A/N: It's been a long time since I've come close to Pokémon fanfiction. Well, I had this story idea and decided to start it. Expect semi-irregular updates... I hope it's enjoyable. At the very least, I hope it's a unique enough idea. Please, enjoy... "The Prince".

When Serena Yvonne was about five years old, her father had been transferred to the company HQ in Saffron City. She didn't remember that time very well – they moved back to Kalos when she was six, when her father was promoted to head of the Pokéball Factory – so only one thing, or rather, one person, stuck out in her mind: a sad little boy named Ash Ketchum.

She had met him when she was at a Pokémon day camp organized by the famous Professor Samuel Oak. She remembered how he had helped her out after she had sprained her ankle by giving her his handkerchief. She remembered his jet-black hair, the sad look in his brown eyes at seeing her with her father at the end of the camp, and, most vividly… the scar.

Yes, the scar on his back she had seen when he was trying to find his handkerchief. It had been brief – just when his shirt had rid up a little on his back when he bent over after dropping the handkerchief – but she remembered how ugly it was. Looking back, she figured it had to be recent. When she'd asked him, he'd blushed and looked ashamed.

Ten years later, that scar hadn't left her mind. The purple around the thin red scab, the black at the very tips… had it been a Pokémon? Or had it been… man-made?

That question had lingered with her because of the last day of camp. The day when her parents had come to pick her up, as had Ash's. She remembered Ash's mother well enough – a kind-looking woman, a little tired, and a little jittery around Ash's father. And his father – an older man, with a face that scared Serena. Serena remembered how he put a hand on Ash's shoulder when talking to her own parents, and Ash's look had been… nothing. Nothing at all. Just a blank face that had appeared in one or two nightmares since that fateful evening ten years ago.

The last Serena heard of that boy was when news came that Team Rocket had broken into the Ketchum home and killed Ash's mother in cold blood. A couple of weeks later, they came back for his father and killed him too. Ash disappeared, and Serena hadn't heard of him since then.

Serena lurched out of bed as a Fletchling pecked on her head. "Ow, ow, cut it out!" Serena yelled as she fell completely out of bed. Fletchling twittered something – probably laughing at her, Serena thought – and then hopped out of her room. "I can wake up on my own, you know!" Serena yelled at Fletchling.

Serena began getting ready for the day. She had a year break from school for a Pokémon journey, starting today. From brushing her teeth to putting on her hat, Serena's head teemed with ideas on what to do, what to be: her dreams, her hopes, her desires. Her mother wanted her to be a Rhyhorn rider like her. Her father wanted her to be a contest coordinator like him. But she?

She wanted to be a Pokémon master.

Serena ran to the door before her mom stopped her. "You can't just run off for a year without saying goodbye, Serena!" her mom said, grabbing Serena in a quick bearhug.

"Mama, stop!" Serena squeaked as her mother squeezed her harder.

"Do you even know what Pokémon you're going to get?" her mother said.

"I told you, Fennekin," Serena replied. She tried to push her mother away and said, "don't worry, I'll call. This isn't the last I'll see you."

"I'm sure it isn't," her mother replied, with a knowing motherly look in her eyes. "Now, Lumiose City isn't too far away, but wouldn't you feel safer if Rhyhorn came with you?"

Serena glanced out the window at her mother's pet Rhyhorn. "Uh, no, I'll be fine," Serena said, seeing that he was definitely snoozing. "Mom, don't worry-"

"And we have confirmed that the man on Lumiose Tower is none other than Ash Ketchum himself!"

Serena froze when she heard that name. Her mother didn't seem to notice and said, "oh, sounds like Fletchling turned the mute off again." She headed off towards the TV, and Serena glanced past her mother at the TV.

A defiant-looking black-haired boy with a Pikachu on his shoulder was being shown by helicopter camera. The camera zoomed in, and Serena was that his hair was windswept but handsome, his dark brown eyes gleaming with thrill, and in his other hand he had a burlap bag.

"We have you surrounded, Ash Ketchum!" Serena heard a voice say off-screen. Serena blinked. What was going on?

