-on-one slaughter- I mean, Gym Battle, between the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, and the victim- I mean, challenger, Leo!" the referee declared. "Begin!"

"Go! Raichu!" Surge shouted, sending out his Mouse Pokémon. The orange stone-based evolution of Pikachu growled menacingly.

"The time has come, Melanie," Leo stated simply. At that, his partner walked onto the field, calmly ignoring the Growl. Idly, Leo noticed slight red waves forming through the air that were coming from Raichu. But they plinked off Melanie's body. "Y'know, Mel's ability is Hyper Cutter, so that Growl won't work," he commented.

"Heh, not like it makes a difference," Surge laughed. "Raichu, Thunder!"

"Dodge, then use Rock Tomb!" Leo shouted. Melanie jumped away from the incoming Thunder, before slamming her fist into the ground. This of course caused the usual rock cage to form around Raichu. But Surge knew the perfect counter-tactic for this.

"Use Rain Dance, then Thunder again!" Surge shouted. Raichu stuck his tail out from the cage, pointing it towards the ceiling. A thunderstorm formed inside the Gym somehow, before Raichu shot a giant thunderbolt into the air, shattering the cage. Just then, it began raining, and that meant that the attack would not miss. The Thunder came down, slamming into Melanie.

"C'mon, you can take this!" Leo encouraged, as Mel did her best to endure.

"Maw...wile..." she muttered.

"Hmph. Hyper Beam!" Surge ordered, seeing this as his chance to win. But Leo grinned at that opening.

"Now's our chance! Sucker Punch!" he countered. Raichu shot off the multicolored Hyper Beam, but before it could impact her, Melanie warped away. She reappeared in front of Raichu, but below the Hyper Beam. Raichu's eyes widened in shock, but it was too late for him to correct his aim, as Melanie punched him in the stomach, knocking him back.

"Neat trick, but it won't help! Dig!" Surge shouted. Raichu immediately dove underground, which was a problem for Leo and Mel. Suddenly, Raichu burst from the ground, before slamming into Melanie. Not only was she sent flying, but Raichu dove back underground.

"Fire Flamethrower down the hole!" Leo shouted after getting over the shock. Melanie dashed over to one of the holes, and exhaled a jet of flames. A scream was heard as Raichu burst out, his rear end on fire. Unfortunately, the still-active Rain Dance put it out before he could be burned.

"Use Thunder one more time!" Surge declared. Before either of his opponents could react, Raichu zapped the living daylights out of Melanie again, sending her to her knees.

"Hyper Beam!" Leo shouted for a counter. Melanie shot off her own multicolored beam again, which went straight for Raichu! Unfortunately, the Electric Mouse decided to get the hell out of danger and Dug his way out of there.

'Gh. That continues to be a problem,' Leo thought to himself. Raichu burst out and hit Melanie again, before going back underground to continue his guerrilla warfare.

"Flamethrower in the ground!" Leo declared. Melanie complied, but much to both her and Leo's shock, it simply hit the ground and was extinguished. Although, something about the ground seemed wet.

"Heh. By now, the ground is all muddy, not that that bothers Raichu, who happens to be a very good swimmer," Surge explained. "The moisture in the ground extinguishes the flames."

"Gh!" Leo growled. 'Melanie's only ranged attacks are Flamethrower and Hyper Beam, and now Flamethrower is useless, and Hyper Beam is too impractical,' he thought angrily.

"Maw..." Melanie groaned, raising her fists to try and block...and then Leo realized how to win!

"Use Power-Up Punch every time he comes up!" Mel nodded, getting herself ready. The next time Raichu came up, she punched him away with glowing orange fists until he went underground. She continued to do this every time Raichu made an appearance above the ground, sort of like a weird version of Whack-a-Mole. "Now Iron Head on the ground!"

"Wi~le maw!" Melanie shouted, slamming the ground with her metallic horns, powered up by the Power-up Punches, the resulting tremor forcing Raichu above ground. The ground also cracked for some reason.

"That looked more like a Bulldoze attack," Krysta noted.

"Yeah. So I guess you just learned Bulldoze!" Leo complimented.

"Mawile!"

"That's cool and all, but it won't help you! Thunder!" Surge ordered. Raichu charged up, but just before he fired, the rain stopped, so Melanie was able to jump away from the no-longer-100%-accurate attack.

"Bulldoze again!" Leo shouted. Melanie slammed her horns on the ground, causing the Ground-type shockwaves to travel across the ground, knocking Raichu off his feet.

Surge gritted his teeth. Beaten by a baby? Not on his watch! "End this with Hyper Beam!" he yelled.

"Counter with your own Hyper Beam!" Leo commanded. Both Pokémon fired the multicolored beams at each other. They collided. Cliché power struggle is imminent. The beams surged back and forth...

"Show these babies who's boss, Raichu!" Surge commanded.

"You can do it, Mel! I know you can!" Leo encouraged. Both Pokémon struggled, before Mel's Hyper Beam eventually won out, pushing through Raichu's and slamming into the Electric Mouse. As the smoke cleared, everyone present saw that both Pokémon were panting heavily, still standing, but not able to move after that Hyper Beam.

They sat patiently, waiting for their Pokémon to recharge. Then, at the same time, both Pokémon suddenly snapped up.

"Brick Break!" Surge shouted.

