Bboyz: Oh hey lookie here… I somehow managed to go into quite a long (well, it was shorter than the ones before) hiatus. And well… truthfully like I said last time, I should not come up with excuses or even reason. I should just apologize to you; the readers who make it super worthwhile to type this up. *bows in apology*

Gary: He's actually hasn't had much drive to type up the continuation of the fic.

Ash: However we've had our methods of persuasions~ *holds up a tied up Eevee*

Ray: No, no… that's not their Eevee thankfully. It's Bboyz's stuffed Eevee since he's such an Eevee lover. Hopefully the next few chapters won't take as long… He won't be THAT busy with his studies for the next few weeks or so. So we'll force him to write more! *pokes tied up Eevee plushie*

Bboys: *crying in agony* I'll try my best… I've started to construct the next few chapters and hopefully this time I won't lose them… So again, sorry if my writing seems a little strange; I'm rusty from not writing for such a long time!

Umbreon: Bboys does not own or have any connection with pokemon. He does not own the characters etc. He only writes to his heart's content~ He's just a…

Bboyz: Ok, ok… we all get the point. Enjoy!

[ Previously ]

"Stay safe and come back", Ash murmured into Gary chest. Gary smiled and held the prince even tighter. Queen Delia made her way back towards the palace with a few maids at her side, leaving the boys to see their friends on their way.

"You think he'll be fine?" Queen Delia asked as she walked past someone that was standing against one of the trees at the entrance.

"I'm sure he will. I'll keep him busy with more training if it bothers him too much…" Queen Delia nodded as the guy bowed towards her. She continued on her way back towards the palace.

[ Back to the chapter ]

Ash huffed and puffed as he took a short pause from running for his life. He was surrounded by tall trees that blocked the sun from shining through. His feet were covered in mud from running through acres of muddy swamp-like earth that reeked of moulds and fungus. His acolyte robe had been torn from getting stuck at branches and bushes he dashed through before. He wiped off the sweat from his forehead.

"Argh!" Ash screamed as he felt a surge of energy hit him from behind. Ash fell on all fours. "Heal!" Ash screamed as a green pillar of light engulfed him, partially healing him from his aches and sores. He smirked. He stood back up and faced in the direction of where the last attack came from but nothing was in sight. He held up his hands up in front of him moving it away from his body as it started to glow white. He them clasped them together as a burst of energy exploded from within expanding in a 2.5 meter radius around him.

"You'll have to do better than that acolyte" a voice rang through the woods. Ash panted as his last attack took quite a lot out of him as he felt his stamina was slowly decreasing. He wiped some more sweat of his face with the forearm of his robe and stood his ground once again. Suddenly another surge of bright energy came straight towards him from his right side however this time he was anticipating it and was barely able to dodge, getting a few scrapes on his arm. He rolled forward towards the direction of the attack and punched his fist towards the ground.

"Ruwach!" another burst of blinding energy exploded from his fist and expanded around him; this time covering more ground than it used to. The attack hit its target, revealing another figure in tattered and stained acolyte robe. He had his hood up and took it off when his cover was blown.

"Clap clap; well done revealing me, but you do realize it's just going to get tougher now?"

"Shut up Ray, it's not like I'm a pushover. Holy light!" Ash shouted as a blast of energy left his palms towards Ray.

"Not good enough. Increase Agility"

Ray dodged the attack just as it was going to hit him. With his agility heightened, he swooped in front of Ash and shoved the prince back with his bare hands. Ash flew back a few meters and crashed into a tree trunk. Ray dashed forward towards Ash's side and smiled "You chose this path, now man up and get serious". Suddenly Ray was thrown back a few meters from a blinding blast that hit his torso. He crashed slammed into a tree trunk knocking it down from its anchored stance. Ray smirked.

"Great Job As…" Ray did not get to finish his sentence when he saw another burst of energy making its way towards him. He jumped upwards dodging the attack to be met with another one at the same force. He was thrown backward again from the impact however this time he was a little prepared and landed on his feet. Little did he know Ash had already made his way over and tried a few melee attacks on Ray.

Ray smiled. The prince he was training had improved so much in the last month after Richie and Snap left for their training. Ash took his training more seriously and decided on a course everyone was surprised of; he decided to become a combat acolyte. Ray countered each and every punches and kicks Ash threw at him as the duel became more intense. Ray pushed Ash away and readied himself for more attacks. "Blessing!" Ray leaped forward and threw himself onto Ash which made them both fall to the ground.

