Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Flying Away ❯ Let the battle begin! ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimers: As much as I may want to claim ownership of these two productions, I can't because both Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon belong to a whole lot of different companies that I can't remember the names of at the moment. Any characters (human or Pokémon) that appear in this fic that are not a part of either original series belong to me, so don't take them without asking first.

Author's Notes: This story takes place about 1 year after Dragon Ball GT, and a few months after 'Mewtwo Strikes Back!' Gohan, Trunks, Bra, Pan, and Goten have their tails back.

~Pallet Town, Three months Later~

Pan sat silently on the rooftop of Professor Oak's Pokémon Research Lab as she looked out over the horizon as the sun started to make it's slow descent over the mountains, as she worked on her laptop diary. She had woken up around five o'clock, and left for another day of work at Professor Oak's lab.

When she came home a few hours later, she found Nebula and Giru were both sound asleep, or what passed for sleep in Giru's case, in Pan's capsule house, resting after a their night of training.

'It's been three months already.' Pan thought sourly, as she rested her head on her knees, her tail moving in an agitated manner behind her, as the last three months of concern and worry came back to her. 'Bulma-san should have at least found me by now. But what if they never find me, and I'm stuck here in this dimension permanently?' she raised her head to look up at the sky as a wind came up, catching her hair in the breeze. 'Though... Now that I think about it, would being stuck here indefinitely, really be a bad thing?'

During the last couple of months since arriving in Pallet Town, in between working in the lab and studying the stuff that Professor Oak had given her on Pokémon, Pan was also busy training with some of the fighting Pokémon on the compound, keeping herself in shape, and also trained Nebula. While Giru was sometimes busy gathering data and information about this dimension and the different types of Pokémon that lived here for his databanks.

Absentmindedly, Pan looked down at her left side, as she placed a hand on her waist, rubbing the sore spot on her side where a lucky punch from a Machoke had hit her earlier during one the sparring sessions she had with the Pokémon, as she winced in pain at the touch. She figured that she was lucky that her saiyajin heritage had kept the damage down to a minimum. The punch had sent her flying backwards, with her back slamming into the wall of the research lab, but had managed to get back to her feet quickly, not ready to concede the fight.

When Professor Oak had found out what had happened, even after insisting that she was fine, , he had insisted that she go to the local hospital to make sure that she really okay, and reluctantly went, only to return two hours later with some prescribed pain medication, and a warning from the doctor that she should take it easy for awhile.

'If what the books say about a Machokes strength are correct, then if I were fully human, that hit probably would have done a lot more damage than bruising my side.' She thought ruefully to herself as she moved her hand back up to the keyboard to type some more.

Absentmindedly, Pan reached back to finger her hair, as she pulled a few strands forwards to look at her long black hair, that was keeping tied back in a braid, as she remembered how she first wound up in Pallet town in the first place.

~Flashback~

Pan woke up in the recovery room of the Pokémon center, to find both Giru and Nebula was still sound asleep, and Nebula was curled up against Pan's side. Being careful not to wake either one up, Pan slowly moved away, before floating up into the air a few feet, and then landing on her feet at the foot of the bed.

Looking around, Pan spots a nearby wall mirror and walks over to stand in front of it to look herself over. Immediately she could see that she was a complete mess. After a night's rest, Pan's hair was a complete mess. Running a hand through her hair, Pan winced as her fingers snagged on a few knots and tangles. And she could still make out some telltale traces of sticks and trash in her hair.

"Damn, and I just had this hair done two days a go!" Pan muttered under her breath as she scowled at her reflection. Thinking for a moment, she remembered seeing a shower stall in the bathroom that Nurse Joy had showed her to the other night.

'Might as well go take a bath, and see what I can do about this hair.' Glancing back at Giru and Nebula who were both still sound asleep, Pan came to a decision. Walking over to where she had last left her backpack, she picks it up and leaves the room, in search of the bathroom.

As she walked down the hall, she hears Nurse Joy's voice coming from one of the doors that was partway open, as she talked to someone that was in the room with her. Pan was about to walk past the room when she heard her name being mentioned in the conversation, and she stops to listen in.

"...I'm still worried about Pan, Professor Oak." Nurse Joy was saying as she faced the man sitting across from her, as he drank his cup of coffee. "If what she says is true, that she comes from another dimension, I'd think that she would need some help adjusting to our dimension. Even in the short time that I've known her, I worry about her." Joy said as she picked up the coffee pot to pour herself another cup. "There's no telling how long she might be stuck here before she can finally be sent back home, if at all. That's why I contacted you to see..."

"To see if I might be able to help Pan get adjusted to our dimension?" Professor Oak said, finished Nurse Joy's sentence for her, as he set his cup down. "I'll be more than willing to help her out if she wants it."

"Well, then I'll go see if she's awake yet, and ask her if she could come in here." Nurse Joy's voice said, as the sound of a chair scraping against the floor could be heard.

Realizing that if she didn't do something quick she was going to be discovered eavesdropping, Pan levitated herself into the air so that she wouldn't be heard, and flew the rest of the way down the hall at top speed, before she reached the bathroom door, lands on the ground and hurries into the room, shutting it behind her just as Nurse Joy was opening the office door.

Pan leaned against the bathroom door, as she her heightened hearing listened as Nurse Joy made her way down the hall in the opposite direction of where Pan had just come from, listening as Joy's footsteps slowly faded, before she finally relaxed, gripping her backpack to herself for a moment.

'That was close.' Pan thought to herself as she glanced down at her backpack for a moment before stepping away from the door, and turning around she pushed in the button that would lock it. Looking around the bathroom, she spots a large bathtub, across from the shower stall. On the edge of the tub was a unused wrapped bar of soap, along with a bottle of shampoo and conditioner.

'A bathtub's even better than a shower,' Pan thought happily as she heads straight for the tub, after dropping her backpack on the bathroom counter.

Walking over to bathtub, Pan twisted the knobs on the wall, and sat on the edge of the tub, letting the water run over her fingers until the temperature was just about right, then let the tub fill up with water. Once the tub had filled all the way to the top, she turned the water off, and quickly sheds her clothes before stepping into the tub, allowing her body to slowly sink into the warm water, as a contented sigh passed her lips.

After a few moments of simply sitting with her back against the end of the tub, Pan slowly slid down further into the tub, until her head was submerged under the water, where she stayed for a couple of 3 minutes to allow the water to soak into her hair, before coming back up for air, moving back up into a sitting position as the water streamed down her head. Reaching over for the bottle of shampoo she poured some into her hand and went to work on her hair.

About ten minutes after Pan had entered the bathroom, she was nearly finished with her bath and getting ready to step out, when a loud knocking could be heard from the other side of the door. "Pan?" Nurse Joy's voice called in a concerned tone, "are you almost finished in there? I've called in a good friend of mine who may be able to help you."

"Yeah," Pan called back as she stepped onto the floor mat, her wet hair and tail dripping on tile floor, as she walked over to a nearby towel rack and pulled off one of the full size towels to dry off with, first drying off her tail then her hair before wrapping the towel tightly around her body. "I'm almost done in here, so could you give me ten minutes before I come out?" she said.

"That's fine with me." Nurse Joy said as she spoke through the door, "You don't have to rush, so just take your time coming out. And I brought Giru and Pikachu back with me to the room." After getting Pan's reply a few moments later, Nurse Joy then turned and made her way down the hall back the way she had come.

Walking over to the toilet, Pan closed the lid on the toilet and sat down on the soft fabric that covered the lid, as she rummaged through her pack until she came out with her Capsule case. Pulling out one of the capsules, Pan pushed in the button on top and threw it to the ground.

*POOF!!!*

A large walk in closet appeared in the Capsule's place.

Holding the towel to wrapped around her body, Pan stepped into the closet, and five minutes later, she came back out dressed in a pair of black tennis shoes, a red vest, black pants and a white shirt, while she ran a comb through her damp hair. Soon she had her hair pinned back by a headband. Examining herself in a nearby mirror, and pleased with how she looks, Pan turned back towards the closet, and pushed in a panel on the door.