"Sucker Punch!" Leo countered. Raichu rushed at Mel with a glowing fist, only for Mel to warp behind him, her fist covered in pitch black energy. Raichu hurriedly turned around and punched at Mel, their fists colliding, resulting in another explosion. How do two Pokémon punching each other make an explosion? 'Well, maybe it was the black energy that was surrounding Mel's fist.' Leo thought to himself.

The smoke cleared, to reveal the two Pokémon standing back-to-back. 'Another cliché. The first one to flinch generally loses in this case,' Leo thought. Unfortunately, that was Raichu, who fell to one knee. Melanie smirked confidently, much to Leo's chagrin, as this probably meant he'd actually lose. Sure enough, Mel started to fall over herself and Raichu stood up. The ref got ready to make his call...when suddenly, Raichu fell back over, his eyes in the form of the familiar spirals, while Melanie struggled back to her feet. 'Huh. That was a nice change of pace.' Leo blinked in surprise. The ref was flabbergasted.

"Well?!" Surge demanded angrily. "Call the match already!"

"R-Right! Raichu is unable to battle! Mawile is the winner! So the match goes to the challenger!"

"We did it!" Leo cheered, running over to Mel, who fell over right into his arms.

"Wile..." she said softly, before falling right to sleep from exhaustion.

"Well, you were certainly a tough challenger," Surge laughed. "Certainly no baby! You've earned this." He held out a familiar sun-shaped Badge. "The Thunder Badge!"

"Alright!" Leo cheered, putting the badge into his Badge Case. Badge number four! He was halfway there already! "Well, I better get to the Pokémon Center. Thanks for the battle!" With that said, he ran off out of the Gym with Krysta and Colress.

"Nice battle, Leo!" Krysta complimented.

"Congratulations," Colress stated simply. "You are now halfway to the Kanto League." Leo then noticed a familiar group walking towards them.

"Hey," Leo called.

"Hey," Ash said back, before looking towards the Deceiver Pokémon in Leo's arms. "Did you lose too?"

"Nah, I managed to beat him," Leo said, pulling out his Badge Case, which had his four Badges in it. "He's really tough though. If Mel hadn't learned Bulldoze when she did, I would have been doomed."

"Wow, he's got four Badges, which means he had three Badges before, and he had a tough fight," Misty said. "Do you think you stand a chance with only two Badges, Ash?"

"Hah! I can take on anybody!" Ash declared confidently.

"What else is new," Misty asked rhetorically. "What about you, Chronos?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be able to handle it. If I'm careful. And don't give me that look, Misty, the only reason I lost to you the first time is because you knew all my strategies." Chronos responded. He was staring at Leo suspiciously, probably because of his earlier comment.

"Good luck against Lt. Surge and his Raichu," Leo said. "You'll really need it. Heck, if you want any chance at beating him, heed this advice: Do not try to overpower him. I guarantee you, you. Will. Fail. Instead, focus on outspeeding him. It is the most effective way."

"I don't need your advice!" Ash huffed, running past Leo's group. Leo sighed, knowing that would happen.

'At best, he'll suddenly remember my advice during the battle and switch strategies. At worst...canon,' he thought. Misty and Brock ran past him, though Chronos told them he wanted to talk to Leo for a bit. Leo knew what it was.

"Colress, Krysta, why don't you go on ahead? And take Mel to the Pokémon Center for me, 'kay?" Leo handed Mel to Krysta, who dashed off.

"I should probably be heading off to Hoenn," Colress said. "I need to do my research on Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion, after all." He then walked away, towards the pier. Leo could tell that that would be the last they see of him for a long time.

"So, you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah. How the hell do you know my Penname?" Chronos demanded.

"Relax, would ya, Oath? It's me, Catboy41. I'm in the same situation as you," Leo laughed.

"Wait, WHAT?! Seriously?! How'd that happen?"

"Look, I'd love to talk more, but as you saw, Mel's a bit worn down, so can we please talk later?"

"Yeah, sure, after Ash and I have our Gym Battles."

"Well, see ya later then!" Leo then ran off towards the Pokémon Center, thinking about what just happened. 'Well, there was Oath. I guess he's traveling with Ash, but still, maybe he has some idea of what's going on.' And with that thought, he entered the Pokémon Center to check on his partner.

Chronos stared after him for a bit. 'CB. So you're here too. Just what's going on?'

He shook his head, following after the others into the Gym. 'Ash, you really need to learn to take people's advice. Then again, I can't fault you that much. You're 10 after all. It's not like my sisters ever listen to anything I say, and they're older than you," he thought wearily.

Well, there he was. Lt. Surge himself. He was yammering on about babies and stuff, but Chronos tuned that out. He did not want a flying temper today. His curiosity peaked, however, when Surge mentioned a certain something about the matches.

"Anyway, since Raichu's a bit exhausted from our battle against the previous challenger, I'll make you two a deal. Whoever goes first gets to fight three other Pokémon, while whoever goes second gets to fight Raichu. So, whaddya say?" Surge asked.

"Um, why don't you go first, Chronos?" Ash chirped. Chronos thought it over. He had a pretty good suspicion that Ash was saying that because he thought that dealing with three Pokémon was worse than dealing with one, but considering Surge's Raichu...

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged.

"Heh. Wimping out, huh?" Surge said with a mocking tone.

