[Rustboro City, roughly two weeks after Devon corp incident]

Serena walked wearily through the hospital hallway. She was thoroughly exhausted after another day of training for the Rustboro City contest, and was looking forward to seeing how Ash was doing. As she trudged through the hallway to his room she stopped in front of his door and sighed in exasperation at the silence behind it.

Opening the door she saw Aura sitting on Ash's bed with a book in her hands. Aura barely glanced up from her book as Serena walked past her and into the rooms private bathroom. Aura continued reading as Serena started up a shower, and waited patiently for the questions she knew were coming.

"Snuck out again?" Serena asked from her shower.

"Yup."

"Do you know where they are?"

"The lake on the south side of town."

"How long?"

"About five hours."

"His friend there?"

"He left you a card telling you what they were having for dinner." Aura said as she glanced at a handmade card on Ash's nightstand.

Aura heard the water tamper down until it was no more than a dying drip and got up from her spot. She then walked over to a table, where a fresh pair of Serena's clothing were waiting, and carried the clothes to the door. After a towel swathed Serena grabbed her clothes Aura returned to her book and waited for Serena to remerge.

"He also sent a text to Dena telling her when and where to meet them." Aura said as she absent mindedly flipped through her book.

"That's odd, they haven't invited us to their excursions before. I wonder why they did this time?" Serena said as she walked out in a slim pair of blue jeans, gladiator sandals, and a simple cherry colored T-shirt with a Poké Ball pattern at the hem.

"No clue. They invited me and Diana too, but we have one of the hotels battlefields reserved for training and can't make it." Aura said before looking up from her book with a mischievous look. "So I guess it's just going to be you, Ash, Dena, and Cal tonight."

Serena smiled curiously at Aura. "What's with that look?" She asked.

"Oh nothing." Aura said as she covered her face with her book. "I just hope you four have a good time."

"I'm not going there to have a good time," Serena said as she walked to the door, "I'm going there to bring Ash back before he undoes all the healing his body has done."

Aura shrugged, "Alright, but it wouldn't hurt you to have a little fun before tomorrow's contest."

"I'll keep that in mind," Serena said as she walked away.

Aura smiled and shook his head at the door Serena had just left through. "Oh Serena, sometimes you can be as dense as him," Aura whispered to herself.

Serena walked along the street lamp lit streets of Rustboro City, enjoying the darkening evening sky and the peaceful feeling of the city beginning to pack it up for the night. She took a deep breath and absorbed the tranquility of the warm evening air.

Soon Serena had walked past the calm of a city heading off to sleep, and into the embrace off nature. Unlike the city, which dwindled as night approached, nature was always bustling with activity and tonight was no exception. Walking towards the lake, Serena spotted dozens of Pokémon waking up in nearby trees. Some looked at her curiously, others simply wandered off towards the woods in search of food, and others still headed towards the lake to watch what, for the past two weeks, had become an almost regular show for them.

Serena smiled as she watched alongside roughly two dozen Pokémon enjoying a battle between two trainers. Recently the Pokémon had taken up rooting for their favorite trainer and it seemed that despite, or perhaps due to, his repeated losses, Cal had become the crowds favorite. This was probably due in part to his positive attitude towards every defeat, and how he'd come back the next day ready for another rematch.

Serena had to admit that Cal's tenacity was commendable, and with each defeat he seemed to come back a bit stronger. But nevertheless she knew he barely stood a chance against his opponent. After all Gym Leaders aren't appointed to their positions for being pushovers, and Brock was definitely no pushover. Standing tall and sturdy as a rock, the caramel colored man was a force to be reckoned with.

The battle was intense. Serena found herself cheering alongside the wild Pokémon, and decided to let her own Pokémon enjoy the battle. Once Serena had let out her partners the battle really picked up, as Brock and Cal realized they had an audience.

Cal ordered Treecko to throw down a layer of Bullet Seed and immediately follow it up with Energy Ball. Treecko happily obeyed and jumped into the air where he carpeted the battlefield with a wide spray of subsonic seeds. Brock didn't even flinch as a few seeds landed on his Pokémon, he simply waited for the dust Treecko had kicked up to disperse enough for him to see the green glow of Treecko's Energy Ball.

"Now Sudowoodo Fire Punch straight up!" Brock said to a Pokémon that resembled a skinny tree, with a forked stick growing out of its head. The Pokémon had two short yet sturdy legs and two branch like arms with three green orbs on the ends that acted seemed to act as his hands.

"Sudo-woodo!" Sudowoodo said with a salute to Brock, before engulfing one of his hands in flames and jumping up to sucker punch Treecko.

Cal, however, had been anticipating Brock's attack, since he'd used this same maneuver to best him the past three days, and had initiated a countermeasure to combat it. As Sudowoodo drew closer to Treecko, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw not one but six Treeckos forming Energy Balls in the air.

Brock quickly realized that he'd been lured into a trap and told Sudowoodo to get out of there, but it was too late for the Rock type Pokémon. The six Treecko all managed to fire off their attacks and sent Sudowoodo plummeting straight back down causing an eruption of dust upon impact.

Cal and Treecko were both staring determinedly at Sudowoodos dust cloud, hoping, but not entirely believing, that they had managed to take down the rock type with that attack. As the dust cleared both trainer and Pokémon's jaws dropped at the sight of Sudowoodo dancing in the crater he'd made in the ground.

"Heheh. Looks like Sudowoodo is really enjoying this match," Brock said awkwardly as his Pokémon continued to dance off Treecko's attack.

Cal recovered from his shock at seeing Sudowoodo literally dance off his attack, and grinned fiercely at Brock. "Well if he liked that he's going to love this; Treecko Quick Attack, with Bullet Seed!"

"Treecko!" Treecko shouted as he rushed Sudowoodo.

Sudowoodo crossed his arms, to brace himself against the frontal attack, but was caught by surprise when Treecko dashed to his left and peppered him with seeds in the exposed parts of his body. Treecko ran a full circle around Sudowoodo, pelting him with seeds, before ramming headlong into the rock type Pokémon's chest.

"Sudowoodo!" Brock called out as his Pokémon fell to one knee.

Sudowoodo was not dancing that one off, but still managed to return to his feet ready to keep fighting.

"That's the spirit Sudowoodo! Now use Counter!"

Sudowoodo began glowing a slight red color before he charged at Treecko, arms swinging like sideways propellors. He closed the distance between himself and the gecko Pokémon within an instant, and pummeled Treecko with a whirlwind of fists before jumping back to Brock's side.

"Treecko, are you alright!" Cal shouted in concern, as his partner struggled to remain upright.

"Tree-ko!" Treecko muttered as he rubbed his sore shoulder, defying his bodies weariness and staying in the fight.

"That's the spirit Treecko! We CAN do this!" Cal cheered, filling himself and Treecko with the energy and resolve to keep going.

The crowd of Pokémon saw the fierce determination from both trainer and Pokémon, and began cheering even louder for them. Believing that today was the day that they would finally claim victory. Even Serena and her Pokémon found themselves cheering, despite knowing that Cal and Treecko's chances of winning were rather slim.

Brock looked at the cheering crowd and then to Cal. "Looks like everyone's rooting for you to win."

Cal smiled back at Brock, a fierce fire in his eyes. "Then we'll do our best to not disappoint them. Treecko Energy Ball!"

Treecko crafted and fired a crackling sphere of green energy in a second. Sending it rocketing straight towards Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo saw the sphere and knew when it hit him the battle would end right then and there. He looked back at Brock, as if to apologize for the loss they were about to take, when he saw the rock solid determined look his trainer had every time he had a plan. Sudowoodo's resolve to win hardened to match Brock's determination, and he carried out his trainers next command flawlessly.

"Sudowoodo Rock Tomb, directly in front of you!"

A set of five large rocks formed in the air above Sudowoodo and came plummeting down in a tight circle in front of the rock type Pokémon, effectively forming a stone barrier between Sudowoodo and the grass type attack.

Cal watched in amazement as his attack was dispersed by the stone barrier. This was the first time Brock had used the rock type move during any of their battles. He and Treecko were so awed with pushing Brock to using a new move, they didn't even notice when Sudowoodo rushed Treecko with a fistful of fire. The move instantly K.O.ed Treecko and sent him flying into Cal's arms.

A collective groan rose from the spectating Pokémon at how Cal and Treecko had lost, and they began disappointedly shuffling out. Serena stayed where she was with her Pokémon, and watched as Brock thanked Sudowoodo for working so hard before going to give Cal some feedback.

"That was a good battle Cal. You caught me off guard with that Double Team in between Bullet Seed and Energy Ball. But you can't loose focus when an opponent uses a move you've never seen before, doing that has cost many trainers their battles."

Cal had his head lowered to look at his Pokémon curled up in his arms, and it looked as though he were going to take receiving another loss poorly. But when he raised his head there was a gleaming smiling across his face and an intense flame of hope burning in his eyes.

"Right! Thank you for the battle. Me and Treecko will use everything we learned from it to grow even stronger, right buddy!?" Cal said, smiling down at his partner.

"Tree-Treecko!" Treecko agreed, raising a fist in defiance of his injuries.