*POOF!!!*

The closet transformed back into it's capsule stage.

Walking over to the bathroom door, she exits the room and heads down the hall to the room that she had seen Professor Oak and Nurse Joy in before, and knocks slightly on the door.

"Come in," Nurse Joy's voice said from the other side.

Turning the knob on the door, the door easily swings open to show Nurse Joy and Professor Oak sitting down at a metal table with a pot of hot tea resting in the middle of the table. As she entered the room, she was surprised to see, Nebula walking around table, and Giru was sitting on the table enjoying a snack of scrap metal.

"Pan!" Giru called as he floated off of the table and heads towards Pan, and landing into a sitting position on her shoulder as usual.

"Pika pi!" Nebula cried out as she jumped off of the table and into Pan's arms for a hug as she cuddled into Pan's arms.

"Hi Giru, Nebula, what are you guys doing in here?" Pan said cheerfully as she shifted the electric mouse in her arms as she walked over to the center of the room, holding onto Nebula as she goes. Once she reaches the table she glanced at Professor Oak,

"Hello Pan," Oak said, as he quickly stood up from his chair as Pan entered the room and greeted her warmly, taking her hand into his own and shaking it. "I'm Professor Samuel Oak. I've heard a lot of interesting things about you from Nurse Joy."

"Nice to meet you," Pan said as she returned Oak's greeting in kind before taking her hand out of his grip, Pan then took a seat across the table from the two adults.

"I hope you don't mind Pan, but when to your room to get you, they were already awake, and they wanted to come along." Nurse Joy said.

"I don't mind," Pan said as she held Nebula in her lap in her seat.

"I see that you've already become friends with that Pikachu that you rescued the other day, Pan" Professor Oak said as she watched the display before them. "Are you still planning to release her back into the wild as you originally planned?"

"No. It seems that Nebula decided that she wanted to stay with us rather than go back to the forest. At least that's what Giru said that Nebula had told him." Pan said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Nebula?" Oak asked.

"That's what I named her. It seemed stupid just call her Pikachu since that's not really a name, but it's what she is." Pan explained.

Pan slightly pushed Nebula away from her, and gestured for her to head towards Professor Oak.

"Pi.." Nebula said, after hesitating for a few seconds Nebula slowly made her way across the table, until she right in front of Professor Oak, as she allowed the elderly man to pick her up and exam her.

Professor Oak took his time examining Nebula, as he watched her reaction to his examination, but Nebula quietly allowed it to continue a few moments, fidgeting when the Professor's hands when he started to rub her ears. Nebula raised her paws to the tips of her ears, before she was finally released, as she ran across the table back to Pan.

"This is highly unusual." Professor Oak muttered as he looked directly at Nebula's ears, taking them. "I've never seen that kind of pattern on a Pikachu before."

Pan scooped Nebula up into her arms as she stared at Professor Oak for a moment. "What do you mean, Professor Oak?"

"Yes Professor Oak. What pattern are you talking about." Nurse Joy added in as she stared at the older man in confusion.

"Pika.. umm Nebula's ears." Professor Oak said as he motioned towards Nebula. "Pan, this is your first time in dealing with a Pokémon, so I'll explain. The pattern on the black part of her ears is all wrong. In all my studies as a Pokémon researcher, this is the first time I've seen such a thing on a Pikachu." Professor Oak said as he met Pan's eyes. "Take a good look at the blackened area around the tip of Nebula's ears. The tips of a Pikachu's ears are usually triangular, yet this one's is..."

"The black edges are shaped like a diamond instead of a triangle." Nurse Joy cut in as she looked directly at Nebula, finally seeing what she had missed earlier.

"So what does that mean exactly," Pan asked as she stared at Professor Oak for a few moments. "What's wrong with her having diamond shaped patches on her ears instead of triangles? I don't see the problem." She added defensively as she held Nebula's small form in her arms, as the electric rodent sat in her lap.

"It's nothing, except that it's just that type of pattern is unusual on a Pikachu." Nurse Joy said, just as Professor Oak was about to speak up, "I've examined lots of Pikachu's over the years as a Pokémon nurse, and this is the first time I've seen that."

"It might be a defect or something that Nebula inherited from one or both of her parents at birth." Professor Oak said after a moment of silence. "But that's not why I'm here today, Ms. Son..."

~A Few Hours Later~

Pan, Giru and Nebula stood on the outskirts of Pallet Town, as Professor Oak parked his car in the garage outside his home, then walked back towards them. Nebula was standing up in Pan's arms, as Pan held her in a loose hug, while Giru was perched on her shoulder.

"I hope that you will enjoy staying in Pallet Town, Pan," Professor Oak said as he stopped in front of the group. "We'll have you adjusted to our world in no time at all."

"Thanks Professor Oak, for helping us out." Pan began. "I really appreciate this offer a lot." She said with a slight grin on her face.

"I appreciate it too." Giru chimed in as he floated off of Pan's shoulder and moves towards Professor Oak.

"It's no trouble at all, Pan." Professor Oak said with a smile on his features as he faced Pan. "You can stay here in my house in one of the spare bedrooms, until you can find a place of your own to move into if you decide to move out later."

"I don't think that would be necessary to offer me a room in your home, Professor. Though I am glad for the offer." Pan said as she reached into her backpack and started sorting through it, before finally bringing her hand back out holding the capsule case. "If you could just point me to an unused area of land I could use during my stay, I'll already have my living arrangements all settled." She said cheerfully as she selected one of the capsules within before shutting the case and sticking it into her back pocket.

"What do you mean?" Professor Oak asked as he eyed the capsule for a moment in confusion. "What is that capsule for, and why do you need some land?"

"You'll see in a moment, Professor." Pan said with a slightly smug smile on her lips. "Let's just say that this capsule is one of the things I want to show you that's from my world."

Professor Oak only shook his head a moment as he stared at Pan for a moment, before curiosity won over, and finally gave in. and led her to a vacant spot of land that he owned that wasn't too far from his own house. "Though I still don't see how that little capsule can help you with your living arrangements, Pan."

"Like I said before, you'll see. Now stand back a bit." Pan said as she deftly pushed in the button on top of the capsule, then tosses it to the several feet away towards the ground.

*POOF!!!*

As Professor Oak watched in surprise, within seconds of being thrown, the capsule explodes into a cloud of smoke, causing him to jump in surprise. When the smoke finally clears up, it reveals what looks like a large dome shaped white house standing in the area where there had only been a vacant lot before.

"Pi..." Nebula said, as she could only stared in stunned awe at the house.

The look on Professor Oak's face almost mirrored the electric mouse face. "A house..." he said in a stunned voice as he looked first at the house, then at Pan, then back at the house again, before raising his hands to his face to rub his eyes and glance in the direction of the capsule house, as if expecting it to disappear in any moment, but seeing that it wasn't going to disappear anytime soon, he turned his attention back to Pan. "How is that possible?" he asked. "One minute ago it was that little capsule you were holding, and now it's become a..."

"It's called a capsule house, and it has all the conveniences of a normal home within." Pan said cheerfully, finishing Professor Oak's statement, as she walked up to the front door of the capsule house, still carrying Nebula in her arms. "Back home, almost everyone around the world always has a ready supply of capsules on them. A friend of my family runs the company that originally started producing these years ago." She said with a shrug of her shoulders as she leaned against one of the walls. "As you just saw, capsules can carry anything from houses like this, to cars, helicopters, etc." she said before quickly adding, patting the capsule house fondly.

~End Flashback~

Pan chuckled softly to herself, as she remembered the look on Professor Oak's face the first time she had used one of her house capsules to bring out the house she was now living in. 'I didn't think that someone Professor Oak's age could jump that high.' She thought with a slight smile, as she remembered watching Professor Oak jump at least seven feet in the air in surprise, when the capsule house appeared out of the smoke.