"No, I just think that Raichu of yours is way too cheap to be used on people who don't have that many Badges," Chronos countered, glaring right back at the ex-soldier. Surge glared right back for a few seconds, before chuckling.

"Heh. You've got guts, kid. Alright, get on over there!" he yelled, pointing at the challenger's position. Chronos proceeded to do just that, while Surge took the Leader's position. The referee stepped up to get ready.

"I can't believe Surge is using other Pokémon for once," he muttered, before putting on his professional face for once. "This will be a three on three match between the Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, and the challenger. Both sides must continue until all of their opponent's Pokémon are unable to fight, and only the challenger may make substitutions." He raised up the flag. "Begin!" he yelled.

"Heh. Haven't bothered using any of these guys in a while," Surge commented. "Voltorb, you're up!" he declared, sending out the Ball Pokémon in a flash of light.

"Voltorb!" it declared.

"Well, that's a bit sad. Nidoran, it's show time!" Chronos declared, sending his Poison Pin Pokémon. 'Alright, I'm going to take a guess that Nidoran is close to evolving himself. That would seem to match the trend, plus I caught him at Mt. Moon. Then again, Animeverse, so I'm not sure.'

Meanwhile, off on the sidelines, Ash decided to scan Voltorb.

"Voltorb, the Ball Pokémon. A life-form whose identity is unknown. It is said to Screech or suddenly Self Destruct. Usually found in power plants. Easily mistaken for a Pokéball, it has zapped many people. Voltorb have Indeterminate Gender."

"I think I have an alarm clock that looks like that," he commented.

"Alright, Voltorb, let's start this off with Sonic Boom!" Surge announced. Voltorb complied, shooting off the sonic wave at Nidoran.

"Dodge, then use Poison Sting!" Chronos declared. Nidoran complied, sidestepping the Sonic Boom's main sound cone. Then, he fired off the poisonous barbs, which hit Voltorb straight in the face.

"Come on, Voltorb! Use Shock Wave!" Surge yelled.

"Sucker Punch!" Chronos countered. Nidoran immediately warped and hit Voltorb straight on. To Voltorb's credit, though, it was able to shoot off the Shock Wave and hit Nidoran at point-blank range, knocking him across the field.

"Now, finish him with Spark!" Surge ordered. Voltorb immediately started crackling with electricity, then spun towards Nidoran.

"Oh no you don't!' "Grab him with Confusion!" Chronos yelled. Nidoran got up off the floor, his eyes immediately glowing blue. Voltorb also started glowing blue, and stopped spinning as Nidoran asserted his psychic pull.

"What?! What kind of baby Pokémon like that knows a Psychic-type move?!" Surge said in shock. Nidoran was immediately ticked off by being called a baby, and smashed Voltorb into the ground three times without even waiting for Chronos's instruction. It was too much for Voltorb, and the Ball Pokémon fainted.

Chronos sweatdropped. "Well, that's one way to use Confusion, I guess. Great job regardless, Nidoran!" he congratulated.

"Nido!" Nidoran cheered.

"Grr! What were you doing, Voltorb? Return!" Surge snapped. He then took out another Pokéball. "You got lucky there, kid, but luck ain't enough! Magnemite, your turn!" he declared, sending out the flying magnet.

"MAG-NE-MITE," Magnetmite droned. Ash got curious at this, and scanned Magnemite.

"Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon. Magnemite attaches itself to power lines to feed on electricity. If your house has a power outage, check your circuit breakers. You may find a large number of this Pokémon clinging to the breaker box. Magnemite have Indeterminate Gender."

"Come to think of it, we had a really bad power outage last year. I wonder if it was a Magnemite," he wondered. Anyway, Chronos was deciding how to handle Magnemite.

'Like I'm stupid enough to tempt fate here!' "Nidoran, return for now!" Chronos decided, drawing Nidoran back. "Eevee, your turn!" he declared, sending her out.

"Vui!" she declared, ready for action.

"Magnemite, use Magnet Bomb!" Surge ordered. Magnemite immediately shot off blue orbs from its magnets that homed in directly on Eevee.

"Dig!" Chronos countered. Eevee immediately dug a hole in the field, causing the Magnet Bomb to shoot overhead.

"Oh great," Surge groaned. Magnemite immediately started casting looks all over the field, trying to spot where Eevee would resurface. Unfortunately, Eevee resurfaced right underneath it, leaping up and hitting it with a 4x super-effective hit. Magnemite immediately fainted.

Chronos blinked. "Guess its Ability was Magnet Pull, not Sturdy," he mused.

"Ergh! What's been up with you guys?!" Surge said in a frustrated tone, returning Magnemite. "But this one can't fail!" he continued, bringing out another Pokéball. "Flaaffy, you better win this!" he declared, much to everybody's (emotional) shock.

The pink sheep Pokémon immediately exited the Pokéball and got ready. "Okay, I was not expecting to see a Flaaffy this side of Mt. Silver," Chronos said in confusion, scanning Flaaffy.

"Flaaffy, the Wool Pokémon. Flaffy's wool quality changes so that it can generate a high amount of static electricity with a small amount of wool. The bare and slick parts of its hide are shielded against electricity. This Flaaffy is Male."

'Hm. Nidoran is still good to go, and I still have a slot open that I could send either Poliwhirl or Fearow into, if I wanted to get them massacred. And while Eevee does know Dig, I want to get Nidoran to make that next step soon, so...'

