The Crime Scene

She could only stare in shock at the spot Ash had just been as Misty and Iris shared her action, before they immediately exploded, if in different ways.

Neither of which involved chemical reactions.

Misty broke out into fearful, panicked tones interlaced with swear words and frantic looks in every direction, while Iris jumped over to where Ash had been, looking around for anything that seemed like it may hint to where he had been taken.

Footprints, scent trails, a stray hair, even as Iris was probably all too well aware there wasn't anything she could find. Just sheer instinctual want to find anything, anyway, to track him.

The Abra hadn't been there quick enough to really get a read on what it wanted, she hadn't caught it in time. She felt a lead weight of guilt hold her down at the thought, though she tried to keep thinking instead of dwelling on her error.

She had to figure out what she could do to track the Abra.

That was the problem though, she had no clue on how to do it, a state of confusion that was shared by the denizens of a nearby oak tree as well as Iris and Misty.

Before she could decide what to do with the three in the tree, Axew had noticed as well.

"Ax!"

And with a searing Dragon Rage into the tree, it exploded and flung out the white clad criminal trio at their feet, dirtied and bruised.

"Hey, what was that for!"

The complaint of the male one, James, was not followed up as the three found themselves the center of attention. Iris' and Misty's specifically, who were glaring at them with a furious look in their eyes tinted by a sense of successful deduction. They thought they had the guilty party at their feet.

"What the hell did you do to Ash!?" Misty demanded of them, the fury of the worst sea storm in her tone. Her demand backed up by the threat of violence as she cracked the knuckles of one fist into the palm of her other hand.

Iris, while not giving them a verbal snarl like Misty, was giving them a particularly nasty look with fury glimmering in her eyes. The fury of untapped nature ripping into something with savagery not seen in the age of modern civilization. Energy crackled around her hands as Dragon Claw tried to flare into life in response to her anger and fear.

"What? Why on earth are you blaming us? Does James look like the kind of guy who'd have an Abra?" Jessie demanded.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind…"

"None of us have an Abra, we're just as shocked as you all."

The fact that the trio were pleading not guilty meant nothing to Iris, the man she cared for greatly had vanished randomly, and the self-titled criminals and thieves were present where it happened. Those who openly said they stalked him, it was hard not to see why her ire was now on them with an unforgiving, furious focus.

There was a distinct possibility that Iris would not let them walk away. If they were guilty of the crime their lives would last only long enough to tell her what, why, and where.

Anabel wanted to find Ash too, but she was trying to not let anger and confusion overpower her and forget things. Things like the fact Ash would not want them chewing into people who were not in fact guilty.

'They're not the ones. They're innocent,' Anabel clarified to Misty and Iris before Iris did something she'd regret later. Mostly in how she'd be hurt by Ash's reaction to her deeds.

"Yeah, listen to the telepath. Our job is to watch everything he does for the boss for some reason; it is not our job to go from stalking to stealing him," Meowth clarified as Misty leveled a new glare at them.

"You know that doesn't make you three any less disturbing," Misty spat.

The implications of the three watching everything Ash did wasn't the funniest thing to imagine.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" James demanded indignantly. He was quite truthful in his disbelief that he was being non-verbally accused of lechery on Ash, though Misty did not notice this and continued to give him a glare. James would've tried to defend himself, but Misty really didn't seem in the mood for talking.

That was when Jessie cleared her throat, and everyone turned back to her and her creepy grin.

"Oh yes, I've watched him, and oh how I watched him! Who wouldn't enjoy some abs like these? And those shoulders! And well, everything else, really! Truly one if the best bodies I've ever seen, you're lucky to hang with him so closely every day. Good job on improving on what's already good, wild girl! You have my approval!" Jessie quipped in a manner that Anabel found quite unpleasant to listen to, even if she did pick up that she was making up quite a bit of it to get Misty off James's back.

Misty seemed to agree with her on the idea of Jessie watching Ash while he showered to be highly unwelcome (Iris didn't seem to care about that point at all, while James and Meowth were staring at Jessie in confusion), made up or not, which led Jessie to quickly add. "But if you want to go and think that's just me suggesting I really did kidnap him and have him locked in my basement for my own personal use, you can rest your little heads that I'm hardly interested in doing that. Definitely not after Jessebelle. Your boy isn't really my type, and it's too friggin’ soon to do that after that little incident."

