After defeating Roxanne, the Rustboro gym leader, Ashlyn and the gang were relaxing at the Pokémon Center. The gang wax talking to Prof. Oak at the moment.
"[So you've won your second gym badge, huh Ashlyn?]" Prof. Oak asked.
"Yeah, Roxanne was a bit of a tough one to beat." Ashlyn admitted.
"[I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to handle the next one.]" Prof. Oak encouraged her.
"Thanks, Professor." Ashlyn smiled.
"[Good luck at your next gym. Bye!]" Prof. Oak waved to her before the screen went black.
At that moment, Tesla ran off.
"Tesla! Where are you going?!" Ashlyn called out.
The gang ran after Tesla.
====================================
The gang soon found Tesla who was being petted by a boy around her age. She recognized this person; Alain Sycamore.
"Alain?" Ashlyn called out.
The said person turned and stood up at the mention of his name. His blue eyes widened when he caught sight of Ashlyn.
"Ashlyn Ketchum, is that you?" Alain asked.
Ashlyn nodded and ran over to the boy and hugged him.
"It's good to see you, Alain." Ashlyn smiled.
Alain smiled as he hugged Ashlyn back, "Good to see you too, Ashlyn."
Ashlyn tightens her hug and then lets go.
"You know Alain Sycamore?!" Max gasped.
"Alain and I are childhood friends." Ashlyn responded, "Alain, I would like you to meet my new friends, Brock, May and Max."
"Nice to meet you." Brock greeted.
"Hello." May waved.
"Hi!" Max greeted.
"So what are you doing here in Hoenn?" Ashlyn asked.
"I was hoping to learn about Hoenn Pokémon that are able to Mega Evolve." Alain replied.
"Wow. How's your dad and Mairin?" Ashlyn asked.
{A/N: I decided that Alain and Mairin are Prof. Sycamore's kids}
"They're both fine." Alain replied, "By the way, I saw how you did the Indigo, Orange, and Silver Conference. I have to admit that you did great in those leagues."
Ashlyn smiled, "Thanks."
"If I'm guessing right, you're competing in the Hoenn League." Alain said.
Ashlyn nodded, "You're spot on."
"Well how about you join us for lunch?" Brock offered.
"Sure." Alain replied.
======================================
The group was having lunch together with Alain. He was explaining about Mega Evolution to May and Max.
"Wow, I never knew Mega Evolution was so powerful." May commented.
"It is amazing. I'm also shocked that Ashlyn's Pokémon can Mega Evolve with no problem. Some trainers have trouble on their first try." Alain stated.
"I was amazed as well." Ashlyn admitted.
"Ashlyn Ketchum, Brock Harrison, May Maple, Max Maple, and Alain Sycamore, please come to the front desk to pick up your Pokémon." Nurse Joy announced.
The said trainers finished their meals, threw out their trash, and headed towards the front desk.
=========================================
When they picked up their Pokémon, they all introduced their Pokémon to each other. Alain was impressed by Ashlyn's Hoenn Pokémon. They were also impressed with Alain's Pokémon which were Charizard, Metagross, Treecko, Poochyena, Taillow, and Zigzagoon.
"A great set of Pokémon, Ashlyn." Alain complimented.
"Thanks, Alain." Ashlyn thanked him.
"Where did you get that Treecko?" Max asked.
"Professor Birch gave him to me. Since he only had one trainer who picked a Torchic and a Mudkip was given to someone else. Since there wouldn't be any new trainers coming for another month, so he gave me Treecko." Alain explained.
"So this is the same Treecko May and I saw at the lab." Ashlyn realized.
"Oh yeah." May remembered.
"Talk about coincidences huh?" Max commented.
"Yeah." May agreed.
"By the way, Brock, how long is it till the ferry to Dewford Island?" Ashlyn asked.
"We have two hours before the next ferry to Dewford Island anyway, and according to this guidebook, there's lots to do here that doesn't involve just shopping! So why don't we all just check on the city on our own and meet at the ferry?" Brock suggested.
