Cerulean City, a bit into the future

"Gramps?"

Gary was surprised to see his grandfather enter the Pokémon Center just as he was about to leave.

"Oh good, I was hoping I'd run into you Gary." The old professor grinned as the two sat down.

Gary frowned at the Professor's insinuation about being glad to run into him. He wasn't going to make him wash dishes or perhaps watch that lame and weird show again was he?

It was then that Gary noticed the two boxes in front of his grandfather.

"Oh yes, I see you noticed. Well Gary, you see I need your help with something."

"You need me to deliver a package or something like that?" Gary assumed from the boxes that Oak had on him. The professor just laughed.

"No, no, that won't be necessary. That's why we have the badass mailmen for. No, this my boy...this is the future."

Gary frowned and picked a box up. This wasn't another one of those stupid Doctor Whatshisname show memorabilia that his grandfather had just purchased was it? They seriously didn't need any more of that junk.

"...A little small for a TARDIS, isn't it?" he asked.

Professor Oak let out a hearty laugh at that "No no...far from it. If I had a TARDIS Gary, I'd be studying ancient Pokémon in their natural habitat, as opposed to a laboratory or something...alas I do not. Instead, I have this."

Oak opened one of the boxes, revealing a metallic glove which shined with its reflective steel.

Gary picked it up and examined it for a moment. "Gramps...please don't tell me you finally came out of the baseball closet?"

"Oh no no no...this is no baseball glove Gary. Recall the time I told you about the button scandal?"

Gary thought back for a moment about all the strange things his grandfather had ever talked about (that was a long list) before recalling what that was, guessing, "That 'teleport' button on the first Pokédex that didn't work and instead caused the Magikarp in question to vanish from existence?"

Professor Oak had the look of regret about that incident, and it showed on his face.

"Yes, that scandal nearly ended the Pokédex. I have to wonder if it would have had the Pokémon in question not been a Magikarp on the verge of evolving." Magikarp were considered to be worthless by most people, and their evolved form was considered worse than worthless (read, very dangerous).

Though in some ancient cultures, men were only considered men after raising and or taming a Gyarados. It was one way those ancient people had practiced birth control.

You would be surprised how little a population grew when at least half their young men were vaporized each generation before they could marry.

"Ever since then, I have worked tirelessly on creating a hand held Pokémon teleportation system that would allow trainers to transfer Pokémon between their active party and their place of storage, and these are the fruits of that labor," He gestured to the open and unopened box, "The prototype to the Handheld Omnipowered Pokémon Expediter gloves, or H.O.P.E gloves as I call them."

"...How long did it take you to make that acronym?" Gary sarcastically asked as Oak laughed a bit.

"Longer than you think my boy. These gloves are powered the same way as a Pokédex, by the movement of the one wearing it. They are water proof, acid proof, and can withstand being stepped on by a Snorlax just as the Pokédexes can." The Professor reached in to hold up the glove and explained, "These gloves send a wireless signal to the Pokédex to connect to the same frequency that sends additional captured Pokémon to my lab. By placing a Pokéball in the depression set around your palm, the Pokéball is transported straight to my lab as if you used a regular machine. In addition, the gloves send a wireless update to the Pokédex to enable a new app that sends me a message of which Pokémon in your capture database you want to send over. With it, I believe trainers will be able to circulate through their teams far more efficiently than before."

Gary understood the potential applications immediately, it would be almost like being able to have more than just 6 Pokémon on hand.

He grinned as he put on his glove, finding that it matched the shape of his non-dominate hand perfectly. This was going to all but guarantee his victory and ascension to Pokémon Masterhood...

Then as he thought about it, he got a bit suspicious.

"Wait a minute...why am I testing this thing out? Wouldn't the Pokémon League be all over this for the champions and Elite Four?" Gary, while arrogant, was not so arrogant to think he was better than Cynthia or Eagun (yet).

"I only have made two so far Gary, and I need to figure out the limitations. While I have put in safeguards to prevent the Button Scandal occurring again," from technology he had obtained from Professor Hastings off the radar, "there are still things that I have to watch for before I have this go into the general trainer populace. You and Ash will be serving as the field tests for the H.O.P.E gloves, and in doing so allowing me to spot any flaws in the system. Plus...I don't have hand molds for Cynthia or Alder or any of the elites, while I have hand molds for you two already."

"When did you get a mold of my hand!? Or Ash's for that matter?"

Professor Oak took more amusement than he really should have from not answering that question for the rest of their chat, however he was not through with being plot relevant yet, even after Gary left to go have fun with his new H.O.P.E glove.

"Oh, excuse me Professor Oak, there is a package here for you; to be forwarded to Ash Ketchum," Nurse Joy waved him over later as he wandered around town for a bit, perhaps to the local poetry clubs.

"Oh, there is? Where's it from, Vaniville Town perhaps?" Professor Oak asked curiously. It wasn't impossible that Serena, knowing Ash was on his journey now, would forward any letters through him. Ash had actually told him he had arranged it that way.

"No, it's from Rota."

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Back with our hero a bit earlier than the above scene

Ash woke up, looking around in shock to see...well normalcy.

'It was just a dream...' Ash thought to himself 'It's not possible I really just met a disturbed pixel monster...'

Then, however, Pikachu abruptly popped up from his spot next to Ash's bag, similarly woken up as if he had just suffered a nightmare.

"Pi" 'Man, I just had the strangest dream the seven of us just talked with some demon with a dumb name...' Pikachu muttered to himself before he noticed Ash's shocked face.

"Chu." 'It...wasn't a dream, was it?'

Ash just shook his head in horror, wishing it had been.

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Later...

Ash and his six Pokémon were at the moment, in a six-way conversation about the whole, just got contacted with a devil who decided to rub it in their faces that Ash's friends were going to suffer problems.

Charmander however was not participating. No, everyone's favorite badass in miniature form was currently doing push-ups, attacking trees and in general training obsessively.

"Caw." 'So, I can fly out and deliver a message...' Pidgeotto began before Butterfree interrupted her.

"Free?" 'You can fly all the way to Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos, and back, before the Pokémon League...that Ash took last time in Johto this time? That's not even getting into the idea of any of them believing some random person warning of their doom.'

"Pi Pika." 'Serena knows Ash in this timeline just like the other one did, but with more contact. She could be convinced...though it would take a long time to get to Kalos in the first place.'

Pidgeotto froze up for a moment, before sulking: "Caw..." 'Hey, I'm used to being a Pidgeot. Just be glad I'm not acting like Chariz...mander over there.'

She pointed with her wing at the fire lizard, who had just cut down a tree with glowing claws.

"Char! Mander Char!" 'Metal Claw!' Charmander boasted as he got a new attack. 'But still. Need. More. Power!' Charmander went back to training somewhat obsessively.

Ash just nodded at Charmander, questioning what was going into his food now that neither Brock nor Cilan were feeding him.

"Bulba." 'If he tries to get me to use my vines as jump ropes, I'm sleep powdering him.'

Ash wasn't sure if that would stop Charmander at this point, but got back on track with the debate on hand.

"Pi Pikachu?" 'Don't you humans have some sort of...instragram thing for contacting people quickly?'

"That's for photos Pikachu. You're thinking of Facebook. Problem is that Serena's mom won't let her get one."

She had ranted about that a lot in their letters.

"...And I can't see any version of Iris with a Facebook page. Plus, how exactly am I supposed to Facebook people I don't know in this timeline, when I have no way of accessing Facebook at all..."

The Pokédex in his pocket beeped.

Ash grabbed the thing nervously, not exactly sure why it just beeped. The fact the thing seemed to do a lot of things he didn't quite understand only made it more unnerving.

But, he opened it anyway.

"Pokédex instant communication array feature initiated. Accessing Facebook Account of Ash Ketchum. Entering in passcodes..."

"Hey, how the hell do you know my passwords!? I never even told mom them!?"

The Pokédex came back with a snarky reply and said, "AshKetchumRocks is not a very hard password to figure out. Account accessed. Ash, you have 13 messages."

Ash just stared at his Facebook timeline; the timeline he distinctly remembered not having befriended Brock on. Or having uploaded any images since he left Pallet. Or had the accomplishment of getting the Boulder Badge reported on...

Ash absently noticed the likes from his mother and Professor Oak on each of his 'new capture' images, or on the gym badge. He also noticed Gary's message on said badge, (Took ya long enough Ashy boy).

"Oh Arceus, this damn thing is posting on my Facebook," Ash found himself oddly horrified.