After his first encounter with a Capsule Corps product, Pan had spent three hours explaining how the capsules worked as best as she could, showing him all of her different capsules and what they contained inside, and even let Professor Oak take some of the capsules to study during her stay with him.

As she sat back to think a bit as she gazed down at the laptop screen, her mind goes back to the discovery she had made a few weeks earlier involving two certain Pokémon that had caught her attention during her studies.

~Flashback~

Two weeks ago

Pan sat inside of the research lab's library, going through some books on the different Pokémon species in the world, when her attention is caught by the pictures of two very familiar Pokémon.

'Mewtwo and Moltres?' she thought silently to herself, as she the memory of the dream she had back in her own dimension came back to her, as she reread Mewtwo's name outloud. "Mewtwo... M.T." she said as she nickname came back to her.

Even though the Pokémon in the picture was obviously bigger than what she saw in her dream, she knew that somehow it had to be the same one from her dream. The picture of Moltres resembled the bird that she had thought she had seen in the T.A.T.T. machine just before it had malfunctioned and sent her here to the Pokémon world.

As she read through the short description in the book about both creatures, she decided that there wasn't much to go on from what the book said, so she grabbed the book and ran into Professor Oak's laboratory where she found the researcher taking a break from his work, and was busy drinking a cup of tea.

"Professor Oak!" Pan shouted as she as she made her way towards him.

Professor Oak almost choked on his tea when Pan shouted at him from behind, and he turned around to stare at her in surprise. "Pan you startled me! Why are you shouting..." Oak demanded as he glanced at Pan, taking in the upset expression on her features, and the tense way that she carried herself. "Is there something wrong, Pan?"

"Sorry. The problem is this." Pan said, as she knelt down into a kneeling position next to Oak, as she set the book down on the table in front of him. "Can you tell me something more about these two Pokémon? Anything that might have been left out or not written in when the book was published?" she asked as she stared expectantly at him.

Professor Oak leaned over to glance at the book for a moment, looking at the pictures that Pan indicated, as his brow furrowed in confusion at the question. "I'm sorry Pan, but there's not much more to tell about these two Pokémon than what is written in the book." He said giving her an apologetic look, "There's not really that much anyone knows about either one."

"Shoot," Pan exclaimed, releasing a few choice words (that won't be repeated) under her breath, as she stood back up and started to pace the small room for a few moments, before coming to stop in front of the sliding glass door to stare out onto the compound, as she rested her hand on the glass frame as her expression became more unhappy, as her tail waved agitatedly behind her.

Watching Pan for a few moments, Professor Oak slowly stood up and walked over towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong Pan? I can tell that seeing those pictures of Mewtwo and Moltres have upset you in some way. Do you want to talk about it with me? I might be able to help."

Pan didn't answer for a few moments as she continued staring outside, before turning around to face him. "It's probably nothing, Professor Oak." She started as she looked directly into his eyes. "But I remember seeing them before I saw their pictures in that book."

"You've seen them?" Professor Oak exclaimed incredulously as he stared at Pan in surprise. "Where did you see them? Was this before or after you arrived in this world?"

"Before. On the very same day that I first arrived here." she said thoughtfully, somewhat relieved that she now had a name to go with them "I remember seeing Mewtwo in a dream that I had that very same day. The only thing is that he looked a lot younger than he does now. Smaller too. From his size, I would place his placed his age at almost being the size of a four or five year old kid. At the time I just thought it was some weird dream," She said.

"Interesting," Professor Oak said, as his eyebrows shot up at that revelation. "It might just be a coincidence that you saw Mewtwo in a dream, Pan." He said in placating tones.

"What about Moltres? I didn't dream about him" Pan's eyes narrowed suspiciously for a moment, as she remembered exactly what happened later at Capsule Corps.

"When I first saw what I think was Moltres, was when my friends were testing out the T.A.T.T. machine at Capsule Corps. I think I saw what looked fire bird in the machine, except when I commented on it to everyone else, they all said that they hadn't seen anything. Then a few minutes later the T.A.T.T. went haywire, and then both Giru and I wind up being sent to the very world that that both of them come from." She stated as she placed her hands on her hips, as a frown appeared.

"There must be a logical explanation for all of this," Professor Oak said after a moment of silence as he thought over that bit of news. "The more that I think about it, maybe it was a sign of something to come."

"Professor, I saw them both on the same day." Pan said as she glowered at the elderly man.

"Well, I'm sure that we can find some answers to this mystery pretty soon, Pan-chan." Professor Oak said in a placating tone. "There has to be a reason why you saw both Mewtwo and Moltres just before you were brought here.

Pan's only answer was a slight nod of her head as she turned to walk out of the room.

~End Flashback~

For the last three months since arriving in this strange world, at Nurse Joy's insistence, Pan had been staying in Pallet Town, working as a lab assistant to Professor Oak, and living inside of a capsule house on the grounds, as Oak kept his promise and taught Pan everything that she needed to know about that dimension and the creatures that resided there, while at the same time, Pan told him about her own world, and all of her friends there.

During the short time that she was in Pallet Town, Pan had made friends with all of the people living there, including that nice Mrs. Ketchum that lived down the street from the lab. Pan had even been over to eat dinner with Mrs. Ketchum most of the time.

Almost instantly her interest was caught when she learned that were different types of Pokémon in the world besides electric types like Nebula. Even when she wasn't helping out in the lab, Pan was helping Oak out on the grounds as he tended to the Pokémon that were sent to him by their trainers.

Leaning back, Pan let her hands rest on the floor behind her back as she turned her head upwards towards the sun, as she closed her eyes for a few moments. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the familiar feel of Nebula's furry head brush up against her hands. "Hey, Neb." Pan said as she turned her attention towards the yellow rodent. "How are you feeling?"

"Pika pi. Pika, pi chu." Nebula said as she grinned up at Pan. Around Nebula's neck was one of Pan's old navy blue bandana. The bandanna was tied with a gold colored emblazoned four star dragonball pin up front to hold it together.

"So where's Giru?" Pan asked as she looked around for the tiny robot for a few moments, not seeing him anywhere.

"Pika." Nebula said as she gestured towards the lab with her paws in a bored manner as before she settled down next to Pan.

"The lab again." Pan said in a bored voice. "He's spending a lot of time in there lately, ne?" she asked as she reached down to scratch Nebula behind the ears.

Just then...

"PAN! Hey Pan!!" a voice shouted from down below. "Pan! Are you up there?"

Surprised by the interruption, Pan made her way over to the edge of the roof to look down to see who it was, and spots Brock on the ground waving at her, causing her to grin once she realized who it was as she shut the lid on her lap top, then turned it back into it's capsule state before putting it away.

"Pikachu." Nebula called down as she climbed up to the edge of the roof to peer down also, and waved a paw at Brock in greeting.

She had met Brock a week ago when Mrs. Ketchum had brought him home with her during one shopping trips, and the two had hit it off pretty well since then. Though it had it's moments at times.

Getting a better look at the ground below, Pan could see that Brock wasn't alone. Standing next to him were two other people standing on opposites sides of him as they also looked up at the rooftop. One was a redhead girl, dressed in a yellow shirt and overalls, who was carrying some kind of an egg Pokémon in her arms. The other one was a young boy with spiky hair that stuck out in all sides from under his red and white cap. On his shoulder was a Pikachu. Standing next to the red head, was a young man who looked close to Brock's age, carrying what looked to be a sketchbook in his hands.

"Brock! What's up, and who are you're friends?" Pan asked as she peered down at them.

"Come on down here!" Brock shouted cupping his hands to his face as he shouted up to her. "I want you to meet some of friends of mine. Remember I've been telling you about Ash and Misty? They've just gotten back into town from the Orange League in the Mandarin Islands." Brock said as glanced up at her.