"You did great kiddo", Ray said as he smiled towards Ash. Ash smiled back and tried to break free however Ray was heavier than him so he was still pinned down. Slowly the environment around them started to fade away and an empty room came into sight with a few Alakazams in every corner of the room accompanied by 4 other acolytes. Ray stood up and offered his hand towards Ash, pulling him up. "You can do the honours today". Ash nodded, closed his eyes and held up his palm outwards. Specks of green light started to appear around them.

"Heal!" Ash shouted as a pillar of green light burst out of the ground and up into the ceiling. The pillar faded away revealing a more energized Ash with Ray in tow.

- Headquarters | Tree of Beginnings -

"Something's fishy around here…" Lorelie claimed as she kept her eyes on the monitor observing activities surrounding Viridian. She pressed towards the conjured monitors focussing here and there to aid calming her suspicions. Lance and Bruno left their posts and came to where Lorelie was while Agatha stayed where she was although she was eyeing the three younger elites for any red flags. Bruno and Lance too were looking thoroughly at the monitors as to the developments taking place around Viridian.

"Giovanni's up to something… But what exactly… He's one hard nut to crack" Lance exclaimed.

"Hurm… You've got a point there kiddo. We should keep close observation on them from now on forward", Bruno added. All four of the elites looked at each other and nodded in agreement with that statement. Each of them returned to their posts. It wasn't news to be spread at the moment so they did not inform the Eight Nobles. Lance conjured up a new monitor to see how the young ones were doing in the palace.

- Prince Ash's Chamber | Palace of Pallet -

Ash stared toward the horizon in the late evening as the sun was starting to set. Eevee perched on the balcony next to him. Ash was reflecting back on the events of the past month. How Snap and Richie had to leave Pallet for their training. How he broke down for nearly a week just because of that. How Gary helped him recover. How everyone around him was so worried and only focused on him. That was when he made the decision to change; to grow, to strive, to fight. That was when he started training more rigorously with Ray and in time he made the decision to become more like Ray; to become a combat acolyte. Most of them disapproved and argued it out as he remembered.

[ Flashback ]

"Are you in your right mind Ash?! Do you know what you're saying here?" Brock asked in shock and in anger. It was apparent that Brock was just looking out for the young prince but he had quite an aggressive way of showing it. Ash's facial expression stayed the same; determined. Brock shook his head and paced to and fro. Misty looked concerned at the matter while Ray took no sides. It was purely Ash's decisions and he thought he should honour whatever the young prince's decision was. Gary calmed the young prince down, held him by the arms and rubbed him up and down.

"Are you really sure about this Ash? It's going to be a lot of hard work and it will be tough", Gary asked calmly. Ash nodded and smiled at the one he loved. He grabbed Gary's hand and looked into his eyes.

"I'm sure. I don't want to be too dependent on everyone else. I want to be able to stand my own ground. I want to be able to fight. I want to become stronger so that everyone else won't have to try so hard to be strong for me…" Ash let out what he had bottled up inside. Everyone sighed at the statement and had a feeling what this was about. Misty approached Ash and put her hand on his right shoulder.

"You're worried about Snap and Richie, aren't you Ash?" Ash kept quiet and didn't answer the question. Misty gave a sigh of relief and smiled, "Ash, they left not because of you, you should know that much. They had to leave to train, to be better at their own professions…" Ash looked down towards his feet. Misty glanced over at Brock and Ray. Brock finally calmed down while Ray came closer to Ash, Misty and Gary.

"You do know that this is going to change your training drastically?" Ray asked. Ash nodded; still looking determined. "Then it's decided. Don't even think about complaining if it gets tough". Brock and Misty sighed and forced a smile as they couldn't really change Ash's mind once it has been decided. Gary still looked uncertain however for that moment he decided to go with everyone. Ash grabbed Gary by the shoulders.

"Please be by my side and give me the strength to pull through" Gary nodded. Brock, Misty and Ray smiled. Gary pulled Ash into a tight embrace as Ash closed his eyes and sucked in the moment.

[ End of Flashback ]

"Good Evening my prince". Gary walked into the room and made a little curtsey towards Ash which resulted in the former getting a soft surge of holy energy shot towards him. Gary blinked and looked at Ash again; who only replied his stare with a cute smile. "Boy… someone's scary today". Gary slowly walked up to Ash, hugged him from behind while giving him a soft peck on the right cheek. Ash smiled and held onto the locking arms that were across his chest. They both stood there admiring the setting sun.

"How was your day owh handsome swordsman?" Ash asked. Gary gave a see-through fake smile and scratched the back of his head as he let go of his tight hug around Ash. Ash turned around, followed closely by Eevee who had jumped off the balcony's ledge and followed swiftly behind Ash and ganged up on Gary. Gary gulped as he backed himself up to the bad and fell onto his back. Ash and Eevee pounced onto him. "What are you not telling us?"

"I… errr… I… kindda…" Gary hesitated and gulped his words down. Ash smirked and pinned himself onto Gary. He played Gary's right ear with his finger, slowly running it down his cheek and onto his lip. Gary played along, opening his lips and wanted to lick Ash's finger but Ash pulled it quickly and ran it down Gary's neck and hooked it onto the neck of Gary's swordsman's armour.

"Let's forget about that and get you out of these", Ash said as he motioned to remove Gary's swordsman armour. Gary gulped but he was thrilled at the idea. He lifted off his body armour and then Ash once again pinned him down. Ash trailed his finger down Gary's bare torso and abdomen towards his belly button and beyond. Gary gasped as Ash's finger hooked onto his pants. Ash blew into Gary's left ear and nibbled on it. He thrust himself onto Gary again and again and Gary started to pant.

"Now… tell me what happened". Gary snapped out of his building ecstasy and looked into Ash's now scary face. Ash let go of Gary who saw that an incoming Eevee was going to give him quite a strong headbutt. Gary moved sideways barely missing the attack.

"You two are mad!" Ash chuckled as Eevee hopped onto the bed, ran up his arm and perched up onto his right shoulder. Eevee then licked Ash's cheek and beamed towards Gary.

"Maybe we did overdo it eh Eevee?" Ash pat Eevee on her head and he went to sit down next to the now very cautious Gary. "So… what have you been hesitating to tell me about your day?"

- Command Room | Viridian Castle -

Carr, Orm and Sird were seen standing around a huge table with a huge map of the kanto region on it. On top of the map were little plastic figures of humans and pokemons they used to push around here and there. They were in deep discussion on matters pertaining to the movements of the miniature figures on the table when suddenly the fire torches in the room blew out resulting in pitch darkness. A huge old metal door that was at one side of the room creaked slowly opens as the light outside of the room flooded in; silhouetting a figure that was at the door. The trio bowed as they recognise the shadow of their sinister leader; Giovanni.

"So I see everything is going according to plan? Good job my beast trio… A very good job indeed", Giovanni said as he swept past Carr, Orm and Sird and stopped in front of the table. The torches lit up once again however this time they lit up with an eerie purple flame. Carr, Orm and Sird stood up as they detected that Giovanni was moving a few pieces of miniature figures from the last positions they put them. They looked in awe at how Giovanni altered their strategy. Giovanni stopped; Carr, Orm and Sird observed the new battle plans, nodded and smirked. "This may help you get a better grip on things. Carry on". Giovanni made his way out of the room as the three beasts got back to observing the new battle plans. Bamm. The huge metal door shut tight after Giovanni had left the room.

- Gary's Shared Room | Palace of Pallet -

"Why the hell did you agree to this Brock?" Ash asked as he swung the door to the room flung open, stormed in and rushed straight towards Brock who just came out of the bathroom still partially wet and only wrapped up in a white towel from his waist downwards. He looked a little confused at the situation and tried to recall and think why Ash might be crossed with him. Suddenly, it all came back to him.

"You shouldn't underestimate Gary you know. Even if he did just start training just over a month ago, his progress is outstanding. It's as though it's in his blood. Furthermore Lt Surge has been hard on all the new recruits so I wouldn't be too surprised that he'll be able to stand his grounds tomorrow". Brock saw that there wasn't any change in Ash's facial expression and knew that wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. He also saw that Gary just got into the room and was panting away like someone that had just sprint a whole marathon.

"That's beside the point…"

"Ash… it's not his decision to make. And why are you making such a big fuss over this anyway?" Gary asked. Ash turned towards Gary; eyes all teary and ready to burst. Gary was taken aback by the turn of events. He slowly walked towards Ash and pulled him into a warm hug. Ash's body went a little limp as he rested his head onto Gary's bare torso. Tears started to roll off his cheeks and onto Gary's chest as Ash sobbed continuously. Gary pats Ash's head and hushed him to calm the little prince down. "Ash, remember that day you made the decision to become a combat acolyte?" Ash nodded. "This is partly how I felt back then. But I knew denying you of your choice wouldn't be the best thing for you as we all need to get stronger to grow. This is one of the ways to see how much I've grown. Please, be by my side and give me the strength to grow stronger?"

Ash stopped sobbing however his tears were still rolling down his blushed cheeks. He broke the hug and looked up into Gary's eyes. He sighed and nodded. He knew he was being irrational reacting this way to the news of his love having to duel against Brock tomorrow in the Swordsman weekly clashes. He was just concerned that Gary might get hurt badly in the duel even if the opponent is as kind hearted as Brock is as those duel usually push the swordsmen to their limits. He then slowly made his way out of the room. Gary gave a sigh of relief and sat down on his bed.

"Thanks dude". Brock pats Gary on the shoulder which was replied by a weak smile.

- Lance's Office | Palace of Pallet -

Ray stared out into the starry night where the Hoot-Hoot and Noctowls flew past the High Priest of Pallet's office window. He counted the stars in silent and then sat on a chair still facing towards the window. The moon beamed into the unlit room and illuminated it. He sighed. Training Ash for the past month and making sure Gary was adapting well has kept him busy but every night when he was not occupied with anything to do, the same thoughts come racing through his mind like a recurring migraine. Again, he sighed deeply. Suddenly, the light of the moon that illuminated the room was obstructed by a familiar figure.

"You could have used the door like every other person, you know that don't you?"

"I'm not like any other person, am I?" Misty climbed down from where she was perched and sat on the table, facing away from the window so that she and Ray were not in each other's field of vision. She's been observant and knew that Ray was a little down and had been following him to see where he goes off to every night. Tonight she felt that she should talk to him and see what was bothering him. It does feel strange doing so as she doesn't usually butt into other people's problems however she felt that she was obliged to do so as Ray has been of much help with everything that has happened to Ash and her friends since Gary stepped into the picture. "You know; you should feel very privileged to have me here in your presence at this time of the night. I don't usually go out of my ways to come and listen to someone's problems".

Ray snorted and gave a little chuckle. "And what makes you think I have a problem? Furthermore, why do you think I want to share it with you", Ray asked sarcastically. This earned him quite a hard elbowing from Misty which made them both laugh together.

"Hey, I'm here if you need to talk…" Ray nodded. He knew that Misty had his best interest at heart by saying so but he wasn't the type of person that would open himself up to others emotionally; well… aside from Snap. Ray stood up and made his way towards the door. "You're not going to use the window?" Ray smiled and shook his head, opened the door and left the room.

- Swordsman's Training Ground | Palace of Pallet -

Ash and Ray walked into the outskirts of the training field where the duel was going to take place. Ash asked for a day off from his training to watch the duel since it's preoccupying his mind too much thus he could not concentrate fully. Ray thought it would be a great idea to take the day off and it'll be his first time too to see the weekly swordsmen duel. They took their seats, joined shortly by Misty. They gave their nods, acknowledging each other's presence.

Lt Surge walked onto the field followed swiftly by Brock and Gary. They stopped when they reached the centre of the field. Other swordsmen, Knights and Paladins cheered the two on from the outskirts of the duelling field. They pumped their fists and also waved their swords into the air; cheering for a really great duel. Lt Surge smiled at the turnout and then turned to face the two participants.

"Now, I assume you both know how things will go down with this duel as you've probably witnessed the past few duels throughout my session of being the Head Knight here. You both should go all out; the duel will end when either one of you admits defeat, could not go on, faints or is knocked out of the field. Use any means necessary to win", Lt Surged explained. Both Brock and Gary nodded signalling their comprehension of what was delivered to them. Suddenly Lt Surge leaped out of the field in what seems to be a humanly impossible leap; though Ray and Misty weren't too surprised as they've done those kind of moves before. Everyone looks in awe and then Lt Surge held up his sword. His Raichu then hopped up onto his shoulder and channelled its electricity through its tail into the sword which produced electrical sparks that he shot upwards into the air. "Begin!"

Both Brock and Gary dashed to their right, keeping a safe distance between themselves. Everyone knew that swordsman are melee fighters and that they should expect clashing of swords soon enough. Gary dashed forward and leaped towards Brock with his sword aiming for the latter's left side. Brock easily dodged the attack by leaping away from the incoming assault, quickened his steps and countered it quickly with a swing of his sword towards Gary's back which was an obvious blind spot that was unguarded. Gary was still recovering from his missed forearm sword swing when he felt something hit him from behind. He responded quickly by moving forward as to minimized the impact of the sword that was supposed to land quite an extensive back injury to him. Although the injury was minimized, he was forced onto his knees. Gary then pushed off the ground and countered with another sword swing which was blocked flawlessly by Brock.

"Sword Mastery", Gary whispered to boost up one of his inert swordsman skills. He and his sword then glowed in resonance with each other as he suddenly was slowly able to push Brock backwards a few steps. Brock smirked as he backed away to release the hold that the two were stuck in and lunged forward towards Gary who stood firmly in front of him.

"Bash!" Brock shouted as he transferred his sword onto his left hand and threw his right fist towards Gary. There was then a sudden glow around Brock's right fist which collided with Gary's sword and threw Gary off his feet and flying a few meters back. Gary fell onto his butt and was startled as the impact of the collision started to sink in. His shoulders felt a little worn out however he tightened his grip around his sword. Brock followed his attack with another swift one. He held his sword in both hands and pointed it towards the ground. "Magnum Break!" Brock stabbed his sword into the ground which then shimmered and channelled a few surges into the ground that took the form of wave explosion that dispersed from around him and spread in the length of a few meters radius. Gary was not quick enough to dodge and took quite a critical hit from the attack. He was thrown further back, nearly knocked out of the battle field.

"No", Ash gasped quietly as not to make a scene. He tried to stand up, worried that he won't be able to visualize everything that's happening to Gary but Ray held his arm and signalled him to sit back down. Misty sat still with her full gaze unbroken towards Gary. Ray had some concerns however he knew that the two were not at par in experience so the tide of the battle being in Brock's favour was not to his surprise. He then glanced towards Lt Surge who had some glimmer in his eyes and was so excited about the fight.

Gary noticed that he has taken quite some extensive damage from Brock's consecutive attacks. He cringed as he felt lacerations on his limbs were his armour was not able to protect. He also felt that his body was aching quite a lot from the blows he received. But it was still too early in the game and he should at least give more effort into it. He tightened his grip around his sword again and started to get back up. He then suddenly felt a surge of energy coming from his sword. It was electrifying and gave him a jolt of excitement. Brock smirked.

"I see that you've finally felt the spirit of your sword. Now the fight would be a little more interesting…"

Brock leapt forward with intention to blow Gary out of the field to claim his victory however Gary stood his ground and shielded from Brock's incoming sword thrust with his own sword.

"Do you think you're the only one with special moves?" Gary raised his right eyebrow as he posed the question towards Brock who replied with an interested look.

"Bring it on newbie".

"Fatal Blow!" Gary shouted which caught everyone's attention, including Brock, who quick-wittedly released his sword and defended himself with his arms in front of him.

"Bash!" Two powerful attacks; one originating from the blow of the sword and the other from a pulsating wave from within the swordsman clashed with each other; creating an explosion and shielding everyone from view. The sand that blew outwards from the two swordsmen quickly settled revealing Gary panting with his sword and both hands and Brock a little backed away with quite some extensive scrapes on his arms. The other swordsmen, knights and paladins cheered for more action. The two smiled towards each other. Both charged forward.

Brock skidded towards Gary as he picked up his sword. Gary took the opportunity to try a long ranged attack and thrust his sword into the ground for a Magnum Break attack. Explosive waves were sent outwards and threw Brock back though Brock was prepared and landed on his feet and pushed off again towards his current opponent.

"Two handed sword mastery". Lt Surge smirked at how the duel was turning out. Both competitors were putting up quite a fight though it wasn't to his surprise as both were diligently training since he took over the academy. Gary was surprised as Brock took out a second sword; both the sword in his hands resonated with him as he collided into Gary who defended himself with his sword. "Want to see more?"

"Gladly" Gary smirked. Brock lunged back which gave Gary a chance to adjust his feet for a better defensive stance.

"I'll finish it here. Magnum Break Duo!" Brock pushed both his swords into the ground and two separate explosive waves came out of the two swords aiming outwards. In some instances the waves would collide and grew in intensity. These knocked full on into Gary and threw him off his feet and sent him flying back. Gary coughed hard as his body hit the ground; feeling every single one of his muscles aching and twitching in pain. Gary let out a faint cry of pain but then felt a shadow creeping over him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Brock towering over him. Brock smiled and kneeled down. "You did great for a newbie. I haven't had the need to use dual attacks in ages which shows how intense the duel was. Great job though you've still got quite a long way to go to catch up"

"Owh shut up and get me healed up". They both laughed; Gary trying to muster all his strength in suppressing his pain after Brock helped him up threw one of Gary's arms over his shoulder. The crown screamed, clapped and cheered as the two made their way out of the field towards Lt Surge. The older knight nodded acknowledging how well the duel turned out. Most of the spectators haven't seen swordsmen duels that involved attacks aside from melee sword fights and they were thrilled to see other types of attacks from this very duel.

- Sir Lance's Office | Palace of Pallet -

Ray rubbed his eyes and saw that he was covered in dirt. He was wearing some other uniform which was quite familiar to him however he could not put his head around the matter at the moment. He suddenly felt a throbbing ache at the back of his head. He rubbed where the ache was and felt something warm. He retracted his hand and saw that blood was covering his own hand. He tried healing himself but the wound was too much for his abilities at the moment considering he was all tired out. He then looked around and found himself in the middle of what to seem rubble of some former building.

He stood up but then cringed in pain as he felt an electrifying sensation shoot up his right leg. He saw that it too was injured and bleeding. He tore off the arm of his uniform and tied it around the wound. Then suddenly he heard someone panting for air. He ran towards the noise and was in utter shock. There, in front of him were his friends and pokemon, lying unconscious in rubbles of what seems to be an aftermath of an attack. In the middle of everyone was Ash, panting for air.

