Orange Islands - Tangelo Island

The next day after the events were done, Ash and Gou headed towards Tangelo Island, their chats had really blown up just like Ash had predicted. He had to wince remembering Misty's voice clips when she learned about how Team Rocket had threatened Gou, she had thanked Ash for the treatment he had given that particular grunt. Even Brock had agreed with it, Gary was cursing Team Rocket out for the trouble, he had run into them half way through Mt Silver. Blue had even come in to help Gary, as it was Arrianna that he was facing, the woman had left after getting a Tyranitar. Leaf and Green had not been happy and Jessilina and Jameson were even more upset that Ash had gotten in trouble and they were not there to help.

Ash calmed them down, saying he dealt with it and they were both okay and safe. Paul simply commented on how cute Ash looked in the disguise and he would not tell anyone while Drew asked Ash if he and Gou needed help. Ash smiled and commented they were both fine and no one knew it was them, as far as anyone knew it was two girls who beat Team Rocket. Gou laughed at that, they truly had fooled the media who was recording the entire event, who knew Ash had become good at disguising himself and others. Red just like Blue did not share their amusement, he had been worried sick and Ash had to calm him down. Dealing with a worried Champion was worse than dealing with a pissed off one according to the text from Lance, Ash half wondered how Lance got his number.

Their new friends were asking who Team Rocket was and if they were as horrible as Team Skull in Alola. Sophocles decided to do a research on the Team and to say he was shocked was the understatement of the day, the computer wiz quickly shared the videos of Team Rocket sinking St Anne a few years back. That was followed by the videos of Team Rocket attacking Viridian City then Mt Moon, after that Vermillion and Saffron City in Kanto. The next were videos of Team Rocket capturing Pokemon in Jhoto and battling trainers that looked suspiciously like Leaf and Green and currently the most recent one their attack on Valencia Island.

Misty was still texting, :Nothing much happened in the Seafoam Islands, I ran into a Professor who specializes in studying Slowpoke and it's really strange evolution.:

Gary, :Sounds fun.:

Misty, :He is hilarious.:

Kiawei, :WTF! How are you all so chill?:

Lana, :Team Rocket's worse than Team Skull!:

Serena, :Finally someone who agrees with me.:

Leaf, :We are used to it!:

Green, :Yeah! It's not safe but kicking their asses does wonders for our self esteem.:

Lillie was frustrated, :That's not the point!:

Mallow, :Point is you people almost died!:

Ash, :Like Green and Leaf said, we're used to it.:

Lillie, :I think I have a new fear.:

Sophocles, :Ditto! I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping now, knowing you all are probably targets of a crazy organization.:

Gou, :Ash and I are safe, we used disguises for a reason.:

Ash, :Need to go, we rescued a colony of Lapras from Team Rocket, we are meeting Nurse Joy about helping them.:

Gou, :Heads up you guys, Team Rocket has apparently developed their mind control device, so you might have to face that. The good news is a good attack breaks it easily.:

Jessilina, :I still say we should have sticked with you.:

Jameson, :We are meeting at Mikan Island, no argument.:

Ash, :That's fine.:

Ash put his phone away, "We really worried them, huh?"

Gou, "Can't blame them for it, can we?"

Lucario was meanwhile talking to the Lapras colony leader about how they were captured and where and when. To say Lucario was annoyed was putting it lightly, either Team Rocket was really lucky or they have been observing the routes Pokemon take to migrate from one place to another. It didn't sound good either way and grated on his nerves especially when he learned about how far they had been willing to go to keep the colony under their control.

Lapras the leader was observing them, "La laaaaaa laaaaaa."

Lucario, -My Meema cares a little too much about Pokemon to just let you go on your own, fear not, he has a plan to keep you safe.-

Lapras, "Laaaaaa laaaaap laaaa?"

Lucario smiled, -I have known my Meema since he was a child in human standards, but to me he is my Meema. He was the one to find me when I was abandoned as an egg, take care of me, train me and give me a family.-

Lapras, "Laaaaaa?"

Lucario, -You will have to ask the others their stories, a warning though, most of them don't have good beginnings.-

The leader of the Lapras nodded and went to talk with the other Pokemon starting with Wartotle and Milotic. Milotic's story was a sweet one, Wartotle's tale however saddened him, before he talked to the others and learned about their history. The leader gave a sigh learning about their past before he gave a cry that attracted Charizard's attention and he flew down with Ash. They had reached Tangelo Island thanks to flying and swimming together, it was also a good training session for Wigglytuff and Primeape. They wanted to train by swimming in between the islands and shook themselves once they were out of the ocean. Ash and Gou had also taken to swimming but did it with breaks in between and avoided swimming when afternoon reached.

Ash, "Is something wrong?"

Lapras looked to the side and called one of the other Lapras over. A female one came with an egg bring held gently in her mouth which she nudged at Ash. Ash was surprised by it, but he didn't reject the offer and accepted it.

Ash, "Ah! An egg? Wait what about it's parents?"

Lapras shook his head and gave a mournful sound, "Laaaaaa."

Ash's face fell, "I understand, I'm sorry for your loss, I promise I'll take good care of them."

Lapras nodded before he turned around seeing more humans approach them making him hiss in defense. Lucario calmed him down saying they were Rangers and it was their responsibility to escort them to safety from here on out. Lapras hissed at the so called Rangers before turning to Ash and communicating with him telepathically.

Lapras, -Take care of my nephew, please.-

Ash smiled at Lapras hugging the egg, "He'll be safe with us, I promise."

