Abnormal Ball 5: It Returns

(Cubed Cinder)

Ash and his new friends, Iris and Cilan, all looked around Nacrene City and found the surroundings to be quite interesting. It was a city known for more warehouses than traditional looking buildings.
"Well... there sure are a lot of warehouses here." Ash said.
"It's been said these warehouses are centuries old, but the unique cityscape makes it a popular place for avant-garde artists and is usually the place where trends begin." Cilan said.
"It does look old-fashioned, and I suppose that's what makes this city special!" Iris said.
"I didn't know you were into old fashion, Iris." Ash said with a smile.
"Ugh! You are such a little kid!" Iris shouted. Cilan just smiled listening to the two banter like they do almost everywhere they go.
"Anyway, let's go rest up at the Pokémon Center, and then I wanna challenge this city's gym!" Ash said as he ran at full speed towards the Pokémon Center.
"Hey! Wait up!!" Iris shouted.
"That Ash, always so full of energy. My cooking really has done wonders!" Cilan said.

The group made it inside with no problem, and Nurse Joy immediately welcomed the three traveling trainers.
"Hi! Welcome to the Nacrene City Pokémon Center!" Joy said.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Can you heal my Pokémon please?" Ash said.
"Of course. Just give me a few minutes and your Pokémon will be in top shape again." Joy said. Ash put his Poké Balls and Pikachu on the tray, which Joy took to the back. But halfway to the healing room, she stopped and turned around.
"Oh... are you Ash Ketchum, by chance?" Joy asked.
"Well... yes, yes I am." Ash said.
"Professor Juniper called earlier. She wanted to speak with you as soon as you could." Joy said.
"Oh, okay. Thanks!" Ash said. Joy then walked back to the healing room, and Ash wondered what Juniper wanted to talk with him about. Maybe how he was doing on his journey through the Unova region?
"Wow... Professor Juniper wants to talk with you?" Cilan asked.
"Well, yeah, he did meet up with her when he first got here." Iris said.
"Might as well go see what she wants now." Ash said. He walked over to the video phones and dialed in the number to Professor Juniper's lab.

Back at Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper was casually working away on some of her inventions. To be precise, she was working on what appeared to be a new type of Poké Ball, the very same one that will eventually cause chaos for some of our heroes later in this story. Then, suddenly, she heard the video phone ringing from one of the other desks. Juniper rushed over and sat down at this desk before pressing the button to answer the call.
"Hi, Professor!" Ash shouted.
"Oh! Hello, Ash! I didn't expect to hear from you so soon!" Juniper said.
"Well, here I am in Nacrene City!" Ash said.
"AHEM!" Iris said as she loudly cleared her throat.
"I mean... here WE are in Nacrene City." Ash said.
"Oh, so Iris is still traveling with you? I'm glad you've been able to find a good friend for this region." Juniper said.
"Well... yeah, we have become, well... yeah, we have been good friends." Ash said, almost not wanting to say such a thing because of Iris berating him more than praising him in all the time they've been together.
"Anyway, the reason I called is do you think you could take a brief break from your journey and come back to the lab? There's this new invention I've been working on that I just have to show you!" Juniper said.
"Huh? New invention? Can't you show us over the video phone? I mean, we are all the way out in Nacrene City." Ash said.
"Well, this is a kind of invention I feel you have to see with your own eyes, and don't worry about being so far! I've arranged for Officer Jenny to give you a ride to Nuvema Town!" Juniper said with a smile. Almost right on cue, Officer Jenny stepped behind the trio and gave a salute.
"Right you are, Professor Juniper! Officer Jenny reporting for duty!" Jenny said.
"Wow... talk about friendly service!" Iris said.
"Axew! Axew!" Axew said happily as the Pokémon popped out from Iris's hair.
"Alright, Professor Juniper. As soon as I get my Pokémon back from Nurse Joy, we're on our way!" Ash said before he hung up.
"Hmmm... I wonder what Professor Juniper has invented that has her so excited." Iris said.
"I don't know, but we shouldn't keep her waiting." Ash said.

After getting back his Pokémon, our heroes jumped into Jenny's special motorcycle, which had a couple passanger seats to the sides. Once everyone was safely seated in the vehicle, Jenny revved up the motor and drove off.

As the group admired the scenery before they arrived in Striaton City, Jenny suddenly had to stop the motorcycle when she heard Cilan shouting.
"Wait, stop the bike!" Cilan shouted.
"What's up, Cilan?" Ash asked.
"You know what? I want to check on my brothers while I'm passing here. Just make sure everything is running smoothly, of course!" Cilan said.
"Huh? What about what Professor Juniper has to show us?" Iris asked.
"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up later!" Cilan said as he hopped out of the motorcycle and ran towards his gym/fancy restaurant.
"Hmmph! Now that was just rude of him!" Iris said.
"Now, now. You can't blame a guy wanting to check on his brothers and the gym itself." Jenny said.
"She's right. And like he said, he can catch up with us later. Now let's get going!" Ash said.
"Oh, Ash... you are such an impatient little kid!" Iris said.
"Alright, hold on! Next stop is Nuvema Town!" Jenny said as she got her motorcycle going again.