"Eevee, return!" Chronos decided, bringing her back. "Nidoran, let's make this a victory!" he declared, sending the Poison Pin Pokémon back out. Nidoran immediately got ready.

Chronos decided to act first here. "Alright, use Poison Sting!" he ordered. Nidoran immediately shot off the barbs at Flaaffy, which impacted him directly.

"Flaaffy, use Thunderbolt!" Surge yelled to counter. Flaaffy immediately charged up electricity, but before he could shoot it off-.

"Sucker Punch!" Chronos yelled. Nidoran immediately warped next to and attacked Flaaffy with said move, then doubled up with Horn Attack, like he'd been practicing. Flaaffy was rather peeved at that, and launched Thunderbolt directly at him, shocking him silly and knocking him back across the field.

"Nidoran, you alright?" Chronos asked in concern. Nidoran was about to give him an answer, when electricity sparked over him. Thunderbolt had paralyzed him.

"Heheh! Tough luck, kid. Flaaffy, finish this with Take Down!" Surge declared. Flaaffy immediately charged forward to attack the paralyzed Nidoran.

"Come on, Nidoran! Snap out of it!" Chronos pleaded. Flaaffy got closer and closer to hitting him...when the paralysis faded. Nidoran immediately caught Flaaffy with his Confusion, and tossed the Wool Pokémon off to the side.

"Yes! Now, finish this with Tackle" Chronos cheered. Nidoran charged at Flaaffy and tackled him across the field.

Flaaffy fainted.

'You know, it's weird. That was a lot easier than I was dreading,' Chronos thought to himself.

"Yes! Great job, Nidoran!" he cheered aloud.

"Nido!" Nidoran said with pride, before that familiar blue light engulfed him. 'Yep, just like I thought.' He grew larger, and more spikier, and really, that's all there was to say. When the light faded, he was a Nidorino!

"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokémon, and the evolved form of Nidoran-Male. Nidorino has a horn that is harder than a diamond. If it senses a hostile presence, all the barbs on its back bristle up at once, and it challenges the foe with all its might."

"Huh. He didn't learn any new moves. Weird," Chronos commented.

"Grrr! What's wrong with you guys! That was miserable!" Surge yelled, returning Flaaffy. Chronos had an idea, and was in the mood to knock Surge down a peg.

"If you ask me, it's because you've only been using your Raichu. You've been neglecting your other Pokémon, and that's not fair to them, or to Raichu!" he declared.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What does a kid know, anyway? You beat me, whatever, here's your Thunder Badge. If you were expecting a TM, don't. Because I ran out. Next!" Surge yelled, tossing the Thunder Badge at Chronos. He fumbled with it for a bit, before holding it properly. He left the challenger's position, but not before giving Surge a dirty look. He traded seats with Ash as the Ketchum took to the challenge. He could already tell from Ash's stature that the Ketchum boy was being overconfident again. Chronos was hoping things wouldn't go as canon. Surely, with Pikachu confirmed to have Lightning Rod, it couldn't, could it?

Chronos sighed as the group rushed back to the Vermillion Pokémon Center to get Pikachu healed up. While Lightning Rod prevented Raichu's electrical moves from doing anything, the fully evolved Mouse Pokémon still had access to devastating moves like Mega Punch and Mega Kick.

'Although, Surge seemed a bit more jerky than he should have been,' he thought to himself. Then again, he wasn't the best noter of personalities, so who knows? Upon entering the Center, they got Nurse Joy to take Pikachu in. While they were doing that, Chronos noted Leo waiting off to the side. He made an excuse to the others and walked over to the only other person there from his World.

"So, I suppose you have some questions?" Leo asked, as Chronos walked towards him.

"Uh, yeah, but let's go over there first," Chronos said, pointing towards the corner. The two proceeded to do so, leaving the others to their own devices. Chronos then turned back to Leo.

"Hey, how're you holding up?" he asked in concern.

"Er...holding up with what?" Leo wondered in confusion.

Chronos sighed, and proceeded to facepalm. "Seriously, Brendan, do turns of phrase simply fly over your head or something?" he asked incredulously.

"...I know what the phrase means, Oath. I'm just wondering what you're referring to. There are tons of things it could be," Leo deadpanned. "'Course, you're most likely referring to the whole 'other world' bit, but I needed to be sure." Leo paused for a bit. "And ix-nerb on the ame-nerb. And yes, I just spoke Ferb Latin. Before you ask why, I felt like it."

"Ferb La-?" Chronos started to ask, before cutting himself off. "Never mind. Yes, I mean the whole 'stuck in the Pokémon World' thing," he clarified. Something struck him at that instant.

"That reminds me," he said, before looking at the ceiling. "Alright, I have three Badges now. Are you going to explain just what's going on, or what?"

"...From Phineas and Ferb?" Leo pointed out. "Never mind. Who are you-Oh. A, right? What's this about the badges?"

"Yeah, A. Or rather, Arceus. I keep pestering him for information, but he told me that he wouldn't tell me until I got three Badges. Well, I've got them! Now how about you explain things!" Chronos demanded.

"Just a second..." Arceus's voice echoed in both their heads.

Chronos was about to open his mouth, when a bright light engulfed both him and Leo, transporting them away. But at the same time, nobody noticed them disappear.

For the duo, when the light died down, they found themselves standing in some place that they instantly recognized.

