Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Life. The great miracle... and  the great mystery.

"Since the beginning, humans and Pokémon alike have searched for its meaning. Many strange and wondrous legends evolved from the pursuit of life's mysteries. But none is more wondrous and awe-inspiring than the tale of the greatest battle of all: the battle...for the  world ."

The XYZ Ruins
KALOS REGION

Groundbreaking.

Unprecedented.

Historic.

Those words, and a great number of others, described Professor Augustine Sycamore's thoughts on the discovery of the ancient temple with the stone statue of the maiden Aila, or the XYZ Ruins, as he heard the workers throw around. Sure, he was never particularly fascinated with history, but ever since the Team Flare crisis and the timely intervention of the Order Pokémon Zygarde, he knew he'd found a new niche of scientific research. Thus, when Sycamore heard about the discovery of the XYZ Ruins, and its connection to the famed tale of Aila, Sycamore knew he had to come there to see it for himself. After all, the tale was one of very few existing records left proving Zygarde's existence, along with the other Legendary Pokémon Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Can you please show me the rest of the ruins?"

"Yeah, sure! I'll introduce you to the research team!"

"Thanks very much. I'm so glad I came here!"

At the moment, the Pokémon Professor was following his companions, the reporter Alexa and her trusty Helioptile, out of the cavern containing Aila's statue. Once the two got out, they were greeted with the now-familiar sights and sounds of construction workers excavating the ruins, as well as historians examining them in full detail. Sycamore followed Alexa to the center of the ruins, where he saw a group of men.

"Dr. Bouchard!" Alexa called, prompting the men to turn around and see her and Sycamore approaching.

"Ah, Alexa!" replied one of the men happily. He stepped forward and animatedly shook her hand, and Sycamore took this opportunity to examine him in fuller detail.

Bouchard was a surprisingly young man for a researcher, and he certainly did not look like one, what with all the jungle-style clothing he was wearing. The only thing that betrayed his youth was his so-called "bad arm", an atrophied left arm that dangled uselessly by his side, perpetually wrapped in bandages.

"Thank you so much for coming!" Bouchard continued. "If there's anyone I would like reporting on this newest and most historic discovery, it's you."

"Ohhh, you flatter me, Doctor, you really do," replied Alexa. She then gestured to Sycamore. "Professor, this is Dr. Regan Bouchard, the historian in charge of this expedition. He has already explored every nook and cranny of these ruins, so if there's anyone who will be showing you around, it'll be him. Dr. Bouchard, this is Professor Augustine Sycamore, but I'm sure you already knew that?"

"I-Indeed I do." Bouchard took Sycamore's hand and shook it with such a joyous, juvenile excitement that reminded the Professor of a certain raven-haired Trainer with a Pikachu. "Ohhhh, wow. It's such an honor to finally meet you in person, Professor. Your research on the phenomenon of Mega Evolution is so awe-inspiring to me, like..." He was at a momentary loss for words, and his eyelid twitched animatedly. "You have no idea!"

"Th-Thank you," Sycamore replied, a little overwhelmed by Bouchard's giddiness over this entire prospect.

"And I'm sure you'll have something just as fascinating to learn from these ruins, am I right?"

"Y-Yes." Sycamore, still overwhelmed, released Bouchard's hand, cleared his throat, and straightened out the collar of his shirt. "Th-The cavern containing the statue of Aila, the Stone-Eyed Maiden, will provide me with much information on the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde."

"Zygarde?" a voice asked. Sycamore and Bouchard looked at the speaker, a sharp-eyed, middle-aged man with a balding head of white hair and a pointed goatee. "You mean those green Pokémon that nearly destroyed Lumiose City?"

Sycamore blinked in surprise. "Yes...wh-while under the influence of Team Flare, I might add..."

"Uh, that's Alastair, Dr. Bouchard's assistant," Alexa quickly clarified.

"Oh. Uh, yes, nice to meet you..." After briefly thinking about how Bouchard and Alastair should switch roles, given their respective ages, Sycamore glanced towards the cavern from which he and Alexa came. "Zygarde's involvement in these recent events has left me interested in the natural cycle of life and destruction. If we could learn more about this cycle, and the awesome but dangerous powers that drive it, then we could perhaps find an answer behind the secret of Mega Evolution. And possibly, we could be closer to understanding the world of Pokémon than ever before."

"Sounds truly fascinating..." replied Bouchard.

"Indeed." Sycamore looked back at Bouchard. "So, what's the excavation plan?"

"There will be none," another voice suddenly said, cutting Bouchard off.

Everyone looked across their shoulder and saw another group of people approaching them, drawing the curious eyes of the workers as they went. They were all well-dressed and formal, with no expressions of excitement or intrigue from any of them. The man in the lead, a particularly sharply-dressed man with well-groomed black hair (with a tuft of white hair) and gray eyes, stopped a couple of feet away from Sycamore's group. The others followed suit split-seconds later, with such disciplined professionalism that would remind one of a boot camp.

"Um, I beg your pardon?" Bouchard asked in surprise.

"Oh, you heard me correctly, Doctor," replied the man in the lead of the group. "As the official owner of this site, I hereby give you all two hours to vacate the premises with all of your equipment, and repair any damages you might've made to the site. Should you fail to follow these instructions, I will have any and all offenders arrested for trespassing."

The workers began murmuring to each other in puzzlement. However, Bouchard and Alastair were left utterly bewildered, and so were Sycamore and Alexa.

"Since when did you become owner of this area?!" exclaimed Sycamore.

"As of approximately...twelve hours ago, if this watch is not mistaken," the man coldly replied, having checked his watch for clarification.

"Really?" Alexa spat. "I don't see your name anywhere on these ruins."

"Of course not. Do not take me for a fool. But you see, the satellite responsible for discovering these so-called XYZ Ruins in the first place is owned by my employer, the Ace Agency."

"The Ace Agency?" asked Bouchard incredulously. "Y-You mean that multimedia company that absorbed Kodai Industries some years back after that Crown City scandal? The one that now has control over all of entertainment media? The Ace Agency?!"

"Yes, sir. The Ace Agency." The man pulled out a card and gave it to the historian. "The name's Bernard West. I represent the agency, as you can tell."

"Now what the hell does the Ace Agency hope to gain from purchasing a newly-discovered site of ancient history?" Alexa asked angrily. "And without letting anyone learn anything from it?"

"You see, the Agency has put in a...big investment in real estate, and I'm in charge of that department." Bernard looked around, his eyes examining the ruins with the same smug smirk, which indicated his blatantly fake interest. "It's always been the Agency's Presidents' dream to build a nice luxury resort, as a nice little gift for our Agency's clients. They were hoping to build it here, since the plan was to theme it after ancient Kalosian history. After seeing those satellite images, I figured this place would fit the bill-"

"A resort?!" Alexa's eyes were as wide as Poké Balls. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Bernard glared at Alexa. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Damn right I have a problem with that!"

Bernard smirked. "You know, my dear Alexa, Lumiose Press is covered under the Agency's Kalos division. And I have the Presidents on speed-dial. All I have to do is take out my cellphone and-"

"Are you threatening to fire me?" Alexa scoffed mockingly. "Now that I know I'm practically working for you, I quit!"

Bernard lowered his hand. "Well, actually..." he replied, his gray eye glinting lecherously, "I was hoping I could keep you on. Reporting aside, I'm sure you have other assets that I'd find quite admirable."

His pupils briefly flitted to her chest, an act that did not go unnoticed to anyone. Helioptile furiously growled at Bernard, its body generating small volts of electricity in warning. As for Sycamore, he pursed his lips and took a step forward.

"These ruins are a piece of ancient history," he said in warning, "ancient history that mankind has yet to tap into. I don't care how you plan on designing your so-called resort; I'm sure that whatever you do will damage something to the point where the knowledge it contains is no longer salvageable. Everything here is a precious window, one that we could look into to deepen our understanding of the past!"

"Not to mention the possible dangers the construction could pose to any Pokémon living here or nearby!" added Alexa.

"No, everything here is a commodity," replied Bernard. "And we have every intent to renovate this desolate piece of land into a profitable resort." He then gave the two a nasty sneer. "As for the wild, uncivilized Pokémon, all I have for them is one word: move." The business representative pointed an index finger at the researchers, plus the journalist. "And move you shall, Professor, Alexa, Doctor, unless any of you wish to get your asses thrown into jail!"

Sycamore's eyes narrowed into slits. "You...You can't do this."

"I can, and I will. As the people who legally found this place, the Agency is invoking its right of ownership over it. And as long as the Presidents and I have a say in it, there's nothing that your precious scientific community, or your Poké-crazy environmentalists, can do. Sorry, Professor, but you will have to take your precious research elsewhere."

"How in Arceus's name am I going to take my research elsewhere if I can't even take anything out of here?"

Before Bernard could give a snappy retort, the whole ruins were abruptly bathed in a brilliant bluish light. Shielding most of their eyes, Sycamore and Alexa looked towards the cavern where Aila's statue was, and realized the light was coming from inside it. It grew brighter and brighter, threatening to envelop the entire ruins site...

Team Rocket HQ
KANTO REGION

– Two years later –

Giovanni stood by the large window in his personal office, his lips curled into a satisfied smile. He was looking down upon a training ground full of people clad in all-black skintight uniforms, his ever-faithful grunts, as they trained a multitude of Pokémon species to their limit.

A male grunt was forcing a Graveler to carry a series of objects that got heavier as it went along. A female grunt barked at and whipped a pack of Houndoom as they dragged her across the grounds on a sled, which also carried several crates. A pair of grunts were punishing an exhausted and overexerted Steelix by strapping it to an enormous heat-press device. A few veteran grunts were observing the proceedings from the ground level, making sure to step in with their jaded and feral Pokémon whenever a captive got out of hand.

These were just a few out of the many examples of horrendous cruelty the grunts inflicted upon the Pokémon the grunts had in their custody. And yet, not a single grunt shed a tear or a bead of sweat at their actions, with some even relishing in the horror these Pokémon felt and were continuing to feel from their unspeakable torture.

But despite the complete callousness, and lack of care and compassion the grunts showed to them, none of the Pokémon were spurned into standing up for themselves and their brethren. In fact, the harsh, inhumane training methods showed some results. The more the Pokémon were pushed to their limit, unreasonably so, the more efficiency they demonstrated as the hours went by. Of course, some Pokémon showed less promise than others, if any, and the lack of results was only rewarded with more cruelty and sadism from the grunts.

In spite of the mixed to positive results that he was seeing before him, Giovanni continued to smile with pride. He had no concern about the individual results, only the progress of the group as a whole. As long as many of the Pokémon entered these training grounds as a wad of putty and left as a sculpture of stainless steel, it was all worth it. So what if there was a loose cog in the well-oiled machine? All loose cogs were to be removed and replaced with working ones, as it should be if one expected continuing efficiency.

Just then, Giovanni's musings were interrupted by something slowly nuzzling against his leg, followed by a soft purr. He looked down and saw a Persian slinking across his legs, rubbing its side against them and continuing to purr expectantly. He smiled and patted the Classy Cat Pokémon on the top of its ruby-adorned head, all the while remembering how it had once endured that same training regiment so many years ago, back when it was a mere Meowth with little power to its name, and how it had performed exceptionally once it developed the motivation. Now, it was one of the powerhouses of his team, his second-most reliable Pokémon.

At that moment, Giovanni overheard a single beep of an alarm. Prying his gaze away from Persian, the executive glanced at his desktop intercom, which was urgently flashing a small, bright-red light.

Giovanni pressed the button underneath the blinking light. "Yes, Matori?"

"Your guests have arrived, Giovanni sir," the voice of his secretary replied from the other end. "They're waiting in Conference Room B."

Giovanni's smile subtly became more pronounced. "Excellent. Keep them...entertained for the moment. I will collect the Executives and be there in about..." He checked his golden wristwatch. "Five minutes."

"Understood, sir."

Giovanni promptly lifted his finger from the button, thus ending the call. As he watched the blinking red light quickly fade away into oblivion, his lips began to grow from a simple sneer of satisfaction into a wide grin of malevolent enthusiasm. Then, the well-dressed businessman composed himself, softly clearing his throat and straightening out his blood-red tie. Once he was sure he looked presentable, he walked out of the office, his Persian loyally following by his side. As the two were about to depart, a thick sheet of metal automatically began to envelop the window, slowly shrouding the office, as well as its owner, into darkness.

As the darkness began to consume him, Giovanni's smile had reached its completion. After so long, his ultimate plan had finally been set into motion.

The burlap sack lifted away from Saturn's face like a veil, exposing him to a blast of fresh, bright light. The former Team Galactic Commander winced, feeling as if his eyes were being subjected to some sort of heat press. Then, as soon as his eyesight adjusted to the amount of light in the room, the blue-haired man looked down at his wrists, which were being restrained by steel shackles in the armrests of his chair. He tried to move, but he found that his shins were restrained by similar shackles as well.

Next, he looked around and noticed he was seated by a rectangular table of polished, mahogany-brown wood. The room keeping him captive looked no different from any other conference room he had been inside in the past, having not much inside besides the high-tech projector, the occasional potted plant, and the heavily-tinted window at the other end.

But what struck him the most about his bizarre predicament was the fact that he wasn't the only captive. Seated by the table with him were four other people.

Two of them wore official prison jumpsuits just like he did, but of different colors. The one wearing green was a man with pale skin, red eyes, and grayish-green hair. The one wearing orange was a rotund man with skin even paler than the first man, along with a balding head sporting fire-red hair at the sides and the middle of the scalp, and orange eyes.

The other two were a man and a woman wearing stylized uniforms, which, to Saturn, brought back memories of his own Team Galactic uniform. The man was so large and muscular that he needed a larger chair with more shackles compared to the others; he also had highly tanned skin, dark-brown hair, and clear-blue eyes; plus, he wore a navy-blue wet-suit that seemed to have been too big for him, for the entire upper half had been torn off, leaving him in improvised leggings and gloves. As for the woman, she had orchid-pink hair and lifeless pink eyes; and she wore a horned, hooded waistcoat; a red turtleneck dress; and gloves, all in varying shades of red.

Even though Saturn didn't know any of these people, one thing was for sure: none of them asked to be here.

"What in Arceus's name is this?!" he asked in an angry snarl.

"Wh...Where am I...?" slurred the large, muscular man, having apparently regained consciousness. He tried to move, but his shackles prevented him from doing so. "Wha-What the hell are these?! L-Lemme go!" With that, he began struggling, his fervor becoming intense and aggressive. "Lemme go NOW!"

"Struggling like that will not be of any use, Matt," the orchid-haired woman commented in a droning, robotic voice. "You must stop and think rationally. But of course, you're incapable of any rational thought."

The woman's tone didn't change, even by a single beat, but Saturn could tell she meant to insult her apparent comrade, and Matt did as well, for his eyes had become wide and feral.

"THE HELL DIDJA SAY TO ME, BITCH?!"

"Fu fu fu," the woman droned in response, her face still slack.

"Everyone, cease your quarreling!" cried the rotund, orange-haired man. "I understand the five of us are in an unknown predicament, but the dire nature of our current circumstances clearly indicates that we must-!"

"CAN IT, NERD!" Matt spat, startling the speaker. "I'VE GOT NO TIME FOR YOUR MUMBO-JUMBO! WHAT I DO HAVE TIME FOR, THOUGH, IS GETTING OUTTA THIS ARCEUS-DAMN CHAIR AND KICKING SOME ARCEUS-DAMN ASS!"

"The lady is right," Saturn replied. He spoke calmly, even though Matt's loud outbursts were agitating the headache that was beginning to creep into his head. "If each of us are to escape from our bonds with our lives, then we five must work as a collective group to assess the situation, determine the most favorable outcome based on the variables we have, and act out our individual roles to ensure said outcome comes to fruition." He scanned the entire table. "Teamwork is the key if we are to survive."

The orange-haired man beamed at Saturn, while the woman slowly inched her gaze towards him, the subtle glint in her eyes indicating her acknowledgment of, and agreement with the former Commander. However, the green-haired man did not respond, his expression ambiguous as his eyes surveyed each of his fellow captives. As for Matt, Saturn's words only served to enrage him even further, but before he could make an outburst-

"Yes..." a voice hissed. "Teamwork."

Another man suddenly stepped out of the shadows shrouding a corner of the room, causing all five captives to straighten up in their chairs with alert. The man had neatly-combed brown hair, dark eyes, and a malefic grin; and he was wearing a black suit with a tie as red as blood. Flanking him was a Persian, the ruby on its forehead glinting from the light. A soft yet ominous purr filled the air around it, causing Saturn's skin to crawl.

"Teamwork is the key..." the man repeated dramatically, "if we are to survive. Truly, those are words to live by...and die by." He scanned the entire oblong table, ignoring the aggressive and distrustful looks that he got from his five captives. "Greetings, gentlemen, ma'am. My name is Giovanni, and I am the leader of the organization known as Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?" Matt snarled, his eyes widening with incredulity. "You mean those backwater, trouble-making thugs from Kanto?! You are the one keeping me, Matt of Team Aqua, captive?! HA! Then that means escaping should be a piece of-"

"I wouldn't underestimate the name Team Rocket," Saturn warned, his voice low while he kept his eyes transfixed on the Team Rocket leader. "My organization has had...shall we say, dealings with his. The agents I dealt with may have been a ragtag group of nincompoops, but they played an...instrumental role in my organization's defeat."

Giovanni smirked and bowed his head. "I humbly thank you for the acknowledgment. In fact, the two agents you just so endearingly called 'nincompoops', Saturn, are responsible for the unceremonious defeats of all your organizations."

Saturn observed the others at the table shifting uncomfortably in their seats...that is, with the exception of Matt.

"TAUROS-SHIT!" he roared. "TEAM AQUA SUBMITS TO NO ONE! ESPECIALLY NOT TO A BUNCH OF BACKWATER THUGS WHO DON'T KNOW THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD! I'LL SHOW YOU!"

He prepared to break free from his bonds, but all of a sudden, a wave of electricity swept through his massive, muscular body, electrocuting him.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

Saturn and the others watched in horror as the bright-blue electricity crackled and sputtered for a quick moment before it stopped flowing. Matt's body immediately went limp, a groan and the occasional twitch indicating he was still alive. At that moment, four more people, three men and a woman, stepped out from the shadowy corners of the room.

One of the men had a dashing, confident demeanor that almost exuded flamboyance. He wore grayish-white gloves and boots with single scarlet stripes at the tops. He also wore a black flat cap and a similarly black uniform with small yellow stripes at the tops of the collar and pants, along with a stylized 'R' logo over his heart. The shirt was slightly unzipped at the collar, which showed off a conservative portion of his upper chest, including his collarbones. His teal hair shone like it had been applied with a designer shampoo, but his teal eyes gleamed with some sort of hunger that chilled Saturn to the very bone. In fact, he was carrying a remote with a single red button, which Saturn assumed was the device responsible for Matt's electrocution.

The second man had a mischievous-looking expression that seemed to relish with delight in the confusion of Saturn and the other captives. Like the first man, he wore grayish-white gloves and boots with single scarlet stripes at the tops, as well as a black uniform with a stylized 'R' logo at the dead-center and small yellow stripes running down the torso. Lanky and thin, unlike the teal-haired man, he walked with a soft lumber, his arms dangling uselessly. However, his expression showed anything but a lack of vigor, and his purple eyes observed the captives while he ran a hand across his purple hair to straight it out.

The lone female of the quartet had her head slightly lifted and her chin jutting outward somewhat, making her appear as if she was looking down condescendingly upon the captives. She wore a white, long-sleeved dress that reached her shins but was cut to expose her healthy legs; it boasted a black, stylized 'R' logo over her heart like it was a badge or coat of arms. She also wore equally white boots and what looked like a black bodysuit underneath. Finally, she wore long, gold, triangular earrings that contrasted with her blood-red hair and eyes. Her eyes shone with an unquenchable ambition, an ambition that Saturn remembered all too well.

Finally, the last of the newcomers, much older than the others, regarded the captives with devious brown eyes, peering at them behind a pair of small, circular, wine-red glasses. His black lab-coat swished around like a curtain in the breeze. Saturn quickly sat upright, astounded at the sight of this arrival, for he thought he had seen the last of him years ago.

"Charon?" he thought.

Charon gave him a crafty stare, his eyes twinkling with triumph. He and the three other arrivals occupied a corner of the conference room, bringing the chances of a successful escape on the part of the captives down to zero.

"Please, gentlemen, ma'am," Giovanni said, once all four of his compatriots had stepped out into the light, "I understand that none of you were taken to Team Rocket's humble domain on your own terms. However, let it be known that despite your current circumstances, I have a proposition for all five of you that I think you'll find...preferable when you compare it to the inhumane conditions of your former prisons, or the embarrassments brought from being underground grassroots movements."

The rotund, orange-haired man immediately straightened himself up in his chair. "I'm listening..." he said, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.

Indeed, Giovanni sensed the anticipation coming from this captive. With that, he scanned all four men and the woman in his custody.

"Matt, leader of the new Team Aqua..." he began.

Matt groaned as he recovered from his electrocution-induced stupor. He no longer resisted verbally or physically, having been evidently humbled by the punishment.

"Courtney, leader of the new Team Magma..."

The orchid-haired woman blinked idly, her body barely budging a centimeter.

"Saturn, former Commander of Team Galactic..."

Saturn blinked slowly and narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Ghetsis, leader of Team Plasma..."

The pale, green-haired man pursed his lips.

"And Xerosic, former head scientist of Team Flare..."

The rotund, orange-haired man stared on at Giovanni, rapt with attention.

With his Persian remaining in a patient, seated position, Giovanni began circling around the oblong table, slowly, passing Xerosic first. "Each of you are or were the highest-ranking living officers of your organizations. With the sole exception of Ghetsis, the founders and leaders of your organizations, the ones who spearheaded your causes, are either reformed-"

Matt gritted his teeth, while a certain light in Courtney's eyes faded.

"-Or dead."

Xerosic looked down at his lap somberly, while Saturn looked at the mahogany-brown wood in front of him, spacing out. He could barely register the shadow of Giovanni slowly passing over him, looming above him.

"Either way, there is little hope to be had of your goals and ambitions succeeding on their own nowadays. The Pokémon Leagues of your home regions, the Pokémon Rangers, the G-Men, the International Police, the local police departments, they all know your strategies and tactics like the back of their hands. Your defeats have left you incapacitated in terms of manpower and economics. The ideas that your organizations have worked so hard to spread have now joined the annals of the world's laughingstocks."

"Striving for a beautiful, pure world is not something that should be derided and mocked!" Xerosic protested angrily.

"Precisely," Giovanni replied calmly, just as he began to pass Ghetsis. "Ideals like those shouldn't be trifled with. They're nothing more than simple truths, an undeniable reality that the world has willingly blinded itself to so it can proceed with its ridiculous future. A bright, prosperous future of freedom and coexistence." He scoffed. "But intelligent people such as ourselves know better. This world no longer has any room for either freedom or coexistence. And that is exactly why we at Team Rocket have decided to bring you five here."

By that point, Giovanni had walked away from Ghetsis's proximity and was approaching Matt. "The goals and methods of Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare may differ from those of Team Rocket, but recently, I have recognized a single commonality: the will to enact forcible, large-scale change for the benefit of the planet, no matter the cost."

With that, Giovanni patted Matt's shoulder as he passed by. "Team Aqua, you wish to protect Pokémon from the dangers of humanity and its progress by expanding the world's oceans."

He approached Courtney, who was grimacing bitterly at the description. "Team Magma, you are at odds with Team Aqua because you wish to do the exact opposite: expand the world's landmasses to ensure the unobstructed continuation of humanity's progress."

Giovanni returned to the front of the conference room, where he patted his Persian's head thrice as a reward for waiting patiently. Then, he glanced at Saturn. "Team Galactic, you wish to rewrite all of reality so as to remove all emotion and end all conflict."

Then, he focused on Ghetsis. "Team Plasma, you wish to separate humans and Pokémon in order to rule all of Unova."

Ghetsis's lips became even more pursed with ambiguity, confirming Giovanni's point. But the executive ignored it and set his sights on Xerosic.

"And Team Flare," Giovanni said, "you wish to destroy the natural world so it could start anew, with your members as the forerunners of the new human civilization."

"Yes, yes, that's correct," Xerosic replied giddily. "Corruption, selfishness, and greed are the tenets of this world, but we at Team Flare intend to eradicate them, burn them away to the very core, and usher in a new era of true prosperity that respects both nature and mankind! Yes, yes, that is correct..."

Giovanni smiled sympathetically. "But you can no longer accomplish that on your own."

Upon hearing this, Xerosic gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "It's so unfair... My leader, the visionary Lysandre... He anticipated there being a resistance to change, t-to true change, but he thought Team Flare could endure it...and now..." His fists were quaking at this point. "Now..."

Giovanni smiled and approached Xerosic. As he did, Saturn could feel the ominous aura being exuded from his so-called benefactor. It was hypnotic and overwhelming, an ingredient provoking a hunger for power, much like an aphrodisiac.

But unlike Saturn, Xerosic never seemed to notice its presence. Instead, he calmed down once Giovanni placed a hand of consolation upon his shoulder.

"You are in pain, Xerosic," the executive said. "Pain and grief from the loss of your leader." He blinked. "Loss... It is truly an unbearable pain to endure. Especially when it concerns the ideals you cherished and held dear." Then, he scanned the other captives in the room. "I know what it's like to lose as well. Loss can be overwhelming, debilitating. You could feel it eating away at your soul.

"But loss is not an excuse to submit to those who defeated you and declared your ideals to be without meaning. Instead, it is merely the next step of your journey towards salvation. It evaluates your commitment towards your ideals, reaffirms your concerns for the state of the world, hardens your resolve into iron. After all, without the pain of loss, of invalidation, you cannot claim to know the meaning of victory."

"My apologies for the interruption," Courtney droned, "but what does this pep talk about loss and victory have to do with your organization kidnapping us and bringing us here?"

Giovanni's smile grew wide. "Oh, my dear Courtney, it has everything to do with this meeting. Our organizations have all felt the pain of loss. And yet, why is it that none of us have submitted to the expectations of the powers-that-be...? After all, you all have been listening to me from the moment I opened my mouth, with minimal resistance and maximal open-mindedness. That tells me you and your organizations are ready and willing to take the next step.

"None of you just have the resources to take the initiative. And since Team Rocket is the only one with such resources, it is only fair that we did the humanitarian thing and provide our fellow brethren with the assistance they need. Hence what I first said about teamwork. Archer, please, if you would do the honors?"

The redheaded woman nodded, her head bobbing almost eagerly. Then, she raised a remote of her own and pressed the single green button on it. Saturn and the others watched as a large, black screen lowered itself behind Giovanni and his Persian, whereupon the projector self-activated and proudly displayed the image of a stylized S-shaped logo, along with the following typewritten caption underneath.

"The Syndicate?" read Matt.

"The Syndicate," Giovanni replied with a wide sneer. "An alliance between the six most dangerous organizations in recent memory: Team Rocket of Kanto and Johto, Teams Aqua and Magma of Hoenn, Team Galactic of Sinnoh, Team Plasma of Unova, and Team Flare of Kalos! Our new organization will boast a diverse pool of resources provided by each and every one of us, including..."

Archer began pressing the button repeatedly at his boss's cue, initiating a slideshow.

"Technology!"

The screen displayed concept artwork of futuristic weapons, devices, and vehicles.

"Manpower!"

The next image was artwork of a massive army that occupied the space of a small valley.

"Firepower!"

The next images were photos of Team Rocket Grunts brutally training Pokémon of various species.

"Underworld contacts!"

The next slide was a stock image of a man passing money to another man in a dark alleyway while receiving a suitcase.

"And finally, troves of geographical and mythological research!"

To the complete shock of Saturn and the other captives, the next images were official police photos of their own research notes on certain Legendary Pokémon, believed to have been long lost.

"Where the hell did you get those?!" Matt snapped, outraged.

"Team Rocket has contacts lying patiently in wait everywhere," Giovanni replied cryptically. "And with your own contacts at our disposal, we will be unstoppable together! Even the best living Pokémon Trainers in the world will pale before our might!"

Courtney and Xerosic pondered over Giovanni's words, while Saturn and Matt looked doubtful, and Ghetsis's expression remained neutral and ambiguous. Sensing the mixed reactions that he was getting from his captives, Giovanni returned to the front of the conference room.

"Remember Saturn's words, gentlemen, ma'am," he said while holding out his arms in a dramatic pose. "Teamwork is the key if we are to survive. Indeed it is, and Team Rocket is gladly and willingly giving you all the avenue your organizations and your ideals desperately need."

He then lowered his arms. "Now then, I understand that our respective visions for the future may...differ in key aspects. But, rest assured, should you all choose to accept our proposal, then negotiations on the balkanization of our power will begin immediately after. But..." His smile faded away. "Should you choose not to accept, it is understandable. People only become ready for the next step at their own pace. We'll just bring you back to where we found you, either underground and starving for more recruits and resources-"

He glanced at Matt and Courtney.

"Or lounging around in prison cells, awaiting your next opportunity while the clock-hands turn."

He focused on Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic. Then, his lips broke into another smile.

"So, what is it going to be, gentlemen, ma'am?! An alliance with my organization and another shot at finally seeing your ideals realized?! Or a return to your dull and dreary existences?!"

"I'm in."

Everyone turned their heads towards the speaker. To their surprise, it was not Xerosic, who had shown the most interest and enthusiasm, nor was it Courtney, whose flat and robotic demeanor didn't betray the fact that she was anticipating a big break for her organization.

Instead, it was Ghetsis.

"When do we start?" the green-haired man asked, his body leaning forward slightly with apparent expectancy.

Giovanni's sneer became even more pronounced. "As soon as everyone affirms their agreement."

"I'm in as well!" Xerosic cried excitedly. "The world is becoming less beautiful by the day, and I cannot bear to sit by the sidelines and watch as Lysandre's dream crumbles into dust! So I speak for the rest of Team Flare when I say I'm in!"

"Excellent. You've made the correct choice, Xerosic. So, that's two down, and three to go." He scanned Matt and Saturn. "What say you, gentlemen?" Then, his eyes fixed themselves upon Courtney. "Courtney, ma'am?"

Courtney sat upright, her head perking up in alert.

"The Syndicate fights for the progress of this world," the executive continued, "but it can't function without the ambition and drive of Team Magma. What do you think of my generous proposal?"

Courtney pondered the executive's words for a few more moments. Then, she replied, in a voice of conviction that barely shone through her emotionless affect, "I'm in."

"Wonderful. And-"

"What's in it for Team Aqua?" a voice suddenly piped up.

Giovanni looked at Matt. "I beg your pardon?"

"What's in it for Team Aqua?" the Team Aqua leader asked, his voice more forceful and deadly. "You claim to be fighting for the progress of this world, but how will this progress affect the Pokémon?"

"My dear Matt, the world cannot function without a robust ecosystem. Without that, how can it expect to make progress? I understand your organization and Courtney's are at everlasting odds with one another over a difference of views, even at your heyday. But rest assured, an important aspect of the Syndicate's master plan involves striking a balance between the progress of humanity and the protection of Pokémon."

Matt's ambivalence seemed to fade somewhat, but it wasn't totally gone. This prompted Giovanni to continue speaking.

"Matt, I know you're opposed to the expansion of humanity's capabilities, but you just cannot sacrifice pragmatic realism on the altar of virtuous idealism. And your organization most certainly cannot proceed as it is now. I know the fall of the old Team Aqua has brought a stigma upon your beliefs, and that in turn has hampered recruitment. You do not have the manpower you need to enact another operation at Monsu Island, one that will be done correctly this time. No, you need us. You need the Syndicate...that is, unless you're not as committed to your beliefs as I thought you were?"

"What the hell are ya talking about?!" Matt cried. His body had become so tense, his dark muscles rippling, that the teal-haired man twitched, wondering if he should electrically subjugate the Team Aqua leader again. "Team Aqua is my LIFE! I'd NEVER be half-assed about its beliefs!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Matt," Courtney replied, the mocking tone obvious despite her flat tone. "Team Magma has three times as many recruits as Team Aqua-"

"THAT'S FUCKING TAUROS-SHIT AND YOU KNOW IT, ROBOT LADY!"

The teal-haired man snickered at Matt's outburst.

"Really...?" Courtney lifted her head slightly, faux-confusion filling her face. "Then how come the ten men I dispatched to the old office in Sootopolis reported seeing only two of yours there?"

"MY MEN HAD MORE TRAINING THAN YOURS EVER WILL! AND WHY THE HELL WOULD I SEND A GAZILLION MEN TO GET ONE SINGLE FUCKING FILE?!"

"Because there were over a hundred cabinets to search from, that's why."

"YA THINK TEAM AQUA'S RECRUITING SUCKS ASS, ROBOT BITCH?! HUH?! COME ON, LET'S DO A HEADCOUNT! BRING IN YER MEN AND I'LL BRING MINE IN! WE'LL TAKE EACH OTHER'S FUCKING ATTENDANCE-!"

"Only if you agree to join the Syndicate..." Courtney interrupted flatly, but with a ghost of a crafty sneer. "Because if you decline, then you...are nothing more than an enemy to the Syndicate, and then it won't matter if your organization has more men or less men than mine. After all, Team Magma now has the full support of Teams Rocket, Plasma, and Fla-"

"GIMME AN ARCEUS-DAMN PEN! WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE PAPERS I NEED TO SIGN INTO YOUR STUPID BAND?!"

Courtney leaned her head back, her face still. "That's what I thought, fu fu fu..."

Giovanni clasped his hands together with delight. "How splendid!" he exclaimed. "So that makes four yeses, and one..." He slowly turned his head towards Saturn. "Present."

Saturn looked up at Giovanni with slightly narrowed eyes. The normally vibrant energy in his sapphire-blue pupils was all but there. It had this way been ever since Team Galactic's downfall and his subsequent imprisonment. The long years he spent sitting in a cell were nothing but the most torturous and draining years of his existence, an unfitting reward for all the hard work he put into Team Galactic's mission of a new Universe. Work that demanded his blood, sweat, and tears.

But even so, even with this second chance of his organization's redemption presenting itself, the energy refused to come back. Giovanni's proposal did nothing to salvage what was left of his resolve, his commitment to the lifelong dream of his boss Cyrus. Nothing at all. Instead, he felt nothing but more emptiness...

"So, Saturn," Giovanni said, pulling the former Commander out of his reverie, "what's it going to be? The rest of your life in a small cell? Or the rest of your life basking in the glory of triumph?"

Still, Saturn didn't respond. Instead, he averted his gaze from the Team Rocket leader and absentmindedly stared at the sea of mahogany before him.

"Ohhhhhh, poor Saturn..." Charon suddenly said, his raspy and sinister voice stunning Saturn back to attention. "Always so indecisive, even when the reward is right in front of him."

With an ominous snicker, the former Team Galactic scientist walked up behind Saturn's chair and stared down at him, his eyes wide and shining behind his sunglasses. Even if he had his back on him, Saturn could still feel the cold, judgmental stare of the scientist piercing into him.

"You'll have to forgive my dear old friend, Giovanni," the scientist continued. "When the desire and motivation is gone, he becomes like this. In fact, this is exactly how my old employer found him. Broken, soulless, lost, with nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Prison has done a number on him, without a doubt..."

Charon slowly placed his wrinkly hands upon Saturn's shoulders, making sure to tap each finger upon them one-by-one. The very touch sent a horrible chill down the former Commander's spine.

"But I know that deep down, the resolve for a better Universe, one free of emotion, spirit, and human conflict, is dwelling inside the confines of his mind. Unfortunately, the very thing he swore to destroy is the very thing that's now holding him back. His feeling of weakness, of uselessness, of utter despair, is the collar wrapped around his neck, tethered by a chain that is the system. Such is the cruel irony of Arceus..."

The scientist's voice trailed off, the last syllable low and elongated, like the hiss of a hungry Arbok. The grip on Saturn's shoulders tightened somewhat, and the blue-haired man started to sweat nervously, almost dreading that Charon would suddenly grab his neck and snap it. The air of hospitality suddenly became tense.

Then, all of a sudden, Charon withdrew one of his hands and reached into his pocket, eventually producing a remote with a green button. He pressed the button, causing the shackles holding Saturn's limbs to automatically unlatch themselves.

It took a while for Saturn to process this newfound freedom. But once he did, he slowly lifted his arms from the armrests and looked at his pale palms, as if he was looking at them for the very first time. Then, he flexed his fingers and moved his legs around experimentally, almost wondering if Charon was administering a test.

"You may stand, Saturn," Charon suddenly said. Saturn looked up at him and noticed the chilling sneer on the scientist's face. "What? It's not like you've got anywhere to run to, my boy."

Saturn continued looking at his old colleague, unable to shake off the cold yet hypnotic stare he was giving him, as well as the expectant stares of his fellow captives. The only noises in the conference room were the whirring of the projector and the low, contented purr of Giovanni's Persian.

Eventually, he slowly stood from the chair, his limbs relishing in the freedom of movement. His legs wobbled a little from the sudden use after a prolonged period of inactivity, and he nearly lost his balance. But with some stern composure, the former Commander steadied himself, and once he did, Charon glanced at Giovanni.

"Show him, Boss," the elderly scientist said.

"Show him?" Matt repeated, confused. "Sh-Show him what?"

But Giovanni understood the message, for he nodded as he produced his own remote. Pressing the button on it, the dark tint shading the window at the other end of the conference room suddenly began to recede, filling said room with a fresh new burst of light. Saturn's, Matt's, Courtney's, Ghetsis's, and Xerosic's eyes followed the retreating darkness, watching with a mixture of awe and inquisition as it revealed what had been on the other side of the glass all along.

It was a massive chamber that appeared to be a cross between a manufacturing plant and a hangar. Hundreds of people and Pokémon alike, all wearing identical uniforms stamped with the 'R' logo, were working together to create a multitude of vehicles and devices. The vehicles were designed for air, land, sea, and everything in-between; while the devices were of various uses, though a uniting factor was clearly the ability to capture Pokémon with great ease. Once these workers were done creating their equipment, they would move the finished products to the right side of the chamber, the hangar side, so they could be ready for use at a moment's notice.

Saturn's eyes widened with shock at the sight, and he subconsciously walked over to the window so he could be closer to the proceedings. Upon seeing how interested the former Commander, and the other captives, were of the teamwork and cooperation on display, Giovanni smiled and held out his arms.

"Behold, Saturn!" he proclaimed. "What you see before you is only a fraction of the dedication Team Rocket holds to this cause! Dedication that has just been bolstered fourfold by the agreement of your new comrades! Now tell me, my friend, why not make this union a six-way affair? Why not allow Team Galactic to share in the spoils of the Syndicate's inevitable triumph? Why not join us in drinking from the wineglass of victory?!"

"Just think about it, Saturn," Charon added ominously. "This is Team Galactic's second opportunity to see the realization of its dream, and I can vouch for its success. All you have to do...is accept the offer. Accept the offer, and Team Galactic can rise again."

Then, the elderly man slowly approached Saturn, who was still entranced by the plant before him, and the devices it was creating. Once he got close enough, Charon leaned in towards Saturn's ear and whispered into it.

"And Cyrus will not have died for nothing."

Upon hearing the name of his lost boss, the one who first showed him the possibility of a better, brighter future, Saturn's fists became tightly clenched, and he lowered his head with pursed lips...

"Boss, do you think Saturn's agreement was genuine?"

Giovanni looked over his shoulder. "What makes you think that, Apollo?"

His sole female lieutenant, the redheaded woman, tapped her chin thoughtfully, her gaze affixed to him as she remained seated on her leathery armchair.

"Out of all the team leaders that we've brought here," she replied, "he was the last one to accept our offer for an alliance between our organizations. And it had to take him some extra convincing."

"I'd have to agree with Apollo," the dashing teal-haired man said as he leaned forward, resting his chin upon the backs of his hands. "Everyone else jumped at the opportunity, but Saturn... Even after he agreed, he still looked reluctant. I could smell the hesitancy from the other side of the room..." He then glanced at Giovanni, his stare turning hungry. "I propose keeping an eye on him! And I personally volunteer for the duty-"

"Ah, do not be foolish, Proton," the purple-haired man interrupted with a lazy smirk. "Even if Saturn remains ambivalent about our ambitions, he is just one man. Our psychological assessments on the other Team Galactic members indicate an overall steadfast loyalty to the ideas of Cyrus. They may answer to him now, but they'll always answer to Cyrus first. The reservations of one individual, or even a select few, will not sway them."

"I agree with Petrel," a voice said.

Giovanni glanced back at the screen, which was displaying a live feed of a teal-haired man sitting in the privacy of a well-lit office. His clean-shaven, almost silken face wore a polite, hospitable expression that almost glowed in its genuineness. He wore a predominantly brown suit with the logo of a gold Poké Ball emblazoned over his heart. His teal eyes matched his hair, but as they transfixed themselves upon Giovanni and his lieutenants, the pupils seemed to pierce through them and peer judgmentally into their souls. Anyone else would've felt a nagging sense of violation, even if they had nothing whatsoever to hide.

"Besides," the teal-haired man continued, his voice radiating irrefutable confidence, "their head scientist, Charon, is aligned with us, and he holds more seniority within the Team Galactic rank structure. Everything we have on them supports this. Saturn signed over control of his organization to us the moment he accepted the Boss's offer. If he has second thoughts about our mission, then he's on his own."

"I'm still worried, Boss," Apollo interjected, her eyes narrowed with concern. "We've already seen what happens when we have one loose cog on our hands and we leave it unattended-"

"Enough, Apollo," Giovanni said coldly and tersely, without looking back at her.

The woman's eyes widened in alarm. "But Boss-"

"We have control over five different organizations and the resources they have. We are now a conglomerate. The feelings of one man matter not in the grand scheme of our operation. Even if Saturn's choice to defect poses complications to our long-term goals, we have multiple contingency plans for that."

In response, Apollo bowed her head before the executive. "Yes, Boss. I understand completely."

"Good."

Giovanni's lips curved into a smirk as he clasped his hands together under his waistline. His dark eyes trained themselves upon a set of smaller, live images that were being projected on the screen alongside the well-dressed, teal-haired man's own. They were of Matt, Courtney, Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic reuniting with their respective lieutenants in the safety of other conference rooms. The quartet watched as the leaders informed their comrades of the recently-formed alliance and the benefits that said alliance would entail, followed by the lieutenants' reactions of surprise and enthusiasm.

"Rejoice, Team Rocket," he said, "for we are now one step closer to achieving our ultimate mission."

The teal-haired man smirked with self-satisfaction. As for Giovanni's other lieutenants, they joined his sides, with Apollo standing by his right and Petrel and Proton standing by his left. At that moment, the live feeds of Matt, Courtney, Saturn, Ghetsis, and Xerosic switched, one by one, to a single live feed that was recording underwater. Bubbles rose upward in a series of mostly uniform lines, the only sight decipherable to the naked eye. They were like a veil, obscuring something else from the view of Giovanni and his lieutenants. Then, the camera providing the live recording adjusted its lens, and the quartet of executives was able to see what rested beyond the veil.

A bipedal, humanoid being with feline features, crouched in an uncanny fetal position, its still body suspended in midair by an all-knowing existence of murky water, held only by the cords stretching outward from the dark oblivion that almost enshrouded it. It was mostly encased in a set of shining, terrible black armor, and whatever wasn't covered by this armor revealed grayish-purple skin that seemed to be bizarrely biomechanical in appearance. There was a sinister aura hanging over this being, but the sight of it did nothing to intimidate Giovanni or his lieutenants.

Instead, Giovanni's smirking lips parted ominously, revealing his teeth, clenched and shining.

"Operation: Rainbow Rocket is now a go."

International Police, Precinct 1-A Station
UNKNOWN LOCATION

The International Police agent known only as Looker sighed as he sat down at a table in the front row.

Normally, he was never the type of person to attend meetings of any sort on the job. His position usually required him to receive a case-file on his desk, accept the mission, learn any additional information while en route to his first designated location, complete the mission with as few incidents as possible, and repeat the cycle all over again. Rinse and repeat. To be called into an urgent meeting, with no questions asked, would be a complete aberration of the cycle, a sign that there were bigger problems than the current case.

And evidently, the problem was big, judging by how packed the lecture hall-like briefing room was getting.

"Looker. Hey, Looker!"

Interrupted from his musings, the International Police agent looked up and spotted a fellow agent approaching him. The dark-haired man cracked a smile at his colleague.

"Ah, Tedesco," he greeted. "So, they called you in for this meeting too?"

"Apparently we've got all hands on deck," replied Tedesco, his serious expression immovable as he sat beside Looker.

"Why? Do you know what's happened?"

"We weren't given any further details. We were all just told to gather at the briefing room immediately, and to drop any current cases or duties of focus." Tedesco then put a finger on his chin, his eyes narrowing in thought. "It is pretty weird indeed. I wonder why the higher-ups would make us drop our stuff, no matter what the significance, and report..."

"Well, we're about to find out soon enough."

Looker and Tedesco glanced at the stage, which was currently unoccupied, but they did notice the book pedestal, which held a microphone and a small stack of unknown papers. However, before either agent could think about what that stack could entail...

"Hello, Looker," a drawling male voice greeted.

Looker sighed in bitter disgust and looked to his left, where another man had just sat down. This newcomer had teal hair and a clean-shaven, almost silky face, which wore an expression of faux hospitality that Looker could easily see through. He wore a predominantly brown suit with the logo of a gold Poké Ball emblazoned over his heart.

"Hello, Archer," Looker replied sourly. "I see you're doing well..."

He met Archer only a few times on the job, but all of those uneventful encounters had left an exceptionally bad aftertaste in Looker's mouth. Once a full-time agent for the International Police, Archer took semiretirement in order to teach at the International Police Academy, both jobs of which he was renowned for. However, Looker didn't have any fathomable idea as to how the International Police Board or the students at the Academy found anything to renown Archer for. After all, his pompous, arrogant personality certainly disqualified him from such credit.

"It has been a while, I see," continued Archer, the drawl still present in his voice.

In his seat, Tedesco twitched unpleasantly, something Looker noticed at the corner of his eye. He felt infinitesimal relief over not being the only one to catch onto Archer's stuck-up characteristics.

"You seem to be doing very well yourself." Archer slightly leaned back on his armchair. "I assume that your job is treating you well? Oh, how I envy you so..."

Looker had to stifle his laughter. "Yeah, I can only imagine, Archer, I can only imagine..."

"Do you have any idea why the brass would bring us out here? I was in the middle of teaching a class of impressionable young minds when that ridiculous messenger interrupted my lecture."

"No idea." Looker's lip twitched. "Whatever it is, though, it's definitely not to give you a medal of commendation."

Archer's lips curled into a nasty frown, and his teal eyes narrowed ominously. However, before an argument could erupt, the two were silenced, along with the rest of the agents, when the side-doors leading to the stage opened up loudly.

Looker's eyes widened as the group of people stepped into the room, and he could hear gasps of shock coming from his colleagues, Tedesco included.

"The General Assembly of the International Police...?" he thought incredulously. "But...why in the world are they here? Is the matter really that serious?..."

The well-dressed men and women, led by a woman with graying-blonde hair, icy-blue eyes, and an intimidating posture, stepped on the stage, where they were greeted by a short, stout, sweating man, who Looker identified as his precinct's commanding agent. The woman politely shook the man's hand and stepped behind the book pedestal, taking the papers.

"Good afternoon, respected agents of the International Police," the woman greeted as she adjusted the microphone. "My name is Charlotte Durant, and I am the President of the International Police, as you may all know. I am deeply sorry for interrupting your current missions and bringing you all here in this hearing, but after you hear the grave news I'm about to share, you'll find that what you now have on your hands is much more dire. These are extremely serious matters, so I beg you all to be at full attention."

As the woman began speaking, a screen automatically lowered itself behind the General Assembly, bearing an image of the International Police insignia.

The first image to be displayed on the screen behind her was of a towering, fortress-like prison cramped uncomfortably on a small, steep, rocky island, surrounded by absolutely nothing but ocean. There was a gaping hole in an exterior wall on the prison's eastern side, a hole that stuck out like a large, swollen pimple.

"That is Sevii Prison," the woman explained, "located on the classified Eight Island of the Sevii Islands archipelago. But, as of twenty-two hundred local time yesterday, it is no longer classified."

She pressed the remote's sole button again, and the image switched to a slide depicting the mugshots of three people.

"These are the leaders of the three criminal organizations whose members escaped from Sevii last night. Salvador Turner of Team Galactic, Ghetsis Harmonia of Team Plasma, and Xerosic Zander of Team Flare."

"Wait, what?!" Looker thought, flabbergasted. "Teams Galactic and Plasma escaped?! Why wasn't I personally informed of this?!"

"According to the surviving guards," Charlotte continued, "these three men, along with all of their followers, were singled out by the people responsible for the attack. The prison's security camera systems were knocked out seconds before the attack, but the descriptions the guards gave of the attackers, their Pokémon, and their modus operandi match ones that we have on file."

She pressed the button yet again, and the next images that were displayed were a series of amateur pictures taken of a dozen men and women raiding a Pokémon Center and escaping with bags of Poké Balls and an assortment of equipment.

"Team Rocket."

Small, scattered groups in the audience started muttering amongst one another. The overall tone was a mixture of shock and confusion. The muttering was immediately quelled, however, when Charlotte cleared her throat audibly.

"As I'm sure you are aware, this is an unprecedented case in the International Police's long and storied history. We have a good reason to believe Team Rocket is providing shelter for Teams Galactic, Plasma, and Flare, since all of their assets have been frozen and their equipment under complete confiscation.

"To say the Pokémon League and the governments of six different regions are worried is an understatement. We're deep in the middle of a very active Pokémon tournament season right now. Regional Leagues across the world have just begun their new seasonal tournaments, the Pokémon Contest Committee is planning its bicentennial celebration, the Pokémon Showcase Committee just announced its intent to branch out to other regions, the World Coronation Series is celebrating its first tournament since it went public last winter..."

Charlotte narrowed her cool eyes, and a cold, foreboding feeling swept the room, chilling the International Police agents to the bone.

"I do NOT need to tell you the ramifications of a potential alliance between these four organizations. But what I DO need to tell you is that desperate times call for desperate measures. And desperate measures the International Police will take in the interest of security. As of this moment, we are at Code Alpha Red."

The agents began murmuring again, this time in worried tones, while Looker and Tedesco looked at each other in shock. Code Alpha Red was the International Police's highest level in their threat level scale. It had actually been many decades since the agency was at that kind of level.

"Because of this unprecedented turn of events, the General Assembly has issued the executive directive for all agents to drop their current cases and treat this investigation with full attention, with no distractions, effective immediately. And in addition, we have agreed to form an alliance of its own with the G-Men and the Pokémon Rangers-"

This time, outraged yells and shouting erupted all across the room, piercing right through the cold, stern professionalism that the woman had been trying to maintain. Some of the International Police agents even shot up from their armchairs in protest.

"THE G-MEN?!"

"THE RANGERS?!"

"COME ON!"

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE FRIGGING KIDDIN' ME!"

"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS-"

To Looker's side, Archer sighed, stood up from his chair, took out an Ultra Ball from his pocket, and threw it in the air. A bright flash enveloped the room for a couple of seconds, catching the agents' attention almost instantly. Then, the light soon faded away to reveal a badly-scarred Houndoom standing atop the table. It growled and then barked at the agents, startling those within close proximity.

"Now, now, now," Archer said, his calm, soothing voice resonating through the briefing room. "Is that any way to respect your commanding officer, ladies and gentlemen?"

Charlotte nodded approvingly. "Thank you, Agent Archer." She then glared at the other agents again. "Now, if anyone is still interested in acting like adults, we have a job to do. These four organizations are out there, planning Arceus knows what to wreak all sorts of mayhem and terror upon Trainers worldwide, and we need all the manpower we can possibly get if we're to capture them. Even if it means having to deal with our jurisdictional rivals, we must shoulder this task, for the future of the Pokémon sport is at stake. President Goodshow personally spoke with the leaders of the International Police, the G-Men, and the Ranger Union a couple of hours ago, and he is urging all of us to sweep this up as quickly and quietly as we can. And we are gonna round up and capture all these bastards like the Tauros they are. Do I make myself clear?"

No one bothered to speak up anymore, regardless of whether it was because of the woman's judgmental stare and harsh words, or the burning stare of Archer's Houndoom. This allowed the woman to continue speaking.

"Good. All of you should have your assignment files on hand. Review them, and review them well, for this joint criminal investigation starts now. No one in this precinct is stopping for anything and anyone uninvolved until we capture the last of these crooks and throw them in jail." She lifted her pointed chin slightly. "Now, dis-"

"Uh, excuse me?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Everyone's heads turned toward the doorway, where a teenage girl was standing. She was wearing the traditional female International Police Academy uniform and holding a bag full of items in one hand, while a laptop was tucked underneath her unoccupied arm. Looker heard Archer grunt bitterly beside him; it appeared he knew this girl.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Charlotte said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, "I didn't see you standing there. Who are you?"

"Um, my name's Emma," the girl replied. "Emma Matiere. And, uh, I think you guys missed a couple of things." Her eyes slowly focused on the screen behind Charlotte and the rest of the General Assembly. "Uhhh, make that a whole bunch of things-"

"I see you're wearing an Academy uniform, Ms. Matiere," interrupted a male member of the General Assembly. "Students aren't allowed here. How'd you get past security?"

"How I managed to get past your security doesn't matter. What matters is all the information that I have here in this bag and laptop-"

"We do not have time for your science project, Ms. Matiere." This remark drew jeering snickers from some of the agents, causing Emma's face to turn florid; Looker could not help but felt bad for the student. "I'm not asking this again, how did you manage to get past all of our security systems, which the staff here reviews three times a day?"

Looker could see the sweat appearing on Emma's forehead. Then, he saw Archer bury his face into his palms.

"I knew it," the fellow agent whispered. Then, he stood up and spoke loudly and belligerently, "So, it was you who did it! I should've known!"

Everyone's heads turned towards Archer.

"Agent Archer," Charlotte said sternly, "is there something you would like to explain to us?"

"I'm this girl's instructor at the Academy." He bowed slightly with a pompous air that would have made a Glameow sick. "And it appears she was the one who stole my special security clearance card hours earlier."

The teal-haired agent glared daggers at his young student, who was now stunned to see her teacher there. "You must be wondering why I'm here if you stole my card, Ms. Matiere." He gestured to the card pinned to his breast pocket. "Always carry a backup, dear." His eyes narrowed. "Did you really, honestly think that you could use my card to gain easy access to classified International Police meetings and just get away with it? Just to make yet another foolish attempt at proving yourself?!"

"Agent Archer," Charlotte said, her voice laced with a disturbing calmness that silenced Archer before he could continue on with his rant. "Do you mean to tell me, the President of the General Assembly of the International Police, that...your security clearance card was stolen, by one of your students, of all people?"

"I-I b-beg your pardon, m-ma'am?..." Archer asked, his teal eyes growing wide.

The veteran agent's voice was so shocked and terrified that Looker and even Tedesco nearly choked on their own spit as they tried to stifle their laughter. One went a day without seeing the revered agent Archer faltering in his confidence, so this was priceless.

Charlotte's eyes narrowed, causing Archer to recoil in horror. "You, a well-trained, honorable agent for the International Police, became inattentive long enough for a mere student to take your special security clearance card?"

"I-I wasn't being attentive- I mean, inattentive, ma'am-"

"Then how did one of your students acquire your security card? You couldn't have just possibly given it to her."

"My Arceus, of course not. Not even for a silly tour of the place!"

"Well, whatever the reason, you obviously played a factor in this security breach, quite unfortunately. Inexcusable." This last remark caused Archer's face to redden, and Charlotte exhaled. "With all of this talk about how effective our security is against external threats, it turns out we must focus on internal threats even more."

"Mrs. President, ma'am, i-if I can just explain-" began Archer. His face was as red as an apple at this point.

"Enough, Agent. I do not want to hear any more nonsensical blabbering from you." She placed a hand on her forehead in disbelief. "I am simply embarrassed to hear of this. Seat yourself, Agent. I highly congratulate you for posing a potential risk to the security of the International Police's institutions."

Archer gagged in horror at being insulted by his highest superior. Nevertheless, he went silent and sat down, his face still red. Looker desperately wanted to burst out laughing.

Then, Emma spoke up. "Look, if the General Assembly doesn't mind, I-"

"As for you, young lady," Charlotte interrupted, causing the student to squeak out fearfully, "you still unlawfully breached a top-secret, high-security meeting. I don't care what you have for us that could be of any use for our case. The fact that you're still underage already undermines your credibility. I'm sorry but you must be detained for trespassing on classified grounds." She looked at one of the beefy security guards standing beside her. "Security, please remove Ms. Matiere from this meeting."

"Wait, no!" Emma shouted as the guard started approaching her. "I really need to tell you this! It's important!"

"I cannot imagine what could be more important than this case at hand." The woman then eyed Emma's bag and laptop. "Security, confiscate her belongings too."

"NO!"

Without thinking, Looker stood up and exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

Charlotte glared at him sternly. Already from her icy-cold stare, he felt as if he could freeze in his tracks.

"Please identify yourself, Agent."

"Agent Looker, Mrs. President. It's an honor to meet you, it really is. And I would like to take Emma's belongings, if you don't mind."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Well, there's obviously only one guard. He'll need some help if he's gonna escort Ms. Matiere to detention and carry all of her items at once." When Charlotte continued to glare at him with suspicion, Looker added innocently, "Unless there's supposed to be anything else you want to make clear during this meeting?"

"No," she replied. "No, that'll be all, Agent Looker. We're done here."

"Not for me..." Looker replied in the confines of his mind. "Oh no, I'm still gonna have to find out why you didn't inform me of these escapes beforehand. But for the time being..."

He approached Emma and the security guard, taking the bag and laptop from the former's hands without saying as much as a word.

As he did, the student pleaded, "Please, you need to listen to me-"

"Don't see what there is to listen to, young lady," the agent replied as the trio stepped out of the meeting room, all sets of eyes following them as they did so.

"Pl-Please, Agent Looker," Emma said, a worried expression rising in her face. "What I have in there is much bigger than just those four organizations!"

"Oh, really?" Looker crossed his arms, a stern frown coming upon his face. "Well then, enlighten me, Ms. Matiere."

"Uh, excuse me, Agent-" began the guard, but Looker immediately held up a hand, silencing him.

"Please, if she wants to get whatever he wants to tell us out there, we might as well save her the trouble and get it over with. The findings of a single Academy student would not hurt anybody, nor would it be against the interests of regional security, now would it?" He glanced at Emma again. "So then, what is it that you want to tell us?"

"Team Rocket doesn't just have Teams Galactic, Plasma, and Flare under their wing!" Emma blurted, as if she had been holding in this secret for so long and was ready to explode like an Electrode.

Looker blinked incredulously at the young student. "Excuse me?"

"I said Team Rocket doesn't-"

"I know what you said, kid. I was simply questioning the credibility of your claim."

"If you just read my notes and the news articles in my laptop, it'd make a whole lot of sense!"

"I suggest being quiet from now on, kid-" began the guard.

However, Emma continued persistently, staring up at Looker with an extremely serious expression. She spoke so quickly that the agent had a difficult time trying to keep up with all of the girl's words. But as he continued to listen in, with the guard or himself being unable to interrupt, Looker found himself intrigued by Emma's findings.

"And that's not all, Agent Looker! Y-You see, I have been closely monitoring the regional crimes rates with the Pokémon Criminal Registry for the past six months, a-and I noticed something! There's been an abnormal change in Hoenn's crime rates starting about two years ago! At first, it was just a small uptick in robberies and burglaries. Standard money stuff, you-you wouldn't even blink at the changes at first! Then, six months after that uptick, there came reports of organized criminal activity going on in the region!"

Looker stared at Emma disbelievingly. "Organized criminal activity in Hoenn? Now, if that were so, Ms. Matiere, then the Localized Law Enforcement Association's Hoenn branch would have alerted us, or our counterparts at the G-Men and the Ranger Union. Seeing as we never got an agency-wide alert about any organized activity occurring in Hoenn, I'd say you misinterpreted the reports-"

Emma, however, shook her head confidently. "No, no, no, there is organized activity going on over there, Agent Looker! The LLEA just hasn't caught onto it yet."

The agent blinked slowly. "And you know all this...how?"

"Based on the patterns." The girl gestured to her bag and laptop. "Look, if you could just take a look at everything that I compiled-"

Emma was about to kneel, likely to set her laptop down on the floor, when the guard suddenly tightened his grip on her, causing him to squeak fearfully.

"We don't have time for you to play show-and-tell, girlie," he snarled viciously. "Now, for the last time, come along-"

"Let the kid go," Looker said sternly. Emma looked at him in relief, while the guard appeared flabbergasted.

"A-Are you kiddin' me, Agent? This kid just interrupted a top-secret meeting. Who knows how much sensitive information she overheard-?"

"And if she did," Looker cut off, "then I'll see to it that she's punished to the fullest extent of the law. But it's just like you said, she's a kid. Are you really going to manhandle a kid?"

"If it's for regional security, then yes!"

Looker let out a sharp sigh. "Look, we may be looking out for the interests of Trainers, Pokémon, the sport, and all that, but don't you forget, we're still an investigative agency, first and foremost. I'll escort her to the detention facility myself. You have my word on that." He raised an eyebrow. "Now, are we clear on that?"

The guard blinked and stared at the unflinching Looker. His pupils instinctually flicked to the agent's shining badge, and Looker could tell that the man was evaluating his rank as an agent for the International Police. Finally, the muscular man sighed in defeat and released Emma, the girl sighing in relief. He then glared at Looker.

"You'd better get this handled appropriately, Agent," he said as he walked back into the meeting room, "because I will be forthcoming to the General Assembly if any of this turns out to simply be additional trouble for the International Police." He pointed at himself with an air of haughty pride. "You have my word and my badge on that."

As soon as the guard was gone and the door was fully closed, Looker stared at Emma. He didn't know why, but now that he heard what the girl had to say, Looker found himself even more intrigued than ever. He knew that he was technically disobeying the President and the General Assembly by assisting this student, who had heard sensitive, top-secret details, and yet...he wanted to learn more. Looker didn't know what exactly was fueling his actions, but he felt confident in being able to turn to this girl as a reliable source of information. Besides...

He felt as if Emma reminded him of someone... Someone who had helped him out a lot in the past...

The agent smiled slightly at the teenage girl and said, "Well, I hope you're up for a lot of reading, kid."

Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, lest the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea.  Thus concludes the Trial of the Soul.

Quell not the discord of death, darkness, and violence, lest its weak state expose its true nature upon the world in which it resides. Though the sky's great guardian shall arise to restore the balance, alone its power will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash once again.  O Chosen One, into thine heart accept your ultimate fate. Your brought sacrifice tame the world.  Thus concludes the Trial of the Heart.

O Chosen One, look deep into your heart and soul, seek what lies underneath, discover the true spirit that constitutes you. Perils await, and all must be dealt with due process. Do not hesitate, do not doubt, do not regret. Do not dwell in the past, merely look forward to tomorrow, and always remember, for the power of one is-

Sheena opened her eyes, the faint, angelic glow retreating back into her diamond-blue pupils. Taking a deep breath, she averted her gaze from the glass-encased stone tablet propped in front of her. Slowly turning, the guardian of the Michina Town ruins faced the six other people and the lone Pokémon in the ancient room with her. She was under the shadow of a strange, ancient-looking yet futuristic contraption consisting of four differently-colored spheres on axes, hovering right above a fifth, static sphere situated at the bottom, their movements rapid and almost frantic.

"The full prophecy ends there," she said.

Michina Town Ruins
SINNOH REGION

– Three months later –

"The power of one," whispered Baraz, his chin tucked between his thumb and index finger as he was deeply absorbed in his thoughts. "The power of one is...what?"

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing," Kevin replied, the blond man looking concerned. "This is how we found that tablet. Incomplete."

"Incomplete?" Meray asked, her reaction of incredulity a stark contrast to the heartwarming sight of the Pokémon eating a chocolate-and-sprinkle-coated donut while perched on her shoulder. "How is that possible? Prophecies cannot simply be incomplete." She glanced at Baraz, her brown eyes shimmering with confusion as she beseeched her older brother. "Can they?"

"It appears this incompletion was intentional," replied the skinny, dark-haired man standing next to Meray. He promptly approached the stone tablet, with Sheena stepping aside for him. "Look, this portion of the stone tablet at the bottom is empty."

He pointed towards the area of the tablet in question, and the eyes of everyone else followed the direction of his finger. Indeed, there was an area of the aged, long-polished stone that remained curiously empty, despite the ample space that it could've provided for an extra sentence or two in the ancient inscription.

"Oh, wow," remarked a rotund man standing beside Baraz. "Nice catch, Kevie."

"So you're sure this is how you found it?" Baraz asked, his eyes surveying the stone tablet curiously. "No one dropped it or anything at any point."

"We always do background checks on our excavators," Kevin replied.

"And we oversee the excavations ourselves," added Sheena. "If there were any incidents, we would've pointed that out a long time ago."

Baraz narrowed his eyes slightly at the tablet. "The full version of the Shamouti Prophecy... I've always suspected there was more to it than some tribal island sport from the ancient times. Hmmm... Lest the earth shall turn to ash... Thus the earth shall turn to ash once again..."

"Ash..." repeated Meray. "Ash, Ash, Ash... As in...Ash Ketchum...?"

"That certainly seemed to be the case during the Shamouti Island incident a few years back," Sheena replied. "According to my sources there, Ash brought to an end the worldwide calamities that stemmed from the area. And judging by their accounts, he did this by going through the actual Trial of the Soul."

"He went through the actual Trial?!" Baraz exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes."

"You know, the nature of the new content discovered is concerning, to say the least..." said a brown-haired woman who had been standing right behind Meray. She stepped forward, approaching the tablet while adjusting her circular glasses. "Quell not the discord of death, darkness, and violence, lest its weak state expose its true nature upon the world in which it resides..."

"The discord of death, darkness, and violence?!"

It wasn't any of the humans who had spoken, but rather, the Pokémon sitting on Meray's shoulder. Having finished eating its donut, it hovered in the air and approached the tablet as well.

"Hoopa?" Meray asked. "Do...Do you know what that means?"

The Pokémon read and reread the ancient inscription for a long, tense moment. Then, it glanced at its companions with a bashful look on its face.

"Not really. Were you surprised?!"

Meray nearly fell over with a gagged grunt, while Baraz sighed and buried his face in his right palm with embarrassment. As for Kevin, he gave the siblings a look of dissatisfaction.

"You think this is supposed to be a joke...?" he asked, his voice slow and ominous.

Baraz lowered his palm and glanced at Kevin, his brown eyes narrowed with disapproval. However, before a contentious exchange could break out, the rotund man stood in-between the other two men, his hands raised in a gesture of goodwill and humility.

"C-Co-Come on now, guys!" he cried. "L-Let's all get along here! W-W-We both want the same thing, after all!"

"Pit's right, Kevin," Sheena replied.

The blond man glared at her. "But Sheena-"

"Enough, Kevin. Besides..." The guardian glanced back at Hoopa, her gaze sympathetic and almost maternal. "I think we just need to give Hoopa some encouragement, that's all."

"Huh?" The Mischief Pokémon's face was wearing a mask of confusion. "But Hoopa knows nothing-"

"And yet, the phrase 'discord of death, darkness, and violence' caught your attention..." Sheena took a step closer to the small hovering Pokémon, and it hovered a couple of inches away in response. "Hoopa, I know you know something about this discord. Now, whatever that means, I promise you, we will do everything within our power and then some to find the root cause and put a stop to it."

This did nothing but earn a terrified whimper from Hoopa. Meray's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.

"H-Hoopa?"

Then, she noticed the Mischief Pokémon was trembling severely in midair. Out of concern, the dark-haired woman slowly approached it, her white robe fluttering as she walked along.

"Hoopa," Meray said as she took her friend and tucked it in her arms, "it's alright. Whatever it is that you are afraid of, it can't hurt you here."

"Yes," Kevin added. "This place has been blessed with the divine protection of Arceus. No dark forces can penetrate these walls."

But Hoopa gazed at him, his eyes wide with terror. "Shadows...never go away..."

"Shadows?" Sheena asked.

Hoopa pointed at the floor with a shivering finger, and the ruins guardian looked down. At first, she did not see anything that the Mischief Pokémon would want to point out. But then, she realized what it had been talking about.

"What about our shadows, Hoopa?"

"Darkness is part of us," Hoopa explained, its voice broken by the chattering of its teeth. "Shadows never go away. Even from Hoopa. And where there's shadows, there's evil..."

"I...I don't get it," Kevin replied.

"Hoopa must be talking about the Dahara City incident," the other woman said, adjusting her eyeglasses again.

"Lucianne's right," Baraz said. "The evil being that formed was a result of Hoopa's hatred of the Prison Bottle."

Hoopa shuddered, the only confirmation Meray needed that her friend's words were right.

"That was certainly a strange phenomenon..." remarked Sheena. Then, she slowly glanced at the Mischief Pokémon, her mind putting two and two together. "Hoopa, are you saying that shadow Hoopa is the discord you're talking about?"

Hoopa nodded and then said, "Everyone has shadows..."

And finally, it hugged Meray, unable to say anymore. The woman gasped and gently stroked Hoopa's cheek in an attempt to comfort it.

"Everyone has shadows?" Kevin repeated. "What does that mean, Hoopa? ...Hey, Hoopa!"

"Don't rush him!" Meray protested, holding the Mischief Pokémon tighter against her. "Can't you see he's frightened?!"

"We'd be able to protect him if we knew what the hell the threat was first!"

"Aw, come on now, guys!" Pit cried, waving his hands again. "L-Like I said, th-there's no need to fight! W-We have all the time in the world-"

The rotund man was cut off by Kevin's burning gaze, which he recoiled at.

"All the time in the world?!" Kevin snapped. "All the time in the world?! Well, with every second that passes like this, we are wasting that time! Now, I don't know if you've been listening, but the Time-Space Axis has been in a constant state of unsettlement ever since the discovery of the stone tablet!" He pointed at the ancient yet futuristic contraption with the five spheres, which were still moving at a breakneck pace. "If we are gonna still have 'all the time in the world', we gotta act quick, or we-!"

"We all know what's happening, Kevin," Baraz interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "And I don't appreciate you talking to my friend in that manner."

Kevin gritted his teeth at Baraz. "Ah, you're not appreciative, huh?! Well, I don't appreciate you stonewalling-"

"Kevin, enough," Sheena interrupted, her voice strangely cool.

"Arceus-damn it, Sheena, they're-"

"I said enough." Once Kevin went silent from her sterner tone, Sheena carefully approached Meray and Hoopa, her eyes trained on the latter. "We shouldn't be confrontational to our guests, Kevin. Besides, there are other ways of getting the information we need, ways that are less invasive."

Kevin's eyes widened in alarm. "But Sheena, is that really a-"

He was quickly silenced by the sight of her raised palm. Knowing there was no way to dissuade his colleague, Kevin fell silent again and simply kept his distance from Baraz. Everyone watched as Sheena raised her arms, clasped her hands together, and bowed her head, taking a prayer position.

"Transcend the confines of time and space."

A moment later, she felt herself floating, even though her feet were still firmly planted to a solid surface. She opened her eyes and was instantly met with the sight of a terrified Hoopa, hovering several yards away from her, its body trembling like a scared young child. Surrounding them both was an otherworldly realm of purple energy that seemed to writhe and recoil at their very presences.

"Hoopa..." Sheena said serenely.

Then, suddenly, her eyes went wide in horror when she saw something emerging from the purple energy behind Hoopa: a massive, multi-armed being, its outline enveloped in an aura of darker, almost blackish purple, its eyes glowing red, a gaping hole in the middle of its chest. It reached out for the smaller Mischief Pokémon, who seemed unusually passive to what was about to happen.

"Mine..." it growled greedily behind a grin of jagged teeth.

"Hoopa! AGH!"

An unseen force pulled Sheena backward, and she stumbled, almost ready to fall.

"SHEENA!"

Kevin's arms caught her. Sheena quickly opened her eyes and found herself back in the old room. Hoopa was still tucked safely in Meray's arms, fear etched in its normally mischievous face.

"Sheena," Kevin said with concern, "I told you using your ability now was a bad idea!" He gently held her bulging belly in his hand. "What about the-?!"

"The fear," Sheena interrupted, speaking more to herself than everyone else. "The uncertainty, the helplessness..."

"What?"

"I hadn't felt that kind of emotion since..."

Sheena's voice trailed off, and she worriedly gazed toward the Time-Space Axis. The four main spheres were still moving erratically, especially the one in the middle, a brown sphere suspended in the middle of a rippling, yolk-like veil. Within a split-second, all of the uncertainty drained away from her soul and was replaced with a great resolve.

"Kevin," she said with finality, "it's time."

JUDGMENT'S FALL

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe

-Team 2: TBA

-Team 3: TBA

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

Bolts of lightning streaked across the large, dark mass of storm-clouds, illuminating Ecruteak City as a terrible torrent of rain poured down upon the town. Absolutely anywhere one would look, there was a conspicuous absence of townspeople. Nearby, a column of thick, dark smoke was rising from the remnants of a tower, blending with the clouds, up to the point where one would assume the bank of clouds were actually originating from the smoke emanating from said tower.

Within the skeleton of this tower, the last flames from a ferocious fire were still flickering, very weakly so, as if they were little creatures, writhing pathetically as they struggled to live. At the center of a room on one of the tower's upper floors, two charred bodies lay, burned beyond any sort of recognition. One of the bodies seemed to be reaching towards a crib made of polished wood that was standing nearby; this crib was somehow untouched by the flames completely.

Inside the crib was an infant, a boy, who was sound asleep, unaware of the destruction and death that surrounded him. He stirred and turned over in his sleep, cooing softly as he clutched a stuffed Teddiursa toy protectively. Droplets of cold water from the rain dripped inside the room, but none of them touched his crib.

Finally, after a couple of hours passed and more of the flames were dying out, a droplet fell on the baby's nose, stirring him awake. He blinked as he looked up at the dripping beams of wood, confused as to why he was not looking up at the ceiling he had familiarized himself with. To make matters even more confusing, everything was strangely silent. He could not hear his parents talking, the townspeople talking and strolling around outside, the birds chirping... All he could hear was the pouring rain.

Suddenly, the baby became hungry, like he usually was. He started crying, hoping that his mother would hear his wails and attend to him. However, no one came along.

When minutes passed and no one responded to his needy cries, the baby felt something new emerge from inside him, overwhelming him. He didn't understand it at the time, but for the first time in the baby's life, he was feeling the primal emotion of fear. Very soon, hunger was no longer a concern for him. He now wanted someone to be there by his side, to show him that he wasn't alone in this world. His mother, his father, his caretakers...even the priest that scared him every time he spotted him.

Someone, anyone, anyone at all...

Then, the baby grew quiet. He heard a soft creak on the wooden floor... Someone was approaching!

Before he knew it, someone was looking down upon his crib. Someone he didn't recognize. Then again, there were a lot of people he met. He could only recognize his parents, caretakers, and that priest from any crowd. Anyone else, to him, would just be any random citizen of Ecruteak City, anyone who visited and adored him...

But then, he saw the emotion gleaming from the depths of the unknown visitor's eyes. They were being filled up by this emotion, like cups being filled. It was like those eyes were once vacant shells of themselves. It was an emotion that he knew all too well. It was something he always saw in his mother's eyes whenever she looked at him.

Upon seeing those eyes, those eyes of magnificent amber, the boy's own softened.

"It was built to promote understanding between humans and Pokémon, and my ancestors protected it for generations. Over the decades, the Tin Tower became a special place for another reason. It was the only place on earth where Ho-Oh, the legendary Pokémon, made contact with humans. Ho-Oh's visits were a sign of peace, but it would only appear to a chosen few. Only those guarding the tower. Then, one day, invaders came who sought to use the Ho-Oh's power for evil! In the ensuing battle, the Tin Tower was set afire! The Ho-Oh fled... It ceased to make contact with humans...and it has never returned. Some wanted to rebuild the tower, but my ancestors insisted that it be left as a witness for future generations of man's brutality, but they also decided to build a new Tin Tower. Their hope was that the Ho-Oh might return, to a new place of peace. So far...these hopes have been in vain... We've waited so long that some people say that Ho-Oh was a legend that never really existed."

"Tell me, Ash, what do you wanna grow up to be?"

"Well, I wanna grow up to be a Pokémon Master, Mom!"

With a gasp, the boy with the raven-black hair and zigzag-patterned cheeks jerked his eyelids open. For a brief moment, all that he could see was darkness. Then, as his eyesight adjusted to the absence of light, he realized he was staring at the dull-beige ceiling of the plane. Blinking in initial confusion, the boy then let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against his seat.

"Oh," he whispered to himself in assurance. "It was just a dream. Just a dream..."

He sighed and slowly closed his auburn eyes.

"Oh, isn't that right?"

Motostoke Stadium
GALAR REGION

A thunderous, deafening cheer swept across the stadium like a powerful tsunami, enrapturing everyone in its wake. Right in the middle of the expansive battlefield stood two men. One had black hair styled in a mohawk, tanned skin, and cyan eyes, who wore a black hoodie with a collar that resembles the teeth of an open mouth, along with shorts with multiple sponsor logos on it and an orange hairband. The other was older, with gray-and-white hair and beady dark eyes, and he wore predominantly red-and-white soccer-themed clothing. Both men faced each other, their gaze boring like drills, just before a Drone Rotom hovered beside them to make its standard pre-battle announcement.

"This will be a one-on-one World Coronation Series match between Raihan, Rank 7 and Leader of the Hammerlocke Gym, and Kabu, Rank 12 and Leader of the Motostoke Gym! Each participant will use three Pokémon each, and the first to defeat all three opposing Pokémon shall be declared winner of the match!"

The massive audience roared in jubilation again, filling the entire stadium with their unquenchable thirst for high-stakes, action-packed battles. But the two men did not even flinch from the sensory overload; instead, they still kept their eyes trained upon one another.

"Well, Raihan," the older man said, his lips wearing a youthful grin that betrayed his looks, "it appears history's repeating itself thus far. But I have a feeling fate will swerve my course down a different path, one that is brighter!"

KABU

"I admire your determination, Kabu," replied the younger man, who gave his soon-to-be opponent a confident and yet so friendly smile. "I can feel your fighting spirit has become stronger since the last time we fought! How long ago was that? Four, five months ago?"

RAIHAN

"Eight." Kabu's face grew slack as he held his arms out, relishing in the crowd's enthusiasm. "Must be unbearable, being under the cool, dark shadow of Leon for all this time. Hearing the press having field days with his constant victories for years, while you are left in his dust all the time... Heh. I can sympathize with that. However, I'm afraid it's gonna be MY dust that you'll eat this time!"

Raihan bared his teeth, his smile widening in a challenging grin. "Only those who worked hard and endured long periods of sweat and tears can be worthy of challenging Leon and emerging victorious. I've shed both after fighting Leon dozens of times. Now how many times have you managed to challenge Leon?!"

"Once." Despite this embarrassing admission, Kabu's expression didn't waver. "But rest assured, Kabu, I am fully intent on beating you to the goal-line!"

With some last respectful, sportsmanly nods, Raihan and Kabu started walking away from one another, their backs facing their opponents, while the Drone Rotom hovered higher into the air. Once the two men reached their designated spots on the battlefield, they continued facing away from one another, their faces lowered.

Their hands slowly snaked towards their pockets.

The entire audience grew quiet with anticipation.

The wind picked up slightly, causing Raihan's hoodie to flutter.

"Aaaaand...battle begin!" the Drone Rotom declared mightily.

RAIHAN VS. KABU

"DURALUDON, LET'S GO!"

"CENTISKORCH, BRING ON THE HEAT!"

Raihan's Duraludon emerged from the bright, brilliant flash of light, roaring triumphantly as Kabu's Centiskorch, fresh out of its Ultra Ball, already started slithering towards it. The audience roared and cheered again, their collective expression of enthusiasm serving as the two men's cue. They issued their first orders at the same time, and their Pokémon charged forward in an inevitable collision.

"Yeah, go Duraludon!"

"Pika!"

"Wow, look at Centiskorch go!"

"Cin!"

"Jeez, it's so loud..."

"Vee!"

Amidst the ocean of spectators, three certain Trainers and their partner Pokémon, a Pikachu, a Cinderace, an Eevee, and a Yamper were seated in one of the rows of seats closest to the battlefield. One of them, an auburn-eyed boy with raven-black hair and wearing a red-and-white cap bearing a Poké Ball insignia, almost shot out of his seat with excitement.

"Wooooow, look at that Flamethrower!" this boy cried over the hollering of the crowd, his eyes shimmering with childlike awe. "Duraludon won't be able to stand a chance against Centiskorch!"

"Pika!" the partner Pikachu cried in agreement.

ASH

"What're you even talking about, Ash?" replied the second Trainer, a tan-skinned, blue-eyed, almost effeminate boy with black-and-red-highlighted hair. He raised an index finger in the air, looking like an obnoxious know-it-all. "Duraludon may look like it's a Steel-type, but it's also a Dragon-type. This gives it a slightly better advantage to Bug moves, and thus it evens out the score a little."

"Cind!" the partner Cinderace muttered while keeping its eyes on the battle.

GOH

Beside the second Trainer, the third and final one, a girl with maroon hair tied into a long ponytail and green eyes, gave Goh an amused side-glance.

"Of course you two would nerd out over Pokémon battles..." she remarked.

"Ee-vui!" squeaked the partner Eevee in her arms.

"Bak!" the partner Yamper barked.

CHLOE

Ash's eyes softened with curiosity at the sound of the Pokémon's name. "Centiskorch, huh...?"

He promptly pulled out his Rotom Phone and aimed it at Kabu's Centiskorch, just as it dodged a Steel Beam delivered by Raihan's Duraludon. The device immediately activated itself and proceeded with reciting its Pokédex entry.

"Centiskorch, the Radiator Pokémon.  When it heats up, its body temperature reaches about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. It lashes its body like a whip and launches itself at enemies."

"Wow," Ash replied, impressed. "So Centiskorch is both a Fire-type and a Bug-type. I've never heard of that." He put the Rotom Phone away. "So I guess defeating it isn't gonna be an easy task for Leon if Kabu manages to win and then make it that far in the World Coronation Series."

"Well, this is Leon we're talking about here," remarked Goh. "No one's been able to beat him ever since he became the Series Monarch. And according to my research, that was about fifteen years ago."

"A fifteen-year winning streak..." Blinking, Ash gazed at Pikachu. "Now that's a winning streak, am I right, buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in response.

"Huh," Chloe replied as she gazed towards the battlefield in slight concern. "I can't even begin to imagine being a winner for that long. It sounds like it'll get boring pretty quick-"

"Boring?" Ash interrupted, his eyes suddenly wide with horror as he took seeming offense at her words. "Boring?! Being unbeatable is what Pokémon battling's all about, Chloe! It is the absolute peak of your ability to bond with your Pokémon and train them to achieve their max potential! And you think that's boring?!"

"Okay, okay!" Chloe waved her palms as her eyes went wide with alarm. "Jeez, I got it! Being unbeatable means being a great Pokémon Trainer! I understand!"

Looking back and forth between his two close friends, Goh chuckled nervously at their interaction. Then, he remembered something, and he lightly tapped his palm with his other fist in realization.

"Yo, Ash," he piped up, catching the other boy's attention, "I'm gonna go find that refreshment seller and get us some of those hot dogs he was hollering out. You want a new soda to go with it?"

Ash flashed his friend a smile. "Oh yeah, o-of course! Get two sodas while you're at it!" Then, he started mulling over his chances. "Or maybe three. Or maybe four! Or maybe five! Or maybe-"

"Or maybe I'll just get two sodas..." Goh deadpanned, still taken aback by Ash's propensity for consuming unusually high amounts of junk.

Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Y-Yeah, I guess you should..."

"Alright. Be back in a flash. Remember, when we return, we have to start discussing-"

"The kinds of questions we should ask Raihan about Gigantamaxing," Ash interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Just in case it slipped your mind. Because, you know, your mind likes to slip a lot."

Ash looked at his friend with a cocky grin. "Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just stating the facts." With a grin of his own, Goh stood up from his seat and looked at the observant Cinderace. "Come on, Cinderace."

"Cind!"

Both the Trainer and his Striker Pokémon walked away to venture further into the stands. Chloe watched them go for no more than a few seconds when she impulsively stood up from her own seat.

"I'm gonna go with him," she said. "I could use another water bottle."

"Alright," Ash replied, slightly absentminded as he already focused on the battle again.

But Chloe's gaze softened towards him. "Hey, uh, Ash?"

The boy didn't look at her, his auburn eyes shining towards the battlefield. "Yeah?"

"You...You know I didn't mean that, r-right...?"

"Mean what?"

Chloe blinked thrice, before smiling in relief and shaking her head. "Never mind. I'm gonna go now. Come on, Yamper."

"Bak!"

She turned around on her heel and walked away, followed by Yamper while Eevee remained tucked in his arms. This, Ash and Pikachu were left to spectate the battle by themselves.

The Captain's Table, Hulbury

The soft ringing of the door-mounted bell echoed throughout the occupied restaurant as a young, beautiful woman with peach-colored hair, tied into a thick, lush ponytail decorated with small heart accessories, stepped inside. Looking around quietly, she could not see the person she was looking for anywhere. After all, what with the unusually high tourism rates in Galar and particularly in Hulbury, there were bound to be an abundance of people enjoying a meal inside.

Fortunately, the woman saw the person she was looking for in no time flat. She was sitting at one of the tables further in the restaurant, having a conversation with one of the waitresses, who seemed quite giddy. One would wonder what was so special about that person, but the woman knew there was no mistaking who was underneath the stylish cap.

She silently walked up towards the bar table, having to maneuver her way through all the customers that had gotten up from their tables and begun walking around for whatever reason. After several seconds, she reached the other person's table, just as the waitress departed with florid cheeks and a signed sheet of paper, and sat down on the other side. Then, she stared into the sea-blue eyes, surrounded by a gentle, liberal shade of exotic blue eyeliner.

"Good to see you again, Ness," the woman greeted. "It's been a while since we last talked."

SONIA

"Yeah, same here, Sonia," the other woman replied. "Sorry about canceling on you at the last minute. The schedule of a model is...not exactly the most flexible."

NESSA

"Eh, that's alright," Sonia said with a dismissive wave. "That was, like, a month ago. Plus, I am pretty sure if you hadn't canceled, I would've been the one to do so eventually. The schedule of a Pokémon researcher is pretty demanding too."

"Yeah, congrats on that, by the way." Nessa took her spoon and used it to scoop up the soup before her. "You know, I've always thought that you would never take up your grandma's mantle. For the longest time, you've been so undecided on what you'd do in life. Every time you take up something, be it Pokémon battling or performing or Musicals or what-have-you, you drop it the next day."

"Yeah." Sonia gave Nessa a soft smile. "I suppose I just wanted to get out of Grandma's shadow for quite a while, before fate decided to funnel me into that job anyway." Then, she shrugged. "But the job has its perks. I get to learn loads and loads of interesting things about Galar, its Pokémon, and their history together."

"It's good that you're having fun..." Nessa blew gently on the soup in her spoon before calmly sipping it into her mouth. Once she swallowed the viscous liquid, she continued, "But it's a shame, though."

"Whaddaya mean?" Sonia asked as she picked up the menu and began reading it.

"It means we won't be having as much get-togethers as we used to. We'll both have busy and packed schedules."

"We can always just teleconference."

"But it won't be the same thing as being physically there with you." Sonia could almost imagine the smirk crawling onto Nessa's face. "For one thing, I won't be able to keep track of your weight."

Sonia scowled playfully behind her menu. "Shut up. I lost a couple of pounds yesterday, so don't you dare prod me about gaining weight."

"A couple of pounds?" Nessa rolled her blue eyes. "Bravo. Now you can get yourself a boyfriend with that regiment."