"This Garchomp is coming with me!" Ash yelled, directly into the camera. The camera panned slightly to show a mutated-looking Garchomp roaring.

"As if you can take property of the Pokémon League!" an offscreen voice sneered.

"Everything is Team Rocket's!" Ash replied. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The Pikachu nodded and then jumped off his shoulder. "Pika-CHUUUU!"

There was an explosion, and the camera panned again to show a police helicopter spiraling off. "Oh my, this is quite exciting," Serena's mother said. "Ash Ketchum… he sounds familiar…"

The camera panned again to Ash, who had dropped his burlap bag to reveal a Froakie. The camera zoomed in again to show Ash fighting the Garchomp with the Froakie, handily knocking it closer and closer to the edge. "Now!" he yelled as soon as it reached the ledge.

And then a giant, Meowth-head-shaped balloon emerged on the side of Lumiose Tower and shot past the Garchomp, a giant net snatching Garchomp up. Ash, Pikachu, and Froakie ran the length of the tower and jumped up, grabbing the side of the net, and then the balloon headed off to the distance. "It seems that once again, the feared 'Rocket Prince' Ash Ketchum has pulled off another of his heists," the anchorwoman said as the camera switched to her, "and-"

And then Serena's mom muted it again. "Well, that was enough excitement for me," she said, and she turned to Serena. "Serena? Is something wrong?"

"…no, mama," Serena said. And then she ran back upstairs and began digging through her closet until she found it.

His old handkerchief (cleaned many years ago, of course). She wadded it into her bag and then ran back out the door.

She had another goal now: find this Rocket Prince. It was the least she could do to find out what had really happened with that scar.

As Serena ran towards Lumiose City, she saw the Meowth-shaped balloon soaring off into the sky, dogged by several police helicopters. Every so often, a Thunderbolt blast one out of the sky, but another two would emerge to chase. However, none of their shots – Pokémon or bullet – seemed to be working. Serena tried to get a closer look, but she simply couldn't see far enough to tell what else was going on. The only clear thing: the Rockets were getting away.

Serena ran into Lumiose City and passed huge crowds watching the chase. There were already several plumes of smoke around the city – one coming from Lumiose Tower in the middle, the rest all smaller ones, probably from downed helicopters. "First things first," Serena said aloud, "a Pokémon."

She arrived at Professor Sycamore's lab to find him and two of his assistants staring up at the sky, watching the chase themselves. "Professor Sycamore!" Serena practically shouted, almost too excited to hold back, before freezing up and saying, "uh, sir… I'd like a Pokémon now."

Sycamore glanced down from the chase to look at her. "Oh, Serena Yvonne!" Sycamore said, and he curtsied and said, "of course, my old friend."

"We can keep watch out here," one of his assistants said.

"Thank you, Sina, Dexio," Sycamore said. He gestured to his lab and said, "come in, please."

Serena entered to find it a bit of a smoking wreck. "What happened here?" Serena said, staring at the devastation.

"It seems we were used as a distraction," Sycamore said. "A man, a woman, and a talking Meowth tried to break into our Pokémon stores. When the police arrived, Lumiose Tower suddenly exploded, and they ran off…" he chuckled and said, "glad to see that my Garchomp showed up, though, after going missing for a few months."

"But Team Rocket has it now," Serena said.

Sycamore nodded, and his smile drooped a little. "I'm sure the police will get him back, but… I feel as if I won't see him again even if they do," Sycamore said. "Someone stole him away in the middle of the night, and, well…" he shook his head and said, "Serena. You are embarking on a Pokémon journey. You must choose wisely and-"

"I pick Fennekin!" Serena said quickly.

Sycamore blinked. "Well, uh, that's good, actually…" he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Froakie escaped earlier today and he was with Ketchum, and I already promised Chespin to Clemont…" he coughed and said, "Serena. You have taken an important first step. Let me give you a Pokédex, and then you can go on your way."

He pulled a Pokédex out of his coat and handed it to Serena, together with Fennekin's Pokéball. "Thanks!" Serena said, and she ran out the door before Sycamore could say anything more.

