Callahan was walking down the street with Mia next to him and Kellie on his back. After everything, Kellie had fallen asleep right there, holding on and talking in her sleep, mumbling, "...I wanna play more with Uncle Callahan."
Mia and Callahan chuckled.
"Looks like Kellie's talking in her sleep," Callahan said, adjusting her on his back.
"She did run all over the place. She's exhausted," Mia added.
"That's fine with me," Callahan said with a smile. Then he noticed something. "Wait…" He turned to see a conveniently placed Sudowoodo walking beside him. "What are you doing following us?"
Sudowoodo looked at him and smiled. "Sudo!" he said, waving his arm in the air.
"Now don't give me that! I returned all the Pokémon I caught! And excuse me, but I never caught you!" Callahan said, trying to get the Rock-type to leave him alone.
But Mia chuckled to herself. "You're following my big brother because you like him, right?"
Callahan looked surprised as he huffed and turned away. "Go home! Why don't you go and find somebody else to bother? Didn't you hear a word I said?" He would've tried to run, but Kellie was on his back. So he marched off, and Sudowoodo still followed behind.
—
Harriet walked toward her home and sighed as she made her way down the street. Some people were out and about, but when they noticed Harriet looking at them, they flinched and quickly turned the other way.
Harriet took a breath. She didn't care about all that. She was fine. In her house, where she was alone. She was better off that way, at least, that's what she told herself.
Once inside, she fixed herself dinner, took a shower, and changed into her pajamas. After finishing up, she walked down the hallway of her house and stopped in front of a little green box. She stared at it for a long moment.
A part of her wanted to grab it, wanted to reminisce about the past, about what used to be. Her one gloved hand reached out and gently rubbed it as she remembered. It wasn't that she hated Pokémon. It's just that she doesn't want to—
But in the middle of her remembering, she heard a loud crash.
She turned around to find Pokémon moving around inside her house, Marill, Xatu, Togepi, Totodile, and Smoochum. And that was just the ones already inside. Outside, sleeping on her porch, were Heracross, Tyrogue, and a Machamp.
Harriet's eye twitched as she stared at the scene. "W-wha! What are you doing in my house!?"
—
In the mansion, Margo and Oliver were eating across from each other. Oliver looked up from his plate and gave his daughter a warm smile.
"Did you like the Wind Festival, Margo?"
Margo perked up a little, her eyes lighting with the memory. "It was lots of fun! I rode the roller coaster and went to the haunted house…"
She smiled, but it quickly faded as she glanced down at her food. "…What about you?"
Oliver sighed, straightening his silverware. "I was very busy today. The man who won the Catch Race said something about a rare Pokémon being in the area, but…"
He shook his head with a frown. "Some story. I haven't heard one word about that."
Margo paused. Then she looked up at him, her voice soft, almost hesitant. "But… weren't there stories? About Zeraora?"
The room fell still. Oliver's smile vanished. He set his fork down carefully and folded his hands.
"Now, Margo… Zeraora doesn't exist anymore."
Margo blinked. "Father?"
His voice turned firm, measured, but unmistakably stern. "We can't have our citizens panicking. I want no more talk of this."
Margo's hands tightened around her napkin. Her shoulders lowered. "…Yes, Father."
—
Meanwhile, up in the mountains…
Risa was a mess.
Leaves in her hair. Dirt on her pants. Makeup smudged. Sweat clinging to her face.
She'd tripped at least four times and screamed at every rustle in the bushes.
"This is ridiculous! Where is this stupid Pokémon?!"
A Noctowl hooted and flew overhead.
"Would you STOP SCARING ME?!" she shouted into the woods like it owed her money.
Then—SWOOSH!
A Golbat swooped past her shoulder.
"AAAGH—!" She tumbled to the ground again, groaning.
Before she could gather herself, two flashlight beams cut through the darkness.
"Hey, you! You know this mountain's off-limits, right?" a Ranger called out.
"HUH?!" Risa blinked as they stepped forward.
"You've heard of Zeraora's curse, haven't you?" the second added.
"Zeraora? Curse??" Risa forced herself to her feet, nearly tripping again. "Now wait just a second!"
The first Ranger sighed. "You're not from around here, are ya? …Anyway, it's forbidden to be here, so let's go." He gestured for Risa to follow.
"Fine, I'll come! Just tell me, okay?" Risa said, pulling out her phone and showing the rangers a picture. "This Pokémon… I hear it's rare. You know it?"