"...I should have expected this," Leo sighed, looking around. "And yet, I didn't."

"This is...the Hall of Origin!" Chronos said in shock.

"Yep!" a certain voice rang behind them. They turned to see him, the supposed creator of the Pokémon Universe, the Alpha Pokémon himself. Arceus.

"...I'd be bothered by how chipper you sound, but I've read Ashes of the Past," Leo muttered. "Anyways, I suppose you're going to explain why you brought us here?" Leo paused for a bit. "And by 'here', I mean this world, not 'here' as in the Hall of Origin."

Arceus sighed at missing the easy target, before going serious. "Right. Well, as I already told you, I only meant to call him, not you," he stated, inclining his head at Chronos.

"Wait, huh? If you only meant to call me, then why didn't you just send him back?" Chronos interrupted.

"...I don't think space-time works that way," Leo noted.

"...Something like that," Arceus agreed. Before Chronos could say something cutting, he added, "It would be impossible for you to conceptualize it, before you say anything. You're only 4D beings; you'd need to be at least 15D to conceptualize it. And considering the state the universe is in right now..."

"And I believe that's where you should start explaining. What's this about the universe?" Leo wondered.

"I'm getting there," Arceus said with an annoyed tone. He then sighed. "I suppose this is technically my fault this even happened," he admitted.

"...What exactly do you mean?" Chronos wondered.

Arceus responded by letting off a flash of light, forcing both humans there to cover their eyes. When the light faded, nothing had changed, save that Arceus's Plates, in all their hexagonal coffin-shaped glory, were floating around him.

"Let me answer that question with a question of my own. How many Plates am I supposed to have?" Arceus questioned.

"...17, right? One for every Type except Normal, which is your own default Type," Chronos remembered.

"Right. Now, how many Plates do I actually have around me right now?"

Chronos quickly counted them up. "16. ...Wait, that means you're missing one!" he realized.

Arceus bowed his head. "Right. I lost the Pixie Plate," he admitted.

"...Wait, if you have all your Plates sans Fairy, what happened to the Jewel of Life events?" Leo asked.

"Good question, but that's jumping ahead a bit," Arceus commented. "Anyway, if I had the Pixie Plate, I'd have been able to fix everything. But I don't, so I'm not at my full power."

"...So hang on, you lost the Pixie Plate?" Chronos was a bit stuck on that one point.

"Err...well, it's not so much that I lost it, as I don't know where it went. 3,000 years ago, I lent it to Xerneas. I forget why, but that's besides the point. Anyway, Xerneas got it stolen from him, and now I have no clue where it is."

"...Wait, him? According to the Diancie movie and literally every other FanFic I've read, Xerneas is a she, except for...oh, wait. Please don't tell me this is Fleur Noir Xerneas, because I don't think I'd be able to handle dealing with him!" Leo said in fear.

"...Huh? Um...I don't know what that is, but Xerneas was male when I lent out the Plate, last I checked," Arceus said in confusion.

"So...why was she, well, a she during the Diancie movie in our world?" Leo asked. "And Fleur Noir is a fic I read back in our world. Basically, what I'm worried about is a Xerneas that is basically a half-assed, uncontrollable prankster that purposefully helped AZ build the ultimate cannon-slash-revival machine thingy, knowing full well what it's intended purposes were...and he was willingly powering it! And laughing in anticipation of all the destruction and death! I do not want to deal with a Xerneas even remotely similar to that one!"

There was a rather jarring pause as both Arceus and Chronos attempted to take that in. "Uh...well, I can assure you Xerneas is nothing like that," Arceus reassured them.

"So, why is Xerneas female in our world, but male here?" Chronos wondered.

"Well, Xerneas and Yveltal do tend to 'reincarnate' themselves every now and then, so it's possible that one or both are female now. I keep telling them they're not using that word properly, but nobody ever listens to me. Oh no, ignore me, it's not like I'm the one who made the universe or anything," Arceus said with a long suffering tone. "Anyway, we're off-topic," he mentioned, giving Leo a dirty look.

"Er, right. So, 'bout the Pixie Plate and the Jewel of Life thing?" Leo repeated sheepishly.

"I'm getting there. Anyway, because I don't have the Pixie Plate, I can't fix the problems with the universe. So I need you two to go find it for me," Arceus declared.

"...That's it? THAT'S IT?! YOU BROUGHT US HERE FOR A FETCH QUEST?!" Chronos yelled. "I mean, why can't you find it yourself?!"

"...I'm getting tired of asking this, but this has to do with the Jewel of Life thing, doesn't it?" Leo asked for the third time.

"Alright, you know how I was complaining earlier about people not listening to me?"

"Yeah?"

"And, you know how Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina tend to get into fights?"

"...They broke something important in their fights, didn't they?" Leo deadpanned.

"Yes. For the 3,000 years that I spent sealed in Michina Town, those three were responsible for the well-being of Space-Time. Being them of course, they conveniently forgot every last instruction I gave them on what not to do. Their constant fights started wearing the fabric of space-time down. People not aging, clones of people popping up, inconsistencies in Type matchups and stuff like that. That wouldn't have been enough on its own, though. I should have been able to fix that easily. But there was one problem," Arceus said ominously.

"...The Plate Paradox," Chronos guessed.

