{New show}
Inside Ash's shadow, a place that looks flat and normal from the outside, Haunter's private "apartment" drifted quietly in cozy ghostly darkness. The floating couch was upside-down, the coffee table was phasing in and out of existence, and a spectral coffee maker muttered angrily to itself.
Haunter's alarm screamed, "RISE AND PANIC!" before Haunter slapped it into submission. It turned into a squeaky plush and whimpered, which was its standard morning routine.
Groggy and floating slightly sideways, Haunter drifted into her shower, where instead of water, sparkling ghost-energy mist washed over her. It somehow felt both warm and cold at the same time, like the emotional damage of being awake before noon.
She wrapped herself in a purple towel patterned with little skulls and slid over to the sink to brush her teeth. Halfway through, just as she was spitting into a drain that led nowhere,
the cabinet under the sink banged open violently and out rolled the reason for 90% of Haunter's problems.
Mew tumbled out headfirst, did a cartwheel in midair, landed on the countertop, and proudly announced:
"Good morning, roomie!!"
Haunter nearly swallowed her toothbrush.
"Oh COME ON! How long have you been under there?!"
"Since last night," Mew said cheerfully, shaking dust off her ears. "You locked the front door again, so I had to improvise!"
"You don't even live here," Haunter muttered, but she was already regretting saying it.
"Exactly! Which means you can't lock me out," Mew replied with the smug confidence of a creature who had never once paid rent.
Haunter groaned so dramatically the lights flickered.
She made her way to the kitchen in hopes that coffee would fix any part of this disaster. Her coffee maker, a floating metal dome with eyes, shrieked at her as it brewed.
"Yeah, yeah, good morning to you too," Haunter said, taking her mug, a purple one that read WORLD'S MOST HAUNTING ROOMMATE, and pouring herself a steaming cup.
She didn't get to taste it.
Mew appeared inches from her face and dunked her entire head in the cup like a cat drinking from a forbidden glass.
"Mew STOP. That's mine."
"But I love your coffee," Mew said, licking foam off her nose.
"You hate my coffee. Every time you drink it, you become a psychic hurricane."
"That's slander," Mew said, absolutely preparing to become a psychic hurricane.
Haunter sighed and floated over to the living room, where she summoned a stack of ghost parchment and a quill made of condensed screams. She wrote:
House Rules (Again):
Do not sneak into my shower.
Do not alter reality before breakfast.
Stop swapping my clothes with Ash's laundry.
No hovering eerily over my bed at 3 a.m.
Stop calling yourself my roommate.
Seriously stop calling yourself my roommate.
If you're going to stay here, at least use coasters.
Mew drifted behind her, reading over her shoulder.
"These rules are great," Mew said thoughtfully. "A little restrictive for a free-spirited cosmic being such as myself, but great."
And then she poked the parchment.
The entire list rewrote itself instantly into:
1. Let Mew do whatever she wants.
Haunter let her forehead fall onto the ghost table with a soft thunk.
"You are impossible."
"I prefer 'charismatic,'" Mew corrected.
Before Haunter could argue, the whole apartment suddenly lurched sideways. Cups rattled. Lights flickered. The coffee maker screamed in terror.
Ash was waking up.
Haunter grabbed the nearest floating lamp as gravity tilted at a weird angle.
"WHY is he waking up now? I haven't even had ONE sip of coffee!"
"He has morning responsibilities," Mew chirped, floating effortlessly while the whole apartment tilted like a roller coaster. "You know. Running, stretching, Bullying his frends. Those things."
The walls shuddered again as Ash yawned in the outside world, and the apartment began violently rocking.
Mew surfed on Haunter's now-empty coffee mug. "Wheeeee!"
"YOU CAUSED THIS!" Haunter shouted.
"I did no such thing," Mew said, doing a backflip. "But I'm absolutely taking credit."
The apartment tilted again, sending the couch, the table, Haunter, and the screaming coffee maker sliding across the floor in a ghostly avalanche.
Haunter finally managed to grab Mew out of midair.
"You are NOT staying here. You don't live here."
Mew hugged her like she'd just been handed a baby seal.
"Awwww, Haunter… don't say that. We're roommates!"
"No, we're not-!"
"Roommates who share a bond deeper than space and time…"
"Mew—"
"Roommates who brush teeth together—"
"You ambushed me in the bathroom!"