The Rangers looked at the picture. It was, in fact, an Eevee. They raised their eyebrows.
"Rare? Yeah, I guess you could say it's rare to find an Eevee here in the mountains… because they don't live up here," one of them said flatly.
Risa was taken aback. She bit her fingernail. "That old man lied to me through his teeth!" If she ever saw him again, she'd give him a piece of her mind. But right now, she just wanted to get out of this forest… and take a nice long bubble bath.
—
Over in the labs…
Even though it was late, Toren was still up taking care of the lab Pokémon, including his own Staryu.
"You worked hard, didn't you, Staryu? But thanks to your help, it looks like we'll be ready for tomorrow. That man is really good at performance, isn't he? So the presentation should go well."
The only one still around was one of Toren's last remaining colleagues. He smiled, watching Toren work.
Everyone in the lab knew Toren was smart, smarter than most of them combined. He just struggled with people. But seeing him a little happier, the colleague gave a quiet nod and turned off the lab lights, letting Toren close up when he was ready.
As Toren continued working, a pair of glowing eyes watched from the darkness.
They weren't Pokémon. They were night vision goggles, worn by people who weren't supposed to be there.
A voice whispered through the comms, "Find the vial."
"Affirmative," another responded, as several pairs of eyes scanned the room.
But just as they were looking…
They heard someone else entering. Or trying to.
They turned, and saw the Rocket Trio sneaking in, tiptoeing and whispering.
"Hey, wait a minute," Jessie stammered, pointing at them. "Who are you? We're supposed to be the villains here!"
"Yeah!" James added. "This is our infiltration!"
"What are you talking about? We were here first. Get lost," one of the intruders snapped, still pointing.
"No way, we're gonna steal… what are we looking for again?" Meowth asked, looking up at James.
James shrugged. "I thought you knew."
"See? You don't even know what you're looking for. So get lost, amateurs!" the intruder barked, completely abandoning stealth.
"Oh, you want to go?!" Jessie shot back, grabbing a Poké Ball from her belt. "We can go right now!"
"Maybe I do!" the intruder growled, stepping forward.
But just then—
CREEAAAK.
Toren heard the noise, who slowly started making his way toward the lab.
All parties froze.
"Scatter!" someone hissed.
The shadowy intruders vanished. Team Rocket dove behind crates and out windows.
Toren opened the lab door and looked around. Empty.
He blinked, shrugged, and sighed. "Must be more tired than I thought…"
He turned off the lights again and left. But this wasn't over. Not yet.
—
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on…
Ash was sitting at the desk in his hotel room, Vee curled up in his lap, on a video call with his mom.
Behind him, Molly had already fallen asleep, tucked under the blankets with Clefairy as the designated cuddle buddy, mostly because Clefairy was soft, and also because Clefairy loved cuddles.
"It's good to see she's happy," Delia said, as the Rotom Phone floated over to give her a look at Molly.
Bellossom popped onto the screen too, peeking in with excitement. Technically, Ash had transferred Bellossom over to Molly, so the two were bonded now.
When the phone floated back to him, Ash nodded. "Yeah… looks like she's doing a lot better."
Delia chuckled warmly. "Well, I'll leave you two alone so you can rest. It's getting late anyway. Love you."
"Love you too. Night," Ash replied, ending the call and leaving the room in quiet.
Well… as quiet as it got. Molly was asleep, which was close enough.
Ash tapped his phone again, this time doing some research on Fula City.
After scrolling through a few pages, he finally found something.
"Huh… So this palace is part of that movie… Man, I wish I watched that," Ash muttered.
He was tempted to binge it now, but Molly was here, if she woke up and saw it playing, things might get awkward. So instead, he got up, planning to find a spot outside the room to watch it quietly with headphones.
He made a quick gesture to Pikachu, silently asking him to keep an eye on Molly.
Pikachu, more than fine with this arrangement, hopped onto the bed and curled up at the foot of it for a well-earned nap.
Ash stepped out of the room, Vee now lazily perched on his shoulder. He made his way to the elevator and hit the button.
But when the doors opened…
There she was. A very tired-looking, half-dead Gyaru standing inside the elevator: Risa.
She blinked out of her daze and spotted him, Ash, the second-place winner, then she noticed something else. The Pokémon next to him. An Eevee.
Her eyes lit up.
Ash, however, who had no idea who she was or what was supposed to happen in the movie timeline, slowly turned around, "…I'll take the stairs."
