The Sacred Pantheon

∞ Volume 1: Kanto ∞

∞ Book 1: Rookie ∞

(AN: All story aspects, names and locations that aren't original from my hands doesn't belong to me. Plus this story is based on current [29/04/2012] knowledge. As such the new region Unova and its Pokémon will be involved in the story. All songs are the property of listed artists. All listed songs for each chapter are available online. See the link in my profile for details. This disclaimer will not be repeated.)

Chapter 1: The Beginning

(Cue song Dark Sky by Ron Alan Cohen from Production Music Series Vol. 59 - Electric Emotions)

The Pokémon Centre in Viridian City wasn't busy at this time so most of the hallways were quiet. However one young man was sitting near the window that looked to the south towards Pallet Town. There was a thunderstorm at the moment and the man was looking out into the storm with fond interest.

The man looked quite young. Roughly 25 years old; though his boyish features made him look as young as 19. He had a large crop of spiky white hair with a long, thick, unplaited rats tail that extended down to his waist. The style made him look both wild and wise. His eyes only intensified this look as they were a deep and vibrant violet. His build showed off the fact that he had been through some tough training, however his muscles didn't look grotesque like. They were hard and compact, meant for speed and agility rather than strength and endurance.

He was clad in a pair of black, flowing pants, black muscle shirt and a white leather sleeveless vest. Next to him sat a large backpack. A pair of black boots was strapped to his feet and covering his hands were black fingerless leather gloves. On the back of the gloves was a print of a blue and purple flame.

Sitting on either side was a Ninetails Pokémon. They were both different from the usual Ninetails. The one on the right had red fur with its tails tipped with golden fur. Its eyes were a beautiful ruby red colour as well as its eyes were like a human's eyes, whites, irises and pupils in all. The Pokémon looked strong and elegant; the fur on its body smooth and very well looked after. Its tails were larger than the average Ninetails; long enough for one and a half of its body length. The one on the left looked exactly the same in how good it looked. However it had silver fur instead and its tails were also tipped with golden fur. The eyes though were an emerald green, the same design as the opposite Pokémon.

The young man's hands were both placed on both Pokémon and were scratching them both behind the ears. The Pokémon looked very pleased with this treatment.

"It sure has been a while since we've been in Viridian City, hasn't it guys," he before his attention was drawn to the distance. A large bolt of blue lightning shot out of the sky. The bolt seemed to freeze for a split second before a massive pillar of yellow electricity shot from the ground into the sky. A loud rumbling sounded in the distance.

"Woah! Nice one! Wonder how that happened?" said the man. Almost immediately after the display of power the storm cleared up. Shafts of afternoon sunlight filtered through the quickly disappearing clouds.

"Aw, the show's over already?" whined the young man. He leaned back and shut his eyes. "Oh well, might as well get some shut eye. Wake me up if anything happens," he said to his companions. They both nodded.

For what seemed like 10 minutes, however an hour had passed; the man woke up to a screeching sound. He quickly opened his eyes to see Officer Jenny's motorbike slide sideways across the foyer all the way to the front desk.

(Cue song The Dark Cloud Approaches by Hamaguchi Shirou from Ah! My Goddess TV OST 2)

"What in the hell…?" mumbled the man as he yawned.

"We have a driveway you know," said Joy looked slightly peeved at Jenny's actions.

"This is a Pokémon emergency!" said Jenny. Then the man noticed a boy who looked about 10, jump out of the sidecar with a Pikachu in his arms.

The boy was roughly 4'6" tall. He had black spiky hair that was mostly pressed down by an official Pokemon League hat. Only part of the fringe and the back part stuck out at odd angles. He had brown coloured eyes. His wardrobe consisted of a black t-shirt, a blue and white jacket, light blue jeans held up by a belt and black and white shoes. He also had strapped to his back a mid sized green backpack.

The Pikachu looked normal, maybe a little bigger than the average. It looked like it had been through the wringer. The boy didn't look much better either. There were smudges of dirt and scrapes all over the both of them.

"Please help it!" said the boy in a panicked voice. By the sound of it, his voice was on the verge of breaking from puberty.

"Looks like a Pikachu. We'll do what we can," said Nurse Joy. She typed information into the computer, ordering what she needed. "I need a stretcher for a small electric Pokémon, stat!"

Almost immediately two Chancys rolled in the stretcher and the Pikachu was placed gently on it.