"Ash! What happened?" Ash froze as he saw Ray. His face was upmost fear. Ash screamed as much as he could but he then coughed up blood. Ray tried to calm Ash down but his effort was in vain. Ash took a last glance of horror at the person holding him and then puffed his last breath. Ray's eyes started to feel warm tears building up as it trickled down his cheeks. What happened here? Why did Ash look at him in horror?

"Ray…" Ray then heard a voice he longed to hear. He turn around and saw Snap lying somewhere near to where they both were. He placed Ash carefully on the ground and ran towards the one that held his heart.

"What happened here Snap? Are you able to talk? I'll heal you". Ray then placed the palms of his hands on Snap's torso and tried conjuring a healing spell but to no avail, he failed.

"It's ok Ray. At least you're back to normal".

"What do you mean… back to normal?"

"It doesn't matter… the important thing is that I can see you; your true self before heading towards the great beyond". Ray hushed Snap and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. "Hey, I miss your kisses… I feel content now that we were able to save you…"

"Save me? Save me from what?"

"It doesn't matter now… I love you Ray…" Snap then breath his last breath and rested peacefully and Ray's arms. Ray then screamed as hard as he can, releasing all the pent up sadness of losing his loved one. He shook his head and looked utterly confused. Then, one by one, all of his friends disintegrated into thin air. Ray was speechless and dumbfounded by what had happened.

"Congratulations…" Ray turned around and saw Giovanni clapping as he hovered closer. Ray stood his ground and took a fighting stance. "Why do you want to fight me?"

"You must be the one who have caused all this!" Ray accused.

"Why on the contrary, I have to thank you. You did all of this for me…" Ray froze. "Oh, you don't remember a thing do you?" Giovanni then conjured up a mystical ball and showed Ray what had taken place. In the ball, Ray saw his eyes were bright red which resonated with the red aura around him. He saw how one by one he injured and tortured his friends. They all died in the end because of internal organ injuries while he laughed at the sight.

Ray shook his head. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt his head was about to burst. He screamed at the top of his voice.

[Back in the tower]

Ray's unconscious body levitated in mid air. Mew teleported into the room followed swiftly by Lance, Agatha, Espeon and Umbreon.

"This is interesting…" Agatha noted. Mew motioned for Agatha to take actions. Agatha chanted an ancient spell from a book she was recently handed by Mew. A sphere of Unown and other mysterious alphabets circled around Ray but then burst in an explosion and sent a shockwave throughout the kingdom.

"Woah…" Lance exclaimed. Ray then rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked around at everyone that was in the room in confusion.

"What happened? Lance! You're alive! So it was all a nightmare!"

"Not just any ordinary nightmare young one… You were levitating and were unconscious…" Agatha explained. Mew then flew around Ray, inspecting how he is. It then found something at the nape of Ray's neck. It used its psychic to remove it from Ray. Then they all saw a piece of red rock levitated in front of them. The stone glowed which made Ray scream in pain. Agatha chanted a spell and contained the stone however it then vanished. Ray was now in Lance's arms; panting and sweating profusely.

"What in the world is happening?" Lance asked. Everyone was still confused and looked at Ray. Ray then fainted.

- Command Room | Viridian Castle -

Three figures shrouded in shadows had their attention fixed onto a conjured crystal ball. They were muttering amongst each other and snickered at comments they relayed towards one another. Giovanni swooped in and joined the three. The three figures bowed in respect towards their commanding officer.

"Well now ladies. How are things going?"

"We've tried in the best of our abilities to conceal their movements however we're still expecting that they'll be found out. Aside from that, everything is going according to plan. They've mobilized all the troops for offence and we have quite a number on the defence of this fortress". One of the figures reported to Giovanni. He smirked evilly and took out his staff.

"Well I supposed it wouldn't hurt to raise their alarm. It wouldn't make that much difference anyway however they will counter. Our plan is foolproof", said Giovanni as he stomped his staff onto the ground which was immediately followed by a few streaks of thunder around Viridian.

- Headquarters | Tree of Beginnings -

"Shoot. I should have known they were up to something. Everyone, we've got a situation on our hand!" Lorelie alarmed the other elites. Bruno and Lance came rushing towards Lorelie while Agatha slowly walked towards Umbreon and Espeon whose ears perked up since Lorelie started shouting.

"Nobles, we have a situation at hand. Please all meet at the Priest's Office immediately. Lance and Ray will be there for the purpose of teleportation", Agatha commanded as she was holding onto the glowing Espeon and Umbreon. "Let's get the room ready for a strategy meeting".

Each nobles were received the psychic transmission through their Xatus and excused themselves for urgent business. They made it to Lance's office where Ray and Lance were already setting a teleportation portal with several mystical blue stones. As everyone made it to the meeting room, Agatha conjured up a screen showing activities originating from Viridian.

"As everyone can see, they've divided their army of men and pokemon into three separate troops. This is in coherence with reports of disturbances we have just received from three different locations; Pewter, Cerulean and Vermilion". Flint, Lily and Lt Surge cringed at the announcement of their homelands.

"They've sent out scouts beforehand who are creating the disturbances however each defending armies were able to contain the commotion and push back the scouts. But that's not the problem because the problem lies with these three advancing troops. Soon they will arrive and cause an all out battle", Lorelie added.

"We're suggesting that we'll teleport the respective nobles to their homelands to command their armies in anticipations of these attacks", Bruno explained. Flint, Lily and Lt Surge nodded. "You are advised to take as many personnel as you need to aid you in battle but won't deteriorate Pallet's defensive capacity".

"We will teleport you to your respective homelands in about an hour's time from my office. Please be ready by then. I will personally go and inform Queen Dalia of the current situation". Then Lance made his way out of the room and teleported back to the palace. Ray made his way out of the room and started to conjure teleporting portals with his mystical blue stones.

- Infirmary | Palace of Pallet -

"Gary, I'm glad that you've recovered fully from the duel you had two days ago. I have a proposition that should listen to. It's up to you whatever choice you make…" Gary gulped at the seriousness of the commanding knight as he was checking out of the infirmary.

"Sir, what seems to be the problem?"

"My homeland; the kingdom of Vermillion is under attack. I'm going back to command my army over there. I see a lot of potential in you so I would like to invite you to go with me to gain some battle experience. We're leaving in an hour if you decide to go. Meet me at the Head Priest's office if you're going at the specified time". Lt Surge then pats Gary on the shoulder and left for his chamber. Ash then ran up to Gary after hearing that he was going to be discharged from the infirmary. Gary made a worried expression.

"We… need to talk…"

- Dining Hall | Palace of Pallet -

Brock and Misty were having their lunch. To their amazement, Ash, Gary and Ray were late for lunch today which was quite unusual for that rowdy bunch of trio. Misty sipped her Oran berry soup while Brock took a bite out of his Rawst berry cupcake. They saw at the end of the great dining table, Queen Dalia was approached by Sir Lance, the kingdom's Head Priest. Looks of concern flashed between the two with occasional nods and finally Sir Lance bow and made his way out.

"Something's going on Brock…" Misty said to her friend as he finished his cupcake. He nodded. "I hope it doesn't concern those three however much I want to believe that…"

"Well, which three are you referring to?" Misty and Brock turned around at the sudden interruption of their conversation. They saw Lady Lily and Sir Flint towering behind them.

"Lily!"

"Dad! What are you guys doing here?"

"There's been some development… We need to go back home". Brock gulped. He knew it was surely something important if he and Misty were summoned to go back to their own homelands since they were specifically told to keep their identities a secret as to ensure the prince's safety and also to keep their good ties with the Kingdom of Pallet.

"What happened?" Misty demanded.

"The enemy's on the move. They've started raiding a few cities. Well; three to be exact and unfortunately, they picked our homelands as well as the kingdom of Vermillion. Well… unfortunate for them I guess, they've picked the wrong people to mess with, right sis?" Misty nodded at Lily's statement. "Go pack your stuff. Queen Delia has been informed and we're leaving in under an hour".

"But… what about Prince Ash?"

- Gary's shared room | Palace of Pallet -

"You did what?" Ash fumed at Gary when he explained that we wanted to follow Lt Surge back to the kingdom of Vermillion to fight of the enemy's attack. Ash stormed around the room throwing a tantrum. Gary followed him and when he had the chance, he hugged the prince to stop him from carrying on with his rampage. "Get off of me! Go and get yourself hurt! Get yourself injured! Get yourself killed for all I care!"

Gary pinned him down onto Brock's bed and shushed him with his finger. "Hey, hey now, calm down. What's will all this pessimistic ideas. I am going with THE Lt Surge. And it'll be valuable experience for me as a swordsman". Ash was still unconvinced with the idea itself. Gary then pecked him on his lips. "Listen here… Everything will be just fine. I'll come back to you when everything settles…"

"Do whatever the heck you want to do. Don't mind me at all". Ash pushed the swordsman off of him and stormed out of the room. Gary saw that Eevee was tailing the prince and call out to it.

"Hey Eevee, I know I'm at fault here, but can you please follow him and then tell me where he is later. I need to say goodbye properly, I can't leave him just like that". Eevee had a worried look but nodded nonetheless. She then ran after the prince.