"Wait!!" Risa called out, jamming her foot between the elevator doors just before they closed. "You're Ash, right? From the Catch Race!"
"Yup," he replied flatly.
"And that's an Eevee, right?" she added, pointing directly at Vee.
Ash glanced at his partner. Vee gave the girl an unimpressed blink, "Sure is."
"Where'd you catch it?! Was it in the mountains?! Is there a rare Eevee nest up there?! I NEED TO KNOW."
Ash blinked. "…Lady, are you okay?"
"Okay, first of all, don't call me 'lady.' That makes me sound old. I'm like, fifteen. Second—" She deflated completely. "I've been lied to. Nearly eaten by a Golbat. Told that Zeraora has a curse. And I just spent four hours in the wrong forest looking for a Pokémon that never lived there!"
"…So, no," Ash muttered.
Risa slumped against the elevator wall. "I've been through things."
Ash sighed. "I didn't catch him here. Vee's been with me a while."
"Oh." Her shoulders sagged even more. "Great."
Ash looked her over again, dirty, exhausted, emotionally fried, and relented just a little.
"You look like you need sleep more than answers."
"Sleep is for the emotionally stable," Risa mumbled.
Vee blinked again, then turned to look at Ash,
Ash sighed and motioned down the hallway. "Come on. There's a vending machine down this way, I was gonna find a quiet place to be alone before going to sleep, but… I can spare five minutes."
"You're a hero," Risa muttered, dragging herself along behind him.
A while later, Ash and Risa sat in the vending machine area, Risa was scarfing down a strawberry milk and a bag of seaweed chips like she hadn't eaten all day. (She hadn't.)
Ash sat beside her, headphones around his neck, Vee once again in his lap.
"So… are you always this dramatic?" he asked.
Risa slurped her drink. "No. Just when I'm lied to, cursed, chased, and emotionally unstable."
Ash chuckled softly. "Join the club," he mumbled, and even Vee nodded in agreement.
"I do like your Eevee, though," she added. "He's cute."
"Vee-ve!" Vee said proudly, tail wagging.
"So, you're looking for an Eevee?" Ash finally asked.
Risa paused mid-chip. "Yeah… My little brother asked me to come here and catch one. I don't really know why. I've never caught a Pokémon before. Don't even have one myself."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that kinda sounds dumb. Especially since you might need to battle it to catch it. Not every Pokémon is a Caterpie," he said, sipping on a green tea from the vending machine.
"Yeah... I kinda got that after what happened today." Risa laughed weakly, dabbing at her smudged makeup. "I must look like a mess, don't I?"
"Yeah… You kinda look like you jumped out of a tornado, lost a fight with a berry bush, and then crawled through a cave full of Zubat," Ash said bluntly.
Risa froze mid-sip, straw still in her mouth. Slowly, she turned and gave him a deadpan stare.
"Wow. Aren't you supposed to be a gentleman and say I still look pretty?"
Ash snorted into his cup, nearly choking. "I mean... if you want me to lie, I can try," he said with a straight face.
Risa blinked at him, mouth half-open, straw dangling like a broken antenna. Ash gave her a sideways glance, then smirked.
"...Don't look at me like that. You're the one who brought it up."
Risa snorted, and then quickly turned away to hide it, though her shoulders were shaking slightly.
"Geez. You're not like how I expected you to be."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "What, were you expecting some superhero or something?"
"Well… kinda." She peeked at him again. "I mean, during the Catch Race you were all cool and confident. I figured you'd be, I dunno... taller?"
Ash turned to her, blinking. "Taller?"
"Not that you're short!" she added quickly, waving her hands in panic. "Just… slightly taller. Like hero-tall, you know?"
Ash just stared. "...I'm eleven. How old did you think I was? Besides, you've got no room to talk, we're like the same height."
"Okay, I'm gonna shut up now," Risa muttered, face turning red.
Ash let the silence hang for a moment before leaning back against the vending machine and sighing.
"Well, for the record… you'd probably look pretty cute if your face wasn't melting off."
Risa paused. Slowly, very slowly, she turned to him with a squint, "Wait… Was that an actual compliment, or are you just messing with me?"
Ash took a sip of his tea, as innocent as could be. "Wouldn't you like to know."
Risa leaned in, narrowing her eyes. "No, seriously. Say it again. I need to hear it from the same guy who said I looked like I lost a fight with a berry bush."
