Jhoto - Azalea Town

Ash, 'Missing people and Pokemon. We have that problem here too.'

Silver poked his nose, "What's going on inside your head?"

Casey, "Everything alright?"

Ash, "Yeah, everything is fine. I'm just thinking about the people who went missing. I hope they are okay."

Gou gave a sigh, "It's very worrying, isn't it?"

Max, "The police are on the case right? I'm sure they'll be found soon."

Brock, "Yeah, you are right."

Ash held Phantump who was sleeping peacefully on his lap beside Eevee, Abra and Absol, 'If they are not dead yet, perhaps.'

Pikachu pat Ash's cheek, "Pikapi."

Ash shook his head, "Nothing, we should go to sleep guys. It's late anyway."

Brock and Gou looked at Ash worried, knowing he was thinking about what happened back in Lavender town. But they nodded and agreed it was late and went first, Brock took Max with him citing Shroomish and Mareep were exhausted. Mareep gave a yawn making Max giggle while Shroomish was already asleep and snoring lightly. Ash got up, after Casey picked Espurr and went to her room, and went to the room he shared with Silver.

Ash, "Hey Sil, I know we said we will keep an eye out but I'm scared of what we'll find when we do run into them."

Silver gave a hum, "I know what you mean but we must hold on to hope they'll survive. They are trainers for a reason."

Ash nodded as he laid back on his bed where the rest of his Pokemon were already spread out and sleeping. Lucario used his aura to calm Ash's emotions down and Ash mumbled a thank you before sleeping. The next day they or rather Silver showed them a short cut to Azalea town and Ash couldn't help but sigh in relief. He was starting to feel antsy being on the open road for too long, he didn't know why he felt that way.

Ash, 'Maybe because I have kids to look out for?'

Absol wagged his tail, "Sol."

Ash, 'No, that's not it, I wonder what is going on exactly. Maybe it has to do with aura? Wait, Mewtwo came to Jhoto too, could that be it?'

Lucario, -Meema?-

Ash, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Abra, -Check up, done.-

Ash, "Oh? That's good, thank you Nurse Jim."

Nurse Jim smiled, "You are welcome. Here are the rest of your Pokemon."

Ash, "Thank you. Come on guys, we promised Venasaur we would meet up with him for lunch."

Eevee, "Vui."

Casey watched them go, "Venasaur sure is living his dreams, huh?"

Meganium nodded blushing, "Mega."

Casey gave a grin, "Oh? What's this Meganium?"

Meganium who had been making googly eyes at Silver's Sceptile shook her head, "Mega ni mega meganium."

Silver, "Something wrong Sceptile?"

Sceptile grunted, "Tile."

The teen and the young adult looked between their Pokemon before sharing a smirk between themselves. Gou who had been watching grinned and announced they should join Ash for lunch if they wanted to meet Venasaur too. Max giggled when he noticed Meganium and Sceptile were maneuvered to sit next to each other. Brock and Ash shared a smile, watching love bloom among their Pokemon was always beautiful. Ash had decided to add that to his book and worked on the romance a bit as they were going to go to a ball but instead of sticking to the original story, there would be a few changes. The trio would be helping each other ask the students from other schools out instead of going at it on their own.

They faced all their problems so far together so why would this be any different, but writing the ball was the easy part. The three quests was being a lot harder to write down especially since it has been years since he read the book. Ah well! He had decided wing it, the same way he was winging the latest book of the series and the relationship of the golden trio, who he made closer. The other book Fantastic Creatures was coming along fine too, writing about unicorns, dragons, mermaids, etc, in detail was always fun. Adding the old stories from his world to the book but in different timelines gave him a lot of space and possibilities to work on.

Silver gave a relieved sigh seeing Ash grinned again, 'At least he is not glum anymore.'

Brock, "Got a new idea to write?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah."

Casey, "Another horror?"

Ash, "Maybe."

Max, "Shroomish?"

Gou, "Oh! Would you look at that?"

Pikachu cheered, "Pika pikapi."

Lucario, -Bout time, if you ask me.-

Shroomish glowed brighter and grew bigger in size growing extra appendages on her sides for arms. Soon in Shroomish's place stood a tall and powerful looking Breloom who looked around excited. She tested out her moves and new body by moving around the area making Mareep shout excitedly. Everyone got up and congratulated her on finally evolving into her final form. They all knew how Shroomish wished to be stronger in order to keep Max and her new troop safe from harm.

Brock, "Well then in order to celebrate let us go to one of the mega garden around this town."

Gou, "Oooh! I have heard of those gardens. They are not gardens but specialised areas which were created in order to support the bug Pokemon right?"

Casey, "Correct! I know, there is this meadow close to the town where we can go. It's almost time for the meadow flowers to bloom. We can have a picnic to celebrate."

Ash nodded, "Your first Pokemon evolved, this is a big step moving forward as a trainer. I'll get the cake, Brock if you will get the drinks?"

Brock, "Sure!"

Silver, "I'll get the drinks."

Gou, "I can go with Casey and Max and help pick a spot. Casey knows this place best bit we are doing this for Max and Breloom."

Ash, "Alright! Let's do this."

Ash went to one of the bakeries the town was famous for and used Vespiquen honey instead of sugar on their cakes making it safe for Pokemon consumption. Ash knew Max and Breloom would love the cake and brought the double teired strawberry and honey cake for everyone to enjoy. He had to ask Lucario to hold the young Pokemon so Ash could carry the cake. As they were leaving however trouble occured on the road, a Cyndaquill was running away from a teen.