When she emerged back outside, the balloon was gone, and the choppers were only faintly heard in the sky. "Oh, simply terrible, isn't it?" said a gray-haired woman wearing a maroon dress by Sycamore's attendants.

"That Garchomp theft?" the man said, and he nodded. "That was ours originally."

"Oh my," the maroon woman said, "restolen?"

"So it seems," Sycamore said, emerging from his lab. He glanced at Serena and chuckled. "Still here, Serena?"

"I'm sure she's just wondering about that chase too," the maroon woman said. She giggled a little and said, "those poor police, overworked, underpaid, and not used to dealing with such hardened criminals." She sighed and pulled a Pokéball out from her belt. "Come, Noivern. Let us deal with this criminal scum."

A huge Noivern emerged from her Pokéball, and the maroon woman hopped on its back before they both flew off. "So that's Drasna," the woman assistant said, whistling. "Do you think she'll bring Garchomp back to us?"

Sycamore said nothing.

Serena looked between the three and said, "that's an Elite 4 member, right?" Serena said, "surely she will-"

"I don't know, Serena," Sycamore replied. "I just don't know." He frowned and said, "I feel sorry for the kid, though. He's only 15, right? And facing certain death."

Serena turned her back on the lab and started running after Drasna.

"Dragon incoming!"

Ash, the Rocket Prince, didn't even bother looking up at Meowth's alarm. "What do we do, sirs?" James said.

"Do you want to handle this?" Ash said, glancing sideways at his companion.

His companion smiled. "I'd love to," he said.

Ash glanced up to watch his companion dramatically toss aside his cloak to reveal Mewtwo. "Have fun," was all Ash said.

Mewtwo jumped out of the balloon and willed himself to stay in the air. In the distance, he saw a Noivern rocketing towards him. A tiny pinpoint of orange light emerged in the distance.

All Mewtwo did was smirk.

Noivern shot a Hyper Beam at Mewtwo, but in a second, the beam was redirected into the ground, digging a huge gorge in the forest beneath. Then Mewtwo waited for Drasna to draw closer.

They always did. Everyone wanted to catch Mewtwo.

Sure enough, Drasna drew closer. "The Rocket Prince's little underling, eh?" Drasna said.

"Underling? I didn't know people like you knew how to joke," Mewtwo said.

"People like me?" Drasna snarked.

"Fellow crooks," Mewtwo snarked back. He held up his hand and beckoned.

Drasna took the bait. "Noivern! Dragon Pulse!"

Mewtwo swerved between the Dragon Pulses that Noivern sent at him – taking special care to make sure that he was below Noivern always. "You inferior life forms are so entertaining," Mewtwo said after five or six pulses, "so incapable of weighing all of your actions. It's almost pathetic."

"What do you mean by that, Mewtwo?" Drasna said. "Another Hyper Beam!"

Mewtwo deftly dodged another beam that blasted past him and down into the forest. "I mean, humans constantly see themselves as the superior beings of this planet. Too bad they made their own superior," Mewtwo said as he dodged a powerful Flamethrower.

"You?" Drasna scoffed.

"Me," Mewtwo said. "The one who runs rings around even the greatest of fighters." Noivern blasted another Flamethrower at him, and Mewtwo easily deflected it with Psychic down into the forest below. Then, with a bit more of Psychic, he fanned the flames across the forest. "How about you look down, Drasna?"

Drasna glanced down from her Noivern – and visibly paled. "The forest," she whispered.

She tried to send out a Pokéball, but Mewtwo cracked it with Psychic. "There will be no help from Dragalge now," Mewtwo hissed. Then he charged up his own Flamethrower and sent huge columns of flame below. "People and Pokémon will be in danger, Drasna. This is the future you want, yes? Well, you still have to play your part – just like I have to play mine."

He chuckled as he watched Drasna put away her Pokéball, look between Mewtwo, the retreating Team Rocket balloon, and the forest, and then fly off again towards Lumiose City.

Mewtwo smiled – yet another plan that had gone perfectly, enabled by the stupidity of nitwits and cowards – when something below caught his senses.