Anabel got the memory of what 'Jessebelle' was, and felt sympathy for James, and fought the blush of what the intent of said Jessebelle was. Those weren't fictional inventions of a bad book?

Misty and Iris had no idea what Jessebelle was, and didn't seem to care.

"Then who is responsible? Where did that Abra take him?" Misty demanded of the trio.

"Like I said, we're completely clueless on both questions. Just like you three."

Anabel gave a level look at the cat for the remark, before all three glowed with her psychic powers. Moments later, they were flung into the air.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off only for being insensitive!"

"Hey, I was just speakin' the truth! I do that from time ta time!"

She could only just overhear Meowth complain over Jessie and James's statement as they vanished over the horizon.

She'd have not done that if she was not aware they survived these things. Also it was probably best they be removed before they raise tempers further.

After all with the trio gone, Misty and Iris were no longer being aggressive in their panic. They instead had begun grasping at straws.

"We can use those other devices…."

"They were in Ash's backpack which was on Ash!"

"Oh, well perhaps we can contact Professor Oak and have him….."

"He called Ash and said he was going to be out all day today."

"We could just…."

"As in he'll be unconscious for a minor surgery."

Anabel remembered that call, nothing life-threatening, but the best mind in Kanto would be unavailable for most of the day. By the time he'd be back in the lucid world and sharp enough to help; it would be well into the night.

There were interns sure, but none of them knew them and who knows how much time it would take to convince them to help.

A necessary caution perhaps, but one that would not really help them today.

Anabel closed her eyes, extending her senses as far out as she normally could.

Her thoughts quickly washed through Misty and Iris's minds, feeling immense layers of concern and worry as she passed through, before sweeping through the forest.

She eventually felt her reach strain like a rubber band pulled to the maximum, and nothing. Not that it was too much of a surprise.

She couldn't exactly push her mind that far and an Abra could Teleport much farther than she could feel with all her senses.

Though, what with only some of them?

Perhaps if she wasn't trying to look for everything, she could look farther. Though she had never tried it, she hadn't even tried the idea of working with Kadabra to sense things farther away yet by combining their minds.

It required a union of both their minds to a central will; otherwise it would just be two minds looking over the same area, or perhaps her looking one way and Kadabra the other.

She'd probably have better work narrowing her search herself than trying to combine minds with Kadabra. Though she doubted the idea would work.

After all, how far could she see if her thoughts weren't trying to reach for every sense?

'Sometimes to win you've got to go with your gut feeling, even if your brain thinks it doesn't make sense,' She remembered Ash saying once.

It seemed an appropriate time to try that approach. After all, even if she had to question how well this would work, they needed some solution.

So, Anabel extended her thoughts again in a sweeping web, this time without trying to feel the sensation of touch with her thoughts.

Her thoughts swept out again, though this time when they went through Misty and Iris she did not feel a definitive 'you are entering her mind', or 'you are leaving her mind', sense, as her thoughts raced to where she had been overextended before….and kept going.

She kept going and going, though eventually she again reached a mental limit. Still no Ash to be found, even with a wider search area that could still be made wider.

She tried again, this time also removing taste. It only pushed her a bit farther.

Next was without smell, and the resulting mind search felt oddly empty as her thoughts raced out, and out, and out.

Her mental search was pushing even farther than ever before, though she was starting to notice that the people whose mind she briefly ran over were barely registering.

She barely noted a thing about who they were or where they were. Only that they were there, and a brief snippet of mental thought. Though when she felt her mind waft over Fuchsia, she noted that a mind did stand out as somewhat more familiar than the mass of minds across the city.

Janine.

It was shortly after she again found herself at her limit, and so she resolved to even farther.

She'd drop hearing this time, and so she pushed ahead….

Only to find herself in utter nothingness, blacker than night and without light.

Her mind was there, yet she couldn't say anything about it. Where, when, what...who...she knew who she was, but she could say little else.

What was there even to find? Why did she stretch so far? What was there to find in nothingness?

Ash.

Ash Ketchum.

A traveling companion.

A nice Trainer.

A nice person.

A nice young man.

A good-looking young man she enjoyed being with.

A person she did not want to lose.

