So, May was trying to process the situation she was in right now. At the moment, she was sitting down in the nice, soft grass with a Bulbasaur on her lap, normal enough, right?
Oh, well... except for the fact that around her were Grass-type Pokémon also sitting next to her and watching what she was watching.
And as for what they were watching, well, oh, nothing much. Just Ash taking on the alpha of this forest, which was a Venusaur... and the little one's dad. And what's worse, Ash was using Snorlax. Just because he felt like it. He hadn't used Snorlax in a bit, and even then, Snorlax was too much for this Venusaur.
As for why he was fighting, well, he saw that she liked the Bulbasaur, and the Bulbasaur liked her. So he challenged the alpha to a test of strength to see if he would allow his child to go with May. As for the fact that this was a protected zone, that wasn't really a problem. Ash had some authority because he had a G-Men license, so as long as the parent agreed, they could take the baby Bulbasaur.
Right now, Snorlax was tanking a [Solar Beam], and it did little more than make Snorlax scratch his belly before returning with a slap.
"Oh no…" May said, slightly covering her face, "This is bullying…" she muttered.
She didn't think the gap would be that big, and Snorlax wasn't even close to Ash's strongest. She knew full well Pikachu was his strongest, and she'd never seen him get serious. And now, looking at the yellow mouse sipping on a bottle of ketchup like it was a beer, she understood why.
Bulbasaur, however, leaned forward excitedly, tail wiggling as she watched the fight, "Bulba! Bulba!!"
May peeked down at the little grass frog, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Bulba! [Absolutely]," she nodded excitedly.
After some more... bullying, the king Venusaur nodded in approval and gave its blessing, lowering its head. But Ash was just thinking about his own Venusaur, it had been a while since they'd hung out. He'd grab him next time he went to the lab for a bit.
Then he realized what had happened and looked back, "Hey, looks like we're done," he said casually.
May blinked, "Wait. That means—"
Ash walked over to her, putting his hands behind his head, "Yeah, looks like we're good."
He glanced over toward her, "You still want her?"
May froze. Her eyes slowly dropped to the Bulbasaur sitting in her lap.
The little Pokémon looked up at her, hopeful, tail swaying gently.
"Bulba…?"
May hesitated, then she smiled, "…Yeah," she said softly, "I do."
Bulbasaur beamed, "BULBA!"
She immediately climbed up May's arms and nuzzled into her cheek.
May laughed, a little surprised, but hugged her gently, "Okay, okay! I get it!"
Ash walked over, Snorlax already plopping down behind him like the battle had been nothing more than a warm-up.
"Well," Ash said casually, "guess you've got yourself a Bulbasaur."
May looked at him, then at Snorlax, then back at him, "You just fought a Venusaur for me."
Ash shrugged, "You liked her."
"That's your reasoning?!"
"Pretty much. I've fought more for less," Ash said casually.
May stared at him for a second longer, then sighed, shaking her head with a small smile, "You're unbelievable... but thank you."
"Don't mention it. I've got a reputation to uphold," Ash said with a smirk as he put Snorlax back in his Poké Ball.
Behind them, the Venusaur gave one last approving rumble before turning and slowly retreating back into the forest, the other Grass-type Pokémon following after it.
May and her new Bulbasaur waved goodbye to the group. Then she looked at Ash, "So, now I guess we should go back."
It was then she remembered, oh yeah, she got kidnapped. She was actually kind of surprised Ash wasn't teasing her right now. In fact, instead, he helped her just because it would make her happy.
Ash whistled into the air, and Dragonite flew down from the clouds, landing in front of her and nuzzling into Ash's side, with Vee still on Dragonite's head since he went up into the clouds with her.
"Right," May muttered, still looking at Ash, waiting for the teasing to come.
Bulbasaur, meanwhile, hopped off her lap and waddled toward Dragonite, looking up in awe, "Bulba."
Dragonite lowered her head slightly, curious, then gave a gentle sniff. After a moment, she let out a soft, approving chirp.
"Bulba!" the little Pokémon laughed happily, clearly pleased with herself.
May smiled at that, but then her expression slowly shifted.
"Oh."
Ash glanced at her, "Oh?"
She crossed her arms slightly, looking off to the side, "You're not gonna say anything?"
"About?"
May turned toward him, incredulous, "About me getting snatched out of the air like a snack?!"
Ash shrugged, "You screamed pretty loud. Is your throat okay? Need some tea?"
May's eye twitched, "That's IT?!"
Ash tilted his head, thinking, "I mean... you did kind of jinx yourself."
There it was.
May's face turned red instantly, "I KNEW IT—!"
Pikachu snickered from Dragonite's head, "Pika pika."
Even Vee gave a smug little, "Vee~."
May groaned, dragging a hand down her face, "Great. Awesome. Fantastic. I'm never living this down, am I?"
Ash smirked a little, "Nah," he said, "Probably not."
"ASH!"
But then he added, more casually, "You handled it, though."
May paused, "What?"
Ash looked at her, hands still behind his head, "You didn't panic after you landed. That's a lot more impressive than you think it is."
May opened her mouth, then closed it and looked down, letting her hair fall in front of her face, "Yeah... I guess you're right," she admitted quietly.
There was a brief pause.
Then Ash suddenly snapped his fingers, "Oh, right."
May looked up, confused, "What?"
Ash reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a second, then pulled something out.
Her red bandana.
May froze, "No way."
Ash held it up between two fingers, letting it dangle a little, "Saw it flying off while you were doing your best impression of a screaming Pidgey," he said, "Figured you'd want it back."
May just stared at it for a second, then quickly stepped forward and grabbed it from him.
"My bandana!" she said, relief flooding her voice as she held it close for a moment, "I thought I lost it."
Her fingers tightened around the fabric slightly before she looked back up at him, "Thanks," she said, softer this time.
Ash just shrugged, "Yeah, well. Try not to lose it next time."
May narrowed her eyes, "I didn't lose it. I got kidnapped."
"Uh-huh," Ash nodded, "And your bandana just happened to fall off during that."
May's eye twitched again, "Ugh... I hate you sometimes."
"Been told that."
She huffed, then turned slightly, starting to tie it back on, only for Ash to suddenly step closer.
"Hold still."
"Huh—?"
Before she could react, he reached up and adjusted the bandana, retying it properly. He did have practice, after all, he used to help tie Green's bows when they were younger, and more recently, with Molly, he sometimes tied ribbons in her hair.
"There." Ash leaned back, looking at his work with a small nod, "Try not to mess it up again."
May blinked, still processing for a second, "You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did," Ash said simply, "You would've tied it wrong, there's no mirror."
"I would not—!"
"Sure. Bunny ears~" Ash said with a smirk, lifting his hands behind his head and wiggling his fingers like floppy ears, "Boing, boing."
Pikachu immediately lost it, "Pika—!"
Vee practically fell over laughing, "Veehee~!"
May's face turned red again, "I TOLD YOU THEY DO NOT LOOK LIKE BUNNY EARS—!" she shouted, as her definitely not bunny ears flicked up and down.
Ash was already turning away, clearly satisfied with himself, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"ASH!"
Bulbasaur looked between them, completely delighted by the chaos, "Bulba~!"
Dragonite let out a soft, amused chuff as well, and with a smirk, Ash jumped up onto Dragonite's back. He held a hand out for her.
"Well? You coming? I did come all the way here to get you."
May looked at him, and his hand, and smiled, taking it. He pulled her up behind him as she adjusted to get comfortable.
Bulbasaur climbed up after her with a determined little hop, "Bulba!"
Pikachu scooted over slightly to make room, while Vee perched happily at the top. Dragonite spread her wings and took off into the sky.
—
{Meanwhile, over with Ashtwo}
After D came back from the mission to report in, Matori immediately threw two weeks of vacation at him. She didn't even let him do the paperwork, just told him everyone else would take care of it and kicked him out of her office, after giving him the equivalent of extra pocket money.
Honestly, Matori was pretty nice when she wasn't trying to kill someone. D felt like he could get along with her, and he might be able to use that to his advantage with the Sird problem.
But for now, he decided to head out. Even if his squad wanted to hang out some more, he had other things to do. He said he'd come back later once he got what he needed, and that seemed to raise their spirits almost immediately.
Anyway, as for what D was doing, well, he knew of something that would be really nice to get, and almost invaluable for his secret plan to deal with Sird.
And that involved him heading to a certain lake.
Ash sent D here wearing casual clothes instead of the Team Rocket uniform again, just like when he went to deal with Professor Cozmo. When he arrived, he immediately saw his target.
Sitting by the water was a silver-haired old man holding a fishing rod.
D knew exactly who this was.
So, he sent out Hypno and quietly explained the plan. Hypno nodded, then walked off to the side before slipping silently into the water.
Meanwhile, D approached the old man. He knew him as Sullivan, the fisherman.
Just as D stepped behind him, Sullivan spoke.
"Who goes there?" he said, in a voice D could tell was exaggerated.
"Hm, impressive that you could tell I was behind you," D said.
It really wasn't impressive, he wasn't even trying to be sneaky, but D also knew that if he wanted to get what he came for, he had to play to Sullivan's ego.
And it worked, hook, line, and sinker.
Sullivan stood, spun his rod dramatically, and struck a pose, "Well, of course I could sense you! For I am the Fishing God, Sullivan!"
"Right. Well, I'm D. Nice to meet you," D said casually.
Sullivan clearly assumed D was just too stunned to speak. He lifted his nose into the air proudly, "Ah, I see. So, have you come here to beg to be my apprentice? Well, as the benevolent and super handsome Fishing God that I am, I suppose I could accept you, but first, I must complete my mission."
"Right," D nodded, playing along, "So what is it exactly you're looking for?" he asked, even though he already knew.
"Well!" Sullivan declared, clenching his hand dramatically as he looked to the sky, "I have spent my life searching for the guardian of this lake, he who has lived here for over a hundred years and claimed this entire area as his territory... my Nero!"
"I have been chasing Nero for over 50 years," he continued, voice filled with passion, "and I will not stop until I claim him!"
D nodded along.
He already knew that Sullivan was talking about the giant Whiscash, the ruler of this lake. But hearing him say it out loud... didn't that mean he had spent 50 years of his life and still couldn't catch one Pokémon?
Of course, D didn't say that.
He knew that if he told Sullivan the harsh truth, the man would probably curl up and sulk.
So instead, D simply snapped his fingers, "Let me help you with that."
At that exact moment, the lake churned.
Something massive surged beneath the surface. The water bulged upward before exploding outward, and from it, Hypno calmly walked out of the lake, dragging a giant, mud-covered Whiscash.
It was Nero.
The massive Pokémon had already been knocked out after Hypno went underwater, beat it down, and dragged it back up. Hypno released its tail with a casual flick and walked back toward D like it had just finished a minor errand.
D didn't even look surprised.
Sullivan, on the other hand
"…."
"…?"
"…?!?!?!?!"
The old man's fishing rod slipped from his hands as his entire body froze. His jaw dropped so wide it looked like it might unhinge completely.
"N-N-N-N-N-N-NERO?!?!" he screamed, scrambling forward on his hands and knees, his eyes wide with pure, unfiltered disbelief.
"My Nero…! MY NERO!!!" He grabbed onto the massive Pokémon's whiskers, shaking with excitement, "After 50 years... FIFTY YEARS—!"
He stood up dramatically, tears streaming down his face as the wind picked up around him, like the universe itself was acknowledging the moment.
"At last, destiny has brought us together!!" With a flourish, Sullivan reached into his coat and pulled out a Master Ball.
"I spent another 50 years preparing for this exact moment!" he declared proudly, holding it high above his head, "A ball worthy of a legend! A ball worthy of—!"
Before he could throw it, D placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, "…Huh?" Sullivan blinked, looking back.
"You could do that," D said casually, glancing at the Master Ball, "I mean, guaranteed catch, no risk, and all that…" Then he leaned in slightly, "But wouldn't that be... kinda boring?"
"Boring?" Sullivan echoed.
D shrugged, "I mean, think about it. You're the 'Fishing God,' right?" he said, "You've spent your whole life chasing this one Pokémon, telling everyone about it…"
He paused, then added, "Don't you think it'd be more of a flex if you caught Nero in a regular Poké Ball?" He was playing into Sullivan's ego, and that was exactly what he was counting on.
Sullivan's eyes widened, "A... regular... Poké Ball…" he muttered.
"Think about it as the greatest catch of your life," D continued, glancing at Nero, "Imagine the story."
"…You're right," Sullivan said, his voice trembling.
Then suddenly, "YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!"
He spun dramatically, pointing at D like he had just delivered divine revelation.
"What kind of Fishing God would I be if I relied on such a crutch?! NO! This moment deserves TRUE skill! TRUE PASSION!"
With a dramatic motion, he tossed the Master Ball behind him like it was trash
"Only a standard Poké Ball is worthy of this battle of legends!!"
D smirked slightly, 'Hook, line, and sinker,' he thought to himself as he casually stepped over and picked up the discarded Master Ball since he wouldn't be needing it now
Sullivan reached into his belt and pulled out a regular Poké Ball, his entire body shaking with excitement.
"Nero, after 50 years, THIS IS IT!!!"
He threw the ball.
Nero was far too exhausted to resist, or to try and eat the Poké Ball, so it struck cleanly and pulled him inside. The ball hit the ground and rolled.
Once.
Twice.
Click.
Caught.
Sullivan stared at the Poké Ball for a moment then burst into manic laughter, clutching it tightly in his hands.
Meanwhile, D simply turned and started walking away. As far as he was concerned, it was a fair trade. He got what he came for, and Sullivan got what he wanted. Everyone wins.
Now that he had it, D removed his disguise disc, his appearance shifting back into Ash. He grabbed onto Hypno's shoulder.
"Let's go, bud."
Hypno nodded, and in the next instant, they vanished in a flash of teleportation, leaving Sullivan behind, still laughing with his newly caught Nero.
As for where D was going? Back to Johto.
—
{At the Kurt household}
Kurt was working on a new Poké Ball, the same thing he always did when he had nothing else to occupy his mind.
But this time, it was different. He was doing it to distract himself. Pryce... his old friend. The Masked Man.
It had been five months since everything happened, and he still couldn't fully believe it.
He had gone to visit Pryce in his jail cell. Pryce had been sitting there, oddly calm, almost content, despite his situation.
And when Kurt asked him why, Pryce told him everything. The full story of why he did what he did.
It was... strange.
In a way, Kurt understood, but at the same time, why hadn't Pryce come to him? Or Sam? Or Agatha? Or any of their friends?
Being sad wasn't an excuse.
And the worst part? Pryce hadn't defended himself at all. He took every harsh word Kurt threw at him and simply said he deserved it.
Then, when Kurt was about to leave, Pryce told him to apologize to the others for him, and to tell them he regretted not being the friend he should have been.
That was a few months ago.
Now, Kurt spent most of his time in his forge.
Maizie, ever since she got her Teddiursa, had been trying her best to train it so she could help out. Kurt appreciated it... but he didn't know if he wanted her to feel like she had to become a Poké Ball maker like him.
After all, with Poké Balls being mass-produced, there weren't many craftsmen left. Other than him, and an old apprentice he once had, a girl named Karna who moved to Galar to continue her work, he doubted there would be another true master Poké Ball crafter.
There was Ash, of course. The boy had shown a lot of potential, but he didn't want to settle down and do this. Not yet, anyway. And Kurt wasn't about to force him.
Still, all of this made him think. Would he ever have a project again? Something big enough to make his old bones feel alive?
He hadn't felt the thrill of a true challenge since Ash gave him the GS Ball... ironically enough.