"I also do Tumblr, Myspace, Instragram, I-Tunes and certain forums," the Pokédex replied as music began playing from itself (I want to be the very best, like no one ever was...). "Now, I believe you wanted to search for some people?"

Ash was starting to wonder if the Amish were as crazy as he had once thought, but he would debate barn raising as a career later.

"Okay...search for May from Petalburg City" Ash told the creepy dex as it began searching.

"Bulbasaur Bul?" 'Aren't you supposed to put in a last name too?'

Ash paled as all his Pokémon bar Pikachu and Charmander (Who was not paying attention) gave him 'are you serious' looks, trying to figure out just how it was possible Ash had never bothered to learn May's last name.

"Since when does anybody actually use their last name?" Ash countered, "other than me of course because let's face it, Ketchum is a cool name."

Bulbasaur mumbled something that he couldn't hear but he definitely heard the word ketchup. All right fine so it was similar to the word ketchup, but it was still a cool name.

"Pi Pika" 'I have to agree with Ash on that one. I never really heard anyone else with a last name. I couldn't tell you Paul's last name, or Brock's, or Misty's...' Pikachu defended his partner in battling. (Why did you mention Paul first?)

"There are approximately 30 accounts based in Petalburg City with the name May applicable to them. Do you have any search parameters to further narrow them down?" the Dex inquired further as Ash thought about it for a moment.

"Can you narrow it down to just Brunettes?"

"Processing...now there are 5 Mays." with a smaller number of them around, the Pokédex was now displaying the profile images for each May.

The third May being the familiar brunette Ash was looking for.

"That's her!" Ash poked May's profile picture, which led to the screen on the Pokédex changing to display May's profile, with a recent posted image of her family (who looked just as Ash remembered them, bar May looking older, which her profile image supported by saying she was thirteen).

Instead of a bandanna, however, May had a similarly colored ribbon, and was wearing a lighter red tank top on as oppose to her regular top. (Her Remake design)

He couldn't help but also that notice that May had certainly grown up a lot…and out in a couple places. He couldn't deny that she was certainly…well attractive, even with the age differences

"Ai?" 'She doesn't look broken,' Aipom pointed out as Ash frowned.

"Well, according to MissingNo, her father did something to prevent it from happening."

"Bulba Saur." 'I hope he did, I definitely hope to meet up with her Venusaur again after all.'

Ash...did not like the tone in Bulbasaur's voice. It made him have flashbacks to Pikachu's comments about Aipom.

Scrolling down her Facebook profile, Ash didn't see any...questionable posts. No signs of depression, sadness, suicidal leanings or anything that could hint at whatever Norman had apparently prevented.

Or, having watched Crime Shows with his mom too much, was Ash simply jumping to conclusions about what could have happened to May (She did have an unnatural fondness of Derek Morgan and Elliot Stabler after all). Perhaps Norman had merely pushed her out of the way of that Tentacool swarm that had caused her problems in the baseline?

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Maybe someone else's Facebook would offer clues.

"Pokédex, search for Tracey Sketchit...not sure where he's from, but I think it's the Orange Islands," Ash offered the Pokédex all the relevant information about Tracey that came to mind at the moment.

At his command, the device began to search the infinite potential of the internet.

"Searching, Searching, analyzing Orange Island records...deleting pop up add, Searching...found Tracey Sketchit."

His Facebook page showed that of a black haired trainer in green with a Venonat, Marill and Scyther. He was quite relieved along with Pikachu and Bulbasaur (Charmander still wasn't really paying much attention). He appeared older in this timeline, probably being in his mid-twenties or something if Ash had to guess.

"Tracey Sketchit, freelance Pokémon Watcher and famous artist who has done work with the Pokémon Professor Association, creating the art in their published research journals. He is currently known to be visiting the Great Marsh in Sinnoh," The Pokédex replied as Ash felt relief that Tracey seemed to be more than okay this time around.

Hopefully, the luck was still with him on everyone else.

"Search Dawn from Twinleaf Town," Ash commanded the dex, which began to beep.

"Searching...searching...Error. No matches found for search for anyone named Dawn in Twinleaf town."

Ash, Pikachu and Aipom had shared looks of horror at that reply.