A person she wanted to find.

That was who she was looking for. In that nothingness, that was the only thing she needed to find.

And so blue light burned like flame in the nothingness. Flames scattered around, many but uncountable despite Anabel being sure she could in fact count them.

Where they were, what was one and what was another of them, if they were alive or a place she couldn't tell. They all felt like Ash, be it place or person.

But which one was actually….

She was shaken out by a concerned looking Misty moments later, her senses flooding back to her in full in a mass rush, along with her fuller mental faculties.

It made her feel dizzy.

"Ax," Axew called in concern as Iris gave her a look of concern.

"Are you well?" Iris asked in concern as Anabel gave a reply to let them know she was in fact well.

'Buttermilk waffles'.

Misty and Iris seemed more concerned after she garbled that out, so she quickly tried again.

'Sorry...mind was a bit scattered. I think I may have an idea though.'

And so she explained what she'd been doing, what she had found, and what was the obvious plan.

She'd Teleport them to those blue lights, and one of them should've been Ash. Eventually….

Iris and Misty still looked at her in concerned though.

"Anabel, you might not know what you look like when you do that...it's not encouraging." Misty struggled with her word choice, she could tell without looking into her thoughts.

"You want to jump in the dark at things you cannot tell the nature of, or if you have already done so. That is not safe," Iris added.

'It's the only lead we have, and we don't have any better options. The only other we have is waiting here if Ash can get back, and that isn't likely. Plus maybe with practice, I can narrow it down.'

Misty and Iris still did not look convinced, even if Iris did reluctantly tell Axew to get ready to move while Misty picked up the egg that Ash had gotten from Grandpa Canyon, before each took a hand in preparation for Teleporting.

She didn't feel the sensation of their touch for a moment before she Teleported them all, all of them landing inside a room of green crystal, with a center crystal within.

Within it floated a Pokémon she had never seen before, which stared at her curiously.

"Mew?" 'You seem lost, I don't think you meant to come here?' It asked in a very cute voice, though one that also sounded oddly old at the same time.

Anabel responded to something along the lines of cumquats, followed by a questioning of if the Pokémon had seen Ash.

First attempt, no Ash. Though the Pokémon, a Mew, did seem to know who Ash was even if he wasn't in fact wherever they were.

Oddly Misty and Iris were just as surprised as to why that was. Was there a story to this?

Slowpoke having been defeated, Ash found himself staring at a nearby window, knowing exactly what this situation called for.

"I've fallen out of worse, Roggenrola!" The Rock-type's knob glowed white as Rock Blast fired.

The rocks hit the window, shattering on impact as a shimmering veil covered the window.

"That window has Reflect on it," the Pokédex noted.

"Pika!" 'Well this isn't reflectable!' Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt at the window, which glowed yellow but otherwise did not suffer an effect.

"Light Screen is also in effect." The Pokédex didn't need to know what Pikachu had assumed to add the retort.

Ash walked up to the window and began pushing it up, only for it to shimmer and refuse to budge.

"Reflect also locks things?" Ash exclaimed in frustration as he swung his fist back around.

It caught the Abra that appeared in front of him seconds after it materialized, knocking it down and out even as a Thunder Punch attempted to spark into being on Abra's left arm.

"Rogg." 'Clearly Iris is being proven right,' she noted it in a complementary tone for both his reflexes and Iris's correct assumptions.

Ash nodded, but looked at the downed Abra sadly.

"That doesn't mean I particularly like punching Pokémon."

Sure they were attacking him, but it wasn't something he enjoyed doing.

"Pikapi." 'Stick to punching the Pokémon attacking us, and I think you'll be okay.'

Fairly good advice, even if he'd probably never fully take it to heart.

"So, any ideas for getting out of this place?" Ash asked Pikachu and Roggenrola, though they were not the ones to answer.

"I do have a plan which I am currently in the process of implementing to expedite our escape. However it will take some time to be fully realized, and longer still to extract us," the Pokédex chimed.

"You're going to call a Jenny SWAT team?"

"Negative. That would only open up job openings for young and upcoming Jenny. Plus that is more of a Unovan Jenny thing." The Pokédex's dire declaration of a Jenny-based intervention was not followed upon, as a Starmie Teleported in front of them and used a Psychic attack to fling Pikachu down the hall.