"Ash? You mean Mrs. Ketchum's son?" Pan called down as she sat back on legs, as she put away her case, placing it in her back packet, "Give me a minute will you. I'll be right down." She said as she stood up, a moment before bending down to pick up Nebula. "Ready for a little ride, Neb? Or do you want to try yourself this time?"

Pika!" Nebula cried, shaking her head repeatedly, before she pumped a paw, nodding her head in excitement into the air in excitement as she glanced up at Pan.

"Thought so." Pan said as she turned back to the edge of the rooftop and stepped off of the rooftop. "Hold on, tight."

As Pan stepped off of the rooftop with Nebula in tow, she could hear the expected gasps of shock and surprise coming from below from three of the four figures.

"Pikachu!!" Pikachu cried out in alarm as he watched the two figures leap off of the rooftop.

"What's she doing?!" Misty exclaimed as she watched in horror at Pan's actions.

"Hey wait don't!!" Ash cried out in alarm as he watched the older girl step off of the rooftop. His hand reached for his belt to call out one of his Pokémon to help Pan. "Pokéball-" he began, getting ready to call out Bulbasaur, only to be stopped by Brock who held out a hand to stop him. "Brock??" he demanded as he turned towards the other boy.

"Don't worry Ash. You too Misty," Brock said in a calm voice as he kept his eyes up towards the rooftop "I've seen a lot of the things that Pan can do, so I know she will be okay, trust me. Just wait and watch." He added as a slight chuckle escaped his lips.

Both Ash and Misty gave Brock incredulous looks before turning their attention back to the sky, and they finally saw what Brock was talking about. Gasps of surprise and shock came from Ash and Misty as they watched as a strange golden aura surrounded both Pan and Nebula, as their descent slowed down, a few seconds before the two touched down on the ground in front of them.

Pan set Nebula down on the ground as she faced the other group of teenagers, a slight grin on her lips as she stared first at Ash, then at Misty, before she held out a hand towards them. "Hi, I'm Son Pan, and this is Nebula." She said as she glanced between the newcomers. "I've heard a lot about the two of you from both Brock and Mrs. Ketchum." She said.

"Hi." Ash said uneasily as he took Pan's offered hand, and shook it. "Yeah, I'm Ash Ketchum, nice to meet you, Pan, and this is Pikachu." He said as he glanced at Nebula who stood next to Pan looking up at the group of humans curiously.

"I'm Misty Waterflower, of the Cerulean City Gym. Ash's mom told us that you were staying here at Professor Oak's lab working for him," Misty said cheerfully as she also took Pan's hand. "And this little guy is Togepi," as she held out Togepi for Pan to see.

"Hiya Togepi," Pan said in greeting as she grinned down at Togepi.

"Toge toge priiii!" Togepi cried as he waved his arms about in excitement, as he gave Pan a cute cheerful smile from his spot in Misty's arms.

"Hi, I'm Tracey Sketchit, I'm a Pokémon watcher. It's nice to meet you, Pan." Tracey said, glancing up at Pan, taking a moment to take her hand in, from his sketchbook as he was busily drawing.

"Nice to meet all of you guys." Pan said cheerfully as she looked them over.

Then a second later, much to Misty's surprise, Togepi started reaching out his tiny arms towards Pan, straining towards her like he wanted her to hold him.

When he realized he wasn't going anywhere until Misty released him, he looked up at Misty with eyes, that was starting to well up with tears. "Toge priiiii!!"

Staring down in surprise at her Pokémon's unexpected action, as she glanced back at Pan in confusion. "That's really weird. I've never seen Togepi act this way so quickly around strangers," Misty commented.

"Looks like he taken a liking to you already, Pan," Tracey said as he glanced speculatively at Togepi for a moment.

"I guess I just have a way with Pokémon. May I?" Grinning Pan reached out a hand towards Togepi before looking up at Misty's face expectantly.

After hesitating a moment, Misty handed Togepi over to Pan, and watched as Togepi immediately settled into Pan's arms as if he belonged there, giggling every few seconds as Pan tickled his feet, as she turned her back on the group.

"Pan, is Professor Oak home?" Ash asked as he shifted his weight on his feet in anticipation, "Since I'm back in town, I need to deliver..."

"The GS ball?" Pan asked, finishing Ash's sentence for him, as she turned back around to face the others, seeing the surprised looks on their faces she only shrugs, "Professor Oak told me about it already. If you're looking for Professor Oak, he's probably working in his lab, so you might as well come along," She said after a few moments, as she turning back around and hands Togepi back to Misty, as she heads for the front door of the lab.

As the others followed behind Pan, Misty chanced a glance towards Brock, giving him a questioning look, "So how long have the two of you known each other, Brock?"

Brock had his usual dopey 'There's-a-pretty-girl-in-front-of me' expression as he stared at Pan, as she walked down the corridor with Togepi in her arms, yet he was remaining rather in control of himself at the moment, as he snapped to attention at Misty's question. "Well, we met a week ago, when I first arrived in Pallet with your mom, Ash. Pan was already staying here at Professor Oak's place when I first arrived."

"So where do you come from Pan?" Misty asked, turning her attention back to Pan's just before something waving gently behind Pan's body caught her eye, as the other girl played with Togepi earlier. Taking a better look at the object, Misty immediately realized what it was. "Just what is that?!" she asked in a surprised tone.

Both Ash and Tracey looked in the same direction that Misty was staring in as they finally spot what Misty had seen, and their eyes almost bulge out of their sockets.

"It's..." Tracey began as his eyes followed the long furry appendage wave around lazily in the air from behind Pan's back. "Is that..."

"A tail, and it's very real," Brock said finishing the others sentences, "believe me, I was just as surprised as you guys are when I first saw that Pan had one." He said as he followed Pan's path with his eyes, "but when I asked her about it, she told me that it was something she inherited from her father's side of the family."

"I wonder just what kind of family does she come from who's children are born with tails," Misty wondered to herself, not realizing that she had voiced the question out loud, until Pan's voice reached back to them.

"A special family, that makes it a habit to cut off their kids tails after they're born." Pan said, not turning around to face the others, as she continued down the corridor. "I've happily spent the last 15 years of my life without one, and it wasn't until a while ago, when our tails started growing back out of the blue."

"Then why not cut them off again?" Misty asked.

"We've tried that already, but they just grow back after a week or so, so we finally gave up trying," Pan said with a shrug as she turned around to face them, walking backwards, grinning as her tail moved around her body to wave at the others, "You get used to having these things after awhile, and besides, it hurts like hell when we have to cut them off every time they grows back."

Pikachu took that moment to jump down from Ash's shoulder to land on the ground in front of Nebula to walk alongside her as they went through the corridors, having taken an full interest in the sight of the female Pikachu, Pikachu wanted to try and get to know her better. "Pika pika chu?" he said in greeting as Nebula in a friendly manner.

Nebula looked Pikachu over for a moment, as if she was sizing him up, cocking her left ear in an inquiring manner, before frowning and turned her head away in a snubbing manner. "Pika chu." Nebula said sourly, as she turned and moved over to Pan's side.

"Pi?" Pikachu exclaimed in a surprised tone, before his expression turn sad at the rejection, "Chuuu..." Hurt Pikachu turned around and heads back towards Ash with a dejected expression on his features.

Ash picked up Pikachu once the yellow rodent was within reach, and scratched Pikachu behind the ears, as he tried to cheer up his friend.

"Ah Pikachu. Don't feel bad. You can't win them all you know." Brock said.

"Nebula! Be nice." Pan, who had stopped playing with Togepi long enough to watch the exchange between the two Pikachu's and quickly chided her Pokémon, waving a finger at Nebula as she frowned down at the yellow rodent, who looked up at her with surprised eyes. "Come on, Neb. You don't even know that Pikachu, yet you just gave him a royal snub. That's no way to be meeting guys."

Nebula looked unhappy at being reprimand by Pan, and looked like she wanted to say something, but changed her mind and only turned her back on Pan, crossing her small arms over her chest in a defiant way. "Pikachu..." she said quietly.