Finally, the group was able to make it back to Nuvema Town. Jenny parked her motorcycle right in front of Juniper's lab.
"Well, here you guys are." Jenny said.
"Thanks, Officer Jenny!" Ash said as he, Iris, and their respective Pokémon all hopped out.
"I gotta get back to Nacrene City. Just call me or any of my sisters when you're ready to return!" Jenny said. She then turned her bike around and drove back on the road, on her way back to her home city.
"Isn't it nice to have an always reliable policewoman for trips like this?" Iris asked.
"Yeah, definitely. Well, let's go see what Professor Juniper has to show us." Ash said. The two turned around and walked through the double sliding doors and into the professor's lab.

---

As Professor Juniper was typing away at her laptop, no doubt a report on her latest experiment, she heard the doors open up and she looked to see Ash and Iris walking in. Juniper got up from her sliding chair and walked towards the two kids.
"Ash! Iris! I'm so glad the two of you could make it. I'm sorry I had to interrupt your travels." Juniper said.
"Oh, it's okay, professor! We don't mind you showing off something new for us." Ash said.
"So what is it? Have you invented something that will help me shut Ash up?" Iris said with a smile.
"Not funny, Iris..." Ash muttered under his breath.
"Well, I'm afraid not, but it is something I've been perfecting for a couple years now. Follow me!" Juniper said.

A short walk to the back of the lab later, Juniper approached one of her assistants, a blonde-haired young man named Van.
"Van, it's time to demonstrate our new Poké Ball to our first audience." Juniper said, pointing back to Ash and Iris behind her.
"Yes, Professor Juniper! Right away!" Van shouted. He put down his tablet and stood up straight, waiting to be hit again by this special Poké Ball, which Juniper was now showing off to her visitors.
"Huh? It looks like a normal Poké Ball to me." Iris said.
"It may look like an ordinary Pokeball, but wait until you see the big change I've made. Poké Ball, go!" Juniper shouted. She threw the ball and it jabbed her assistant, Van, right in the chest. Right at that moment, the ball opened up and zapped him inside, as if he were a Pokémon!
"Whoa! What just happened!?" Iris shouted.
"Isn't it exciting? I've modified the Poké Ball to capture anything it makes a full impact with, including human beings! But that's not all." Juniper said as she walked up to the Poké Ball and picked it up. Ash looked a little nervous as he watched Juniper take the ball.
"There's more?" Ash asked.
"Yep! The second part of this newly modified Poké Ball will make transporting large objects easier than ever. Watch!" Juniper said. With that said, she allowed the ball to open up, and its contents zapped out to a nearby table. Everyone watched as Van suddenly reappeared... but at a size of only three inches tall!
"Oh my gosh!" Iris shouted. Ash, on the other hand, just gulped nervously and also sweated it out a bit. He had seen this breakthrough before.
"Just think of the possibilities something like this can allow. Large furniture can now be in the palm of your hand. Any safe room can be a giant playground for children. Oh, I'm excited just thinking of how this special ball can be put to use!" Juniper said.
"Awwww... he's so small, but so cute! I could just hug him and squeeze his little body!" Iris said as she approached the table and took the little Van into her hands. She pressed him against the right side of her face, and he simply struggled to catch his breath as he felt himself being pressed.
"Ack... can't breathe!" Van shouted.
"Um, Iris, I gotta restore him to normal now." Juniper said.
"Oh, okay! Sorry about that." Iris said. She gently placed Van back on the table.
"And returning him to normal is as easy as firing the return laser of the Poké Ball. It cancels the shrinking effect instantly." Juniper said. Indeed, after she shot the tiny Van with the red return laser that normally calls a Pokémon back to its ball, Van quickly grew back to his normal size. After he hopped down from the table, Juniper patted Van on the back.
"Good job once again, Van. I'll meet you in the other room shortly for the results of the other tests." Juniper said.
"Roger!" Van said as he left the room.

As Juniper watched Van leave the room, she noticed the nervous-type look on Ash's face.
"What's wrong, Ash? Aren't you impressed?" Juniper said.
"Oh, yeah! Yeah! I think it's pretty cool what you did with that Poké Ball." Ash said.
"I figured you'd be impressed. And..." Juniper said. Before she could say anymore, she heard a tone go off and repeat in another room.
"Oh! Would you two excuse me? The phone is ringing in the other room." Juniper said.
"Sure! We're not going anywhere." Iris said. Juniper nodded and placed the special Poké Ball on the table before leaving the room. Ash and Iris were all by themselves in the room, along with the ball itself. Iris had also noticed the uncomfortable look on Ash's face.
"Come on, Ash. Something's bothering you, isn't it?" Iris asked.
"Well... it's just that I've had... experience with this kind of Poké Ball." Ash said.
"You mean it's not exactly new? It's been made before?" Iris asked.
"Yep. A girl named Solana told me the original design came from a professor in the faraway land of Fiore. And there were a couple times when I got shrunken with that ball." Ash said.
"Oh, Ash, you are such a little kid. This ball probably only works when it's in Professor Juniper's hands!" Iris said happily. She then picked up the Poké Ball and tossed it up and down, which really made Ash sweat.
"Hey! You shouldn't be playing around with that thing!" Ash said.
"Oh, what's to worry about? Here, try to dodge it!" Iris said as she threw the ball towards Ash.