"Right. The Plate Paradox," Arceus agreed. "I gave the Earth, Splash, Meadow, Zap, and Draco Plates in the form of the Jewel of Life to Damos so that Michina could prosper. The rest were sealed with me when I went berserk, thinking Damos had betrayed me. But somehow, Team Galactic got ahold of the Splash, Iron, and Draco Plates, despite that they were all in other places. A paradox."

"But the plates were two different shapes," Leo noted. "Yours in the Jewel of Life movie, as well as here, were hexagons, and the ones Galactic used were rectangles."

"E-hem. Yes, about that?" Arceus said, summoning one of his Plates in particular and sending it directly at Leo. He reflexively held his hands up to caught it, and it landed in his hands. The Plate then glowed, before changing into a rectangular grey Plate; the Iron Plate.

"When the Plates aren't with me, they change into the rectangular shape," Arceus finished.

Leo surveyed the plate a bit, before tossing it back.

"Hmm...Galactic's thing was messing with space-time, right? Maybe they went through time and got them from an alternate version of you? Like when they were scattered after you fell to Earth, maybe they went back to that time, took them, and when they were done, sent them right back at what was effectively three seconds later."

"I'm pretty sure that's not what happened, but if it did, that probably helped, since the Plates are not meant to be in two places at once, being Tools of Creation and all. Anyway, because of that Paradox, mass distortions started appearing all over the timeline. A lot of them seemed to be clustered around our little Chosen One," Arceus commented.

"Ash." It was not a question that Chronos spoke.

"Yep. The distortions hit him really hard in Unova. I managed to clean up a good chunk of it by the time he got to Kalos, but by then, it became clear I was fighting a losing battle."

"...Are the distortions the reason he suddenly has a childhood friend, or are they the reason he forgot?" Leo asked. "...Y'know what, never mind, that's a loaded shipping question. If you answer, it will only start a shipping war and that would not be pleasant." He sighed. "So...how exactly do we fix this?"

"All you need to do is find the Pixie Plate. Once I have that, everything should be normal. Well, as normal as normal gets in this world," Arceus said.

"I still don't get why you can't find it yourself," Chronos said in confusion.

"Well, other than the fact that I make incredibly flashy entrances, I can't leave the Hall," Arceus admitted.

"...And now we're at the Jewel of Life thing!" Leo realized. "...Speaking of flashy entrances, I just got the crazy idea of you preempting Team Plasma and pretty much declaring to the world that all of their separating people and Pokémon stuff is a load of crap. Then again, considering how Team Plasma was in the anime, I'm not sure that'd work..."

"Don't be too sure. The distortions started engulfing the entire universe, so I eventually had to copy the universe from a point before they started getting too bad, then nuke the entire original universe. Then, to make sure that those distortions couldn't invade the new universe, I cherry picked parts from the other Pokémon Universes I made. Team Plasma may have been part of that, I don't know. I did have to do some heavy shoring up on America, at any rate," Arceus commented.

'Yikes. Well, that explains Daisy, among other things,' Chronos thought to himself.

"So, the you coming down and completely decimating all of Plasma's plans thing is a possibility?" Leo asked. "You know what, never mind. About the Jewel of Life thing?"

"Right. Well, the Hall's only way into the universe is through Spear Pillar, in Sinnoh. But the me who exists in this universe is still sealed in Michina. He's essentially me, just without the experience I've gotten from getting caught up on all the pop culture I missed. If we're both in the exact same area, then we'll be in for even bigger troubles. Anyway, because of that, I need to wait for him to wake up and calm down before we can fuse consciousnesses," Arceus explained.

"So, wait, how are you holding the distortions back again? That kind of flew over my head," Chronos admitted.

"Okay, one more time. Essentially, the first time, I couldn't keep them back at all. Now, though, with them being stuck in the old universe, plus the guard I made of the bits from other PokéWorlds, I can hold them in check. For now. Now, if that idiot Hoopa were to cause any of his own time-space BS, then we'll have trouble. Luckily, he's harmless these days, so we should be fine," Arceus said.

"...Right. Considering Hoopa was somehow able to forcefully warp Palkia through space in our world's media, despite Palkia supposedly being the king of space, that speaks volumes of how dangerous he can be...what, is he meant to be the fail-safe for if Palkia neglects his duties or something? Cuz if so, he did a shitty job of it..." Leo noted. "Although, since you commented on him being harmless, something involving him is inevitably going to go horribly wrong."

"What, that old superstition? Surely you don't expect that to always happen, do you?" Arceus asked incredulously. "Anyway, no, Hoopa came about because of Palkia having an Idea. Same way Celebi is the result of Dialga having an Idea, but at least Celebi behaves herself. Anyway, that's enough side comments. Do you two understand what you have to do?"

"I've learned from experience that you should never tempt fate. Ever. But whatever. Yeah, we're good." But then Leo realized something. "Wait, does that mean Ash isn't going to age at all until we find the Pixie Plate?"

"What? Oh, no, he's going to age properly. Let's see...it'll be a year from when he got Pikachu when they're in Johto, so you can look forward to the rest of Kanto and the Orange Islands in the next year. I told you, I'm keeping the distortions in check for now," Arceus repeated.

"...You'll send us home after we find it, right?" Chronos asked.

"...I can't promise something like that. I am sorry. He got here by accident, but I always meant to call you. And for that, I apologize. I never should have brought you here without asking you specifically first," Arceus apologized. "But at the same time, I do need your help for this. Please."