The teen shouted, "Cyndaquill, come back. No that's not your cake."

Lucario, -Stay with Pikachu.-

Absol, "Sol!"

Eevee, "Vui."

Abra, "Abra."

Pikachu gave a thumbs up, "Pikapi pika."

Lucario stood infront of Ash and caught the Cyndaquill, -Got you.-

The teen ran up to them, "Thank you, I'm so sorry."

Ash smiled, "It's okay, the cake is still in one piece. What happened?"

The teen who was holding another Cyndaquill approached him, "Well I found these two little fella tied up outside and I set it free. I have given him some food and water but, I guess he is still hungry. I'm Koji by the way."

Ash, "Nice to meet you Koji, I think it'll be better if we take these two little ones to the centre first. Lucario there is an energy drink in my bag."

Lucario, -Got it, it'll be better than overeating and throwing up.-

Cyndaquill, "Quill, quill."

Lucario, -Patience and what do you mean you were left behind?-

Cyndaquill cried as he told Lucario their story and was taken to the Pokemon center, as it turns out the two young fire types were left behind by their trainers. To say Koji was furious when he found out was an understatement, it had always been his dream to have a Cyndaquill as a starter. Ash gave an understanding nod and offered to take in one Cyndaquill if he was interested in joining him that is. Chimchar and Chikorita who were curious about what was going on and chatted with Cyndaquill before hugging him to comfort the fire type.

Lucario, -I think the Pokemon have decided.-

Koji ⊙_⊙, "I just realized your Lucario can talk."

Ash, "Hey, give me your contact number, we can stay in contact that way."

Koji perked up, "Yeah?"

Ash nodded at the two Cyndaquills, "That way they can keep in touch with each other."

Koji grinned, "I would like that."

Nurse Jim, "Well I'm happy they are having two caring trainers. Now here is their report, they both are as expected suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. They are also... well suffering from separation anxiety and trauma. It'll take time to heal from it and do be careful if you plan on evolving them. They'll either become clingy to the point they'll fight your starters for that position or they'll become rebellious and fight you."

Ash nodded, "I understand."

Koji, "You dealt with this before, didn't you?"

Ash, "Yeah, but luckily I have a good support base going so nothing untoward happened, yes, my Pokemon were clingy but having others beside them helped."

Koji, "Ah! Hey if I need help... "

Ash, "Just give me a call, I will see what I can do."

Koji thanked him before leaving with the older Cyndaquill while the younger one stayed with Ash becoming fast friends with Chimchar and Chikorita. Ash smiled as they left and headed to the location that Gou had sent him two hours ago. When he reached the area the group looked at Cyndaquill curiously and Ash explained what happened to them. The group looked at Cyndaquill sadly, it was not uncommon that Pokemon were abandoned but it was uncommon for one of the starter trio to be abandoned.

Silver had a dark look on his face as he realized what no doubt happened with the two Cyndaquill and their trainers. He smiled through the dinner celebration before getting up to call someone to do an investigation on the two trainers. Ash looked at him curiously but Silver shook his head and instead watched as his Pokemon distracted Max and Breloom with fun and games. As they were returning back to Azalea Town they walked through a town famous for it's Slowpoke and Slowbro population.

Silver, "It's a very popular Pokemon here."

Max, "Their yawn can make it rain right?"

Brock, "Yes... and I think someone yawned."

Chimchar jumped on Ash and scrambled inside his jacket, "Chim chim chimchar."

Cyndaquill followed Chimchar's example and rushed up Ash's pant leg and inside his jacket squealing, "Quill cynda."

Ash gave a laugh, "Alright alright. Just remember not to burn my clothes okay? You can stay there I promise."

Lucario chuckled, -I'm happy he is comfortable enough to be this way with you, Meema.-

Ash, "Yeah, I hope Koji is doing well."

Casey, "We can video chat with him once we reach the Pokemon centre."

Chikorita, "Chiko."

Pikachu, "Pikapi."

Max, "Mareep don't go too far."

Breloom, "Breloom."

Max, "Oh speaking of! Can you guys help me to come up with a diet for Breloom? I have no idea where to even start."

Silver, "Of course Max."

Ash, "I still have the diet and training plan I used for my fighting types."

Brock, "I'm sure we'll come up with something."

Casey, "We should run before it rains more."

They were standing under a bus stop to escape the rain that poured due to yawn and decided to wait the shower out. The group grinned before they started to laugh and run towards Azalea Town which was in a pretty straight forward direction from where they were currently at. Silver mentioned that Mr Kurt, who specializes in pokeballs sometimes came to his summer house around the area to work. Ash remembered the GS ball he had and made a note to visit the pokeball specialist soon.

They soon left the Slowpoke and Slowbro loving town and the rain induced by yawn behind leading to clear skies filled with stars and the bright moon. They snickered as Cyndaquill and Chimchar tried to dry then off ending up with them having poofy hair instead. They walked to the large town when Silver mentioned the town would soon be announced as a City, they just needed to get their train system going. Ash had noticed the train tracks going in and out of the town and had not realized it was required for the town to become a City.

Ash, 'On hindsight I was distracted by Breloom joining us and Cyndaquill so I think I can be excused for not noticing. I do wonder if we'll be meeting Mewtwo again though, time will tell.'