"I see that someone's also leaving, which probably explains why Ash was storming off in the opposite direction…" Brock said as he came in through the door after Eevee had left. Gary sighed and nodded.

"Yeah well… the Lieutenant asked for me to come with him to gain some battle experience… So I thought it was a great opportunity though at the time I did wonder hoe Ash would react…" Brock beamed and gave Gary a pat on the back.

"Don't worry; he'll come around before you leave… You did tell him when you are leaving, right?" Gary nodded and got back to prepping himself for departure.

- Head Priest Office | Palace of Pallet -

Ray sat perched up on the window as he and Lance waited for the others to arrive. Lance looked at him observantly. Ray brushed it off at first but later was a little self conscious of the obvious observation. "Lance… Why are you constantly observing me?" Lance smiled and stood up from his seat.

"Ray… about the other night…"

"The nightmare I had?"

"Yeah, Agatha and I are quite concerned. You were unconscious throughout the whole experience yet your memories about the nightmare were clear and detailed… We thought it through and we think it may…"

"Maybe that it's some kind of premonition instead of a simple nightmare? That I have the gift of foreseeing in my dreams? That there's something inside of me that's one day going to take over? You think I haven't had those thoughts since then?" Lance sighed.

"You're no ordinary boy that's no denying that from your background, ties and also your thought process… We just want to help you more…" Ray's ears perked up and his attention was now focused on the High Priest.

"Is there a way to stop these? Is there a way to help me restrain myself from becoming the person I was in the nightmare?"

"My only suggestion is for you to train; to level up and take up priesthood. It'll help cultivate your inner strength which may be helpful in the sense of self restrain and composure…" Ray took in the suggestion and gave it a few minutes of thought. Then there was a knock on the door before six people came in. Ray then jumped off the window and stood next to Lance.

"Is this the whole crew?" Lance asked. Sir Flint looked at Brock, then looked back at Lance and nodded. Lady Lily and Lt Surge did the same. There was a commotion from behind the door when suddenly Prince Ash appeared; panting as though he had just run a marathon.

"Err Sir Lance… Why don't we proceed with the warp portal to Pewter and Cerulean first and leave Vermillion last… I think the prince needs some time alone with the swordsman…" Ray suggested. The others agreed which signalled Gary to take Ash by the hand and leave the room. Ray and Lance took out mystical blue stones respectively and started to chant a few incantations.

- Outside the High Priest's Office | Palace of Pallet -

Ash pulled Gary and a tight embrace. Gary responded with a tighter hug. They both stood there for a while without muttering a word. Eevee walked by and looked up at Gary with a look full of hopes and expectations. Gary knew that the little critter wishes him well and hopes for his safe return. Well, that's what he hopes the little critter was trying to convey.

"Gary…"

"Yeah Ash…"

"Come back safely ok? A few scrapes and bruises won't matter. I just want you to be safe…" Gary nodded silently. "Tell me you'll come back safe…"

"I will Ashy boy. I'll miss you every second of every minute I'm away. And I can't wait to come back to you…" Ash chuckled at Gary's attempt of sweet talking him into letting the swordsman go.

"Concentrate on the battles idiot. You'll have plenty of time to think of me later when you get back…" Both the boys took a step back and looked at each other's eyes. Both longing not to be separated but both knew that it was inevitable and that it was for the best. They kissed passionately for a few minutes and then broke it off. Ash stayed behind outside of the room. Gary looked back once more and smiled at the love of his life before he entered the room. Ash fell down to the ground into a crouching position and Eevee hopped onto his shoulder in order to comfort him.

- Back in the Head Priest's Office | Palace of Pallet -

Gary walked in and saw that Sir Flint, Brock, Lady Lily and Misty were all gone. There was a warp portal already opened waiting for him and Lt Surge to go through. He looked at how exhausted Ray and Lance looked holding up the warp portals. Ray managed to slip in a smile before Gary followed Lt Surge into the warp portal.

"Please keep everything safe and watch over Ash for us…"

Bboyz: I'm actually quite surprised that I couldn't include everything that I've planned into this chapter. Yeay me! More contents for the next chappie! Hehe

Narrator: What do the battles ahead hold for our heroes? How will Sir Flint and Brock work together? Will the combination of Lady Lily and Misty be enough to stop the incoming assault? How will the battle experience treat our young Gary Oak? What is this nightmare about? Does Ray really have the ability to foresee the future? What will Ray do with Lance's proposition? And what will become of Ash as more and more of his friends leave his side? Find out in the next chapter~

Bboys: …which does not have any name to it yet since it hasn't been typed up! Yikes!