Just as he was lost in thought, Maizie peeked her head in, "Grandpa, Grandpa! Look who came to visit!" Kurt slowly turned, expecting to maybe see his son, Maizie's father.
Instead, his eyes widened. Maizie pointed proudly, "It's big brother Ash!"
Ash gave a casual wave, smiling, "Hello, Mr. Kurt... or in this case, should I say Master?"
He spun a certain purple Poké Ball on his finger, a knowing smile forming.
"I've got a new project I want to work on. Interested?"
He stopped spinning the ball and tossed it over. Kurt caught it, and for a moment, he just stared, it had been a long time since he had seen a Master Ball.
And now, holding it in his hands, he felt something stir again. That old, familiar itch.
—
{Meanwhile, in a lab}
Colress was hard at work on his own project, using DNA extracted from alien Pokémon. The two Deoxys.
Of course, he had told Carr and Sird that he would be sending the samples to another facility.
But there was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity without running a few extra experiments of his own. What kind of scientist would he be if he didn't?
Then again... it wasn't like he trusted them either, especially Sird. Within the first hour of meeting her, he could already tell, she was hiding something. She had her own agenda.
And after a bit of hacking into the databases, he confirmed it. His hunch was correct, she was also a member of Team Galactic.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Either she was a spy from Team Galactic, or perhaps the opposite.
Either way, it didn't concern him.
From what he could tell, she wasn't particularly loyal to either side. It seemed like she was doing all of this simply because she felt like it, because she was bored.
Though... perhaps that could be useful. Team Galactic, huh? They must have some valuable research of their own. He'd look into that later.
But as for his research now... well, after obtaining DNA from the Deoxys and conducting further analysis, Colress discovered something.
The DNA wasn't just similar to a form of Pokérus, it was a hyper-advanced form of it.
To understand what this means, we first need to examine what Pokérus actually is in more detail.
Pokérus is a rare zoonotic disease found only among Pokémon. Unlike most viruses, Pokérus has no ill effects on the infected Pokémon.
Instead, it actually helps the infected Pokémon grow stronger.
It can be contracted in two notable ways: either through contact with another infected Pokémon during battle, or through close interaction such as play.
This is due to how Pokérus functions. Despite its name, it has been observed to behave more like a symbiotic relationship rather than a traditional virus. When observed up close, tiny microorganisms can be seen covering an infected Pokémon's body.
However, there is one constant rule, humans are unable to contract Pokérus.
Mechanically, this is because humans don't possess EVs. But if you look deeper, the wording becomes interesting. It states that humans cannot contract Pokérus, not that they are immune to it.
So, what would happen if there were a strain of Pokérus powerful enough to push through a human's natural defenses?
That's where this new strain comes in.
When Colress introduced Pokémon DNA to it, he observed something unusual. Instead of interacting normally, the strain appeared to absorb the DNA and break it down
He began testing.
With standard Pokémon DNA, the strain completely destroyed the weaker genetic material. So, he escalated his experiments, drawing from his personal collection.
He started with Black Tyranitar DNA. Only a drop.
At first, the Pokérus and the DNA behaved like normal, forming a temporary symbiotic interaction. But eventually, the strain consumed that as well, breaking it down completely.
That's when he brought out the big guns.
From his collection, he retrieved samples of Legendary Pokémon DNA he had stolen, starting with Articuno. These were the only Legendary samples he had, although it was just the legendary birds, he didn't have the Legendary Beasts, Lugia, or Ho-Oh.
When he introduced the Articuno DNA, the strain reacted differently.
For a moment, it behaved like standard Pokérus, merging and stabilizing, but the cellular activity was operating at extreme levels, far beyond normal parameters.
Once he gathered the data he needed, Colress immediately placed the Petri dish into a radiation chamber to destroy the DNA Cells.
He had already confirmed that the cells were alive and capable of acting independently. He was intelligent enough not to risk even a fragment, especially one enhanced with Legendary DNA, rejoining the main body.
