Jhoto - Blackthorn City

Silver woke up to murmurs sitting up, "Ash?"

Ash looked at him, "Good morning. I was talking to Professor Oak."

Silver blinked rubbing his sleep away, "Oh, good morning Professor."

Samuel nodded, "It's a relief to see you alright young Silver. We were all worried when the others called us."

Silver gave a scowl, "I am fine. They were just exaggerating."

Ash chuckled, "He was just being stubborn."

Samuel laughed, "Of course. Honestly Silver you take more after Red than anyone else."

Silver looked away but felt very smug inside at the comparison, "It was basically Red who found me and guided me to where I am right now. Mom died when I was young and Dad is well you know."

Samuel nodded, "Indeed, I will leave you to rest."

Silver got up, "I am alright. Ash made sure of it."

Samuel raised an eyebrow, "Ash, did you use aura?"

Ash nodded, "Yellow cleared me. And I wanted to make sure Silver was alright."

Samuel eyed him before sighing, "Alright, but be careful. I will be heading to Jhoto today using the Alakazam service. I will check in on you."

Ash, "Or we could meet up for your get together. Send us the coordinates Professor."

Silver, "Ash, I am fine."

Ash, "Reinne got you a day off today. So, come on, let's go enjoy it. Besides, it's not always we get to hang out and relax together. So please, Silver."

Silver huffed ruffling his hair, "Fine but only because I like you kiddo."

Ash beamed, "Great, we will see you soon Professor."

Samuel nodded, "Alright, I'm sending you the coordinates."

Reinne was happy to see Silver actually taking a break and not just claim taking a break only to spend whole day training. That was no break in her opinion and her student needed to rest his mind and body. Thank Mew, for the existence of adorable siblings who can get the older ones to relax. She didn't even have to threaten him to rest this time as she watched them leave with a grin. Then she turned around and shouted at the recruits who were also watching wide eyed to get back to training. Her Hitmontop was beside her watching over the Pokemon training as well.

Reinne, "Hey Hitmontop, let's take a day off next month. What do you say?"

Hitmontop, "Montop?"

Reinne, "Well I would be a hypocrite to lecture my students on taking a break when I don't take one myself right?"

Hitmontop nodded slowly, it made sense, "Hit mon."

Ash and Silver meanwhile used the Psychic transportation service to go to where Professor Oak was heading to. There they met up with Gou, Casey, Brock and Max who looked relieved to see the older red head doing well. Silver raised an eyebrow at the worry before shaking his head and muttering about worry warts. Ash simply grinned at him saying he had many people who cared about him now and he was not alone. Silver would have retorted but the Professors started to appear using the Psychic transportation services.

Samuel, "Silver, thank goodness you are alright."

Silver, "I'm fine Professor. Don't worry about me."

Professor Kukui appreciate them, "Alola, it has been a while."

Ash, "Alola Professor, yes it has been. Let me introduce you to Max and Casey officially."

Casey, "Hello Professor."

Max was beaming, "I heard a lot of stories about you Professor Kukui."

Kukui laughed, "Good ones I hope."

Brunette, "Oooh! Who are they?"

Kukui smiled brightly at her, "Ash's new companions."

The meet and greet went well with the Professors from different regions introducing their own students. Ash was happy to see May learning alongside Professor Birch while she waited for her poke egg to hatch. Later, that night the group decided to camp outside together just them and Max and May shared a tent telling each other their adventures. May was focusing on finishing her schooling before going on an official journey in a few months.

Max, "Well, I hope we can travel together. I mean the Silver Conference is in two months give or take."

May, "I would like that."

Breloom, "Loom bre."

Corviknight cooed from behind May, "Corrr."

Silver was next to Ash, "Hey thanks."

Ash smiled at him, "Don't mention it."

Silver, "No, seriously thank you. My Pokemon were worried just like my tutor. I know I can be stubborn to a very irritating degree."

Ash, "I think that's a family thing at this point, we are all pretty stubborn. Heaven knows how many times my Pokemon had to force me to rest. In fact sometimes I regret teaching them sleep moves."

Silver laughed, "Yeah."

Ash nuzzled Tyrantrum who had curled around him, "We should sleep, it's late and I don't want to be SLEEP bombed again."

Silver nodded, "Good night, Ash."

As they were about to sleep Ash noticed a strange item falling from the sky a little further from them. Lucario was looking at the falling star with an annoyance before getting up grumbling under his breath. The shooting star was acting strangely and something fell out of it catching their attention. The thing fell towards the stream where their water Pokemon were resting with a splash waking everyone up. Lapras picked it up and brought it to the shore while Silver's Feraligator checked it over for any injuries.

May, "That's a Cleffa. How adorable!"

Casey, "But what is it doing here?"

"There it is, look Mary."

Ash looked up, "What the?"

Mary who was dressed in dark clothes looked at Cleffa, "That's definitely an alien, Ken."

Max, "That's just a Cleffa."

Ken, "Shush, we are part of the Pokemon Mystery Club."

Mary, "We solve Pokemon mysteries around the world."

Silver, "I heard about you two."

Mary, "You did? Of course you did!"

Silver drawled, "Officer Jenny is looking for you. You have been charged with destruction of public property and public disturbance."

Ken looked nervous, "We can explain... We just want to solve the many mysteries of Pokemon."

