Orange Islands

After leaving Moro island, Ash and the gang landed in a quaint little place called Golden Island. According to Tracey the people on the island worshipped Meowth as a deity of wealth and prosperity. Gou looked around curiously and saw a giant gold statue of Meowth standing in the middle of the village looking towards the ocean. The village chief saw them and approached them.

Chief, "Hello youngsters! Welcome to our small village."

Gou smiled, "Hello Sir, is there a celebration going on?"

Chief, "Why yes indeed, we are celebrating the Meowth festival. We pray to the Meowth to bless us with riches and prosperity. Would you youngsters like to join us?"

Ash looked at him, "I'll be honest, I am a little curious about this festival."

Tracey, "Can our Pokemon join too?"

Chief laughed, "Of course, if you have a Meowth among them, all the better."

Ash, "We don't have a Meowth, sorry."

The Chief waved, "It's fine! It's fine! Come and enjoy the festival."

The Chief showed them around and told them a story about a Meowth who could talk, he had come ashore one day. It was just a few years back, according to Chief and Ash and Gou looked at each other wondering if it was their friend. Chief told them the story about how Meowth advised them to open up to the rest of the region and how he advised them to open a tourist spot.

Chief, "He was truly smart that little Meowth, I wonder how he is right now."

Ash smiled, "I'm sure he is having the adventure of a lifetime."

Gou nodded, "I agree."

Meowth who was manning the computer at the base sneezed, "Huh! Woo's talkng bout Nyarth?"

James, "You okay bud?"

Meowth, "M gud, dn't wory bout Nyarth."

Jessie nodded, "Come on, We got a few more cells to erase, I hope we can clean this up before Ash reaches here."

James nodded, "Meowth?"

Meowth, "M in! K you two, git ready. Der are five o dem der and dey are all grunts luckily."

James, "Let's clean up then."

Jessie turned to the video call she was in, "Tomo, I gotta go now. Be a good boy for grandma and grandpa okay."

Tomo nodded in the screen, "Come back safe mommy, daddy, Uncle Meowth. I love you."

Meowth's eyes softened, "Luv ya too kit."

James, "We'll be back as soon as possible."

Jessie turned off the video phone, "Alright let's do this for our kids."

Ash in the meantime shared photos, :Guys, check out the large Meowth statue.:

Gou, :It's made out of gold.:

Gary, :WTF? There is such a place?:

Sophocles, :Seeing is believing, I guess.:

Lillie, :How fascinating! I had no idea, Professor?:

Kukui, :It's the first time I'm seeing a Meowth temple.:

Kiawe, :I wonder if there is a Charizard temple.:

Leaf, :Actually there is one in Jhoto, it's at the bottom of Charizard valley.:

Serena, :Two places for me to visit.:

Lana, :That's pretty cool.:

Mallow, :Can we have a school trip to Jhoto Professor?:

Kukui, :I don't see why not, I will have to talk to the Principal first.:

Green, :Visitors are restricted to the outer area, only trainers with Charizard are allowed inside.:

Misty, :I don't have a Charizard.:

Ritchie, :My Charizard is excited after I told him about it and wants to go there to train now.:

Duplica, :Can you blame him? I'm pretty excited just learning about it.:

Ash, :My Charizard is excited too now after I told him. Unfortunately it'll have to be after the Indigo League for us.:

Kiawe, :Ash, Ritchie I want to battle you guys next time we meet.:

Ash chuckled as they chatted more before turning in for the night. They were leaving for Murcott island the next day and lately it had become a routine for him to sing a lullaby before sleeping. As he was thinking about Tokyo Ghoul the last few days wondering how the manga and anime ended he remembered a song he really loved. He started to sing 'Glassy Sky' from Tokyo Ghoul and Gou looked at him curiously as he videoed him and the Pokemon fell asleep.

Gou, "That was a very haunting song Ash."

Ash smiled, "The ghost ship flying through the sky kinda inspired me.", 'And an old anime of course.'

Gou nodded, "Yeah! Can't believe we ran across a ghost ship."

Tracey, "It was a very out of the world experience."

Meanwhile the two group chats where Gou shared the video of Ash sing became active after they fell asleep.

Gary, :My Pokemon fell asleep listening.:

Misty, :Same.:

Kiawe, :Mom is asking me why our Tauros are asleep!:

Sophocles, :Togodemaru is sleeping peacefully too.:

Lana, :Can I use this song?:

Leaf, :I don't think Ash would mind.:

Lillie, :I want to use it too.:

Mallow, :It's a nice lullaby, a little haunting, but really nice.:

Green, :I think it has to do with the ghost ship they ran across.:

Duplica, :I would not be surprised.:

Ritchie, :My Pokemon are sleeping and I'm turning in too. Night guys.:

Red was in the second group, :That's a choice for my cousin to make, Diantha.:

Diantha, :He has a good chance at becoming successful if he enters show biz.:

Leon, :Ash is young, let him enjoy the freedom.:

Blue, :Thank you Leon.:

Alder, :My Pokemon fell asleep listening to his song.:

Wallace, :Mine too, I wonder if this is actually an affect of aura.:

Cynthia, :That's actually a good question and point.:

Steven, :Well Ruby fell asleep too, and I'm actually glad he can sleep peacefully. Hmm! I wonder if... :

Red, :You plan on making him join Ash when he goes through Hoenn? You know that's not possible right, he is a Champion.:

Steven, :Just a few days, I will talk to Ash of course, if he agrees then it's good, if not then I will not push the matter.:

Wallace, :I'm just upset we could not help him before and still can't.:

Red, :Shit happens, don't blame yourself for that ever. You will grow crazy thinking about the what if.:

