A/N. Ok, so before everybody suddenly freaks out about the disappearance of several chapters, don't. That was entirely on purpose, since instead of starting a whole new fic and keeping the old one around for a few days, I decided I'd just delete ALL the chapters save for the author's note and the prologue which will be changed so you might want to reread that …

Umm… I'll be using Video Game Red instead of Manga Red, just because I think it'd be interesting.

Summary: Ashlyn Ketchum is only eleven years old when she disappears without a trace in the Kalos Region, falling afoul when Team Rocket decides that she's gotten in the way of their plans one too many times. In her place rises Lamia, a powerful pokémon created by the scientists of Team Rocket in order to further their leader's dreams of world domination. Hostile and distrustful, Lamia waits for the day when she can escape from the humans around her, but when a group of strange trainers break into a Team Rocket hideout and she is sent to deal with them, will she take the chance to escape, and when that fails, can a strange boy with silver eyes win help her find herself again?

Warning! Fem!Ash fanfic ahead!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Episode 0: The Beginning!

Let mistake be made, Giovanni was a fearsome man, Team Rocket was a fearsome existence. He'd only ever truly failed once in his life, when he'd gotten overconfident in himself and his skills, undefeated as he had been, and was crushed by a then eleven year old boy. Defeated, trumped, annihilated, by what was nothing more than a child just starting out on his journey, still grasping at straws. But the boy was a genius, talented when it came to pokémon and battling. He'd even been able to tame Mewtwo, a pokémon he'd been fairly certain was completely out of anybody's control.

But the boy that had so soundly trounced him before had disappeared without a trace. Hiding himself away on some hazardous mountain that only a fool would dare attempt, most likely more than dead now and buried under heaps of snow. It would've been so utterly easy to re-found his mother's work, rebuild Team Rocket from scratch and finally conquer the world. He could've had everything he wanted in just a scarce few months, should've had everything in the palm of his hand for him to manipulate and control as he chose. The world should've been his.

But then the girl had appeared.

Just like the boy, she was nothing more than a child, a year younger than the boy himself at the time of her appearance. At first it'd been nothing more than mild rumors and subdued mumblings. One of the more bumbling idiots of his organization mucking up rather simple plans, and it had been the same group each and every time.

She had not been the complete and utter genius the boy had been when he was still around, but the girl hadn't needed the talent the boy possessed, when sheer instinct had more than made up for whatever she might've lacked. Where the red-eyed boy tamed Mewtwo, she befriended and abated the foul pokémon's anger. Where the boy might've captured a legendary, she won its trust and convinced it to fight at her side without the use of a pokéball. She was an anomaly, one that, maybe if he had bothered to nip it at the bud before it truly started to bloom, would've made for far less problems. If he'd even just taken her when she was younger, more impressionable, he could've made use of her strange abilities.

But it was not too late to have the child for him, of that much Giovanni knew. Oh she wouldn't work for him willingly of course, but he'd break her soon enough, and she'd become the stepping stone he needed to fulfill the latest of his plans.

After all, Mewtwo might not have been a complete success, but who was to say that that utter failure would repeat itself once again? And if the girl died during the experiment then so be it, one less nuisance to get in his way.

"How soon can the experiments begin?" Giovanni asked, eyes turning to face the jittery scientist all but fumbling several steps behind him. It was clear the man was nervous, and if Giovanni had been anybody else, he would've laughed at the clear cowardice the man showed at being in his presence.

"A-As s-s-soon as y-y-you are r-r-r-ready, s-s-s-sir!" He sputtered out, response sounding like a six lane pile up in his throat as he all but gagged himself. If he hadn't been in such a good mood, Giovanni might've ordered the man's death for the sheer amount of time it had taken the fool to respond. He had no need for idiots who could not answer a simple question immediately when asked. But he was feeling particularly generous after such a success.

"It is truly a shame then," Giovanni began, gaze drifting back towards the prize that lay before him, "That you cannot be awake for this, Ashlyn Ketchum." He spit the name out as if it were something completely and totally disgusting, a vicious sneer on his face as the child groaned, seemingly in response to the voice speaking to her. It made no difference though, she was out like a light and wouldn't wake until long after the experiments were over.

If she woke at all.

Giovanni turned away then, leather dress shoes snapping sharply against the tiled flooring beneath his feet, two grunts saluting as they parted from the door to let their precious leader through before following him out. He paused for a brief moment in the door way, serious gaze turning to face the fumbling oaf that supposedly made for a genius in genetic manipulation as he ordered, "Begin the experiments now!"

The scientist rushed to salute the man in agreement, somehow managing to knock his glasses to the floor before all but tripping over himself to reclaim the lost item.

"Let the nightmare, begin…"

A/N. So what do you guys think of the new prologue? Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading!