DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON

Chapter 7: Aristro-Meowstics

While Ash and Serena were out on their own date for the night, Ash's female Meowstic and Serena's male Meowstic were enjoying a quiet date of their own.

They were having a rather simple date of stargazing. They were lying on their backs on the top of the mansion's roof. They were sharing a basket of mixed Pokepuffs, chocolates and poffins between them. Serena's Meowstic, who rather went by the name Oz, even brought a hairbrush so that he can brush his girlfriend's fur whenever she wanted him to. Ash's female Meowstic went by the name Lily.

"It sure is a wonderful night, Lily. Are you enjoying it so far on our little date?", asked Oz while he munched on a peppermint chocolate block.

"I am, sweetie. But I'm still wondering why you suggested stargazing for our date.", said Lily in wonder.

"You used to look at stars at all the time during some nights in our travelling days. I thought that since you liked stargazing so much, I though we could spend the night be each other's side stargazing.", said Oz, "Besides, you can make out countless constellations within the stars. And every constellation tells a story. So I thought we could use this time to explore our past down memory lane. From when we first met to our relationship today."

"Sounds amazing.", said Lily as she looked through the night in search for a memory.

She suddenly caught sight of four groups of tightly clustered stars. She looked at them closer and attempted to connect the faraway dots. They formed five familiar figures.

Herself by her master's side.

Her former master, Olympia, the Anistar City Gym Leader.

Ash as a trainer when he was still on his Kalos journey and had just defeated Olympia in a gym battle.

And her older brother, Token, who was a male Meowstic.

And the Meowstic who she fell in love in, Oz.

"Hey, Ozzie. Those three groups of stars look like you, me, Ash, Olympia and Token. Do you see them?", said Lily as she pointed out the groups to her boyfriend.

"I do, Lily. You must be thinking back to the day when you joined Ash on his journey as his pokemon.", said Oz.

"I am. I remember that day like it was yesterday. And I never forgot it since you helped save me from those Team Rocket bullies.", said Lily.

Ash's Gym Battle against Olympia, 6 years ago…

"Alright, Aegislash, use Shadow Claw on Slowking and finish this battle.", commanded Ash.

It was the fourth battle between Ash and the Anistar City Gym Leader, Olympia, with Ash's Psychic Badge on the line. It had been a fierce battle already. Ash had brought his Noibat and his newest members of the team, Phantump and Aegislash.

Olympia's first pokemon, her male Meowstic, Token, had been taken care of easily by Ash's Phantump. But Slowking had made quick work of both Phantump and Noibat by defeating them both. Now it was down to Slowking versus Aegislash and Aegislash was about to wrap it up with his sheer power.

Aegislash's fingers were suddenly cloaked in a dark purple aura and he charged at his weakened opponent, Slowking. Aegislash swiped his claws at Slowking's chest, causing him to fall back in pain on the battlefield. He as out of the game as he didn't move, had swirls in his eyes and made low moans.

"Slowking is unable to battle. Aegislash wins. Olympia, select your final pokemon.", shouted Olympia's referee.

"Return, Slowking. You have done well, so have a great rest.", said Olympia as she returned her downed Slowking and she took out her third pokeball, "Meowstic, it's your turn to shine."

Out of the pokeball came her female Meowstic, Lily. She took a battle stance as she faced her opponent. She then turned to the bleachers as she saw Serena's male Meowstic, Oz. She had developed a secret crush towards him when they met together the day earlier.

"Alright, battle begin.", shouted the referee.

"Aegislash, start off the battle with Night Slash.", said Ash.

A sword duplicate suddenly appeared in Aegislash's left hand and the blade glowed a dark purple and black. She swung it through the air just to test it and then, without warning, floated quickly to his opponent and slashed Meowstic across the chest, making her fall back and wince in pain. She managed to stand her ground however.

"Meowstic, try to stand your ground. Use Shadow Ball, back to back.", said Olympia.

Meowstic charged up a purple ball of ghost-type energy and fired it at Aegislash.

"Aegislash, use your shield to defend yourself.", said Ash.

Aegislash pulled his shield in front of him and blocked the Shadow Ball. It exploded on contact, throwing Aegislash back a little bit.

"No point in doing that, Ash!", called out Olympia, "The Shadow Balls will just keep on damaging Aegislash since the shield is a part of him and he is a ghost-type pokemon. You'd better have a good strategy for this or you're gonna lose!"

'Oh, man, she's right. Gotta get in close while evading or breaking through those Shadow Balls. But how?', thought Ash as he witnessed his pokemon getting hit by the continuing barrage of purple spheres.

He knew he had to come up with a plan quickly, or it will cost him both the battle as well as the gym badge. And he wasn't really the type who would want to retry on his seventh gym battle after getting so far on his journey.

His eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "Aegislash, dodge the next Shadow Ball and go in with an Aerial Ace. Do it while using Night Slash to cut up the Shadow Balls!"

As the next sphere homed in on him, Aegishlash suddenly shot upwards in the air, letting the attack hit the battlefield ground. He then rushed forward through the air and drew out his sword. The next purple sphere that came at him was quickly sliced in two, passing right past him.

And then the next one.

And then the next one.

Until he slammed right into Meowstic, making her fly backwards. But like all feline pokemon, except for maybe Team Rocket's Meowth, she gracefully landed on her feet.

"Meowstic, quickly use Dark Pulse!", said Olympia.

Despite being hit by the Aerial Ace, she still managed to stand up. She then launched a purplish-black beam with rings at Aegislash.

"Use King's Shield quickly, Aegislash.", said Ash.

Aegislash quickly pulled his shield in front of him and a wall of holographic hexagons appeared, raising his defence stats to the highest level possible. The Dark Pulse hit him hard, but despite the King's Shield being a high-powered move, Meowstic was no slouch because she was trained by a powerful psychic gym leader. The attack still did some major damage.

Both pokemon were already getting tired. Meowstic was panting while Aegislash was struggling to stay afloat.

"Time to finish this. Aegislash, Time to use your new move. Use Sacred Sword.", said Ash.

"Meowstic, lets finish him off with one move. Use Sucker Punch!", said Olympia.

Desperate to win, Meowstic's paw was coated in a black aura, sor of like a Shadow Punch. Aegislash created a glowing white blade in his hand. Both lunged forward at each other, wanting ot finish each other off.

But before they could get close to each other, the roof of the gym crashed open and a huge hole. The debris landed was falling out on the battlefield. Right above Aegislash and Meowstic in risk of getting creamed.

"Aegislash, get out of there now!", shouted Ash.

"Meowstic, you too!", said Olympia in shock.

Both pokemon ran and floated out of the way the debris, back to their trainers. This cement and metal smashed into the battlefield, cracking the foundations and breaking it apart.

In the stands, the spectators and their pokemon looked in shock.

"Ash!", cried out Serena.

"Lily!", cried out Oz.

"We're fine.", said Ash.

"What the-who is responsible for this!?", cried Olympia in anger.

"That would be us, Miss Fortune Teller.", said a female voice from above.

A giant Sigilyth Mecha flew into the gym, casting a shadow above everything. There was an unmistakable fuchsia 'R' on the robot, meaning that it can only be one group of pestering thugs.

"Team Rocket! What do you want!?", shouted Ash in anger.

"Why, we're here to steal your pokemon, twerp.", said Meowth's voice from the machine.

At that instant, three mechanical hands sprouted form the body of the mecha and extended down. They grabbed on Pikachu, Aegislash and Olympia's Meowstic. They got a tight grip and retracted back to the robot.

"Hey, give our pokemon back this instant!", screamed Ash.

"Not a chance, twerp. These pokemon are going straight to the boss. And we'll be rewarded greatly while you will be weeping your worthless hearts out.". shouted Jessie back with an evil cackle in her voice.

"You will never get away with this, you dumb jerks!", shouted Serena.

"We already have, twerpette.", said Meowth.

"And we'll be on our way now.", said James.

"Ta Ta.", said Jessie.

The mecha then floated upwards, deperate to make a quick escape, but Team Rocket soon found themselves stopped by a jerk.

"Hey! What gives, Meowth?", asked James.

"I dunno. Something is keeping us form going up. None of the controls are responding.", said Meowth as he repeatedly pressed buttons on the console, but nothing happened

"Guys, look at the twerpette's Meowstic. I think he's causing our delay.", said Jessie, pointing out of the window.

"Huh?", said the boys in confusion, looking out of the window.

Out on the stands, Oz's eyes were glowing a light blue with an angry look on his face. The same blue outlined the mecha, showing that he was using Psychic to hold it in place and preventing the thieves from escaping.

"I don't think so. You're not going anywhere with those pokemon especially Lily.", said Oz in a menacing tone.

Upon hearing this, Lily blushed with a red on her face. 'Whah? He's that concerned for my wellbeing? Did he notice my crush on him?'

"Oooh, sounds like someone has a crush!", taunted Meowth.

Tightly focusing his psychic powers, and with some extra anger from Meowth's taunting, Oz's Psychic began to place pressure on the metal hull of the robot. He started with the hands. The pressure of the attack began crushing the hands until they broke off from the robot, releasing the pokemon.

The captured pokemon landed safely on the ground. Oz immediately ran down to assist Lily. Ash went to inspect Aegislash and Pikachu for any injuries they may have sustained. Serena followed her pokemon down, but to check on Ash.

"Lily, are you all right? Are you hurt?", asked Oz with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, thank you, Oz. Thank you for saving my life.', replied Lily, "I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Lily.", replied Oz.

Olympia watched the scene between the two and smiled. 'Seems like my Lily has a thing for Serena's Meowstic. I'll deal with this later.'

