191 Jhoto

Ash was talking to his mother that night after an eventful day and giving his Pokemon a nice treat in the form of massage. Earlier in the day the group had sat around the radio in the Pokemon centre lounge and tuned in to listen to the talk show. Max had gaped when he learned that Ash and Misty had to deal with Team Rocket on the first day. When he had asked why they didn't tell him, Ash said, he did not like talking about anything that had to do with that particular group. Max sighed nodding at that understanding the feeling of wanting to forget about Team Rocket. Now Ash was leaning back against Tyrantrum as he was telling his mom about his day. He was so very proud of how far his Pokemon had come and was gushing to his mother. Delia laughed knowing the feeling very well before asking a request from Ash.

Ash, "What is it mama?"

Delia, "Well it's just I have not heard from our cousins at all. Do you remember Molly?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah, I remember, she really loved following Red and I around."

Delia nodded, "She lives in Greenfield valley, could you go check on her please. Spencer and Tani usually called me once a month but the last three months.... Well... I would go there myself but, Mimey and Gardevoir are having their first baby."

Ash's eyes lit up, "They are? About time if you ask me. Don't worry mama, I'll go check on Molly. You just make sure Mimey and Garde are okay."

Delia giggled, "Thank you Ashy. This means a lot."

Lucario smiled, -Wish them the best from us.-

Delia, "Oh I will, take care of each other you two. I'll talk to you again soon."

Tyrantrum rumbled, "Rrrrrrum?"

Lucario, -Yes, you will have your own cousin soon baby King.-

Tyrantrum made a face at the nickname but soon forgot about it at the prospect of having cousins and his tail wagged very happily as he purred. The purr could also have been because Ash was scratching his scale but who care about details. Eevee, Absol and Abra were already asleep, they had enjoyed watching the battles and got very excited and played around a lot. Now the three of them were completely tuckered out and sleeping peacefully around Ash as he put the phone away to charge and get some sleep.

The next day they woke up early in the morning again and went to the radio station one last time. This time all of them were awake and enjoyed the peaceful morning walk through a slightly quite City. It was however not completely empty though as people walked to and fro from their work places and changed shifts. Restaurants were starting to open up and they could smell the freshly baked goods coming from one of the bakery on the left.

Serena, "Oh that smells heavenly. Remind me to buy some later."

Brock sniffed, "I agree."

Misty, "That is the smell of one of Jhoto's famous cakes. The sponge cake, it's light airy and not overly sweet."

Max, "We are at the radio station."

Mary, "Ash, Misty, Brock and friends, you are just in time."

Ash, "Good morning Mary, let me introduce you guys. Guys this lovely Lady here is DJ Mary, one of the most popular radio hostess in Jhoto. Mary, these are my friends, Max, Chloe, Casey, Melody, Serena and Gou. We have been traveling together for a while now."

Mary smiled at them, "How lovely to meet you all. Now come come, let's get this show on the road. Misty, Brock I hope you are ready to answer a few questions from your fans."

Misty gave a nervous laugh, "I'll try my best."

Brock nodded, "Me too."

Mary lead them to the recording office and made them sit accordingly. Ash, Misty and Brock were sitting inside the recording studio with her while the rest of the group were sitting outside and watching from the see through mirror. Misty and Brock happily answered questions regarding Pokemon and Ash talked about his battle the previous day both for the badge and Ace battle. His older Pokemon had enjoyed the challenge of battling top level Pokemon while the younger ones were doing really well. Ash spoke about how he met Magby, Totodile and Cyndaquill and it was not the best situations. Misty and Brock also spoke about some of their strongest Pokemon's backstory and how they were actually rescues.

Brock, "So in short, Pokemon are strong even though they are abandoned, it's the trainers who abandon Pokemon that are weak."

Misty and Ash nodded and the chat continued about the places they have been, the people they met and the Pokemon they saw. Ash's favourite place so far was the Safari zone and Mt Quena which were teeming with Pokemon wild life. Brock mentioned his favourite place was Fossil valley so far and Misty's favourite was Trovita island. Ash's lips almost twitched in amusement but he held his snicker inside although the group outside did not. Mary soon ended the radio chat and invited them for breakfast again after which the group left Goldenrod City.

Casey, "Hey look over there."

Max, "What is it?"

Melody, "It says it's the annual bug catching contest."

Misty, "Hmm..."

Ash, "Thinking about getting one?"

Misty, "Well I heard there was a swarm of Surskit in Jhoto last month sooooo... "

Ash took out his pokedex, "The dual water bug type, they are adorable."

Misty beamed, "Right? I want one."

Serena, "This looks fun and there are two contest sections too."

Chloe, "One is for trainer's to show off the strength, skill and abilities of any bug Pokemon we already have. Another is for pre trainers like Max here who are allowed to catch any Pokemon here."

Max, "I can catch a Surskit for you if you want Misty."

Misty smiled, "Thank you Max. I appreciate it but there's no need to go out of your way to do that. I can get a Surskit later on."