"It'll be ok," assured Joy before she turned to the Chancys. "Rush this Pikachu to the critical care unit." And with that the small pokemon was wheeled out of the foyer towards the back rooms. Joy turned back to the kid. "We'll begin treatment right away." The boy looked uncertain. "Umm…" he looked like he wanted to say something more but Joy spoke ahead.

"Who are you?" she asked the boy.

It was Jenny who answered. "This is Ash and he's the Pokémon's trainer." The boy, Ash, then stepped forward slightly. "If there's anything I can do, please tell me."

Joy frowned. "You can be more responsible. If you want to become a Pokémon trainer you don't let it battle till it's in this condition."

"But you don't know what happened…" Ash started to say but Joy broke him off again.

"What's past is past. Now we have to heal your Pikachu."

Ash looked ashamed. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

Joy's expression softened as she realised that she was being too hard on the kid. "Just leave everything to me."

Ash looked at the ground. "Please."

Jenny saluted. "It's in your hands. I know you'll give the Pokémon excellent care."

"You got it here just in time."

"That's my job," smiled Jenny. She then looked as if she remembered something. "Oh my goodness, I left my bike parked in front of your desk."

Joy laughed. "Next time use the driveway," she reminded Jenny.

"Eh heh heh heh…" laughed Jenny sheepishly as she walked back to the desk.

"Ash you can wait out here in the foyer," said Joy as she walked through the doors.

"Can't I…" started Ash but the doors had already closed.

Ash then wandered over to the group of chairs where the man was siting. The man had been listening in. He looked at Ash as he sunk into one of the soft chairs, looking very down.

"Cheer up kiddo," he suggested. Ash looked up to see the man looking at him with sympathetic eyes. "Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and all you can do is plan for the fallout."

Ash sighed. "Yeah I know, but…"

(Cue song How You Feel by Fat Jon from Samurai Champloo OST - Departure)

The guy smiled. "I know how you feel. I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Josh Kitsuné," he said.

Ash smiled a bit. "I'm Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet," he said. Josh smiled and stood up. He stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you." Ash also stood up and shook Josh's hand. "Nice to meet you too." The two then sat back down again.

"So you're from Pallet Town, eh? That's a nice place to grow up in," Josh mused.

"You've been to Pallet before?" asked Ash.

"Yeah, a few years back when I stopped by Professor Oak's place," Josh answered.

"You know Professor Oak?"

"Of course. He's internationally famous for his research into Pokémon."

Ash's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. I didn't know he was so famous." He then noticed the two Ninetails by Josh's side. "Wow! What are those Pokémon?" He then brought out his PokeDEX and scanned them.

"Ninetails; the fox Pokémon, is the evolved form of the fire pokemon, Vulpix," was the explanation given by the PokeDEX.

Josh smiled. He then placed his hand on top of the red and gold one. "Her name is Vixey," he then placed his other hand on the silver and gold one. "And his name is Chrono." They both wagged their magnificent tails happily.

"Cool! You name your own Pokémon," said Ash. He then looked thoughtful. "Wonder if I should name my Pikachu?" he wondered.

"Sup to you. Some people like to name their Pokémon companions to become closer to them. But I've seen many close relationships with Pokémon who aren't named something other than their species name," Josh replied. "So Ash, have you just started on your Pokemon journey?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah; how did you know?"

"You have that greenhorn look in your eyes. Not much battling experience. About one to two days on the road?" Josh asked.

"I started this morning," Ash replied.

"This morning? But it usually takes about two to three days walking from Pallet to Viridian," I blinked in surprise.

"Well it's been a rough start."

Josh laughed. "I can see that. You look like you just had a run in with a flock of Spearow."

"Well, actually…" said Ash and he started to tell his tale. By the time he'd finished it was 8:00 PM.

"Wow! So that was your Pikachu's Thundershock?" exclaimed Josh.

"Yeah, it was, although it probably wasn't very strong since most of it was from a lightning bolt that hit Pikachu." said Ash.

Josh shook his head. "I can agree to that, but there have been reports of electric Pokémon's powers increasing by ten fold after a lightning strike on them. The theory is that the lightning unlocks some sort of hidden power inside them. After this operation it's quite possible that your Pikachu will be quite powerful in its attacks." Ash looked like he had stars in his eyes. "Of course this is only speculation." Ash crashed to the floor.