Sonia lowered her menu and stared at the dark-skinned woman. "I will have you know that five different guys flirted with me while I was on my way here."

"Five? And this happened today? Ha. Ha ha ha. That's child's play, Sonia."

Sonia scoffed and resumed reading her menu. "Must be tiring, having guys constantly leer at you and send wolf-whistles your way. You wanna know what my grandma's always told me?"

"Do enlighten me."

"That less is more."

"Yes..." Nessa playfully bumped her sandal-clad foot against Sonia's shin. "Which is why you need to shed more of those pounds. Less weight, more beauty. Trust me." She gestured to herself in a show of faux-arrogance. "I am the top expert on beauty."

"In your dreams. Now then..." Sonia peered over her menu and at Nessa, her eyes slightly narrowed. "Can I please read my menu and figure out what to order in peace? I don't want your inflated head filling up my vision."

"By all means, go on ahead. Just make sure you read the calories."

"Har-dee-har-har."

Sonia continued reading the menu, but after a minute or so, a glimmer of light entered her peripheral vision, distracting her from the text and the appealing photos of seafood. Glancing towards the TV screen installed on a central column of the restaurant, Sonia noticed it was depicting a live broadcast of a World Coronation Series battle between Raihan and Kabu.

Upon seeing Raihan and his determination to defeat his opponent, Sonia was instantly reminded of something...

Or rather, someone...

The young Pokémon researcher pursed her lips slightly as she went back to reading the menu. As she did, the image of a fluttering cape briefly flashed through her mind.

"It's been a while since he's last been in the spotlight..." she thought somberly. "I wonder how you're doing right now..."

Motostoke Stadium

Ash and Pikachu gasped with awe as they continued to watch the battle erupting between Raihan and Kabu. The former's Duraludon and the latter's Centiskorch evaded one another's attacks with ease and retaliated with their own moves.

"Look at Raihan go, Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed. "See the way he likes to use Duraludon's Steel Beam once Centiskorch gets close? Man, he sure likes to use close-quarters combat."

"Pika..." Pikachu replied while nodding his head in agreement.

"We have to watch Raihan and Duraludon as much as we can, so we get a handle of all his favorite strategies by the time we face him..."

Ash's voice trailed off, and a sudden sensation of sinking coldness enveloped him. At first, he tried to shrug it off, but the sensation became stronger and more daunting.

His voice was more hesitant and unsure. "Hey, Pikachu?"

"Pika?" Pikachu's ears twitched, and the Mouse Pokémon looked at his longtime partner in concern. "Pikapi?"

"I...I think something's wrong..." Worriedly, Ash looked around, observing the audience for any behavioral anomalies. "I think... I think we're being watched..."

"Pika?!" Pikachu began looking around as well. "Pika-pika, pikachu..."

"I don't know who...or what it could be, though... It...It can't be Team Rocket. They're not dumb enough to try and take you in the middle of a battle like this-"

He was cut off by sudden movement at the corner of his left eye. Averting his gaze from Pikachu, the Pallet Town native shot up from his chair and stared at the stairway to the stands, where he spotted what appeared to be a flickering black flame, a flame that no one else seemed to notice, not even when they were in close proximity to it. But then, as his eyes zeroed in on the strange object and blocked out all of his surroundings, Ash realized it wasn't a flame at all.

It was a Pokémon, but not like any he had ever seen before. Much of its features were barely visible through the wispy, fire-like substance that engulfed it. The only things Ash could make out were its reddish-orange eyes and what appeared to be two curled horns. But what really caught the Trainer's undying attention was the ground upon which this Pokémon stood: instead of a solid surface upon which its shadow could be projected, it appeared to be dark, viscous, and murky, almost like thick mud or a swamp...

"Hey, Pikachu?" Ash asked, breaking his gaze away from the strange Pokémon so he could look at his partner Pokémon. "D-Do you see that?"

Pikachu looked at Ash, having been looking the other way earlier. "Pika?"

"That!" Ash pointed towards the stairway. "That Pokémon, right-"

His heart stopped beating for a second. The Pokémon was no longer there. No shadowy form, no muddy ground, no dark flame...nothing.

"There..."

Ash vaguely felt Pikachu scurry up to his shoulder. "Pika? Pika-pika, pikachu, Pikapi."

The boy blinked slowly, and with uncertainty. "I...I thought I saw something there..."

Ash continued looking at that same spot with confusion, prompting Pikachu looked at his Trainer with concern.

"Pikapi?" he asked.

After a couple of seconds spent in awkward silence, the raven-haired boy rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry, buddy," he replied. "I...I guess I was seeing things-"

"Hey, buddy," a voice snarled. Ash looked to his side and saw a small group of older boys glaring daggers at him.

"Now that you've got your little matter settled," one of the boys said, "can you please sit down, for the love of Arceus?"

"We're trying to watch the frigging match here!" another boy snapped.

"Oh!" Ash's eyes widened with stunned embarrassment. "S-So-Sorry..."

He quickly sat back down in his chair, prompting another one of the boys to reply condescendingly, "Thank you."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked. The Mouse Pokémon continued to look up at his Trainer with confusion.

"It's...It's nothing, Pikachu..." Ash replied as he tried to refocus on the battle.

"Pika..."

But before Ash and Pikachu can continue their planned analysis of Raihan's tactics, they vaguely heard a familiar ringing noise materializing beside them, followed by a series of loud gasps and stunned cries. They both looked to their left, and their lower jaws dropped open when they saw a huge ring of shining gold facing them, growing in size while the space in the center started to glow, the light becoming brighter and brighter by the second.

"Wh-Whoa!" Ash exclaimed with wide eyes. "You're...You're seeing this too, right Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked in affirmation.

"Holy crap!"

The older boys who had just admonished Ash were now scrambling away from their seats, for the still-growing gold ring was about to occupy their space.

"Dude, back up, back up, back up!" cried one of the boys.

"Hey, hey, watch it!" shouted another.

"H-Hold up, I forgot my popcorn!" a third boy squeaked fearfully.

"Forget the Arceus-damn popcorn, Blake!" a fourth snapped with a mixture of exasperation and fear.

In contrast, Ash and Pikachu stood on the spot, watching as the ring continued to grow bigger and glow brighter. Around them, more and more of the audience's attention was being diverted away from the duel between Raihan and Kabu. Very soon, the large screens on either side of the stadium stopped depicting the battle and switched their focus on the golden ring, and even Raihan and Kabu took notice of the change in mood.

"Whoa," Ash said again as he examined the ring. "I...I think we've seen this ring before, Pikachu..."

"Pika..."

A second later, two people stepped out from the shining light at the center of the ring, drawing shocked gasps and even a few terrified screams from the other spectators. But Ash and Pikachu, who by that point were the only ones present in their block of seats, did not react at all, instead scanning the newcomers from head to toe. One of them was a pregnant woman with sandy-brown hair and sea-blue eyes, while the other was a man with black, bushy hair and dark-brown eyes and dressed more for a desert than the Motostoke Stadium.

The two newcomers set their sights on Ash and Pikachu almost immediately, ignoring the commotion of the confused and panicked spectators. The woman smiled softly and stepped forward, her blue eyes shining with relief.

"Hello, Ash," she greeted. "It's been a long time."

Ash's eyes immediately widened in remembrance. "I remember you! Sheena!"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked.

Sheena nodded. "It's good to see you haven't forgotten, Ash."

Then, Ash and Pikachu glanced towards the man, who was now scanning his surroundings. He looked slightly alarmed by the panic that he and Sheena inadvertently started.

"Baraz!" Ash exclaimed.

Baraz looked back at Ash and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Ash." Then, his smile vanished in an instant. "Although I wish it wasn't under these circumstances..."

"What're you two doing here?" Then, Ash glanced at the gold ring that functioned as Sheena and Baraz's transportation. "And is that Hoopa's?!"

"Yes, it is indeed Hoopa's," Sheena replied. Then, she held out a gloved hand towards Ash. "Listen, we need you to come with us right away. It's urgent."

"R-Right away?" Ash glanced towards the battlefield, where he could see Raihan and Kabu staring at the ring, awestruck. "It can't wait?"

"I'm afraid it can't," Baraz said. "We deeply apologize for the interruption, but we must leave now-"

"Now?!" The boy's eyes widened, and he turned his back on the two. "Hold on, I need to get Goh and Chloe!"

"Goh?" Sheena asked.

"Chloe?" added Baraz.

"They're my friends, and I'd rather not leave them here!"

Before Sheena and Baraz could stop him, Ash had already started running the other direction, with Pikachu remaining on his shoulder. Spectators parted for him, allowing the Pallet Town native to begin scouring the stands for Goh and Chloe.

"Ash!" Sheena called. "Wait a minute, Ash!"

But Baraz sighed and shook his bead with amusement. "Well, there he goes. I almost forgot about how unstoppable this kid can be. Like a force of nature." He looked at his companion. "What's the plan, Sheena?"

Sheena unconsciously rubbed her bulging stomach while replying, "We go after him. Never let him out of sight."

With that, the woman began walking as fast as she could, her movements slightly hindered by the baby in her belly. As for Baraz, he watched her go for a moment before looking back at the glowing ring.

"Hoopa!" he called. "Keep the ring open! We have a little setback here! Pit, Kevie, Lucianne, if anyone comes through the portal and it's not me, Sheena, or Ash, kick them back out!"

"Got it, Baraz!" three voices replied, echoing from the void in unison.

Nodding in affirmation, Baraz turned and ran after Ash and Sheena.

Further up in the stands, a certain trio in disguise used binoculars to observe Ash as he ran away from Hoopa's ring, with Sheena and Baraz both in hot pursuit.

"Dere goes da twoip," Meowth said.

"Yes, oh yes..." James replied, a sinister sneer appearing on his face. "He may be all happy-go-lucky right now, but little does he know..."

"Dat taday is da day we capture Pikachu! Heh heh heh..."

However, Jessie lowered her binoculars; the Team Rocket member was wearing an expression of disappointment.

"Are you two being absolutely serious right now?!" she snapped angrily, startling her comrades-in-arms. "You're thinking of capturing Pikachu, today of all days?!"

"W-We-Well...yeah..." James said hesitantly.

"I-I mean," added Meowth, "d-dat's da plot fer every episode, isn't dat right?" Then, the disguised Scratch Cat Pokémon blinked and scratched his chin in wonder. "Hmmm, I feel a sense of déjà vu 'ere. Maybe da author's recycling old scenes from otha stories-?"

"Oh, hush up now, Meowth!" Jessie snapped. "Didja forget what just went down? That ring appearing out of nowhere and zapping in those two badly-dressed folks?!"

"Badly dressed?" James repeated incredulously. "I happen to think they dress up quite nicely-"

"That's beside the point! You guys know the drill! Where there's strange phenomenon..."

Her voice trailed off, leaving the trio in the midst of an awkward silence. The only noise in the air was the slight humming of Hoopa's levitating ring. After a few seconds of this, Jessie growled and ruffled her hair in exasperation.

"There's never-before-seen Pokémon, you dimwits!" she snarled.

"Ohhhhh..." James and Meowth replied simultaneously.

However, Meowth's expression was one of disinterest. "Ta be honest, Jess, we 'aven't had luck wit da never-before-seen Pokémon in da longest time. Every episode we're in, we wind up being da cannon fodda for da new Pokémon, and don't get me started on da movies!"

"I gotta agree with Meowth on this one, Jessie," James added. "Never-before-seen Pokémon haven't been our strongest suits for a while. I no longer see the appeal-"

"Have you two forgotten what the Boss set us out to do in the first place?!" Jessie interrupted, her eyelid twitching.

"Ta be honest," replied Meowth, "we've blasted off so many times dat it's had an effect on my memory-"

"Ohhh, for the love of!" Jessie quickly recomposed herself. "The Boss entrusted us with the task of bringing him Pokémon from all over the world! Valuable Pokémon, powerful Pokémon, and most of all..."

Once again, her voice trailed off, leaving the trio in awkward silence for a moment. Then, James and Meowth's eyes lit up simultaneously.

"Oh!" they both cried, the lightbulbs literally visible above their heads. "Valuable Pokémon!"

....

"GAH!"

Jessie ruffled her hair so furiously and violently that she accidentally knocked off the hat she had been wearing as a part of her disguise. This caused her magenta-pink hair to unfurl into its natural long, curly shape.

"I cannot BELIEVE you two idiots!" she screamed, startling not only her comrades, but everyone else within earshot. "If we don't get our head out of the gutters more often, then we're gonna be laughingstocks in the Boss's eyes once again, and that accursed Matori will take over my role as the most treasured female member of Team Rocket, and-"

"Wait, what was that last part...?" James interrupted, his voice hesitant.

Before Jessie could respond, however, she felt something vibrating in her pocket. "Hm? What's this...?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her black Rotom Phone, which was vibrating intensely and repeating over and over again, "You have a call from the Boss, Giovanni."

"Da Boss is callin'?" Meowth asked with awe.

"I don't recall our Team Rocket fees being overdue today..." James remarked.

"Hush up!" Jessie whispered.

Once her teammates fell silent, Jessie answered the incoming call. The trio instinctively took on rigid, formal poses upon seeing the stern face of their employer.

"Jessie, James, and Meowth," he said. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Greetings, Boss!" James cried.

"Oh, you're not interrupting anything at all, Boss!" added Jessie. "We're always ready and willing to serve at your every whim!"

"And wat whim do ya need servin' tahday, Boss?!" Meowth asked.

"You will find out  soon.  You three are at the Motostoke Stadium, correct? "

"Yes, that's indeed correct, Boss," Jessie replied.

To the trio's surprise, Giovanni's lips curled into a malevolent smirk. "Then I need you three to stay put and wait. I apologize for the impromptu assignment, but Team Rocket has a massive operation about to go underway at your location, and I want you three to be ready when the time comes."

"A massive operation?" James repeated. "What about?"

Giovanni's smirk only widened. "You'll see. And rest assured, the reward will be tremendous. Giovanni, out."

The live feed quickly cut out. Once Giovanni's face disappeared from the screen, the trio looked amongst one another.

"Reward?" Jessie and James asked at the same time.

"For what?" James continued. "For waiting patiently?"

"Well, we can't just question da Boss!" Meowth exclaimed, catching his teammates' attention. "And just tink of what dat reward could be! Da highest of promotions!"

Jessie and James started to understand what Meowth was getting at, for they put on majestic poses while an imaginary background of bright colors materialized behind them. Everyone who was within earshot spotted the trio and awkwardly moved away from their position.

"It could be fame and prominence!" Jessie gushed.

"Or riches beyond belief!" cried James in exultation.

Meowth shot his paws upward in jubilation. "We'll be feared throughout ta woyld and all of Team Rocket!"

POP!

"WOOOOOBBUFFET!"

Jessie's eyes shimmered again. "Oooooh, I do like the sound of all that..."

....

Suddenly, Meowth blinked and scratched his chin in wonder again. "Hmmm, again wit da déjà vu 'ere... Maybe da writer is runnin' outta ideas fer dialogue fer us!"

In every corner of the stands in Motostoke Stadium, the audience was seeing Hoopa's ring, whether it was in person or via the stadium's massive television screens. Not unexpectedly, the reaction was mostly one of confusion and shock. But unlike everyone else, one spectator, a young, tan-skinned girl wearing sports-themed clothing, stood still and analyzed the ring with calm, collected precision. Her face was cool and completely devoid of any natural reaction to the unnatural occurrence.

It was only when she saw Ash in the screens that she exhibited any sort of emotion, in this case intrigue.

"So, uhhhh, what's this supposed to be about, guys?" Ash asked as he scanned the aisles for Goh and Chloe. Behind him were Sheena and Baraz, both of whom were surveying their surroundings with apprehension.

"We have good reason to believe a great evil has its sights set on you," replied Sheena, her blue eyes narrowing. "An evil unlike no other. We can't take our chances here, so we're taking you all to our sanctuary in Michina Town."

"Michina Town, huh?" Ash's auburn eyes beamed with nostalgia. "Man, I have forgotten all about that place. It's been so long since I've been there. How is it over there these days?"

"It's...It's doing pretty great." The corners of Sheena's lips twitched into a proud smile. "I've recently been supervising a restoration project with my assistant Kevin. You've met him."

"Yeah, I remember." Then, Ash focused on Sheena's bulging belly. "Oh, and congratulations on your baby!"

"Pika-pika!" Pikachu squeaked, equally enamored with the sign of new life coming from the Michina Town guardian.

"Thank you, Ash. It's actually Kevin's."

"Kevin, huh? Can't say I'm surprised. I can only imagine Brock's tears, though." Ash chuckled for a quick moment at the thought of his old friend and traveling companion, as he resumed scanning the stadium for Goh and Chloe. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy..." Sheena's smile widened as she stroked her stomach. "We're thinking of naming him Damos, after my ancestor. A strong and fitting name for a strong and healthy boy such as himself."

"Oh, that's so awesome!" Without looking, Ash asked next, "And what about you, Baraz? How are you, Meray, and Hoopa doing these days? Ooh, are you or Meray expecting any kids too?! It has been a while since I last saw you guys too-"

Baraz narrowed his eyes and coughed, in spite of how his soul rejoiced at hearing the Trainer's ever-youthful enthusiasm after a couple of years. "I'd love to catch up with you, Ash, but I'm afraid now's not the time for that."

Sheena's smile faltered, and she added, "Y-Yes, that's correct." Her expression hardened once again. "Ash, this is truly a situation of the utmost urgency, and we need your presence at Michina Town right away.

"Yeah, about that..." Ash stopped and looked up at Sheena and Baraz, his eyebrows raised. "You guys mentioned an evil unlike no other. What kind of evil are you talking about?"

Sheena and Baraz looked at each other for a moment, as if seeking out the other's approval for the appropriate response to give to their guest. Then, Sheena glanced back at Ash, her expression slowly turning grave.

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning," she recited, "lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, lest the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea." She blinked, slightly taken with emotion. "Do you remember those words, Ash?"

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning..." Ash repeated. Then, a certain peaceful melody filled all four corners of his mind, like water being poured into a cup, and his eyes grew wide with surprise. "Yeah, I do!" He looked at Pikachu. "Remember, buddy? Th-That's the Shamouti Prophecy that we solved when we were in the Orange Islands!"

"Pika-pika, pikachu!" Pikachu replied, eagerly nodding with remembrance.

"As it turns out, Ash," Baraz said, "that prophecy was part of a larger text."

Ash looked back at Baraz and Sheena with confusion. "Part of a larger text?"

"Yes. The portion as you remember it is what the complete text calls the Trial of the Soul."

"The Trial...of the Soul?"

"And the rest of the text describes a second trial, along with some sort of message," continued Sheena. "The rest is as follows: quell not the discord of death, darkness, and violence, lest its weak state expose its true nature upon the world in which it resides. Though the sky's great guardian shall arise to restore the balance, alone its power will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash once again. O Chosen One, into thine heart accept your ultimate fate. Your brought sacrifice tame the world. Thus concludes the Trial of the Heart.

"O Chosen One, look deep into your heart and soul, seek what lies underneath, discover the true spirit that constitutes you. Perils await, and all must be dealt with due process. Do not hesitate, do not doubt, do not regret. Do not dwell in the past, merely look forward to tomorrow, and always remember, for the power of one is..."

Sheena sighed before completing, "The text ends there."

"That's it?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the text was recovered incomplete.

"The power of one is... The power of one is what?"

"We don't know. But, given your crucial involvement in the cataclysm that nearly ended the world years ago, what we do know is that you are once again at the center of something big, Ash. Something life-changing."

"Something life-changing..." Ash momentarily looked down at the floor, lost in thought. Then, he looked back up at Baraz and Sheena. "Why wasn't I told of this before?"

"We're telling you now, Ash-" Baraz began.

"No, why didn't I learn this part of the prophecy years ago, back when I was in the Orange Islands? There's another trial that I never got to do back at Shamouti Island?!" For some reason, Ash began to feel worry and dread well up within him like a deluge. "I could've done it! I could've had loads and loads of time to prepare for this! Maybe if I did, the-the world wouldn't be in danger, a-and we wouldn't be worrying about this situation right now!"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried in agreement.

"We do wish we could've told you sooner, Ash," replied Baraz, "but please understand us, we had no way of knowing the Shamouti Prophecy would be involved any sooner. We found the complete text weeks ago, within the ruins of an Alpha Temple located near Dahara City, and the translation was completed just hours ago."

"An...Alpha Temple...?" Ash asked, momentarily confused.

"Pika?"

"A temple used by the peoples of ancient times to worship Arceus," Sheena explained. "The ancient ruins that I oversee at Michina Town are prime examples of such, so I speak from experience when I say texts like these are difficult to find, let alone decipher. There are very few remaining Alpha Temples located across the world." The woman narrowed her sea-blue eyes gravely. "So Ash, if Arceus and the myths of old are involved in some way, then we can only assume whatever is about to take place will be truly catastrophic."

"Which is why we need you to come with us," Baraz added, his tone one of urgency. "Now, are you sure you cannot just call or text your friends, tell them why you had to leave?"

"I'm sure they'll understand completely-" began Sheena.

"No!" Ash blurted out, the dread within him rising. "Wherever I go, Goh and Chloe go! So we gotta go find them, fast!"

With that, the raven-haired boy continued walking and scanning the aisles for his two friends. Sheena and Baraz looked at one another with concern before following him.

"Hey, I thought you said you'd be getting one soda refill for Ash..."

"Well, the thing about Ash is...even if he wants only one refill, he'll soon be asking for more. I might as well save up the time."

Goh, Chloe, Cinderace, Yamper, and Eevee were venturing back to the stands. Hot dogs and sodas were clutched within the hands of the former three, while Yamper and Eevee strolled leisurely beside Chloe's ankles, keeping up with her step by step and maintaining a close distance to her out of loyalty. Chloe frowned disapprovingly at the unhealthy amount of plastic soda cups tucked in Goh's arms, being almost cradled tightly in his grasp like a newborn baby.

"I hope you're not overdoing the sodas too, Goh," Chloe commented with slight disappointment. "I'd hate to see you gain weight a few months down the road because you couldn't resist a sugar rush."

"Hey, don't worry about me, Chloe!" Goh replied with an upbeat smile, even as he focused ahead of him. "Ash and I do a lotta walking and running, so it evens things out."

Chloe's mind became filled with memories of her lagging behind the two boys as they explored every nook and cranny of Motostoke upon arrival. Ash had been so insistent on walking through the city and seeing what it had to offer, and if Goh was in a position to argue against it, he never seized the opportunity to do so. At that moment, Chloe could feel the last of the aches prickle at her ankles, spurred on by those unfortunate memories.

"I see..." she said.

At that moment, Goh glanced at her, his smile still intact. "I know this whole research fellowship slash adventuring thing is new for you, Chloe, but don't worry. You'll get used to it soon enough." He jabbed a thumb at himself. "I sure am! Sort of."

"Well, I hope so..." Chloe sighed softly and gave her childhood friend a weak, almost halfhearted chuckle. "But right now, I can't wait to get back to the Pokémon Center and dip my feet into some warm bathtub water. My ankles are still killing me."

Goh chuckled energetically. "Hey, d'you know what you just reminded me of?"

Chloe blinked in interest. "What?"

"The time when we were kids, and we had to run for our lives from Mr. Murtle's Arcanine. What was his name? Crusher?"

Chloe scowled playfully as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, I still have a bone to pick with you on that. Every kid and their mom knew that Arcanine was super-cranky, and yet you still wanted to figure out if Arcanine could actually run that fast. So what'd you do? You used ourselves as test subjects."

Goh chuckled and instinctively scratched his left cheek out of embarrassment. The corner of Chloe's lips twitched at the sight; he definitely picked up that habit from Ash.

"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me in hindsight. But hey, I was just a kid back then! I wanted to know everything about Pokémon, no matter the cost!"

"And the cost in that case was our ankles nearly falling off after all that running we did," deadpanned Chloe.

"Heh heh heh..." Sighing, Goh caught sight of the stairs leading up to the stands and took them, followed closely by the others. "Yeah, those were the days..."

"They sure were..."

Chloe too sighed nostalgically. Then, her mood soured slightly, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Just in case it slipped your mind. Because, you know, your mind likes to slip a lot."

"Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just stating the facts."

Chloe stopped walking, which prompted her Yamper and Eevee to stop as well and look up with tilted heads.

"Vui?"

"Grou?"

Goh and Cinderace overheard Yamper's and Eevee's confused voices and turned around. Upon seeing Chloe frozen on the stairs, lost in thought, Goh turned so his body could face hers.

"Chloe?" he asked. "You...You alright?"

"Hm?"

The maroon-haired girl looked up and finally registered Goh looking down at her from the top of the stairs. Acting almost immediately, she gave her childhood friend a shaky but innocent smile.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "I was just...I was trying to remember what Mom and Parker wanted me to buy here as a souvenir."

Goh gave her a wide, beaming smile, another thing he evidently inherited from Ash. "Hey, don't worry about it. I thought I saw a souvenir shop on our way into the stadium. You could go check it out while we're asking Raihan the questions."

"Thanks, Goh." Chloe tried to widen her smile at him, but it was futile. "I appreciate the help."

A small part of her desperately wanted to add something else to her response. Unfortunately, her instincts held her back, much to her own disappointment, and she let out a low, almost inaudible grunt of irritation instead. Goh did not hear it, for he and Cinderace instead overheard the stunned gasps of the audience above him.

"Huh," he remarked while turning his head. "I wonder what all the commotion is...?"

"Ace?" Cinderace asked.

Chloe overheard the collective gasping as well, and she, Yamper, and Eevee followed Goh and Cinderace back onto the stands. As soon as they did, the quartet noticed the other spectators turning their heads away from Raihan and Kabu's battle, which had apparently come to a quiet standstill. They followed their gazes and instantly spotted the live feeds on the Motostoke Stadium's screens.

Upon seeing what was being shown, their jaws dropped open in shock.

"Whoa!" Goh exclaimed. "What in the world is that?!"

"Cinder, cinder!" Cinderace cried in response.

"It...It looks like some sort of wormhole!" Chloe squeaked in slight fear.

"Ee-vui!" Eevee cried.

"Bak, bak, bak!" Yamper barked before baring its teeth at the screen's direction and growling angrily.

"Goh!" a familiar voice called. "Chloe!"

"Pika!"

"Huh?"

Goh, Chloe, Cinderace, Yamper, and Eevee averted their gazes from the screens and spotted Ash and Pikachu running up to them as fast as they could. They were followed closely by two peculiarly-dressed people that none of them recognized.

"Ash?" Goh asked. "Hey, what's going on? What's that-?"

"Don't worry about it, guys," Ash interrupted. "That's Hoopa's ring."

"Hoopa?" asked Chloe.

"We'll explain later," interrupted one of the strangers, a pregnant woman with sandy-brown hair and sea-blue eyes. "You must be Goh and Chloe."

"Y-Yeah, that's us..." Goh glanced at Ash strangely. "Ash? Who're these people?"

"Oh, don't worry about 'em. They're people that I met during my journey." The raven-haired boy pointed at the pregnant woman. "That's Sheena..." He then pointed at the other person, a man wearing a red turban. "And that's Baraz. They're friends...and they're saying we need to go with them."

"Yeah, and now," Baraz said, stepping forward and grabbing Ash's wrist. "Ash, you've got who you were looking for. Now, we must make our leave! It's not safe for you to be here."

With that, he began half-dragging Ash away, with Sheena, Goh, Chloe, Cinderace, Yamper, and Eevee right at their heels.

"Wait, why?" Goh asked suspiciously. "We are in a stadium filled with thousands of people!"

Before Sheena could respond, another voice called out, "HEY!"

The group looked over the railing, just in time to see Raihan flying on a Flygon. The Hammerlocke Gym Leader glared at Sheena and Baraz with an air of authority and suspicion.

"Just who are you people?" he asked. "And what brings you to Motostoke, unannounced?"

"We apologize for interrupting your battle in such a rude manner," Baraz replied. He let go of Ash and held out his arms in a beseeching manner. "We really do, but this is an emergency."

"Huh. So it seems, what with your theatrical entrance and all." Raihan shot a fleeing glance of familiarity at Ash and Goh, while Flygon chittered ominously at Sheena and Baraz. "What do you want with these three children?"

"They are the emergency, sir," Sheena responded next, bowing her head politely at the Hammerlocke Gym Leader. "Look, there is no time to explain, but I can assure you we're anything but hostile."

"She's right, Raihan!" Ash interjected. "They're friends of ours!"

"Pika-pika, pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

Raihan's cyan eyes narrowed with suspicion at Sheena and Baraz. But before he could speak any further, a scream filled the air, followed by several more...

And then, followed by a terrible shadow looming over Motostoke Stadium, enveloping more and more of it like an eclipse.

Ash, Goh, Chloe, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan looked up and quickly saw the source of the shadow: a great aerial vehicle, which resembled a classic sailing vessel with a half-dozen masts and sails, but its body was made out of gunmetal-gray metal, and it sported long, jagged, almost draconic wings that protruded from its sides. The long bow of the vessel was encased entirely in silver metal, and it had a single, long horn at the end, giving it a semblance to an Aggron. Gigantic clouds of smoke trailed from the vessel, likely from exhaust pipes, but they were already sparkling and crackling brightly with electricity; they were so large that they were creating their own weather systems.

Within a matter of seconds, the giant, airborne vessel was hovering directly over Motostoke Stadium, totally covering its area in shadow. At that point, the audience began to disperse in panic and terror, crowding the stairways, leaping over rows and rows of seats, and even trampling over each other in desperate but unsuccessful bids to escape. But Ash, Goh, Chloe, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, and their Pokémon remained still, continuing to eye the vessel as its wide berth loomed over them.

"Is this the great evil you guys were talking about?" Ash asked.

"We're...We're not really sure," Baraz replied, his eyes refusing to break away from the vessel.

Just then, the live feeds of the stadium's massive TV screens, which had begun to focus on the vessel's arrival, started to become distorted. Ash, Goh, Chloe, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan's attentions were diverted to them; and they watched as the live feed was replaced with another depicting the mischievous face of a purple-haired, purple-eyed man sitting in a room of metal.

"Gooood mornin', citizens of Motostoke!" the man bellowed, his voice traveling from the screens and echoing across the stadium. It was loud and commanding enough to stop the fleeing audience in its tracks. "My name is Petrel, and I am a lieutenant affiliated with Team Rocket. I apologize for interrupting your daily viewing pleasure."

Confused murmurs and conversations broke out amongst the citizens.

"Petrel?"

"Team Rocket? What's that?"

"Are we under attack or what?"

"However," Petrel continued, silencing the wave of murmurs sweeping through the audience, "you have amongst you a certain boy that Team Rocket is, shall I say, interested in retrieving."

"A certain boy?" Raihan asked in a whisper. Then, he gazed at Ash, Goh, and Chloe curiously.

"This is not some grand robbery or takeover, rest assured. The only thing that I expect from you, ladies and gentlemen, is your undying cooperation...while we take this boy."

Petrel snapped his fingers, just as a large hatch opened up on the vessel's undercarriage. Ash, Goh, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan watched as about a dozen missiles emerged and automatically barreled towards Motostoke Stadium at unusually slow speeds. But just as they neared their position, the quintet realized those weren't missiles, but rather Team Rocket grunts equipped with jetpacks.

And leading the small group was a duo that Ash and Pikachu vaguely recognized, to their horror.

"A shrieking whine!" exclaimed one half of the duo, a stunning woman with gold-blonde hair. "A blast from the past!"

"Spinning like a Gyro Ball and moving fast!" proclaimed the other half of the duo, a man with light-green hair arranged in a peculiar bowl-cut.

"To the moon..."

"...And beyond..."

"...What a blast!" both hollered at the same time.

Ash heard a familiar female voice shouting from a short distance, "You gotta be KIDDIN' me!"

"Administering justice with lightning speed!" continued the blonde woman.

"Bashing the bad guys, should we feel the need," recited the green-haired man.

Ash then heard a familiar masculine growling, followed by the voice snarling, "Still uncreative, as always..."

"So here's a newsflash from across the wire..." the woman began.

"The real Team Rocket is now on fire!" the man completed.

"Cassidy!"

"And it's Butch!"

"Teaching the losers a thing or two..."

"...The true Team Rocket..."

The two Team Rocket agents pointed off at a certain direction...but not at Ash, Goh, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan.

"Us!" they declared simultaneously. "Not you!"

"Oh, for the love of!" the same familiar female voice shouted.

Finally, Ash, Goh, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, and even the nearest spectators were compelled to glance at a certain corner at a certain stairway. There stood a trio of what appeared to be tourists, though their choice of clothing looked too stylish and distinguishable, while one of the tourists looked suspiciously like a Meowth.

"When the Boss said there'd be a massive operation underway here," snarled one of the tourists, a woman with magenta hair, "I was expecting something big, but I never would've guessed you would be involved, Cassidy! Not even in a million years!"

"It's good to see you again, Jessie," Cassidy replied haughtily. "How long has it been since we last saw one another? Two, three years? I must say, those years have been quite tough on you, though-"

"EXC...EXCUSE ME?!" The woman ripped off her clothes, revealing a white Team Rocket uniform underneath and indeed confirming her true identity. "I could say the same for you, Cassidy! And what in Arceus's name is with that motto?!"

"Yeah!" James added as he too tore off his disguise with gusto. "You're still using that uncreative motto from way back in Sinnoh! Did you really exhaust your creative reserves so much that you're sticking to old shtick, Hutch?!"

"FOR THE LAST FRIGGING TIME!" Butch snapped, his left eyelid twitching nastily. "IT'S BUTCH, NOT HUTCH!" Then, he calmed down and cleared his throat. "And for your information, Cassidy and I have been quite happy with our motto for years now. ...Why?" He wagged his eyebrow craftily. "Are you three changing your motto every other day? If there's one thing worse than exhausting creative reserves, it's being sooooo desperate for relevancy that-"

"Yer one ta talk 'bout relevancy!" Meowth interrupted, being the last of the three to tear off his costume. "Ya punks are yesterday's news! In fact, yer more dan yesterday's news, yer last year's news!"

There was a familiar popping noise, and a Wobbuffet hopped out from behind Jessie.

"WOOOOOBBUFFET!" he cried while saluting.

"EXCUSE ME?!" screeched Cassidy, startling everyone else, friend and foe alike. "JESSIE, YOU NEED TO KEEP A LEASH ON YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE KITTY!"

"Pathetic little-?!" Jessie spluttered. Then, her lips curled into a derisive sneer. "You know, I noticed you didn't have your stinky weak rat with you for your motto."

"Yeah!" added James. "Or your lame turtle!"

"KEEP RATICATE AND SHUCKLE OUTTA THIS!" Cassidy and Butch hollered at the same time.

"Uhhhhhhhh..." Goh said, looking back and forth between the two bickering duos with utter perplexity. "What's going on here...?"

"Ah, nothing," Ash replied while nostalgically observing the argument. "Just Team Rocket's usual routine."

"Pika pika," Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

"That's considered usual...?" Chloe asked with stunned astonishment.

"It doesn't matter what's happening here," Baraz whispered. "We can use their distraction to our advan-"

"Ahem!"

Petrel's voice echoed through the stadium, nearly blowing out the large, elaborate speaker systems in the process. All of those in the stadium, Team Rocket agents included, yelled and almost covered their ears from the earsplitting noise.

"Jessie and James, Cassidy and Mulch-"

"IT'S BUTCH, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!"

"I appreciate this...lovely reunion between old rivals..." the Team Rocket lieutenant said sardonically, "but need I remind you there is an operation underway as we speak?"

"Yes, Petrel sir!" Cassidy and Butch cried while saluting.

"W-We apologize, Petrel sir!" Jessie, James, and Meowth shouted while taking on stiff, straight poses.

"Goooood. I love it when we all come to a mutual agreement. Now then, unless you have more insults to get off your chests..." The Team Rocket lieutenant pointed in the direction of Ash, Goh, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan. "Seize the target! He's one of the keys we need to acquire the guardians!"

"On it, sir!" Cassidy and Butch replied loyally.

"No!" Jessie, James, and Meowth snapped at the same time. "WE'RE on it!"

Cassidy and Butch promptly produced Poké Balls from their pockets and threw them into the air. The devices opened up, summoning a Raticate, Houndoom, and Shuckle with flashes of light. This action was mirrored by the grunts under their supervision, all of whom threw their own Poké Balls and called out a variety of Pokémon, ranging in the dozens. As soon as they did, Cassidy reached into her other pocket and pulled out a metallic bracelet that bore some sort of marble-like object.

"Eat your heart out, Jessie," the blonde woman hissed triumphantly.

Cassidy quickly put on the bracelet and raised it high in the air, allowing the sunlight to reflect off the marble-like object's surface. In that moment, Ash realized it wasn't any sort of marble, but rather, a Key Stone. Then, the Pallet Town native focused on the Houndoom Cassidy summoned and saw it had a Mega Stone attached to the blood-red, metallic collar it was wearing around its neck.

"HOUNDOOM!" Cassidy hollered at the top of her lungs. "MEGA EVOLVE!"

The Dark Pokémon was instantly enveloped in a sphere of light, and everyone watched with shock as its outline grew and changed in shape. In just a few seconds, the light disappeared in a flash that resembled a double-helix symbol, revealing Houndoom in its Mega Evolved form. Mega Houndoom narrowed its feral, scarlet eyes at its opponents and let out a loud, bloodcurdling howl.

"HEY!" Jessie cried with disbelief. "Where'd you get THAT?!"

"Let's just say it's a new part of my work perks," Cassidy replied with a mocking wink.

Before Jessie could go on a hateful tirade, she, James, and Meowth overheard a familiar squawk. Looking up, they saw a Pelipper flying towards them from the direction of the vessel, all while carrying a familiar contraption in its stubby feet.

"Ah, the Rocket Prize Master!" Jessie cried.

"And on record time too!" added James.

"Over here, Pelipper!" called Meowth, waving frantically at the approaching Water Bird Pokémon.

With a second squawk of acknowledgment, Pelipper dropped the capsule toy vending machine in front of Jessie, James, and Meowth. Acting quickly, Meowth removed his charm coin and inserted it into the machine, while James grabbed the crank and turned it as quickly as he could. To the trio's surprise, the Rocket Prize Master shot five different Poké Balls at Jessie, and then another five at James.

"Whoa, whoa, what's this?!" James exclaimed, staring at the Rocket Prize Master with incredulity. "D-Did I turn that thing too hard?!"

"Oh, who cares, James?!" Jessie snapped. "The darn toy's already spoken, so let's do it!"

With that, the two Team Rocket agents threw the ten Poké Balls into the air with a collective "GO!" A mere split-second later, they and Meowth were surprised by the Pokémon that emerged from them: from Jessie's Poké Balls came Seviper, Yanmega, Woobat, Frillish, and Gourgeist; while Mime Jr., Carnivine, Yamask, Amoonguss, and Inkay came from James's.

"Whaaaaat?!" Meowth exclaimed with delight.

"My baaaaabiiiiies!" Jessie cried shrilly.

"WOOOOOBBUFFET!" Wobbuffet greeted while saluting happily.

"Ohhhhh, come over here, my children!" James shouted with his arms wide open. "Come to Daddy!"

CRUNCH!

Whereas Mime Jr., Yamask, Amoonguss, and Inkay flew right into James's arms, nearly knocking him over, Carnivine had wrapped its vine-like arms around its Trainer's torso...and chomped down on his head with its massive mouth filled with spiky teeth.

"GAAAAAH!" screamed James. "CARNIVINE, I LOVE YOU TOO, BUT LET GO! LET GO! WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!"

Once James pried the Bug Catcher Pokémon off his head, Jessie and James's former Pokémon joined Meowth, Wobbuffet, and the rest of Team Rocket's Pokémon. Together, they faced Ash, Goh, Chloe, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan, all of whom quickly took defensive poses.

"I don't think so!" Raihan shouted while his Flygon howled threateningly. The Hammerlocke Gym Leader pulled out three other Poké Balls and threw them. "Come on out, everyone!"

The Poké Balls opened up, unleashing Duraludon and two other Pokémon: a Gigalith and a Sandaconda. Ash's and Goh's eyes widened simultaneously at the astounding sight of Raihan's full Pokémon team.

"Whoa, who're those Pokémon?" Ash whispered to himself. He first aimed the Rotom Phone at Sandaconda, whereupon the device activated itself.

"Sandaconda, the Sand Snake Pokémon, and the evolved form of Silicobra.  When it contracts its body, over 220 pounds of sand sprays from its nose. If it ever runs out of sand, it becomes disheartened."

Meanwhile, Goh had focused his Rotom Phone on Gigalith. "Gigalith, the Compressed Pokémon, the evolved form of Boldore, and the final evolved form of Roggenrola. Although their energy blasts can blow away a dump truck, they have a limitation—they can only be fired when the sun is out."

"HA HA HA HA!" Cassidy cackled, catching the boys' attention. "Ahhhhhhh, do you really think your Pokémon are enough to dissuade us?! Team Rocket never backs down from its goal!"

"Step aside, chump," snarled Butch, glaring daggers at Raihan and his Flygon, "or be prepared for real trouble!" Then, he sneered at the Hammerlocke Gym Leader. "Or are ya daring enough to face our might alone?"

"He's not alone!" Baraz hollered while procuring three Poké Balls. "GO!"

He threw the Poké Balls, unleashing a Braviary, a Solrock, and an Aurorus that Ash was unable to recognize. These three Pokémon joined Raihan's team and faced down Team Rocket's own Pokémon.

However, Jessie sneered mockingly at Raihan's and Baraz's numbers. "Oh, really? Six Pokémon against our two dozen or so?"

"Not to mention the technology of our Rocket Frigate?" Cassidy interjected while pointing a finger to the sky.

Ash, Goh, Chloe, Sheena, Baraz, and Raihan looked up; and within moments, they all saw dozens and dozens of cannons emerging from the vessel's undercarriage. Each individual barrel aimed itself directly at Ash's group, prompting the other civilians loitering in the stands to start screaming and fleeing again.

"I suggest you surrender now," Petrel said with a triumphant smirk. "Just hand over the boy, and no one in this stadium gets hurt-"

"Oh, I don't think so!" Raihan interrupted valiantly. "I am not surrendering anyone to the likes of you! And just because you've got all this manpower and firepower, it doesn't mean you've got the upper hand! After all..."

At Raihan's words, Motostoke Stadium started to rumble louder and louder. Ash, Goh, Sheena, Baraz, and Team Rocket had to steady themselves so they wouldn't fall over. Then, Ash was the first to see it.

Kabu's Centiskorch growing to a tremendous size, eventually becoming so long and so tall that its draconic body nearly occupied the entire space of the battlefield. Down below, Kabu was observing the entire exchange with a hardened face.

"Why have numbers and weapons when you've got spirit and resolve?!" Raihan completed.

The Gigantamaxed Centiskorch let out a loud, bloodcurdling screech that rocked all of Motostoke Stadium, mere seconds before the cannons opened fire on it. At that cue, Team Rocket's horde of Pokémon charged at Ash's group, a move that was returned in kind.

Ash, Goh, and Chloe watched, completely dumbstruck as the two opposing forces collided and engaged one another in a heated, chaotic battle. As for Kabu's Gigantamaxed Centiskorch, it gave another roar as it bravely took on the raining fire from the so-called Rocket Frigate. It also tried to retaliate with Fire-type attacks, but they all wound up being harmlessly absorbed by a force-field enveloping the futuristic vessel.

Upon seeing how fiercely Raihan and Baraz battled Team Rocket, Ash stepped forward, with Pikachu's cheeks sparkling in preparation.

"We'll help too!" he cried with determination.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

But just as Ash was about to reach for one of his Poké Balls, Baraz stopped him with a raised hand.

"NO!" The turban-wearing man glanced at the worried Sheena. "Sheena, you've gotta take Ash, Goh, and Chloe over to the portal!"

Baraz looked somberly at Hoopa's ring, which was now several yards away and being obstructed by Team Rocket. Then, he scanned the entire circle surrounding the battlefield, and he quickly got an idea.

"We're not gonna get through them now, not with the kind of Pokémon that they have, so you have to take the long way around!" He looked at Ash, Goh, and Chloe again, his expression one of urgency. "Go, now! Raihan and I will cover you!"

"But Baraz!" protested Ash.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked with concern.

"I said go! You're needed elsewhere, Ash! Go, go!"

Sheena nodded and took Ash's hand so she could guide him away. As for Goh, he instinctively took Chloe's hand, the girl faintly blushing on instinct as they followed Ash and Sheena's heels. As the quartet moved along, Ash and Pikachu could only look back and watch helplessly as Raihan's and Baraz's Pokémon engaged Team Rocket's horde in battle, with highly mixed results. Upon seeing their bounty fleeing from their grasp, Team Rocket and their horde of Pokémon attempted to break through Raihan and Baraz's defensive wall, but with little success.

"Sheena!" Ash cried as he ran alongside the woman. "We can't just run away from this! We should help them!"

"But you heard that Baraz guy!" Goh replied, looking at his friend with concern. "You're needed elsewhere! Besides, isn't Raihan supposed to be one of the strongest Trainers out there?! I'm pretty sure he can handle those goons just fine!"

"Cinder, cinderace!" Cinderace added in agreement.

"But-"

"Ash!" Chloe interrupted forcefully. "They have a Mega Evolved Pokémon, and we don't! This looks like a fight we should be running away from!"

But Ash suddenly did not feel as confident in Raihan's chances as Goh and Chlo were. Nevertheless, the Pallet Town boy continued running along the circumference of the rail overlooking the Motostoke Stadium battlefield with his friends and Sheena. As he passed one of the stadium screens, the Pallet Town native looked up, just in time to see Petrel's agitated face as he monitored their movements closely.

"Ohhh, you're not getting away that easily!" the Team Rocket lieutenant snapped.

With that, the cannons underneath the Rocket Frigate aimed themselves at the fleeing trio and fired a barrage of electric lasers. But they were about a mile away from reaching their intended targets when Centiskorch intercepted them with a Gigantamax-powered Flamethrower, which reduced them into nothingness. The cannons fired again, but Centiskorch did the same thing, incinerating the lasers with Fire Blast this time.

Upon seeing this, Petrel yowled indecipherably and grabbed huge tufts of his purple hair in distress. "Jessie and James! Cassidy and Crutch! Go after that kid, or the Boss will have all our heads!"

"Roger, Petrel sir!" Jessie, James, Meowth, and Cassidy replied at the same time.

"For the last frigging time!" Butch howled. "It's BUTCH!"

Cassidy and Butch rocketed towards the fleeing Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Sheena, with Raticate and Shuckle hopping aboard their jetpacks. As for Jessie, James, and Meowth, they went after their targets on foot, followed by all of their Pokémon, along with Cassidy's Mega Houndoom.

"STOP!" Baraz hollered, being the first to notice. "Braviary, use-!"

But he didn't have time to shout a command, for a grunt's Muk pounced on time of him. It then tried crawling over him, threatening to smother him underneath its body of sludge, forcing Braviary to intervene with a barrage of Drill Pecks.

Meanwhile, as they continued sprinting, Ash, Goh, and Chloe looked over their shoulders as soon as they heard Butch's shouting. They immediately saw the Team Rocket agents pursuing them, their Pokémon ready to strike.

"Sheena!" Ash cried.

Sheena winced, struggling to go as fast as she could with her bulging belly. Then, she mustered the strength to look over her own shoulder, whereupon she saw Jessie, James, Cassidy, and Butch coming as well. The Michina Town native looked towards Kabu's Centiskorch next, only to find it preoccupied with the Rocket Frigate's cannon fire. Finally, she glanced at Hoopa's ring, but she saw that it was still a long ways to go before the trio could even reach it.

"Seviper!" Jessie hollered. "Use Poison Tail!"

"Raticate!" Cassidy called. "Use Super Fang!"

With a loud hiss, Seviper hurled itself at Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Sheena at an alarming speed, the dagger-like tip of its tail glowing a sickly purple. As for Raticate, it leaped off of Cassidy's jetpack with its mouth wide open and its two front teeth bared; the teeth promptly started glowing and growing longer. Both Pokémon were about to reach their intended targets within split-seconds-

"Grapploct, use Liquidation."

Two tentacles, enveloped in veils of bright-blue water, slammed into the approaching Seviper and Raticate, knocking both Pokémon over the railing. Seviper quickly saved itself by wrapping its tail around one of the railing's poles, but Raticate was forced to sink its teeth into its colleague's scaly hide, earning an agonizing shriek from the Fang Snake Pokémon.

"SEVIPER, NO!" Jessie wailed.

"RATICATE!" cried Cassidy.

As for James, Butch, Meowth, and the rest of their Pokémon, they stopped and looked around.

"Who did that?!" James hollered.

"Who dares challenge the might of Butch and Cassidy?!" Butch growled savagely.

Then, a voice commanded coolly, "Hitmontop, use Gyro Ball. Hawlucha, use Flying Press. Pangoro, use Hammer Arm."

A Hitmontop spun down the nearest stairs on its head, striking Wobbuffet, Carnivine, and Amoonguss. A Hawlucha dove in from above, its outline glowing a whitish-orange color, and slashed through Yanmega, Woobat, Gourgeist, Yamask, and Inkay. And finally, a Pangoro stampeded through the Motostoke Stadium seats, and powerfully punched Frillish, Mime Jr., Shuckle, and Houndoom with a massive, glowing arm.

"MY BELOVEEEEED!" James shrieked as he dove forward to catch the airborne Mime Jr.

"HEY!" barked Butch. "Sneak attacks are totally unfair!"

"Yeah!" Meowth added, his claws now elongated and gleaming from the stadium lights. "Dat's usually our job!"

Upon overhearing this sudden development, Ash stopped, turned, and looked around for his savior. It didn't take long for him to find her, especially since Hitmontop, Hawlucha, and Pangoro were returning to her.

Standing rows of seats away from Team Rocket was a girl his age, with gray hair, cool gray eyes, and tan skin. She was barefoot and wore black-and-white sports-themed clothing with the orange insignia of a clenched fist on her chest, along with a recognizable black-and-orange bow on her head. Despite the gravity of the situation, her expression was calm and collected, robotic even.

BEA

"Bea!" Ash cried with delight.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked.

Goh, Chloe, Cinderace, Yamper, Eevee, and Sheena all stopped and turned at the sound of Ash's voice. Goh's and Chloe's eyes widened with surprise at the sight of Bea defending them, while Sheena kept her worried eyes on Ash.

"Ash, come on!" she yelled. "We mustn't stop!"

However, Ash kept staring incredulously at Bea, who remained focused on the task at hand. She calmly pointed at Team Rocket, and her Grapploct, Hitmontop, Hawlucha, and Pangoro hurled themselves at the enemy Pokémon again. Then, as soon as she was sure her opponents were occupied, the tan-skinned girl turned her head toward Ash's direction.

"Don't stand there like an idiot," she said, her calm, blunt voice reaching Ash through the chaotic noises of the clashing. "They're here for you, aren't they? Well, run. I'll distract them."

Ash felt compelled to refuse, to stay and help her, but his thoughts were interrupted by a hand clasping itself around his wrist. He turned his head and was met with Goh's blue eyes.

"Come ON, Ash!" he pleaded. "We can't just stay here!"

But Ash couldn't take it anymore. He tore away from Goh's grasp and started running towards Team Rocket, all the while ignoring Goh's, Chloe's, and Sheena's cries for him to stop. Time slowed to a crawl as the Pallet Town native procured his own Poké Balls and threw them into the air.

"COME ON OUT, EVERYONE!" he hollered at the top of his lungs.

There were five simultaneous flashes of brilliant light, and before long, Dragonite, Gengar, Lucario, Galarian Farfetch'd, and Dracovish were standing in front of him, each settling into their own defensive postures. Finally, Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and joined his friends on the fray, his red cheeks sparkling with electricity. Cassidy and Butch saw this, smirked maliciously, and trained their sights on Ash and his Pokémon; while Jessie, James, Meowth, and their Pokémon kept Bea and her team occupied.

"Sooooo," Cassidy remarked, "it looks like the famous Ash Ketchum has finally decided to fight back."

"Glad to see you're no longer running away like a coward, Ash," added Butch.

Ash gritted his teeth with affirmation. "So...you guys are after me, aren't you?"

"Who'd ya think we were after, kiddo?! That lame hat of yours?!" Butch cackled for a moment. "You're wasting your time, jumping in at the last minute like a frigging hero."

"If you surrender peacefully," Cassidy continued, "then I can assure you that Team Rocket will not lay a finger on any of your friends."

"In all the years that I've known you guys," Ash snarled while clenching his fists, "you and your organization have spelled nothing but trouble for people and Pokémon!" Memories of all his encounters with the Team Rocket organization at large flashed through his mind, eliciting anger from deep within his heart. "Even if it's me you want, I know you don't have the best intentions in mind! So, I am not gonna run away from you guys any longer! Not when I still have an opportunity to protect Pokémon!"

"And in all the times that we've come across you, you and your friends have been nothing but thorns in our side!" Then, Cassidy shrugged callously. "But, if you insist on fighting, then a fight's what you're gonna get, kid." She pointed at Ash's Pokémon. "Show them no mercy, Houndoom! Use Inferno!"

The Mega Evolved Houndoom fired a gigantic, powerful stream of light-blue fire from its mouth. It headed for Ash's team at high speeds, singeing the closest seats and heating up the adjacent metal railing quite considerably.

"Dodge it, you guys!" Ash ordered.

He and all six of his Pokémon dove out of the way and landed on the nearby staircase. The Inferno hit the ground they had just been standing on, causing it to explode in flames. Wiping off a film of dust caking his cheek, Ash looked up and saw Houndoom leaping over the burning inferno and towards him, its teeth now engulfed in flames-

"Cinderace!" a familiar voice cried. "Use Blaze Kick!"

Goh's Cinderace appeared, spinning in midair, and kicked Houndoom away with great force with its large, fiery feet. The Dark Pokémon crashed into some seats but leaped back up on its feet, completely unaffected by the surprise move. As for Cinderace, he landed in front of Ash and Pikachu, while Goh, Chloe, Cinderace, Yamper, Eevee, and Sheena ran up to them.

"You wanna get to him?!" Goh shouted. "Then you're gonna have to get through me first!"

"A-And me too!" Chloe added.

"Cind!" Cinderace growled.

"Ee-vui, ee-vui!" barked Eevee.

"BAK BAK BAK!" Yamper barked even louder.

"If you insist!" Cassidy called in a singsong voice. "Raticate?"

Raticate leaped out from the seats, having apparently climbed back onto the stadium while everyone else wasn't looking. Its body was surrounded by golden streaks, and its head appeared to be straining against the sound barrier.

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!" Ash ordered quickly.

Lucario jumped into the air and put its palms together, creating a glowing, light-blue sphere of energy in-between them. After a couple of seconds, it roared and launched the sphere at the incoming Raticate, striking it and knocking it away.

"Shuckle!" Butch hollered. "Get on it! Use Sludge Bomb!"

"Use Inferno again, Houndoom!" commanded Cassidy.

Gritting his teeth, Goh took out five Poké Balls and stood beside Ash. "If you're gonna be a reckless idiot as usual, Ash," he said, his lips curling into a joking smirk, "then I might as well be a reckless idiot with you! Everyone, let's go!"

He threw his Poké Balls into the air, summoning Sobble, Pinsir, Darmanitan, Golurk, and Farfetch'd. Darmanitan used its Overheat attack to intercept Houndoom's Inferno, keeping it at bay long enough until the Dark Pokémon tired out. As for Shuckle, Golurk simply got between its Sludge Bomb and Goh, allowing the Poison-type move to harmlessly splash itself all over its metal hide.

Then, Goh's Pokémon, along with Chloe's Yamper and Eevee, all joined Pikachu, Cinderace, Dragonite, Gengar, Lucario, Dracovish, and Ash's own Farfetch'd. Together, the fourteen faced Cassidy's Raticate and Mega Houndoom, and Butch's Shuckle. At the same time, Bea and her own Pokémon collectively backed themselves towards Ash, Goh, their Pokémon, and Sheena, matching Jessie and James's Pokémon with ease.

"You didn't run for it?" Bea calmly asked as soon as her back bumped into Ash's.

"How could I, Bea?" Ash replied while keeping his auburn eyes trained on Cassidy and Butch. "I just couldn't stand by in a situation like this. Especially since I'm the person they want."

"So you would feel responsible if you departed Motostoke Stadium and Raihan and I were defeated right afterwards." Bea slowly blinked in acknowledgment. "How predictable of you."

Ash narrowed his eyes at the approaching Jessie, James, Cassidy, and Butch. "Look, I'm not backing down from this. I'm fighting, and no one's gonna stop me."

"Well, if you're fighting," Goh replied, "then I might as well fight with you! Gotta keep you from doing something stupid, anyway!"

Chloe looked at Goh incredulously for a split-second before stammering, "S-Sa-Same here! Y-Yo-You two are my re-resp-responsibility, anyway!"

Ash looked at Sheena. "Sheena-"

"If you're going to fight them, Ash," interrupted the Michina Town native, "then I will not stop you. In fact..." She pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it, summoning a Sigilyph. "I will do everything within my power to ensure your success!"

"You pathetic kids are signing your own death warrants!" Cassidy snapped as she procured an extra Poké Ball and threw it, summoning a Sableye that joined her Houndoom's side.

"Team Rocket ain't EVER gonna stand down to the likes of you!" added Butch. He too produced an extra Poké Ball of his own and threw it, summoning a Hitmonlee.

"You think you can stop the might of Team Rocket?!" Petrel's voice boomed. "Jessie, James, Cassidy, Dutch, do us proud!"

"Roger, sir!" Jessie, James, and Cassidy hollered.

"IT'S FRIGGING BUTCH!" Butch screamed, his voice cracking in the process.

The quartet's Pokémon charged, with Meowth in the lead, his Fury Swipes ready. Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena all braced themselves for the collision.

"Give them everything you've got, everyone!" Ash yelled.

"Everyone, let's GOOOOO!" Goh cried.

"Stick close to Goh's Pokémon, Yamper, Eevee!" advised a hesitant Chloe.

"Don't hold back," Bea said calmly, her cold eyes narrowed.

"Sigilyph, use Psychic!" ordered Sheena, her finger pointed at the incoming Seviper.

Ash's, Goh's, Chloe's, Bea's, and Sheena's Pokémon charged at once, their signature attacks ready to go. Team Rocket's Pokémon did the same, and both teams quickly closed in on one another, ready for the fight of their lives...

The Captain's Table, Hulbury

All across Galar, news of the strange ship's abrupt arrival over Motostoke and Team Rocket's takeover of the stadium had reached all of the region's news stations. The live broadcast, once following a formal battle between Raihan and Kabu for a renowned competition, continued streaming the events as they unfolded and cascaded into something even more dire, while tens of millions watched, dumbstruck.

The Captain's Table seafood restaurant in Hulbury was not exempt from this development. Inside, the customers had all stopped eating, the waiters and waitresses had stopped taking orders, and even the kitchen was at a standstill, leaving some food to be overcooked and water to boil over the abandoned pots. Everyone's eyes were glued to the TV screen on the central column, or otherwise their Rotom Phones and other electronic devices. A grave, almost haunting silence had quickly fallen upon the interior of the once-vibrant restaurant.

Then, the silence was suddenly broken by the loud grinding of a chair's legs. Everyone's eyes tore away from the screen on instinct and focused on Sonia, who had shot up from her chair with an expression of resolve.

"S-Sonia...?" Nessa asked hesitantly. "Wh-What's up...?"

"Those boys," Sonia hissed quietly, her eyes still glued to the screen like attracted magnets. "I...I know them..."

"Those boys?" Nessa glanced at the TV set and then back at her friend. "Y-You mean the boys standing up to those Team Frocket guys or whatever they were called?"

"Who else?!" With that, Sonia quickly gathered her purse and put her coat on. "I'm sorry, Ness, but I gotta go."

Nessa shot up from her chair too. "Wait, what?! Don't tell me you're gonna go over there and join in that chaos!"

"Motostoke's not far from Hulbury. If I can catch a Flying Taxi, then I should be there in fifteen minutes tops."

"H-Hold on, wh-whhat're you even gonna do once you get there?!"

Sonia froze. "I...I don't really know. But I gotta do something, 'cause it's obvious Officer Jenny and the Motostoke Police Department are completely outmatched and outgunned, and Ash and Goh aren't gonna last long against those goons..." Resolving herself to her decision, the woman began walking out of the restaurant. "And I am not gonna let that happen. Not like last time."

"Like last time...?"

At that moment, Nessa felt a vibration in her pocket. Reaching inside, she realized it was her phone, and she pulled it out to check her messages. After a few seconds, her blue eyes widened slightly, before she pursed her lips tightly, gathered her own belongings, and rushed after Sonia, just as her friend managed to leave the Captain's Table.

"Well," Nessa said, "if you're gonna take those Team Moppet goons on, then you're gonna need backup."

Sonia didn't stop or turn around, but there was no mistaking the smile that appeared on her face. "Lemme guess, World Coronation Series?"

"Yep. It's all hands on deck at Motostoke Stadium." Nessa smiled as well. "Guess we're both gonna be busy today."

Sonia stopped and looked around the streets of Hulbury. Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to make out a Flying Taxi station, with a single Corviknight, flier, and taxicab waiting.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," the researcher replied.

Chapter 1:
PROPHECY

Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokémon.  If it flaps its wings really fast, it can generate shock waves that will shatter windows in the area.  Its large eyes can scan 360 degrees. It looks in all directions to seek out insects as its prey.

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Next Time:

Charlotte: The moment we all feared has arrived.

Meowth: I tink I'll be singin' a different tune DIS year!

Goh:  CINDERACE!

Baraz: So what's the plan?!

Raihan: Well, well, well! You're early!

James: Well, guys, what's our dialogue for this script again?

Petrel: NOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! NOT NOW!

Ash: I...I can't believe I got us into this mess...

BATTLE

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa,  Kabu

-Team 2: TBA

-Team 3: TBA

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

International Police, Precinct 1-A Station
UNKNOWN LOCATION

"If I may have your attention, ladies and gentlemen."

Looker stood at attention as Charlotte Durant and the members of the General Assembly of the International Police took up the front of the briefing room. Just a few minutes ago, he and the rest of his precinct had been called into a meeting, being instructed to drop everything they had on their desks. Everyone took that as a sign that the investigation into the prison breaks of Teams Galactic, Plasma, and Flare (and the involvement of the Team Rocket organization in said breaks) had taken an unexpected turn.

"Thank you," Charlotte said, once everyone in the room had gone silent, something that only took a millisecond. "Now, if you would do the honors, Clovis?"

The young computer technician nodded, and he began clicking away at the laptop at a desk in a far corner of the briefing room. In just moments, the ceiling-mounted projector began showing a livestream on the screen. Almost immediately, a wave of horrified gasps and concerned murmuring broke out, while Looker narrowed his eyes ominously at the screen.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're just joining us, you're looking at live footage of Motostoke Stadium. A-At approximately 12:00 local time, a World Coronation Series match between Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan and Motostoke Gym Leader Kabu was interrupted by what appears to be a...a ship hovering in  midair ."

Looker observed the live footage, captured from inside an airborne helicopter that was keeping a safe distance from the scene. The cameraman was trying his best to fully capture the futuristic metal ship as it loomed directly above Motostoke Stadium. However, the ship was simply too large for the camera to record within the sphere of its lens at this time.

"T-There appears to be some battling going on, and as you just saw, a Centiskorch that I'd assume belongs to Kabu is trying to break  through  force-fields surrounding the ship. Eyewitnesses at the scene are telling us there were people who were  aboard  this ship, and their leader claimed to be affiliated with an organization known as Team Rocket."

Another wave of murmurs swept through the audience of International Police agents. However, Looker was the only one who remained silent. He pursed his lips tightly as he continued watching the live footage, which by that point had caught the sight of a gargantuan Centiskorch rising above the top of Motostoke Stadium and trying to fire countless attacks the aerial vehicle, only for an invisible force-field to effortlessly absorb the impact of every move.

Then, the news helicopter got a good angle on the side of the aerial ship, allowing Looker to see the 'R' logo emblazoned on its side, proudly.

"The moment we all feared has arrived," Charlotte announced, her tone grave. "We've had months on Team Rocket, but it appears to be proceeding with its plans. Agents of the International Police, I'm afraid that it's time we made our joint investigation known to the public."

Outside Hulbury
GALAR REGION

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're just joining us, you're looking at live footage of Motostoke Stadium. A-At approximately 12:00 local time, a World Coronation Series match between Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan and Motostoke Gym Leader Kabu was interrupted by what appears to be a...a ship hovering in  midair ."

The Corviknight let out a mighty caw as it soared through the sky, its driver carefully navigating it down its pre-assigned route. From inside the safety of their cab, Sonia and Nessa watched the live news broadcast on the miniature TV set that was provided by their driver; their eyes were glued to the screen in shock. Neither woman could believe what they were seeing quickly unfolding at Motostoke.

"T-There appears to be some battling going on, and as you just saw, a Centiskorch that I'd assume belongs to Kabu is trying to break  through  force-fields surrounding the ship. Eyewitnesses at the scene are telling us there were people who were  aboard  this ship, and their leader claimed to be affiliated with an organization known as Team Rocket."

"That's definitely Kabu's," Nessa concluded, her sea-blue eyes narrowing at the gargantuan Radiator Pokémon. "No one gives it their all and gets straight to the point like him."

However, Sonia didn't hear her friend. Instead, her own eyes followed the news coverage as it happened, refusing to tear themselves away. Her focus sharpened even more the moment the news helicopter positioned itself at a desirable angle to record the battles that were occurring within Motostoke, particularly those between Raihan and the squadron of Team Rocket grunts. In that moment, she wondered if he was watching as well, wherever he was right now...

"If you were there," she thought somberly, "you'd be kicking those guys' asses right about now..."

Motostoke Stadium
GALAR REGION

Ash's, Goh's, Chloe's, Bea's, and Sheena's Pokémon collided with Jessie's, James's, Cassidy's, and Butch's own Pokémon with so much force that it released a shock-wave. Each Pokémon then quickly found themselves at least one opponent to handle individually.

Sheena's Sigilyph took James's Yamask, though as a Psychic-type, it found itself struggling from the might of Yamask's Ghost-type attacks.

Bea's Hitmontop tackled Cassidy's Raticate, forcing the Mouse Pokémon to keep its distance from its opponent due to its type weakness against it.

Bea's Hawlucha went up against James's Inkay, with both Pokémon valiantly pursuing one another in midair and trying to down their opponent with a variety of attacks.

Bea's Pangoro squared off against Jessie's Seviper, with the former's size and the latter's agility posing great advantages over the other.

Bea's Grapploct wrapped its tentacles around Butch's Shuckle and squeezed tightly, but its shell proved to be surprisingly resilient to the Jujitsu Pokémon's strength.

Chloe's Yamper and Eevee teamed up against Cassidy's Sableye and Butch's Hitmonlee, with Yamper firing one Electric-type attack after another at Sableye, and Eevee emulating his attacks via Copycat while facing off against Hitmonlee, but with mixed results.

Goh's Pinsir pursued Jessie's airborne Yanmega from the ground, with the two exchanging a variety of Bug-type attacks, one after another.

Goh's Darmanitan went after James's Carnivine, which kept retreating from its Fire-type attacks and constantly using its increasingly neurotic Trainer as a protective shield.

Ash's and Goh's Farfetch'd both tried going after James's Mime Jr., but the two Wild Duck Pokémon had quite a hard time keeping up with its opponent's combination of Psychic- and Normal-type attacks, along with Mime Jr.'s tendency to mimic its movements to its advantage.

Goh's Golurk battled Jessie's Frillish, and it wound up being overwhelmed by the latter's Water- and Ghost-type attacks, although it had a slight edge with its own Ghost-type moves.

Goh's Sobble sat there and cried, prompting James's Amoonguss to cry with it.

Goh's Cinderace clashed with Jessie's Wobbuffet, its Blaze Kick and Double Kick attacks proving to be no match against its opponent's Mirror Coat.

Ash's Lucario and Dracovish both went after Jessie's Woobat, each of them firing attack after attack at the Bat Pokémon, only for it to constantly dodge them and retaliate with its own moves.

Ash's Dragonite soared through the air with Jessie's Gourgeist, with both of them constantly exchanging attacks in midair and trying to outmaneuver the other.

Ash's Gengar went up against Cassidy's Mega Houndoom, but rather than battling it, the Shadow Pokémon chose to toy around with it by constantly hiding in the shadows whenever its opponent tried firing an attack.

And finally, Pikachu went up against none other than Meowth.

"Well, well, weeeeell," the Scratch Cat Pokémon said with a fanged sneer, "looks it's all come down ta dis, Pikachu!"

"Piiiiikaaaaa..." Pikachu growled, bright bolts of electricity shooting out of his red cheeks.

"Ya know, I've been waitin' fer dis fer a looooong time!" Meowth held out his paws, and his claws extended outward from his fingers. "You've always been blastin' us off, but now it is YOU who'll do da blastin'!"

"PIKAAAAA-CHUUUUU!"

A Thunderbolt shot out from Pikachu's body, but Meowth leaped into the air, dodging it with swift expertise. Then, as he dove towards the Mouse Pokémon, he let out a battle cry while he aimed one of his paws; his claws were now even more elongated and gleaming from the sunlight.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash's voice called.

"PIKA!"

Pikachu hopped out of the way, leaving Meowth to collide headfirst into one of the stadium seats.

"OOF!" Withdrawing his head from the cushion and shaking it, Meowth then glared at Pikachu with bared teeth. "Ya tink yer so nimble and all dat! But you'll see dat Meowth is da superior one! AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

He tried pouncing on Pikachu again, but he only moved a centimeter before he was yanked back into place. The Scratch Cat Pokémon glared at the seat and realized what was holding him back: his own extended claws, which were embedded deeply into the cushion, the tips tangled in the fabric and the cotton underneath.

"GAAAAAH!"

"Meowth!" Jessie snapped upon noticing. "Get your sorry tailed butt in gear! We gotta bring down the powerhouse of this bunch, and we all know who that is!"

"I'm on it, I'm on it, Jess!"

But Meowth struggled to tear his paws free from the cushion, giving Ash the opportunity to strike.

"Now, Pikachu!" Ash cried, pointing at the Scratch Cat Pokémon. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaaa..." Pikachu began, his cheeks crackling.

"No, not again!" Meowth screamed. Then, he got an idea and quickly battled his eyelids at Ash's direction, trying his best to act innocent. "Co-Come on, main twoip! D-Don't forget all da good times dat we had!"

"Oh, I remember them, alright," replied Ash. At first, he was grinning, but then, that grin faded into a frown. "But you're still allied with an organization that steals, abuses, and misuses innocent Pokémon for a living! You, a Pokémon yourself! There have been times where I wondered if you've had a say in all of this."

With that, Pikachu's entire body started to sparkle and crackle with electricity.

"So," Ash continued, "until you change your game for good, I think you're gonna be saying the words 'We're blasting off again' for more years to come!"

"Well, I tink I'll be singin' a different tune DIS year!" Meowth proclaimed. "And just so ya know, I 'AVE tought 'bout what I've been doin'! And ya wanna know what I'd always tink in da end?!"

At that moment, Meowth accumulated the strength to tear himself free from the chair, surprising Ash. Then, the Scratch Cat Pokémon leaped into the air and headed straight for Pikachu, his extended claws at the ready.

"EVERYTING I DO, I DO FOR DA BOSS! HAAAAAH!"

"PIKA-CHUUUUU!"

Pikachu fired the Thunderbolt again, and this time, it landed on its mark.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!" the Scratch Cat Pokémon shrieked, his jaws chattering from the volts of electricity.

"Meowth, you idiot!" Jessie snapped.

"How could you fall for the years-old trick?!" added an outraged James.

"I-I-I h-h-h-ha-ha-ha-had a-a-a p-p-p-pl-pl-pl-pla-pla-pla-plan..." Meowth stuttered severely as the electricity continued to flow through his body.

"Again, Pikachu!" Ash ordered. "Give it more juice!"

"W-W-W-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha-Wha-Wha-What?!" Meowth's eyes widened in terror. "N-N-N-N-No! D-D-Do-Do-Don't-t-t-t-t!"

It was too late. Pikachu fired another, more powerful Thunderbolt, which struck Meowth and electrocuted him again.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

Unfortunately, due to the double dosage of the Electric attack, several bolts of electricity strayed away from the Scratch Cat Pokémon and struck Jessie and James.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

"Ah, yeah!" Ash cried with a clenched fist.

"Oh, you Arceus-damn idiots!" Cassidy snapped upon noticing.

"How could you guys fall for the years-old trick?!" added an outraged Butch.

"W-W-W-WO-WO-WO-WOB-WOB-WOB-" Jessie called as the electricity continued to flow through her body.

Fortunately, Wobbuffet sensed the danger his Trainer and her friends were in. He quickly broke away from his battle with Goh's Cinderace and clumsily hobbled over to the trio, moving as fast as he could. Once he got close enough, he dove in-between them and Pikachu's Thunderbolt, his entire body enveloped in a white and reflective color. The Patient Pokémon consequently took the brunt of the Electric attack, sparing Jessie, James, and Meowth from further electrocution.

"Wob-Wob-Wob-Wob-Wob!" Wobbuffet cried as his Mirror Coat absorbed the impact of the Thunderbolt and deflected the electricity. Then, with a mighty push, he hollered, "WOBBUFFET!"

With that, the Thunderbolt was promptly sent hurtling back at its point of origin.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"PIKA!"

Pikachu jumped out of the way, allowing the Thunderbolt to strike the seats behind him. However, as soon as he landed, the Mouse Pokémon looked up and saw Meowth hurling towards him, his claws already poised to strike again. There was no more time or room for him to execute another perfect dodge...

"Ohhhhh, I can't believe this! My second excursion as a research fellow and it all goes down the toilet!"

Goh pursed his lips with concern as his back met Chloe's. They closely observed their Pokémon as they did their best to hold off their attackers.

Chloe's Yamper let off multiple threatening barks at Cassidy's Sableye as it advanced on him with a predatory gait. When the Darkness Pokémon refused to yield, Yamper would use Spark every time, only for its opponent to dodge each attack with ease. To make matters worse, Yamper only seemed capable of using Spark, primarily thanks to its domestication at the Cerise household. In contrast, Sableye would retaliate with a combination of Fury Swipes and Shadow Balls attacks, which Yamper could only barely avoid by fleeing with its stubby body.

As a result of Yamper's lack of variety as a battler, Chloe's Eevee was increasingly outpaced by Butch's Hitmonlee, whose excellent agility allowed him to evade the Evolution Pokémon's Copycat-induced Spark attacks with ease. Then, he would instantly strike back with either a Brick Break or a Close Combat. Eventually, Eevee began to sweat profusely and squeal in terror as she tried to avoid Hitmonlee's unrelenting flurry of Fighting-type attacks.

Goh's Pinsir quickly noticed Eevee's dilemma and tried to help. However, Jessie's Yanmega seized its aerial advantage to strike it with a combination of Steel Wing and Silver Wind attacks. Due to its sturdier body and inability to fly, Pinsir soon found itself at a massive tactical disadvantage. Thus, the Stag Beetle Pokémon was forced to endure Yanmega's superior agility and fast-moving attacks for as long as it possibly could, while it tried to find an opening in its opponent's strategy that it could exploit.

In contrast to Chloe's Pokémon and Goh's Pinsir, Darmanitan was automatically having an easier time with its opponent, James's Carnivine. The Bug Catcher Pokémon, naturally oversensitive to the Overheat attacks flung at its direction, kept retreating and squealing in terror. Unfortunately for it, Darmanitan also had better speed, and thus it was able to catch up with Carnivine in a matter of milliseconds and continue its onslaught. The only two things Carnivine had going against the Blazing Pokémon were its Bullet Seed, barely powerful enough to make its opponent flinch; and its Vine Whip, which it would use to trip Darmanitan up.

Despite having the assistance of Ash's Farfetch'd, Goh's own Farfetch'd was having a rather difficult time in taking care of James's Mime Jr., much in part due to its unexpected strength and equally unexpected yet efficient tactics. It would use a Teeter Dance to confuse one Farfetch'd or the other, before following it up with all sorts of attacks used via its own Mimic, all of which were learned from Jessie's and James's other Pokémon. The primary reason the attacks mostly failed to land their marks was the Farfetch'd that had been spared from the Teeter Dance's effects, who would snap its partner out of its confusion and drag it to safety.

Very much like its teammates, Goh's Golurk, despite its greater size and apparent advantage in terms of raw power, had a difficult time matching itself with Jessie's Frillish. The Floating Pokémon would enshroud her opponent with a blanket of Mist, blinding Golurk to its movements, before using either a colorful combination of a Psychic-controlled Bubble Beam or a mere Shadow Ball as its offense. Golurk caught on to the strategy quickly, but its bulky body, made of ancient, rickety armor, prevented it from making a quick escape from Frillish's Mist trap. The best it could do was use its Hammer Arm to clear out the Mist and follow it up with a powerful Flash Cannon that would nevertheless be dodged by Frillish.

Goh's Sobble just continued to sit in one of the seats and cry boisterously, with James's Amoonguss still crying alongside it. It still remained unclear if that was part of the Water Lizard Pokémon's strategy, or if it was crying out of fear from the whole situation, or grief from the whole situation...or just because of its species' nature.

No matter how hard any of their Pokémon tried, it was quite clear to Goh that victory would not be easily attainable for either him or Chloe. Jessie's, James's, Cassidy's, and Butch's Pokémon were all undeniably well-trained, and their resolve only matched those of their Pokémon.

Even worse, they were all mostly independent of their Trainers' choices, attacking and defending against their opponents whenever they saw fit, without any fear of repercussions. Cassidy and Butch did not give any of them an order to follow; instead, they analyzed each battle that their Pokémon was engaged in, one after another, and they would only give out orders whenever they saw an advantage or a disadvantage that the Pokémon didn't see. As for Jessie and James, they were way too focused on Ash and Pikachu to even devote a fraction of their attention to the rest of the battles. However, their Pokémon were so evidently driven by their desire to please their Trainers that orders and attention weren't even all that necessary; they simply acted on their hearts and minds to determine the most beneficial counterstrategies.

It was unlike anything Goh had ever seen before, especially from the likes of Team Rocket. And it was most certainly an act he couldn't replicate. His attention was squarely on Cinderace, who was now trying to help Ash's Dragonite in getting an upper hand against Jessie's Gourgeist. He feared that if he tore his focus away now, for any of his other Pokémon, it could cost Cinderace the fight.

At that moment, Goh could not help but think how the bond between Team Rocket and their Pokémon (if he could call it a "bond") was a lot like the bond between Ash and his own Pokémon, except it was a dark, twisted, inverted version of it. Pessimistic thoughts soon began to creep into the Vermilion City native's mind, thoughts of the growing impossibility of them achieving victory in this battle. In the absence of a miracle, Goh noted, a decisive counter-counterstrategy was the best thing they needed at this point.

Even so, Goh couldn't afford to communicate this to his oldest friend. This was the first Pokémon battle she participated in, let alone one that had such unexpectedly high stakes, and he couldn't afford to shake her confidence. Not when the fate of his other friend was on the line.

So, he replied, "I-It's alright, Chloe! You've got this! You're strong, Chloe! You and your Pokémon! Just remember that!"

"Easy for you to say!" Chloe squeaked, her eyes bulging. "I bet you and Ash do these kinds of things all the time!"

"W-Well, it's nothing like this-"

"So you're not even experienced in this sorta stuff?! We're doomed!"

Goh began to sweat. "I-I didn't mean it like that- Pl-Please calm down-"

"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're DOOMED!" wailed Chloe, her ears not picking up his attempt at dissuasion. Then, a cry caught her attention, and she watched with horror as Hitmonlee dodged Eevee's Copycat-induced Electric-type attack and punched her into a trash-bin. "EEVEE, NO! EEVEE!"

"EE-VUI!" the Evolution Pokémon squealed in pain.

As Chloe continued to break down in composure, Goh gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Anger and dismay bubbled deep within him, anger and dismay directed once again at his unintentional bluntness. He most certainly didn't mean to make things worse for Chloe during this debacle, but he did, and now she was starting to pay the price for it. Then, as he refocused on his struggling Pokémon and their opponents, a memory suddenly crossed his mind.

"Sooooo, it looks like the famous Ash Ketchum has finally decided to fight back."

"Glad to see you're no longer running away like a coward, Ash."

"So these guys clearly want Ash for something," Goh thought inquisitively. "But...I wonder why? Ash obviously met these guys before, but he's never mentioned them to me before. Then again, he's not one to brag about the kinds of goons he encounters. But..."

"Is this the great evil you guys were talking about?"

"I wonder what he meant by 'the great evil'? Those two strangers, Sheena and Baraz, must've filled him in on something that he had prior knowledge of, if he seemed to take this talk of a 'great evil' in stride. I have to ask him what exactly he knows about this situation..."

A cry filled the air, and Goh pulled himself out of his thoughts in time to see his Sobble fleeing from Jessie's Frillish, who had managed to gain an upper hand on Golurk and was now assisting its comrade Amoonguss.

"That's if we get outta this situation, that is! 'Cause I most certainly didn't sign up for this, and neither did Chloe!"

"Wob-Wob-Wob-Wob-Wob!"

At the sound of Wobbuffet's voice, Goh glanced at his direction. He, unsurprisingly, was using its Mirror Coat move, which absorbed the impact of a Thunderbolt and then deflected the electricity. Then, he spotted Ash and Pikachu nearby, facing down Jessie, James, and Meowth.

With a push and a "WOBBUFFET!", Wobbuffet hurled Pikachu's Thunderbolt back at its owner.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"PIKA!"

Pikachu jumped out of the way in the nick of time, but Meowth anticipated this. Goh gasped once the talking Scratch Cat Pokémon leaped at his longtime opponent, just as Pikachu landed on the seats. He knew there was no more time for the Mouse Pokémon to dodge.

"Stupid Goh! Come oooooon! Now's not the time to question what Ash knows and what he doesn't know! Now's the time to help out your friends!"

With that, he hollered, "Cinderace, use Blaze Kick!"

"Cinderace, use Blaze Kick!"

Goh's voice pierced the air, momentarily distracting Meowth. This allowed him to spot the incoming Cinderace, whose leg was ablaze. With a stunned yell, the Scratch Cat Pokémon quickly changed course, diving to the floor to avoid the Fire-type move. As for Pikachu, he landed on top of one of the other seats, just as Goh's Cinderace landed right beside him. Together, the two Pokémon stared down Meowth and Wobbuffet as they regrouped and approached.

"If it's a fight ya want," Meowth snarled, "den a fight is what yer gonna GET, Pikachu!"

"You're about to pay for all the times you've sent us blasting off!" Jessie added.

"You're the ones who're gonna pay for constantly ruining people's days!" Ash retorted with gritted teeth. "You guys have been nothing but trouble since the day we met!"

"Yeah?" James replied. "Well, trouble is Team Rocket's middle name!"

Meowth looked up at the blue-haired man, perplexed. "Wait, it is? I thought it was always part of our motto?"

"It's just a figure of expression, Meowth-"

"Ohhhh, will you two screw your heads on right and keep your focus on the game?!" Jessie snapped harshly, startling her teammates. "We've got a Pikachu- I-I mean, a twerp to catch, and a Team Rocket higher-up to please!"

"Right!" Meowth cried. Then, he leaped at Pikachu and Cinderace, his claws extended once again. "GYAAAAAHHHHH!"

The Scratch Cat Pokémon promptly began swiping at his two opponents, but both of them dodged every swing at every turn. Seconds passed, feeling like painfully long minutes, and within that time period, Meowth had swung at Pikachu and Cinderace over two dozen times, with every swipe fueled by an energetic hatred. However, none of these swipes landed a hit, and Meowth became increasingly annoyed by his failure.

"Pikachu!" Ash hollered. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"PIKA-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu cried, just as a bolt of yellow electricity shot out of his body.

"WOBBUFFET, YOU'RE UP!" commanded Jessie.

"Wobbuffet!" the Patient Pokémon replied. He quickly jumped in-between Meowth and the incoming Thunderbolt, his tall, humanoid body glowing from his Mirror Coat. "Wob-Wob-Wob-Wob-Wooooob..."

Very much like before, Wobbuffet instantly took the blow of Pikachu's Thunderbolt. His body was nearly knocked over by the violent force of the Electric-type move, but he withstood its power. Then...

"Cinderace!" Goh called. "Use Pyro Ball!"

"Cind!"

Cinderace took a small piece of concrete and began kicking it on its foot multiple times in succession, eventually igniting it into a fiery, soccer ball-like sphere that only grew in size with every kick. Finally, with a cry, it kicked the sphere at the direction of the Patient Pokémon while the latter was still in the process of deflecting Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Before Jessie could give her Pokémon a warning, the Pyro Ball knocked Wobbuffet away with great force. This allowed the Thunderbolt to strike Meowth just as planned, electrocuting the Scratch Cat Pokémon.

"A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H!"

"Meowth!" cried James.

"Wobbuffet!" Jessie shrieked loudly, her fists clenching in outrage. "Oh, get up, you amoeba-brained buffoon! You've got work to do! A boss to please! So get up, Wobbuffet, in the name of Team Rocket!"

"WOB!" Wobbuffet cried, quickly recovering from the Pyro Ball.

"GAH!" Meowth snapped as soon as he shook off the Thunderbolt's aftereffects. "YER GONNA PAY FER DAT, PIKACHU! I AIN'T GOIN' DOWN WITOUT A FIGHT!"

Then, Meowth lunged for Pikachu again, his Fury Swipes ready to strike. However, Goh's voice rang out again.

"Cinderace, use Double Kick on Meowth!"

Cinderace flew through the air, spinning and soaring like a torpedo, and Meowth was knocked away by its attack. Then, a split-second later, Wobbuffet tried to intervene on Meowth's behalf, but Pikachu fired another Thunderbolt at him, forcing him to protect himself with yet another Mirror Coat. Pikachu would keep Wobbuffet pinned down with one Thunderbolt as Cinderace engaged Meowth in battle.

"Ahhhhhh, ya tink ya can beat da likes of me?" Meowth asked tauntingly, just as he dodged a Blaze Kick from Cinderace. "Ya tink ya got all dis power now dat you're fully-evolved?!" He dodged a Double Kick from Cinderace. "HA! How amusin'! Go on and keep tinking dat, Cinderace, but deep down, yer just dat same street Scorbunny from Wyndon! Nuttin' but a whole bunch of trouble for all da humans ya meet!"

Cinderace hurled a Pyro Ball at Meowth, using another tiny piece of concrete to accomplish the move. However, as it sent the Pyro Ball at his direction, the Scratch Cat Pokémon noticed Cinderace slipping a little in its step. Though it seemed to be an infinitesimal misstep, he knew his words had gotten to it, so he grinned and immediately pressed on.

"Yeah, I understand how ya feel, Cinderace. I myself was a street Pokémon once, a long time ago." He dodged a furious Blaze Kick from Cinderace. "I toiled in da dregs of human society and availed myself of da trash da humans left behind. I shoulda been happy den, but I wanted more. Oh, I wanted so much more..."

Meowth dodged a retaliatory Double Kick. Once he landed upon one of the empty seats, he could see Cinderace glaring at him with a look of not only anger, but confusion. The Striker Pokémon was clearly wondering why Meowth was telling him such a story, and Meowth knew he should exploit that confusion.

So, he did.

"One night, I watched a movie. I forgot da name, but at da time, I tought it was da real ting. And it motivated me ta go ta Hollywood. Hollywood, a place dat I believed would be a paradise for Pokémon seekin' ta make it big. And when I got dere, I did make it big. Big in disappointment and misery. And ya wanna know why? Because I was led ta dat by being more like a human, I could be prosperous. I tought I could get myself da love of mah life." He dodged a Double Kick. "I just embarrassed myself."