After all, he didn't technically know that Deoxys was a Legendary Pokémon, so you can't blame him for being cautious
In any case, he decided to designate this new strain as V-PKRS, an advanced form of Pokérus.
However, he wasn't going to test it on human DNA just yet.
For now, he retrieved another Petri dish, the last remaining sample he had. He would need to collect more DNA from the two Deoxys before sending one to Larousse City.
Although Sird had insisted that he only send one, keeping the other for further testing.
Before, she had told him to send both. Now she had changed her mind. No doubt it was because of her agenda, but like he says many times he doesn't care, in fact maybe its better, he can keep a steady supply of DNA close by
Speaking of which, that reminded him of something he needed to look into.
Leaving the dish on the table, Colress walked to the other side of the room and picked up a rock, one with a streak of red along its surface.
The red substance was clearly dried blood.
As for why he had it, well, back when he was working for the Masked Man, or at least pretending to, he had traveled to the Orange Islands. His goal had been to get more Legendary DNA, and possibly get some Lugia DNA
So he went to a place where there were rumors of Lugia sleeping, near the Shamouti Islands,
That's when he found the rock. He didn't know why, but the dried blood caught his attention, so he brought it back with him.
After analyzing it using his personal database, one that contained genetic data on nearly every known Pokémon, including the Legendary birds, he found no matches..
Which meant one of two things, either this was from an undiscovered Pokémon or it was Lugia's. Those were the only possibilities Colress considered, and the thought of it excited him.
He was just about to scrape some of the dried blood off the rock for testing, but then he heard knocking coming from the door pulling him out of his thoughts
Carr's voice followed from the other side of the door, "Hey, Colress. I'm here like you asked. Came early since I've got nothing better to do. You got everything ready so we can move them?"
Colress clicked his tongue under his breath, setting his tools down before walking over and opening the door, a polite smile already in place.
"Of course, Sir Carr. Everything is prepared," he said smoothly, "Just take the research papers on the table, and retrieve the specimen on the right first. Sird will come by for the other one later."
Of course that was a lie. Like he said earlier, Sird had changed the plan at the last minute, she intended to keep one of the two here. And judging by Carr's reaction, she hadn't told him.
"Okay, okay. Oh, speaking of which, Sird wants to talk to you," Carr said, pointing toward another room.
But as they spoke, something began to move. Back on the table, inside the dish, the Deoxys DNA stirred, slowly it crawled out.
It slid across the surface, seeking the nearest source of organic material, which was the rock. It latched onto the dried blood and began to consume it. But instead of breaking it down it merged with it.
And as for what that blood was, well remember back to when Ash was at the islands and dealing with all that stuff. Then remember when he got shot through the chest, well blood did fall out any idea were it went
You guessed it, the dried blood on that rock was Ash's blood, but of course no one knew that, not even Ash knew
At that moment, Colress stepped out of the room, and Carr walked in, looking bored.
He casually tossed out a Poké Ball, "Steelix, come out."
His Steelix emerged and immediately wrapped around the first containment tube that had Deoxys 1, leaving the other one with the other Deoxys that was healing but still missing over half its body
The DNA, now fused with Ash's blood, slithered silently from the rock, dropping onto Steelix's tail. From there, it climbed upward, inching its way toward the container as Steelix carried it out of the room toward the transport van.
Carr, meanwhile, barely paid attention.
As he passed the desk, he noticed the now-clean rock and the empty glass dish.
"Trash," he muttered.
Which, to be fair... it did look like trash now.
So he tossed both into the garbage and walked out.
And with that single, careless act, everything changed. When Colress returned, he would simply assume Carr had thrown away valuable DNA.
Annoying, and it made Colress curse out Carr for being an idiot, but he just threw it all into the radiation room to kill off any Cells or DNA, now that it was contaminated, and the Deoxys DNA might have merged with the unknown DNA, in his own mind he got rid of it,
But without him knowing, outside both Deoxys 1 and and the fragment of Deoxys cells fused with Ash's DNA were driven away, heading straight for Larousse City.