"Hey why don't you call your parents? I'm sure they'll want to hear from you," suggested Josh as soon as Ash had picked himself off the ground.

"That's a good idea," he said and walked over to one of the video call phones. As the young man got up, his full height was revealed. He was roughly 5'11" tall.

After a few rings a female voice came through the speaker.

"Hello, this is the Ketchum residence,"

Ash paused a bit. "Uh… mom?" he said.

(Cue song Nocturne of Amestris ~Duet~ by Senju Akira from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Original Soundtrack 2)

There was a delighted squeal from the other end. "Ash, are you doing ok?" Then the video feed came on and on screen was a young woman in her 30's with dark red hair.

"Where are you Ash?" she asked.

"The Pokémon Centre in Viridian City," answered Ash.

"You're already in Viridian City? It took your father four days to get there when he started Pokémon training. Oh he'll be so proud of you. You're the apple of his eye!"

Unfortunately it seemed that Ash had not gotten over his guilt about Pikachu. "Yeah a rotten apple," he said in a gloomy voice.

"Oh Ash, don't get discouraged. You're doing fine. You're growing up right before my eyes, speeding your wings and soaring like a Spearow!" Josh winced as that wouldn't be the right thing to say to Ash right now.

"I feel like a fallen Pidgey," said Ash with even more angst into his words.

"I won't let you talk about yourself like this!" said Mrs. Ketchum in an angry voice. "Just be confident. You have to believe in yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes,"

"And are you changing your underwear everyday?"

"Yes,"

"Ok, goodnight son. I love you."

"Me too mum, bye," and with that Ash hung up.

Josh placed his hand onto Ash's shoulder. "Feel better now?" he asked. Ash turned to him and nodded. He then spotted a mural behind Nurse Joy's desk.

(Cue song Distant Thunder by Junichi Nakatsuru from SoulCalibur IV OST)

"Hey, what's that?" asked Ash. Josh turned and the two walked over so they were directly facing the mural.

"Hmm, looks like a mural of some of the legendary Pokémon," Josh replied.

"Legendary Pokémon?"

"That's right. Along with Pokémon like Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, there are Pokémon that have supreme control over their element. For example, see that one in the upper left corner? That one is called Moltres. And it's vastly superior to a Charizard. That is one of the reasons why they are called Legendary Pokémon. Another is that they are very rare and very hard to find."

"I see," said Ash thoughtfully. Suddenly Joy's video phone started to ring. Ash went to pick it up.

"Uh… this is Ash… who is calling?"

(Cue song Constructor's Blues by Mitsutoshi Sato from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue OST)

"Here! I'm over here," said a familiar voice from behind him. Ash turned around to see the lower right panel slide downwards to reveal a screen. And on the screen was Professor Oak; however it seemed that he'd gotten the wrong camera as only the back of his head was visible.

"It's me, Professor Oak, don't you recognise me?"

"No Professor. I wouldn't recognise the back of your head."

Oak looked around. "Opps, wrong picture." There was a bit of static before his face appeared. "There, *ahem*, I just spoke with your mother and she's just told me that you made it to the Pokémon centre in Viridian city, is that correct?"

"I couldn't be talking to you if I wasn't Professor," said Ash.

"I couldn't be talking to you if… Oh! I see! I dialled the Pokémon centre in Viridian city and you were able to answer," said the Professor.

"Yeah, because that's where I am."

"Mmm, I guess that proves it."

"Getting senile in your old age Sam?" questioned Josh sarcastically as he stepped into the hidden camera's view.

"Is that you Josh?" exclaimed Oak.

"The one an' only."

"Well this is a treat. How is your journey going? Did you find what you were looking for?" asked Professor Oak excitedly. Josh opened his mouth to answer but closed it when he realised that Ash was in the room. The professor seemed to notice Josh's discomfort.

"Don't worry Josh. I've known Ash for a long time. He won't tell anyone. I'll stake my reputation on that."

Josh looked shocked. He turned to Ash. "Well Ash, it seems that Sam really trusts you. So I'll trust you too. But you have to promise me that what I'll say stay's between you, me and the Professor. If certain people knew what I know... well, they would be on my ass for the rest of my life."

Ash looked a little nervous but nodded all the same.

"Well it seems like Giovanni is up to something, but we don't know exactly what it is. We're currently gathering more information, but it's unlikely we'll turn up anything for at least a couple of weeks. In other news I befriended two legendary Pokémon since last we met," Josh reported.