Roggenrola charged for a Headbutt, but a Bubblebeam blasted Roggenrola into the wall.

Ash tapped the Great Ball at his belt even as he ran to get Roggenrola.

"Hrp!" the Starmie declared as it sparked, before being sliced by a glowing green tail.

Ash picked up Roggenrola and began channeling Heal Pulse through his only Rock-type as Servine eyed the defeated Starmie in confusion.

"Ser." 'I take it some odd hijinks is at hand.'

Pikachu darted back over and filled her in.

"Pika." 'We got kidnapped by an Abra and need to get out. The windows are locked and Psychic Pokémon keep jumping us.'

Servine eyed the defeated Starmie for a moment before raising a question.

"Vine?" 'Is this Pokémon wild, or is someone ordering it around?'

Ash put Roggenrola down before giving her the answer.

"I'm pretty sure the Gym Leader Sabrina is calling the shots."

"Servine." 'But do you know for sure? We'll all want to smack ourselves if we find out we could have gotten some information out of them by capture.'

He had no answer to Servine's point, and a motion with the Pokédex in hand only invoked an 'I am busy trying to save all of us, I don't have the resources to run that program' from it.

Thus Ash pulled out a Net Ball and tossed it at the Starmie.

A red glow formed around Starmie, but it petered out and the ball returned to him.

Okay, so now they knew.

As if summoned by his attempt to capture a Trainer's Pokémon, a ring of Abra Teleported around them. Each one had a sparking, burning, glowing, or chilly fist of some sort, and lunged at them, quite possibly to punish.

Or just randomly attack him like all the other Abra today, one of the two.

The next Teleport took them away from the crystal tree and Mew, a Pokémon she was sure the Pokédex would probably wail about not recording when they found Ash.

Instead the next Teleport put them on a hill, though with a landing that made Misty nearly drop the Togepi egg.

She managed to regain her holding, protecting the egg from falling. The amount of relief she felt when she regained her grip on it was more than she expected to feel.

Like the idea that the egg would be damaged bothered her deeply, deeper than she can could imagine. Or even could explain.

She could hear tumbling in the grass behind her, apparently Iris and Anabel hadn't had as smooth a landing as she had. Given Anabel was muttering something about crepes they'd be here for a bit, at least until Anabel recovered.

"Well, this is a surprise, a girl popping out from nowhere."

The declaration made a shiver coarse through Misty as she felt her legs prepare to run even as her power stirred to defend Anabel if this got ugly and she wasn't in a state to get away, when she saw the source of the call.

She didn't need to look for long to add who she was seeing to Ash's growing list of family members, the young man at the base of the hill looked like Ash with Red's skin tone and eyes. He was dressed in a red tracksuit with a white line running down the center zipper and belt area, and had a Pichu on his shoulder.

He grinned as he walked up the hill towards her, appearing quite friendly as he waved and looked at her.

"And not just a girl, but a pretty one at that," he declared, his red eyes sparkling like rubies.

Misty flushed at the praise. He instead looked at the egg she held with interest.

"A Togepi egg? That's rare, you must be really fortunate to have found one. They may be more common now than forty years ago, but they're still rare."

Yes, she was really fortunate to find it. The pride swelled in her, even as she also felt confusion.

Why was she so sure she had been the one to find it? That felt faintly incorrect.

"I've heard that the Togepi line can sense happiness and hatch faster with happy company, and this Egg seems quite close to hatching." The boy gave a smile full of mirth as he inched closer, grabbing Misty's hands as his grin grew warmer by the second. "You must be a really nice girl, I can tell. Would you like to talk for a bit? I've been alone for a while, and I could use some company."

The enthusiasm was so infectious Misty had to smile.

"Tell me, I could've sworn I saw some others come in with you. One of them must have had an Abra or something I didn't see, maybe a Natu. Are they also nice girls?"

"Oh yes, they are. Iris is a bit rough around the edges, but she really does care and she is toned beyond anything you could imagine. Anabel might not be able to talk, but she's really smart and nice, I'm sure you two would get along." This guy was so nice; there was no harm in telling him. She was sure Anabel wouldn't mind.

"Excellent. I can't wait to see them." He clapped, his smile sparkling with diamonds with the beauty to melt anyone's heart.

