Hello readers, I first want to thank those who took the time to leave a review. I legitimately can't believe how popular this has become as we now have over 200 people following and/or favouriting. I hope you'll enjoy this and please leave any comments you have whether it be praise, criticism or ideas, I would love to hear from you. Oh, and thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll.

So, the original version of this chapter was ready a while ago however I decided to take the majority of the chapter and save it for a later point in the story. Right now, it would feel a little shoehorned it whereas later on it would fit in much better.

Sorry for the hiatus guys, work has been crazy over the past couple of months as a load of people chose to have the holiday at the same time. So, I've been running around covering all of their work and it turns out some of them are really bad at their jobs. I'm not going to make any promises here guys since it is coming up to Christmas and I am sure that I'll will be doing more hours in the near future. All I'll say is that I will work hard to get a chapter written as soon as possible.

'– This will be Pokémon Speaking (People cannot understand it unless I say otherwise. Ash can get the gist of it due to his close bond with his Pokémon.)

Italics – This will be telepathy

"– Is, of course, regular speech.

Let the chapter begin!

Ash was stood on the deck of the ship, focussing on Castelia City that growing ever closer. It felt a little strange traveling alone again, even though he had intended to go through Unova on his own he missed the companionship he had had with Misty, Brock, Dawn and everyone else who had traipsed across various regions with him including his most recent companion Iris. The bright side was that there would be no distractions and thus nothing to delay his training which had been one of the main reasons he had wanted to travel Unova with just his Pokémon.

'Ash what's wrong?'

"Nothing Pikachu, I'm just thinking about our past journeys." Ash paused as he considered how to word his next question. "Do you miss travelling with other people like Brock and Misty."

'Yes, I do sometimes but I think us traveling alone is best for us. We can focus on training for gyms and tournaments and not worry about things looking pretty for contests.'

Ash chuckled knowing that he had wasted a bit too much time in Sinnoh in contests, sure he'd had some fun competing in the few that he had tried but it was time that could have been better used training to get stronger. Instead a few moves just ended up looking a bit flashier, not exactly a vital thing for Pokémon and trainers who want to battle and win league championships. Still he had learnt some lessons from the contests and had it not been for Dawn and Buizel competing in contests the Counter Shield would have never been created. That didn't mean he was in any rush to start competing in whatever the equivalent to contests are in Unova though.

With little else to do during the boat ride to Castelia City, Ash headed to the top deck which was also the battle deck to try. He wasn't interested in battling since the other trainers on the boat seemed to be newer, more inexperienced trainers, he just thought it would be a good way to pass the time and give Eevee a little attention. Once he was on the top deck Ash quickly found himself a chair and sat down focussing mostly on Eevee but also on the battles being fought by the young trainers onboard.

Just over an hour later the ship pulled into Castelia's port, Ash waited for everyone else to get off the ship, not wanting to get caught in the horde of people pushing, shoving and almost climbing over each other to get off the ship. Once the way was clear, Ash stepped off the ship and marvelled at the size of Castelia, it was one of if not the biggest city he had ever visited. The worry for him now was whether he would actually find the gym considering that he didn't have the greatest sense of direction.

"Guess we better head towards the gym wherever that is."

With that Ash started walking down the main high street of Castelia City, he considered using Navi to give him the exact location of the gym however for now he was happy enough exploring the massive city. It was certainly the most impressive city he had seen thus far, even placed like Goldenrod and even Jubilife seemed tiny in comparison. Ash soon took as Navi as he realised just how big the city is, he took a seat on a nearby bench, so he could gain his bearings and question Navi about what happened to the Pokémon living in south east Unova since he was interested in catching one that had lived there.

"Hey, Navi do you know where the Pokémon living in south east Unova moved to after the disaster hit?"

"Reports indicate that since most of the Pokémon were used to living in more forested areas, they were moved to Route 15 and Route 16, so they could continue to live in the forest. Unfortunately, I am unable to find out which specific species are there since some were moved to other areas if the forest did not suit them."

"Thanks for the info Navi, can you lead me to the Castelia gym now please?"

"Of course, Ash, go back to the port and head right, you'll go past the Pokémon Centre and then continue on until a building blocks your path, then head north and you'll see the gym in no time."

Ash thanked Navi and then placed the device back in his pocket ready to use it once again should he get lost. As he started to follow the path Navi and had told him to follow Ash started going over the schedule, he had made in his head prior to arriving here and now since he was finally in Castelia, he could start following that schedule.

The good news was that he was ahead of schedule, the bad news was that due to the disaster he had missed out on a Pokémon he wanted. What made it worse was that the only information he had was that the Pokémon could be near Route 15 and Route 16, but he had no clue where to find it specifically, if that's even where it had been taken. Ash sighed and shrugged, he knew that was no use crying over spilt Moomoo milk, he just had to hope he encountered one or maybe find someone willing to trade one of his Tauros for one.

Suddenly Ash found himself stood in front of the Castelia gym, he hadn't even been paying attention properly due to how deep in thought he was. With his next gym badge in reach Ash grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it but found that it wouldn't budge. A frown quickly appeared on Ash's face, it was the middle of the day, so the gym should be open. Pikachu then spotted a note on the sign next to the gym, he tapped Ash's face to get his attention and then pointed at the note. Ash looked at the note and started to read it aloud.

"Gym Leader Burgh has shut down the Castelia City Gym for the foreseeable future, he is currently in Pinwheel Forest trying to rediscover his muse. There is no confirmation on when Burgh will be returning and taking on new challengers."

Ash sighed and then sat down on the step, his journey through Unova has been strewn with obstacles and it was really starting to get on his nerves. All he wanted was to have a normal journey with no evil teams, no strange occurrences and nothing preventing him from earning his badges and battling in the Pokémon League, but it seems like that was not possible for him. As Ash thought about another gym battle that he wouldn't be having any time soon he didn't notice a shadow loom over him.

"It's as if Arceus himself is putting every possible obstacle possible in my way to stop me achieving anything." Ash said with a dejected sigh.

"You know Ash before today I never really believed in déjà vu but I'm getting the distinct feeling of it right now."

Authors Notes

Well, there's chapter 25, I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you liked/disliked and how I can improve future chapters. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to stick with this story.

Take your guess of which Pokemon Ash wanted that lived in the south east of Unova, there's plenty to choose from so good luck guessing which one it is.

Also I'm pretty sure you all know already who is looming over Ash but take a guess at that too as well if you want.

Pokémon Ash currently has with him: Pikachu, Eevee, Deino, Noctowl, Gengar & Infernape