Before Pan could respond, she heard a familiar voice calling her name, and she turned around to see Giru floating around near the front door of the lab, followed by Professor Oak who was following close behind the robot. "Giru, over here." She shouted.

Within seconds, Giru was floating next to Pan and the others, before taking his usual spot on Pan's shoulder, as he eyed the newcomers uncertainly, as Professor Oak came to a stop a next to Pan.

"Hey what kind of Pokémon is that?" Ash asked as he pulled out his Pokédex and points it directly at Giru.

*NO POKÉMON DATA FOUND.*

"There's no data found?" Ash asked out loud in confusion as he looked at Giru for a moment, as his eyes lit up in excitement at the thought of a brand new Pokémon, though he was disappointed when he realized that this new Pokémon probably belonged to Pan, seeing how it was hanging around her, "where did you get that Pokémon from? I want to get one too."

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" Misty was the first to ask as she stared intently at Giru for a few minutes, as she stared at Giru "I've never seen one like that before."

"And where can I find one??" Ash demanded in an excited tone, as he thought of the advantages of having such a rare and strange looking Pokémon on his team.

"Don't be so rude, Ash!" Misty exclaimed as she whacked Ash on the head with a fan causing him to fall over face first to the ground from the blow, before she turned her attention back to Pan. "Though that is a weird looking Pokémon. Where did you get it from?"

"I'm not a..." Giru began only to be cut off when Pan spoke up.

"Giru's not a Pokémon." Pan said, with a sigh of exasperation, as she turned her attention back to the robot, 'Why is it that everyone's first thought when they see Giru is that he's some kind of new Pokémon?' she thought silently to herself, as she reached out with her free hand to rest it on Giru, before turning back to face the others as they walked down the corridor, "Everyone, I would like you to meet the third member of my little group and also current translator, Giru. Giru, meet Ash and Misty." She said as she made the introductions to everyone.

"Nice to meet all of you," Giru said pleasantly as he watched the others.

"Hi, Giru," Misty greeted pleasantly as she smiled at Giru.

"Pika," Pikachu greeted as he waved a paw.

"Hi," Ash said, after a moment of silence. "But if he's not a Pokémon, then what is he?" he demanded as he looked directly at Pan.

"He's a robot," Pan said, as she glanced once at Giru for a moment, before continuing. "Some friends and I sort of found him in our travels a few years ago, and he sort of hooked up with us, and we haven't been apart since then."

"Oh."

Just then Professor Oak came into the room carrying a bowl of instant ramen, that he had prepared for his lunch, "Why hello Ash, Pikachu. You finally returned from the Orange League, I see. Welcome back home." Professor Oak said as he smiled warmly towards the group of teens. "I see that all of you have already met Pan, so I guess that introductions are out."

"Hiya Professor Oak!" Ash said as he stepped forward to greet Oak.

"Pikachu." Pikachu said as he smiled at Oak.

"Yeah, Professor Oak. It was great. And I brought along the GS ball like I promised." Ash exclaimed happily, as he reached towards pulled out the GS ball from his backpack, and hands it over. "I hope that you didn't mind the wait."

"That's a stupid question, Ash!" Misty exclaimed as she took that time to hit Ash over the head with the back of her hand. "Of course he probably minded waiting this long for us to bring him the GS ball!"

"OW! Quit it Misty," Ash exclaimed as he ducked another swing from the redhead.

Pan, Giru, and Nebula both sweat drop as they watch the exchange between the two teens, before Pan turned her attention towards the others. "Are they always like that?" she asked incredulously.

"Always." Tracey said automatically in deadpanned tones.

"Constantly," Brock said as he frowned, "I at least thought that they would have calmed down by now since I last saw them." Brock commented as he grinned. "At least they haven't brought up the subject about Misty's bike yet."

"Misty's bike?" Pan asked in confusion.

"Pika?" Nebula said as she looked at Brock.

"I'll tell you another time." Brock said as he took a seat in a nearby chair to watch.

"It's all right Misty, really. I didn't mind waiting for you to return from your adventure in the Orange Islands." Professor Oak said, chuckling as he watched the display between the two teens. "As I told you before the first time we talked about this, I understood fully Ash's need to compete in the Orange Island Pokémon League." He said.

At that moment Tracey decided to cut into the conversation as he got in front of Professor Oak, with one of his sketchbook's in hand, "Hello, Professor Oak, I don't know if you may remember me, but my name is Tracey Sketchit, and I'm a Pokémon Watcher." He said excitedly, as he stared intently at Professor Oak. "I've always admired your work, and I would be honored if you will allow me to become your student. I could be a great assistance to you in your research, and I've brought along all of my different drawings that I've made of Pokémon I've seen during my travels to show you as an example of my work." He said as he held out the sketchbook.

"I would be more than happy to go over your drawings with you Tracey." Professor Oak said as he faced Tracey, as he took the book from Tracey, opening it, and scanning through some of the pages, as his eyes slowly widened at the detailed sketches on the pages. "You show a lot of promise, Tracey," he said as he turned his attention back to the Watcher, "Maybe we can do something."

"Hey, Pan. Do you want to have a Pokémon battle?" Ash asked as he faced her, "We can go one on one if you want."

"Sure, Ash. Why not? Nebula could really do with some practice right now." Pan said as she looked towards Ash.

~Outside the Lab~

Pan and Nebula stood off to one side of the lawn outside of the lab while Ash and Pikachu stood twenty feet away on the other side, as they faced off. Brock, Misty, Tracey and Professor Oak stood off in the sidelines watching, as they waited for the battle to begin.

"Are you ready to battle, Ash? Or are you going to give up before you even start?" Pan called over, a smug smirk on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest as she stared across the area at the younger boy.

Nebula sat back on her haunches as she bore a similar look on her features.

"No way!" Ash called back, his eyes narrowing as a determined look spread across his features. "My Pokémon and I are as ready as we'll ever be. You're the one who should be worried about losing." He said confidently. "Since this is your first real Pokémon battle, then you can name the terms of the battle."

"Whatever." Pan said in a bored voice as she glanced down at Nebula for a moment. "I'll go first if you don't mind." She said as she took a few steps backwards. "The terms of the battle are this. Since I only have one Pokémon, then we will battle one on one. Do you agree with it?"

"That's fine with me." Ash said.

"Fine. Nebula go." Pan said as she glanced down at Nebula who immediately runs in a few feet away from Pan and stands waiting for Ash to make his move, as she got into what looked like a fighting stance. "And fight like we've been practicing these last couple of months, okay?" Pan added as an afterthought.

"Pika!" Nebula said as she turned back around to give Pan what looked to be a thumbs up sign with her paws, before turning back to her opponents.

"Then I choose, Pikachu!" Ash called out, though confusion ran through him at he sight of Nebula's pose, before glancing at Pikachu and meeting the electric rodent's gaze. Pikachu ran out to face Nebula, as sparks start to fly from the red patches on his cheeks. "Pikachu, THUNDERSHOCK!"

"Pika...CHU!!!" Pikachu exclaimed as he sat back on his hind legs, gripping his front paws into tight fists, as he released his electric attack at Nebula.

"Nebula, use agility, and then slam that Pikachu into the ground!" Pan shouted.

"Pika!" Nebula shouted as she took off running, avoiding Pikachu's attacks as they come straight at her.

Pikachu kept firing bolts of electricity straight at Nebula only to wind up missing every time.

"Nebula, Catapult and hover!" Pan shouted as her hands started to close into tight fists as she watched the fight.

As Nebula picked up speed, then everyone watched in surprise, suddenly, using her tail to spring off of the ground, Nebula leaped up into the air just as one of Pikachu's attacks came to close, hanging in the air for a few moments as a blue aura surrounded Nebula's body, just as Pikachu started to power up for another attack.

"How is Nebula doing that??" Misty demanded, surprise and curiosity evident in her voice as she stared up into the air at Nebula. "She looks like she's floating in the air."