It vanished when Psyduck punched him in the stomach with a glowing fist that was probably Mega Punch.

"Psyduck, how dare you strike him like that?!" Misty snapped as he was sent rolling down the hill, Pichu letting out pained squeaks as it was thrown off the boy's shoulder.

She felt her anger at Psyduck halve, if not more, though as he found himself splayed at the very bottom of the hill, which was further emphasized when Iris and Anabel finally made it up the hill.

"Psyduck hit who?" Iris questioned.

"Psy!" 'Someone who can affect your emotions and make you do as he wants, and he sounds like the kind of guy who'd invite you for dinner and then chop you off to serve you on the table. Get out of here before she ends up under his control again, and probably you two as well.'

End up under his... what!?

While Anabel and Iris did not know what Psyduck said, they picked up his meaning and grabbed him and Misty as Anabel Teleported them off somewhere else.

The last thing she heard was the same voice that she had thought to be so friendly and nice, swear things about Psyduck that sent chills down her spine.

Ash was fairly certain this wasn't going to work, but he probably should've tried.

After all, it was possible that it was only the windows that were being enhanced, and that they could possibly get through the plain walls.

Plus, the amount of time he had been here was now over an hour. It was time to try something more than beating up Psychic Pokémon.

With that he felt the power to increase others strengths flow, and spread to all his Pokémon present.

Pikachu, Roggenrola, Servine, Muk, Tauros, and Squirtle.

They promptly charged at the wall at once, Wild Charge, Headbutt, Leaf Blade, Body Slam, Giga Impact, and Return striking the wall along with his own Power-up Punch.

The power increase, spread out among them all but still potent, struck the shimmering barrier of the Gym with enough force to shake the foundation of the building and everything within it.

The wall remained though.

Picking up Pikachu and healing the Wild Charge recoil, Ash looked at the wall with a thoughtful gaze.

"Think it might work better if we try and attack a single point at once?" Perhaps avoiding dispersing the blow might enhance the damage they were inflicting.

That sounded right enough, and while it might just leave them with a small hole they could work from there.

He noticed Squirtle look over the rest of the Pokémon present as he put a healed Pikachu back on the ground.

"Squirtle Squir." 'If you're looking for that precision, it would just be me and another Pokémon. That first Pokémon would be the one making the initial attack, and I'd match their attack on point. No one else here has that level of accuracy for a ranged attack.'

Servine gave him a pointed look for that remark, though Ash noted Muk, Tauros, and Roggenrola did not share her annoyance at the putdown.

"Tle." 'A bunch of leaves aren't the most accurate thing. Maybe if you knew Solar Beam.'

That would have the issue of sunlight to gather, but Ash was hesitant to bring that up right now. Maybe after they got out of here.

"Alright Pikachu use Thunderbolt! Squirtle, match it with Water Gun at max power!" Ash added the Max Power part as both attacks struck the wall.

Water Gun adding to the pressure Thunderbolt was placing, all the while striking at an angle to reduce electrifying the water stream.

The wall shimmered again, but this time Ash smiled as he started to see what he could only call a crack.

That would work…

"Ka!"

His joy was interrupted by a pair of Kadabra appearing at either side of him armed with glowing pink spoons extended out like lightsabers.

He barely avoided getting cut in half by the two Kadabra, who promptly used said energy spoons to fend off an Aerial Ace and Take Down from Servine and Tauros.

An Exeggutor appeared over Pikachu and Squirtle and landed with a thud, scattering the two and stopping their attacks before firing a wave of Barrage attacks.

Muk stood up to absorb the blow before it hit him as the Kadabra hopped back behind Exeggutor.

"Why does Sabrina have so many Pokémon? And since when does Kadabra have 'Laser Spoon' as an attack?" Ash asked two questions as the Kadabra fired Psybeams and Exeggutor shot volleys of Bullet Seed.

Roggenrola and Squirtle blocked the Psybeams with Rock Blast and Water Gun, while Muk's Sludge Bomb overpowered the Bullet Seeds and struck the Grass-type, knocking it down in defeat.

"She most likely has nothing better to do between murdering people than breeding and training them. As to the 'Laser Spoon', I actually have some data about such a technique being used by a Coordinator at a Saffron Pokémon Contest a few years back," the Pokédex offered up.