"CIND!" Cinderace cried as it tried to attack Meowth with yet another Blaze Kick, only to miss.

"I could not make it big as both a regular Pokémon and a humanlike Pokémon. I could not be happy. I could not move on from da streets. So den, I tought dat if I can't be happy, den I needed ta make da humans unhappy. Make dem suffer wit me! Bring dem to my level! Dat's why I joined Team Rocket! 'Cause dey had big ideas about what human society needed ta be! Ideas dat involved making da Average Joe suffer as much as I did!

"And ya want dat too, don't ya, Cinderace?"

"Don't listen to him, Cinderace!" Goh called encouragingly. "He's just toying with your mind! You're nothing like him! And you can prove it as long as give him everything you've got!"

"Yeah, dat's right, Cinderace!" Meowth taunted. "Give everything ya got! Listen ta your Trainer, who knows everyting dat is best for ya!" He arrogantly gestured to himself. "At least I don't have a Poké Ball of my own! I pledge my allegiance ta Team Rocket on my own volition! You, yer shackled to dat bothersome Poké Ball, shackled to dat twoip for da rest of yer life, continuing ta make it big without da streets...or are ya?"

"Enough of this!" Goh hollered furiously. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Meowth, but I can assure you, it's not gonna work on Cinderace! Now use Blaze Kick again, Cinderace! End this now!"

"Cind!"

Nodding, Cinderace leaped in the air, its feet becoming enveloped in flames, and it was about to kick Meowth when Jessie pointed at it first.

"Child's play!" she cried. "You know what to do, Wobbuffet!"

"WOBB!"

The Patient Pokémon tore away from his battle with Pikachu and jumped between Cinderace and Meowth, using its Mirror Coat again. Cinderace gasped with realization and tried to move away, but it was too late: its ablaze foot instantly made contact with Wobbuffet's glowing body, which absorbed the blow. For a split-second, Cinderace tried to reposition itself to minimize the inevitable damage. Then, the Patient Pokémon yelled in triumph and sent Cinderace flying.

"CIIIIIN!" the Striker Pokémon yelled.

"CINDERACE!" Goh cried.

Then, Goh realized, to his horror, Cinderace was about to fly over the railing and into the battlefield down below. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran after it. When it became clear he would not make it in time, Goh, thinking about all of the times Ash would risk life and limb to save Pokémon, dove forward with his arm stretched outward. All the while, he could feel time slow down to a painful crawl.

"OOF!"

The boy's torso collided hard with the railing, nearly knocking the wind out of him. However, he then felt a familiar collar of scruffy fur tug at his fingers, and he held on as tightly as he could. With a loud gasp of immense relief, Goh gazed at Cinderace, who was staring back at him with surprise.

"Don't worry, Cinderace!" he cried. "I got you!"

"Ace..."

"Goh!" Chloe cried with concern, her eyes tearing away from Yamper and Eevee.

Meanwhile, Ash glanced back at Meowth and Wobbuffet, both of whom were preparing to attack Pikachu once again. But before they could do so, Bea's Hitmontop and Pangoro intervened, having just incapacitated their respective opponents from earlier. This allowed Ash and Pikachu to join Chloe and run up to Goh.

"Goh, are you alright?!" Ash cried.

"Pika?!" Pikachu squeaked with concern.

"Yeah," Goh replied with a wince. "I think so-"

Then, all of a sudden, the Striker Pokémon winced and groaned in pain, prompting Goh to hitch his breath with worry.

"Cinderace, you okay?" he asked.

Cinderace didn't respond. Instead, with a softer wince, it glanced downward at its foot and narrowed its eyes in dismay. Curious, Ash and Goh looked down as well and saw the problem: Cinderace's foot had become badly bruised and a little misshapen.

"Oh, my Arceus!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Cinderace!" Goh shouted in horror. "Here, lemme help you up..."

He brought Cinderace back to safety on the other side of the railing, with Chloe lending a hand for her childhood friend. He then gently set his first Pokémon to the ground, but once Cinderace's injured foot touched the solid surface, it winced and nearly fell over on its side.

"Careful, careful!" Ash cried. "Cinderace's leg must be broken-"

"Ah gee, you think?!" snapped Goh, his eyelid twitching from stress. "That's a freaking over-"

"Goh, calm down!" Chloe whispered urgently.

Goh looked at her, and the sight of her shimmering green eyes allowed him to re-gather his bearings. As soon as he did, he gently helped Cinderace rest against one of the railing's poles.

"There you go. It's alright, Cinderace, you did well!" Goh held back a choked sob as he tended to Cinderace's leg. "Y-You did well..."

"Ash!"

Ash broke his horrified, disbelieving gaze away from the concerned Goh and Chloe, and the pain-stricken Cinderace. He saw Sheena running over to him, a heated and intense battle between his group's Pokémon and Team Rocket's occurring right behind her, with mixed results. He then set his sights on Bea's Hitmontop and Pangoro, who were now being forced back by a combination of Meowth's Fury Swipes and Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat. Jessie looked particularly enraged from the defeats of her Woobat and Gourgeist.

"Ash, I am afraid we cannot hold them off forever!" Sheena cried. "We may have the edge with some of these Pokémon, but they still have a Mega Evolved Pokémon in their ranks, and none of our own Pokémon are capable of beating it!" She glanced over her shoulder to check on the progress of her Sigilyph, which was beginning to become overwhelmed by the attacks of James's Yamask. "We really should head for Hoopa's ring now, while they're still distracted!"

Ash opened his mouth to protest, but then, the image of Cinderace's injured foot flashed across his mind. He looked back at Goh as he tended to Cinderace; the Striker Pokémon was clearly trying to mask its agony, but with little success.

Then, he glanced at all of his own Pokémon in turn, and he observed with horror they all began to struggle against each of Team Rocket's Pokémon.

Ash's Lucario and Dracovish continued their pursuit of Jessie's Woobat without yielding any substantial success. Lucario would fire barrage after barrage of Aura Spheres at the Bat Pokémon, only for it to dodge all of them. As for Dracovish, it tried to pitch in with its Water Gun attack, but Woobat outmaneuvered this move as well. Then, Woobat would keep both Pokémon pinned down and vulnerable with its Gust before trying to ambush them with Air Slash, but without success on its own end either.

Ash's Dragonite found itself being outmatched by Jessie's Gourgeist, whose strategies were highly brutal and relentless compared to the normally gentle and friendly Dragon Pokémon. After making sure Dragonite tried to pursue her through the air for an extended period of time, Gourgeist would turn around and bombard it with a combination of Shadow Balls and Seed Bombs, ensuring her opponent would become exhausted over time. Dragonite maintained its resolve in setting its sights on Gourgeist's defeat, but it was clear such an endeavor would be hard to achieve at this time,

Ash's Gengar definitely seemed to know what it was going up against when it confronted Cassidy's Mega Houndoom. As it didn't have its own ability to Mega Evolve, and therefore the opportunity to defeat the Dark Pokémon, it kept dissolving into nothingness and using the shadows to its advantage rather than battling it upfront. With every passing second, the Dark Pokémon became more and more infuriated, and as such, its attacks were fired indiscriminately, with no regard as to what was actually being hit, thus expending precious energy. However, in the process of irritating its enemy, Gengar too was becoming exhausted, being barely able to keep up with the Houndoom's speed and ferocity.

Next, Ash looked at Bea, who remained as calm and stoic as ever while commanding all her Pokémon during their battles against Jessie and James's Pokémon. However, he could notice the beads of sweat dripping down her face, which brought a sense of alarm to him. Never before had he seen Bea look as worried as she did in the heat of a battle, particularly one with high stakes such as this.

He couldn't even bear to think about how Baraz and Raihan were faring right about now.

"She's right," Ash thought, dismayed. "No matter how hard and fast we fight, we're fighting a losing battle. Cinderace's not gonna be the only one to get hurt like this if we keep it up. And who knows how many more people and Pokémon are up in that thing in the sky?! We...We should run away..."

But the simple thought of that broke open the dam holding back overwhelming feelings of guilt and regret. Ash could feel his heart writhing and grimacing at the prospect of running away when help was needed the most.

"But...But running away would be the coward's way out! Especially when you're also leaving your friends behind..." Then, Ash looked at the injured Cinderace again. "But if we keep it up, we're gonna lose..."

"BAH!"

Petrel's yell of annoyance caught Ash's attention. He, Goh, and Sheena looked up at the screen and saw the Team Rocket lieutenant grimacing at the sight of the battle.

"You kids sure put up a hell of a fight!" Petrel snarled. "How clichéd. It makes me sick to my stomach..."

Then, to everyone's surprise, he grinned widely. His malevolence immediately became visible to everyone who remained in Motostoke Stadium, which by that point was completely devoid of all people except for the fighters and Team Rocket.

"I guess it's time to stop fooling around with you and get this show on the road. The Boss is expecting you and your friends, after all. Oh, and about that ring you keep mentioning..."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. With that, one of the barrels mounted on the Rocket Frigate's undercarriage fired yet another laser, but not at Kabu's Gigantamaxed Centiskorch. Before Sheena could react, the laser struck Hoopa's ring, just several yards away. The ring was sent flying in midair for a quick moment, and with a ghostly echo of a pained scream, the gold faded away into nothingness.

"NO!" Sheena cried, while Ash and Goh gawked at the sight in shock. Then, the trio glared up at the screen, just in time to see Petrel giving them a toothy grin and a condescending wave.

"Bye, bye, ring."

Many heated, intense battles had broken out between Raihan's and Baraz's Pokémon and those belonging to the squad of Team Rocket grunts, ever since Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Sheena chose to make a run for it. All their Pokémon fought Team Rocket's with exceptional ferocity, each of them refusing to let their opponents overwhelm their ranks. But unfortunately, with every Pokémon they defeated on Team Rocket's side, a grunt would produce at least one more Poké Ball and send out another Pokémon in its place.

In the background, Kabu's Centiskorch continued trying to make short work of the Rocket Frigate, but without a lot of success on its part. The best that it could do was shield everyone beneath it from the Rocket Frigate's lasers with its Gigantamaxed body. Kabu himself couldn't find any way up to the audience stands and join Raihan, so he merely stayed on the battlefield and kept giving orders to his Radiator Pokémon, all the while trying to find vulnerabilities in the Rocket Frigate's advanced defense systems.

Minutes passed, and it became increasingly clear to Raihan that the grunts had a seemingly infinite supply of Poké Balls to fall back on. Though he'd heard of Trainers and certain organizations who liked to get ahead of themselves and break the six-Pokémon rule, this was something he hadn't actually prepared himself for.

At that moment, he felt his cellphone vibrate for a moment. Sticking a hand in his pocket, he pulled out his Rotom Phone and checked on it.

His eyes widened with surprise as he thought, "Over twenty missed calls? Ah, well that's just frigging great..."

Then, Raihan checked his text messages while his Duraludon held back a large swarm of Golbat. The Hammerlocke Gym Leader narrowed his eyes at the latest batch, which were mostly from his World Coronation Series sponsors, wondering if this unexpected incident would be either a boost or a detriment to his public image. However, he realized his most recent text was sent by someone else, and the purple-haired man promptly checked it.

"We're almost at Motostoke Stadium. People are running out, and I hear explosions. What's the situation?"

"So what's the plan?!"

Averting his gaze from his Rotom Phone, Raihan looked back at Baraz, who was looking back at him.

"What do you mean?!" the Hammerlocke Gym Leader called.

Baraz was about to respond when an Onix roared out, catching his attention. Currently, his Aurorus was locked in a huge battle against an aggressive Onix. But once he coordinated the Tundra Pokémon into forcing its giant opponent back with an Ancient Power attack, Baraz looked back over his shoulder and addressed Raihan.

"I know we're supposed to cover for Ash!" Baraz cried. "But how're we gonna get outta this?!"

Before Raihan could respond, the Hammerlocke Gym Leader was forced to quickly duck to avoid being hit by an incoming Thunder Shock attack. After Duraludon used Steel Beam to ward off a Magnezone, Raihan looked back at Baraz.

"I thought you had a plan for that!" Baraz replied, his eyes growing wide. "What about your Duraludon?! Aren't you, you know, g-gonna use that special ability I heard it had?! What's it called?!" He looked away for a split-second to check on his Braviary, which was currently in a match with a Hypno to see whose Psychic powers were stronger. "T-The one where it grows-"

"What, and get ourselves crushed in the process?!" Gesturing out towards the block of seats the battle was taking place, Raihan let out a surprisingly upbeat laugh as his Gigalith used Stone Edge to take down a large group of Team Rocket's Pokémon. "Great idea, and trust me, I've thought about it, but uh, no thanks! I'm not dying today because of something as stupid as that!"

"Okaaaaay..." Baraz ducked to avoid an incoming Air Slash. "Do-Don't you have the Galar Pokémon League or the World Coronation Series staff on speed-dial or something?!"

Raihan chuckled and scratched his cheek with embarrassment. "W-Well, to be perfectly honest, man, I didn't expect this whole thing to escalate to something like this so fast."

"So you're saying we're on our own?!"

Raihan tried to raise his Rotom Phone. "Well, not exactly-"

"DIE, SCUM!" a voice yelled.

The Gym leader looked directly beside him and saw a Team Rocket grunt riding a Pidgeot, which was diving at him and Duraludon at high speeds while covered in a blue, bird-shaped aura. With a roar, Duraludon fired another Steel Beam at the incoming Pidgeot, knocking it off-course and saving itself and its Trainer from sustaining any injuries.

"Duraludon, use Steel Beam again!" Raihan commanded. With that, the Alloy Pokémon fired the attack, striking the still, unconscious form of Pidgeot and knocking it and the Team Rocket grunt plummeting to the stands, its plume absolutely singed and smoking.

"Solrock, use Stone Edge, quick!" Baraz ordered, pointing at a pair of Houndour trying to pounce on his Aurorus.

The Meteorite Pokémon's body immediately became surrounded in multiple light-blue rings, which then turned white and then transformed into chunks of gray stones. Finally, Solrock's eyes glowed a bright yellow as it hurled the stones at the Houndour.

"Dodge them, quick!" a Team Rocket grunt hollered angrily, but it was too late: the two Dark Pokémon were bombarded by the flying stones and knocked out instantly. "BAH! Useless!"

Raihan's head perked upward in shock at the insult. "It's not the Pokémon that's the problem here!" he shouted. "It's you that's the problem. You and your cronies!"

"Don't kid yourself," another Team Rocket grunt replied, his lips curled into a sneer as his Muk tried to latch onto Baraz's Aurorus's leg. "You think of Pokémon like they're supposed to be our friends."

"BLAH!" a third grunt spat with amusement, right after he avoided a Sandstorm from Raihan's Sandaconda. "F-Friends?! Pokémon ain't nothing but our slaves!"

"Slaves who follow our orders without question or regret!" declared a fourth grunt while his small horde of Magneton and Magnemite battled Raihan's Gigalith. "That is the only purpose a Pokémon can serve to its master."

"You're all delusional if you truly believe in that drivel," Baraz snarled with gritted teeth. He then glanced at his Braviary, Solrock, and Aurorus battled a Scizor, a Gallade, and a Tyranitar, respectively. "Pokémon are living, breathing beings just like the rest of us! So they-"

"Ahhhhh, so that's why you guys keep 'em in Poké Balls," growled a fifth grunt as he stared Raihan and Baraz down, his Jolteon standing and growling menacingly beside him. "Give 'em orders. Restrict their movements. Make 'em battle one another without ever explaining why-"

"I don't need to hear anymore of this crud," Raihan spat, bitterness laced in his voice. "Nor do I need to argue against it. Duraludon, use Breaking Swipe!"

The Alloy Pokémon launched its glowing purple tail at the grunts and their Pokémon. The grunts screamed and grunted as the tail hit the ground in front of them and knocked them back. In the process, it sparked a blaze that quickly grew in-between Raihan and Baraz's team and Team Rocket's, giving the former a limited amount of time to recuperate. But the reprieve did not last long, for the grunts employed a Blastoise, a Poliwrath, and a Kingler to use various Water-type moves to slowly put out the fire.

"We-Well, Raihan?" Baraz asked, watching worriedly as more and more of the fire was being extinguished, leaving thick clouds of dark smoke and ash. "Do you have a plan now?"

"Not really..." Raihan replied. A single bead of sweat was breaking out on his forehead as he watched the grunts and their Pokémon step through the smoke.

Baraz blinked incredulously. "You, the seventh-best Trainer competing in the World Coronation Series, don't have a plan for this?"

"Hey, I ain't Rank 7 for nothing, you know."

"This isn't funny!"

Raihan chuckled, a hint of nervousness evident in his voice. "Look, I've never had to tangle with punks like these before. So, no, I don't have a plan for this kinda thing."

Suppressing a panicked curse, Baraz then glanced at the direction Ash, Goh, and Sheena took to escape. To his dismay, he immediately saw the trio beginning to engage Jessie, James, Cassidy, and Butch's Pokémon in battle alongside a tan-skinned girl. With gritted teeth, he refocused on the grunts as they continued to advance upon him and Raihan. Although the two of them made some progress when it came to holding back their opponents, they still had dozens of Pokémon to defeat, and it didn't look like any of the grunts were concerned about the prospects of losing. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"But don't worry," Raihan suddenly piped up, catching Baraz's attention again. "Just because I don't have a plan, it does not mean something's not being done about it."

Before Baraz could ask Raihan what he meant by that, one of the grunts spoke up with a derisive sneer.

"Well, well, well. After all that fighting, talking, and bravado-"

"You couldn't even leave a dent in Team Rocket's plans," another grunt completed.

"It's quite disappointing to see, to be honest," remarked a third grunt, his focus trained on Raihan specifically. "Especially from someone as esteemed and well-renowned as the Hammerlocke Gym Leader."

"Well," Raihan replied with a bright grin that didn't befit the current situation at all, "at least you guys are capable of some sportsmanship."

"That wasn't meant to be sportsmanly."

Another grunt chuckled maliciously. "Oh, you Trainers and your Pokémon battles. Deluding yourselves every day, thinking what you're doing is moral and ethical when it's actually neither."

"At least we at Team Rocket are honest about what a Pokémon's true purpose lies!" proclaimed a third grunt.

At that moment, Raihan's and Baraz's Pokémon all gathered by their Trainers and encircled them protectively. Duraludon, Sandaconda, and Gigalith stared down their opponents on Raihan's end; while Solrock, Braviary, and Aurorus prepared to fire their own attacks on Baraz's end.

"You talk about what a Pokémon's true purpose is," snarled Baraz, "yet you guys want the kid. Something tells me what you guys have got planned for him is way more immoral and unethical than your opinions about how Pokémon should be used!"

"This civilization is living a lie," a fourth grunt replied. Then, his lips twitched into a triumphant grin. "And Team Rocket is intent on exposing that lie!"

At that moment, Raihan and Baraz heard a nasty, gurgled growl, but only Baraz twirled around to see a trio of Muk, one of them Shiny, crawling up on the seats behind them. They then opened their mouths and prepared to fire attacks...

Ash continued to stare incredulously at the empty air, the very space where Hoopa's ring dissipated into nothingness. He knew for a fact that this didn't signal the Mischief Pokémon's demise. However, this development now deprived him and his friends of the only escape route that had been available to them. It was gone, and just when he was starting to feel the tide of the battle was swinging more in favor of Jessie, James, Meowth, and their more despicable colleagues in Team Rocket...

Just when he thought his Pokémon could have the upper hand against Team Rocket like they always did...

At the thought of them, Ash scanned the battle raging around him. His Pokémon, along with the rest of Goh's, Bea's, and Sheena's, were still battling their opponents with as much determination and vigor as they could possibly muster. But, to their detriment, Team Rocket's Pokémon were surprisingly adaptable to the situation. With their opponents beginning to gain the upper hand, they would quickly pair up with one of their comrades-in-arms, whose timely assistance bolstered each other's chances in battle.

"No..." Sheena whispered, her shocked voice cutting through Ash's thoughts like a knife piercing fabric. "Wh-What're we gonna do now...?"

"We have to get out of the stadium, then," growled Goh. He was staring down Butch and his Shuckle as they both closed in on him and Ash. "We get outta here, and we hope Officer Jenny can take care of things-"

"No, Goh," interrupted Ash, his voice grave. "Something tells me we need more than just Officer Jenny to handle this..."

Goh looked at his friend with surprise. "Ash, w-what're you saying? You...You can't possibly think you can fight your way out of this! It's clear these Team Rocket goons are a whole lot different from the Team Rocket we face every other day! A whole lot more powerful, too!"

"HEY!" Jessie cried over the clamor of the battle between Meowth and Wobbuffet, and Ash's Lucario and Dracovish. "We resent that remark!"

"We're powerful too!" James hollered desperately.

"HUSH, YOU IDIOTS!" Cassidy cried while her eyelid twitched. "COME ON, RATICATE! YOU'VE GOT THIS!"

Ash's eyes widened when he focused on Cassidy: her Raticate, recently recovered courtesy of a Max Revive, had begun engaging Bea's Hitmontop in battle, this time bolstered by the assistance of Meowth. In spite of its disadvantage against its current opponent, Raticate had found a weakness in Bea's Hitmontop's Gyro Ball. Acting quickly, the Mouse Pokémon jumped atop Hitmontop as he spun on his head. Then, with a vicious, high-pitched chirrup, Raticate used Super Fang on the Handstand Pokémon's vulnerable feet, chewing down on them as hard as it could.

"Hitmontop!"

Bea's yell may have been soft, but there was no mistaking the horror in her voice. Ash's heart fell a little at the sound of the cool, levelheaded girl's gradual descent into panic.

"I gotta admit, cutie," Cassidy remarked with a smug grin, "you and your Pokémon had me and my colleagues there for a sec. But, unfortunately for you, your strategies are waaaaaay too focused on hard-hitting attacks. They're too oriented in showing off a Pokémon's brute strength. How admirable, and yet...oh, how did you put it? How predictable of you."

Raticate promptly jumped off of Hitmontop with a triumphant chirrup, leaving its opponent still spinning across the floor. However, Hitmontop's spinning was more frenzied and confused, and Bea's eyes then widened when she saw the specks of blood flying from Hitmontop's bites. Within seconds, the Handstand Pokémon, blinded by pain, crashed into an aisle of seats and laid limp on the floor, grimacing from the gashes in its feet.

"No..." Bea whispered. Her voice was stiffer than usual, and her robotic expression was on the verge of breaking.

"YAH!" Meowth roared, pouncing towards the fallen Hitmontop with his Fury Swipes at the ready. "I'VE GOT YA NOW! EAT MY CLAWS!"

Hitmontop yowled in pain and agony as Meowth's claws slashed across its entire body, leaving behind terrible claw-marks that had blood trickling from them. Then, with a visible grimace, the Handstand Pokémon slumped downward against the seats he was lying against.

"Eh?!" Meowth cried. He looked at his own bloodied claws, as if reality had finally caught up with him and he was starting to realize his own ferocity. "I...I didn't really expect dat ta happen..."

Nearby, Grapploct overheard its Trainer's dilemma and glanced toward her. When it saw her running up to Hitmontop and standing still over him, the Jujitsu Pokémon softly hiccupped with shock at the stunning sight of its Trainer finally in the throes of panic. This untimely distraction allowed Butch's Shuckle to painstakingly wrench itself free from the tight, vice-like grip of Grapploct's tentacles.

"Ahhh, there ya go!" Butch hollered with elation. "Now, Shuckle! Use Rock Slide, on the double!"

Shuckle nodded before jumping high and raising both of its flippers in the air. Multiple bright, white rings of energy then materialized above and around its body before converging and transforming into a flurry of large, gray boulders. Finally, with a squeak, Shuckle pointed its flippers at Grapploct's direction, and the boulders followed suit, hurling themselves at the Jujitsu Pokémon's direction while it remained distracted.

"Grapploct!" Bea cried, her voice already strained. "D-!"

But the tan-skinned girl couldn't act fast enough. The Rock Slide hit Grapploct, knocking it down the steps and leaving it dazed and splayed helplessly across the foot of the stairs. Horror filled Bea's face, and her body became unusually rigid. Ash was stunned by the sight of his fellow World Coronation Series competitor in the throes of stunning defeat.

"Well," Butch commented as his Shuckle rejoined his side, "that was a piece of cake."

Bea tried to say something, but the shock of her dual losses left her paralyzed. Her entire willpower had been shattered into tiny pieces, like a glass cup being dropped from a great height. She could only glance towards Hawlucha as it tried to keep up the pressure against James's Inkay, pursuing it in midair and trying to down it with a combination of Karate Chop and Flying Press moves.

However, while Hawlucha was recovering from another failed attempt at a Karate Chop strike, Inkay suddenly twirled in midair, faced its opponent, and fired a stream of ink from underneath its grubby tentacles. Hawlucha saw it coming, but it was too exhausted to move in time; as a result, the pitch-black, slimy ink splattered itself all over its face, blinding the Wrestling Pokémon.

Bea tried to order Hawlucha to use one of their counterstrategies, but once again, the horror at her losses left her throat tight. The words simply could not come out of her mouth, as if they were being held back by a chokehold. This allowed James to act before she could.

"Now, Inkay!" he cried. "Use Psybeam!"

Inkay promptly flipped upside down and fired, from its mouth, a beam of energy with blue streaks and pink circles at the Wrestling Pokémon. Still blinded, Hawlucha was left to be struck by the Psybeam and suffer from its lingering confusion-inducing after-effects.

"Great!" James hollered triumphantly. "Now follow it up with Tackle! Finish that Hawlucha for good!"

Inkay followed its Trainer's command to the last letter, slamming its entire body into Hawlucha. It was sent flying straight through a row of seats, knocking it out in no time flat.

Bea then glanced towards her Pangoro. In its battle against Jessie's Wobbuffet, it had ignored its advantageous duel over Jessie's Seviper, who had recovered from the injuries sustained by its size. The Fang Snake Pokémon lunged at Pangoro from behind while it was about to swing a Hammer Arm attack down upon Wobbuffet. It sunk its fangs into the Daunting Pokémon's shoulder, prompting it to cry out in pain. At the same time, Wobbuffet activated his Mirror Coat, successfully protecting himself from Pangoro's Hammer Arm and even deflecting it.

This deflection sent Pangoro flying further into the aisles of seats, bringing Seviper along with it. Acting quickly, the Fang Snake Pokémon wrapped its serpentine body around Pangoro and squeezed tight. Though this cushioned the impact that it had with the ground, Seviper made sure to squeeze tighter and tighter, as well as tighten its bite on its opponent's left shoulder while the seconds ticked by. Before Pangoro could struggle, Seviper activated its Poison Tail and struck it in its exposed stomach several times, inflicting poisoned wounds.

By this point, the back-to-back-to-back losses of her powerful and well-trained Pokémon had left Bea in a bind, much like the literal one Seviper had on her Pangoro. All she had to do was give an order, any sort of order, but the horror left her more speechless than usual. She simply stood there, an emptier husk of her usual stoic self, pathetic and useless, while Pangoro's movements progressively weakened...

Until it collapsed, prone and defeated. Just like all of her other Pokémon.

With a hiss, Seviper unlatched itself from Pangoro's unconscious body and slithered back to Jessie. Without any Pokémon on hand anymore, Bea collapsed on her knees, devastated with shock and disbelief.

"Oh, how disappointing," Cassidy mockingly remarked while flexing her fingers in eager preparation. "Nooow then, where were we...? Oh yeah, that's right!"

Butch, her, and their Pokémon began rounding up on Ash, Goh, and Sheena. Cassidy's smirk continued to adorn her fair face.

"I must admit, kid," the Team Rocket agent continued malevolently, "I am a little glad you haven't lost even an ounce of that spunk that you had all those years ago. I like a good challenge. After all, why eat your food if you can't play with it first? Unfortunately for you, while I may like a good challenge here and there, I LOVE getting showered in praise by my higher-ups. Houndoom! Come over here!"

Houndoom looked away from Ash's Gengar and then started to run over to its Trainer's side, completely abandoning the Shadow Pokémon. Realizing its strategy of evading and agitating its opponent was no longer working, Gengar leaped out of the shadows and fired a Shadow Ball at the Dark Pokémon's direction. However, Houndoom saw it coming and leaped into an aisle of seats, effortlessly dodging the Ghost-type move. Then, it turned and fired a particularly powerful Inferno at Gengar, striking and severely burning it.

"GENGAR!" Ash cried.

As Gengar hit the floor, badly scorched and smoking profusely, Houndoom abandoned its opponent again and was finally able to join Cassidy's side. The blonde Team Rocket agent snickered malevolently as the Dark Pokémon growled at Ash, Goh, and Sheena with bared fangs.

Then, Petrel's depraved laughter filled Motostoke Stadium. Ash, Goh, and Sheena glanced upward towards the screen and saw the lieutenant peering down at them specifically.

"Excellent job, Cassidy and Hutch," he said. "Excellent job."

"Thank you, Petrel sir," Cassidy replied proudly.

"It's Butch, not Hutch!" snapped an irritable Butch. "Arceus-damn!"

"Now then, Team Rocket, let's end this."

With a grin, Petrel snapped his fingers for a second time. At that moment, everyone else heard a loud, ominous creaking noise. Looking up, they could see a larger hatch opening up in the Rocket Frigate's undercarriage. Within seconds, a half-dozen tilt-rotor transport helicopters flew out of the hatch and headed towards the Motostoke Stadium at great speeds, their guns at the ready.

"What in the world?!" James exclaimed.

"Since when did Team Rocket have da budget for dis sorta ting?!" demanded Meowth.

"Hush!" Jessie snapped angrily.

Kabu's Centiskorch screeched mightily at the incoming helicopters and tried to fire attacks at them, but two of the aerial vehicles exposed their sides, revealing a Kabutops and an Armaldo as passengers. Together, the two Rock-type Pokémon fired their attacks first, both of which turned out to be Ancient Power. Upon being hit by the super-effective attacks, the Radiator Pokémon was knocked backward, allowing the other choppers to repeatedly stun it using lasers fired from their guns.

Then, another pair of helicopters moved closer to Centiskorch's mouth. Before it could react, they moved to the sides like their brethren, exposing two Team Rocket grunts each; each grunt was carrying an individual Metapod or Kakuna. These Metapod and Kakuna fired something into the tanks of passenger-manned, swiveling guns, after which the barrels fired what appeared to be String Shots. These String Shots swiftly webbed the Radiator Pokémon's mouth shut, preventing it from using any moves of its own. This allowed several more choppers to continue stunning it with lasers and assailing it with super-effective attacks from the various Pokémon riding inside.

"Are you impressed?" Petrel asked, his tone that of a braggart. "You should be, for that is the might of Team Rocket increased fivefold! You should be lucky we decided to go easy on you kids these first few minutes. But now, it's time we stopped dawdling around! So, if I were you, you foolish kids, I'd surrender now!"

Upon hearing the ominous, gurgled growling behind him and Raihan, Baraz turned and saw a trio of Muk, led by a Shiny one, crawling up on the seats behind them. He tried to warn Raihan and their Pokémon, but the Muk immediately opened their mouths and prepared to fire attacks. There was no way any of them could counter that in time-

"Yamper, use Wild Charge!" a voice ordered.

A Yamper ran into the fray, bolts of electricity trailing from its small, stout body. Then, as it approached the Muk, its body burst into a protective shield of electricity, with seats being zapped by stray bolts. Before the Muk could react, the Puppy Pokémon slammed itself into one of them, electrocuting it. The electricity of the Wild Charge also conducted off the Muk's slimy body and electrocuted its brethren, leaving all three Sludge Pokémon critically injured.

"What in blazes?!" one of the grunts cried, while some of the others gasped or grabbed their Team Rocket-issued caps in horror.

"Wh-Who did that?!" snapped another grunt.

Yamper barked with happy triumph as it retreated from the reeling Muk. Baraz followed the Puppy Pokémon as it quickly returned to its Trainer. At first, he thought it would be Chloe, who had returned to them for whatever reason.

Instead, Baraz realized he was looking at a slender, young, fair-skinned woman with peach-colored hair tied into a bushy ponytail and aqua-blue eyes. She was dressed fancily, like some sort of uptown girl. Raihan seemingly didn't take notice at the newcomer's presence, but he was still smiling nevertheless.

"Well, well, well!" he called casually. "You're early...babe!"

"Oh, for the love of Arceus!" the woman snapped while rolling her eyes out of disdain. "I don't have time for this, Raihan! Please don't make me regret saving you!"

Raihan merely shrugged and gave her a dismissive wave with his palm. "Ah, whatever. We both know you're in love with me, Sonia. I mean, why else would you have my number?"

"Enough talk!" one of the grunts snapped, pointing at Sonia. "One more civilian joinin' this fight ain't nothin' to us!"

"We are gonna defeat you in the name of Team Rocket!" cried another grunt. Then, he scanned Sonia's body lasciviously. "And afterwards, I think I'll be takin' you as a rewa-"

"Drednaw!" a feminine voice hollered loudly. "Use Crunch!"

A turtle-like Pokémon waddled over to the group of Team Rocket grunts and their Pokémon as fast as it could. Before any of them could react, it chomped its glowing jaws down on a Nidoking's leg, causing it to yowl in pain. The other Pokémon tried to intervene, but Sonia pointed at them again.

"Use Wild Charge again, Yamper!" she commanded.

Yamper barked and dashed forward, tackling a Nidoqueen with its electricity-enveloped body and knocking it into a duo of Sandslash.

"Duraludon, use Steel Beam!" Raihan ordered confidently. "Gigalith, use Rock Blast! Sandaconda, use Sand Tomb!"

Raihan's three Pokémon used their respective attacks, knocking several of Team Rocket's Pokémon backward. This gave Baraz the encouragement he needed to continue fighting.

"Braviary, use Air Slash!" he hollered. "Solrock, use Zen Headbutt! Aurorus, use Ice Beam!"

Just as Baraz's Pokémon joined the fray again, another woman joined Sonia's side. She had shed her civilian clothing and was now wearing a gym uniform consisting of a white crop-top revealing much of her midriff; along with a pair of white shorts with blue and orange details and the number "049" on it. She also wore hoop earrings, two armlets, a single blue glove on her right hand, a belly chain, and white-and-blue sandals with buoy-shaped accessories on them. Accompanying her were a Golisopod and a Pelipper.

Raihan looked back and instantly recognized the newcomer, whereupon his lips curled into a pleased grin.

"Ah, so I guess this'll be a fearsome threeso-" he began flirtatiously.

"Can it, Raihan," Nessa interrupted coldly. "I don't have time for that, so please don't make me regret stepping in for you and your well-being."

"So you admit you care about me?"

"I'd rather make out with a Cloyster over you."

Raihan recoiled jokingly. "Ouch!"

"Raihan, more reinforcements are already on their way."

"Just as I predicted."

Nessa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so will you please keep your eye on the ball until then?!"

"Gotcha, gotcha."

At that moment, everyone else heard a loud, ominous creaking noise. Looking up, they could see a larger hatch opening in the Rocket Frigate's undercarriage. A half-dozen tilt-rotor transport helicopters flew out of it and headed towards the Motostoke Stadium at fast speeds, their guns at the ready. In response, the grunts gave Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa evil grins of triumph.

"You meddling fools are about to get it now!" one grunt cried.

The quartet watched as Kabu's Centiskorch screeched at the incoming helicopters and tried to attack them, only for it to be incapacitated by the lasers and the Ancient Power attacks fired from the aerial vehicles. Once the helicopters webbed Centiskorch's mouth shut with String Shots, the Team Rocket grunts advanced on Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa.

"Are you impressed?" Petrel's triumphant voice echoed. "You should be, for that is the might of Team Rocket increased fivefold! You should be lucky we decided to go easy on you kids these first few minutes. But now, it's time we stopped dawdling around! So, if I were you, you foolish kids, I'd surrender now!"

"Now do you have a plan on how we can get out of this, Raihan?!" Baraz whispered urgently.

"Don't worry about it," Raihan replied calmly while he kept his eyes trained on Team Rocket's Pokémon. "Reinforcements are on their way."

Baraz glared at the Hammerlocke Gym Leader with disbelief. "You couldn't have told me that sooner?!"

"I tried to, but you know, it's kinda hard when you've got a whole bunch of Pokémon attacking you one after another."

"Hey, shut your Arceus-damn traps!" a grunt shouted. "You four are clearly outnumbered, and you've got nowhere to go, and nothing to do!"

"I'd say you're in for a whole lotta trouble, you meddlers," another grunt added triumphantly.

"Oh no, I'm so scared..." Raihan replied sarcastically.

"Heh." One of the grunts sneered. "You may not think we're the real deal even after all of this, Raihan, but we're gonna make you eat your words soon enough."

"The only thing that will be going into my mouth are your tears." Raihan hummed and smacked his lips. "And I sure am a little thirsty right about now."

The same grunt's sneer turned into a suspicion frown. "You seem to be taking these developments in stride. It's...almost impressive. But that attitude of yours is sure to make a one-eighty once we take all of you prisoner!"

Raihan shrugged with a smile. "Why, thank you. But it's not like I'm going along with the motions."

"Oh, really?"

The grunt snapped his fingers, and his Pokémon, along with the Pokémon belonging to his comrades, continued to close in on Raihan, Baraz, Sonia, Nessa, and their Pokémon. Baraz, Sonia, and Nessa were ready and willing to make orders to their Pokémon to defend themselves, but Raihan continued to remain calm and casual about the situation.

"Let's put that optimism to a test, shall we?"

"Ahhhhh, I ain't being optimistic either," Raihan replied.

"Really? Then what are you feeling right now?"

Raihan's smile grew slightly wider. "Just some relief that the cavalry's arrived."

"What cavalry?!" another grunt barked. "I don't see nothin' but you and your friends! And you're all by your lonesome-"

"No." Raihan pointed over the grunts' shoulders. "I meant that cavalry."

The grunts looked behind them, just in time to see their choppers being shot down by a flurry of Pokémon attacks.

The remaining helicopters hovered towards Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena, their guns aimed at their chests, and all of their Pokémon passengers materializing all sorts of attacks in preparation for any retaliation. The battles between the remnants of Ash's, Goh's, Chloe's, Bea's, and Sheena's team, and Jessie and James's Pokémon stopped almost instantly. As soon as their Pokémon saw what was happening, and none of them couldn't see a safe and effective way out of the situation, they moaned with defeat and surrendered. This gave Jessie, James, and Meowth the opening they needed to join Cassidy and Butch in cornering Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Sheena.

As for Ash, he gritted his teeth in anger; Goh gently, protectively held Cinderace in his arms; Chloe stayed close to Goh and Cinderace; Sheena's eyes softened as she held a hand over her heart in concern; and Bea narrowed her eyes slightly at the newest development. It didn't take too long for Ash to reach his breaking point; unable to stand the developments anymore, the Pallet Town boy planted his feet firmly to the ground beneath them and stared up at the towering screen.

"We're not going to-!" he began.

"Ah, give it up already, twoip!" Meowth interrupted.

"We have you beat, plain and simple!" James hollered with triumph.

"So do what is best for you and your precious Pokémon and surrender already!" snapped Jessie.

Ash wanted to retort, but he felt the words get caught in his throat, while his mind became clouded with horror and self-doubt, feelings that just kept growing and festering by the second. He had never felt this way before in his life, not even when Jessie, James, and Meowth first defeated him back in Alola. No, this time was different. It was as if he and all of his friends, human and Pokémon alike, were rendered powerless to stop what could've been and should've been easy to stop in the first place.

Whatever Team Rocket had done to themselves and their Pokémon since he last saw them, it was clearly enough to give them an insurmountable advantage in this fight. And it was this advantage that left all of their Pokémon hurt, Cinderace especially. There was nothing that he and his friends could do to stop them now...

Just then, two soft, serene hollers filled the air, followed by two different storms of Magical Leaves hitting the gargantuan screen. Petrel's image became heavily distorted before the screen eventually sputtered and exploded in a shower of hot, bright sparks.

Then, before the helicopters could identify the attackers, more Magical Leaves soared through the air and hit the rotors of a helicopter that was carrying a Tangrowth and a Glalie, causing it to veer off-course and strike the other choppers in the process. The Team Rocket grunts inside were forced to recall their Pokémon before jumping out of the spiraling aerial vehicles and retreating from the scene with their jet-packs.

"What in BLAZES?!" shouted Butch.

But before the Team Rocket agent could order his Shuckle to attack, Baraz and his Braviary landed right in front of him, and the Valiant Pokémon squawked loudly and mightily in his face. At the same time, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, and all their Pokémon ran up to Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena, their faces wearing pronounced scowls as they glared at Jessie, James, Meowth, and Cassidy.

"What?!" Cassidy cried, her eyes bulging at the sight of Raihan and Baraz. "I thought you two were busy-"

"Yeah, that's right," Raihan interrupted with a cocky grin. "We were...until backup arrived."

At that moment, a regular helicopter slowly hovered downward, taking the place of Team Rocket's downed choppers. A few seconds later, more of them slowly rose above the perimeter of Motostoke Stadium's open roof, their spinning rotors roaring loudly. Their sides were clearly visible to Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena, allowing them to see the insignias emblazoned on them.

"The World Coronation Series..." Bea remarked quietly.

The Pokémon riding the World Coronation Series-owned choppers began firing at Team Rocket's remaining choppers with a variety of attacks, forcing them to swiftly break formation and engage them as efficiently as they could. A Magmortar riding one of the World Coronation Series-owned choppers launched a powerful Flamethrower that burned off the clump of String Shot webbing covering Centiskorch's mouth. This allowed the giant Radiator Pokémon to resume its attack on the force-field protecting the Rocket Frigate, as well as protect its allies from any lasers the ship decided to fire.

"Wh-What in the world?!" Cassidy shrieked. "Wh-What's going on here?!"

"What's with the cavalry?!" cried James.

"Impossible!" rasped Butch.

Then, the helicopter facing Jessie, James, Meowth, Cassidy, and Butch turned to show its side, allowing Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena to see its lone passenger, a huge, muscular young man with peach-colored hair, green eyes, and fair, slightly freckled skin. He wore a large, beige hat with a green brim; a white T-shirt with multicolored triangles, grass-like insignias, and sponsor logos; green-and-black shorts; and matching green-and-black boots with a bush design. Standing by his feet were a Gossifleur and an Eldegoss.

"Hey, Raihan, Ness!" the man greeted with a bright, youthful smile. "It's good to see you two again!"

MILO

"I didn't think you would show up!" Raihan replied with a wide smile. "Hey, uh, where's that Wooloo of yours?"

"Oh, he's over there."

Just then, Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sheena felt the earth tremble beneath them. They glanced towards the top of the stadium's open roof, just in time to see an adorable sheep-like Pokémon peer over it and at the Rocket Frigate.

"WOOOOO-LOOOOOOO!"

With that, it stood on its hind legs and headbutted the looming Rocket Frigate. Though this failed to penetrate its force-field, the impact was powerful enough to send it veering off-course. Wooloo's assault was then joined by a Flamethrower from Kabu's Gigantamaxed Centiskorch.

"AGH! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Petrel held on tight to the gunmetal-gray guardrails as people scrambled all over the Rocket Frigate's expansive cockpit. Low-level grunts hailing from Teams Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare pressed buttons, pulled levers, and adjusted dials while the entire room shook with the force of a powerful earthquake. The red holographic maps and live camera feeds in front of them all flickered in and out from the interruption in the Rocket Frigate's power supply.

"Steady the Frigate!" Petrel commanded, his voice piercing through the cacophony. "STEADY THE FRIGATE NOW!"

"Yes, Petrel sir!" a Team Magma grunt replied.

"And get me a good look on Motostoke Stadium, Arceus-damn it!"

"O-On it, Petrel sir!" replied a Team Plasma grunt.

In about a minute, the Rocket Frigate quickly navigated itself away from the reach of Wooloo and Centiskorch. Once the cameras were readjusted toward Motostoke Stadium, Petrel narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth at the live recordings of the army of World Coronation Series-owned helicopters descending upon the area.

"Crap!" he spat. "Come on, people! We need to get the Ketchum boy and get outta here ASAP! Let's go, let's go!"

"B-But Petrel, sir!" a Team Rocket grunt cried. "Our radar's detecting more bogeys on the way!"

"ETA?!"

"Th-The next wave? Approximately one, two minutes tops."

"What?!"

"Sir!" another Team Rocket grunt cried as he removed his headset. "I've been monitoring their radio communications! T-They've enlisted more top-ranked participants of the World Coronation Series in the region to respond here! I'm hearing the names Mustard and Opal being tossed around frequently; they don't sound too good! A-And many of these Trainers are riding the next wave of responding choppers!"

"Damn it," grumbled Petrel. "Damn it, damn it, damn it..." Then, with a growl, he clutched his head and screamed to the high heavens. "NOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! NOT NOW!"

"Petrel, sir!" yet another Team Rocket grunt cried. "Milo's Wooloo and Kabu's Centiskorch are continuing their assault on our ship! It won't be long until our force-field breaks from all this excess pressure!"

"What are your orders, Petrel sir?!" exclaimed the first Team Rocket grunt.

Petrel scanned the entire cockpit as his legion of minions looked back at him expectantly. Then, he began to think of how Giovanni would react once he relayed to him the unexpected outcome of his mission...

The objective Giovanni entrusted him to carry out...

Grunting angrily, Petrel closed his eyes and tightened his grip around the guardrails...

"Jessie and James!"

Petrel's voice echoed through Motostoke Stadium, louder and bolder this time. Ash's group surmised he was using some sort of speaker system installed within the Rocket Frigate.

"Cassidy and Mulch!"

"IT'S BUTCH, ARCEUS-DAMN IT!" shrieked Butch. "WHO THE HELL CALLS THEIR CHILD 'MULCH', ANYWAY?!"

"We are activating blast-off procedures!"

"BLAST-OFF PROCEDURES?!" Cassidy yelled, her eyes bulging in outrage. "OH, HELL NO! WE'RE NOT RETREATING, NOT FROM THESE LOWLIFE KIDS!"

However, Jessie, James, and Meowth weren't even remotely surprised by the development.

"Well, guys," James remarked, glancing at his teammates, "what's our dialogue for this script again?"

"Team Rocket's blasting off again?" Meowth replied flatly.

"HUH?!" Cassidy glared at Jessie. "Don't tell me YOU'RE gonna go with that-?!"

"And don't tell me you're gonna disobey a direct order from our superior?!" Jessie interrupted.

Cassidy stopped midsentence, and she gritted her teeth in disgust.

"You're not going anywhere, Team Rocket!" Milo cried as his Gossifleur and Eldegoss readied their attacks.

"Give it up now, Team Rocket!" added Baraz. "You're surrounded!"

"Surrender now," Sheena said gently, though her expression was stern. "Surrender, and we'll see to it that you-"

"Tough luck, curator lady!" Jessie hissed. "We're not surrendering to the likes of you!" Then, she glared at Ash, Goh, and Chloe. "Consider yourselves lucky, twerps! But mark my words, this isn't over! We're coming back for you, and when we do, our forces will be double the trouble for you!"

"Duraludon!" Raihan hollered.

"Yamper!" Sonia cried.

"Drednaw!" shouted Nessa.

"Braviary!" exclaimed Baraz.

But before their Pokémon could stop Team Rocket, Cassidy reluctantly pulled out a small, marble-sized sphere and threw it to the ground with all her might. There was a small explosion, and the area quickly began to fill with a billowing cloud of scarlet smoke. On instinct, everyone shielded their eyes and noses with their forearms.

"Smoke grenade!" Baraz cried.

"Milo!" Nessa hollered. "Do you see anything up there?!"

From the safety of his helicopter, Milo scanned the aisles of seats. "No, I don't! I can't risk having Gossifleur or Eldegoss firing something into that cloud! I might hit one of you!"

"Crap!" spat Baraz. "They're getting away!"

"Don't let them get away!" Goh cried while he and Chloe held onto Ash.

"Braviary!" Holding his breath, Baraz peered over his forearm and saw the outline of his Valiant Pokémon. "Quickly, use Defog! Clear this smoke!"

Braviary squawked and immediately took to the air, whereupon it flapped its wings at the direction of the smoke several times, applying great force with each flap. The resulting wind cleared out the smoke, and to everyone's huge relief, Team Rocket hadn't seized the opportunity to try and nab Ash in all of the chaos. However, as Baraz had suspected, there was no trace of them anywhere in the stands.

"They're gone!" Goh cried with disbelief.

Chloe scanned her immediate surroundings and quickly noticed the stairs nearby. "They must've taken the stairs into the stadium!"

Nessa gasped and looked at Raihan. "Raihan!"

"Right behind you!" the Hammerlocke Gym Leader cried.

The two then took the stairs, followed by their Pokémon. However, the others heard a loud whooshing sound and looked up, just in time to see the Rocket Frigate retreating, far from the reach of any Pokémon's attack. Smaller trails of smoke followed after it, likely the Team Rocket grunts using their jet-packs. Once it became clear that the threat had retreated, the passengers of the other World Coronation Series helicopters let out a singular cheer, though it did nothing to assuage the hearts of Ash's group.

"Damn it," Baraz muttered angrily.

"They've gotten away," Sheena concluded morosely. "And at such a high speed too..."

"Well, so much for their great takeover..."

However, Sheena narrowed her eyes ominously, even as she observed the uproarious cheer in the air. "It's not over..."

Meanwhile, Goh and Chloe had taken this opportunity to tend to Cinderace's injured foot.

"It's alright, Cinderace," Goh said as he examined the wound. "Th-This is temporary. Th-This is nothing t-to worry about. L-Lemme just-"

"I've got this, Goh," Chloe interrupted. Acting quickly, she tore off one of her short sleeves, exposing her silky shoulder in the process and used it to bandage Cinderace's foot. As the Striker Pokémon winced and groaned from her touch, she patted its shoulder in an attempt to comfort it. "It's okay, Cinderace, it's okay. You'll be better in no time."

As Chloe continued her administrations, Ash and Pikachu watched from the side. Ash tried his best to hide it, but it was clear to everyone else that he was stricken with horror and disbelief.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, you guys," he said, his voice so quiet that it seemed as if no one would hear him. "This is all because of me... They... Team Rocket wanted to get me, a-and I could've just run, b-but I didn't... I didn't want to leave anyone behind like a coward... I wanted to fight...b-but I got way in over my head, a-and you joined me too... I...I can't believe I got us into this mess..."

"I-It's alright, Ash," Chloe replied, though she didn't tear her eyes away from Cinderace's foot. "You couldn't have known what was about to happen."

As for Goh, he tried to look at Ash, but he couldn't bear himself to look at his friend's face. His thoughts were permeated with the image of Cinderace's injury, and thoughts about the cause of it. As a result, his blue eyes were absentmindedly transfixed to Ash's legs.

Chapter 2:
BATTLE

Bellossom, the Flower Pokémon. They  gather at times and appear to dance. They say that the dance is a ritual to summon the sun. It is plentiful in the tropics. When it dances, its petals rub together and make a pleasant ringing sound.

sngzyuwuelisubngm,jzyewuydnuahtkvruuzwiaw,uchynjyqshrya.

Next Time:

Giovanni: ...He, just like all of us, are at the center of history in the making right now...

Serena: Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!

Dawn: I don't believe it! You're here too?!

Saturn: ...He'll most likely leave us to suffer the consequences while he reaps all the benefits, all the fruit of our labor.

Kenny: After all these years, still no answer from her...

Ursula: Well, well, well. This is gonna be tons of fun.

Serena: Wait, what's happening in Galar?

Dawn: MOM?!

CONTEST

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn

-Team 3: TBA

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

Team Rocket HQ
KANTO REGION

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're just joining us, you're looking at a replay of footage taken at Motostoke Stadium. At approximately 12:00 local time, what was slated to be a normal World Coronation Series match between Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan and Motostoke Gym Leader Kabu was interrupted by what local authorities are tentatively calling an 'airship'. An airship boasting revolutionary technology. "

"Nyaaaaa..."

Giovanni continued stroking his Persian's head gently as his dark, beady eyes remained glued to the massive TV screen. Right now, he was watching the first of what was sure to be many, many live news reports to come about Team Rocket's newest and perhaps most formidable incarnation. The Syndicate. The great culmination of a decade's worth of planning. The penultimate step towards the realization of his ambition. The name that would bring fear and dread to the souls and hearts of many in the years, decades...no, generations to come.

His life's work.

It had not taken the operation long to come to fruition; in fact, the Syndicate was well ahead of schedule. In all honesty, the executive had expected Team Rocket and their newfound allies to take approximately six months to coordinate and finalize what he had been planning all this time, not a meager three months. Of course, that was simply the benefits of Team Rocket already having the research conducted by their allies under their possession for many years, and already preparing for the prospect of an alliance for many months beforehand. In fact, Team Rocket had already made sense of about eighty percent of the research materials in their trove; they just needed Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare to help them understand the remaining twenty percent.

And once that was done, the master operation could officially begin. And it was already shaping up to exceed Giovanni's wildest expectations.

"Local authorities have also told us the airship was manned by a criminal organization going by the name of Team Rocket. Their motives for interrupting the match and taking over Motostoke Stadium are still unclear, and the investigation is still ongoing. Records obtained by our affiliates show that Team Rocket is active in the Kanto and Johto regions, as well as the Orange and Sevii Islands, and that they specialize in Pokémon theft, trafficking, and abuse. Given what the organization stands for, and what the match they interrupted stands for, it definitely raises alarms on what their intentions could've been for this attempted takeover.

"Now, what we  do  know happened next, based on eyewitness accounts and footage on the ground, was that Raihan and Kabu fought back against Team Rocket, and that they held them off until the local police, as well as other renowned World Coronation Series participants from neighboring cities and towns, intervened. The airship fled, as did its crew, and no arrests were made, nor were any Pokémon taken in. "

Giovanni's lips curled into a smirk of malicious triumph as the televised report showed a replay of the image of the metal ship hovering right over Motostoke Stadium. Despite the events of the past hour, he wasn't deterred by the outcome, nor was he perturbed by the fact that Raihan and Kabu had been present at the scheduled event and thus were instrumental to this defeat. After all, the secondary purpose of attacking their target at a public location such as Motostoke Stadium, rather than isolating him before striking, was nothing more than to provide the world with a stunning, dramatic debut of the Syndicate.

And, if he knew his best agents well, they wouldn't view this defeat as an unexpected, debilitating setback, but rather as a mere first step towards a greater victory. Fortunately for him, he did know his best agents well, otherwise he wouldn't have enlisted them to this specific mission. The luck of a few kids was nothing to tremble to, not when it could easily be outmatched by the determination and resolve of his organization.

"Boss," a calm voice said, "I just received a call from Petrel. He is-"

Giovanni didn't need to turn his head and address the speaker, nor did he need to know what Petrel had to say. Instead, he closed his eyes and allowed the reporter's semi-rattled voice to fill his ears like a melody.

"If he just called to offer his sniveling apologies and more of his irking neuroticism, Matori," he interrupted with a calm, smooth voice, "then tell him that will not be necessary, and that he should be counting his blessings."

"If I may, sir, why would Petrel be counting his blessings?" Matori crossed her arms. "He lost the Ketchum boy, one of the centerpieces to Operation: Spear."

"Because I am in a very happy mood." Giovanni opened his eyes, which were gleaming with excitement. "The world has now been offered an appetizer to what the Syndicate can do, and one mere embarrassment at Galar is nothing compared to the success we've had in Sinnoh. Not to mention the positive developments that I'm seeing out of Kanto and Johto..."

The executive tapped his finger on the armrest, momentarily looking to be lost in thought. Then, after about a minute or so spent in rumination, he spoke up again, his voice laced with triumph.

"Inform Petrel that he shouldn't lose hope just yet. That he should take a moment to gather his bearings and prepare for the secondary initiative."

With that, Giovanni took a remote control that had been lying on his left thigh. He pressed a button, switching the screen to another channel, which was airing another livestream of news coverage unfolding in real time. This time, however, the headline had changed, and the words, in bold, capitalized lettering, brought a malevolent smile to his face.

STRANGE AIRSHIP ATTACKS JUBILIFE POK ÉMON CONTEST ; SEVERAL PEOPLE KIDNAPPED.

"Because right now, he, just like the rest of us, are at the center of history in the making..."

Jubilife City Pokémon Center
SINNOH REGION

– Three hours earlier –

A beautiful teenage girl with chin-length honey-blonde hair stepped out of her rented room, yawning and stretching her arms with a soft, dreamy smile. She was wearing a cool-gray hoodie with light-gray diamond patterns over a magenta buttoned-up dress, with black modesty shorts underneath, along with tartan green socks, a pair of brown boots, and a green-and-white tam o' shanter. Trotting beside her was a Sylveon with freshly-groomed fur, who briefly shook her head with a purr to alleviate herself of her remaining drowsiness.

Then, the Trainer and her Intertwining Pokémon strolled into the lobby of the Pokémon Center, in search of someone. It fortunately didn't take them long to find who they were looking for: another teenage girl with blue hair that was draped over her shoulders and down her back; she had a proud-looking Piplup by her side. With a smile, the honey-blonde girl gave her friend a wave.

"Hey!" she greeted. "Good morning!"

"Eon!" Sylveon added.

SERENA

The blue-haired girl looked away from the TV screen she had been watching. Upon spotting Serena, her lips curled into a soft, lovely smile.

"Oh, good morning to you too, Serena," she replied warmly.

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup chirruped while giving Serena and Sylveon a wave of his flipper.

DAWN

"So," Serena said, following the direction of Dawn's earlier gaze towards the TV, "what's going on?"

"Well, Rhonda's reporting on the Pokémon Contest," replied Dawn.

Indeed, Serena could see the brown-haired, middle-aged woman standing in front of the Contest Hall building.

"As you can see here, the streets surrounding the Contest Hall are totally  packed  with thousands of people flocking over from all corners of Jubilife City, the largest and greatest city of all of Sinnoh, for this Pokémon Contest! And believe me, the festivities here have already gotten underway! But fortunately, we at  Sinnoh Now  will be there all the way, covering these celebrations and, of course, the Contest that is soon to follow. For all of those lovely people back at Sinnoh who unfortunately cannot travel to Jubilife City to experience these festivities for themselves, this is Rhonda for  Sinnoh Now , signing out- OOF! OW!"

Serena blinked in concern as she watched the woman clutch her forehead. In the foreground, a certain boom microphone entered the frame and dangled uselessly, just several seconds before the live feed switched back to the anchorman. She had been watching Sinnoh Now for a couple of months now, ever since her arrival at the Sinnoh region, and every time she watched one of Rhonda's reports, they would always end on that note.

"That Rhonda person really needs to get a new boom operator," she commented.

"Eon-eon," Sylveon added, nodding her head in agreement.

"Well," Dawn replied with a shrug, "it's good to know some things haven't changed since the last time I was here."

"Piplup, piplup," Piplup chirped nostalgically.

"Serena?" a familiar voice called. "Dawn?"

The two girls turned their heads towards the counter, where they saw the local Nurse Joy and her Chansey approaching. They were each carrying a tray holding Poké Balls; Nurse Joy had five on her tray, while Chansey had four on hers.

"Your Pokémon are fully healed and ready to go," Nurse Joy announced with a kind, gentle smile.

"Chansey, chansey!" chirruped Chansey.

"Thank you very much, Nurse Joy," Dawn replied. She took the tray from the nurse's hands, while Serena took Chansey's tray.

"So, Dawn," Nurse Joy said, watching as Dawn put her Poké Balls back into her skirt pockets, "I take it you're going to go through Sinnoh's Contests again?"

"Mm-hm!" Dawn gave the pink-haired woman a determined smile. "And I'm in it to win it!"

"Oh, don't get ahead of yourself, Dawn," Serena commented while her lips curled into a small, playful smile. "If anyone's gonna get that Ribbon, it'll be me."

Dawn chuckled. "Yeah, in your dreams, Serena."

"Oh, my!" Nurse Joy uttered, even though her smile was one of kind amusement. "So you're participating in the Contests too, Serena?"

"That's right!" Serena replied, giving her a determined smile of her own.

"Ahhhhhh... Well then, I suggest you'd better watch out for Dawn!" The nurse gave Dawn a proud, nostalgic glance. "I've been following her Coordinating career ever since her first performance at this very Contest years ago. She's improved a lot ever since that time. In fact, she's become a very fine Coordinator, if you ask me. Well on the track to becoming a Top Coordinator, even!"

"Oh, thank you, Nurse Joy!" Dawn replied as her face turned red with embarrassment. "But I think I've still got a ways to go..."

"Nonsense! I think the differences between your performances then and in an hour are going to tell Mr. Contesta and Mr. Sukizo your entire story, not just me." Then, Nurse Joy looked between Serena and Dawn, her smile becoming wry. "But, to tell you the truth, it's quite interesting that you two are traveling together and yet competing in Contests at the same time. Must be tough, having to see your rival twenty-four-seven."

"Well, let's just say encourage each other in our own little ways," remarked Serena, as she and Dawn looked and grinned at one another.

"Hmm, I see." Then, Nurse Joy quickly remembered something and looked at her wristwatch. "Oh, my! Look at the time! Sorry, girls, but I have to go check on a Drapion that fell into a thorny bush. I'll see you both at the Pokémon Contest!"

"Alright, see you, Nurse Joy!" Dawn said.

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup chirped.

"Yeah, see you soon!" Serena added.

"Eon!" Sylveon crooned.

The nurse and her Chansey quickly dashed off to the emergency room, leaving Serena, Dawn, and their Pokémon alone in the Pokémon Center lobby. With that, Serena faced Dawn and gave the blue-haired girl a warm smile.

"Alright," the honey-blonde said. "I'm just gonna go pack up the last of my stuff, and we should be good to go."

"Okay." Dawn glanced towards the bank of phones nearby. "I think I'm gonna try and give my mom a call again."

Serena arched an eyebrow. "Again?"

"Yeah. I rang her three times a few minutes ago, but she hasn't responded. S-She's probably busy with her Coordinating seminar, but I just wanna see how she's doing."

"Ah, okay then." Serena prepared to turn away. "Send her my regards, will you?"

But before she could leave, the Vaniville Town native heard her friend let out a tiny but audible squeak. Blinking, the girl turned and saw Dawn petrified to the spot. She seemed to be staring off into the distance, but the terror in her sapphire-blue eyes was unmistakable.

"Uhhhhh... Dawn? Are...Are you alright there?"

"Sylvie?" Sylveon asked in concern.

But Dawn didn't respond, nor did she budge an inch. It was as if paralysis had fully taken over her body, and the girl was now a stone statue. Increasingly concerned, Serena stood in front of her friend and looked into her frozen face.

"Uhhh, Dawn? Y-You alright? ...Dawn?" She began waving her hand in front of Dawn's face. "Hey, Dawn!"

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup squeaked as he started tugging at his Trainer's leg.

This seemed to snap the Coordinator out of her reverie. Blinking twice, she let out a softer gasp and looked around, her expression now frantic. Then, when she laid her eyes on Serena, relief seemed to wash over her like a tide, for her whole body began to relax.

"A-Are you alright?" Serena asked in concern. "Wh-What just happened to you?

"Y-You didn't hear that?" replied a confused Dawn.

Serena simply blinked in confusion. "Hear what? I didn't hear anything."

"What?!"

Dawn frantically around again, but it quickly became clear that whatever she thought she had heard, the source was now gone.

"Dawn, are you okay?" Serena asked, catching her attention.

"Piplup?" Piplup chirped.

Dawn looked at Serena, and the honey-blonde could tell she was contemplating on telling her about what the noise she thought she had heard. However, about a minute passed in awkward silence, and then, for some reason, Dawn gave her an awkward, embarrassed smile.

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I-I'm okay, Serena."

"You sure?" asked Serena. "You looked pretty freaked out the-"

"I'm fine, really," Dawn interrupted. "I just...I thought I heard someone calling out for me. But it looks like I was wrong."

Serena blinked. "Okay..."

Dawn glanced at her and gave her a small but reassuring smile. "Serena, really, I'm fine. There's no need to worry."

Serena merely blinked at her friend, hesitant at accepting her reassurance. However, after some rumination, the honey-blonde eventually smiled as well.

"Okay. If you say so, Dawn."

Dawn gave her another smile, and Serena turned on her heel and walked away, with Sylveon trotting beside her. But as she reached her room, Serena couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that was tugging away at her heart. While she truly wanted to respect her new friend's privacy, there was clearly something that bothered her, and it was something that she wasn't willing to divulge to her.

"Is there really no need to worry, Dawn...?" she thought.

– Several minutes later –

"There it is, everyone!"

Dawn's blue eyes beamed brightly as she and the rest of her group approached the Jubilife City Contest Hall. Just as the Sinnoh Now newscast depicted, there was a large gathering of people crowded around the Hall, with everyone excitedly waiting their turns to have their tickets scanned for entry.

"Looks like a lot of people are excited," Serena remarked as she examined the crowd.

"Well, that's because it's the first Pokémon Contest of the season!" replied Dawn. "And I can't wait to get started!" With that, the blue-haired girl and her Piplup ran up to the entrance of the Hall and waited for his friends to catch up with him. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Hey, wait up, Dawn!" Serena began running after Dawn and Piplup, with her Sylveon keeping up every step of the way. "You don't want us to get separated again, do you?!"

"Then you'd better catch up, Slowpoke! Otherwise it's gonna be Route 218 all over again!"

The two girls began running faster, with Serena smiling brightly at Dawn as they reached the crowd and began pushing their way through in order to get in. It had been two weeks since she arrived at Sinnoh at Palermo's advice, in the wake of her admittedly impressive but ultimately short-lived run in the Johto Grand Festival. It was at her destination point in Canalave City where she met Dawn, who had also arrived there from Kanto after her own stint at the Pokémon Contests there. As Pokémon Coordinators with an eye for fashion and beauty for humans and Pokémon alike, the two became fast friends and decided to travel to Jubilife City together for their first Sinnoh Contest of the season.

During their travels together, Serena often caught herself making comparisons between Dawn and a certain raven-haired Trainer she once knew and cherished dearly. Indeed, Dawn had a lot of the same confidence, optimism, and adventurous spunk that Ash Ketchum had, in addition to her love of clothes, shopping, and other markedly feminine qualities. In fact, Serena thought, more than once, that Dawn was essentially a female version of Ash.

Perhaps there was something about those qualities that would cause her to instinctively gravitate to a certain person...

Soon, Serena's train of thought was interrupted once she was able to break through the crowd and approach the droopy-eyed person manning the ticket booth. She showed him her new Sinnoh Contest Pass, whereupon the man nodded lazily and gave her a noncommittal grunt, nonverbally signaling his approval of her entry.

Serena stuffed the Contest Pass back into her pocket and prepared to follow Dawn inside the Contest Hall, but at the last moment, the girl took one last look over her shoulder, aimed at the blue, slightly cloudy sky outside. Her thoughts about Dawn being a female version of Ash had provoked old memories to bubble back to the surface.

"I wonder how you're all doing," she thought nostalgically. "Clemont, I hope you're still making inventions and improving on them. Bonnie, I hope you're still coddling Dedenne and obsessing over cute Pokémon. And Ash..."

Memories of the raven-haired boy from Pallet Town flashed through her mind.

Their unexpected first meeting, all those years ago during Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp...

Their reunion at the Santalune Gym...

The time they got stuck together in the ditch during Professor Sycamore's Pokémon Summer Camp...

All of the times they trained together for Gyms and Showcases...

All of his words of encouragement, reserved specifically for her...

Their kiss...

"Oh, Ash..." Serena's face turned red, even as she smiled fondly. "I hope I will be able to meet you again one day, show you the person, the girl I've become, and see that you're still you. Until then, I will keep making you all proud. I'll keep improving myself and pushing myself. I won't let anything stop me or limit me. After all, it's just like what you told me a long time ago, Ash. Never give up till the end."

With newfound determination, Serena looked away and entered the Contest Hall, Sylveon still trotting beside her.

"Yes. That's what I'm gonna do. I shall hold those six words close to my heart as I reach my dreams..."

"Ahhh, just like the good ole days!" Dawn exclaimed as she stepped into the dressing room.

"Piplup, pip-luuup!" Piplup chirped in agreement.

Dawn and Piplup then began strolling further into the dressing room, with Serena and Sylveon trailing right behind him. As the quartet passed the doorway, Serena and Sylveon noticed how there seemed to be a considerably-sized crowd of Coordinators gathered around something at the corner of the room, shouting and squealing indiscernibly, their giddiness and excitement crystal-clear. However, the two female Coordinators ignored the mild commotion, and soon, they found an available dressing table and mirror and sat by it.

Once they did, Serena and Sylveon began admiring the interior decorations of the dressing room. There was a number of high-end furniture, dressing tables, and mirrors occupied by various Coordinators and their Pokémon. There were also a dozen private dressing booths, clothing racks, and weight and height measurement tools. There was no doubt to Serena and Sylveon that Sinnoh Contests took greater care in the styling of Coordinators and Pokémon compared to the Johto's Contest venue. However, Sinnoh's Contests definitely paled in comparison to Hoenn's Contests in that regard.

"So, this is how Coordinators prepare for Pokémon Contests in Sinnoh," Serena remarked. She looked over her shoulder and watched, among others, a teenage boy with dark-auburn hair customize his proud-looking Empoleon.

"Yep!" Dawn replied while opening up the drawers provided by their dressing table to see what laid inside them. "This is the place where half of the magic happens!"

Serena looked at her, puzzled. "Most of the magic?"

"Well, yeah! Half of a Coordinator's time and effort to win a Ribbon is spent dressing up their Pokémon to meet their own standards of beauty!" Dawn closed the latest drawer and faced Serena. "Don't tell me you've never thought about that. A Coordinator's purpose is to bring out their Pokémon's natural beauty as effectively and gracefully as possible. That's, like, rule number one!"

"Heh, of course I didn't forget that." The honey-blonde then gave her friend a smirk. "You just have a bit of a funny way of describing it, that's all."

Dawn chuckled playfully. "Hey, that's what my mom taught me."

"Oh, speaking of which!" Serena turned away and began examining the makeup kits provided by the dressing table. "Did you manage to reach your mom?"

"No, still nothing." In her peripheral vision, Serena could see Dawn's shoulders sagging a little through the mirror. "I just decided to save the call for after the Contest. I'm sure she's preparing for her upcoming seminars." Dawn smiled warmly. "When it comes to nurturing a new generation of Coordinators, my mom gives it her all..."

Serena smiled as well, quickly remembering the phone call she watched Dawn have with her mother on the day they first met. "You and your mom sure hit it off well, huh?"

"Heh, yeah you got that right." Dawn beamed with pride. "She worked hard to raise me. When I was younger, she had to juggle between Contests, a paying job, and motherhood. C-Can you imagine that? A single mom having to deal with that triple whammy?! And in spite of all the stress she must've had during that time, not once did she ever treat me badly for it. She'd went to the ends of the earth for me, and she still would. And she taught me everything that I know." The blue-haired girl began fidgeting in her seat, blushing brightly as she gushed over the topic. "I-I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for her love and compassion..."

"Lucky you." Serena glanced at Dawn. "My mom and I... We got off on a bad start."

"Yeah, so you've told me." Then, Dawn crossed her arms. "In all the weeks I've known you, you haven't tried calling her and introducing me to her. You should do that. She's probably worried sick over you."

"I doubt it. My mom's a tough woman. And no matter how much I hated her lessons, they've imprinted on me, and she knows it." Then, Serena noticed Dawn's doubtful expression and waved her hands frantically. "Okay, okay, Dawn! I'll call her, first thing after this! J-Just don't give me that face!"

"Good." Dawn reverted back to her upbeat, beaming face. "Like my mom always told me, moms love their daughters, no matter what, so daughters should always return the favor."

Serena chuckled and glanced back at the mirror. "Jeez, Dawn. When the Contests are over, we should trade moms some time."

Dawn smirked and rolled her eyes. "Ohhhhh, no thank you. I'm happy with my Coordinator mom and I'll be keeping her. You're stuck with that Rhyhorn Racer of yours.

The two began laughing in earnest. However, a few seconds later, their playful banter was disrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh my Arceus, DAWN!"

Dawn came to attention. "Huh? Who- EEK!"

Someone had embraced her in an extremely tight hug. At first, she couldn't recognize the person, but once this person broke the hug, her eyes widened.

"Z-Z-Zoey?!"

ZOEY

Zoey had definitely changed since she last saw her. She had foregone her dark-magenta shirt, orange vest, and pale-blue jeans in favor of a white shirt, a red-and-yellow light jacket that reached her thighs, and torn dark-blue jeans. However, there was no mistaking that tomboyish, reddish-orange hair; the dark sunglasses over her head; and the small necklace with the yellow jewel-like pendant hanging around her neck.

"In the flesh, Dawn," replied Zoey, in response to her latest utterance.

"O-Oh my goodness, Zoey!" Dawn exclaimed as she hugged her fellow Coordinator. "It's SO good to see you! I-It's been a while!"

"Too long, in fact. It's sooo good to see you and Piplup again."

Zoey broke the hug and gently patted Piplup on the top of his head, earning a pleased chirp from the Penguin Pokémon. As she did, she spotted Serena and gave the honey-blonde a smile, though Serena couldn't help but notice how awkward it seemed.

"And who's this, Dawn?" she asked. "I see you two are being quite chummy together."

"O-Oh! Th-This is Serena! I met her when I arrived in Canalave City two weeks ago. We traveled here together."

"So you have." Zoey held out a hand towards Serena. "Pleased to meet you, Serena. I'm Zoey. I was Dawn's rival in this very Contest venue a few years back."

"Pleased to meet you, Zoey," Serena replied as she took the redhead's hand and shook it. As she did, she noticed Zoey's iron-like grip and the stilted way the handshake was carried out on her end. "I... I-I assume you're here for the Contests too, am I right?"

"Well, not exactly..." Zoey broke the handshake and took a step back, allowing Serena and Dawn to marvel at the same crowd of Coordinators from before, who were excitedly gushing at the redhead's direction and trying to take photos. "I'm a Top Coordinator, Serena, and I was requested by Mr. Contesta himself to ring in this year's newest Contest season."

Serena gasped in shock. "Y-You're a Top Coordinator?!"

"Eon?!" Sylveon squeaked.

"Yep. I got the title during that same season where I was Dawn's rival. But, enough about me!" Zoey refocused on Dawn, startling the blue-haired girl. "How about you, Dawn? The last I heard from you, you were trying your hand at the Kanto Contests. How were they? I hear their quality's taken a nosedive recently, but I am sure you were able to handle it, am I right?"

"Th-They were fine," Dawn replied, still startled by how intensely Zoey was staring at her. Then, she recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "I actually thought they were fun and interesting in their own way."

"Ahhhhh yeah, that a girl!" Zoey patted Dawn on the back in a congratulatory manner, though the other girl winced from the slight stinging sensation these pats left behind. "I knew you could do it, Dawn! I may not have been able to see you compete, but I knew deep down that you would be able to pull it off! After all, I know you've gone through a lotta worse wringers than those Contests!"

"Dawn?" a voice asked, and Serena could see Dawn's skin crawl in response. "Dee Dee?"

Serena, Dawn, and Zoey turned towards the sound of the voice. There, they spotted the same auburn-haired Coordinator with the Empoleon; he had stood up from his chair and was now approaching them, his look one of incredulity. One look at his clothes gave Serena the impression that he was trying to strike the look of some modern squire.

"Is...Is that really you?" he asked.

Dawn's eyes widened with shock. "Kenny?!"

KENNY

"That's me," Kenny replied, his shocked expression turning into a playfully smug one.

"I don't believe it! You're here too?!"

Kenny's lips quickly curled into a sneer. "Well, of course. After all the things we've been through together in Kanto, there is no way you'd be getting rid of me that easily...Dee Dee."

Dawn immediately broke away from Zoey's grasp and fumed at the boy, her face turning steadily red by the minute.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, KENNY?!" she screamed, causing everyone within earshot but the auburn-haired boy to flinch. "STOP CALLING ME 'DEE DEE'! WE'RE NOT KIDS ANYMORE!"

"I'll keep calling you 'Dee Dee' as many times as I want...Dee Dee..." Kenny shot back jeeringly.

Dawn growled, but before she could lash out at the boy, Serena suddenly spoke, something in her memory having been triggered.

"Wait a sec, Kenny, Kenny...Kenny..." Then, she snapped her fingers. "Ahhh, I remember, you're Dawn's childhood friend, aren't you?!"

"That's me!" Kenny replied.

"Yeah, tragically so..." Dawn added a split-second later.

Then, Kenny scanned Serena from head to toe, puzzled by the new presence. "I-I'm sorry, w-who are you?"

"I'm Serena!" exclaimed the honey-blonde. She gestured to herself, looking quite enthusiastic despite Dawn's discomfort with Kenny. "I'm also a Coordinator, but this is my first time trying out Sinnoh's Contests. This here is Sylveon. Say hi!"

"Sylveooon!" the Intertwining Pokémon greeted happily.

"Huh..." Kenny proceeded to pull out his Pokédex. "A Sylveon, huh...?"

Once he aimed the device at Sylveon and scanned it, the Pokédex explained, "Sylveon, the Intertwining Pokémon, and one of the evolved forms of Eevee. It sends a soothing aura from its ribbon-like feelers to calm fights. It also likes to wrap its feelers around the arm of its beloved Trainer and walk with them."

Kenny deactivated the Pokédex and absentmindedly put it away. "Wooow... I've never seen a Sylveon before. Where are you from, Serena?"

"Oh, Kalos," Serena replied. "But I've been traveling around the world, participating in Pokémon Contests. I've been with Dawn for a couple of weeks, ever since we met in Canalave City. Dawn's mentioned you a few times during our journey." She gave the boy a wide, bright smile. "It's so nice to meet you!"

"L-Li-Likewise," Kenny said. Serena couldn't help but notice how quickly his teasing demeanor had receded in favor of a shy, red-faced expression. "So...Dawn, uh... S-She talks about me...?"

"W-Well...o-of course..."

At that point, Serena became uncertain if she should've raised the topic in the first place. Kenny's behavior had changed drastically, and at the detriment of Dawn, who looked mightily embarrassed and was trying to signal for her to shut up.

"H-How often does she talk about me...?" Kenny asked, his blush intensifying by the second. Then, he blurted out at the last minute, "I-If you don't mind me asking."

It was at that moment where Serena's lower jaw dropped open. She couldn't believe what she was seeing right now, but there was definitely no mistaking it. Kenny had a crush on Dawn, and it was as obvious as day. However, she recalled all of the times Dawn mentioned her childhood friend, and it was clear to Serena that while Dawn held Kenny in high regard (in spite of the banter that she witnessed between them just moments ago), she didn't view her friend that way.

Upon reaching that painful conclusion, Serena felt a pang of sympathy in her heart. Kenny had clearly been holding onto his feelings for Dawn for Arceus knows how long, all the while not knowing what Dawn truly felt about him. In a way, his situation reminded her of her own situation when she grappled with her own blossoming feelings for Ash, where she was stuck in a limbo-like state when it came to expressing those feelings out in the open and hoping to the high heavens that Ash would reciprocate them.

The only difference was that Ash did reciprocate those feelings when she kissed him on that fateful day...while Dawn did not...

"Uh, Serena?" Kenny's voice immediately pulled the honey-blonde out of her thoughts. "Did...Did you hear me...?"

"Ummmm..." Serena glanced nervously between Kenny, who was wearing an expectant expression, and Dawn, who was now sighing softly and shaking her head. "Well, I, uhhh-"

"Anyway!" Dawn interrupted, breaking apart the awkward conversation, much to Serena's relief. "How're you doing these days, Kenny? Last I heard, you were competing in Fiore's very first Pokémon Contest season!"

"O-Oh yeah...th-that..." replied Kenny. He looked between Dawn and Serena, momentarily conflicted on what to do next, before deciding to continue his conversation with the former. "I-It was great, actually! Very well-organized. A-And I saw some Pokémon Rangers too!"

"Really now?" Dawn's blue eyes shone, and Serena knew it was from relief over managing to shift the conversation away from such an awkward topic. "Did you happen to meet Rangers by the names of Kellyn, Solana, and Ben?"

Kenny smiled slightly, evidently relieved at the chance to talk to his childhood friend and crush again. "W-Well, actually-"

"Well, well, well," another voice interrupted smugly, "this is a pleasant surprise."

Upon hearing the voice, Dawn's eyes widened, and she looked over Kenny's shoulder. Serena followed her friend's glance and immediately spotted another female Coordinator walking towards the group. She sported cherry-colored eyes, which gleamed with unbearable overconfidence, and peach-colored hair that was styled into twin pigtails with lavender ribbons; each pigtail was curled tightly in a drill-like fashion. She was also wearing a white, long-sleeved mini-coat tied together at the chest with another lavender ribbon; along with a light-blue, knee-length dress; white, thigh-high pantyhose; and a pair of white, low-heel pumps. Trotting by her feet were a pair of Pokémon: Plusle and Minun.

"Though an unexpected one," the girl said.

URSULA

"Ohhh, for Arceus's sake," Dawn growled, her voice quaking in tranquil fury. "You're here too?"

"Oh, why yes," replied Ursula as she arrogantly flipped a loose strand of hair away from her face. "After the disaster that was Fiore's first Pokémon Contests, I felt it was time for me to have another shot at the world's most prominent Contest venue. And I must say, my decision was well-timed." She shot Dawn a nasty smirk. "Because I've improved on my skills the last time we met."

"Oh, joy," Dawn spat sarcastically. "Well, same here. I've doubled my knowledge on Contests and Coordinating since the Sinnoh Grand Festival, in fact! Which means I'm still better than you, you twin-tailed-"

"Better than me? Doubled?! Ohhh, ho ho ho!" Ursula began laughing in a way that reminded Serena of a pretentious rich girl...or a certain blue-haired Performer who still seemed a lot better than this character. "Well, I'll have you know, Dee Dee, that I have tripled my knowledge on Contests and Coordinating since that time! Which means I've surpassed you in that regard!"

"Doubled? Tripled?" Zoey remarked. "What are we, back in kindergarten?"

But Dawn ignored her redheaded rival and snapped, "Don't you DARE call me that name! After all these years stewing in your loss, one would think you'd come up with a more creative insult than that!"

However, Ursula snapped her fingers with a smirk. "Hey, that insult got under your skin, did it not?" Snickering nastily at Dawn's increasingly red face, the peach-haired Coordinator walked past the group, her Plusle and Minun loyally following suit. "Let's hope the randomized match-ups put us together for the Battle Stage, Dee Dee. I can't wait to battle you once again and floor you this time."

Dawn glared over her shoulder, her eyes burning with unmatched hatred that even Serena could not have predicted from her. "The only thing that the floor will feel at the end of that battle is your face, Ursula!"

"We'll see about that!" Ursula called in a mocking singsong voice as she began looking for an available booth to call her own.

With the tense conversation over, Dawn glared at Piplup, startling her starter Pokémon. "Piplup! Let's get ready! We must not waste anymore time!"

"Piplup, pip-LUP!" Piplup squeaked as soon as he recovered from his shock.

As Dawn proceeded to open the drawers of the dressing table and sift through the provided accessories, Serena watched her friend with a flushed face of uncertainty.

"Uhhhhh..." the honey-blonde said, "I, uh...I assume you know her as well...?"

When Dawn ignored her query, Zoey stepped in. "Yeah, Dawn and Ursula have quite a history, to say the least."

Serena looked at the redhead with a raised eyebrow. "How so?"

"Ursula tends to set expectations that're too high for her, and when she doesn't fulfill her own quota, she doesn't just go to a corner and sulk. She literally crashes and burns."

"Ohhhh..." Serena glanced awkwardly at Ursula's direction. "So I assume it's like the opposite between you and her. She thought she could get the better of Dawn but simply couldn't live up to that expectation, and she's been seething 'cause of it."

"To be perfectly honest-" Zoey followed the honey-blonde's gaze. "I don't know what happened to Ursula that'd make her so snippy at Dawn."

"Dawn once told me it was because Ursula was triggered by her performance at the Wallace Cup," Kenny interjected.

"Dawn competed in a Wallace Cup?" Serena asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah, I was there!" Zoey replied, beaming. "She did pretty well." Then, she glanced at Ursula again. "And I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of that. Ursula's been a pretty sensitive girl ever since the moment I met her. Well anyway, they've been trying to best each other at everything Contest-related since then. And now, it looks like the rivalry's been reignited."

"A reignited rivalry, huh...?" Serena smiled nostalgically as the memories of Shauna, Nini, and Miette began flowing back into her mind. "Reminds me of some people I knew back in Kalos..."

"H-Hey, I've never been to Kalos," said Kenny, his curiosity quickly piqued. "Wh-What's it like?"

Serena's smile widened. "Only the most beautiful place on this world! It's full of-"

But before Serena could complete her sentence, she was cut off by Dawn gasping loudly and shooting up from her chair.

"This darn table sucks!" she snapped.

Before Serena could try and calm her down, Dawn was already running past her, Zoey, and Kenny with a panicked face. Frantically, she looked around in search of a table that met her expectations before rushing off.

"Wow," Zoey remarked with a wry smile. "Looks like someone's in a hurry to prove a point."

"I've never seen Dawn so worked up before," Serena replied. Then, she reluctantly sighed and shrugged. "But I can't do anything about it right now. I gotta make up for lost time and prepare for the Contest too."

"Yeah," Kenny said. "I gotta get back to dressing up Empoleon. I-It was really nice to meet you, Serena. I wish you the best of luck out on the stage!"

"Yeah, thanks! And to you too!"

Serena glanced at Kenny and saw that he was still standing there, his face turning red again. She knew at that moment that he still wanted to ask her about Dawn, but something was holding him back, whether it be his own embarrassment or his conflicting commitment to the Contest. Eventually, with pursed lips and trembling fists, Kenny turned and headed back to his booth, leaving Serena with Zoey.

"Well, uhhh," Zoey said, her voice suddenly stilted, "I-I think I'm gonna go too. I think those clothes are calling out my name, anyway."

"R-Right." Serena immediately remembered how awkward their greeting was. "Y-You go prepare too."

The Top Coordinator merely nodded stiffly at her. Then, she stood up and headed back to her own spot, followed by her loving, gushing fans, thus leaving Serena all alone. The honey-blonde watched Zoey go for a moment before turning her head to focus on the mirror.

"That was weird," she thought. "I hope I made a good first impression, but...I get the feeling that she doesn't really like me..." Then, Serena lightly shook her head. "No, I can't think about that right now. I've got a Contest to win."

With a confident smile, the honey-blonde focused on Sylveon. "Well, Sylveon?" she asked. "You ready to blow audiences away today?!"

"Sylve-ooon!" Sylveon crooned in agreement.

"Alright, then!" Serena patted her lap. "Hop on! Time to get you dressed!"

Downtown Jubilife City

It was a busier day than usual in the downtown area of Jubilife City, just as it was for several weeks now. Ever since the announcement of the Wallace Cup Sapphire Jubilee in Hoenn, attendance rates for Pokémon Contests spiked significantly in regions all across the globe that hosted Pokémon Contests, due to the Pokémon Contest Committee's unprecedented promotional campaign. And with that inter-regional promotion campaign and the higher Contest attendance rates came higher tourism rates. As such, Jubilife City's streets were filled nearly to the brink with the latest arrivals, and the stores there enjoyed a greater amount of sales. Of the amount of people leaving Jubilife City, there was about a hundred times more for those who were arriving.

Of those who milling around in the downtown area today, only two people stood out. One was taller than the other, with dark-brown eyes and long, spiky purple hair that was kept tied in a ponytail at the back of his head. He wore a salmon-colored shirt with a long collar, light-brown pants, a light-blue apron, and a cap that matched the color of his pants. His soft, caring expression would easily indicate to even the least-brightest of people that he was a person they could easily trust.

However, the boy walking beside him was a different story. Like his companion, he had dark-brown eyes and long, spiky purple hair. However, he didn't keep it tied in a ponytail, instead just letting it fall down his forehead and nearly obscure his eyes, casting them in shadow. He wore a long-sleeved dark-purple sweater with a dark-red zipper, pocket, and cuffs; a black undershirt; light-purple jeans; and purple-and-dark-red-striped running shoes. With the dark, almost brooding expression and the piercing eyes, this boy would definitely be viewed upon by others as an untrustworthy person. Many would even be surprised to know that these two people were actually brothers.

