Disclaimer: I don't own the franchise Pokémon or any of the characters (whether they be from the games, the anime or the manga Adventure) belonging to Nintendo, Game Freaks and the Pokémon Company. I do own Annika "Anna" Ketchum, David Patterson and Rena Firsching while Lily Nadesico owns Jonathan Seabright and Abelia Granger, NEBSparky86 owns both the Kaiou Family and Team Trident, and Storm Wolf77415 is the owner of Mark Ketchum.

Before we begin, I'd like to say that I am truly not happy with the matter of Misty's parents abandoning her and her sisters (something I've learned from my friend thedarkpokemaster) which puts the whole thing about people saying Goku is a bad father in Dragon Ball to complete s hame as the only reason he's been absent is because he died twice in the entire series, both instances being through sacrificing his life to save the world and the people in it. .. This included his son Gohan (especially due to the fact Goten didn't exist yet at the time of Goku's two deaths ... at least in the Main Timeline). That revelation really rubbed me the wrong way as even Miyamoto, aka Jessie's mother and a member of Team Rocket before her, prior to her disappearance during a mission to search for Mew truly cared for her only child despite putting her up for adoption.

P.S. I highly recommend reading Sparky's Advanceshipping stories May and Ash's Unova Journey and Pokémon: Journey of the Next Generation.

Pokémon: Rise of Heroes

Safari Zone Mayhem

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

Ash and the others in his group were starting to enjoy themselves as it seemed the Safari Zone had tons of Pokémon in it for them to capture, however they knew that they couldn't stay there forever due to not only having a limited amount of Safari Balls but also the fact they wou LD only remain in the reserve until the PA alerted them when they either had no more Safari Balls or their time ran out. ' Mama, is Pope alright? ' Manaphy asked May as he looked worried for Ash.

"Oh, he gets like that when he wants to catch Pokémon Manaphy May answered as she briefly looked at him on her shoulder. "You should know that."

Then again, this was the Safari Zone and like with Crimson City's Friend Safari, any trainer would definitely be like a kid in a candy store with all the Pokémon around them. As Ash was looking around, he and the others heard a rustling in the bushes to their left.

"I wonder if there's a Pokémon in the bushes," said Ash as he pulled out his Pokédex.

Unfortunately before he could attempt to get data on whatever was in the bushes, David decided to step in. "If it is a Pokémon then why not try and catch it, after all we still have time left before we have to return to the entrance right?" he asked his raven-haired friend before he threw a Safari Ball in the bushes.

Much to his surprise, the Safari Ball bounced away on the bush, as whatever was in the bushes let out a yelp of surprise! David stood there in surprise as his Safari Ball landed with a clinging sound on the ground a few feet away from him.

"Ow!" a strange-looking midget of a man with a black moustache, wearing clothes that were appropriate for an actual safari hunt, lamented as he stepped out of the bush and adjusted his hat on his head. "What's going on, youngsters? Since when do people throw Poké Balls at other people? "

"My husband and I are not for catching, you know." a pretty brown-haired woman, almost twice as tall as the man and wearing similar clothes, commented half-jokingly as she stepped out of the bush as well.

May winced in an expression of embarassment. "Oops ... I think you should have looked before you threw that ball, David. "

"I'm sorry," David said to the man. "We thought you were a Pokémon."

"No harm done lad, we all make mistake after all," responded the man, showing he and his wife showed no ill-will towards the blonde-haired Trainer for initially thinking that they were residing in the Safari Zone Pokémon. "You are doing a Safari Hunt here, aren't you?"

"Yes, and we've already caught quite a few Pokémon too ..." Misty stated. "But ... who are you, and what are you doing here in the Safari Zone, if you aren't catching Pokémon? "

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Tommy's father," the man said to Ash and his friends. "I came here because I heard that somebody had seen my son Tommy somewhere in this reserve."

"Wait" time out "muttered Rena in complete shock, even her friends couldn't believe what they were hearing from the man whom they just met and wanted some clarification. "You have a son here in the Safari Zone?"

"Papa, I think we have to tell them a bit more about Tommy" the brown-haired woman recommended to her husband as it was clear that the trainers had no idea on what he was talking about.

The man felt somewhat embarrassed as he neglected to tell the trainers the whole story as to why he and his wife came to the Safari Zone. "Of course, you're right. "Forgive me," he said while the woman gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Sure."

"Well there's a Rest House nearby so you can tell us about your son there" Rena told the man and his wife as that was one of the benefits to being in the Safari Zone, being able to rest up for a bit before they can continue with their run. "Besides, it'll be a good idea to relax given that it looked like you've been doing your own share of searching."

The man smiled at the red-haired girl, it couldn't hurt to spend a bit of time at the nearest Rest House in the area. "A splendid idea," he replied with a nod, taking her up on her suggestion. "Please, young ones, come with me. It will be our pleasure to chat with youa bits ... and we'll explain what happened to our son. "

"Please do." David stated. "If there is something we can do to help you find your son, rest assured we will try our best."

"Thank you very much..." the woman said wistfully, as she continued narrating. "You see, it all happened five years ago, when our son Tommy was only three, we decided to take him on a globe-trotting adventure. We were flying over the Safari Zone with an helicopter, and my dear husband here thought he would allow Tommy to look at the Safari Zone from above by holding him outside of the helicopter's window."

"WHAAAAT?" Misty exclaimed in shock, her eyes almost bugging out of her head. "What... what... what sort of nonsense is this? Didn't you know that it would be terribly dangerous?"

"Yeah! What sort of parents are you?" Brock protested. "I mean, that's just criminally negligent, at best!"

The man held his hands up, smiling in a pacifying way as he was faced with Ash and his friends looking at him in shock and incredulity. "Hey, now, now... I got a little carried away, and Tommy wanted to look at the Safari Zone from above so much... yes, I know, my dearest wife here tried to stop me from doing that, but I did so anyway... and Tommy slipped from my hold and was parachuted into the forest below. We managed to find his parachute there, so we knew he wasn't hurt, but when we started looking for him, we couldn't find him anywhere."

Erika facepalmed. "Honestly... if I was their daughter, I probably wouldn't want them to find me. What sort of crazy parents are these people?"

"Anyway... some time ago, we received a photo of a boyleading a group of Kangaskhan, and we thought it might be Tommy." the mother went on. "Here, let me show you... that's what the boy looked like."

"We are positive he is Tommy." the father said as his wife look a photo out of a pocket and showed it to Ash and May. It was the photo of a small boy with spiky dark blue hair, dressed in a Tarzan-style leopard skin and wielding a small wooden boomerang as he swung from one vine to the other. "We are here to find him and try to get him to remember us. And possibly to make up for having been so negligent."

"I understand..." May stated, petting Manaphy as the cute Legendary Pokémon stood on the Hoenn trainer's shoulders. "Well... if that is the case, I really hope you get to find him, and we'll help you as much as we can."

"Thank you very much, we'll make sure to make it up to you... and to Tommy as well." the man stated.

"You know, we can't help but notice you have a Pokémon on your shoulder and to be honest we thought all Pokémon stayed inside their Poké Balls" began the man's wife, her gaze being towards May as she noticed Manaphy on the brown-haired female Trainer's shoulder. "What Pokémon is that?"

"This is Manaphy," May answered as she took Manaphy off her shoulder and in her arms. "He's a very special Pokémon in my life."

"Love you… mama," Manaphy said to May as he hugged her.

"Wow, he's really talented," the woman said just moments before her husband tried to take Manaphy from her an effort to say hello to him. Manaphy clung to May and began cry.

"I'm sorry but Manaphy doesn't want you to hold him," May informed the man and his wife as she calmed Manaphy down. "He's very picky about who he allows to hold him. Ash and I are two of the people who can hold him."

"Well of course you can hold him" said the man, being apologetic as he had no idea that Manaphy was like that. "After all, you're his trainer."

"I'm more than his trainer," May said to the man after calming Manaphy down. "I'm his mother and Ash is his father."

"His mother and father?" the man and his wife asked May in confusion.

"Uh huh," May answered. "Manaphy hatched from an egg and he saw Ash and I as his father and mother."

"Wow," said the woman with a smile on her face.

"Where are our manners, Ash?" May asked Ash as she lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh right" said Ash as he rubbed his head. "My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"My name is May Maple," May said to the man and his wife. "I'm from Littleroot in the Hoenn region although I originally came from Olivine City in the Johto region before I moved to Hoenn with my family."

"Hmmm… Hoenn and Johto, I've never heard of those regions," said the man as he put a finger on his chin trying to think if he had heard of those regions before. "What do you think my dear wife?"

The woman shook her head with her eyes closed yet smiled regardless. "Nope, I haven't heard of those regions before either" she replied sadly.

"That's okay" May said with a gentle smile. "I am from Hoenn, as I said, and my father is a Gym Leader at Petalburg City, specializing in the Normal type. I was here on vacation before I got involved in a plot from Team Rocket, the criminal organization that operates around here."

"Luckily, she met us, and now we're fighting Team Rocket together as we travel through Kanto, training and trying to obtain the Badges necessary to take part in this year's Indigo League tournament." Ash continued. "My sister Anna is doing a Safari Hunt on her own, along with her friend Brendan."

"Come to think of it, they might have gotten to meet Tommy." Brock reflected. "Maybe we should try to contact them and see where they are."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Jeanette admitted.

In the meanwhile, Brendan and Anna were watching the battle of the Safari Zone Kangaskhan against the Team Rocket agents… but now that the initial surprise had worn off, the Pokémon were having a bit of trouble with the criminals' tricks and dirty tactics. Team Rocket had quickly reorganized, and were now swarming the Kangaskhan with several Pokémon of their own, forcing all the kangaroo-like Pokémon to concentrate in a single point where they would be more vulnerable.

"Girls, we're sitting ducks here!" one of the Kangaskhan said after hitting a Team Rocket Koffing with her Mega Punch attack. "We must find a way to spread out, or they will capture us!"

"Easier said than done! We're surrounded by their Pokémon and their vehicles!" another Kangaskhan exclaimed as she tried to get away from two Team Rocket Beedrills, and a jeep driven by two black-clad grunts drove dangerously close to her and her child. Another jeep quickly turned around, and one of the Team Rocket members inside took out a large rocket launcher and fired a shot in the air, causing a loud hissing sound and a deafening explosion that scared the Kangaskhan, making them run towards the only point where Team Rocket had not fielded their operatives.

"Brendan, this is dangerous! The Kangaskhan are being herded towards a trap!" Anna exclaimed in alarm.

"I know, but I don't think we can do much about it…" Brendan started to say, just before a large net sprung up from the ground and trapped several Kangaskhan inside! All the Parent Pokémon roared in anger and surprise and began struggling in an attempt to get free, while another jeep, whose back was packed with Poké Balls, drove towards the captured Pokémon, one of the grunts grinning proudly as he got ready to catch a few of them.

"Well, will you look at that! Now this is what I call a great haul!" the grunt stated, and threw his first Pokéball towards the trapped Kangaskhan, without Brendan and Anna being able to do anything to stop him. They were about to intervene somehow, when the Poké Ball flying at its target was suddenly hit by a boomerang that had come from somewhere, and flew back at the surprised grunt, hitting him in the face! Brendan and Anna heard someone yell, and suddenly, a young boy, certainly younger than the two, arrived on the scene swinging from a vine, and catching the thrown boomerang that was now returning to him. In surprise, the two Pokémon training looked at him – he seemed to be about eight years old, with spiky dark green hair, and he was only dressed in a sloppily mended fur coat.

"You leave Kangaskhan alone!" he exclaimed in uncertain English.

"Whoa! Who's that kid?" Anna asked to no one in particular. Team Rocket was just as surprised as she and Brendan was, and they stood there in surprise as the boy landed near the Kangaskhan net, and used his boomerang to slice it open!

"No! Stop that kid! He's letting our prey go!" a grunt exclaimed in alarm. But it was too late, as the Parent Pokémon were already throwing off what remained of the net, and getting ready to counterattack!

"Tommy! Thanks for the save!" one of the Kangaskhan stated. "We were in a bit of a bind there…"

"Kangaskhan! Stop bad men!" the boy exclaimed, pointing his boomerang at the Pokémon robbers. "Attack!"

"Let's go, girls! We're taking down Team Rocket!" another Kangaskhan exclaimed as she led the charge. Team Rocket was caught off guard, and they scrambled to retreat as the kangaroo-like Pokémon began hitting them with their muscular tails and with powerful punches and kicks. Several of Team Rocket's Pokémon entered the fray, trying to turn the tide in their favor… but the mysterious jungle boy called Tommy was fighting alongside the Kangaskhan, using his boomerang to knock out both Team Rocket agents and their Pokémon.

"Dammit! This was not part of the plan!" a Team Rocket agent cursed as he watched his Golbat being struck down by a vicious Mega Punch attack from a Kangaskhan. He quickly recalled his bat-like Pokémon into his Pokéball, and motioned for his colleagues to beat a hasty retreat. "We need to get away from here and reach the others! Hopefully, they've managed to do their part…"

"Ugh… will you shut up and stop giving the plan away?" another grunt stated. "Okay, everyone, let's attempt a fighting retreat. We'll report this to the boss and regroup!"

"Uh? What did they just say?" Anna asked, having heard a snippet of it in the surrounding chaos. But she was unable to hear more as the Team Rocket agents began to converge towards a single point, trying to put as much distance as they could between them and the herd of angry Kangaskhan. Their Pokémon fought back against the Safari Zone Kangaskhan for a while, but they were at a disadvantage, and soon followed their masters in their retreat. In a moment, the Team Rocket agents had been chased away, and the Kangaskhan, along with the mysterious wild child that had helped them, stood tall and let out a victorious roar!

"Well, there goes Team Rocket." Brendan said, nodding in satisfaction. "But… where are they going now? I… don't think they were the only ones around…"

"And who's that kid with the Kangaskhan? He doesn't seem to be a trainer…" Anna stated, looking at Tommy in confusion and the little boy walked up to a Kangaskhan and hugged her, the massive Parent Pokémon hugging him back before he jumped into her pouch along with the actual Kangaskhan baby. The little Kangaskhan squealed happily and gave the little boy an high-five. "But he's clearly on good terms with those Kangaskhan, too."

"Anna! Brendan! Are you two okay?"

The elder Ketchum twin and the young man from Hoenn turned around and saw Ash, May and their friends running up to them, followed closely by two adults in safari garb – a small, rotund older man and a pretty brunette woman. They had clearly seen the commotion created by the battle and were curious to know what had happened.

"We saw that something was going on here and… man, there are so many Kangaskhan here!" Ash exclaimed, astounded at the many Parent Pokémon who were now glancing at him in suspicion, probably suspecting him and his comrades of being other Team Rocket agents. "What happened? It seemed to me that there was a fight!"

"Ash! Everyone, you're all here!" Anna exclaimed in relief. "It's a relief… Team Rocket was here, and they were trying to capture all these Kangaskhan!"

"Team Rocket, again?" Erika said in worry. "This was unexpected, and honestly puts me ill at ease… I am afraid they might be planning something much worse than simply capturing Pokémon."

"Where have those scoundrels gone, now?" Misty asked. "We need to keep an eye on them… and warn the rangers of their presence!"

"Well, they have gone that way after those Kangaskhan chased them away." Brendan explained, pointing an arm where the dust from all the Team Rocket vehicles could still be seen. However, he quickly saw that there was going to be a problem, as several Kangaskhan were now advancing threateningly towards the group. "Er… of course, there is the fact that those Pokémon don't seem to be in a good mood towards us."

"I… think I understand what you mean…" Ash stated nervously. "Damn, how are we supposed to defend ourselves against so many Kangaskhan?"

"You no get away! You too with bad men?" the jungle boy named Tommy yelled from the pouch of his Kangaskhan, waving his boomerang threateningly before tossing it at Ash and his team! The young Pallet Town boy widened his eyes in alarm, and he and May quickly hit the ground, causing the boomerang to sail right over them, and smack David in the forehead! The blond boy yelped in pain and surprise, and then fell to the ground, his eyes turning into comical swirls, and a large lump appearing on his head!

"Hey! What's your deal, kid?" an irritated Misty exclaimed.

"That's right? Who are you to hit David like that? Only I get to hit him!" Rena answered angrily.

"Gee, thanks for showing me how much you care, Rena..." the blond boy murmuredin a daze as several miniature Poké Balls spun around his head.

"Hm? Are you people… or Pokémon?" Tommy asked. "Me no trust you!"

"Wait, Tommy... those children helped me find my baby again!" the Kangaskhan whose baby had been reunited with her stated, talking to the strange wild boy. Tommy's expression turned to slight confusion, and he turned to the Kangaskhan in question, whose baby nodded in agreement to confirm that. "They're not bad! They helped us as much as they could to stop Team Rocket!"

"Tommy? Did they just call that kid, Tommy?" May wondered, taking a good look at the boy in the Kangaskhan's pouch. It looked just like the one in the photo, and she doubted there were many fur-wearing spiky-haired wild boys around… "Hey, look at that boy there! Isn't he… the one you were looking for?"

Tommy's parents were staring in wide-eyed wonder at the boy, who still kept hi suspicious gaze affixed upon the visitors… and a moment later, they cheered in joy and ran towards the confused wild boy, taking him out of the Kangaskhan pouch – much to the Parent Pokémon's annoyance – and began hugging him for all they were worth, bombarding him with questions that only served to make the poor boy even more confused!

"There you are, my little Tommy! Where have you been?"

"How have you lived? How did you get so tall?"

"Do you remember us? It's mom and dad!"

"Huh? What… what are you doing? Who… are you?" Tommy asked, clueless and a little scared. He honestly did not remember those two strangers who were acting so nice and familiar to him…

Misty decided to try and help out, walking up to Tommy and his parents as the young boy wriggled free of his parents' bear hug. "There people are your parents… they've been looking for you for a few years right now."

"Try to remember. I'm sure you still remember them, somewhere in a corner of your mind." Jeanette stated, walking up to Tommy as well.

The wild boy turned his glance to his radiantly smiling parents, then to the Kangaskhan he was with, and blinked twice, before putting a hand on his forehead as if he was having a migraine. He was trying to remember them, but all he could recall was the Kangaskhan herd singing him a lullaby as he grew up, and his playing with the Kangaskhan babies as if he was one of them.

"Me… me not remember you!" Tommy exclaimed. "You not my parents! My parents are Kangaskhan!"

The expression on Tommy's parents' faces became sad and disappointed, even though they knew it was a possibility that Tommy didn't remember them after all this time, and Misty looked at them in sympathy, imagining how bad it would be for two parents to see their child not recognizing them… but the solemn moment was ruined when Tommy's father picked up a large piece of wood, and smacked the boy upside his head with it, never losing his cheerful smile!

"Owwwww!" Tommy moaned, rubbing a large lump on top of his head. "Why you do that?"

"Mister, have you gone bonkers?" an irritated May exclaimed. "What's the deal with you hitting your on son with that thing?"

"Just trying to jog his memory. I was told that this is a very useful method to make kids remember." Tommy's father answered simply.

A large sweatdrop went down Ash, Brock and Erika's heads. "Okay, who's the idiot who told that to Tommy's dad?" Ash murmured in shock. "He's only making things worse…"

"Huh… hold on…" Tommy suddenly began to say, and glanced to his human mother again. Now some elements from his memory were beginning to resurface… and he was able to recognize a face that looked just like that of the woman who was now looking after him in worry, rubbing the place where he had been hit, and glaring daggers at her husband.

"What sort of father are you? How can you do that to our little boy?" the woman was saying, and it was then that Tommy was able to remember…

"M-mom?" he said, blinking at her and causing her to turn to him, first with a doubtful look, and then with a beaming smile.

"Tommy? Yes, it's me! I'm your mom!" the woman exclaimed, tears of happiness in her eyes. One of the Kangaskhan looked at the scene wistfully, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Tommy's real human mom would come to fetch him, and now that moment had come.

"M-mom?" Tommy ventured again, before finally walking up to his mom and hugging her for all he was worth! "Mom! You are back! But… me have two mommies now? You and Kangaskhan mom?"

Tommy's mom sweatdropped in embarassment before looking at the large Kangaskhan, who was looking back at her in a listless way. "Well… she is the Kangaskhan who adopted you? I… guess it this case, you can very well say that you've got two moms!"

"Me confused! This is complicated!" Tommy answered, furiously ruffling his own hair with his hands.

Tommy's dad, on the other hand, was less than thrilled that his son still didn't seem to remember him. "But… why does Tommy remember my dear wife, and not me?" he whined, before deciding on another idea to jog his son's memory. "Okay, here goes! I'm sure he will recognize me after this one!"

With that, he started opening his own shirt to show off his physique… only for Misty to intervene just in time and smack him upside the head with the same piece of wood he had used before, knocking him out before he could do anything indecent!

"I'm not surprised Tommy tried to forget all about you!" the redhead yelled angrily.

Tommy was looking back and forth, from his human mother to his Kangaskhan adoptive mother and vice versa. He had no idea what to make of this. Should he go back to his human parents? Or should he stay with his Kangaskhan mother? Even for his age, he knew that both choices had their bad sides… he couldn't abandon his Kangaskhan adoptive mom after all she had done for him, but at the same time, he felt that his human mom deserved to have him back, after having looked for him all this time.

As he was struggling with himself, trying to come up with an answer, Erika walked up to him and patted him on the head, in an attempt to soothe him and calm him down. "Tommy… I think I can understand what you're thinking. You aren't sure of what you should do, right?" the blue-haired Grass-type leader gently said. Tommy jumped up in surprise and stepped back, alarmed by the unfamiliar presence of a human. He held up his boomerang in a defensive gesture, but Erika merely stepped back a bit and showed her hands to prove that she didn't have bad intentions. "Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have been so direct, I guess. But… I just wanted to say that it's only natural that you feel confused. I mean, you've been living among the Kangaskhan for quite a while now, and you consider them friends and relatives, right?"

Tommy glanced down, his inner turmoil quieting down just a little. "Kangaskhan leader was mom for me… and her daughter… she was like sister." He stated. "But now me remember Mom… human mom… and not want to hurt her…"

Erika sighed wistfully and looked at the rest of her companions, who seemed to be asking themselves what the pretty Celadon City Grass-type leader was trying to do. "Yes, I understand what you mean, Tommy." She answered with a slow nod. "You feel that, no matter what you choose, you'll end up making someone unhappy. However…"

Tommy raised his glance and blinked in confusion. "However…?"

"Well, I once heard that there aren't always only two answers to a question." Erika continued, smiling in a knowing way. "If you stop and think about it, if you believe you can follow your heart… I'm sure you can find another solution to this dilemma."

Tommy blinked, still not sure of what Erika meant, and took another look at his human mom and his Kangaskhan adoptive mom. But before he could think about it, the sound of quick heavy paces was heard, and another Kangaskhan arrived in a hurry, breathing heavily as she stopped near the rest of the herd.

"What? What's going on now?" the Kangaskhan leader asked in alarm. "Is there another problem with those Team Rocket invaders?"

"Y-yes… there is… leader…" the other Parent Pokémon answered breathlessly. "Phew… I'm just back from… Guardian Baoba's house… they captured him… and they are trying to force Kaiser… to reveal where the Dratini lives!"

"What?" Tommy exclaimed. "This terrible! Me cannot let them catch Dratini!"

"Team Rocket again… they just never quit, do they?" Jeanette asked. "Where is Guardian Baoba's house? If we get there, we might help against those guys!"

The newly-arrived Kangaskhan's baby pointed her small arm to a large forest in the middle of the open plains. "Right that way, after the forest… there is a lake where several Water-type Pokémon species live. That's… where Guardian Baoba has his house!"

Without hesitating, Tommy jumped into the Kangaskhan leader's pouch. "Kangaskhan mom, we go help Baoba!" he exclaimed. "Team Rocket no can come here any more!"

"Hey, wait! We're going as well! Team Rocket is sort of our business as well!" Brock stated. "We've been having those guys on our trail ever since we left Pewter City, and we know a thing or two on how to handle them!"

"Brock is right! We even have a few Pokémon here!" Anna continued, taking a glance at the Safari Ball containing her Shiny Mareep. "You don't have to put yourself in danger, Tommy!"

"Me must help Kangaskhan mom…" Tommy answered. "Team Rocket do bad things to Kangaskhan friends, me must protect them!" With that, he nodded to his Kangaskhan adoptive mother once again, and she nodded back solemnly and took the lead of the rest of the herd.

"You heard what's going on, girls!" she rallied them. "These shady people from Team Rocket are here to threaten the place where we live and everything we hold dear! We must stop them before it's too late!"

"No, wait! Tommy, please, don't go! It's too dangerous!" Tommy's human mom tried to call him back, but the young boy merely looked at her, with a somber expression on his face, and then turned away as the Kangaskhan marched towards the place they had been pointed towards, much to Ash and his friends' alarm!

"Hey, don't go so recklessly! You don't know what Team Rocket is capable of!" David tried to recall everyone, to no avail. Soon enough, Tommy and the herd of Kangaskhan was too far to hear their pleas.

"Oh, no… this is really bad! We must go after them and help, they might be getting in over their heads!" Erika stated. "Do you guys have some Pokémon you can send out? Because I'm afraid we will need every single one of them to deal with Team Rocket."

"Well, I have a Tauros, a Rhyhorn..." Ash began to say, before adding to himself. "And that Shiny Dratini I caught by accident… I hope Kaiser never gets to hear about it…"

"And I have a Shiny Mareep which I just caught in the Safari Zone… along with a couple more Pokémon." Anna stated. "I'm not sure they will be enough though…"

"If that is the case, then allow us to back you up."

A male voice interjected, and when Ash and his companions looked around, they were surprised to see a group of three people standing on the branches of a nearby tree, all of them dressed in the typical garb of ninjas, with fullbody suits and loose scarves around their necks. The leader appeared to be a tall and lean mean with spiky greying teal hair and a black ninja suit, looking like he was about in his early forties, with a red scarf and a strong, stoic expression on his face. A large Pokémon similar to a huge bat, with long pointed ears, yellow eyes and an extra pair of wings fluttered in the air around him.

To his left side stood a woman a few years younger than him, with long dark green hair tied in a long ponytail and a red ninja tracksuit. A Venonat was standing close to her his antennae twitching in the air.

Finally, on the other side of the man was a young girl, about 12 years old by the looks of her, who was dressed in a sleeveless version of the man's black suit, though her scarf with a bright pink color and she was wearing purple arm guards. She had short purple hair which was kept still by a circlet of sorts, and she lacked the leg guards that the older man had. At the moment, she was holding two fingers up in front of her face, trying to emulate the typical ninja pose.

