I LIIIIIIVE!

And hopefully, I get to live long enough to get on with the reviews and for me to find a new place to hide so that you guys don't kill me for taking so long.

First is the Reviewer that went through all the trouble of rereading and rereviewing every chapter up till last one.

Well glad to know you liked it and don't worry about me having or not having to reply to your previous reviews. It was fun to do and at least I think I should do that while I still can. Because dammit if I don't know that one day, I'll reach a point where there are some many chapters and so many people playing catch up that I won't be able to answer all of them without the review section bring more than half the size of the chapter itself. Maybe I could answer those ones through PM? I don't know. I'll burn the bridge when I get there. Also about tye Naruto comment; believe me I know. Not only did those two fought more times in the opening, but they had more moments as friends there than in the freaking show/manga. The only reason he had for going after emo Sasuke was because Sakura asked him to do so and Naruto was nice (and at that time simp) enough to do so. There, I said it. Now I'm sure that's I'll have more people wanting to hang me now. as if the almost two month delay wasn't enough.

thor94: yeah, that's kind of the reaction I was expecting after what I did last chapter. Well I'm Ash's defense, I'm fairly sure that if we were to remove him from the story, then Team Rocket would have won during the S.S Anne. I mean, no Ash means no Lyra and Brock either. And those three are the only reason they even had a chance to fight back to begin with. Also, even if not for Ash damaging the yammer, then him and Lyra would still be Thor only two passengers capable of fending for themselves since they always have a Pokémon out at all times. So if they weren't there present, then Red and Misty would have gotten mug, alongside everyone in the S.S Anne and Team Rocket would have had one clear victory against the heroes. And yeah, I can see why you would say that Ash didn't do as much as Red when fighting Surge, but Red had it easier compared to Ash. Like, Ash had to fight him on his own and not knowing who he was and naturally, he got wrecked. Red on the other hand went on knowing that: A) Everyone was telling him that he was the real deal (and Misty just straight up told him that he was the same Surge that sent Pokémon to the E.R), B) He just saw Ash getting knocked aside by this guy as if nothing and C) he fought Vizquez, who was a tough opponent for him.

So we had a Red that was all; "Oh, this is Surge. The guy everyone keeps warning me not to take lightly, who is stronger than the tough trainer that was looking after his gym and who just beat Ash fairly quickly? I better take this serious front get go."

But yeah, you're right. Ash seems underpower here. But that's kinda to be expected in a way. At least in Gen 1, Ash was more like some everyday guy thrown at crazy sensuous while the Dex Holders were prodigies in their own right. Although I'll admit that I may have exaggerated some bit. Truth is, I was expecting this sort of criticism and was more than willing to take it... but I thought it would be against Green.

Like, at least to me, compared to everyone else he's still more of a tell no show character. In which in terms of feats or other stuff, he feels the least worked on. Especially considering that he's the only one who hasn't had a proper chapter for himself just yet, his climatic battle in chapter four was against a wild Pokémon were as the rest were fighting Team Rocket.

But yeah I get what you mean.

Ashpool: glad you liked it too. And honestly it doesn't surprise me that you had to reread it. Honestly, after like six months of not uploading, I would be surprised if you hadn't reread it to remember what was going on.

KGBeastboy: that's quite the text you got there bud, one which of course I read. The only thing that I can say for now is that you sure are one creative fellow, there are ideas that I would like to see happening and that thanks to a Facebook page, I can only see Dusknoir wearing a fedora and a trenchcoat.

Boerger: Glad to be back (on this story, at least) and glad you seemed to still be enjoying it.

naza15ojeda: bajele a sus aguas amigo, estos chamacos aún tienen solo 10 años.

And now, for yet another guy playing catch up, I present thy, MetalBatt.

2.- If there's one thing that Ash is known for is not starting with the bare minimum... it's starting with less than that. Everyone gets one loyal partner from the start while he starts with a rebellious yellow rat that loves to electrocute him.
3.- Well I always try to stay as faithful as possible, so glad I got Ash right according to what some of you say.
5.- And till this day, he still doesn't know what the heck they were talking about.
6.- Thanks, I want to do my best with the jumping from focus of one character to another. Sometime it's a bit hard, but it's fun to do and I want to believe makes the story feel a little more alive. Even if in caes, it can feel like there's too much going on .
7.- Yeah, like I said, maybe I exaggerated it in a few places. But they're there now and there's no going back. I out them there, I have to commit to finish what I start while making sure it's at least competent. I'll do my best to aliviate that without losing sight of what I already have plan for.
8.- You're like the first person to even hint at the possibility of Ash and Lyra being together. Like, most go for Serena or Blue... for some reason. Not like it affects me since I don't write with shipping in mind. But I do know that a lot of you like it so I'm always curious to see what you think on the matter.
11.- Well it's name is Hidden Village but it's never a village for some reason. Someone had to get that fixed at some point.
13.- It's not like gen 1 Misty was hard to top to be honest. At least there, the bar was fairly low.
18.- That old man told me that was up with the youth when I played soul silver. And I'll be a monkey dancing in a wedding dress if I don't get to use it in at least some way.
20.- Well glad that you have made it till here and that you enjoy the way I structured things. You're right, my grammar isn't my strong suit and you can bet that even after more than one month of work I on this, I'll somehow miss one error, I just know it. But yeah, I do my best to write these stories. I actually have my own self rule.

A chapter of a proper story has to reach at least 8k words. The only times I have broken that rule on proper main series were on chapter one of this story which was a little over 5k words and the one from Marvel/Hero Academia were I was short a few hundred words in one chapter. But at least on that one I ended up making it up by having every chapter afterwards almost always 10k. Overall thanks for the good wishes, the criticism and good fortune to you as well.
Anyway let's get to the story proper. I might recheck the review part later again and the end message will be added later because dammit of this chapter has stake longer than it should and I need to sleep some bit.

So enjoy

Chapter 21: Land of the Poké-Giants!

The beach, who doesn't love it?

Well, there are probably a substantial amount of people that don't. And they probably have their reasons. But there are a lot of people that just love the beach. The sound of the water, the breeze, the warmness of it, the… three bodies? Yeah, as it turns out, while many would love to spend time on the beach, they would tell you that being hurled to it by an angry Gyrados and a raging storm is probably not their preferred method for getting there.

"BLEH! This is not how I imagined being at the beach would be like." Brock said, spitting some sand that had gotten in his mouth and picking himself up from the ground. "Are you guys, ok?" he asked his two friends as they started to pick themselves up.

"I have sand in my everything." Lyra said, getting her head out of the sand, which had dug itself in it… only for more to come from her hat as if it were a shower.

Questionable physics aside, all three adventures seemed to not be seriously harmed. Maybe a little sore in a few places here and there, but nothing too serious. Especially considering that they were hurled who knows how many kilometers away by that angry Gyrados and an entire hurricane. It didn't take long before they all got a little cleaned up. Taking off their shoes to remove the sand that found its way there, their clothes and hair as well. Afterwards, they all looked around and, somewhat thankful, saw that at least some of their stuff was within sight. Even if there were at least a thing or two on top of some palm trees around. Thankfully Lyra's bag was not among those stuff up there. She quickly rushed towards it and checked it thoroughly. There were no showings of any damage to it at first glance, maybe a little… well, it was soaking wet, but that wasn't what she cared about. She kept that egg inside of her bag for safekeeping and considering that they were all hurled from the middle of the ocean to wherever they now were… yeah, that was probably not good for an egg.

However her worries soon died down when she got the incubator out. There didn't seem to be any signs of significant damage. Not even the tiniest of scratch on either the piece of equipment or the egg inside of it. Lyra let out a sigh of relief at it, content with the little fella not suffering any sort of damage… or injury… whatever the proper term for a Pokémon egg was.