"Roommates who definitely don't have a choice because I've already moved my stuff in."
Haunter blinked.
"…You moved WHAT?!"
Mew pointed proudly.
Haunter turned her head.
A little pink dresser floated in the corner. A plush Mew bed sat beside the couch. A jar labeled "Emergency Chaos" bubbled ominously. A giant photo of Mew and Haunter (Haunter was screaming in it) hung crookedly on the wall.
Haunter stared.
"You've been living here for DAYS?!"
"Technically weeks," Mew said.
Haunter opened her mouth to yell-
and that was when Ash stretched again, causing the entire apartment to shake so hard that Mew launched onto Haunter like a flying cat and they toppled into the couch together.
Haunter sat there, twitching, defeated, holding one of Mew's tiny pink slippers.
Mew snuggled into her shoulder.
"Face it," Mew said sweetly. "You love having me here."
Haunter didn't respond.
"I'll make breakfast," Mew added.
Haunter raised an eyebrow. "…Oh?"
Mew grinned.
"I'm making pancakes! But like, psychic pancakes! They scream!"
Haunter buried her face in her hands.
"…I hate my life."
Mew patted her head lovingly.
"You love your life. I make it interesting"
--
The next day, after a late-night dinner and some sightseeing, they had stayed at the Pokémon Center. But tonight, Ash had gotten everything done, sent the money, and officially owned a house, and a nice one, too.
Ash led the group down a quiet, sandy path toward the place they'd be staying. He had told them it was an Airbnb. Even though he'd bought the entire place, they probably assumed it was a nice two-room rental and that they'd have to bunk together.
But then they froze when they saw it. They stopped in front of a large beach-blue house with white trim and a wraparound porch. It looked… expensive. And very not-Airbnb-ish.
May blinked. "…Ash? This is an Airbnb?"
Ash nodded confidently. "Yup."
Brock stared. "Ash… Airbnbs do not usually have gardens. Or porches big enough to host a family reunion."
Max adjusted his glasses, eyes narrowing. "How much did this cost per night?"
"Normal amount," Ash said, waving him off as he opened the door. "Take a look."
Inside, the place looked even nicer: five bedrooms, a big living room, a clean kitchen, good lighting, brand-new furniture.
Max's eyes widened. "This…this place smells like new wood. Did they build this last week?!"
"Look," Ash said, placing his hands on Max's shoulders, "when I say Airbnb, I mean… I booked it. And we're staying. That's all you need to know."
Max squinted harder. "That is not an answer."
Pikachu jumped onto the couch, bounced twice, then sprawled on his back. "Pikaaa!" He was sold. Vee looked at him and instead sat down on the carpet.
May ran straight to the hallway. "OH MY GOSH, THESE ROOMS ARE HUGE!"
Ash coughed. "Yeah, guess we got lucky."
Brock walked in slowly, like he wasn't sure if stepping on the floor would charge him money. "Ash… are you sure we can afford this? I mean, did you check the cleaning fees? The service charge? The—"
"Brock," Ash said, turning toward the kitchen like a man who absolutely wasn't hiding a secret lease in his pocket, "relax. It's all covered."
Rotom Phone peeked out of Ash's pocket, its eye flickering smugly.
"Covered is an understatement-zzz."
Ash shoved it back down. "Shut up, you."
Brock crossed his arms. "I swear, the moment I find out you spent a fortune on this…"
Ash waved his hand. "Good thing you're never finding out."
Brock placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Ash… what did you do?"
"Nothing illegal!" Ash said immediately.
Everyone stared at him.
"…Recently," he added. "Well, all you need to know is I already paid for a week, so you guys either enjoy it, or you're basically wasting my money," Ash lied.
Brock sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I guess since you already paid… can't really do anything."
May popped around the corner carrying a pillow shaped like a Wingull. "Welp, if this is illegal, then it's really comfortable crime! Dibs on the biggest room!"
"Hey!" Max shouted, chasing after her.
Brock rubbed his temples. "This is my life. This is truly my life."
Ash laughed and stretched. "Look, it's fine. We're here, we've got a place, and today we can start training."
Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "Pika pika!"
May peeked out again. "Training? Already? It's like 9 a.m.!"