"It's because of Pan's special training, that allows that little Pikachu to do the impossible." Professor Oak said as he watched the fight going on. "It's an move they developed that Pan named 'Hover'. Since they first arrived here, I've watched as Pan taught Nebula to do things that I didn't think was possible, that I've stopped being surprised at what those two can do now."

"How is she doing that?!" Ash wondered as he stared up at Nebula who was seemed to be just floating in the air without anything holding her up. "Pikachu! Thundershock, now!" he ordered.

"Nebula, body slam!" Pan shouted.

Before Pikachu could finish powering up, Nebula dove for the ground, landing back on to her feet, ten few feet from Pikachu, before moving faster than the other trainers and Pokémon could see, she charged Pikachu, leaping at him and slamming into him with her front and back legs, before dismounting and back flipping over, smacking Pikachu with her tail with enough force to send Pikachu tumbling backwards to hit the ground hard before he could react.

Nebula landed on the ground and backed off a few feet from Pikachu as she sat back on her hind legs to see if Pikachu was going to get back up, as she wiped her paws on her bandanna as she tried to get rid of the dirt in her paws.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out in pain as he hit the ground hard, not moving as pain shot through his small body.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out in alarm as he saw his best friend getting hurt as he started to make his way towards Pikachu, when Pikachu painfully pushed himself back up to his feet. "Pikachu, are you okay, buddy?"

"Chaaa...." Pikachu whined, nodding his head at his trainer as he rubbed his face where Nebula's tail had hit him, before glaring at the female Pokémon before him. "Pikachu, pika...

Nebula met Pikachu's gaze with an even one, not saying anything or making a sound, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ash is pretty confident." Misty said carefully, as she held a silent Togepi in her arms. The egg Pokémon's attention was fixed directly two fighters.

"But so is Pan." Professor Oak said, as he stood, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Ash may have had a lot of experience in Pokémon battles, but I've watched both Pan and Nebula train here on the compound. Pan has pitted both Nebula and herself against most of the Pokémon that live here on the compound, and from what I've seen, because of Pan's training, Nebula has grown to be a lot different from your average Pikachu, when it comes to speed and strength."

"What do you mean by that?" Tracey asked as he turned her attention towards Brock with questioning eyes, "Just how different can Nebula be from another Pikachu?"

"Take a look for yourselves," Professor Oak said as he gestured towards the battle. Everyone watched as Pikachu chased after Nebula, firing electric attacks, or trying to knock the younger Pikachu off of her feet, but was failing terribly.

"Oh, I get it," Tracey exclaimed as he finally realized what it was that Professor Oak was telling them. "Nebula handled herself during that last attack of hers. Instead of just fighting using her electric attacks, she's mostly using physical attacks against Pikachu."

"Right." Professor Oak said in agreement, pleased at Tracey's knowledge and keen eye. "Pan has found a way to teach her Pikachu to not just rely on its electric attacks but also taught it to rely more on it's speed and physical attacks also."

"Nebula, finish this now. THUNDER-" Pan shouted, getting ready to, when all of a sudden, five round black balls with large red R's printed on them dropped out of the sky, and hit the ground in between them. Seconds after hitting the ground, the balls exploded, releasing a purple cloud of smoke into the air, obscuring everyone's view, and sending everyone into loud coughing fits.

"What the heck's going on?!" Pan demanded in between coughs as she tried to see through the smoke. "Who threw those!"

"It could only be one group that I can think of that could have done that!" Misty shouted.

"The R's on those black balls were a dead give away," Brock managed out, his eyes beginning to water from the smoke.

Moments later, sinister laughter could be heard through the commotion.

"Look's like the twerps have us all figured out, James." A girls voice said through the laughter.

"Seems like it to me Jessie." a boys voice said.

"PIKA!!"

"PIKA PI!!"

Just as the smoke clears, both Pan and Ash's attention snap to the spot that they had last seen Nebula and Pikachu when she hears that panicked cries, only to find that both rodents were gone, as they are being lifted up into the air by a pair of mechanical arms.

"Pikachu!!" Ash cried as he ran towards the arms. "You guy's its Team Rocket!" Ash cried out.

"Nebula!!" Pan cried out just as she started running also. Putting on a burst of speed, Pan reaches the arms before Ash does, and leaps onto them, trying to pull them back down, only to be thrown off as the arm swings to the side, before moving further up and disappearing into some trees.

Picking herself off of the ground, Pan glared up at the arms, before letting her eyes travel up the length of the arms upwards, she spots what looks like a cat shaped hot air balloon floating in the air. She could see the silhouettes of two figures standing in the basket glancing down at them, before the balloon was lit up with lights to show who they were.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket! Blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth cried as he jumped up onto the rim of the basket, giving them a victory sign with one paw, before he lifted up a large glass case. Inside the case, everyone could see both Pikachu and Nebula sitting inside, as they gave off sparks and they tried to electrify their prison. "And we got Pikachu!!"

"Hey, give us back our Pikachus!" Pan shouted, as she glared up at the figures.

"Not on your life, brat." Jessie called down, grinning wickedly.

"Yeah!" Meowth chimed in, sticking his tongue out at them and pulling down his eyelid, "We got what we came for, and it was that little twerps Pikachu. But seeing the things that your Pikachu was doing, the boss would be twice as please if we brought him two powerful Pikachus instead of just one. Not to mention all of these Pokéball's filled with Pokémon that we swiped from the lab."

"So say goodbye to your Pikachu's because this is going to be the last time you'll see them." James said as he started working the controls on the balloon so that they could make their getaway.

"You jerks! I'm not going to let you get away with this!" Ash exclaimed as he pulled out one of his Pokéball's only to be stopped by Pan.

"Ash wait!!" Pan shouted, as an audible low growl escaped Pan's lips. "I'll handle this. I'm not letting any two bit thieves steal my Pikachu and get away with it." Pan exclaimed. Her tail was swishing around behind her in her agitation, as it started to puff up.

"What are you going to do about it, Pan?" Misty asked as she and the others rushed up in time to hear Pan's statement. "You don't have anymore Pokémon on you to use to against them."

"Who say's I need Pokémon?" Pan said with a slight grin, as she glanced first Misty and the others, before turning her attention back to the hot air balloon that was starting to get away. "Be back in a flash." Pan said, before she closed her eyes, and in a blink of an eye she was gone.

Back inside the hot air balloon, Team Rocket was busy celebrating their clean get away, as they toasted themselves with cans of soda, cackling in merriment.

"The boss will be pleased that we finally got that Pikachu for him." Meowth said as he took a sip of his drink, before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Not to mention that we got him an extra Pikachu, that looks like it's as strong as the twerps." He said as he tapped the glass case that held an enraged Nebula and Pikachu.

"Pika! Pika pichu Pi chaaa!!!" Nebula shouted, though her voice came out muffled from inside the case, as she stood up on two legs to glare up at her captors alongside Pikachu who wore the same expression on his features.

"Geez, the little female Pikachu's got quite a foul mouth on her." Meowth said after listening to Nebula's ranting for a few moments, before turning his attention towards Nebula. "Look kid didn't anybody tell ya that it's rude to say those things?"

"Pika!" Nebula said as she smirked at Meowth, as she stuck out her tongue at Meowth, "Pikachu pika pi chu."

"Hah!" Meowth exclaimed as he laughed at what Nebula said. "Look kid, what you just said is impossible." He said as he started laughing. "I'll believe it when I see it, brat."

"What so funny Meowth?" James asked as he moved over to the Cat Pokémon's side. "What did she say?"

"Most of what she did say I'm not going to repeat, Jimbo," Meowth said between chuckles, as he finally calmed down long enough to talk again, "This little squirt claims that her trainer will get her back, along with the rest of the Pokémon that we took from that Professor's lab, in no time flat."

At that answer the two human members of the group joined Meowth in his laughter, as they fell to the floor of the balloon's basket in laughing fits.