"Mm hm! Okay!" May said happily.
"Yeah! That sounds good- AH!" Max started before he yelped.
"Max, what's wrong?" Ashlyn asked.
"Is everything okay over there?" May asked.
"Ah! Ha... Just fine! Everything's okay! And especially good with the PokéNav! Ah... Ha ha… Gotta go!" Max panicked as he started to leave, only for Ashlyn and Alain to stop him in his tracks.
"Are you sure everything's okay? What were you panicking about just now?" Alain questioned.
Max shook his head frantically, trying to assure that everything was fine at his end. "N-Nothing! I just... uh... I'm just going for a walk across the city!" Max explained nervously,
"Well, can Alain and I join you?" Ashlyn asked.
"Uh, no! I don't mind!" Max said, shaking his head.
And so, Brock and May went shopping while Ashlyn, Alain, and Max decided to take a walk around the city.
===================================
Ashlyn, Alain, and Max were walking the streets of Rustboro City.
"So you damaged the PokéNav?" Alain asked as he held the damaged device.
Max sighed, "Yeah. But it was an accident."
Max's Eevee, who was riding on his head, sighed as well.
"Why don't we go to the Devon Corporation? It should be here in Rustboro City." Ashlyn suggested.
"We might be able to get the PokéNav fixed there since the company makes them." Alain agreed.
"Then let's go!" Max beamed.
"Eevui!" Eevee smiled.
=======================================
Ashlyn, Alain, and Max soon arrived at the Devon Corporation building. The three were quite impressed by the size of the building. They entered the lobby and walked up to the front desk. The lady at the desk looked up at them when they came up.
"Hello, welcome to Devon Corporation. How can I help you?" She greeted the three.
"Hi, I need to get my PokéNav fixed." Max held up his damaged device.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we don't do repairs here." The lady apologized.
"What?" Ashlyn gasped.
"Rai?!" Tesla exclaimed.
"You're kidding." Alain added.
"So now what do we do?" Max asked, desperate.
Eevee whined.
Before Max's question could be answered, an elderly man in a smart suit and a male security guard came up to Ashlyn and the boys.
"Is there a problem here?" The security guard asked.
"Our friend's PokéNav got damaged." Alain replied.
"May I take a look at it, please?" Asked the man in a smart suit.
Max handed the PokéNav to the man.
"Oh, I see... You spilled your drink inside here, haven't you?" The businessman asked.
"Uh... How did you know that?" Max asked in surprise.
"I think he can easily tell." Alain commented.
Then they see Officer Jenny coming towards them.
"Officer Jenny?" Ashlyn asked.
"I apologize for taking your time, sir. I have some information. It seems that someone is plotting to infiltrate the Devon Corporation, and I thought you should know." Officer Jenny explained.
"Who, officer?" The security guard asked.
"I've instructed my people to find out what they can about the situation. Meanwhile, it's important that you double check your security system." Officer Jenny explained.
"I see." The businessman said and turned to the security guard, "Jim, could you help Officer Jenny?"
"Right away, sir." Jim nodded and gestured to Officer Jenny to follow him.
Then Officer Jenny and Jim walked away.
"Follow me." The businessman instructed.
The businessman led Ashlyn and the boys to a room where there were researchers doing something as they went in.
"Could you take a look at this PokéNav that's short-outed? It got some moisture into it, so I need a quick repair job." The businessman explained as he handed the device to the scientist.
"No problem! I'll fix it, Mr. President!" The man said, confidently.
"WHA!? President!?" Max exclaimed, shocked.
The businessman chuckled as the researchers explained.
"And as for your question, yes. This man is the president of Devon Corporation, Mr. Stone." The woman explained, before the man explained with a sheepish expression.
"Wow." The trio said, awed.
======================================
Soon, Mr. Stone led Ashlyn and the boys to where there were scientists researching and experimenting on the inventions that are currently in progress. Impressed with how it was looking, Max was in awe as he watched with wide eyes.
"Whoa... Look!" Max breathed out.