He looked down at the forest entrance and narrowed his eyes. Down below, watching him amidst all the flames… was a girl with a Fennekin, a scorched bicycle right beside her. "Stupid kid," Mewtwo muttered to himself, and with a single flick, he knocked her out of the forest, along with all the other humans and Pokémon he could detect in the area. "Back to work."

And he flew off after the balloon.

Serena had biked as fast as she could on a rideshare bike towards where Ash Ketchum and his balloon had gone. She had then wound up following on a forest bike path, and then jumped off just in time to avoid being hit by a Flamethrower from the Noivern above. After watching the lone, floating figure in the sky run circles around an Elite Four member, and then start burning the forest down, some force had grabbed her and flung her out of the forest. She had started blacking out midair.

When she woke up, she was surrounded by Joltiks and Galvantulas. She tried to move, but found she was covered in electrical webbing. "Fennekin," Serena said, her heart starting to beat faster, "Fennekin, where-"

"Fenne!"

Serena managed to get her head free enough of the webbing to glance at the side and see that Fennekin was also wrapped up. The Galvantulas and Joltiks were skittering about, their mandibles clicking and occasionally crackling with electricity. Serena's heart sank as one of the Joltiks started approaching her. She could almost tell it was dinnertime for that… that thing. Who'd've thought that day one as a trainer would end with her eaten alive?

She closed her eyes as the Joltik reached her. She prepared for the bite…

And then felt the Joltik start nuzzling her face. Serena barely opened one eye to see that the Joltik looked happy, its eyes closed as it nuzzled up against her hair.

And then Serena heard human laughter. "Looks like they've taken a liking to you!"

The web that Serena was in suddenly lurched and she dropped out of the web… and the tree it was in… and fell ten feet to the ground into a pile of leaves. She screamed like a little girl on the way down. Fennekin landed next to her, and then the Joltik right onto her head.

"Get it off of me!" Serena screamed, but the Joltik was hanging on to her hair as Serena tried desperately to pull it away. And then, because that hurt too much, Serena just fell to the ground and crossed her arms, irate at the spider and at whoever had laughed at her.

Speaking of…

"Joltiks and Galvantulas aren't native to Kalos," said a blue-eyed blond boy with thick saucer-plate glasses and a blue jumpsuit. He crouched next to Serena and started petting the Joltik in her hair. "But they love static electricity, and I guess your hair is good for that."

"Is this the forest you got your Galvantula from, Clemont?" said a little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who ran up to them, "oh, sorry, miss!"

"Oh, no, it's ok," Serena said. She decided to ignore the Joltik and glanced up at the next of Galvantulas watching them. "Do they not care?"

"They all have trainers normally, I bet," Clemont replied. "They'd probably be fine with you taking one of the babies and toughening it up."

"But I don't-"

"Don't be silly, they're great Pokémon!" Clemont said. "You're a trainer, right?"

"Yeah, a new one," Serena said. She sighed and said, "but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Clemont nodded. "Probably that forest Team Rocket lit on fire," he said, glancing up at the sky, past the Galvantulas.

Serena looked past him to see a plume of smoke overhead. "The wind blew it over…" she said.

Clemont nodded. "Team Rocket broke into the tower and almost stole our Pokémon!" the little girl said. She stomped her foot and said, "we're gonna make them pay!"

"Let's not be too hasty, Bonnie," Clemont said. He helped Serena to her feet and said, "I'm Clemont, and this is my little sister Bonnie. If you're a trainer, would you like to travel with us?"

Serena blinked. "Why do you need my help?" Serena said, "I've been a trainer for less than a day."

"Fenne," Fennekin said, nodding.

"We could use a little extra manpower," Clemont said. "Think of it this way… we're on the trail of Team Rocket. If you help us with that, then we can help you with your goal."

"Becoming the Kalos Champion?" Serena said.

"That'd be fine with us!" Bonnie said. "Besides… I don't want to travel with just Clemont. He's boring."

"I am not boring!" Clemont said quickly, turning slightly red with embarrassment as he whipped around to face her. "I- I-"

"You what?" Bonnie said. She laughed and said, "see, this is why we need you along, Ms-"

"Serena," Serena said. She looked back up at the smoke. Clemont… the name was familiar from somewhere. Something to do with Sycamore… "Do you two know a man called Meyer?"