"Well, at least the egg is ok. Boy, you really are one sturdy little fella, you know?" Lyra said, clutching the Pokémon egg close to her.

As she did that, Ash noticed something very quickly. It was right after retrieving his hat from a bush that he realized that Pikachu wasn't by his side. Like, not only was he not by his side, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Worriedly, he started to call out for him and as he did, Lyra too realized that Marill was also not around. While still holding on to the egg, she got up from where her bag was and also called out for the blue fairy. But try as they might, as loud as they shouted, there was no answer. No sign of either of the two rodents being spotted. Something that increased their uneasiness and honestly, started to scare the two rookie trainers.

"I don't like it. I'm sure that Pikachu was holding on to me before we were blown away." Ash said.

"And Marill was almost becoming a part of me for how hard he was clinging into my arms." Lyra followed.

"If I were a betting man, then they probably flew a bit more towards the center of… well, of wherever we are. The two of them aren't exactly that heavy… well, Pikachu might, but the point still stands." Brock said, giving his insight of what he believed might have happened. And anticipating that his two companions may not take it kindly, he decided to reassure them before their nerves got the better of them. "Don't worry guys, I'm sure that the two of them are perfectly fine. Have some faith in them, ok?"

"That's easy for you to say. I'm sure that you have all your Pokémon right with you." Lyra said, with a little sadness in her voice. It was obvious that she did however, listen to what Brock told them as she seemingly tried to calm herself down, but no doubt it was taking a lot of her to do just that and chances are, that Ash was mostly the same. "I mean, what if they're hurt? Or in some bad place or with a bad Pokémon wanting to hurt them?"

"Oh, I know!" Ash suddenly said, as an idea popped into his head. "I can have both Pidgeotto and Butterfree look for them both from the air!"

"That's a great idea, Ash!" Brock complemented his friend. "See? This is what a level head can do in cases like this."

"Ok, fine. Maybe you might be onto something." Lyra said. "But, won't they be a little tired? I mean, you guys got into a really hard fight, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm sure that they're ok now. Besides, they could still rest a bit before searching for Pikachu and Marill." the Pallet boy answered.

"I guess. If that's the case then, maybe Houndour could help. If he could help when my egg got stolen, then he can probably help here." Lyra said, as both she and Ash started to reach for their pokeballs.

However, for some reason they couldn't… reach them? Not that wasn't right. How can you not reach something in either your pocket or attached to your belt? That didn't make any sense. But despite that, neither seemed to be able to get a hold of their pokeballs. After a little while, they started to worry a bit. And from said worry, they soon started to panic a bit more. Afterwards they decided to look at where their pokeballs should be… only to find that none of them were there.

… WHAT?!

"My pokeballs! They're not there!"

"Neither are mine!"

At those statements, Brock reached out to where he kept his pokeballs. Thankfully for him, they were still there. Good thing he paid the extra for those pokeball high quality pokeball clips. He might be tempted to put in good work for that product, considering that they were able to hold very well, considering that they were thrown from one end of the ocean to another and they were still there. But that will have to wait. Both until they can return to civilization and until they solve the crisis at hand, which means finding where the rest of their Pokémon could be.

Still doing his best to remain the voice of reason of the group, he once again did his best to reassure the two young rookies. Easier said than done, sure, especially since unlike them he still had all of his Pokémon with him, but it was still something that had to be done. Besides, there was still the chance that Pikachu, Marill and the rest of both Ash and Lyra's Pokémon weren't that far behind. It didn't hurt to be somewhat optimistic at the moment. Although the question still remained; Where could have they landed?

.

"Ow, my head hurts." a certain electric mouse said, rubbing his head once he had gotten it out of a hollow tree trunk. "Maybe being in a pokeball isn't so bad… who am I kidding? They still suck."

"Hey! Who turned off the lights?!" the electric mouse suddenly heard.

Looking around, he followed where the voice was coming from. It was one that sounded very familiar, even if a little muffled for some reason. Thankfully, he didn't need to look for that long, as he was quick to find the source of all the ruckus. Behind a bush, there was a round blue thing that was oddly familiar. He didn't know why at first, but after tilting his head a little bit and noticing what looked to be a pair of feet, a thin black tail in a zig-zag-like pattern and the smaller blue sphere attached at the end of it…

Yeah, he now knew who this was.

Using both of his frontal paws, the yellow electric rodent took a hold of the blue individual before him and, after a little effort (in which little meant far more than one would expected) the yellow rodent managed to free the blue rodent that had the upper part of his body dug in the sand.

"You need to lay low on the candy, Marill. You're heavier than you look."

"Says mister ketchup lover. Ever heard of a mirror, Pikachu? Because you're not exactly what I think of when I hear the word 'healthy diet'."

"You're one to talk, mister round body."

"Hey! That's just how I was born! That's how every Marill looks like!"

"Excuses."

"I don't have to take this. I'm going to see where Lyra is. And while I'm at it, I'm going to see if she has a snack."

"You only think with your stomach." Pikachu said… only for his stomach to suddenly growl a bit. "... This proves nothing."

"Whatever. Why don't you go and ask Ash if he has some ketchup nearby?"

"Maybe I will." the electric type replied, only for him to realize something. "Hey, wait a minute. Where is Ash?" he said, making Marill realize something too.

"Now that you mentioned it, I haven't heard of Lyra. And I haven't seen Brock either."

"Your head was buried in sand."

"Have you seen them?"

"Well… not really."

"Then my point still stands!" Marill replied, only for him to think of what he said. "Uh-oh, my point still stands. That's not a good sign."

And so, the two rodents started to look for either their respective trainers or their other human companions. They both called the names of Ash, Lyra and Brock in hopes that they would hear them. Which, sure, they may not exactly understand, but that wasn't going to stop them. After some time of going around calling for them as loud as they could, with no fruits to their efforts so far, they both spotted something. At the base of a tree, there was a round object. At first, they thought that it might be a fruit (which led them to drool a bit, since the two were a bit hungry), but they soon realized that the round object was not something edible. Sure, they first spotted the red part of the sphere, but upon getting closer and seeing the white bottom and the button in the middle, they quickly found out what it really was.

"A pokeball!" they both exclaimed, as they reached the bottom of the tree.

"It's one of Ash's!"

"No it's not. It's one of Lyra's."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course…! Maybe.. I think… Ok, I'm not sure." Marill admitted. "I'm going to be honest, but they all look the same to me."

"How do they tell which ones' which?"

"I don't know. It's probably a human thing." the blue fairy replied, as the electric mouse saw something at the top of a tree's branch.

"Hey look! There's one over there!" Pikachu said, pointing at the tree branch.

"And there's another one there!" Marill said, pointing at another one floating on a small pond and almost smacking Pikachu when he did. "There's more there and there! And one over-"

"Ok, I get it. Stop trying to learn flail by nearly hitting me." Pikachu said, as he had to avoid Marill every time he wanted to point at another one.

For a guy with short arms, he sure had some reach.

"So… what now?" asked Marill.

"I don't know. Should we open them?"

"Do you know how to do that?"

"No. Do you?"

"Of course I do!" Marill said, with some pride in his voice. "I don't want to brag or anything, but I did catch myself, I'll have you know!" the water type said… making Pikachu look at him with a blank expression.

"I don't know if that says a lot about you, or about Lyra."

"Says the electric type that tried to use thunderbolt on a bunch of ground types."

"Just open the ball."

Marill nodded, walking closer towards the pokeball and opening it with. Just as he did, the capsule opened and from it, a white light emerged. The light soon leaped out of the inside of the ball and to the ground before it and then it started to take shape. At first, it was just a bright unrecognizable blub of sorts, but soon enough, did it start to take shape. First, there was a ball, then, that ball grew another smaller one that was no doubt the head. Then, it grew multiple appendages from the side. As the light started to dim down, the Pokémon was now recognizable. It was the Johto bug type Pokémon, Spinarak.