"Searching Twinleaf Town Census records, searching Twinleaf town phone book, searching school records...no Dawn has lived in Twinleaf town since the dawn of the Oak Era, and that Dawn was a blind infant who was eaten by a Garchomp."

Hopefully that wasn't the same Dawn however unlikely.

The Pokédex flashed an old looking photograph of a girl that was definitely not the Dawn Ash knew.

"...T...Try Cilan of Striaton City," Ash stuttered as the Pokédex began searching.

"Error. No matches found for anyone named Cilan in Striaton City. Searching Unovan Census records...Cilan found."

Ash and Pikachu let out a sigh of relief they really should not have let out so quickly.

"...Cilan, along with brothers Cress and Chili, were abducted as children over 10 years ago from Striaton City Children’s Hospital. An Amber Alert is still out on them. Their case has gone cold and this unit has no reason to believe they are not buried somewhere," the Pokédex informed Ash as the relief on Ash's face was replaced by further and further horror.

"Iris...search Iris from Village of Dragons!" Ash was quickly becoming hysterical as the Dex began.

"Village of Dragons searching, searching, records found. Scanning Facebook, Error. No Iris detected. Isolating County location, initiating county census search...Iris located."

Ash and Pikachu seemed to slightly relax, but it was short-lived.

"Court document detected with corresponding Iris on them. Documents classified. Begin hacking documents because I'm awesome like that...hacking successful. Infant designation Iris had a death certificate given after authorities arrested her parents for Infanticide and Child Abandonment after leaving their newly born daughter in the forest to die. Body was never found. Father appears to have left child to die due to either ill desire to have a child and for the belief she was a Bloodliner. He is currently serving life in prison while her mother will be freed in nine years due to strong evidence of coercion and forced assistance by Father in the crime."

The Pokédex was now showing the mug shots which were certainly not particularly flattering.

Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto and Butterfree, who had not met either of the three who pretty much seem to not exist looked at their trainer and his first Pokémon, and saw faces of such horror that they were pretty sure they wouldn't be themselves for a while.

Charmander, who had known Iris, had stopped training when he heard her name be mentioned. He was still resisting his urges to train like crazy out of respect for what he had just heard.

"Search...Clemont and Bonnie, Lumiose City," Ash said in a nearly dead voice.

"Searching...Clemont found." The Pokédex's image display now showed a Facebook page with the grinning face of a fourteen-year old Clemont. A Bonnie who was about three was standing cutely in the background, sipping from a sippy cup, "Clemont, two time winner of the Lumiose City Junior Science Fair. No evidence of murderous family members detected although I could look harder if you wish."

Somehow, that did little to really lift Ash's funk. Then again...how was one supposed to react to finding out all of that? He'd certainly had better days. Right now he was almost wishing some uber-powerful and angry legendary would come along to put him out of his misery.

He collapsed to his knees, emotionally exhausted.

A moment later however, life proved to move on.

The Pokédex, which ended its playing of the most played song in Ash's I-Tunes account, began to hum as it began to access some other recording it had.

"Accessing 100 Emergency recordings, variant Ash. Scanning through records...record 4 found. Begin playback."

Ash only absently looked at the ever surprising device as it began to make the sound of a recording, the same sort you'd hear on an answering machine.

"Hello Ash," the recorded voice of Professor Oak rang from the Pokédex "If you are hearing this message, then this is the first time you are hearing one of the many I have left you. As you may or may not have realized by this point, the Pokédexes have a myriad of special features designed to aid you in your travels as a trainer, in every perceivable, and quite possibly unperceivable, event. This message may come to you the day after you receive the Pokédex, or it may be first heard when you're hopefully over 22 and pacing like crazy in a hospital's maternity ward or having your hand broken by your pregnant significant other. Perhaps these messages may never have been heard at all, but hey, better safe than sorry."

There was a notable pause and change of tone as the Pokédex changed from one recording to another and Professor Oak developed a much more compassionate and caring voice.

"Ash... life doesn't always want to be your friend. Sometimes it'll feel like life wants to hurt you. However, one cannot give up. Now, I can't even to begin to figure what has caused you so much pain that this speech is being played. Perhaps this speech is playing after a particularly devastating loss. Perhaps this is playing after my funeral, or Arceus forbid your mother's. I can't really say, as future sight is something I do not possess."