Max, "I don't mind Misty, look we can catch a maximum of three bug types. So I can still have one. Look this here says if I fulfill a few criteria I can increase my three pokeballs to four pokeballs."

Ash, "Let him Misty, the bug catching contest is for pre trainers only after all."

Misty hummed, "Okay then, if you insist."

Max grinned and ran off to register followed by Ash who decided to take part in the single battles while Casey wanted to take part in double Pokemon battles. Max went off to take part in the bug catching contest where he met other pre trainers who were the same age as he was. Ash registered his Heracross and went to the single battles area where they battled other trainers and their Pokemon. It was a fun contest to take part in for all of them and at the end Max fulfilled three of the criterias and was allowed to increase his pokeballs from three to four.

Max, "Here is the Surskit Misty."

Misty smiled brightly, "Thank you Max, what other Pokemon did you catch?"

Max, "Come out Beedrill."

Ash, "That is one large Beedrill."

Max grinned, "He helped me win the contest."

Casey's Beedrill blushed on when she saw the large male Beedrill Max had caught as his fourth Pokemon. Ash grinned on realizing this was the same Beedrill Og Ash had caught in the Og timeline and congratulated him. Casey though was grinning at Beedrill who was busy making googly eyes towards the male. The three of them had won their part of the contest and received the price money from winning. Misty on the other hand released her new Surskit to welcome them to her family.

Misty, "Hello there. I'm Misty."

Surskit looked up at her and gave an eye smile, "Surrrr surrrr surrrr."

Misty squealed, "Ah! She's so adorable. I love her already."

Serena, "Very adorable."

Chloe, "Congratulations on winning the contest as well you three."

Brock, "These pokeblocks are of good quality too."

Melody, "I think I'll get a bug Pokemon too, but I am not sure which one to get, there are so many."

The group talked more and they walked through a forest where they spent a few days training and camping. They came out of the forest to a large City that bordered Greenfield valley and Ash told them about his mom's request. They all agreed to drop in to check on Molly, they had heard about what happened to the Hale couple. The couple had been working on the mystery of the Unown and their groups had slowly disappeared one after another.

Ash, "We should reach Greenfield tomorrow."

Lucario, -I hope Molly is alright, she is still very young.-

Ash grumbled, "Cousin Tani didn't let her take part in the presence trainers exam either otherwise I could have taken her with me."

Max, "How old is Molly?"

Ash smiled, "She is younger than you by a few months Max but she just like you is very smart."

Max, "So overprotective parents?"

Ash nodded leaning on the balcony of their shared room, from which they could see the large fields filled with spring flowers. Ash could see spring lilies, crocus, tulips, allium and blossom trees blooming with flowers, he could see cherry and plum. Ash breath the air in, it had a sweet smell of flowers, the cool winter wind was slowly fading away leading the way to warm summer. Ash looked at the jacket he was wearing and had a thought of washing it and putting it away as he was starting to feel the warmth of summer creep up on them.

Ash, "I'm just glad we did all of our clothes shopping back in Goldenrod City."

Max laughed, "Yeah, hey Ash, did you notice? Casey's Beedrill likes my Beedrill."

Ash nodded, "Yup, it's really cute. My Milotic and Drew's Milotic have a thing going on as well."

Max, "So what do I do? I don't mind Beedrill getting together with Casey's Beedrill, she is really nice."

Ash, "Talk to Beedrill, there is nothing much you can do about it. If they want to be together, they will get together."

Max nodded and went to where his Pokemon were hanging out to talk to them and Ash looked outside. It didn't look like there were any troubles so far, but he didn't say it out loud, better not jinx it. The next day however Ash's eyes twitched as he looked over the landscape and the crystal monument that was in the middle of the valley. The day was going quite well too, they had left the City after running into Mandy again. He was planning on opening a Pokemon breeder home for the stray Pokemon that lived in Naiko City. Ash had learned the name of the City after looking at some of the restaurants around the place.

They had left the City in the morning after training and walked towards the green valley the City bordered. The group marvelled at the flowers that grew in the valley and on the way they were challenged by a few trainers. It was fun battling them and Ash was pretty sure Chikorita was close to evolving and seeing how she jumped into battling, she knew she was very close too. As they traveled Misty pointed at a pair of twin crystal towers in the distance and commented she didn't know there were new buildings.

One of the trainers spoke up, "That's not a tower."

Brock, "What?"

Serena, "Oh dear!"

Chloe, "That does not look good."

Gou was grim, "That's because it's not."

Melody, "Are the flowers turning to crystal?"

Max, "Not good."

Misty, "This is not normal, is it Ash? Ash?"

Ash's eyes was twitching, "Unbelievable, this is unbelievable."

Lucario, -Meema?-

Ash, "I'm fine, but when I get my hands on whoever caused this. I will give them a piece of my mind. For now, let's get everyone somewhere safe."

[A. N.: I was having a little trouble writing this so I wrote that crossover ideas I had in another book.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.]