"Eh, what, wait? Pikachu, Marill?" the bug type asked, feeling rather disoriented. "Where is everyone? I don't see Lyra anywhere."

"Long story, we'll explain later. For now, just help us open the rest of the Pokéballs." Pikachu quickly told him, just to remember something. "Wait, you do know how to open them, right?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I do! We all caught ourselves." Spinarak answered, with the same pride as Marill before turning to the aforementioned water type. "Can you believe this guy asking questions like that?"

"I know, like trainer like Pokémon, am I right?" Marill replied, all as Pikachu was either fighting the urges to thunderbolt the two Johto Pokémon, or slapping himself in the face.

Soon all three Pokémon started to get working. Locating all of the pokeballs and preparing to open them all. From the one in the pond, which turned out to be Squirtle's, to the one near a bush, which ended up being Butterfree's. In no time, they had gotten almost all of their friends out of their pokeballs and to the surprise of no one, they were all equally confused as to their whereabouts or that of their human friends. Pikachu and Marill told them that they would explain as soon as they were all together. All that was left to do was to open the pokeball that was still stuck on the branch of a tree nearby. Spinarak offered himself to do it, as climbing a tree was but second nature to him. Pikachu was trying to tell him something, but before he could do so, Spinarak had already arrived at the side of the pokeball and opened it.

From it, a white light emerged, a bit larger compared to most of the others. It soon began to take shape and was later recognisable to the others that it was none other than the fire type from Johto, Houndour… whom appeared in front of the branch rather than on top the branch itself. As soon as he was materialized, gravity soon took its effect on him and he fell all the way to the ground. His face basically burrowing itself into the sand.

"Oh… maybe I didn't think that through."

"You think?!" Pikachu told the green bug type, as this was the exact same thing that he wanted to avoid.

Thankfully, none of the presents had to help him dig his head out of the ground, for he was more than capable of doing it himself. Although it was very clear that there was a bunch of sand stuck on his nose. Indicated by the amount of times that he was sneezing. Which is why Marill decided to help his dark type companion… by hitting his nose with a water gun.

Safe to say, it did not work.

"Yeah sure, hit the fire type with water. I'm sure that won't be any inconvenience whatsoever." Bulbasaur noted.

"Those dull brains are just as slow as their trainer." Piedgotto added.

"Guys, we're no one to judge." Butterfree muttered, pointing out that they are in a similar boat with Ash… and being ignored by his friends.

"Ok, we're all here." Squirtle suddenly spoke to the rest of the group. "Now, can you guys tell us where on Kyogre's fins are we?"

"And where is Ash?" Charmander asked, with some fear emanating from his shy voice.

And so, the two rodents started to explain what they could to their friends. How after they had been called back to their pokeballs, the gang all tried to escape the sinking boat. How they ended up with Team Rocket of all people aboard an inflatable lifeboat of their own. And how when trying to come up with an idea to escape their predicament, Team Rocket decided to bring their Magikarp out for help… which they apparently had from who knows how long. And while that may not be of that much interest to them, the fact that said Magikarp suddenly evolved and after being kicked once and then went berserk on them may have regained their attention.

"So yeah. Team Rocket had a Gyrados, it went bananas on us and sent us flying to wherever we are now." Marill said.

"We kinda got separated from Ash and the others, so who knows where they could be." Pikachu followed.

"So we're lost?" Charmander asked with sadness.

"Sounds more like they made up a story because they don't want to tell us that they left us." Bulbasaur said, worrying the Kantonian fire type.

"Don't scare Charmander, you four-legged crop!" the flying/normal type told him.

"Yeah, maybe they just got eaten by the Gyrados." Squirtle joked, making as if he was eating something.

"You want to know from how high I need to drop you to crack that dull-looking shell of yours?!"

"Geez, can't you take a joke? And what do you mean my shell looks dull? I just polished it two days ago."

"You think you could… I don't know, tone things down a bit? You know how touchy he is about his shell." Butterfree whispered to his fellow flying type.

"I'll try. But it's not my fault he's as slow as he is." she replied, as Butterfree sighed.

"That's as much as I can ask with you guys." the flying bug type muttered. "Ok, so we're stranded in who knows where with no idea where our trainers are… Any idea as to what to do now?"

"Beats me." Spinarak.

"Well, seeing as how much of a mess this is, I say Butterfree and I look from above. Chances are, we're the best here to go and look for our trainers." Piedgotto suggested to the group.

"And do you even know how to look for someone?"

"Quiet you little turtle! Or else instead of Ash, I'll look for an angry Nidoking to feed you to him!"

"In any way, you're just wasting your time." Bulbasaur said.

"How is it that we have put up with that pessimistic attitude of yours?" Piedgotto asked.

"Says the lady with an attitude." the grass type replied.

"Actually, I'm with Bulbasaur on this… sorta." the Kantonian bug type said.

"Traitor."

"Put a sock in it." he told the bird-like Pokémon. "Look, we're not sure where here even is. Combine that with the fact that the last thing some of us did was getting our butts kicked by an obnoxiously loud guy and his equally obnoxious and loud Pokémon, I think we should try and take it slow and stick together for a bit."

"Hey, we won that fight!" Piedgotto yelled.

"It was a two on eleven fight and the only reason we 'won', was because we sent the guys overboard." the grass type of the group said.

"Since when did you become the boss around here?" Squirtle asked.

"Since our fearless leader over there was too busy thinking of ketchup than getting us back with our trainer." the Kantonian bug Pokémon said while looking at Pikachu.

"Hey, I'm not thinking about ketchup! I'm probably more worried about where Ash is than you guys!"

"Ok, then what do you suggest we do?" Squirtle asked.

"... Let's go with Butterfree's idea for the time. But just because I was thinking of it before he said it!"

"Sure you did." Butterfree said.

"I still think that all of this is just some made up story of yours." Bulbasaur said.

"Come on guys, do you really think we're capable of doing something like that?" Pikachu asked.

"Yes." they all said in unison.

"... Wow. With friends like you, might as well go and look for Team Rocket while we're at it." Marill said.

Just as the water and fairy Pokémon said that, they all heard the rustle of the bushes nearby, as well as a fairly familiar voice with an accent. When they all turned towards that direction, they all saw the Pokémon of Team Rocket, being led by Meowth, who was complaining about stuff as Ekans and Koffin followed him. Just as they made it out of the bushes and into the clear where the others were, did Pikachu looked at Marill with a plain expression.

"You jinx it." he said.

"Hey, since when is any of this my fault?!" Marill replied, just as Mewoth finally took notice of their presence.

"You! This is all your fault" Meowth shouted, as he pointed at them.

"Ok, is today blame your problems on Marill day or what?!"

"If you lousy lot had just handed yourselves over to us, none of this would have happened!"

"Sure, because I heard that being taken by Team Rocket here in Kanto was all the rage." Spinarak said sarcastically.

"It is?"

"No Charmander, it isn't." Piedgotto said.

"Well, if it's any consolation, at least now we can get a hold of you for the boss."

"You're kidding, right?" asked the arachnid-like Pokémon. "Buddy, every time we meet with you guys, we do nothing but send you flying. What exactly do you think will happen now with us outnumbering you like, three to one."

"I'll tell you what'll happen. You'll be coming with us! Let's get 'em boys!" the talking cat yelled… only for his comrades to do absolutely nothing. "Um, guys?"

"I don't think they're listening to you." Marill said.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? This is what we do!"

"No, I don' think I want to." Koffin said.

"What do you mean you don't want to? We're Team Rocket, remember?!"

"No, we are not."

"What are you talking about? Next thing you're going to argue about morality or what?"

"Our trainersss are part of Team Rocket. We are loyal to them and will only act sssso long as they wish usss to. Morality isss meaninglessss to ussss. Only loyalty to those we chossse to follow." Ekans said.