Serena giggled a little at Cal's and Treecko's optimism towards their defeat. They reminded her a bit of Ash and Pikachu and she couldn't help but wonder if their personalities were rubbing off on those two. Her mind already on Ash, Serena began to wonder where he was. She hadn't seen him when she'd first arrived, and she still didn't see him now.

Concerned as to where Ash was, Serena walked over to the two trainers, and waited until Cal had finished getting pointers from Brock before asking about Ash's whereabouts.

"I sent him out to buy some flowers at a shop in the city. I thought they'd create the perfect ambiance for the meal we made," Brock said as he lead the two trainers over to a foldout table setup by the lake.

"Do you know where this flower shop is, I'd like to get him back to the hospital as soon as possible."

"You need to relax a little Serena," A voice said behind her.

Whirling around Serena stood face to face with Dena, who was holding a rather ornate white and blue bouquet of roses.

"Dena you're here, and you brought flowers." Serena said a little confused.

"Actually Ash brought flowers, I just carried them over here while he's finishing his shopping." Dena said as she handed Brock the bouquet, which he instantly placed in a vase of water on the table.

"He's still shopping? I thought you only asked him to get flowers." Serena said as she looked accusingly at Brock.

"I did," Brock said with a confused look, "What ever else he's buying I have nothing to do with."

"All I know is he bought the flowers, saw me, then saw something he wanted and asked me to bring the flowers here." Dena said as she took up a seat at the table.

"Well he can't be gone too much longer, what with all of the shops closing for the night." Cal said as he took a seat across from Dena. "I'm sure he'll turn up eventually, so why don't we get started while we wait for him." Cal says as he beings reaching for a plate loaded with bread, only to have his hand swatted away.

"Since you don't believe he'll be too long, you can wait for him." Dena said as she returned her hand to her lap, but keeping it in a position where she could get it out again if Cal tried to swipe any bread.

"But I'm starving." Cal protests miserably, as he continued to eye the bread.

Dena continues to watch Cal, but speaks to Brock as he stirs something in a large pot. "Hey in that text you sent me, you said you had something you needed to share with all of us." Dena says before foiling another of Cal's bread snatching attempts.

"I do, but I think it's best to wait for Aura and Diana to arrive before I begin. I don't want to have to repeat myself."

"What? But they said they weren't coming." Dena and Serena said in synchrony.

"Well if that's the case then I guess we can begin. Cal you still have to wait for Ash." Brock said as Cal's, seemingly unnoticed, hand freezes over the bread.

"Alright I'll wait. Just tell us what's going on." Cal said with a slight pout.

"Good. So, as you three probably know by now, Ash called me up here to take over as Sceptiles doctor."

"Because you're a great Pokémon doctor, right?" Dena asked.

"Well actually I'm a Pokémon medical ranger, so I'm certified to treat both people and Pokémon. Which brings me onto what I wanted to tell you guys. While I was treating Sceptile I decided to take a look at Ash's chart, just to make sure they were treating him properly, when I saw something odd," Brock paused as he moved from the large pot to a cutting board.

"He had a few fractures, broken bones, and other injuries, but nothing life threatening. Yet the presiding doctor had ordered three weeks of hospitalization and painkillers for recurring pain." Brock glared at the lettuce he was chopping and spoke his next words somewhat harshly. "The type of injuries Ash sustained don't require any treatment that intense, and I doubt he's been in nearly enough pain to need the level of analgesic they've been giving him."

Dena's and Serena's eyes widened in shock, and their minds were racing with everything Brock had said, creating all kinds of scenarios to explain why the doctor would do such a thing. Most of them were not good situations.

"So what are you getting at?" Serena asked, although she had a pretty good idea as to what was going on, now.

"I'm not quite sure why he's doing it, but Ash's doctor is drugging Ash." Brock said just as his knife made its final cut through the lettuce head, leaving a sickening chop hanging in the air.

"Alright then, all we have to do is get Ash out of the hospital and leave the city asap." Dena said slightly panicky, the topic causing her a bit of distress.

Cal shook his head, "It's not that simple. Doctor Cereus has orderlies and nurses at various posts around the city and hospital to keep any patients from escaping. Plus even if we could get Ash out that would still leave Sceptile trapped with the doctor."

"Hold on a second, if you can't get Ash out of the hospital than how have you three been sneaking out for the past two weeks?" Serena asked skeptically.

"Easy, we ask Aura to stand guard in Ash's room while we go out, and if anyone asks for Ash while we're gone she says he's in the bathroom, or something believable, and texts us to come back." Cal stated plainly.