The next sequence of events happened so incredibly fast. Iris threw the ball so fast towards Ash, he had no time to dodge it. It hit him in the shoulder, but that was enough for the ball to zap him and Pikachu inside. On top of that, because the ball hit Ash square in his shoulder, it recoiled backwards to Iris, who was not prepared to catch the ball again, and she too got zapped by it. The ball landed with a thud onto the floor.

The Poké Ball wobbled around on the floor for close to ten seconds, and then it finally opened up. Two different white lasers came out of the ball before closing back up, and the lasers eventually reformed to Ash and Iris, both shrunken to three inches tall.
After Ash rubbed his head from being constrained in a tight space for a little while, he looked around and saw the now gigantic Poké Ball.
"Oh no... no no NO!!!" Ash shouted. Iris also realized what had happened after she looked at how the scenery changed.
"Um... oops." Iris said. She then ran over to Ash to check on him.
"You okay, Ash?" Iris said.
"Am I okay!? Do I look like I'm okay!? I've been shrunken AGAIN to three inches tall, thanks to your incompetence!" Ash shouted as he lashed out his anger towards Iris. Pikachu was pretty mad as well judging by the electricity flowing out of its cheeks, but kept itself from thundershocking Iris to keep from hurting Axew, who had a worried look on its face as it popped out from Iris's hair.
"Okay, chill out. I'm sorry. Don't be such a little kid..." Iris said.
"Why do you always have to call me a little kid!? I've been in more Pokémon Leagues than you can count!!!" Ash shouted.
"Hey, it's not a total loss, you know!" Iris said.
"And why is that?" Ash asked.
"Well... just look around. Look how wide open this lab now is! I feel so free with this much open space! Wheeeee!" Iris said as she ran around in wide circles in the suddenly wide open space she now had. Ash just sighed. There was no sense arguing with Iris since she appeared to be enjoying herself in contrast to him.
"Yeah, I guess..." Ash said.
"This is so much fun! I don't see why shrinking is always a bad thing!" Iris said.

And then came the loud voice from the other room.
"Okay, here I come again! Sorry for the delay!" Juniper shouted. Ash heard that voice... and looked as she walked back into the lab, towering high above himself and Iris even at a distance.
"Yeah... until the now gigantic professor comes walking into the room!" Ash shouted. Professor Juniper then paused for a short moment when she didn't see Ash or Iris in the room. Of course, she had no clue they were still in the room but shrunken to a small size.
"Hmmm? Where did they go?" Juniper said as she walked towards the table. Iris was captivated with seeing the professor at such a huge size.
"Wow... not just the room, but people as well. Look how much bigger they are from down here." Iris said. Ash looked to see Iris was right in the path of Juniper as she was about to plant one of her shoes on her.
"Look out!!" Ash shouted as he pushed Iris out of the way and made a dive himself, right before the two of them could be crushed.
"Man, that was close. You gotta pay attention, Iris!" Ash shouted.
"I know, I know. I gotta pay attention. Man, you are such a..." Iris said.
"Don't even go there, please." Ash said.

Juniper, meanwhile, just kept looking around the room. She then eventually spot the special Poké Ball down by her feet, but not the shrunken children. She leaned down and picked up the ball.
"They didn't leave already, did they? No, I did say to them I had more new inventions to show them. But how did this get here?" Juniper said before she placed the ball back on the nearby table.
"Oh well. I better e-mail that report to Professor Fennel like I said I would do over the phone. Then I'll go find them." Juniper said. After stepping towards her computer desk (swinging her feet over the tiny duo once again) and sitting down at the chair, Ash and Iris watched the giant Juniper take her seat.
"We've got to get Professor Juniper's attention if we're going to return to our normal size!" Ash said.
"Yes, you're right. But how will we do that?" Iris asked. Both trainers started to think of how they could accomplish this small task that would be easy if only they were big enough.

---

As Professor Juniper was busy typing away at her long e-mail, which included telling Fennel about the breakthrough that we know as the "Abnormal Ball," Ash and Iris continued to ponder how they could get the giant professor's attention. They had to look up when they heard a loud noise from above, only to see it was Juniper opening up one of her drawers and looking for a piece of paper. This gave Iris an idea especially as Juniper closed the drawer.
"Hey, I got it! Ash, give me a boost towards that handle above us." Iris said as she pointed up at the handle of the lower drawer, which was much closer to them.
"Huh? What do you have planned?" Ash asked.
"I can get to the top of that desk and get her attention from up there." Iris said.
"You can really make it all the way to the top?" Ash said.
"Hey! I can climb anything with my leaps and bounds. That's what happens when you're running around the world as a little girl." Iris said with a sly smile on her face.
"Alright, go for it then. I'll just wait down here after I help you." Ash said. He and Iris walked underneath the handle, and then Iris put a foot on one of Ash's hands. She then made a huge leap, several feet into the air amazingly enough, and grabbed onto the handle.

