[ Kanto Region - Vermilion City ]

[ Pokemon Center ]

( ~ Creek ~ )

The door of one of the rooms slammed out as Misty and Brock alongside an annoyed yet somewhat worried Nurse Joy came to find themselves in an empty room.

( ~ Whoosh ~ )

Feeling the chill of the night air, Misty turned towards the open window where she saw a doduo's feather.

' Oh no.' Misty thought as she touched the feather.

Brock meanwhile picked up a note left behind by Yellow.

Gazing down, Misty saw someone working in the pokemon center greenhouse.

" Hey! Did you see a little blonde girl jump off with a doduo from this place ?!"

Hearing Misty's words Logan nodded causing Misty to ask," Did you see where she went ?"

Logan turned and pointed south.

Logan's directions caused Misty to freeze as she realized the only thing that lies south of Vermillion city; the Vermillion Airport.

" Brock, I think I know where yellow went ?" Misty said while turning to Brock who handed her Yellow's note.

" And I think I know why she left ?"

Misty blinked a few times as she read Yellow's note which read.

[ I know you guys are not going to like this but I am going to find Ash and drag him back here until he explains why he said all those things. ]

Misty almost dropped the note as she turned to Brock who had a grave look on his face.

" When was the last time you spoke to yellow ?"

" ( ~ Gulp ~ ) 4 and half hours ago "

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[ Kanto Region - Vermilion Airport ]

[ Austin's POV ]

" You can get out now, I have other places to be," The cab driver spoke quickly and had an annoyed tone in his voice.

I got out of the cab, and my foot was almost run over by the taxi driver speeding away. "Asshole," I muttered under my breath, and I proceeded to walk into Vermilion International Airport. I completely avoided going through baggage checking. I already had my ticket and was only carrying carry-on baggage.

I went straight to TSA and had my backpack checked for any suspicious materials which had a sleeping Pikachu inside it.

I had no problems getting through security, as I never packed anything that would put others in harm's well if you don't count the pokemon I have.

I headed to Gate 14, Terminal B of DIA.

While sitting down in my empty seat I felt Pikachu wake up.

I checked over my boarding pass. It had my name in bolded letters and my flight number on it.

To think there would be a day when I would pay for my flight.

I thought I had Business Class seats, as I didn't want to waste money to pay for first class. I smiled as I stared at the picture of Rota on the bottom right side of the ticket.

Soon enough, the intercom lit up for the passengers to board the plane. "Business Class Passengers, Military personnel, and children under the age of four years old are now welcome to board the plane."

That was my cue, I stood up from my seat and headed to the desk where the flight attendants would take my ticket, and allow me to board the plane.

"Sir, do you plan to board the plane today? Or are you planning on holding up the line?" an impatient voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked at the flight attendant to who I was about to hand my ticket and shook my head, "I'm sorry, I have a lot on my mind right now. Here's my ticket."

"As we all do, sir, but none of us plan on holding up the line as you did," the flight attendant rolled her eyes. "have a nice flight."

I must have chosen the wrong day to fly out to Rota, everyone is acting as if the world hates them.

I walked down the long hallway and boarded Flight 218 to the Kingdom of Rota. I sat down in a seat next to a window and began to review what I was about to do. I'm sure that I want to do this, even if I have no choice. This is for the greater good and even if it's not, I will still benefit greatly from this trip.

I sat down in 18-F, I had the window seat so I wouldn't be disturbed by anyone, or so I thought. A woman and her kid walked down right next to me. The kid held an intense stare with me before turning to his mother.

"Mommy, I want the window seat!"

Hearing the voice, Austin turns to see a child intensely staring at him.

The mother gave me an apologetic look, then looked down at her child. "I'm sorry, Johnny, you don't always get what you want."

The child started to cry because he didn't get his way. He had a gut feeling that the child would continue this behavior if he didn't give his window seat to him.

"Let the kid have the window seat, I'm fine being in the aisle seat."

" Pika, pi."

" Come on, Pikachu won't be so stubborn to let the kid have the seat."

" Pika, pi."

" I'll buy you ketchup and ice cream when we land."