"Well, here we are," announced the taller boy. "Jubilife City. Man, it's been a while since I was last here." He scanned the downtown area, his face etched with nostalgia. "Wow, it sure has changed a lot since then..."

"You don't have to say that all the time, you know," the younger boy replied bitterly. "I believe this was the fifth time you said that since we arrived."

PAUL

His companion shrugged and stared at him. "Oh, come on! Arceus knows how many years have passed, and Jubilife City is a brand-new place now!"

"So?"

"So, this calls for a brand-new adventure!" The boy chuckled. "You know, even after all this time, you still need to learn to be more adventurous, Paul."

REGGIE

Paul scoffed. "I do not need to be adventurous, Reggie," he said sleekly. "All I'm concerned about is reentering the Lily of of the Valley Conference and getting farther than I got last time." He clenched his fist to the point where it trembled. "All of these years later, and I must know if all that time spent training and honing my skills was all worth it..."

"Ahh, that's so you, lil' bro," remarked Reggie, smiling as he shrugged. "Always aiming for the competition instead of just taking the advantage to rest and relax, even for a brief moment."

"Anyone who spends their spare time resting and relaxing will not get far in the Sinnoh League, Reggie. And that is just the natural order of things." Paul shot an annoyed glance at his older brother. "Now, remind me why I brought you along on this trip?"

"Uhhhhh, hello? I want to check out the new Pokétch exhibit! Three days and limited time only, courtesy of the Pokémon Contest Committee! If their technology lives up to the hype I've been hearing about, then it could be useful for the-"

Paul sighed with exasperation and closed his eyes. "I retract my question."

Reggie merely continued smiling. "Sulk and brood all you want, Paul, but this could be beneficial for your Pokémon. You do want them to be fully prepared every time you challenge a Gym, right?"

"Of course I do." Then, Paul's lips curved into a devious smirk. "Fortunately for me, I am always prepared. Once I come out on top of all eight Gym Leaders, the Sinnoh Elite Four, and the Pokémon Champion, I am pretty sure you will retract your statement."

Reggie rolled his eyes with amusement. "Oh, I look forward to it."

"Now," Paul said, looking around, "where were we...? Ah..."

The boy approached a food stand, which was currently the host to a long, bustling line of young children and enthusiastic teenagers hoping to get a taste of Jubilife City's cuisine. However, Paul didn't join the line and instead walked past it, his eyes focused on something else.

It was a small rack propped up next to the food stand; it proudly displayed the cover pages for several tourist brochures. Once he reached it, Paul realized that someone was walking beside him. This new person was a Trainer who seemed to be around his age, if not slightly younger. He had a composed posture, dirty-blond hair, and pale-gray eyes that pierced deeply and judgmentally into Paul's soul in the exact same way his eyes would do to other people. He was also wearing an orange jacket, a charcoal-gray hoodie under it, a light-purple undershirt, silver cargo pants, and dark-blue-and-white sneakers. Both Trainers stared each other down intimidatingly.

"Hello..." the Trainer greeted cautiously.

"Hello yourself," replied Paul.

Callously disregarding the newcomer, Paul directed his gaze towards the brochures. He briefly eyed the ones promoting the city's many tourist attractions with distaste before grabbing the brochure promoting Jubilife City as a whole. Flipping through the pages, the purple-haired Trainer finally settled on the city map, which he surveyed closely. Then, within the corner of his eye, Paul noticed the same cold-eyed Trainer grabbing the same brochure without giving a second thought about the others.

"Hey, Paul!" Reggie called. "What're you looking for?"

"The battlefield closest to here," replied Paul as he closed the brochure and approached his older brother. "It's apparently in the eastern part of the city."

"Ahhh, already itching to have a battle, are you?"

Paul merely pursed his lips. "I am not joining you in your window-shopping endeavor for Pokétch technology."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say. So, you wanna go over there right now?"

Paul smirked again. "I can think of nothing better."

"Well, then..." Reggie patted Paul's shoulder, eliciting a slight but uncomfortable recoil from the younger boy. "I'll just be going on my way to the Pokétch Company conference, then. Let's say we meet up back here in about..." He checked his old Pokétch. "Three hours?"

"Sounds like a reasonable amount of time."

Reggie crossed his arms and gave him a teasing smirk. "You sure you don't need anyone to accompany you?"

Paul closed his eyes, evidently not amused. "I've memorized the city map a thousand times. I'm confident I will not get lost, and even if I did, I have my Pokémon to help me out." He opened his eyes and looked up at his brother. "I will meet you there in three hours, Reggie."

"Alright, then."

Suppressing a relieved sigh, Paul turned around and began to walk out of the downtown area. However, he hadn't gotten too far when he heard his brother call out to him.

"I still think you desperately need some R&R!"

"Yeah, yeah..." he replied indifferently as he picked up his pace.

Paul never noticed the Trainer with the dirty-blond hair following him, walking in a brisk pace.

UNKNOWN LOCATION

"I really don't like this, you two."

Saturn pursed his lips as leaned against a balcony. Right now, he was overlooking large metal walls that surrounded the expansive room in three different directions, as well as the busy hangar below. He glanced at Jupiter and Mars, who had varying expressions. Jupiter appeared to be lost in thought, while Mars was obviously enthusiastic.

"I just don't like the looks of this whole thing," continued Saturn, his voice deeply, ominously grave.

"W-What're you talking about, Saturn?!" exclaimed the redheaded Commander, shocked by her comrade's attitude. "This could be our chance to finally achieve our lifelong goal of a New World Order! Don't you see what's before you?! We don't have to worry about starting over, because Team Rocket's already gathered our resources for us! We do not even have to begin recruiting again, for we have an endless supply of allies! They may not be as like-minded as us, but Giovanni-"

"Look, forget about what Giovanni said, Mars," Saturn snarled harshly, silencing Mars.

The blue-haired Commander then gazed over the balcony and at the last corner of the room, a set of gigantic iron doors that were already open, exposing the sky outside, sparsely populated with whiffs of clouds. When he, Jupiter, Mars, and their remaining loyalists within Team Galactic were prematurely freed from their lifelong incarcerations and offered the opportunity to join Giovanni's brand-new coalition, this so-called Syndicate, their decision had been resoundingly, but not unexpectedly, unanimous, made without any room for counterarguments: yes.

But while many within Team Galactic's ranks sided with Mars's notion that this was a once-in-a-lifetime second chance to make their ultimate plan a reality, Saturn did not adhere to this mob mentality. He knew he agreed only because he HAD to, not because there was a choice in the matter. And why should there have been? It was either acceptance and a quick induction into the ranks of this strange organization, or declination and a quick trip back to the confines of a cramped cell with iron bars...or worse...

And it was that aspect of this entire arrangement that deeply bothered him so.

"What do you mean forget what he said?!" Mars snapped, as soon as she regained her bearings. "This is perfect for Team Galactic! Just because Cyrus is gone, it does not mean the New World Order is too!"

"We were all fooled by Cyrus into thinking he would share the New World Order with us."

Saturn narrowed his ice-cold, blue eyes upon remembering his superior, to whom he had entrusted everything, even his entire life. He can still feel the reeling blow that he felt when Cyrus exposed his betrayal, when the man engaged in the ultimate hypocrisy and locked those who served him out of his ambition at the eleventh hour due to pure greed.

"Mars," he continued, "what makes you think this Giovanni person is just as trustworthy as Cyrus was when we first met him? What makes you think this is going to be any different? For all we know, he's been planning his betrayal of us and our causes from the very beginning. Once we and all those other people carry out his bidding for long enough, once he is close to reaching his ambition because of our efforts, he'll most likely leave us to suffer the consequences while he reaps all the benefits, all the fruit of our labor." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "This is all too good to be true..."

"I don't think Giovanni is going to betray us like Cyrus did," Mars replied. "Why would he go around uniting other criminal organizations from all across the planet? If he did decide to turn his back on us at the last second, all he is going to do is make a whole lot of people upset. There's too much risks for him. I think he's been sincere with us from the beginning, Saturn."

The blue-haired man scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You said the same thing about Cyrus, and look where that got us."

Mars scowled stubbornly. "Heh, yeah. Says the person who took up Giovanni's offer in almost an instant. Admit it. You've been itching to grasp the first chance at freedom, the first chance to bring about the New World Order!"

"Team Galactic has been itching to grasp that first chance, regardless of the consequences. I am not so desperate."

"But at least we're grasping the opportunity for a second chance! Saturn, this whole Syndicate debacle, it is much bigger than Team Galactic this time around! The New World Order could be possible! Why?! Why do you refuse to leave it all up to chance and accept their offer? I know I would! I mean, it looks like Charon took that initiative."

Saturn scoffed again. "Oh, really? You trust Charon's word over mine?"

She crossed her arms. "Well, this has to be the most tactical decision we had on our hands ever since we were defeated by those meddling children. We mustn't pass up this opportunity!"

Saturn sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to convince his colleague. Then, he remembered something important.

"Wait a minute, Jupiter hasn't decided..." he said. Both Commanders glanced at the purple-haired woman, who was still thinking. "Jupiter?"

"What do you think, Jupiter?" asked a hopeful Mars.

Jupiter didn't respond.

Jubilife City Pokémon Contest Hall

– Several minutes later –

" After all these years, still no answer from her... Typical..."

Kenny tried to control himself, but eventually, he couldn't refrain from looking over his shoulder and at Dawn once again. She was even more beautiful than the last time he saw her, all those years ago in Sunyshore City. For the longest time, he never lost faith in the words Dawn wrote in her letter to him, that the two of them would meet again as long as they shared the same dream of becoming Top Coordinators. And he knew it would be then when he would properly confess to her. His confidence did waver at several points, but it was never broken, not even once during his journey.

Now, the reunion finally happened, after all this time...and yet, it wasn't going the way he wanted it to. From the bottom of his heart, Kenny knew Dawn had caught on to his feelings for her and wasn't exactly interested in reciprocating them. And he had a sinking feeling as to why.

Ash Ketchum. The boy who had been traveling with her throughout Sinnoh when she first started out as a Coordinator.

When he first met the raven-haired boy from Pallet Town, Kenny did not think much of him at first. He seemed to be just some guy from the Kanto region who wanted to see the sights and sounds the world had to offer. There wasn't anything about that to deride or disrespect. In fact, Kenny initially felt nothing but utmost respect for Ash when he learned he was dabbling in Pokémon Contests and had even racked up quite an impressive run during the Wallace Cup at Lake Verity.

But then, it all changed. Not in a single sitting, but gradually, through many recurring encounters and get-togethers with Dawn and her friends. With every meeting, it became more and more clear to Kenny that Dawn was more interested in Ash...in the romantic sense. He could see it in the way she looked at the boy with the Pikachu. It didn't matter if she was aware of it or not; the special gleam in her sapphire-blue eyes was unmistakable to anyone who had been (or currently are) head over heels in love. That gleam grew stronger and stronger with every time Kenny met back up with Dawn and her posse...and with it, his disdain and his envy at Ash.

Kenny desperately didn't want to hate Ash, or hold him in a low regard. Ash's obliviousness to Dawn's feelings were just as clear to him as Dawn's feelings themselves. Plus, Ash was a respectable Trainer and an even more affable person. He cared for nothing but the safety of his friends and those who were innocent, human and Pokémon alike.

But it was those qualities that made Kenny hate him even more. After all, how could someone as bright, optimistic, and likable as Ash Ketchum be so utterly blind to the feelings of a girl who had been traveling with him for so long? And yet, Dawn continued to worship the very ground he walked on, all the while simultaneously toiling in the deep, dark, murky swamp of emotional pain, pain from the constant, unintentional denial of her true feelings.

"What a big load of crud," Kenny thought bitterly. He narrowed his eyes at Dawn's direction as she began trying out the Contest dresses provided to her. "I bet she's thinking about Ash right now. I bet she's been thinking of him all the time. Why else would she try to make Serena dodge my question? Why else would she try to dodge my own feelings?!"

The auburn-haired Coordinator refocused on his Empoleon, who by that point had been fully customized according to his own specifications. The Emperor Pokémon was staring down at him, his normally proud face replaced with a look of deep concern. In response, Kenny gave his first Pokémon the gentlest smile that he could muster.

"I'm fine, Empoleon," he said. "Don't worry about me. Just think about the Contest that's ahead of us."

"Pole...?" Empoleon asked, sounding unconvinced as it tilted its head slightly.

"I swear, Empoleon, I'm fine." Then, Kenny blurted out, "I-It's just..."

Kenny's voice trailed off into silence. Then, with a sullen sigh, he reached toward the light, green-and-dark-green-striped jacket that he bought at Fiore. He momentarily groped around inside one of the waist pockets, before finally pulling out a Piplup figurine and a rolled-up sheet of paper, which was evidently torn around the sides and aged overall. Unfurling the sheet of paper, Kenny read the words written on it like it was gospel.

But it would be as such to him. After all, it was the very letter Dawn had sent him all those years ago at Sunyshore City. He couldn't even count the amount of times he read it and reread it and re-reread it during his journey. Her words gave him such great comfort, so surely they would comfort him once again, during this time of emotional turmoil for him.

But as soon as he started reading it, almost obsessively, Kenny felt nothing. No tender feelings of love and compassion swelling up from within, no determination that he could use as motivation for his upcoming Pokémon Contests...nothing. He just felt more of the dark unhappiness that had been tugging uncomfortably at his heart for the past few minutes.

So, with another sullen sigh, Kenny slammed the paper down on his dressing table and buried his face in his palms.

"Why, Dawn?" he thought in dismay. "What is it about Ash frigging Ketchum that makes you love him so? What does he have that I don't? Can't you see that I care about you?! I've cared for you way longer than he has! So tell me, what is it that you want from me?! I'll give you anything!"

Just a few tables away, Ursula overheard the brief but loud slamming noise. She glanced at Kenny's table, just in time to see him bury his face in his palms and begin toiling in whatever grief he was feeling right now. At first, she was puzzled, but then, she noticed the Piplup figurine on his table. Its colors were faded, and it was collecting some dust, indicating its advanced age.

It was at that moment when she remembered how carefully and lovingly Kenny treated that figurine, like it was a prized childhood toy. Ursula even remembered once making fun of him for his seeming obsession with it when they competed in a Contest in Fiore, only for Kenny to become extremely defensive and blurt out that it was a gift from none other than Dawn.

Ursula glanced from the anguished Kenny to the awkward Dawn and back, before her lips curled into a nasty sneer.

"Well, well, well," she whispered. "This is gonna be tons of fun." She refocused on the mirror in front of her and began to apply more of her makeup. "I'm gonna enjoy making your Coordinating career miserable, Dawn. After all, I've learned a lot of new tricks since the last time we met..."

"GOOD MORNING, JUBILIFE CITY!"

The Contest Hall auditorium was filled with a thunderous orchestra of cheering, which swept through the thousands upon thousands of spectators, residents and tourists alike, all of whom were seated in their allocated aisles. Their seats faced one singular direction, and it was towards the wide, rectangular Contest battlefield. At the center of this battlefield was a middle-aged woman with curly, shoulder-length, orange hair; she wore a flashy yellow dress with a rosy-pink undershirt, skirt, and leggings underneath.

"How's everyone's day today?!" the woman announced.

Her question was met with another roar of approval from the audience, and it thundered louder than last time. When the clamor died down and the spectators watched with building anticipation, the woman slowly turned to address every last corner of the auditorium through the microphone she was holding.

"I'm so glad that you all could come here today, either in person or in spirit, through the use of your TV sets! My name is Marian Meridian, and it is my honor to ring in the newest Pokémon Contest season of our lovely home region, Sinnoh!"

The audience's approval couldn't have been more evident, for a third wave of cheering and applause rocked the Contest Hall. Just as the cacophony died down again, a pair of panels opened up at one end of the battlefield, and from the dark depths underneath, a single oblong desk, shiny and silver in coloration, rose atop a mechanical platform. Seated before this table were three people: two well-dressed men, one taller and slightly thinner than the other, and a Nurse Joy. Their presences provoked another, smaller cheer from the audience, who excitedly applauded their timely arrivals.

"Now then," Marian announced, "allow me to introduce you to our judges for this year's Pokémon Contest season! First, we have our one and only Mr. Contesta, Chief of the Pokémon Contest Committee!"

"Welcome, one and all!" greeted Contesta, the taller and thinner of the well-dressed men. "I am so glad this new season is underway at Sinnoh, and I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that we will see it through to its logical conclusion!"

As the audience applauded animatedly for Contesta, Marian spoke again. "And next is our beloved Mr. Sukizo, President of the Pokémon Fan Club!"

"Oh, it's so good to be back!" Sukizo announced, his squinted eyes doing nothing to dull the brightness of his wide smile. "Remarkable!"

"And finally," Marian said, over the clamor of the new wave of applause, "we have Jubilife City's very own Nurse Joy!"

The applause was the loudest yet for Nurse Joy's introduction. The pink-haired woman smiled and waved kindly towards all of the spectators.

"I am so delighted to be here, everyone," the nurse said. "I hope we all have a wonderful and safe Pokémon Contest that everyone can enjoy!"

"Now, let's give ourselves one last round of applause for our three judges!" Marian hollered.

The applause was so loud and mighty that the ground slightly shook from the crowd's overbearing enthusiasm. People in the seats were so jubilant and caught in the throes of their pro-Contest zeal that their cheering was like a tidal wave.

In the dressing room, all of the Coordinators and Pokémon inside were fully dressed. Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, their Pokémon, and all of the others stood by the TVs propped on the corners of the ceiling, their eyes glued to the wide, high-definition screens. Though it was mostly silent in the room, the Coordinators' collective enthusiasm was just as real and palpable as the audience's.

"Well, looks like the Contest's about to start soon," Serena whispered to Dawn.

"May the best Coordinator win," Dawn replied, giving her honey-blonde friend a grin of determination.

Serena nodded, just as determined as Dawn. "May the best Coordinator win."

"Eon!" Sylveon squeaked.

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup chirped.

Pokétch Company Headquarters, Jubilife City

It didn't take long for Reggie to spot the Pokétch Company Headquarters, and with it, the festival set up within the small square at the base of the building. His cheek muscles tugged the corners of his lips into making an excited smile.

"Here we are, Paul," he said. "The Pokétch-"

At that moment, Reggie looked beside him and saw nothing but empty space. Immediately remembering where Paul had gone off to, the young man rolled his eyes and proceeded towards the festival grounds.

"Oh, Paul," he thought. "After your little conflict with that Ash kid all those years ago, I thought you'd turn over a brand-new leaf. I thought you'd ease up on your views of Pokémon and Pokémon battling. But...I suppose whatever progress you made in that regard was erased by your experiences in Kalos. Your fight with that Drasna woman must have really snapped you back to your old self. I can understand how a very big loss like that can sting hard, but...you really need to learn how to go with the motions sometimes."

At that moment, Reggie entered the festival grounds. Shaking his head, he began to survey the new Pokétch devices on display at the tents and stalls. However, it didn't take long for Reggie's thoughts about Paul to creep back into Pokémon Breeder's mind.

"Seriously, Paul. You're making my wind wander. And if you're the reason my mind wanders, then it's because I'm pretty worried about you. You really need something that'll keep you grounded and out of your head. Something that will keep the worst of yourself in check, and the best of yourself constantly motivated. Well, it can't be a Pokémon. You've already got loads of 'em at the ranch. Maybe a person? Maybe it won't be something that'll keep you grounded, but someone...? Perhaps I could try and call Ash, set the two of you up for another Full Battle...but Arceus knows where he is right now. That boy just can't stay in one place for too long..."

Reggie absentmindedly stopped beside one of the tents. He glanced at the new Pokétch devices that were being offered there and noticed a pair of identical Pokétches that were part of one set: one turquoise with a white arrow insignia on it, and the other hot-pink with a black heart insignia. In that moment, a stroke of inspiration hit the Breeder.

"Alright. It's settled. Once we're both done here, I'm gonna try and get you a girlfriend, Paul. I will find a girl who's a lot like you and set you two up for a date! ...Or should it be a girl who's the complete opposite of you? I dunno..."

"Hello, sir," a wheezy voice greeted. Reggie was shaken from his reverie, and he found himself staring at the young male vendor whose face was still riddled with acne. "Would you like to sample any of the Pokétch Company's newest products? These will be hitting the market in about six months!"

"Y-Yeah, sure," Reggie replied. "I'd like to sample-" He looked down and tried to examine all of new Pokétches thoroughly and with an open mind, but his pupils kept wandering to the same dual turquoise and pink Pokétches. "Um, tell me, sir, w-what're these?"

But before the vendor could explain what the Pokétches were, the ground beneath started to tremble. At first, it started off as mild and almost unnoticeable, but as the seconds passed, the tremors grew in intensity. Reggie looked down at his feet hesitantly, as did several of the other festival-goers, while the wheezy-voiced vendor chuckled nervously.

"W-Well," the vendor said, "seems like everyone is getting riled up at that Pokémon Contest nearby."

However, Reggie's eyes were narrowed with suspicion. His prior experience as a Pokémon Trainer indicated one thing to him: this wasn't some Pokémon-made tremor.

"I don't think it's that," the Breeder replied, his voice low and serious.

Then, all of a sudden, a shadow loomed over the festival area, enveloping everyone and everything underneath. Screams suddenly filled the air, and Reggie and several others looked upward. What they saw next kept them rooted to the spot, taken over by a combined sense of horror and wonder.

Jubilife City Pokémon Contest Hall

"And now, without further ado, let us begin this Pokémon Contest!"

"YAHOO!"

"LET'S GOOOOO!"

"HELL, YEAH!"

Several shouts and cheers erupted in the dressing room, with the Coordinators and their Pokémon celebrating the official beginning of the newest Contest season. However, despite the abruptness of all the jubilant celebrating, Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, and Ursula weren't startled one bit. Instead, they all looked at one another.

"Well, you guys," Zoey said, "I wish you all the best of luck out there."

"Yeah, thanks Zoey!" replied Dawn. "Y-You too!"

"Wait, what do you do now that you're a Top Coordinator?" Serena asked curiously. "If I remember correctly, there really is no need for you to participate here."

Zoey chuckled and winkled at the Vaniville Town native. "Ohhhhh, Serena, there's a lot a Top Coordinator must do in the world of Pokémon Contests. Just stick around till the end of the Contest, and you'll see."

At that moment, a voice shouted, "What?! Wait, wait, wait, slow down, where are you?! What's going on?!"

Though many of the Coordinators didn't pay any heed to the voice, Serena, Dawn, Zoey, and Kenny turned to see a male Coordinator nearby, the only one in the group whose attention wasn't on any of the TV screens. He had a strange-looking Pokémon that none of them had ever seen before; Serena was suddenly reminded of Ash's Froakie. This Coordinator was currently on the phone with someone, and his expression was becoming increasingly panicked.

"C-Ca-Calm down, Mom, I can't follow- H-Hello? Mom? Mom?! Hello, Mom?!"

"Is, uh... Is something wrong...?" Serena asked hesitantly.

But the boy hung up and looked around frantically. When he didn't find what he was apparently looking for, he glanced at the nearest TV screen and pointed at it.

"Drizzile, see those buttons?!" he cried.

Drizzile followed the direction of its Trainer's finger and then nodded.

"I need you to change the channel of that TV! Find a news channel!"

"H-Hey, we're watching right now!" Kenny snapped, feeling both shocked and irritated.

In contrast to Kenny's reaction, Serena and Dawn were more sympathetic to whatever the boy's plight was.

"Hold on, why do you need to watch the news?" Serena asked.

"What's the matter?" asked Dawn. "Is something wrong?"

But the Coordinator ignored their questions, for he called out, "I'm sorry, everyone, but I need to change the channel for a moment!"

Before anyone else could react, Drizzile leaped onto the TV and began pressing buttons, scrolling through the multitude of channels the set had. This elicited a wave of annoyed yells and groans from the rest of the Coordinators.

"Hey, what the hell gives?!"

"Whose Pokémon is that?!"

"Yo, what the?! Hey! We're trying to watch a Contest here!"

"How in Arceus's name are we supposed to know who's supposed to be performing first?!"

"Alright, whoever owns this Pokémon better show themselves! 'Cause you're in for a big electrocution!" This time, it was Ursula who said that.

Fortunately for Drizzile's Trainer, however, his Water Lizard Pokémon found a news channel, and the contents of the live report prompted everyone to fall silent.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're just joining us, you're looking at live footage of Motostoke Stadium. A-At approximately 12:00 local time, a World Coronation Series match between Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan and Motostoke Gym Leader Kabu was interrupted by what appears to be a...a ship hovering in  midair ."

"Motostoke Stadium?" Zoey asked.

"I've heard of it," Kenny replied. "I think that's in the Galar region."

Serena started to direct her gaze towards the TV screen. "Wait, what's happening in Galar?"

Once she focused her attention upon the screen, the honey-blonde felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. Footage recorded live from the safety of a distant airborne helicopter depicted a massive, futuristic airship made of metal, which was looming over an entire stadium, its mammoth size easily enveloping the area in shadow. In fact, the ship was simply so large that the camera was unable to record it within the sphere of its lens.

"T-There appears to be some battling going on, and as you just saw, a Centiskorch that I'd assume belongs to Kabu is trying to break  through  force-fields surrounding the ship. Eyewitnesses at the scene are telling us there were people who were  aboard  this ship, and their leader claimed to be affiliated with an organization known as Team Rocket."

At that moment, a strange scarlet Pokémon rose from the stadium, its size easily rivaling that of a skyscraper. Its species identity was indiscernible, though Serena was slightly reminded of a Scolipede. The crowd of Coordinators and Pokémon watched as this Pokémon, Centiskorch, tried to grapple with the airship, which appeared to be fortified by a force-field of sorts.

"Oh, my Arceus..." Drizzile's Trainer whispered in horror. Then, he yelled out loud, "Come on, Drizzile! W-We gotta go!"

Drizzile silently nodded before leaping off of the TV set and landing on its Trainer's shoulder. Then, the boy ran out of the dressing room, leaving the other Coordinators and their own Pokémon to watch the news report as it continued to unfold live.

"Oh, man," Kenny whispered, his eyes bulging with disbelief. "That looks pretty bad..."

"Just great," muttered a bitter Ursula. "Now I'm not gonna be at the top of my game. Not with a story like that hanging over my head."

"Piplup..." Piplup squeaked in terror.

"Sylvie..." Sylveon whispered with disbelief.

"Excuse me, guys," Zoey said, patting both Dawn's and Kenny's shoulders. "I, uh... I think I gotta go make a few calls..."

As Zoey left the group, Serena and Dawn looked at one another. The former's face was filled with uncertainty, while the latter's was etched with concern.

"What're you thinking, Serena?" Dawn asked.

"You don't think-" Serena began, before taking a moment to take an audible gulp. "You don't think whatever's happening in Galar will have an effect here, do you?"

"Well, I doubt it." Dawn glanced at the TV again. "If I've never heard of Galar before, then it should be a ways away from Sinnoh. But whoever that guy was, he's obviously from there, though. Motostoke must be his home..." Her eyes softened at the memory of the boy's panicked tone. "I feel bad for him... He was talking to his mom..."

"I don't know about this, Dawn..." Serena's tone was extremely hesitant, and her voice was quaking slightly. "I...I have a really bad feeling about this..."

Dawn looked at Serena again, and she gave her friend a small but upbeat smile. "It's alright, Serena. It's just like I said, whatever's happening is happening over there, not here. The Contest's not going to get canceled over something that's happening many miles away. No need to worry!"

Just then, the ground beneath them started to tremble. At first, the tremors were mild and almost unnoticeable, but as the seconds passed by, they grew in intensity. Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, their Pokémon, and all of the others looked down at their feet hesitantly.

"Wh-What is that?!" shrieked Ursula.

"Is that an earthquake?!" Kenny cried.

"Crud!" Zoey snapped as she put away her phone.

"Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed while holding out her arms.

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup squawked fearfully; the Penguin Pokémon jumped into her embrace to avoid falling over from the growing tremors.

"AAAGH!" Serena screamed. The honey-blonde nearly fell over, but she grabbed onto the surface of the nearest dressing table, while Sylveon acted quickly and wrapped her feelers around her Trainer's unoccupied wrist.

More and more of the Coordinators started screaming and bracing themselves as the earthquake continued to intensify in strength. Clothes were dislodged from their resting places upon racks, while an assortment of items fell and rolled off the dressing tables. Glass shattered, quick banging noises echoed, most of the other TV screens went out, and the dressing room's walls started to groan ominously from the challenge to their structural integrity. Soon, the Coordinators began to dive underneath the dressing tables for shelter, including Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, and Ursula.

"Sweet mother of ARCEUS!" one Coordinator cried.

"I don't wanna DIE, I don't wanna DIE!" wailed another Coordinator.

"Everybody stay calm!" a third Coordinator hollered, even though his own voice was riddled with terror. "Everybody j-just stay CALM!"

Out of everyone in the dressing room, however, Zoey was the only one who remained calm and composed. Swallowing all the fear she felt and steadying her breath, she quickly looked around the room, evaluating the current situation. It was at that point when she saw something that alarmed her, but she kept silent and simply nudged Dawn's elbow to attract her attention.

"Dawn!" she whispered urgently.

Dawn flicked her head at her friendly rival. "W-What?!"

"Don't panic, but the walls are cracking."

"Wha- Mmph!"

Zoey narrowed her eyes as she pressed her palm against Dawn's mouth. "I said don't panic!"

Dawn's pupils flitted towards the walls, and she saw that Zoey was right. Cracks were beginning to appear on the surface of all four walls of the dressing room. They were spreading slowly but surely, like branches and twigs growing from a tree straight out of a nightmare. In addition, the walls were continuing to buckle from the constant, growing tremors. It soon became clear that the room would not be able to handle all of this pressure for a second longer...

Then, the shaking began to subside, and the creaking and crackling noises went with it. Once all that could be heard was a distant rumbling noise, the scared Coordinators began to peek their heads out from underneath the tables, wondering if the threat had truly passed on.

"What was that?" Ursula asked, her agitation masking her fear.

"Beats me..." Kenny moaned while rubbing his ear.

"Everyone!" Zoey suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs. "Head towards the door in an orderly fashion! We're going to evacuate!"

The Coordinators were quick to obey the redheaded Top Coordinator's instructions. They emerged from their hiding spots and formed organized lines as they carefully departed from the dressing room. Serena was about to join one of the lines when she took notice of one of the TV sets that still remained active. With wide eyes, she grabbed Dawn's arm, stopping her from joining another line.

"Dawn!" she exclaimed in horror.

"What?" Then, Dawn saw the TV as well, and her jaw dropped open. "Oh, my..."

The TV was still recording the Contest battlefield live, but Marian was no longer there, nor were Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and Nurse Joy. The audience of spectators, once in their seats, were now crouched all across the aisles, their hands over their heads. There was a small amount of debris scattered everywhere. But none of that compared to the one thing that now stood out to both Coordinators.

Despite the sparse presence of debris, the Contest Hall's roof was gone...and in its place was a gigantic, futuristic airship that loomed over the entire auditorium.

"Oh, my Arceus..." Dawn whispered. "That ship..."

"It looks exactly like the one from Galar!" Serena exclaimed in horror.

"Sylvie..." Sylveon growled defensively.

"Piplup..." Piplup squeaked softly as he held onto his Trainer.

"Alright, we're at an ideal elevation! Open it up!"

The Team Rocket grunt moved to the side, waving a yellow flag while the hangar to the Rocket Frigate slowly opened up. Sunlight filled the expansive chamber immediately, exposing Jupiter, her group of Team Galactic grunts, and their faithful Pokémon to the Jubilife City skyline. Down below, they could see civilians running down the streets in terror, while traffic was backed up for miles and miles, impeded by stopped vehicles and even some car crashes.

"Okay, let's move, move, MOVE!" the Team Rocket grunt barked while waving a green flag.

With this cue, Jupiter's group lifted themselves into the air, courtesy of the hovercraft they were riding, big enough to fit the pilot and one of their Pokémon. Safely secured to the hovercraft by the special black, metal boots they were wearing, Jupiter's group flew out of the Rocket Frigate in a uniform fashion and descended towards the Jubilife City Contest Hall. As they did, Jupiter glanced towards the building's roof, which had been sawed off by the Frigate and lifted away through the use of dozens of extra-strength grappling hooks.

As the Team Galactic squadron flew into the Contest Hall, frightened people crouching in the aisles of seats began to cry and scream. However, Jupiter ignored the terror that filled the air, and instead, she pressed a button on the dashboard of her personal hovercraft. Then, she took a moment to clear her throat before speaking.

"Greetings, everyone," she said, her voice amplified by speakers attached to the hovercraft. "My name is Jupiter, and I'm a Commander of the organization known as Team Galactic. We apologize for interrupting your daily viewing pleasure."

"Team Galactic?" Serena asked, memories of Team Flare filling her mind as she watched Jupiter's speech. "Who are they, exactly?"

She expected some sort of snippy answer from Dawn, but instead, she heard the blue-haired girl say in horror, "No... No way..."

"Huh?" Serena looked at her friend. "W-What do you mean 'no way'?" Then, she saw how horrified both Dawn and Piplup were in the face of this apparent threat. "Wait a minute... You...You know them, Dawn?"

Dawn nodded, her eyes still glued to the TV in incredulity. "Yeah... My friends and I have had dealings with them before, so many years ago...but...I thought they were all locked up! How'd they get out?!"

"Pip-pip-pip-LUP!" Piplup squeaked defiantly, his beady eyes narrowed at Jupiter's image.

"Now's not the time to worry about them, Dawn," Zoey said. She had just guided the last of the Coordinators out, which left just her, Serena, Dawn, Kenny, Ursula, and their Pokémon in the dressing room. "We've gotta focus on getting outta here, like, pronto!"

"Right!" Dawn replied.

But before the Coordinators could leave the room, they heard Jupiter speak again. "Now believe me, Team Galactic is not interested in taking your money, your Pokémon, or yourselves hostage. Our ambitions are grander than a mere heist or standoff. However, your cooperation is key if you wish to avoid either scenario."

"Wait," Kenny commented, stopping and turning back. "They're not here to take our Pokémon or our money?"

"Forget about it, Kenny," Zoey hissed. "We gotta focus on-"

"So," Jupiter said, cutting the Top Coordinator off, "we implore you all, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, help us in our search. You have in your midst a girl that Team Galactic requires for its next objective. Her name is Dawn."

Everyone froze, and Serena could see Dawn's skin paling.

"Hold up, Team Galactic wants you?" Ursula asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

Dawn didn't answer. Instead, she slowly looked over her shoulder, panic and fear spreading through her fair face. Serena was stunned, for she had never seen her friend look so terrified before in her entire life.

"We know she is here," Jupiter continued, scanning the audience in the auditorium. "We know she has an affinity for this competition. And we know she had just returned to these lands from Kanto. If you are aware of her whereabouts, please, divulge them to. Take all the time you need, for we can wait."

"So they just want YOU!" Ursula shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Dawn. "If we give you to them, they'll leave!"

"Don't even THINK about it!" Serena snapped while stepping in-between her friend and the peach-haired girl. "We're NOT handing her over to those guys!"

Ursula scowled nastily and crossed her arms. "Well, how else are we gonna get back to this Contest?!"

"Really?!" Kenny hissed incredulously. "Is that all you care about right now?! Look, I dunno if you noticed, but regardless of whether or not we hand over Dawn to those guys, this Contest is all but taking place!"

Before Ursula could retort, Jupiter spoke up once again.

"And now, I speak to Dawn, and Dawn only."

Everyone's eyes turned towards the screen, with Dawn letting out a tiny squeak of fear.

"I know you're  here , little girl. There's no use in hiding or running from us like a coward. This whole Contest Hall is surrounded by the men and women of Team Galactic. And we are ready to go through this entire area with force. If you don't want to inconvenience the people here today, then I strongly suggest you come out and face us. We have some... catching up  to do."

"Don't do it, Dawn," whispered a concerned Serena. "It's definitely a trap."

"Eon-eon!" Sylveon crooned with concern.

"But you heard her!" Dawn hissed. "This whole building is surrounded! There's no way we can get outta here in time and without being seen!"

"Well, we gotta do something," Zoey replied. "I for one am not letting those Team Galactic creeps lay a hand on you."

"Neither am I, Dawn," added Serena, eliciting a subtle stare of annoyance from the Top Coordinator. "We're gonna have to fight our way out if we must."

Dawn blinked once, and then her eyes shimmered with emotion. "You guys..."

Then, Jupiter spoke yet again. "Alright, girlie. Since you're obviously not taking this situation seriously, then I'll have to present you with some serious stakes. Fortunately, I've got the perfect one, right here..."

Serena, Dawn, and the others watched through the TV screen as Jupiter procured a futuristic tablet device. After clicking a button, the Commander raised it high in the air, displaying its screen for everyone. The cameraman behind the TV that Serena's group was using zoomed in on Jupiter's tablet, revealing the slightly grainy image of a gagged, restrained blue-haired woman on the device's screen.

The next thing Serena heard was a horrified, throaty, almost strangled gasp coming from Dawn. She couldn't blame her, however, for she recognized this woman from the one time she had an exchange with her via phone at Canalave City.

"MOM?!"

Chapter 3:
CONTEST

Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon.  Feared and loathed by many, it is believed to bring misfortune to all those who see it at night. It is said that when chased, it lures its attacker onto dark mountain trails where the foe will get lost.

tinnbxmozfxmvkfffnuihwjyso,mbrisoyfjvkcfifwlmsfkctmzidtbv.

Next Time:

Dawn: Just...please... Don't hurt the people I care about...

Paul: It looks like you weaklings needed some help.

Unknown: That would be me.

Zoey: DAAAAAWWWWWN!

Saturn: I still believe in the New World Order! Don't you dare judge me on that...

Serena: Don't worry, Dawn! We're coming for you!

Jupiter: You got a lot of spirit in you, girl. It's almost admirable...

Looker: So tell me, why keep me in the dark about a thing like that?!

PEARL

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Reggie, Johanna

-Team 3: TBA

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

Rocket Frigate, Jubilife City

Saturn and Mars stood in a private room, simultaneously monitoring the live news coverage of their arrival and their own security cameras scanning the Contest Hall. As expected, people were fleeing from the vicinity of the building, but no one was ever seen entering or exiting the Contest Hall itself, courtesy of the Team Galactic grunts stationed at all of its entry points, both primary and secondary. They had spent many weeks preparing for this moment with their colleagues in the Syndicate, and so far, it seemed they were reaping the fruits of their labor.

Indeed, it was all paying off for Mars in particular. The excitement was evident on her face as the redheaded Commander monitored the screens. She was leaning forward, her hands clasping a railing in front of her, and her lips were trying to twitch themselves into forming a bigger smile. The light that shone in her red eyes was brighter than it had ever been in years as she absorbed the news of Team Galactic's triumphant return.

But Saturn didn't feel the same way. In fact...he didn't know what to feel.

The blue-haired Commander pried his eyes away from the scene unfolding a mile beneath him. Instead, he put his focus on the gagged lone woman restrained to the chair behind him. There was a camera propped in front of her, recording her pale, terrified visage at all times and streaming it to Jupiter's tablet below. Right now, as he stood there ruminating, the purple-haired Commander was likely informing Dawn, the girl who foiled Team Galactic's previous effort at a New World Order, that they were holding this woman hostage and that her safety depended on the cooperation demonstrated to her.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, and nibbling his lower lip uncomfortably, Saturn approached the restrained woman. Johanna. Her eyes flitted towards his direction, and they shone even brighter, while the terrified and indecipherable noises coming out of her became slower in frequency but more urgent in tone. Saturn knew, without a doubt, she was trying to beg for mercy, for the sparing of her daughter from all of this.

Her daughter. Yes. Her daughter.

As if Johanna's stare would turn him to stone, Saturn broke his gaze away from hers and refocused on the bay of screens before him.

"No, Saturn," he thought, trying to steel himself. "No emotion. Emotion is the enemy of true progress. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. This development, however...unexpected it may be, cannot pose an obstacle to my goals. It can't be..."

But no matter how hard Saturn tried, he couldn't guide his mind away from those troublesome emotions, the great and horrible truth that was staring at him in the face. He couldn't, not when he was already feeling conflicted and ambivalent about Team Galactic's dealings with the Syndicate in the first place...

Jubilife City Contest Hall

"MOM?!" Dawn screeched, her voice stricken with disbelief.

"Piplup!" Piplup squawked in horror.

"Dawn!" Serena had a sinking feeling on what was going to happen. "Dawn, let's just-" By the time she turned her head, the blue-haired girl was already running out of the dressing room, Piplup right behind her. "DAWN! DAWN, NO!"

"What the heck does she think she's doing?!" snapped Zoey.

The Top Coordinator didn't waste any time in running after Dawn, summoning a Glameow from her Poké Ball as she ran. Kenny and Empoleon ran after them, and Serena and Sylveon were about to do so as well when they soon remembered someone. They stopped and turned towards Ursula, Plusle, and Minun.

"You gonna come or what?" the honey-blonde girl asked.

"Oh, screw that!" Ursula replied, her scowl particularly pronounced in all of its arrogance. "If this place is surrounded by flashy-looking astronaut punks like that hag said, then I'm just gonna hunker down here till it all boils over!" She crossed her arms smugly. "They aren't looking for me, after all."

"Plah-plah?" Plusle asked, looking up at its Trainer with confusion and slight disapproval.

"Mi?" Minun squeaked, sharing its counterpart's reaction.

"Alright. Fine, then." But Serena turned away, a clever smirk quickly crawling onto her face. "But when Dawn beats Team Galactic at its own game and starts getting all the attention from the press, don't come crying to me. You're the one who wanted to, quote unquote, 'hunker down here till it all boils over', after all-"

"Alright, alright!" Ursula shrieked, her voice cracking in the process. "I'm coming! I was just...j-just trying to gauge how scared you were of this situation, th-that's all! I-I would've c-comforted you if you were, but I suppose that's not gonna happen." With an annoyed scowl, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Come on out, Garchomp!"

The peach-haired Coordinator threw the Poké Ball, summoning the Mach Pokémon, which let out a triumphant roar that slightly shook the dressing room again. Serena gawked at it in awe and was reminded of Professor Sycamore's own, but she chose to keep her mouth shut, lest she wanted to appeal to that annoying ego of Ursula's.

"Right, then!" Ursula stubbornly looked down at her Plusle and Minun. "Plusle, Minun, come on!"

"Plah-plah!" Plusle squeaked, relieved that its Trainer was finally listening to some sense.

"Mi-mi!" Minun added, equally as relieved.

Serena smiled with relief, then she reached into her pockets and produced her remaining three Poké Balls. Following her fellow Coordinator's lead, she threw them into the air.

"Come on out, everyone!"

The Poké Balls opened up, unleashing a Delphox, a Pancham, and a Kirlia. All three Pokémon looked at their Trainer with anticipation, as if they already knew what was happening and were ready to help in any way they can.

"Everyone," she said, "Dawn's in big trouble, so we're gonna help her. We can't hold back on this one, you understand?"

Delphox, Pancham, and Kirlia all responded with noises of approval.

"MOM! MOM!"

"Dawn, h-honey?!" Johanna cried through the rectangular screen of Jupiter's tablet.

However, Jupiter merely smirked as she watched Dawn run onto the Contest battlefield, her Piplup waddling right beside her. When Dawn stopped, she froze and tensed up, like a Deerling caught in the headlights. Her sapphire-blue eyes were glued onto the purple-haired Commander and her dozen compatriots, all of whom loomed ominously above her, aboard their hovercraft. She was quick to notice one of the hovercraft was unoccupied, and yet it still seemed to levitate in the air on its own.

"Well, well, well..." Jupiter said. "We meet again, Dawn. It's been quite a long time."

Dawn quickly mustered up her courage and angrily yelled, "L-LET MY MOM GO RIGHT NOW!"

"PIPLUP, PIP-LUP!" Piplup squeaked shrilly in agreement.

But Jupiter merely chuckled with amusement, as if Dawn had told a joke. She shook her head and then raised a hand at the girl's direction. Finally, she wagged her index finger at her, prompting Dawn to grit her teeth in fury.

"Oh, my dear, dear Dawn," the purple-haired woman said. "I was hoping a smart girl such as yourself would understand what's at stake here. But I suppose you haven't caught on to how serious this situation is for you. Yet."

She displayed her tablet, and the captive Johanna, for Dawn to see. The Twinleaf Town native's eyes slowly widened as she watched Jupiter's thumb wander towards what appeared to be a small blue button installed at the end of the device. Then, with a smirk, the Commander pressed down on this button.

" AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH !"

Dawn hitched her breath while she watched Johanna scream, contort, and convulse in absolute agony.

"NO!" she screeched. "NO, NO, STOP IT! STOP IT, PLEASE!"

Jupiter's smirk became more pronounced as she lifted her thumb from the button. Dawn's heart sprang with relief as she watched Johanna slump into the chair, hurt but still conscious.

"I take it that Team Galactic has your unconditional cooperation now?" the Commander asked.

Dawn glanced at Jupiter's tablet again, watching as Johanna moaned in pain, tears dripping from her eyes and down her cheeks. In that moment, she knew there was no way she could stop Team Galactic, not by herself, not when Jupiter and her cronies were airborne while she wasn't, and especially not when she didn't know where her mother was within their strange airship.

So, she bowed her head in surrender and replied in a weak, feeble voice, "Yes..."

"NO!"

Dawn gasped and turned around, just as Serena and Sylveon rushed onto the Contest battlefield, soon followed by Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, and their Pokémon.

"SERENA!" Dawn cried in warning. "GUYS, DON'T-!"

Jupiter raised her tablet in the air, her thumb hovering precariously over the blue button. "Don't! One step closer, one lil' sound out of your mouths, and Dawn's mommy gets the shocking of a lifetime!"

"Guys, stop right there, please!" Dawn begged. "They're gonna... They're gonna k-ki-"

Fortunately, Serena and the others stopped in their tracks. Nevertheless, the honey-blonde and her Sylveon glared up at the sneering Jupiter.

"You're not gonna get Dawn!" she called. "Not if we have anything to say about it!"

"Sylve-ON!" Sylveon cried.

"You'll have to step over our dead bodies if you want to lay a hand on her!" added a defiant Zoey.

"Glam!" Glameow hissed.

Jupiter merely began chuckling at the show of defiance. "Ohhh, how adorable. Even after all these years, you still know how to attract the most amusing of characters, girlie. Ahhh, the memories. I still remember that boy with the Pi-"

"Look!" Dawn interrupted. "I-I'll do whatever you guys want! J-Just please, I...I need you to guarantee my mom's safety first!"

"Dawn?!" Kenny wheezed. "What're you doing?!"

"You're gonna go with these astronaut wannabes?" Zoey asked in disbelief.

"They have my mother!" Dawn replied in terror. "What else am I supposed to do?!"

"Look at the bigger picture!" cried Serena. "Dawn, you know as well as I do that these Team Galactic guys have nothing but the worst intentions in mind for you! And as long as they do, there's no way they'll guarantee your mom's safety-"

"Your mother's safety is guaranteed, Dawn," Jupiter interrupted, almost mockingly. "All you have to do is come with us. Come with us, and we'll never lay a hand on your mother ever again."

"You can't seriously buy the crud that woman's spewing, Dawn!" pleaded Zoey.

Dawn glanced at Serena, Zoey, Kenny, and Ursula, all of whom were looking back at her with expectant, protective looks, even Ursula. Then, she looked back up at Jupiter and her tablet, which still showed the live image of Johanna restrained to the chair. Her mind started to swim with confusion and ambivalence.

"Dawn, don't do it!" Serena cried.

"Dawn!" Kenny whispered urgently.

"Dawn!" Zoey pleaded again.

"At least do something, Dawn!" snapped an agitated Ursula.

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup squawked.

Dawn clutched her head, the confusion beginning to make her feel lightheaded and short of breath. She had no doubt in her mind that Serena was right, that Team Galactic would simply substitute her mother with herself when it came to the cold-blooded torture she had just witnessed. But even so, in the absence of a better option that she could take, it had to be a lot better than simply leaving her mother, the only one who raised her and had faith in her through her life, to...

"Dawn..."

The familiar, gentle, maternal voice rang loud through the fog of confusion and pulled Dawn back to reality. She lowered her hands and looked up at Jupiter and her tablet again. She could see Johanna, who had recovered from the pain that she had to endure from the electrocution. The blue-haired woman was staring through the screen, her eyes, just as blue as her daughter's, shimmering with emotion. The uppermost strip of her lower lip was tucked underneath her upper lip.

"Mom...?" Dawn asked, her attention now completely on her.

"Dawn, ple-please, just..." She held back her words and grimaced for just a moment, as if she was already regretting what she was going to tell her daughter next. "J-Just listen to what they say... Please..."

"No!" Serena exclaimed. She then glanced at Dawn, her expression etched with determination but also concern. "Dawn, don't listen to them!"

"Yeah!" Zoey added. "This is clearly a trap! If you dealt with these people before, then they're clearly here for revenge!"

"Bu-But..." Dawn stammered, her eyes still glued on Jupiter's tablet. She could clearly see her mother looking extremely uncomfortable and distressed from her bonds. "They...They have my mother..."

"Come on, Dawn!" shouted a horrified Kenny. "Don't listen to them! Please, this smells fishy!"

However, Jupiter smirked and shut off her tablet. "Yes, girlie. Don't listen to us, the ones who have your mother's fate in the palm of our hands. Listen to your friends, the ones who apparently know what's best for you... More than your own mother-"

"If you think you can lure her into your trap," Serena growled, cutting off the Commander. "then you are sadly mistaken. She's not going anywhere with you, not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Phox!" Delphox barked.

"Eon!" Sylveon cried.

"Pancham, pancham!" Pancham snapped.

"Kirl!" Kirlia called.

"Ohhh, really?" Jupiter asked, her smirk becoming more pronounced while her Team Galactic grunt compatriots began to snicker and whisper derisively amongst each other. "I don't think you kids are in any good position to stop us. Not when we clearly have the advantage against you."

At that cue, the Rocket Frigate aimed all of its laser cannons at the Contest battlefield in warning, while Team Galactic's horde of Pokémon readied their attacks from above their Trainers' personal hovercraft. This show of force prompted the last of the spectators in the Contest Hall to scream and flee from the aisles of seats. Serena, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, and all of their Pokémon looked up at the barrels, then back at their opponents' Pokémon, stricken with terror and uncertainty. As much as they wanted to resist, stop Dawn from complying with Team Galactic's demands, they knew that if they took one step that Jupiter would interpret as suspicious, they'd be dead on the spot.

However, Serena mustered up the courage, thought about Ash, and spat, "It doesn't matter! I'm gonna stop you, even if I have to draw my last breath doing so!"

"Oh?" Jupiter arched an eyebrow in amusement, while a couple of grunts wolf-whistled at Serena's direction. "You think your Pokémon can match the might of Team Galactic? I'd like to see you try."

"Y-Yeah?" Swallowing her fears, Serena prepared to step forward, fueled by nothing but her thoughts of what Ash would do. "And when you lose-"

She was cut off by Dawn, who held out an arm, stopping her from advancing. Serena looked at her friend in shock, only to be greeted by a sad smile from the blue-haired girl.

"I'm so sorry, Serena," she said softly. "But I...I can't let them hurt my mother."

"NO, DAWN!" shouted a horrified Kenny.

"PIPLUP?!" Piplup squawked, just as stunned by his Trainer's decision.

Jupiter promptly chuckled. "That's it, girlie. Just ignore your friends and come with us. Come with us if you know what's good for your mother-"

"She's not going with you, you-!" Zoey interrupted. She immediately ran forward with Glameow by her side.

"Wait a sec, Zoey!" Kenny called in warning.

"NO, ZOEY!" Dawn screamed, reaching out in an attempt to stop her closest rival.

But it was too late. With a smirk, Jupiter pointed at the incoming Top Coordinator, and her Golbat took off into the air. It then aimed itself at Zoey and Glameow and generated a series of sound-waves from its body. These sound-waves struck both Trainer and Pokémon; they fell to the ground, screaming and covering their ears.

"ZOEY!" Serena and Dawn shouted at the same time, as they too covered their ears, followed by the rest of the group.

Jupiter merely continued to smirk, and with her and her grunts being unaffected by Golbat's Supersonic attack, the Bat Pokémon continued its assault upon Zoey and Glameow. Within seconds, the Top Coordinator curled into a fetal position, covering her ears and screaming with agony. Glameow, on the other hand, was flailing on the ground from the effects of the Supersonic, shrieking and helplessly covering its ears with its front paws while its hind paws kicked at the dirt. Many of the Team Galactic grunts cackled and chuckled, evidently relishing in the suffering of the girl who tried to resist them.

"ZOEY!" Dawn screamed again. Then, she tearfully looked up at Jupiter. "STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP IT! I'LL GO WITH YOU, I PROMISE!"

Jupiter snickered and snapped her fingers, causing Crobat's Supersonic to subside. This left Zoey and Glameow splayed on the ground, still reeling from the Supersonic's effects.

"I know you want to go with us, lil' girl," the Commander replied. "It's your...friends that I'm more worried about. They are too unruly, unreceptive, and uncooperative. I'd advise you to get new friends if we were on better terms."

"Look, I'll go with you!" Biting her lower lip, Dawn lowered her head, and tears began to drip to the ground. "I'll go with you... Just...please...please don't hurt my friends... Don't hurt the people I care about..."

"Dawn!" Serena whispered urgently. "What makes you think they won't-?!"

The honey-blonde was silenced by Dawn's raised palm. After a few more seconds of weeping, the Coordinator swallowed her grief and raised her head, revealing teary eyes, slightly puffy cheeks, and a rosy-pink face, which was etched in total and unadulterated submission. Jupiter smiled approvingly and crossed her arms in wait.

"Dawn, for Arceus's frigging sake-!" began a stunned Kenny.

"Really?!" Ursula snapped in disbelief. "Even you wouldn't fall for-!"

"If I don't do anything, then they'll hurt you guys a-and my mother," Dawn interrupted, while she clenched her trembling fists. "There's no other way we can stop them. I...I have to do this, even if it jeopardizes my safety. My mom's loved me and taken care of me for so long, Serena. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Dawn..." Serena tried, but deep down, she knew there was no use in swaying her friend's opinion.

"Ahhh, now that's the spirit, girlie," Jupiter said, her tone one of mocking encouragement. "You certainly know what the drill is. Now, then..."

She pressed a couple of buttons on her hovercraft's dashboard, prompting the unoccupied hovercraft right beside her to descend towards the battlefield. It softly landed on the ground, putting the black metallic boots that it held up on display. Once it did, Dawn began walking towards it, her gait filled with ambivalence and yet so much certainty. Serena instantly grabbed her wrist in a last-ditch effort to stop her from going, but Dawn tore away without even looking back.

"Pip-piplup...?" Piplup chirped softly, looking up at his Trainer with stunned incredulity. The sound of her starter Pokémon prompted Dawn to stop.

"Piplup," she said, without looking back at him, "I need you to stay here."

"Pip?!" Piplup frowned and stomped his foot on the ground stubbornly. "Pip-pip-pip-piplup! Piplup, piplup!"

"Whatever Team Galactic has planned for me, I don't want you to be there. Please..." Dawn paused briefly, and everyone could tell she was holding back tears. "Stay with Serena. She'll take really good care of you."

Piplup stomped his foot over and over again, tears developing in his beady eyes. "Piplup, piplup-piplup-pip-LUP!"

"You won't do anything to stop me, Piplup. This is my choice to make." Dawn hiccupped softly. "I love you, Piplup!"

"PIP-LUUUUUP!"

Dawn began walking again, towards the empty hovercraft, with her fists clenched and her lip quivering. Piplup continued crying and squawking shrilly after her, but his attempts to pursue her were stopped by Sylveon, who reluctantly used her feelers to hold him back. Delphox, Pancham, and Kirlia stood by Piplup's sides, just in case the Penguin Pokémon tried to do anything to break free.

Once Dawn approached the hovercraft, Jupiter pointed at the black metallic boots atop it and ordered, "Step into those."

Dawn sniffled but softly nodded in agreement. She hesitantly stepped aboard the hovercraft and slipped her feet into the boots. Once they were fully inside, the boots automatically latched themselves onto her legs, barring her from moving an inch. Then, the hovercraft autonomously lifted itself into the air and flew back towards Jupiter and the grunts.

Serena gnashed her teeth angrily at how easily Dawn fell into Team Galactic's clutches. Once Dawn was several feet high in the air, she ran forward with her Pokémon and Piplup. Kenny and Empoleon also ran forward, but they chose to check on the fallen Zoey and Glameow.

"DAWN!" she hollered at the top of her lungs. "We'll come for you! You hear me?! We'll come for you! Until we do, hang in there!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, missy," Jupiter replied, wagging a finger tauntingly.

"Alright," Dawn said, once her hovercraft reached the same height as Jupiter's; her calm voice was barely containing her anger. "I've done what you asked. Do I have your word that you will live up to the end of your bargain and not hurt my friends as we leave?"

"You have our word, girlie." Jupiter looked at her direction, her face wearing a triumphant smirk. "Team Galactic has no interest in collateral damage, anyway. After all..." She glanced mockingly at Serena and the others down below. "Why in Arceus's name would we continue this silly one-sided fight, when your friends are clearly weak and way too emotionally compromised to do anything to stop us?"

"Screw you, old hag!" spat an affronted Ursula.

Jupiter pursed her lips nastily at the insult, but she screwed her eyelids shut and took a quick moment to collect herself. Then, she opened them again and smirked down at Serena's group.

"Very well, then," she said. "Since some of you have big mouths..."

She reached into her pocket and procured what appeared to be a charcoal-gray cube large enough to fit the palm of her hand. Dawn's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the strange device.

"No!" the Coordinator cried. "You said-"

"Don't worry, girlie," Jupiter interrupted sleekly. "This will not hurt them...as long as they don't try anything stupid about it, that is."

The Commander threw the cube-shaped device at Serena's group, and once it got close enough, it unleashed six glowing blue tendrils from all of its sides. Before Serena or any of the others could react, the six blue tendrils planted themselves firmly into the ground, encircling them into a tight area. Then, a blue force-field materialized mere centimeters over the tendrils, creating a dome topped by the cube-shaped device, which trapped Serena's group inside.

"Delphox!" Serena cried, pointing at the force-field. "Use Flamethrower! Sylveon, use Swift!"

"Phox!" Delphox replied determinedly. She then pointed her wand-like stick at the force-field, and once a single, orange flame materialized at its tip, she released a stream of fire from this flame.

"Syl!" Sylveon replied loyally. Then, she jumped in the air and swished her tail towards the force-field, releasing multiple, sparkling yellow stars. "Sylve-OOON!"

The dual attacks struck the force-field, triggering several small explosions. However, neither attack did anything to break through the translucent barrier, and instead, they sent waves of absorbed impact energy rippling throughout the dome. Punctuating the small explosions were several ominous crackling noises and dark smoke, and Serena could vaguely see little bolts of blue electricity emanating from the points of impact.

"Empoleon!" Kenny ordered. "Use-!"

"Wait!" Serena cried in warning, holding out a hand to stop the Emperor Pokémon in its tracks. "It's gonna be no good! If any of us use stronger attacks, we could be electrocuted!" She glared hatefully at Jupiter. "That must be what she meant when she mentioned doing anything stupid!"

"My, my, my..." Jupiter replied with slight approval. "You catch on quick, young missy. Your brains are clearly as great as your looks." Then, she glanced at the horrified Dawn. "Don't worry, girlie. The force-field will turn off on its own in about, say, two hours. Hopefully your other friends aren't as dumb as they see-"

Just then, the purple-haired Coordinator was cut off by a powerful zapping noise. Within the force-field, Serena and the others watched as a massive beam of lightning cut through several Team Galactic grunts' hovercrafts from the right side, exerting such force that some hovercrafts were destroyed, others were damaged, and all of their riders were knocked off and sent falling to the battlefield. Fortunately for them, the ground wasn't too far below them, so when they landed, they were simply knocked unconscious

"What in Arceus's name?!" exclaimed one of the remaining grunts.

"Who in the world is DOING that?!" another grunt snapped.

"Probably another one of those kids that we didn't take into account!" a third grunt shouted in alarm.

"Fan out!" Jupiter ordered angrily. "Anyone who's still here and isn't in that force-field, I want them to be taken out!" She glared at Dawn. "Whoever your friend is, girlie, I'm afraid they aren't gonna be covered in our agreement. Glider Number 37, take her to the Rocket Frigate, at once!"

Responding to Jupiter's voice command, the hovercraft moved on its own once again, this time soaring higher into the air and taking the reluctant Dawn towards Team Galactic's gigantic metal airship above. With nowhere to go and nothing to do about it, Serena and the others watched her go helplessly.

"PIIIIIP-LUUUUUP!" Piplup squealed. He tried to go after his Trainer despite the force-field being in the way, forcing the empathetic Sylveon to hold him back with her feelers.

"Electivire," a familiar voice said calmly, "use Thunder again. Double time."

"Was that-?" began a groggy Zoey, recognizing the voice, but the Top Coordinator was soon cut off as a second Thunder appeared, striking more Team Galactic grunts, their Pokémon, and their hovercrafts.

"AAAGGGHHHHHH!" screeched some the grunts as they were shocked by the excessively powerful electricity and sent falling to the battlefield.

"Wh-Where is this guy?!" one unscathed grunt shouted.

"The Thunder came from over there!" another grunt called, pointing towards one of the entryways into the battlefield.

Serena and the others followed the direction of the grunt's finger and saw someone, a boy, approaching calmly, as if he was about to have a Gym battle. Walking by his side in a gait that almost resembled a predator was an Electivire, whose antennas began to spark with electricity. Serena didn't recognize the boy on sight.

He had dark-brown eyes and long, spiky purple hair that fell over his forehead. He also wore a long-sleeved, dark-purple sweater with a dark-red zipper, pocket, and cuffs; a black undershirt; light-purple jeans; and purple-and-dark-red-striped running shoes. His face bore a dark, unsettling brooding expression, and his gaze was intense, judgmental, and piercing, which brought an impulsive chill down Serena's spine. She had no idea why such a serious-looking boy, who didn't seem suited for, or even empathetic toward the Pokémon Contest venue, was in the Contest Hall in the first place and trying to intervene, apparently on her and Dawn's behalf.

Then, she heard Zoey's voice, filled to the brim with stunned awe and familiarity.

"Paul?"

"Who the hell are you?!" one of the remaining grunts barked. "And how the hell did you get past our perimeter?!"

"Perimeter?" the boy asked, his eyebrow arching as he momentarily looked over his right shoulder. Serena was stunned by how casual and yet so confused he sounded. "So that was a perimeter? If so, then I strongly recommend reevaluating your training methods if you want to call those pushovers back there part of your perimeter."

"You dare?!" another grunt snapped. Then, he glared at his Golbat. "Golbat, use-"

Paul closed his eyes, looking rather bored from the developments. "Electivire, use Thunder again. Don't hold back."

The Thunderbolt Pokémon nodded, then it unleashed a particularly large, powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body. The electricity hit many of the remaining grunts and their Pokémon, zapping them with relentless force. Eventually, their hovercrafts exploded, sending their soot-covered, unconscious bodies falling to the battlefield. With her numbers quickly dwindling in such an unanticipated manner, Jupiter gritted her teeth in anger and glared at her own Golbat.

"Golbat, use Supersonic again!" she ordered.

The Bat Pokémon quickly flew towards Paul and Electivire, but the two of them calmly waited for it to get close enough. Once it did, Paul swiped at the air with his arm.

"Use Thunder Punch, Electivire!" he commanded sternly. "Double time, let's go!"

Electivire propelled itself into the air with its feet. As it approached Golbat, both of its fists became enveloped in sparking yellow electricity. Golbat squawked in terror at its incoming opponent and tried to turn back, but Electivire cocked its left fist while hurling its right fist forward. It made contact with the Bat Pokémon, immediately sending it veering off-course and leaving behind a trail of crackling static electricity. Then, as gravity started to catch up, Electivire prepared to shoot its left fist forward.

"Damn!" Jupiter snapped in fury. Then, she procured a Poké Ball and held it out towards the plummeting Golbat. "Golbat, return!"

Golbat was recalled into the Poké Ball within a second, leaving Electivire to miss his follow-up attack. Once it landed back on the battlefield, the Thunderbolt Pokémon looked up at Jupiter and her remaining grunts, its eyes narrowed.

"Co-Commander Jupiter!" one of the grunts cried, his teeth chattering in pure terror. "W-Wh-Wh-What do we do?!"

"W-W-We're no match for them!" another grunt exclaimed.

"Our hovercraft wasn't designed for battle!" a third grunt warned. "One hit from Electivire's Electric attacks and we'll be joining our brethren, regardless of what our Pokémon do!"

"Agreed..." Jupiter snarled, her eyes narrowed at Paul and Electivire. Then, she hollered out to those who weren't within earshot, "Team Galactic, we've gotten what we came for! Now, we're making our leave!"

She slammed her palm down on a button on her waist before her hovercraft lifted off towards the Rocket Frigate, quickly followed by her grunts and their Pokémon. At the same time, jetpacks tore through the backs of the unconscious grunts, unfurling and activating themselves so their wearers could also be taken back to the Rocket Frigate. However, all of their defeated, unconscious Pokémon were left behind without as much as a protest.

"They're getting away!" Kenny cried.

"Ohhh, no they're not!" Serena growled. Then, she glared at Paul, who had his eyes closed and his hands in his pocket as Electivire landed back on the ground. "Hey! Hey, you! Get us outta here, please!"

"Relax," replied Paul. He opened his eyes and glanced across his shoulder at her, his lips curling into a soft but arrogant smirk. "Electivire, use Thunder Punch on that thing."

Electivire jumped high into the air, its right fist crackling with electricity again. Serena and the others winced, just as the Electric-type's fist collided with the cube that sat atop the force-field. It immediately triggered a small explosion, and like a dying computer, the force-field flickered into nothingness. The group shielded their eyes and noses from the billowing smoke with their forearms, and once it cleared away, they found Paul standing there, Electivire landing beside him.

"Paul!" Zoey cried, wincing as she stood up. "I didn't know you were here! What are you doing here?"

Paul gestured towards the grunts' unconscious Pokémon. "Training." His nasty smirk widened slightly at the others. "Plus, it looks like you weaklings needed some help."

"Aw gee, thanks..." an unhappy Ursula spat.

"We don't have time to play catch-up!" Serena cried in dismay. "Right now, we gotta get Dawn back and-"

Serena was immediately cut off by the sound of terrible, precarious creaking. Everyone looked upward and realized they were looking at the ceiling of the Contest Hall, which had literally been sawed off the building somehow. Then, the ceiling suddenly started to glow brighter and brighter by the second before exploding into a cloud of ashy particles so minuscule that they were blown away quickly by the breeze

As the breeze carried the ash away, the airship's underside was revealed to the Trainers. They all noticed metallic panels unfolding outward, revealing several cannons that were slowly emerging from the underside of the Rocket Frigate. All of the barrels automatically directed themselves at the Contest Hall, causing everyone's skins to pale except for Paul's.

"What the?!" Ursula cried. "H-Hold up! I thought they were gonna spare us!"

"And you believed them?" Paul asked flatly. Then, he glanced at Electivire. "Electivire, use Thunder."

Electivire nodded and quickly discharged a powerful bolt of electricity at the Rocket Frigate's cannons. However, as soon as it got close enough, the Electric attack abruptly struck a force-field similar to the one that imprisoned Serena and the others. Everyone watched as the impact energy harmlessly rippled through the force-field without affecting the gigantic airship itself.

Then, once the last of the impact energy died out, the group heard a humming noise that grew in volume by the second. Soon, this was followed by blue electricity crackling from the tips of the Rocket Frigate's cannons, which then coalesced into energy that gathered around the barrels.

"They're gonna fire on us!" Zoey shouted. "Glameow-"

She was cut off by the cannons discharging their lasers, which passed through the force-field with great ease. But before anyone could run or order their Pokémon to try and intercept the Rocket Frigate's retaliatory strikes, another voice spoke up, quickly catching everyone's attention.

"Energy Ball, Serperior. Send them a barrage as a gift."

Then, a barrage of Energy Balls appeared, one coming after the other, and intercepted all of the lasers. Within a matter of seconds, smoke blanketed the area between the battlefield and the Rocket Frigate.

"What the?!" Kenny exclaimed, looking around in surprise. "Where'd that Energy Ball come from? Who ordered it?!"

"That would be me," the voice replied with a certain degree of smugness.

Everyone turned towards the entryway Paul came from; Serena and the others in her group wore looks of surprise, while Paul himself looked somewhat miffed by the unexpected intervention. This annoyance on the purple-haired Trainer's part only spiked when he and the others saw who exactly ordered the Energy Ball.

It was a Trainer around their age, with a composed posture, dirty-blond hair, and pale-gray eyes that were just as deeply piercing and judgmental as Paul's eyes, if not more so. He wore an orange jacket, a charcoal-gray hoodie underneath, a light-purple undershirt, silver cargo pants, and dark-blue-and-white sneakers. Slithering beside him was a Pokémon that Serena recognized as Serperior; like his Trainer, he was composed in his movements and yet looked so proud of himself for the show of power.

"Who are you?" Zoey asked. "And what are you doing here?"

"The name's Trip," the Trainer replied, averting his gaze immediately so he could stare at the billowing smoke above him. "But it does not matter. What matters is that it looked like you guys needed some help."

TRIP

Paul pursed his lips with slight disapproval, but he didn't say a word in response. Instead, he too looked up at the cloud of smoke, just as it cleared away to reveal the Rocket Frigate. To everyone's surprise, it had just withdrawn its cannons back into its underside. As soon as it did, the Frigate's main engines, mounted at the stern, began firing off, allowing it to fly away from the wrecked Contest Hall, carrying with it Team Galactic's intended quarry.

"NO!" Serena screamed in horror.

"PIPLUP, PIP-LUUUP!" Piplup squawked loudly; he was still trying to go after Dawn, with Sylveon morosely holding him back with her feelers.

"They're leaving with her!" Kenny shouted. "We can't let that happen!" He glared at his Empoleon. "Empoleon! Use Hydro Cannon!"

"Garchomp, use Sandstorm!" Ursula ordered. "Plusle, Minun, both of you use Charge Beam!"

"Glameow, use Thunderbolt!" commanded Zoey.

"You too, Electivire," Paul said.

"Serperior, use Frenzy Plant," Trip said, just as calmly as Paul.

"Delphox, use Flamethrower!" yelled Serena. "Kirlia, try to reel that ship in with Psychic!"

Their Pokémon used their respective attacks, but all of them missed their marks. Serena and the others just watched as the Rocket Frigate soared off towards the horizon.

"We gotta go after them!" Zoey cried. She and Glameow were about to turn and run towards the exit when Paul grabbed her arm, stopping her. "HEY! Paul, what's the big idea?! We need to-"

But Paul closed his eyes and shook his head; no words were necessary to communicate the uselessness of a pursuit on foot. Defiantly, Zoey gritted her teeth and tried to break free from his grasp, but his grip around her arm tightened, and his strength was greater than her own. With nothing else to do about it, the redheaded Top Coordinator looked up and saw nothing but the blue, cloud-spotted sky.

"Dawn..." she whispered. Then, she screwed her teary eyes shut and hollered to the heavens, "DAAAAAWWWWWN!"

– An hour later –

Saturn sat on the lower level of the bunk-bed, perhaps the very first cushion that he could call comfortable ever since his escape from prison. He was no longer dressed in the Team Galactic attire that Team Rocket had graciously provided him, instead wearing pale-gray casual wear that would look rather ridiculous on him in the eyes of his inferior grunts. Looking down at the clothing, the blue-haired man realized that they reminded him of the clothes he wore in prison. It was as if Team Rocket (also the ones to provide him with such clothing) was giving him a tacit reminder that he'd still be behind bars if it weren't for them.

Saturn's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to stare down at his clothes. He clenched his hands into tight fists as he felt his entire being become filled with ambivalence, self-doubt, and above all else, hatred towards his situation. He knew he should be happy about making Dawn Berlitz, one of the meddling children who thwarted Team Galactic's original plan, squirm. He knew he should've been spending his minutes rejoicing at the pain he knew she must've felt.

And yet...

"Saturn?" a familiar voice asked. "Are you okay in there?"

The Commander looked up and saw Mars standing coolly in the doorway of the quarters he shared with her and Jupiter. She was dressed in her formal Team Galactic attire, just like before; her arms were crossed, and there was a tight frown etched upon her face. Saturn could sense what she was going to talk about from a mile away.

"Why aren't you dressed up, Saturn?" she asked. "Giovanni is expecting us to report to him in a few minutes."

Saturn blinked, then he swallowed up his deeper emotions and replied, "My sincerest apologies. I was just...caught up in my thoughts for a moment." He stood up. "I'll get on it right away..."

However, he didn't move, and Mars merely stood at the doorway, continuing to closely watch him. Finally, a bitter frown came upon the blue-haired man's face.

"What, Mars?" he asked dryly. "I do need my privacy, you know. Please, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"You know, Saturn," she replied, her voice tinged with suspicion, "it's been three months since our liberation from that... That Arceus-forsaken hellhole of a prison, and yet, all you've been doing that entire time is just sulking around like your Toxicroak. You haven't celebrated the occasion or anything, not even once. For Arceus's sake, I didn't even see you smile when we forced Dawn Berlitz to submit to our power. Very odd behavior, if you ask me-"

"If you're implying that I wholly prefer prison over liberation, then you're sadly mistaken, Mars. I am indeed thoroughly pleased in our freedom. I'm...just thinking..."

"Yeah." Mars scoffed mockingly. "Thinking about how untrustworthy the Syndicate truly is."

Saturn gnashed his teeth together. "We thought Cyrus was trustworthy when he confided to us about his grand vision of the New World Order. And look how that turned out, Mars. We wound up being...tools for his own selfish and egotistical ambitions, tools which he intended to discard once he was done with them. Like an old screwdriver! You've got no further use for the screwdriver when it breaks on you, do you?!" He crossed his arms. "And now we expect to trust Giovanni and his...his Team Rocket organization just as quickly?"

"They're our next opportunity to achieve the New World Order! We must seize this opportunity, for it is within our reach! We must!" She narrowed her eyes. "Unless you no longer believe in the-"

"I still believe in the New World Order!" shouted Saturn, startling his redheaded colleague. Then, he turned away on his heel and added in a vicious snarl, "Don't you dare judge me on that..."

Mars smirked. "Then hurry up and join us when we respond to Giovanni's summons. Do not keep him waiting, Saturn." She turned around and started walking away, but then stopped. "Oh, and Saturn? About your old screwdriver analogy... If you just glue the screwdriver back together, won't it become useful to its user again?"

A growl emanated from the man's mouth as he heard Mars walk away from the scene. Once he was sure the redheaded woman had left, he looked down at himself, examining his clothes once again. Every time he looked down at them, his head would wander back to his dark, dreary, cramped prison cell. To Saturn, it seemed as though nothing had changed. He was still a prisoner, left to suffer from the burden brought by the fallout of the crimes committed by Cyrus...

"And what happens when the glue on the screwdriver finally breaks?" Saturn thought. "What happens then, Mars? What happens then...?"

Jubilife City Contest Hall

"Good evening, everyone. We're reporting to you live from the Jubilife City Contest Hall."

Serena stood right in the middle of the Contest battlefield, scanning everything that was happening around her. She did so almost dumbly, as if it was all a waking dream and she was expecting herself to wake up at any moment.

Police officers, several cleanup crews, and their Pokémon were all around her, analyzing the crime scene and cleaning up the debris. Some of the officers were interviewing all of those who witnessed the incident in its entirety, Zoey, Paul, Trip, Kenny, and Ursula included. Other officers were taking the Pokémon Team Galactic abandoned into custody, using metal handcuffs and other types of restraints to keep them under control. Rhonda and her Sinnoh Now crew were standing off to the side, reporting on what had just occurred in Jubilife City.

But Serena was unable to register any of this. All five of her senses were dulled as she delved into her inner thoughts, as a sense of horror and defeat overwhelmed her.

"Dawn's gone... Dawn went with those Team Galactic goons, and now...now, she's gone... She's all gone, and I could've done something about it, but I didn't... I could've, but I didn't..."

"I-I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for her love and compassion..."

"Like my mom always told me, moms love their daughters, no matter what, so daughters should  always  return the favor."

"I...I  have  to do this, even if it jeopardizes my safety. My mom's loved me and taken care of me for so long, Serena. What else am I supposed to do?"

"I shouldn't have let her make that choice," Serena thought, her fists clenching. "I shouldn't have! I know she cared for her mother, but that wasn't her choice to make! It wasn't! I-I should've just kept on fighting and giving it my all, for her, for my friend! That's what friends do, right?! They give their all for one another?! But I...I didn't do any of that..."

Serena's vision soon became blurry, and her eyes felt heavy. "Instead, I was weak... I let this happen to Dawn... I was a horrible friend... I'm...I'm sorry, Ash!" The honey-blonde screwed her eyes shut, as tears dripped from them. "I couldn't make you proud. I couldn't become the person you'd want me to be. Instead, all I did was prove how much of a failure I was-"

"Phox?"

"Eon?"

"Lia?"

"Piplup?"

"Pancham, pancham!"

The five noises brought Serena back to reality, and she found herself staring at Delphox, Sylveon, Pancham, Kirlia, and...

"Piplup..." Serena whispered.

All five Pokémon were crowded around her, looking at her with concern. Even Piplup was no longer wearing the dismayed look he had been having for the past hour.

"O-Oh!" Serena quickly mustered a smile, though even she could tell it was faltering badly. "I'm...I'm okay, you guys. I-I really am."

But none of the five Pokémon were convinced, not even in the slightest. Soon, Delphox held out her arms and embraced her Trainer, followed by Pancham and Kirlia hugging Serena's right leg while Sylveon wrapped her feelers around her left leg and nuzzled her head against her shin. Upon feeling the affectionate touches of her Pokémon, Serena's true emotions broke free, especially at the sight of the lone Piplup.

"Oh, you guys!" she wailed quietly. "I'm sorry! I should've made you guys do something to help Dawn, b-but...b-but I..." She looked at Piplup in particular. "Piplup, I'm so sorry! I really am! I...I..."

Her voice trailed off, but no more words were necessary. Piplup's beady eyes softened and started to shimmer, before the Penguin Pokémon leaped into her arms and hugged her.

"Piplup, pip-LUUUP!" he squawked. Though Serena couldn't understand him, the apologetic tone of his voice was enough to convince her that the Penguin Pokémon forgave her.

"Phox," Delphox said serenely while nodding her head in approval.

"Eon," added Sylveon.

"Lia!" Kirlia cried as she tried to hold back her own tears.

"Pancham, pan-cham!" Pancham exclaimed encouragingly.

"Serena!" a voice called.

Serena and the five Pokémon broke apart, just in time to see Kenny approaching him, having just finished up his police interrogation. He was followed by Paul, Trip, Ursula, and a morose Zoey. Serena nodded at them, before the group chose to move towards the secluded hallway that led back to the dressing room.

"So, what do we do now?" Kenny asked, once the group entered the mouth of the hallway.

"Huh?" Ursula eyed the auburn-haired Coordinator suspiciously. "What do you mean 'What do we do now'?"

"Well, we gotta get Dawn back! Who knows what those Team Galactic goons are doing to her right now?! What they are planning on doing with her?!"

"We can't just leave her in their clutches while everyone else is still processing what just happened," Zoey added grimly.

"Uh, uh!" Ursula angrily shook her head, her twin pigtails bobbing to and fro. "No way! No way, José! Look, I only agreed to help you all out because Blondie here told me Dawn would get the better of those badly-dressed punks and take all of the credit for herself! I wasn't about to let that happen! But now that I know what exactly I'm going up against, then I'm definitely gonna sit this one out! Me and my Pokémon!"

"So all you cared about was snatching attention away from who I assume to be your rival?" Trip asked. Then, he closed his eyes and subtly shook his head in disapproval. "How pathetic..."

Ursula glared at Trip. "Hey, I heard that! And I don't know about you, but I know when someone's outmatched!"

"So you're saying we're outmatched here?" Serena asked.

"Now what would you call what happened in the past hour?!"

"It doesn't matter what happened," Zoey replied, her voice now filled with resolve. "We have to do something, because it is pretty clear that Officer Jenny and the other cops don't have any idea what they're dealing with."

Serena scanned the entire Contest battlefield and realized Zoey was right. The police officers were examining the smoky wreckage of the hovercrafts the Team Galactic grunts used, but they were at a complete loss in regards to the impressive technology before them.

"Zoey's right," the honey-blonde said. "They were not the ones who confronted Team Galactic. But we were. We have an idea on what we're going up against."

Ursula looked like her head was about to explode into flames. "Then why don't we just, I dunno, fill the cops in on what we saw? That is what I've been doing throughout my entire interrogation." She scowled and crossed her arms. "Don't tell me you guys were just busy talking about your fingers!"

"Hey, I told them everything that I saw!" Kenny snapped. "But honestly, I think I just scared the officer interviewing me."

"Same here," Zoey said grimly.

"Officer Jenny asked me a few questions," commented Serena. "Even she was rattled by my descriptions..."

Paul scoffed bitterly and closed his eyes in disappointment. "What a bunch of weaklings..."

"Darn right!" snapped Ursula. "All this proves is that we need to overhaul the entire darn Jubilife City Police Department!"

"Well, until then," Serena snarled, "we gotta use everything that we have at our disposal. If that doesn't include Officer Jenny and her fellow officers, then we might as well rely on ourselves and our Pokémon!"

"Yeah!" Kenny cried with a raised fist. "I'm in!"

"You're only in because you wanna-" Ursula began tauntingly, but she was suddenly silenced by a fiery look from Zoey.

"No one is forcing you to be of any help, Ursula," the Top Coordinator hissed, her voice as menacing as a Seviper. "So, if you want to get out of here and go on your day, then be. My. GUEST. But I'm gonna make one thing crystal-clear: you do NOT question or badmouth any of our intentions in helping Dawn. I don't know what it is about her that's riled you up so much, but if you have any decorum in you as a Coordinator, any decency as a human being, then you're gonna show us a little more respect. Capieche?"

Ursula didn't respond. Instead, she looked as if she had shrunken by a couple of inches, while her Pokémon simply didn't do anything about their Trainer's dilemma. Serena couldn't help but beam in pride at Zoey for forcing such an ungrateful girl into submission. Even Paul and Trip looked slightly off-put by how silently enraged the redheaded girl had been.

"C-Capieche..." Ursula squeaked meekly.

"Good." Zoey glanced at Serena. "Now then, since we're in agreement, how do you suggest we go after them? You saw how quickly that ship of theirs flew off."

"Well, one thing's for sure," Paul replied, his eyes closed. "There's no way a ship as big as that can be accepted into any airport in the world. Even the largest of airliners pale in comparison."

"And there's no way a ship that big can escape detection all day long," added Trip. "We should watch the news channels and see if they've got any reports of strange sightings."

"Good point!" Kenny cried.

"Let's head to the dressing room," Serena replied, gesturing towards the doorway. "Some of the TVs still work."

With their next course of action agreed on, the group headed towards the aforementioned room. Indeed, as soon as they entered, they found some of the TVs still on. Serena approached the nearest active one, which was now airing Rhonda's breaking news report.

"That was the latest from Officer Jenny on the incident at the Jubilife City Contest Hall. Initial reports of, uh,  several  people kidnapped from the area were confirmed to be false, but she  did  confirm that a Coordinator has been taken-"

"I can't listen to any more of that..." Kenny said morosely. "I can't..."

"Kirlia, use Psychic to change the channel," Serena instructed. "We'll tell you to stop if we see something useful."

"Kirlia." The Emotion Pokémon nodded before raising her hands, her pink eyes glowing. "Kiiiiirliaaaaa..."

Soon, the TV set began to scroll through its channels on its own. It was one news channel after another, reporting on the recent events in Jubilife City, with some reports mentioning the Motostoke Stadium incident as well. Kirlia didn't stay on one channel for too long; it would only spend a few seconds listening to the reporter's first few words before switching to the next channel. This transpired for about a minute, with Serena and the others closely analyzing the news channels for any new developments on the Rocket Frigate's current whereabouts.

"This is an unprecedented moment in the history of Jubilife City and, quite frankly, all of Sinnoh-"

"-We must stop wondering whether the Sinnoh and Galar incidents are related and-"

"-I am, quite honestly, worried about what this might mean for the Pokémon battling sport."

"To tell you the truth, Mary, this is something that authorities should've been prepared for-"

"-I can't even  begin  to imagine how the governments of Sinnoh and Galar-"

"-This wouldn't have happened had all these nonbelievers turned away from Arceus!"

"We have breaking news on the location of the-"

"-Can't even-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Zoey cried, holding out a hand towards Kirlia. "Kirlia, go back to that last channel!"

"Kirlia!" the Emotion Pokémon replied. Then, she used her Psychic to return to the channel she had just been on.

To the immense relief of Serena and the others, there was a live broadcast of the Rocket Frigate flying over a vast forest.

"There's that ship," Paul said.

Meanwhile, Serena read the caption. "Airship seen in Jubilife City now over..." She blinked in confusion. "Eterna City?"

"E...Eterna City?" Ursula asked incredulously.

Serena glanced at the peach-haired Coordinator. "Yeah... You know that place?"

"Yeah..." Horror now started to fill Ursula's face as she kept her eyes glued to the screen. "It's my hometown..."

"Then you know the fastest route there," Paul said firmly. "T-"

"Take us there," Trip said, cutting Paul off and earning an irritated glance from the purple-haired boy.

Finally, Ursula looked away from the screen and stared at the others in disbelief. "T-Ta-Take you there?! I-It's not like it's just a f-five-minute walk! You gotta go north and take Route 204, then pass right through Floaroma Town, and then you go right and take Route 205 all the way to Eterna!"

"That doesn't sound so bad," Serena remarked.

"Not so bad?!" Ursula glared at the honey-blonde incredulously. "It's gonna take you two, maybe three days to make the entire journey! That weird ship of theirs has had a head-start on us for an hour, and who knows how long it's gonna stay over that area?!"

"Well, we'll never know unless we try!" Serena raised a clenched fist. "Never give up till the end is what I always say!"

"Ursula's got a point, though," Kenny replied with a grim voice. "We've got quite a ways to go to get to Eterna. Plus, who knows what wild Pokémon we're gonna encounter on Routes 204 and 205?"

"It doesn't matter," Paul replied while closing his eyes. "I've traveled through that area before, and all the Pokémon living there are pushovers. My Pokémon and I can crush about a hundred of them in one day, easy."

"And my Pokémon can pummel two hundred to the ground per day without breaking a sweat," Trip added with pride.

Paul opened one eye and glared at Trip, his irritation more evident than ever. "You don't seem like the type who has been through these lands before. Plus, my Pokémon can defeat over three hundred wild Pokémon a day if they have to."

Trip glared at Paul as well, looking slightly perturbed by the claim. "Well, my Pokémon can defeat-"

"Oh, my frigging Arceus!" Zoey cried shrilly. "I can't believe I'm hearing this coming from you two! Can you two just drop it and focus on what's really important?! Or are you just gonna keep bickering about such a silly thing like children?!"

Paul and Trip stared at the redhead for a moment, then at each other. For a brief moment, Serena thought that the two Trainers would lash at each other's throats. Fortunately, they merely scowled at one another and looked away.

Zoey let out a loud sigh of relief. "Good! Now, there's gotta be a faster way to get from here to Eterna City!"

"Ursula," Kenny said, "are you sure there aren't any other routes that you can think of that'll get us to Eterna in about a few minutes?"

"Trust me," Ursula replied with a disappointed frown, "if I knew of such a route, then I wouldn't have said it wasn't like a five-minute walk, now would I?"