After climbing on top of the handle, Iris looked up and saw the next handle not as far up. There were four more handles for her to climb up. Taking a deep breath, Iris jumped against the drawer and, tapping into her skillful tree climbing and parkour skills, pressed her feet up against the surface, allowing her to climb up further. Once she was high enough, Iris reached up with her hands and grabbed onto the handle. She would do this for the next three handles as well, eventually relying on the top edge of the top drawer to pull herself up to the top of the desk. Ash was almost dumbfounded over what he saw.
"How does that girl do it?" Ash asked himself.

After taking a couple deep breaths and looking around the top of the desk, including at the giant Professor Juniper typing away on the keyboard, she looked and saw Axew smiling on her shoulder.
"Hehe, wasn't that fun, Axew?" Iris asked.
"Axew! Axew!" Axew shouted before going back to hiding inside Iris's hair. She then looked over at the keyboard, watching as Juniper stopped typing and was looking over the screen.
"Alright, now to get the professor's attention." Iris said as she ran over to the keyboard. She stopped at the right side of the keyboard as she looked down at the number pad keys, in particular the dash key.

As Juniper made her way to the bottom of the e-mail she was about to send, she suddenly watched as a bunch of dash characters (-) suddenly started to fill the message. Obviously, Juniper wondered what was going on.
"Huh? What the?" Juniper said. She tried hitting and then holding the backspace key to get rid of the dashes, but they just kept coming back. She figured the dash key must've gotten stuck somehow, and that's when she looked down in the corner at the dash key, where she saw the tiny Iris standing on the key waving up at her.
"What... what's this!?" Juniper said.
"Professor Juniper, down here!" Iris shouted. Having successfully gotten the good professor's attention, Iris hopped off the keyboard and stood back on the desk. A couple seconds later, Juniper carefully picked up the tiny girl and held her in her hand.
"Iris, is that you?" Juniper asked.
"Yep! I kinda lost weight since I last saw you... and height!" Iris said. Juniper, however, wasn't smiling, still having a shocked look on her face.
"This isn't funny, Iris! What about Ash? Where is he?" Juniper asked.
"He's still on the floor. I climbed up the desk so I could get your attention." Iris said. Immediately upon hearing this, Juniper spun her chair to the right and looked down by her shoes, where she saw a similarly tiny Ash waving up at her (although he backed away a bit to keep from getting stepped on).
"Oh my gosh!" Juniper said. Putting Iris back on the desk, Juniper reached down and gently picked up the shrunken Ash, placing him right next to Iris. Juniper looked at the two standing side-by-side.
"Okay, you two. Please tell me how you got so small all of a sudden." Juniper said. Ash came right out with the truth before Iris could try and fabricate something.
"Iris was playing with your new Poké Ball, she threw it at me and trapped me inside. I guess it got her as well, so there you go..." Ash said.
"No way, I wasn't... well, okay, maybe a little bit, but..." Iris said, but before she could say anymore, Juniper leaned in closer towards Iris. Juniper's hand was also very close to Iris as she pressed it against her desk.
"Iris, you really should know better. That thing wasn't a toy!" Juniper said.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I didn't think it would work in my hands!" Iris said.
"Well, fortunately the damage can be easily reversed with the return laser." Juniper said.

She then got up from her chair and looked down around the floor for a few seconds looking for the Poké Ball, which she eventually found. She picked it up and held it in her hands, pointing it towards Ash and Iris.
"I guess the only thing to say is... Ash! Iris! Return!" Juniper said, finally showing a little bit of humor herself about the situation. Expecting the return laser to come out of the ball... nothing was happening. Juniper tried shaking the ball a little bit, but there was no response.
"Uh oh..." Juniper said.
"What is it, professor?" Ash asked. But then Juniper just thought of something. She approached her desk, still standing at full height.
"Wait... if the ball captured you two, how did you manage to break free?" Juniper asked.
"We just basically shook the ball around. Kinda like bouncing around until it zapped us back out." Ash said.
"Just as I suspected... the ball has lost all its energy trying to contain the two of you, and so after the ball released you, it becomes inoperable... just like a regular Poké Ball!" Juniper said.
"So what does that mean?" Iris asked.
"I think it means we're stuck like this..." Ash said.
"WHAT!? You mean we're going to be this tiny for the rest of our lives!?" Iris said.
"Don't worry, you two. I'll get my assistants to fix the ball right away. Van!" Juniper said. A few seconds later, Van, the assistant who volunteered to be shrunken earlier for Ash and Iris, came back into the room.
"Yes, Professor Juniper?" Van said.
"I need you to restore the energy output of our special Poké Ball. We've had a bit of an accident." Juniper said. Van looked over Juniper's shoulder and saw the two shrunken kids, recognizing them from earlier, especially when Iris picked him up and tried to hug the life out of him. But Van looked back at Juniper and took the ball from her hands.
"Right away, professor!" Van said as he left the room.

As he left the room, Professor Juniper looked back down at Ash and Iris, picking them up again and holding them in front of her face.
"Aren't you going to follow him, professor?" Ash said.
"I trust my assistants will get the job done. And besides... I have another experiment in mind right now." Juniper said.
"And what's that?" Iris asked.
"I've always wondered what it's like to hold a tiny person, let alone two at the same time." Juniper said.
"I don't like the sound of this..." Ash said as he gulped nervously.
"Yay! Come to think of it, I've always wanted to climb and swing and do other things with a giant person." Iris shouted.
"Well, consider this your lucky day, little Iris!" Juniper said with a smile.