"You seem to be needing aid." The man stated in a strong voice.

"Whoa! That's amazing! I never even realized they were there until they spoke!" Rena commented. "Are those… ninja, or something?"

"To be more exact, Rena… those are Koga and his family, the owners of the Fuchsia City Gym." Brock explained. "They are specialized in Poison-type Pokémon, and their ninja art in an honored tradition dating more than a thousand years ago. Am I correct, Mr. Koga?"

"That is correct. I have the honor of being Koga, the ninja master of Fuchsia City." The older man answered, his severe expression never faltering.

The green-haired woman with the Venonat nodded and gave a small smile. "My name is Aya. I have the honor of being Koga's younger sister, as well as his Gym assistant."

"Pleased to meet you!" Venonat greeted in a nasal voice.

The young girl stood and bowed slightly to the team, smiling brightly. "And finally… there's me. My name is Janine, and I am master Koga's daughter, as well as the future heir of the Pokémon Ninja School of Fuchsia City." She explained.

The stoic Koga cracked a small smile. "Don't get too cocky, Janine. You still have a way to go before you can call yourself a ninja master."

"Aww, can't I at least show off a bit, daddy?" she murmured jokingly, causing everyone to crack afew laughs.

"You know, Janine, showing off kind of defeats the point of being a ninja." Aya playfully scolded her niece, whose face briefly crunched into a comical pout. "But anyway, the reason why we're here for is that we have found where Team Rocket is hiding their hostage, Guardian Baoba. They want to use him as a bargaining chip in order to force Mr. Kaiser to reveal the location of the Dratini living in the Safari Zone… and I don't think they will be content with that, either."

"Which makes it even more important that we stop them now." Misty went on. "Please, Mr. Koga, we are willing to do all that needs to be done in order to protect the Pokémon living in Safari Zone and make this a safe place for tourists once again."

"Bad men came to catch Kangaskhan mom!" Tommy exclaimed frantically. "Me must help stop them!"

"Don't worry, we have no intention of refusing your aid. We are going to need all the support we can get here." The ninja master answered. "We will guide you to Guardian Baoba's house where he is being kept imprisoned. But you must be as stealthy as you possibly can."

"Well… I'm not exactly what one would call silent or subtle…" David admitted somewhat sheepishly. "But what the heck, if there's something that must be done, then it must be done, right? I will make it work somehow!"

"I wish I was as confudent as you are, David…" Rena answered, rolling her eyes before the ninja family gave everyone a nod, and they began following Koga, his sister and his daughter towards their next stop. Tommy nodded to his Kangaskhan mother, who grunted an affirmative and let the savage boy climb into her pouch. Then, she turned to Tommy's human mother, regarding her with a mixture of anxiety and compassion, and receiving a similar glance in return.

"Tommy's human mother… do not worry. I have cared for your child and my own until now, and I am not going to let anything befall him." She said in her deep voice, reassuring the woman with a single nod. "Though I am admittedly afraid I might eventually lose him to you… as a human, I guess it would be right for Tommy to grow up among humans…"

"Kangaskhan…" Tommy's mom murmured, as her husband looked on sadly, not knowing what to say or do.

"Human mom, I…" Tommy began to say. Then, he decided there was no time to think about it, and turned his glance to his side, motioning for Kangaskhan to follow Ash, his friends and the ninja Gym Leader's family.

"I guess… this was doomed to fail, wasn't it? Tommy has been away from us for so long, and now he's found another family…" the saddened mother commented.

The father stood in place for a while, not knowing how he should handle this… but then, he got an idea that might at least help them move on from this sad happening.

"Well, you know what they say… I guess most of the fault lies with me. And if we really care for Tommy, we have to respect his wish of staying with his new family." He stated, looking down for a while before perking up and glancing to the other end of Safari Zone. "But there is still one thung we can do for Tommy… and you can bet I'm going to do it!"

His wife blinked in a gesture of confusion. "What… what do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Don't worry, my dear… this will take those Team Rocket guys for a real spin!" the husband answered with a confident wink.

Ash, Anna, their friends and the ninja Gym Leader's family had arrived near Guardian Baoba's house, a large but simple wooden construction that stood in a beautiful clearing inside a part of the Safari Zone where the trees were thicker and they had less chances of being spotted by the Team Rocket agents, but now they were trying to think up a strategy in order to catch the invaders by surprise.

"Okay… now we have reached the Guardian's House. And now, there is the matter of Team Rocket to deal with. I'm willing to bet that Taichi guy is with them. He's always there when there is something fishy going on." Anna stated in a whispered voice, rubbing her forehead in a gesture of frustration and anxiety. "Now the question is… how do we go about it?"

"That… might be a problem. There are guards everywhere." Erika answered.

Ash was not exactly in the mood for patience and subtlety. "And I just have the solution! We go out there and kick Taichi's ass five ways from Sunday! That's all the strategy we need, as far as I know!"

"That's all the strategy we need?" an incredulous and almost mocking Janine answered. "Yeah… that's all we need… to get ourselves killed! Even if we were to get the jump on these guys outside, we'd have to deal with their companions, and I'm willing to bet that we wouldn't be able to handle all those enemies ar the same time."

"Sorry, Ash, but I think Janine is right on this one." May answered. "There are way too many Team Rocket agents out here. And you know better than everyone else here just how dangerous Taichi is. We need to find another way."

Ash wrinkled his nose, but he had to agree with his girlfriend on that one. He had been a little too reckless in his attempts to rescue the hostage from the Pokémon bandits, and he hadn't thought of a way to approach the Team Rocket hideout. Still, he knew they had to rescue the old guardian, and they had to try to do everything in their power to comply with their mission.

Still, they had a few allies on their sĺide. It was just a coincidence that Tommy and his Kangaskahn mother were both well trained enough that they would be able to hold their own against Team Rocket… and the Pokémon they had caught would really be a great help in reclaiming the prisoner, and they had the Gym Leader Koga and his sister and daughter to help out. Undrrstanding that cooking up a good plan of attack was never going to be his forte, Ash decided to defer to the others' judgement and sighed as he got ready to listen.

"Fine then… do you have an idea on what we should do in order to chase Team Rocket away? The boy asked.

Aya closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment, before giving a slight smile. "Well… I think I have an idea. Us ninjas are masters of stealth and deceit, after all." She stated. Before anyone could ask what she meant by that, the green-haired kunoichi brought her hands in front of herself and began making a series of hand signs, too quickly for Ash and hus friends to really see what was going on. A second later, Aya disappeared in a puff of grey smoke, which dissipated a second later to reveal that she had transformed into a female Team Rocket agent, complete with the trademark black suit sporting a capital R letter embroidered upon it. Even her hair had changed color into an unremarkable dark brown.

"Wh… what?" Misty whispered in wide eyed wonder. "Did… did Miss Aya just transform into a Team Rocket agent?"

Janine smirked proudly. "See? And that's just a small sample of what us ninjas can do! Let me show you!" she went on, before repeating the same hand gestures that her aunt had done before. The preteen ninja girl disappeared into a puff of smoke as well, and reappeared under the guise of a short, flat-chested female Team Rocket grunt with long purple hair tied in a ponytail. She took a good look at her disguise, and grumbled a bit when she saw that she wasn't as stacked as she was hoping. "Awww, there I go again! Why can I never turn into a more endowed woman?"

"You know that genjutsus have their limits, Janine." Koga answered with a shrug, before starting to use his own hand-sign commanded transformation. A moment later, the ninja master himself disappeared in a puff of smoke, and in his place stood a man in the typical male Team Rocket uniform, spiky blond hair combed to the back of his head. "They can make you look like a person of roughly your same height, and they cannot make you look like someone of the opposite gender either. You need to have a little more imagination than that in order to use ninja arts effectively."

Janine, in her Team Rocket disguise, sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Fine, fine… I will try to remember that, otou-san." She said, using the Japanese honorific for father. She decided to think about that particular issue later, and concentrate on the issue at hand. "Anyway, I guess the idea is that we pretend we are Team Rocket agents and smuggle Ash and a few others inside, so they can strike at those guys where they can do the most damage, right?"

"Yes, that's basically it." Aya confirmed with a nod, proud of her niece's deductive skills. "However, some of them will stay outside. At the right moment, as soon as Team Rocket's guard is down, we will give a signal… then we will drop our disguises, and catch Team Rocket by surprise, sandwiching between two sides."

"They will hopefully be disoriented enough that we will be able to easily take care of them and capture as many of them as possible." Koga finished. "It is admittedly a risk, but one that might very well be worth it."

"Well, what can I say…" Ash said, adjusting the cap on his head. "But who is going to get in, and who is going to stay out?"

"A good question. First off, I believe that you and your sister should be part of those who will be taken inside." Koga answered. Ash and Anna had something of a start at this, not expecting the answer, but they quickly composed themselves.

"Yup, that's my older brother. He doesn't like elegant turns of words. He just says things the way they are." Aya answered with a smile and a shrug.

"Your brother strange guy." Tommy sighed.

After thinking about it for just a moment, Ash decided it was going to be a good chance to deliver a significant blow to Team Rocket, and hopefully get them off their feet and under security once and for all. " Well… okay, I guess it would be a good idea to try that." He stated. "So… I guess even Tommy, Brendan and May follow us inside, huh?"

"That is correct. However, the Gym Leaders should wait outside for our signal." Koga continued on. "We must make sure that we sandwich Team Rocket between the two sides, which will surely give them a lot if trouble."

"That is, of course, whether the gym leaders accept the idea." Aya answered, her glance posing the question to Brock, Misty and Erika. All of them seemed to be open to the strategy, and after a brief moment in which Aya stood watching over them, they discussed the idea for a few seconds, and finally confirmed that they were up for it.

"I think we are all in for that." Misty stated. "It might not be our hometown, but we will not just stand here and let Team Rocket do whatever they want."

"Then we are all in agreement." The demure Erika answered with a single formal nod. "We will do our best to thwart Team Rocket's scheme as well. I just want to recommend caution. This is a dangerous mission we are undertaking."

"Don't worry, we will take care." Anna answered. "We aren't going to be stopped by Team Rocket now that we've come this far."

"Kangaskhan mom… Tommy needs to go stop bad people." Tommy told his Kangaskhan adoptive parent. "You and Kangaskhan sister stay here with others. Please protect other mom also…"

The large kangaroo-like Pokémon nodded seriously. "Yes, of course. Little Tommy, I will not let these Team Rocket people hurt you or anyone else here." She answered with a nod. "But you… take care, and come back safe."

"Good luck, human brother." The Kangaskahn baby answered. Tommy gave a small smile and set himself to do what he had to, understanding that a lot was riding on this...

"So, have you decided to spill the beans?" Taichi asked with a cruel scowl, staring at Mr. Kaiser who was sitting in front of him, his hands tied behind the chair. "I'll have you know, I can be very patient when I need to. So don't think you're getting rid of me so easily."

"Damn you… I'm telling you, I have no idea where this Dratini you speak of might be!" Kaiser answered, taking a quick look at the bound Baoba not too far away from him. "It's been such a long time since I last saw that Dratini, that I honestly don't remember where she might be!" Taichi smirked slightly. "Nice try, Mr. Kaiser, but you must think I am a fool if you really believed I would fall for that." He answered. "We are aware of how much you care for that Dratini, and we are sure you cannot have forgotten like that." He stated. "Now, will you tell us what we want, or do we have to get… unpleasant?"

Baoba widened his eyes and murmured something with his toothless mouth, trying to beg his old friend not to give in to their threats. A series of scarcely recognizable words came out of his mouth, and Kaiser nodded, hoping that help might soon come…

"Excuse me, commander Taichi… some of our enforcers have captured those Pokémon trainers who had been given us trouble lately." A Team Rocket grunt announced as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. At that, Taichi's attention was taken away from the interrogation he was taking care of, and he turned to the newcomer.

"Is that so?" he asked, looking both intrigued and suspicious. "Well, that's great news. Looks like the greatest threat to Team Rocket's supremacy has finally been taken out. What are you waiting for? Send the hostages in, they might be useful."

"Yes, commander Taichi… right away!" he answered, disappearing behind the door and returning a few moments later, dragging Ash and several of his friends behind himself, and then roughly pushing them in the room. The three Team Rocket agents who were accompanying Ash and the others walked in as well, seemingly keeping the struggling kids under control.

"The boy and his friends?" Kaiser exclaimed as Rena glared at Taichi. "They were captured as well?"

Taichi nodded, flashing a cruel smile. "Well, well… looks like your luck just ran out, meddling kids." He mocked Ash, who just grit his teeth and shot him a nasty look. "You will cooperate with us now, or the consequences will be… unpleasant, to say the least."

"You don't think you can intimidate us like that, do you?" Rena fired back in her hotheaded manner.

"You seem to be under the impression that you are some kind of heroine in a video game, little girl." Taichi stated, his demeanor turning serious and threatening once again. "If that is the case, I have some news for you. This is reality, and reality cares little for what you want or hope for. Rest assured, you will crack and do whatever we ask of you soon enough. Take these prisoners in the shed and lock them there. As for you three, I must congratulate you on a job well done, but know that these aren't the only trainers out to ruin our plans. Keep looking for the others. You have their descriptions, right?"

"Of course we do, commander Taichi." The Team Rocket grunt that was actually Aya in disguise answered promptly. "We will keep an eye out for them as well."

"Considering that we have their companions here, I wouldn't be surprised if they attacked us soon in order to save their friends." The disguised Koga continued.

Taichi nodded and took a good look at the three of them. For some reason, he seemed to be somewhat uncomfortable with them, as if he was able to sense that they weren't there several hours ago… but he decided not to say anything in that regard. He had a better and infallible method of making sure things were under control.

"Then we will just have to take extra care of whoever approaches our position and place guards in places where the vagrants could hude themselves." Taichi continued. "Oh, and by the way, you three go take a visit to commander Archer and update him on the current situation."

"It will be done, commander Taichi." Koga answered politely. "You two, with me. We will go speak to Commander Archer about the events that transpired in here."

Aya and Janine nodded, and the three of then got ready to leave, with the girls in front, and Koga closing the small queue. Just as he was about to get out and spread the information, Koga got a strange feeling, and a rather unpleasant one as well. A low hissing sounds reached his sensitive ears, and the ninja master turned around, just in time to see a Scyther's bladed arm slice through the air, aiming at his throat! The Scyther's trainer – that is, Taichi himself - smirked nastily as Koga frowned, understanding that something he had said or done had made the elite Team Rocket agent see through the ruse. With lightning reflexes, the fake Team Rocket agent unsheathed a curved short sword from his outfit, and managed to block Scyther's blade. The cutting edges met with a deafening clanging sound, and Taichi's Scyther jumped back with a nimble burst of speed, his blades crossed in front of him and ready to strike.

"I must say, that disguise fooled me for a moment." Taichi affirmed. "That was actually a rather clever disguise you pulled off, ninja master Koga of Fuchsia City."

The fake Team Rocket agent smirked as his form faded and left the Fuchsia City gym leader in his place, and with an annoyed expression, both Aya and Janine restored their normal appearance as well. "I guess that was a trick question, am I correct?"

"Quìte so." Taichi answered, his eyes going from Aya to Janine and back to Kouga. "Every Team Rocket agent who takes part in this operation knows that commander Archer is currently not assigned to Fuchsia City. The fact that you didn't find anything suspicious in my request confirmed me thst something was off."

"Perceptive, aren't you?" Koga answered. "What you say is true… that was actually a fairly clever idea for discovering intruders. But I'm afraid… that I really cannot allow you to interfere in our operations."

Taichi was not about to be impressed with mere words. "Team Rocket does not need anyone's permission." He stated, before snapping his fingers. Immediately, two Team Rocket grunts were at the ferocious elite agent's side, and he gave orders to those who were nearby. "Take care of the ones that were brought in just now. Reinforce surveillence in the area where hostages are being kept. I have reason to believe that we are going to face more than what we've seen so far."

"Yes, commander Taichi!" one of the Team Rocket agents answered, running to give a message of alarm to the entire place. Taichi nodded and brought his full attention to Koga, knowing he was about to face an opponent that was not to be underestimated. The ninja master, for his part, had already summoned one of his ace Pokémon – a large and intimidating Weezing – while his sister Aya had her Venonat out, and Janine had thrown a Pokeball from which a large spider-like Pokémon with a large striped abdomen, thin long legs and short hooked mandibles had emerged.

"Well, looks like we might actually get to face some worthy opponents." Taichi commented. "Scyther, Excadrill… you know what to do!"

The mantis-like Pokémon and the fierce-looking mole were soon standing at Taichi's side, ready to face off against his opponents as Koga's Weezing floated down a bit and got ready to do battle.

"Father, what should we do now?" Janine whispered to her father, her spiderlike Pokémon standing close to her with its front legs raised in an intimidating gesture against the Team Rocket agents.

"Don't worry, Janine. This isn't really a problem." It said, its voice surprisingly soft and melodic. "It just means that we need to take action sooner than we thought."

"I hope you're right, Ariados." The young ninja whispered to her Pokémon.

Koga didn't seem angry or worried beyond some disappointment that rheir gambit had been discovered so early. "Trust your Ariados on this, Janine." He stated simply. "Right now, we just need to take care of this man and his minions. You and Aya, cover my Weezing as I deal with Taichi."

"It shall be done, honorable brother." Aya answered, her Venonat chirping an affirnative as well.

"I can see you are pretty confident. Let's see how right you are." Taichi answered. "Scyther, use Swords Dance and then Aerial Ace. Excadrill, attack with Metal Claw!"

The mantis-like Pokémon quickly spun around, his bladed arms extended forward as he boosted his own attacking power, and Excadrill rushed forward, delivering a powerful slash to Weezing with his steel claws… but the gas-filled Pokémon was already taking countermeasures, spewing out a cloud of dark, noxious vapors and smoke that got in Excadrill's way, forcing the mole Pokémon to step back in anger. However, Scyther was not so inconvenienced. As soon as he ended hus Sword Dance, he leapt towards Weezing, unerringly striking him with a blow from his arms even through the thick smoke.

"Weezing, hit back with Flamethrower." Koga instructed his Pokémon. "Can you keep them at bay?"

"Don't worry, master Koga. I will hit them both." Weezing answered in an hoarse voice. Before his opponents could get a second attack in, Weezing took a deep breath and breathed out a huge flame before sweeping it from side to side, using it to keep the enemy at bay! Excadrill and Scyther stepped back in a frantic attempt to avoid the searing flames, and Taichi frowned slightly at that – it appeared that these opponents were going to be harder to deal with than he anticipated.

"Ariados, block them with Web!" Janine instructed her spider-like Pokémon, who quickky nodded and shot a barrage of sticky web strands at a nearby door, obstructing it and keeping other Team Rocket agents from interfering.

"Nice job, Janine! I think it's our turn now!" Venonat commented, before turning his glance to Aya, who smiled thinly and nodded in assent.

"Start off with a nice Psybeam attack, Venonat!" Aya exclaimed. The hairy bug's compound eyes lit up for a moment, and then fired a beam of psychic energy from his antennae, hitting a pair of Team Rocket agents and their Zubats who had managed to sneak inside before Ariados webbed off the entrance.

"I see you are not going to make this easy. On yourself or on us." Taichi commented with a frown. "Well, not that I care. Scyther, use your Slash attack! Excadrill, attack with Drill Run!"

"We will not fail!" Excadrill shouted, before launching himself claws first at Venonat, and spinning around like an actual drill. The bug tried to dodge in a knee jerk reaction, but Excadrill was far too fast and powerful, and struck Venonat head on like some monstrous projectile, sending him down for the count. Scyther, for his part, executed a flawless double arm slash and struck the spider-like Pokémon, who barely managed to keep his footing.

"Aaaaargh!" Ariados screeched in pain, trying to nurse his injured back. "Too strong… no wonder this is an elite Team Rocket agent!"

Koga frowned, and sent out another of his Pokémon in an attempt to even the odds. "Hmph… looks like I will actually have to try harder for this. Not a problem." He stated as he threw his next Pokeball. "Venomoth, I'm counting on you!"

The Pokeball snapped open, and out of it came a large moth-like Pokémon with a light purple body, bulbous large blue eyes, and small mandibles, its three pairs of legs tucked underneath her body, and three crests adorning her head. She flew upwards with a bold flourish, and then shot straight towards Scyther, in order to stop him from attacking further. "Venomoth, use your Stun Spore attack!"

"On it, Master Koga!" the Poison Moth Pokémon answered, before sending out a blast of noxious spores from her wings.

"Hmph... Scyther, blow it away with Razor Wind!" Taichi ordered, and his Scyther beat his wings with relentless abandon, in order to blow the paralyzing spores away. However, Excadrill was not so lucky, and the spores fell on him, causing him movements to become stiff.

"Ugh... sorry, Master Taichi... I couldn't avoid that..." the mole-like Pokemon grunted in annoyance as he tried to attack again. This time, however, he was significantly slowed down, and Venomoth was able to easily avoid the Metal Claw attack he was trying to hit her with.

"Master Koga trained me in the ways of the ninja masters." Venomoth stated. "You cannot hope to hold me down so easily."

"Venomoth, use Psybeam!" Koga instructed her, and the poisonous moth shot a powerful beam of psychic energy at the mole-like Pokemon, who failed to dodge and was thrown backwards in a daze! Then, Venomoth turned her head to Scyther and struck the Bug/Flying Pokemon with her Psybeam, sending him back several paces!

"What's the meaning of this? My Excadrill shouldn't have taken that much damage... unless of course, your Venomoth has the Tinted Lens ability, which boosts damage when the target resists an attack." A slightly annoyed Taichi answered with a frown. Scyther backed away when Weezing shot another Flamethrower attack at him... and struck back with a Slash attack, forcing the floating Poison-type back!

"A ninja needs to have his secrets, now." Koga answered with a slight smirk. "Aya, Janine... I will take care of this man. You go help Ash and the others, and give the go to the other Gym Leaders."

"Yes, father. We will take care of that!" Janine answered, recalling her Ariados. She and her aunt looked at each other and performed a series of hand signs, disappearing in a puff of smoke before Taichi could do anything to stop them. The Team Rocket enforcer frowned and turned to Koga, cracking his knuckles as he appeared to be ready to fight against Koga in hand-to-hand.

"You had it all planned, shinobi." Taichi commented with a frown. "I must say, it was quite impressive. But if you think Team Rocket will be made light of so easily, you will have a whole other thing coming."

"Is that so?" Koga answered, taking a fighting stance. "Then let us test our might in combat, Taichi. Show me how well you can back up your threats."

Taichi, Scyther and the staggered Excadrill got ready to fight, with Koga and his Venomoth and Weezing getting ready on the other side...

The Team Rocket grunts were caught completely off guard when Aya and Janine appeared in the room in a puff of grey smoke... and without giving the enemy any time to regain their wits, the young ninja and her aunt moved in to deliver an high kick to two grunts' heads, knocking them down with a cry of pain and surprise! The other grunts were quick to unhand their prisoners, and grabbed their Pokeballs, but Aya and Janine acted with great quickness, and in a flash, Janine's Ariados was out of his Pokeball again, while Aya sent out another of her Pokemon - a Bulbasaur, who immediately extended two of her vines and grabbed two Team Rocket grunts by the ankles!

"Woah! What's going on?" a Team Rocket grunt asked in surprise, before getting wrapped by a Web attack from Ariados. Smiling in satisfaction, Ash and his friends quickly got away from the grunts' grasp, and Anna opened her Pokeball to send out her Shiny Mareep!

"We're what's going on, Team Rocket punks!" Anna exclaimed. "Come on Mareep! Time to shock our audience here! Use Thunder Shock!"

"I like the idea! These people look like jerks anyway!" the cute sheep-like Pokemon answered as she appeared near Anna. She quickly turned to the closest grunt, charged up her soft wool with static electricity, and unleashed a powerful jolt that struck the grunt, causing his skeleton to appear for a moment as if he was doing an x-ray scan! The grunt fell to the floor, his eyes turning into spirals and his hair puffing out like an afro, and Mareep winked at Anna before getting ready to face the rest of Team Rocket, who were all sending out several Pokemon, mostly Poison-types, to keep them from leaving.

"Stop them! Don't let them escape!" another grunt exclaimed, only to get tripped nd floored when Aya's Bulbasaur swung her vines at his legs.

"Great entrance, miss Aya!" Brendan exclaimed as Ash sent out the Rhyhorn he had caught earlier, and the powerful Ground/Rock type Pokemon grunted in anger as it waved its horn at a nonplussed grunt! "Is Mr. Koga doing okay?"

"My honorable brother is keeping Taichi busy as we speak." Aya answered. "For now, what we have to do is to tell the others to attack... and I think I know how, too!"

"Then I guess I know too, auntie!" Janine answered. "Ariados, use a Signal Beam!"

"Already on it!" the giant spider answered. It raised its hind legs, charged them with energy, and fired a colored beam of energy that smashed through the roof and flew up into the sky, plainly visible by all who were in the surroundings!

The rest of the Gym Leaders, as well as Tommy and the small Kangaskhan army, saw the brilliant beam of light rising up from the guardian's hut, and they immediately went on the move, ready to face Team Rocket!

"That's the signal!" Erika exclaimed. "It is time to move, everybody!"

"Let's chase Team Rocket out of here!" one of the Kangaskhan continued. Taking the head of the assault squad, she led the rest of the kangaroo-like Pokemon to the attack, and soon enough, the hut was surrounded, much to Team Rocket's surprise and alarm! The closest grunts tried to get to their Pokeballs, but the inhabitants of the Safari Zone were faster, and knocked them out with a well-placed flurry of Dizzy Punches!

"What the hell?" one of the grunts exclaimed. "Those Kangaskhan had us surrounded and... GAH!"

"Have a nice sleep, you!" A Kangaskhan baby popped out of her mother's pouch and whacked him upsidethe head with a mallet she had taken from who-knows-where, causing the unfortunate grunt to groan and fall to the ground with a huge lump on his head! In a moment, the group of kangaroo-like Pokemon had surrounded the place... and Tommy threw his boomerang against a window, shattering it in order to create an opening for himself!

"Yaaaaaah!" With a loud cry, the wild boy grabbed his boomerang as it flew back, and then jumped through the shattered glass, delivering a powerful flying kick to a Team Rocket grunt who was standing there in utter disbelief! The grunt fell to the ground in a daze, and Tommy threw his boomerang again, clocking a female grunt who seemed to be about to capture him! "Team Rocket come to capture Pokemon friends! Me not forgive!"