"Ohhh! You must send them over so I can study them!" said the Professor as if it was Christmas.

"Let me think about that… I'm gonna go with noooooo. You know the rules I laid out seven years ago Sam," said Josh with a slight grin on his face.

Oak sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know. Well at least the twins are looking well." Vixey and Chrono both raised a paw and waved at the professor.

Ash was looking back and forward between the two. "Hey, isn't anyone going to explain this to me?" he said.

"I'll tell you later. I can't tell you inside a public area. Sorry," apologised Josh. Ash pouted but didn't say anymore.

"Well I had my doubts that you could handle your Pikachu," said Oak to Ash. "But, when my grandson said that you wouldn't have a new Pokémon by the time that you got to Viridian city, I bet him a million dollars that he'd be wrong!"

It was at this point that Ash sweatdropped. "Well money isn't everything right?"

Josh started laughing at the Professor's crestfallen face. "You still suck at gambling Sam."

"But I did see a flying Pokémon like that one," said Ash as he pointed to the mural above the screen. "It flew right over the rainbow."

The professor was looking up as well as it seemed that he also had the same mural. Either that or he hacked into the video security system that showed the mural here and was looking at it in an alternate screen.

"Don't be silly. You couldn't have seen this Pokémon. Trainers have searched their whole lives and never seen it," said Professor Oak, who obviously didn't believe him.

"Well it sure looked like it," said Ash as he took another look at the mural.

"You must've been mistaken," The professor's words were cut short as his doorbell just rang. "Ah there's my pizza, COMING!" the Professor than exited the screen, but he popped back again. "It was very nice talking to you Ash and to you as well Josh. Keep me posted on anything you find out. Good luck you two." He then moved away, but the live feed was still online long enough to tell what pizza the professor had ordered. "Mmmm, anchovies, spinach and pineapple pizza." The feed was then cut.

Josh made a retching sound to show his opinion at the professor's choice of toppings, to which Ash laughed a bit.

"I know what I saw," he said stubbornly.

"I'm inclined to agree with Sam on this one. It's very unlikely for an Articuno to fly into warm areas like grasslands by choice. Unless…" Josh broke off when he pulled out his PokeDEX which looked more advanced than the original. (Design is the PokeDEX for the Sinnoh area. Colour scheme is black and gold) He pressed a few buttons and then showed it to Ash. It showed a beautiful large blue bird with ribbon like tail feathers and red eyes. Its body was a sky-blue, growing lighter on its chest and belly. The most distinctive feature were its large wings, which looked like they were made of ice.

"Is this the pokemon you saw?" asked Josh.

Ash shook his head as soon as Josh asked the question. Josh then pressed a few more buttons and again showed it to Ash. This picture showed another large bird pokemon, however this was more magnificent than Articuno. It was a phoenix-like bird with gold and red being its dominant colours. It had yellow tail-feathers, a white underside, and green feathers at the tip of its wings. Ash nodded his head.

"Yes, that's the one!"

"Wow, you actually saw Ho-Oh!" exclaimed Josh in wonder.

"Ho-Oh?" questioned Ash.

(Cue song Chuu Ichi Danshi Buin by WATABE Chieru from Prince of Tennis Original Soundtrack 1)

But before they could talk further they were interrupted by a girl. She was as tall as Ash, roughly 4'6". She had bright orange, shoulder length hair that was tied into a ponytail on the left side of her head with a green hair tie. She also had sea green eyes. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless top and a pair of sea green short jean shorts that were held up by a pair of red straps instead of a belt. The straps went over her shoulders. She wore a pair of red and white sneakers and was shouldering a red draw string bag.

She was panting slightly and over her shoulder was a bike. However, it was difficult to discern whether it was one or not. The bike had been incinerated by what looked like intense flash fire. The whole thing was brown and was twisted and bent and in places it looked like the metal had melted slightly.

"I knew I'd find you here!" yelled the girl.

"Hey! What happened to your bike?" asked Ash.

"What happened to my bike? You happened to my bike you little loser! This is what's left after you stole it to save your Pokémon!" the girl continued to yell at Ash. She stepped up to the desk. "Now I can see why your Pokémon is in the… woah, woah, waaah!" at this point she started to wobble as the bike fell back, taking her with it. They both crashed to the ground.