Lapras, -Thank you.-

The Rangers watched from a distance as the leader of the Lapras left Ash and approached the colony. They were quiet bewildered seeing the easy trust the young trainer got from the leader but, if he had saved them, it made sense he would trust him. Ash and Gou watched them as they left followed by the Rangers who nodded at them in respect before going after them. They were approached by Nurse Joy and Lorelei once they returned to the Pokemon centre after returning all the Pokemon except for a few to their pokeballs.

Lorelei, "Hello, Ash Ketchum, I'm Lorelei, one of the Kanto Elite Four and one of the protectors of the Orange Archipelago."

Ash nodded, "An honour to meet you, Miss Lorelei, Misty is gonna be so jealous I met you without her. She's a really big fan of yours."

Lorelei smirked, "Is she now?"

Gou, "Yep! Hello I'm Gou, nice to meet you."

Lorelei nodded, "Pleasure to meet you too, Professor Ivy told me about what you did to protect the Pokemon, thank you. It would have been too late by the time I would have reached her to help her out."

Ash smiled, "She didn't tell you how she stood up to them then, because she was pretty cool going against 10 grunts on her own."

Lorelei, "She may have skipped a few details, if you two won't mind giving me the details please."

Gou, "Of course, will it be possible for us to give our statements straight away instead of giving it twice?"

Lorelei, "Yes, and don't worry you will be giving statements as Ash and Gou. No one knows it was you two dressed up as a girl, and I want to keep it that way for your safety."

The two nodded as they followed the Elite Ice user to one of the meeting rooms in the Pokemon centre after leaving the Pokemon with Nurse Joy. Raboot and Lucario were very reluctant to part ways from them and for good reason but both of them calmed them two Pokemon down and followed Lorelei to the meeting room. To their surprise they were actually greeted by the worried faces of the Champions on a large screen.

Ash smiled, "Hello again everyone."

Gou, "What's this about?"

Gold snorted, "What's this about he asks!"

Red sighed, "See what I have to deal with."

Ash groaned, "Is this because I hung up on you yesterday? It is, isn't it?"

Leon chuckled, "Well, as an older brother I can understand, he was truly worried about you... I am going to go through the same thing aren't I?"

Cynthia laughed, "I for one am happy you are okay."

Diantha looked like she had not slept properly, "Indeed, I'm sorry I have to cut this short, I have a meeting coming up. Also, Ash my congratulations on meeting Mew of all Pokemon out there."

Gou gaped, "When did that happen?"

Ash, "New Island. Get some rest first Diantha, you look like you are about to faint."

Diantha smiled, "I will, in fact I'm dreading getting off this call, I would have to go for another meeting. Why did I become a Champion again?"

Alder was snoring when he woke up thanks to his Dragonite, "Huh? Oh! Young Ash, I'm happy to see you are doing well. I need to go now."

Ash sweatdropped, "Okay? Bye bye!"

Steven, "Don't mind him."

Wallace nodded beside Steven, "He is an old man, I watched your last performance and the performance at the Lapis Chateau. Beautiful my dear, absolutely stunning."

Ash blushed a bit, "Thank you, we have been working hard."

Gou, "You should see some of the other combinations he comes up with. They are really awesome to look at."

Wallace, "I look forward to your performance."

A voice came from behind them two, "I'm back, who are you talking to?"

Wallace smiled, "Ruby you are on time, come here, I want you to meet a friend."

Steven, "Ruby this are Ash and Gou, I met them at Vermillion City first, and became good friends with them."

Ruby looked at the screen, "Hello, I'm Ruby. So you are Lugia and Ho oh's chosen."

Ash smiled, "Yeah..... If you can call me that I guess I am.... You were marked too huh?"

Ruby nodded, "Rayquaza."

Ash, "The Dragon Lord of the Skies, I don't envy you, and I don't know if this makes it better or not. But you are not alone in this, whatever this is."

Ruby was quite before nodding, "Thank you."

Gou, "It's not just Lugia and Ho oh though, I'm pretty sure Suicuine marked you as well and wasn't Articuno at the ship."

Ash, "We don't talk about that, they fall under the two main anyway. Gold, you said you would meet us at Shaumatii Island, are you still gonna come?"

Gold grinned, "Of course, I'm not missing out on meeting Lugia. Red met Mew after he followed you after all."

Ruby sweatdropped, "They are not that great, they are more trouble than expected."

Ash, "Let me guess, Rayquaza shared his visions with you."

Ruby sighed, "Yes, something close to it, I still get headaches thinking about it, at least my little sister doesn't have to worry about it. How did you deal with meeting Mew?"

Ash gave a wry smile, "I got lucky.... I guess it helps that I have aura to support me.. wait is this secure?"

Lorelei, "Don't worry, it's secure, did you just say aura?"

Ash nodded and focussed on his palm making aura appear making everyone's breath hitch when they saw the blue color. They knew pretty well there were only two well known aura users in existence so to have a third one was.... It was like they could breath in relief. Ash then started to explain what they had learned from observing how aura had developed in him and how his friends seem to develop their own aura, provided they fulfill certain physical conditions. The rest of the meeting was filled with discussion that woke even Alder up as he listened interested at the idea of his Elites being aura capable. As it turns out aura user was actually the third stage to be an Aura Guardian, most people were aura capable. It was important to train with a specific Pokemon like Ash was with Lucario, or Misty with her water types, Agatha with her ghost types for the aura to manifest properly. Red was, Gold noted pretty satisfied with how the conversation was going and gave him a look which the older Champion returned with a smile.