"But that's not going to help us keep Ash out of the hospital, nor get Sceptile out." Dena said, looking sourly at their tricky predicament. "So what is the plan to bust them out?"

Cal smiles and looked to Brock, asking him if he can explain it. After an affirmative nod Cal reveals what they'd been up to for the past two weeks.

"As you are well aware Brock, Ash, and I have been having training sessions at various locations around the city." Cal began.

"Oh I'm well aware." Serena said a little sharply, as she remembered every instance in which she dragged Ash back to his hospital room.

"Hehe... yeah. Anyways we've been using our training sessions as a means to gather information on Dr. Cereus's employees locations and shifts. We've actually managed to collect a significant amount of data and we now have a time and place for our great escape."

"That's great, when is it?"

"Tomorrow, during the Pokémon contest," Ash said as he walked to the chair opposite Serena.

"Ash, what took you?" Brock asked as he watched Cal greedily grab some of the bread.

"Sorry, I got side tracked by these." Ash says as he takes out four bags of clear blue spheres.

"What are these?" Serena asked, as Ash passed her and Dena each a bag.

"They're Poké Ball capsules." Ash said, as if that explained everything.

"Okay, but what do they do?" Dena asks as she rolls one of the spheres in between her palms.

"They're an item used primarily by Pokémon coordinators during a contest. They add a certain... flair to a battle that can be the different between victory and defeat in some cases." Ash said before taking out one of the spheres from the fourth bag.

"Serena would you mind if I demonstrated with Sylveon? Pikachu doesn't like his Poké Ball and Eevee is starting to take after him in that regard." Ash said with a glance at his feet where his two Poké Ball hating Pokémon smile happily at him.

Serena nods and hands Ash Sylveons Poké Ball. Ash quickly returns Sylveon and places the blue sphere over the red and white ball, turning its color scheme to purple and blue. He also places a few sticker like parchments onto various parts of her Poké Ball before getting ready to throw it.

"Alright Sylveon, time to shine!" Ash shouts as he throws Sylveons Poké Ball.

Sylveon emerges from her Poké Ball a few feet away, but unlike most times where she would come out with a simple beam of white light, this time she was accompanied by an entourage of prismatic five point stars that surrounded her in a rainbow of shooting stars. The affect lasted for only a few seconds but had a much longer lasting effect on everyone watching. Serena and Dena's faces seemed to be frozen in glee filled gasps of joy, and Eevee to require an electric jolt from Pikachu to snap him out of his love struck petrification.

Sylveon just smiled at all the attention she was getting and happily made her way to her friends. She was instantly bombarded with compliments and questions of how it felt, from her fellow Pokémon. She even received a white rose from Eevee that Pikachu had helped him swipe.

"These are seriously going to help us with our contests!" Dena said as she looked at the blue spheres with new appreciation. "Thanks Ash!"

"These are great, thank you Ash," Serena said with a smile that made Ash's heart skip a beat.

"It was no problem, I'm just glad I remembered them from my contests in the Sinnoh region." Ash replied bashfully.

"I'm glad too, Ash," Brock said as he handed out the meals he'd been making, "these Poké Ball capsules will draw more attention to the contest and away from our break out. Making it all the easier for us to get out."

"Oh, so you plan to use the contest as a distraction for your escape." Dena said with a slightly disheartened glance at Cal.

"Well, we'll be using it as a distraction and as a smoke screen. Because of how many people attend Pokémon contests, we'll be able to slip into the crowd and disappear from the radar of anyone who might be searching for us." Cal explained, completely missing the point of Denas remark.

"Sounds like a good plan," Serena said, "but I feel like it's going to be a bit more complicated than how you presented it."

"We'll worry about that later. For now just focus on the contest and enjoy your dinners." Brock said as everyone dug into their food.

A consensus was reached among the group to do just what Brock said. They spent the remainder of their time enjoying the cuisine and company they had, as well as preparing for tomorrow's contest, and doing the best they could to forget about the danger they were about to descend into.

------------------------------------------------------- Hey I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it took a bit longer than I'd hoped but I think it turned out alright. I'm sorry to anyone who was hoping for Gary [Garbear] to make an appearance, but don't be to discouraged for there are still more chapters to come (he's not going to be in one soon though sry).

I'd appreciate any thoughts you guys have on my story so far and I hope the transition of from the last chapter to this one wasn't to weird. As always feel free to vote and comment and I'll see you all (hopefully) soon.😅

Shoutouts: Eeveeon_Espeon , ebraeroll ,Eevee_Amour , EeveeEvoIutions ,EliteKing717 ,emeraude472 ,EnderCat256 ,EnigmaUnseen ,EReverseZoomH ,EVIL-author .