Chronos thought about it. Here he was, trapped in the Pokémon World. His only option of leaving would be to find the Pixie Plate and bring it back to Arceus, but not even then was it guaranteed that he'd be able to go home and see his family again. 'But at the same time,' he thought, glancing at Leo out of the corner of his eye.

'He's taking this far better than I thought he would. Maybe that's just how he is, but it seems more like he's repressing. So what happens when everything boils over? Will he be able to cope once it hits him? For his sake at the very least, I need to keep going. Not to mention...it wouldn't be fair to Eevee and the others.'

"...Alright. We'll get your Plate back," Chronos decided. "...But hang on. You mentioned a while ago that someone asked you to bring me in. Who was that?" he wondered.

"Ohwhoopslookatthetime! Seeya!" Arceus hurriedly said, before sending them back to Vermillion.

The light died down around them again, revealing the Vermillion Pokemon Center.

"...Well, we're back," Leo noted, looking around.

"Looks like," Chronos agreed. "So, just how have you been anyway?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Leo noted. "I've already got four badges and a full team of six Pokémon. What about you?"

"...Woah. Um, I only just beat Surge, and I have 4 Pokémon...not counting this Egg," Chronos mentioned, bringing out the Egg from his backpack.

"...How!? I've put together based on A's comments that you were brought here around the time of the Shiny Mega Gengar distribution, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were already out when I was brought here!" Leo pointed out.

"Oh, really? What's it like?" Chronos asked, before shaking his head. "Wait, what am I saying?! Anyway, what you're saying doesn't make sense then. If I got here about a month or so before you did, then why do you have more Badges and Pokémon? ...Actually, which Badges and Pokémon do you have anyway?" he wondered.

"...Well, for the time, I can think of two possible explanations. One: A did a shitty job of transporting us and moved one of us through time. This would not surprise me, considering that I was apparently brought by accident, and that A also somehow managed to accidentally snag your Halloween Gengar. Or two: You're traveling with Ash," Leo explained. "But still, we had a few distractions too...well, not just as much, but they were pretty bad. We literally had to fight a Regirock..." Leo shuddered. "Not pleasant."

"...What the hell were you doing fighting a Regirock?!" Chronos gasped. He was so focused on that, the mention of a certain Gengar flew over his head.

"...Colress dragged us into some ruins for his research, and Krysta triggered every trap we went through until we came across Regirock," Leo shuddered. "Thankfully, Pyramid King Brandon showed up and saved us, and caught the Regirock..."

"Well, that explains where he got that one at least. Oh yeah, what was Colress doing here anyway? And didn't he say something about Mega Evolution?" Chronos questioned.

"He was the Gym Leader of the second Gym I fought," Leo explained. "He traveled with us for his research once I told him about Mega Evolution and Primal Reversion. He's now headed to Hoenn to continue researching those things."

"...Are you sure that telling him was a good idea? I mean, we're talking about Colress here. He's the same guy who helped Ghetsis with the whole Kyurem thing," Chronos pointed out.

"...That's precisely why I sent him to Hoenn. Trying to steer him away from Ghetsis," Leo said. "Yeah, he can get a bit...extreme...but what's the worst that can happen? Primal Reversion isn't that easy to replicate, and Mega Evolution isn't as big of a threat unless one of the big guns like Mewtwo or Rayquaza is using it...especially Rayquaza. It can Mega Evolve without a Mega Stone."

"...I am not even going to comment on how horrifying that sounds. Both Rayquaza not needing a Mega Stone, as well as your blatant tempting of fate. Anyway, what's next on your agenda?" Chronos asked.

"...Yeah, I was just lecturing Arceus about that..." Leo muttered. "Anyway, I was gonna head to Celadon for my next Badge. It's the closest city with a legit Leader that I don't already have the Badge from."

"Well, as I recall, Celadon is the next Gym Ash is going to end up at. I'm going to be sticking with him for a while...well, it's more like I have to, but that's another subject. Why don't you come with?" Chronos offered.

"Er, Ash actually got the Saffron City Gym Badge before he went to Celadon, and I'm already traveling with Krysta, so..." Leo trailed off. "I'll have to pass on that for now. Maybe if we both somehow reach Celadon around the same time."

"...My memories of the original series are worse than I thought then. Guess I got confused with the game order of collecting the Badges," Chronos shrugged.

"Still, if you've been following Ash, be glad you haven't had to deal with Cassidy and Buttface yet...or the PMC," Leo sighed. "They were annoying. Especially since Cassidy and Bitch's presence threatens to put Krysta in psycho mode..." Leo shuddered at that.

"No, I've met those PMC guys...hey, wait a tic! You're the guy they mentioned with the Mawile!" Chronos realized.

"Wait, you have met them?" Leo gasped.

"Yeah, they turned up at Bulbasaur's Hidden Village. Made a nuisance of themselves and almost got Brock. Luckily, Geodude evolved into Graveler and managed to stop that," Chronos recounted.

"...Huh. That wasn't in the script," Leo noted. "...But still, Cassidy and Biff were a problem too. Mostly because of how utterly pissed Krysta was whenever she saw them..."

"Uh...why's that?" Chronos wondered, slipping the Egg that he realized he was still holding back in his bag.