"Wh-What? Who the heck is this... Ugh, whatever! Nidorino, get him!" another grunt exclaimed, before sending out the large quadrupedal Poison-type Pokemon, who aimed his poisoned horns at the young boy. Just then, a powerful kick from a Kangaskhan threw the door open, and one of the kangaroo-like Pokemon entered the hut, bringing down a section of wall as she did so! Panic ensues as several other grunts sent out their Pokemon, and the Gym Leaders joined the fray as well...

As Taichi and Koga's Pokemon faced off against each other, the building was shaken by a tremendous crash as the Kangaskhan army assaulted the Team Rocket squadron and began beating them back! Koga's Weezing grinned slightly before floating back to avoid Excadrill's Metal Claw attack, and the ferocious mole-like Pokemon staggered forwards a bit, still feeling the effects of Venomoth's Stun Spore. Scyther, for his part, had just landed from a powerful Wing Attack, smacking the Poison Moth Pokemon with hs insectile wings and sending her sprawling to the floor.

"Master Taichi, we are in trouble I don't know how, but they have managed to get an entire group of Kangaskhan to attack us!" Scyther commented.

As confident as he was, Taichi was no fool, and quickly worked out what the plan was. "Tch... I see your game, Koga. You were infiltrating those 'prisoners' in our hideout in order to strike by surprise, right?" he stated, glaring at the ninja master.

"Quite so." Koga answered simply. "Venomoth, use Psychic. Weezing, use Flamethrower again!"

Weezing breathed in, and then shot a large trail of fire that Excadrill was barely able to defend himself from, while Venomoth quicly fluttered back in a fighting stance, and fired a tremendous pulse of psychic energy at Scyther, whocrossed his arm-blades in front of himself and managed to soften the blow, but he was still pushed with his back to the wall.

Taichi quickly thought about it, and decided it would be too dangerous to stay there and keep fighting. "Fine... looks like we'll have to bow out for now. Give the order to all of our men." he stated, before frowning a bit, a silent signal whose meaning Scyther knew - this was only a temporary retreat.

"Right away!" Scyther exclaimed. "Excadrill, we're outta here! Staying and fighting won't help us any!"

The Ground/Steel Pokeon sighed in relief and backed away from Weezing, who was using a Smokescreen attack to hide himself and stop Excadrill from fighting back. Excadrill angrily hung back, his claws slashing the air in an attempt to keep the opponents at bay, and was finally able to get to a safe distance as Taichi recalled him.

"Enjoy this victory, shinobi, because it won't last too long." Taichi fired back at Koga, glaring at him as he retreated and slipped out of a window that had been opened before. Koga was tempted to run after him, but he decided it was more important to save the warden and Mr. Baoba.

"Well, that's a satisfying result for now. Hopefully, the others are doing a good job." Koga said to himself, as his Venomoth and Weezing fluttered close to him. The sound of a powerful electric shock and the pained scream of a Rocket grunt told him that it was indeed the case, and the ninja master cracked a small smile as he and his Pokemon hurried to the other room.

Finding themselves under attack from all sides, Team Rocket had no choice but to fold. The agents were getting pummeled by the Kangaskhan and by Tommy's boomerang, and what Pokemon Ash and his friends had sent out were doing their best to give an hard time to the black cloaked criminals. Soon enough, the evil team was sent fleeing, scattering into the Safari Zone with several pissed off Kangaskhan in hot pursuit!

"Alright, we're winning this one!" Anna cheered, as her shiny Mareep smiled proudly and used another Thundershock attack to take out a pair of Zubat that Team Rocket had tried to target her with. The electric sheep was hit by an Absorb attack when another bat-like Pokemon bit her near the neck, but she quickly shrugged off the attack and zapped the enemy with another Thundershock. "Nicely done, Mareep! You're really doing a great job here!"

"These guys are no match with your truly!" the electric sheep said with a proud tone. Ash's Chansey was doing her best as well, literally lifting a completely flabbergasted Team Rocket agent over her head, and then showing him out of the nearest window!

"Great work, everyone!" May answered giving a thumbs-up. "Now, let's go get Mr. Kaiser and the guardian out of here!"

David and Rena were already on it, their captured Pokemon holding off Team Rocket as they went to the door to the next room and opened it quickly. A pair of Team Rocket agents, with their Pokemon already out - an Ekans and a Drowzee -, was standing near a pair of chairs upon which Kaiser and Baoba were tied up, and as the two men glanced up in surprise, the grunts gave the order to attack.

"Those damn kids are here already! Stop them, Ekans! Drowzee!" a grunt exclaimed, and Ekans fired a Poison Sting attack from his mouth, which missed Rena's head by just a few inches. Drowzee emitted a mournful bellow and tried to hit David with an Hypnosis attack, only for the blond boy to avert his glance and try to stay back...

"You bad people aren't doing anything to my Mom's friends!" the diminutive Mythical Pokemon exclaimed, raising his arms in the air as a glowing blue aura appeared around him. With a wave of his hands, the Seafaring Pokemon fired a Water Pulse in the form of an array of ring-shaped blasts of water, striking the Drowzee head on with enough power to lift the Psychic-type off his feet and send it flying to the other side of the room! The Psychic-type slumped to the floor unconscious as Ekans tried to use a Wrap attack and entrap Manaphy in his coils... but he was unable to go for before May intervened.

"Be careful, Manaphy!" May exclaimed. "Use BubbleBeam to blow them away!"

"Of course, mom!" Manaphy answered, before firing a blast of water bubbles that struck Ekans and the Rocket grunt with tremendous force, sending both of them to the floor in an unconscious daze! The snake Pokemon and his trainer lay there with their eyes turning into swirls, and Manaphy took a sigh of relief before turning to the tied-up Kaiser and Baoba. "There! I think we took care of all the bad guys!"

"Amazing... what sort of Pokemon is that?" Kaiser murmured, as Baoba hmself widened his eyes in surprise at the diminutive but powerful Pokemon who had wiped out two Team Rocket grunts like nothing.

"It's a little long to explain..." Ash answered as he and his friends went to free Baoba and Kaiser. The guardians stretched out a bit and nodded gratefully as they got their footing once again. "But anyway, we've come to help you and chase Team Rocket away! You're okay with that, right?"

Kaiser groaned a bit. "I'm not exactly okay with letting a few kids take care of my job... but I guess we don't have much of a choice." he stated, taking a look at Baoba, who shrugged and then pointed out of a window, towards a lake in the distance. "I know about that, my friend... we'll be going there as soon as we're all up to speed."

Baoba nodded with a slight smile, and David looked at the guardian in doubt. "Uh... your friend isn't one for words, is he now, Mr. Kaiser?" he said, causing Baoba to roll his eyes in slight annoyance.

"Right now, my friend Baoba here is one for no words." Kaiser stated. "His false teeth were lost when Team Rocket captured us, and he can't speak well without them. But that's not what's important right now. We need to go check out the lakes. I'm afraid Team Rocket will try to get the Pokemon living in there, too."

"False... teeth?" David repeated in surprise, only for Rena to grab his shoulder and shake him out of his funk! "Ow, ow, ow! I get it, Rena! We need to hurry up!"

"Tommy and the others can help get there faster!" May stated, and the team quickly rushed out of the room to meet their friends once again...

"We chase bad men away!" Tommy cheered, lifting his boomerang high in the air as the last of Team Rocket ran away under the ferocious glare of the Kangaskhan and the Gym Leaders. When Ash and the rest of the "prisoners" got there, the kangaroo-like Pokemon and their friends were cheering for the defeat of Team Rocket, with Koga and his family standing by the side, Janine striking a cool pose as her aunt and father simply stood upright with their arms folded.

"Looks like we managed to get the jump on them… at least this time." Misty commented. "Nice job, everyone!"

"We did get a victory over them, but it's still not over." Kaiser answered, looking rather anxious. "Team Rocket must not be allowed to get to the lakes. We need to get there, as soon as possible."

"In that case, I can show you a shortcut to get there in time." Koga intervened. "From here, go to the woods ahead, and take the path between the two larger rocks you will come across. It should take you to… the place you need to protect soon enough." He glanced at Kaiser as he said so, understanding what was going on, and respecting the guardian's desire for it to be kept a secret.

"Thank you, master Koga." Kaiser nodded severely. "In that case, let's not waste time."

"We will hurry there and stop Team Rocket from making a getaway." Tommy's adoptive Kangaskhan mother answered as her adoptive son hopped into her pouch. She motioned to the other Kangaskhan to follow her, and the herd made haste towards their destination, while Ash's group along with Kaiser and Baoba reunited and went in the direction Koga had pointed them to. They knew they had to get there as soon as possible, if they were to foil Team Rocket's plan.

"Ugh… this is just great! We have lost sight of those stupid twerps as soon as those Kangaskhan attacked…" Jessie exclaimed. "What's going on now?"

"The twerps have interfered once again, and we have no idea what the rest of our comrades are doing. They are retreatinh, aren't they?" James asked, sighing in annoyance as well.

"Yeah, that happened. Right now, they are heading towards one of the larger ponds in the Safari Zone." Jessie answered as she rolled her eyes, pointing in the direction of the lake. "They probably think we're going there to try and catch a Dratini or somethin'… Well, truth be told, if we did catch some Dratini, we could sell them at a pretty high price on the market… we could even send a few of them to the Celadon City casino as prizes." Jessie answered, thinking about it for a moment. But she quickly shook her head, not wanting to tangle with those strong trainers once again. "That would be great… but I am not going to go up against that brat with the Pikachu and his little friends again! In one way or another, they always manage to get the better of us and give us a beating!"

"I… I have to agree with Jessie on that one! No matter what plans Taichi and the others have in mind, we are not getting involved!" James whined. "Even if they come here and order us to go along with them, we aren't going to accept!"

"You're right, not even in a million years!" Jessie exclaimed. "This is getting way too dangerous for my tastes!" he yowled. "I am not going along with such a plan!"

"Not even if Taichi himself comes and orders you to assist, right?" a distinctly cold and cruel voice answered, belonging to a tough-looking Team Rocket agent that had appeared right then.

The Team Rocket Duo hadn't yet realized who that person was, and persisted in their refusal. "Nope! Not even then! We're not going to get in trouble again!" Jessie answered, eyes closed and arms folded on her chest.

"They could come in person, and order us to assist them, and we would still refuse!" James went on.

"Right! We have had our fill already with that crazy gun-toting ranger shooting at us like pigeons!" Jessie answered, before turning to the one who had spoken. "And you're not going to change our minds anytime soon…"

The purple-haired woman froze in an expression of terror and surprise when she saw Taichi standing right a few steps in front of them, his arms folded on his chest and his eyes affixed on them in a disapproving stare. Immediately, she tried to backpedal, sweating bullets and waving her hands in front of herself. "I… I mean, we were just going to say… er… I swear, this isn't what it looks like! We… weren't going to try and disobey you or anything! We… we… were just trying to say that we weren't going to go up against those brats without a reasonable plan! Yeah, that's just it!" Jessie tried to butter up Taichi with a nervous smile and a sugarry sweet tone. "I… I mean, we were never going to just give up and run away!"

"That never once crossed our minds!" James continued, trying to look as innocent as he possibly could.

Taichi groaned in annoyance. "You couldn't lie if your pathetic lives depended on it, you bunch of idiots." He stated with a fierce stare. "But don't worry, as much as you'd deserve to get twisted into a bunch of pretzels, there are more important things to think about now. Listen well, and make sure you do it right this time. We are going to get some rare and powerful Pokemon out of this place, and that means, we are going to get those Dratinis as well. And you are going to help with that. Right?"

"O-of course!" James exclaimed. "In fact, we just had something with which to draw out the Dratinis and all the Pokemon living in the lakes here!"

Jessie sounded a little surprised. She didn't know that her partner had prepared such a thing, and wondered what idea he had, and how he was going to pull it off.

Taichi nodded. "Then make good use of it, and get those Pokemon." He stated matter of factly. "Make sure those meddling fools don't interfere again… and if they do, spare no resources to take them out!"

"Yes sir!" The Team Rocket duo answered in unison, not willing to test their luck with Taichi even further. They quickly took everything they needed, and hurried towards the place where they had the best chances to find a Dratini…

Hurrying to the pond where they had found Dratini, Ash and his friends arrived as Jessie and James were preparing to lower a strange device into the waters… about the size of a crate, it looked like a rather complex technological contraption, complete with a timer of sorts on the front.

"Say hello to the Team Rocket Special Underwater Electric Bomb" said James with a confident expression on his face though at the same time the plan wouldn't be as good without Meowth there to enjoy it with them. "With it, we can get all the Pokémon underwater to come up at once."

"All at once?" Jessie asked of her partner, starting to become interested in the idea and she hated to admit it his intelligence seems to have improved significantly lately.

"Exactly."

However, as the two were preparing to make their move, they heard a familiar male voice calling out to them. "Stop!" they saw that to their dismay, it was Ash and his friends with Kaiser and mentally cursed their bad luck just when they thought things couldn't get any worse.

"Oooh, boy, here we go again…" Jessie murmured as she and James turned to Ash and his friends. "You just can't leave us alone, can you?"

"Nope, I don't think so." May answered. "Not if you're going to do bad things to the Pokemon living here!"

"Cease this foolishness right now." Kaiser ordered. He tried to grab his trusted gun, only to remember that Taichi and his goons had taken it away from him when he had been captured. Baoba pointed to the bomb near the Team Rocket duo, which James was already trying to push into the lake. "Do you have any idea of the damage that bomb will do?"

"If they manage to get it to explode, the lake will be depopulated…" Ash's Chansey stated in alarm.

"Well, duh. That's the point of what we are doing…" James answered. "I mean, we are Team Rocket. We are Pokemon thieves. Were you expecting us to use those silly Safari Balls, like you all do?"

"Well, if you aren't going to stop by yourselves, we are going to make you stop!" Anna exclaimed, her shiny Mareep coming out and getting ready to fight. Ash nodded and sent out his own Tauros which he had caught only a few moments before, and the bull-like Pokemon bellowed angrily and stomped his hooves on the ground.

"Oooh, how scary… not!" James taunted, before sending out one of his Pokemon himself. "Yiu just caught those Pokemon, which means they aren't very strong! Let me show you a Pokemon who can really hold his own here! Go, Foongus!"

"Here I am!" the strange mushroom-like Pokemon exclaimed happily, showing up in front of Ash and his comrades. It looked like a plump white mushroom whose cap was decorated in a Pokeball motif, with stubby digitless arms, a small mouth with puffy pink lips and black pinprick-like eyes. It was barely one foot tall, and was swinging its cap left and right, looking quite happy and bright. Ash immediately took his Pokédex out, not knowing what Jessie and James had with them as it was actually the first time they were shown without Meowth which made him wonder happened to the male Scratch Cat.

'Foongus, the Mushroom Pokémon. Grass/Poison type. Foongus release poisonous spores to repel anyone who tries to catch them. For unknown reasons, they resemble Poké Balls.' came Dexter's report on the identity of the Pokémon that the two members of Team Rocket had.

"Honestly? This Pokemon doesn't really look like much." Ash commented. "Let's see how it fares against my Tauros! Now, Tauros, use Horn Attack!"

"I will blow this runt away!" Tauros grunted as he charged against Foongus, whipping himself into a frenzy with his tails. He charged, intending to bring this battle to a close as quickly as possible…

"I don't think so!" James exclaimed. "Foongus, use Toxic!"

The toadstool-like Pokemon closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, before releasing a cloud of noxious-looking purple vapors that spread in the air around him and caused Tauros to halt in his charge. But it was too late, and he ended up breathing in some of the noxious air, causing him to stagger and feel sick.

"Tauros! What's going on?" a worried Ash exclaimed, seeing one of his newest Pokemon fall to his knees in a dizzy state.

"Uuuuugh… I feel so sick I could faint…" the bull Pokemon murmured, his eyes comically turning into crosses.

"The Toxic attack causes a Pokemon to become badly poisoned." Brock explained, his eyes affixed on the cloud of purple smoke surrounding Foongus. "This weakens the Pokemon over time just like normal poisoning, but the damage increases with time. Recall your Tauros right now, Ash!"

"Hold on. There is another way…" Ash's Chansey intervened, holding up an arm as she tried to get close to the ailing Tauros. "If I can get close enough to use my Heal Pulse on Tauros…"

However, Team Rocket was not going to give her that chance. "Foongus, keep the pink thing away from Tauros! I don't know what she's trying to do, but I bet it would be a problem if she managed to pull it off!"

"Of course, master James!" the mushroom Pokemon answered. "I certainly haven't shown all the moves I know, so… here I go again! Sweet Scent!"

The poisonous mist that surrounded Foongus vanished, and a mellow aroma, in the form of a sparkling pink vapor, began spreading around him and sneaking towards Chansey, who was unable to stop it in time. The pink nurse Pokemon caught the enthralling scent, which caused her to wobble on her feet and her eyes to become unfocused.

"Gee, not Chansey too…" Ash murmured.

Anna sighed as it looked like it was up to her and Mareep. "Whatever, Ash… let me and Mareep handle this!" the girl answered, rubbing her forehead. "Come on, Mareep, we need to get through that stupid mushroom… use a Swift attack!"

"Right away!" the sheep-like Pokemon answered with a bleating sound. She pointed towards Foongus and fired a series of five-pointed miniature stars from her fleece, which managed to hit the opponent head on. This time, Foongus was unable to defend himself and was knocked aside with a surprised yelp, but his interference has given Jessie and James the time they needed to move their bomb in place! The two of them were lifting the heavy contraption, and a moment later, before Ash and his friends could intervene, Jessie activated it.

"Wait! Don't do that!" Misty called to them. "You can't destroy the lake like that!"

"Heh. Sorry girl. Orders from the boss." Jessie answered with a smirk, right before she and James took aim and dropped the bomb in the lake!

"And… here goes!" James answered with a relieved sigh.

Ash and co were horrified when they saw Jessie and James tossing the bomb into the lake. "If that bomb explodes, all the Pokémon in the lake will…" muttered Kaiser, dreading the thought of what could happen and he immediately jumped in which shocked the trainers even more than ever, resulting in Ash attempting to follow only to have his arm grabbed by Misty.

"Stop!"

Ash had his glance turned towards the Tomboyish Mermaid, knowing that this wasn't the time to stop him when they got bigger problems to deal with. "What do you want?!" he asked with a scowl.

"Think about it, Mr. Pokémon Master!" snapped Misty, knowing how dangerous it was even and especially if he failed to make it out of the water due to not having a Water-Type Pokémon with him at this very moment as her anger turned to concern. "If you go in now…!"

"Don't worry, I'll be OK." Ash assured Misty, besides he might have a better chance of getting the bomb out faster than Kaiser would and hoped that the others would trust him on this.

"Oh really?" Misty asked sarcastically, this wasn't a joking matter at all since he was usually one to resort to doing something reckless at times like this and how one day it could get him killed in the process. "Where does that confidence come from?"

"The good always wins!" was all Ash said before turning his cap backwards and taking a dive into the lake, causing May to turn her attention towards Manaphy as she knew he was a Water-Type and might be a great help just in case something happened to either Ash or Kaiser.

"Manaphy, I know I never asked you to do something like this but…" she spoke softly, having never once allowed her Pokémon child to take part in any battle or even aid in one though in this situation, she's going to have to make an exception. "I need you to help your papa and Mr. Kaiser before it's too late."

Nodding his head, Manaphy quickly jumped into the lake with Ash in hopes of making their efforts in getting the bomb out of the lake easier but knowing Jessie and James, they're not going to let the group go without a fight.

Meanwhile, Kaiser was making his way towards the very bottom of the lake and looked thoroughly for the exact location of the bomb as he knew that he needed to be quickly. Where's the bomb? I gotta hurry, or my breath will… he thought to himself, not realizing at the time that Ash and Manaphy were also headed to find the explosive and as soon as he noticed, he couldn't believe his eyes.

The raven-haired young man, glanced at Manaphy and gave him a gesture as if saying 'Manaphy, go back with Mr. Kaiser' which caught the Seafaring Pokémon by surprise. However, before he could say anything… he saw the expression on his papa's face which was a confident look, the same confident look he has when he knows he's going to win a battle. Manaphy could see the confidence in Ash's face and listened to him.

As Manaphy was bringing Kaiser back to the surface, he gave Ash one last gaze. 'Papa, I'll be back soon…' he said before leaving and yet the old man still turned to see the young man continuing down to the bottom of the lake in a bid to recover the bomb.

Kid…

While Ash swam with all his might, he thought about the Pokémon that lived in the Safari Zone, especially the ones which raised Tommy ever since he had been separated from his parents. I gotta do something for Mr. Kaiser, who protected these Pokémon for 30 years he thought to himself as hopefully he could be successful in helping the old man.

The bomb rested on the ground, the timer on the center of it going down from 1:35 and slowly continued counting down as Ash managed to grab hold of it then immediately attempted to make his way back up. I gotta quickly carry this bomb outside he thought, hoping he'd be able make it in time.

May and the others were starting to get worried, hoping there would be a sign of Mr. Kaiser and Ash when surely enough, the old man emerged gasping for air with Manaphy in tow. "Mr. Kaiser!" Anna was relieved that at least one of the two managed to return. "Where's Ash?"

Managing to get oxygen into his lungs, he looked up at the trainers with fear on his face. "He went by himself to get the bomb…" he answered which horrified them all and yet Jessie and James found it amusing that he's risking his life to recover the bomb which should be moments away from exploding by now.

"WHAT?!"

"This is terrible... what can we do to save him?" May exclaimed. "The bomb is about to go off now!"

"I… I must return down there! I will rescue Papa, I promise you, Mama!" Manaphy exclaimed, before he dived back down and swam towards the bottom in a desperate attempt to save Ash.

"Ugh… why does my brother always have to be the reckless hero?" an incredibly worried Anna exclaimed, barely resusting the urge to dive down herself in order to help him. "Dammit… what can we do? There must be something we can do!"

Ash continued to swim with all his might, trying to return to the surface as quickly as possible. I gotta hurry, hurry… he thought though he found he couldn't hold his breath any longer and started to pass out, sinking back down the depths with the bomb still in his possession. It wouldn't be long before either the timer ran out or his lungs gave out.

'Papa!' Manaphy cried out, heading to his human father and saw that his eyes were closed which meant if he didn't get out of the lake soon he could die, something the young Seafaring Pokémon dreaded ever since the events with the Phantom at the Temple of the Sea as the young boy from Pallet Town almost drowned when he tried to get the Crown of the Sea back from the pirate.

Even as he tried to swim for the surface, Ash felt his lungs getting tighter and his air supply becoming slimmer with time, and the weight of the bomb combined with the pressure of the depths was threatening to pull him to the bottom of the lake. His body felt like it weighed a ton, and he felt he was losing strength with every wave of his arm. It was not going to be long before he would give out…

"Dammit… I can't die here… not when I haven't saved the Pokémon here!" he thought to himself, putting the last of his strength into swimming for the surface. Just as he believed he was going to succumb to the lack of oxygen, one of his Safari Balls snapped open, and the shiny Dratini he had caught earlier swam out, trying to push his newfound trainer upwards with all of his might.

"Come on, Ash… we're almost there! We can't be stopped now that we're so close!" the little Dragon type Pokemon exclaimed… and as if summoned by Dratini's efforts, the water began to churn, pushing Ash and Dratini upwards, and a pair of eyes, belonging to a sleek and elegant serpentine figure, lit up in the dark depths of the lake…

On the surface, stormclouds began to form in the sky and everyone wondered what was going on as it started raining. "Huh?" muttered James, confused at the fact the weather changed all of a sudden when there shouldn't be a storm brewing at this time. "The weather suddenly changed."

"Rain?"

As soon as Jessie asked that, blue lightning crashed down onto the ground and everyone saw that a whirlpool started to form in the center of the lake, they got ready for what they believed to be the worse as a blue light came out from within the whirlpool. "What the?!" exclaimed James in complete disbelief.

Emerging from the whirlpool and bathed in the light was a long, serpentine Pokémon with sky blue scales and a white underside. Its violet eyes were dark and glossy. It had a smooth, rounded snout and a small, white horn on its forehead. Its head was flaked by two small, stylized wings, which were white and curved into a swirl at the base. Three blue, crystal orbs, one on its neck and two on its tails, adorned its body.

Kaiser recognized the Pokémon almost right away. "That is…" he muttered yet failed to finish his sentence as the light faded away and revealed the appearance of the Pokémon in question with sparkles surrounding its entire body and on its back were none other than Ash and Manaphy much to the relief of the others. "The rare and elusive Pokémon Dragonair."

'Dragonair, the Dragon Pokémon and the evolved form of Dratini. Dragonair has the ability to manipulate the elements as it wishes. It can fly even though it has no wings' Dexter spoke from within Ash's pocket as the storm quickly subsued and the raven-haired young man turned his glance towards Jessie and James, knowing he had something that belonged to the two.

"I think this belongs to you!" said Ash with Manaphy on his shoulder, quickly tossing the electric bomb at Jessie, James and Foongus with the female Team Rocket member catching it just as the timer ultimately reached 0.

Unfortunately, the three didn't have time to react as their own bomb exploded and sent them flying into the sky as a rainbow formed above the area. "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie and James screamed, now starting to believe it had been for the best that Meowth wasn't with them at this point.

As soon as the echo of the explosion died down, the Dragonair gently floated to the bank of the lake, where it smiled at Ash, Manaphy and Kaiser, and allowed them to safely disembark on solid ground... where Ash was quickly tackled in an enthusiastic hug by May! The young man yelped in surprise, trying to keep his footing from May's enthusiastic glomp, and hugged her back in relief.

"You just had to be a daredevil and risk your life, right?" May exclaimed in relief. "Don't do that again, Ash, I was so worried for you... I was afraid you'd never come back!"

"I'm sorry, May... as you can see, I'm back, and still in one piece." he answered, and the two of them hugged in relief, while Anna and Brendan stood by their side, both of them smiling and happy that everything had gone well, at least for this once.

"Seriously... I don't think I've ever seen anyone so reckless in my life." Brendan commented.

"That's my brother for you." came Anna's answer. "But... well, I guess that's what makes him a special kind of person, right?"

Kaiser and Dragonair glanced at one another, the latter slowly approaching the old man as if they looked like they hadn't seen each other in a very long time. "This is…" Kaiser spoke, noticing a small cross-like scar on the bottom right side of its horn and memories of another Pokémon with a similar scar flashed before his eyes

Flashback

A younger Kaiser smiled as he glanced at a Pokémon that resided within the lake. "You can live here peacefully and quietly" he said as he patted the Pokémon in question, revealed to be a Dratini and it chirped happily as it looked up towards the man that looked after it.