Gold, :Well, on a happier note, I will be free to join Ash, Gou and Tracey soon. I have completed most of my work on time for once.:

Blue, :It'll give me some peace of mind.:

The next day Ash and the gang moved towards Murcott island and Tracey explained that the island was famous for bug types making Gou's eyes twinkle. Cinderace sweatdropped seeing the literal stars come out of his partner's eyes and pat his back to calm him down. Pidgeot trilled amused as she landed, she and the others were going to train with Snorlax through battles while on the island. So far Snorlax had been training one on one with Ash and now they could finally train with the new addition in battle, she was looking forward to it. It had taken time to come up with a training schedule for Snorlax and making food for the big guy was not easy either, but with Professor Oak, Cerise and Kukui's help, Ash had come up with a recipe for Snorlax. It was the cube compressed cube Professor Oak had introduced in the anime for Pokemon who had a large appetite like Snorlax. Both Snorlax and Munchlax were very happy with the cube food as it helped them stay full and less hungry.

Ash, "Alright then guys my Pokemon and I are off to train by the beach."

Gou, "Sure Ash, Tracey and I plan to go catch and draw the bug Pokemon."

Tracey, "We'll see you for lunch."

Ash focused on training, first one on one training that took up the entire morning although the Pokemon did not mind. Then can the battles where Ash told them all the attacks they could use and to listen to their instincts and use them in battle.

Lucario, -They are asking why Meema.-

Ash, "We are getting closer to Shamoutii island and while I am hoping nothing would happen, you never know. We might get separated and you may end up facing a strong opponent. When that happens I want you to be able to fight back and escape them."

Milotic, -You believe something will happen in the islands?-

Ash nodded, "Our luck has been good the last few days, I would not be surprised if it will turn on us there."

The Pokemon looked at each other before nodding and starting to train twice as hard, they could not say what will happen in the future but it doesn't hurt to prepare. They spent the rest of the day till afternoon training before taking a break for lunch. They had promised Gou and Tracey they would eat together and went towards the Pokemon centre only to come across a worried Gou and Tracey.

Ash, "What's wrong you two?"

Gou, "Ash, we came across a Scyther who was badly hurt."

Tracey, "Nurse Joy is taking care of him right now and he doesn't look happy with me."

Nurse Joy came out, "I'm glad you got that Scyther here when you could, a little bit more and it would have been impossible to heal his burned wing."

Ash, "What happened? Why is he in that state?"

Nurse Joy, "I'm guessing, you found the poor thing in that state."

Tracey nodded, "Yes, I caught it without battling. I don't think he is happy about that."

Nurse Joy, "Well the injuries are not natural, usually around here the Sycther fight for dominance yes but no Sycther knows any fire type attacks. In fact it's possible that..... I need to call Officer Jenny."

Gou, "Nurse Joy, will Sycther be okay?"

Nurse Joy smiled, "He'll be okay, I'm more worried about his group and what happened to them. Where did you meet him?"

Tracey, "We met him by the stream that goes through the island, why Nurse Joy?"

Nurse Joy, "I'm afraid we may have a poacher's problem."

Sycther was getting up, "Scy."

Lucario, -He says you are right about the poachers.-

Tracey, "Woa calm down big guy. I know you are worried but you need to heal first, we will help you okay."

Ash nodded, "You need rest and food to become strong and we will help you."

Nurse Joy, "Okay, I have called Officer Jenny and told her about this. She is blocking off the routes as we speak, hopefully we will find your family soon."

Scyther nodded and sat back and let the humans take care of him. Chimchar got on his bed and started to converse with Scyther and told him of his experience with the poachers making him hiss. Chimchar smiled and calmed him down promising to help him, they would not expect fire type attacks from Scyther so they could use it to their advantage. Scyther nodded after a little bit of contemplation and ate the food given to him before they checked his wounds again.

Nurse Joy sighed in relief, "Scyther is healed completely although he should not do any strenuous activity for a week."

Tracey, "We understand. Scyther, bud Officer Jenny is here, can you show us which way the poachers went."

Scyther nodded and led them to the forest where Officer Jenny saw tire marks on the floor and followed it to a camp. The poachers were cursing the fact the routes were closed and planning on escaping at night. They had quite a number of bug type Pokemon in cages making Scyther livid, Chimchar pat Scyther and the two confronted the poachers.

Poacher 1, "Well well! Look who came back, go Magby use flamethrower."

Magby looked tired as she shot flamethrower at Scyther only for her attack to be intercepted by Chimchar. Chimchar nodded to Scyther and Scyther used agility to fly infront of the poacher who yelled at the other three poachers too battle. The three poachers reached for the Pokemon but their belt with pokeballs was cut off by Scyther who attacked them next. By the time Ash and the others freed the other bug types and joined them, Charizard, Cinderace and the other overprotective Pokemon had joined Scyther in beating up the criminals. They didn't like that their trainers had to get involved with more criminals but they could not blame them and instead took out their fury on the poachers.

Ash sweatdropped seeing the scene but looking at Magby who looked undernourished, he didn't feel any remorse. He approached Magby who shivered seeing him and gave him a pecha berry to eat, the young fire type looked at him before chomping down on the fruit. Officer Jenny took away the criminals after thanking them for their help and Ash asked Magby if he wanted to join their family or go somewhere else. Magby looked at the other young Pokemon in the group who looked at him encouragingly and he nodded before climbing up to Ash's shoulders and nuzzling his neck's bare skin. Magby had accepted Ash as his trainer and would not burn him, Gou had gotten a Scyther from the Pokemon they had saved as well and Tracey had gotten his fifth Pokemon too, a Beedrill.