"What…? But, that means you ain't doing nothing if not told by those morons?"

"That is what we said."

"But… I have no trainer and I do all sorts of bad stuff!" Meowth screamed in realization.

"Says a lot about you, then."

"You sip it, you walking lettuce!"

"Can't any of you come up with something more original?"

"Can we beat them up now?" asked Piedgotto.

"Nah, they're not going to be much of a problem. Let's just focus on finding our trainers." Pikachu said.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" asked Bulbasaur, as Pikachu started to think.

"Mm… oh I know, we can have Houndour use his nose like when Squirtle and his friends stole the egg!"

"Do you really have to say it like that?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't know. I mean, the only reason he managed to catch onto the scent was because they did that in front of us. Really, they didn't do that good of a job when you think about it." Spinarak.

"Bite your tongue, I was a better criminal than Team incompetent over here."

"I heard you!"

"Do you think you can do that?" Charmander asked Houndour as he sneezed.

"I could have." he replied in his stoic self, all the while Marill and Spinarak were whistling behind him.

"Well… ain't that something." AJ said, as both he and Green saw a boy running out of the Vermillion city gym while crying.

"Tsk, if the first thing he does after a loss is to cry, then what is he doing trying to be a Pokémon trainer?" Green said.

"I don't know man. I heard that tha gym leader around here was one mean fellow. Am talking making grown ups cry, mean."

"I'll be the one to judge if that's true." the young Oak said, as he and AJ entered the Gym.

Once inside, they saw three grown ups all laughing amongst one another. They were dressed in some sort of military-themed attires and cracking jokes about whom they assumed was the kid that had left the building crying. And while Green simply stood there and watched, AJ decided to be the one to talk.

"So… hi." he said, getting the attention of the adults.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. More fresh meat to put in the grinder." Vizquez said.

"I'm here for a gym battle, so if you could stop goofing around and tell the gym leader to show up, then that might be the most helpful thing you've done all day long." Green said.

"Seems like we have a cocky little trainer here, don't we?" the guy chewing bubblegum said before turning to Vizquez. "What you say? Ready to grind him into dust?"

"Fine by me. Crushing trainers like him always brings a smile to my face." she said, turning to the kids with a grin. "I hope you little midgets are ready for a beat down, because that's the only thing I'll be handling today."

"... Wait, you a chick." AJ said, baffling the adults at the gym.

"That's a girl?" Green asked.

Naturally, such a question made a vein grow on Vizquez's head. One which ony enlarged exponentially upon hearing the sound of chuckling and giggling from behind her. She quickly turned to glare at her two comrades, whom quickly looked away as if nothing ever happened. Then, she returned her gaze towards the two children in front of her with a not so kind demeanor.

"So what if I am? Got a problem, you little pipsqueaks?"

"I mean, it's just that I heard that tha gym leader of this block was one big mean fella that's also a guy. Ya look the mean and big part but the other one… not so much."

"Why you little… if you must know, the captain is busy dealing with some affairs outside of town. So until further notice, I'm the one in charge of the gym. Any questions?"

"So you're saying the gym leader isn't here?" asked Green.

"Kid, you must be hard of hearing if you're even asking that."

"Ok then." Green said, turning around and walking away."

"Wait what? Where are you going?!"

"Where do you think? Away." he answered plainly. "I came here to fight a gym leader, not some second fiddle substitute.

"Hey, you can't do that!" one of the men said, all while Vizquez smirked.

"Oh, I see how it is. You're scared." she stated, making Green stop dead on his tracks.

"... Come again?"

"But don't let me stop you, go on, the exit is right in front of you. Try and not get smacked by it on your way out."

"Hey, Vizquez, are you sure about that?"

"Well why bother, Tony? I'm doing the runt a favor. I mean, if he's scared of me, what chances does he have against the captain?" the substitute gym leader said, as Green turned around, with a frown on his face.

"AJ."

"Green?"

"Don't get too comfortable on the benches. This won't take long."

"On that we agree on something. Come over brat, let's see if you can give me a challenge." she said, as the rookie trainer was preparing to best this substitute gym leader.

.

"We've been walking for hours and no sign of Meowth or our Pokémon." James said.

"Oh, if only a certain someone hadn't being dumb enough to be scamed, then none of this would have happen!" Jessie told her partner in crime, obviously still angry at him after his Gyrados (technically) sent them flying while in the middle of a storm.

"Has anyone told you that you know how to hold a grudge longer than necessary?"

"Has anyone told you that a criminal is the one that should steal people off and not the other way around?"

By now, it was already nightfall. The sun had set down already over an hour and a half ago. And both Jessie and James were tired, hungry and among many other things, they were incredibly hungry, as well as sore all over their body. It should be a given, considering that not only did an angry Gyrados send them blasting off while already in the middle of a storm, but also that even while aboard the S. , they couldn't even have something from the buffet. They were too intimidated by Surge to even attempt to get close to the food. Chances were that if he got word of anyone doing that while on an official mission, he would have their heads. Both figuratively and very, very literally.

"And as if it wasn't bad enough, our pokeballs also went away with the wind. Thanks a lot, James."

"Well, I told you that there was a reason those pokeball belt locks had a discount."

"I'm not going to listen to someone that gave almost all of our money to a scammer for a misley Magikarp and a cheap pokeball painted gold."

"Well, he looked reliable!"

"He looked like a scammer! Ugh, how could you have fallen for something that simple?! If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you were some secluded pompous rich boy that never spent a day outside his house."

"Now that's just not true…! Sometimes I went to the summer houses."

"... wait what?"

And then suddenly, the duo heard some loud noise.

"What was that?" asked Jessie.

"It sounded like a… I want to guess Slowbro?"

"Don't play dumb, James. Since when are Slowbors ever that loud?"

"Well, maybe it's a special Slowbro?" he argued, as Jessie started to think.

"That could be it… I know! We should go check it out! And if it's indeed a special Slowbro, then we can catch it for the boss!"

"Wait, how are we going to catch it without our Pokémon? Or any other tool for that matter?"

"Details aren't important. Come on! If we do that, then maybe the boss will forget all about the messes that we've had!"

"If you say so." said James, as both he and Jessie went towards the source of the noise.

Meanwhile on another part of the island, the Pokémon belonging to the rookie trainers and the duo of criminals were all around a small campfire. After doing some searching together, they decided to spend the night and continue on their endeavor the following day. After getting some firewood and having it lit by both Charmander and Houndour, as well as collecting their pokeballs in web sacks made by Spinarak, the group sat together and tried to relax their bodies, even if just a little. Thankfully for them, there were quite the amount of fruits nearby, so at least they won't be having to spend the night hungry. So they all went around the area and collected some food to have for the time being. Even Team Rocket's Pokémon were enjoying their meal in peace…

Well, almost all of them.

"Hey, no fair! Why don't I get one!" Meowth yelled, all the while being tied to a tree trunk not that far from where they were.

"And have you been annoying? Yeah, how about no?" Spinarak said, eating the last bit of his fruit.

"Ok, name one time I have been annoying!"

"Do you want it in chronological order, or alphabetical?"

"I mean from just today, you lousy butterfly!"

"Yeah, that's why I asked that." Butterfree replied.

"Why you little…! And why haven't you two gotten me off this stupid tree?!"

"Hey, can I have your Payapa berry?"

"SSSo long as I can have your SSShuca berry."

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Ugh, can anyone remind me why do we have to keep him?" Marill asked.

"We're the good guys?" Spinarak said.

"Either that, or he's the most likely to be our emergency food."

"What's your deal, lady?!"

"Too bad he's so noisy… that and the fact that we'll probably have to eat some hair since none of us know how to skin a cat."

"YOU ARE ONE MESSED UP BIRD!"

"No argument there." Squirtle said.