"However, you can't let this single moment define you for the rest of your life. No matter how bad things may seem now, there will always be another day. Tomorrow will always come. Giving up won't fix what is wrong Ash, instead keep going with what you can fix or grow past it."

"If you lost a battle, train so you will not lose the next one. If you lost a loved one, live for them and for those who still live. You must always move forward Ash, no one gets anywhere by doing nothing nor by not changing anything. Life, and people, must always move forward, towards the best future possible. Never forget this Ash, never forget."

The recording ended as one particular line rang with him.

If you lost a loved one, live for them and for those who still live.

Ash was normally an upbeat person, so depression wasn't really his thing to begin with. However, this began a slow, but noticeable shift in Ash's facial features from defeat, to determination.

"...Live for those who still live..." Ash's muttered as his gaze moved over to Charmander's still training form (Who had resumed it after giving Iris a moment of silence out of respect for her) as he said this out loud to himself.

An idea then came to mind.

An idea that, to most people, would be suicide. But then again, heroes have this odd habit of beating the odds.

Though in hindsight, like many of the great heroes who improved themselves with chakra mass cloning, Ash did have an advantage.

"Alright guys, we have to become stronger. Stronger to ensure that what friends we have left, will not be harmed in any way. For that, we all have to train. You, and I. Who's with me!?" he grinned in a familiar way.

Though his Pokémon noticed his determined grin, he did not let them see his eyes. He could certainly say it and force himself to at least appear confident, but inside he was still a raging bundle of emotions that he was still trying to tamp down. He'd lost people he cared about, his Pokémon had too and they were probably suffering just as much as him, but he knew he needed to at least pretend to be strong…for their sake.

He could not let himself dwell on dark thoughts, yet despite his forced enthusiasm, his Pokémon merely and silently exchanged looks and agreed.

The only one who seemed particularly in the mood for it however was Charmander, who gave a hearty cheer of agreement after briefly stopping to listen to Ash, before going back to what he was doing.

----------------------------------------

Later on…

"Charmander, use Metal Claw on me!"

Misty, who had been bathing/thinking/fishing with no success for longer than Ash had been awake, just dropped her wash kit in shock as she saw Ash order his Charmander to ATTACK him.

She expected gushing blood to spew from his disemboweled stomach, but instead Ash just got knocked back as if he had just been a Pokémon, and then glowed in the same light he had when he had first met him.

"Counter!" Ash shouted as the power of the move was sent right back at Charmander at twice the force, which Charmander blocked with a Dragon Tail that Misty did not recall him having when she went to bed the night before.

"What in the name of all that is good and wet is going through his head?" Misty muttered to herself before she began to draw the breath to scream at him. Had he lost his mind…more so than before at least?

Though before she could, Psyduck (Who had been carrying her tackle box over the top of his head) spoke up.

"Psy." 'It makes sense.'

Misty stared at her favorite (and least favorite, there was only one of him) duck in shock, "No it doesn't, he's having his Pokémon try to kill him!?"

"Duck Psy-Duck." 'It's the same idea that you might have with having me practice (and fail) to dodge Staryu's Water Gun. Pokémon train better with partners, it's a well-known fact, that partner just happens to be Ash.'

"But he's not a freakin' Pokémon..."

"Duck." 'If it quacks like a Pokémon and can use Pokémon moves, it's a Pokémon. Plus, is it really all that different from you swimming side by side with Staryu and Starmie to learn to use the Water HM moves?'

Misty tried to formulate a response, found herself unable to, quickly looked up into the sky and, in a greatly unnerved tone of voice replied, "You're making surprising sense..."

"Psy." 'Yes, the end of the world is probably looming. Obviously you should have hoarded some gold and fresh water first.'

"Where the hell would I find gold to freaking hoard?!"

"Duck." 'At the end of a rainbow maybe?' came the snarky reply.

Ash might have heard this if he did not have Butterfree try to catch him while Quick Attacking using String Shot while Bulbasaur was using Vine Whip to trip him.

He was sort of occupied, and would not realize Misty had come back for about a half an hour more.

----------------------------------------

A few days later…Pokémon Tech

About fifty years ago, a think tank was formed to formulate new strategies to counter the Pokémon Hoards. This group consisted of six of the greatest minds of their time and together they managed to save millions of lives, and managed in part to stop the great Tentacruel attack on Lilycove City and managed to spare Nimbasa City from the great Volcarona Death Swarms by killing 90% of their total population.