"So, she's plagiarizing?"

"Kidnapping, murdering, and plagiarizing, yes," the Pokédex agreed as the Kadabra charged forward with their stolen laser spoon techniques.

Only for Tauros and Servine to charge the Kadabra that had blocked them previously.

With the shimmering purple force of Giga Impact, Tauros shattered his opponent's Laser Spoon before sending the spoon's user right into the wall.

"Broo!" 'That is quite enough of that.'

Meanwhile Servine's Leaf Blade powered tail slashed into her Kadabra's Laser Spoon. It held up, but Servine used the force to push herself up into the air, and have Kadabra stumble forward.

She then slashed back down with Leaf Blade, also scoring a defeat of Kadabra.

"Ser!" 'You're done.'

And with that, the latest wave of Psychic Pokémon attacking them was over, though he suspected the Farfetch'd he caught would be very upset he was not here to battle psychic energy spoon users. However the Pokédex had already told him that he was too busy trying to set up their escape plan to use the H.O.P.E gloves, so there was nothing he could do to rectify things for the duck.

"Okay, now that we should have a few minutes to ourselves, let's get back to making ourselves a door. Pikachu, use Thu…."

Ash found his voice promptly muffled by a pale hand covering his mouth from an individual shorter than him.

Though given who that person was exactly, that wasn't much help in the 'do not freak out' category.

"That was clever, I'll give you that. You are the first person to think it might be easier to break my walls than my windows, and I can't forget your Squirtle's suggestion either. That was also quite smart. However, I am going to have to ask you to stop," Sabrina declared in a tone between her pre and post-Haunter extremes.

At the sight of her all his Pokémon immediately lunged forward, but a Reflect barrier formed around her and knocked all of them back.

"You know, I probably should have told you the rules of my Gym Battle and how to win it first. Call it a mistake on my part for not mentioning it earlier. Of course, you probably should be aware that what is not a win condition this time is getting me to laugh. Even if Haunter decided to follow you again, he would not save you."

Ash felt all the blood in his body chill at the simple declaration Sabrina made, a chill that he saw mirrored in Pikachu and Squirtle. Not that all of his other Pokémon weren't surprised, but to them what was going on was 'someone knew about time who wasn't them'.

But for himself, Pikachu, and Squirtle, there was something else entirely going on.

Sabrina knew what had happened to time.

"Now…" she declared as all of them blinked out of existence for a moment before being deposited in very much the same Gym arena/throne room as before, before Sabrina removed her hand from his mouth and floated to the foot of her throne before smiling his way.

A smile that was creepier looking than the non-expression she had once worn.

"Let's talk," she said, still smiling as she lowered herself into the throne and crossed one leg over the other before steeping her fingers.

They had taken a few more minutes when their Teleport had popped them on top of a roof in a small farming town.

While Anabel had not needed it any more than usual, Misty needed a few minutes to process what had happened in the last Teleport.

Iris had not seen what had happened, but Misty had needed some time to thank Psyduck and wonder what was wrong with the person he had struck.

Iris didn't need time to think about it, there was a simple explanation.

The person was evil.

After Psyduck had been thanked enough and returned, they Teleported away again even as a Mr. Mime came out of the home with a broom to sweep the front, and found themselves atop a cliff.

They landed fairly well, though Anabel had to lean on Misty and was muttering something about lard.

Whatever that was.

She had an odd look in her eyes and didn't really seem to know where they were even in as broad of a sense as 'atop a cliff'.

Finding Ash really did have an additional urgency to it beyond Ash's own wellbeing, pushing herself as she was could not be good for Anabel.

"I see you have conquered the challenge of the Pewter Gym. Tell me, how many badges does that make for you?"

A somewhat familiar voice shouted from the bottom of the cliff, and so Iris poked her head over the side.

What she found below was a strangely dressed young man with a Marowak (oddly wearing one of those tie things that had been part of that shopping madness with a Keystone affixed to it) staring down a female Ash with an Ivysaur at her side.

Iris did not think she was exaggerating, the girl did not have the same body shape as that waitress or what they had been described of Belladonna, having one closer to her own or Anabel's, and with the right clothing she could probably fool people into thinking she was Ash at a distance.