And so, the group kept on enjoying their meal. Sure, they were all naturally worried about their trainers. Even the Pokémon of Team Rocket had also shown signs of concern. But there could be very little they could do with an empty stomach. Better to eat and have some energy for them to continue their search on the following day. And while at the moment they were all at peace (safe for the times Meowth started to yell at them to give him something to eat) they were also… really, really bored.

What going from fighting for your life aboard a luxury cruiser to being stuck on an island would do to you, they all guessed.

"Ok, who wants some story time?" asked Marill.

"About what?" Pikachu wondered.

"How about our lives before being caught?" Spinarak suggested.

"Really? I mean, I don't exactly see the point in doing that."

"Anything better than having to deal with that noisy cat over there." Piedgotto told Squirtle, while looking at Meowth.

"About time we said something that the two of us can agree on." Bulbasaur said. "So, who wants to start?"

"Spinarak suggested it, why don't we let him do the talking for a bit?" Butterfree said.

"Me? Well, what can I say…? I guess that I didn't do that much before, now that I think about it." the green bug type said. "I saw her and Marill by a river, after they got lost trying to go to a town."

"You sure get lost a lot, don't you?" Squirtle said.

"And what exactly are we right now?" Butterfree asked.

"... Shut up."

"After that, I got a little closer, we talked and played some bit and then she asked me if I wanted to join. And since I had fun, I decided, 'why not?' and went along with both of them… also at one point we accidentally pissed a group of Beedrill. I don't know, it's all fuzzy from there."

"Oh, so it's not just me then." Marill said.

"Really? You were her first catch? What, do all rookie trainers' first catch always have to be a bug type?"

"You got something against that?" Butterfree asked Squirtle.

"Hey, just pointing things out."

"Yeah, I'm with shell-guy."

"And I don't remember asking your opinion." the Kanto bug type said. "Well, at least your story has a bit more flair to it all. I was just a Caterpie passing by, met him and he just threw a ball at me."

"Didn't you try to break free?" Marill asked.

"Why, I really didn't see the point in doing that. And considering that I'm now at my fully evolved form, I guess that things turned out for the best."

"Well, as for me, I used to be with this Kangaskan and her child. I was a Pichu back then, a few years back."

"And why aren't you with them?" asked the grass type.

"I saw how much of a hassle I was being to them. So, to try and get some weight off Kangaskhan, I just took off." he answered. "I evolved literally as I was doing that, so I guess I was onto something."

"You were also into being a noisy rebellious Pokémon if what you told me when we met is anything to go by." Marill joked.

"You're one to talk!"

"Nu-uh! I hadn't been caught when that happened, so jokes on you!" Marill said, for he had told most about his days before and after meeting Lyra already when they all met with each other.

"He got you good!" Squirtle laughed, as Pikachu glared at him.

"Well, I wasn't having a good day when I met Ash. Honestly, being caught by him was probably the best thing that has happened to me." Pidgeotto said.

"He's nice like that. I mean, compared to my old trainer I say he's an improvement. Then again, I hardly remember his face, but I'm sure he wasn't that great."

"You don't remember your previous trainer?"

"That'sss rather odd."

"Meh, why should I? What's the point in trying to remember folks I either don't like, or find annoying?"

"You remember Team Rocket."

"Well, it's kind of hard to forget guys that we have to beat up every other week." Squirtle answered Charmander's question.

"Hey, we take offense to that! Right guys?!"

"It doesss make senssse when you think about it."

"Yeah, I would find me annoying too, if I were in their place."

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SIDE WITH THEM!"

"But hey, at least Ash is kinda neat. I mean, he's pretty slow and not that bright, and kind of a knucklehead… where was I going? Oh yeah! At least so far, he's been nothing but nice to us and we get to eat good food with him and Brock. So I take it as my win that I came with him."

"Ash is nice like that. If it were Damian… well, it wasn't al-"

"Charmander, we talked about this. Your previous trainer was trash. There is no need to defend him." Pidgeotto said.

"But… okay."

"Well, I for one hope for one good night's rest today. The better we feel tomorrow, the sooner we will find Ash and the others." Pikachu said.

"If he's even wanting us to find him, that is." Bulbasaur said, bringing the mood down a little bit as the bird-like Pokémon sighed in annoyance.

"Why do we even bother with you?" she said, as she then turned towards the Rocket Pokémon. "Got any story to share? Because I can bet that it'll be more entertaining than whatever this walking depressive prick over here got."

"HA! Do you honestly think that we'll lower ourselves to-"

"Well, I came from a nice breeding center."

"And I came from a foressst in the sssouther part of the region."

"You two are the worst!"

"Wait, a breeding center? What's that?" asked Charmander asked.

"SSSomething about Pokémon eggsss? I don't really know."

"And the one I was from was really nice! Great view of the ocean, luxury food and massages every weekend!"

"I don't know why, but every once in a while, you make it sssound like the two of you are sssome rich pair."

"That's ridiculous. Why would rich people be part of Team Rocket?" said Pikachu. "How about you? Anything interesting?" he asked Meowth.

"As if! Maybe that pair let their guard down and told you something about them, but I won't-"

"He wasss part of a gang."

"Arceus name, is it really that hard for you two to keep quiet?!"

"A gang, eh? Now who does that remind me?" Bulbasaur joked, while glancing at Squirtle, whom glared at him.

"You guys suck."

"So, you were in a gang, left and then joined another gang? How does that make any sense?" Marill asked.

"I ain't telling you lot nothing! So don't even bother asking, ok?! My business are mine and mine only!" shouted Meowth.

"Some attitude you got. You're almost as bad as the bird over here." Bulbasaur said.

"Why you little…! If you're so talkative lately, why don't you tell us about yourself?! So far the only thing we know about you is that you were some lousy Pokémon that hung out with Melanie at her village."

"That and the fact that he threw people over trees or something. Why was that by the way?" asked Squirtle.

"If the cat can keep quiet about himself, then so can I."

"And what about the whole pessimistic act you have going about not finding Ash or whatever."

"It's not pessimism, it's me being realistic. Trust me, when things like this happen, then it's most likely that guys like us get forgotten and left to fend for themselves. Just look at Charmander and his previous trainer."

"But after that, I met with Ash."

"And that is probably not gonna happen a second time. Chances are that there won't be another ash coming our way this time around."

"Yeesh, if you're such a downer on your trainer, then why did you choose to go with him?"

"See?!" Even our emergency food thinks you're a downer!"

"Could you at least not call me that?! It makes me feel both nervous and hungry at the same time!"

"He seemed trustworthy enough and believe me, even when I'm saying all of this, I still don't want that to happen… But if it does, then it shouldn't surprise us. You should think of what to do if that's the case. As for me, I may as well do what I was doing back with Melanie." Bulbasaur said.

After hearing his reasoning, most of the Pokémon got a little nervous and in some cases, a little scared as well. Although it was mostly those of both Team Rocket and Ash that did. The idea of their trainers forgetting them… it wasn't a pleasant thought. The only ones that didn't seem to be affected by this were Lyra's Pokémon. And out of all of them, the one that seemed to be the least affected of them all, was none other than the only Dark type of the group. And because of that, did he get to be the center of attention of everyone.

"Hey, don't you get a little nervous?"

"Why?" the always stoic-looking Pokémon asked.

"Well, here we have all your pals worrying about being left behind and you Johto guys don't seem to shake. What gives?"

"Truth is, we know for a fact that Lyra wouldn't leave us behind." Marill said.

"And you base this out of what exactly?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Well duh! It's just not happening." Spinarak said.

"That makes no sense." the grass type answered.

"We trust Lyra. The same way she has always shown to trust and cheer for us. It is only natural for us to act the same with her." the Johto fire type said. "We would never run away from her the same way she would never leave us behind. That's just the nature of our bond."

"Aren't you giving her a little too much credit?"