"This is where my company develops and tests new products!" Mr. Stone explained, causing Max to be curious as he turned to the president.
"What kind of new products?" Max asked.
"How would you three like to take a tour?" Mr. Stone asked.
"Yeah!" Max beamed.
"Sure." Ashlyn replied.
"Raichu!" Tesla agreed.
"Eevui!" Eevee smiled.
Alain nodded.
"Well then, follow me." Mr. Stone said.
======================================
So, Mr. Stone led the group to where one of the inventions were as he explained for what purpose this invention had.
"This machine creates a visual projection of Pokémon dreams!" Mr. Stone explained, interesting both Max and Alain as they turned to the president as Max was eager to see how it really works.
"Really? Pokémon dreams? Can we see one?" Max asked eagerly.
"I'm afraid it's not quite finished yet!" Mr. Stone replied, causing Max to slump down in disappointment.
"Darn..." Max groaned as Eevee whined.
========================================
Next, Mr. Stone led the group to another machine where there seemed to be speakers.
"This machine allows you to speak with Pokémon!" Mr. Stone explained.
"Then, can we listen to what Tesla is saying right now?" Max asked, excitedly.
"No, this product is still in development!" Mr. Stone explained, causing Max to slump down once again in disappointment.
"Not again..." Max groaned.
Ashlyn's brow arched, "You do know that you can ask me if you want to hear Tesla and Eevee, right Max?" She asked.
"Oh yeah." Max sweat-dropped.
Eevee sweat-dropped as well.
========================================
The third machine proved to be more surprising as Mr. Stone explained what it's about.
"This allows you to become a Pokémon!" Mr. Stone explained.
"Let me guess... This product is still in development, am I right?" Alain asked bluntly, causing Mr. Stone to sweat drop and give a sheepish smile and answer.
"Uh... yes. That's right." Mr. Stone confirmed, causing Max and Eevee to sigh in disappointment again.
"So, do you have any inventions in this place that actually work?" Max asked, praying.
"This is a machine that I'm particularly proud of!" Mr. Stone explained, causing the group to look up with surprised expressions. In front of them, was a machine of some sort with capsules that had some strange liquid inside each of them.
"'Cause it works...?" Max asked, only to get a shaking head from the president.
"Not yet, but my company is working hard to develop this prototype! It's a Pokémon Producing Machine!" Mr. Stone explained.
"'Pokémon Producing'?" Ashlyn asked.
"Yes, these capsules are filled with creation fluid! We put a Pokémon Fossil inside and extract its data. Then we analyze it with a high-powered supercomputer! The machine creates a blueprint for the organism! And from that blueprint, we hope to grow our regenerated Pokémon. See?" Mr. Stone explained.
He gestured to the glass tube that would be the place where the Fossil Pokémon would be reborn. "It's going to be an exciting day when this machine works for the very first time!" Mr. Stone assured, causing Max to cry out his excitement.
"Wow! So you're gonna try and bring back Pokémon that are extinct!?" Max exclaimed, which the president affirmed with a nod and smile.
"Yes, if there is a Fossil! Then, we can hopefully bring any Pokémon back to life with this machine!" Mr. Stone explained.
"Cinnabar Island has a lab that's able to do the same thing with Pokémon fossils." Ashlyn pointed out.
"There's also one in the Kalos Region." Alain added.
"Yes! And by the question you're giving me, I can tell that both you three are big fans of Pokémon! Aren't you?" Mr. Stone asked.
"Yes I am. I hope to become a great Pokémon Master and Coordinator." Ashlyn replied, smiling.
"I want to be a great Pokémon Researcher like my dad." Alain added.
"I'm a big fan of Pokémon, too! I have some of my own Pokémon already! And when I'm big, I want to be a Gym Leader!" Max said proudly, earning a chuckle from Mr. Stone in the process.
"That's great!" Mr. Stone said.
"Hey, would it be alright if we bring our friend and my big sister here to see all of your machines? I think they're over at the Pokémon Center right now!" Max said hopefully.