She would probably have to cut her hair down from shoulder level, and while the white dominant and blue jacket and black undershirt were quite Ash-like (though the collar being red and yellow looked kind of weird), the girl would probably be a better Ash impersonator if she was wearing jeans instead of a jean skirt.

"Five," she declared with a confident tone.

"Ax!" her brother chirped out. 'I think that guy's one of the people Misty fought at that tournament with the evil Clefairy'.

Huh, that would explain why the guy seemed sort of familiar.

"Five, huh? You have the same amount as I. However, I seek my sixth badge and you will be an excellent test to see if I am ready."

"Fine with me, but don't think I'm going to be easy. The name's Manna by the way." The now named girl's Ivysaur stepped forward, determination flashing in both their eyes.

"And mine is Otoshi." With that statement Marowak stepped forward with its bone held for battle.

A strange scent wafted up from both of them, Manna and her Ivysaur smelled like odd pollens she had only smelled once in her life. Her grandfather had mentioned something about a ritual of evolution that some Bulbasaur and Ivysaur underwent that involved unique pollens he had observed once, and came back with the scent of the pollen upon him.

Both of them smelled like that. Had they been a part of such a ritual recently?

Otoshi and his Marowak smelled much more like lightning, both where it was brewing and the area struck by it. Had they been chasing storms?

"Alright Ivysaur, let's start with Rock Smash!" Manna declared as Ivysaur sent two vines at Marowak, the tips glowing red.

"Deflect Marowak, and let's go all out!" Otoshi declared as the Marowak deflected both red tipped vines with its bone, before forming a Thunder Punch and punching itself right in the midst of the Keystone holding tie.

The canyon seemed to darken for a moment, even as a golden light spread from the punch site to cover Marowak's upper chest and arms in a sparking golden light. Said light crept half way up the bone as well before stopping.

What was that?

Manna seemed to share her surprise, as she demanded exactly what it was that Otoshi had just done.

"This, when mastered, is how we are going to win the Pokémon League. Now Marowak, Bone Club!"

Marowak charged at the Ivysaur, who glared defiantly at the Marowak colored gold.

As the battle promptly began to move hard in Otoshi's favor, Iris could not help but note that Ash would have loved to see this for the thrill of it.

The Pokédex would want the data.

Though, she had to wonder why they had come there by the Teleport. What was Anabel honing in on?

The house and the Mew didn't have anything in common, but this was the second time a result of Ash's father's successful gene spreading was at the end of a Teleport.

Could that be it, and if so why the house and the crystals and Mew?

Did those have some connection to Ash? It was possible that the house was the one his mother lived in, but what of the crystal home of that Mew…

"Saur!"

Her full attention was taken back to the battle at hand. Marowak had just slashed at Ivysaur with a green glowing bone that was probably Fury Cutter.

Still as gold as before, Marowak had charged again, only to be stopped as the Ivysaur glowed with a massive green aura.

Said green aura causing the cliff walls it touched to spring to life with moss, and had Ivysaur glaring at the Marowak with glowing green eyes.

Overgrow, but more powerful than she had ever seen. She had heard of such things before though.

Rare strains of the ability that had much more power behind them, but at the cost of control. Those inflicted had unimaginable potential and strength when using it, but at the risk of destroying everything around them in mindless rampages.

"Oh no…" she heard Manna whisper in a mixture of dread and worry before the Ivysaur fired a Sola Beam uncommanded.

"Block it!" Otoshi ordered as Marowak flipped the bone it was holding so the golden half would make the impact, before charging at the attack with the intent to have the golden armor that seemed to enhance it match the powered up Solar Beam.

A hand tapped her shoulder and Teleported her and Axew away before she could see the results of such a clash.

"I could make a joke about you not earning my badge the first time around, but I sense such jokes are meaningless. That such jabs are either friendly jokes from long held companions, or by the jealous and petty people without even a badge 'out of pity' to their own names. Plus I hardly see a lack of effort in the first time you obtained the Cascade and Rainbow Badges even without a definitive victory. If how a battle went was a factor, you'd think the Dynamo Badge would warrant your teasing," Sabrina observed as Ash and his Pokémon remained tense, ready to strike the moment she tried something.