"Aren't you giving him far too little?" the dog-like Pokémon replied, taking him a little by surprise. "Trust and affection is a two way path. One can't expect them to be given if they're not willing to do the same for those they deem close to them."

The comment naturally created yet another silence in the atmosphere. It was different from the previous one, but the one factor that remained the same, was that the group of Pokémon were taking in what was said and thinking about it. Mainly the Kanto natives, of course. Still, after some time, that small silence soon died out at the sound of Meowth's belly growling at them all. At first they attempted to ignore the noise… but dammit if it didn't start to grow louder and louder by the second… somehow.

"Arceus help me, would it kill you to shut your distortion-damned stomach?!" the aviary Pokémon shouted in annoyance.

"I can't help it! I'm too hungry!" he said, some tears running comedically down his face.

"Could someone just give him something? I swear if someone doesn't make that noise stop, I'll just thunderbolt him and see if that shuts him up!"

"We would… but someone ate all the berries that we had." Spinarak said, for Marill had devoured an entire pile of berries by himself.

"... I mean… yeah Pikachu! How insensitive of you!"

"Hey!"

"You know what? If it means getting out off whatever this is, I'll go look for some more." Squiertle said, getting up and preparing to head into the woods.

"Ah, you're a lifesaver! You're now my favorite of the twerps' Pokémon!" the cat Pokémon rejoiced.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." the water type said.

Soon enough, he was no longer in sight. The trees and bushes hiding him from everyone's eyes. After some time however, the turtle Pokémon ended up rushing back to their camp. He looked as if he had run a marathon all of the sudden. Gasping for air and looking as if he had seen Giratina itself coming to drag him to the Distortion World all of the sudden.

"Were there no berries?" asked Meowth.

"Is something the matter?" the stoic dog-like Pokémon asked.

"Pidgeotto, there was a Caterpie! It was scary and mean and a Caterpie! A Caterpie was there and it was mean, the Caterpei!" Squirtle frantically said, while pointing at where he came from.

"Oh, haha! Very funny. Why don't you come where my talons can reach you and tell me all about it?" a mildly annoyed Piedgotto said, believing his friend to be mocking her for being a flying type that lost to their fellow bug type comrade back when he was a Caterpie himself.

"But it was green and slimy and, Caterpie!"

"Ok, that's it! Forget skinning the cat! Someone bring more firewood and some water, because I'm about to make some turtle soup!"

"This is getting ridiculous." a tired Butterfree said, starting to gently fly towards Squirtle. "Come on. Let's see that mean Caterpie of yours. Surely seeing it's fully evolved form will send the little guy away." he said as started to fly to the direction Squirtle came from.

However once he was out of sight, it took him even less time to return. Equally as pale and even more frantically scared than the water type.

"... So… there's a Caterpie."

"Not you too!" Pidgeotto cried.

"What's so special about a Caterpie? You look pretty scared." asked Charmander.

"Yeah, turns out… Squirtle forgot to mention that this particular Caterpie was a tid bit bigger than normal."

"Really? How big?" asked Pikachu.

Suddenly as in on cue, the ground started to shake. The sound of trees suddenly being toppled and falling to the ground could be heard coming from the same direction that the two Kanto Pokémon had come from. Some more trees fell down and cleared the view of what was responsible for the act. And just like both Squirtle and Buterfree said, it ended up being a Caterpie… a much, much, much bigger Caterpie than they all anticipated. It was no doubt, not only the largest that they have ever seen, but perhaps the largest one in the world. It was bigger than the medium-size trees that surrounded the area. So massive that it could make Gyrados, Onix and Snorlax all look as if they were mere toys for a human baby…

THIS THING WAS BIGGER THAN A FREAKING BUILDING! HOW DOES IT DO THAT?!

"... about that much."

"H-H-Hey… w-were you like that b-before evolving?"

"I don't recall him being anywhere that size." a pretty scared Pidgetto said.

"S-Should we be worried?" asked Marill.

"N-No, don't panic. M-Maybe it's friendly. S-So let's all take a deep breath and-" Pikachu was trying to say, despite his nerves telling him to get away, doing his best to ease everyone out…

Unfortunately the giant-size bug type had other plans. For it rose for a bit as if trying to intimidate the bunch… which naturally it did. The Caterpie was bigger than a house, of course they would be scared. And if that somehow wasn't enough to do the trick, the fact that it decided to charge at them with most likely malicious intent definitely sealed the trick.

"NOT FRIENDLY! NOT FRIENDLY AT ALL! EVERYONE PANIC!" Pikachu yelled as he and the rest of the Pokémon all fled as fast as they could.

"HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS UNTIE ME FROM THIS STUPID TREE!" Meowth frantically screamed to no avail.

For the giant Caterpie had set its gaze on the talking cat and before he knew it, the bug type attacked with a massive tackle attack. The force of the power was so great, that toured the tree he was tied to from its foundation… and despite that he was still tied to a piece of the trunk of the now wrecked tree. After which, he was sent flying towards where everyone was fleeing to and ended up crashing with Ekans and Koffin. And as if that wasn't even enough, the force of their collision was somehow, against all logic and disregarding any and all laws of physics, they were all blown upwards into the night sky… somehow.

"Oh, come on! Why am I still tied to this stupid tree-trunk!" yelled Meowth.

"Well, it'sss been a while sssince we lassst did thisss." Ekans mentioned.

"I say, at least I'm conscious this time! Nice change of pace! Now I can see that view you always mention when this happens!" said Koffin.

"In any case… LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" yelled Meowth as they kept on going upwards until they were no longer in sight.

DING!

"Is it safe to go out there?" Lyra whispered to Brock, whom had his head out of the big bush the three of them were hiding in.

Ever since arriving to the island, the trio of Ash, Lyra and Brock were separated from most of their Pokémon. At least the former gym leader still had his with him, but that meant that they were searching for the rest. So after taking a breather and salvaging what little they could recover from their belongings, they all embarked on a personal quest to search for them.

Easier said than done, sure. After all, it would be a pretty difficult task to go out and start searching for nine specific Pokémon on an island, no matter the size. That would be already quite the task at hand, but no. It seems like Arceus himself was determined to elevate the difficulty at least tenfold more. Why, one may ask? Because this was no ordinary island. That would make things have sense.

No, this island is apparently home to giant Pokémon the size of houses and other buildings! How does that even happen?

Well, one can imagine the shock the trio had when they first encountered one of them the day prior. At first, they thought that they had caught sight of a simple Slowpoke. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But then when they started to get closer to it, they noticed how the Slowpoke was starting to become larger… and larger… and larger and larger and so on. To the point that when they reached its side, they saw how the three of them looked like small pebbles next to it.

Now, Slowpoke aren't exactly small Pokémon by any means, no. They were about 1.2 m in height. But this specific Slowpoke was a little bit bigger…

And in this context, a little bit bigger actually means about twenty or so times the size it should have. To add more weirdness to this festival of craziness, that Slowpoke decided to charge at them. Was it natural for a Pokémon to defend itself if feeling threatened? Yes, yes it was. Was it normal for a Slowpoke to do that? No, no it was not.

As a matter of fact, the very idea of that Slowpoke being active was already disconcerting enough as it is. And that was before it started to charge at them for almost half an hour. Oh, but there's more.

Because just ten minutes after they were able to lose that giant Slowpoke, they ended up encountering another massive Pokémon. And then another… and another… and another… yeah, they haven't had the best of times for a while.

So, to try and hide from the massive behemoths, they all found one nice big bush and hid there. Not exactly the place they would have first choice to spend the night, but they'll take it any day of the week over being trampled by a building-size Rhydon… because there was also one of those in this Arceus forsaken island as well.

"I think it's safe now. Come on, let's move." Brock said as he and the duo of rookie trainers followed his lead and left the bush.