"Yeah," Ash said. "We can relax later. You said you wanted me to train you, so training starts early."
Brock took a quick breath. Remembering the last time Ash trained someone, it was effective, but let's just say 'training from hell' is an understatement.
"Alright," Brock murmured, already bracing himself, "let's just hope she doesn't end up like Roy, Liko, and Dot…"
May froze mid–room-claiming and poked her head back out. "...Excuse me?"
Ash stretched casually. "Nothing major. They just… you know. Survived."
"Survived what?" Max asked, alarm rising.
"Character development," Ash answered with a straight face.
Pikachu nodded gravely. "Pika."
Brock rubbed his face. "Ash's 'training arc' is… hmm, how can I put this—"
"No, no spoilers," Ash silenced Brock. "Let her suffer on her own."
May's left eye twitched. "...Should I be worried?"
"Don't worry about it," Ash said as he walked past her and grabbed her by the back of her shirt, pulling her along. "Your training starts now."
May yelped as Ash dragged her out the front door, feet scrambling to keep up, "WAIT—WAIT—ASH, I HAVEN'T EVEN PUT MY BAGS DOWN—!"
"That's fine," Ash said cheerfully. "You won't need them."
"That doesn't make me feel better!"
Max poked his head out from one of the gigantic bedrooms. "Do I have time to get popcorn or is this happening now?"
"It's already happening," Brock shrugged. "So yeah, I'll go make some snacks. Enjoy the show."
–
{Meanwhile}
Carr and Sird walked down a long underground hall. They hadn't brought Orm with them because he was a little too loyal, if he knew about this, he would definitely tell Archer, who was the current acting Boss.
As for where they were: an underground hidden base. You might be thinking, didn't he say there was no base?
Yeah, he used a fun move called 'lying.' They did have one place, and it was this warehouse tucked away out of sight.
Carr was gritting his teeth, eyes nearly bulging out of his skull from anger as he bit down on his nail. "Who does she think she is, taking away my position…"
Sird shrugged casually. "She's the one the Boss put his trust into, especially with that order. Can you believe it? Ten billion to get a foothold here in Hoenn. Team Rocket must really be short on money if that's all," she said, sounding completely unbothered.
"I don't care! This was my territory, Hoenn was MINE!" Carr snapped as he gritted his teeth harder. "I'll be damned if I let a secretary get in my way!"
"What about the Executives?" Sird asked casually. "We both know you're way too weak to beat them. Hell, you might not even be the strongest Admin anymore."
"Shut up, Sird," Carr growled, knowing she was right. "It doesn't matter, because we have something they don't. And once we finish it, they won't stand a chance against us. Isn't that right?"
As he said that, he walked into another room and pressed a button on the wall. The large mechanical doors slid open, revealing rows of robots lined up along the walls, each one built by Carr himself. See, Carr may be pathetic in battle, but he makes up for it with his genius.
He is genuinely smart, capable of building almost anything with enough time and resources. He might even surprise Jessie, James, and Meowth, in everything except cost effectiveness and creativity.
But that wasn't the end of it. At the back of the hall were two green tubes, each containing something floating inside the goo. One was a red-and-blue figure, heavily damaged as if it had been ripped in half.
This thing was none other than Deoxys. They had found one, and were keeping it on life support, slowly regenerating it. The other was also injured, but significantly less, both unresponsive and being kept alive as they healed.
You see, the three Beasts were actually sent to Hoenn four years ago to investigate strange readings when two figures fell from the sky. Well, one crashed into the Sevii Islands, and the other into Hoenn.
Of course, this project was called none other than the Deoxys Project, and when the team went to retrieve both, they found these two Deoxys. It looked like they had fallen from space after an intense battle, one nearly dead, the other nearly crippled.
But Carr, and secretly Sird, saw an opportunity. They took both Deoxys, hid them, and reported to the Boss that whatever those things were had escaped, and they were going to continue searching.
Giovanni nodded, accepting the explanation. At the time, Team Rocket was in a very different position, they didn't even have Mewtwo yet, and the Masked Man was running Johto. As for Orm, he was simple. They told him they were planning to surprise the Boss by healing the Deoxys, then gave him the tragic "news" that they had died.
Poor Orm cried for three days. He was simple like that.