"Well, yeah! Why not?" Mr. Stone said, causing Max to cheer by pumping his fist in the air.
"YEAH!" Max cheered.
"Eevui!" Eevee cheered as well.
"Mr. President! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! You should be back in your office! You have several appointments." A man called out, catching Ashlyn and the boys' attention. Mr. Stone on the other hand, flinched at seeing this man rush to him, as he knew that he was caught red-handed.
Smiling sheepishly, Mr. Stone chuckled before he turned to Ashlyn and the two boys. "It looks like I've been caught!" Mr. Stone chuckled.
"So who is this?" Ashlyn asked.
"Kennedy, I'd like you to meet my friends, Ashlyn, Alain and Max!" Mr. Stone explained, causing Max to bow down politely while Ashlyn and Alain just gave a small nod to the man.
"Hello, sir." Max said.
The assistant smiled before he introduced himself as well. "A pleasure, you three! I'm the President's assistant." Kennedy explained.
"Kennedy, would you mind running to the Pokémon Center to find their friend and Max's big sister and bring them back here for a little tour! Huh?" Mr. Stone asked, causing Kennedy to smile in affirmation.
"Sir. Of course I wouldn't." Kennedy assured. As soon as he said that, he made his way out of the building to head to where the others were.
========================================
Soon, Mr. Stone led Ashlyn and the boys back to where the lab was again, as he stopped in front of a machine.
"This machine's a bit temperamental!" Mr. Stone pointed out, causing Ashlyn and Alain to raise an eyebrow.
"Could you define temperamental for me, sir?" Ashlyn asked, before she and Alain noticed Mr. Stone turning to his left. As they looked to see where he was looking, a man was leaving the lab. On seeing the man leaving, Ashlyn remembered that this man is a spy from Team Aqua. As Max took his eyes off the machine, he noticed both Ashlyn, Alain and Mr. Stone looking a little distracted.
"What's the matter?" Max asked, causing Mr. Stone to respond with a calm tone.
"Nothing. But why don't you three and I take a walk?" Mr. Stone asked, causing the three to nod as they also left the lab.
=====================================
"Where are we going?" Max started to ask until Mr. Stone shushed him before he could say anything else.
"Quiet, Max. We're following that guy." Mr. Stone asked, causing Max to question him again, only a bit more quietly.
"How come?" Max asked, allowing Mr. Stone to explain.
"I make a point of knowing the faces of all my employees, but I haven't seen him before." Mr. Stone replied.
"Something tells me that he might be a spy." Ashlyn said.
"Officer Jenny said something about Devon Corp being infiltrated by some sort of spy. Do you think that could be that man? Because from what I'm feeling, it's anything but good so far." Alain explained seriously.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yeah."
========================================
They followed the man all the way up some stairs, which lead to the roof of the building.
Suddenly Max tripped and the man noticed their presence and ran up the stairs quicker.
Ashlyn, Alain, Max and Mr. Stone ran after him. Mr. Stone contacted the security guard on his mobile and told him what was going on.
Right now the man had made it to the roof and Ashlyn, Alain, Max, and Mr. Stone had caught up with him.
"The game's up!" Mr. Stone shouted, "Now give back the sample you stole!"
"Not a chance." The man smirked and he released a big lobster type Pokémon from a Pokéball.
"That's a Crawdaunt." Max said.
Ashlyn took out her Rotom Phone:
[Crawdaunt, the Rogue Pokémon. Crawdaunt are short-tempered, and quick to challenge opponents to battle. It is said that no other Pokémon can live in areas inhabited by Crawdaunt.]
"Tesla, use Thunder Shock!" Ashlyn ordered.
Tesla let out her electrical attack and Crawdaunt was instantly fried.
The man returned Crawdaunt to the Pokéball, but he wasn't willing to give up yet. He had a rocket propelled glider with him and was about to get away by using the glider.
"Oh no you don't!" Ashlyn shouted. Her eyes glowed blue and stopped the man in his place.