Silver, "That does not give you the right to terrorize others."

Ash and the others looked at each other and backed off slowly, Silver was in a roll at the moment and the two sound like they had caused a lot of trouble. They waited for Silver to finish his lecturing and the two teens looked like they had been cowed and promised to go with him and meet with Officer Jenny. In the mean time, Phanphy and the other young Pokemon had befriended the little Cleffa who had calmed down and was enjoying the poke food.

Silver, "If you won't mind could they join the camp?"

Ash sweat dropped when everyone looked at him, "Sure, just don't bother Cleffa too much. She is still dizzy from what happened there."

Ken, "Yes, we understand."

Mary, "Sorry for the trouble."

Ash, "You could check out the object in which Cleffa came here though. You can learn a lot about Pokemon by observing where they live and what they use. At least, that is what every Professor has told me today."

May nodded, "Hey that's a good point."

Max observed Cleffa who had fallen asleep, "I get the feeling you would not learn much from Cleffa at the moment."

Ken, "Oh, she fell asleep."

Silver nodded, "Check the umm.. ship out if you want but do not break it. I don't think Cleffa would be happy with you if you did."

The two perked up at that and they went back to sleep while the PMC members gushed over the strange ride. Ash figured they are not really that bad if you talked to them though they were a tad too much sometimes with their obsession. But who was he to judge people? Meowth and Lokoko who had been watching from the back huffed in amusement and turned around to sleep. The next day May returned with Professor Birch to Hoenn region while Silver went with Mary and Ken to talk with Officer Jenny.

As the group said farewell to Silver and May, Ash noticed Professor Birch was having a very serious conversation with Professor Oak though he didn't overhear anything. He did wonder what they were talking about but decided if the Professor wanted to tell him, he would. Hopefully, everything is alright in Hoenn region, though the last few online meetings Ruby had complained loudly about Team Aqua and Magma causing trouble again. Ash always wondered what was up with the obsession the two teams had with Groudon and Kyogre.

Sapphire who was Caroline's first student and a five times, Grand Festival winner, plus an ex - champion of Hoenn was keeping an eye on the two teams. That was an interesting story in itself, she had won the title from Ruby at one point but didn't look happy. So, Steven being Steven challenged her and won the title from her, she had been surprised but also very relieved. Ruby had then gone around training and challenging Steven to win the title from him, it was a full circle. When Red heard the story he had laughed for days remembering the headache he and Blue had given Lance.

Ash focused back as Max challenged a guy with a Poliwrath who went by Denny, 'Oh, this is familiar. It was Misty who fought him in the anime.'

Max, "Let's go Breloom."

Ash, "You can do it Max."

Casey, "Yeah."

Brock, "This should be interesting."

Gou, "Yes."

While Max is battling the blue haired teen, another trainer approached Casey and challenged her to a battle. Casey readily agreed and chose her Jolteon to fight with the trainer's Smoochum called Josephine. Ash looked around and realized they had entered a large park, which he remembered was called a Battle Park and commented on it. Gou and Brock nodded in agreement as they realized it too, the park had grown over the years. This also meant they were in Blackthorn City territory where Ash would be battling for his final badge.

Ash, "We should find a Pokemon center after the two of them finish their battle."

Gou, "Planning on brushing up your moves?"

Ash, "Yeah, Tyrantrum has been pestering me and Lucario to take part in Ace battles so yeah you could say that."

Brock mused, "And Blackthorn is known for being home to Dragon Pokemon trainers, or more specifically the Dratini line. Though other Dragon types are also found here."

Ash turned to where Brock was pointing at and saw a few battle with Horsea and Swablu, "Of course, Altaria and Swablu migrate through Kanto - Jhoto region. So they have become a popular choice lately."

Gou, "Yeah, but you need a special permit to capture migrating Pokemon. Not to forget the dangers of having a Swablu."

Brock muttered, "Especially with the poachers around who want their unique feathers."

Ash sighed, "Yeah!"

Brock, "Oh Casey won, Max ended in a draw."

Max, "I didn't win."

Ash ruffled his hair getting a squawk, "Well you didn't loose either. You were able to stand at am equally ground with Denny over there who obviously had more experience.

Max fixed his hair before smiling, "Yeah, I guess you are right."

Lokoko, -I have located around four Pokemon centers. Which one should we head to?-

Meowth, "I say, we head to da one wit least amunt of people."

Lokoko, -That will be the one up North.-

Casey, "It's fine by me, honestly. We get to training in private."

Gou, "And work in privacy too. Didn't you say you would be getting a call from the Director today Ash?"

Ash, "Yeah, I will. You are right Meowth, that is best idea."

Brock stood up after healing Jolteon and Breloom, "We should go then, your Pokemon are fine, just exhausted."

Casey and Max thanked him as they left the bustling Battle Park and started to move North side. They crossed a bridge from which they could see the City proper, the lights starting to come on as evening paved way to the night. At the Pokemon center they decided to get rooms for a whole week, Blackthorn City was very large after all and they all wanted to tour it between training. Ash though wanted to visit the Dragonite temple that Lance always told him about during breaks after the meetings. It sounded like a very peaceful place to be in.

[A. N.: To be continued...

Hope you all are doing well.

Take care of yourselves physically and mentally my lovely readers.

Thank you for adding my books to your collections. I always get notifications about it everyday. It encourages me to write.]