"You know, I thought that the Dragonite from the lighthouse would be the last and only giant Pokémon I would ever see in my life. Since when are giant Pokémon a thing? It feels like that's something that should never be a thing." Lyra asked.

"Actually, I think there's a region on the other side of the globe that has something like that."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Another region? Do they have awesome Pokémon there?!" asked Ash.

"Yep. There's also some pretty competitive trainers there too."

"Really?! Man, I want to go there soon if that's the case!"

"Maybe we should do that after we find our Pokémon? Ever thought of that?" asked Lyra.

"Oh yeah. That first."

"I hope Marill and the others are ok. I don't want to imagine what I'll do if one of these big Pokémon gets their hands on them… claws… hooves? You get what I mean!"

"Don't worry Lyra. I'm sure they'll be fine." Ash tried to reassure.

"Yeah, those fellas are made of sturdier stuff. I mean, just think of all the crazy stuff we've been through already. Surely they'll be able to take care of themselves until we find them." Brock said, making the foreigner trainer smile.

"Yeah, I guess you two are right." she said as the trio kept on looking for their friends.

About twenty minutes or so after leaving the bush and the trio had yet to find the other Pokémon. They tried to call out to them as carefully as possible so as to not draw the attention of unwanted individuals. A.K.A, the unholy giant Pokémon around them. However it seemed like luck was starting to go their way, because they soon heard some noise just behind a really big rock. Since it wasn't that much noise, the duo of Ash and Lyra first thought that it may be their Pokémon. After all, there's no way that the big Pokémon wouldn't be making loud noises. However, Brock felt a little hesitant. For some reason to him the noise sounded… odd for some reason. Like it was something that shouldn't be found in a natural manner in a forest.

When they got to the other side of the rock, the rookie trainers yelled the name of their Pokémon with joy, expecting them to be there. However, they quickly froze when they saw just who was responsible for the noise.

It was one of the giant Pokémon. And not just any giant Pokémon. It was mainly orange in color, with a cream underside in its belly. It had a long neck, sharp blue eyes, two horn-like appendages on the top of its head and two visible fangs from the upper jaw. It had stocky legs, short arms compared to the rest of its body and a pair of wings with its underside being of a blue-green coloring. Lastly, at the end of its tail, resides a bright flame lighted.

In a way, it resembles a Vharmander and with good reason. For this colossal lizard-like Pokémon was what a Charmander would look like in its fully evolved form. The flame Pokémon, Charizard. And unfortunately for them, this Charizard didn't look friendly…

Well, they really don't look that friendly anyway, but this one looked less than normal.

"Uh… what do we do?" asked Ash.

"Shhh, it's vision is based on movement. So long as we're still, it won't do anything." the Johto girl whispered.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." Brock said.

"Yeah, you're right. I heard that in a movie, but I'm only saying that to not freak out over here." she answered.

"Well, maybe if we just back up slowly then it won't-" Ash was trying to say, but unfortunately for him, the Charizard definitely took notice.

It looked at them and then roared with a deafening sound that could be heard from kilometers away. All while shooting fire from its mouth to the sky as if trying to intimidate the trio of trainers.

And truth is… it was working.

"...Or we could just start running."

"Yeah, running sounds good."

"The doctor always told me that I needed more cardio in my life."

And as the trio screamed, they ran as fast as their legs could allow them while fleeing the oversize fire/flying type. All the while, said fire/type started to give chase. Soon enough, they were followed by a oversized Kabutops emerging from the forest and the same giant Slowpoke coming out as well and giving chase to the trio of trainers.

"Oh come on! What did we ever do to them?!" Lyra screamed.

"Less talking, more running!" Ash answered as they accelerated the pace.

While the trio were doing their best to outrun the behemoths, they heard more rumbling coming from the woods. 'Great another giant Pokémon wanting to step on them', was what they were first thinking. However, thankfully for them, their luck turned out for the better… this time for real. From there, came their Pokémon all running… away from a giant Caterpie and a giant Golem?!

Ok, maybe their luck didn't completely turn out better, but at least they now knew where their Pokémon were. That's what really counts.

"PIKACHU/MARILL, EVERYONE!" the duo of rookie trainers yelled with joy at their Pokémon.

The group of Pokémon all managed to hear the call, despite all the noise caused by the giant Pokémon and so, they turned their heads to where the sound came from. There, they saw their trainers, happy to see them once more. Their eyes sparkling with-

"We can do reunions later! Let's just make sure we don't get trashed by these guys!" Brock yelled.

Yeah… maybe they should do that first.

So they regrouped with one another, but did not slow down one bit. They had to give it to the giant Pokémon, they sure were a determine lot. However it was starting to grow kind of annoying. Who would know that having to deal with an oversize Slowpoke the size of a house would grow irritated after being chased for who knows how long at this point. Eventually the trio of adventurers and their Pokémon ended up being cornered in a dead end. In front of them was the side of a cliff that didn't look safe to climb (not like they would even have time to do so, regardless). And on the other side, were the multiple giant Pokémon still charging at them. But fed up with all this running, the group of Johto natives decided to make their stand.

"You know what? I'm just about done!" Lyra exclaimed, facing the giant Pokémon with her own Pokpémon by her side. "I am tired, hungry and I almost swallowed a bunch of leaves in my sleep! You want a piece of me?! Then come and get it!"

"Wait Lyra, I don't think this is a good idea." Brock tried to say.

"Maybe, but if it's either that or having to run another marathon while being chased by these guys, then I'd rather do this!" she said, turning to the other rookie trainer. "What do you say? Feeling's mutual?"

"Well… you know what? You're right!" Ash said with determination as his Pokémon too stood with him. "If I'm going to be a Pokémon Master, then I have to fight my own fights! Right guys?!" he said as his Pokémon all roared in agreement.

"Seriously, there's something odd about this. Maybe we should-"

"Alright, let's show them what we're made of!" Ash interrupted.

"Show no mercy!" Lyra followed as their partners all launched their attacks.

From thunderbolts to embers and flamethrowers. From water guns to razor leaves and gusts. The nine Pokémon all threw everything they had to their colossal enemies. Even if the damage wouldn't be that much, they still would do their best to show them what happens when they mess with this group of adventurers. And as the attacks traveled towards their destination, the giant Pokémon did not falter. The Caterpie being the one closer to them took the full blown assault of the attacks right on its head and when they connected it… ripped its head off?!

… WHAT?!

Suddenly, without any warning, the head of the Caterpie came off its body and to the ground. Naturally said sight surprised the trainers since… well, who wouldn't be surprised?!

"Ahhhhh! W-We're sorry, we didn't- well, you and your friends were chasing us and we- Ash, please tell me you have some glue in your backpack?!"

"I think I had some tape! Do you thin tape will work?!"

"I don't know! Quick, Spinarak! See if you can help us attach it back!" Lyra exclaimed as she, Ash and their Pokémon all panicked at the idea of having beheading a Caterpie.

But while they were doing that, Brock noticed something off.

Emerging from the body and the head of the Caterpie were… wires? Yeah, there were a lot of wires and connections of all sorts. They kinda looked similar to the machines Team Rocket always used on them. So if that was the case then… then..

Were they being chased by a bunch of robots all this time?!

"We're sorry! We're sorry! We're sorry!" Ash and Lyra were baging on their knees while bowing over and over towards the rest of the giant Pokémon, all while their Pokémon did the same gesture.

"Hey guys, cool it. You have nothing to worry." Brock said while the rest of the, now known as, robots kept on their course towards them.

However before they could reach them something happened.

They all suddenly stopped on their tracks, all while emitting a weird powered-down noise as their heads (the ones that still had a head, that is) and their limbs all started to lower down. That confused the rookie trainers and their Pokémon as well as theri Pokémon, but Brock had an idea of what had happened. Someone had turned them off. The question was who, though?

"Blasted controller only working twenty meters in proximity! Who even designs a controller like that?!" a voice suddenly exclaimed.