"Whoa!" said Ash before he ran around the desk to the girl. "Let me help you." He reached down but the girl smacked his hand away. "I don't need your help. And you're going to pay for what you did to my bike!"

"I will make up for it. I promise I will," said Ash as he tried to pacify the enraged young girl. "But I can't do anything about your bike until…"

"Ahhh! I don't want your lame excuses, I just want a new bike right now!" growled the girl putting on quite a scary face.

(Cue music silence)

"It's my Pikachu…" Ash turned to the side, toward the room where the little electric pokemon was being treated. "My Pikachu's not too good."

The girl's expression totally softened and looked concerned. Josh was silent and the twin Ninetails had their heads bowed slightly. Ash continued to look at the set of electric sliding doors worriedly. The red light above the doors was still on, indicating that the treatment was still going on.

"Is it very serious?" asked the girl softly.

"I think so. And there's nothing I can do to help now…" Ash trailed off.

Then there was a soft ding sound as the light turned off and the doors opened to show Nurse Joy and the two Chancys pushing Pikachu's stretcher out with the pokemon on top. He was wired to some sort of equipment. A headband with a light attached to it that blinked on and off; showing the steady pulses of Pikachu's electric powers.

The three humans and two Pokémon rushed over to hear the good news.

"Pikachu, are you alright?" asked Ash, but there was no response. However Joy rested their fears.

"Your Pikachu's resting. It's a good thing you got it here so quickly. The procedure went well, and it should be fine."

"Thanks to the Pokémon Centre," said the girl.

"Yes, thank you very much," thanked Ash.

"Nice save there Joy," Josh nodded.

"Your Pokémon needs a good rest in the recovery room," said Joy. She smiled a kind smile to Ash. "You should go in with it Ash."

"Thanks," said Ash. He then turned his head to the girl. "Listen, I'm sorry about your bike but I'm going to need time to pay you back."

"No way! I fell for that last time!" said the girl, referring to when she softened after hearing about Pikachu. "Well, you should take care of Pikachu first, and then we'll settle up on the bike."

"Uhh… ok," said Ash, a bit intimidated by this tomboy. More would be said, but right then an alarm sounded through the loudspeaker that was connected with the police station. It seemed that Officer Jenny was going to make an announcement.

'Come to think of it, Jenny said something earlier on today. Something about pokemon thieves…' thought Josh.

(Cue song Brand of Vows by Naoshi Mizuta from Final Fantasy XIII-2 Original Soundtrack)

"Your attention please! Our Viridian City radar censors have detected an aircraft belonging to a gang of Pokémon thieves. If you have a Pokémon with you, exercise extreme caution!"

"Well, we'd better get ready just in case it's us," said Josh. He turned to the two Ninetails. "Vixey, Chrono, keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious."

"You got it!" came a rich young woman's voice from Vixey and a young man's voice that came from Chrono. (Note: Chrono's voice is Crispin Freeman who voiced Kyon in 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' and the voice of Vixey is Brina Palencia that played the English voiced Holo in 'Spice and Wolf')

Ash, the girl and Nurse Joy's eyes and mouths opened widely. "Th-th-th-they can talk?" they all said at the same time.

Josh turned to them and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, all of my companions can talk. I don't know how but they do," Josh explained.

"Boss, we've got incoming from above!" said Chrono with a nod from Vixey.

Josh turned his head upwards to see two Pokeballs slam through a glass skylight and land on the ground, releasing whatever was inside. One was a Koffing and the other was an Ekans. The Koffing spewed a thick smokescreen and soon no-one could see five feet in front of themselves. It was a few seconds that two figures could be seen through the smoke.

"What are… who are they?" asked Ash.

"Don't be frightened, little boy," came a woman's voice.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," said a young man's voice. All of a sudden, dramatic music sounded from out of no-where.

(AN: I think I should give them proper dramatic music, just this once. So Cue Song: Violent Quake from Sengoku BASARA 3: Samurai Heroes OST)

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all peoples within our nation,"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie," said the young woman.

"James," said the young man.

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

And then a Meowth dropped down in front and said, "Meowth, that's right!"

Ash looked totally clueless to what they were saying, since it was almost the exact opposite of what bad guys would normally say. "What are you talking about?"

"He just doesn't get it, does he?" said Jessie. She was dressed in a tight top that showed off her generous bust and a very short skirt. She had thigh high black boots. The colour of her clothes was a faint grey but on the shirt was a big red R. Her hair was long and was slicked to the side in a long curl. The colour was a bright magenta. Her eyes were blue.