Professor Juniper took her seat back on the chair and looked down at the two shrunken kids in her hands. She leaned back in her chair, her legs stretched out.
"Hmmm... I wonder what sorts of experiments I should do with you two?" Juniper said.
"*gulp* You're not going to change us into Pokemon, are you!?" Ash said.
"Heavens no, Ash! I'm not that kind of scientist. My short-term goal is to see what it takes for you two to have fun despite this bad situation." Juniper said.
"I don't know, I think I'm already enjoying this... you know, just from seeing everything from a different point of view." Iris said.
"Well, let's see if you guys will get a kick out of this game." Juniper said. She leaned forward, allowing her arms to reach the floor, and then she placed the two kids down there by her shoes, leaving them to look up at her.
"Who don't the two of you race? The first one to reach either one of my shoulders will be declared the winner!" Juniper said.
"Huh? What?" Ash said.
"Alright! Try to catch me, little kid!" Iris shouted as she leapt on top of Juniper's shoe.
"Hey! No fair! You jumped the gun!" Ash shouted before he too started his run. He had to climb to get on top of Juniper's shoe, however.

From then on, it was a typical race up the human body for Ash and Iris as they both tried to make it to Juniper's shoulders. Although Juniper had made things slightly easier by leaning her legs forward a bit to keep the climb from being totally vertical, ASh still struggled to find grip on the giantess's legs. Iris, on the other hand, was speeding her way up the legs, showing her high talent in climbing anything she could wrap her body around.
Really, the only way Ash was going to win was if Iris made a big slip-up, and that didn't appear likely to happen anytime soon. Iris quickly grabbed onto the hem of Juniper's dress, and with something easier to latch onto, Iris's climbing went much faster. Juniper even tried to up the challenge a bit by waving one of her gigantic hands over Iris like she wanted to squish her, but Iris wasn't fazed. After climbing past Juniper's chest, Iris made it on top of the professor's right shoulder, shouting out in victory.

"Yippee! Yahoo! I win I win I win!!" Iris shouted. Of course, being so close to one of her ears, Juniper could hear the little Iris cheering.
"Yes, you certainly did. Congratulations, little Iris." Juniper said.
"Hey, I may be little, but I can still climb at record-breaking speeds." Iris said.
"Ummm... a little help down here!?" Ash shouted. Iris and Juniper looked down to see Ash hanging on for dear life on Juniper's dress.
"Oh my. We better get you out of this precarious position." Juniper said. She gently moved a hand down and positioned it underneath Ash, allowing him to safely drop down. As Juniper moved her hand in front of her face, Iris couldn't help but laugh at Ash.
"Hahaha! You can't even climb up some giant leg that's leaning forward. You are such a little kid!" Iris said.
"I dare you to try and say that again, you brat!!!" Ash shouted out of anger. He was clearly getting tired of Iris's antics, especially the 'little kid' remarks. Juniper felt compelled to intervene, especially as she picked up Iris and put her on the same hand as Ash.
"Now now, children. You must show better behavior than this when you are in my hand... um, actually, in my lab." Juniper said.
"Awww, but Professor..." Iris said.
"No buts. I want you to apologize to Ash right now, young lady." Juniper said, looking very serious all of a sudden. Iris felt the worst as she looked into Juniper's steely eyes, so she took a deep breath and looked over at Ash.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Ash." Iris said.
"It's okay. Thank you." Ash said.
"There, that's more like it. Iris, I'd like to reward you for being nice to Ash." Juniper said.
"Huh? What's that?" Iris asked.
"I hear you're pretty good at swinging from place to place as well." Juniper said.
"I've seen it with my own eyes. She's like a jungle girl!" Ash said.
"Very funny, little... um, whatever. But, yeah, it's true I like to swing around!" Iris said.

Having heard that, Juniper put Iris (and also Ash) back on her shoulder and tilted her head in a way that allowed her hair to reach the tiny girl. Iris wasted no time in grabbing as much of the hair as she could. She used the momentum to swing back and forth between strands of hair.
"Wheeeee!!!" Iris shouted. There was no doubt in Juniper's mind that Iris was having the time of her life. Iris felt like a kid swinging back and forth, and Ash could only watch with amazement at how smooth Iris was moving along Juniper's hair.
"I could never dream of being that acrobatic..." Ash said.
"She's such a lively young girl. You should be lucky you're traveling with someone like her." Juniper said.
"Well, if you insist..." Ash said.
"I promise if you spend more time with her, you will both better respect each other." Juniper said.
"Hmmm..." Ash said. He was suddenly reminded of the rocky start he had with Misty when he first met her. Perhaps the professor was right. With enough time, maybe he would get used to her or vice versa.