Gaining the attention of the trio, they all turned their sight to the newcomer. He was a tall adult of brown hair. He had sharp black eyes and was wearing an orange business suit with a red tie around his neck. He looked like some important person all things considered. Well, at least to Ash and Lyra, he looked like some rich guy that was in charge of a company or something. But Brock thou, he recognised just who it was the person in front of them.

He was…

"Man, this pretzel is really good!" Ash said, as he took another bite of his snack.

"And this soda was just what I needed to fight this heat!" Lyra said, while taking a surp out of the big cup of soda she was holding.

After their encounter with the giant robot Pokémon (and learning that the giant Pokémon were robots) the trio of trainers were accompanied by the man in the business suit, whom Brock later revealed to be none other than Giovanni himself. The leader of the Viridian City Gym and arguably the strongest out of all the Gym Leaders. And Givoanni himself later revealed to the trio where exactly they spent the night.

Turns out, it was Pokémon Land. A small island near the Kanto mainland that was turned into an attraction park a couple of years ago. And Giovanni just so happens to be one of the major shareholders of the properties… whatever that was. And what they had experienced was simply one of their latest attractions that was still in its testing phase.

"Mmm… I must say that it's quite concerning what you're telling me Brock." Giovanni said, while speaking with the former rock type gym leader. "I mean, what you're telling me. The very idea of a gym leader of all people working in conjunction with an organization like Team Rocket?"

"I know I must sound crazy, but I'm telling the truth. Me and my friends saw it with our own eyes." Brock said.

"Oh, I'm not denying your claims. I know that you are not one to lie. But… to think that Team Rocket would get to have this level of influence? Things certinately are wrong. I knew that Surge could sometimes be seen as extreme, but I never would have thought that he would fall to such lows." the ground type gym leader said. "Who else knows about this? Any of the others?"

"As far as I know, me, my friends and two others. A trainer named Red and Sakura's youngest sister."

"Very well then. Let us hope that they can reach Sakura and her sisters as soon as possible. I myself will try and speak with the League about the matter. Perhaps make a reunion with the rest of the gym leaders to formulate a plan of action."

"Hopefully Surge is the only case of one of us going rogue."

"Indeed. I don't want to imagine what could happen if there's more whom fell to Team Rocket's seduction. We should be wary of the matter, just incase that were to happen."

"So, mister Giovanni, are you really a gym leader?" asked Ash.

"No need for the mister, young man, Giovanni is fine. As for your question, yes. I just so happen to be the gym leader of Viridian city." he replied to the kid with the Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Why are you rich when Brock was broke?" Lyra asked, while making Brock feel as if someone had used a frying pan as a smacking pan on him.

"D-Did you had to phrase it like that?" he asked as Giovanni chuckled.

"Oh, I don't know if rich is the word to describe me. Surely people like Lusamine or Joseph Stone are more fit to said description." Giovanni said in a proper and respectful manner. "I do some business outside of being a gym leader. Which also means that I end up getting more responsibilities outside of battling."

"Really? Huh, first time I hear that."

"Yeah, it's not that common for gym leaders from Kanto to have other occupations outside their gyms but it happens from time to time. For example Sakura has her water shows and the gym leader of Celadon City has her own brand of perfume."

"Wait if you're a gym leader, then could I battle you for a gym badge?!" Ash asked with excitement, which was followed by pikachu as well.

"I'm sorry young man, but I don't do official gym battles outside of the gym It's a rule of mine, you see." Giovanni said, in an apologetic manner.

"Really? Can't you make an exception?"

"Wish I could, but even if I wanted to, I have a meeting soon with some business partners. I can't ignore them, else I risk alienating them. And in a world like ours, having alliances are quite important." he said, deflating the enthusiasm of the Pallet native and his Pokémon.

"Cheer up Ash, there's always a next time." Lyra said, while remembering something. "Hey, sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, young lady, what is it?"

"You said that all those giant Pokémon were robots, right?"

"Yes, which are still being tested for the attraction that we have in mind. Although, the storm of two days ago caused a malfunction in the ones we have, as you three witnesses already."

"Noted. Anyway, are one of those giant robots also just so happen to be a Dragonite? And if that were the case, did you lose one? Just curious."

"A Dragonite? We don't have a Dragonite robot made just yet… or do we?" Giovanni questioned. "Well, in any case you three should head off. The ferry that will take you to the mainland will be leaving soon enough. No charge. Consider it an apology for our attraction almost causing you harm."

"Thanks Giovanni. We'll be taking off then."

"Thanks sir, we really appreciate it."

"I hope we can battle one day!"

"And I do too, young man." Giovanni said as the trio walked away.

Those three sure were quite the group.

One mystery over and a problem having being solved. Ash, Lyra and their Pokémon are finally together once more. Thankfully the only thing that they'll be taking home from their time at the island are the memories that they have made… and the scare of a Slowpoke the size of the house chasing after them. Regardless, they now leave having met Giovanni and with a promise of a battle in the future.

But wait a minute… where's Team Rocket?

"At least we finally lost that giant Weedle. As if those things weren't enough of a pain to deal with normal size." Jessie said.

"Be thankful it wasn't a giant Beedrill." James replied as the duo walked through the beach, tired and starving for a good meal after having run like crazy evading the mechanical giant Pokémon.

As they did, they noticed something off in the distance. It looked fairly familiar to them. Especially since it was of the color purple. Actually, there were two purple figures. And they were heading to them. Could it be?

"EKANS!/KOFFING!" the duo exclaimed with joy as their poison type reached them.

The two hugged them both, tears falling down their faces as a smile was plaster on their faces.

"Oh, Ekans! Don't ever worry me like that!"

"Koffing, thank goodness you're ok!"

"Well nice of you two to be so affectionate with those two…" a voice suddenly said.

Getting their attention, the duo followed where the voice had come from and were shocked to see…

"Meowth?" Jessie asked, noticing the cat Pokémon… tied to a tree-trunk?

"Is there a reason you're tied to that tree-trunk?" asked James.

"How about instead of asking dumb things you two work on getting me off it once and for all!" he yelled.

As the story continus…

So... yeah, that was the chapter. F.Y.I if you were wonderig why the chapter was so wonkylooking at first the answer is fairly simple. I added the review section on the phone app and since it seems like it still has a lot of details to be fix, it for some reason did that. I think I fixed most of the problems now that I have my computer at hand. Anyway, let's see what can I say?

Part of me feels like this chapter is similar to the actual episode in which the aforementioned giant Pokémon don't appear until like a good portion of the story has been told. But the thing that I at least tried to do was do something interesting with the missing Pokémon. You know, trying to get in their heads for a bit and get an idea of who they are and what they think. Hopefully you at least thinnk it's decent.

Now, you may be wondering, why did it took me more than one month to upload?

The answer is... a combination between not knowing how to wrap things up, chores and school work.

Like, the other two are very easy to understand, but the first reason some may have a few questions. Well, truth is that I had a bit of writter's block there. And not only in this one, but the ohter stories that I have going on. Like, one of the anthology series which are shorter in length also took me a while to wrap up and the main My hHero/Marvel crossover hasn't gone past the initial 1k words at most I think. And it's not like I didn't exactly had no idea what to do either.

I already have what one could say, the main road of the stories already planned. My issue there was that I knew what I wanted to write, but not how I would do so. And with this one, truth is I could have probably finished this chapter like at least a weak ago, but had some issues with the details on how to end it. But now I'm done with it and here I pray that what comes next doesn't take this long.

For now, I think that's about it. I'm sorry for the delay and I'll do what I can to remediate for that flaw in me when it comes to writting (especially in this particualr series). The last thing we'll like to happen is for my uploading scheduale to start resembling JobbytheHong's channel, am I right? (kidding)

Well, that's it for me. Hope you folks are doing ok and have a good day. Bye.