Ash rolled his eyes, locked eyes with her for a beat, then smirked, "You're cute. Even like this."
Risa's face went red. Not just flustered, thermonuclear.
Her mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again, "I—I—You—!"
"Relax," Ash chuckled. "You don't have to explode."
"I am not emotionally here right now to hear all of this," Risa muttered, rubbing her temple.
Ash rolled his eyes. "No one is," he said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, go get some sleep. And maybe take a shower. If you really need help finding an Eevee… fine. I'll help you."
"Wait, really?!" Risa lit up, then quickly narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to send me on a wild goose chase, are you? Because I already went on one of those, and I refuse to go on another."
"I mean, I was planning on going with you. Does that answer your question?"
Risa raised a finger like she was about to argue, but decided not to, "You know what, I'll take all the help I can get. I'm hopeless at this. Okay, fine."
"Sure," Ash said, stretching his arms, "but I mean it, in the morning. And only if I see you actually took care of yourself."
He stood up with a sigh. "Anyway, I'm heading back. I can't leave my little sister alone too long… even if she's sleeping."
His Rotom Phone floated out beside him, already pulling up the contacts list.
"R-right," Risa stammered as they exchanged numbers. "I'll… I'll see you in the morning, I guess."
"See ya."
Ash turned and walked off down the hallway.
As he did, he let out a long sigh.
Well… There goes movie night.
Whatever. He could check it out tomorrow. Right now, he had more important things to keep an eye on.
Like them. As long as he focused on the Team Rocket trio… As long as he kept his attention on them, made sure they couldn't do anything stupid...
Everything would be fine....Right?
—
The next morning…
Ash, Risa, and Molly left the hotel and made their way toward the nearby woods, not the mountains, thankfully.
Risa looked much better today. After a good night's sleep and a long bath, she was back to normal. Even her makeup was back on point.
Molly, meanwhile, was still a bit sleepy. Because, well, she was a child. So Ash called out his Meganium, letting Molly ride on her back. Meganium was soft, gentle, and more than happy to help Ash, marching proudly beside Ash with Molly curled up against her leafy neck.
"Huh," Risa muttered, watching the scene, "I thought your Pikachu and Eevee were your only Pokémon."
"I never said that," Ash replied, eyes on his phone. He'd finally decided to use the DexNav feature he'd unlocked but never touched before, scanning for Eevee nearby.
Risa peeked over his shoulder. "What's that?"
"DexNav," Ash mumbled. He didn't bother hiding it, this wasn't some top-secret invention. "It pretty much tracks down wild Pokémon."
"That's… that is really useful," Risa said, eyes wide.
"Yeah," Ash said simply. That was it. End of sentence.
Then, suddenly, a ping on the mini-map.
Risa's eyes lit up. "Oh! There's one! Let's go—!"
She took a step forward, but Ash put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.
"Hold up. You can't just go in guns blazing. That's how you ended up in the state I found you in yesterday."
Risa raised a finger, paused, then nodded. "…That's a reeeeeally good point, actually."
Ash moved ahead and gently pushed aside a bush.
There, at the edge of a sunny cliff, was a lone Eevee, stretching and enjoying the morning breeze.
"Okay… what's the plan?" Risa whispered.
"Easy," Ash said confidently. He picked up Vee by the scruff and plopped him down in front of them, "Vee, take care of it."
Vee blinked and looked up at Ash like, 'Seriously? What?'
Ash gestured with a wave. "Easy. Just use [Attract]."
Vee blinked again. Eevees could learn [Attract], but that didn't mean Vee knew it. Still, the girl Eevee had now noticed him.
Vee hesitated… then, awkwardly, winked.
A gentle breeze rolled through the trees. Molly kept softly snoring.
And then…
The wild Eevee got heart-eyes and ran straight over to Vee, nuzzling into his side affectionately.
Vee stared at her in stunned silence, "Vee? [That actually worked?!]"
Risa blinked. Looked at Vee. Then at the wild Eevee. Then at Ash, "I… wha…?"
Ash just shrugged. "Well, throw the ball."
"Oh! Right!" Risa fumbled for a Poké Ball, then quickly tossed it at the wild Eevee.
The ball hit.
Roll.
Roll.
Roll…
Click.
Caught.
Risa stood frozen for half a second. Then her eyes went wide with delight. She grabbed the Poké Ball, held it up, and twirled in place, grinning from ear to ear,"Yes! I got it! I caught Eevee!"