End of Flashback

The Dragonair continued looking at Kaiser, as if it was about to break down in tears and it didn't take long before he immediately recognized it. "You're that Dratini…" he spoke, tears slowly forming in their respective eyes as the old man started hugging his old friend. "You've grown well…"

"It's been such a long time, my friend…" Dragonair commented. "I see that you've tried your best to protect this place and all the Pokemon that live here."

"I did. Even though people would probably say that I overdid it at times." Kaiser admitted. "I was always worried that someone might catch you, or the other Dratini… I could not allow that."

"I understand. But with these young people here, I think you can be sure that they will not abuse their skills as Pokemon trainers, and they will be good trainers to my children… isn't that right, Dratini?" Dragonair turned to Ash and the Dratini who was standing right next to him, and the boy rubbed the back of his head in embarassment, hoping he would not face down the barrel of Kaiser's trusty rifle.

"Er… to be honest, it was Dratini who agreed to join me…" Ash tried to explain himself, only for Dratini to come forward and answer to that.

"I am sure Ash will be a good and caring trainer to me… unlike that purple-haired punk from before." She explained. "Plus, I am curious to go see the world beyond the Safari Zone, and I can do that as Ash's Pokemon… right?"

Kaiser seemed to glare at Ash for a few moments, causing the young boy to cringe in apprehension… but finally, the old man smiled and patted Ash on the shoulder. "Well then, young man… Dragonair and I are entrusting Dratini to you." He finally said. "Make sure she grows into a fine Pokemon, okay?"

"You bet I will, mister! Dratini and I will make for an awesome team!" Ash answered with a radiant smile.

Everyone, in the meanwhile, was breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that this particular adventure had gone well. "We've had a rather hard time… but in the end, it all ended well." Brock commented. "We've befriended a few new Pokemon, we have stopped Team Rocket, and we've allowed Mr. Kaiser to meet his friend again. I can say weve had a fine day."

"Yeah. And I don't think it's over yet." Brendan commented, seeing how Anna was chatting with one of the Kangaskhan that had joined her and her friends in this attack on Team Rocket. The kangaroo-like Pokemon was pointing at the young girl's Safari Balls, clearly hinting at what she wanted her to do.

"You want me to catch you, Kangaskhan? Is that so?" Anna asked, to which both Kangaskhan and her child nodded in unison.

"Yeah… I'm sure you will be a great trainer for the both of us!" she answered. "We have seen how you and your friends battled today, and how you've put yourselves at risk to save the Pokemon. I'm sure we will get along really well!"

"What Mama said!" the baby Kangaskhan exclaimed.

Smiling in confidence, Anna weighed the Safari Ball in her hand and threw it at the Kangaskhan, hitting her and sucking her inside! The green and brown ball fell and rolled a bit towards Anna, then shook for just a moment before laying still and beeping in confirmation!

"Alright! I got a Kangaskhan in my team!" Anna exclaimed. "Between this and that Shiny Mareep from earlier on, I'm pretty proud of how it went!"

"Speaking of Kangaskhan, we still have to deal with Tommy and his own problems, right?" May asked as she turned to the wild jungle boy and his adoptive Kangaskhan mother, who were standing in front of Tommy's human parents, apparently discussing something very important. "How will they deal with the fact that Tommy would never abandon his adoptive mom?"

"I'm not sure, May…" Ash said in sympathy, gently placing an hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure what we should say in such a situation…"

Luckily, it seemed that the problem was going to be solved pretty soon…

"So… I am not sure, human mom, human dad…" Tommy was saying at that moment, his head down and then taking a glance at his Kangaskhan adoptive mom, who was looking at him in concern. "I mean, I remember you now… but I can't leave Kangaskhan mom, and this place needs me for when bad men come back…"

"Tommy…" the Kangaskhan murmured, not knowing what the young boy would say or do.

"I know it must not be easy for you to choose beween one or the other, Tommy…" his mom said, apparently in a melanchonic state… but soon enough, she and her husband looked at each other in understanding, and flung their clothes away, revealing that they were wearing fur clothing similar to Tommy's underneath them!

"Which is why we decided to make our own choice!" Tommy's dad explained happily. "We will live with you in the Safari Zone, along with your Kangaskhan family!"

"So you won't have to choose, and you can see live with us and with your Kangaskhan mom and little sister at the same time!" his mom told a flabbergasted Tommy. "So, Tommy… Do you like the idea?"

For a moment, Tommy was too surprised to react. Then, he threw himself at his human parents and hugged them for all he was worth, with his Kangaskhan adoptive mom looking happy that a good compromise had been reached. "Thank you, human mom! Kangaskhan mom and sister will make sure you live well here!"

"Aw, I'm sure it will be fun to experience life in the wilds!" Tommy's dad answered, before turning to Ash and his friends. "And I have to thank you as well, my friends! Without you, we probably wouldn't have found Tommy!"

"We are glad to have helped!" Misty answered happily. "And we need to thank Mr. Koga and his family too, they are the ones who took Team Rocket by surprise and stopped them!"

"You could say it was a team effort." Koga answered with a nod, before turnjng to his sister and his daughter, who both smiled and nodded at him. "But I believe we need to take our leave now. We will be waiting for you at the Fuchsia City Gym. Try not to keep us waiting long, okay?"

"Of course not!" Anna answered. "We will take some time to train our Pokemon, and then we'll come knocking!"

"And when we do, we're going to blow you guys away! So be prepared as well!" Ash continued.

Koga folded his arms and held two fingers in front of his face, before doing a few quuck hand signs. "We will be interested in how you do. Until then, farewell."

Aya and Janine did the same series of hand signs… and all three ninjas faded away into a whirlwind of cherry blossom petals, who flew away with the wind until they were no longer visible.

"Well… they sure know how to make an exit. That was pretty cool!" Brendan commented.

"I'm sure they're going to be some tough trainers to handle…" Erika commented. "I certainly wouldn't want to face them with my Grass-types."

Ash smiled confidently. "Well, I like it better when I'm up against some tough trainer! We'll train for the battle in Koga's Gym, and we'll win the next Badge together with our Pokemon!" he exclaimed. "But for now… well, we still have some time to complete our Safari Hunt, right?"

"I'd say so." Kaiser answered. "The Secret House hasn't been discovered yet, and… if you could also find where my collague's Gold Teeth are, we'd be very grateful."

"Gold Teeth?" May asked. "Well, that explains why your friend couldn't say anything. Or better say, who we couldn't understand anything he said. We will find them pronto!"

"And about this Secret House… can you tell us more about that?" Anna asked.

Kaiser shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't be much of a secret house if I could tell you much about it… but I can tell you this, if you can find it, you'll get a really good prize!"

"Not many have managed to get that far. But I'm sure that, if anyone can do that, it's you." Dragonair answered, before giving a sigh and turning back to Kaiser. "I have to return to my lake now… but whenever you want to meet me again, Kaiser, you can come visit me here. I can always make time for you, my friend."

"Thank you, Dragonair… I will make sure I make some time too." Kaiser answered with a relieved smile, hugging his old friend again. They hugged for a while, glad to haveseen each other again after all this time, before Dragonair waved at everyone, bowed her head in respect, and gave a wink to her Dratini daughter.

"Good luck to you, my dear." She stated. "Be devoted to your trainer, and always do your best. And you, Ash, take care of my daughter. I am sure you will become great partners!"

"Me too, Dragonair!" Ash answered. "Thank you, and goodbye!"

"Goodbye, mom! I'll come back to visit you sometime!" the Dratini answered, before Dragonair gave one last wave of her tail and slid back in the water.

"Well then… I guess that's it, at least for now." Erika answered, turning to Tommy and his extended family. "We are glad to have helped you as well… and we wish you a pleasant continuation and a good life."

"Thank you as well." Tommy's human mom said as she bowed along with her husband and her son. "We only have you to thank for being able to find our child again."

"Thank you! Tommy your friend forever!" the wild boy exclaimed.

"And thank you for saving us from Team Rocket! Take care of our comrade, too!" Tommy's Kangaskhan mother answered, looking at Anna in particular.

"You got it… and you're welcome!" the Ketchum girl answered readily. "We won't forget you, ever!"

"Thank you… and goodbye!" Ash concluded.

The Safari Hunt had resumed in earnest after that little incident had been resolved, and soon enough, the team had begun searching for Baoba's Gold Teeth, finding them in a clearing not too far from Dragonair's lake. Ash was quick to pivk them up and clean them as best as he could, and after that, following a trail going deeper into the forest, they had reached a rather small cottage in a secluded clearing. As they entered the cottage in curiosity, they were greeted by an attendant who seemed quite pleased with seeing them.

"Ah! Finally! You're the first people to reach the Secret House!" began the Safari Zone attendant with relief on his face the moment he noticed that there were people still on their run and felt a weight being lifted from his chest. "I was getting worried that no one would win our campaign prize."

"So, here's the Secret House we heard so much about." May answered, looking around the rather simple but comfortable wooden house. "We heard few people managed to get this far…"

"Yep, so congratulations! Here's your prize!" he replied, placing what was revealed to be two discs that he just so happened to have in his possession into the hands of Ash and his sister Anna. "This is HM03, containing the move Surf. Pokémon that know it will be able to ferry you across the water!"

"Thank you, sir!" Anna exclaimed gratefully. "We will make sure we use it well!"

"With that said, all we have left to do is give the Gold Teeth back to Mr. Baoba." Ash continued, glancing at the case where they had put them for safe keeping. "Well then, I'm sure he will be glad to be able to speak normally again. Let's go back to his place."

Soon enough, Ash and his comrades had gone back to Baoba to give him his missing Gold Teeth. The old guardian was overjoyed at that, and wasted no time popping them back into his mouth and sighing a breath of relief.

"Thanks for my finding my missing teeth! You're real lifesavers!" said Baoba, grateful to Ash and his friends for returning his Gold Teeth to him and for assisting in keeping the Pokémon residing in the Safari Zone safe from the hands of Team Rocket. "No one could understand a word that I said, not a one! I was too ashamed to show my face aound the office, even."

"It's okay, Mr. Baoba... we're just glad we could do you a favor." Misty answered. However, Baoba was not going to let them go without giving them a token of his gratitude at least.

"Let me give you something for your trouble." he said as he gave them a few silver discs, similar to their TMs. "Inside HM04, you'll find the move Strength. It lets Pokémon move boulders when you're outside of battle" he explained to Ash and Anna, knowing the two would put the HM04s he gave to each of them to good use then remembered something important. "Oh yes, did you find the Secret House in the Safari Zone?"

"Yes, we did!" Anna exclaimed happily. "And we got the HM03 Surf from there! I can say that our Safari Zone run has been pretty cool and eventful!"

Baoba took a look at his watch. "You are right, kids... still, I think the time to end it is now." he stated. "You can keep all the Pokemon and the items you found, though you have to return all the unused Safari Balls... and we hope you enjoyed your Safari Zone hunt!"

"We sure did! We caught a lot of great Pokemon, and we were able to stop Team Rocket once again!" Ash exclaimed happily. "Still... I am kinda tired right now. I could use some rest... and seeing what Pikachu is up to!"

"I'm sure our Pokemon have enjoyed themselves!" May answered with a smile.

The next day...

"How long are we going to be stuck here?" Ash asked Ritchie as his girlfriend and her shiny Gardevoir, Michiru, were still in their hotel room playing the Call of Duty video that she managed to purchase without Ritchie and her father knowing until they heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

"Woo yeah! I cannot be killed!" the group heard from the hotel room Relena and Michiru were still in. "Ah damn it, they killed me."

As for the Emerald Cove Island co-champion, he had Relena's Suicune father glaring at him for letting his daughter purchase the Call of Duty game. Ritchie had no idea how his girlfriend and co-champion partner got the Call of Duty World War II game, but she managed to get it and both she and her Gardevoir started playing right away while Ritchie and Aurora were fast asleep on the King-sized bed.

"Argh! Dammit! Who the fuck keeps sniping me?!" a familiar voice roared from his own hotel.

'Seriously? That brutish thug Paul is here too?' Victini asked before looking to May's cellphone and seeing that he got another text from the Sinnoh League champion.

'At least they're coming out every two hours or so,' Rena's Braixen offered as she and her human were both drinking a bottle of water.

'What is it about humans and their need to be entertained by electronic devices and... and video games?' Ash's shiny female Dratini asked the group of Pokémon as she was annoyed at the fact that they hadn't left Fuchsia City yet.

'You're asking the wrong Pokémon, Dratini,' Pikachu answered the shiny female Dragon-type Dragon Pokémon. 'From what Sparky and Anter have told me, Her Royal Highness and Michiru have an addiction to playing video games like that Call of Duty game.

"Come on, Lord Aurora, you know I never let her in that video game store," Ritchie said to his girlfriend's Suicune father. "I did exactly what you said to do."

'And yet she still managed to purchase that game and is currently playing it with Michiru,' countered Aurora as he didn't let up with his glare at his daughter's boyfriend and arranged fiancé.

'Aurora, please cut my son some slack,' Thor said as the shiny male Raikou came to Ritchie's defense.

"FUCK NOOO!" the Veilstone City native shouted at the top of his lungs as he wasn't happy with his current situation.

"Oh yeah!" Relena exclaimed as she burst out of her hotel room she shared with her Suicune father, boyfriend and their Pokémon. "Who rocks the MP40 and mows down PurplHairdShtKckr like grass?! That's right! It's this girl! Woo baby! I'm on fire!"

'Oh Houndour, now Lady Relena has me interested in this... Call of Duty game that she and her shiny Gardevoir are playing,' Rena's Braixen said as the curiosity was starting to set in for the evolved Kalos female Fire-type Fox Pokémon.

"I'm starting to hate Relena," Rena said under her breath, "because she's got me interested too."

'Shall we... Sister Rena?' Braixen asked her trainer as both of them looked at each other after letting out a sigh.

'Someone get this asswipe off our team,' was the next thing the Pokémon and Rena heard from Relena and Ritchie's hotel room. 'This PurplHairdShtKckr is getting the shit kicked out of him!'

'I dunno who PokémonTypeFairy/Snpr is, but they're really kicking serious ass out there,' a teammate for Relena and Michiru said as they were praising the shiny female Gardevoir.

"FUCK DAMMIT NO!" Paul shouted as he burst out of his hotel room a few doors away from a side exit and left the hotel briefly.

'Who snipes the tar out of the competition with a Lee Enfield Sniper rifle so effortlessly?' Michiru exclaimed happily as the shiny female Embrace Pokémon came out of the hotel room in a happy mood. 'That's right it's this girl!'

After the rush of excitement, both Relena and Michiru returned to the room and went back to their online game. The male Suicune father of Relena could only shake his head and then glared at Ritchie once again for what he believed was falling down on the job. For the first time in a while, Ritchie ignored his girlfriend's father and just pulled out his cellphone and texted his girlfriend's older sister. He added in the text, that she was ready for the next outfit she had designed for her.

'I know that's not true,' was the reply Ritchie got from Jessica. 'But since I'm still in Fuchsia City and my baby sister is playing that new Call of Duty game she downloaded to her console, I'll help you get Relena and Michiru away from their video games for a while. Let me know when she's going to take a break.'

'Who are you speaking to?' Aurora demanded of Ritchie.

"Jessica, your firstborn daughter," Ritchie answered quickly after acknowledging Jessica's instructions. "I just wanna help get Relena away from Call of Duty... even if it's for just an hour. Besides, Relena does still work for her sister as a model for the clothes she makes."

'That is true,' Aurora replied as he gave Ritchie a thoughtful nod.

"Wonder if Jessica would hire me as a model," May said aloud as she remembered Rena mentioning that she was getting free clothes and good pay.

"If you're willing to go through 'playing Dress up' again and her unpredictable sparks of creativity that hit her without warning, be my guest," Ritchie said to May as he had the phone number for his girlfriend's sister written down and gave it to May. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I take it that you work for her too," May said to Ritchie before she hooted like a Noctowl in laughter.

"Under protest," replied Ritchie as he didn't look May in the eye and crossed his arms.

"Well, well, I'm glad to see that you decided that you want to work for me," was the reply that May got from her best friend's sister. "The offer I gave Rena and her Braixen is open to you as well... free clothes and good pay."

'Wait a minute, you're a child,' spoke up May's Victini as he looked to his trainer. 'I would imagine that the Atlantica Islands have laws to prevent children such as yourself from being employed. And be employed without parental consent.'

'May can work for Jessica,' Aurora said to Victini. 'But her parents do have to give their consent and submit a form to Ministry of Labor's Anti-Child Labor Taskforce, stating that they give their consent for their daughter to be employed with my firstborn child's modeling agency.'

"I'll need to speak to your parents about letting you work in my modeling agency," Jessica had put in her text to May. "Even I'm subject to the child labor laws in the Atlantica Islands and have to make sure that I have your parents' approval before I can hire you. Like I did with Rena and her Braixen."

"I thank you Milady," the Lucario general, Fenrir said to Rhea after he was outfitted battle armor that was similar to the armor that Rhea's father had bestowed on him once they had started their conquest and begin expanding the empire that Odysseus dreamed of establishing.

"My lord, there is no need for you to bestow such honor to me," Rhea said to Lucario general before kissing him on his forehead. "Arianna has told me that the group has stalled in their journey in Fuchsia City. Apparently, the youngest princess of the Kaiou royal house has an addiction to playing video games... along with her shiny female Gardevoir protector. So you might be able to catch up so that you can meet your grandchildren."

"I see," replied Fenrir. "Well... I guess it would be a good idea to get to this Fuchsia City."

"I have a Pidgeot ready to take you to Fuchsia City so that you can get to your grandchildren," Rhea said to her father's Lucario general. "She'll drop you off at the last place I made contact with Arianna. Sora is part of the Transportation Corps and she'll get you where you need to go."

"I see you've adopted your father's model on how he built up his armed forces," Fenrir said with a smile on his face before walking away with a Love Ball Pokéball holding something special for his granddaughter.

"Take care... my lord Fenrir," Rhea said as the Lucario general left the sub with a shiny female Pidgeot, named Sora out the torpedo launch tube.

"Wah! Jessica... what are you doing here, sis?!" Relena asked as she and Michiru had gotten their online squad mates to take a four hour break.

"I've got a new outfit for you to model for me," answered Jessica as she had an evil grin and dark aura behind her. "Now be a good baby sister... and come quietly."

"No way sis," Relena said as she started to step backwards and then tried to run away, only to run into her sister's shiny Tyranitar, Argon.

'Forgive me, Little Miss,' Argon said as he scooped her up.

"Put me down Argon!" Relena demanded as she tried in vain to get out of the grip of older sister's Tyranitar. "No! I don't wanna have another outfit from my sister!"

"The more you fight, the harder it'll be for you to get back your game," Jessica said before letting out an evil cackle.

"Nooo!" Relena cried out before the doors to the hotel room where she and her boyfriend were staying in were closed.

"I'm gonna be sleeping on the floor until she forgives me," Ritchie said as he felt the fur of his shiny Raikou father, Thor.

'Oh... sleeping on the floor isn't so bad,' Thor said to his son.

"Easy for you to say, Dad," Ritchie said under his breath. "You're not the one who's dating a royal princess and has to deal with her Call of Duty addiction."

"No stop! Not that! AHH!" Relena screamed as she made her way to door and managed to open it just barely.

"Not so fast... baby sister," Jessica replied sinisterly before yanking Relena back into the room and shutting the door again.

"This worse than that time Ash tried on that dorky costume of Thor from Thor: Ragnarok," whined Relena as the others could hear her whining as they invoked that same memory.

Flashback to three weeks ago

"Ash... why are you trying on another costume?" Anna asked her little brother. "You still look like a dork."

"Hey, at least I don't look like Loki like last time," shot back Ash until another shiny Ursaring came by noticed Ash in a costume that he was trying out after returning from Samiya.

"It's not even Halloween, Ash," May said as she held Baby Manaphy in her arms. "Not until like... three months or so from now."

"You make it sound like something bad is gonna happen to me," sassed Ash as he glared at his sister and girlfriend.

Before either Anna or May could counter back, the shiny Ursaring that spotted Ash then grabbed him by his ankles and then began smashing the Pallet Town born trainer into the ground a few times before throwing him away like a rag doll and then letting out a loud roar.

'Yes!' Victini exclaimed in excitement. 'That's how it feels!'

A local Venomoth that was accompanying the shiny Ursaring then looked to Victini in confusion until the male Victory Pokémon added, 'I'm a huge fan of the sport.'

The male Poison Moth Pokémon then laughed and grinned as he approved of his new client taking a human and pretty much making him look like a rag doll before his first match.

End of Flashback

"Why did Relena have to bring up that painful memory?" Ash asked everyone before shaking his head as he still felt some pain from being slammed into the ground and thrown like a rag doll.

"Maybe it's because she remembered that you looked like a dork," answered Anna before smacking her brother on the back of his head. "And it was just so hilarious to see you getting slammed around."

'Hilarious,' Anna's Riolu, Judah, chimed in as he agreed with his master.

Before Ash could even respond, Anna was browsing around on YouTube on her cellphone and then came across some videos that were trending quite fast.

"What the?" Anna asked as one particular video caught her interest. "'Lucario Does the Safety Dance'? Okay, this looks interesting."

Anna took a look at the video and saw that her brother's Lucario was in this video with Rena's Braixen. The female Kalos Fox Pokémon looked concerned as she looked to Lucario. As for the male Aura Pokémon, he just rolled his eyes as Rena's Braixen asked, "What if we have a daughter and she wants to get her ears pierced?"

"Irrelevant, we're not having a daughter," Ash's Lucario shot back as he narrowed his eyes briefly at Rena's Braixen.

"Okay...," replied Rena's Braixen as she rolled her eyes,"what if we have a son who wants to take dance classes, even though all his friends are playing football?"

Anna watched the video as she started to slightly giggle as her brother's Lucario replied with a grin and chuckle, after putting the soccer ball he was playing with away, "He can dance if he wants to. He can leave his friends behind.

Then Lucario began to sing, "Cause his friends don't dance and if they don't dance, then they're... no friends of mine."

Ash's Lucario then began dancing backwards and Rena's Braixen just rolling her eyes and shaking her head disbelief with the scene in the video reverting to Rena's Braixen speaking with May's Gardevoir as she said to her shiny female Embrace Pokémon friend as she narrowed her eyes, "And then I said, 'What if our son wants to take dance classes instead of playing football with his friends?' And Turk ran off singing Safety Dance."

Anna laughed as she found the video really funny and liked the video as she was laughing her head off at the video. Anna then looked to see what other videos were on YouTube and if they were as funny as the video she just watched.

As Anna was browsing YouTube on her cellphone, Judah and Pikachu's ears twitched as they heard footsteps coming towards them. Ash himself was about to grab his Pokémon and do some training in preparation for the upcoming gym battle in Fuchsia City. He was planning on using his new shiny Dratini as she wanted to showcase her skills in battle. The Pallet Town born trainer was a bit hesitant after learning her ability was Marvel Scale instead of Shed Skin like Luna's Dratini, Quincy. But the footsteps caught his attention as he saw a taller Lucario approaching him and his Pokémon. The Lucario was two feet taller than Ash's Lucario at 5' 11'', weighed 75 kilograms and had battle scars on his left eye, on his right thigh that went down his right leg and one that was on his left arm and had a sword strapped to his back. Anna looked up from her cellphone and noticed the taller Lucario coming towards her and Ash with something in his paws.

'He's a big Lucario if I ever saw one,' Dratini said to Ash and Pikachu.

As for Pikachu, he stared at the big Lucario coming at them almost as if another part of his secret past was coming to meet him. The yellow Mouse Pokémon was careful to not reveal much about his past before becoming Ash's first Pokémon. And Pikachu was determined to ensure that Ash didn't know that he wasn't from Kanto or that he was part of Team Trident at one point. But with the presence of the incoming Lucario, Pikachu was worried that more of his past was about to surface.

"Oh wow, I never thought Lucario could grow to be so big," Ash said as the Lucario general stopped and looked towards Ash and Anna.

'He's making me feel so small,' whined Judah as he looked at the big Lucario, Fenrir.

"There is nothing wrong with being small," Fenrir said to the little Riolu and surprising Ash and Anna. "If I remember correctly, big things can come from small packages."

Pikachu remained silent as he remembered hearing stories about a Lucario that could talk like a human and had been captured towards the end of the Dark Times. The male yellow Mouse Pokémon never thought he'd see the legendary general, Fenrir with his own eyes. But for Pikachu, his past was about to come to the surface.

'I've heard the stories of the legendary Lucario general, Fenrir,' began Pikachu, 'but by the Alpha Pokémon, I never thought that I would get to see him with my own eyes.'

Braixen and the other Pokémon then looked to the male yellow Mouse Pokémon in astonishment by what he had said. As for Pikachu, he widened his eyes as he realized that the cat was out of the bag and tried to bolt for the door before Rena's Braixen used her Psychic attack to stop him in his tracks.

'Oh no you don't Pikachu,' Braixen said as she brought Pikachu back to the group.

'You need to start explaining yourself,' Dratini said as she backed up Braixen.

As for Celebi, watching in the background, he kept silent as he was the Time Travel Pokémon and knew of the past of Ash's Pikachu. Victini was unaware but suspected something was up after hearing about Pikachu using Volt Tackle even though Ash instructed him to use Agility with an Electro Ball during their struggle to protect Manaphy and his human from Phantom the Pirate. Ash and Anna then took notice to see Ash's Pikachu was caught in the middle of the group's Pokémon as they looked like they wanted to interrogate him. Both siblings were confused but turned back to the tall Lucario as he had their interest.

"Who? Who are you?" Anna asked Fenrir. "I feel like I know you, but I can't put my finger on how I know you."

Fenrir gave no reply, but held his right paw up and let it glow with Aura. Anna decided to do the same, but with her left hand and let it join with Fenrir's right paw. The two Aura energies came together and resonated perfectly with each other. Fenrir smiled as he was happy and said as his response, "You are most definitely your mother's daughter."

"Uh...," began Ash he was confused by what the Lucario general had said and then looked over to the other Pokémon surrounding his Pikachu.

"I am Fenrir, general of the Aura Legion and loyal servant to the Abyss Emperor, Lord Odysseus," the talking Aura Pokémon said to Anna and Ash. "I also am a loyal servant to the Trident Mermaid, Milady Rhea. I am happy to meet my grandchildren for the first time."

"G-Grandchildren?" Ash asked as he was confused.

'Are you gonna tell us what's going on here?' Rena's Braixen asked a now tied up Pikachu.

'My past is not your concern,' Pikachu said calmly even though he was being interrogated.