"How can I? You don't make any sense?" asked Ash.

"We're here for the Pokémon," declared James. He was decked out in a shirt and full length pants. The colour was the same as Jessie's. His hair was neck length and was a bright greyish blue. He had green eyes. Like Jessie, he also had a bright red R on the shirt.

"James? Is that you?" asked Josh in confusion.

James peered closer at Josh before he gave a start of surprise. "Josh?" he asked back.

"Yeah! How ya been? I see you joined Team Rocket. Figures," Josh asked.

"I've been great. Never felt freer from my parents," replied James with a smile.

"I bet. And Jessebelle too I reckon," Josh grinned.

"James, you know this kid?" asked Jessie. James nodded.

"Oh yes. He visited my house once when I was still living there. We became instant friends and after he left we stayed in touch," he explained.

"Huh," said Meowth.

"Well since you're in Team Rocket, you know what this means, right?" Josh said sadly.

James sighed, also sadly. "I guess so," he said before Josh sprang into action.

(Cue song OPENING -DW PRIME MIX- by Toru Hasebe from Dynasty Warriors 6 OST. Played once)

"Vixey, Chrono! You know what to do!" ordered Josh. The two Ninetails charged towards Team Rocket's Pokémon. While this was happening Josh turned to the others.

"Don't worry guys. I'll take care of these three," assured Josh. Ash, the girl and Nurse Joy all nodded and moved a safe distance away.

Vixey slammed hard into Ekans while Chrono dodged an attack from Koffing. Chrono whipped his tails into Koffing causing it to spin. He then charged forward with incredible speed and bashed Koffing across the room and into James, knocking the Pokémon out.

"Sorry!" Josh called to James.

Vixey was fending off quite well against the snake. Vixey let off a powerful flamethrower, but Ekans slithered around the flames. Ekans struck forward in a Bite attack but Vixey ducked under the move and pushed Ekans into the air. Vixey let forward another flamethrower attack and this one struck home. Ekans was pushed all the way back to where Jessie was standing.

"You little brat! You'll pay for that!" screeched Jessie.

"You've gotten stronger I see," observed James thoughtfully.

Meowth then started moving toward Chrono. "Seems like I gotta take care of the trash."

Josh grinned. "Vixey, Chrono! Use Firestorm!"

Vixey and Chrono both started to glow yellow. They then blasted a strong Fire Spin attack. The attacks merged and collided into Team Rocket. A massive tornado of fire exploded out and smashed through the broken skylight carrying Team Rocket with it. They could be seen spinning round and round until they were flung out of the fire tornado and into the sky.

The twins walked over to Josh and he patted them both on the head affectionately. "We kicked ass!" said Chrono. Josh smiled and hugged both the pokemon. "You sure did! Good work you two."

Ash, the girl and Joy were blown away at the display of power shown in the battle from the two Ninetails. "That was so awesome!" yelled Ash after he recovered from his shock.

"Wow! You're really strong!" said the girl.

"Thanks guys! I'm just glad that we were able to stop those three before they did any damage," said Josh as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Though I wish I didn't have to do that to James though," he added sombrely.

"Yeah. He was a good friend," said Vixey with Chrono nodding in agreement.

"Well, now that that's over with, why don't you three get some sleep," suggested Nurse Joy. "Ash, you can sleep next to Pikachu if you want."

Ash nodded. "I'd like that, thanks."

As Ash was led to the recovering room with Pikachu and Joy, Josh and the girl was led to the dorms. Opening one of the rooms in the hallway showed a simple room with two bunk beds meant to house 4 people.

Josh turned to the girl as she removed her bag and placed it at the end of one of the beds. "By the way, what's your name?" he asked.

The girl turned to face Josh and smiled. "Misty is my name," she introduced.

"My name's Josh Kitsuné. Nice to meet you Misty," smiled Josh.

"Nice to meet you too, Josh," replied Misty.

Josh and Misty then slipped into their respective beds. However, Vixey and Chrono both snuggled up to Josh. After a few seconds of wriggling around, Josh's head was resting against Vixey's body with her tails curled around Josh. Chrono was positioned on the other side of Josh with his tails draped over his legs. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he mumbled, "Night Vixey, Chrono…" and he wrapped his arms around both Pokémon.

(Cue song Good Night by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy X OST: Disc 1)