"The gym leader of Lumiose?" Clemont said, and he glanced at Bonnie. They both nodded. "He's our father. Why?"

Serena nodded. Two children of a gym leader… this was a real stroke of luck. "Just wondering," Serena replied. "I'm in."

Serena's new traveling companions were quite talkative. The main thing that she picked up from them was that they didn't know about the Garchomp in Lumiose Tower either. That was quite odd.

"It'll probably be a couple of days travel before we reach Santalune City," Clemont said, looking at his map, "that's where your first gym is."

"Can I go somewhere else for a gym?" Serena said.

Clemont nodded, but added, "Team Rocket's damaged the gym too much to be used right now. So Santalune is your next-closest."

"Miss Viola is the gym leader! She's a photographer and a Bug-type leader!" Bonnie said.

Speaking of bugs, Serena had caught that Joltik from earlier and was letting it stay in its Pokéball. She had already had to fix her hair after it went all staticky. In the distance, fire department helicopters were putting out the fire that Team Rocket started. And the sun had almost set.

"Fenne?" Fennekin said. It was trotting alongside Serena. It nodded at the sunset and said, "Fennekin."

"I think Fennekin's right," Serena said, "it's almost time to make camp."

"I'll get a fire going!" Bonnie said.

"Wait," Clemont said, "I can do the fire, using my new machine! Bonnie, please get some wood."

Bonnie sighed and headed off towards the fringe of the forest. "What about me?" Serena said.

"Just leave the fire to me, you can set up your tent," Clemont said dismissively. He pulled a huge, impressive-looking machine from nowhere.

Serena was halfway through setting up her tent when the machine suddenly exploded, sending up a plume of fire and landed on the wood in Bonnie's hands, setting the wood on fire. Bonnie ran forward and tossed the burning logs into the firepit. "A-another successful invention!" Clemont said, while Bonnie shot a glare at him and helped Serena finish the tent.

The three of them had a nice dinner, prepared by Serena, and put out the fire with the help of Clemont's Bunnelby. "Hopefully we find Team Rocket soon and get some answers," Bonnie said. She yawned and went into her tent.

"Good night, Serena," Clemont said, and he, too, went into his tent.

Leaving Serena to watch the last smolders of the fire in the forest in the darkness. "What happened to Ash Ketchum to make him want to burn down a whole forest?" Serena said to Fennekin.

Fennekin yawned and curled up. Serena sighed.

Joltik's Pokéball opened and Joltik appeared next to Serena's hair again. "Go ahead, eat your electricity," Serena said, and she laid down against a tree trunk. So this was training? "I suppose I should go to bed soon."

And then she realized there was another plume of smoke, barely in the distance… "do you think it's another fire?" she said to Joltik.

Joltik glanced at Serena and raised its front arms, almost as if it were shrugging. "Let's go investigate," she said.

Serena, Fennekin, and Joltik crept out of camp and towards the forest. "If it's a fire, we have to run," Serena whispered to the two.

The both nodded.

They drew closer and closer to the fire, and Serena quickly realized it wasn't a fire.

What it was, though, was a deflated Team Rocket balloon next to some tents of its own. A fire was out here as well, and the smoke she'd seen had probably been from when they had put it out. A huge Charizard was snoring behind one of the tents, but other than that, there were no Pokémon around.

She just had to get out of her and call the police now-

"Call the police? Why? To rat us out, Serena Yvonne?"

Serena froze. A glimmering, translucent dull pink blade was pressed against her throat. She hadn't even seen it emerge. Fennekin and Joltik both yelped, but they both seemed frozen. Serena tried to say something, but she couldn't. Either she was too afraid, or something was holding her mouth closed.

"You can just think. I read thoughts."

Serena wanted nothing more than to turn around and see the source of the voice in her head. And then, as if in an answer to that plea, she was lifted off her feet and slowly rotated.