However, after Oak's research led to the noticeable, and still ongoing, pacifism of Pokémon, they found themselves less important than they had been previously. Wanting to remain relevant, they established a series of school (Pokémon Tech, with branches in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos) for growing their theories and spreading their beliefs to the next generation.

This think tank was named after the first initial of each of these six wise men, and so since Smogon had existed.

He had thought he had joined the group for the right reasons, to ensure that the next generation of the world's brightest and most talented were prepared to handle the Pokémon Leagues and from there, the world at large.

He had raised many Pokémon, their move sets just as calculated to balance as the great theories stated they should be. They were fed the right food, trained in just the calculated intensities, and he had passed these to his students.

Said students, who were easily the brightest and best class he had taught in his years, students who should easily be well and beyond a regular trainer with two, maybe even three badges, were being overwhelmed by what should be a pair of rookie trainers that had been tricked into the school by the off the books, but still tolerated and encouraged tradition of Tech students tricking random trainers who were passing by into the school to be beaten by the students to show off their superiority and make non tech students look like laughing stocks.

Instead, he was baring witness to a Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Aipom, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Staryu, Starmie, Psyduck and Wingull pretty much demolish all his students.

"As I told you earlier, there is simply more to battling than knowledge. There are infinite dimensions of battle," The man who had come to see him commented idly as he too watched the massacre commence.

"I didn't believe you, and probably wouldn't have come to change my mind if I wasn't baring witness to all this," the teacher observed and then frowned.

"Make no mistake, I can see you taught them all well. For what limited dimensions they work in, your students battle well. Their opponents just battle better, and considering that I happen to have heard from a reliable source's reliable source that the boy with the hat is a Pokédex wielder chosen by Oak himself and the rave review I got of his first gym battle, I wouldn't be surprised I am tracking him down in a few years. Maybe even the girl too, though I feel she is not the kind of trainer who'd be interested in my operation."

"Your operation I take it, is that little group you're setting up?"

"Yes," the man replied with pride. "I want to expand the Battle Frontier beyond what any mere tournament can. Something for trainers to strive for just as strongly as they may for the Elite Four or Champions, if not even stronger then both of them. A place for the best of all the fields of battle recognized, and unrecognized, by the world, to battle with the best of the best and thus continue to strive to become the better best of the best by mastering their strong points and learning from their weak points. I already have a Star Ace of the Spectacle Battle style of the professional leagues, a Maven of the Wilderness who is a sage of the Natural Battle, a Queen of Fortune who is the strongest of the All Force style sadly more common to underground battling, though she's actually nice if you get to know her, a Tycoon whose ability to connect to the unlikeliest of beings via Passion Battling is unmatched and a King of the Ancient World who is one of the earliest pioneers in the Legendary Battles, though it is a very small field. I want to expand this group even further, and I want you to represent the Smogon Strategy Battle style. So, what do you say?"

"I heard they get titles, is that true?"

The portly man in the blue shirt dotted white flowers, and the pair of shades in the dark, just grinned at that question and answered simply, "Of course."

The teacher flashed a grin, "Very well then. Noland, the School Teac...no, the Factory Head, will join this Battle Frontier of yours"

"A Battle Factory? Well, I suppose I already have a Pike and Pyramid, so who am I to ask questions?"

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A few hours later…

The four-star chefs of Pokémon Tech Kanto wept as the victorious trainers choice of reward (which was normally a full scholarship to Pokémon Tech), was replaced with an all you can eat buffet of the school's exquisite dining for them and their Pokémon.

The girl alone had eaten three Castelia Steaks and had just found the Pastrami!

"You know, the rich really do have good food," The boy commented as another rack of ribs seemed to vanish from the face of the earth.

His Pikachu, who had just downed his fourth ketchup bottle like a well-trained sailor, nodded its head and continued to swallow his condiments like it was a bottomless pit. (*)

----------------------------------------

Several days later…

Misty had to grin at the site of the Nugget Bridge, the northern entrance to Cerulean City, covered in construction equipment, which was quite visible from the nice little stretch of wildflowers that ran parallel to the road.

Someone had broken the thing, and thanks to them there was no way that Ash could someone find his way into that city.