"Ash, are you alright?", asked Serena.

"I'm fine.", said Ash in response.

"HEY! Give those pokemon back this instant! We stole them fair and square and we don't like it when people steal back from us!", shouted Meowth from inside the cockpit.

"Ash, Serena, what say we give them a good send-off back to where they came from?", said Olympia.

"You read my mind, Olympia.", said Ash.

"Yeah, lets do it.", said Serena.

Ash, Serena, Oz, Lily, Olympia, Aegislash and Pikachu turned to face the giant robot.

"Uh-oh!", cried the three rockets in panic at what was about to happen next.

"Pikachu, use your Thunder! Aegislash, use Shadow Ball!", said Ash.

"Meowstic, use Magical Leaf!", said Olympia.

"Meowstic, use Psybeam!", said Serena.

The four pokemon released their respective attacks, which soon merged and created one powerful blast of energy. It hit the mecha right on the cockpit, making the machine explode and metal flew everywhere. The three villains were sent flying into the sky.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!", shouted the three before they disappeared with a twinkle in the sky.

An hour later…

The gang and Olympia were just exiting the Pokemon Centre after healing their pokemon.

"Olympia, I'm sorry that Team Rocket attacked and damaged your gym. I should have known they would do some thing like this.", said Ash with shame in his voice.

"Do not blame yourself, young Ash. Even I didn't predict that would happen. And you did help me to stopping them, though. So I must thank you for that.", said Olympia with a smile.

"So when can we continue our gym battle? I still need the badge.", said Ash.

"Thee gym is damaged, so I can't hold any battles there for at least a month.", said Olympia, "So that means our battle is the rest of our battle is cancelled."

Ash looked down in disappointment. "Aww, does that mean I will have to wait a whole month to get my gym badge?"

"No. Here.", said Olympia as she held out the Psychic Badge, "I want to give you this as a token of your victory at my gym."

Ash looked at her, bewildered, "But… I can't take it. I didn't win the battle because it wasn't finished. It wouldn't be fair."

"Ash, although I didn't predict that Team Rocket would attack, I did predict that out of those simultaneous attack, Aegislash was going to pull through. So, in a way, you did win, defeating me.", chuckled Olympia, "So as a reward for defeating me at my gym, I hereby present to you the Psychic Badge."

Ash took that badge from Olympia's hand and looked at it. "Thanks, Olympia."

"Also, there is one other thing that I want to ask of you.", said Olympia.

"What's that?", asked Ash.

Lily then walked up to Ash's side and Olympia put her pokeballs in his hand. "I want you to take my female Meowstic with you on your journey. She may be my pokemon, but she could use a little sightseeing around the world. Besides, there is another reason she wants to go, but you'll have to find out for yourself if you want to know what it is."

"Huh? Really? No gym leader's ever given me a pokemon before.", said Ash with a surprised tone.

"Yes.", said Olympia with a smile.

Token then walked up to his sister and chatted for a little bit. The humans assumed that it was a farewell to each other and promises to see each other again and take care of themselves. Token even gave Oz a small pep talk to take care of his sister… or else.

After that, with a gym badge and a new pokemon, Ash and Serena, along with Pikachu and their Meowstics left for Serena's next Pokemon Showcase and Ash's next Gym Battle.

And for Lily, her new life with Oz would begin.

Flashback End

"Good memory, huh?", asked Oz.

"Yeah, good times. I still miss my brother though, even though it has been a year since I last visited him in Anistar City.", said Lily.

"Don't worry. We'll see him again. I'm sure he'll be happy to see us.", said Oz.

For a little while longer, they did a little more stargazing. From several other constellations, they were reminded of other past stories. But a new one came up that would be a sign for the future.

"Oz, I see a new constellation. It looks like an Espurr.", said Lily, pointing out into the night sky to her constellation.

Oz looked at the pointed direction and nodded. "Yeah, I see it too. Reminds me of a story when I was a little-"

"Oz was soon cut off by Lily, who was giggling. "No, Ozzie. That constellation got me thinking of something."

"A story of yours?", asked Oz.

"No, Oz. When are we… gonna have kids, hm?", asked Lily in a seductive tone, "It would be great to have a son or a daughter."

Oz was blushing hard. He almost fainted from surprise at the mentioning of parenthood. He just kissed her on the cheek.

"We still gotta get an all clear from your brother. I don't wanna do it without his permission. He'll kill me.", said Oz, sweating hard, "B-b-but, I'm sure that time won't be too far away. Maybe after the next visit."

"Better be. I don't want to get too old.", said Lily in a playful tone.

And for the rest of the night, they fed each other sweets and soon fell asleep in each other's arms.

And that's another chapter. Sorry for not updating this story, since I've been busy with the other stories. But I'm also currently working on the next Released and Replaced chapter.

Until then, and the next chapter, Delta out.