"That's not good enough!" exclaimed Serena. "Who knows what those guys are doing to Dawn now?! Her only hope is for us to reach her in less than five minutes!"

"Piplup, pip-pip-pip-piplup!" Piplup chirped frantically in agreement.

"Phox!" Delphox barked softly.

"Eon!" crooned Sylveon.

"Well," Ursula replied sardonically, "unless you've got a private plane, Blondie, then we're out of luck."

At that moment, Paul's eyes lit up slightly. "Hold on. Those...Those things the men were riding."

"You mean those hovering things?" Serena asked, immediately remembering the grunts' hovercraft.

"Yes. Surely they could suffice for quick and efficient transportation. They didn't look too difficult to navigate."

"But you shot them all down, remember?" asked Kenny.

"Not all of them..." Paul's forehead became wrinkled as he recalled his one-sided battle with Team Galactic. "I can recall Electivire's Thunder disabling some of them, but not destroying them outright."

"Well, let's go check them out!" Zoey exclaimed. "I still saw them lying on the battlefield!"

"But...aren't those gonna be taken in as evidence by the police?" Ursula asked.

"Perhaps, but the cops are clearly outmatched by those guys. And if they won't be of any help, we have to take matters into our own hands!"

Ursula's eyes widened with shock. "E-Even if it means getting arrested?"

Zoey stared at the TV determinedly. "If it also means getting Dawn back, then yes."

With the unspoken consensus being reached, the rest of the group left the dressing room, leaving Ursula and all three of her Pokémon behind for a moment. Fortunately, Serena heard the ghost of the peach-haired girl's exasperated muttering before she stormed after them.

Once they reentered the battlefield, they set their sights on the fallen hovercraft devices. By that point, the officers had gathered most of them in one small area in the corner, which conveniently remained unguarded. Serena glanced at the people present on the battlefield; they were all busy talking amongst one another or analyzing the crime scene.

"Alright, no one's looking," she said. "Now's our chance."

They all walked over to the corner of the battlefield and examined the hovercrafts. They all seemed to be a mix between a scooter and an aerial drone, retaining the dashboard and handles of a scooter whilst also possessing small wings and a miniature propulsion engine at the other end. Indeed, some of them were blackened and in pieces just as Paul described. However, others were in various states of preservation, with some even looking as if they hadn't been damaged at all.

"Looks like they're all big enough to fit only one person and one Pokémon, max," Zoey commented as she lifted one such hovercraft off of its side.

"One light Pokémon at that," Kenny replied, his brow furrowed as he took and examined his own. "Now if we get some of these running, then we may have to call some of our Pokémon back."

"Right."

Meanwhile, Serena and Piplup both spotted a smaller pile lying next to the hovercrafts. She approached it and realized it consisted of the same black, metal boots that Dawn was forced to step into when she boarded her hovercraft.

"H-Hey, you guys?" she asked, picking up a pair and showing it to the others. "Remember when that woman made Dawn wear these things?"

"Yeah, that was peculiar," Zoey replied.

"Totally not the fashion of the day..." Ursula commented in disgust.

"What do you think they're for?" asked Kenny.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Everyone turned towards Trip as he stepped forward while dragging a hovercraft with him. They saw that it had the boots attached to them and were surprised to hear a soft but ominous humming noise coming from the small aerial vehicle.

"These boots have to be attached to this thing for it to activate," Trip continued, sounding as if this was already common knowledge. "See the foot-shaped impressions?"

Zoey looked at her hovercraft and realized there were, indeed, two depressed areas, right on the place where one had to stand on. Unlike much of the hovercraft, these depressions were colored red, and they were also just as big as the metal boots.

"I see them," she said.

"They're magnets, essentially," replied Trip. "To keep the pilot secured to this thing while also keeping the engine on."

"Well, seems like those magnets weren't especially strong," Paul remarked with a smirk, "since Electivire's Thunder was more than enough to knock them off."

Trip shot Paul a scathing look in response. "Regardless, we should put some of these...boot things on, step onto these air vehicle things, and put that theory to the test."

"If that's what Trip had to do," Serena replied, "then let's do it. We don't have anymore time to waste."

With that, Trip stepped onto the hovercraft he brought along and slotted his feet into the black metal boots. Just as they did with Dawn, the boots automatically latched themselves onto his legs, limiting his movement. Meanwhile, the others recalled their Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, took the most intact hovercraft vehicles they could, retrieved a pair of boots of their own, and placed them into the foot-shaped impressions. To everyone's relief, most of the engines activated themselves, one by one, with the sole exception of...

"Oh, Arceus frigging..." Ursula muttered upon hearing the comical sputtering noise coming from the hovercraft she took, while Plusle and Minun giggled to themselves.

"Get another one, Ursula, hurry!" wheezed Serena.

"Okay, okay! Jeez, you don't have to get yourself winded up just because we have these weird gizmos!"

Ursula then knocked over her hovercraft in a fit of annoyance, only for it to make a loud crashing noise upon hitting the ground.

"HEY!"

Serena's, Zoey's, and Kenny's skins crawled upon hearing the voice of Officer Jenny.

"Hey, you! What do you kids think you're doing?!"

As Ursula hurriedly got herself another hovercraft, Serena looked towards Officer Jenny, who was approaching her group while being flanked by some of her fellow officers and a pack of Growlithe led by an Arcanine.

"Those are evidence!" the policewoman barked angrily.

"No, these are the things that'll help us get back our friend!" Zoey protested.

"I understand your pain, kids, but the longer you stay on those...those things, the more trouble you'll get into! I demand that you get off of those this instant, before you contaminate anything any further!"

"I've got one that works, guys!" Ursula cried as soon as she stepped onto her new hovercraft. "Let's get outta here! I do NOT wanna go to jail!"

"You kids are not going anywhere!" Officer Jenny snapped, while her Arcanine growled at them. "Now, I don't know how you managed to get those things working, but I am ordering you to get off those this instant!"

"Officer Jenny!" Serena pleaded. "We know where that ship is, and our friend is somewhere inside it! Please, you've gotta allow us to get her back!"

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup squawked in agreement from the dashboard of Serena's hovercraft.

But the policewoman shook her head in concern. "No! No, I'm not about to let a bunch of kids like you go up against..." She hitched her breath. "Whoever those guys are!"

"You're free to stop us all you want, lady," Paul said, his dark eyes narrowed as his hovercraft lifted off into the air. "But I am afraid you're gonna have to shoot us down."

Before anyone else could stop him, Paul was already hovering out of the Contest Hall with his slightly sputtering aircraft, ready to soar off after the Rocket Frigate. Trip narrowed his eyes at the purple-haired boy and quickly followed after him, leaving behind a befuddled Officer Jenny and a group of perplexed, overwhelmed policemen and women. Upon realizing the authorities weren't going to budge an inch to stop them, Serena, Zoey, Kenny, and Ursula lifted off as well.

"Officer Jenny!" Serena called as she continued her ascent. "The ship is near Eterna City! You can tell the Officer Jenny at Eterna what's happening, but we're going after it, and we're saving our friend!"

Officer Jenny opened her mouth, and the honey-blonde could tell she wanted to yell another order at them, instruct them to stop what they were doing or face the consequences. But at that point, everyone in the police department still looked rattled and unnerved by the earlier, unprecedented attack, and the motivation just wasn't there anymore.

Serena's suspicions were confirmed when Officer Jenny closed her mouth, sighed softly, and then called out, "You kids be careful! I'm calling my relative at Eterna City, and I cannot guarantee her going easy on you if she finds any of you alive! She's not gonna hold back like I did! You hear me?!"

"We got it!" Zoey replied.

"Thank you, Officer Jenny!" called a relieved Serena. Then, she looked upward as Kenny and Ursula, who had ascended faster than her and Zoey, waited for the two of them; Paul and Trip apparently had gone on ahead. "You guys ready?!"

"Yeah!" Kenny exclaimed. "Ready to save Dawn and kick some Team Galactic butt!"

"Hurry up!" Ursula snapped. "Let's get this over with! We still have Pokémon Contests to compete in, after all!"

Once Serena and Zoey reached the same heights as Kenny and Ursula, the quartet directed their hovercrafts to face the direction Paul and Trip had gone off to. Serena promptly looked down at Piplup, who was staring ahead expectantly.

"You ready, Piplup?" she asked.

"Pip-LUP!" the Penguin Pokémon cried triumphantly.

"Alright, then!" Serena focused ahead as well. "Let's get going!"

The four Coordinators, relying on the directions on their dashboards, carefully sped the hovercrafts forward. Soon, they were soaring through the skies of Jubilife City and towards the outskirts where Paul and Trip were. Piplup held on tight to Serena's dashboard while the honey-blonde narrowed her eyes and held on to her tam o' shanter, making sure it would not get blown off her head by the wind.

And as Serena followed Zoey, Kenny, and Ursula, as the quartet raced to catch up with Paul and Trip, one thought quickly crossed her mind.

"Don't worry, Dawn! We're coming for you! We won't let you down again, I promise!"

Down in the streets below, Reggie was among the civilians watching the massive TV situated on the side of the Pokétch Company Headquarters. It was currently broadcasting a live news report chronicling the events of the past hour or so. As the news anchor discussed the increasingly likely connection between the incident at the Contest Hall and the events at Galar's Motostoke Stadium, Reggie and several others overheard a loud whooshing sound.

Looking upward, Reggie and the other civilians saw several strange-looking hovercraft devices passing right over them, hovercrafts that looked a lot like the ones ridden by the criminals known as Team Galactic. Many civilians began to panic, believing the city was being subjected to a follow-up attack.

However, Reggie was the only one not to react adversely to the sight, for he immediately recognized the clothing of the pilot in the lead of this group. And then, one brief glimpse of the pilot's hair was all that the Pokémon Breeder needed to confirm his identity.

"Paul?" he asked incredulously.

Uneasiness began to creep into Reggie as he pushed his way through the crowd, hoping to find an accessible method of transportation that he could make easy use of.

Rocket Frigate, Eterna City

"Hey! Hey, let us outta here, right NOW!"

"Shut up, little girl."

Dawn glared hatefully at the two Team Galactic grunts stationed at the door of her cell. They did not stare back, instead standing tall and firm with their Drapion and Machamp as they monitored any suspicious movement in the perpendicular hallway. Not that there was anything to monitor in the first place, for all of the other cells in her block were completely unoccupied.

It was just her and her mother.

"Dawn... Dawn, sweetie..."

Dawn turned towards the other corner of the cell, where she found Johanna sitting against it. She was holding her knees and using them to hide her face in shame. In that moment, she didn't look like the respectable Coordinator Dawn looked up to for all those years; instead, she looked like a child who was in timeout.

"I'm...I'm so, so sorry for putting you in this situation..." Johanna said, struggling to hold back her tears of grief.

"No, Mom!" replied Dawn. She ran over to her mother and crouched beside her, her expression one of consolation. "It is not your fault that we're in this mess. They were...They were torturing you, making you say all these things. I know that deep down, you didn't want me to do what they said. You had no say in this matter. But I willingly went with them 'cause I knew what they were going to do to you if I didn't agree to their terms. And I...I couldn't lose you, Mom! I-I couldn't!"

"Oh, sweetie..." Johanna raised her face, revealing her wet, red eyes and slightly puffy cheeks. She held out a hand and gently caressed her daughter's right cheek. "You shouldn't be so dependent on me all the time. I'm not gonna be around forever, you know."

Dawn placed a hand on Johanna's, relishing in the feeling of her mother's hand. "I know. But I am not gonna lose you in this manner. Not before I grow up to become the Coordinator that you could always be proud of!"

Johanna smiled, her blue eyes shimmering with happiness. "But Dawn, I am proud of you! I always have been. You...You don't have to keep improving yourself as a Coordinator, or chase after some self-made ideal of what a Coordinator must be, in order to make me proud." She clambered closer to Dawn and wrapped her arms around her in a tight and loving embrace. "I'm so, so, so proud of the young woman you've become, Dawn. Don't you ever, ever forget that."

Dawn's lip quivered, and she reciprocated the hug, all the while basking in her beloved mother's praise.

"I won't, Mom," she whispered. "Thank you. Th-Thank you so much..." She nuzzled her cheek against her mother's warm shoulder. "For everything you've done for me..."

The mother and daughter remained in that familial embrace for some time, unknown to anyone but Arceus. Then, after a while, a dark, jeering voice pierced through the gentle, maternal atmosphere of the cold, cramped cell.

"Isn't that sweet?"

Dawn and Johanna broke away and glared at the doorway to their cell. Standing there, staring through the bars of steel, was Jupiter, her smirk just as wide and triumphant as ever. Outraged by the smirk, Dawn shot up on her feet, marched over to the door, grabbed the cold bars, and almost slammed her face against them as she tried to glower at the purple-haired Commander, face-to-face.

"You've got what you wanted!" the girl snapped. "You have me all locked up in here! I did everything that you asked for! I handed myself over to you guys without a fight!"

"So?" Jupiter asked.

"So?" Dawn's grip on the bars tightened. "Let my mom GO! She's of no more use to you!"

Jupiter's eyes brightened up. "Ohhh, but she is!"

"What?!"

"From now on, she'll serve as our bargaining chip."

"But..." Dawn gritted her teeth in outrage. "But you promised-"

"I did not promise to let your mom go if you surrendered to us, girlie," Jupiter interrupted. "I only promised that I would not lay a finger on her. And believe me, that arrangement is still on the table as long as you follow our instructions to the last letter."

Dawn growled in anger, but she released her grip on the bars. "Fine. So tell me, what is it that you want me to do?"

"All will be revealed in due time, my dear." Jupiter's eye twinkled. "For now, you need to keep your trust and faith in us."

"I'll only do that when Tepig start flying," the blue-haired girl spat angrily. "You know, if my Piplup were here, I'd see to it that he douse you in Bubble Beam, just to show you what I think about putting my truth and faith in you people!"

Jupiter merely let out an amused chuckle. "My, my, my. You got a lot of spirit in you, girl. It's almost admirable, if it were not for the fact that you and your friends defeated me and my colleagues all those years ago."

"You've been defeated before, so that means you can be defeated again." Dawn smirked at her. "So I wouldn't sound so high and mighty if I were you."

"So the Rattata has faith in getting out of the maze. How adorable..." She stepped aside, just as a Team Galactic grunt stepped forward, holding a couple of trays holding food. "Anyway, I strongly suggest that you and your mother take the food we're offering you. And don't worry. It's not drugged or poisoned in any way."

The purple-haired woman then nodded at the grunt, who proceeded to slide both trays through the narrow gap between the cell door and the floor. Dawn cautiously examined both trays; they each held identical servings of salad, juice, and a mix of Berries, as well as a plastic fork and spoon.

"Eat up now," the grunt said. "You'll need your strength for later."

Johanna impulsively crawled towards the tray, grabbing the plastic fork and spoon and using it to eat some of the salad. As for Dawn, she looked up at Jupiter and the grunts and glowered angrily at them, her teeth gnashed together.

International Police, Precinct A-1 Headquarters
UNKNOWN LOCATION

"Look, I really think the kid's right about this!"

"Agent Looker, I don't wanna hear about this anymore."

Looker stood firmly before the General Assembly of the International Police inside the cramped space of a small meeting room, a paper in his hands. Charlotte Durant was seated at the head of the oblong table, a small pile of additional papers before her. However, her cold eyes weren't focused on that; instead, they stared down the agent fiercely, though Looker was undaunted.

"Madam President," pleaded Looker, "you must listen. As I'm sure you can tell, we're running out of time!"

"Don't remind me about the highly limited amount of time that we have to crack down on this, Agent Looker," Charlotte replied sternly. "But I must say, do you honestly expect us to believe that you managed to assemble all this information that you have before us on your spare time? That the Hoenn region has a new organized crime problem of its own? That Teams Aqua and Magma, officially declared to be disbanded, have made a resurgence in activity, despite the fact that the G-Men froze all the assets of their leaders Archie and Maxie?"

"I-I know this all sounds implausible, but I can assure you, Madam President-"

"You do not have to assure us of anything, Agent Looker, for there is nothing substantial that you can assure us of." The woman's scowl became slightly more pronounced, bringing a chill down Looker's spine. "Now...what makes you so sure that your findings constitute a viable lead in this recent string of incidents?"

"I..." Looker struggled to think of a lie. "I remembered what our Kalos counterparts informed us, a-about a jailbreak with the exact same M.O., targeting the prison holding the remaining members of the Team Flare organization. And since we have positively identified Team Rocket as the perpetrators of that jailbreak, I had a-a hunch that th-there might be other organizations out there th-that Team Rocket may have recruited, right under our noses. So I-"

"So...you used the Pokémon Criminal Registry to track two years' worth of organized crime activity in Hoenn. Suspected organized crime activity. In a region rather notorious for its subpar handling of its annual PCR reports in recent decades. In spite of the fact that Team Rocket was clearly targeting incarcerated members of disbanded criminal organizations for recruitment, not members of active criminal organizations."

Looker scoffed softly. "I'm a dedicated agent following a hunch. It's part of the job description."

"Even the most dedicated agents don't just compile such thorough reports on something that has yet to be corroborated by the local authorities...by our field agents. And hunches aren't enough to give one investigation or another substance for consideration." Charlotte briefly eyed the paper in Looker's hands, her pupils darkening in suspicion. "Who provided you with this so-called information?"

"W-Who? N-No one. I told you, Madam President. I-I can assure you, I-I wrote this report, a-all on my own!"

"Agent Looker, if you are lying to me, if someone did help you with this-"

"But no one HELPED me!"

"Agent Looker, did you just interrupt me?"

Looker's skin paled, and he bowed apologetically. "I did, Madam President. I'm sincerely sorry, Madam President."

Charlotte pursed her lips disapprovingly. "You should be lucky you have a stellar track record, Agent Looker, otherwise I would've demoted you back to a D-rank agent on the spot. After all, your personal conduct on the job leaves a lot to be desired. There is a lot of precedent for the potential of your demotion."

The agent's eyes narrowed as he remembered something. Meanwhile, Charlotte swiveled her chair around, the back now facing Looker. After some brief consideration, she spoke again.

"Very well, then. Regardless of the vague and speculative nature of your lead, it's better than no lead at all. And there is no doubt that these attacks will stop at Motostoke Stadium and Jubilife City. Agent Looker, I hereby order you to gather more intel on your findings. Head to Hoenn and investigate this alleged crime activity at once."

Looker couldn't take it anymore. He looked back up at the General Assembly, specifically Charlotte.

"Before I go, Madam President," he replied through clenched teeth, "there's one more thing I want to discuss with you."

Charlotte turned back around to face him. "There's nothing else to talk about, Agent Looker. You are dis-"

"No. I want to ask you this, and I want to ask now." Looker clenched his fists. "Why didn't you inform me of the escapes of Teams Galactic and Plasma?"

Charlotte blinked slowly. "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't give me that Tauros-crap!" Looker slammed the paper down on the table, startling several, although Charlotte was the only one who remained calm. "Why was I not alerted to the jailbreak in advance, all those months ago?! I... I never heard so much as a peep before then!" He angrily slammed his trembling hands upon the table's mahogany surface and leaned forward ominously. "D'you remember exactly who was responsible for putting them behind bars in the first place? Do you?!"

"We did remember, Agent Looker," Charlotte replied calmly, her face still wrinkled. "It was you."

"Then why not tell me first, before all of the other agents? As the primary agent assigned to their cases, I should've had early access to any and all developments on their activities in prison. Anything new on them, anything whatsoever-" He jabbed a thumb at himself. "I should've been one of the first to know, if not the first! Madam President, I should've been up there with you during that briefing, sharing all of the basics of what I learned from my investigations.

"Instead, you...you treat me like a regular agent and brief me on the Sevii Prison incident at the same time as everyone else! And all of us know damn well that that is not how the chain of command goes! So tell me, why keep me in the dark about a thing like that?!"

Charlotte remained silent for a moment, and she spent that time regarding Looker with a wrinkled face of displeasure. A white-hot fire of anger and exasperation at the president's stonewalling bloomed within the agent, and he began to grind his fingernails against the table's surface, creating a bloodcurdling noise.

Finally, the woman replied, "Because we removed you from those cases."

Looker raised an eyebrow in stunned horror. "I...I beg your pardon?"

"You heard us, agent." Charlotte clasped her hands together. "Your status as the primary investigator had been revoked for both the Team Galactic and Team Plasma cases."

It took all of the effort Looker could muster to control his spiking fury. "Since when?"

"Two weeks after your arrests of Ghetsis and his followers."

"What?!" This time, Looker totally lost it, and he slammed his clenched right fist on the table, startling some of the other General Assembly members. "And why the HELL wasn't I given a Yellow Notice for either decision?!"

"Because we're all aware of your...off-the-record methods."

"Wh-What? What're you implying, Madam President?"

"Do not insinuate that I would imply anything. I am not a fan of such talk."

"Then don't be vague on me! I want an answer, NOW!"

Charlotte exhaled and separated her clasped hands. "Alright, then. I'll be blunt with you, Agent Looker, as you requested. We at the General Assembly could not trust you to completely follow the letter of the law. We haven't for some time. And we had a suspicion that you would be...vocal about your disapproval, at the very least."

"Damn right, I'd be vocal! But perhaps less so had you informed me of your decision at the right time!"

"Certain circumstances have convinced us that you would perhaps be more than simply vocal." Her explanation was met with nods and murmurs of agreement from the other General Assembly members. "Therefore, we thought it'd be in the International Police's best interests if you were kept in the dark about the revocation."

"Why?! Why wouldn't you have trusted me on these cases?! I know Teams Galactic and Plasma better than anyone else! I would've provided effective consultation on the manhunt!"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "You know Teams Galactic and Plasma better than anyone else, you say?"

"Yes, correct!"

"Well, if we can recall from these old reports..." She reached towards the small pile of papers before her and pulled out a file. "You voluntarily allowed innocent bystanders to get involved."

"I never said that in any of my reports," snarled Looker.

"Well, the reports from the Localized Law Enforcement Association told us otherwise."

Charlotte opened the file and displayed its contents to Looker, whose eyes widened at the sight. It bore the familiar logo of the Localized Law Enforcement Association, the organization overseeing all local police departments, particularly the ones headed by the famous and expansive Jenny family. Even moreso, the front paper bore the identification photos of five Trainers.

Ash, Dawn, Brock, Iris, and Cilan.

"The reports said that several people, including children, were caught up in your investigations."

"Civilians get caught up all the time as innocent bystanders." Looker narrowed his eyes. "It's an unfortunate by-product of the job, but it happens. Fortunately, they're useful as witnesses to the investigation."

"Yet the reports say these civilians were more than just witnesses."

"I...I don't understand, Madam President."

Charlotte narrowed her eyes into slits. "You allowed them to assist you, Agent. That is a serious breach in International Police policy. Keeping civilians clear of the investigation itself is one of the topmost priorities for any and all International Police agents. Surely you must've known that, Agent Looker?"

"Those kids..." Looker paused, as his memories of Ash, Dawn, Brock, Iris, Cilan, and all of their assistance came flooding back to him. "They were an exception-"

"There are no exceptions in the rules, Agent," interrupted a stern-faced Charlotte. "In fact, such actions were committed not once, but twice. Both times, you did not mention these transgressions in your reports." She promptly closed the file. "Need I remind you that these violations are punishable with removal of badge and status?"

Looker flinched subtly. "Yes... I'm aware..."

"You are fortunate that your high rank in the International Police affords you a three-strikes immunity. But your failure to mention the involvement of civilians after the fact twice in a row, as required by agency standards, gives us great pause. If it were up to me, you would've been terminated from the International Police as soon as this came to our attention."

"I..." Looker bowed his head apologetically. "I understand, Madam President."

"The only reason the General Assembly decided to refrain from making such a decision, Agent Looker, was because you have already contributed so much for the International Police."

Looker raised his head, surprised.

"But..." Charlotte placed the file back down on the table. "The General Assembly has recently decided that if you involve civilians in your investigation for a third time, your badge and status will be revoked immediately. It doesn't matter if you document the violation in your report afterwards. You're on a tightrope, Agent, so I suggest treading very carefully from now on. Do you understand?"

Looker blinked, reflecting on Charlotte's warning. Then, with extreme reluctance, he nodded.

"Understood, Madam President."

"Good. Now then..." Charlotte turned around in her chair again. "Go catch the first flight to Hoenn. Investigate your lead. And don't make me regret giving your report more consideration than it should've gotten. The International Police cannot afford to follow false leads."

Looker bowed again, his teeth gritted. "Understood, Madam President. It will be done."

Chapter 4:
PEARL

Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon.  If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away. Upon hearing its eerie howls, other Pokémon get the shivers and head straight back to their nests.

urwzxtaraf,bjdbmvcgagwewexgqaplwatdqqbasr.

Next Time:

Lillie: There are a lot of bad people out there, and if you get separated from us, some of those bad people might just get you...

Lusamine: It's been week after week after week, and yet whenever we're so close, he's always so far away somehow...

Brock: So, how're you enjoying the sights and sounds of Viridian City?

Misty: What's that?

Gladion: SIS! Behind you!

Proton: We've been looking for you...

Magearna: *terrified robotic squealing*

Looker: Remember, they cannot know that it was you who wrote up that report.

SNOW

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Trip, Reggie, Johanna

-Team 3 (Kanto): Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

Viridian City
KANTO REGION

On the sidewalks of Viridian City, the eyes of many pedestrians were drawn towards the strange, dusty-looking Pokémon. It was mostly made of spheres, with the largest one taking up much of its lower body and almost resembling a medieval ball gown, and its head was encapsulated at the sides by a large gear. Everything about its body was a faded silver, with the only colored parts of its body being its hot-pink eyes and the circular depression in the middle of its chest, which was light-blue on the right side and pink on the left.

This Pokémon gently walked down the streets with its two stubby, pointed legs, its gait reminiscent of a princess taught to do nothing more than demonstrate archetypal feminine qualities. However, in spite of its apparently proper manners, the Pokémon was also looking around, its robotic face nevertheless exhibiting traits of childlike curiosity.

Just then, the spherical Pokémon, caught up in her observations of her surroundings, bumped into a Growlithe. In an act of stunned surprise, the Puppy Pokémon twirled around with a yip, attracting the other Pokémon's attention. Upon seeing the strange, unfamiliar Pokémon, the Growlithe bared its teeth and growled menacingly at the newcomer, prompting it to let out a metallic squeak of fear.

"Magearna!" a voice called.

Prompted by the call and the voice's warm, comforting familiarity, the Pokémon ran, as fast as its stilted, awkward pace could possibly take it, towards a young girl who had just emerged from the crowd of pedestrians. She sported platinum-blonde hair with braids tied to the back of her head and green eyes, and she wore a white vintage dress with light-blue accents, a light-green ribbon tied around her waist, and a pair of white gloves with spiky cuffs. She also wore a silk hat with a light-blue ribbon and a white lily that was fastened to the knot of the bow. Wrapped around her left wrist was a Z-Ring, and trotting beside her was an Alolan Vulpix.

"Magearna!" the girl cried again, her voice brimming with relief. "Ohhhhh, you had me worried sick, Magearna!"

"Vul!" the Alolan Vulpix barked in relief.

LILLIE

"You can't just wander around li-" Just then, the Pokémon hid behind Lillie's legs, and she could feel its metallic frame as it shivered. "Huh? Magearna? What's wrong?"

Then, she followed Magearna's terrified eyes to the Growlithe, which was still growling at her direction. At that moment, Growlithe's female Trainer, who had been distracted by some fancy clothes on display at a boutique's storefront window, finally overheard her Puppy Pokémon and looked down at it, then at Lillie and Magearna.

"Oh!" the Trainer exclaimed, quickly putting two and two together. "Oh, I-I'm so sorry! Are...Are those your Pokémon?"

"Y-Yeah..." Lillie replied hesitantly.

"Awwwww, both of them look so cute! Oh, but I guess the other one's not too comfortable around strangers." Then, she looked at Growlithe, who was still staring down the terrified Magearna. "Flame! Behave now." The Trainer's bark caught Growlithe's attention, and it immediately, loyally quieted down. "Good boy."

Lillie beamed slightly with relief. "Th-Thank you for that."

"Ah, my pleasure!" Then, the Trainer scanned the platinum-blonde girl from head to toe. "You're not from around here, I assume?"

"Yeah..."

"I see! Here to see the sights and sounds of Viridian City?"

"N-Not exactly-"

Then, another voice called out, "Lillie! Lillie, where are ya?!"

Lillie looked over her shoulder for a second, then she looked back at the Trainer and bowed her head politely.

"I'm sorry!" she said. "But I need to get back to my mom and brother. Th-Thanks for finding Magearna for me!"

"Hey, don't thank me. Thank Flame for that."

The Growlithe rumbled softly, but Magearna remained wary of the Puppy Pokémon as she peeked out from the safety of Lillie's leg.

"Come on, Magearna, Snowy," Lillie said, quickly taking notice of Magearna's discomfort.

"Vul!" the Vulpix replied in agreement.

She carefully took the Artificial Pokémon's pointed tip of a hand and guiding it away from the Trainer and her Growlithe while Snowy followed right beside them. The trio ventured down the sidewalk and passed more pedestrians that looked at them in stunned curiosity. Soon, Lillie spotted the people she was looking for and waved at them.

"Hey, Gladion! Mom! Over here!"

Two people turned around, one of them a beautiful middle-aged woman who looked like an older version of Lillie, and the other a platinum-blond, green-eyed boy wearing all-black clothing. Beside them was a Zoroark, its eyes glowing slightly and its lanky arms dangling.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the woman exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "And I thought we lost track of Magearna for good this time!"

LUSAMINE

"Jeez, Lillie," the boy commented, frowning while he crossed his arms. "How many times does that make it? You know if we lose Magearna, we lose Dad for good."

Zoroark merely grunted in agreement.

GLADION

"I have not forgotten," Lillie replied. She knelt so she could be at the same level as Magearna, who was looking down at the ground with shame and embarrassment. "Magearna, I know you want to explore, and I don't blame you. I mean, this is a whole new world you're in! I know how exciting it can be! But..." She patted the Artificial Pokémon's shoulder. "There are a lot of bad people out there, and if you get separated from us, some of those bad people might just get you, and we won't be there to protect you. The world may be so exciting, but it can also be a lil' scary, which is why you have to stick close to me, my mom, and Gladion." She held onto Magearna's hand. "Do you understand, Magearna?"

Magearna nodded slowly, letting out a soft, sad hum in the process. However, Lillie then smiled and proceeded to pat the Artificial Pokémon on the top of its gear-like head.

"It's alright," she said. "Hopefully, when we find my dad and this search is all done with, we could go out and explore the world on our own free time." Then, the blonde's eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, we could go see that Gracidea garden that had gotten your attention! We can do that first thing after we find Dad! Now does that sound good, Magearna?"

Upon hearing the suggestion, Magearna's eyes lit up as well, and it twirled around on its stubby foot while chirruping in enthusiasm. Its ball gown-like shifted to and fro, as if it was actually an article of fabric clothing swishing back and forth. Lillie chuckled happily at the Artificial Pokémon's excitement, while Snowy smiled and wagged her wispy, curly six tails in happiness.

"Alright! It's a promise, then. We see the Gracidea flowers bloom when our search is done, first thing."

"Vul-PIX!" Snowy agreed.

Magearna hummed and chirruped excitedly again and held out its arms in childish agreement, eliciting a smile and a tiny squeal of adoration from Lusamine, along with soft huffs of amusement from the otherwise casual Gladion and Zoroark. With the agreement in effect, Lillie stood back up and straightened out her skirt.

"Okay, then!" she said with determination. "Let's keep moving! If we are gonna see the Gracidea flowers bloom, then we gotta cover a lotta ground as soon as possible if we're gonna find Dad."

"Sounds like a great plan, sweetie," Lusamine replied.

"Let's go for it," added Gladion, while Zoroark nodded and gave Lillie a soft growl of affirmation.

"Alright!" Lillie looked back down at Magearna, who was looking back up with anticipation. "Let's go find Dad, Magearna! Lead the way!"

Magearna nodded with yet another robotic chirp. Just then, a glimmer passed through the Artificial Pokémon's pink eyes, and it walked off in a certain direction, seemingly guided by an unknown instinct. Lillie looked back at her family, before the trio followed right behind their quarry.

"Haven't we been here before?"

The question rang in the air for the umpteenth time when Lillie, her family, and Magearna found themselves standing in the middle of the Viridian City square. Lusamine looked around the loud, bustling square of the Kantonian city, a layer of calmness veiled over her eyes, while Lillie heaved out a solemn sigh.

"Yes, we've been here before, Gladion," she said morosely. "We've passed this square about a dozen times already."

"Does Magearna even know where it's going?" Gladion asked, doubt and ambivalence laced in his voice. "It's a pretty big city, after all. We've only gone through forests and small towns before this." He looked straight ahead and then pointed. "Lillie, Magearna."

Lillie looked down and realized Magearna was about to wander off to pursue its own curiosities again. She grabbed one of its stubby arms, preventing the Artificial Pokémon from getting away from her, much like what a mother would do to her adventurous child. Once she was sure Magearna's obedience was back in order, Lillie glanced at her older brother.

"Magearna knows where it's going," the blonde replied. "It..." She looked back down at Magearna as it gazed upward at the Viridian skyline in awe. "It has to. It recognized Dad's signature when it absorbed the Z-Power from Dad's Z-Ring. It would know that signature from anywhere."

"Just because it knows Dad's signature from anywhere, it doesn't mean it can find him in the middle of all these people." Gladion gestured towards the hundreds upon hundreds of pedestrians walking from one building to the next. "You think it can play a game of 'Where's Walrein' in the middle of a packed place like Viridian City?"

"Well, let's ask it." Lillie gently tugged Magearna's hand, catching its attention. "Magearna, do you still sense Dad?"

Magearna maintained its gaze with Lillie's green eyes for a brief moment. Then, it focused its sights towards the crowd of milling pedestrians. Its pink eyes glimmered just like all the times before, but to Lillie's disappointment, the glimmer was not as strong as before, a telltale sign of what its answer was going to be.

It barely even managed to shake its head when Gladion groaned in disbelief.

"Great," the boy said. "Magearna lost Dad again. That's just great." Then, he kicked at a loose pebble of concrete on the sidewalk. "Great!"

"Hey, don't blame Magearna for that!" Lillie exclaimed, looking at her brother with alarm. "It's doing the best that it can under these circumstances!"

Gladion whipped his head towards his sister. "Well, obviously that's not enough, is it?!"

Lillie recoiled from the sound of her brother's outraged, impatient voice. However, the experiences she attained over the past couple of months, as well as the memories of a certain courageous boy with raven-black hair and a Pikachu, allowed her to quickly recompose herself and stand her ground.

"Hey," she replied, making sure her voice was as firm as it possibly could, "don't be mean. We agreed this would take up a lot of time. All three of us."

"Yeah?" Gladion scowled at her. "Well, while we take up a lot of time finding him, only Arceus knows what's happening to Dad right now! Ever notice how Magearna detects Dad in one place, only for him to suddenly wind up on the other side of the region? Sometimes in another region itself?! Like he's teleporting or something?! What's up with that?!" The blond boy shot a stare at Magearna, who hid behind Lillie's legs in fear. "Magearna, what's going on?! Why do you keep finding Dad in the strangest of places?!"

"H-Hey!" Lillie stood between her brother and the Artificial Pokémon. "You're not the one Magearna was entrusted to, so don't go around pretending you can boss it around, Gladion!"

Lusamine looked back at her children in alarm and tried waving her hands in an attempt at keeping the peace.

"Ch-Children, please-" she began feebly.

"Vul, vul!" Snowy barked in dismay.

"Maybe that's the problem!" Gladion spat.

"What is?!" Lillie demanded.

"Magearna being entrusted to you!"

"So?" Lillie became even firmer with her words. "I don't think Dad got Magearna for you because he thought you would be into girly-looking Pokémon."

"Which I'm not. But clearly the responsibility of watching over Magearna's gotten to your head!"

"Gotten to my head?! No, it didn't!"

"Well, you don't seem to be doing a good job at corralling Magearna and making it do what we want it to do!"

"Ch-Children, please!" Lusamine pleaded, but it was useless, for her voice fell upon deaf ears already.

"What we want it to do?!" Lillie exclaimed, her voice brimming with outrage. "G-Gladion, Magearna may be our best sho- no, our only key to finding Dad, but Magearna's still a Pokémon, for the love of Arceus! It's not some lifeless machine th-that we can use at our whim!"

"And that is where the problem lies! You're coddling Magearna like-like some child!"

"Coddling? Coddling?! Is that what you think is holding Magearna back, Gladion? Coddling?!"

"C-Children-!" Lusamine tried to shout forcefully, but once again, it was no use. Lillie and Gladion were drilling holes into the other's eyes, and Snowy and Magearna were cowering in fear of the bickering siblings.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think what's happening here!"

At that moment, Zoroark hissed and grabbed Gladion's arm in an effort to calm him down. However, he shrugged off the Illusion Fox Pokémon's grip and pointed accusingly at Lillie, while his other fist clenched to the point where it trembled.

"We've been traveling all over the world, looking for Dad, for over two months now. Magearna's always finding a sign of Dad someplace, but whenever we arrive there, he's no longer there, like-like we missed him by a few seconds! And now he's in some other place entirely! How do you explain that if Magearna's supposed to be our best shot at finding Dad?!"

"I don't know, Gladion! But you can't fault Magearna for missing him by a few seconds! Remember, Dad was sucked into an Ultra Wormhole! Who knows what it did to him?!" She pointed blindly at the air. "What it might be doing to him right now?! Until we figure out what's going on, we're gonna keep our faith and keep up what we're doing!"

"Keep our faith? Keep our faith?!" The boy scoffed, looking slightly dazed at this point. "I don't think I can keep it for any longer! If we're not seeing any progress after all this time, then I don't understand how Magearna's gonna be of any use for us now-"

He was cut off when Magearna squealed in distress, so loudly that it almost shattered the family's eardrums. It quickly broke away from Lillie and fled into the crowd of civilians before anyone could stop it. Snowy barked after the retreating Artificial Pokémon and instantly ran after it. Lillie tried to call out to both of them, but the two Pokémon quickly became lost in the crowd.

"Oh, dear!" Lusamine exclaimed, unable to think of anything else to say.

Meanwhile, Lillie glared at Gladion. "Look at what you've done! You scared Magearna off!"

Stunned, Gladion felt the reality of his words catching up to him. "L-Lillie, I-"

"Don't even bother! You said you didn't understand Magearna's usefulness anymore?! Well, will you look at that? We do not have Magearna to help us find Dad, now do we?!"

"L-Lillie," Lusamine begged, "Gl-Gladion didn't-"

But Lillie was no longer listening. Instead, with a whip of her blonde hair, she ran after Snowy and Magearna, calling out for them as she disappeared into the crowd of commuters. Lusamine, Gladion, and Zoroark helplessly watched her go. As soon as Lillie's calls faded and melded with the rest of the downtown orchestra, Gladion sat down, almost collapsing, on the curb of the sidewalk.

"Great," the boy said, disappointed. "Great. I've done it now..."

"Gladion-" Lusamine said, but her voice trailed off, and her mind already began to swim with confusion. After her inability to stop the argument between her children, she was at a loss on what she could do next, and she felt she didn't deserve to speak up now, not when the preventable conflict resolved itself without her mediation.

Then, the blonde woman glanced at Zoroark, just in time to see it sit down beside the sullen, remorseful Gladion and pat his back consolingly.

"Excellent," she thought. "Even Zoroark's being a better mother than me right now. Just excellent." She sat down beside her son as well, the only thing she felt she could do now. "I understand Gladion's disappointment. I too feel the passing time eating away at my patience. It's been week after week after week, and yet whenever we're so close, he's always so far away somehow... But my dear little Lillie's holding on to so much hope. He needs to learn from her, just like I have."

Then, Lusamine sighed and looked up at the cerulean sky. It was clear, with no clouds in sight, and there was only a lone flock of adorable Pidgey soaring through the air, squawking like it was nobody's business.

"Oh, why am I thinking this? I should've said this, out loud, to my children. I should've been a good mother, and yet, I... I just stood by the sidelines and let this all play out. I'm not even doing anything now! Not like it would make much of a difference... I suppose I still have a lot to learn when it comes to being Lillie and Gladion's mother..." She sighed again. "Oh, Mohn. Where are you? I'm sure if you were here, you'd do a greater job at parenting than I ever could..."

"Sn-Snowy?! M-Magearna?! Ohhhhh, why?! Oh why, oh why do these things always have to happen?!"

Fear had already started to fill Lillie's soul as soon as she broke away from her mother and brother. This was exactly why she liked to be passive and non-confrontational, she mused. The more she distanced herself from a problem or a conflict, the less trouble she would get herself into. But then again, she knew she had to step in on Magearna's behalf, especially when Gladion's irritation and exasperation were beginning to take him over. Lillie knew exactly how cranky and impatient her older brother could be when things didn't go his way. However, today's incident crossed a line, and she had to step in for the Artificial Pokémon.

Unfortunately, it all had to cascade into this: Magearna running off, with Snowy pursuing her, and Lillie having to pursue them to the point where she got separated from Lusamine and Gladion.

"Ohhh, great," Lillie whispered to herself, as she slowly became overwhelmed by the combination of strangers all around her, her foreign surroundings, and the chaotic mix of city sounds. "Oh great, oh great, oh great... Ohhhhh, how does Ash always handle himself in times like these?!" Then, she yelled out loud, with more urgency, "SNOWY! MAGEARNA! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, C-CALL OUT TO ME! PLEASE?!"

However, Lillie couldn't hear the familiar noises of either Snowy or Magearna. With that, the panic began to build up.

"SNOWY! MAGEARNA! ARE YOU THERE?! CALL OUT TO ME! PLEASE!"

"Vul!"

Lillie's heart skipped a beat; she knew she heard that through the cacophony. "Snowy?! SNOWY! CALL OUT AGAIN!"

"Vul!"

The familiar bark was faint, but she could hear it. Relief clashed with panic and urgency as Lillie pushed her way through the careless, nonchalant commuters. Soon, she found herself at the edge of the Viridian City square, a ways away from her mother and older brother.

"Good Snowy!" Lillie called. "G-Good Snowy! Keep calling out to me! I'll follow your voice!"

"Vul! Vul! Vul!"

Looking around frantically, Lillie then made her way out of the square, choosing to follow her instincts. To her relief, there was less congestion on the sidewalk she traversed on, and she could hear Snowy's calls more clearly.

"VUL! VUL! VUL!"

"Snowy?!" Then, Lillie saw a familiar ball of white in the midst of a sea of urban colors. "SNOWY!"

The Alolan Vulpix immediately dashed towards the blonde girl, her smile as wide as it could get. With an overjoyed bark, she jumped into her arms, just as she was starting to hold them out.

"Agh! Oh, Snowy!" Lillie nuzzled her face against the Fox Pokémon's cheek. "You know better than to run off like that!"

"Vul-vul," Snowy replied apologetically.

"Ohhh, it's alright." The blonde girl kissed Snowy on the cheek. "I can never be mad at you. Besides, you were trying to keep an eye on Magearna. I'm proud of you for that." Then, at the mention of Magearna, Lillie's heart stopped. "Oh, b-by the way, wh-where is Magearna?"

"Excuse me?" an unfamiliar voice suddenly asked. "I think this is yours."

"Pika."

Lillie tore her eyes away from Snowy's and found the speaker instantly. It was a boy slightly older than her, who wore a red, sleeveless, unbuttoned jacket with a white collar and stripe; along with a black undershirt, a yellow backpack, a pair of baggy blue jeans, running shoes, and a red-and-white cap. But the clothing style wasn't what caught Lillie's attention right away, nor was it the fact that Magearna was fortunately standing beside the boy's leg, looking slightly comfortable in his presence.

Instead, it was the Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

"Ash?" she asked incredulously.

"Ash?" The boy blinked twice in confusion, and it looked as if his brain was having a very hard time trying to process the name. Then, he began laughing nostalgically. "Ohhhhh, now that's funny."

In that moment, Lillie realized, to her shock and embarrassment, that she wasn't talking to Ash. The boy before her may have been the same age and had the same build as Ash, but he also had auburn hair that was slightly longer but better kept. He also had dark-blue eyes that didn't have exactly the same shine of youth and energy to them; it was there, but it seemed to be of a wavelength different from Ash's. If Lillie had to describe him in one succinct sentence, it would be a more mature-looking version of Ash, but still an approachable one.

As for the Pikachu perched on the boy's shoulder, he looked just like Ash's, but he also had a small but distinct scruff of fur atop his head.

Then, Lillie quickly realized her mistake and humbly bowed her head, just before her face was flooded with pink.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I-I mistook you for someone else-"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" the boy replied with a casual wave of his hand. "I used to get that a lot." Then, he chuckled a second time. "It's just been a while since I've heard the name 'Ash'. You, uhhh, you wouldn't happen to be talking about Ash Ketchum, now would you?"

Lillie's heart jumped at the comforting sound of the name. "Yes! Yes, I was talking about him! Why? Do you know him?"

The auburn-haired boy sighed nostalgically. "Yes, I do, actually. I have not seen him in a while, though." He then tapped his chin as he tried to think. "Last I heard, he was in Sinnoh, I think..." Then, his dark-blue eyes lit up in remembrance. "Oh, where are my manners?!"

He held out his hand, and Lillie looked at it questioningly. She was quick to notice the callouses that adorned his fingers and palm like badges of honor, callouses that were very much like Ash's...

"The name's Ritchie," the boy introduced. "And this here is my partner Sparky."

"Pikachu!" the Pikachu greeted.

RITCHIE

"Oh!" Lillie smiled and took the boy's hand, secretly rejoicing in how much it felt like Ash's. "My name's Lillie. And that's my partner Snowy."

"Vul!" Snowy barked in greeting.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lillie," Ritchie replied. Then, he looked down at Magearna with a gentle grin. "And I'm gonna assume this is your Pokémon too?"

"Yes, that's right." Lillie promptly knelt down and stroked the Steel/Fairy-type's head. "You alright, Magearna?"

As Magearna gave a low hum in response, Ritchie procured his Pokédex. "Magearna, huh? Let's see what Dexter has to say..."

He activated it and used it to scan Magearna, after which the computerized voice explained, "Magearna, the Artificial Pokémon. Constructed more than 500 years ago, it can understand human speech but cannot speak by itself. Its mechanized body is merely a vessel, and its true self is its Soul-Heart, an artificial soul."

"Wow, interesting..." Ritchie commented, blinking with awe.

Just then, Magearna hung its head low in shame, letting out another low hum. Upon hearing it, Lillie quickly remembered why it ran off.

"Magearna, you are not useless. Forget what Gladion said. He's just being impatient, that's all. But you're doing the best you can, and that's what counts. We'll get there eventually, you'll see. But for now, you just have to keep doing what you are always doing. Mom, Gladion, and I will rely on you every step of the way, and we will never leave behind for any sort of reason at all. Alright?"

Magearna hummed again, sounding slightly doubtful, but Lillie knew it will do for now. At that moment, Ritchie spoke up again.

"Ahhhhh, now I see what's going on."

"Huh?!" Lillie looked up at the boy in alarm; she didn't know how he managed to catch on so quickly. "Wh-Wh-What're y-you t-ta-talking about?"

"You're trying your hand at the Gyms, aren't you?"

An awkward silence fell over the small group. Lillie, Snowy, and Magearna looked up at Ritchie and Sparky, both of whom were smiling as if they had just won the lottery. Everyone was clearly on a different wavelength of understanding.

Finally, Lillie broke the silence with a stiff "What?"

"Your family's traveling around Kanto and challenging the Gyms," Ritchie clarified. "But Magearna's been racking up more losses than wins, and your brother's getting annoyed by it. It's understandable. I've seen it sometimes." Then, he tilted his head in confusion. "Why? Am I not on point here?"

"Well," Lillie thought, "I don't know if I can trust him with the fact that we are actually looking for Dad, who disappeared through an Ultra Wormhole and could be anywhere in the world at this point..." She gave a cursory scan of Ritchie from head to toe. "He looks like he can be trusted, but...I can't just think that because he looks a lot like Ash and knows him too. There are a lot of bad people out there..."

So, she replied, "Y-Yes, th-that's right. Gladion's always competitive and in it to win it, but Magearna's just starting out." She patted the Artificial Pokémon on the top of its head. "I can't help it if it's scared to fight on the battlefield and keeps losing a lot of the time."

"I see..." Then, Ritchie's eyes lit up again, and he patted a clenched fist into his outstretched palm. "Ah, I've got it!"

Lillie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Magearna can watch me battle!"

"It can...watch you battle...?"

"Yeah!" Ritchie raised a clenched fist of determination that reminded Lillie of Ash's own pose. "It can take some pointers from my style!"

"Well..." Lillie began, her trailing voice filled with uncertainty.

"I'm actually on my way to challenging the Viridian Gym. It's right over there!"

He pointed to his right, and Lillie followed the direction of his finger. There, situated on the other side of the street, was a predominantly brown building with ancient architecture, including stately pillars on its walls and lining its entryway, along with an old mural looming over its doorway. Standing beside the doors were guards clad in ancient, medieval-style gear.

"That's the Viridian Gym?" Lillie asked incredulously.

"Yep!" Ritchie replied. "Still looks the same as before."

"Pika!" Sparky added.

"Lillie?! Lillie, dear?!"

"Lillie! If you can hear me, sound off!"

"Rargh!"

Lusamine, Gladion, and Zoroark wandered through the Viridian City square, looking around and calling out frantically. All around them, the other pedestrians and their Pokémon passed by, some of them giving sympathetic glances, others just continuing about their day without a care in the world. Minutes passed by and began to felt like hours for the mother and son, and distress, regret, and exhaustion began to set in.

Eventually, the three decided to stop beside a lamppost by the side of a street. As soon as they did, Gladion growled and punched the lamppost with his bare fist, alarming Lusamine.

"G-Gladion, sw-sweetie!" she cried in concern. "Are you-?!"

"Me and my big mouth," Gladion snarled furiously. "I shouldn't have lost my cool. Now she's run off somewhere, and we don't even have phones to keep in contact. I shouldn't have thought this would take long! That was...a huge mistake..."

"L-Look, sweetie, I-I understand your anger, y-your impatience-"

The boy rolled his eyes, and his voice became filled with sarcasm. "Oh, nice! I certainly could've used your understanding a whole lot sooner, now could I, Mother?! That way, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!" Then, when he heard a stunned, humbled squeak from his mother as a response, Gladion quickly calmed back down and withdrew his fist from the lamppost. "I'm...I'm sorry, M-Mom-"

"No, Gladion," Lusamine interrupted, her head hanging low now. "You're...You're absolutely right... I...I-I shouldn't have just let you and your sister fight like that... I shouldn't have just stood by-"

"No, no." Gladion shook his head with shame. "It's my fault, Mom. I should've known better than to lose my cool and sn-snap at Lillie like that."

"But if I hadn't stepped in like any good mother would've done, then Lillie wouldn't have run off!"

"And if I had just kept my frigging mouth shut in the first place, then we wouldn't even be having this conversation!"

Lusamine and Gladion quickly stared each other down, both of their eyes piercing the other's in an attempt to make their own points. Neither of them were willing to back down from their arguments now...

"Hey!" a new voice barked suddenly.

Immediately, a person stepped between the mother and son and held out his arms towards the both of them, gesturing them to stop their argument. Lusamine and Gladion gawked at the newcomer, stunned that he had overheard them and decided to intervene. They took note of his squinted eyes, spiky brown hair, tanned skin, and ivory-white lab-coat; this newcomer was clearly a doctor of some kind.

"Come on, you two!" the doctor exclaimed. "Let's all calm down here, let's lower the temperature!"

Quickly catching themselves in the midst of another familial breakdown, Lusamine and Gladion sighed heavily, took deep breaths, and leaned back, Gladion against the lamppost and Lusamine against the opposite wall. Pedestrians continued walking between them, sidestepping the doctor and ignoring all of the family drama (unintentionally or otherwise) in the process, like a flowing river separating two sections of a forest.

Eventually, once the doctor was sure the argument wouldn't continue, he asked, "Now tell me, did either of you mention the name 'Lillie', by any chance?"

Lusamine's eyes brightened with relief. "Y-Yes! She's my daughter! D-Did you find her?!"

The doctor glanced at the blonde woman. "No, but I know her pretty well. The name's Brock. You must be Lusamine."

BROCK

"Brock?" asked Gladion, catching the doctor's attention.

"Yes," Brock replied. "And you must be...Gl-Gladon?"

"Gladion."

Brock snapped his fingers. "Ah, so close! Anyway, it's so nice to meet the both of you. Lillie's mentioned you two to me."

"I-I'm sorry," Lusamine said, "but how exactly d-do you know my daughter?"

"Oh, well to be more specific, I'm an old friend of Ash's."

Gladion blinked with surprise. "Ash?"

"Yeah. And I've met up with your sister twice last year. First, she went on a class field trip to Kanto. We first met up over at the airport when her Vulpix, Snowy, got airsick."

"Ohhh, yeah!" Gladion exclaimed, just as the memories started coming back to him. "Lillie's mentioned you to me quite a few times! You're that former Gym Leader who's training to be a Pokémon Doctor, right?"

"Well, I'm not training anymore." Brock gestured to his lab-coat. "Just got my license. You're looking at Dr. Brock now."

"O-Oh," Lusamine replied, slightly hesitant. "C-Congratulations."

"Thanks. So, anyway..." Brock looked around briefly. "I'm assuming she ran off because of..." He paused and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Y-You know..."

"Well, I scared off one of her Pokémon..." Gladion said guiltily.

"And I didn't do a thing to keep him in check," added an equally guilty Lusamine.

"Well, she couldn't have gotten too far," Brock said. He looked around again before giving the mother and son a small but friendly smile. "Come on, you two. I'll help you look for her. I work in the city, so I know my way around here."

"Are you sure?" Lusamine glanced at his lab-coat. "You look like you're on the job..."

"I'm on break, actually. My next appointment isn't up for another-" Brock glanced at the wristwatch he had been wearing underneath his right sleeve. "Fifteen minutes or so."

"Are you really sure?" asked an uncertain Gladion.

"Yeah!" Brock beckoned them over. "I have all the time in the world, don't worry. Besides, Lillie's a smart girl. She'll know how to let us find her. So come on, let's go find her!" When he noticed Lusamine and Gladion's reluctant looks, he added, "Now what kind of doctor would I be if I didn't help someone in need? Come on! Let's do this!"

Lusamine and Gladion looked at one another, all of the guilt they felt about Lillie's and Magearna's disappearances quick to recede. Then, they looked at Brock, who gave them a warm, friendly, welcoming smile. After a few seconds, they were stunned when Zoroark walked up to the squinted-eyed Doctor, its pace calm, steady, and nonaggressive. Realizing Brock could be trusted, they both came to the same decision and began setting off with Brock.

As the trio continued their search, Brock spoke up with a friendly tone, hoping to ease up more of the awkwardness that was hanging over them.

"So, how're you enjoying the sights and sounds of Viridian City?"

Viridian Gym

"So...this here is the Viridian Gym?"

"Yep! And this will be my sixth time challenging it."

Lillie looked at Ritchie with awe and a little disbelief. Right now, the two were walking up one of the ancient-looking stairs that led to the Viridian Gym. Snowy and Magearna were trotting beside Lillie, while Sparky remained perched on Ritchie's shoulder.

"This is your sixth time challenging it?" Lillie asked, giving the auburn-haired Trainer a stunned side-glance.

"Yeah," Ritchie replied nostalgically. Just then, a wave of shivering swept through his body. "Uuuuugh, for a Ground-type specialist, that Gym Leader gave me the creeps. Like...he was better suited as a Ghost- or Dark-type specialist. And for a guy who seemed pretty laidback and inadequate as a Trainer overall, his last Pokémon was pretty powerful."

"Really?" Lillie blinked, being reminded of Ula'ula Island Kahuna Nanu for a second. "How powerful?"

"Very. It took out my entire team with just one move every time. Every time, that Pokémon was the sole reason I could never beat that Gym."

"Pika, pikachu..." Sparky squeaked in agreement.

Then, Ritchie chuckled, and Lillie was surprised to hear the mixture of nostalgia and nervousness in his voice. "Hey, get this, my Pokédex couldn't even identify what that Pokémon was."

Lillie's eyes enlarged with a mixture of shock and intrigue. "Really?"

"Yeah. Every time I came back here, I was hoping there'd be information on this Pokémon that the Pokédex would catch once I scanned it. But whenever I challenged this Gym again, it was never there, and all the Pokédex could tell me was 'unknown'. And I heard that I wasn't the only one who had trouble with this Pokémon in particular."

By that point, Lillie and Ritchie had finished climbing the stairs and were on their way toward the Gym's doorway. But the highly intrigued Lillie remained engrossed in her newfound friend's story.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Apparently, the Gym Leader was using this Pokémon and this Pokémon only to cream absolutely anyone who challenged him. There was even a rumor going about that people were reporting him to the Kanto League for using an unsanctioned Pokémon, especially considering the Gym Leader took...or rather, is taking a sabbatical."

"Is?" Lillie repeated.

"Yep. And he just so happened to leave right after my final botched attempt at beating the Gym. I had given up and got my eighth and final Badge from another Gym, only to learn upon leaving that place that the Gym Leader who bugged me the most was taking a leave of absence. Just my luck, eh?"

"S-So...this Gym Leader might not even be here when we knock on the door?"

"They've appointed a substitute years ago, but at this point, she's considered the de facto Gym Leader."

"So why are you even trying to challenge this Gym if the Gym Leader you're looking for won't be here?"

"Well, I didn't say I wanted to challenge him again."

By that point, Ritchie and Lillie had approached the front doorway, which now loomed above them like a titan. Snowy and Magearna couldn't help but cower at the sight of the mural above it; it boasted an ancient image of an unknown, birdlike Pokémon. Ritchie then looked right into Lillie's face, his eyes smoldering with an intensity that made her blush.

"But I was hoping I could close out this one unresolved part of my life before I could move on to other places." Then, the auburn-haired boy looked at one of the guards stationed by the doorway. "Excuse me, I'm here to challenge the Viridian Gym Leader. Is she available today?"

"Sorry, kid," the guard replied, his voice gruff. "She just left for an errand. She will be back in a couple of hours or so."

"A couple of hours?!" Ritchie exclaimed incredulously.

"Pika?!" Sparky cried.

"Or so," clarified the guard.

"Just. My. Luck." Then, Ritchie chuckled again. "No worries. I'll just wait for her on the stairs."

With that, the Trainer walked back towards the stairs he and Lillie took. Lillie briefly watched him go before choosing to follow him, with Snowy and Magearna not far behind. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, which overlooked the sidewalk down below, the quartet sat down on the uppermost stair. Sparky seized this opportunity to hop off of Ritchie's shoulder and properly greet Snowy and Magearna.

"Pika-pika!" Sparky greeted happily.

"Vul!" Snowy greeted back with a smile.

Magearna hummed shyly in response.

"You've got quite a unique Pokémon there, Lillie," Ritchie commented as he observed the Pokémon's interactions with an upbeat smile. "Where'd you get it?"

"H-Huh?" Lillie looked at him for a moment, before gazing down at the sidewalk and smiling softly. "My dad bought it for me. As a gift."

"A gift, huh?" Ritchie glanced at Magearna, curiosity flecking his expression now. "Is your dad an explorer or something? I've been all over the world, and I don't think I've ever seen a Pokémon like Magearna before."

"He was..."

"Was?" He looked at Lillie again, momentarily confused, before he noticed the small glimmer of sadness passing through her eye. "Oh. S-Sorry..."

"Don't be!" She looked at him and gave him a slightly forced smile. "It happened a long time ago! I'm...I'm over it now."

"No wonder you said it was just you, your mom, and your brother." Then, Ritchie remembered something. "I, uh, I hope I'm not keeping you away from your family for too long-"

"Oh, no!" Lillie interrupted. "Don't worry about them! My mom's a smart woman, and my brother's more persistent than a Pheromosa trying to collect Z-Crystals."

"A what now?"

"N-Never mind." Lillie looked back at the sidewalk again. "They'll know to look for me near the city landmarks. They will find us, before we know it. For now, I'm just gonna stick with you."

"Sounds like a good plan." Then, Ritchie looked at Sparky, Snowy, and Magearna again, and he smiled upon noticing how close Sparky and Snowy were, squeaking and barking happily and animatedly at one another. "Hm. Sparky sure is hitting it off with your Vulpix. Uh, what was its name again? Snowy?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right." Lillie looked at Sparky and Snowy as well and took notice of their interactions. "You're right. Snowy definitely likes Sparky." She smiled and chuckled as Snowy yipped playfully at Sparky. "But then again, she's had pretty good experiences with Pikachu in the past. She tends to trust them easily."

"Hey, speaking of which..." Ritchie glanced at Lillie. "How exactly do you know Ash?"

"He attended my school in Alola for about a year." She smiled fondly and nostalgically. "We became good friends during that time..."

The boy blinked, dumbfounded. "Wait a minute. He...He went to your school?"

"Yeah." She looked at him. "Why?"

But Ritchie seemed lost in his own thoughts. "Ash Ketchum, going to school..." Then, he laughed heartily. "And I thought I've heard it all!"

Lillie gave him a teasing scowl. "Well, he was never good at the academic part of school, if that's what you were thinking. He was always the hands-on kind of guy."

"Oh yeah, now that's the Ash Ketchum I remember." The last of Ritchie's laughter died down, and he took a deep breath of relaxation. "For all the times people said we looked alike, we had our differences too."

Lillie's head perked up with intrigue. "Such as?"

"Throughout all the times I've met him, Ash thought more with his heart than with his head. I am the opposite of that." Ritchie shrugged. "Well, I do think with my heart too, but I always find a way to balance it out with my head. But Ash... Well, he's always thought with his heart. A little too much, sometimes."

"Yeah, that sounds like Ash, alright."

"Yeah." Then, Ritchie scanned Lillie from head to toe with curiosity. "So, where are you from, Lillie?"

She blinked. "Hm?"

"Where are you from? You're clearly not from around here."

"I'm...I'm from Alola."

"Alola?" Then, Ritchie's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! I remember it! Your region had its first League Conference last year!"

"Yeah. Why? Are you planning on challenging the League this year?"

"Yep! I'll be heading off there first thing tomorrow morning! Hey, you should give me some pointers! What are the Gym Leaders like? What kind of Pokémon live at Alola? Are there any landmarks I should be on the lookout for?! O-Oh yeah, Snowy looks quite different from a normal Vulpix! So do all Vulpix look like that in Alola? Are there other Pokémon that I know of that look different in Alola? What kind of-?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lillie cried, holding out her hands while her eyes bulged from their sockets. "Sl-Sl-Slow down! Slow down there, Ritchie! One question at a time, please!"

"Oh, sorry!" Ritchie rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, something that instantly reminded Lillie of another of Ash's mannerisms. "I guess I didn't think with my head this time, huh?"

Lillie couldn't help but giggle sweetly in response. "You know, you're quite humble for a guy who claims he doesn't have too much similarities with Ash."

Ritchie scoffed playfully. "H-Hey, look here, it's not like I'm a doppelganger of Ash, or his identical twin, or anything like that." He jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "I'm my own individual, my own character. All similarities to a certain person or persons are purely coincidental."

"Oh, yeah. You just so happen to be a Trainer who likes battling and challenging Gyms just like Ash, who wears a similar clothing style to Ash, and, oh!" Lillie pointed at Sparky, catching the Mouse Pokémon's attention. "Who just so happens to have a Pikachu who prefers traveling on your shoulder rather than in a Poké Ball! Just like Ash and his Pikachu!" Then, the blonde girl shrugged. "But, other than that, it's all purely coincidental."

"Hey, hey." Ritchie gave her a tip of his hat. "I happen to change up the way I dress every so often, and I love the way I dress, thank you very much." Then, he rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Wait, hold up, don't tell me Ash has been sticking to the same styles I also like!"

"Believe it or not, but yeah, it looks like he does!"

"Ohhhh, you've gotta be kidding me! If I ever meet up with him again, I'm gonna have to inform him of my plans to sue him!"

The two Trainers then began laughing loudly and heartily, with Sparky and Snowy both watching with amusement. As for Magearna, it hummed and chirruped with approval, even doing a little spin on its stubby leg in celebration.

Cerulean Gym, Cerulean City

"Miiiiistyyyyy!"

The redheaded girl groaned and looked over her shoulder, her spiky side-ponytail swinging softly as she did. She had just gotten into the brand-new Gym uniform that she picked out herself: a white-and-blue shirt, a pair of blue denim shorts; and sneakers colored in red, blue, and white. Underneath her shirt was a red bikini top with a sapphire in the middle and matching red bikini bottoms that almost resembled boy-shorts.

MISTY

"Alright, what is it now?!" she called.

Three girls approached her, running in a way that would remind one of an uppity high-class girl who wouldn't bear even a single tear on their unblemished, fancy clothes. One had flowing, golden-blonde hair and was wearing a dark-blue shirt, a white short skirt, and a salmon-pink coat; another had bushy, navy-blue hair and was wearing a red dress with a frilly white collar, along with a yellowish-orange waistcoat; and the third had reddish-pink hair that flowed down into two curly pigtails, and was wearing a simple light-green shirt with a thin pink collar and a blue denim skirt.

"Could you please watch the Gym for us again, little sis?" asked the girl with the reddish-pink hair.

"We just won three free tickets to the Galar region!" explained the girl with the navy-blue hair.

"It's for some competition," the blonde girl added, "but there's some big-shot hunk called Leon participating!"

DAISY, VIOLET, AND LILY

"So you want to ditch the Gym and go to the Galar region so you could flirt with this Leon character?" Misty asked dryly, her voice devoid of surprise. "That's what you're getting at here?"

"W-Well, i-it's not just that!" Lily exclaimed, alarmed.

"It's Galar, after all!" added Violet. "Lots of sights and sounds!"

"Not to mention all the stores and boutiques!" Daisy cried, eliciting squeals from her other two sisters. Then, she clapped her hands together and bowed her head at her youngest sister. "Please, Misty! You are the only one that we can count on to watch over the Gym while we're gone!"

Misty promptly shrugged, knowing better than to protest at this point. "Sure, sure. Why not?"

"Ohhhhh, thank you, lil' sis!" Daisy grabbed Misty's hands and shook them animatedly. "We knew we could rely on you!"

As for Violet and Lily, they both squealed again and left, likely to begin packing their belongings. Misty watched them go with a twitching eye before glancing back at the smiling, beaming Daisy.

"So, when does your flight leave?" the redhead asked.

"Oh, in about an hour!" Daisy replied, her smile not faltering for one second.

"In about an hour?! When did you buy those tickets?!"

"Thirty minutes ago."

"Thirty-!"

Misty's voice became caught in her throat, and she was too overwhelmed with exasperation to even formulate the right words to say. Eventually, she calmed down and closed her twitching eyelids to take a deep breath.

"Have fun, then..." she said, with all of the forced optimism she could muster.

"You too! I know you'll give all those challengers a hard time!"

With that, Daisy let go of Misty and pranced off. The redhead opened her eyes and gazed at the Cerulean Gym battlefield as construction workers reviewed its intricate design.

"Well, it's not like you're considered the official Gym Leader anyway, Daisy..."

Clearing her throat, Misty walked away from the central battlefield and approached someone at the corner. He was sitting on a bench, looking between a Dewgong lying a few feet in front of him and a pencil and sketchpad that were clutched in his hands. His brows were wrinkled and his eyes, slightly shaded by locks of dark-brown hair, were narrowed in focus as his pencil moved in a blur, replicating Dewgong's posture and magnificent grace in a detailed drawing.

"So, what're your thoughts on Dewgong?" she asked.

"As healthy and fine as ever," the boy replied. "You and your sisters sure have raised Dewgong well, even after all these years." The tip of his tongue stuck out between his teeth as he focused on his sketchpad. "Hey, I'm almost done with the sketch. Wanna check it out when I'm done?"

Misty smiled. "I'd like nothing better."

The boy looked up at her and gave her a quick smile before continuing his sketch.

TRACEY

After a few minutes, Tracey finished up and gave the sketchpad to Misty, who compared it to Dewgong's actual presence.

"Once again, you never cease to amaze me," the redhead commented.

"Hey, that's why my last name's 'Sketchit'," Tracey replied.

A smiling Misty handed the sketchpad back. "Thanks for helping out on the battlefield renovations. It means a lot."

Tracey smiled back. "Hey, no problem, Mist. You know, it's pretty easy to make out the problems of any given structural problem by sketching out the entire thing in its current condition and comparing the results to your blueprints." He then scratched his left cheek with a chuckle. "Perhaps I've found my true calling as an architect?"

At that moment, Misty scowled and sighed in slight irritation. "I wish you can be the architect to my sisters' faithfulness to the Gym..."

Tracey chuckled again as he retrieved his bag. "Lemme guess. Another overseas trip?"

"Their plane leaves in about an hour, but they bought some last-minute tickets thirty minutes ago! It's like they buy the first things they see in their Internet searches, no matter what it says on the paper! Jeez, it's so annoying! And all of the things they buy are mostly coming out of my paychecks!"

"Well, it's a good thing you're a successful Gym Leader, then." Tracey zipped his bag open and stuffed his sketchpad and pencil inside. "What'd that last performance evaluation say? Ninety-three percent victory rate?"

"But it's their names on the lease, not mine!" Misty let out an annoyed groan. "Next time you're in town, Trace, can you please talk to Daisy? Knock some sense into her? Seduce her, perhaps? She'll listen to you."

Tracey chuckled nervously, a bead of sweat breaking out on his temple. "I wish I could, but your sister's totally obsessed with me already. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of times that I've had to postpone our dates, the amount of excuses I had to make. She's quite hard on my wallet as it is."

Misty rolled her eyes. "That's the point. I can handle her spending money on a date with you. I can't handle her spending money on some big excursion out there in the world! I need her here!"

"Hey, your paycheck's not the only one that's suffering because of her!" Tracey zipped his bag shut and put it on. "I'll get back to you on that when I ask Professor Oak to give me a raise. Eight years as his lab assistant and I am not making as much as I thought I would be making in that time period."

The redhead gave him a smirk. "Maybe it's because you're doing a cruddy job at it? I hear the Pokémon get into fights a lot."

Tracey crossed his arms defensively. "Hey, there's only so much one person can do around that place, let alone one guy helping out an old man!" Then, he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should ask him if the lab needs to get a second assistant..."

"Hey, if that topic ever comes up, recommend my sisters, please. An assistant job will learn to teach 'em some discipline in the work environment."

Tracey sweat-dropped, unsure if Misty was being serious about her suggestion. "I'll, uh...I-I'll think about it."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know you will." Then, she smiled nostalgically. "Hey, give Professor Oak, Ms. Ketchum, and all the Pokémon my regards, will you?"

He gave her a thumbs-up in response. "You betcha!" Then, the lab assistant checked his wristwatch. "Alright, I should be going-"

Just then, the ground beneath their feet started to tremble. At first, it started off as mild and almost unnoticeable, but as the seconds passed by, the tremors grew in intensity. Misty and Tracey looked around in search of the source, becoming increasingly frantic. As for Dewgong, it barked in panic and waddled and flopped across the battlefield in an effort to get away.

"What's that?" Misty asked. The redhead tried her best to stay calm while glancing at the construction workers, who were bracing themselves against their equipment. "I-Is it the construction work?"

"I, uhhh...I-I don't think it is..." Tracey replied slowly while trying to keep himself steady. Then, he noticed Misty making her way towards the Cerulean Gym entrance. "Misty! Wait a minute!"

He tried to follow her, but the shaking became so intense that he toppled over like a stack of bricks. Quickly deciding to stay close to the ground, Tracey crawled after Misty. Seconds later, she too collapsed to the floor and was forced to crawl towards the doorway. All around them, objects fell over and crashing noises filled the air. Tracey occasionally looked up at the ceiling to make sure it wasn't cracking.

Within minutes, the two of them crawled outside, and Tracey quickly realized why Misty had decided to go out.

"Oh, my Arceus!" Daisy screamed as she held onto a lamppost. "It's an earthquake! It's an earthquake, an earthquake, an earthquake!"

"We're gonna DIE!" shrieked Violet, who was cowering at the base of a nearby tree, covering her leaf-covered head. "Oh, I don't wanna DIIIIIE!"

"And just when we were about to see that Leon hunk!" wailed Lily while she was splayed across the sidewalk, her limbs all outstretched like a Starmie.

"Daisy!" Misty called in horrified concern. "Violet! Lily!"

"Miiiiistyyyyy!" Daisy shouted, eyeliner now streaking her cheeks due to her profuse tears. "What's going ooooon?!"

Before Misty or Tracey could respond, a gigantic shadow started to pass over them, followed by a deafening roar. All five looked up at the normally cloudless sky and saw it: a great airship, boasting a half-dozen masts and sails; a skeleton of gunmetal-gray metal; long, jagged, almost draconic wings that protruded from its sides; and a long bow encased entirely in silver metal with a single, long horn at the end, giving it a semblance to an Aggron. Despite its massive size, it moved at the speed of a Staraptor using Brave Bird, propelled by sets of gargantuan engines mounted on its stern and wings.

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" Daisy shrieked, covering her ears from the loud, horrible roaring noise. "MIIIIISTYYYYY!"

"EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!" Violet and Lily squealed in terror.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" yelled a petrified Misty.

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Tracey roared at the top of his lungs.

Then, finally, the airship passed by them, and a deafening silence fell upon the Cerulean Gym. Tracey, Daisy, Violet, and Lily watched the strange aerial vehicle leave as quickly as it came, but Misty felt the hairs on her body stand upright. An uncomfortable cold feeling swept through her, and she slowly looked over her shoulder.

Just in time to see the massive storm of earth and debris headed for them, the current left behind by the racing airship.

Hitching her breath in terror, Misty reached into her pocket for a Poké Ball, but a part of her was telling her that she was not going to make it in time...

Viridian City

"So, that's why you guys are out here in the first place."

Brock took a quick sip of his drinking water as he observed the sullen Lusamine and Gladion. All three of them were at a local café, seated at one of the outside tables, while Zoroark stood guard a foot away. Lusamine absentmindedly stared at the menu, while Gladion was tapping his foot impatiently, his face red with self-loathing.

"Hey, no one's at fault here," Brock advised once he was done taking a sip. "There were many circumstances that were out of your control, some of them years in the making. And all of you handle these circumstances differently. You still do. You two shouldn't be hard on yourselves for handling things your own way."

"Oh, yeah?" Gladion asked. "Well, what's the point of a family if it can't learn to settle its differences between members? What's the point of a family if its members can't learn to love one another instead of hate another? What's the point of a family if-?!"

"Alright, alright," Brock interrupted. "I get it, I get it."

Gladion angrily glared at the Pokémon Doctor. "NO! No, you don't! You're just saying that to make me feel better!"

"No, Gladion..." The squinted-eyed boy sighed heavily. "I do get it. I get exactly what you're feeling. What your mother's feeling, and what Lillie's feeling."

Lusamine looked at Brock with a mixture of confusion and relief, but she did not say anything. Instead, she continued to let the young man speak.

"I admit, my family situation isn't identical to yours, but..." Brock took a deep breath. "My parents and I never got along well. My mom and my dad had big differences in opinion for a lot of things. Pokémon battling, what the Gym should look like, and most of all, how serious the other is in raising the family. Eventually, they both left to pursue greater ambitions, even if what they had right now was already fulfilling, technically speaking. They left me and my siblings all alone to fend for themselves, and I had to take responsibility for the family because of it."

"I'm...I'm sorry to hear that..." Lusamine replied solemnly. Then, she hung her head low in shame. "At least your siblings had you watching over them. Gladion and Lillie, they had no one they could properly look up to when their dad got taken away and I got sucked into my work. No one except their butler Hobbes, but he was too old to be a true parental figure."

"And at least you could be a responsible older brother," Gladion said, a certain darkness flickering across his green eyes. "My own sister was attacked right in front of me...and I couldn't do anything about it..." He narrowed his eyes in agony. "If there's only one person who was truly let down by this family, who isn't to blame for this whole thing, it's Lillie."

"Lillie?" Brock asked.

"Lillie..." Lusamine whispered. "She's always been the strongest of us... No matter how tough things got with our family, no matter how much she clearly wanted to skirt around the very topic of us, she still wanted all of us to be together. That is who Lillie is. A warm, kind, sensitive girl who just wants what's best for everyone, no matter what kind of feelings she displays on the surface." She sighed sullenly. "I...I only wish I was the one who taught her those things, molded her into the person she is now, and not someone else. It makes me feel like I failed horribly as a mother..."

"And I wish I wasn't more distant with her," added Gladion. "Especially now, of all days. I...I thought I could be a better brother by training myself to become stronger, but all that did was just widen the distance between us." He clenched his fists. "And now look where it's got us."

"Well," Brock replied, "it's never too late to turn back the clock and start all over again." He smiled encouragingly at the mother and son. "My parents eventually realized they would never be able to fulfill their ambitions without the family, so they returned home and made amends with me and my siblings."

Gladion's attention was piqued. "How'd that work out?"

The Doctor furrowed his brow slightly. "It's still a work in progress, but we're about...ninety percent done."

"It's good your parents are putting in the effort," replied Lusamine. "Maybe...I should meet them, learn something from their direct example..."

"Maybe you should." Brock took another quick sip of his drinking water before screwing the cap back on the bottle. "Well, I think we've rested long enough." He stood up, a movement mirrored by Lusamine and Gladion. "Let's start looking for Lillie again. I'm sure she'll be happy to see the two of you again."

"Alright," Gladion said. "Let's get going."

Brock nodded. But then, just as he started to turn around, he froze, as if time had stood still just for him. Lusamine and Gladion could hear nothing but low, feeble whimpering from the Doctor's mouth. He seemed to be staring off emptily into the distance, and while his eyes remained squinted, the terror etching his face was unmistakable.

"Brock?" Lusamine asked, cautiously stepping forward. "Ummm...a-are you o-okay?"

But Brock didn't respond, nor did he budge an inch. It was as if paralysis had totally conquered his body, and the Doctor was now a stone statue. Increasingly concerned, Gladion stood in front of him and looked into his frozen face.

"Hey, Brock!" he called. "C-Come on, don't tell me you're pulling our legs right now!" When Brock didn't respond, the boy grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Hey, Brock! Snap out of it! Snap out of it right now!"

Gladion then shook him harder, and to his and Lusamine's relief, it was enough to snap the Doctor right out of his reverie and pull him back into reality. He gasped and looked around, his expression now frantic.

"Brock, what happened?" Lusamine asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

"What in the world was that?!" Gladion snapped.

"H-Huh?" Brock looked between Lusamine and Gladion in disbelief. "You...You didn't hear that?"

Lusamine simply blinked in confusion. "Hear what?"

"I didn't hear anything," Gladion replied, his brow furrowing. "What the heck's going on here, Brock?"

"You didn't hear that?!" Brock looked around again, desperate to seek out the source of the unknown noise. "It sounded like it came from above somewhere!"

"What sound, Brock?!"

"The...The sound! It sounded like screaming..."

"I didn't hear any screaming, Brock," Lusamine replied, trying to sound as calm as she could. "You...You must be hearing things, I'm afraid..."

Brock looked around again, this time out of confusion. It seemed like he wanted to verify what he had heard was actually there. However, when it became clear that he would not be hearing whatever it was he heard again, his posture started to relax.

"I...I suppose it was nothing..." the Doctor commented, mostly to himself.

"Are you sure you're okay, Brock?" Lusamine asked, catching her attention.

Brock glanced at Lusamine, and then at Gladion and Zoroark. All three of them could tell he was contemplating on what he should do next, about whether he should press on about the subject of the unknown noise, or simply continue helping them in their search for Lillie as he originally intended. Eventually, he seemed to decide against the first option, for the squinted-eyed Doctor gave them an embarrassed smile.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine, Lusamine," he replied. "Sorry about that."

"Alright, then!" Gladion exclaimed with slight exasperation. "Now that we're over this, can we please look for Lillie now?! We can't afford to waste any more time!"

"Yes, yes, of course." Brock looked over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. "Now, let's think for a sec. If you two were her, where would you go in a time like this?"

"I'd go to a place that has a lot of photo opportunities," Lusamine replied, with her chin tucked between her thumb and index finger. "Lillie loves taking photos..."

"Then we go to the Viridian City landmarks." Then, the Pokémon Doctor looked back at the mother and son, and he gave them a triumphant smile. "And I know exactly where to start. Come on!"

Rocket Frigate

"Viridian City fast approaching. ETA: one minute, seventeen seconds."

"Excellent. Reduce speed. Stabilize the secondary thrusters. And activate the cloaking shields."

"Yes, Proton sir."

The corner of Proton's lips tugged into a satisfied smile. Down below him, in the cockpit of the Rocket Frigate, grunts of various persuasions pressed buttons and manipulated levers. Before them, the holographic screen indicated the airship's speed was slowing down considerably, even though none of them could barely feel a thing in the process. Proton kept his eyes on the screen's 3D topographical map, which displayed a bright, scarlet marker marked with the legend 'VIRIDIAN CITY', straight ahead.

"Executive Proton," a voice said.

The man turned around and saw a female Team Rocket agent approaching him. She had golden-blonde hair styled into curly, shoulder-length, almost adorable and innocuous pigtails at the sides. She also wore the official Team Rocket agent uniform, consisting of a black, short-sleeved shirt with a red 'R' logo on the front, along with a white miniskirt and white, shoulder-length gloves, and white thigh-high boots.

"Agent 009 reporting for duty!" the woman greeted with a salute.

"It is good to have you with us for this mission, Black Tulip," Proton replied. Then, he scanned the woman from head to toe, his small grin turning lecherous. "If our information on the mark is correct, and it always is, then this mission will be a piece of cake."

Black Tulip snickered deviously in response, while Proton nodded at her in acknowledgment. Then, he turned his head to face the holographic screen again. Beside the topographical map was a pronounced identification photo of a certain man with tanned skin and squinted eyes...

Viridian Gym

Lillie sighed once her latest bout of laughter died down. Then, she looked around on the sidewalk, curiously searching for any sign of the Gym Leader Ritchie was waiting for.

"Do you know what this Gym Leader's supposed to look like, Ritchie?" she asked.

"Some old woman," Ritchie replied. "I heard she's pretty scary in her own right."

"Scary, huh?" A shiver passed through the blonde girl's spine. "How much time do you think has passed?"

"Lemme check..." The auburn-haired Trainer reached into his pocket and fished around. "The guard said she'd be coming back in about a couple of hours..."

"I feel like we've only been waiting for a half-hour." Then, before she could think about it further, Lillie glanced at Ritchie and blurted out, "Hey, wanna go out for lunch while we wait?"

Ritchie paused and looked at her incredulously. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Pika?" a confused Sparky squeaked, averting his eyes from Snowy.

Lillie's face turned scarlet, and her entire posture turned rigid. She turned away, her face reddening even more.

"N-Nothing!" she squeaked in embarrassment.

"No, I'm pretty sure you asked me out for lunch-"

"Wh-Who s-s-said I was a-a-asking you o-out?!" Then, Lillie cleared her throat in an unsuccessful attempt to alleviate the tension building up in her throat. "Y-You know what? F-F-Forget I said tha-"

"You know, I actually don't mind, Lillie."

Lillie looked at him, her eyes bulging. "Wh-Wh-What?!"

"Vul?!" Snowy barked in equal shock, while Magearna covered the portion of its face where its mouth should've been.

Ritchie shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, we gotta pass the time somehow, right?" Then, he looked at the sidewalk. "But I think we should order takeout. We don't wanna miss your mom and brother if they decide to pass through here looking for you." Finally, he looked at Lillie again. "If that's alright with you, that is."

Lillie gulped, trying to make sure Ritchie wouldn't see her pulsating, swallowing throat. She was at a loss of words over what had just happened. Just minutes ago, she came across a boy who looked a lot like Ash Ketchum, the very boy who inspired her and helped her get over her crippling fear of touching Pokémon...the very boy that she held close and dear to her heart. And now, here she was, asking this boy, this virtual stranger that she had only befriended for a few minutes or so, out on what amounted to a date. All while sitting there, awaiting his newest Gym challenge and her family to come find her. The amount of impulsiveness that went into these recent developments boggled her mind.

And yet, there was a part of her dwelling within her heart that was...rejoicing at this situation.

"Why?" she thought. "Why do I feel so warm and happy...? Is it because Ritchie looks and behaves so much like Ash? B-But I can't just keep comparing him to Ash! He's his own person, his own individual! But...I just can't stop projecting Ash onto him either... It must be why I feel so cozy in his presence... Wait, 'cozy'?! What in Arceus's name am I thinking?! I-I can't feel cozy around a complete stranger! H-He may be nice and all...m-more than nice, actually, b-but he's just a-a stranger still! AGH! I don't know what to do now! I don't know what to-!"

"Whoa! Lillie?! Lillie!"

"Huh?" She looked at Ritchie, fearful that she had been expressing her thoughts out loud. "Wh-What?"

To her relief, Ritchie was instead staring at the screen of his Rotom Phone. "Come take a look at this!"

The blonde blushed, but she nevertheless scooted closer to Ritchie and leaned her head closer to his Rotom Phone. Then, all thoughts of embarrassment and ambivalence receded to the back of her mind when she read the headline.

"Galar under attack?"

"This broke a few minutes ago," Ritchie replied.

Then, he pressed on the space over the headline, which soon took the screen to a livestream of a news report. Lillie and Ritchie watched as the Rotom Phone displayed the live image of an anchorman who tried his best to stay calm, but could do nothing to mask the rattled look on his face.

"Viewers be warned," the man said, "the following content may be disturbing to some."

The news feed then switched to footage that had apparently been recorded moments earlier, from the safety of a distant airborne helicopter. Lillie's and Ritchie's eyes widened at the sight of the object at the front and center of the footage: a massive, futuristic airship made of metal, which was looming over an entire stadium, its mammoth size easily enveloping the area in shadow.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If you're just joining us, you're looking at live footage of Motostoke Stadium. A-At approximately 12:00 local time, a World Coronation Series match between Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan and Motostoke Gym Leader Kabu was interrupted by what appears to be a...a ship hovering in midair."

"Oh, my Arceus..." Lillie whispered.

"That thing's so big," added Ritchie. "Is that really manmade...?"

Then, they watched as a strange scarlet Pokémon reminiscent of a Scolipede rose above the stadium. It tried to engage the airship in battle, but it appeared to be fortified by an impenetrable force-field of sorts, which shrugged off all of the attacks the Pokémon hurled at its way.

"T-There appears to be some battling going on, and as you just saw, a Centiskorch that I'd assume belongs to Kabu is trying to break through force-fields surrounding the ship. Eyewitnesses at the scene are telling us there were people who were aboard this ship, and their leader claimed to be affiliated with an organization known as Team Rocket."

"H-Hold up, Team Rocket?" Lillie repeated incredulously.

"Huh?" Ritchie looked at her, stunned. "Y-You know-" Then, he stopped for a split-second. "Oh yeah, you were with Ash. Never mind."

"I mostly met Jessie, James, and their Meowth." Lillie's eyes narrowed at the sight of the gigantic airship. "But obviously, this is not their typical handiwork."

As she continued to observe the recording, Lillie noticed a strip of scrolling text underneath the headline, highlighted in a bright shade of red. Reading the text, her green eyes slowly began to widen.

"There are also reports of an attack and kidnappings in Sinnoh?" she repeated.

"Huh?!" Ritchie joined Lillie in reading the scrolling text as well. "Looks like there are also reported sightings of identical aircraft in Johto and-"

"K-Kanto?!" Lillie shot up on her two feet, startling Snowy, Magearna, and Sparky. "I-I'm sorry, Ritchie, b-but I gotta go!"

"Wait, why?!" Ritchie stood up as well. "H-Hold up, a-are you gonna try and find your family now?!"