Eventually, Juniper placed Ash on the nearby table, and lowered her head slowly so her hair, and Iris on it, was on the table as well. Juniper stood straight again and looked down at the two kids. Even with the table, Ash and Iris could definitely feel the weight of their tiny size as they looked up at the giantess professor.
But before Juniper could start another conversation with the two kids, another one of her assistants (a female one) was knocking on the wall. Juniper looked to face this assistant.
"Excuse me, Professor Juniper. I'm sorry for interrupting." the assistant said.
"Yes, Patty? What is it?" Juniper asked.
"Professor Fennel and her little sister, Amanita, are here." Patty said.
"Oh? I wonder what they're here for. Thank you, Patty, I'll greet them at the front doors." Juniper said.
"As you wish." Patty said before she turned around and walked away. Juniper looked back down at Ash and Iris.
"Would you two wait here? I'll be right back." Juniper said before she walked away as well.
"Where exactly would we go?" Ash asked.

At the front entrance, Professor Juniper greeted two of her best friends. First was Professor Fennel, a former assistant of Juniper who was now living in Striaton City studying on her own, specifically on the aspects of Pokemon dreams. With her was her younger sister, Amanita, the super smart computer expert who created Unova's Pokemon storage system without borrowing any shred of source code from the other storage systems around the world, an achievement she has gotten recognized highly for.
"Fennel! Amanita! What brings you to my lab?" Juniper asked.
"Well, I'm still patiently waiting for that report you were gonna e-mail me. The one on a Charizard's dream process. But when Amanita said she wanted to go fishing here in Nuvema, I figured we'd stop by." Fennel said with a smile.
"Oh, shoot! I'm sorry, Fennel, I got sidetracked and I guess I never did e-mail that report. I'll just go print out a copy from my lab." Juniper said.
"Great! We'll follow you." Fennel said. As the three ladies walked towards the lab, Fennel couldn't help but catch her little sister trying to look over the computers in the other room.
"Amanita, are you staring at all the computers again?" Fennel said.
"Hey, come on! I still think this place could use a big upgrade! Especially in the hard drive department!" Amanita shouted with enthusiasm.

Ash and Iris watched as Professor Juniper reentered the room, and behind her were two other normal-sized girls. Ash and Iris both recognized Professor Fennel from a previous adventure involving stopping a Team Rocket plot. But they hadn't seen Amanita before.
"Huh? I wonder who that younger girl is?" Ash said.
"I don't know, but I don't like the looks of her..." Iris said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Ash said.
"Just look at her! She can easily mistake us for dolls!" Iris said.
"Hey, come on, it can't be that bad. Well, most of the time." Ash said, once again thinking back to a previous size-changing excursion (the one where Sabrina shrunk him and his friends and they were almost on the receiving end of a bouncing ball going wild).

They were thinking they wouldn't get noticed with Juniper and Fennel both squarely focused on the computer in the room. But that was not the case when Amanita wandered around the room (almost impatiently) and took one look at the table. Ash and Iris stayed as still as they could, thinking they wouldn't be noticed if they acted like simple dolls. But Amanita, just a tad taller than the table, reached up and grabbed the two, holding them in both her hands.
"Hmmm... how curious. I didn't know Professor Juniper was into dolls." Amanita said. She brushed the both of them with her fingers, especially Iris's hair.
"They look and feel so lifelike even..." Amanita said to herself. The next thing she did to feel how lifelike they were... she started tugging on Iris's hair. Iris didn't say anything on the first two tugs, but she finally couldn't hold the pain on Amanita's third pull.
"OW! HEY, LADY! Watch it with the hair pulling!" Iris shouted. Amanita gasped. Fennel and Juniper turned around (just as the printer finished printing) and noticed Amanita playing a little bit with the little kids. Juniper, out of pure instinct, quickly got up from her chair and gently approached Amanita.

"Um... Amanita. Could you please hand those kids over to me? We don't want to hurt them!" Juniper said.
"Huh? You mean these are real people? They're not just little dolls or robots?" Amanita said.
"Now there's a first... being mistaken for a robot." Ash said to himself.
"Well, no. Now pretty please, hand them over?" Juniper said. Amanita normally would want to play finders keepers, but with her older sister almost looming behind her, she had no choice but to return them.
"Okay, okay." Amanita said as she gently put Ash and Iris back into Juniper's hands.
"Professor Juniper? What's going on?" Fennel asked.
"Oh... remember I told you about the 'Abnormal Ball' project that I had been working on? Well, here's the result of that project. These two trainers got caught in the crossfire." Juniper said as she held the shrunken two in front of Fennel.
"Huh? Wait... I recognize those two. Ash? Iris? Is that you?" Fennel said.
"Yeah! Forgive us for being a lot shorter than the last time we met!" Iris shouted happily.
"Oh? You've met Ash and Iris before?" Juniper asked.
"Yes. They saved my Munna from being captured by Team Rocket not too long ago. Wow... they're so tiny!" Fennel said.
"Indeed they are. Don't worry, my assistants are hard at work on fixing the ball that made them this way." Juniper said.
"Um... Professor Juniper? May I... um... may I hold them for a little bit?" Fennel asked.
"Well, sure." Juniper said as she carefully handed the two over to Fennel. After Fennel took them in her hands, she looked over every inch (no pun intended!) of their tiny bodies.
"Amazing... everything is in proportion. The ball did its job!" Fennel said. She was very clearly enamored with the tiny Ash and Iris, and they both knew this too judging from the looks in her eyes behind those glasses. They wondered what she would do next, although not too much given that Juniper was right behind them.