'If you want us to be of help with you,' began Popplio, 'you gotta tell us everything. Like how you know that big Lucario and how you know that Volt Tackle move too.'

'You can interrogate me all you want,' began Pikachu, 'but I'm not gonna break. Like I told you earlier... my past is not your concern.'

'Why are you being so secretive, bro?' Wartortle asked Pikachu.

'It would be better for you to tell us rather than have me invade your thoughts,' May's Gardevoir said to Pikachu. 'I thought we had all been in agreement to be open and not hide anything from the others.'

'Fine, I'd like to see you try,' challenged Pikachu.

'The big Lucario's name is Fenrir,' Victini said as he recognized the Lucario general from his past. 'He was the general of the Abyss Emperor's Aura Legion, as well as second-in-command to the Abyss Emperor. But I was under the impression that Fenrir was imprisoned in a crystalline prison somewhere in the Johto region after the fall of the Sakura Kingdom.'

'So... you know that Lucario?' Braixen asked Victini as the other Pokémon looked at the male Victory Pokémon.

'I do,' answered Victini with a nod. 'Like I said, he was the Abyss Emperor's second-in-command and his voice of reason. Though, despite his cold and tyrannical exterior, I will concede that he was a loving father to his three daughters.'

Pikachu then relented after trying to get out of his restraints and failing. The male yellow Mouse Pokémon knew that he could withstand a Psychic-type from invading his thoughts, but he wasn't going to be able to hold out for long. After thinking of his options, Pikachu then sighed as he then began, 'I am a Pokémon who joined Team Trident of my own free will after my own clan expelled me. Kanto is not the region of my birth either. I am from Diamond Cove Island in the Atlantica Islands.

Eevee was shocked along with the other Pokémon who were trying to interrogate Pikachu as he continued, 'I've been with another human for many years before Ash became my human.'

'Another human?' Victini asked as he was confused. 'Who was your human before Ash?'

'His... his mother, Lady Delia, the Aura Mermaid,' answered Pikachu as he was reluctant to reveal his previous master. 'Lady Delia was a survivor of an era that most humans refer to as... the Dark Times. I spoke with my mistress. Apparently, General Fenrir is her father. And Lady Delia was... no, still is technically considered part of Team Trident as am I.'

'By the Alpha Pokémon,' replied Victini as he was startled at this revelation.

'And you withholding this from us was important because...,' Braixen said as she was trying piece together everything that was said to the Pokémon.

'Because my past was not important to you,' answered Pikachu. 'Neither was my duty to safeguard my mistress until her memories had returned. And there was no need to inform you of such things. But Ash isn't speaking to me because he overheard me talking to my mistress... begging her to take me back so I could serve her again.'

'I take it that it didn't go so well for you,' Dratini said to Pikachu.

"Come on Ash, you need to stop acting like a child just because Pikachu called you a brat," Anna said to her younger brother.

"No way," shot back Ash as he was still upset. "Besides, I plan on later smashing his Pokéball so he can go back to whoever he was talking to. It's obvious he hates me."

Rena sighed as she rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, getting her Braixen's attention. Without any acknowledgement, the female Kalos Fox Pokémon used her Psychic attack and slammed Rena's brick filled bag down on Ash's head as she was tired of hearing her friend from Pallet Town acting like the brat Pikachu had told his previous owner about. With a raging fire in her eyes, she narrowed her eyes at Ash and hissed, "Alright Ash, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing you moan and gripe like a little brat. So Pikachu made a mistake in calling you a brat... get over it! Right now you are acting like a brat and I'm pretty sure your girlfriend is tired of hearing you gripe as such."

'And if you wish keep acting as such, I'll keep dropping Sister Rena's bag on your head until you grow up,' added Rena's Braixen as she too had narrowed her eyes at Ash.

"Ow... fine," replied Ash as he rubbed his head and gritting his teeth as the red and blonde-haired Viridian City native was still glaring at him.

"Come on Ash, you need to get something to eat," May said as she stepped in to calm things down. "And I'm really hungry.

May then gave Manaphy to Pikachu and said, "Watch your baby brother and sister for me, okay?"

'You can count on me, May,' Pikachu said to May as he gave her nod.

"Mama! Mama!" Manaphy called out to May as he reached out to his mother.

"We'll be back later," May said to Manaphy in a reassuring tone. "Be a good boy for your big brothers and sisters, okay?"

"Mama!" Manaphy cried out as May and Ash walked out before looking his Electric-type Mouse Pokémon big brother. 'Do you really hate Papa?'

'Of course not,' Pikachu answered Manaphy with a sweatdrop on his forehead. 'I... I just wanted to let my frustrations out by venting to my last human, before your papa became my new human.'

Before Ash and May could exit the hotel, Jessica and her young sister exited the hotel room where Relena and Ritchie were staying. Unfortunately, Relena didn't have a smile on her face as she didn't like the outfit she had on, or didn't like certain parts of the outfit she had on. As for the fashion designer, she was proud of the work she had put in to the outfit her baby sister was wearing.

"Ta da!" Jessica exclaimed happily as she showed Relena in her new outfit. "My baby sister looks SOO cute in her new outfit!"

Relena had on a Suicune inspired outfit as she had on a purple dress with blue outlining, a white jacket with blue outlining that showed a bit of her cleavage and the one thing that the young princess detested the most... closed toe footwear, boots that went past her knees. The young princess wasn't happy with the new outfit that her sister had dressed her in... at least the footwear didn't make her happy.

"Why must I wear boots with this outfit?" Relena complained as she was about to take said footwear off her feet. "Jess, you know I hate close toed footwear."

"Ah, ah, Baby Sister," Jessica said as she smacked her younger sister's wrists with a ruler. "That's the outfit you're going to wear and show off for me.

"And the boots are part of the outfit too," added Jessica as she smacked her younger sister's wrists with a ruler again. "So don't even think about trying to wear the dress and jacket without the boots."

"Ouch!" Relena exclaimed each time her sister smacked her wrists with a ruler.

"Wow Relena, you look great in the new outfit," Rena said as she was fascinated by the new outfit the young princess had on... before she and her Braixen had a chill running down their spine.

'Uh oh Sister Rena,' Rena's Braixen said as she and Rena began shivering in terror and perfect synch with each other.

"Hello again my little fiery redhead and Fox Pokémon," Jessica said in a sickly sweet tone as she was behind her two employees. "It's time for you two to play 'dress up' and let me doll you up!"

Neither Rena nor her Braixen had time to cry out in terror as their employer grabbed them and dragged them to the same hotel room where she had set up shop as she let out a maniacal laugh. As for Ritchie, he started to approach his girlfriend until she narrowed her eyes at him. Ritchie just sighed and said, "Yes Relena, I'm sleeping on the floor."

"I can't believe you contacted my sister," she hissed at Ritchie as a scream came from Rena and her Braixen. "How could you?"

"I had to do something to get you and Michiru away from that game," shot back Ritchie. "That game is destroying our relationship."

"Our relationship is fine," Relena replied as she rolled her eyes before she noticed that Abelia had suddenly disappeared and was briefly replaced with a mental blinking image of the silver haired Bug-type trainer. "Where'd Abelia go to?"

A third scream came from her and Ritchie's room that belonged to the silver haired Bug-type trainer from Oblivia. Before May could say anything about Abelia, she heard her stomach growling and that was her cue to get her and her boyfriend out of the hotel. As for Anna, she had set her cellphone down and was more interested in the tall Lucario. She had much interest in the Aura Pokémon who called her his grandchild.

"I gotta apologize about my… brother," Anna said to the Lucario general as she narrowed her eyes at her brother as he walked out of the hotel with May. "There are times when he tends to act like a brat."

"There is no need to apologize," Fenrir said calmly to his granddaughter, "your mother was just like him when she was your age.

Anna looked to the Lucario general as he continued, "But I hear that you are working on developing your Aura power. Can you tell me when you started tapping into your Aura abilities?"

"I really don't know," answered Anna. "I think it really started when we had that battle against some Team Rocket nut job with a mechanical hand… or something like that."

"Go on," said Fenrir as he gave a slight nod to his granddaughter.

"S… Some time later," stammered Anna, "an… an Ekans… E-Ekans tried to eat me and something within me screamed at me to dodge that Poison-type."

Fenrir then gave a slight nod as he listened to his granddaughter explain how she came to learn about her Aura power and how she was being trained by Cory and her Lucario brother, Octavian of Team Trident. Anna also mentioned how Ash was neglecting his training to unlock his Aura powers and even was blowing Ritchie off for sword training too after he received his sword from Samiya. She mentioned Ash's was more interested in trying to surpass Gary Oak and the cold Paul from Veilstone City in Sinnoh. As Anna was explaining things to her Lucario grandfather, Jessica came out of the hotel room where her sister was staying with her boyfriend and Suicune father along with Rena, Abelia and Rena's Braixen all in new outfits that looked similar to the new outfit that Relena was wearing.

"I just love how my creative sparks come with such wonderful ideas," Jessica said to everyone who was still in the hotel lobby.

"I do like that I look almost like Sister Braixen," Rena said as she twirled around a couple times as did her Braixen in perfect synch with her.

'I'm surprised that this outfit makes me part Psychic,' Rena's Braixen said as her outfit was purple and black with some light tints of pink. 'I'll be able to put up a much better fight now with this outfit on.'

"And your outfit," Jessica began as she smiled at Braixen, "was made with specially made dyes from Payapa Berries, some crushed up unrefined garnet gems and even Psychic Gems too.

"You have access to moves like Zen Headbutt, Extrasensory, Psychic Fangs, Psycho Cut, Miracle Eye and Psystrike too," finished Jessica.

While Rena's Braixen was full of smiles with her trainer, the silver-haired Bug trainer was not so happy with the new outfit. She had the same initial reaction that Relena did… before turning and glaring at Ritchie like it was his fault for her current situation with becoming another one of Jessica's models. Sparky looked at Ritchie and shook his head as he said, 'Man, you just aren't having much luck.'

"I'm used to it," Ritchie said to Sparky as he sighed.

"And here I thought you'd like to look a bit like your Scolipede," Jessica said to Abelia as she hefted the same ruler that she used to smack her younger sister's wrists.

"Stupid boots," Abelia snarled as she started to walk away.

"Come on Abi," Jonathan said as he followed her, "you look great in the outfit."

'Hey, what about my ability?' Braixen asked Jessica.

"Your ability in that outfit is Magician, just like your current ability," Jessica answered Rena's Braixen. "So, your ability really doesn't change since you already have Magician instead of Blaze as your ability.

"Though there is one more outfit that I have for you ladies to try out… if…," Jessica said with a smile on her face.

"If what?" Abelia asked as she glared at her friend's older sister.

"If you're interested in dressing up like a school girl," Jessica answered cheerfully.

Relena then sighed as she rolled her eyes and shook her head as she knew that Ritchie was the only one she told about her curiosity about wanting to look like a school girl. Once a smile formed on her face, she then slapped her boyfriend on his left cheek and then kissed him. The Emerald Cove Island co-champion just sighed as he was used to the treatment, he got from his Graceful Suicune. Taking another four minutes, the curiosity finally got to Abelia as she slapped Ritchie too with Aurora shaking his head and both Jonathan and David looked to Ritchie just dumbfounded as they wondered how he could take that and not be bothered by that.

"I'm not worried," Ritchie said to Jonathan and David. "Besides, she forgave me and that means I won't be sleeping on the floor while we're stuck here."

"Man, your Braixen is looking good with her new outfit," David said to Rena as the three girls and Rena's Braixen all came out wearing outfits that made it look like they were in school.

"And with that outfit, she's now a Fire/Electric-type with the Volt Absorb ability," Jessica said proudly. "You'll be able to use Thunderbolt, Thunder Punch, Parabolic Charge, Magnet Rise and even Pikachu's Volt Tackle. Plus you'll even able to use a special Z-Move that Pikachu has when it knows Volt Tackle and Thunderbolt."

"That's pretty cool. Thank you for this outfit."Braixen stated.

All of a sudden, something ended up interupting the scene justt before anything else could even happen. 'AAAHH!' a blood-curling scream was heard and it didn't take long before they realized who it was.

"That was Celebi..." muttered May in shock, praying to Arceus that nothing was happening which made the others even more concerned especially Erika given how the male Grass/Psychic-Type was her responsibility. "Hopefully it's not Team Rocket, cause we already problems as it is with Ash and Pikachu not talking to each other."

"Well we better check to see if he's okay then..." suggested Misty, having a bad feeling something was going to occur and just when they thought things wouldn't get any worse too which both May and Erika shared those sentiments.

In the room that Erika usually stayed in, Celebi was frantically looking all over the place and making a huge mess, something that hadn't gone unoticed from Pikachu, Meloetta, Victini, Whimsicott, Clefairy, Eevee and Diance as they arrived as fast as they could when they heard his scream. 'What's going on?' wondered Eevee, noticing the expression that the Johto-born Mythical Pokémon had as he looked all over the room.

'It's my GS Ball…' muttered Celebi, trying to keep himself under control as he desprated looked all over the room to find his precious item but it was nowhere to be seen at all. 'I left it on the table and now it's gone!'

'Your GS Ball?'

'Yes, something I always keep in my possession at all times!' said Celebi as he became more and more frantic than ever, praying to Arceus that nothing bad happened to the ball. 'And without it, I'll never be able to purify Pokémon that have been tainted by darkness ever again... so now how will I explain this to Erika and Lady Jessica that it's gone?' he thought to himself, although he was doing all he could to keep his secret intact especially around the likes of Fennir who learned about the death of his brother-in-law when his two grandchildren were little and was not pleased to hear of the news one bit.

"Of course... there is always the possibility that someone has taken it from where it was..." Celebi said, turning his glance to Victini in a clearly accusing manner, which did not go unnoticed by the Victory Pokemon.

'Are you accusing me of something?!' exclaimned Victini, not liking where this was going at all and especially with Celebi glaring at him supiciously.

'Well the way I see it there are three possibilities...' said Celebi as his eyes retaining their anger towards the Fire/Pychic-Type Victory Pokémon specifically. '1: You stole it... 2: You stole it... or 3: You stole it!'

'I didn't take your precious GS Ball!'

'Oh, really? You're the only one I know who could be interested in taking it!'

'I'm telling you, I didn't take that GS Ball of yours!' snapped Victini as he was really starting to get pissed off with the male Grass/Psychic-Type right now as he already had enough of Ash and Pikachu's falling out so he decided to try and be the mature one by leaving. 'That does it, I'm out of here!'

'You know, maybe the Pokedex was wrong about you...' said Celebi with a scowl on his face, watching Victini leading the room and his eyes narrowing down as he glared at the Victory Pokémon. 'Perhaps you're not what you think you are at all...'

'Oh really?' demanded Victini, not in the mood to argue with someone like Celebi at this point and did his best to stay calm. 'What exactly does that mean?'

Celebi was starting to get a bit impatient as he hoped Victini would give him back his GS Ball but it looks like that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. 'I'm saying that rather than being the Victory Pokémon, maybe you were hiding your true status as the Fingers Pokémon by tampering with everyone's Pokedexes' he said angerily, losing even more of his patience than ever before.

Upon hearing that remark, Victini slowly turned around, not looking at Celebi but gritted his teeth in sheer anger. 'Say that one more time...'

'THE. FUCKING. FINGERS. POKÉMON!'

Celebi's last commernt was enough for Victini to lose his cool. The Fire/Psychic-Type became outlined in red flames and he tackled the Johto Mythical with a Super Effective Flame Charge attack. 'Oh it is on like Donkey Kong!' yelled the Grass/Psychic-Type after getting back onto his feet despite the pain from the Fire-Type move used on him, having all he could take of Victini and prepared a Shadow Ball attack in his direction only for the Unova born Pokémon to evade it due to his increased speed but it was enough to damage the hotel greatly, leaving a hole in the wall.

Suddenly as soon as Victini dodged the Shadow Ball, Celebi lunged at him and began repeatly punching him in the face out of sheer rage. 'GIVE ME BACK BACK MY GS BALL CHARM YOU BASTARD!' he screamed, continuing to punch Victini.

'I DID NOT TAKE YOUR DAMN GS BALL CHARM!' Victini screeched, as he began to punch back at Celebi and push him away. Celebi quickly formed a small Energy Ball in his hands and threw it at Victini, who dodged it and answered with a Flame Charge that missed its target as well, but the battle was quickly escalating.

Pikachu and the others knew that they had two do something as the way Victini and Celebi were going at it, they would either kill one another or more likely destroy the entire hotel with their fight and possibly get everyone else in trouble in the process. Meloetta decided that it was time for the fight to stop and she approached her two fellow Mythical Pokémon before slapping both of them with as much force as she could, leaving a welted imprint of her studdy hand on their respective faces. 'YEOW!' screamed both Celebi and Victini the moment Meloetta slapped them out of her own anger. 'WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!'

Meloetta didn't bother with giving either Vicitini or Celebi a response as after slapping them, she used her Psychic attack to lift them both in the air and proceeded to toss them of hotel before they cause an even worse problem than they already did. 'YOU TWO NEED A TIME OUT!'she screamed before slamming the door on her immature friends but not before giving them one last comment all while everyone else watching stood silent at what was happening. 'AND NEITHER OF YOU ARE COMING BACK IN UNTIL YOU GROW UP! YOU'RE MYTHICAL POKÉMON NOT BABY POKÉMON YOU KNOW!'

Some of the hotel staff were shocked by the damage that had been made by Victini and Celebi though Meloetta turned her attention towards them. 'Don't worry, my friends and I will fix the damage caused by those two 'children' out there... please don't take it out on our humans okay?' she suggested to the staff before rejoining Pikachu and the others, who were fortunate that Manaphy wasn't there to see this otherwise it would've upset him.

It was then that the Normal/Psychic-Type decided to text Ash and the others on the cellphone, letting them know what happened in full detail. "I threw Brother Victini and Brother Celebi out of the hotel, especially after they nearly destroyed the place all because of a Poké Ball that Brother Celebi believed Brother Victini stole from under his nose. Whatever you and the others, especially our fellow Pokémon do, don't let either of them back in the hotel for any reason at all" she typed in the group text. "The only person who can let him in is either May or Erika."

She sent the group text to Ash and the others in hope they wouldn't let Victini or Celebi back in the hotel especially when she has to repair all the damage the two caused. Both her fellow Mythical Pokémon were acting like children at this point and she thought Ash and Pikachu having their falling out was bad, but this was even worse. If anything, she hoped that throwing them out would help them calm down and perhaps find a way to forgive each other. It was then as she was about to get to work in repairing the hotel that the cellphone vibrated, and she looked to see responses to her group text.

"Oh, Mama and I heard the arguement," replied Eevee, responding to Meloetta's message from May's cellphone. "But I'll make sure little brother Manaphy knows not to let Brother Victini or Brother Celebi in the hotel."

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened too," responded Clefairy from Anna's cellphone, actually having hoped things would've gotten better not worse. "Bad enough Ash and Brother Pikachu got mad at each other but this... even they didn't try to kill each other and that's showing they were mature enough to show restraint. Don't worry though, me and the others will see to it personally that Brother Victini and Brother Celebi don't step foot in the hotel if we have to."

"You got it, Sister Meloetta," added Dratini.

'Guess the Victory Pokémon and the Time Travel Pokémon better get comfortable outside,' responded Aurora. 'Thor and I will let Anter and his mates not to let either of them in, but was that really necessary even for you?'

"I didn't have a choice, besides I wouldn't want our humans to get punished for something those two were doing... especially in Lady Erika's room," Meloetta replied to Aurora, having heard from him about how Ritchie and Relena had a bit of a falling out themselves when they lost to Ritchie's mother the first time they attempted to battle her so he knew how to handle that situation. "Until they learn to grow up and forgive each other or until the repairs to the hotel are completed whichever comes first, they're staying outside... like the wild Pokémon they were acting."

"That's kinda harsh, Sister Meloetta," Celefairy said to Meloetta. "I do agree that this was going too far and that both Brother Victini and Brother Celebi need to grow up, but throwing him outside with the wild Pokémon, Sister?"

Celebi and Victini couldn't believe what had happened, never in their entire lives had they ever been thrown out of somewhere and their eyes turned towards one another with anger. 'I hope you're proud of yourself... we've been thrown out... BECAUSE OF YOU!' snapped the Grass/Psychic-Type while rubbing his swollen cheek, looking as if he wanted to kill Victii right now for the mess they were in.

'ME?!' exclaimed Victini, a vein forming on the side of his forehead and fire coming out of his nose at the accusion being made, having not forgotten the other accusion that was laid upon him earlier in the hotel. 'YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS DAMNED MESS BY ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING I WOULD NEVER DO IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!'

'Maybe if you hadn't taken my GS Ball in the first place it wouldn't have happened!'

Victini's expression turned to anger once again, feeling his blood boiling. 'For the last time... I didn't steal your stupid GS Ball!' he screamed as he hoped his human and the others with her never learned of what happened otherwise, he'll never hear the end of it... ever. 'Seriously, if you were smart you would've figured it out by now!'

Celebi gritted his teeth, grinding them together as he started flying off. 'Where do you think you're going?!' demaned Victini, still in a really bad mood for getting in trouble with Meloetta his best friend no less. 'I'm not through with you yet!'

'Well I'm through with you, Victory Pokémon!' Celebi screamed back, refusing to have anymore to do with Victini at this point as the situation created was the very last straw for him. 'Until you confess where you hid my GS Ball and give it back to me like the honorable Pokémon you are supposed to be, stay away from me and don't think about talking to me either because I am not in the mood to ever say anything to you ever again!'

As soon as he heard that, Victini got even more pissed and stomped his foot while letting out a frustrated groan. 'Fine, I don't need to talk to you anyway!' he concluded before storming off in hope of finding a good place near the hotel to sleep at but far away as possible from Celebi. "If anyone expects me to apologize to that jerk, well, they can keep waiting for the rest of their lives! I'm NOT going to return something that I never stole in the first place!"

After seeing Meloetta's response to them, May and Erika sighed and shook their heads. Sure, both their respective Mythical Pokémon were being immature, but the two females thought throwing them out to sleep with the wild Pokémon was a bit harsh as to be honest it would've been a better idea to recall them into their respective Poké Balls. Relena was sure that Meloetta would get upset with her, but she figured that maybe a certain Champion from the Sinnoh region could handle things with Victini at least and maybe help Celebi find his missing GS Ball. Sure, she and Ritchie had their own argument after losing to his mother at the Emerald Cove Gym the first time around but never had it resulted in what happened between the two Mythical Pokémon. While Meloetta was talking to Ash and the others, Relena decided to call Cynthia and see if she could handle things in case May and Erika were unsuccessul in doing so themselves. Then again, since May and Erika were the only ones who would let the two Pokémon back in the hotel, Relena figured that the situation called for... a woman's touch and dialed the number to the Sinnoh Champion's home.

'Hello. Shirona residence' came a voice at the other end, although given the way it sounded it was clear that she knew who answered the phone.

"Can I speak with your human, Garchomp?" Relena asked the Pokémon over the line.

'One moment, please,' answered the Pokémon known as Garchomp before she called out to her trainer. 'Cynthia, Lady Relena wishes to speak to you!'

"Hello Lady Relena" Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia said as she took the phone from her Garchomp. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Me, not really," Relena answered Cynthia. "Someone you know could use your help."

"Something happen to my beloved Lucas?" asked Cynthia as she was a little concerned.

"He and Celebi got into an arguement and Meloetta threw them both out of the hotel to sleep with the wild Pokémon" Relena explained to the Sinnoh born Pokémon Trainer. "He was accused of stealing Celebi's special Poké Ball apparently and they almost killed each other as a result."

"I see," said Cynthia. "Alright I'll talk to Lucas about what happened. [Sigh] Though I imagine he'll try to place the blame on Celebi."

"Well if anything we might try and look for Celebi's missing Poké Ball when we get the chance to do so" Relena replied to Cynthia. "I certaintly don't want Team Rocket to take advantage of this and steal the two since Ash and the others had to deal with them back in the Safari Zone."

"Don't worry, Lady Relena, I'll speak with Lucas," Cynthia reassured Relena. "But they'll be sleeping in their Poké Balls rather than with their trainers."

Later that day, near the outskirts of Fuchsia City, Ash and Pikachu were doing some training in preparation for the Gym battle with Koga, which was due in a few days, and for Ash it was a chance to blow off some steam after that argument with Pikachu earlier. However, even as he tried his Pokemon, especially Butterfree and Dratini, in preparation for the battle, Ash couldn't really concentrate. The atmosphere between him and Pikachu was still tense, and the other Pokemon could feel it.

"It seems to me that my new trainer is in a bad mood..." Dratini commented once she finished practicing a Dragon Rage attack on a set of rocks conveniently placed near the grassy training ground. "And the weather isn't very good either..." she added, as she noticed that thick grey clouds were covering the sky.

Butterfree could only nod. "I just hope Ash isn't going to keep training in the rain." he answered as he landed from a Psychic attack that he was doing practice on. "That would be bad for both me and him..."

In the end, Ash could not stand the tense atmosphere between him and his starter, and tried to call out to him. "Okay, Pikachu, I'm getting real sick and tired of us not talking to each other." he stated. "Look, I got mad that you called me a brat, and I might have overreacted."

"You 'might' have? You're always like that, Ash!" Pikachu answered angrily. "I try to warn you that you need to be more responsible, but do you ever listen to me?"

"Oh, and that's why you're going to stand there and sulk?" Ash went on. "Because now you're the one who's acting like a spoiled kid!"

"The pot calls the kettle black." Pikachu stated haughtily, turning his face to the other side and crosing his arms on the chest. Frustrated, Ash kicked a rock beneath his feet, sending it sailing through the air... and hitting something that was hidden in the bushes, drawing out a short cry of pain and surprise which startled Ash and Pikachu.

"Huh?" A small bump formed on the back of a familar Tiny Bird's head, however Ash knew what it was given that he managed to capture one when he and Pikachu risked their lives to save Charmeleon back when he was still a Charmander. "Uh oh..."

Without a warning, the wild Spearow took to the sky and attacked Ash, who barely managed to duck in time before proceeding to use his backpack as if he was a Bull Fighter at an arena. Its gaze which was in black and white vision was briefly towards Ash who was hiding behind the tree but all of a sudden it took notice to Pikachu which made it become even more hostile as it attempted to knock Pikachu out of the tree and he barely had enough time to get out of the way each time it struck.

"Hey, leave Pikachu alone!" yelled Ash with a scowl, while he was still mad at Pikachu it didn't mean the wild Spearow would attack him despite not being used in any battle. "He didn't throw the rock!"