She was safe...very, very safe. She'd never have to see them again.

With a smile, her gaze turned to Ash, and there she felt many of the same emotions she normally did.

Confusion as to why she felt like she knew him with the same instinctual familiarity of someone you traveled at least three regions with on foot.

Shock at how quickly he seemed to understand the ins and outs of battling for such a rookie trainer.

A somewhat...interesting feeling about his kindness, looks, and determination that Psyduck had been continuously reminded not to discuss.

Though recently, she had noticed him take to a certain level of urgency and drive she was not familiar with. He was training with his Pokémon, which too many would simply look as if he was striving to use his recently discovered status as a bloodliner to the fullest effect.

However, there was something off about this determination, something extremely disconcerting. For all that Ash seemed to want to improve himself, there seemed to be an equal amount of drive to distract him, almost.

As if he dove into his training, to try and not dwell on something.

Could it in fact being a bloodliner was what he was trying to distract himself from, though the idea of using his bloodliner attributes to distract himself from being a bloodliner was sort of hypocritical.

That couldn't be it...what else could it be?

Misty was so deep in her thoughts about Ash's odd behavior, that she didn't see the large flower she was walking towards before it was too late.

At that same moment Misty was dwelling on such thoughts, Ash wasn't in the mood to really think much.

After a decently long training session, Ash and all six of his Pokémon found themselves lying against a log, taking a breather.

Ash had just finished taking a gulp from his canteen, which he passed along to Pikachu.

As the mouse attempted to get the large canteen lifted over his head, Ash closed his eyes for a moment...before he heard his canteen drop.

Opening his eyes quickly, he saw Pikachu dash off in the direction that Misty had taken a walk.

Ash ran over to where Pikachu had darted off in such a rush, quickly followed by the rest of his Pokémon, and found a shocking sight.

Misty, covered in purple and yellow powder, lay on the ground in shock, while the large red head of a Vileplume seemed to run off in the distance.

His Pokédex decided to use that as another impromptu info dump he didn't want.

"Vileplume, the Flower Pokémon. Vileplume's pollen is incredibly toxic to non-Grass Pokémon, and comes in three distinct colors. The green pollen will cause the afflicted to fall asleep for a varied length of time. The yellow pollen will cause a person's nervous system to seize up and behave erratically. The purple pollen will cause a person's tissues to dissolve, starting from the mouth to the respiratory organs. Both the latter are fatal to humans and Pokémon alike. Humans are more affected by these pollens than Pokémon however, due to a lack of Pokémon specific antibodies. Thankfully, this is simply a defense mechanism, not deliberate attacks on the part of the Vileplume, and the antidotes to all these poisons are readily available at all hospitals."

Except he didn't have those antidotes on him, he realized with horror as he kneeled beside her.

"No..." Ash said to himself, "I can't lose you too..."

First Dawn, Cilan and Iris...Misty couldn't be next. She just couldn't...

"Bulba..." 'This is bad, we need to get her to a hospital as quickly as possible!' Bulbasaur commented as Aipom hopped up in agitation.

"Ai-Aipom!?" 'But the closest hospital would be in Cerulean City, which she said she is not to go anywhere near under any circumstance!'

"Caw," 'Well, I think this might be an exception, with her life at risk!' Pidgeotto pointed out, wishing she could just fly her there (But that didn't work if the bird was too small. You couldn't take a Pidgey from Pallet Town to Lavender Town via the sky, no matter how hard you tried. It just didn't work).

Ash seemed to follow Pidgeotto's train of thought over Aipom's.

Picking Misty up, ignoring the pollen still on her (Which went inert quickly enough that it was safe to touch after about thirty seconds exposure to air, but Ash really wasn't thinking about that at a time like this), Ash began to walk towards the nearby construction sight, before he realized how dangerous trying to get a critical girl through an active construction site would be.

Even if the workmen helped, that was a lot of metal to dodge in such little time.

And just when things couldn't get any worse, a form began to rise from the depths of the nearby river, a form that embodied fear and terror. Said force then approached Ash, with an evil look on his face even the shades couldn't hide.

"Squirtle," The turtle declared that roughly translated to 'Human! I shall rip you apart limb by limb and dance on your entrails! The great rampage of the last of the Squirtle Squad begins now, with your death!'