"Get over it, squirt." Jessie said as she finally said after a few moments of uncontrolled laughter. "Even if your trainer does come after us, she's too far behind. There's no way for her to be able to catch up with us now."

"I still can't believe that we were able to get away with it so easily." James said, as he glanced around at his companions.

"Now that you mention it, it was too easy." Jessie said as a thoughtful look spread across her face. "Shouldn't the twerps have tried to catch up with us by now to get back their Pikachu's?"

"Yeah, and I don't see them anywhere on the ground," Meowth said as he glanced over the side of the hot air balloon to check out the ground.

"Does this mean that we've actually won against those little twerps?!" James exclaimed as his voice rose a bit in excitement. "We finally got Pikachu!"

"Not very likely. They would've come but I asked them to let me handle this, myself" An unfamiliar voice said from above.

Startled, Jessie James and Meowth jerked their heads upwards in the direction that the voice had come from, just as their balloon came to a stop in mid air. As they watched, they see Pan floating down until she's right in front of the basket, her hands gripping the ropes that was tied to the balloon, securing it into place with one hand, while she held out her other hand which was holding a small glowing ball.

"How the heck did you get up here?!" Jessie exclaimed as she stared in disbelief at Pan.

"Easy, I flew," Pan said matter of factly, as she faced the small group, turning her attention towards Pikachu and Nebula who were staring up at her. "Hey are you guys ok?" she asked.

"Pika pi!" Nebula cried out as she gave her a thumb up sign.

"Pika." Pikachu said as he nodded towards Pan.

"All right, just hold on a couple of seconds and I'll have you both out of there." Pan said as she turned back towards Team Rocket. "You know, I'm not really in the mood for a fight right now, but I'll give you three the chance to voluntarily hand over the pokéball's that you stole, or else."

"Or else what?" Jessie demanded, a sneer spreading across her face, as she eyed the younger girl up and down, noticing Pan's lack of a pokéball belt. "Who are you little girl, that you think that you can talk to Team Rocket like that? You don't even have any Pokémon on you to take us on with."

"Or else I shoot you out of the air, and let you crash to the ground" Pan said calmly as she raised up her free hand just as a glowing ball of energy form in it's hand. "Who says I need a Pokémon to take you guys on?"

"I'd just love to see you try it, you little twerp," Jessie sneered as she pulled out one of her pokéballs, though she hesitated a moment as she glanced at the glowing ball of energy in Pan's outstretched palm. "You wouldn't blow up the balloon anyways, because if we go down, you'll go down with us." She finally said with, as the sneer returned.

"Don't bet on it. How do you think I got up here so fast, when you guys had a good 3 minute head start?" she asked. "Do you guys want to try your luck and see where it'll lead you?"

"Hey where did she go!" Ash cried out as he stared at the spot where Pan had been only moments before.

Before anyone could respond, their attention is drawn upwards once more, as they hear a commotion coming from the sky. As they stared in the direction of the hot air balloon, they could see flashing lights coming from around the balloon, as they made out Pan's figure flying around the balloon, another flash of light and they could see the balloon starting to deflate coming down, and rush over.

Just then Pan reappeared in front of them, carrying a three bags filled with Pokéball's in one hand that she hands over to Professor Oak, Brock and Tracey, and in her other hand she held the glass case that was holding Pikachu and Nebula prisoner in.

Setting the glass case down, Pan lifts up the cover and both animals are set loose, as they rushed to their respective trainers and climbed onto their shoulders.

Glancing back at the wrecked balloon and it's occupants, Ash and Pan shared a knowing look as they looked towards their Pikachu's who awaited their master's commands.

"I think that it's time that Team Rocket was on their way wouldn't you say Pan?" Ash asked in neutral tones, his eyes narrowing.

"I agree. So let's help them on their way." Pan added.

"Uh, oh," Team Rocket chorused as they realized what was coming.

"Pikachu," Ash began, as he twisted his Pokémon League baseball cap around on his head so that the flap was facing his back.

"Nebula," Pan commanded, resting one hand on her hip as she pointed towards Team Rocket's wrecked balloon.

"THUNDERSHOCK, NOW!!" they shouted in unison voices rising over everything else as they gave the commanded.

"Pika...CHU!!!"

As one, both Pikachu's charged up with one single burst of electrical energy their attacks combining into one attack as it heads straight for Team Rocket hitting them dead center. The resulting explosion sends Team Rocket shooting off into the Northern atmosphere.

"I just knew it was too good to be true!" Jessie sobbed as tears ran down her charred cheeks as she and the others flew through the sky.

"This just isn't our day," James whined pitifully as the he shot through the sky with the other members of his teams.

"Look's like we'll never catch a break against those twerps." Meowth said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"LOOK's LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!"

~Later~

The sun was just starting to set over Pallet Town, and the group was inside of Pan's capsule house celebrating over Pan's victory over Team Rocket's defeat. Ash, Misty, Brock and Tracey having released their Pokémon to allow them to eat dinner, and roam around the small house freely.

"I still don't get how you were able to do that, Pan," Misty was saying as she was munching on some fried chicken. "I never saw anything like what you were able to do before today." Misty said before stopping to think about it for a few moments, before continuing, "except for Sabrina. She's able to do some of the things you did, because she has psychic powers."

"I don't have any type of psychic powers Misty," Pan said as she reached over to snag a chicken leg, "I'm just a really good fighter, that's all. And back where I come from some of my best friends are able to fly around."

"But that doesn't explain your tail, Pan." Ash cut in as he glanced at the mentioned object. "Why do you have a tail?"

"That's something that I'd like to know as well." Tracey added in as he listened into the conversation.

"The tail I don't want to talk about, because it'll take to long to explain," Pan said as she had her tail wrap itself around her waist, as she took a long sip from her can of strawberry soda. "But I'll just say that it's something that I inherited from my father's side of the family. And yes we're human. Or at least as human as we'll ever get." She said as she glanced up from soda can to glance around at the others.

Just then the front door bell rang.

"I'll get it." Ash announced as he turned and heads out of the room. After a few moments they can hear his voice talking to someone else, as he comes back towards the dining room, leading in Professor Oak, who is carrying several medium sized boxes in his hands.

"Good evening everyone. Pan I've brought back those items that you allowed me to study for my research," Professor Oak greeted cheerfully as he walked over to the dining room table, and set the box down on the table.

"Thanks Professor Oak," Pan said, as she pushed the box to the side, planning to take the capsules out later.

"Along with a little something more that I think you may enjoy. It should help you during your stay here, if you care to use them." Professor Oak added as he set the remaining boxes down in front of the others. "In fact I have something for all of you. A colleague of mine who lives in New Bark Town has developed a new system known as pokégear. With pokégear, you will be able to keep in touch with each other."

The others immediately tore into their boxes, pulling out their new pokégear. Each pokégear looked exactly the same, though they varied in different colors, and were still wrapped up. Ash received red, Misty's was sea green; Tracey's was dark blue; and Brock's was brown.

"Gee, thanks Professor Oak!" Ash exclaimed enthusiastically as he looked down at his new pokégear with pride, as he quickly hooked it to the belt on his pants. "I love it! What do you think Pikachu?" he asked as he turned towards Pikachu for his approval.

Pikachu hopped over towards Ash and sniffs at the strange new contraption on his masters' waist, before grinning and raising a paw into the air, with a happy "Pika!" as his answer.

"Yeah, thanks Professor Oak." Misty said cheerfully as she admired her pokégear. "And I like the color, too. It looks great!"

"This pokégear should be helpful on the road, you guys." Brock said as he fiddled with the clasped on his pokégear before hooking it onto the inside his vest jacket.

Looking up at Professor Oak in surprise at that statement, Pan looked back at the box. 'What did he mean by that?' she thought to herself. Curious, she reached out towards the box and ripped the top open, pulling the flaps back so that she could see the contents, and she lets out a sharp gasp of surprise.