The man was panicking when he noticed that he wasn't moving. The two capsules were snatched away from the man.
"No! Give me back those capsules!" The man pleaded, trying to grab the capsules.
Ashlyn placed the capsules in Max's hands.
"Not a chance." Ashlyn stated.
Suddenly the doors opened again, and Team Rocket appeared with Officer Jenny, Brock, and May behind them!
"Team Rocket!" Max gasped.
Ashlyn kept her gaze at the Team Aqua spy, which meant that he was still in the air. Without telling her, Tesla thunder shocked the Team Rocket trio and they were sent flying into the air.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!" The trio screamed as they disappeared into the sky.
Soon enough, Officer Jenny called her men and they arrested the man.
"That man is someone from Team Aqua." Officer Jenny informed.
"Team Aqua?" Max asked.
"Yes... Here in the Hoenn region, there are two organizations that cause trouble. There's Team Aqua and Team Magma." Officer Jenny replied.
"I take it that they're as bad as Team Rocket who cause trouble in the Kanto region?" Ashlyn asked.
"Yes they are," Officer Jenny confirmed, "and if you kids ever see them, please contact me at once."
"We will." Brock promised.
======================================
Feeling grateful for the efforts the group had done to prevent anything from being stolen from his company, Mr. Stone offered to buy the group dinner at a restaurant before they would make their leave tomorrow.
"Thank you for all your help! You saved us from losing any part of our research project!" Mr. Stone said gratefully.
"Thanks, but I think the real heroes were both Ashlyn and Max." Alain recalled, as he turned to Ashlyn and Max who was being bashful.
"I was surprised that you have psychic abilities, Ashlyn." Mr. Stone commented.
"So was I when I found out." Ashlyn admitted.
"Who taught you?" Alain asked.
"Sabrina, she's the Saffron City's gym leader in the Kanto Region." Ashlyn replied.
"Amazing." Alain said.
"Adventures are the best thing about being young! You know... my son, Steven, is traveling around like you are. Right now, he's on Dewford Island!" Mr. Stone explained.
"Huh? Dewford Island?" Brock questioned in surprise.
"I'm sure that you'll all have a good time on Dewford Island! But, if there's a problem, ask for Steven!" Mr. Stone assured the gang.
"Thanks, Mr. Stone." Ashlyn said, gratefully.
"We'll look out for him!" Brock assured with a smile.
"Max? Where's my PokéNav?" May asked, causing the younger brother to flinch at the mentioning of the device.
"I want to look something up about Dewford Island! Come on... hand it over!" May requested as she set her finished drink on the table before asking the younger brother for the PokéNav.
Sweating, Max struggled to speak as he gave a nervous smile, "Uh, yeah...! O-Okay!" He gulped before he felt something tapping onto his knee. Looking to his right, it was Mr. Stone handing him his PokéNav! It looked new, causing Max to give a small nod before he took the device back. Slowly turning the PokéNav on, Max grinned at seeing the device working before he gave it to his sister.
"Here it is! Dewford Island! And it's not broken at all!" Max exclaimed, much to May's confusion before she took it from him.
"Broken? Hm hm... Thank you!" May said, before she took the device to search up on the island, which would be the group's next destination.
=========================================
The gang was heading the next day when Alain had asked them something.
"You want to come with us?" Ashlyn asked.
Alain nodded, "Yeah, I have a great feeling that I'll experience a lot of things if I go with you, Ashlyn."
Ashlyn's cheeks turned pink at that. Then she smiled, "Alright then. Welcome aboard!"
Alain smiled back.
=============================================
And so, the gang along with their new friend, Alain, are headed towards Dewford Island where Ashlyn's next gym battle is.
=============================================
Pokémon Caught: Poochyena (Lela)(F), Mudkip (Finn)(M), Shiny Torchic (Hestia)(F), Ralts (Miku)(F), Ralts (Lancelot)(M), Taillow (Percy)(M), Zigzagoon (Ziggy)(M), Treecko (Kazuki)(M), Wurmple (Willow)(F)