"W-Wh-What if something happens, a-and we're not to-together?!" With that, the panicked blonde girl began traversing down the steps, quickly followed by Snowy and Magearna. "I-I don't want that to happen! I gotta go find my family now, Ritchie, I'm so sorry!"

"Wait a minute, Lillie! We don't even know how far out that ship could be! And you could just get yourself lost again! Wa-Wait, Lillie!"

But it was useless. Ritchie could only watch helplessly as the girl he recently befriended reached the bottom of the steps, looked around frantically, and then sped down a random direction on the sidewalk. With a groan, Ritchie looked over his shoulder and at the Viridian Gym, which continued to stand high and mightily, as if it was awaiting his challenge. He still remembered all of the times he lost at the hands of its mysterious Gym Leader and his equally mysterious Pokémon...

"UGH!" Ritchie clenched his fists in exasperation. "Darn it!" Then, he looked down at Sparky, who was waiting for him to make a decision. "C-Come on, Sparky. We're gonna go after Lillie."

"Pika?" Sparky asked in shock. "Pika-pika, pika-chu?!"

"I know. But Lillie's all by herself, and she's such a nice girl, I don't think I'd be able to live with myself knowing I let her go out on her own." He held out his arm without looking, and Sparky reluctantly used it to scurry up to his left shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Let's go."

Nearby, Gladion and Zoroark led the way as they, Brock, and Lusamine scoured through the area for Lillie. While the boy and his Illusion Fox Pokémon looked around for any sign of her, Brock currently had his Rotom Phone out and was dialing in a number, which Lusamine was quick to notice.

"Who're you calling?" the woman asked.

"My assistant," Brock replied, his eyes still glued to the phone. "Hopefully she's still awake so she can answer. I need to delay my upcoming appointment."

Lusamine blinked. "You have an assistant?"

"Yeah. But she's not trained to help out Pokémon. She's trying to get work experience so she could get her dream job."

"And where would that be?"

Brock sweat-dropped. "Behind a desk at the Goldenrod Radio Tower."

"Oh..." Then, Lusamine's eyes softened. "If we're keeping you from your patients-"

"No, don't worry about it!" Brock smiled at the mother. "I'd do anything to help out a friend and their family!"

"I appreciate it, I truly do, Brock, but-"

"Excuse me, mister!" an unfamiliar voice squeaked.

Brock and Lusamine turned around and quickly saw what appeared to be a couple standing right behind them. They were both dressed in unusually heavy clothing and carrying massive backpacks, like they were mountaineers or overdressed tourists. The man had teal hair and eyes and looked rather handsome, while the woman had stunning blonde hair curled up into thick, cute pigtails at the sides. A Nidorino and Nidorina stood beside their ankles, with the former looking like it was in pain while the latter seemed concerned for her partner.

"Are you Dr. Harrison?" the woman asked, her voice unusually childlike.

"Uhhh..." Brock stared on incredulously before clearing his throat and composing himself. "Y-Yes, th-that's me..."

"Great!" the man exclaimed in relief. "Can you check out my girlfriend's Nidorino? He's been walking weirdly for the past thirty minutes or so. I think he hurt himself."

Nidorino groaned in agony, emphasizing the man's point.

"Ummm..." Brock looked at Lusamine and then back at the couple. "I-I'm so sorry, but I'm preoccupied at the moment. You could schedule an appointment for later today, and I'll look at Nidorino by that point-"

"Oh, but it can't wait, Mr. Dr. Harrison!" the woman interrupted.

"Mister Doctor?" Lusamine thought, boggled by the woman's overwhelmingly childish behavior. "Jeez, even I wouldn't be so overbearing towards my children..."

"Okay," Brock replied hesitantly. "Well...I could do a quick checkup on your Nidorino, ma'am. If the problem turns out to be minor, I can remedy it with a simply alcoholic swab and bandage, and then you can be on your w-"

"Oh, but aren't you, like, required to examine your patients at your clinic or something, Mr. Doctor?"

"Only if it's a problem that requires further medical attention. Like I said, I can check on your Nidorino's legs right now, and if it's nothing to be worried about, I can treat the problem right here and right now. But if the problem's major, you are gonna have to schedule an appointment for later today-"

"But this is a medical emergency, Doctor!" protested the man.

Brock squinted his eyes even further at the couple. There was something about them that made him feel uneasy, and it made him want to get the matter over with as soon as possible. However, as a newly-licensed Pokémon Doctor, he was not one to shirk his responsibilities, so he mustered a kind smile onto his face and stepped forward.

"I mean no disrespect, sir, ma'am," he said. "But I'll be the one to make that evaluation once I see what the problem is." With that, he approached Nidorino and knelt down. "So, can you describe Nidorino's ailment in further detail?"

"H-Honestly," the woman replied, sounding hesitant and impatient, "I'd prefer it if we discussed this at your clinic..." She glanced at Lusamine. "In private..."

Brock looked up, stunned. "Why?"

"Well..." The woman giggled and stuck out part of her tongue in childish shame. "It's kinda embarrassing... I was being a bit clumsy, to put it mildly..."

At that moment, something about the woman's words struck a certain chord in Brock's mind. He narrowed his eyes even more and scanned the woman from head to toe, all the while feeling his heart beat faster.

"Forgive me, but...have we met before...?" he asked.

"H-Have you guys met before?" the man repeated. Then, he looked at his partner, giving her a joking pout. "Honey, what have you not been telling me?"

But the woman was slightly more serious in her response. "Noooo, I don't think so, Doctor." Then, she clasped her hands together in a pleading expression. "Can you please check out Nidorino? Pretty please?"

Brock kept his eyes on her as he effortlessly took one of Nidorino's legs and felt them up for any abnormalities. He didn't know why, but the woman's childish attitude, coupled with her stunning beauty and her peculiar hairstyle, was giving him an alarmed pause.

"No, I'm...I'm pretty sure we've met before... Somewhere..."

Brock's eyes wandered, giving him time for his mind to process the woman's voice. As he reflected on it, a set of certain memories, borne long ago, came back to him through a fog of vagueness.

"I said good morning, even though it's after midnight! If I said good night, you might go to bed!"

"Oh, wow! I can't believe I'm finally meeting  the  Luna Carson! I'm, like, a totally off-the-hook fan of yours! I wanna be  exactly  like you when  I  get old!"

"Ohhh, this is...s-scary!"

"Double-0 Nine to Team Rocket Combat Unit leaders. Proceed to coordinates."

"I don't reveal my  true  identity.  That's  a secret I keep to myself. Things are... simpler  that way.  But , within the elite ranks of Team Rocket,  I  have an identity that's known to all! Haha!"

Brock's eyes widened as much as they possibly could. "Now I remember! You're that Domino girl from Mount Quena!"

"Domino?" Lusamine repeated, blinking. "Mount Quena?"

The woman blinked incredulously before replying in her childish voice, "Oh, now! For a Pokémon Doctor, you sure have a very imaginative mind! I'm so jealous! Even I can't think up something as compelling yet outlandish as that!"

Brock shot up, his fists clenched tightly. "You're definitely Domino! It's been a while, but I would recognize a girl like you from anywhere!" Then, he gritted his teeth. "But then again, Domino wasn't actually your real name, wasn't it? What was it again? Black Tulip?"

In that moment, the woman's childish, innocuous mask faded away and was replaced with a shadowy, malevolent look. A second later, her arm moved in a blur; before either Brock or Lusamine could react, something flew through the air at a high speed and embedded itself into Brock's neck.

"BROCK!" Lusamine screamed, catching the attention of nearby passersby.

But Brock didn't answer. Instead, he felt a hot, overwhelming pain shoot through his entire body, followed by a crippling, near-total paralysis. The world around him quickly began to swim, and his hearing became distorted. Exerting as much of his remaining strength as he could, he took the object that pricked him in the throat and pulled it out. Examining this object, a single thought passed his mind before he lost consciousness.

"A...black...rose...?"

"Brock, NO!" Lusamine screamed again, but it was too late: the Pokémon Doctor collapsed in a heap before the couple.

Chuckling, the man stepped forward and removed the wool cap he had been wearing, revealing lush teal hair and a pair of equally teal eyes that glimmered with flamboyance. He towered over the unconscious Brock and smiled down at him.

"We've been looking for you, Mr. Harrison," Proton said.

Then, he was about to reach for Brock's collar when another voice rang through the air.

"Snowy! Use Powder Snow!"

A small gust of cold, snowy wind blew through the air, forcing Proton to jump away from Brock to avoid getting hit. He, Domino, and their Nidorino and Nidorina hatefully looked across the street, with Lusamine following their gazes. As soon as she saw the person who intervened, her heart swelled with relief.

"Lillie!" she called. "Oh, thank goodness you're-"

"MOM!" Lillie screamed. "Get Brock away from them NOW! It's Team Rocket!"

"You little brat!" Domino growled before pointing at Lillie, Snowy, and Magearna. "Nidorino, use Poison Sting!"

"You too, Nidorina!" commanded Proton. "Double time!"

Nidorino aimed his front horn at Lillie's group, while Nidorina opened her mouth, and the two Poison Pin Pokémon fired a flurry of white darts at them. Her heart violently beating against her sternum, Lillie was about to order a counterattack from Snowy when another voice yelled out to her.

"SIS! Behind you!"

Acting on instinct from Gladion's warning, Lillie ducked and shielded Snowy and Magearna, just as multiple jagged rocks intercepted the dual Poison Stings. The impacts triggered a series of tiny but loud explosions, causing Magearna to cover its head and let out a terrified robotic squeal. Then, the rocks landed in the middle of the street, forcing other passersby to flee and clouds of smoke to bloom all across the area, blanketing it...

International Police, Precinct A-1 Headquarters
UNKNOWN LOCATION

Looker departed from the meeting room, straightening out his suit as he did so. At first, he attempted to keep his calm and collective expression, but the façade broke within seconds. With a short yell, he cocked his fist and punched the wall.

"WHOA!" a voice cried. "Looker?! Are-Are you okay?!

Looker's white-hot fury receded almost immediately when he saw Emma running up to him, wearing a face of concern. A dewdrop-coated cup of orange soda was in her hand. A split-second later, the pain caught up to him, and he clutched his whitening fingers and knuckles.

"Wait, hold on, hold on!" Emma cried. "Lemme get something..."

She ran off to the nearest trashcan, stuck her hand into the cold liquid, and dumped it inside, using her fingers to make sure the ice-cubes inside didn't fall out as well. Then, the student ran into the nearby ladies' bathroom and emerged just a couple of seconds later with strips of paper towel. She dumped the ice-cubes onto the paper towels and wrapped them around the solidified liquid, thereby creating a makeshift ice-pack.

"Here!" Emma said as she ran back up to Looker. "Use this."

"Thanks, kid..." Looker grumbled sheepishly. As he applied the ice-pack to his knuckles, he couldn't help but admire her ingenuity.

"S-So..." Emma bashfully looked down at the floor. "Did...Did the General Assembly-?"

"I don't think they were convinced by your findings," interrupted Looker.

The girl sighed sullenly. "I thought so."

"But..."

Emma's eyes widened, and she looked up. "But what?"

"They said a vague and speculative lead is better than no lead at all."

She gasped. "So they-!"

"Shhhh, sh, sh!" Looker put a finger to his own lips, shushing Emma. "Remember, they cannot know that it was you who wrote up that report."

"Oh yeah, right..." Emma whispered. "Don't wanna get thrown in jail. S-So, uhhh...what'd they make you do about it?"

"They assigned me to go to Hoenn and follow your evidence, essentially." Then, the agent scowled. "But...to be perfectly honest, I think they see this as an opportunity to get me as far away from the main investigation as possible."

"Huh?" The female student blinked incredulously. "Why? You're a good agent, Agent Looker! You contributed so much for the International Police!"

Looker snorted derisively. "Yes, so they've told me..."

Then, all of a sudden, an idea came to his mind, a perfect, terrible idea. An idea that made one side of Looker recoil with disgust and the other giddy at the prospects of sticking it to Charlotte and the General Assembly for all of their clear lack of appreciation for his hard work. Before the better side of him could hold him back, Looker blurted it out, and the path forward had now become clear to him.

"So, tell me, Emma, are you up for a little...overseas studying?"

Chapter 5:
SNOW

Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon.  Be careful if it turns its back during battle. It means that it will attack with the fire on its back. This Pokémon is fully covered by nonflammable fur. It can withstand any kind of fire attack.

pqflkmaewalmvkiia. vlivltxgnqpwxehtnq.

Next Time:

Domino: We need reinforcements NOW!

Lusamine: Oh, my Arceus, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!

Gladion: CONTINENTAL...

Misty: Come on, you guys, let's get outta here!

Ritchie: LILLIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!

Snowy: VUUUUULLLLL!

Unknown Pokémon: *loud, triumphant squawk*

Proton: In all the time I've served Giovanni, I've never failed him.

BOULDER

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Trip, Reggie, Johanna

-T eam 3 (Kanto): Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, Brock, Misty, Tracey, Ritchie, Daisy, Violet, Lily

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

Near Pewter City
KANTO REGION

– A couple of hours earlier –

High in the skies, a flock of Pidgeotto and Pidgey soared through peacefully a bank of clouds. The air was punctuated by the occasional squawk, and some of the Pidgeotto helped their baby Pidgey keep their flights steady, sometimes stepping in when it became clear that the wind would knock them off-course and take them away. At the head of this flock was a lone Pidgeot, its gaze razor-sharp and yet so serene as it focused on the invisible path straight ahead, for the sake of its brethren.

The flock eventually passed through yet another cloud and entered a brief clearing. Down below, the Flying-types could see the human settlement called Pewter City down below. The Pidgeot remembered it intimately, but the memories were from so long ago, they were almost like a distant dream. But it didn't allow the nostalgia to overtake it, not just yet, not when it still had a flock to watch over. So, the Bird Pokémon merely kept focusing at the massive, rolling cloud ahead.

Then, all of a sudden, the cloud exploded, revealing what Pidgeot recognized as a human aircraft, though unlike anything it had seen in its years of experience. And it was barreling towards them at a freakish, unforeseen speed, evidently blind to the flock ahead of it.

"BRRRRROT!"

Pidgeot's mighty squawk of warning caught the rest of the flock's attention. Seeing the danger right in front of them, all of the Pidgeotto and Pidgey maneuvered themselves aside, while Pidgeot soared higher up. As the Bird Pokémon kept up its ascent, it noticed the sails and masts adorning the top of the aircraft, like it was also meant to be one of the humans' ships. And then, it noticed the large, single letter emblazoned in-between the masts at the center.

R.

With a stunned squawk, Pidgeot watched as the massive aircraft sped off into the distance, its pace uninterrupted even in the slightest. Recognizing the direction it was headed, the Bird Pokémon narrowed its eyes and flew back down to join back with its flock. Once it did, it noticed some of the parent Pidgeotto comforting their Pidgey children, with a few of the Tiny Bird Pokémon feebly flapping their wings, clearly injured from the sharp blasts of wind or the sudden overexertion of their wing muscles.

Holding back its outrage at the injuries inflicted upon the hatchlings, Pidgeot squawked at the others, commanding their attention and giving them instructions on what they needed to do now.

Team Rocket HQ

– Present day –

Within the shrouded comfort of his office, Giovanni closely watched the live news coverage of the unfolding attacks upon Motostoke Stadium, Jubilife City, and Viridian City. Every channel he went to, every click of his remote, he would always hear the same exact thing: stunned, even alarmed veteran reporters regurgitating different versions of the exact same material. Unprecedented attacks on a World Coronation Series match and a Pokémon Contest, and terrifying sightings of additional airships in Kanto, all by an unknowable criminal organization with as-of-yet unknown motives.

And it was all glorious. It was just like he had envisioned for many years. And even then, he knew that it was all just the beginning, with more to come.

"Nyaaaaa..." a familiar voice purred softly.

The Team Rocket executive felt something softly nudging at his knee, but he didn't need to look down to see who it was. Instead, with a smirk radiating utmost confidence, he lifted a hand, placed it upon a head matted with fur, and began to gently stroke it. Very soon, the office also became filled with the sound of contented purring.

"Soon," he thought. "Very soon, Team Rocket's goals will become a reality..."

Soon, he heard the doors to his office open up, followed by small footsteps, and then a familiar voice.

"Giovanni, sir."

Giovanni lifted his head by a centimeter in acknowledgment. "Yes, Matori?"

"All final preparations have been made," the secretary replied, her voice robotic and yet so faithful. "We are ready to set off. We're just waiting for your final word."

"Excellent."

The executive took the remote and used it to switch off the TV, bringing the room into further darkness. At that moment, his Persian stealthily slunk away from his chair, allowing him to stand up and adjust his tie. As he did, he stared into the dark abyss that was the metal-shuttered window in front of him; beyond those shutters, he knew, was the whole world, just a step closer to falling into his grasp.

"It is time to initiate the next phase of our operation," he continued. "Get the troops ready. It is time to invade Alola."

He heard Matori bow behind him. "Understood, Giovanni sir."

Finally, once he was finished adjusting his tie, Giovanni turned around and followed Matori and his Persian out of the dark office. As soon as he reached the door, the man stopped and looked over his shoulder, taking one last glance at the room he had been coordinating his organization from for the last few years.

The room that had been with Team Rocket since the beginning...

Then, Giovanni narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his lips twitched into a minuscule but triumphant smirk. He turned away, no longer caring about the fact that this was perhaps the last time he would see that office ever again.

Viridian Gym

Once the noises of destruction died down, Lillie opened her eyes, only for the dust to cake her eyes and fill her nostrils, causing her to screw her eyelids shut and cough to clear out her lungs, all the while dealing with the unbearable stinging that assailed her eyes. As she did, she heard two Poké Balls being thrown, unleashing new Pokémon.

"Nidoking, use Earth Power!" Proton's voice commanded.

"You too, Nidoqueen!" added Domino's voice. "Don't hold back!"

Lillie quickly felt the ground underneath her tremble, before breaking and shifting around loudly and uncomfortably. This was soon followed by a golden brightness that shone through her closed eyelids, and an unnaturally warm sensation that filled the air. The ground continued to break and shift more powerfully by the mere second, as if it was trying its hardest to contain an energy that was desperately attempting to burst through the surface...

"Lycanroc!" Gladion's voice hollered. "Get Lillie, Snowy, and Magearna out of there!"

Lillie overheard a mad bark, just before a pair of arms snatched her, Snowy, and Magearna up. Her rescuer then jumped away from the scene with another, louder bark, just in time to avoid a massive explosion that almost knocked all of them off-course.

A second later, her rescuer landed on safe ground and released her, Snowy, and Magearna. As soon as it did, Lillie began to rub her eyes with her forearms in an attempt to clear them of the dust. As she did, she overheard Gladion giving more orders.

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse! Zoroark, use Shadow Claw! Silvally, use Multi-Attack!"

Lillie managed to wipe away much of the dust from her eyes, allowing her to open them again. Through slightly blurred vision, she could see three of Gladion's Pokémon engaging Proton's Nidoking and Nidorino and Domino's Nidoqueen and Nidorina in battle. Umbreon fired several black-and-purple-outlined spheres of energy from its head, leaving behind faint rainbow-colored rings as a trail. As for Zoroark and Silvally, they both charged at Nidoqueen and Nidoking, respectively; Zoroark's arms were enveloped in black-and-purple-outlined aura that took the shape of claws, while Silvally's body was glowing blue.

"Nidoking, use Poison Jab on Silvally!" ordered Proton. "Nidorino, use Poison Sting on the Dark Pulse!"

"You too, Nidorina!" Domino commanded. "And you, Nidoqueen, use Tail Whip on Zoroark! Time it!"

Nidorino and Nidorina fired their respective Poison Stings at the incoming Dark Pulse, intercepting the Dark-type attack and triggering another series of small explosions. As for Nidoking, his fist glowed a sickly purple as he launched it at the approaching Silvally, while Nidoqueen spun around, her tail whipping outward dangerously.

Gladion's eyes widened at the new tactic. "Silvally, Zoroark, avoid Nidoking and Nidoqueen, quick!"

Silvally saw Nidoking's Poison Jab coming and jumped away, avoiding the incoming fist. However, Zoroark was unable to avoid Nidoqueen's flailing tail, and the Illusion Fox Pokémon was violently knocked aside. Lillie gasped as her father's old Pokémon was sent tumbling across the street, only coming to a stop when it crashed into a mailbox, destroying it in the process.

"Zoroark!" Gladion cried in distress. "Lycanroc! Go check on Zoroark!"

Beside Lillie, the Wolf Pokémon nodded with a low, dark growl before jumping towards Zoroark. Meanwhile, Gladion cast a hateful glare at Domino's direction.

"You're gonna pay for that!" the boy cried.

"Oh, really?" Domino replied, winking tauntingly at the boy. "Well, I think I am, but not in the way that you think. What was the expression? Crime does pay?"

"I'm glad you're having fun, Black Tulip," Proton said with a devious sneer, "but remember, we need to keep our eyes on the prize."

"Ah, yes."

Domino stared off elsewhere, and Lillie realized the female Team Rocket agent was looking at Brock's unconscious body. To her stunned shock, Lusamine had reached the Pokémon Doctor and was trying to drag him to safety.

"Hey!" Domino barked, stopping Lusamine in her tracks. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lusamine put on a defiant expression, but the fear in her eyes was evident to Lillie. "I-If you think you can lay a hand on him, then you're mistaken! No one gets to hurt one of my daughter's dearest friends! Not if I have anything to say about it! And you'll never hear it f-from me!" The woman reached into her pockets and produced six Poké Balls, which she then threw. "GO!"

The Poké Balls opened up, unleashing her Salazzle, Lilligant, Milotic, Mismagius, Absol, and Clefable. All six Pokémon put on defensive postures, even the normally effeminate and peaceful Clefable. Domino quirked an eyebrow at the team and then burst into amused laughter.

"Oh, ho-ho-ho! If you think your cute Pokémon could shake the likes of me, then you're the one who's sadly mistaken!" With a grin, the agent procured a black rose and twirled it around in her fingers like a pen. "Proton, sir, I'll retrieve the good doctor. You handle the wet-work."

"With pleasure..." Proton replied as he grinned hungrily at Gladion and his Pokémon.

"Excellent. Now then..." Domino's other hand snaked into her pocket and produced four additional Poké Balls. "Let's even out the playing field, shall we? Come on out, my pretties!"

The agent threw the Poké Balls, unleashing a Golbat, a Houndoom, a Rhydon, and a Banette. In response, Lusamine and her own Pokémon readied themselves for battle, standing defensively in front of Brock's unconscious body. Lillie, Snowy, and Magearna continued to observe from the sidelines.

"Don't underestimate me and my Pokémon," Lusamine snarled. "We'll do everything in our power to protect him. I swear it on my daughter."

"Honey," Domino replied tauntingly, "you don't know true power even if it hit you right in the face. Speaking of which..."

Her grip around the stem of her black rose tightened, prompting its petals to open up like the gears of an oiled machine. Lusamine's and Lillie's green eyes both widened at the sight of the small, marble-like object that had been revealed from within. Then, a certain glimmer caught her attention, and she noticed, to her horror, that the end of Banette's wispy hair had a small black band wrapped around it, bearing a slightly larger marble colored in pink, with a certain dark-gray-and-golden wisp contained inside it.

"It's now time to show our true beauty and strength!" Domino cried while raising her rose high in the air, causing the Key Stone embedded in it to glow brightly. "My dear Banette, MEGA EVOLVE!"

With an unnerving, bloodcurdling snicker, Banette became enveloped in a sphere of light, and Lusamine, Lillie, and all of their Pokémon watched as its outline grew and changed in shape. After a few seconds, the light disappeared in a brilliant flash that resembled a double-helix symbol. Once the light subsided, they found the Marionette Pokémon standing there in its Mega Evolved form.

At the sight of their newly empowered opponent, Salazzle, Mismagius, and Lilligant took a few steps backward in caution, while Milotic, Absol, and Clefable looked weary at the sight of Domino's evidently superior manpower. Upon sensing the sudden drop of confidence from her Pokémon, Lusamine tried her best to take the lead, stepping in front of her Pokémon and trying to maintain a firm footing, though even Lillie could tell she was still shaking in her shoes. Domino could tell as well, for she began to cackle.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Do you really think you have what it takes to defeat all of my Pokémon with yours?! Especially my Mega Banette?!"

"W-Well," Lusamine replied with gritted teeth, "I have to try. For my daughter."

Lillie's heart swelled with love and gratitude towards her mother. Then, she glanced at Domino and her Pokémon, all of whom were prepared for battle. This was in stark contrast to Lusamine's own team, all of whom looked just as uncertain about their chances of victory as she was. Realizing that her mother was outmatched, Lillie looked down at Snowy; the Fox Pokémon looked back at her and nodded in understanding. With the consensus reached between the Trainer and her Pokémon, she looked at Magearna.

"Magearna, I need you to go find someplace to hide," she instructed.

Magearna's pink eyes lit up in shock, and it let out a robotic whir of a protest. However, Lillie shook her head, her mind already being made up.

"I have to go help Mom," Lillie replied. "She can't do this alone."

Magearna tried to protest again, but Lillie patted its head in an act of consolation.

"I promise, Magearna, I'll come back for you when the coast is clear. But for now, I need you to be brave, alright? J-Just find a place to hide, and I will come back for you. Can you do that for me?"

The Artificial Pokémon gave a low hum of reluctance and dismay, but nevertheless, it nodded twice in agreement. Then, it turned around and ran off as fast as its stubby, metallic legs could carry it. Lillie saw it off for a quick moment, before twirling around and dashing into the fray, with Snowy right behind her.

"If you're gonna have to go through my mother," she yelled, "you're gonna have to go through me too!"

"Lillie?!" exclaimed Lusamine.

Lillie didn't face her, but she could already tell how determined she was to participate. "Don't worry, Mom! We're gonna do this together!"

"VUL!" Snowy barked, staring down Domino's Banette with her icy-blue eyes.

At first, Lusamine looked reluctant to allow her daughter to assist her in protecting Brock. But then, her eyes shimmered with emotion, and she quickly reconsidered her decision.

"Oh, sweetie..." Then, before she could help herself, she embraced her daughter in a tight hug, causing Snowy, her own Pokémon, and even Domino to sweat-drop in confusion. "Oh, my Arceus, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

"Mom!" Lillie wheezed in stunned embarrassment. "Mom! Team Rocket, remember?!"

"O-Oh, yeah!" The woman quickly broke away. "Th-That's right!"

"Awwwwww, how adorable," Domino replied, her eyes now glimmering with excitement. "Mother and daughter, battling side-by-side, falling together in humiliation and defeat... I LIKE it! I like it very much!"

"How about a girl, her mother, and one of her friends?!" a new voice cried.

This drew a shocked gasp from Lillie, who looked over her right shoulder, just in time to see Ritchie and Sparky running up beside her.

"Ritchie!" she cried in relief.

"Vul!" Snowy yipped happily.

"Ritchie?" Lusamine asked in confusion.

"Hey there!" Ritchie greeted, although his eyes were still glued onto Domino and her Pokémon. "We'll save all the proper introductions for later. For now, let's focus on kicking Team Rocket's sorry little butts!"

"Oh?" Domino quirked an eyebrow, her grin now one of amusement. "And who might you be, cutie?"

"Like I said earlier: one of Lillie's friends." Then, Ritchie gave a fleeting glance towards Brock's unconscious form. "And one of Brock's friends too."

"Ohhh, but I don't think you've come up in our research..."

"Well, all the better! At least you're gonna be defeated by the likes of a nobody such as myself!" Ritchie pulled out three Poké Balls. "Zippo, Cruise, Rose, come on out!"

There were three simultaneous flashes of light, and when they faded after a couple of seconds, both Lillie and Lusamine were absolutely stunned to see a Charizard, a Tyranitar, and a Swellow standing beside their own Pokémon. To cap things off, Sparky leaped off of his Trainer's shoulder and positioned himself at the head of Ritchie's group, his cheeks sparkling with static electricity.

However, Domino didn't seem at all daunted by the newcomers. Instead, she chuckled once again and twirled her black rose around in her palm.

"Wow," she said condescendingly. "Such powerful-looking Pokémon. How bold of you to assume they'll be enough to beat my powerhouse team, though-"

"Unfortunately for you," Ritchie interrupted, "I've got one last trick up my sleeve! And I think you Team Rocket goons are not gonna like it one bit!"

The auburn-haired boy rolled up his right sleeve, and Lillie was stunned to see the small band wrapped around his wrist. He raised it high in the air, revealing the Key Stone embedded in it. In response, Charizard huffed, and that was when an increasingly surprised Lillie and Lusamine noticed the mahogany mask covering its forehead and dual horns, which bore a Mega Stone.

"It's time to debut the next phase of our strength, Zippo!" Ritchie declared mightily, just as his Key Stone started to glow and pulsate with energy. "NOW, MEGA EVOLVE!"

Zippo released a loud, triumphant roar, milliseconds before it started to glow and eventually become enveloped in light. Just like Domino's Banette, its outline, faint and vague through the blinding light, could be seen growing and changing in shape. After a few seconds, the light disappeared in another double-helix symbol-like flash. What Lillie and Lusamine saw next completely boggled their minds.

Standing before their group and staring down Domino's own with insurmountable might was a Mega Evolved Charizard unlike any that they had seen before. It resembled a Mega Charizard X, though it was considerably larger and mightier, and its belly and wings were colored light-green instead of blue. In addition, it had a spiky tail, a row of small flame-like spikes traveling down its spine, horns that almost resembled those of a Gogoat, and green, blade-like protrusions from its elbows.

"Wh-What?!" Domino cried, taking a step backward in shock.

"Charizard has a third Mega Evolved form?!" Lusamine exclaimed, her eyes glittering with scientific curiosity.

"This is the pinnacle of the bond I built with my Charizard," Ritchie replied. His eyes were glued onto Domino's Pokémon; they all cowered and flinched at the sight of the Mega Evolved Zippo, while Banette let out a terror-stricken chuckle as a feeble warning. "Mega Charizard Z!"

"Mega Charizard Z?" Lillie repeated incredulously.

"Now you're going to do a whole lot more than just blasting off, Team Rocket!" Ritchie firmly stood his ground as Sparky and the rest of his team joined Zippo's sides. "You're going to answer to the crimes you have committed against Trainers and their Pokémon! Zippo, use Blast Burn!"

Zippo's body quickly became engulfed in light-green flames that took on the vague shape of a draconic being. Then, with a roar, the Flame Pokémon channeled some of the fiery energy to its arms, and then it clasped both fists together. Before Domino could react punched the ground with a command of her own, Zippo slammed its fists down into the ground, thus sending a wave of green, fiery energy right into the earth. A sickly green glow traversed underneath the street and soon moved underneath Domino and her Pokémon.

"DODGE, NOW!" Domino hollered. She and Banette quickly jumped out of the way, but the others were slower to react: the energy exploded from beneath the ground in a gargantuan explosion of green flames, sending the scorched Nidorina, Nidoqueen, Golbat, Houndoom, and Rhydon flying sky-high.

"Gotcha!" Ritchie proclaimed.

"NO!" Domino snapped upon landing away from the fiery carnage. She furiously glared at Nidorina, Nidoqueen, Golbat, Houndoom, and Rhydon, all of whom were lying prone, their bodies scorched. "Get up, you idiots! Get UP!"

When all five Pokémon failed to respond, she gritted her teeth and recalled all of them back into their Poké Balls. Then, she watched as Zippo marched through the wall of green flames that separated her from her target. The Flame Pokémon let out a huff, ejecting small green ashes from its mouth in the process. With a growl, the sweating Domino whipped out a walkie-talkie, pressed a button, and shouted into it.

"We need reinforcements NOW! Now, now, NOW!"

Rocket Frigate, near Viridian City

"We need reinforcements NOW! Now, now, NOW!"

The high-ranking Team Rocket grunt narrowed his eyes at the transmitted signal from Domino. He glared down at all the grunts operating in the cockpit, who were already hard at work activating the Rocket Frigate's engines and thrusters.

"Alright, you heard the lady!" he barked. "Let's move, move, MOVE!"

Soon, everyone in the cockpit felt a soft, light thrust forward. The high-ranking grunt looked back up at the holographic map, which showed the Rocket Frigate's designated marker moving forward, closer towards Viridian City.

Viridian Gym

Elsewhere, as Lillie, Ritchie, and Lusamine confronted Domino in an attempt to protect Brock, Gladion remained occupied with Proton. His Umbreon and Silvally continued to engage the lieutenant's Nidoking and Nidorino in battle, while he kept an eye on the proceedings with his sister and mother. He didn't recognize the boy who decided to join his family, but he vaguely reminded him of Ash. And with a Mega Evolved Pokémon on his side, Gladion knew there was no real reason to worry.

"Lycanroc!" he called, catching the Wolf Pokémon's attention. "How's Zoroark?"

It shook its head in response, and Gladion was dismayed to see Zoroark flinching and moaning before Lycanroc's feet as it clutched its stomach.

"Crud," Gladion thought. "Zoroark must've been hit hard by that Tail Whip. I shouldn't have brought it into battle; it has not seen a Pokémon battle in quite a while..." He then glanced at Proton, Nidoking, and Nidorina. "Hopefully I still have the power to hold these goons back while Lillie and Mom take care of things on their end-"

"Give it up, kid!" Proton called, cutting off Gladion in the middle of his reverie. "Can't you see that you are outmatched?! Team Rocket never gives up on a task, a goal it has set its sights on! Never!"

Gladion gave the lieutenant a mocking smirk. "Heh, yeah. Tough talk from a guy who's only got a Nidoking to back him up. That Nidorino's a pushover to me, and once I am through with him, my Umbreon and Silvally will be taking out your Nidoking like it's nothing!"

Then, to the boy's shock, Proton sneered hungrily. "Silvally... So that's the name of your Pokémon... I've heard reports of your Pokémon in action at Alola, but the name remained a bit of a mystery to us...until now." He scanned the hesitant Silvally from head to toe. "Yes, yes, your Pokémon would indeed be an excellent addition to the ranks of Team Rocket-"

"If you think Silvally's going with you," Gladion snarled, "then no WAY! Silvally's my Pokémon, and it's staying with me!"

"But you don't understand, kid." Proton reached into his pocket and pulled out about a dozen metallic marbles. "Silvally is not going to be going with me. I'm taking it by force."

He then threw the marbles into the air, and they unfolded and transformed into miniature helicopter drones that hovered in the air with their tiny rotors. Cannons unfolded out of their undercarriages and aimed themselves at Silvally, marking the Synthetic Pokémon with red lasers. Gladion's eyes became enlarged, and he pointed at the drones.

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!" he commanded. "Lycanroc, use Outrage!"

Umbreon fired the Dark-type attack, destroying two of the drones in an instant. As for Lycanroc, it leaped away from the recovering Zoroark, its eyes glowing a blood-like crimson. Once it landed in-between Silvally and some of the advancing drones, a burst of light-red energy emerged from the ground and momentarily enveloped its whole body. Before any of the drones could fire at it, Lycanroc unleashed a storm of punches in the air, knocking drones out of the air one by one.

But Proton seemed to anticipate this, for he pointed at the attacking Lycanroc. "Earth Power, Nidoking."

Nidoking's fist started to glow a golden light, and he slammed it into the ground, creating cracks with golden energy that traveled towards the distracted Lycanroc. Gladion was quick to notice it and swiped at the air with his arm.

"Dodge, Lycanroc!" he yelled.

The Wolf Pokémon jumped away, just in time to avoid an explosion of bright, golden energy from underneath. It flipped through the air and landed beside Gladion. However, a split-second later, it keeled over, looking disoriented.

"Fight it off, Lycanroc!" Gladion ordered. "We gotta hold these guys at bay, so hang in there!"

"Amusing," Proton replied. "Very amusing...but pointless."

He clicked his tongue, and the drones advanced upon the group, as did Nidoking. Gladion narrowed his eyes, knowing he didn't have enough time to wait.

"Alright, Lycanroc!" he called. "It's time we showed them our true power! Are you ready?!"

Lycanroc barked in response, having shaken off its confusion as best as it could.

"Alright! Stay back, Silvally, Umbreon!"

The other two Pokémon jumped away, giving Gladion and Lycanroc all the space they needed. The boy pulled his sleeve back, revealing his trusted Z-Ring, which had its Rockium Z already inserted.

"Let's do it, Lycanroc!" Gladion shouted.

Lycanroc huffed in agreement. Then, the two began striking a series of synchronized poses, building up Z-Power around Gladion's outline. Once it reached its maximum potential, the Z-Power flowed directly from Gladion's body to Lycanroc's, enveloping it in a sphere of bright, sparkling energy. In response, the Wolf Pokémon then jumped into the air.

"CONTINENTAL..." Gladion recited.

At the same time, Lycanroc summoned multiple rocks from the ground, which all gathered together before it and united to form a massive boulder. It hovered precariously above Proton and Nidoking, causing the latter to sweat-drop while the former simply continued to regard Gladion with a seething hatred. But Gladion didn't notice; instead, he kept his eyes on Lycanroc as it continued accumulating the power it needed for its ultimate move.

And then, once Gladion felt the Z-Power flow through the entire street to the point of bursting, he let out a great, mighty holler.

"CRUSH!"

With a bark, Lycanroc hurled the boulder at Nidoking and the swarm of drones. The rocky mass moved at freakishly high speeds, absolutely preventing any chance for the Drill Pokémon to dodge it. Proton didn't say anything, and he seemed to have simply accepted the inevitable.

KA-BOOM!

The boulder exploded upon making contact with its target, sending a shock-wave that traveled through the surrounding area. Many civilians who were still nearby were knocked to the ground; loose blocks of concrete were upended; windows were blown out into dozens of shards each; and trees, lampposts, and even some small buildings rocked back and forth uncomfortably.

Viridian City

Further within Viridian City, many civilians were already sprinting in one direction, and that was away from the scene of the dual battles. However, one person was walking towards the chaos, and her gait exuded utmost confidence and self-assurance of their power. Her steps were punctuated by a cold, wooden tapping sound, made every time her branch-like walking stick met the cobblestone ground.

At that moment, the shock-wave traveled through the street at lighting-fast speeds, knocking several people over in the process. However, despite the woman's frail, weathered appearance, she didn't lose her footing at all, and the only sign of an adverse reaction to the shock-wave was the way her grip slightly tightened around her walking stick.

Once the shock-wave passed through as quickly as it came, the woman's eyes, beady and piercing, narrowed, her sights set straight ahead of her.

"Well, well, well," she said. "Looks like the participants of this unsanctioned fight aren't going to be holding back even in the slightest. ...How very interesting..."

Viridian Gym

As soon as the Continental Crush's explosion died down, Lillie, Lusamine, and Ritchie opened their eyes and lowered their forearms. The mother and daughter were quick to realize Ritchie's Mega Charizard Z, Zippo, had shielded all of them and their Pokémon with its body, which it quickly withdrew with a bestial huff. Other than a few mild scorch marks, the Flame Pokémon looked unaffected (or even untouched) by the white-hot flames or the searing heat of the explosion.

"Holy Arceus!" Ritchie exclaimed. "What in the world was that?"

"That was Lycanroc's Z-Move," Lillie replied, looking around for Gladion. "Without a doubt."

"Lycanroc? Z-Move?"

Ritchie looked around as well and was stunned by the magnitude of the destruction all around him. All of the surrounding buildings, including the Viridian Gym, were set alight with fire, and the entire street was upended and reduced to rubble. The overall temperature had shot up tenfold, and the air was thick and heavy with ember-dotted smoke. He had to cover his nose with his forearm to shield his lungs from the pungent, charcoal-like odor, as did Lillie and Lusamine, though the trio's eyes were quick to water with tears induced by the great heat and airborne ash.

"There!" Lusamine cried, pointing over her daughter's shoulder. "There's Gladion!"

Ritchie was quick to see him too; two Pokémon, both of which he didn't recognize, had just landed back on the ground, with one of them, a red-and-white Pokémon that resembled a two-legged Arcanine or Herdier, holding a boy that looked like Lillie in its arms, along with an Umbreon. Several feet away, Proton's Nidoking and Nidorino were lying unconscious on the ground, surrounded by flickering flames and hot rubble.

Acting on instinct, Ritchie pulled out his Pokédex and used it on the red-and-white Pokémon first.

"Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon," the device explained. "In its Midnight Form, Lycanroc has no problem ignoring orders it doesn't like. It doesn't seem to mind getting hurt at all—as long as it can finish off its opponent. Midnight Form Lycanroc live alone without forming packs. They will only listen to orders from Trainers who can draw out their true power."

"So that's Lycanroc..." Ritchie whispered to himself. Then, he aimed the Pokédex at the other unrecognizable Pokémon, a four-legged hybrid creature whose appearance baffled him to no end.

"Pokémon species unidentified."

The boy's eyes went wide in shock. "Un-Unidentified?!"

"Gladion!" Lillie called, breaking away from Lusamine so she could run up to her brother. "Gladion, I-!"

"VUL!" Snowy called out in warning. Then, she positioned herself and fired another Powder Snow at her Trainer's general direction.

Lillie twirled around and sidestepped the Ice-type move in the nick of time, only to watch as the gust of small snowballs harmlessly pelted Domino's Mega Banette. The Marionette Pokémon casually looked down at the feeble attack, before it raised its head at Lillie and gave her a sinister, sadistic chuckle. The blonde girl's skin crawled, and she quickly ran back to Snowy, Ritchie, and Lusamine.

At that moment, they heard a loud whooshing noise, and they turned their heads upward, just to see Proton and Domino descend from high above, wearing winged jetpacks.

"Impressive display of power," Proton commented, his voice ringing above the sounds of flickering flames and blaring car alarms. Despite this, he didn't sound impressed in the slightest, for his eyebrow was twitching nastily, and his frown was pronounced. "Very...very impressive. You've taken down many of our Pokémon, all while showing off the cards on your deck. This game is...quite pleasant. More pleasant than I was expecting-"

"You don't sound pleased at all, though," Gladion spat, stepping forward to join Lillie's group. His Lycanroc, Silvally, and Umbreon were right behind him, with Silvally carrying Zoroark's limp body. "I'd say you sound highly ticked off for being beaten by a bunch of kids."

"Beaten? HA!" Finally, Proton's frown twisted itself into a malevolent grin, while Domino began snickering. "Who said we were beaten, foolish boy?! Just because you've reduced our forces to a measly number of one, it doesn't mean we're out for the count."

"Think again!" Gladion pointed at Proton and Domino. "Silvally, use Air Slash!"

A light-blue ring of energy materialized in front of Silvally's head. Then, from this ring, the Synthetic Pokémon fired off a series of light-blue blades of energy, but Proton and Domino were able to dodge all of them. Meanwhile, Ritchie, having realized the tide had already turned in his and the others' favor, was motivated into taking action as well.

"Sparky, use Thunderbolt now!" he commanded while pointing at Proton and Domino. "Rose, use Aerial Ace!"

"PIKA!" Sparky squeaked determinedly.

"SWELL!" Ritchie's Swellow squawked.

Then, the Mouse Pokémon jumped onto Rose's feathery back while it soared high in the air. Then, Rose dove back down towards Proton and Domino at lightning-fast speeds, becoming engulfed in streaks of white light in the process. Once the Swallow Pokémon got close enough, Sparky leaped off its back, his entire yellow body crackling with electricity.

"PIKAAAAA..."

"I don't think so!" Domino cried. "Banette, use Phantom Force!"

With a demonic giggle, her Banette opened up a thin, purple portal beneath its feet and sunk into the wispy, pale-purple oblivion underneath it. Split-seconds later, another portal opened up behind the airborne Sparky and Rose, with Banette emerging from it, its shadowy, pink-clawed hands reaching out for the Mouse Pokémon...

"Zippo, use Flamethrower!" Ritchie cried.

"RRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

A mighty stream of light-green flames soared through the air, scorching Banette's arms. A horrific shriek of pain filled the air as the Marionette Pokémon withdrew its scorched, smoking arms from Sparky and Rose. This gave the two Pokémon enough time to execute their attacks: Sparky fired off a powerful bolt of yellow electricity, while Rose, moving so quickly in the air, vanished into thin air. Proton easily dodged Sparky's Thunderbolt, while Domino sensed Rose's presence and maneuvered herself out of the way before it reappeared and attempted to tackle her.

However, in the process of evading Rose's Aerial Ace, Domino accidentally got in the way of Sparky's Thunderbolt, which electrocuted her in an instant.

"AGENT 009!" Proton cried.

"HA!" Ritchie grinned and punched at the air in triumph. "Gotcha!" Then, he glared at Domino's Banette, who was now shaking its arms in a desperate attempt to cool down the burns that it suffered. "Now, Zippo! Use Flamethrower again! And Cruise, use Dark Pulse! Let's take Banette out!"

Zippo roared again and launched another Flamethrower at Banette, while Ritchie's Tyranitar stepped forward and fired its Dark-type attack. Without Domino to give it any orders, it quickly retreated back into the portal it was still sticking out of in a state of panic. Then, the portal closed, leaving the Flamethrower and the Dark Pulse to sail through open air, leaving Zippo and Cruise stunned and looking around in search of the threat.

Meanwhile, Proton quickly flew to Domino, his eyes wide with panic. The electricity subsided, revealing a stunned, static electricity-enveloped Team Rocket agent, her body emitting wisps of smoke and a pungent burning smell. With a furious growl, the lieutenant grabbed his loyal servant and flew higher in the air to escape the reach of future attacks, giving the others an opportunity to strategize.

"Mom, Lillie!" Gladion whispered harshly, bringing his family and Ritchie together. "You two get Brock out of here! Me and this guy-"

"Ritchie," Ritchie said.

"Mitchie will hold those Team Rocket punks off. And I'll have Silvally and Zoroark go with you." The blond glanced at the Synthetic Pokémon, which still had the injured Zoroark on its back. "Do you understand, Silvally?"

Silvally gave its Trainer a nod of acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, Ritchie blinked once at the mispronunciation of his name. "Excuse me?"

Gladion didn't seem to hear him. Instead, he grabbed Lillie's shoulders before she could protest, and he stared into her green eyes intensely.

"Don't even think about staying and fighting alongside me," he whispered, his voice slightly softer this time. "The longer we stay together, the more time we waste."

"But Gladion-" began Lillie.

"No buts! I'll be right behind you. Now get Brock the heck outta here, before they get him. Go, GO!"

Lillie tried to protest again, but Lusamine grabbed her shoulder.

"Come on, honey," the woman said. "Gladion can take good care of himself. For now, we have to worry about your friend Brock here." She then pointed at Brock's unconscious form. "Milotic, take him."

The Tender Pokémon nodded in agreement before slinging Brock's body over its head and onto its serpentine back. Then, it slithered away, followed by the rest of Lusamine's Pokémon. Meanwhile, Lillie, reluctantly coming to an agreement with Gladion's new strategy, pursed her lips and nodded firmly at her brother.

"You be careful, Gladion," she said. Then, she glanced at Ritchie, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "You too, Ritchie."

Ritchie smiled and nodded at her. "You gotcha. Just get your mom and Brock out of here, Lillie." He looked up at Proton and Domino. "We'll take care of Team Rocket."

"Alright." Lillie looked down at Snowy. "Let's move, Snowy."

"Vul!" Snowy yipped in agreement.

With that, Lillie began running, with Lusamine and Snowy running by her right side and Silvally running by her left side. As she left, she called out again.

"Magearna! Come on, we're leaving!"

Gladion and Ritchie heard the familiar robotic squeak of the Artificial Pokémon. It emerged from a nearby alleyway and joined Lillie's side, running with its stubby arms lowered to its ball gown-like sphere, as if it was a princess or some other high-class figure running in her dress. Once the group turned a corner and disappeared out of sight, Gladion turned his head towards Ritchie.

"Alright then, Hitchie," he said. "Let's see what you're made of."

He then focused on Proton and Domino, leaving Ritchie dumbstruck.

"It's Ritchie..." the auburn-haired boy corrected in a low, suspicious voice.

"Agent 009!" he cried. "Are you alright?"

Groaning, Domino shook her head and watched as Proton approached her. She could feel her entire body twitching and mildly convulsing, still feeling the effects of the electrocution. Her teeth chattered loudly against each other, as if she had been dipped into a vast pool of ice-cold water. However, the Team Rocket agent felt her body calm down considerably at the sight of her superior.

"Ye-Yeah..." Domino replied. Then, she shook her head again and groped her own hair, becoming dismayed at how badly kept and frilly it felt. "My hair is ruined, though! I'm...I'm gonna make them pay, Proton sir! PAY!"

"You and me both, Agent 009. You and me both. In fact-" The Team Rocket lieutenant looked down and flexed his fingers menacingly. "I believe it's time we showed off the cards on our deck."

Domino clenched her fists with determination. "Fortunately, I'm way ahead of you, sir."

Just then, a rumbling noise filled the skies, and the ground beneath them started to tremble, evidenced by the bouncing and skittering pieces of rubble. At first, the rumbling was distant and almost unnoticeable, but as the seconds passed by, the volume grew in intensity. Gladion, Ritchie, and their Pokémon were quick to react, looking around the city in search of the source.

Then, a shadow began to envelop Viridian City, looming over them from behind Proton and Domino. Gladion and Ritchie were quick to notice it, and their eyes grew wide with horror. Domino didn't need to turn back to see who, or what, the shadow belonged to. As for Proton, he snickered evilly and held out his arms.

"It didn't have to be this way, kids!" he called tauntingly. "But now, you've forced our hand! And because of it, we'll see to it that the ones that you care about dearly will SUFFER!"

"Ohhhhh, I wouldn't put it that way, child," a new voice said.

"What?!"

Proton and Domino turned to their left, with Gladion and Ritchie followed their gazes. There, they saw an elderly woman with graying blonde hair and eyes that were so piercing that her gaze even intimidated Proton. She wore a long-sleeved, formal purple dress; a white apron over her flowing skirt; a pair of purple shoes; and grey leggings. However, what truly caught Proton's attention was her use of a brown, branch-like cane for walking support. His eyes widened in horror, while Ritchie gasped in recognition.

"No..." the Team Rocket lieutenant whispered. "It...It can't be!"

"Wow!" Ritchie exclaimed. "You're-"

"Silence, child," the woman interrupted, though her cold gaze was trained on the frozen Proton and the recoiling Domino. "You shouldn't even be here."

AGATHA

"Y-Yo-You're one t-to talk, old hag!" Domino shrieked in anger. "Ba-Banette, use Phantom Force!"

"No, 009!" Proton snapped harshly. "WAIT!"

But it was too late. A thin purple portal opened up right behind Agatha, and the Marionette Pokémon, still assuming its Mega Evolved form, emerged from the realm within, its claws outstretched. But the Viridian Gym Leader didn't react or even turn around; instead, she refused to tear her unwavering stare away from the Team Rocket agents, her confidence unshakable.

A split-second later, another portal opened, this time colored in a lighter shade of purple. From it, a Mega Gengar leaped out of it and tackled Banette out of its own portal, right before the Marionette Pokémon could assail Agatha. Gladion and Ritchie gawked on in shock, while Proton gritted his teeth and Domino gasped.

As for Agatha herself, she smirked and gave a single small, yet resound tap of her walking stick.

"You shouldn't have brought your affairs here, Team Rocket," she said. "Now, I'm afraid you'll have to pay dearly for the price."

Viridian City

"Come on, everyone! We gotta keep moving!"

Lillie led the way as she, Snowy, Magearna, Lusamine, her mother's Pokémon, and Gladion's Silvally and Zoroark entered a four-way intersection in the heart of the city. Lusamine's Salazzle, Mismagius, and Absol looked around, while Lillie and Lusamine turned towards Lusamine's Milotic, which was still carrying Brock's limp body.

"How is he, Mom?" Lillie asked, watching as her mother approached the Pokémon Doctor.

Lusamine immediately knelt beside Brock and gently pressed her hand over his neck, specifically the place where he was pricked by Domino's black rose. As she did, she felt the Doctor squirm and groan underneath her touch.

"H-He's alright, honey," she replied. "He just got knocked out." Then, she looked up at her daughter. "These Team Rocket guys, they want him. He's your friend, so do you know why?"

"I...I don't know, Mom. I know he's had many run-ins with the Team Rocket that we know, but he's never mentioned any run-ins with anyone else from there."

"Well...they want him for something, honey. And obviously it's not the good kind of something."

Lusamine stood back up and joined her Salazzle, Mismagius, and Absol in looking around the four-way intersection. Her skin crawled the moment she noticed how utterly deserted this part of Viridian City was now. The skies were still running with smoke from Lycanroc's Continental Crush, and the streets were littered with shards of glass, discarded newspapers, and a few small bloodstains.

"So..." the Aether Foundation head said, "which way should we go now?"

Before Lillie could respond, she and her mother heard a distant rumbling noise, which only grew higher in volume as the time ticked by. Looking towards the smoky sky, they saw a gargantuan aerial vehicle slowly moving over the Viridian City skyline, its tremendous shadow and size enveloping everything underneath in cool darkness. Lillie's green eyes became enlarged, and she gasped in recognition.

"I know that thing!" she cried.

"Y-You do?!" replied Lusamine.

"That's the same airship thingy that I saw in Ritchie's Rotom Phone! It...It belongs to Team Rocket!"

"Then let's get out of here, before we're seen by whoever's in that ship." The mother looked at her Pokémon. "Come on!"

The group quickly ran further down the street, forgoing making a left or right turn at the intersection. As they continued running, Lillie and Lusamine heard a mechanical humming sound in the distance. Looking toward the gargantuan airship, they saw doors opening up in its undercarriage, from which dozens of minuscule dots emerged and soared across the air like Yanma. They began to spread all across Viridian City, with some of them approaching Lillie and Lusamine's position, alarming them.

"Hide, everyone!" Lillie cried. "Hide!"

The group spotted a restaurant nearby, and they carefully traversed past the broken shards of glass to jump through the shattered window. Then, they ran further into the building and entered the kitchen, which still had its lights on and water boiling over a large pot, filling the air with a loud fizzling sound and the smell of burnt soup and meat.

"What do we do now?" Lusamine asked, looking around. "I don't see another way outta here."

"We stay put until help arrives," Lillie replied. "Hopefully Gladion and Ritchie know where to go when they beat those two Team Rocket agents."

Lusamine opened her mouth to correct Lillie's last sentence, but she was quick to reconsider and closed it. After mulling over their chances, she smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a good plan, sweetie." Then, she looked at Milotic. "Alright, you can put him down."

Milotic nodded with a serene hum and then lightly shook Brock's body onto the floor. His head flopped to the side, his tan skin touching the floor's cold, hard surface. This prompted him to moan from the uncomfortable sensation, and soon, he regained consciousness.

"Wh...Wha...?"

"Oh, Brock!" Lillie exclaimed, her eyes shining with relief. "You're awake!"

"I'm...awake...?" With a groan, the Pokémon Doctor sat up and looked around. "Where...Where am I...?"

"We're in some restaurant," replied Lusamine.

"Brock," Lillie said urgently, "Team Rocket's here."

"Team Rocket...?" Brock clutched his head, and once he did, the memories came flowing back to him. "Oh, no! That...Th-That woman! The blonde! I've met her before!"

"Yes, I believe you mentioned that already," Lusamine replied. "What's Mount Quena? And what happened over there?"

"I'll explain later, but that Domino girl is bad news." Brock's eyes narrowed even more. "She's in close contact with Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni."

"Giovanni?" asked Lillie.

"Yes, and if Giovanni's involved, then that means whatever they have planned is bound to be really bad news!"

"Brock, it's...it's you that Team Rocket wants. Do you happen to know why?"

"They want me?" The Pokémon Doctor's skin paled slightly. "Well, I guess I can think of a few reasons, none of which are good..."

He stood up on his feet, but once he did, the lack of proper strength in his legs had caught up with him. He stumbled and nearly fell over, but Lillie and Lusamine grabbed him to stop his fall.

"Careful, Brock!" Lillie cried.

"That Domino person knocked you out with something," added Lusamine. "We don't know what it could be-"

All of a sudden, they and their Pokémon heard the sounds of whooshing jetpacks descending towards the street before shutting off. This was soon followed by crunching glass and stomping boots coming outside the kitchen. The three held their breaths and felt their hearts hammer against their sternums, while their Pokémon, sans the fearful Magearna and the injured Zoroark, readied themselves for a counterattack. Then, voices started speaking, and Lillie began to sweat at their tones.

"Fan out, everyone! Lieutenant Proton wants every building within this radius checked thoroughly."

"Awww, nuts. I wanted to do some Pokémon-robbin'!"

"Shut it, Clarence! You know our orders. Now go check that side of the building. We need to cover all escape routes."

"Yo, Jorge, Elena, go check out the kitchen."

Lillie let out a tiny whimper, while Lusamine shook her head and muttered, "No, no, no..."

Snowy and Clefable quickly jumped in front of their respective Trainers and faced the kitchen door, ready to defend them at any cost. Soon, the door burst open, revealing two Team Rocket grunts, one male and the other female, and their two Pokémon, a Koffing and an Ekans.

"Snowy, use Powder Snow!" Lillie ordered.

"Clefable, use Dazzling Gleam!" commanded Lusamine.

Snowy fired her Powder Snow attack, while Clefable hurled herself at her opponents, her entire body encapsulated within a multicolored sphere of light. But the grunts were ready for them.

"Koffing, use Sludge Bomb on Clefable!" the female grunt shouted.

"Ekans, use Belch on the Powder Snow!" the male grunt snapped.

Koffing fired a large glob of brown sludge at the incoming Clefable. When it made contact, the sludge exploded, knocking Clefable backward. As for Ekans, it opened its mouth wide, and as the interior of its jaws glowed white, it released a few dozen rings of purple energy, which was soon followed by a similarly colored energy beam. The rings and beam of energy effortlessly soared through Snowy's Powder Snow, dispelling it and striking the Fox Pokémon.

"Clefable!" Lusamine cried.

"Snowy, g-get up!" yelled Lillie.

"Hey, sarge!" the male grunt hollered. "We found the target! He's got a couple of gals and their Pokémon defendin' him!"

"Step aside, ya dimwits," a gruff voice grumbled ominously. "I'll take real good care of 'em."

The two grunts obeyed, making way for a third, larger grunt. At first, he didn't have any Pokémon with him, which made Lillie, Brock, and Lusamine confused. Then, they heard a low but vicious growl, and a second later, the kitchen's serving booth was smashed open, pelting their group with small pieces of debris.

"Give it up, ladies," the third grunt boasted. "Hand over the doc, or I'll see to it that Pangoro cracks your pretty lil' skulls open."

The Shiny Pangoro joined its Trainer's side, its teeth bared, its dusty fists clenched, and its scarred eye staring intensely through Lillie and Lusamine and at Brock. Snowy and Clefable quickly recovered from their failed attacks and stood right in front of them, while Gladion's Silvally and the rest of Lusamine's Pokémon surrounded the trio from all other sides. A terrified squeak came out from Lusamine's mouth at the sight of the Pangoro, but Lillie kept her footing firm.

"Never!" she shouted, channeling Ash's courage and determination once again. "If you wanna get to him, you'll have to get through me!"

The bulky grunt sneered. "Very well, then. It's your funeral." He snapped his fingers. "Pangoro? Use Hammer Arm."

Pangoro raised a fist, which began to glow white. It then aimed the fist at Lillie and the others, prompting all of them to huddle closer together while Snowy growled as angrily as she could and Clefable flinched. But then, before the Daunting Pokémon could hurl its fist downward at the group, everyone heard a commotion erupting outside of the kitchen.

"Who the hell are you?!" a grunt shouted.

"Espeon, use-" began another grunt.

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!" a vaguely familiar voice ordered.

"Counter it with Hyper Beam, Dragonite!" a third grunt cried.

Two mighty, draconic roars pierced through the air, followed by the sound of two near-simultaneous explosion, which in turn were followed by a greater explosion that rocked the entire restaurant, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. With an exasperated grunt, the bulky grunt turned to his two comrades.

"Check it out, NOW!" he barked.

Lusamine seized her chance. "Now, Clefable! Use Dazzling Gleam again!"

Clefable fired the attack again, which hit the unprepared Pangoro and knocked it into its Trainer. The other two grunts let out stunned, surprised gasps and tried to issue orders to their own Pokémon. But before either of them could do so, the kitchen door exploded open, knocking the grunts and their Pokémon out.

Brock shielded his face from any possible flying debris, while Lusamine whipped her head away and used her forearm to shield Lillie's face. Then, a couple of seconds later, they heard a set of footsteps run into the kitchen, prompting them to look back up. There, standing in the doorway, was...

"Misty!" Lillie cried in immense relief.

"Misty?!" a stunned Brock exclaimed.

"Misty?" Lusamine asked in confusion.

The redheaded Gym Leader whipped her side-ponytail back. "Come on, you guys, let's get outta here!"

Misty and her Gyarados led the way, guiding the others through the destroyed restaurant interior. Lillie, Brock, Lusamine, and their Pokémon were quick to notice all of the bruised and unconscious Team Rocket grunts and their Pokémon strewn across the restaurant floor and the street outside. Then, once they stepped through the building's smashed entrance, the group noticed the other people waiting for them outside.

"Tracey!" Brock cried.

"Brock!" The laboratory assistant approached him and enveloped him in a tight hug. "I'm glad to see you're okay! When I heard that ship was headed for Viridian, I became worried and told Misty we should head here straight away!"

"Well, there's still reason to worry" Lillie replied, deciding to shake off any questions that she had about how Brock knew the unfamiliar Tracey. "Misty, Team Rocket's after Brock. They want him for something, and we don't know what."

"OMA, wh-what?!"

Lillie and Lusamine turned and saw Daisy, Violet, and Lily standing in the middle of the street as well. Though neither of them recognized the three young women, there was no mistaking the fear they felt, and the ambivalence over being in Viridian City.

"O-O-Okay, sis," Daisy said. "We found your old friend, so now can we get outta here and find a place to, like, PANIC?!"

"I didn't say you three could come with me!" Misty snapped furiously, causing Daisy to flinch and Violet and Lily to squeal like teenage girls. "JEEZ!" Then, she looked at Lillie with a slightly red face. "Sorry, Lillie. Those are my sisters."

"O-Oh..." Lillie sweat-dropped, remembering how Misty described her three older sisters as freeloading, overtly carefree, not-so-bright women who liked to travel around the world more than take their responsibilities seriously. "N-Nice to meet you girls..."

"Sooo, you must be another one of Lillie's friends," Lusamine said, examining Misty with approval. "I'm Lusamine, Lillie's mother."

Misty gave her a curt nod. "Nice to meet you too, but we have to save the official introductions for later."

"Yes, that's true." Lusamine glanced at Team Rocket's airship overhead. "For now, we have to get out of Viridian without that thing spotting us."

"Fortunately," Tracey replied, "we have the perfect means of transportation." He procured an old phone, dialed a number, and held it to his ear. "Yeah, we found them. We're ready to get outta here."

He hung up, and a few seconds later, Lillie, Brock, and Lusamine heard the high-pitched howling of tires. Misty instantly sweat-dropped and shook her head in embarrassment, just as a red, open-roof jeep raced down the road and screeched to a stop right beside the group. Lillie and Lusamine gawked at the driver, a heavyset, brown-haired man wearing a pair of black, egg-shaped sunglasses.

"Heya, everyone!" he greeted with a surprisingly upbeat, toothy smile. "Get in!"

SCOTT

"Scott?!" Brock exclaimed incredulously.

"Yo, Brock!" Scott replied, his grin still in place. "It's been a while!"

At the same time, Tracey, Daisy, Violet, and Lily got into the jeep, which caused Brock to sweat profusely.

"W-Wait," the Pokémon Doctor said hesitantly. "You're gonna drive us out of here?"

"Well, what'd you expect? A rental limousine and chauffeur?" Then, Scott's grin vanished, and his face became wrinkled in grave honesty. "Look, we don't have a lot of time, Brock. The nearest Frontier Brain's still an hour out, so who knows how big or small our time-window is? Just get in, and I'll drive you to a safe spot that only I know about."

Lillie and Lusamine jumped in at Scott's word, followed by Snowy and Magearna, and then Gladion's Silvally and Zoroark. As Lusamine recalled her Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, Lillie looked at Brock.

"Come on, Brock!" she cried. "What're you waiting for?!"

"O-Okay..." Brock replied, the Doctor sweat-dropping nervously. "But if we crash, Scott, it's coming out of your-"

A blur of black and white passed by at a great speed, tackling Brock and taking him with it. Lillie and the others yelled in shock and covered their faces to shield them from the sudden blast of wind. Then, Lillie was the first to look up at the air, and she was shocked to see a certain teal-haired man holding a struggling Brock in his arms.

"YOU!" the girl screamed.

"Yes, me," Proton replied with a sneer. "I truly enjoyed playing this lil' game with you and your friends, missy, but..." At that moment, a robotic, tendril-like arm emerged from his jetpack, carrying a tiny, cylindrical object. "I believe I have an appointment with the doctor. Thank you for holding onto him for me, though."

Proton then threw the cylindrical device at the ground, and it exploded on contact, spraying the area with a thick plume of mustard-yellow smoke. Lillie and the others coughed violently and shielded their faces yet again, their eyes becoming teary from the stinging sensation brought by the smoke. Fortunately for them, the smoke cleared away soon after, being carried away by the winds. When they managed to look back up, they saw Proton zooming off towards the great airship, with Brock in tow. The group watched in shock, unable to believe what had just happened.

"BROCK!" everyone screamed in unison.

Viridian Gym

"Banette, use Shadow Ball!"

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball too."

"Zippo, use Flamethrower! Sparky, use Thunderbolt!"

Domino gritted her teeth as her Mega Banette launched a Shadow Ball at Gladion, Ritchie, Agatha, and their Pokémon. A split-second later, the attack was intercepted by another Shadow Ball. Then, the Flamethrower and Thunderbolt soared in and struck the two grinding, struggling Shadow Balls, triggering a massive explosion that blanketed the area with flames and smoke. As the Team Rocket agent maneuvered her jetpack-propelled body further away from the billowing cloud of smoke, she remembered the circumstances behind her being alone.

"Agent 009, this is my chance. You keep these meddling kids and that old lady busy. I'll go join the search party that I've dispatched after Harrison."

"Go for it, sir. I'll  gladly  crush these interfering lowlifes for you, and in the name of Team Rocket."

"That's the spirit, 009. Make me proud."

"Lycanroc, follow it up with Stone Edge!"

Gladion's voice pulled Domino's out of her reverie. At that same moment, a storm of blue pillars of rock flew through the cloud of smoke and pelted Domino's Banette mercilessly. Though it didn't inflict a lot of significant damage on the Mega Evolved Pokémon, it flinched and used its arms to shield its face from the pillars.

"Don't let a bunch of troublesome rocks bring you down, Banette!" Domino snapped. "Use Phantom Force on those kids, and that old lady too! Make Team Rocket proud!"

Banette nodded before disappearing into another portal. As it did, Domino heard Agatha speak calmly.

"Old lady, huh?" The smoke cleared out, revealing the Viridian Gym Leader to be gazing at the ground, her eyes closed in contemplation. Standing right beside her were her Mega Gengar, Gladion, Ritchie, and their respective Pokémon. "Child, it seems you still have a lot to learn about respect."

"Respect?" The blonde smirked and crossed her arms. "HA! Why should I listen to you?! You're obviously jealous because I'm still beautiful, and I'm on my way to reaching immortality, while your body will be left wasting away even faster than a starving Snorlax!"

Agatha merely chuckled and shook her head at the insult. Then, she opened her eyes and redirected he sharp gaze right at Domino, causing the agent's skin to crawl.

"Wasting away, eh?" the elderly woman asked. "I admit, I am no longer the stunning beauty I used to be, but I've made up for that with my superior experience in other matters."

"Heh, yeah?" Domino raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Such as determining the predictability of my opponent's strategy. And you, you self-centered child, are one of the most predictable opponents I've ever faced. A Shadow Ball to your left, Gengar."

At that moment, a portal opened up at Gengar's left side, but it was quick to react. The moment Banette stuck its claws out, the Shadow Pokémon flung a Shadow Ball into the portal. A pained shriek erupted from inside, and Banette's claws twitched and convulsed before withdrawing back inside.

"Shadow Ball again, Gengar," ordered Agatha.

Gengar flung another Shadow Ball into the portal before it closed. Gladion, Ritchie, and Domino heard another explosion and another scream of pain, before the Marionette Pokémon flopped out of the gaping hole. It tried to stand up and keep itself conscious, but it quickly lost the fight and collapsed to the ground in a small thud. A second later, it reverted back to its normal form, indicating its loss of consciousness.

"WHAT?!" Domino shrieked. "But...But HOW?!"

"It's exactly like I said, child," Agatha replied, her calmness unwavering, despite the triumphant smirk that appeared on her wrinkled face. "You and your strategies are predictable. I must say, it's quite a sad reflection of you, in spite of your youth that you have so shamelessly promoted."

Domino gritted her teeth and growled before taking out a Poké Ball. "DAMN IT! Banette, return!"

The Marionette Pokémon was recalled, and Domino put the Poké Ball away, seething hatefully at Gladion and Ritchie.

"You may have had the advantage this time, kids," she snarled. "But just you wait. Team Rocket's got more than enough resources to persevere against the odds, no matter how insurmountable they may seem. We will achieve our goals, and we WILL see to it that our master plan is completed!"

"In your dreams, Team Rocket!" Ritchie spat. "You've tried so many times to abuse and misuse Pokémon, and you've all failed each and every time! What makes you think this will be any different?!"

Domino's lips twitched into a smirk. "Because the world is changing, and Team Rocket has adapted to those changes in ways civilization could never hope to emulate. You have your dear friend Ash Ketchum to thank for that."

"Ash?" Gladion and Ritchie asked at the same time, both boys puzzled.

"Yes..."

Then, Domino overheard crackling static on her walkie-talkie, along with a variety of jumbled, disjointed words that were trying to penetrate the fog of static. Once she heard enough, the blonde's smirk widened, and she addressed the pair of boys again.

"And it is all because of him and his exploits that Team Rocket can finally usher in a new golden era of peace!"

With that, the blonde agent powered up her jetpack, and she shot off towards the gigantic airship looming above. As she disappeared, Zippo and Agatha's Gengar reverted back to their normal forms in response to the end of the battle.

"Zippo!" Ritchie cried, but before he could make a command, Agatha raised an arm, silencing him.

"No," the elderly woman replied, shaking her head. "We cannot think about going after her right now. We must keep our eyes on more urgent matters, namely your friends. I see that girl's boyfriend is no longer with us, so I assume he went after them by himself."

Gladion and Ritchie looked over their shoulders, towards the direction Lillie, Lusamine, and their Pokémon took to escape with Brock.

"Oh, no..." Ritchie whispered.

"Lillie..." Gladion said to himself while clenching his fists tightly. "Mom..."

Just then, Gladion, Ritchie, Agatha, and their Pokémon instantly heard the sounds of a rocket and looked up at the sky. Almost immediately, they saw Proton racing through the air overhead. In his arms was a person, and when Gladion and Ritchie scrunched their eyes, they immediately recognized who the lieutenant's new captive was.

"That's-!" began Ritchie.

"Brock!" Gladion shouted.

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!" Agatha ordered with narrowed eyes.

The Shadow Pokémon quickly fired the attack at Proton, but he was already flying too far out of its range at high speeds. When the Shadow Ball exploded harmlessly in midair, Ritchie turned towards Zippo.

"Alright, Zippo!" he cried. "You know what to do!"

Zippo let out a huff of acknowledgment. Then, before the boy could mount the nearby Zippo, Ritchie heard the sound of a jeep's engine roaring. He, Gladion, and the surprisingly calm Agatha looked behind them, and indeed, a red jeep was approaching at great speed. Once it screeched to an almost violent stop, Ritchie's eyes widened at the passengers, while Gladion smiled with relief.

"Gladion!" Lillie cried. "Ritchie!"

"Ritchie?!" Misty and Tracey both cried in shock.

"Misty?!" sputtered a stunned Ritchie. "Tracey?!"

"Lillie!" Gladion exclaimed in relief. "Mom! Oh, thank Arc-"

"There's no time! Team Rocket got Brock!" Lillie pointed at Proton's fading trail of smoke, which was nearing the airship. "They're taking him over to that ship right now!"

"We've noticed, child," Agatha replied in an off-putting tone of assurance.

"Then we don't have any time to waste!" Ritchie proclaimed. "Zippo!"

Zippo let out a roar and spread its wings outward with a soft blast of wind. Ritchie quickly mounted the Flame Pokémon's back, and Lillie, out of instinct, got out of the jeep to join him, with Snowy in her arms.

"Wait, what?!" Gladion cried. He then grabbed Lillie's arm, stopping her from proceeding. "You're gonna go after them in the air?!"

"There's no other way to get to Brock, Gladion," a determined Lillie replied.

"We have no other Pokémon big enough to fly us over to that ship," Ritchie added.

"Then let me go with you, Ritchie. Charizard can only fit two-"

"No!" Lillie snapped. "Brock's my friend, Gladion! A-And Ash's too! And I...I couldn't do anything to stop him from being taken away!" She tore away from her brother's grip. "I have to go and get Brock back! I have to do this! I have to!"

"But Lillie-" Gladion began.

"I'm doing what Ash would do in this situation! I have to step up and do the right thing!"

"I understand, Lillie, but-"

Another voice spoke. "No. Let her go, Gladion."

Gladion glared at Lusamine in surprise. "B-But Mom-!"

"It's alright, Gladion," Lusamine interrupted, her authoritative tone silencing the boy. Then, she smiled at him and spoke with a more soothing voice this time. "We'll be right behind her. But...if she wants to save Brock, then we should let her. After all..."

She looked at Lillie, and Lillie didn't know how, or why, but she could tell her mother was now reflecting on all the times she stood up for Brock. Then, her heart swelled when she saw Lusamine's lips curl into a smile of pride.

"Who are we to question her bravery and her determination?"

Gladion looked between his mother and his younger sister, conflicted. "We'll be right behind her? But...wh-what happens if we lose track of her? Or-?"

"Don't worry about that." Lusamine took the rattled, frightened Magearna in her arms and patted its gear-like head. "We have Magearna. Isn't that right, Lillie?"

Lillie gasped, and she looked at her wrist, and the Z-Ring attached to it. Her green eyes briefly glimmered with emotion, and she silently thanked her father and Magearna, before looking back at Lusamine and giving her a resounding nod.

"That's right," she said. Then, she looked at the Artificial Pokémon. "Do you understand what the plan is, Magearna?"

Magearna's pink eyes glimmered with sadness and ambivalence, but it gave her a confident hum and an affirmative nod.

"Well, I suppose it's settled, then!" Scott replied.

"Don't worry, Lillie," Misty added, raising a clenched fist. "We'll meet up with our backup, and then we'll be right behind you."

"I wish you the best of luck," Tracey said. "Show Team Rocket what for!"

"Uh, wh-what they said," Daisy remarked, while Violet and Lily silently nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, everyone," Lillie replied while giving them a tearful nod.

"Young child," Agatha said, catching the girl's attention, "I know we don't have a lot of time, so hear me out when I say this." She approached Lillie and leaned her head in slightly, perturbing the blonde. "If you ever see a man by the name of Giovanni, tell him Agatha sends her regards."

Lillie blinked incredulously. "Uhhhhhh...I'll...I'll keep that in mind..." Then, she shook off her confusion and looked down at Snowy, who was still tucked in her arms. "Okay! You ready to fly, Snowy?"

"Vul!" Snowy yipped affirmatively.

"Alright, then!" Ritchie commented. "Let's get moving, then!" He produced two Poké Balls and aimed them at Cruise and Rose. "Return, you two! You guys did very well, so have a good rest!"

As Ritchie recalled his other Pokémon, Lillie mounted Zippo's back, positioning herself right behind Ritchie. Zippo heaved a little from the extra baggage, and Lillie was immediately reminded of Kiawe's Charizard. Once the Flame Pokémon was steadied, Lillie and Ritchie looked at the others.

"We'll let you know when we've got Brock back, Misty," Ritchie instructed.

"Gotcha," Misty replied. Then, she gave the auburn-haired boy a wry grin. "Gee, what a way to meet back up after all of these years, huh?"

"Heh, yeah..."

"Hey, when this is all over," Tracey piped up, "then dinner's on me at Professor Oak's lab!"

"Sounds like an excellent offer."

"Pika!" Sparky added in agreement from Ritchie's left shoulder.

Then, Ritchie patted the back of Zippo's neck. "Let's go, Zippo! After that ship!"

Zippo released a loud, mighty roar. Then, with a great flap of its wings, the Flame Pokémon lifted off into the air. Once its wings caught a current of air, it soared away from the group and ascended higher and higher into the sky. At first, a pang of terror took hold of Lillie, and she was prepared to close her eyes and hold on tight to Ritchie. However, the memories of Ash facing off against the Ultra Beasts and the Matori Matrix, as well as his help in restoring her love for all Pokémon, gave her the courage she needed to look towards the ground.

They were already many yards off the ground, but she could make out the figures of Gladion and Agatha joining the rest of her group in Scott's jeep.

"Be safe, Mom, Gladion..." she thought.

"Alright, Lillie!" Ritchie called over the howl of the wind, his eyes still focused ahead. "I don't mean to impose, but do you have any other Pokémon on you?!"

Lillie blushed faintly in embarrassment. "N-No, I-I'm afraid not..."

"That's alright. Once we get to the ship, I'll loan you one of my Pokémon. We need as many manpower as possible if we are gonna have to find Brock in that thing and send Team Rocket our sincerest regards."

The blonde nodded in agreement. "Alright, Ritchie. I gotcha!"

"Vul!" Snowy barked.

Then, all of a sudden, Lillie's mind, triggered by Ritchie's words, found itself being plagued by Agatha's last words to her prior to her departure.

"If you ever see a man by the name of Giovanni, tell him Agatha sends her regards."

"I wonder what that's all about..." she thought.

Rocket Frigate, near Viridian City

"OOF!"

Brock landed face-first onto the cold, hard floor of a prison cell. He tried to stand up and fight back with all of the energy he had, but the impact left him stunned and disoriented. This gave his captor enough time to shut the cell door and lock it.

"Well, well, well..." Proton's voice said tauntingly. "It's good to see you finally joining us, Dr. Harrison!"

Brock turned around and glared at Proton with all of the hate he could possibly muster. He noticed that the Team Rocket lieutenant was now wearing a more traditional uniform befitting the organization, consisting of grayish-white gloves and boots, a black flat cap, and a similarly black uniform with small yellow stripes at the tops of the collar and pants, along with a stylized 'R' logo over his heart. The shirt was slightly unzipped at the collar, which showed off his upper chest.

Proton then clapped his hands together with glee, the smacking sound causing Brock's skin to crawl.

"Now, I must say, it is such an honor to meet you in person!" he exclaimed. "Truly!"

Brock gritted his teeth angrily. "Still with the doctor-and-patient ruse? I thought we were long past that..."

"Ohhh, but this is no ruse! No ruse at all, my dear Dr. Harrison! You see, I'm such a big fan of yours!"

The Pokémon Doctor blinked incredulously. "I didn't know I had a fan within the ranks of Team Rocket..."

"Why, of course! I-I mean, y-your old exploits as the Pewter City Gym Leader are w-well-renowned! I-I can't even count how many times we've come across beginning Trainers, literal baby Trainers, w-who were just beaten down after taking a shot at your Gym! It made our Pokémon-stealing jobs all the more easier for quite a while, I-I must say! All the more easier!"

Brock's eyes promptly narrowed. "I see. Can't say I'm surprised, now that I'm hearing the reasons behind your apparent obsession with me."

"Not an obsession, no. Just an..." Proton's lips parted, revealing a toothy, borderline-psychotic grin. "Unbridled admirer."

Brock's skin crawled again, and he suddenly felt a surging sense of fear at what Proton had in mind for him. Just then, a door in the distance burst open, and the two men heard a set of footsteps running towards them. Domino then appeared in the hallway of the cell block, her eyes wide.

"Proton, sir!" she cried. "We've got company!"

Proton looked at her, an eyebrow quirked. "Company, you say?"

"It's some of those children that we encountered earlier!"

Brock's heart immediately swelled with relief. "Lillie..." he thought in realization.

"Ah, I see," Proton replied, and his teal eyes gleamed brightly with hunger. "Well then, let's send our guests the...classic Team Rocket greeting, shall we...?"

Outside the Rocket Frigate, a few miles away, Zippo roared as it soared through the skies and approached the enormous airship, with its Trainer and Lillie staring on ahead. Lillie's green eyes widened when she overheard a familiar, mechanical grinding noise and then saw the airship's undercarriage open up again. In response, she pointed over Ritchie's shoulder, catching the boy's attention.

"Ritchie, look!" she hollered.

"I see them!" Ritchie replied, his eyes narrowing. "Zippo!"

Zippo roared again, just as the swarm of various Flying-type and Bug-type Pokémon flowed out of the Rocket Frigate and flew towards their position. All of them were wearing strange suits of gray armor. The Pokémon at the head of the swarm proceeded to fire various attacks at their direction.

"Hang on, Lillie!" Ritchie warned.

"Pikaaaaa!" Sparky squeaked.

The auburn-haired boy held his arms out and hung on tight to Zippo's neck, while his legs tightened around Zippo's back as much as they could. Sparky held on to its Trainer's shoulder with all four paws. Lillie wrapped one of her arms around Ritchie's back, secured her other arm around Snowy's body, and tightened her own legs around Zippo's back.

Then, Zippo began spinning and swaying through the air in order to dodge the incoming attacks.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Lillie shrieked.

"Hang on, Lillie!" Ritchie cried again at the top of his lungs. "Hang ooooon!"

Eventually, after several seconds of dodging and maneuvering, Zippo found a clearing in the skies and steadied its flight, allowing Ritchie and Lillie to balance themselves on its back. However, Team Rocket's Pokémon quickly caught up to the Flame Pokémon and surrounded it on all sides. With a variety of squawks and buzzing, the swarm of opposing Pokémon fired a barrage of additional attacks, with Zippo straight in the center.

"Use Flamethrower, Zippo!" Ritchie ordered. "Aim upward!"

With another roar, Zippo aimed its head high and launched a stream of fire. Any Pokémon who chose to cut off potential escape routes through that direction cleared out of the way in panic, creating a small opening. Zippo then flapped its two wings powerfully, propelling it, along with Ritchie, Lillie, and Snowy, through the opening before the attacks could strike them. Behind them, the collision of attacks triggered a powerful explosion and shock-wave that further propelled Zippo away from Team Rocket's Pokémon.

"Now use Inferno, Zippo!" commanded Ritchie.

Zippo opened its mouth and unleashed a massive stream of intense fire and heat, which barreled towards Team Rocket's Pokémon. Many of the opponents were struck and knocked out, their bodies plummeting through the air like dead flies. At that moment, the armored suits they were wearing activated themselves, propelling their unconscious bodies back to the Rocket Frigate via jetpack-like rockets.

Meanwhile, the remaining Pokémon continued hurling attacks at Zippo from left and right, forcing the Flame Pokémon to evade them. However, the opponents refused to let up, using moves of increasing strength and forcing Zippo to use even more drastic evasive measures.

"You got this, Zippo!" Ritchie yelled as he clung onto Zippo's neck. "You've got this!"

"Pika!" Sparky squeaked in encouragement.

However, Zippo's rough flying and sudden, jerking movements was becoming too much for Lillie to handle. Every time it moved out of the way of an attack, her one-handed grip would loosen, and she was too busy trying to secure her grip on Snowy to focus on steadying herself on Zippo's back.

And she was quick to notice her escalating predicament.

"Ritchie!" she cried at the top of her lungs. "I...I can't...hold on...any longer!"

Ritchie gnashed his teeth. "Use Inferno again, Charizard! We need to get these Pokémon off our backs!"

Zippo roared loudly and fired the attack again, hitting some more of its opponents. However, others dodged the Fire-type move again and launched even more attacks, forcing the Flame Pokémon to move out of their way yet again. Lillie's hold on Ritchie was beginning to slip even more.

"Come on, Zippo!" Ritchie called. "You've got this! Use Inferno once again, and this time, use everything you've got!"

The Flame Pokémon released a deafening roar, followed by a third, more powerful Inferno. It wiped out a number of the remaining Pokémon belonging to Team Rocket, but those who were the most agile and nimble were able to outmaneuver the Fire-type attack. They fired retaliatory attacks again, and this time, Zippo shot upward to avoid them.

That was when Lillie lost her grip on Ritchie and fell off of Zippo's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lillie's scream froze Ritchie's heart, and he watched in horror as his newfound friend plummeted through the air.

"LILLIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" he screamed.

"PIKAAAAA!" Sparky squealed.

Meanwhile, Lillie tumbled through the air, her lungs and diaphragm unable to support her screams anymore. The blonde girl could only dumbly gasp for air while her legs flailed helplessly and her dress fluttered wildly.

"SNOWY!" she shrieked, her grip tightening around the Fox Pokémon. "SNOWY, I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! I LOVE YOU, SNOWY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!"

"VUUUUULLLLL!" a teary-eyed Snowy squealed while holding on to her tightly.

Lillie quickly realized there was no hope of saving herself or salvaging the situation. With that realization, she simply did the next best thing: she held Snowy close to her chest and positioned herself so that her body could take most, if not all of the impact. She took one last look at Snowy's face, the face she came to adore and care for from the moment the Fox Pokémon hatched. With a smile, Lillie screwed her teary eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable...

Her body collided with a surface in a matter of seconds, but Lillie was instantly surprised when that surface turned out to be comfortably soft...and feathery.

"What...?" she thought. Her eyelid opened by a centimeter, and she could still see Snowy's face. "I'm...I'm not dead...?"

Then, Lillie opened her eyes fully, and that was when she realized she had landed on the back of a Pokémon. At first, she couldn't make out who her rescuer was, other than it wasn't Ritchie and Zippo, since she could distinguish the Pokémon's brown back and brownish-red tail-feathers, which resembled a fan. Then, a loud, triumphant squawk commanded Lillie's attention, and she looked up, with the first thing she saw being the Pokémon's yellow-and-red crest-feathers.

"A Pidgeot?!" Lillie thought.

The Pidgeot squawked again, and Lillie sat up as the Bird Pokémon brought her back to Ritchie and Zippo.

"Pidgeot, you saved our lives," Lillie said gratefully.

Pidgeot merely gave a soft croon in response.

"Thank you..."

"Vul-PIX!" Snowy barked in gratitude.

"Oh, my goodness!" Ritchie cried as Pidgeot flew over to his side. "L-Lillie! I-I didn't know you had a Pidgeot!"

"Pika-pika!" Sparky squeaked in confusion.

"I-I don't..." Lillie patted Pidgeot's feathery back. "This Pidgeot just saved me. I...I guess it wants to help!"

Pidgeot crooned again and gave Ritchie an approving nod. Then, it lifted its head, facing Team Rocket's Pokémon as they rounded up on the quartet, and released a resounding screech that filled the air. Most of Team Rocket's Pokémon flinched and recoiled at the intimidation display, but others readied their attacks and were about to launch them. But before they could, a massive flock of Pidgeotto and Pidgey joined Zippo's and Pidgeot's sides, with all of them staring Team Rocket's remaining army down.

"Whoa!" Ritchie cried. "Look at that! A whole bunch of Pidgeotto and Pidgey!"

"This must be Pidgeot's flock..." Lillie whispered in realization.

With another commanding squawk, Pidgeot aimed both of its wings at the opposing group of Pokémon, narrowed its eyes tightly, and began flapping them at their direction at high speeds. It was immediately joined by its Pidgeotto and Pidgey brethren. Soon, the simultaneous Gusts combined to create a powerful, howling windstorm that knocked Team Rocket's Pokémon away and created a considerable distance between them and Lillie's group.

"Look at them go!" Lillie cried, looking around to observe the Pidgeotto and Pidgey's loyal contributions. "Pidgeot's flock is creating an opening for us!"