"I offered to give the badge back, but Wattson was…" Ash stopped his explanation of the Dynamo Badge incident when something occurred to him.

"How do you know that?" He had never seen Sabrina after he won her badge, not even when he returned to Saffron City for May's Contest.

Unless Iris or Cilan had run into Sabrina after they got on the Magnet Train, how could she know that detail?

Heck that wouldn't even explain it, he hadn't mentioned that incident to the two at any point.

"Oh, how do I know about your first and second battles with Wattson? How do I know of your two sumo tournament victories, your defeat at the hands of Montgomery's Throh and your triumph over Volt? It's quite simple really, I read your mind. I learn from the deepest depths of it, and reread when I feel the need to double check something."

She read his mind?!

"Yes, and I've been doing it for a while. I know everything." She paused for a moment before adding an addendum to her declaration. "Except how long you actually were traveling. By the best I was able to count you should have been about this age sometime before time broke, either in Unova or Kalos, and yet you were not. I swear it honestly looked like that May girl aged backwards at one point."

May aged backwards?

"But that is a minor quibble compared to the wealth of knowledge you give me. That includes your wealth of Gym Badge experience, so I think you can adapt to my challenge fairly well." She pointed up with a smirk. "If you want the Marsh Badge, you have to fight your way up to the top of my Gym and take one of my badges. They are sitting out on a table, untouched since I put them there. With what power you used to try and break my wall, I'm certain you'd be the first to ever take one. Of course so few people really do try for it, for after about a few minutes they start begging for their life, yet so few actually prove themselves worthy of it by that point. "

"Why would I even want one?" Ash told her bluntly.

"You took one from a crime boss, didn't you?" she reminded him.

"Technically I took it from Jessie and James."

"Are they not working for a crime boss?"

"Not for at least half the time I deal with them from my understanding," Ash quipped.

"And yet a pair of criminals and their Meowth are better than I am?" Sabrina questioned.

"You just admitted to murdering people!" He was pretty sure Team Rocket were too incompetent to kill anyone most of the time, and when they were competent they were sneaking around stealing things.

"It's more akin to weeding than murder, but if you are so insistent on some sort of standard, there is the prize in my basement." She pointed down to the ground as Ash offered his third option.

"I could just walk away and out the door." It was a statement, not a question.

"Where do you think most of the trash was cleaned up?" She replied matter-of-factly before pointing back down to her basement.

"Pika." 'Sorry lady, but if you want him in your bed there is a line, three people are waiting for that currently, and a very long list of people I'd much rather have him with before you of multiple genders and species,' Pikachu declared bluntly, even if Sabrina could not understand him.

Wait what? Huh? Wah? Ash almost gave himself whiplash as his head snapped round to stare at Pikachu.

"I have no need for your Trainer in such a regard. I have no interest in carnal pleasures nor a child."

Did she read that out of his mind? And what, did they really…

"Yes." Ash redirected his attention to his current problem and let Pikachu's statement retreat to the back of his mind.

'Stay out of my head.' Also what question was she answering?

Sabrina responded to his thought with a shrug that communicated the essence of 'no', which also did not clarify what she was talking about.

"No, down there is your missing Pokémon, the one Paul blasted away."

The declaration made Ash take a step back in shock, as Pikachu mirrored his movement. Muk and the others watched Sabrina with renewed surprise instead of unease as she continued.

"Yes, Primeape. I happened upon him before he would have died by a chance of fate and I figured he could be of some use, and what better use than a motivator for you to come challenge my Gym. Make it to the basement and retrieve Primeape. He can be your prize if you refuse my badge. The challenge to get him will be the same, so it works perfectly well for me."

Ash stared at Sabrina for a long moment, a thought entering his mind about what her angle was. Why did she drag him here? What was her game?

However each thought was quickly swamped by a simple determination.

Primeape was here. He had a second chance to save him. He was going to take it.

He moved to turn his hat around to symbolize his resolve, even as he saw Pikachu prepare to make a beeline for the nearest place a staircase down could be. In the corner of his eyes he saw Servine acknowledge this with a nod, Tauros snorted in determination, Squirtle give him a thumbs up, Roggenrola hop in the air energetically, and Muk raise himself up into fullness for the battling that would be upon them soon.

All ready to take on the next wave of Psychic-types that appeared as Sabrina left.