"Hah..." Leo sighed. "That goes a long way back. Apparently, when Krysta was little, she found a Shiny Goomy that had been abandoned by her trainer outside of Zeal City - which is where she lives. One of the non-existent cities, which I actually got a Badge from. Anyways, she and that Goomy became best friends, until one day, Cassidy and Boom showed up, and stole her. And apparently, that Goomy got assigned to...Jessie and James..." Leo trailed off. "Wait, you've been following Ash, so that means you've encountered the Three Buffoons, right?"

"...I was wondering why they had a Goomy. So that's that Krysta girl's Goomy?"

"...Probably. I can't think of any other way they could have gotten a Shiny Goomy."

"Yeah, good point. But there's not much we can do about that right now. Anyway, how are we supposed to start searching for the Plate?"

"Hmm...If Arcy lent it to Xerneas 3,000 years ago..." Leo stopped.

"GOT IT!"

"...What else relating to Kalos do we know of that happened 3,000 years ago?" Leo asked excitedly.

"AZ's Ultimate Weapon. He might have stolen it from Xerneas and used it to power the Weapon," Chronos nodded, his thoughts running in the same direction.

"...Which means the best place to check would be the place where the cannon is sealed under..." Leo trailed off, before looking around. "Er, there are eyes everywhere, so to speak, so I'm not sure it's safe to say it aloud. But you know where it was, right?"

"Yeah, I remember. But it's been 3000 years since then. It may not even be in Kalos anymore, assuming our guess is right," Chronos pointed out.

"Still, it's a place to start," Leo said. He then sighed. "And if worse comes to worse, we could go ask Lysandre. He seems like the kind of guy who would help if we told him the situation, even if he is...you know. And he has an entire corporation and 'You-know-who' under him to help search."

"...What is with you and asking villains about stuff?" Chronos asked in confusion.

"...Because whether you like it or not, sometimes, the villains are the only ones with the answers. Lysandre would probably know more about the Kalos Legend than us, and it wouldn't surprise me if he already had the Pixie Plate, honestly," Leo sighed somberly. "Besides, that was only a worst case scenario. Hopefully, we won't need to resort to that."

"Yeah...but like I said, it may not even be in Kalos anymore. Besides, Arceus didn't say where he had lent it to Xerneas to begin with. Anyway, my point is, let's not worry about it for now. Knowing how things go around here, we'll run into that Plate sooner or later," Chronos decided.

"Heh, Ash's disaster magnet should bring it right to us in no time," Leo laughed.

"Yeah, I guess. ...Anyway, I think I've taken up enough of your time. I'm going to go get my Pokémon healed, so I'll see you later," Chronos decided, departing for the front desk.

"Alright then. See ya around," Leo said, before walking off to find Krysta and Mel. While Chronos was walking towards the front desk, he stopped for a brief second when Arceus's voice echoed in his head.

"This isn't enough to make up for everything...but check your TM Case."

Blinking, Chronos did just that, and found that there was one extra in there. Reading it, he widened his eyes in shock. "This is the TM for-!" he realized, before nodding and continuing on.

Melanie, covered in bandages after her battle, but still able to walk around a little (she did come out victorious, after all), wandered through the Center. Leo said that he had something to take care of, Krysta was off training, and Colress had apparently gone to Hoenn, so she was a bit bored. Then she spotted the group from earlier, minus one, standing over one of the beds. She shrugged.

'Might as well go see what they're up to,' she thought. She jumped up onto the bed.

"Hey, you're that Leo guy's Pokémon, aren't you?" Misty asked. Mel nodded, before noticing Pikachu on the bed nearby. She pulled out her notepad and wrote out:

'What happened here?'

"Whoa! You can write?" Brock gasped. Mel nodded, and tapped her foot expectantly, shaking her notepad a bit.

"Ash and Pikachu lost to Lt. Surge and his Raichu," Misty explained. Melanie turned towards Pikachu and spoke.

"{You look like you've seen better days,}" she said.

"{Gee, ya think?}" Pikachu asked rhetorically, rolling his eyes. "{You don't look much better, though.}"

"{Well, I actually won,}" Mel huffed. "{Didn't you hear Leo's advice? Focus on speed, not power?}"

"{Well, Ash didn't really listen.}"

At that moment, Nurse Joy came in. Like in canon, she offered Ash the Thunder Stone, and when Ash offered it to Pikachu, he shook his head and smacked it a way with his tail.

"{Not a chance! I'm going to beat that Raichu as I am now! I like this form, and I don't need to evolve to prove how strong I am!}"

"{Bold words,}" Melanie complimented, as she transcribed that for the humans. "{But can you back them up?}" Pikachu pumped a fist in the air.

"{You bet I can!}"

"{You certainly seem confident. I like that,}" Melanie laughed. '...And he's kinda cute with that confident face on...' She thought to herself, before her face flushed. 'Gah, what am I thinking! It's not like I like him or anything!'

"{Er...are you okay?}" Pikachu asked. "{Your face looks red...}"

"{I'm fine!}" Mel snapped, before turning to hop off the bed. "{Anyways, my name's Melanie, 'case you didn't catch that. My friends all call me Mel, though.}"

"{Alright, see you around, Mel!}" Pikachu called. Mel's face flushed again, but she held up a hand and jumped down, before walking off.

"{See ya,}" she called back.

Episode 14 - Fin

In case you were wondering, it was supposed to seem easy during the battle between me and Surge. I may have overdone it though...