"Then we don't have any time to waste!" Ritchie exclaimed. Using his leg, he nudged at the edge of one of Zippo's wings. "Let's go, Zippo!"

Zippo roared triumphantly and flapped its wings, resuming its flight. It soared around the generated windstorm and then headed towards the Rocket Frigate. Watching them go, Lillie nudged at Pidgeot's wing with her own leg.

"Let's go after them, Pidgeot!" she ordered.

To her surprise, Pidgeot obeyed in an instant. With a squawk, the Bird Pokémon flew after Ritchie and Zippo, followed by some of its fellow Pidgeotto and Pidgey. In response to this newly motivated advance, cannons emerged from the Rocket Frigate's underside and began firing a barrage of lasers at the Pokémon.

"Flamethrower, Zippo!" Ritchie yelled. "Thunderbolt, Sparky!"

"Use Powder Snow, Snowy!" cried Lillie. "Pidgeot, you use whatever you got!"

Zippo, Sparky, and Snowy fired their respective attacks, while Pidgeot flapped its wings powerfully, triggering a mighty Whirlwind from them. The Pidgeotto and Pidgey accompanying them followed this up by using their Gust attacks, which helped the other moves intercept the approaching lasers and cause them to explode prematurely. Zippo and Pidgeot then soared onward, and while the cannons continued firing laser after laser at them, all the Pidgeotto and Pidgey continued defending them using their Flying-type moves.

"Proton, sir! The children are approaching, fast!"

Proton gritted his teeth as he entered the Rocket Frigate's cockpit, followed by Domino. The two senior agents watched as their inferior grunts desperately scrambled around the cockpit, pushing, pulling, and pressing whatever they could to defend the Rocket Frigate from Lillie and Ritchie's approach. However, it obviously wasn't doing much good, judging by the two dots closing in on the Rocket Frigate's own marker.

"Use everything the Frigate has on them!" Proton ordered.

"W-We are, sir!" one of the grunts called fearfully.

"Their stupid Pokémon keep stopping our weapons with their attacks!" added another grunt.

"The boss is NOT paying you to run around and blubber like a pack of fools!" Proton snapped harshly. "We have all of this firepower, and you're telling me you're not using it for Tauros-SHIT?!"

"We're losing all of our Pokémon from left to right!" a third grunt cried. "If we don't retreat now, they could find a way to infiltrate our ship!"

"This isn't just a mission, soldier! This is a demonstration to the world of the Syndicate's might! And we are not going to wind up embarrassing ourselves! So...GIVE THOSE KIDS EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

"If I may, Proton sir!" a voice piped up. Proton glared at the speaker, who turned out to be Domino. "I believe the world already knows what the Syndicate is capable of. We've hit all the global news channels in a matter of seconds. And we've already accomplished the primary goal of our mission." Domino's violet eyes narrowed. "If we allow ourselves to become vulnerable for even a second, those meddling kids could exploit that lapse of judgment and find a way to ruin our master operation."

"But Agent 009-"

Domino's eyes narrowed even more, silencing the lieutenant. "And I'm sure the boss wouldn't like it if our operation took a turn for the worst all because one minor foul-up on your part set off a chain of events that led up to that moment, now would he?"

Proton continued glowering at Domino for a moment, and then he focused on the holographic screen behind him. Lillie's and Ritchie's markers were getting closer and closer to the Frigate's position...

"In all the time I've served Giovanni," he whispered ominously, "I've never failed him. And...I don't intend to now..."

His clenched fist relaxed, and he flexed his fingers in contemplation...

Outside, Lillie and Ritchie were close to reaching the Rocket Frigate's outer deck when its propulsion engines fired up, all of them ready to hurl the airship out of the area...

Chapter 6:
BOULDER

Blissey, the Happiness Pokémon.  Anyone who takes even one bite of Blissey's egg becomes unfailingly caring and pleasant to everyone. It has a very compassionate nature. If it sees a sick Pokémon, it will nurse the sufferer back to health.

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Next Time:

Giovanni: Now, you three, I want you to listen very closely...

Opal: We're dealing with a monumental crisis of unforeseen proportions here.

Goh: What exactly do you know about this whole thing?!

Ash: You didn't hear that?! You didn't hear that noise?!

Sonia: You know, you remind me a little of him...

Chloe: You need to CALM DOWN!

Mustard: In all the years the World Coronation Series has been held, nothing like this has ever happened...

Unknown: Well, well... Looks like I missed quite a lot...

SWORD

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu, Milo

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Trip, Reggie, Johanna

-Team 3 (Kanto): Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, Brock, Misty, Tracey, Ritchie, Daisy, Violet, Lily, Agatha, Scott

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

UNKNOWN LOCATION

"Good morning, everyone. We bring you back to our live news coverage."

Giovanni took the steaming mug from the cup-holder beside him and sniffed the hot steam emanating from within it. His nostrils immediately rejoiced from the scent of coffee that was laced in the steam. Coffee, the only thing that would keep him awake and alert in these urgent and trying of times. He was going to need it for the days and weeks ahead.

But Giovanni didn't check the mug's contents to confirm their identity; instead, his eyes maintained their sharp, piercing focus on the medium-sized TV screen hanging in front of him from the ceiling. The screen displayed a live feed split down into multiple points-of-view, all of them depicting reporters in multiple locations. The executive could hear their nervous voices over the muted noise of mechanical chopping that was coming from outside.

"It's been over two hours since news broke of a major incident occurring in Motostoke, at the Galar region," one of the reporters, the anchorman, announced. "And now, the story is just...continuing to unfold in ways th-the whole world couldn't even begin to imagine. Here's what's happening at the top of the hour: four enormous aerial vehicles, all of the same strange, peculiar design, have been sighted in different parts of the globe.

"The first aerial vehicle was sighted above Galar's Motostoke Stadium, as I've mentioned before. It arrived in the middle of a World Coronation Series match between two Gym Leaders, Raihan and Kabu. The two and their Pokémon were able to fend the vehicle's passengers off until reinforcements came, in the form of more Galar Gym Leaders and their Pokémon."

Giovanni pursed his lips nastily at the revelation, and his mind wandered slightly as he took a sip of his coffee. Ever since he learned of Proton's failed mission at Motostoke, he went back to the drawing board when it came to the Galar region. Unlike the previous exploits of his most trusted unit of agents, Jessie, James, and Meowth, the trove of information that he received from them regarding Galar was more limited. They only visited the region sporadically in a period of months, and their only research of note were the Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomena, and the legend of the Warrior Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta, and the Darkest Day.

A legend that was already put to rest, thanks to the efforts of Ash Ketchum, the accursed teenage boy who slipped out of his grasp so easily.

"It seems that I've underestimated Galar..." Giovanni thought. "Perhaps I should've assigned Jessie, James, and Meowth to investigate its Gym Leaders and their skills further. But no matter." His lips curled into a sneer. "The Syndicate will not falter for any longer. I hope you are counting the time, Ash Ketchum, because it has now become a precious commodity to you, whether you know it or not..."

"Giovanni, sir!"

Giovanni was immediately pulled out of his thoughts and back into reality. He turned his head and stared at Matori, who had been sitting beside him in silence. An advanced tablet was in her hands, while the Alolan Meowth she had acquired within the past few months was lounging lazily in her lap. He was surprised to see the exhausted but excited expression on her face, but he kept his curiosity at bay and continued to act professionally.

"What is it, Matori?" he asked.

"I've just received a call from Petrel," replied Matori. "He has Jessie, James, Butch, and Cassidy with them."

The Team Rocket leader smiled. "Excellent. Patch them in, Matori."

Matori nodded before proceeding to tap her tablet repeatedly and animatedly. A few seconds later, the split-screen of the live news reports was replaced with the single image of a purple-haired, sleazy-looking man, though that sleaziness had already receded for the most part. Giovanni grunted in disgust at the sight of the man.

"Ahhhhh, Petrel..." he greeted, his voice so calm and yet so terrifying. "I am so pleased to finally lay my eyes upon your face, after the travesty that was the Motostoke mission."

Petrel's beady eyes widened as much as their anatomy could possibly demand from them. Though Giovanni couldn't see it, he knew his lieutenant's skin was crawling underneath his dark suit. He also knew Petrel had originally been expecting to see him in a joyful, ecstatic manner, since he had earlier instructed him, through Matori, to not lose hope from losing Ash Ketchum so easily, and to simply prepare for the backup operation, instead of admonishing him like he would usually do in such a situation.

Indeed, Giovanni was in a joyful, ecstatic manner, but that didn't mean that joy should affect his judgment in the face of his men's failure.

"B-Bo-Boss!" the purple-haired man sputtered, trying pathetically to save face. "Y-Yo-You have to understand, i-it was all th-the fault of-!"

"I don't want any more of your excuses, Petrel," Giovanni replied, his voice cold and harsh. "You've been told to prepare for the secondary initiative, and I hope that is what you're doing at this very moment."

"Y-Yes, Boss! W-W-We are m-mo-moving in for the n-ne-next assault a-as we speak!"

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Petrel blinked, both in terror and in perplexity. "Wh-What am I-?! I-I was p-patching you through t-to-"

"Get out of my sight. NOW. I wish to talk to Jessie, James, Butch, and Cassidy."

"Y-Yes, Boss!" Petrel bowed his head pitifully. "R-Right away, Boss!"

With one last look of dismay, the lieutenant ran out of the screen's periphery, sulking. A second later, Jessie, James, and Meowth stepped into Giovanni's view, followed quickly by Cassidy and Butch. Without wasting a second, the five took on firm, straight poses and saluted.

"Reporting for duty, Giovanni sir!" the two teams chorused.

"Jessie, James," Giovanni greeted, his stern expression fading away slightly. "Cassidy, Butch. In spite of what I informed Petrel, in spite of what he might have told you, know that I, and the rest of Team Rocket, are proud of what you heralded in earlier today. Once the sun sets and the day comes to a close, the world will have begun its transition phase into the new chapter that we've written for its story."

"Thank you so much, Boss!" Jessie replied breathlessly while she bowed her head.

"Everything that we do," Cassidy added with a sneer, "we do in the name of Team Rocket!"

"So, Boss," James said, "what are your orders?"

"It don't matter, eitha' way," Meowth replied. "We're ready ta serve!"

"Excellent," Giovanni replied with an approving nod. "First thing's first, Cassidy, Butch, you two have been reassigned."

Cassidy's and Butch's eyes widened at almost the same time.

"Wh-What?!" exclaimed Cassidy.

"But Boss, we-" Butch began.

"Rest assured," Giovanni interrupted, "you two did nothing that warranted this. I simply need you and your set of skills elsewhere now."

He could've sworn he saw Cassidy and Butch shoot subtle smirks at the direction of Jessie, James, and Meowth, but the executive quickly ignored this and continued speaking.

"To be more specific, I need you to immediately take one of the Frigate's specialized pods and rendezvous with me and my team in Alola. I need as much manpower as possible for Operation: Eclipse."

Cassidy and Butch blinked once out of incredulity. Then, they both bowed their heads loyally.

"Understood, Boss," they replied in a singular voice.

"Good." Then, Giovanni noticed Cassidy and Butch were still standing there, and he frowned. "What part of 'immediately' bears repeating for you two?"

The duo of Team Rocket agents blushed furiously, eliciting quiet snickers from Jessie, James, and Meowth. Then, Cassidy and Butch rushed off just as quickly as Petrel, leaving the other three agents alone in the room.

"So, Boss," Jessie said gleefully, "I assume this means you entrust us with the responsibility of nabbing that twerp with the Pikachu on our lonesomes?"

"If so," added James, "we'll make sure he doesn't slip through our fingers this time! We'll put him in a corner and make him wish he never messed with us in the first place!"

"We'll put 'im on his knees and make 'im beg for his miserable life!" Meowth cried malevolently.

Giovanni grinned at his agents' enthusiasm. "That's exactly what I like to hear." He leaned his head in slightly. "Now, you three, I want you to listen very closely..."

Wyndon
GALAR REGION

Ash looked out of the helicopter window and watched as the familiar skyline of Wyndon came into view. The first location that stood out to him was Rose Tower, which towered over all the other buildings, its shadow looming over their rooftops and imposing the skyscraper's intimidating presence in the city. The Pallet Town native vaguely recalled that ownership of the tower was unofficially transferred to the World Coronation Series Monarch, Leon, until Rose could be found.

When he stayed the night at the tower and learned a lot about Rose during their meal together, Ash's first impression of the chairman was one of admiration. After all, Rose explained a lot regarding his rise from the ashes of nothingness, how he had made something out of himself, and his goals for the future of all of Galar, something that Ash hoped to emulate through his journey to become a Pokémon Master. Even after he learned all about his plans for Eternatus and the Galar Particles, Ash realized a part of him still held admiration for Rose, whose motives remained true to his beneficial vision of Galar, even if his tactics didn't match up to that philanthropy.

"Hmmm... I wonder what would've happened if there was another way to take control the Galar Particles," Ash thought, as his helicopter began making its descent towards a waiting helipad in Wyndon. "If there was a better way to seize the Galar Particles and draw their power for the betterment...and the protection of Galar and the world, would we do it? Just because Eternatus is evil, it doesn't mean we can't frown upon the power it boasts. We could use that power to fight off threats like Team Rocket-"

"Pikapi?"

Pikachu's voice pulled Ash out of his thoughts, and he looked down at his Mouse Pokémon. His ears twitched once as he remained seated on the raven-haired Trainer's lap. Ash's thoughts about Rose and Eternatus quickly faded, and he gave his first Pokémon a gentle smile.

"I'm fine, Pikachu," he said. "Don't worry about me."

"Pika?" Pikachu replied. "Pi-pi-kachu, pi-pika-pikachu."

"Look, don't worry about Team Rocket, Pikachu. We sent them running off, just like always. And if they come back, we'll give them everything we've got. We've beaten them before, even when they've got friends with them, and we'll beat 'em again. I'm sure of it."

A pang of doubt passed through his heart, and Ash was forced to ignore it. At the same time, he heard some shuffling by his side. He looked across his shoulder and saw Goh and Chloe sitting beside him, with Goh occupying the other end of the helicopter seat and Chloe awkwardly wedged between the two boys. Ash's heart immediately fell at the sight of his two friends.

When the battle at Motostoke Stadium came to a close, the three of them, along with Sheena, Baraz, and the others who aided them, were quickly taken into helicopters. They were all told that it was no longer safe to be in Motostoke and that World Coronation Series protocol demanded they be immediately transported to Wyndon, the center of its Galar branch. As a result, Goh was unable to seek medical treatment for Cinderace, whose foot remained badly injured from the battle. He had to recall it back into its Poké Ball while it was still grimacing from its bandaged wound.

And since then, Goh hadn't spoken directly to Ash, with Chloe ambivalently serving as their intermediary.

"Goh blames me for what happened to Cinderace," Ash thought grimly. "I'm definitely sure of it. He was wondering why Team Rocket had suddenly taken a strong interest in me, and how I knew a lot about a prophecy that he'd never heard of before. He thinks I should've seen that attack coming...and because of my failure to do so, Cinderace was hurt quite badly, and he couldn't get proper medical attention right away. It'd be a miracle if Cinderace could ever kick again..."

"So..." Chloe piped up, having sensed the palpable tension in the helicopter and seeking to dispel it, "uh, once we get to Wyndon, wh-what do we do then?"

"I'm gonna find the nearest Pokémon Center and have Cinderace treated," Goh replied. His voice was absentminded and yet so bitter, while his eyes remained glued to the helicopter window. Ash couldn't help but grimace slightly at the tone of his friend's voice.

"I see." Chloe cast a worried glance towards her lap. "I'm gonna go with you and call my parents. They've probably seen the news of what's happened in Motostoke by now. I need to tell them that I'm okay."

"I-I'll go with you guys too," Ash said, his voice shaky from his failed attempt at staying calm. "I-I need to call my mom. Hopefully she hasn't seen the news yet-"

Goh simply gave a bitter grunt in response. Ash narrowed his eyes slightly, but he decided not to speak any further. He didn't exactly blame Goh for his attitude, anyway. It had been a long time since the adventure at Shamouti Island, since he ever had to be worried about being the Chosen One as legend described it, so he was unprepared for Team Rocket's sudden interest in him when he should've been.

"Wh-What do you think is gonna happen now?" Chloe asked in another attempt to ease down the tension. "Team Rocket is not gonna be content with this loss. They're gonna come back and they're gonna come back harder than before."

"We're in Wyndon, aren't we?" replied Goh. "It's the most technologically advanced city in the Galar region. Plus, we've got all the Gym Leaders with us. They're strong. They can come to our defense once Team Rocket returns." Then, finally, Goh tore his gaze away from the window and subtly looked at Ash, even though the other boy noticed. "Not to mention Ash's new friends."

Ash pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes slightly in response. But before he could defend himself, another voice quickly penetrated the interior of the helicopter.

"We're about to make our landing. Brace yourselves, children."

In response to the pilot's advance warning, the trio of Trainers held on to their seats, while Pikachu scurried onto Ash's left shoulder. A few seconds later, the helicopter finally landed on its allocated helipad. Ash looked out of the window and saw a second helicopter landing on top of the neighboring helipad. Within a couple of minutes after the landing, one of the pilots started fiddling with the dashboard, while the other one got out and opened up the side-door.

"Alright, let's move, kids!" he instructed urgently. "We've got other choppers landin' after us!"

Ash, Goh, and Chloe obeyed and got out of the helicopter, with the pilot ushering them out. They then traveled down the steps leading off the helipad and were quickly greeted by the passengers of the other helicopter: Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, Bea, and Nessa.

"Alright, come with us, kids," Raihan said. "We're taking you inside."

Raihan began to escort Ash, Goh, and Chloe off the rooftop and towards an open doorway that led to an access stairwell. Goh and Chloe followed Sonia and Bea down the stairwell, but Ash stopped and took a moment to look over his shoulder. In the skies, directly over the rooftop, he could see a couple of helicopters bearing news decals hovering in the air, their passengers recording the Wyndon rooftops live.

Then, a nudge of his shoulder brought Ash back to attention.

"Come on, Ash," Raihan advised. "We don't have a minute to waste."

The boy nodded silently and followed the Hammerlocke Gym Leader down the stairwell.

World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex

The hunched elderly woman with the whitened face and turquoise-and-black hat turned away from the blaring but muted TV screen to face her colleagues. All of them stood in the middle of a conference room, surrounded on all sides by glass walls and doors. The lights were dimmed, with the only primary source being the TV screen.

"I understand that all of this is unexpected, my fellow High-Rankers," the woman announced. "It's been a long time since any of us were briefed on, or trained for, this exact scenario. However, we must remain calm and collected in the face of what we're witnessing right now. Not only are we High-Rankers, but we're also Galar's Gym Leaders."

Upon hearing that description, the other people in the conference room gave mixed responses. Some looked nervous and unenthusiastic about the responsibilities, others remained rapt in attention, and even more others nodded in approval.

"We are the first line of defense for both the World Coronation Series Galar Division and the entire Galar region," the old woman continued. "And, given the unfortunate absence of our Champion and Monarch, we're also the last line of defense for now. So, let's take a moment to gather our bearings, and once we do, we must assess the situation as we know it at this time. We're dealing with a monumental crisis of unforeseen proportions here."

She scanned the entire room and its occupants. "And it would be an even more monumental disservice to the people of Galar if the only thing we do in response to it is let the chaos reign, even upon us. So, let's not trade barbs like some of us like to do in the heat of things. Understood?"

The woman was greeted with approving nods and low murmurs, but she was satisfied by the response.

"Good."

OPAL

"Thank you, my dear," a voice said.

A man stepped into the periphery of the TV screen's light. He was wearing a green shirt with a blue paw-print symbol on his right breast area, along with a yellow undershirt, a pair of grayish-white pants, charcoal-gray sneakers, and a black bowler hat with turquoise highlights. He also had extremely large, long, downward-facing eyebrows of gray hair. The rest of the room's occupants straightened up in attention, even the more jittery and nervous ones.

"Now," the man said, "speaking of Leon, it is due to his absence that I will be temporarily filling in for his position as the World Coronation Series Galar Division Head until his return. I believe that introductions aren't necessary, given my prior experience in this field."

MUSTARD

"Now, then..." With a furrowed brow, Mustard removed his jacket and his bowler hat, revealing gray hair wrapped into a ponytail with a red headband; his eyebrows also flipped upwards. "Let's get started. I need all your individual updates on the situation. Let's start with..."

The elderly man scanned the conference room for a brief moment, before finally pointing towards a young boy with pale skin, purple eyes, and unkempt black hair with a long, curved cowlick at the back. He was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, shorts with white suspenders, and a white Corsola-like mask with large eye-holes and a mouth-hole. His outfit bore a number of flashy Galar League symbols, including the Ghost insignia.

"How about you, young whippersnapper?" Mustard asked.

"H-Hu-Huh?!" squeaked the boy. He then hesitantly pointed at himself. "M-M-Me?"

Mustard gave a hospitable chuckle. "Well, there's no one standing beside you, young one, so yes, you." He then scanned the boy from head to toe. "You must be new. I don't remember you at all, young man. Mind introducing yourself?"

The boy's legs buckled uncomfortably. "A-Al-Allist-t-t-ter, f-fr-from St-St-Stow-on-S-Si-Side..."

ALLISTER

"Very well then, Allister! What're the latest developments from Stow-on-Side? Don't waste a single detail." Then, Mustard gave the boy an assuaging smile. "No pressure there. Heh heh heh."

"W-We-Well, uh..." Allister began twiddling his fingers nervously. "I, uhhh... I..."

"Have you gotten in contact with your Gym assistants, young man?"

Even though Allister's face was obstructed by such a frightening-looking mask, everyone could tell it was turning as red as a Tamato Berry.

"N-N-No..." Allister replied.

"Then go contact your assistants! Go, go, go! We need to know of the situation, if any, at your place!"

The boy nodded meekly and rushed out of the room in a slight panic. The others watched him go with varying degrees of sympathy, before Mustard spoke up again.

"Alright, and how about you, dear? What's the situation at Circhester?"

This time, Mustard focused on a large, reasonably plump woman with fair skin, blue eyes, and hip-length, light-gray hair, that sported a single, grayish-blue streak and a lone lock of hair. She was wearing a white, thick turtleneck sweater with the Galar League symbols on it, including the Ice symbol; a puffy white scarf; white shorts with a couple of Galar League symbols on them; bluish-gray leggings with white patterns that resembled snow insignias; a large, white hat made out of wool; long white boots; and a white-and-black glove on her right hand.

MELONY

"O-Oh, yes, of course," the woman stammered before clearing her throat. "My eldest son Gordie just got back to me. He and the other assistants are overseeing the complete evacuation of Circhester, since that strange airship thingy is closing in there. They're headed further south, over to Hammerlocke."

"I can confirm Melony's statement," Raihan piped up. "The Hammerlocke mayor just called me, saying they're accepting any and all evacuees from there."

At that moment, Melony's eyes softened in concern. "Mustard, sir, p-please tell us these Team Rocket fellows aren't after random, wanton destruction. Circhester's never been evacuated in its entirety before. Men, women, and children are just being forced out of their homes, offices, and businesses without as much as an advance warning-"

"As far as we know," Nessa interrupted, "they're only after the children that came with me and Raihan. I don't think it is pure, plain terrorization of communities that they're after."

"But we mustn't jump to conclusions," warned Mustard.

"I agree."

The new speaker was a slim, perpetually exhausted-looking young man with pallid skin, droopy cyan eyes with gray eye-shadow surrounding them, and angular black eyebrows. He also had long, spiky, black-and-white hair covering one side of his face and tied into three long, bushy ponytails with alternating striped patterns. In addition, this man was wearing a black-and-magenta jumpsuit, a cropped white jacket with diagonal magenta stripes as well as spikes at the ends of the sleeves, a thumb-less black glove on his right hand, a white glove and metal wristband on his left hand, a peculiar gray collar, a belt with Poké Balls hanging from it, and gray spiky shoes.

"I've just received reports from my, ahem, assistants that this ship's occupants have been periodically exiting their ship to observe the people and Pokémon in the area for the past few hours," the man explained. "I don't know about you, but that sounds a hell lot like reconnaissance."

PIERS

"Reconnaissance?" Milo repeated hesitantly. "Reconnaissance for what?"

"For when they declare war on Galar," Kabu concluded, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

Milo's eyes became enlarged. "D-Declaring war?"

"All over a child?" Melony replied incredulously. "That...kinda sounds like an overreach, don't you think?"

"Eh, I don't know," Raihan remarked with a shake of his head. "Those other people that were trying to retrieve him, the priestess and that desert wanderer-looking guy, they certainly believe he's the key to something bigger."

"Something bigger, ehhh?" Mustard repeated with a raised eyebrow. The elderly man unusually calm despite the topic of the conversation. "Well, why don't we just ask 'em?"

Raihan rolled his eyes. "If only. Something tells me we don't have their complete trust just yet-"

Mustard shook his head. "I don't mean the priestess and that desert wanderer-looking guy. I mean the child that you've risked life and limb to protect, Raihan."

"Ash?"

"Bring the boy in, Raihan," Opal instructed. "Let us all hear what he has to say about his role in this debacle. I mean, we do need to send something to the Board." The elderly woman then cast a glance towards the TV screen, which remained muted but nevertheless continued to show live news reports of the attacks in Galar, Sinnoh, Kanto, and apparently Johto. "But we don't have another minute to waste. It's quite clear this Team Rocket organization wants something, and it will stop at nothing to get it."

She narrowed her eyes darkly. "Even if it means declaring war against an entire region."

"No way."

Ash, Goh, and Chloe watched as Baraz and Raihan stared each other down. Standing beside Baraz was Sheena, who was looking back and forth between both men with concern. Standing behind Raihan was Nessa, who was mirroring Sheena's movements. Sonia and Bea stood to the side of the waiting room they were in, situating themselves in different corners with neutral expressions. As for the trio of Trainers themselves, they were all seated on a sofa in the center of the room, literally caught between the two opposing groups.

"I'm very sorry about the interruption, you guys," Raihan said, "but it is extremely urgent that we take you to-"

"For the last time, Raihan," Baraz interrupted, shaking his head, "the only place we need to go to is a working phone."

"No, the only safe place is with the World Coronation Series. And why do you even need a working phone?"

"Look, we need to reach our friends in Sinnoh, Raihan," Sheena replied, simultaneously grabbing Baraz's arm in an effort to calm him down.

"Whatever happened to bringing your own phones?"

"Given how we arrived at Motostoke in the first place," Baraz growled in slight irritation, "we didn't think we'd need any phones in the first place. Obviously, we were mistaken."

Raihan blinked and deadpanned, "Obviously. And what exactly is the urgency behind calling your friends?"

"They have a means of quickly, immediately transporting us out of this area and away from Team Rocket's sight," Sheena replied.

Nessa quirked an eyebrow with intrigue. "Oh, really? And that would be?"

Sheena hesitated for a moment before finally replying, "Hoopa's rings."

"Hoopa?" Sonia asked incredulously, speaking from the corner of the room. "Y-You mean the Hoopa of Dahara City fame? The Djinn Pokémon?!"

"Uh, yes..." Baraz replied, looking somewhat concerned about the woman's scientific interest in his longtime friend. "The Hoopa..."

"We used one of Hoopa's rings to get from Sinnoh to Motostoke," Sheena explained, "but it got destroyed in the middle of our clash with Team Rocket. By now, Hoopa should've regenerated that ring, and we could use it to take Ash and both of his friends over to Sinnoh. But we need to contact our friends in Sinnoh so they know exactly where we are, and then Hoopa could materialize a ring at our current position."

"And that's if Meray and Kevin have returned from their own missions," added Baraz.

"Missions?" Ash asked, looking up at him. "What missions?"

"You're not the only ones we've been trying to retrieve, Ash," Sheena replied, her tone grave. "We have reason to believe your old friends Dawn and Brock might have key roles in certain developments that have occurred recently, so Meray and Kevin were sent to retrieve them."

"D-Dawn and Brock?" The raven-haired boy blinked in total confusion. "But...they've got nothing to do with the Shamouti Prophecy! I...I think...?"

"Actually, it has more to do with new observations of the Time-Space Axis, but I'll elaborate when we return to Sinnoh."

"The Time-Space Axis?" Ash asked in surprise.

"The...Time-Space Axis?" Goh repeated in complete confusion.

Meanwhile, Sheena turned back to Raihan and Sonia. "Look, you two, I appreciate all that you have done to protect Ash. But I can assure you of our trustworthiness and the degree of compassion we hold towards him."

"W-Wait, you guys don't trust Sheena and Baraz?" asked Ash. "Raihan, Sonia, you can trust them! I've met them before in my journey. They're good people, I swear on it!"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked.

"As you can see, Ash can attest to that," Baraz added as an afterthought, pointing towards the boy.

But Raihan's teal eyes were narrowed. "Thank you, Ash, for your input. But it's less about their trustworthiness and more about us being able to carry out the World Coronation Series system."

Ash blinked, puzzled. "System? W-What system?"

"The World Coronation Series has a special system that it initiates whenever there is a major security breach," explained Bea, her eyes closed and her voice stoic and collected as usual. "A breach like the attack that we've experienced earlier today. As a tournament that's held all around the world every year, any sort of disruption to any sanctioned event in any part of the world is a disruption to the system at large."

"When this system is initiated in the wake of a security emergency," continued Raihan, "it demands that all participants who are ranked 500 and above to flee to cities that have a Regional Division Headquarters, or the location where World Coronation Series officials conduct all sorts of business in a given region. It's kind of like an embassy of sorts. Wyndon is the host to Galar's designated Regional Division Headquarters."

"And you're Rank 415, Ash," Nessa said. "So therefore, you'd be permitted to seek shelter in this Regional Division HQ."

"Wait, just the top 500?" Ash asked, confused. "What about the rest of the participants?"

"They're told to return home," replied Raihan.

"Or otherwise find shelter at the nearest convenient location," Nessa added.

"W-Well, that doesn't exactly sound fair," Goh remarked, his mind still trying to process the explanation.

"What exactly is so special about these Regional Division Headquarters t-that would motivate the top 500 participants to take shelter in them?" Chloe piped up.

"The luxury of special defenses, for one," Raihan replied, and his voice sounded extremely, uncharacteristically jaundiced this time. "Like I said, a Regional Division HQ is like an embassy. You seek shelter inside, the person after you is going to have a hard time fighting to get to you. And as the center and technological hub of Galar, Wyndon has advanced security measures, matched by no other place in the region, which this Regional Division HQ has access to, and then some. These measures are more than enough to keep all of us fortified against a second attack by Team Rocket."

"What?!" Ash exclaimed in horror. "So... So the top 500 participants get to hide out here, behind a great shield that is all but guaranteed to hold up, while all the others are pretty much being left to...to die?!"

"Pika?!" Pikachu squeaked in outrage. "Pika-CHU!"

"No one's saying we're leaving anyone for dead, Ash," Raihan said. "After all, the only thing Team Rocket wants is you-"

"And who's to say Team Rocket won't try to harm innocent people and Pokémon just to lure me out?!" Ash snapped. "Are you saying they don't matter to the World Coronation Series, just because they have a rank lower than 500?!"

"Look, Ash, I don't like it as much as you do, but I'm not the one who writes the rules-"

"Who does, then?! I wanna meet that person! What...What the heck kind of rule is that, anyway, letting only the top 500 participants into a Regional Divisional wh-whatever this place is called!"

"Those rules were written a long time ago, Ash, way before you were born."

"Then change them, for Arceus's sake!"

"Pika!" Pikachu added.

Ash clenched his fists as he continued shouting. "Call whoever's in charge a-and get them to change the rules! Everyone should have a right to equal access to the same kind of security!"

"I-It's not like this place is the only place in Wyndon that's heavily fortified, Ash-"

"But you're saying this is the best place to be in a situation like this, am I right, Raihan?" With tightly gritted teeth, Ash angrily crossed his arms. "Right?!"

"R-Right, b-but hear me out, Ash! It's very hard to call for a rule change like this! The World Coronation Series is run by a very, very large Institute."

Ash quirked an eyebrow. "Institute?"

"It's just like the Pokémon League, but since it's a collaborative effort between many regions and organizations, it's sort of become its own government." Raihan briefly paused to sigh and shake his head, as if he was becoming overwhelmed by his own explanation. "I-It's super-bureaucratic and super, super-complicated to explain, Ash. The main point is that it will take many months, if not years for any sort of rule changes to be made."

"With all due respect, Raihan," Sheena said, her blue eyes narrowing, "the World Coronation Series' rules may be the law of the land for all we care, but there's one word that's greater than theirs, and that's the word of Arceus."

Raihan turned to Sheena. "I-I understand completely, b-but I-"

"And as a disciple of Arceus and His teachings," she interrupted, "it is my sworn duty to adhere to His word and ensure Ash's safety and protection for the duration of this crisis. You are free to adhere to your laws, but I will adhere to mine. And right now, they demand that Ash and his friends return to Sinnoh with me and Baraz and-"

"Wait, hold on, Sheena," Ash growled, his fists still clenched. "Now that I know the World Coronation Series is locking a whole lot of people out for its own safety, I can't follow you back to Sinnoh. Not with all that I know."

"I understand your concern, Ash," Baraz replied, "and I do appreciate your compassion. But you can't make all of these uninvolved people your concern."

"But if I go with you to Sinnoh, then I'll be running away from all these people that need the help they deserve! And I'll be just as big of a coward as this so-called Institute!" Ash looked down at the floor and shook his head. "No, I cannot do that. Until I can ensure the safety and protection of all the other participants, I won't go with you back to Sinnoh. I...I'm sorry, but I have to do this first."

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

Raihan blushed in shame and embarrassment, and he replied, "W-Well...I-I appreciate your cooperation on this, Ash..."

Sheena and Baraz glanced at Ash with incredulous expressions, but they didn't speak up any further, for they knew that Ash had made up his mind. As for Chloe, Sonia, Bea, and Nessa, they all stared at the raven-haired boy and his Pikachu, impressed by their determination to set aside their original main goal for the sake of hundreds, if not thousands of total strangers.

Finally, Goh continued to stare at Ash in silence. As he listened to his friend's powerful speech, he couldn't help but flash back to Cinderace and its foot injury, which still had yet to be attended, even after all this time.

"Sooooo, it looks like the famous Ash Ketchum has finally decided to fight back."

"Glad to see you're no longer running away like a coward, Ash."

"Is this the great evil you guys were talking about?"

Goh clenched his fists and turned away from Ash, an action that was unnoticed by all except...

"Now you've begun to show concern and compassion...?" he thought angrily. "Now you feel the need to step up and take responsibility for what's happening right now?! Where was that responsibility when Cinderace got hurt?! Where was that responsibility, Ash?! Huh?!"

"Now, are you sure you want to do this, Ash?"

Ash pursed his lips as he looked at Sheena. "Yes, I'm sure, Sheena. I'll stay here until Wyndon and the World Coronation Series guarantees the safety of as many people as possible."

"Well, I gotta warn ya, Ash," Raihan advised, "what you're asking the Institute to do is a, uh...pretty tall order, to say the least. I-I think it can be done quickly, b-but I need to brush off my World Coronation Series rulebook-"

"If it can be done quickly, Raihan, then we don't have another minute left to lose." Ash raised a clenched fist. "All of this is happening because of me, and I have to see to it that something good comes out of my actions."

"Okay..."

By this point, Ash and the others approached the doorway to the conference room. Everyone could see the rest of Galar's Gym Leaders through the glass walls, but for once, neither Ash nor Goh were enthused by their collective presence. They simply remained composed while Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa approached the doors by themselves.

"Well, then," Raihan said, "I'll, uh...I'll inform Mustard- T-That's our Division Head. I'll inform him that you want to make a request to the Institute t-to suspend the top 500 rule before you wish to cooperate any further."

"I'll go with you," Sheena replied, her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'll help you explain the situation to them."

"And hopefully they'll get us in touch with our contacts in Sinnoh," added Baraz.

Ash nodded in approval, and Raihan nodded back at him with some hesitancy. Then, he opened the glass doors, allowing the five adults to step into the conference room. Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Bea watched them go, and once the doors closed on them, muffling the voices of all those inside, Ash began pacing around the hallway.

"I can't believe it," he muttered angrily. Then, with clenched fists, he snapped out loud, "I just can't believe it! How could anyone think it'd be okay to lock out a lot of people while giving only a select few exclusive access to areas with a great amount of security?!"

"It's because of the limited resources," Bea replied, her voice still calm and stoic.

"Limited resources?" Chloe repeated, her head tilted.

"Look at the building we're in, Ash. It's a nine-story building with about 650 employees inside on any given day."

"So it's a big building, Bea," Ash replied, his frown becoming pronounced. "Surely it can fit thousands of people!"

"Perhaps, but not every Regional Division HQ is like this. I've been to the Regional Division HQ in Hoenn several months back. It's a building that used to be an old apartment complex. Three stories with fewer rooms. And in the time since the World Coronation Series became public, the Institute is strapped for proper funding for Regional Division HQs."

Ash blinked. "Become public? What do you mean by that?"

Bea narrowed her cool gray eyes slightly. "The World Coronation Series used to be a tournament that had very stringent requirements for someone to enter as a participant. That old iteration was a lot like the Gym Challenge in Galar, where you needed an endorsement from someone to enter, but in the case of the World Coronation Series, you needed at least ten endorsements from people hailing from at least three different regions."

"Ten endorsements?" asked Goh.

"From people from three regions?" Chloe added incredulously.

"Pika?!" Pikachu squeaked.

"At least," Bea clarified. "Obviously, the field of contestants back then tended to be pretty narrow. That, plus a whole lot of other rules that have since been made outdated, made the World Coronation Series an extremely difficult challenge to take on back then. And as such, the Institute prioritized prestige above all else, hence the top 500 rule. It used to be the top 50 in the old days, actually." A comical poker-face quickly filled Bea's face. "I presume they added an extra zero out of laziness when the tournament did away with all those other rules and went public."

"So they believed that the top 50 Trainers were worthy of saving," Goh concluded gravely, "because their ranks were an indicator of their power and skill."

"And therefore, they deserved nothing less than special protection."

"Th-That doesn't even make SENSE!" Ash snapped. "If those top-ranked Trainers are very powerful, then they should be able to defend themselves from a threat easily! Why should they be the only ones afforded special protection?!"

"Pi-KA!" Pikachu snapped in equaled outrage.

Bea blinked, her lips slightly pursed in disappointment. "One word, Ash. Elitism."

Goh's eyelid suddenly twitched, and before he could help himself, he blurted out, "Well, I guess elitism is something you knows all too well, huh Ash?"

A terrible, awkward silence suddenly fell over the quartet of young Trainers. Chloe's eyes widened, and she looked back and forth between Ash and Goh with mounting apprehension. As for Bea, she simply blinked dumbly, totally locked out of the conversation's context.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Goh?" Ash asked ominously.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked. He hopped off his Trainer's shoulder and stood between the two boys with outstretched arms. "Pikapi, pi-pika, pikachu-pi pika! Pika-pikachu!"

But Ash and Goh ignored him and just continued staring each other down.

"You know what I mean!" spat Goh. "Ever since Sheena and Baraz showed up, you've been at the center of so freaking many conversations and so much freaking attention, and you suddenly seemed to know a lot of stuff that I don't know! Everything that's happened for the past few hours, I don't have a single clue about!"

"What, are you jealous?!" Ash cried, stunned by his friend's explanation. "For Arceus's sake, Goh, you don't have to know everything in the world, so don't go acting like a crybaby when you find yourself in the dark about something-"

"Oh, so you think I'm jealous?!"

"G-Gu-Guys, c-ca-calm down-" Chloe stammered.

"Well, why else are you acting like such a prick right now?!" Ash spat, cutting the girl off.

"I'm not JEALOUS, Ash! I never claimed I knew everything in the world-"

Ash crossed his arms. "But you always act like you do."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked, still desperately trying to act as a peacemaker. "Pika-pika-PI!"

"Well, an absence of knowledge is an absence of effectiveness on the battlefield!" Goh cried. "And guess what? Cinderace is hurt, all because I've been in the dark about what's been happening!"

Ash prepared to retort, only to remember Cinderace's foot injury. As the horror dawned on him, Goh accusingly pointed a finger at him and continued with his rant.

"So yeah, I do act like I know everything in the world, even if I really don't, because at least it gives me the courage and motivation to guide my Pokémon through the toughest of battles! So when I lose in the most spectacular fashion and my best friend gets hurt in such a horrible way, what does that say about me and my knowledge?! Well, I can't afford to let that happen again! If we're gonna get through this in one piece, I can't afford to let my Pokémon down again! So tell me, Ash, what exactly do you know about this whole thing?! What haven't you told me about yourself since we first met?!"

But Ash didn't respond to Goh's question. Instead, the Pallet Town native absentmindedly gazed at the floor, the guilt of Cinderace's injury catching up with him and eating away at his own resolve and motivation. This absence of a response stoked further anger and exasperation within Goh's heart, and his pointed finger began to tremble.

"TELL ME, ASH!" he yelled. "TELL- AGH?!"

Chloe had joined Pikachu in stepping between the two boys, though she faced Goh's direction. Her green eyes were shut, and they were barely holding back her tears.

"Stop it, Goh!" she screamed. "Stop yelling! Cinderace's injury was no one's fault but Team Rocket's! So please, Goh! You need to CALM DOWN!"

Goh looked at his childhood friend, then at Ash. At first, the Vermilion City native was about to glower at him, but at that moment, all feelings of anger and blame dissipated when he noticed something amiss: Ash was staring off emptily into the distance, his face etched in some sort of unreadable terror. He could barely hear the low, feeble whimpering from the boy's mouth.

Bea noticed it as well, for she stepped forward and asked, "Ash? Are you alright? You look pale."

But Ash did not respond, nor did he budge an inch. It was as if paralysis had totally taken over his body like a virus, and he was now a stone statue. Goh's and Chloe's faces twisted into expressions of concern, with the latter approaching him and gently taking his shoulders.

"Ash?" Chloe asked. When the boy didn't respond, she put more force into her voice. "Hey, Ash! What's wrong? Wh-What just happened to you? C-Can you hear me?!"

"Pikapi!" Pikachu squealed.

But not even the Mouse Pokémon's voice could reach his Trainer. With reluctance, Chloe's grip tightened slightly around Ash's shoulders and experimentally shook him.

"Ash?!" she called worriedly. "Ash!"

"Hey, this isn't a game, Ash!" Goh spat, though his voice was trembling in concern. "Th-This is totally not cool!"

Then, Ash's voice grew slightly louder, and Goh, Pikachu, Chloe, and Bea were able to decipher some words through the murky fog of his chaotic rambling.

"Help me... Help me..."

"Oh, my Arceus!" Chloe squealed, tearing herself away from Ash.

"I-I'll get help..." Bea said as calmly as she could, before rushing into the conference room.

"Oh, crud!" Goh cried. "P-Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Ash!"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement. Then, he began charging up his inner electricity, drawing from his reserves, and his body quickly crackled. "Piiikaaaaa-CHUUUUU!"

The yellow bolt of electricity struck Ash's body, drawing out a pained scream from the raven-haired boy. After a couple of seconds, Pikachu's Thunderbolt subsided, revealing Ash's charred, almost fried body. However, to the immense relief of both Goh and Chloe, Ash was groaning comically and blinking, indicating his return to reality.

"Thanks, Pikachu..." the Pallet Town native slurred. "Good Thunderbolt... Uuuuuggggghhhhh..."

At around the same time, Bea burst back out of the conference room, quickly followed by Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa.

"Ash!" Sheena cried, running forward and grabbing the boy before he could lose his balance.

"Goh, Chloe, what happened?!" Raihan demanded. "What was that all about?!"

"I-I don't know!" cried Goh. "Ash just...s-sort of froze, a-and he was out of it!"

"Out of it?" Sheena repeated.

"He was muttering 'help me'," Bea explained, the stoic nature of her voice almost breaking.

With a gasp, the priestess glanced back at Ash and shook him slightly, stirring him back to attention. "Ash?! Ash, do you hear me?!"

"H-Huh, what...?" Ash looked around aimlessly for a moment, before his eyes settled on Sheena. "Sheena...?" Then, his auburn eyes widened. "Sh-Sheena! Did you hear that?!"

"Hear what, Ash?" Chloe asked.

Ash straightened up in the priestess's arms. "That noise!"

"Noise?" Raihan questioned.

The boy blinked in shock. "You...You didn't hear that?! You didn't hear that noise?! Th-That voice?!"

"Voice?" Sheena repeated slowly. Then, suspicion started well up inside her. "Wait... Did..." She briefly paused, unsure if her quickly developing theory would actually be true. "Did you establish contact with Azelf?"

"Azelf?" Goh repeated in disbelief.

"Whaddaya mean 'establish contact'?" asked a confused Nessa.

But Sheena ignored them and stared into Ash's eyes. "Ash. Did you establish contact with Azelf?"

"Azelf...?" Ash's mind swam with memories of the Willpower Pokémon that he befriended so long ago. "I...I don't know... All I know is that I heard someone screaming... They were screaming for me... Pleading for help..." He looked around, as if he was trying to seek out the source of the unknown noise he had heard. "It sounded like the voice came from above."

"Whatever you heard, Ash," Chloe replied, "I certainly didn't hear any screaming."

"Neither did I," added Bea. "You were just muttering, asking us to help you-"

"I was asking for help?" Ash asked in stunned disbelief. "But I...I wasn't talking-"

"You were, Ash. You were begging for help."

"But...I don't remember..."

Ash got out of Sheena's grasp and clutched his head, which now felt as if it was on the verge of exploding. He could not believe what was happening to him right now. First, he spotted a mysterious shadowy Pokémon at Motostoke Stadium, a Pokémon that was most certainly not an illusion. Then, Team Rocket attacked the stadium, and not just the usual trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, which nearly put him and his friends in a bind. Next, his friendship with Goh was becoming strained due to Cinderace's foot injury. And now, he was freezing up and hearing things, apparently.

"I don't remember at all..." Ash whispered.

Sheena sighed and shook her head. "Ash... Judging by what you just told me, and my knowledge of your old adventures, it seems like you've indeed established a Mind-Link with Azelf."

"Mind-Link?" Raihan repeated.

"An ability used by the Aura Guardians of old," Baraz explained, his eyes narrowing. "In ancient times, Aura Guardians, as part of their mission to keep the peace and preserve the old natural order, were trained to read the minds of humans and Pokémon by psionically linking their Aura signatures with the recipients."

The Hammerlocke Gym Leader blinked, trying to keep up with the explanation. "So basically, it's mind-reading."

Baraz frowned at the simplification. "It's not mind-reading. It's a long, intricate process that requires extreme discipline and a knowledge of how to meld one's own consciousness with that of another, and utilizing this linkage to acquire any and all useful info-"

"So basically, it's mind-reading," Nessa interrupted.

Baraz's face turned pink from agitation and embarrassment. "It's not as simple as-"

"It sounds an awful lot like mind-reading," interrupted Sonia.

"That's 'cause it is mind-reading," Raihan replied.

"But it's not-!" Baraz sputtered.

"It's mind-reading," Bea concluded.

"Definitely mind-reading," Goh and Chloe commented at the same time.

"So mind-reading," Nessa remarked.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

Baraz didn't say anything any further. As for Ash, he clutched his forehead with a soft groan, prompting Sheena to press on out of concern.

"Ash, you said the voice was begging for help. Did you happen to hear anything else that it might've said?"

Ash lowered his hand and screwed his eyelids shut, straining to recall anything else that he overheard during his episode. Then, with a slight gasp, he opened his eyes again, and panic was evident in his auburn pupils.

"Dawn..." he whispered in a hoarse voice. "Brock... They're...They're in trouble!"

Sheena and Baraz looked at one another in horror.

Rocket Frigate, near Circhester

The man with wavy, unkempt black hair and graying temples moaned, and his eyelids fluttered open, revealing emerald-green pupils that shone with an energy that was eccentric and yet so strangely charming. He hummed softly and slowly looked around, observing his surroundings.

He quickly realized that he was in a conference room, not unlike the one he once occupied frequently back at his massive and successful business in Wyndon. After overcoming the brief pang of nostalgia, the man looked down at his wrists and found they were shackled to the armrests by bands made of thick metal.

"Ugh," he moaned, his voice in a slight slur. "Wh...What is this...?" He began to feebly struggle against his bonds. "Whe-Where am I...? O-Oleana...?"

ROSE

"Ch-Chairman...?" a voice asked distantly.

Rose's heart swelled with relief, and he struggled to turn his head across his shoulder. He was already halfway there by the time he recognized the familiar hair, once sandy-blonde but now dyed dark-brown and curled. Just like always, Rose could count on his assistant to be by his side, even in the most dire and unexpected of times.

"Whe-Where are we, Ch-Chairman...?" the woman asked softly.

OLEANA

"I have no idea, Oleana," Rose replied. As he spoke, he began to feel his grogginess fade away. "What...What is the last thing that you remember...?"

"The last thing...that I remember...?" Oleana strained to think of a satisfactory answer to the best of her ability. "I...I do remember...us headed for Circhester... I believe..." The corners of her lips tugged into a satisfied smile. "We were talking about...the next stage of your dream...for all of Galar..."

"My dream..."

Rose narrowed his eyes slightly. It had been a few months since his plan to emulate the Darkest Day and seize the power of the Galar Particles through Eternatus was thwarted. Thwarted, by the two boys that had caught the foremost attention of his prized pupil Leon. The two boys who managed to get Leon to rebel against him. The two damned boys who blindly, recklessly destroyed his dream before it could all come to fruition.

Ash and Goh.

At first, Rose felt nothing but fury and outrage towards them. After all, they were clearly deluded to the true magnitude of the situation, of their circumstances. They were evidently unable to come to terms with the simple, inescapable fact that the Galar region, and the rest of the world, were living on borrowed time. And now, because of their unwillingness to accept that fact, because of their blindness and their stubbornness, they cut him, and the world, off from a once-in-a-lifetime chance, their second chance, at an everlasting, infinitely-sustainable lifestyle.

But as the days passed and turned into weeks, Rose felt his rage towards Ash and Goh slip away. By then, he realized he had no right to be angry at them, not when they were literally raised by modern society to believe nothing was wrong at all, that things were perfect just the way they were. There was no fault on their part, just in that of society. And he knew that once he made his triumphant return, made another bid for eternal energy for all of Galar, Ash and Goh would finally turn away from the folly of their old teachings and see the light.

Unfortunately, it was thanks to Leon and his influence as the Galar Champion and the World Coronation Series Monarch that his and Oleana's reputations were tarnished, forcing them into hiding in the first place. That put a heavy damper in his plans for a second campaign for the Galar Particles. It was all because of his pupil's actions during and after his first campaign that he had to take a low profile, something he would never get used to.

And Leon's rebuke of his vision? It made the betrayal sting even more.

But Rose resolved to never give up. No matter how cruel things would get from his part or the part of his opponents, he would strive for a better, more sustainable future for the region he called home, and the whole world. He swore it on his father's grave.

Unfortunately, he found himself faced with another damper in his plans, namely his current situation of captivity.

"Do you think we've been captured by the authorities, Chairman...?" Oleana asked, her voice now more steady but also more evidently worried.

"The authorities...?" Rose scanned the conference room again, surprised by the formality shown in its presentation. "I...I doubt it, Oleana. They wouldn't go through all this trouble just to leave us in a room like this. No, someone else has got to be responsible."

"You've got that right!" a female voice cried, catching Rose's and Oleana's attention.

"Who said that?!" Oleana demanded, her posture firm and defensive.

"Who goes there?" Rose asked, his own voice tinged with curiosity.

At that moment, the conference room exploded in a shining, glittering flash of light, nearly blinding Rose and Oleana. A second later, steam began to fill the room, and the two could vaguely see the dark outlines of two people and a Pokémon rising into the front of the room, like a team of performers flashily making their entrance onstage.

"Prepare for trouble, because we are here!" the female voice proclaimed.

"And make it double, for we are everywhere!" a male voice declared.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

At that moment, the flashing lights dimmed out, revealing the trio of newcomers to be a magenta-haired woman, a blue-haired man, and a Meowth. The man and woman were wearing all-black uniforms bearing a bright-pink 'S' insignia.

"Jessie!" the woman cried.

"And James!" exclaimed the man.

"The Syndicate blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth shouted in a perfectly legible human voice.

"WOBBUFFET!" shouted the voice of a Wobbuffet as it popped out of its Poké Ball.

If Rose and Oleana didn't know any better, they would've sworn they saw a stylized 'S' materialize behind the quartet as they made a dramatic pose.

"The...The Syndicate?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Why, yes," the blue-haired man, James, said as his body relaxed from its pose. He approached the chairman, his black uniform almost gleaming from the lights on the ceiling. "The Syndicate is an organization that is about three months in the making."

"An organization whose membership consists of many organizations," Jessie clarified.

James's lips then curved into a small smile as he held his arms out and continued, "Chairman Rose."

Rose blinked in surprise upon hearing his own name, his eyes subconsciously moving themselves toward the stylized 'S' insignia boasted on James's uniform.

"A-An organization...whose membership consists of...many organizations?" Rose repeated, speaking slowly. "Well, well... Looks like I missed quite a lot. I still don't understand-"

"Ahhh, don't play coy wit us, Rosey pal!" Meowth exclaimed, jumping atop Rose's lap and startling Oleana in the process. "Everyone in dis room knows dat you've got followahs out dere! And it's all because of da twoips and their lil' Pikachu dat no one takes ya seriously anymore!"

"I'm...still not following..."

"Ohhhhh, Rose, Rose, Rose," James replied while shaking his head. "We at the Syndicate know all about your attempt at taking control of Eternatus and using its power for the good of Galar and all of its people."

Rose's eyelid twitched, and he responded as calmly as he could, "How'd you-?"

"We've done our research, good ole Rosey!" Meowth interrupted with a pointed claw. "And we know aaaall about yer dark and tragic past!"

Rose's eyes widened in alarm. "My-?!"

"Yep!" Jessie replied. "And we know how much you wanted a better future, a future in which all of the future Roses of the world would never cry and suffer. We know how strongly you strove to achieve that future..."

"Only for that to blow up in your face," James completed. "All because a couple of twerpy kids and their Pokémon."

"We know all 'bout da pain of bein' zapped and electrocuted twenty-four-seven!" Meowth cried. "Even though all we were doin' da right ting!"

"The right thing?" Rose blinked again. "I don't get it... Did you bring me and my assistant here just to commiserate?"

"Partially," replied James.

"But mostly, we brought you two here to offer you another chance," Jessie added, her evil smile widening.

Rose's eyes widened as much as they possibly could. His head was still sounding an alarm from his current situation and what his trio of captors were apparently trying to proposition...but the ambivalence was slowly, progressively receding, and his heart was swelling with hope.

"Another chance...?" he repeated.

"Giovanni has taken notice of your efforts to provide a better, more sustainable future for the Galar region."

"And when he takes notice, he also takes a great interest!" Meowth declared.

"Giovanni?" Oleana asked, her eyebrow quirked.

"Oh yes, my dear Oleana," Jessie replied.

"Giovanni is the leader of the Syndicate, and its founder," James explained. "He is the one who dispatched us to find and recover you two from your current dilemma of misery and defeat. It is because of him that you two have been granted a newfound opportunity to fulfill your goals and dreams."

"It is him that you must thank, not us," Meowth completed.

"A newfound opportunity to fulfill my goals and dreams," Rose repeated. Though his heart was literally leaping with joy, a small part of his head was advising him to seek clarification, and so he did. "And what exactly does this new opportunity entail?"

"An alliance between your business conglomerate and our revolutionary conglomerate," replied Jessie.

"An alliance?" Oleana asked, slightly stunned.

"Yes," James replied. "Just like you, Rose, our boss Giovanni is seeking for a better, more prosperous, more sustainable future that the world can embrace. It is exactly why he has taken an interest in you and your mission. He has seen how hard you have fought for your vision, only for the sorry state of current society, and its newest generation, to yank it all away from you at the last second."

"After all," Jessie added, "he's been in your shoes, Rose. He has seen how easily society can crush the hopes and dreams of those it doesn't like. And in recent months, he's realized that the only way to remedy this is to bring together all those who have been wronged by society, despite having great, undeniable visions for the world's future! Bring 'em all together and unite them against the powers that be!"

"And as da saying goes," Meowth completed, "two heads are bettah dan one!"

"And don't you worry about having to enlist your employees for this lil' shindig."

Rose blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Our contacts have tracked down all of your loyalists within Macro Cosmos and freed them from their prisons," explained Jessie. "They are receiving the same information as you are. You'll all be reunited shortly after this meeting is over. That is, if you decide to accept our assistance, Chairman Rose."

Rose pursed his lips tightly and looked down at the carpeted floor, his eyes becoming glassy. He was so awkwardly silent that one would think his absence of an adequate response was a product of inner conflict. However, it was anything but. Inside, his heart was rejoicing more and more by the second over this unexpected but welcome new opportunity for him to finally ensure his dream became a reality. Any rational thought that he felt about the trio's proposition was fading...

Finally, the mounting tension between the former Macro Cosmos executive and the trio of Syndicate agents was broken when Oleana spoke up, her tone a curious one.

"How many organizations are part of your membership?"

"Six," replied Jessie. "Seven, if your boss, and therefore all of Macro Cosmos, generously takes up our offer."

"What are these organizations?"

"Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, Flare, and, last but not least-"

"Rocket!" Meowth cried. "Dat's us."

Oleana's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what sort of stake do they have in being united against the powers that be?"

"It varies," Jessie replied. "Team Aqua strives to protect Pokémon from the dangers of humanity and its progress."

"Team Magma wants to ensure humanity's progress continues without obstruction," James added.

"Team Galactic wishes to suppress all human emotions and therefore end all conflicts in the world."

"Team Plasma wants to swerve the Unova region away from modernity and bring it back on the course of tradition."

"Team Flare desires to reset the natural world and serve as the forerunners of a brand-new human civilization."

"And Team Rocket just wants to quash modern society so all of these visions, and yours, can be realized."

Meowth's grin widened slightly. "Ya have absolutely no idea how many people want ta see their dreams come true, only ta be disappointed thanks ta da current woyld."

"And...how does the Syndicate suggest bringing about the changes that it desires?" Rose asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Wat else, but ta conquer da woyld?"

"Wait..." Both of Rose's eyebrows were raised now. "Conquer the world?"

"Yes, conquer the world," Jessie replied, a certain gleam passing through her eye.

"But..." The former businessman hesitated. "I-I don't see how-"

"Don't you realize why your original plan was stopped in the first place, Chairman?" asked James.

"Yes, and it was because of a couple of blind children-"

"Indeed, they are blind! But what do you think made them that way?"

"And don't give us white lies, Chairman!" Meowth added. "We know wat you're truly tinking!"

In that moment, Rose realized what the trio was pointing at. They seemed to have read his mind, for it settled back onto his earlier conclusion that Ash and Goh were the unfortunate products of an oppressive society, one that was stubbornly, persistently blind to the problems around it, its inner rot...

Jessie seemed to realize the conclusion he came to, for she smirked and said, "Yes, society's to blame for your problems, not those children, no matter how twerpish they could be."

"Now we realize that you may think that world conquest isn't exactly your cup of tea, Chairman," James added.

"But!" Meowth chirped, his glinting claw raised in the air while a snobbish expression filled his face. "Ya can't enact real change witout takin' out all da tings dat stand in yer way! Ya gotta step up ta da plate and take a stand against dose dat would constantly say 'no' ta all yer hopes and dreams!"

"You have to make sacrifices if you are gonna accomplish what's best for the world," Jessie concluded. "What you really want."

"Now, hold on!" Oleana snapped, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What makes you think we could-?!"

"I'll do it."

Rose's voice cut through the air of the conference room like a knife, its tone of finality stunning Oleana and pleasing the trio. The assistant glared at her employer and most trusted confidante, her expression one of ambivalence and doubt.

"B-But Chairman!" she protested.

"No, Oleana," Rose cut off. His face was slackened and full of serenity and acceptance. "We have to take their offer. This is our second chance at a sustainable future. We've already made sacrifices the first time, and we are still suffering from them. We no longer have the resources that we need to enact that future, and the world is now fully aware of what my intentions are for the Galar region. How can we achieve better days for our lands, our home without the assistance of the Syndicate?"

Oleana gawked at Rose in disbelief, but she ignored the bubbling pit of doubt and regret filling up in her gut and simply stayed silent. After all, there was no way she was going to act against the deepest wishes of her employer, the man who showed her so much acceptance and understanding when no one else would. She still had a lot to give Rose in return for his compassion towards her.

Meanwhile, the trio, satisfied with Rose's response, gave him wide grins of glee.

"Perfect!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Excellent!" cried James.

"Now dat's da spirit, Chairman!" Meowth proclaimed. "We knew ya had it in ya! Now den..." He pulled out a remote and twirled it around in his paw. "How 'bout we fill ya in on what da Syndicate's planning ta do ta change da woyld?!"

There was a pop, followed by a loud and triumphant "WOOOOOBBUFFET!"

World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex

Several minutes, close to a half-hour, had passed since Ash and Goh's heated argument and the former's Mind-Link with the Willpower Pokémon, Azelf. Right now, he was inside the conference room, properly meeting up with Mustard and the rest of Galar's Gym Leaders. Meanwhile, Goh, Chloe, Bea, and Sonia remained outside. The females were watching them and their conversation through the glass walls, while Goh paced around impatiently in the hallway, his lips nastily pursed.

"I wonder what they're talking about..." Chloe whispered, just as Goh passed by her.

"It'd better be a way to get Cinderace some medical attention," Goh snarled. "We've been here for, what, about an hour now, and still, no way to get to Nurse Joy or a Pokémon Center and give Cinderace the treatment he needs?"

Chloe looked at her childhood friend with concern. "I'm sure Ash will mention that-"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Ohhh, I'm sure he will."

Chloe desperately wanted to retort and come to Ash's defense, even if she felt as if he was not indebted to it, since they were never really that close. But then, she immediately saw the agony flashing through Goh's face every so often, and it gave her pause. Soon, an everlasting concern for the only person she could confide in and call a friend prevailed over her other interests, and she remained silent, allowing the red-faced Goh to devolve into a heated tirade.

"Have you ever noticed how Ash never spoke Cinderace's name ever since he got hurt at Motostoke?!" he asked angrily. "Huh?! What do you think that's all about?!"

"He feels guilty about what happened to Cinderace, that's what."

It wasn't Chloe who had spoken up, but Sonia. She was walking up to Goh, a look of concern filling her normally delicate, fair face.

"I have no doubt in my mind that Cinderace has been in Ash's thoughts since Motostoke, Goh," Sonia said.

Goh glared at the researcher. "Yeah? Well, he sure has a funny way of showing his concern. Not saying Cinderace's name out of guilt is one thing. But holding it back even when he could plead for help is a completely different thing!" The boy's fists clenched tightly, and Chloe could see them trembling. "It's been so freaking LONG since Cinderace got hurt, and no one's doing a thing about it! Not even Ash! I've been begging a-and pleading and-and groveling for help, since this place apparently wasn't prepared enough for a situation like this t-to have its own medical center or even a few medical kits to spare! And now, we're stuck in here, with no way out, because no one's allowing us to leave for the sake of some arcane rule!"

He pointed at the security guards and their Arcanine that were stationed near the entryway at the end of the hallway. All of them were standing tall, firm, and unflinching, even if they were well within earshot of Goh's shouts and criticism.

"Apparently the World Coronation Series never cared enough for its top 500 players that they could not even provide the most basic of necessities for them in here!" Goh continued. As he spoke, his tone became more grave and terrified. "And now, who knows if Cinderace will be able to walk again?!"

"Goh, please," begged Chloe, her voice barely a whimper. "I-I understand your concern, b-but-"

"But what, Chloe?!" Goh barked, eliciting a shocked yelp from her. "We don't have a moment to waste, and yet w-we're just sitting Ducklett in here, waiting for the right people to make the next move in a situation we barely have context for! And I, for one, am not gonna wait and see what sort of special role Ash has to play in this whole mess! I won't! All I care about is getting Cinderace the help he needs, a-and-"

"I know you're frustrated, Goh," Sonia interrupted. "I really do, but rules are rules. And you heard Ash! He wants to see to it that all those arcane rules are done away with. With the central role he's been playing in this situation, I don't think the World Coronation Series would be in a mood to take him and his concerns lightly. You just have to wait-"

"GAH!" Goh clutched his hair in distress. "Why aren't you guys listening?! I can't afford to wait any longer!"

"Goh-" Chloe began feebly.

"And you, Chloe!" The boy whipped his head at her direction, silencing her with his agonizing look. "I talk about Ash not saying Cinderace's name anymore, but you certainly haven't been helping matters."

"Come on, Goh-" began Sonia.

Goh ignored her and continued focusing on Chloe. "You sure seem to be putting all of your faith in him, even if you didn't know him as long as I have! Why...Why haven't you taken my side on this?! Huh?! D'you really buy into this whole thing about him being our chosen savior and what-have-you?! 'Cause for a guy who's said to be the key to solving everything, Ash sure hasn't been solving much of anything, if you haven't noticed!"

"I'm not taking his side, Goh..." Chloe whispered weakly in response.

"Then what is it, then?! Why all the silence and lack of support on your end?!"

Chloe's lip quivered, and she looked away from her longest friend in complete shame. Her mind was swimming with all of these conflicting thoughts and emotions, with one trying to prevail over the other. The deafening silence hung over both youth like a murky fog for several moments, until Goh sighed angrily and looked away as well.

"Well," he said, "even if you're not gonna tell me what's going on, Chloe, then I don't know how I can take your word for anything anymore. And I don't know how I can rely on you as a friend if I can't take your word for it anymore!"

Chloe tried to protest, but the motivation did not materialize, and no sounds came out of her mouth. Instead, she could feel her heart shattering into a million pieces from Goh's words. The boy, the one person who she found companionship and reliance in when she couldn't detect it in anyone else, who never judged her for her aloof attitude and even reveled with her in it... He was...angrily declaring an end to their friendship, a bond that she thought would last them both their lifetimes...

Chloe then watched helplessly as the fuming Goh stormed away, the stoic Bea having to casually step aside for him. The three females watched him go for a moment. Once he rounded a corner and went out of sight, Sonia sighed and patted Chloe's shoulder as the girl started to sniffle.

"It's alright, honey," she said consolingly. "I'll go have a lil' talk with him."

Sonia walked down the hallway, her shoes making small clacking noises upon making contact with the floor. She looked around and trained her ears to pick up even the smallest sounds that seemed out of place. Her mind briefly thanked her grandmother for teaching her on how to be aware of her surroundings, no matter how infinitesimal the moment may be.

Eventually, she made her way back to the waiting room from which she, Ash, and the others came. Upon opening up the door, Sonia heard the sounds of sniffling and muttering. Lo and behold, she found Goh crouched in a corner, holding onto his knees with his arms and burying his face in his thighs. Stepping inside the room and closing the door behind her, the Pokémon researcher approached the boy with a sympathetic look on her face; her aqua-colored eyes were glimmering.

"Hey, Goh," she greeted.

"I'm such an idiot," Goh simply replied, his voice slightly muffled and nasally. He sniffled noisily again and then continued speaking. "I shouldn't have yelled at her like that... I shouldn't have..."

Sonia shrugged before sitting beside the despondent Goh. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have. You know Chloe was only trying to play devil's advocate. See both sides of the argument."

"That's what she does. She's a realist. She's pragmatic. Sh-She follows logic and doesn't let her emotions get the better of her." Goh lifted his face from his thighs. "She was just trying to be an anchor for me in that moment..."

Sonia stared off towards the opposite wall. "Well, she's certainly letting her emotions get the better of her, now that she just lost her closest friend."

Goh sniffled again. "Wh-What am I supposed to do?!"

"Apologize to her, Goh. There's nothing else to do but that."

"Bu-But how?!" Goh glared at the researcher beseechingly; his eyes were pink and wet, and his cheeks were stuffy. "I...I treated her like dirt! She's not gonna forgive me for that!"

Sonia looked at the boy and gave him an encouraging smile. "Ohhhh, I'm sure your friendship goes way too deep for her to just give up on it that easily. Just say to her, 'I'm sorry, I was a big jerk to you; it was uncalled for, and I'm so sorry.' Just say that, and all will be forgiven."

"R-Really?" Goh sniffled yet again. "I say those words...?"

"Or something along those lines. But the gist is that you're sorry that you treated her that way, and you are admitting to your mistake. As long as she knows that, and I'm confident she will, then this whole thing will be forgotten."

Goh then glanced at the opposite wall, his expression becoming dark. "No. This is not gonna be forgotten. Not by either of us."

"Sure it will! At worst, you two are gonna look back at this incident and laugh-"

"How can the two of us laugh knowing what the context of our argument was?!" Goh narrowed his eyes slightly. "I...I still blame Ash for what happened to Cinderace-"

Chloe's face hardened in concern. "Well, I don't know about you, Goh, but it certainly seems to me that Ash did not want any of this to happen, just as much as you did."

"Well, what do you know about Ash, Sonia?"

"What do I know about Ash?" Sonia tapped her chin with her finger twice. "Hmmmmm... Well, I know he's a Trainer from Pallet Town, Kanto. He's very close to his Pikachu. He likes everything Pokémon-related, Pokémon battles in particular. In a way, he's a lot like Leon..."

A brief memory of her childhood friend flashed through Sonia's mind. However, it was quickly dispelled when Goh spoke up again.

"Anything else?"

"What?" Sonia gave Goh a dry stare. "Are you trying to ask me to write his biography? 'Cause that's impossible."

"That's the point. It's impossible, Sonia..." Goh looked away from her. "I...I thought I knew Ash. I thought we were good enough friends that we wouldn't keep secrets from one another, but now... Now, with the arrivals of Sheena and Baraz, it seems like I never knew Ash at all... It's like he's a different person now, with all this talk about a prophecy and whatnot. It's...It's so...jarring..." He clenched his fists. "He should've been honest and forthcoming with this whole prophecy thing in the first place. If he had done so, then I would've been more prepared, and Cinderace... Cinderace..."

He subconsciously placed a hand over his pocket, where Sonia knew Cinderace's Poké Ball was being kept. She couldn't help but give Goh a kind, serene smile.

"You know, you remind me a little of him too, Goh," she said, catching his attention. "Leon, I mean."

"Leon?"

"Yeah. He valued honesty and integrity from his friends. No secret was to be kept from him, no matter how dark it might be. And do you know why he'd be willing to dirty his hands with the secrets of his friends?"

"To make sure those secrets wouldn't come and take him by surprise if they ever came back to bite him and his friends?" Goh replied hesitantly.

Sonia shook her head with a grin. "No. Because he cared for his friends, and therefore, he would never, ever judge them based on how deep and dark their secrets could be."

Goh cast his face to the floor, pondering over the woman's words. "Oh..."

"If Leon were to ever judge one of his friends, he'd do it based on how they handle themselves in the present day. How his friends would handle their pasts right now would matter to him. So, even if a friend were to keep a secret from him and it'd come out in the open in an uncomfortable way, it wouldn't matter to him as long as he knew that that friend had a good reason for keeping him in the dark in the first place.

"It wouldn't matter to him if he knew that friend was just trying to protect him from an awful truth."

In the conference room, Ash, Baraz, Sheena, Raihan, and the others were in the middle of their conversation when they all overheard the escalating argument between Goh's group. They looked across their shoulders and spotted, through the transparent glass wall, Goh's figure retreating from the outside hallway.

"G-Goh?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu chirped in concern.

Ash prepared to step out of the conference room and go after Goh, but he was stopped by Raihan's outstretched arm.

"It's alright, Ash," the Hammerlocke Gym Leader said. "Whatever that was, Sonia's taking care of it right now."

He pointed towards Sonia's figure, which was following the same path Goh took. However, Ash didn't feel confident that the Pokémon researcher would assuage Goh, at least not entirely. After all, he may not have fully understood what was being said behind those walls, but he knew what the context was all the same: it was about Goh's Cinderace.

And Goh still blamed him for what had happened to the Striker Pokémon.

"No," Ash replied, surprising Raihan. "I know what that was about. And only I can make things right between-"

"We don't have time for this, kid," Kabu interrupted. "You wanted to speak to the Institute? Now's your chance. Given all that's been going on these past couple of hours, it'd be a surprise if their normal schedule is still in place."

Ash looked at the rest of Galar's Gym Leaders, all of whom stared back at him with various expressions. Milo and Nessa both gave him stares of intrigue, Kabu was shooting an impatient scowl at him, Allister was cowering behind Opal, who in turn was scanning him from head to toe with interest, Melony was smiling with slight adoration, and Piers was leaning off to a corner of the room with an ambiguous face. Finally, the elderly man at the head of the table they were all seated at, Mustard, had leaned his head forward and was resting his chin upon his palms.

"This really can't wait?" Ash asked incredulously.

"You're the one who wanted to talk to 'em, kid-" Kabu began.

"Now, now, Kabu," a calm, cool Mustard interrupted with a wave of his hand and a gentle smile. "I understand we are in the middle of a high-stakes situation and all, but please, let's cool down and avoid all hostilities. Especially when we've got a very special guest in our midst..."

When Kabu acquiesced, Mustard turned his eyes towards Ash and Pikachu. Both of them felt their skins crawl, for even if the man's calm and almost aloof demeanor hadn't diminished, it still felt as if he was closely analyzing them and judging every infinitesimal thing that stuck out.

"But, unfortunately," the elder continued, "Kabu's right, young man. The Institute never has a second to waste, even in normal circumstances. You are very fortunate that I've got a special pull with them, and that they are extremely invested in getting to the bottom of why this, ehhhhh..." He strained his memory for a brief moment. "Team Rocket is stirring up a ruckus to begin with. And, as I am sure you'd understand, in all the years the World Coronation Series has been held, nothing like this has ever happened to disrupt the normal proceedings. Absolutely nothing.

"So..." Mustard clasped his hands together. "Since I've had to inform them that it's you that Team Rocket's after, they're willing to make an exception and set aside some precious time for you."

"Th-Thank you, sir..." Ash replied, his concerns about Goh retreating back to the rearmost corner of his mind. His auburn eyes narrowed into determined slits. "Well, if it means getting them to provide equal protection to all of their participants across the globe, and making sure that my friends' needs are attended to, then I think I can afford to set aside some of my own precious time for them."

Mustard smiled, impressed by the boy's valor. "Good. Well, I'm so glad that we're in agreement, young whippersnapper. Now, then..." He procured a remote, aimed it at the ceiling-mounted projector, and pressed a green button. "Allow me to introduce you to the World Coronation Series Institute, Ash Ketchum."

White Hill Station, near Galar Route 10

Flocks of various Flying-type Pokémon squawked and cawed in panic as they fled from the Rocket Frigate. The enormous airship was currently crawling through the skies, over the forested lands below, at a slow speed. Its engines moaned with a loud and low-pitched, yet almost bloodcurdling, noise, all the while expelling dark, thick, pungent plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

At White Hill Station, people and Pokémon alike were crouched and cowering behind whatever they could, hoping to get out of sight from the looming airship. However, one man calmly, conspicuously strolled through the station, attracting the attention of all those who noticed. At first, they didn't understand how this man could show nothing but absolute courage in the face of such an unknowable but terrifying occurrence.

Then, they noticed the regal sports cape, the purple hair, and the golden eyes, and that was when they knew.

LEON

Chapter 7:
SWORD

Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. By keeping still and listening intently, it can tell what is in even wild, fast-moving rivers. When it plays in water, it rolls up its elongated ears to prevent their insides from getting wet.

wzjqzljmgjryrqi,eljrbcifjzodrrdfvzhzvdifi.

Next Time:

Giovanni: I only ask that you do not fail me, and you make Team Rocket proud.

Ash: How?! How could all of you just stand back and continue to leave these people in harm's way?!

Institute Chairman: Don't think we don't know all about your past exploits, Ashton Jack Ketchum.

Sheena: A time will come when you have to choose between one and the other. You can't ask for everything in life, you know.

Goh: IT'S THEM!

Jessie, James, and Meowth: TOODLES!

Unknown Legendary Pokémon: *two simultaneous growls*

Professor Carolina: My Arceus... I can't believe this happened again...

SHIELD

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Leon, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu, Milo, Mustard, Allister, Opal, Melony, Piers

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Trip, Reggie, Johanna

-Team 3 (Kanto): Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, Brock, Misty, Tracey, Ritchie, Daisy, Violet, Lily, Agatha, Scott

-Team 4: TBA

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

UNOVA REGION

"Giovanni, sir."

Matori's voice failed to reach her employer. Giovanni was still looking out of the helicopter window, watching as the great mass of clouds parted to reveal the familiar lands of Unova, which were innumerable miles below him. The first locations that stood out to him were Undella Town and the adjacent beach. He could still see the smooth, sparkling, sapphire-blue tides flowing through and receding from the strips of sand. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, further out of Undella Town's boundaries, were the Abyssal Ruins. The Team Rocket boss recalled that a private security group had been hired years ago to provide security to the Ruins, in case someone was hatching an Operation Tempest of their own.

Fortunately for Giovanni, Team Rocket had planted spies into that security group just as long ago. And now that the long-awaited Operation: Rainbow Rocket had been initiated, it wouldn't be long until those Team Rocket transplants were put into action. He could give them the go-ahead now, but he knew he had to wait, for just a bit longer. Everything had to be well-planned and well-coordinated. Everyone within the Syndicate had a very specific role to play and a very demanding timetable to stick to, lest anyone in its now-diverse membership wished to incur the notorious, feared wrath of Giovanni. Even so, the executive couldn't help but wonder how different things would've been had he oversaw Operation Tempest to its completion...

Giovanni's fists then clenched at the reflection. He knew, without a doubt, that there could have been a lot of things that happened differently, had that accursed Ash Ketchum boy decided not to interfere. Ash Ketchum, the name that was the bane of his existence. Operation Tempest may have been the first time where he personally confronted the boy with the cap and the Pikachu, but his name had come up in passing on occasion. And it was most certainly not a name to forget, given it was associated with a number of high-profile failures that his organization had suffered through in recent years. Not to mention it was the one name that would give pause to even his greatest weapon. All the more reason for him and anyone else to not mention it in close proximity...

"Nyaaaaa."

Persian's voice pulled Giovanni out of his thoughts, and he looked down at his Classy Cat Pokémon. His whiskers twitched once as he rested before the Team Rocket executive's feet. Giovanni's thoughts about Ash and Operation Tempest quickly faded, and he gave his second-most reliable Pokémon a wry smile, for he knew what Persian wanted to communicate to him.

"Apologies, Matori," he said. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"

The assistant refocused on her electronic tablet. "I've just received a text from Ghetsis. He says he and his unit are now closing in on their target's position. Shall I give the go-ahead?"

Giovanni's smile widened slightly. "Yes. They may get the green light. And remind them to treat the Splicers with utmost care. Charon spent the better years of his tenure with us supervising their development. I'd hate for our middle man with Team Galactic to have a heart attack on us."

"Of course."

With that, Matori began typing away on her tablet. As she did, Giovanni noticed the corner of her lips twitching, and very soon, a low chuckle of amusement bubbled through her throat before she can control herself. The executive blinked with interest.

"Now what has you so amused, Matori?" he asked.

"H-Huh?" Matori whipped her head at her boss, her cheeks becoming tinged in pink as she tried her best to revert back to her earlier stoic, serious demeanor. "N-Nothi... Ahem, nothing. It's just..." She blinked, unable to mask the surprised but pleased emotion welling in her eyes. "You seem to be in quite a joyful mood, Boss. I...I've never seen you so upbeat before in all my years working with you... And..." She hesitated, unsure if she should point it out. "You even apologized to me. You never apologize. Ever."

Giovanni smirked and gazed out of the window, and at the lands of Unova below, again. "Well, it's only because we're so close to achieving what we've always striven for, Matori. After so many years, we are now becoming this close to tasting the fruits of victory. The world as we know it is about to change forever, but for the better...and nothing's about to stop us now."

"Yes, nothing," parroted Matori. "Absolutely nothing. You've planned Operation: Rainbow Rocket for so many years, since the fall of Operation Tempest, and it's not guaranteed to fail now. You have the backing of Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare, and you're getting close to enlisting the assistance of Rose and Macro Cosmos as well. Pool together all of those resources and you get-"

"An unstoppable force to be reckoned with," Giovanni completed. Then, he bared his teeth in a triumphant grin that was almost childish in its glee. "You've been a faithful, dutiful assistant, Matori."

Matori blushed again, and she bowed her head with humility. "Th-Thank you, Giovanni sir, for your generosity. I-I live to serve you and execute the will of Team Rocket. Nothing else."

"Indeed, you do. And it is because of your faithfulness and adherence to the principle of duty to Team Rocket that I'll be assigning you with the high responsibility of overseeing the formation of our new headquarters."

"Overseeing the..." Matori took a moment to process Giovanni's newest assignment for her, upon which her eyes began to well up with tears of gratitude. "Thank you, Giovanni sir. Th-Thank you, for entrusting me with this responsibility. Wo-Words can't even begin to describe how grateful I am to have received this opportunity from you."

"You don't need to say or do anything in return, Matori." Giovanni blinked once. "I only ask that you do not fail me, and you make Team Rocket proud."

Matori immediately saluted. "I will, Boss! I will not let you and Team Rocket down. I'll make you proud!"

"Excellent." The Team Rocket executive continued to stare out of the window of his helicopter, just as the last of Undella Town and the adjacent ocean passed by, fading from his peripheral vision. "That's all I wanted to hear from you, Matori."

World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex, Wyndon
GALAR REGION

"Since I've had to inform them that it's you that Team Rocket's after," Mustard said, his hands clasped, "they're willing to make an exception and set aside some precious time for you."

"Th-Thank you, sir..." Ash replied, his auburn eyes narrowing into determined slits as he spoke. "Well, if it means getting them to provide equal protection to all of their participants across the globe, and making sure that my friends' needs are attended to, then I think I can afford to set aside some of my own precious time for them."

Mustard smiled, impressed by the boy's valor. "Good. Well, I'm so glad that we're in agreement, young whippersnapper. Now, then..." He procured a remote, aimed it at the ceiling-mounted projector, and pressed a green button. "Allow me to introduce you to the World Coronation Series Institute, Ash Ketchum."

The projector activated, and the screen in front of Ash, Mustard, Baraz, Sheena, and Galar's Gym Leaders finally started to display a live recording of a large, commanding conference room. The lights in that room were toned down, partially shrouding the room in shadow and giving Ash mostly outlines of the rows and rows of people staring at him through the screen, with only few distinguishing features noticeable from the front rows of people. He didn't know how many people were in that room, but if he had to take a guess, it would be in the hundreds.

"Good afternoon, Ashton Jack Ketchum," one of the people, a man with a stern voice, greeted.

Ash's eyes widened in absolute surprise. It had been years since he heard his full name being used, when he finally got his coveted Pokémon Trainer's license. Even his own mother had refrained from using his full name, only reserving it for the most serious and unthinkable of situations.

"You...You know who I am?" he asked.

"Of course," a middle-aged woman replied in a surly voice. "We have all of your information on file."

"We've had it ever since you signed up for the World Coronation Series all those months ago," replied an older man with a slightly scratchy voice.

"And now you're coming to us, bringing with you all the trouble that's followed you," added a third man, whose voice was slightly nasally and sounded generally unpleasant.

Ash narrowed his eyes even further, and he gritted his teeth angrily. "The only thing I'm bringing you guys is this simple request: open up all the Regional Division HQs you've got, and let in any and all people who wish to seek shelter there!"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement.

"Yes, yes," the nasally-voiced man replied, "Mustard's informed us of your request. Unfortunately, we can't do that."

"Can't?" Ash spat. "Or won't?"

He could feel the scathing gazes of many of the Institute members as the same nasally-voiced man replied, "Can't, Ash Ketchum. Weren't you made aware of the World Coronation Series' short budget for this year?"

Bea's words came flooding back to Ash's memory, but he held his ground. "Yes, but a lack of money does not mean you still shouldn't try to do the right thing!"

"Your compassion is admirable, Mr. Ketchum," a younger man said, her voice surprisingly gentle, "but this Institute can't afford to give false hopes to all the participants directly affected by this incident."

"You've had enough time to enjoy the Galar Division HQ's hospitality," the scratchy-voiced older man said, and Ash could imagine the derisive sneer. "So you should know by now how limited our emergency supplies are."

"And whose fault was that?!" Ash snapped with a stamp of his foot. "Why couldn't you have gotten enough supplies from Nurse Joy and the Pokémon Centers?! Why couldn't you have made your own?! Why couldn't-?!"

"Couldn't, couldn't, couldn't," the surly-voiced woman interrupted bitterly. "Do you have any idea how much it would cost for us to buy enough emergency supplies to last untold numbers of people seeking shelter? Let alone for us to make our own? The numbers are unfathomable!"

"And that's exactly why we limited the number of people that were allowed to seek shelter at our Regional Division HQs," the serene-voiced woman added, still sounding calm despite the facts she was sharing. "There would be enough supplies to go around for all top 500 players in-between the regions-"

"Yeah?!" Ash interrupted. "Well here, we don't even have the bare minimum we need! My...My friend..." His voice choked with guilt at the memory of Goh and Cinderace. "His Cind... H-His Pokémon got hurt ba-badly from a battle w-with Team Rocket, and we don't even know where the emergency medical kits are!"

"Good afternoon, kind gentlemen, madams," Sheena said, stepping beside the raven-haired boy. "I'm Sheena, and I am his guardian for the time being. I have also been hoping to get in touch with colleagues of mine in Sinnoh, but I've been barred access to the building's tele-"

"Well then, as I'm sure you two can tell," the nasally-voiced man interrupted, his hands clasped together, "this is a highly unprecedented situation. For security reasons, we've locked down a vast majority of normal functions within the Regional Division HQs, and that includes communications. Such as your Rotom Phones."

"But, sir, I-I need to-" began Sheena.

"Ma'am, with all...due respect-"

Sheena subtly grimaced at the awkward emphasis of the last two words, and Ash also picked up on the lack of sincerity behind them.

"We cannot just take back a decision we made mere hours ago. It was decided on a unanimous vote, and most decisions are decided here on a two-thirds majority. Do you really expect at least two-thirds of us to reconsider so quickly?"

"Yes. Especially when there's an emergency involved."

"Unfortunately for you," the surly-voiced woman replied, "we have our own emergencies to contend with."

Sheena blinked, stunned. "I...beg your pardon?"

"You people don't look like you're in dire need over in that room of yours," spat Baraz.

The nasally-voiced man gave a soft scoff. "Don't mock us, kind sir. We do not mean that kind of emergency. You see, we have been told that you have...special knowledge concerning the reasons behind this attack. Do you not?"

Sheena paused, and she looked at Baraz, unsure if she should inform the Institute of what they knew. But to her dismay, Baraz knew what was wanted from her but seemed uncertain of whether they should be forthcoming to these uninvolved government officials.

The Institute member seemed to sense Sheena and Baraz's shared ambivalence, for he continued, "If you share us those details, then we'll open up a limited line of communication to whomever you desire. So long as we can vet your contacts ahead of time."

"It'll be done in a manner of minutes," added another Institute member with a squeaky, feminine voice.

Sheena immediately glared at the Institute with muted disgust. "With all due respect, mister, I'm quite afraid that you do not understand the gravity of this-"

"Ohhhhhhh, I think every one of us at the Institute has a good understanding of what's going on. But..." The man leaned forward slightly. "Good isn't great. And great is not excellent. We demand full transparency from the source of this whole debacle."

"You're one to talk about transparency!" Ash spat, horrified by the nonchalant and callous attitude the so-called Institute was exhibiting throughout this meeting. "How?! How could all of you just stand back and continue to leave these people in harm's way?! And without even letting them know that they're not gonna be afforded your protection and security?! I betcha there's dozens, if not hundreds of people banging on the doors of this building right NOW! But what're you doing right now?! Trying to negotiate a deal with Sheena and Baraz so they could use your telephone?! Whoever can or cannot use the phones here should be the least of your concerns!"