"What's in the box, Pan?" Misty asked as she looked over trying to peer over Pan's shoulder to get a better look at the boxes contents. Eyes widening, Pan reached into the box and pulled out first five gray capsules with strange tops, then reaching back into the box, she pulled out a dark green pokégear, followed by a red Pokédex. Next came about five red and white pokéballs, and five Ultra balls.

"Professor, what's all of this stuff for? Not that I'm not grateful or anything, because I am grateful for this stuff, but why?" Pan asked, glancing across the table at Professor Oak with an incredulous look, as the older man ate some of the fried chicken that had been set out.

"Mmmm... This chicken is really good. You'll make a great cook one day, Brock," Professor Oak said, not reacting to Pan's question immediately, as he wiped off his mouth with a napkin, as he looked at the other. "Can the rest of you leave Pan and me alone for a little bit? I need to talk with her in private on an important matter."

"Sure Professor Oak." Misty said as she stood up and got ready to leave, dragging Ash behind her, as Brock and Tracey followed behind her.

Watching the others leave, Oak waited a few moments, before turning his attention back to Pan, as he pulled out a piece of paper and slides it over to her.

Pan glanced down at the paper with a wary look in her eyes, as she reaches over to pick it up. "What's this for?"

"That is a form for a Pokémon license, so that you may become a Pokémon trainer if you choose to do so." Oak said simply.

"A Pokémon license?" Pan asked. "Why would I need a license for? I might not even be staying in this dimension long enough for me to go on a Pokémon journey, Professor." Pan protested as she met Oak's steady gaze.

Professor Oak only shook his head at her words, "Pan, it's been three months since you first arrived here, and during that time there has been no word or any sign of your friends being seen looking for you." Professor Oak said, "as much as I hate having to say this, but you must realize that the chances of them finding you might be a chance in a million. You said so yourself that the T.A.T.T was malfunctioning before it sent you here. Anything could have happened to the machine after you were sent here. It might have exploded, or the data and information that had been used to find this dimension might have been lost."

"So if any of that is true, then I might be stuck here indefinitely," Pan asked in quiet tones, keeping her gaze adverted as she stared down at her soda.

"Yes," Professor Oak said in agreement as he stared across at Pan, seeing the sadness that seemed to be radiating off of her. "But in answer to your last question, the reason that I'm offering this to you is so that you can get away from the lab. I've already taught you everything that I can, and everything. In fact I've never seen anyone learn as fast as you do."

"But," Pan started, glancing up to look at Professor Oak, only to be cut off as Professor Oak continued speaking.

"I saw it the first day we met when I saw you with Nebula. I've watched you with the Pokémon on the compound along with Nebula. You have a natural gift for caring for and raising Pokémon that you don't usually find in a lot of trainers, and I believe that you could put that talent to good use. I've seen the way you've trained Nebula, teaching her to do things that I didn't even think was possible for her species to do until I saw it this afternoon."

Pan smiled at the reminder. As much as she hated to admit it, but she really did have a lot of fun spending a lot of her time with Nebula and the other Pokémon on the compound. She especially enjoyed training Nebula in using her electric attacks, and teaching her to do things that nobody's even thought of trying before. She had only begun Nebula's training as a way to for her to pass off the time when she wasn't working or helping to take care of the other Pokémon, but after awhile, their training sessions had become something more between the two of them.

"And, it's also because I've seen how you've been acting these last few weeks in the lab, ever since you saw those pictures of Moltres and Mewtwo." He said with a slow smile spreading across his face, as he reached over to take her hand. "You've been restless, and always looking for answers for questions you won't be able to find here. In fact, I'm curious as to why you saw two of them in the first place myself."

"You really think so?" Pan asked as she looked Professor Oak directly in the eye. "But what about this?" Pan asked as she held up the credit card with her name on it.

"If you do choose to go on the journey, you'll need a steady cash flow. So I opened up a bank account for you in Viridian City." Professor Oak said with a slight shrug, before continuing, "With the money you earned working in the lab with me, and the extra money that I put in your account for you, you'll be very well off for quite some time." Oak said with an encouraging smile.

"But I really don't think I'm that good with Pokémon..." Pan said, looking concerned, as she looked away for a moment, before turning her gaze back to Professor Oak.

"You won't know unless you try." Professor Oak said as he returned her gaze. "If you fill out the form for your license tonight, I can speed things up, and have it to you by tomorrow morning, so that you can start whenever you want." He offered. "That's why I brought you the Pokédex and pokégear so that you will already be prepared. With your pokégear, if anyone shows up looking for you, I'll call you and let you know."

"I guess, I will do it," Pan said, as a grin spread across her features. "It'll be something different that's for sure. Where's the pen?"

~Next morning, 11:35 am~

Pan stepped outside of her capsule house, as she looked around the compound for one last time. Dressed in a pair of tight fitting black pants, a white t-shirt, boots, black fingerless gloves covering her hands, while her orange-red bandanna tied to her forehead, to hold back her hair. She carried her backpack slung over her shoulder; Professor Oak had brought back her Pokédex, after taking it with him the night before to get it upgraded with the trainer information it needed on her. Giru was perched on top of the lid of Pan's backpack.

Next to her was Nebula who stared up at her trainer in curiosity as she followed Pan out of the house.

"Hey Pan! Are you ready to go?" Brock's voice called out.

Looking up, Pan spots Brock, Ash and Misty looking all ready to be on their way, heading straight for her from the research lab with Professor Oak, Tracey, and Mrs. Ketchum who was holding a picnic basket in her hands.

"Yeah, I'm almost ready. Just give me a minute, to finish packing up." Pan said as she turned back to the capsule house, she flipped open an outside panel wall next to the front door. "Hey, guys thanks again for letting me come along on your trip to the Johto League."

"It's no problem Pan. The more the merrier I always say." Brock said with a grin. "I'd be more than happy to show you the ropes around here."

"Yeah," Misty said cheerfully, as she held Togepi in her arms. "It'd be great to have another girl around to talk to." She said a moment before she noticed a change in Pan's appearance, and her eyes widen in surprise. "What did you do to your hair!"

Pan reached up with her left hand to touch her now shortened locks, reflexively. "I cut it obviously. I thought that I should try going back to my old hairstyle of short hair."

"Pan wait!" Mrs. Ketchum called as she rushed forward.

Turning back to the group, Pan eyed Mrs. Ketchum as the older woman hurried towards her. "What is it, Mrs. K?" Pan asked

"Here, I fixed all of you a lunch in case that you get hungry on the road." Mrs. Ketchum said as she hands Pan the picnic basket. "You might as well put this in your house before you change it back into it's capsule form."

"Capsule form?" both Ash and Misty said at the same time.

"Thanks," Pan said as she picked up the basket, and slings it over her shoulder as she opened the front door, and disappears inside. A few seconds later she was back without the basket, and moved back to the wall panel, and pushes in the panel.

*POOF!!!*

"WHAT!!" Ash exclaimed in surprise, as he watched as the dome house disappeared into a puff of smoke. As Ash watched Pan walked forward and bent down to pick up something from the ground. As the smoke cleared, he got a better look at what the object was, and saw that it looked like some kind of strange capsule.

"Capsule house," Pan said as she pulled out her carrying case, and dropped the capsule into it's slot, before putting it away once again, "I'll explain later you guys," Pan said, "So let's get going."

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Author's Notes:

Not much changed in this chapter. I only added in some new stuff into the story, to the parts of this chapter I decided didn't seem to end right when I first wrote them.

If anyone is wondering about the black diamonds shaped pattern instead of triangles on Nebula's ears, I thought that I should make Nebula's appearance slightly different; it's something that she inherited from her father. ^_^

Sighs I don't remember that much that happened in the two episodes where Ash, Misty and Tracey finally returned to Pallet Town from the Orange League and their meeting so I'm just going with the flow with this chapter. And I purposely left Gary out of this chapter.

So what does everyone think of the newest chapter of Flying Away?
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Dated Started: March 26, 2001
Date Ended: April 14, 2001
Date Updated: November 8, 2001