Wild Pokémon tend to be jealous of human trained Pokémon he heard Dexter speak from inside the back of his pocket, much to his further shock and especially as eventually after a few more attempts, the wild Spearow managed to nearly knock Pikachu off the branch which left the male Mouse Pokémon clinging for his life as the tiny bird swooped in for the kill.

"PIKACHU!"

The moment Ash cried out his starter's name, Pikachu unleashed a powerful Thundershock attack and stopped the Normal/Flying-Type in its stracks, resulting in it falling back to the ground below... which made the young man relieved. "You got it!" he congratulated Pikachu.

Unfortunately the Spearow got back up and let out a screeching cry as a large flock of Spearow suddenly appeared from a tree not too far away with the intent of taking out both Ash and Pikachu, knowing even the one Pokémon with him wouldn't be able to stop them all at once. "Uh oh... Should we run?"

"What's going on?" Dratini exclaimed in alarm, and she widened her eyes as she saw how many Spearows there were - there were too many for her to handle, and Butterfree was in a bad position because of his Bug type being weak to the Spearows' Flying-type. "Oops... this might be a problem..."

Pikachu, who was just a frightened as Ash, nodded his head and soon enough, after recalling Dratini and Butterfree, they started running like hell in an effort to escape the angry flock that chased them down Route 15 with the raven-haired young man wishing he brought his other Pokémon with him for protection let alone his bike to get them back faster.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried... they couldn't outrun the Normal/Flying-Type horde and it was then that Ash turned his attention towards Pikachu. "Don't worry, Pikachu... even without the rest of my Pokémon, I'll save you no matter what" he said only for the male Electric-Type to immediately try and run ahead of the young man much to his annoyance. "Don't run ahead, sure I'm still mad at you but I said I'll..."

He never got to finish his sentence as one of the Spearow pecked him on the back of the head and the rest went ahead of Ash, their sole target being Pikachu himself. To his further horror, he saw the flock was pecking the everlasting life out of the Mouse who struggled to flee but to no avail. "Leave my buddy alone, Spearows!"

With Pikachu succumbing to exhaustion, which his injuries contributed to, he could do nothing but fall victim to the rapid Fury Attack that several of the Spearows unleashed upon him from all sides while the rest were hovering above him. "PIKACHU!" Ash cried out, trying to get through the Tiny Bird Pokémon and grab onto him, scooping him up into his arms before continuing to flee back to Fuschia City. He saw a motorcycle parked on one side of the road, and quickly decided he'd better use that to take Pikachu to the Pokemon Center as fast as possible...

Suddenly he saw the flock of Spearow coming towards him and with Pikachu injured from the massive pecking earlier, he knew the male mouse wouldn't be able to take even one more hit so he needed to get him to the Fuschia City Pokémon Center right now. "What the hell?!" exclaimed one of the Kanto Pokémon Federation Biker Goon, hearing his motorcycle and he turned to see that it was being stolen by one of the punks who helped the Bridge Bike Gang back on Cycling Road but he couldn't stop the boy as he drove off. "You bastard, come back with my bike!"

Dark clouds were starting to form in the sky with thunder being heard and Ash tried all he could to get back to Fuschia City, secretly grateful that the Biker Goon was stupid enough to leave the keys in the ignition. "Just hang on, Pikachu! We're almost there!" he reassured the male Mouse Pokémon as it looked like he was barely hanging on with his life yet managed to give a small smile on his face as it seemed he does truly care for him after all.

As he kept his focus on the path back to Fuschia City, it began raining heavil and made him feel like an idiot for not bringing his rain jacket with him though it was previously damaged when he made sure that the previous thunder storm didn't put Charmander's flame out. Needless to say, the horde of Spearow were again getting closer to their target and lightning flashed as they did so yet the speed from the motocycle gave Ash a bit of an advantage for the time being though he knew it would change if it ran out of gas before they reach safely.

Some Spearow managed to actually get lucky through their Agility increasing their speed and started pecking on the back of Ash's head to the point where he couldn't stay focused on what he was doing and ultimately crashed to the ground the moment he lost his balance... banged up, Ash saw that to his shock, Pikachu was near the motorcyle and it looked like he might not be able to last any longer. "Pikachu!" he cried out as he slowly crawled towards his starter, and part of the boy regretted even being mad at him because now there might not be a chance to ever make it up him at this point as he placed one hand on the male Mouse's body. "Pikachu, this can't happen..."

With the Spearow flock approaching and the storm getting from bad to worse it seemed there's most likely not a chance in hell they would be able to survive this. He then suddenly remembered he still had Pikachu's Poké Ball and while he previously intended to smash it so Pikachu wouldn't be with him anymore... at this point the only chance for the Electric-Type to survive was if he went back inside of it. "Pikachu, get inside" he pleaded which made Pikachu wonder what he was doing as he enlarged the ball itself since he would be completely defenseless if he complied to the request. "I'm not doing this as an order but as a request, I know you're afraid of going in there but if you're inside maybe I can save you. Please Pikachu... please listen to me and go inside. After that then... after that just me!"

He placed the Poké Ball next to Pikachu and turned his attention towards the flock as he was done with running, he needed to do whatever he could to protect his starter even at the cost of his own life. "Spearows, do you know who I am? I am Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet, I'm destinded to be the world's number one Pokémon Master! I can't be defeated by the likes of you!" he declared to the Tiny Birds which hovered in front of him.

Pikachu who was looking at his Poké Ball for all but a few seconds, turned to see what Ash was doing as it felt very familar to him... very familar to him in fact because Ash's mother Delia did the same thing to protect him from harm all those years ago. "I'm going to capture and defeat you all... you hear me?" he spoke, then briefly glanced towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, go inside the Poké Ball it's the only way."

"Come and get me!"

Lightning struck again as the Spearow flock started swooping in towards Ash himself, going in for the kill and the young man braced himself for his impending fate. May, Anna, I'm sorry... he thought to himself with a determined expression not leaving his face.

It was then that Pikachu ran up towards Ash, climbed up his body and jumping off his shoulder just when the Spearows were close enough to make their strike and with a bolt of lightning striking the male Electric-Type's body, he unleashed a powerful attack that exploded between Ash and the flock of Wild Spearow... which knocked them back and was seen from the distance.

The sun started to shine as the storm subsided, the motorcycle which Ash previously stolen from the Biker Goon had reduced to nothing but scrap metal yet nearby were the raven-haired young man and his injured started while both were looking a bit ragged the good news was they managed to survive. "Well... we beat em..." he said to his starter with a smile.

Pikachu, slowly nodding his head, smiled back at his trainer, no, his human, as he was starting to truly apprciate him more than ever for what his selfless act in trying to save him.

"Thank you, Pikachu... and sorry for before..." he murmured.

Despite his weakened physical conditions, Pikachu managed to smile and hold to one of Ash's fingers in a gesture of friendship. "Sorry... for being so harsh to you, too." he murmured, his breath quick and shallow.

"Come on... let's get you to the Pokemon Center and get you fixed up." Ash said as he picked up his starter Pokemon ad continued on his way...

"ASH!"

He jumped up with a start as he heard his name being called, and he looked ahead to see a familiar figure running up to him in clear worry and anxiety, followed by Anna and the rest of his comrades who had come looking for him. May ran to Ash and quickly threw her arms around him.

"ASH!" May cried out, quickly latching onto him and hugging him tightly with tears forming in her eyes especially upon seeing him and Pikachu covered with dirt and looking a bit ragged, even more so Pikachu than Ash. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE, YOU BAKA?!"

"She's right you know! What were you thinking, disappearing on us and going out to train all alone?" Anna exclaimed angrily.

"I... I'm sorry, May... I'm sorry, everyone..." Ash answered, bowing his head. "I was not thinking straight, and Pikachu ended up getting hurt because of me..."

"Oh my god..." muttered Jeanette in shock, even more so when she saw Pikachu in the arms of Ash and had a feeling something bad happened to the male Mouse which caught the attention of May's Eevee, who was fearful at this very moment. "What happened?"

"Pikachu got hurt because of me doing something stupid..." he replied to Jeanette, wanting to hurry up and get Pikachu to Nurse Joy and Chansey as fast as humanly possible otherwise the Electric-Type could actually die from his injuries. "I have to get him to Nurse Joy and Chansey immediately."

"Of course. We need to get moving." Brock said, taking a Potion out of his bag and spraying it on Pikachu in order to stabilize him. The Electric Pokemon sighed in relief as he felt the pain decrease, and Brock nodded. "There. That will at least improve his conditions for now. Let's get him to the Pokemon Center... and to the loving care of the beautiful Nurse Joy..." he added, his squinted eyes turning into hearts for a moment...

The Rock Solid Pokémon Trainer felt something grabbing his ear. "Don't even think about it, Brock" began Misty as she knew full well what Brock was going to do and was quick to keep him in check since they already had enough problems without the former Gym Leader of Pewter City flirting with every Nurse Joy they crossed paths with.

"Misty is right, you know." May said sternly. "Pikachu is badly hurt and needs treatment right now. Let's hurry to the Pokemon Center, right now!"

The team quickly got to Fuchsia City's Pokemon Center, and the current Nurse Joy along with her Chansey assistant were surprised and dismayed when the young black-haired boy came through the door along with the rest of his friends, carrying a badly hurt Pikachu in his arms.

"Please help him…" Ash pleaded as he reached the pink-haired nurse, who quickly shook herself out of her surprise and gathered her wits.

"Looks like a Pikachu, we'll do what we can" said Nurse Joy with a frown on her face, noticing the expression on Ash's face and she turned to her computer, immediately typing on the keyboard. "I need a stretcher for a small Electric-Type Pokémon, please hurry."

Almost immediately Chansey, who was quickly bringing a stretcher with her, appeared in time to help Nurse Joy with getting Pikachu the help he desperately needed as the Pokémon Nurse in question gently placed him onto the stretcher. "It'll be okay" she said with a reassuring smile before turning her attention towards her Normal-Type. "Rush this Pokémon to the critical care room."

As Nurse Joy placed pink vinyl gloves on, she gave Ash a glance regarding how Pikachu got hurt in the first place and what she could do to help him. "We'll begin the treatment right away" she told Ash and his friends.

Yet Ash was about to say something, which caused Nurse Joy to be rather surprised. "Who are you?" she asked, with Relena being the one to speak up for him.

"He's Pikachu's trainer, although to be honest you shouldn't be surprised since he and the rest of us encountered your relatives at the other towns" explained the young female co-champion, not blaming Ash for feeling that way as it was exactly how her mother felt when she herself had gone missing when her older siblings save for Jessica, were being cruel to her and almost successfully got rid of her for good one day when she was younger… which ironically led to her meeting her and Jessica's biological father Aurora. "His name's Ash."

"If there's anything I can do please just tell me" he spoke up after finding the right words to say to Nurse Joy.

"You can be more responsible" Joy wasn't exacty pleased when she found out Ash was Pikachu's trainer and the fact the male mouse Pokémon almost died made her think he wasn't treated well with the young man regardless of if he knew her relatives from the previous towns he and his friends went to. "If you wanna become a Pokémon Trainer, young man, you don't let your Pokémon battle till it's in this condition."

"But you don't know what happened!" Ash protested, feeling as if she was comparing him to Paul since he previously made the Bellsprout he had battle until it was on the verge of collapse back at the Viridian Forest and that was when he and Anna first started out as Pokémon Trainers.

"What's passed has passed, now we have to heal your Pikachu…" Nurse Joy replied, still with her hands on her hips over how Ash could've allowed something like this to happen to the male Electric-Type in the first place.

"What can I do?"

"Just leave everything to me" she said, a reassuring smile forming on her face and he was relieved to hear the good news then turned to take her leave alongside Chansey. "Ash, you and your friends will have to go to waiting room."

"Can't I…" Ash could only watch as the doors to the critical care room closed and he was starting to wish he hadn't been so stupid earlier even if he was originally mad at Pikachu earlier. Pikachu… he thought to himself as he prayed for a miracle to save his first Pokémon at this point.

May brought two bottles of water, one of which she gave to Ash as a look of concern on her face, something Eevee also had and prayed to the bottom of her heart that Arceus would hear her wish to save Pikachu as it was one thing for him to be stolen but it was an entirely different story if he was to die from his wounds. "Here" said the brunette as she handed the water bottle to the depressed young man.

"Thanks, May."

"Didn't they tell you how Pikachu is doing?" Eevee asked, as Ash shook his head in worry. The rest of the team were trying to spend their time and occupy themselves in some way - Ash could even see that Anna was trying, though half-heartedly, to train her Shiny Mareep a bit, but her thoughts still lingered on Ash and Pikachu.

"We can only wait and hope for the best." Ash murmured, as May sat beside him and put an arm around his shoulders. Ash smiled slightly and gently hugged May as well, thankful that she had joined him in his journey as she was always there to cheer him up and support him. Sure, the others were always there to help as well, but May was the one he felt he had bonded the most closely with...

Unfortunately, the mood was broken when a man in a trenchcoat and a fedora standing near a corner approached the two children and Eevee, causing the cute Normal-type to shrink back in fear with his intimidating presence. Ash and May quickly turned to him, their eyes widening when they recognized him!

"You never learn do you, Ketchum?" asked Taichi, his identity concealed for the most part by the trenchcoat and fedora he wore as he was present during the whole ordeal that Ash and Pikachu had at the hotel and learned of what happened to the male Electric-Type Pokémon because of the raven-haired young man's incompetence which could work to his advantage. "What happened to that usless rat is an example of what would happen if you continue that pathetic dream of being a Pokémon Master. Eventually all of your words and ideals will become lies."

"What do you care?" Ash fired back. "I'm not in the mood for your bullshit right now. Leave us alone."

"This is the end result of ideals and hope, this is reality… Ketchum what is there for you in this reality? Had you evolved it into a Raichi like any normal person or even better realized the truth then your weak Pikachu would never be on the brink of death in the first place and there is no chance of it surviving" he continued as an evil grin began to form on his face, seeing the expression on Ash's face… the look he wanted to see back at the Power Plant and the Rocket Game Corner beforehand. "If you continue the path you're taking well, let's just say that you'll keep losing your so-called friends one by one… this will soon become a world where no one who supposedly acknowledges you will exist. The only thing that awaits you is your worst nightmare which you know very well…"

There was nothing but silence from everyone in the room, especially from Ash himself as Taichi concluded with the following words. "…solitude."

"Think about it, no one will ever remain by your side forever… eventually they'll show their true colors and abandon you for something better, leaving you to grow old and die alone. Trust me, you and I are exactly the same. Your friends will ultimately betray you but I will not" said Taichi as he continued to grin with malice, wanting to continue making that falling out between Ash and Pikachu work to his advantage and soon the boy from Pallet Town would fall which would break the will of those who were foolish enough to even consider themselves his friends wether they be human or Pokémon alike. "So why keep living in reality? Now come join us, Ketchum…"

"No, I won't. I'll never join evil men like Team Rocket." Ash answered. By then, the rest of his friends had all noticed what was going on and recognized the man, closing in on him and ready to support him if needed.

"Mister. You are kindly requested to leave." Erika stated, calmly but firmly. "Ash has already given you his answer."

"That's right. So stop trying to win him over, because it will never work." May continued.

"Never is just a matter of time. You'll see, Ash Ketchum." Taichi continued, his hand still outstretched to the young boy.

As he held his hand out to Ash in hopes of seeing it grasped to seal the deal, something unexpected happened. 'Papa don't do it!' cried Eevee before jumping out at Ash, looking as if she was using tackle on him and gripped onto his black shirt with tears in her eyes which surprised everyone in the room especially Ash and May when they heard her ever refer to the boy from Pallet Town as her papa… something Manaphy usually did ever since he saw the two when he first hatched. 'I'm begging you, please don't do this!'

"Eevee... don't worry, I never had any intention of doing that! I care too much about any of you... especially May... to do such a shameful thing!" Ash answered, his confidence returning as a bright blush appeared on May's face!

"R-really, Ash?" she asked in embarassment.

"Idiot!" exclaimed Taichi with a scowl, becoming really irritated at this point as he saw May and her Eevee trying to undo all of his hard work just when he was finally going to be successful with how Ash was shaken earlier. "Don't you realize that those so-called friends of yours will betray you when your journey is over? Just like how your Pikachu betrayed you? Are you that ignorant that you're going to listen to the lies of some weak little girl and her pathetic Pokémon that it would make you continue trying to achieve something that's just myth and fantasty?"

"Besides, where's that other girl?" Taichi asked Ash. "That girl with the Suicune at her side. Why doesn't she battle against us? She's really arrogant and thinks of herself too good to battle us."

"She doesn't need to battle you!" Misty fired back. "Ash here is much stronger that someone like you! He doesn't need Relena's help to handle the likes of you!"

"Exactly! I'm never going to betray my friends here... my Pokemon and especially not the girl I love!" Ash exclaimed, giving May a loving glance.

"Ash... thank you for your words!" May replied, holding his hand with her own, feeling happy that Ash had actually admitted that he loved her. "I know you're never going to join Taichi and betray everything you've gone through... you're stronger than this!"

"I am... and I have to thank you for that, May!" he stated, holding May's hand back. "I... am thankful that I met you on my journey... and I wouldn't trade that for anything else!"

May smiled and blushed further... all the while Taichi grit his teeth in annoyance and whipped out one of his Pokeballs, opening it as he sent out his Hydreigon, and everyone took a step back as the great three-headed Dark/Dragon Pokemon rose in the air with a tremendous roar!

"Hydreigon, aim your Hyper Beam at her," ordered Taichi as he pointed at May. "If I'm not going to have what I want then I'll take away what you hold dear in life." Hydreigon aimed and fired his Hyper Beam at the brown-haired girl from Littleroot Town without hesitation. Ash ran over to May, knocking her down on the ground and shielding her with his own body. Then, he quickly picked himself up and sent out a Pokeball himself, causing his Charmeleon to appear. The Fire-type grunted in rage as he took aim against Hydreigon, who quickly approached with a wicked grin on each of its three faces.

"Charmeleon quick use your Dragon Claw on Hydreigon before he can fire again," ordered Ash. Charmeleon's right hand became surrounded in a light green, claw shaped energy. He then struck Hydreigon with full force, knocking the Dark/Dragon-Type back with the force of the Flame Pokémon's Dragon Claw attack.

"Are you going to make things harder on yourself, then? Fine then... Hydreigon, use Dragon Rush!" Taichi ordered with a nasty scowl on his face.

"Quick, Charmeleon! Use Fire Spin!" said Ash as Charmeleon was quick to follow up his Dragon Claw with a Fire Spin attack at Hydreigon. Before Hydreigon could react and dodge, he got struck by Charmeleon's Fire Spin. Ash and May got off the ground and she noticed that Ash was upset that someone, especially a high ranked member of Team Rocket, would do something low like try to attack May with their Pokémon.

"Don't ever try to attack my girlfriend again," Ash sternly warned Taichi with venom in his voice.

Before Taichi could say anything more, a Hyper Beam came from somewhere unknown to him. The combatants then saw a group of Kangaskhan that were charging towards them with Tommy in the pouch of the lead Kangaskhan. Ash then came to his senses and pulled away from the ruthless Rocket member. Taichi was furious and was about to attack before another Hyper Beam came closer to hitting him. Gritting his teeth, he saw that they weren't ready to take on the hoarde Kangaskhans as they were ambushing them.

"Pull back!" Taichi ordered his men before looking at young trainers. "You brats got lucky. But next it'll run out for you."

"What's the deal with guy?" Rena asked as she was being freed from her restraints.

Arianna said nothing as she was surprised to see such a menacing man for the first time. The intelligence reports could not describe the feelings she was expericing when she saw Taichi. Such a heartless and cruel man could not be a top leader in Team Rocket, Arianna thought in her mind. Arianna felt uncomfortable being with group as a scout and wondered when Luna would return so she could return with her sister. Being out in the field really wasn't her cup of tea and she felt nervous without Sophia at her side.

"I really hope Luna returns soon," Arianna said aloud once everything returned to normal. "I don't feel ready to be out in the field like this. At least we chased away that Team Rocket guy."

"Yeah..." Ash answered with a relieved sigh, before looking at the rest of his companions. "Are you okay, everyone? Anna... May... Brendan... you alright?"

"Yeah... I'm sure we're alright!" Brendan answered. "Good thing the Kangaskahn intervened when they did!"

Ash smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, that was awesome!" he stated, before turning to the Kangaskahn and Tommy who were waving at them. "Thank you, everyone! I'm sure Safari Zone will be in good hands with you!"

The Kangaskahn let out a collective roar of appreciation, with Tommy standing in front of them and raising his trusty boomerang in the air, then waved goodbye and returned to their homes in the wild along with the wild boy. The danger finally gone, Ash turned to his friend, especially May and Eevee, to thank them for their intervention. "Thank you, everyone. I really needed somee ncouragement from all of you."

"That guy was just making up a lot of crap." May stated, smiling as she nodded at Ash. "I'm sure no one here would ever abandon you... especially not I."

"And neither I, papa." Eevee exclaimed. Manaphy floated gently around his human mom, clapping his hands in encouragement. Feeling much better about this, Ash smiled and looked away for a bit... before May spoke up again.

"By the way, Ash..." she said, rubbing the back of her head in embarassment. "You... you actually meant what you said when you called me... your girlfriend?"

Ash was taken aback for a moment... but his confidence had mostly returned by now, and he was able to give her a straight, honest answer. "Yeah... I meant that." he stated. "I… I'm sorry that I took so long to realize it, but… you have been a great friend, a trusted companion and I'm sure you will soon be an excellent trainer and coordinator! And, well… that's why I can safely say that… I like you, May. I really, really like you, and it'd be awesome if you… well…"

May blushed and smiled happily as she leaned in and took Ash's hands in her own. "I rwally, really like you too, Ash… and I'd be happy to be at your side!" she answered. "So… my answer is yes, Ash!"

"Thank you, May…" Ash murmured in a whisper before the two preteens, not caring about who was watching them, leaned in and exchanged a kiss – it was a quick kiss, for they were still in their youth and innocence, but it was enough to leave them dizzy and happy, and for the rest of their friends to cheer and approve.

"Awww, how romantic!" Misty commented.

"Now that's what I call an excellent camera moment!" Brendan went on.

Anna smiled proudly. "Who'd have said my little brother had grown so much?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Ah, to be young and in love…" Brock said wistfully, wishing he had the same luck with the girls in his life. It was then that Ash and May separated, a bit reluctantly, but still hllding each other's hands and eyes.

"Thank you, May…"

"Thank you, Ash…"

"You know something… If I'm being honest, I'm actually glad the bike you took to save Pikachu wasn't mine" said Misty as a thought occurred to her, remembering how Ash managed to secretly steal a Kanto Pokémon Federation member's motorcycle in a bid to get Pikachu back to Fuschia City which ultimately led to the bike being destroyed by the Mouse's Thundershock attack as a means to protect his human from the flock of Spearows. "Otherwise, I would have been angry as hell at seeing it destroyed and more than likely hold you responsible, maybe even the point where you would have to owe me a new one."

Ash sweatdropped in embarassment, knowing how fierce Misty could be when she was angered. "Yeah... I certainly wouldn't want to see that!"

"I kinda feel sorry for that biker. Kinda." May answered, chuckling a bit and rolling her eyes.

"Ah! Oh god!" a Team Rocket member cried out as he was wounded by black armored warrior.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know," the black armored warrior said stoically and emotionlessly to his victim.

"I… I swear I dunno know who it is that got captured in Saffron City!" the Team Rocket member cried as he was bleeding and couldn't stop it. "All I know is that some bitch got captured trying to snoop around the Sliph Co. building for industrial secrets that belong to Team Rocket. That… that's all I know!

"You're… you're gonna let me go… right?" the Team Rocket member asked as he was pleading for his life. "I… got kids, man."

The black armored warrior then looked to his victim and took his helmet off revealing his true face. He had light brown sugar colored hair, milk chocolate skin with tattoos just below his light blue eyes and almost looked as if he were a human version of a shiny Mightyena from the Hoenn region. The armored warrior then looked to his victim that he was interrogating. The warrior studied the Rocket member for but a moment and then raised his already blood-stained sword. The already wounded Rocket member saw the raised sword and tried to plead for his life to no avail. The armored warrior brought his sword down through his victim's throat, ending the life of the Rocket member as he had done to the other Rocket members he had interrogated.

"If there's one thing that I have been taught by my pack to detest," the armored warrior said aloud to no one in particular, "it's those who lie to save their own skin. And you've never felt the warmth of a female in your life."

"Midnight, have you located our leader?" someone asked the armored warrior as he placed his helmet back on after hearing the call.

"Regrettably, no Lieutenant Commander Makoto," the armored warrior answered the person who called him. "And I've left no survivors either, as per your orders."

"I said that I wanted no witnesses to see you," the other said after letting out an experated sigh. "But I should've known that you still hold on to your pack's traditions and ways.

"Return to base," the voice on the other side ordered as a pathway was opened on the computer screen. "Your wife needs you and said that she's in heat."

"Oh… I'll be there very soon," replied the armored warrior named Midnight.

Midnight entered the virtual pathway and the computer then shorted out just as Taichi and the remaining Rocket members returned from their failed attempt to poach as many Pokémon at the Safari Zone. Many of the Team Rocket members were angry and upset in the failed attempt to poach Pokémon. As they and their leader returned, they saw the carnage that was quite disturbing to them.

"What the hell… happened here?" Taichi asked as he saw the bloody carnage of the four dead Team Rocket members left to hold down the camp.

Soon the bright red sign with a needle on the center of it turned off, and Nurse Joy exited along with Chansey as Pikachu was still on the stretcher he was previously placed on which got the attention of Ash and the others as they approached her.

"Pikachu, are you alright?" he asked as he hoped to get an answer from his starter yet he saw the male mouse's eyes were still closed and he was wearing something, which had a flashing lightbuld on top, on his head.

"Your Pikachu's resting, it's a good thing you brought him here so fast" said Nurse Joy with a smile on her face, letting Ash know the good news to help ease the situation. "The procedure went well and he should be fine."

Misty nodded, grateful that Ash was learning everything's going to be okay. "Thanks to the Pokémon Center" she said as she always knew Nurse Joy would be able to help Pikachu regardless of what injuries he had.

"Yes, thank you very much" added Ash, showing his gratitude to Nurse Joy for looking after his Pokémon and secretly thanked Arceus as well for allowing Pikachu to continue living.

"Now your Pokémon needs a good rest in the recovery room" informed Nurse Joy, knowing it wasn't Ash's fault entirely given how he's still getting used to being a Pokémon Trainer and genuinely cared for the male Mouse Pokémon. "You should go in with him, Ash."