In front of her was a cloaked figure. She couldn't tell past that – the figure's face was entirely shrouded in darkness, its arms so long and baggy that she saw not even any hands or fingers as the figure pointed at her. The cloak fell to the ground, but Serena had the impression that the figure was floating.

"I saved your life already, Serena," the figure said. It chuckled and said, "are humans so quick to seek death?"

Serena swallowed. She still couldn't open her mouth. Her life – and the day's events – flashed through her mind. Waking up, seeing the broadcast, getting Ash's handkerchief, getting a starter, meeting Bonnie and Clemont-

"Ash's handkerchief?" the figure said. "What are you talking about?"

Serena's mouth unbound. "Help me!" Serena screamed instantly.

"No one can hear you inside the Trick Room," the figure said, almost lazily. "I don't want anyone stumbling upon us. Now tell me-"

"Mewtwo, what's going on?"

It was a voice Serena had only barely heard on TV. Ash. "She snuck up on us," the figure said.

"She can't be much older than me. Let her go," Ash said.

Serena and her Pokémon were dropped to the ground. Instantly, Serena started coughing. "Do what you want," Mewtwo replied.

Serena stopped coughing and felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. She glanced up to see Ash looking down at her. He looked a little different from what she remembered – for example, the scar across his right eye, but he smiled and said, "sorry about my friend. Can I help you?"

"Do you – do you remember me?" Serena said.

Ash blinked, but comprehension dawned on him when Serena pulled the handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to him. "You're that girl from ten years ago!" Ash exclaimed, "I can't believe we met again! How funny!"

"Yeah," Serena said, sitting up. "Ash… why are you with Team Rocket?"

Ash looked away, and a mirthless smile appeared on his face. "That's a story for another time, Serena. So… do you want to join us, or something?"

"I want to know why you attacked Lumiose Tower," Serena said. "And I'll never join a bunch of crooks!"

"This is what, your first day?" Ash said, glancing over at Fennekin and Joltik. "Joltik, that's not very rare… but a Fennekin…"

"Fenne?"

"What're you talking about?" Serena said, "what does this have to do-"

"Garchomp and Mega-evolution will be better served under Team Rocket than Team Flare," Ash replied. "And if you won't be joining us, then you're probably just gonna try and have me and Pikachu and Mewtwo and the others arrested, won't you?"

"Ash-"

"Pikachu, use Thunderwave."

Serena was suddenly hit by a Thunderwave and felt her whole body seize up. "Why?" she whispered.

"You were really nice to me back then, so I'm gonna leave you here," Ash said. "But I need some insurance… if you play along, then you get Fennekin back. You keep trying to hunt us down, you never see him again."

"Fennekin?" Serena whispered as she the tent open and three figures step out: a lavender-haired man, a purple-haired woman, and a Meowth.

"Anotha Pokémon for da boss?" the Meowth said, walking towards Ash and Serena.

"That's right," Ash said, "put it with the other hostages."

"Gotcha," the lavender-haired man said. He picked up Fennekin – who was still paralyzed – and shoved her into a bag.

"Fennekin!" Serena said.

"What about the Joltik?" the purple-haired woman said.

"Leave it, Jessie," Ash said. "The Boss doesn't need more Joltiks. Besides…" Ash glanced down at Serena and smirked. "I want to see what this girl's gonna do."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of you," Ash said. "Mewtwo, you can release Joltik now."

Joltik fell out of the sky, where it had been hovering, and fell to Serena's side. It instantly got up and started cracking with electricity, but a Wobbuffett out of nowhere appeared and started absorbing the blast. "Goodbye, Serena Yvonne," Mewtwo said as the balloon began inflating.

"Hope ta see you again!" the Meowth said as he leapt into the balloon.

"Later!" Jessie and James said in unison, jumping behind Meowth, Fennekin still in James' hands.

The tent began folding itself up. "Good luck, Serena," Ash said. "I hope you can pull off the dream I never could." He dropped the handkerchief next to her and walked towards the balloon and the Charizard.

And then Serena could do nothing but watch, helplessly, as the Team Rocket balloon took flight and soared off into the sky, followed by the huge Charizard – leaving her with nothing but Joltik, an unwanted handkerchief, and her own tears.