"PIKA!" Pikachu shouted defiantly. His cheeks crackled with electricity brought on from his outrage. "PIKAAAAA!"

The nasally-voiced Institute member chuckled nastily. "My, my, you've got quite the mouth on you, Ketchum. I must say, you sure live up to the legend."

This caught Ash off-guard. "Huh? Legend?"

The nasally-voiced man opened his mouth and was about to speak again when-

"Yes," a booming voice said. "So to speak..."

Ash, Sheena, and Baraz saw movement farther in the back of the room, at one of the uppermost rows of seats. Although the row was farther back compared to the other seats, Ash could easily make out the speaker's outline like he was sitting in the front row, and he knew why: the person had to be extremely large. It certainly made sense, since this outline took up a lot of space than normal for someone in the farthest row of seats.

"Greetings, Ashton Jack Ketchum," the booming voice greeted, just as the outline finished shifting around in their seat. "I am the Chairman of the World Coronation Series Institute."

"So you're the one who's in charge here?" Ash asked bitterly, his auburn eyes narrowing.

"Pi-kaaaaa..." Pikachu growled angrily.

A creak accompanied the chairman's particularly commanding voice. "So to speak. You see, boy, the Institute is beholden to the governments of all the regions that the World Coronation Series participates in. Everything that we do is under the guidance of the regional governments. You must understand, decrees such as the top 500 rule are not simply signed into law by ourselves."

Ash narrowed his eyes even more. "So talking to you has just been a big waste of my time."

"No. I am merely saying this because you act as if we are being cruel towards our beloved participants."

"I'm acting like that because it sure seems like you're being that way! So if talking to you isn't supposed to be a waste of my time, then what exactly do you have to offer me?!"

"The Institute has emergency powers."

Ash rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Ohhhh, great! Use one of those emergency powers to open up the Regional Division HQs or whatever and allow all the participants to seek shelter if they need it!"

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in agreement. "Pika-CHU!"

"Not until we get what we came here for."

"You didn't come for anything," Ash spat. "I doubt you guys even moved from your chairs while you were learning about all of this."

"Call it a figure speech, kid. You should be counting your blessings, for we normally wouldn't have offered our ears. After all, we only accepted this opportunity to talk with you for a good reason."

"And what reason is that?"

"To learn why you're an object of interest for the organization behind these attacks, of course."

Ash's eyes widened slightly, and he looked toward Sheena, hoping to get some sort of instruction from her on what to do about this. However, the woman was scowling at the Institute, and she marched closer towards the screen, making sure her pregnant belly remained secure.

"It's a matter of life or death," she replied. "That's all you need to know."

"Ah, yes," the nasally-voiced man commented. "A matter of life or death. How fantastic. Just give us a vague explanation about the situation and make sure we count on all of you to handle the rest, without giving us any further context. Now, tell us, Sheena, is it our attitude that's barring you from giving us the answers we so desperately want? Or is it perhaps the fact that we belong to a governmental agency?"

"It could've been neither, had you and your colleagues been more cooperative and understanding with us. And regardless of the vagueness of my words, you have to put your trust and faith in us to remedy this situation and do the right thing, just as we are trying to do the same for you."

"Young miss," the chairman said, his voice still booming throughout the massive conference room, "just as much as the World Coronation Series Institute is beholden to the regional governments, the regional governments are beholden to the people they represent. The people who elect them into office. Everyone wants answers as to why all these incidents are happening at such an alarming scale and rate, and what to expect next. And, as far as we know, it seems that we're the medium to provide these sought-after answers. We've already told the regional governments that we have found a lead in regards to a solution, and now they're expecting results."

"I don't mean to sound crass, Mr. Chairman, but you shouldn't have kept their hopes up. We are currently undertaking a serious and secretive mission, the details of which cannot be made public for your own sake."

Though neither Ash nor Sheena could see the chairman's reaction, they could tell he was displeased by the answer.

"On whose authority?" he asked. "Yours?"

"No. Fortunately for me, I am beholden to a body of power myself. The Alpha Legends History Association forbids me and my colleague from discussing the finer details of our ongoing...historical expeditions to government officials."

"Uhhhhh..." Ash looked at Sheena incredulously. "Say what now?"

"Pika?" Pikachu added in confusion.

"It doesn't matter what you priests and historians think we should or shouldn't do," the chairman replied. "Unlike you lot, the World Coronation Series Institute looks forward into the future, and if we don't learn what you already know, then we will be unable to contribute our share."

"I can't believe this!" shouted Ash. "You're actually gonna make us go through the stupid trade?!"

"What you're suggesting is akin to...to extortion!" an outraged Baraz added, stepping forward.

"No," the chairman replied. "On the contrary, in fact. It's called being smart. If your so-called expedition holds the key to ending this situation in a quick and timely manner, then we the Institute, and all the regional governments that it serves, have a right to know. We must be prepared and well-equipped for what's about to come. Therefore, your weapons should be our weapons as well." Then, the man shrugged. "After all, what good is this campaign to save many, many additional lives going to be if it isn't a...collaborative one, hm? Don't you think your allies should be in on this secret of yours?"

"Not if it jeopardizes the secrets of old," Sheena replied.

"Well, well, well, isn't that contradictory?" the scratchy-voiced Institute member replied. "Isn't your job as a member of the Alpha Legends History Association supposed to be to uncover the past for the prying eyes of the present?"

"There are some things that cannot be shared with the world again." Sheena took a deep breath. "And unfortunately, this mission delves deep into that which cannot be known again, for the sake of this world and its future."

"So what makes you qualified to know that which cannot be known again?" asked the chairman. "Why must you have an undeniable right to this knowledge while the rest of us cannot, even for the sake of this entire planet?"

"Because my family has overseen what the worst of humanity had to offer over many, many generations." Sheena placed a hand over her heart. "I am a direct descendant of Damos, the first human to serve at the pleasure of Arceus...and the founder of the Alpha Temples. He was betrayed by one of his servants, Marcus, who was entrusted with sharing Arceus's knowledge with Marcus. Because of Marcus's blindness to the good that humanity could accomplish on its own, he-" She narrowed her eyes at the memory of the scheming redheaded man. "He betrayed the man who trusted him and put his faith in him, and he sought Arceus's powers for his own purposes.

"It is because of Marcus's betrayal that all of humanity nearly faced the brunt of Arceus's wrath three years ago." Sheena watched as many members of the Institute shuffled awkwardly in their seats. "I'm sure you have all seen news reports of the incident after the fact. But know this. Preventing a cataclysm like that is only the tip of the iceberg in regards to what I have done to protect this world from the darkest corners of the old legends, and what my parents have done, and what their parents have done, and so on and so forth." Sheena's hand then moved over her bulging abdomen. "It is a weight, a great and resounding weight, that my child is going to have to bear-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, we get it," the nasally-voice man interrupted hurriedly. "Here's my question, though: aren't those who do not learn from history doomed to repeat it again?"

"So the saying goes. But there are also those who seek to derive power from knowledge."

"Knowledge is power, lady."

"Yes, but absolute power corrupts absolutely..." Sheena's face slackened somewhat, and she sighed. "And I'm afraid the knowledge that my party possesses straddles the line of absolutism."

"Well, then..." The Institute member sneered slightly. "If you are absolutely sure that you can't share us with what your party knows, then we absolutely can't help you with what you need-"

"WHAT?!" Ash cried, startling Sheena.

"PIKA!" Pikachu shouted defiantly. "PIKA, PIKACHU!"

But Baraz was more reserved in his rage. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he snarled. "You damn sons of b-"

"Trust us," the chairman replied, "we think this meeting was still productive. After all, the kind young lady mentioned the incident at Michina Town three years ago. And..." He focused his sights on Ash. "Don't think we don't know all about your past exploits, Ashton Jack Ketchum."

"We're well aware of how you were there when Arceus threatened to end all life as we knew it back then," continued the surly-voiced woman. "And considering the magnitude of this situation-"

"The Institute can only assume that your affairs with the Team Rocket organization are equivalent to what happened over at Michina Town three years ago," completed the scratchy-voiced man. His eye twinkled knowingly. "We're not that far off the mark, are we?"

"L-Look, I don't know much myself!" Ash cried, his mind swimming in strong feelings of exasperation. "I only know about the prophecy, that's-!"

"Ash!" Sheena barked shrilly, but it was too late.

"Prophecy, eh?" the nasally-voiced man asked. "What kind of prophecy are we talking about? Is this a new one? Or does it..." He leaned forward slightly. "Entail the events at Shamouti Island?"

Ash's eyes widened. "Huh? Shamouti Island? You...You know about Shamouti Island?"

"Yes, Ketchum," the chairman replied deeply. "Like my colleagues and I have said, we have all of your information on file and we know everything about your journey. You may think of us as cold, callous, and incompetent, but we've done our homework on you ahead of time. And I must say, you've led quite the journey as a Pokémon Trainer. Ohhh, and speaking of files..."

He picked up a file that had been lying on his desk and thrust it into the relief of the light. Though Ash couldn't see what was written on it, he had a sinking suspicion as to what it was about.

"We've dedicated an entire drawer on you, Ketchum," the chairman continued. "But this one file contains the barebones of everything that has been documented on you since you reached the age of ten." He opened the file and began reading its contents attentively. "Shamouti Island. Greenfield. The Lake of Life. Alto Mare." The chairman calmly turned the page. "Forina. LaRousse City. Rota and the Tree of Beginning. Samiya." He turned the page again. "Alamos Town. The Gracidea Flower garden near Ten'i Village. Crown City." He turned the page yet again. "Eindoak Town. Roshan City. New Tork City." He turned the page a final time. "Allearth Forest. Dahara City. The Azoth Kingdom."

As the chairman lowered the file, the memories associated with all of the aforementioned locations flowed back into the forefront of Ash's mind. And with them came all the Legendary Pokémon that he met and befriended on his journey. As for Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon looked so dumbfounded that humans like them, whose existence he didn't know about until mere minutes ago, knew so much about his adventures with his closest friend.

"And I'm willing to wager I read ten to fifteen percent of everything that's been documented on you," the chairman said.

"L-Look," Ash said, "i-it's not like I'm-"

"There's no excusing it, young man. You've done what no other Trainer has done in their lifetimes. You've encountered so many Legendary Pokémon within such a short span of time. It's no wonder why Team Rocket wants you. You're a magnet for such rare and exotic Pokémon."

Ash narrowed his eyes angrily. "They're not exotic. They're normal, ordinary Pokémon like any other! They're just pretty powerful, and pretty rare too."

"PIKA!" cried Pikachu.

"And you're indiscriminately compassionate towards them, to boot." The chairman narrowed his own eyes. "They see you as a valuable tool, Ashton Jack Ketchum. Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the only way to protect everyone, just like you've desired so strongly, is to willingly hand yourself over to them?"

"That is out of the QUESTION," Sheena spat. "You said it yourself, Mr. Chairman. Team Rocket thinks Ash is a magnet for all these Legendary Pokémon. What's to stop them from using him to attract such powerful Pokémon and set all of them up for an ambush?"

"Now, now, I'm not suggesting allowing Team Rocket to capture the boy and letting them get away with it. Who, or what, do you take us for, miss?"

Sheena gritted her teeth. "The more you speak, the less I trust you."

"Oh, my dear, think about it. What better way is there to defeat a menace than to mislead them into thinking they have won the war?"

Baraz blinked. "Are...Are you suggesting luring out Team Rocket by using Ash as bait?" he asked incredulously.

"This is our proposed alternative to our little standoff. You're not going to tell us everything you know about this situation for security reasons, and we're not going to open up the Regional Division HQs for a myriad of logistical reasons. So, the next best thing is to put an end to this situation with a method guaranteed to satisfy both of us. We will learn everything through Team Rocket's actions when they emerge and take the bait, in this case Ketchum, and likely without getting into the more sensitive specifics. Meanwhile, you get to divert Team Rocket's attention from all of the unnecessary chaos and destruction that's being wreaked as we speak. As soon as we learn everything we need to know about their plan, we will dispatch a team to rescue you."

Off to the side, Sheena looked down at the floor, processing the chairman's proposal. As for Baraz, he clenched his fists, but he didn't say anything in protest.

"So, kid?" the nasally-voiced man asked. "What do you say? Will you accept our proposal? Or will you take the advice of these historians and do things the old-fashioned way, by investigating the ancient legends and potentially learning what should not be learned?"

Sheena blinked and looked at Baraz, who subtly shook his head at her with pursed lips. Quickly coming to a decision, she faced the screen and was about to speak up when Ash interjected.

"I'll do it."

"What?!" Sheena and Baraz exclaimed at the same time, while Mustard and Galar's Gym Leaders looked on in surprise.

"Pika?!" Pikachu squeaked in shock.

"I'll do it," Ash repeated more forcefully. "I'll go along with your plan."

"But Ash!" Sheena protested. "There's so much we don't know!"

"That is why it is imperative that you must come with us to the Alpha Temple in Michina Town!" added Baraz.

"No, you guys..." Ash replied, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I know you two have a job to do, but if you don't even know the full story behind the Shamouti Prophecy, then how could you even be willing to waste time figuring it out while so, so many people and Pokémon are suffering right now, all because of me?! I can't live with the guilt any longer! I just can't!"

"We have to trust in the word of Arceus, Ash," Sheena advised. "There's a reason all of this is happening, a-and if we can just keep a firm grip on our patience and wait a little longer-"

"No, Sheena. I just can't wait for Arceus to give me some sort of sign that I'm headed down the right direction. Not when all of this is happening around me. I don't have time for that, and neither does the rest of the world!"

"Ash-" began Sheena, but the boy had already made up his mind.

"I'll go through with your plan," he said, glaring bitterly at the Institute members and the chairman especially. "But don't think of me as your pawn in this whole mess. I am only doing it because I want to protect as many people and Pokémon as I possibly can. As long as this plan can divert Team Rocket's attention away from causing any more harm and trouble, then it'll be worth it."

"Very good," the chairman replied. He glanced around at his colleagues. "Just give us a minute to discuss our next steps. We will get back in touch with you as soon as we-"

"No," Ash interrupted. "I want to do this on my own terms, not at the instruction of someone else. Especially not any of you. I'll do it, but I'll do it my way. And I get to pick the people who get to rescue me when the time is right. Not any of you people. Just because I think your proposal is a good idea, it doesn't mean that I can trust you to carry all of this out in full."

Some of the Institute members looked at the chairman for advice, but the large man shrugged.

"Very well, then," he boomed. "You're the target; it's your call. But we want eyes and ears on this at all times. That part is nonnegotiable. Do you understand, Ketchum?"

Ash clenched his fists, but he nodded firmly. "Yes..."

"Good. Now then, I guess we'll leave you at it. For now, we wish to speak with Mustard. Alone."

Ash nodded quietly before turning on his heel and leaving the conference room. He could hear the many sets of footsteps behind him, but instead, he glanced across his shoulder and at Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon remained perched upon his shoulder, looking at him and awaiting for any instructions from him.

"Look, Pikachu," he said solemnly, "I'm sorry I did this out of the blue. If you don't agree with what I'm about to do, you can-"

Pikachu shook his head. "Pikapi, pika-pikachu. Pika-pika-pi-pika, pikachu-pi-pika-ka-chu-pi. Pi!" He patted his own chest with his small paw, all while giving his Trainer a solid, determined grin. "Pi-ka!"

Ash blinked in awe, and then he smiled. "Thanks, buddy. I...I'm sorry. I should've known that I could count on you even in the most dire situations."

"Pika!" Pikachu replied enthusiastically. "Pikachu-pi-pika, Pikapi!"

"I hope you know what you're doing, Ash..." a feminine voice piped.

Ash and Pikachu looked at Sheena and Baraz, who had followed them outside alongside Galar's Gym Leaders, just as the Trainer unconsciously expected. All of them except for Raihan and Sonia had fanned out to attend to other duties, while a surprised Chloe and a cool Bea ran up to Ash, Sheena, and Baraz.

"What do you mean by that?" Chloe asked, confused. "What'd you talk about in there, Ash? D'you know what's going on? What's-?"

"Ash has just agreed to lure Team Rocket out," Baraz interrupted gravely, "by using himself as bait."

"What?!" Chloe exclaimed.

"That sounds pretty foolish," Bea added calmly.

"Ash-" Sheena began.

"There's nothing any of you can do to convince me otherwise," Ash cut off. "This is what I want to do. It's the only way I can protect everyone out there."

"But what about that top 500 rule?!" cried Chloe. "I thought you were gonna-?"

"Those people in charge of the World Coronation Series..." Ash's auburn eyes narrowed darkly. "They are not going to do anything about it. They aren't going to budge...so I am going to move first. I am going to put an end to this whole thing once and for all... And then we can get C-Cinderace..." The Pallet Town native momentarily flinched at the name of Goh's Pokémon. "To a Pokémon Center once this is all done..."

"Ash," Sheena replied forcefully, "for the sake of yourself and the future of this world, I strongly urge you to reconsider! I can't even begin to imagine the ramifications of this strategy going horribly wrong!"

"It's akin to suicide, Ash!" added Baraz. "Who knows what Team Rocket wants from you, if not revenge?!"

"I don't care," Ash replied. "If it's enough to make them want me at the cost of whatever else their goal entails, then it's all that I need to be able to protect everyone in this world, be they human or Pokémon!"

"So you'd be willing to risk life and limb to save the whole world?" Bea asked, her voice growing unusually colder. "That's way too shortsighted, even for you, if you ask me."

Ash's eyes widened in surprise at the insult. Pikachu glanced at his lifelong friend nervously, wondering what his reaction would be.

Indeed, Ash marched up to the silver-haired girl, his fists clenched tightly. "I'm not shortsighted! Why would you say that about me, Bea?! There's absolutely nothing wrong with-"

"It's like what I said before, back at the Motostoke Stadium." Bea's face, while emotionless, became tight and firm. "Your extreme compassion, and your refusal to simply stand by during a fight, is predictable. Very predictable of you, in fact."

At her words, Ash immediately remembered the exchange he had with Bea at Motostoke.

"You didn't run for it?"

"How could I, Bea? I just couldn't stand by in a situation like this. Especially since I'm the person they want."

"So you would feel responsible if you departed Motostoke Stadium and Raihan and I were defeated right afterwards. How predictable of you."

"The moment you step up and offer yourself to them, Ash, Team Rocket's not going to be taken aback. They're not going to be surprised. They aren't going to see this as a gift from the heavens and take you on impulse. They're going to know something's wrong, especially if you're taking the nonviolent way out of all this."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?!" snapped Ash. "The safety of innocent people and Pokémon is very important to me! It always has been, ever since I was a kid! I would never give up on them just to save my own skin! It's unbearable to even think about! I know this is a dangerous strategy to take, but like I said, the Institute forced my hand! If they are not gonna take responsibility for the people and Pokémon they've been entrusted with, then someone else has to! And if no one else is gonna fill the void, then it's gotta be me! And besides, risking life and limb for people I don't even know is nothing new to me! I've helped friends and strangers all the time, every day of every week!"

"Alright, so you're a selfless philanthropist." Bea narrowed her eyes. "But tell me this, Ash..."

"Tell you what?! What're you trying to prove by saying this, Bea?!"

Bea asked with conviction, "If you had to sacrifice, say, your Pikachu in exchange for the survival of the rest of the world, would you do it?"

"WHAT?!" Ash demanded. "Why would that be possible?!"

"Just use your imagination, Ash. Let's say you had to encounter such an awful choice while trying to save the world from this evil. Would you do it?"

"Of...Of course I wouldn't sacrifice Pikachu!" Ash took Pikachu in his arms and held onto him protectively. "Pikachu's my BEST FRIEND! I would NEVER do that to him! I would die first rather than having to sacrifice Pikachu!"

"So you'd die to save Pikachu, but not the rest of the world?"

This time, it wasn't Bea who spoke, but Sheena.

"No!" Ash growled, whipping his head around to stare at Sheena. "I'd rather let myself die if it meant saving Pikachu and the rest of the world from certain harm! Everything that I'd do, everything that I will do from now on until the end of this whole thing, will be done to save every last person and Pokémon on this planet!"

Sheena stared on softly but disbelievingly. "Ash, you say you'd let yourself die if it guaranteed the safety of everyone you know and love, and everyone you have met and will come to know on your journey. But once you are dead, how will you ever know if your efforts amounted to any sort of success? To any victory?"

"Well, I..." At that moment, Ash paused in horror, realizing Sheena was right. "I..."

"Do you see my concerns now, Ash...?" Bea asked. "What you want to do is nothing more than self-serving philanthropy that'll ultimately lead to more harm than good."

Ash's eyes widened in horror, but he stood his ground. "But just because it's not the correct thing to do, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do! There's always a third option in these sadistic choices! There's always a way to save everyone-"

"But whenever there's a third option, Ash," Sheena replied, "there's always unpredictability that goes along with it." With that, the woman closed her eyes and began walking away. "Just remember these words, Ash. A time will come when you have to choose between one and the other. You can't ask for everything in life, you know."

With that, she left behind a glossy-eyed Ash, who absentmindedly stared at the floor to ponder over her words.

White Hill Station, near Galar Route 10

In the harsh, cold, rocky areas surrounding Wyndon, numerous wild Pokémon continued to flee or take shelter wherever they could, sometimes in groups and herds of various species. What was once a quiet, tranquil, enjoyable afternoon was quickly dispelled by the arrival of the Rocket Frigate, which had sent the Pokémon into a state of panic and terror. They were even in a bit of a hive mind: none of them bothered to stop and try to defend themselves against the gigantic, well-designed hunk of metal that was now floating above their shared territory. Its even greater shadow loomed upon them all to establish its commanding and powerful presence, a telltale sign that even the most valiant of defenses wouldn't be enough to rattle its occupants.

Just then, the skies was pierced by a loud, low-pitched mechanical noise, punctuated by the large hatch opening on the Rocket Frigate's underside, like a pair of jaws opening up wide with the expectation of ensnaring and consuming a meal. Some of the forest Pokémon within the wide, vast reach of the Frigate's shadow stopped running or hiding to look up at the monstrous contraption hovering above them. Their confusion was intertwined with their terror, instinctual thoughts of fright mixed with primal thoughts of wonder in regards to what was going to happen next.

Once the hatch finished opening up, the air became still for a few seconds. Then, like a swarm of disturbed and agitated Beedrill, a swarm of manned hovercraft flooded out of the hatch and flew across the skies at high speeds, carrying one person and sometimes also one Pokémon each. They made their descent quickly, forcing the wild Pokémon to hide or flee again, frightened off by the loud noise made by their engines and assuming the occupants were poachers, out on a hunt. Once the swarm of hovercraft reached the treetops, the pilots all straightened out their paths and sped off into the same direction, towards Wyndon.

At the lead of the convoy was one particular hovercraft, which was slightly larger and boasting more advanced features than the rest. Stamped upon the underside of this hovercraft, for all of the Pokémon below to see, was a single letter in a flashy font: 'S'. Riding atop this peculiar hovercraft was none other than Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet, all of their feet secured to their vehicle by their special electromagnetic boots. Their all-black uniforms seemed to gleam from the shining sunlight.

"Alright now, Alpha Squadron!" Jessie ordered into a miniature earpiece. She pointed a gloved finger at the direction of Wyndon's great skyline. "Let's make haste for Wyndon! Remember our mission!"

"Right, Commander Jessie!" replied one of the nearest Team Rocket grunts.

"So, should we expect any sort of resistance?" another Team Rocket grunt asked.

"We're talkin' 'bout da twoip, men an' women of Team Rocket!" Meowth responded, speaking into his own earpiece. "We should expect nothin' more dan da greatest and strongest of pushbacks!"

"Fortunately," James added, "we're experienced in such pushbacks. Just listen to us and follow our leads. Once we finish our business here, you will be showered with nothing but compliments of gratitude from the Boss."

"You're experienced in such pushbacks?" another grunt asked, this time hailing from Team Aqua.

"Yes, agent," replied a third Team Rocket grunt as he caught up with the Team Aqua grunt. "Commanders Jessie, James, and Meowth have had multiple encounters with the target before."

"Oh, really?" a Team Magma grunt asked in wonder. "Wooooow. Commanders Jessie, James, and Meowth must be pretty impressive Team Rocket agents if they've had to contend with a single target and come out unscathed each time."

James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet all glanced at one another nervously, struggling to hold back sheepish and embarrassed chuckles for fear of giving away a more embarrassing implication. In contrast, Jessie maintained and even sharpened her focus on Wyndon's approaching borders.

"Indeed," the magenta-haired woman growled. "But not only have we come out unscathed each time, but we have come out stronger too. However, I would advise all of you not to underestimate the prime target. He's very powerful, and just as determined. He has a way of inspiring all the others around him to transcend their personal limits and become better and stronger."

"Hm," remarked a Team Galactic grunt. "No wonder Commander Saturn signed us off on this mission. He must be just as worried as your Boss if he thinks this target is at the top of our alliance's priority list."

"Not to mention what he's been proven to do in regards to the Legendary Pokémon," added a Team Plasma grunt.

"Either way," growled a Team Flare grunt, his lips curling into a nasty sneer, "I can't wait to kick that kid's ass and make him squirm for what he did to all of us!"

"Patience, everyone," James replied. "Patience. I know we all have a personal stake in this mission. Indeed, this twerp is the epitome of twerpishness, but we cannot let our emotions blind us from seeing the end of the road."

"And dat is woyld domination!" Meowth proclaimed ecstatically.

"WOOOOOBBUFFET!" Wobbuffet added while saluting.

World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex, Wyndon

The ringing of the alarms pierced the Regional Division HQ building, sending everyone flowing back through the hallways and into the conference room, Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Bea included. Upon entering from different doors, Ash and Goh met eyes for a brief moment before the former quickly whipped his reddening head away, causing the latter's face to harden. Meanwhile, Mustard approached the screen, just as the ceiling-mounted projector began to stream a live split-screen of a man riding an airborne Corviknight, with a flock of other Corviknight and their pilots on either side.

"Status update, Lieutenant," Mustard said.

"Satellite imaging confirms it, Mustard sir," the lieutenant replied on the other end. "The same vehicle that was seen over Motostoke Stadium is right outside Wyndon airspace."

Everyone in the conference gazed at the satellite image of the vehicle in question, which was depicted in the other image of the split-screen. Indeed, Ash and the others could identify the distinct shape of the Rocket Frigate, including its large, vaguely Aggron-like mast. It was in a stationary position directly over a rocky area in the middle of Wyndon's outskirts. Ash clenched his fists so tightly that they threatened to draw blood; he could not even begin to imagine what it was like over there, with all of the innocent wild Pokémon cowering or running for their lives, their livelihoods ruined for the day.

"No way..." Melony breathed out upon seeing the Rocket Frigate's overhead image.

Piers looked equally mortified. "You're telling me there are more of these things being seen elsewhere in the world?"

"I'm afraid so..." Opal replied gravely, her elderly face even more wrinkled than usual.

"Lieutenant," Mustard said forcefully, dispelling the shocked and horrified reaction, "how far away are you from the ship?"

"Thirty minutes to an hour, as the Corviknight flies," the lieutenant replied. Then, he quickly added, "N-No pun intended, sir."

"Alright, then." Mustard glanced at Ash, who looked back at him and nodded knowingly. "Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. Simply observe."

"B-But, Mustard sir-"

"This comes from the top, Lieutenant. Do. Not. Engage."

"...Yes, sir."

Mustard sighed and looked at the raven-haired boy and his Pikachu to give them an unsure smile. "Well, whippersnapper, looks like you didn't have to lure them out by yourself after all."

"Nope," Ash replied, his eyes still glued to the screen. "But now comes the hard part."

"Yes. The hard part." Mustard pursed his lips and put his hands in his pockets. "I sure hope you know what you're doing here, young man."

After a second, Ash looked at Mustard with a confident smile. "I have dealt with Team Rocket many times before for the past eight years. Even if they've got backup, I've got a handle on this."

Meanwhile, a confused Goh looked at Chloe and nudged her right shoulder, catching her attention. "What are they talking about?" he asked.

"Ash volunteered to let himself get captured by Team Rocket," Chloe replied in a hushed but distressed voice.

Goh's eyes widened, and his anger at Ash faded away momentarily. "Wait a minute, he...he did?! Since when?!"

"During that meeting he had with the World Coronation Series Institute!" Then, Chloe got an idea, and she clasped both of his shoulders. "Goh, you're the only one who can stop him from doing this!"

"I...I am?"

"Yes! Ash is doing this because he doesn't want to see anymore people and Pokémon getting hurt! Goh, h-he mentioned Cinderace! He feels so guilty about what happened to him, and the guilt is eating him up on the inside!"

Goh drew in a deep breath, astounded by Chloe's explanation. "He...He mentioned Cinderace...?"

"Yes! But Ash is so blinded by his guilt that he's taking such a stupid risk! He thinks that by allowing himself to be caught by Team Rocket, he can distract them from wreaking anymore chaos and learn what their plan is in the process!"

"But..." Goh looked at Ash, impressed; his friend was still talking to Mustard. "That doesn't sound like a bad-"

"We don't know what's going to happen while he's with them, though!" Chloe's grip tightened around his shoulders, and she shut her teary eyes. "Please, Goh! Ash has been thinking of you and Cinderace this entire time! You're the only one who can knock some sense into him now! Stop him, Goh! Please!"

Goh didn't respond. Instead, he looked at Ash again, just as Sheena and Baraz joined in on the conversation he had with Mustard, a singular look of concern etched into their expressions. His sky-blue eyes softened with emotion while his mind continued to mull over Chloe's revelation.

The outskirts of Wyndon

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet continued to lead the way as their hovercraft flew towards a clear area of grass at the foot of Wyndon's perimeter. Situated before them was a long, towering row of buildings lining from one mountain by the side to another, like a wall; their common architecture style indicate the buildings were constructed a long time ago. James, who was at the helm of the hovercraft, nodded and directed it downward towards the area Jessie was pointing at.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, James!" Meowth exclaimed, cowering with fear. "Yer comin' in too hot-"

"Don't jinx it, you idiot!" barked Jessie. "James is a trained pilot; landing in a clearing is elementary for him!" He glared at James, who was beginning to sweat. "Right, James?"

"Well," the blue-haired man replied, "the last time I flew something like this was back at training camp, so..."

Jessie sweat-dropped. "So your skills are a little rusty."

"Maybe more than a little rusty..."

"Wooooobbuffet!" cried a saluting Wobbuffet.

A couple of seconds later, the hovercraft landed extremely roughly on the field of grass, causing several forest Pokémon who were nearby to scurry away in fear. Though the hovercraft didn't suffer any damage from the near-fatal landing, all four of its occupants stumbled out, their skins pale-green. It took all of the effort they could muster to stop themselves from vomiting all over the blades of grass while the rest of their squadron continued to land.

"That was quite a landing, James..." snarled Jessie as she took deep breaths and faced the rest of the descending grunts. "Quite a good landing..."

"H-Hey!" James exclaimed defensively. "Blame the morons at the top for not making us go through mandatory retraining sessions every few years! I still need to get the hang of flying those..." He glanced at the semi-damaged hovercraft. "Uh, those...those...wh-whatever it is they're called!"

"Hush!" Jessie held out a hand, silencing her comrade. "The others are coming."

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet straightened themselves, just as the rest of their squadron approached them.

"Alwight, men and women of da Syndicate!" Meowth hollered. "Let's go ovah da plan!"

"James, Meowth, and I will lead Unit A into the city," explained Jessie. "That's the contact team. Our well-placed sources have just informed us a few moments ago that the target is planning on surrendering to us peacefully."

"Surrender?" a Team Magma grunt asked suspiciously.

"Heh, sounds like a trap if I've ever heard of one," remarked a Team Plasma grunt.

"Fortunately, Unit B's secondary objective is our lil' preventive measure," James replied. "Should things go awry, we will give Unit B the signal, and they will attack."

"But don't forget the main objective," Jessie said in a near-growl. "Unit B is for reconnaissance on the Galarian front until Macro Cosmos rendezvous with you. As for Unit A, we are here for one purpose: to catch the insufferable, twerpish boy that has been the thorn of Team Rocket's side for too long. It is imperative that he taken in and brought before the Boss for Operation: Spear."

"Remember!" Meowth cried with a raised, clawed finger. "Everyting dat we do, we do for da good of da woyld! This twerp is one of da main keys to unlocking dat good! So we must refrain from hurtin' 'im in unnecessary ways! Understand?!"

"Understood, Commanders!" the rest of the squadron chorused loyally.

"Good," Jessie replied. Then, the magenta-haired woman stared across the grassy clearing as Pokémon continued to flee from the scene, and she smirked maliciously. "Soon, very soon, we will get ourselves the honors and recognition that will last all of us a lifetime." Her smirk widened as she whispered, "And maybe even a little payback for us. ...Just you wait, main twerp. We're coming for you, so prepare yourself for trouble..."

Her skin then paled even further, and the woman moved her body to the side so she could retch without it being in plain view of her inferior agents.

World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex, Wyndon

"Mustard, sir."

The lieutenant's voice spoke through the split-screen, dispelling Goh's thoughts before he could come to a decision. The Vermilion City native and the others looked at the screen, where they could see, through the lieutenant's point-of-view, shapeless dots in the distance, closing in on them.

"We've got bogeys incoming," the lieutenant continued.

"IT'S THEM!" Goh cried in alarm.

"Shall we engage?"

"Y-" began a concerned Mustard.

"Wait!" Ash interrupted, stepping forward. "That could be Team Rocket coming to get me!"

"Most likely," Sheena said as her brow became furrowed. "But Ash, are...are you sure we should just let the guard stand down? What if they-?"

"They're not going to attack." Ash's eyes narrowed at the sight of the approaching dots. "Look at their numbers. I think they understand what they're going up against, now that the World Coronation Series knows what they're up to."

"Ash is right," Baraz replied; he too was staring at the screen. "There aren't that many of them like last time. And they're leaving their ship right outside Wyndon's doorstep."

"So Team Rocket figured their next best strategy is to cut a deal with us," Raihan added. "We give them Ash, they cease their attacks on Galar."

"Fortunately," Mustard replied, "we're one step ahead of them in that regard." He looked over his shoulder and at all the other Galar League Gym Leaders. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"You betcha, Mustard!" Milo cried, his lips curled into a cheerful, upbeat smile despite the circumstances.

"Hopefully we get this over with as soon as possible," commented Nessa as she analyzed one of her Poké Balls.

"Time to kick some Team Rocket ass," Kabu growled savagely, his fists clenching.

"L-Le-Le-Let's d-do it..." Allister stammered feebly and unenthusiastically; the little boy was shrinking behind Kabu.

"I have faith that this will turn out just fine," Opal replied calmly.

"Just give another quick moment," Melony called out. The rotund but beautiful woman was still dialing a number on her cellphone. "I'm still trying to reach Gordie."

Piers didn't respond at all. Instead, he was looking at a photo of some black-haired girl that he had been keeping in one of his pockets. Nevertheless, his posture and demeanor exuded absolute determination and resolve.

As for Mustard, he approached Ash and softly patted him on his unoccupied shoulder twice. The raven-haired boy and his Pikachu both looked at the elderly man.

"How about you, young whippersnapper?" Mustard asked. "Are you ready for this?"

"Don't you worry about me, Mustard..." Ash looked back at the split-screen, his eyes narrowing in blazing determination. "As long as I can protect as many people and Pokémon as possible, then I'm ready for anything. Whatever happens next, do know this: I'll help bring down Team Rocket for good. This time..." His fists clenched tightly. "This time, they've done too much harm to the Pokémon world. I'll see to it that each and every one of them pays for their crimes..."

Off to the side, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, and Sonia all watched him with varying expressions. But before any of them could speak up, the lieutenant's voice spoke again through this screen.

"Mustard, sir! My communication line has just been hijacked by those Team Rocket guys! They've made contact with us!"

"And?" Mustard asked, his brow wrinkled. "Did they say anything of note?"

"They, uh... They wish to make a trade."

The front doors to the World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex opened with a loud, eerie creak. As soon as they finished opening up, Ash stepped out into the relief of the bright rays of sunlight. No one accompanied him on his small trek but Pikachu, who still remained perched on his shoulder. Their eyes were glued towards the increasingly cloudy sky, where they could see Team Rocket slowly, methodically descending towards him on their hovercraft.

Not the Team Rocket organization. Their Team Rocket.

"It's you guys," Ash snarled. Then, he smirked mockingly. "I can't say I'm glad to see you guys came here for me, but...I suppose it's a bit of a comfort."

Jessie, James, and Meowth smiled maliciously at the same time, already left gleeful by this second encounter. Then, the trio broke into their usual recital.

"Prepare for trouble, because we are here!" Jessie cried.

"And make it double, for we are everywhere!" hollered James.

Ash and Pikachu both rolled their eyes in mocking derision. Nevertheless, they decided to let the trio continue with their motto out of the goodness of their hearts.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Jessie held her right arm outward into the air. "Jessie!"

James did the same with his left arm. "And James!"

"The Syndicate blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth shouted.

"WOOOOOBBUFFET!" added Wobbuffet as he saluted.

Ash's eyes promptly became narrow. "The Syndicate, huh? So, whatever happened to 'Team Rocket'? Not flashy and up-to-date enough for you guys anymore?"

"For your information, twerp," Jessie growled, her dramatic smile curling downward into a hateful frown; her eyelid was twitching nastily, "Team Rocket has received a marvelous upgrade no more than months ago!"

"Marvelous upgrade, you say...?" Ash quirked an eyebrow in amusement as he scanned the trio from head to toe. "Well, other than the new outfits and motto, I can see you three still haven't changed! I may not know much about marketing, I know one thing: you can't just slap a different label on something and then call it a completely new thing!"

"Ohhhhh, I'm afraid you're going to eat those words soon enough, twerp," James replied gleefully.

Then, the blue-haired agent raised his hand and snapped his fingers. At that signal, additional hovercraft descended from the skies and reached the trio's level of height. At first, Ash was confused and almost unimpressed by Team Rocket's new show of force. However, when he took a closer look at Team Rocket's companions, his auburn eyes widened in horror and recognition.

It wasn't just Team Rocket uniforms that the grunts were wearing. He also made out the familiar uniforms worn by Team Galactic, Team Plasma, and Team Flare. There were also uniforms that were somewhat new in design, but nevertheless evoked memories of Team Aqua and Team Magma's old uniforms.

And just like his Trainer, Pikachu was equally mortified by the new arrivals. "Pika..."

Meowth sneered at the sight of Ash and Pikachu's stunned faces. "Daaaaat's right! Not only is Team Rocket takin' centah stage, but we've also recruited da likes of Teams Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Plasma, and Flare!"

"In recent times," continued Jessie, "all six of us so-called 'criminal organizations' have come to a mutual understanding: that the world can no longer function on the altar of freedom and self-determination. Mankind, society, civilization, all of it cannot be trusted when in the hands of the people."

"Which is why we forged this great alliance!" James declared. "In spite of our differing endgame goals, we seek one thing in particular!"

Meowth raised a clawed finger. "And dat's woyld conquest! HA HA HA!"

Pikachu's cheeks quickly began to crackle with electricity. "Piiiiikaaaaa..."

Upon hearing the Mouse Pokémon, the trio did nothing but laugh, while their accomplices readied their Poké Balls.

"Ohhh, how adorable!" James exclaimed. "Does Pikachu think he can still fight in this scenario?"

"Don't even think about it, Pikachu!" said Jessie, who wagged a finger at the Electric-type. "One wrong move, and you'll be saying goodbye to your electricity!"

Pikachu continued to growl angrily at the trio, but he was dissuaded from attacking by a simple glance from Ash.

"It's alright, Pikachu," the teenage boy said. Once Pikachu's electricity died down into its cheek pouches, Ash continued to speak. "Remember. We're doing this for everyone else participating in the World Coronation Series."

"Pika..." Pikachu squeaked, nodding in response. Any feelings of ambivalence that he held about the whole strategy was swiftly drowned out by his loyalty to Ash.

"Anyway, introductions aside..." Jessie said, "it has come to our attention that you wish to hand yourself over to us."

Ash narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "And how'd you know that?"

"Let's just say da Syndicate has a lotta resources," Meowth replied. "And a lotta time on its hands!"

"And don't even think about trying to toy with us with your little surrender!" snapped Jessie.

"We come in peace," James added. "As long as you don't do anything twerpish, it'll stay that way, and the people of this fine, fine city..." He held out his arms, gesturing towards the buildings of Wyndon, where Ash knew many civilians were taking shelter. "Will go about their normal days once this is all over."

Ash sighed angrily. "Alright. There'll be nothing 'twerpish' from me. I can assure you that."

Jessie scoffed haughtily. "And do you expect us, the ones who you've given so much trouble over the past eight years, to believe that? Not a chance."

"I've been giving you guys so much trouble all that time?" It was Ash's turn to scoff. "The way I remember it, it was the other way around!"

"Ahh, poh-tato, pah-tato," Meowth replied. "Da ting is, we've prepared ourselves fer all da trouble dat you'd give us! And we've taken all da necessary countahmeasures!"

"For example," added James, "we're taking you and you only. Leave behind all of your Pokémon."

"Including that pesky Pikachu of yours," Jessie finished.

"Pika?!" Pikachu squeaked in shock. Then, he shook his head stubbornly. "Pika! Pika-pika-pi Pikapi pika!"

"Dat's nonnegotiable, Pikachu!" Meowth advised, having understood the Mouse Pokémon's protest immediately. "I know, fer once, we're not after you! But we want yer Trainer!"

"Pika! Pikachu, pika-"

"It's alright, Pikachu," Ash interrupted.

Pikachu looked at Ash, stunned. "Pika?! Pikapi, pikaaa!"

"It's alright, Pikachu." Ash gave his longtime partner Pokémon a confident smile. "You stay with Goh and Chloe. And you do whatever they say, understand?"

Pikachu's ears drooped in dismay. "Pika..."

"It's gonna be alright. I promise."

The raven-haired boy took Pikachu with his hands and placed him on the ground, ignoring the slight squirming the Mouse Pokémon made in protest. Then, he reached for his shorts and removed his belt, which held six Poké Balls, including one bearing a familiar thunderbolt-shaped symbol on the front. He knelt on one knee to hand the belt over to Pikachu, and as he did, he took notice of the ambivalent expression on his first Pokémon.

"Remember why we're doing this, Pikachu," he said. "There is no better option available. Not anymore. Right now, we've gotta do what we can to protect all the people and Pokémon in harm's way. But we do this all the time, Pikachu; this isn't anything to sweat at."

Deep in his mind, Ash felt a rising sense of doubt at his last statement, but he kept it bottled up with his greater feeling of resolve. With a soft grin, he stroked Pikachu's head, which didn't do much to assuage the Mouse Pokémon.

"We've been doing this since we started on our journey together, Pikachu," he said. "We're inseparable, you and I. If...If I ever get myself into a situation and I need you, you'll know. And when you do, just follow your heart and let it take care of the rest. Okay?"

"Pikachu..." Pikachu replied with a somber nod.

"Alright. Now..." Ash glanced towards the doorway of the World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex, where he could see Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Raihan, Sonia, and all of the others waiting with bated breath. "Go, Pikachu... Go be with Goh and Chloe."

With his head slightly lowered, Ash stood back up and walked towards Team Rocket's hovercraft. As he did, he overheard Pikachu squeaking softly and almost inaudibly at him. When this was followed soon after by the pattering noise of all four of his paws, and the clinking noise of his Poké Balls, Ash was quickly reminded of the time he nearly released Pikachu all those years ago, so he could live with a colony of wild Pikachu living in Kanto. He thought that his special friendship with Pikachu would be over back then, as would his lifelong aspirations of becoming a Pokémon Master. Fortunately, Pikachu chose to be with him in that moment.

But right now, it was as he himself had said seconds ago: there was no better option available.

Once he approached Team Rocket's hovercraft, Ash looked up, unaware that tears were already pooling up at the corners of his eyes. He could see the trio sneering down at him with triumph.

"Now, wasn't that cute?" Jessie asked.

"It sure was, Jess," replied James. "It almost made me teary-eyed. Almost."

"Alright, enough with da drama, guys!" Meowth proclaimed. "It's time ta get dis show on da road!"

Meowth took a small portable keyboard that he had slung around his back. The Scratch Cat Pokémon pressed a couple of buttons, prompting an unoccupied hovercraft to begin its descent towards the ground. It softly landed, putting the black metallic boots that it held up on display. Once it did, Ash began walking towards it, his gait filled with determination.

"NO!" Chloe's voice suddenly hollered. "Ash, wait! D-Don't do it!"

Ash clenched his fists, but otherwise, he ignored his friend's pleas and stepped onto the empty hovercraft. As soon as he did, he heard Chloe cry out again.

"Tell him he can't just do this, Goh! PLEASE, TELL HIM!"

Ash froze and looked towards the doorway again. By that point, Pikachu had returned to Goh, Chloe, and the others, and he was now in Goh's arms, with Ash's belt of Poké Balls dangling from them. The tan-skinned, blue-eyed boy was looking at Ash incredulously, as if he couldn't imagine his friend would go this far. Ash wondered if he had been wearing that very same look ever since he learned what the plan was going to be.

For the first time in hours, the two boys' eyes met in a nonaggressive manner. Ash stared at Goh beseechingly, while Goh stared back at Ash with awe. Their thoughts raced: Ash wondered if Goh was still unable to forgive him for what had just happened to Cinderace, while Goh wondered just how capable Ash was if he was willing and able to do surrender himself and jeopardize his own life in order to spare innocents from the brunt of a great, horrific crisis. Then, after a seemingly protracted moment of silence, Goh sighed, his mind coming to a fateful decision...

Before his lips curled into a soft smile, and he gave Ash an affirmative nod.

"You can do this, Ash!" he hollered encouragingly at the top of his lungs. "I believe in you!"

A deafening silence filled the air. Both groups stared at one another with various reactions, ranging from shock to horror to even relief. Eventually, Goh's words finally penetrated Ash's understanding, and the raven-haired Trainer nodded. All the while, his heart swelled up with relief, for he knew Goh now forgave him for the events of the past few hours.

"Gotcha!" he called back. "You take good care of Pikachu for me while I'm gone, okay?!"

"Sure thing, buddy! Good luck!"

"Huh?!" Chloe replied, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. But the gears in her brain had stopped from all the surprise, preventing her from admonishing Goh for his encouragement and trying to convince him again to stop Ash. Instead, she could only watch as Ash finally slotted his feet into the black metallic boots, allowing them to secure his legs in place.

As for Team Rocket and their companions, they looked at one another, befuddled by Goh's encouragement. Then, Jessie, James, and Meowth burst into a bout of laughter that lasted for several seconds.

"Well," Jessie said malevolently, once her laughter died down, "we'd love to stay and do some more befriendin' and all of that, but as much as we'd love to-" She pressed a couple of buttons on her dashboard, causing her hovercraft and Ash's to lift themselves higher into the air. "-we sadly cannot."

"It was pleasure doing business with you all!" James called mockingly.

"Now don't even botha comin' fer us!" yelled Meowth. "Othawise, we drop da main twoip from high above, and he goes all SPLAT!"

"Pikapi!" Pikachu yelled. "Pikapi, pika!"

"It's alright, Pikachu!" Ash called back. "It's alright! Just stay with Goh and Chloe! They'll figure it out! Stay safe, buddy! I love y-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Jessie pressed another button on her dashboard. Ash's hovercraft moved on its own, zooming away from the World Coronation Series Galar Division Headquarters Complex.

"TOODLES!" Team Rocket called mockingly, right before they could go out of earshot of Goh, Chloe, and the others.

As the Syndicate made its swift and efficient departure, Ash took one last look over his shoulder, at Wyndon and all of his friends down below. Once he did, he could've sworn he saw a Charizard soaring through the skies and into a large, great bank of billowing clouds in the distance...

Down on the ground, Goh and Chloe's group watched as the Syndicate made their leave. Baraz was looking down at the ground, his fists clenched tightly. Chloe's face was blank, for she was dumbfounded by Goh's sudden, 180-degree turn in encouraging Ash in his sacrificial endeavor. Bea's face was also blank, as it always was, as she followed the Syndicate's path out of Wyndon and back to their airship. Sonia was still watching Ash go with the Syndicate, her hands united over her heart. Raihan quickly led the rest of Galar's Gym Leaders back into the building so they could begin strategizing on their end.

And finally, Sheena marched over to Mustard, who was ambiguously watching Ash and the Syndicate making their leave, and she stomped her foot down with finality, attracting the elderly man's attention.

"I hope this was all worth it!" she snapped. "You let the enemy get their hands on what could've been our most valuable key to the resolution of this crisis, and all for what?! The sake of your masters?!"

"To tell you the truth, madam," Mustard replied morosely, "I'm not happy about this route either. But the kid insisted on it. And I'm not one to argue against the wishes of the World Coronation Series Institute. They're the people who keep the cash flowing."

Sheena frowned angrily. "So that's all that you care about. Money."

"Without it, we're all out of a job and unable to be in a good position to protect the region." Mustard glanced at the skies once again. "I've walked and breathed on this planet for over 80 years, and I have never seen anything like this before. And to think, all of this is just the beginning. I can feel it in my bones..." He blinked slowly. "And you truly think this kid's association with an ancient prophecy is the key to all of this?"

Sheena nodded firmly while Baraz observed. "I know it, from the bottom of my heart."

"We can't look to the past to find answers. We need to prioritize all of the different scenarios that are before us now."

"That's not our place to do so. That's Arceus's. And now...now that you and your colleagues have thrown our mission off-track, who knows what good Arceus's protection will do for Ash now...?" With pursed lips, the woman turned her back on Mustard. "You should've put more stock on the ancient history of this world."

Meanwhile, Goh felt an uncomfortable squirming in his arms. Sympathetically looking down, he saw Pikachu shaking his head with disbelief. Then, unable to take it anymore, the Mouse Pokémon screwed his eyelids shut, and he howled one single name into the air, his voice fueled by anguish and dismay.

"PIKAPI!"

The Slumbering Weald, near Postwick

Further south of Galar, far away from the standoff at Wyndon, two certain Legendary Pokémon, each of them occupying opposite ends of the forest, had just raised their heads, having sensed the anguish of a certain yellow Pokémon from far away...

Along with an evil filling the air, an evil unlike what they had faced months ago, during the new Darkest Day...

Zacian and Zamazenta bared their fangs and growled.

Celestic Town Historical Research Center
THE SINNOH REGION

The armored truck approached the security gate outside the Celestic Town Historical Research Center, its engine roaring. Inside it, the driver was rocking his head back and forth slightly as he listened to some music on his earphones. A pair of security guards and their Pokémon, an Arcanine and a Houndoom, approached the truck. Upon getting close, one of the guards noticed the driver's inattentiveness and tried to get his attention by tapping the window, but it appeared that he was too engrossed in the music to listen. Finally, with a roll of his eyes, one of the guards knocked hard on the window of his door, which startled the young man. With a swift, almost embarrassed motion, he rolled down the window, removed his earphones, and smiled at the guard.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," he said. "Really catchy music."

"Just show me your ID, kid," the guard snapped in response.

The man chuckled nervously and took out his wallet.

"Arceus, I hate technology sometimes. And that's coming from a scientist."

Inside the building, the drowsy, sunken-faced elderly woman sighed as she withdrew her face from the metal keypad and watched as the two iron doors slid open. Once they were fully opened, two rows of lights activated themselves, revealing an expansive chamber that held only two small, glass containers and nothing else. She rubbed her right eye as her two companions, both of them security guards, approached the glass containers to thoroughly inspect on their contents.

"Well, you are the one who requested the new security measures in the first place, Professor," one of the guards replied smoothly. "After all, anything could happen, now that Team Galactic's escaped and these attacks have been reported all across the world." He turned away from his glass container. "The Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb must be secure as we make this transfer."

"Does it look like I don't understand that, young man?!" barked the woman as she stopped rubbing her eye.

PROFESSOR CAROLINA

"But I was just wondering," she continued, "must the vision in my right eye be potentially sacrificed as a result? I mean, I do read and write papers and books for a living."

Carolina's eyes then scanned the glass containers, both of which contained one orb each: a bluish orb with hexagons cut into its surface on the left, and a pale-pink spherical orb on the right. She sighed with immense relief at the sight of the room's contents.

"Items secure," the guard said upon finishing his inspection. "They can bring in the Griseous Orb now."

"Team Alpha, are you there? Over."

Outside, the guard turned away from the truck driver to answer his walkie-talkie. "This is Team Alpha. Over."

"Allow the truck access. It is all clear. Over and out."

The man nodded once and turned to his partner, who nodded back at him before approaching a button on the side of the gate and pressing it. The iron gate slid open, and with one last innocent smile and wave of the hand, the driver directed the armored truck into the research center's premises with ease, carefully passing by the two guards and their Pokémon in the process.

None of them noticed the devious smirk that appeared on the young man's face as he placed his earphones back over his ears and took out a Poké Ball from his pocket...

As the first security guard conversed with Carolina, the second guard stepped behind the container holding the Lustrous Orb, where a keyboard was located. He took one glare at Carolina and his partner, and saw that they were still engrossed in their conversation. He then began covertly typing digits on the keyboard.

In the truck, the driver continued to rock his head in tune with the unknown music. He was still driving as he lowered the window of his door.

"What in Arceus's name?!"

Carolina and the first guard watched as the Adamant and Lustrous Orb containers opened up simultaneously. The guard confronted his partner, anger contorting his face.

"Hey, Stu!" he snapped. "What in Arceus's name do you think you're doing?!"

However, Stu began to chuckle. "Sorry, Donny."

Donny gasped at the sound of Stu's voice; it appeared he never heard his partner use that kind of voice before. Carolina looked just as horrified as Donny.

"However," Stu continued, "I am afraid Stu is not with us, nor has he ever been."

Stu immediately tore off his entire head with a single stroke of his hand...only to reveal that it was just a lifelike mask of rubber, which concealed the true face of a purple-haired man with hazel eyes and red streaks on two of his bangs. There was also a crimson-colored mark located underneath his right eye.

"Im-Impostor!" stuttered Carolina. She immediately dashed towards a red button on the wall, but-

"Not so fast," the intruder snarled as he threw a Poké Ball, summoning a Golbat. "Golbat, use Haze!"

The Bat Pokémon spewed out a billowing cloud of dark smoke, which engulfed the entire chamber and spilled out into the hallway. Donny began coughing at the Haze attack and attempted to swat away at the smoke, but Carolina realized what was happening and pointed at the glass containers.

"The Adamant and Lustrous Orbs!" she shouted.

"Are all mine..." the intruder completed mockingly. He promptly lifted both orbs underneath his armpits and dashed out of the room, followed by Golbat.

"Swampert, use Muddy Water," the driver commanded as he threw his Poké Ball out of the vehicle.

The Mud Fish Pokémon emerged from the Poké Ball, roared, and then began spinning in a circle, shooting out mud in all directions, spraying all of the nearby security guards with it. At that moment, the driver violently skidded the armored truck to a stop, its side facing the front entrance of the research center, and its rear doors shot open with a bang. Eight additional security guards ran out in a military-like formation and summoned their Pokémon, but then ordered them to attack all of the remaining security guards and their own Pokémon.

"Hey-ya, Stu!" another guard shouted jubilantly at his coworker and colleague. "Didja hear about the-?" Then, he finally noticed the urgency in Stu's running. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there! W-What's the rush?" Then, he spotted the two orbs tucked underneath his friend's arms. "And why d'you have the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs?"

"There's an emergency!" the second guard exclaimed desperately. "The research center's under attack, and I was given orders by Professor Carolina to transport the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb over to the emergency safe-room! So, if you'll excuse me, I would like to get through that door, please."

"We're under attack?! Oh, dear Arceus..." The clueless guard began typing on his keyboard. "Yes, yes, of course!" Within seconds, the door that he had been guarding opened. "Stay safe, man!"

"Thank you very much."

And with that, Stu fled through the doorway, into the main lobby, and towards the entrance. The other guard prepared to close the door when-

"STOP! INTRUDER!"

The guard watched as Carolina and Donny ran towards him, the former panting considerably.

"Oh, ma'am!" he greeted. "There's no reason to worry! Stu's taking the orbs to the emergency safe-room, just like you said-"

"YOU IDIOT!" screeched Carolina, causing the guard to flinch. "THAT WASN'T HIM!"

"H-Huh?" The guard looked back and forth between Carolina and the main entrance, which was now closing again. "Wh-What're you-?"

"It was an impostor," elaborated Donny. "Stu was just a disguise..."

"AND YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!" Carolina continued, outraged. "THERE ISN'T EVEN AN EMERGENCY SAFE-ROOM!"

The guard immediately realized what he had done. He could feel his legs buckling from the pressure.

"Oh, dear Arceus..." he moaned.

The impostor dashed out of the research center as fast as his feet could carry him, past the unconscious forms of all the security guards and their Pokémon. He leaped into the open back of the waiting armored truck, where his accomplices were, and they closed the doors for him. Then, the impostor knocked on the wall, signaling the driver to go.

With a satisfied grin, the driver recalled his Swampert and immediately drove the truck back towards the security gate at high speeds. There, he spotted the two guards that he had encountered earlier, but this apparently didn't faze him even in the slightest.

"ARCANINE, USE INCINERATE!" one guard commanded.

"HOUNDOOM, USE INFERNO!" ordered the other guard.

The two Fire-type Pokémon growled and launched their respective attacks, both of which hit their target. However, being armored, the vehicle didn't suffer a scratch. The guards were forced to jump out of the way as the truck sped past them, knocking Arcanine and Houndoom backward with the wind it left in its wake.

As he continued to drive, the driver opened up a small hatch that allowed him to see into the back of the vehicle. A pair of hazel eyes stared back at him.

"Are all of the orbs secured?"

The impostor looked over his shoulder to stare at the group's payload: the containers for the Adamant Orb, the Lustrous Orb, and the Griseous Orb.

"I'm here, aren't I?" replied the impostor.

"True, true. Excellent job, Brodie."

Brodie nodded in acknowledgment, prompting the driver closed the hatch. Then, he took out a remote with a smirk.

"Now," he said, "just to make sure we're not followed..."

He pressed the sole red button on the remote, a malevolent smirk appearing on his face as he did so.

By that point, Carolina and a number of other guards had flowed out of the research center to watch the armored truck make its getaway. The Pokémon Professor then glared over her shoulder at her employees/

"Call Officer Jenny right away!" she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" replied Donny.

However, before he and another guard could run to the nearest phone, all of the light-bulbs in the center suddenly began to flicker. Then, they began to sputter, sending bright, hot sparks flying in all directions, before finally going out, plunging the entire building in darkness. As Carolina and many of the guards looked around, Donny grabbed the phone and tried dialing a number, but his eyes widened.

"I-I'm getting static, Professor!" he called. He then tried using his walkie-talkie but was quickly met with identical results. "Same with my walkie-talkie."

"Same with mine as well!" cried another guard as he tried tinkering with his device.

"All of our communications are down!" a third guard concluded. "Phones, walkie-talkies, everything!"

Carolina scanned the other guards and could only observe their helplessness as they tried accessing and restoring their communications. Then, she placed a hand over her wrinkled face, not out of absolute horror, but from mere exhaustion and disbelief, as if she was forced to deal with such problems on a daily basis.

"My Arceus. I can't believe this happened again..." She took a deep breath. "I have to contact my granddaughter."

"But how?" one of the other guards asked. "Our communication devices are all down, Professor!"

Carolina shook her head in response and lifted her hand away, revealing a dismayed face.

The skies of Celestic Town

In the skies, a Swanna soared through the air, preparing to make its descent towards Celestic Town. Riding on its white, feathered back was a female Trainer with fair skin, brown eyes, black triangular eyebrows, and brown hair that was tied into a ponytail at the top. She wore a blue T-shirt with a black semicircle on it, white shorts over black-and-blue-striped leggings, and a white backpack with one strap tied in a knot.

As the Swanna started to dive towards Celestic Town, it and its Trainer noticed all of the visible lights going out all across the town, plunging it into darkness. The girl patted Swanna's right wing, prompting it to stop.

"What in the world's going on...?" the Trainer asked, just as she witnessed the last of the lights in town flickering out.

VERITY

"Well...there  is  someone who can make the journey and tell my granddaughter what's going on here..."

Chapter 8:
SHIELD

Espeon, the Sun Pokémon.  It uses the fine hair that covers its body to sense air currents and predict its enemy's actions. By reading air currents, it can predict things such as the weather or its foe's next move.

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Next Time:

Gary: Alright. Smell ya later...

Vincent: Teach me everything you know, sensei! Teach me!

Professor Elm: It is quite an...astounding topic that has attracted my attention as of late.

Lyra: We've been doing this for a couple of years now, but with nothing to show for it...

Barry: I'm gonna have to fine you! You've got ten seconds to pay up! Nine, eight, seven-

Jimmy: There sure is a lot to learn about Mega Evolution, huh Typhlosion?

Barry: -Six, five, four-

Tyson: Huh? What's that?

Barry: -Three, two-

Hun: This is all going to according to plan.

Barry: Hello?! Are you even listening to me?!

BARK

Chapter Text

TEAM ROSTER

-Team 1 (Galar): Ash, Goh, Chloe, Bea, Sheena, Baraz, Leon, Raihan, Sonia, Nessa, Kabu, Milo, Mustard, Allister, Opal, Melony, Piers

-Team 2 (Sinnoh): Serena, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Paul, Trip, Reggie, Johanna

-Team 3 (Kanto): Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, Brock, Misty, Tracey, Ritchie, Daisy, Violet, Lily, Agatha, Scott

-Team 4 (Johto): Gary, Jimmy, Vincent , Professor Oak

-Team 5: TBA

-Team 6: TBA

-Team 7: TBA

-Team 8: TBA

New Bark Town Pokémon Center
JOHTO REGION

The teenage boy with spiky brown hair and wearing dark clothing was seated before the screen, holding the telephone to his ear and waiting for the person on the other end to respond. Within several seconds, he was greeted by the sight of a familiar wrinkled face, gray hair, and dark eyes that radiated bright wisdom.

"Ahhhhh, Gary, my boy!" the elderly man greeted with a wide smile. "My dear grandson. How've you been?!"

The boy smiled back. "Hey, Grandpa. I've been doing quite well. Long time, no see."

GARY

PROFESSOR OAK

"So, I presume you've called to update me on your observations of Mega Evolution?" Oak asked.

Gary nodded in the affirmative. "Yep! Not a day goes by where I learn more and more about it." Then, his own dark eyes shone brightly with enthusiasm. "I-In fact, I think I may have made a brand-new discovery regarding the phenomenon, Grandpa!"

"Ohhh?" Oak quirked an eyebrow with the utmost intrigue. "Do tell!"

"It's nothing conclusive right now, but I think I will be getting concrete answers later today." Gary looked across his right shoulder and into the lobby. "I met a couple of boys who found what appear to be never-before-seen Mega Stones. I'll be accompanying them to Professor Elm's lab to seek answers."

"Hmmm, never-before-seen Mega Stones, you say?" The Pokémon Professor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Indeed, there have been more Mega Stones being discovered over the past year. Good Arceus, Professor Sycamore will most certainly have a field day when he hears about this newest discovery."

"It's well-deserved, honestly," Gary replied. "It's all because of him and his revolutionary research that the whole scope of Pokémon battling is being reevaluated. More and more Pokémon Trainers are seeking out Mega Stones and Key Stones to call their own. Personally, I think more than half of the Trainers in the world will be equipped with those items by the end of next year. It's certainly a game-changer."

Oak let out an energetic chuckle in response. "HA HA HA! You say all of that, Gary, and yet I haven't heard one word out of you about getting a Mega Stone and Key Stone of your own!"

Gary smiled wryly at his grandfather. "Let's just say I'm a little old-fashioned. Kinda like a certain someone I know."

"Heh. I see your sense of humor hasn't changed since the last time we talked." Oak leaned his head forward towards the screen, slightly so. "Alright, then. I'll leave you to it. Tell Professor Elm I said hi. And you can trust him to be up-to-date on the Mega Evolution phenomenon. He's one to be more in tune with the times."

"I think the expression is 'kept up with the times', Grandpa," Gary corrected with a roll of his eyes.

"And you call yourself old-fashioned! HA HA HA!"

Gary joined his grandfather in laughter for a brief moment, before saying, "Alright, then. I'm gonna go now. I'll get back to you if and when I have anything more useful." Then, the boy examined Oak's background. "Say, uh, is Tracey there? I don't think I can see him around..."

"Ah, the boy's off doing an errand for Misty in Cerulean City, but I'll be sure to tell him you said hi once he comes back!"

"Alright." Gary gave his grandfather a small salute with his index and middle fingers. "Smell ya later, Grandpa."

"Ciao!"

Gary promptly hung up and stood from the chair with a bright smile. Nowadays, it was a rather refreshing experience to be talking with his grandfather and conversing on an equal level with him. When he was younger, their relationship was slightly more strained; as much as Oak spoiled him and treated him like a prince, his research always somehow served as an insurmountable barrier between them, ironically even if it was also the reason why people doted on Gary so much.

It was exactly why Gary was so determined to become a top-notch Pokémon Trainer when he started out, for he wanted to carve out his own legacy and get away from the very things that defined the Oak name. He may have bragged about his grandfather being the best Pokémon Professor in the world, but deep down, he could barely understand what it was that Samuel Oak did for a living, nothing past the surface-level details of it. All that mattered to him at the time was how that research could help him better understand the strengths that lay behind every individual species of Pokémon. And no matter how supportive Oak was of Gary's massive ambitions as a Trainer, their inherently opposing views of Pokémon and their place in the world rendered the relationship between grandfather and grandson even more distant.

Fortunately, Gary decided to drop his quest to become a Pokémon Master and accept his familial legacy. And since then, he had come to a better understanding with his grandfather, including the nuances of why he did what he did, as well as the difficulties behind being a Pokémon researcher. All of this, because of one fateful encounter with a strange Pokémon that utterly creamed his entire team without budging anything beyond the arm muscles, a Pokémon that even his trusty Pokédex couldn't identify. Shivers would still crawl down Gary's skin at the memory of that Pokémon... Just like they did now...

"I wonder if they ever managed to identify that Pokémon in the Viridian Gym," Gary thought distantly. "Every day, I still see no useful updates regarding its identity..."

"Hey, Gary!" a voice called.

Gary looked across his right shoulder again and saw a boy his age approaching him, having just departed from the front desk. He had bluish-black hair with a large lock sticking out from the forehead, along with violet eyes and a bit of a smug yet still amicable expression on his face. He was also wearing a deep-red hoodie with a white collar, a pair of black knee-length shorts, light-red-and-white sneakers, a gray satchel, and a backwards-facing cap colored in black with a mustard-yellow stripe.

JIMMY

"Hey, Jimmy!" Gary replied with a wave. "Are we ready to go?"

"Almost," Jimmy said with a roll of his eyes. "We'd be getting a move on by now, if it weren't for a certain someone..."

The two boys directed their gazes towards the front desk, where they spotted another boy trying to flirt with the startled Nurse Joy. He sported light-brown hair with a three-spiked tuft at the front and center, along with dark-brown eyes and a cheerful face. He was also wearing a ridiculous-looking Alolan shirt colored in light-green with pink floral patterns and an equally pink collar, along with dark-brown shorts and light-red sandals. All in all, this boy looked like he had just gotten back from a nice, luxurious vacation in Alola, but Gary and Jimmy knew that the first question he'd ask upon hearing that name would be "Who?".

"There he goes again," Gary remarked with a roll of his own eyes. "When will this guy ever learn to give up?"

"Maybe when a girl finally says yes, only to play with his heart and break up with him afterwards," replied Jimmy. Then, he cupped his hands over his mouth and hollered towards the front desk, "YO, VINCENT!"

The boy screamed in surprise and tried to turn, only to slip on the freshly-cleaned floor and fall on his behind. Nurse Joy gasped lightly in shock, while he moaned and grimaced while using a hand to rub his aching buttock.

VINCENT

"Come on, man!" Vincent cried glumly. "I was in the zone here!"

"Yeah, the friend-zone," Jimmy replied sardonically. He then walked up to his longtime friend and held out a hand, which the sighing Vincent took. "Come on, Professor Elm's expectin' us, and we can't afford to be late."

"Guh..." Vincent averted his gaze so he could focus on rubbing his behind. "Now I really need medical treatment..."

He was about to focus on Nurse Joy again when Jimmy, sensing what he was about to do, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and half-dragged him out of the Pokémon Center. Gary followed close behind, his hands stuffed in his pockets while he was giving the duo of teenage boys a smirk of amusement.

"Come on, Casanova," Jimmy said, struggling to hold back his laughter. "We'll see if Professor Elm has a spare ointment or two lying around."

Vincent watched with dismay as Nurse Joy smiled nervously but politely waved the trio goodbye. As the Pokémon Center front doors slid open, allowing the boys to make their leave, he hung his head in defeat.

"Awwwww, man..." he moaned. "That's just my luck..."

Professor Elm's Laboratory

By the time Gary, Jimmy, and Vincent finally arrived at Professor Elm's Laboratory, Vincent was walking normally again, but still despondent. Gary led the way, his eyes focusing on the laboratory building while his mind swam with thoughts of what Professor Elm, his grandfather's best and brightest pupil, had to say about Jimmy and Vincent's newest discoveries. He himself struggled to keep his inner excitement at bay, for he wanted to know what secrets lay beneath those brand-new Mega Stones that Jimmy and Vincent said they discovered. And as for Jimmy, he too was staring at the laboratory, but his eyes were glimmering with nostalgia.

"This is it," Jimmy said, more to himself than to Gary and Vincent. "Maaan, it's been a while..." He sighed longingly. "This place takes me back..."

"I wonder if we'll catch him giving out starter Pokémon to the new Trainers," Vincent remarked. "I'd sure love to give the kids a lil' scare or two about the responsibilities of being a Pokémon Trainer, heh heh heh..."

Jimmy glanced at his friend disapprovingly. "Come on, Vincent. We gotta focus here. And besides, you're so mean. Jeez, what is it with you and scaring off all the people around you lately?"

Vincent glared back at Jimmy. "Hey, for your information, I was close to charmin' Nurse Joy back there! So no, I am not scaring off all the people around me."

"Yeah. You were charming Nurse Joy into going after an Ariados over you."

"Hey, you're just jealous of the moves that I've perfected over the past couple of years."

"No, I'm not jealous, man." Jimmy stared on incredulously. "And what moves?"

"You know, my moves." Vincent puffed out his chest in an extremely silly show of pride. "I can get a whole bunch of girls to flock around me with just a couple of words. I could even attract the likes of May Maple! I just choose to start out with low-level efforts to charm chicks, so then they can be a lot more comfortable around me from the get-go."

"Low-level efforts to charm checks?" Jimmy snickered. "More like low-effort efforts to charm chicks away from you."

"Hey man, judge all ya want, but I'll bet you my shirt, my best Pokémon, and my Mega Stone that I'll successfully attract the next girl that we meet."

"I don't want your shirt, thank you very much."

"Hey, will you guys focus up?" Gary piped up, attracting the attention of the other two boys. "We're at the laboratory of a very respected Pokémon researcher. At least make sure your mannerisms are more presentable beforehand."

"Jeez, someone wants to suck up..." Vincent whispered, even though both Gary and Jimmy heard him.

"Sorry, Gary," Jimmy replied, giving him a friendly smile. "My bad. I'll be mature, unlike someone."

"Good," Gary said. "Oh, and besides..." He gave the two of them a slightly sly smile. "When I started out on my journey, I had an entire entourage of personal cheerleaders at my beck and call. Just saying."

By that point, the young researcher had reached the front door of Professor Elm's Laboratory. Averting his gaze from the two stunned, dumbfounded boys, he rapped his knuckles against the simple plastic surface, knocking on it thrice. Then, as Gary waited for an answer, he heard Vincent run up to him, and he didn't have to look at his newfound acquaintance to tell the kind of expression that was etched on his face.

"You had a bunch of personal cheerleaders?!" he exclaimed with wonder and delight.

"Yeah, twenty-four-seven." Then, Gary chuckled lightly with a contrasting mixture of nostalgia and embarrassment. "But it was a...long time ago..."

"Teach me everything you know, sensei! Teach me!"

Gary sighed, instantly regretting ever bringing up his old entourage. When he overheard Jimmy and Vincent's banter, he thought he'd join in; after all, a consistent social life wasn't one of the demands of being a Pokémon researcher who had to travel around the world in search of answers to the greatest mysteries of Pokémon. But unfortunately, he just had to bring up a more embarrassing stage of his life, one in which he was so brash, arrogant, and immature. Even though the experiences that he had as a Trainer were something to reflect on every now and then, what he did in-between all those times weren't as such. In fact, those memories were quite the opposite.

"Well," the researcher replied awkwardly, "I really don't know what there is to tell you..."

"I mean, how'd you manage to get so many girls to pine for you?!" Vincent cried, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Off to the side, Jimmy sighed and shook his head. "Ah, come on, Vincent. You think Gary's gonna be able to give you any useful tips if he says he was a charming Casanova a long time ago?" Then, he crossed his arms in faux-suspicion. "And I thought you've got your own moves?"

"Well, it couldn't hurt to learn some more moves!" Vincent kept his eyes glued onto Gary's face. "So? Tell me all that you know, Gary!"

"Well..." Gary's face became wrinkled as he delved into his memories. "To be perfectly honest, all of them were hired by my pops to tail me and cheer me on. I didn't exactly use my natural looks to reel 'em in..."

"Aww, man!" Vincent finally looked away and punched at the air in distress, nearly slipping on the ground in the process. "I wish my folks were that loaded!" Then, he looked back at Gary. "Yo, you still have your girlfriends' numbers?!"

Gary crossed his arms, amused by Vincent's desperation. "They weren't my girlfriends, for one thing. And another thing, I...I don't have them. I don't think I even asked for them." He sighed again. "I haven't seen them since my participation in the Silver Conference, six years ago-"

"Wait a minute, d-did you the Silver Conference six years ago?" When Gary nodded affirmatively, Vincent's eyes widened in awe. "Hey, now I know where I remembered you! You were that guy with the Blastoise who made it to the Top 16! You had those cheerleaders with you too! Were those the ones you're talking about?!"

"The one and only..." Gary quirked an eyebrow. "Why? Did you participate in that same Conference?"

"Yeah! I'm Jackson! I mean, I went by that name back then because some jerk had the same name and I had to go with my last name. A-Anyway, d-do you remember me?!"

Gary blinked. "Well, I didn't recognize you when we first met, and I most certainly don't recognize you now."

"ACK!" Vincent collapsed to the ground for a brief moment before shooting back up. "W-Well, I got beaten by the same guy that beat you! If I remember correctly, his name was Ash, right?"

Gary blinked in shock. "Ash?" Then, he smiled nostalgically. "Huh. I haven't heard that name in a while..."

"S-So, do you remember me now?"

"Sorta." Then, Gary knocked on the door again, this time putting more force into his knocks. "Hey, Professor Elm?! You there?!"

Once again, there was no response. The researcher peered through the window on the door, but he couldn't observe any movement inside.

Vincent sighed and said, "Well, maybe Professor Elm's gone out." Then, he tried to catch Gary's attention. "Wh-What do you mean 'sorta'...?"

"But wait a minute, I talked to him last night," Jimmy replied, concerned. "He assured me that he'd be in the lab today."

"Hey, Professor Elm!" Gary called loudly. "It's me, Gary! Jimmy, Vincent, and I are here to deliver the Mega Stones!" The boy then knocked on the simple surface as hard as he could, using enough strength to rattle the window. "Yo! Professor Elm?! Are you in there?!"

Finally, Gary heard a yelp, followed split-seconds later by a shattering of glass. Jimmy and Vincent both sweat-dropped in embarrassment.

"I guess Professor Elm's in today..." Vincent commented.

Gary stepped backward, watching the front door in wait. A few seconds later, the doorknob jiggled slightly, and then, the door flew open, revealing a frazzled-looking, middle-aged man with short, brown hair and gray eyes that were currently sunken. He was wearing half-moon-shaped glasses, a white lab-coat with two pockets, a collared teal shirt underneath, brown pants with a black belt, and brown shoes.

"Oh, Jimmy, Vincent!" the man greeted. "I-It's so good to see you!" Then, he trained his gaze upon Gary and gave him a wide, enthusiastic smile. "And Gary! It's been a long time!"

PROFESSOR ELM

Gary smiled back, choosing to ignore the current, slightly unkempt state of the Pokémon Professor.

"Hello, Professor Elm. It's good to see you too."

"Watch the floor, boys."

Elm led the trio of boys into his laboratory, where they noticed an array of papers and books strewn about. Gary's brows shot upward at the sight; it looked like a Dragonite had used Hurricane inside the room. He, Jimmy, and Vincent all had to carefully step over the mess, for it looked as if Elm had scribbled important notes on the papers, while the books were of a singular, peculiar topic.

"Tales of the Ancient Sinnohan Civilization?" Jimmy read, his eyes scanning one of the books resting by his foot.

"Yes, yes," Elm replied absentmindedly. "It is quite an...astounding topic that has attracted my attention as of late."

"I thought your field of specialty was Pokémon Abilities, though?" asked Gary.

"It still is. And that is why I wish to analyze these new Mega Stones that you've found, Jimmy and Vincent. Y-You see..." Elm approached a worktable, which had an assortment of additional notepapers strewn across it. "A-As we begin to learn more and more about Mega Evolution, we also learn more and more about the, uh, genetic makeup of Pokémon t-that're capable of Mega Evolving. Uh, w-watch the glass on the floor, kids."

Jimmy, who was walking ahead of Gary and Vincent, looked down and noticed the shattered cup by his foot. He quirked a brow at the sight and swept the shards away with the side of his shoe.

"Now, uhhh..." Elm continued, straining his mind for a moment, "th-think about the unique Ability a Pokémon gains when it Mega Evolves. For example, Charizard has two Mega Evolved forms, Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y, and both have their own Ability that is distinct from a normal Charizard's Blaze. M-Mega Charizard X's Ability is Tough Claws, while Mega Charizard Y's Ability is Drought. A-And so on and so forth." He furrowed his brow as he looked down at the papers on his worktable. "By analyzing the process of Mega Evolution, I hope I can figure out why a Pokémon sheds its normal Ability in favor of a completely different one when it Mega Evolves..."

"I see," Gary replied. "But, uh...what does that still have to do with your interest in ancient Sinnohan civilization?"

"Huh, that?" Elm stared dumbly at the teenage researcher for a moment, before his eyes suddenly became wide, and his posture became as alert as a Watchog's. "Oh, no. D-Did any of you three happen to see a Cyndaquil around here, by any chance?"

"No," Jimmy replied, stunned by how Elm was now looking around frantically. "Wh-Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I just need to find it before it burns down the place."

"It might burn down the place?!" shrieked a terrified Vincent.

Elm glared at him, wide-eyed. "Quiet! You don't want to startle it!"

"Cynda?"

The tiny squeak of a voice caught the group's attention. The Pokémon Professor and the three adolescents all looked up towards the upper floor of the laboratory, where they saw a Cyndaquil perched on the railing, looking down at them with curiosity. Gary was surprised to see that it was actually a Shiny Cyndaquil, not a regular-colored one.

"Is that the Cyndaquil, Professor?" Vincent asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Elm stepped forward and held out his arms, as if he was expecting Cyndaquil to jump off the failing and fall in them. "It's alright, Cyndaquil! I mean no harm! So please, if you'd just get off there nice and slowly-"

"CYNDA-QUIIIIILLLLL!"

The Flamethrower soared from the upper floor to the lower one, forcing Elm and the boys to run in different directions to dodge it. Though the Fire-type attack missed them completely, it set Elm's scattered notepapers and books alight.

"AGH!" Elm shrieked, clutching his forehead in distress as the fire quickly began to grow and spread. "My research!"

"I got it!" Gary yelled as he procured a Poké Ball. "Use Water Gun on the fire, Blastoise!"

A second and a flash of light later, the Shellfish Pokémon landed on the floor, released a roar of triumph, and then aimed its shell-mounted twin cannons at the growing flames. Spirals of water spurted out from the barrels and sprayed the fire, quickly dousing it out and leaving behind piles of muddy ash and pulp on the floor.

"Oh..." Elm moaned in dismay, his eyes swimming at the sight of the lost papers and books. "O-Ohhh..."

"I-I'm so sorry, Professor!" Gary replied, sweat-dropping instantly at the sight. "I-It was either that, o-or trigger the fire sprinkler system a-and dousing th-this entire room with water!"

"No, no, that's...that's fine..." Elm knelt down and began gathering whatever research he had left. "Uh, c-could you boys just retrieve Cyndaquil for me?"

"Su-Sure thing, Professor," Jimmy replied. Then, he looked around hesitantly, surveying the tables and shelves in search of something. "Ummm, wh-where's its Poké Ball?"

Elm looked up from his remaining papers. "Pardon?"

"The Poké Ball that you used to capture Cyndaquil, where is it?"

"O-Oh, right!" The Pokémon Professor reached into one of his coat pockets, procured a Poké Ball with a flame insignia on it, and pressed its button to bring it to a normal size. "Here!"

Elm threw it at Jimmy's direction, and the teenage boy deftly caught it. Then, he turned towards the upper balcony, only to realize Cyndaquil had fled during the confusion. Seconds later, he, Gary, and Vincent all heard another "QUIIIIILLLLL!" followed by the sound of breaking glass.

"It went out on the roof!" Gary cried.

"Get him!" Elm shouted fearfully. "B-Before it burns this entire lab down!"

The trio of boys rushed out of the building through the front door, followed quickly by Gary's Blastoise. They all glared at the roof, just in time to see Cyndaquil resting on the rain-pipe. Above it was a shattered upper window, from which there was a column of dark smoke rising from it.

"Use Water Gun again, Blastoise!" Gary ordered, pointing at the rising smoke. "Aim it at that window!"

The Shellfish Pokémon fired the attack at the broken window, and soon, the smoke began to clear out. As for Cyndaquil, it lazily observed the Water-type attack take out its handiwork, before glancing at the boys and yawning loudly at them.

"Jeez," Vincent remarked with a twitching eyebrow. "That Cyndaquil's got an attitude problem, huh?"

"Well, it's time to put an end to that," Jimmy replied. He aimed Cyndaquil's Poké Ball and threw it at his target. "Alright, Cyndaquil! Return!"

Cyndaquil curiously tilted its head at the incoming device, but otherwise, it remained still, seemingly resigning itself to its fate. Jimmy hitched his breath, confident that he finally had the Fire-type starter where he wanted it to be.

But as soon as the Poké Ball got within inches of its face, Cyndaquil opened its mouth and burped loudly, releasing a puff of thick, dark, ashy smoke from its mouth. The sudden expulsion of air sent the Poké Ball flying away from it and falling into a bush.

"Huh?" Jimmy asked, sweat-dropping in an instant.

"Yep, you sure put an end to that, dude," deadpanned Vincent, just as his friend regained his senses and ran towards the bush.

"Alright, then!" Gary exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at the Fire Mouse Pokémon. "Since you don't wanna do this the easy way, Cyndaquil, I guess we're gonna do it the hard way, then! Blastoise, Water Gun!"

"Blas-TOISE!"

Blastoise fired more spirals of water from its twin cannons, both of which headed straight for the waiting Cyndaquil. This time, Cyndaquil didn't take the threat lightly, for it scurried away from the reach of the Water Gun as fast as it could. As soon as it reached the other end of the rain-pipe, it fired another Flamethrower at the boys, forcing them to flee from its radius. Reacting quickly, Blastoise fired another Water Gun to put the fires out before redirecting its sights on Cyndaquil.

"Blastoise!" it called.

"Cynda, cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil squeaked stubbornly.

"Man, I wish I knew what those two were saying to each other..." Vincent commented while scratching his cheek.

"We've got this, Blastoise!" Gary called encouragingly towards his starter Pokémon. "This is just a Cyndaquil that we are talking about! Nothing to shy away from!"

Blastoise huffed and nodded confidently in response.

"Good! Now, let's not hold back this time!" The teenage researcher swiped at the air with his left arm. "Hydro Pump, let's go!"

"Blas-TOOOISE!"

The Shellfish Pokémon discharged powerful jets of water from its cannons, and they sprayed the roof with greater power and velocity compared to the Water Gun. Cyndaquil tried to scurry out of the way, but its tiny body could not carry it far from the Hydro Pump's reach. By readjusting its aim by an inch, Blastoise was able to strike Cyndaquil head-on with its Water-type attack, sending the Fire Mouse Pokémon flying off the roof and into the air.

"QUUUUUIIIIILLLLL!" it squealed loudly in pain.

"Now's your chance, Jimmy!" Gary cried.

"Alright!" Jimmy replied, having just returned to the fray with Cyndaquil's Poké Ball in hand. He threw the device at the falling Cyndaquil a second time. "Go, Poké Ball!"

This time, the Poké Ball hit its mark, striking the injured Cyndaquil in the forehead and recalling it back inside. Once the Fire Mouse Pokémon fully disappeared inside the device in a flash of crimson light, the Poké Ball flew back to Jimmy on instinct, landing in his hand.

"Whoa!" Vincent cried, his eyes widening in amazement. "Now that's top-tier recapturing!" He ran up to Gary and Jimmy with a raised palm. "Good work, team!"

"Good work, team?" Gary repeated. "You didn't even do anything, Vincent!"

"I was here for moral support. Now, come on!" Vincent raised his palm higher. "High-five?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes with a smirk before reciprocating the offer. Gary sighed but followed suit, just as Elm ran out of the laboratory, panting.

"You got it?!" he asked.

Jimmy showed him Cyndaquil's Poké Ball with a triumphant grin. "Yep!"

"I had to take it down with Blastoise's Hydro Pump," added Gary, "but it shouldn't be a problem for the time being."

"Ohhh, thank Arceus!" Elm took the Poké Ball from Jimmy, examined it for a second, and then put it back into his pocket. "How could I ever repay you guys?!"

"Well..." Gary crossed his arms with slight impatience. "You could start by looking at Jimmy and Vincent's findings."

New Bark Café

Outside the small but homely café, a teenage girl waited beside the front door, her Marill clutched in her arms. She had brown hair tied in twin pigtails, brown eyes, and fair skin. In addition, she wore a white rounded hat with a red ribbon on it; a black top under a long-sleeved, dark red sweater with a light-beige collar; denim jean overalls; a yellow handbag; a pair of white-and-black, thigh-length socks; and red shoes with white soles. The girl was already caught in the throes of impatience, tapping her foot quickly and repeatedly against the ground. People, civilians and tourists alike, stared at her curiously as they went through the door.

"I wonder who, or what that girl is waiting for?..." a young man whispered to his girlfriend.

The woman grinned and shrugged. "Eh, I don't know. Probably her boyfriend. No doubt she's being stood up, though."

"What makes you think that, babe?"

"Well, look at her attitude. There is absolutely no reason for a girl to act that way, other than being let down by the one she loves the most."

The man chuckled. "Man, babe, you sound like a real expert at women." He nudged her shoulder playfully. "Ne, ne, you should probably write a book or two on the subject."

"Maybe I should!"

The couple then began laughing in unison as they passed the girl and entered the café, along with several other people. Fortunately, the young Trainer didn't hear their conversation, otherwise it would've served as a great embarrassment for her. A few moments after the couple went in, a remarkably plain-looking boy with curly green hair and dark-brown eyes emerged from the building. Upon spotting him, the teenage girl struggled to hold in a yell of anger as she stood in front of her friend, her eyes wide with irritation.

"What took you so long?!" she growled.

LYRA

"AGH!" The boy nearly fell over in his surprise, before sighing in relief and adjusting the circular glasses he was wearing. "Jeez, Lyra! Calm down! It was only for a couple of minutes-"

"A couple of minutes?!" Lyra checked her wristwatch. "That took you seventeen minutes!"