Anyway, while Orm thought the Deoxys were dead, Carr and Sird fed Giovanni fake sightings and reports, all to keep the money flowing. When Carr said he used all the funding on the airship, he lied. I mean, come on, you really can't believe anyone is that stupid.
He used the money to build his robots and research Deoxys, during which he discovered a few interesting things: it confirmed the existence of Pokémon in space, along with the fact that Deoxys was entirely made of DNA.
With this, they could easily find a way to start regenerating them. And once they were fully healed… well, they'd get there when they got there. Admittedly, Carr hadn't thought that far ahead. They just knew that with these Pokémon, even Giovanni would have trouble fighting them directly.
Sird looked at the two Deoxys, crossing her arms. "So, is there a reason you came to see them? I don't particularly see a point, other than to fix your ego."
Carr felt like falling over, but he steadied himself and took a breath. "Shut up, Sird. Of course I have a reason. And that's why I needed you here. You're the only one who knows this."
Notice how he didn't say trust. Yeah, feeling's mutual.
"So, what?" Sird asked impatiently.
"There's a scientist. He worked on the Mewtwo Project along with the one with the birds. I don't really remember, and I don't care," Carr said, crossing his arms. "I think if we can get him on our side, he can help us with this."
Sird raised an eyebrow. "Okay… who is it?" She crossed her arms, staring down at her tiny 'leader.'
Carr pulled out a tablet and tossed it to her. "He calls himself Colress. His credentials are really impressive, and like I said, his knowledge from when he worked on the Mewtwo Project might be useful. We might even be able to make these two things stronger."
Sird rubbed her chin as she looked through the information. According to the report, it looked like Colress also worked for the Masked Man while keeping things secret from the Boss, which meant he wasn't completely loyal. He probably had his own agenda. She made a mental note of that for later.
"So what do you think? Is it worth trusting someone else, now that that damn secretary took away my position as Boss of Hoenn?"
"I mean… she did kinda have a point. You don't 'fill in' the shoes left behind by the Boss," Sird said with a smirk, glancing at Carr's tiny height.
"Oh, shut it. I will have my position back, and then after that I swear I will take over Team Rocket as the new Boss one day!" Carr announced… even though he made the same speech every day.
Sird stared at him, unimpressed. "…Yes, very inspiring. Truly. I feel moved."
Carr puffed out his cheeks like a furious Spoink. "I MEAN IT THIS TIME!"
"You say that every time," Sird replied, scrolling lazily through the tablet. "Anyway, if we're really doing this Colress thing, we need to move carefully. He's smart. Very smart. As in: 'works with evil organizations but only because he finds it intellectually stimulating' smart."
Carr frowned. "…What does that mean?"
"It means he'd sell you if he found it interesting," Sird said matter-of-factly.
Carr flinched. "Tch… well, he won't dare betray us once he sees the Deoxys. He'll understand their potential. And once they're fully restored… Team Rocket will belong to me."
Sird shrugged, already bored of his speech. "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Her eyes drifted back toward the recovery tanks, toward the two floating figures, red and blue cells pulsing faintly in the green fluid.
"…They're healing faster than before," she murmured. "It won't be long."
Carr grinned wildly. "Good. Very good."
For a moment, the room fell silent, only the sound of bubbling fluid and mechanical humming.
Then one of the Deoxys' fingers twitched.
Sird narrowed her eyes. Carr didn't notice. And Sird didn't say anything either; she just let Carr walk out, spewing about his evil plan and whatever else, as she followed behind him. After all, she had her own agenda too.
Meanwhile, back in the room, the Deoxys that was more intact shifted its head, not like it was awake, more like it was trapped in a nightmare.
Inside its mind, it remembered that day, four years ago… how the two of them had been traveling peacefully through space for years when Rayquaza appeared and chased them down.
They tried to fight back, but Rayquaza was stronger, transforming into a form it had never seen before. It bit its friend, ripping him in half. Then, before it could react, Rayquaza dashed in and hit it with a point-blank [Hyper Beam]
The Hyper Beam engulfed it, pure light, pure pain, and the next thing it remembered was falling, falling, falling…
Then nothing.
Only darkness.
Now it felt itself floating. Its body burned. Its head twitched side to side like it was trying to wake from a nightmare. The monitor beside the tank showed its vitals accelerating, faster, and faster, until Deoxys opened its eyes.