As Amanita walked circles around both Fennel and Juniper trying to get a better look at the shrunken heroes, Fennel reached down and picked up Ash from her hand. After setting Iris down on the nearby table, Fennel carefully placed Ash atop the flower that was clipped onto her hair. Ash held on tight to the flower as he wobbled around.
"So, what do you think? Does he look good on me?" Fennel asked.
"I think so. He would make a great decoration while you're working." Juniper said with a smile.
"Hey, wait! I don't want to be a flower decoration forever!" Ash shouted.
"Don't be silly, Ash. I wouldn't be that cruel to you. Maybe you can help get a pen when I ask for it. Hehe!" Fennel said. She finally took Ash off the flower and put him back in her hands. Fennel then had another idea, one that required her to put Ash down on the floor next to her pink shoes. Pikachu, who was on Ash's shoulder during this whole time, made a leap towards Iris on the table. It had a bad feeling on what was going to happen next and decided to go where it was safe.
"Hey, can I test something while Ash is like this?" Fennel asked.
"Like what?" Juniper asked.
"How much of a reduction Ash has in his running speed at this size." Fennel said.
"Ah, an interesting thing to study. And how will you accomplish this?" Juniper said.
"Easy! Look out, Ash. I'm gonna get you!" Fennel said as she gently raised one of her feet up above Ash. This obviously wasn't going to sit well with Ash.
"Eeeeek!" Ash shouted as he turned around and started running away, with Fennel slamming the foot just when Ash was clear of it. Ash ran past Juniper's shoes and the professor watched as Ash ran past her.
"Oh my! Be careful not to step on him, Fennel!" Juniper said.
"Don't worry, Professor Juniper. I'll be careful! I'm just messing with his mind... that should get him to run at his highest speed." Fennel said. She followed the tiny Ash, keeping her walking speed down so she wouldn't come close to stepping on the tiny Ash.

Meanwhile, Amanita was looking straight at the little Iris on the table nearby. Iris was a bit nervous, seeing the curious look in Amanita's eyes.
"Hmmm... it's quite interesting to see such a small person up close." Amanita said.
"Oh, you don't say?" Iris asked.
"Don't worry. I promise I will be gentle if the feeling is mutual between us." Amanita said.
"Well, okay, but what do you intend to do?" Iris asked. Axew, Iris's faithful dragon Pokemon, stuck itself out of Iris's hair and got its first look at the young giantess. Amanita, with her glasses allowing her to see a lot of things including the smallest of details, noticed the tiny Axew coming out.
"Oh, is that your Axew hiding in your hair?" Amanita said.
"Well, yes! Yes it is." Iris said.
"Amazing! Maybe the Pokemon looks even cuter because it's smaller than its trainer! Perhaps I should disect you, little guy." Amanita said with a smile on her face.
"AXEW!!!" Axew shouted. Axew suddenly leapt out and grabbed Pikachu before leaping back into Iris's hair. Both Pokemon were scrambling around trying to find someplace to hide, and this was causing chaos in Iris's huge batch of hair.
"Hey! Stop it! Settle down!" Iris said as she reached in and tried to calm them down, only to get a batch of hair slapping her hands. Eventually, the two were able to calm down, but Iris's hair was completely a mess, almost as if she had just gotten out of bed. Amanita couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahahahaha!!! That's a great look for you, little girl!" Amanita shouted. Iris just showed an annoyed look on her face.
"Ugh... you are such a little... well, right now you're not! But still!" Iris said.
"Yeah, you better not say I'm some little girl. And even then, my smarts would be enough to prove you wrong. Especially when you..." Amanita said. When she looked over to her left to see what her older and bigger sister, Fennel, was doing, she had kind of a bummed look on her face.
"What is it?" Iris asked.
"What is my sister doing!? Surely she can be scarier than that! Excuse me a moment..." Amanita said as she stepped away from the table. Iris (with the Pokemon in her hair) approached the edge and watched what would happen.

Ash continued to run like the wind with the giant Professor Fennel toying with him from behind. Fennel of course was missing her steps on purpose, but she was more interested with watching Ash run with all his might, only to make little distance from her.
"Poor little Ash. Even running as hard as he is, he cannot get far from me, and I'm walking at such a gentle pace too!" Fennel said. She was so focused on little Ash, she didn't notice Amanita walk right past her and step into Ash's path. Ash was also so focused on running, he wound up crashing right into Amanita's own pink and black shoes. Fennel looked to see Amanita picking up little Ash.
"Huh? Amanita? What are you doing?" Fennel asked.
"Come on, big sis! You're not being scary enough! If you really want to give a tiny person a run for his money, you gotta do something like this!" Amanita said. That's when the young girl held Ash above her head and opened her mouth.
"Huh!? Wait, no!!!" Ash shouted as he tried to break himself free of Amanita's tight finger grip.
"Amanita!!" Fennel shouted.
"I wonder how a teeny tiny trainer would taste?" Amanita said as she quickly lowered Ash closer and closer towards her open mouth. Ash was thinking two things. On one hand, she was probably joking around like Fennel was earlier. But at the rate he was descending towards Amanita's wet and saliva-covered tongue, he probably was going to get a permanent feel for being lower on the food chain.