"Of course I will, Nurse Joy." Ash answered, feeling a little relieved. "May, Anna... you all can go without me... I'll try and join you later."

"Okay, Ash... just remember to tell us how Pikachu is doing, ok?" May asked. "We will make sure to send you a few pictures of what Relena's sister cooked up."

"Thank you, May. I'll see you later." Ash answered, exchanging a quick kiss with his now-girlfriend.

Some time later, the team had gotten to the fashion show, where Jessica was showing off some of her creations... and where Abelia was one of the models. The Oblivian girl was waiting for her friends just inside the place, with her inseparable friend Jonathan at her side, and was glad to meet them all.

May was really impressed with Abelia's outfit that she had on and the Pokémon next to her. It was a fuzzy, moth larva-like Pokémon. It had blue eyes in a shadowed face. Its white mane of fuzz encompassed its head and the upper half of its body, while its lower half was brown. It had three pairs of small black legs. There were also five red, slightly whorled horns on the sides of its head. The brown-haired girl from Littleroot Town pulled out her Pokedex and aimed it at the small Bug-Type Pokémon.

'Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. A Larvesta shoots fire from its five horns to repel its enemies. They live at the base of volcanoes. This Pokémon is a Bug/Fire-Type Pokémon from the Unova region.'

"That's a pretty nice Pokemon you've got there... and your outfit is really great!" Rena complimented, taking a moment to admire both Larvesta and Abelia's dress. The Torch Pokemon regarded the redheaded girl with some suspicion, but let her approach and pet him a little. "By the way, does Larvesta have an evolution?"

Abelia, being an expert on Bug-type Pokemon, was glad to give an answer to that. "Yes, it does... my Larvesta will one day evolve into a beautiful Volcarona!" she stated, petting her Larvesta, who proudly raised his head.

'Volcarona, the Sun Pokémon and the evolved form of Larvesta' reported Dexette, revealing the information on Larvesta's evolved form to May. 'Volcarona is said to have acted as a replacement for the sun by using its fire, when volcanic ash darkened the atmosphere.'

"Oh my," said May as she looked at Abelia's outfit.

Her outfit certainly matched the Pokémon hers would evolve into. She had on a white sleeveless shirt with red wings on the back and her midriff showing, a light blue skirt, a white gold tiara on her forehead with a deep red princess cut ruby set on the tiara, red bracelets on her wrists and ankles, her silver hair was let down and not in the usual pigtails and as always she had no footwear on her feet. May noticed that Abelia looked a bit apprehensive and nervous about coming to a fashion show let alone one taking place during a festival. But if the brunette had to guess, she'd say that Abelia's friend, Jonathan, talked her into doing it or Jessica had promised her something that got her to agree to being one of her models. After taking a deep breath and calming herself down Abelia then silently strode down the runway with her Larvesta accompanying her. The fashion photographers there certainly must've been drawn to Abelia's outfit as there were a lot of cameras flashing as Abelia and Larvesta came down the runway and twirled a bit, showing off the outfit. May could see Jonathan giving a grin as he liked seeing Abelia stride up and down the runway.

As Abelia finished her stride, she bowed to the public and received a round of applause before climbing down the platform and throwing herself into Jonathan's affectionate hug. "You did great there, Abi!" he stated, glad to see how Abelia was happy and light-hearted, when she was usually so silent and serious. "You looked beautiful there! But you always do, after all."

"Thank you, Jonathan... You're the best friend a girl could have!" Abelia said, before turning to her friend from the Atlantica Island. "By the way, Relena... Can I ask you something? Wouldn't you like to try wearing something that shows your midriff?" she glanced down at the white sleeveless shirt which was part of the outfit she was still wearing from when she was modeling in it.

Relena chuckled nervously. May knew that Relena was rather conservative in her choice of clothing and what Abelia suggested wasn't exactly something she cared for. "Actually, Abelia, I'm not sure I like that. Doesn't it make me look like... well, someone who is a little too quick to give their love away? "

Abelia did a short laugh, which was pretty rare for her to do. "Actually, Relena, a lot of girls my age dress like that, and nobody thinks any less of them." She answered. "Besides... don't you think this makes a girl more appealing, in a way?"

Relena blinked in slight confusion. "I'm not sure I follow your train of thoughts..." she answered.

"Okay, okay... I'll explain what I mean." Abelia answered back. "Basically... well, showing your stomach can give you a bit more of sex appeal, since your boyfriend does get to see some skin, but not too much of it See, that makes a girl more attractive in her guy's eyes Plus, well... it makes a girl look more free of spirit, you know what I'm saying? It's not any way dirty or scandalous, it feels nice to feel the wind and the sun on your stomach and... well, Jonathan says I look cute that way!"

Jonathan blushed noticeably and glanced aside, trying to look inconspicuous, while Relena giggled politely to herself. "You know, Abelia, I think you might have a point about that." She commented. "Well, I might actually give it a try someday."

"I was waiting for you to say that... my precious," said a very familar voice in a menacing tone.

Both Relena and Abelia turned around slowly and saw that Relena's fashion designer sister, Jessica, was standing right there and had a familar dark aura behind her. Once again in her entire life, Relena was terrified at the fight of her sister after what she had been made to wear beforehand thanks to Ritchie previously wanting her to take a break from the Call of Duty video game she and Michiru were playing. With an evil grin and slowly reaching out towards her baby sister, Jessica slowly advanced towards Relena as she cackled evily. Even Argon and Asami advanced with Jessica slowly and behind her.

"N-Now, Jess, d-don't look at me like that," Relena stammered as she started to back away slowly before turning to try and run. "H-HELP!"

As Relena turned to run, Asami was quick to dart forward and catch her with her ribbon-like feelers. Jessica continued to cackle as Argon stepped forward to collect Relena from his Fairy-Type business partner. If there was one feeling to describe Relena at that moment when Jessica's shiny Tyranitar collected Relena for Jessica, it was terror. Argon brought Relena to Jessica as she held her hands out towards her baby sister.

"Now then... my precious baby sister," began Jessica as her evil cackling died down, "don't try to run from me. You'll only only make things harder for yourself just like the first time. MWA HA HA HA HA!"

The only thing that everyone could hear from backstage was Jessica's cackling and Relena's piercing scream of terror as her sister took her away from the upcoming festival will be taking place at. Abelia, Jeanette, Erika, Misty, Rena, Anna and May each had a sweatdrop on their respective foreheads as they watched Relena being carried away by Argon, following Jessica. Once Relena had left the area on the left shoulder of Jessica's shiny Tyranitar, things settled down... a little bit.

"No, no, no, no, no... NO!" the group heard Jessica shout back at the Pokémon Center as she was still working on assembling some new outfits for Relena.

"But Jess..." they heard Relena protest, "I only said that I might consider giving it a try."

"Alright then, let's see your wardrobe," Jessica informed Relena as May, Abelia, Jeanette, Misty, Erika and Anna could all hear the fashion designer going to town on her sister.

"N-Not happening, Jess," stammered Relena as she was apparently trying to stand up to Jessica.

"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! The longer you fight me, the more painful it'll be for you" responded Jessica as she was sounding more maniacal.

"I can't believe we work for her," Rena said with a blank expression on her face, along with her Braixen.

"Well, we can't really complain," May replied to Rena. "I mean we're getting a good pay to do modeling and free customized clothes."

"I'm with May, Rena" agreed Abelia. "I like being able to save money on having to buy new clothes."

"Plus you don't buy footwear unless it's absolutely necessary," added Jonathan as he andf the others came back from helping with repairing the hotel after Victini and Celebi's fight nearly destroyed the place completely. "Then again, we're fortunate that the ones in charge of the hotel aren't pressing charges since Meloetta explained the whole thing about repairing the hotel completely but trust me the process isn't all fun and games I can tell you that much."

"Okay, that dress goes away," Jessica said still cackling in an evil tone. "So does that one... that one... and these dresses go too."

"But those were some of my favorite dresses," protested Relena.

"Trust me, they're not tailored to grow with you and they're bound to be tight on you" Jessica countered back as she was going through Relena's wardrobe. "You'll like the new look I have planned for you. Oh... your fiance will want to put his hands all over you once he sees you in what I have planned for you."

"Um... okay," Relena replied nervously.

A few hours later, the group saw that Relena was finally coming down from her room after spending most of the afternoon being tortured by her sister Jessica. She looked very nervous as she was a bit apprehensive about the outfit she was wearing. Brock had entered the Pokémon Center just as David and Brendan had entered as well. The three of them had gone in different directions. David and Brendan had gone outside the ciy back in the direction of Route 18 which was close to Cycling Road. Brendan wanted to train his new Pokémon at the grass since there were plenty of Flying-Type Pokémon for his Ground/Rock-Type Pokémon to train against. When David and Brendan came back, the latter reported that his Rhyhorn had grown 5 or 6 levels.

Relena finally came down the stairs still with the nervous look on her face. The new outfit that she had on was enough to surprise May, Misty, Erika, Abelia, Rena, Anna, Jeanette and everyone else in the lobby who were traveling with them. Relena had on a cerulean blue tube top shirt held up by clear plastic straps with her midriff showing, an ocean blue skirt with a white diamond pattern, the deep purple amethyst gemstone set on a white ribbon necklace and cerulean blue laced sandals on her feet. Ritchie had just come from doing some training with his Pokémon and getting some pointers from Aurora, when both Ritchie and Aurora saw Relena in her new outfit. Relena was profusely blushing as she was still nervous and a bit afraid that both of them wouldn't like the new outfit. Ritchie was certainly speechless and had his eyes widen in surprise, marveling at how beautiful he thought she looked. As for Aurora, he smirked as it seemed he liked what he saw.

'For a moment, I thought I had seen a female Suicune as a human being' Aurora began jokingly, 'but it only appears to be my lovely and always beautiful daughter. I think it suits you.'

"R-Really Father?" Relena asked Aurora as she was still blushing. "Y-You like it?"

'If you wear it a little more often, I might become even more attached to you,' Aurora answered jokingly with a slight smile on his face.

Ritchie didn't need to say anything, because as soon as Aurora finished speaking with Relena he was quick to approach his fiance and scoop her up into his arms with a Cheshire grin on his face. As for Relena, she was very surprised that her fiance just picked her up without so much as giving one compliment or even have a worried look on his face. From what everyone had seen, Ritchie was always worried that he'd upset Relena father, Aurora, but that time wasn't the case. In fact, May even saw him blushing too.

"Relena, you're even more beautiful than ever," Ritchie said to his fiance. "No, I think your beauty has become as pure as the crystal clear ocean."

If Relena wasn't surprised then, she was at that moment. Even May was surprised to hear Ritchie say that; but she knew that the only way he'd make a compliment was if he had gone to Victini for advice or her silly little buddy had given him lessons on trying to charm the ladies.

"Y-You really think I'm beautiful?" stammered Relena as she looked to her fiance.

"You're always beautiful, Relena," Ritchie answered with a grin before everyone heard Pikachu calling out to his trainer.

"I appriciate the compliment," Relena began to say.

"Yeah, I know," replied Ritchie, "I'm still sleeping on the couch."

"But you're still supposed to be in the other outfit I made for you to model for me," Jessica said to her sister in a sickly sweet tone as she had the same ruler that she smacked her sister's wrists with. "Now be a dear sweet baby sister and go put your other outfit back on. The one with the boots."

Relena then grumbled as she hated close-toed shoes with a vehement passion. But aside from being her older sister, Jessica was also her employer and the young princess had to listen to her sister...

Meanwhile, in the Pokemon Center...

'Ash!'

The male Mouse was all better thanks to Nurse Joy and Chansey, with him running up to Ash who happily greeted his starter with a smile on his face. "Pikachu, come here buddy!" he said with relief filling his entire body as he scooped Pikachu up into his arms for a well deserved hug. "I'm so glad you're better! I'm sorry for having been a jerk earlier..."

"It was my fault as well, Ash. I shouldn't have said a number of cruel things to you." the electric mouse stated in relief. "I'm sorry about that, and I'll try to hold my tongue better from now on."

"And I'll do my best to be a better trainer... thank you for helping my Pikachu, Nurse Joy!" Ash answered, talking first to Pikachu, and then to the pink-haired nurse, who simply smiled and winked in response.

"I simply did what I had to do." she answered. "Now, how about you go to your friend and tell them the good news? I'm sure they will appreciate it... you look like you're e a really tight knit group!"

"Yeah... that we are!" said Ash, thankful to himself of having such great and supportive friends.

'Uh… Cynthia,' Victini said as he was surprised to see the Sinnoh League champion as she had come to Fuchsia City after being called by Relena.

"Hello… my Fluffy Victini," Cynthia replied to May's Victini before she took off the necklace she had around her neck and placed it on Victini's neck. "I think you know what I want."

Before Victini could comply with Cynthia's "selfish request," May saw the tall blonde Sinnoh champion and figured that she would want to take Victini off her hands for a while. The young brunette then tossed her Victini's Quick Ball to Cynthia and said, "I know. You want to have my Victini to yourself as your lover, Lucas Greyson. Knock yourself out."

Cynthia then looked back to Victini after receiving May's blessing and Victini's Quick Ball that he was captured in. The male Victory Pokémon gave a slight nod as he would never dare question his golden-haired angel and channeled his Psychic-type power into the necklace and it caused him to revert back into his human form as Lucas Greyson. Once the transformation was complete, Lucas then let out a sigh as the Sinnoh champion smiled at her lover.

"Before you even think about it," began Cynthia as she wrapped her arms happily around Lucas's waist from behind Lucas, "don't try to read my mind."

"Yes, my angel," replied Lucas as he enjoyed his lover's embrace.

"Shall we go get a room?" Cynthia asked mischievously asked her lover before winking to him.

"Indeed we shall," answered Lucas as he was led off to the hotel desk.

"Where's Celebi?" Erika asked Lucas as she knew that he was the last one to see Celebi as he had been kicked out of the hotel as Victini.

"He should be outside," Lucas answered Erika. "I take it his GS Ball necklace was under your pillow, right?"

"Of course," answered Erika as she went to go get her Celebi companion.

An hour later, Erika had spoken to Celebi and then came back in with her lover Ilex Sakura. Erika glanced at Ilex as if to tell him to be on his best behavior with Lucas Greyson. Ilex needed no instruction from Erika, but gave her a nod to show that he understood her. As for Relena, she returned after reluctantly putting the first outfit her sister dressed her in back on. The young princess was not liking that she had to wear the boots that were on her feet. Her squad mates had gone ahead decided to end the session and regroup in another three months or so. Once Ritchie heard that, he let out a sigh of relief as he was tired of Aurora glaring at him because of Relena's addiction to the Call of Duty video game series. Ritchie noticed that his beloved girlfriend just walked past him as he knew her body language told him that a familiar Pokémon was either close by or on the move in the direction they were traveling.

"I think a Suicune is coming," Ritchie said to his girlfriend's Suicune father. "I know how Relena gets when she senses other Suicunes are nearby or on the move."

'Yes, I agree with that,' replied Aurora. 'Though I am surprised that we haven't seen those dishonorable thugs and traitorous Meowth in a while.'

"To be honest Lord Aurora," began Ritchie as he rolled his eyes, "it wouldn't surprise me to see or hear those buffoons were sick or took a sick day… providing Team Rocket even allows for sick days."

The noble male Aurora Pokémon gave a thoughtful nod in agreement as both of them watched Anna walking and talking with her grandfather. Anna had a smile on her face as she enjoyed listnening to the stories that her Lucario grandfather told her. Fenrir was equally happy that he was with family once again, even though he wasn't with his two daughters or even his friendly rival he knew as Force Commander Zeraora and his own daughter, Lightning.

"So was this… Lightning... family to you?" Anna asked her Lucario grandfather.

"In a way, yes," answered Fenrir with a nod. "Where is your brother? We must start teaching him to use his Aura power."

"Knowing my little brother, he won't listen unless we do something drastic to get his attention," Anna replied to Fenrir. "And we really need to get his attention."

As soon as Erika went and retrieved Ilex from outside, Cynthia decided that she wanted to have a nice informal date with her lover, Lucas. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to go into any fancy restaurants or even an Olive Garden because Lucas refused to wear footwear like Abelia, Cynthia looked for open air restaurants where they wouldn't have to worry about Lucas's insistence on being barefoot. After finding one such restaurant, Cynthia led her lover to the restaurant and directed him to sit at table while she got them some food. While Lucas was waiting for his golden-haired angel, one certain blonde haired member of Team Rocket took an interest in Lucas Greyson as she seemed to be quite smitten with him as she was a bit desperate for attention from her lover as Taichi was busy and hadn't really paid her much attention. While Domino was waiting for her reluctant lover to bring food out for them, she made a move towards Lucas who was waiting patiently for his golden-haired lover from Sinnoh.

"Hey there sexy stud," Domino said to Lucas as she was trying to use her sexual charm on the Victini in his human form. "You looking for someone who's quite the sexy looker?"

"Uh…," replied Lucas as he was caught off guard by Domino and her advances on him.

It was then that Domino's lover, Taichi, had come out of the restaurant with two plates of food and then spotted Domino sitting next to Lucas with an angry look on his face. The olive skinned admin of Team Rocket thought that Lucas was the one who was hitting on Domino until he saw Lucas's reaction to Domino coming on to him. Lucas then saw Taichi glaring at him and then seeing Cynthia coming out with their food.

"I'm sorry, but I have been spoken for by a lovely and beautiful golden-haired angel of Sinnoh," Lucas said to Domino and hopefully to the glaring Taichi in hopes that the olive-skinned man would ease up and let him off the hook.

Cynthia came to the table and set the food down as she glared at Domino to back away from her lover and that Lucas was off limits to her. Once Domino saw that Lucas was off limits to her, Taichi gave Lucas a slight nod as an apology for the misunderstanding and then set the plate of Domino's food in Domino's hands before grabbing her by her right ear saying, "Let's go you. You don't need to seduce that guy or try something foolish like trying to steal another woman's lover."

"Ow, ow, ow," moaned Domino as she knew her lover wasn't exactly someone to pull lightly. "I'm sorry Tai, okay? Ow! You're pulling my ear too hard! Ow!"

"I'm glad to see that you're still loyal to me," Cynthia said to her fiery lover in a smooth and silky tone.

"That was just as bad as that time I was caught in the middle of a trap between three Nintendo women when I was on The Dating Game," Lucas said to his golden-haired lover as he brought up a memory.

Flashback

"Oh come on, Victini," a one Princess Peach to the small Psychic/Fire-type Victory Pokémon. "You gotta choose which one of us three princesses you think is the cutest out of the three of us."

"Yes," said Princess Rosalina as she calmly looked to the small male Victory Pokémon. "We won't get mad at you for expressing your opinions about us."

"Speak for youself," Bowsette replied to Rosalina as she glared at the calm and gentle celestial princess. "I might be upset and bite… HARD!"

Victini gluped in terror at Bowsette's words and then looked at the three princesses. The three woman standing before him did have some qualities that he liked, but only one of them really stood out to him and reminded him of the golden-haired angel he was so infatuated with. After taking five minutes… or another three extra minutes to calm himself down, Victini let out a deep sigh and shook his head. The three women looked at each other confused at first and then back to Victini as he looked at them

'You three have different qualities that are very attractive,' Victini began as the male Victory Pokémon was trying to choose his words carefully and be gentle with the three Nintendo princesses. 'Bowsette, you are very sexy and your physical beauty shines brightly.

The evil princess smiled brightly as Victini brought up her strongest feature as Victini continued, 'But you're a bit too… aggressive and forward for my tastes.'

Bowsette glared at the male Victory Pokémon as she didn't like what had to say about her and was about to get up out of her seat and make a meal out of him. But she refrained from doing so as the male Victory Pokémon had to speak about the other two girls. Victini then looked to Princess Peach and then said, 'You're very sweet and likable. Lots of people like you.' Princess Peach seemed to smile as she liked the praise that the Victory Pokémon was giving her.

'But I'm sorry to say this,' Victini said to Princess Peach with a sweat drop on his forehead, 'but you remind me too much of a Barbie doll.'

Bowsette then laughed her head off as she found Victini's complaint against Princess Peach. As for the blonde-haired, pink dress princess… she threw her chair and was very angry with the male Victory Pokémon. The wicked turtle shelled princess, created by Bowser, was still laughing her head off and Rosalina remained calm as she had nothing to say. Once Peach's fury had simmered down a bit, Victini then looked to Rosalina with a wide smile on his face as he had a tulip in his hands for the gentle celestial princess.

'You my dear are the definition of true beauty,' Victini said to Rosalina. 'Your beauty is as angelic and radiant as the cosmos. Your hair is as long and sweet as honey. You have intelligence that surpasses the known stars in the sky."

"You're so sweet and so… fluffy!" Rosalina exclaimed happily as she hugged and showered affection to the male Victory Pokémon.

End of Flashback

"And so who do you think is beautiful?" Cynthia asked Lucas.

"Why you are beautiful," answered Lucas as he smiled to Cynthia. "You are a divinely beautiful angel."

"Hmm… good answer my fiery Lucas," replied Cynthia with a seductive smile on her face. "Good enough for what I want from you in bed tonight."

Outside of the hotel, Relena had gone outside as she sensed a presence that she knew all too well, given the fact that she had Suicune blood coursing through her veins. A light breeze came from the north northwest and touched upon Relena's face as she felt it blowing through her hair and briefly letting her ponytail pointing to the south southeast.

"Lord Suicune of Johto is coming," Relena said to herself as a familiar person was coming to meet her. "And I hope that you have no such plans to try and poach Johto's Lord of the Northern Winds… Hunter J."

"Unless I'm contracted to track down Johto's Suicune," began the notorious Pokémon poacher, "I have no interest in poaching the 'Lord of the Northern Winds' as you so describe Johto's Suicune."

"Very good," Relena replied as she gave the poacher a slight nod. "I have spoken to your target's Pokémon about the job I've asked you to do."

"And?" Hunter J asked the young princess as she raised her visor to reveal her face to Relena. "I would imagine that they were not too keen on the idea of temporarily being poached by me."

Relena gave Hunter J a nod as she replied, "Yeah. They weren't too keen on the idea. And given the fact that my boyfriend and I paid you nearly a king's ransom for this…"

"If you will check your fianances, I returned half of the amount you paid me," Hunter J said to the young princess with a rare smile on her face. "I agree that this young man, your friend, needs to be taught a lesson on in learning self-defense and to use a weapon should he become separated from his Pokémon in the near future. But I hope that you and the Emerald Prince are ready to deal with the repercussions of having me do this."

The co-champion of the Atlantica Islands and young princess let out a sigh as she had really hoped that the drastic measure she and Ritchie were doing was the right course of action. She knew that Ash was constantly blowing off Cory and Octavian when they were trying to teach him to unlock his Aura power along with his sister, Anna. Ash was also blowing off Ritchie for weapons' training after receiving the Tidal Knight Sword from Samiya. If reasoning wasn't going to work with Ash, then drastic measures were needed. Relena had even told Ritchie to let the heat from Ash finding out blow on her, should and when he find out they were responsible for the drastic measures to get his attention on taking self-defense, Aura and weapons training seriously. Relena even looked back to when she spoke to Ash's Pokémon about what she had in mind for getting their human's attention.

Flashback

'Seriously Your Royal Highness?' Pikachu asked Relena as he and Ash's other Pokémon were gathered around her as she had told them about what she had in mind to get their human's attention on self-defense and weapons training. 'You really think that you and the Emerald Prince need to go that far just to get Ash's attention?'

'This idea seems a bit… extreme, if you ask me,' added Meloetta as she was uneasy about Relena's idea just as much as Pikachu. 'And Brother Pikachu just got Ash's forgiveness for his slip of the tongue.'

'What's to say that this… Hunter J, as you call her, won't stab you in the back?' Ash's shiny female Dratini added as she too felt uneasy about Relena and Ritchie's idea. 'She may just decide to keep us and fly away to some Arceus-forsaken region we don't know.'

"Unless someone else finds out about this plan," began Relena as she remained patient with Ash's Pokémon, "they'd have to outbid the contracted amount Ritchie and I paid her. Hunter J has her own code of conduct. She won't betray or go against the plan I laid out to her earlier unless someone else pays a higher king's ransom."

'Well… if she's willing to trust this broad,' began Wartortle, 'I say we at least trust that Lady Relena knows what she's doing.'

Taking a better part of fifteen minutes, the other Pokémon thought about it and then reluctantly agreed to take part in this plan. If this Hunter J was hired by Relena to teach Ash a lesson and the young princess was certain that the poacher wouldn't stab her in the back, then Ash's Pokémon would at least trust Relena's judgement or hold her personally responsible for any harm done.

End of Flashback

"A broad, am I?" Hunter J asked Relena as the princess had told her that Ash's Wartortle called her a broad.

"That's what he said," answered Relena as she sighed. "But I hope that I didn't mislead my friend's Pokémon in telling them that you have a code of conduct in dealing with contract jobs."

"Your word will be kept as your bond," the Pokémon poacher reassured Relena with a slight nod after placing the visor back over her eyes. "I shall be at the appropriate place you designated and at the designated time."

Relena then bowed to the poacher. She felt very nervous about doing this to Ash and knew that it might do some serious damage to the relationship she and Ritchie had with Ash and the group. As for the Pokémon poacher, she took a look back to the young princess she helped out a few times and let out a sigh as she understood what Relena was going through. As she was walking away, Hunter J met up with her two Alola Pokémon who were providing security for her meeting with the youngest princess of the Kaiou royal family. She had evolved her Alola Sandshrew with an Ice Stone that she had found in Alola when she helped Sierra of Team Trident gather Alola Pokémon to begin seeding the Atlantica Islands regions with the Alola Pokémon that moved to said region. The Ice/Steel-type Mouse Pokémon had ice blue shards protruding from his back and had dark blue colored skin and razor sharp claws. The other Alola Pokémon was a Fire-type feline Pokémon with a flaming bell on his throat like a collar on his neck and white and red fur instead of black and red fur.

'So how did your meeting go with the young princess?' the shiny male Torracat asked his mistress. 'Are we in business with her unusual request?'

'I don't think that the young princess made an unusal request,' the shiny male Alola Sandslash said to Torracat before both Pokémon looked to their mistress. 'Besides… don't you think that humans rely on us Pokémon a little too much nowadays?'

'Huh, you've got a point there,' answered Hunter J's Torracat as he thought about his Ice/Steel-type companion's question.

"The meeting went well," Hunter J answered her two Alola Pokémon. "And we are in business with her request. Remember that we are not taking this young man's Pokémon to sell. The princess is looking to teach her friend to be partially dependant on himself if he doesn't have Pokémon around him."