That seemed to convince Pikachu who nodded as I got up out of my seat and shimmied past the child and his mother

Just like that, the kid stopped crying and smiled victoriously. He moved to the window seat, and his mother moved to the middle. "Thank you… I don't know what your name is, but thank you."

" It's Ash Ketchum and it's no problem."

Austin suddenly realized that he had subconsciously told the woman in front of him that he was Ash Ketchum without any kind of hesitation.

Maybe it was because he was so used to being called Ash but even then it still terrified him.

" Are you going for the guardian of aura tournament?"

" Is it still being conducted ?"

" No, I just curiously asked since the tournament had ended a few months before."

" When will the tournament be again ?"

" I think it is annually conducted."

" Oh."

' Looks like I am going with plan B. '

Austin thought with a smile as Pikachu shifted his position to get more comfortable while he read the magazine in his hands.

Austin felt uncomfortable as he pulled out the life orb from his pockets.

Haunter had given this to his last along with a toothpaste-filled dumpling that he had puked out.

' I should give this to Scizor. ' Austin thought as he looked at the life orb.

" Sir, Is this your seat ?" An air hostess asked Austin who explained his situation to her.

" Sir, we have a patient on board the has diabetes insipidus and he requested to be moved closer to the bathroom. If you don't have a problem, would you please change your seats with him ?"

Austin looked at Pikachu who didn't have a problem with it before replying.

Austin and the middle-aged man quickly changed seats.

The hostess was kind enough to escort Austin to his new seat.

Austin froze as he gazed at the person sitting next to his new seat.

Well, fuck!

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Left jab, block high, right uppercut, block mid, snap kick right, dodge back.'

Inside the training fields of Cameran Palace, two combatants fought against each other using only their bare hands and feet, Aura, and instinct. The taller of the two had messy dark blue hair in a similar style to his younger brother, a solid build, and wore a uniform very reminiscent of his father, minus the boots, gloves, and hat at the moment.

Riley, Aura Guardian, and Knight of Rota. And while he was taller and had a good thirty pounds on his sparring partner, no one else in Rota had any intention of going toe to paw with his sparring partner.

His opponent was shorter than him by a good two heads, but what he lacked in height, he made up for it in speed and strength. Blue fur covered most of his arms, thighs, and tail, while shorter black fur covered his lower legs and front paws. Longer, creme-colored fur protected his torso. The spikes protruding from the back of his front paws and his chest, along with his red eyes and jackal-like head added to his intimidating nature.

Not many people would willingly spar with a Pokémon, let alone a Fighting/Steel Type, but Lucario and Riley had been doing so for years, ever since Riley began his training to become a knight of Rota as his talents for Aura were discovered by the council.

He was about to continue when he heard clapping, turning his attention to the young blonde woman in a pink dress walking across the training field. "An excellent showing as always, Riley, Lucario."

With a pleasant smile, Princess Ilene came to stand in front of the duo. "I apologize for watching your training. My mother asked me to find you, and… Well, whenever I see you two sparring, it's just such a beautifully choreographed show. Like a dance, so I, uh… didn't want to interrupt," she finished, turning slightly pink, smiling sheepishly.

Lucario smirked and Riley chuckled lightly. "Except for dancing, if you miss a step someone steps on your toe. In sparring, if you miss a step you get a broken nose. So, what does Queen Rin require of us?"

Having grown up alongside the Princess, he was one of the few people who could easily speak to her as an equal. Most other people in the Kingdom just knew of the regal Princess Ilene and her Aura Guardian Sir Riley. Very few ever saw them arguing about toys, or who won their latest bet growing up, or laughing over what one of their friends did. They both lost their fathers during the War of Cypher, and growing up together meant that titles weren't considered much, being their mothers had been such good friends for years.

Still smiling, although her face had returned to its normal color, Ilene continued.

"She'd like to speak with you both later today. Representatives from the Region of Sinnoh arrived earlier, so I can only assume it has something to do with them."

Riley and Lucario both nodded. "Alright, we'll be up to the Throne room after I grab a bath. Can't exactly greet dignitaries when I smell like a Grimer, can I?" Riley asked with a smirk, inciting a light giggle from Ilene and an eye roll and smirk from Lucario.