Fortunately, there was Professor Juniper to the rescue. She walked towards the young genius girl and held a hand in front of Amanita's mouth. Ash landed perfectly in the middle of Juniper's hand and Juniper closed her hand to take Ash with him.
"Okay, that'll be quite enough of this fun and games. We need to be responsible for the safety of our little friends. They are not our little pets, after all." Juniper said.
"Professor Juniper is right, Amanita. That was a very reckless thing to do." Fennel said.
"Awww, but I was only kidding, sis!" Amanita said.
"Well, even so, you could've easily slipped in your grip and Ash would've fallen into your mouth. Then what?" Fennel said.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Maybe I'll reshape some of my gummi treats into a Pokemon trainer and eat them that way instead." Amanita said.
"That's a great idea!" Fennel said, patting her younger sister and having a smile on her face.

As Juniper placed Ash on the table next to Iris (who had shaped her hair back into proper form), one of her assistants came running into the room.
"Professor Juniper! We've fixed the ball! You should be able to return the trainers back to their normal size now." Van said.
"Ah! Excellent, Van! Well done!" Juniper said. She approached the young man and took the ball from his hands before he returned to the other lab. Juniper could already see the happy faces on both Ash and Iris when she looked at them again.
"Yay! We can grow back to normal again!" Iris shouted. Pikachu jumped out of Iris's hair and landed back into Ash's arms, shouting out in happiness.
"Whoa, yeah! Isn't it great, Pikachu? It'll be great to get back to being big again." Ash said.
"Awww... do we really have to grow them back to normal, Professor? I would've liked to play with them a little bit longer!" Fennel said.
"Yes, me too, but I rudely interrupted the long journey for both these two just to show them this ball. I really need to get them back to Nacrene City." Juniper said.
"Yes, we understand." Fennel said.
"Okay, guys. Ready?" Juniper said as she looked down on the two trainers and their closest Pokemon. All four nodded, and Juniper fired the return laser on the ball. Instead of sucking the group back inside the Poké Ball like it's supposed to do, it instead caused our heroes to grow bigger. A few seconds later, Ash, Iris, Pikachu, and Axew were all back to their normal size. They all hopped down from the table.
"Whew... what a relief! Although it was still quite an adventure!" Iris said.
"But one I hope to never go through again." Ash said. Juniper smiled as she heard that, but there was the matter of getting the two back on the road through Unova.
"Listen, I want to thank you two for being a part of my special Poké Ball test despite the bad results. Please allow me to personally take you two back to Nacrene City." Juniper said.
"Sure! We don't mind a free ride." Iris said. Juniper looked back at her two friends.
"You two stay here. I'll be back in a little while." Juniper said.
"Yes, Professor Juniper!" both Fennel and Amanita shouted. They watched as Juniper and the two heroes (and their Pokemon) walked out the front doors.

Eventually, the group found themselves riding in Juniper's personal jeep. They were riding through Striaton City when they came across the Striaton City Gym and saw Cilan stepping out.
"Oh, wait! There's Cilan! We gotta pick him up, Professor." Ash said.
"Right away, Ash!" Juniper said as she drove up towards the gym and stopped her jeep in front of it where Cilan was standing.
"Hi, guys! Back from the lab already?" Cilan said.
"Um... yeah! Yeah, we're back. Professor Juniper showed us what she wanted to show." Ash said.
"So what was it?" Cilan said.
"Well..." Iris said as she tried to put into the words what had happened to her and Ash the last couple hours.
"I was showing them a new version of the old Luxury Ball from a faraway land. A special Poké Ball that makes Pokemon feel like they're living in high society. We've still got a few bugs to work out, however." Juniper said.
"Yeah! Yeah, that was it! Very nice, I have to admit." Ash said. The three knew they had just told a big fat lie, but Cilan easily bought it and that's what counted the most.
"Wow... a Poké Ball that makes Pokemon feel like they're in high society. That's kinda like me, my brothers, and my Gym. We strive to give everyone the high society treatment! I'm sorry I had to miss out on that." Cilan said.
"Yeah, we're kinda sorry too." Iris said with a smile on her face. Axew shouted out its name in agreement.
"Professor Juniper, will you show me this new ball when you do finish development on it?" Cilan said.
"Absolutely! No trouble at all! You'll be the first to know, hahaha!" Juniper said.
"Come on, Cilan! We've gotta get back to Nacrene City!" Ash shouted.
"Yes! Let us continue on our grand adventure together!" Cilan said. He jumped into Professor Juniper's jeep and as soon as he was buckled in, Juniper drove her way out of Striaton City

After arriving in Nacrene City, Professor Juniper dropped off the three and wished them well on the rest of their Unova journey. After everyone said their goodbyes until the next time they talked, Juniper turned her jeep around and began the somewhat long drive back to her lab in Nuvema Town. During the drive back, she occasionally looked down at the 'Abnormal Ball' that was resting inside one of her lab pockets. She carefully considered what she could do next with her new invention.

END