'Understood mistress,' Torracat and Sandslash acknowledged to the Pokémon poacher.

As Relena returned from her secret meeting with the notorious poacher, she let out a sigh and shook her head as she was returning. She was hoping that this wasn't going to do the kind of damage she was terrified of inflicting. Ash had to see that he needed to learn an important skill; especially in light of Taichi trying to rope him into service for Team Rocket. Catching up to Gary and Paul was going to have to wait as it wasn't important at the moment.

However right as she entered the hotel, two familiar ribbon feelers grabbed her by her ankles and reeled her over away from the door. Relena was caught off guard as she tried to scream for help before being silenced by another set of ribbon feelers from her sister's Sylveon, Asami. After being reeled in, Relena was then picked up by her sister's shiny Tyranitar business partner and slumped over his shoulder as she tried to get out of his grip.

"Put me down Argon!" Relena ordered her sister's shiny male Armor Pokémon as she tried to beat on the Rock/Dark-type. "I don't want any more new clothes from my sister!"

'Huh… and here I thought the Little Miss would like have some new swimwear that is designed just for her,' Asami said Argon as the two passed by Ritchie and his shiny male Raikou, Thor.

'No kidding,' replied Argon with a slight nod. 'And I think this swimwear is something that Lord Aurora has requested. Knowing how his daughter has a great love of the water.'

"Wa… wait, Father had swimwear ordered for me?" Relena asked as she heard that her father had swimwear made for her.

'Depends, are you gonna run away?' Asami asked her trainer's baby sister as she had her ribbon feelers at the ready.

"Maybe… maybe not if Father really was the one who wanted me to have new swimwear," answered Relena as she knew her older sister was somebody who would use their beloved Suicune father as a way to lure her into various traps for new clothes.

'Better keep her over your shoulder, Argon,' the female Intertwining Pokémon instructed her shiny male Armor Pokémon partner.

Argon said nothing but kept the young princess over his shoulder and carried her back into the room she was supposed to be staying in until she saw May, Rena, her Braixen and Abelia sitting on the couch, where she was placed. The four girls couldn't believe that Jessica had nabbed them at the most unconvient time for them, right before bed. Abelia was not liking that Asami had nabbed her as she was returning from training with her Bug-type Pokémon. As for May, she had come willingly once her parents had given their consent. Rena and her Braixen had also come willingly as Jessica had wanted to create another special swimsuit for Rena's Braixen. Relena looked to Abelia and said, "It's not Ritchie's fault this time."

"Yeah, yeah," replied Abelia as she rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration. "I just wish we had a bit of a warning before she nabs us for her creative sparks."

"Now where's the fun in that when I have creative sparks?" Jessica asked Abelia as she had overheard Abelia's question. "Besides, you ladies will be thanking me when your boyfriends have their hands all over you and admiring how SEXY you look."

'More like Sister Rena will be throwing her bag at David when he tries to put his hands on her,' Rena's Braixen replied with a snicker.

"I really would like having Ash put hands all over me," May said as she pictured Ash putting his hands all over her body while in a new swimsuit.

"If you're thinking Jess is gonna be designing a bikini for you, then I guess you'll have to keep on dreaming," Relena said to May as she knew her older sister. "My sis would never ever design a bikini for any of us since we're not old enough by her standards."

"Doesn't bother me one bit," Abelia said plainly as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"What age do we have to be in order for her to design a bikini for us… by her standards?" May asked Relena in a sassy and annoyed tone.

"Sixteen," answered Relena. "Sis was 16 when she got pregnant with her first kid. The only time she ever wears a bikini or something similar is when she's pregnant or if she wants to be sexy with her husband. The last time I ever saw Jess in two piece swimwear was when she got pregnant with her indentical twin daughters."

May let out a huff as she was disappointed that her next swimsuit wasn't going to be some two piece bikini like she had a strong preference to. But she also understood that since she was now working for her best friend's older sister, she was gonna have to wear whatever she was told to wear. All four of the young girls could hear two distinct noises, one of which was completely obvious to them. The other noise was something that Relena was very familiar with since she was a member of Team Trident and part of the Atlantis Guard.

'What is that noise that I keep hearing?' Rena's Braixen asked they could lightly hear the sounds of moaning. 'It almost sounds like two humans mating with each other.'

"Oh my fiery Lucas, keep going," was what the girls could hear from the room next to them.

"Sounds like Cynthia and Lucas are having sex with each other again," Relena said as the girls continued to listen to the Sinnoh champion and her lover making love to each other. "Guess Cynthia had another urge like she did on the way to Samiya."

"How do you know that stuff?" Rena asked Relena as she and her Braixen were curious.

"I'm part of the Atlantis Guard in Team Trident," Relena answered quickly. "Both me and Ritchie are in the Atlantis Guard. And part of our duty in the Atlantis Guard is to guard Milady Rhea… even while she's having sex with her lover and attendant."

"Oh man," replied Rena as she and her Braixen shivered at the thought of being exposed to such things so early.

"Okay then my little pretties," Jessica said in a sickly sweet tone as she entered the room with her usual dark aura behind her. Who's going to be first?"

Rena and her Braixen clung to each other and shook in terror as they were afraid that they were going to be picked first. May looked at Jessica as she started to have beads of sweat run down her face. Abelia just looked at Jessica with a wary glance as she was trying to maintain a sense of caution. As for Relena, she had a feeling that she was going to be picked first since she was the baby of the royal family and was the one that was usually dressed up in front of the other siblings. Before the fashion designer could make her decision, Aurora went ahead and made the decision by grabbing his favorite daughter by picking her up by her neck and delivered her to the improvised workshop.

"Father, I'm not a young Suicune pup," Relena said to Aurora after he set her down.

Aurora telepathically chuckled and affectionately nuzzled his daughter's right cheek from behind her. Relena then stood upright right as her older sister then snapped her fingers which lead to Argon closing the blinds and curtains and Asami standing ready to stop Relena should she try to escape from receiving new clothes from Jessica.

"Father really was insistent on me making new swimwear for you," Jessica said as she was wearing some swimwear that she had designed in the colors of her shiny Tyranitar, Argon, and made for herself. "Though he was a bit uneasy when I told him that I was going to make it formfitting to your sexy young figure."

"Uh Sis, how much Xenoblade Chronicles have you been playing?" Relena asked her older sister as she recognized the backless one piece swimsuit style from a Nintendo game that she had played recently.

"Asked Daddy's Little Suicune Pup with her addiction to Call of Duty," replied Jessica as her answer. "Now be a good baby sister do as I ask."

The male Aurora Pokémon gave a slight nod to his favorite daughter before turning and gently padding out of the improvised workshop. Relena had no choice but listen to her older sister and did as she was told. Jessica then grinned as she scribbled some notes while Asami was doing measurements for her. It was then that Jessica produced the finished swimsuit that she had for her baby sister. The young princess could only huff and roll her eyes as she figured that her older sister already had the swimwear made and ready.

"Be a good baby sister and put it on," Jessica said as she still used her sickly sweet tone and then cackled.

The young princess sighed again and did as she started to do what she was told to do. Before Jessica could give her baby sister the swimwear she was about put on, the 19 year-old fashion designer looked and saw that she was giving her sister the wrong swimsuit and snatched it from Relena's hands. It was then that she saw that the swimsuit was made more for the Oblivia-born Bug-type trainer, Abelia, as it was designed more like a Scolipede. Relena then noticed that her sister had a familiar look on her face as the young co-champion said, "Come on Sis. Not this again. You did this to me and Olette last year when Olette went to Johto for the Lugia Cup swimming competition."

However, the fashion designer did not listen to her sister and then grabbed Abelia into the workshop. The Oblivia-born trainer was quite surprised to see her friend in prone position before she then was put in the same position as Relena. Abelia just sighed before she was given the Scolipede designed swimsuit and a couple other accessories to go with the swimsuit. The Bug-type trainer was confused by the accessories that went with the Scolipede swimsuit. Abelia then looked at Relena and Relena said, "Jess has been playing too much Xenoblade Chronicles recently. She's been playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 recently and the swimsuit is inspired by the swimwear worn by a character named Pyra… I think."

"Oh brother… one video game addict from the Kaiou Royal Family is bad enough," Abelia replied as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Two video game addicts from the Kaiou royal house is even worse."

"Well, I think it's time for you to put on the swimwear my little pretty," Jessica said to Abelia as the silver haired trainer grabbed the swimwear and accessories from her employer.

"Can't believe that Mr. and Mrs. Seabright agreed to let me work for Relena's sister," Abelia said to herself as she put on the new swimwear. "Oh well, a good paying job and new clothes might just be the thing that I need."

"Now then my precious baby sister," Jessica began still with a sickly sweet tone as she looked at Relena as she had the right swimwear that was Suicune designed with accessories. "It's your turn. Be a good girl and…"

"Yeah, yeah Sis," Relena replied as she snatched the swimwear and began to put it on.

Once both girls had put on the new swimwear and accessories, Jessica smiled brightly as she exclaimed, "Ah… that looks SOOO CUTE on you two!"

Both girls sighed as they were being looked at by Argon and Asami as the female Sylveon was inspecting the work that was done by them. The female Intertwining Pokémon used her feelers to physically inspect the swimwear. She made sure that the swimwear met the intended effects that they were going for. Taking a better part of 10 minutes, Asami finished her inspection and gave a nod to both girls, allowing them to leave the workshop.

"Time for my pretty little fiery redhead and Fox Pokémon to play Dress Up with me," Jessica said in a sinister tone as she then grabbed Rena and her Braixen as the two had fallen asleep while they were waiting for the new swimwear they were going to get.

"Wah!" Rena and her Braixen exclaimed as they were rudely awakened by being grabbed by Jessica.

The pair were then terrified as they clung to each other and trembled in fear as Jessica went to work on them and the new swimwear that she had made for them. After Rena was pried away from her evolved Kalos Fox Pokémon and sister-like companion, Rena was told to put on her new swimwear. Once she had done so, both she and her Braixen were amazed by her new swimwear.

'Wow Sister Rena, you're starting to look more Braixen every day now,' Braixen said to her human with a big smile on her face.

"Thanks Sister Braixen," replied Rena as she twirled around in the Braixen designed swimsuit.

"Now then my pretty," began Jessica as she eyed her Pokémon employee, "be a good Fox Pokémon and put this new swimsuit on."

Rena's Braixen then put on her brand new swimsuit as she was instructed to do. The swimsuit for Rena's Braixen was an ocean blue with cream white and a lit twig logo on the left breast and also came with an underwater breathing mask and an artificially made seashell for her as well. Rena's Braixen smiled and looked very happy with the new swimwear as she said, 'Maybe it was ideal for me to get new swimwear right now.'

"And your new swimwear changes your ability to Water Absorb as it makes you a Fire/Water-type Pokémon like your first swimwear that I gave you," Jessica explained to Rena's Braixen. "And this new swimsuit allows you have access to Aqua Tail, Surf, Razor Shell, Liquidation, Aqua Jet and the underwater breathing mask you have allows you use moves like Water Gun, Bubble Beam, Scald, Ice Beam and even Freeze Dry too."

'W-wait a minute, I can use a couple Ice-type attacks with the breathing mask?' Rena's Braixen asked in surprise as her ears perked up.

Jessica then shoved Rena and her Braixen out of the improvised workshop and snatched a sleeping May as she was rudely awakened by her new employer. May tried to argue her preference of wanting two piece swimwear, but it was a losing argument as Jessica would not budge. May was then given a specially designed shiny Sylveon one piece swimsuit along with the other swimsuits that Jessica had made.

Once Jessica was finished, she snapped her fingers to dispel her improvised workshop and then left the room after snapping her fingers again and having her Pokémon following her out of Relena and Ritchie's room. Once the girls were sure that it safe to return to their hotel rooms, they filed out and returned to their room where their traveling companions were waiting for them. As the girls were returning, they went past the hotel room where the Sinnoh champion was still making love to her lover, Lucas.

'How is it that humans can mate for so long before getting tired?' Rena's Braixen asked her human counterpart as they could hear the moaning getting louder.

"You got me Sister Braixen," answered Rena as she shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't been exposed to stuff like that."

"Do you think that we're doing the right, Ritchie?" Relena asked her boyfriend as she just let him get back in the bed with her and her Suicune father.

"What do you mean?" Ritchie asked his girlfriend and arranged fiancé as he was confused by her question.

"We're trying to get Ash to realize he needs to take up self-defense and weapons training," Relena explained to Ritchie, even though he knew the plan. "But do you think we've done everything possible to get Ash to see he needs to take up self-defense training, learn to unlock his Aura powers and weapons training?"

"I don't think we've explored every option," answered Ritchie. "But you know that I'm with you and I support you, my Graceful Suicune."

"Thank you," replied Relena as she kissed her lover and then fell asleep in his arms.

May's Eevee was especially glad to see that Pikachu was back in full strength, and the two Pokemon were quick to hug each other as Ash greeted his travelling companions.

"I'm so happy to see you, Pikachu!" Eevee exclaimed. "Are you doing okay? How are your injuries?"

"I'm doing well now, thank you... and thanks for taking care of Ash while I was asleep!" he said, nodding to Eevee and then taking a good look at her necklace. "By the way..."

From what Pikachu saw, Eevee had a diamond snowflake necklace around her neck and he was currently at a loss of word at how lovely it looked on her. Ash and May could tell that the male Mouse Pokémon had a look that said he had just been bitten by the love bug and became smitten with her. 'So?' she asked somewhat nervously as her cheeks started flushing pink 'How do I look?'

'You mean all of you or just your neck?' Pikachu asked of the cute female Normal-Type Evolution Pokémon, a bit flustered himself. 'I mean because both look great.'

"Thank you so much, Pikachu..." Eevee said, blushing profusely. "I... thought you would like that, so..."

Pikachu smiled at that. "And you thought right!" he answered, before offering her his hand and motioning to the rest of the team. "Well, Eevee? Shall we join the rest of the team? We can call it... a date, right?"

"With pleasure!" Eevee enthusiastically answered, and the two Pokemon walked back to their companions, just as Ash was speaking to them.

"Okay guys," began Ash as he had once again blown off Ritchie for weapons training, "we've gotta get ourselves ready for our gym battle against Koga."

'You sure that was a smart idea to blow Ritchie off like that for learning to use that sword you got from Samiya?' Pikachu asked his human as he was hoping that the son of his former human companion would wise up.

"I'll get to it… eventually," Ash answered dismissively. "Besides, Gary and Paul are still way ahead of me and I gotta catch up to them."

Pikachu shook his head in disbelief at Ash's answer. He had hoped that General Fenrir was right his human being like his mother. As for the Lucario general, he was with his granddaughter and Ash's sister working on her Aura power and some self-defense techniques that he perfected.

"I see…" began Lorelei as she gave a small sigh after being informed of the appearance of a powerful Lucario, a Pokémon usually native to the Sinnoh region, within Fuschia City though never expect it to be… him. "Are you sure that you weren't just seeing things?"

'I wish I could say I was' said Slowbro with a frown on his face, reflecting on the small retcon mission he had been assigned to which led to him discovering that Fennir was now in their world yet they couldn't do anything unless he performed any hostile actions. 'So far, his actions don't seem to be that of a threat but still, we need to be careful.'

Lorelei nodded her head slowly; she and her allies already had a lot on their plate with Team Rocket as well as the advent of Dark Balls produced which worried her even more after finding out what those abominations do to the Pokémon captured by them and even the possibility of the crime syndicate plotting something bigger than what they were normally known for. "Very well, thank you" she said after cleaning her glasses. "I'll be sure to let the Crimson Fox and Thor know of this."

Slowbro didn't say a word and was about to leave when something clicked into the back of his mind. 'Oh yeah, I found this…' he spoke as he revealed to be a small piece of rock though it had something on it which made the red-headed woman somewhat curious.

"A piece of rock?"

'Yes, but there's some old writing on it' Slowbro replied, showing his human what was on the the rock he placed into her hand though the two saw it also bore some scorch marks which meant whoever found what the piece once belonged too must've wanted to keep what was carved from being deciphered. 'Seems to me that someone had already beaten us to its location as this was the only piece I was able to recover.'

The Ice-Type user started frowning, knowing the marks were the result of an explosion and had her supicions on who could've been there beforehand. "Could Team Rocket have done this?" she asked, wishing she'd be able to learn more about the small rock and the writing it had engraved.

'It's possible, since it came from Mt. Moon… which was where several members attacked for the Helix and Dome Fossils' remarked the male Water/Psychic-Type, starting to believe that there might actually have been more to their strike at Mt. Moon than they once thought and from what was revealed to them since then, Jessie, James and Meowth having discovered the giant Moon Stone within the lower depths of the cave was to them an added bonus given their assignment alongside the rest of the Rockets there. 'But what does it mean?'

"I can't believe that you hired that Pokémon poacher," Ash roared at Relena as he glared at her and Ritchie in anger after having his Pokémon poached from him. "I thought you were my friends."

"Ash calm down," May tried to interject as she was trying to defuse the situation and try to smooth things over.

"No! I won't calm down!" Ash shouted at May before returning to glare at Relena. "She had to go be a bitch and hire that damn poacher and get her to poach my Pokémon from me."

The male Suicune was not pleased to hear Ash calling his favorite daughter names, let alone cussing her out. He was about to take action until Relena held her hand up to keep him at bay. The young princess remained calm as Ash continued to hurl insults at her. Then with his rage setting in, Ash tried to throw a punch at Relena only for her to catch his thrown punches and be thrown back by her.

"I'm sorry, but are you trying to punch me?" Relena asked the now hot-headed Pallet Town-born trainer. "Because if you are, you're doing a pretty poor job of trying."

"Stop moving around so much," Ash ordered Relena as he tried to throw another punch, only for it be blocked again by the young princess. "You think that just because you're a princess, you buy anything you want. Even my Pokémon!"

"You think I want to take your Pokémon?" Relena asked Ash in retort as she caught another one of Ash's enraged punches with her bare hands and threw him back to the ground. "You need to come to the realization that you're not going to catch up to Paul and Gary.

"Paul has had a lot more experience as a trainer then you," Relena continued before she blew some magical energy to form and a small shield to block Ash's feeble attempts to land any sort of punches on her. "And despite the grandson of Samuel Oak being a cocky bastard, he takes time to train to his Pokémon at a pace that suits him despite the fact that you manage to squeak out a victory against him."

Aurora was not pleased that the Pallet Town-born trainer was still trying hurt his daughter and tried to charge towards Ash until Relena grabbed a section of his left nostril, catching him by surprise. The male Suicune was taken aback that his daughter still didn't require his assistance even though he was just being a father to her. Relena let him go and then shook her head to him once more as she said to him, "I can handle myself against Ash. I do appreciate your concern though, Father."

"You need to get it through your head that we're only trying to help you," Ritchie said to Ash as he wasn't just going to stand by and let Relena completely take the heat for their decision. "And you seriously need to stop blowing us off just because you think you NEED to catch up to your rivals."

"Again we must stress that you must think about what happens when you don't have a Pokémon to protect yourself, May or anyone else around you," Relena said sternly to the stubborn trainer. "What happens when your Pokémon are stolen from you and you have no means to battle other trainers? Are you going just 'muscle' your way through thugs or thieves just to protect yourself or get your Pokémon back?"

Pikachu wanted to say something, but kept himself from doing so as he didn't want to reveal his past to the son of his last trainer, the Aura Mermaid, who he inherited from her… unintentionally and unwillingly at first. Having to reveal his past to the other Pokémon was one thing, but having to reveal it to Ash was whole can of Weedles and Caterpies he wanted to avoid opening and keep it secret from Ash a bit longer… until he felt that Ash was ready to hear the truth about him.

As for Ash, his anger had not subsided as he grabbed a stick and tried to swing it at Relena, only for her to dodge it with minimal effort. He tried once again to swing it at Relena viciously only for the young princess to keep dodging the vicious attacks and even far as to retaliate by summoning her spear and used it to trip him up. Relena demonstrated her skill with her spear as she gracefully dodged another enraged swing from Ash and then began slicing up the improvised weapon that Ash had. May saw that her boyfriend was no match for the Graceful Suicune and tried to step in to stop the lopsided fight. Before she could step forward, Ritchie grabbed her by the shoulder and shook his head as he said to her, "This is something that Ash needs to decide. Don't worry, Relena's not gonna kill him."

Ash then began to tire himself out as Relena then made her move by crouching and sweeping her right foot across Ash's ankles, tripping him and effectively planting him face first into the ground. The raven haired trainer didn't like that he had been beaten by a girl. But given the fact that his mother had never allowed him and Anna to take self-defense classes, Ash had no choice but to relent and concede defeat.

'That has to be really embarrassing for Ash,' Pikachu said aloud as he watched his mistress's son be soundly defeated and utterly humiliated by Relena. 'Probably worse than that time I trusted Wartortle to pack my parachute.'

Flashback

Pikachu took a deep breath as he was finally fulfilling one of his secret dreams of going skydiving. This was something that not even his last owner, Ash's mother, would let him do despite all of the begging and pleading he did to get her to let him to go skydiving. It was a surprise that Ash even allowed him to go skydiving right after they had returned from Samiya. But despite his surprise, the male Electric-type Mouse Pokémon was going to take advantage of the opportunity and took Wartortle with him. Both Pokémon got suited up and both male Pokémon then packed each other's parachutes as the instructor told everyone to do as they had stumbled into a corporate retreat where they were doing a trust exercise that involved skydiving. Once both male Pokémon and the corporate employees they were with were airborne and high enough in the sky, the human employees went out of the plane first before it was finally Pikachu and Wartortle's turn to jump out of the plane. Wartortle then gave Pikachu a thumb's up before allowing the Electric-type jump out of the plane. Pikachu then jumped out of the plane and let himself descend to the surface at a fast rate as adrenaline coursed through his body. A couple minutes into the dive, Pikachu then pulled his parachute and could hear a group of humans below laughing at him as his parachute had written on the bottom, "I'm a fan of the Electabuzz baseball team."

End of Flashback

'Why are you still mad at me for that, Bro?' Wartortle asked the glaring Pikachu. 'At least you didn't get the parachute that had 'I'm a homo' written underneath it.'

"Now are you ready to put aside foolishness and begin training for self-defense, Aura and with your sword?" Relena asked Ash as she offered her hand to the raven-haired trainer.

"Just one question," answered Ash. "Can I still do my gym battle against Koga before we start?"

"I'm not going to stop you from battling Koga," Relena answered as Ash got up off the ground. "But I will recommend that you at least get a head start on your training."

"So you're saying that you want my son to marry your daughter?" Delia asked Caroline as both mothers were speaking to each other after Caroline had left her number for Delia to call at an appropriate time.

"That's right," answered Caroline with a slight nod. "Our two children get along very well. And I think that they would make for a delightful couple."

"Might I inquire as to why you wish to arrange such a marriage between our children?" Delia asked the Graceful Mermaid of Team Trident as she was petting her sleeping shiny female Pikachu, Diana. "You know that the people of this age say that not many people do arranged marriages. Plus they'll even say that it's a thing of the past."

"True," replied Caroline with a thoughtful nod, "but you and I are survivors of that age. We survived the Blood Moon Purge and awoke in this age.

"Though I did hear from my daughter's Victini that Her Royal Highness of the Atlantica Islands is arranged to marry her boyfriend and co-champion, known as the Emerald Prince," continued Caroline.

"But that's in a different region," countered Delia as she knew that the Graceful Mermaid was known for skirting around issues that were sensitive to her. "Please Mineva, I'm asking you to be honest with me."

Caroline sighed as the mother of May and Max knew that Ash and Anna's mother was known for being a straightshooter in Team Trident. Plus not many people knew her birth name other than her two half-sisters, Delia and her father's Lucario general, Fenrir. Caroline tried to figure a way out of having to spill the truth, but knew she couldn't dance around the truth with her. The youngest child of the Abyss Emperor sighed again as she then said, "My mother was from a royal clan of mermaids. And the clan weren't the sterotypical kind of half-fish, half-human mermaids that kids these days think about. You remember the Ocean Queen, correct?"

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten about her," answered Delia as continued to pet Diana. "She ruled over the seas and had a close knit relationship with Emperor Odysseus.

"You're saying that you're the Ocean Queen's only daughter?" Delia asked Caroline before looking over her shoulder to make sure her husband wasn't listening in on them or his Ninetales.

"I am," answered Caroline with a slight nod. "And my clan has a… unique trait when it comes to women born in it."

"Go on," said Delia as she gave May's mother a slight nod.

"We… we're required to be married or become pregnant by the age of 14," began Caroline as she had to look over her shoulder and make sure her own husband wasn't listening to their conversation. "At or around that age, young women begin to exhibit signs of a genetic mutation. A mutation that causes us to become Primarina mermaids. If the young woman isn't married or conceived a child by that time, things become difficult for them conceive once they've undergone the genetic mutation."

"Have you undergone that genetic mutation yourself?" Delia asked Caroline with interest.

"Unfortunately no," Caroline answered as she shook her head. "Had I not been placed in that magic induced stasis for so long, I would've undergone the mutation. Father's magic hasn't fully worn off yet.

"But back to the matter at hand… I don't want to make my firstborn child conceive children before she's married," continued Caroline. "Plus my daughter's Victini mentioned that Her Royal Highness and the Emerald Prince had formed a bond and relationship before their parents made the arranged marriage between them. Their parents saw that they were happy with each other and went ahead arranging the marriage between the children."

"I see what you're saying," Delia replied with a thoughtful nod. "You figure since your firstborn daughter and my son are in a relationship with each other and they're happy together…"

"Yes," Caroline said with a nod. "Since they're happy together as boyfriend and girlfriend, we should arrange marriage between them. And arrange for them to be married when they are both 14."

"I take you want the wedding ceremony to take place in the Atlantica Islands, correct?" Delia asked Caroline.

"That's correct," Caroline answered before looking over her shoulder again as she thought she heard the door to her home open and then back to Delia. "With the underage marriage laws in the Atlantica Islands, I'll make sure things are covered. Give me your email address and I'll forward you a link pertaining to the marriage laws of the kingdom if you need a refresher."

"Thank you," Delia replied as she wrote down her personal email address that she had just set up after finding out her own husband's secret pertaining to the Crimson Fox and then showed it to her.

Caroline gave Delia a slight nod as she had a scratch piece of paper and a pen and wrote down Delia's email address. After writing down Delia's email address, Caroline gave Delia a nod acknowledging that she wrote it down. It was then that Delia turned her back to Caroline after hearing the door to her house open. With the arrangements complete, both mothers hung up and then went back to their daily routines before their husbands could find out.