–
{Later that same day}
Ash lay stretched across a hammock in the front yard, swaying lazily in the ocean breeze. He had finally taken off his jacket, letting the warm Dewford sun hit his arms as he sipped a cold berry juice through a straw. He was wearing an Alolan button-up shirt instead, since, you know, May and Max may have found out about his Aura, but he wasn't ready to talk about the hole in his chest yet.
Pikachu lay on his stomach like a tiny lifeguard, sunglasses on, a tiny Pikachu-sized coconut drink in hand. Vee sat curled under the hammock in the shade like a sleepy housecat.
Max stepped onto the porch, looked at Ash… then at Pikachu… then back at Ash.
"…You look like you're on vacation."
"I am on vacation," Ash said, taking another sip.
Max stared. "…You're supposed to be training May."
"Oh, I did," Ash said casually.
Max blinked. "…'Did'? It's only been one day."
Ash tilted his head toward the sand behind the house.
May was lying face-first on the beach, spread-eagle, looking spiritually defeated. A small shovel was sticking out of the sand next to her like a grave marker. She wasn't even moving, just groaning into the ground.
Next to her, Torchic and Ralts were also passed out after being trained by Ash's Pokémon. His training was effective… he never said anything about it being humane.
Brock sat beside her, fanning her with a towel. "Inhale. Exhale. Don't pass out."
May weakly raised a hand. "Brock… bury me… I lived a good life…"
"NO ONE IS BURYING ANYONE," Brock snapped, smacking her with the towel.
"Yeah, you did great, May. You know training is done for today, take a rest," Ash said, leaning back on the hammock.
"Thank you!" May almost cried as she dragged herself out of the hole. It was a good thing she was wearing her ORAS outfit with the tank top instead of the jacket version.
May flopped onto her back, arms spread out dramatically as the sea breeze washed over her. "I'm never… moving again… My soul left my body… I saw Arceus… he told me to hydrate…"
Ash took another slow sip of his juice. "See? Progress."
Pikachu adjusted his sunglasses. "Pika-chuu," which in Pikachu language clearly meant: She lasted longer than expected.
Torchic let out a tiny, exhausted chirp and rolled onto its side. Ralts limply raised one arm as if asking for medical leave; meanwhile, Ash's Ralts went over to May's Pokémon and slowly dragged them away so it could Heal Pulse them.
Brock shook his head, still fanning her. "Ash, I swear, your training methods are effective, but you ruin people."
"Hey, she knew what she was getting into."
"She really didn't," Brock said. "Neither did Liko and the gang. I'm just surprised you never put Yellow through this training."
"She has her own stuff, you know that. Besides, she never asked for me to train her specifically," Ash shrugged as he got off his hammock and stretched his arms.
"Besides, she said she wanted to get stronger, never said how fast," Ash added. To be fair, if Ash really wanted to, he could get her to two Gym Badge level in about a week, maybe, but she didn't need to be that strong… yet. Getting her to one Gym Badge level for now was enough.
Ash rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Alright. Since today's training is done, we can take it easy—"
May shoved herself upright so fast she nearly fell again. "REST. I want REST. And food. And a bath. And then more rest."
Torchic chirped weakly in agreement, still lying like a pancake.
Even Vee padded toward May and nudged her foot sympathetically.
"Fine, fine," Ash said, hands raised. "You earned a break. Tomorrow we'll-"
"NO," May said immediately.
"Tomorrow," Ash repeated calmly, "we're not training. Remember, we have a letter to deliver."
"Oh…" May blinked a few times. "Sorry."
Ash rolled his eyes. "It's fine. Anyway, you're gonna be sore. Can't really drag your dead weight around, so come here," he said, going over and picking May up, carrying her back to the porch and setting her in a chair.
May didn't have the strength to do anything, so she just let out a soft grunt as Ash put her down. "What do you mean? What are you gonna do?" she asked.
"This," Ash said as he grabbed her shoulders and started giving her a massage with Aura.
May tensed the moment Ash's hands touched her shoulders, mostly from shock, partly because everything hurt.
"A-Ash?? What are you—?"
Before she could finish, a warm, gentle pulse rolled across her muscles like liquid heat. It was way too relaxing for what had just happened. Her eyes widened, then immediately fluttered halfway shut.
"Ohhhhhh…" It slipped out before she could stop it.
Brock froze mid-fan swipe, staring. "Oh. He's using that."
Max blinked. "Using what?"
Brock huffed, crossing his arms. "Ash is apparently good at massages, but he did that to me once, ONE time, and never again."
Ash smirked over May's shoulder. "Everyone gets one. I said it before and I'll say it again," he said as he pushed on a particularly sensitive spot.
"Mhfhgk…" May tried to respond, but her brain had shut down into bliss-induced static.
Max raised an eyebrow. "Is she… drooling?"
"No. At least I don't think so," Brock said, sighing, remembering how he was after he got his one massage.
"Yeah yeah, anywayyyyy, done," Ash said with one final push as he let May go.
May blinked rapidly, then slowly sat upright. "WHAT—!? It's over already?… Wait, my shoulders aren't on fire anymore!" she said, rubbing them.
She stared at her arms, rotating them like she was testing new hardware. "This is, Ash, why didn't you do this earlier?! I thought my spine was going to detach."
"Because suffering builds character and you don't have enough. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. You're never getting another one," Ash said, walking away.
"W–Wait, so that's it? I only get ONE massage in my whole LIFE!?"
Ash shrugged, already heading toward the kitchen. "Yup. One per person. Universal rule."
"That's a terrible rule," May groaned, rotating her shoulders like she was rediscovering mobility for the first time. "This is discrimination."
"Against what?" Ash asked over his shoulder.
"Against me!"
Pikachu hopped after him, sipping his coconut drink with a tiny straw. "Pika pika," he said matter-of-factly.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Well, too bad. The only ones that get more than one are family. You know, speaking of which, I've still gotta give Molly one. Actually, I've gotta leave to go see her soon," he said, pulling out his phone.
May was about to protest, maybe find some loophole in the rule, but then she paused at the name. "Oh really? Why?"
"Oh, it's Molly's birthday. Well, her birthday is tomorrow, but she wants me to visit a day early so we can have a little celebration, just us, before she has her actual party tomorrow."
"Aww, that's sweet," May said.
"Yeah. Besides, it's not like I was gonna challenge the Gym today… or anytime soon, actually."
"Wait, why?" Max immediately said, sitting up straight. He wanted to see Ash battle again.
"Didn't you hear? Yesterday was the last day Brawly was taking challengers before he left Dewford for a few days."
"Wait, really!? Why!?" Max cried out.
"I dunno. All I know is if I wanted to fight him, I'd have had to do it when we first got here. But we kinda got backtracked with that island we visited… and then because you two wanted to go sightseeing," Ash said, heading inside the house. He grabbed his jacket, then went into his room and picked up a gift box for Molly.
"Sorry…" May apologized, looking down. "If we didn't ask to go to the island… and if we waited when we got here, you could've fought Brawly already…"
"It's fine. I don't care," Ash waved his hand. "I wasn't in a hurry. Besides, so what? I wanted to stay in Dewford for a few days anyway. There's a bunch of cool stuff here. It's fine, really, don't blame yourselves, alright?"
May sighed in relief. "Thank goodness… I was worried you couldn't do what you wanted because of us."
"Yeah, no. Like I said, I don't care. I'm not gonna cry about it. Besides, I have Molly's birthday to get to," Ash said, walking out as Abby appeared on the deck eating some ice cream.
"Ah, wait, before I forget," Brock said, running back into the house. He returned with a small box and handed it to Ash. "Give this to Molly for me."
As Ash took it, May jumped. "Wait, we were getting gifts for Molly!? Why didn't you tell me!?" She crossed her arms.
"Maybe you should just know better. Anyway, I'm off. And don't wait up, I'm gonna stay over there for the night. I'll be back tomorrow. We can deliver the letter when I get back. See ya," Ash said as Abby teleported him, Pikachu, and Vee away.
"Well… um… you wanna go swimming?" May asked.
Brock meanwhile rubbed his hands together. "Of course! The beach is full of beautiful women, I need to go show my love to all of them!"
May and Max blinked at each other, then sighed.
This was gonna be a long day, wasn't it?
--
Alright, since i am free again, its time for the light at the end of the tunnel for you guys, lets start the deal, Stones=extra chapters
Lets start with every 500 stones=1 extra chapter, let the fun begin