Attack on Porta Vista:

The evolving Tentacool kept growing and growing, it's height beginning to rival the surrounding buildings. The new Tentacruel looked down on itself, examining its new form and height. It turned towards the surrounding Tentacool and started talking to them.

Ash grew concerned "Soot, what are they saying?"

"Hold on, they're pretty far away." She responded before closing her eyes, trying to focus. "It's still faint, but they're talking about the coral reef … destroyed homes … revenge on –", Soot gasped before she could finish.

"Soot?" Ash asked worried.

"Dad! We need to evacuate the city now!" She cried out.

"What?!" cried out Misty

"The Tentacool, they're going to attack Porta Vista out of revenge! We need to get everyone out of here!"

"Crag!" Ash responded, "Come on, we need to warn everyone."

*Nastina's hotel

"You have to let us in!" Misty shouted "The Tentacool are going to destroy the city, we need to warn everyone!"

The guard responded "Forget it kid, we have explicit orders from Nastina to not let any of you back in."

"But this is an emergency!" Brock responded

"An emergency you say?" The guard moved aside to reveal Nastina wearing a spa mask. Needless to say, it made them all cringe, "What exactly is so important to you felt the need to interrupt my spa session?"

Soot was the first to recover from the shock and responded, "There's a giant Tentacruel planning to attack the city! We need to evacuate, and your speaker system is the only way to get the message out fast enough!" In her haste she forgot not all Pokémon could talk.

"Oh my, aren't you an interesting little thing," Nastina responded greedily before looking towards Ash, "You there, Trainer, how much for the talking … whatever-this-is?"

That snapped Ash out of it, "Okay. 1: Soot isn't for sale and no amount of money is ever going to change that. 2: She's a Mightyena, never call her 'whatever-this-is' again. 3: Did you not hear anything she just said? There's an army of Tentacool coming to destroy the city!"

"First it's a giant Tentacruel and now it's an army of Tentacool. Sounds like someone can't get there lies straight."

"Its both." Soot and Ash responded together, followed by Ash, "And it's not a lie, they're on their way here and we need to warn-" The ground suddenly started shaking.

Everyone turned to see the Tentacruel and its army approaching the city at an alarming rate.

"Crag! They're closing in!" Ash called out "Now do you see?! We need to warn everyone and evacuate!"

"Ha Ha, all I see is a bunch of pests and one big sale," The hag laughed "Can you imagine how much someone would pay to have a poison-type like that?"

"WHAT?!" Everyone, even Nastina's guard, cried out.

"M-miss Nastina, are you sure about this," The guard responded "That Pokémon is the size of a Legendary, I don't think-" "I don't pay you to think! I pay you to follow orders! Now follow your orders and get rid of these brats while you still have a job!" She shouted before waking back inside.

"Y-yes ma'am" the guard respond nervously. He whispers, "sorry kids" before stepping inside and closing the door, locking it.

Misty banged on the door and shouted "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! INNOCENT PEOPLE AND POKEMON AND GOING TO BE HURT! WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ash, "forget it Mist, she's not gonna help. All she cares about is money and I don't think anything's gonna change that."

"So, what? We're just let this happen?!" she argued.

Ash scowled, "No way. Nastina may not help, but we can't just give up." He looked towards the approaching army and squinted. "At the rate they're moving, they'll be here in here in under 10 minutes." He turned back to his friends. "If the three of us split up, we'll be able warn more people and hopefully spread the word."

Brock frowned, "Wait, 10 minutes?! Ash, that's nowhere near enough time to evacuate."

"I know it isn't, but we don't have a lot of options." He glanced down at his watch and scowled before looking back at his friends, "Odds are that some people have already noticed the army and are leaving as we speak. All I'm saying is we try to help as many people as we can. Because right now, that's all we can do."

Brock and Misty looked at each other nervously before nodding. "alright."

"Good" Ash said before looking around and pointing at a large Building in the distance, standing on top of a cliff. "There, that building is far enough from the shoreline, that it may not be attacked. Not to mention the height advantage. If traffic gets bad enough or the roads are damaged, we start moving everyone there until we find a way to stop the Tentacool."

They nodded again, clear on the plan.

Ash nodded with them "Alright, let's move out!"

Everyone ran in different directions, looking for anyone they could find.

Ash stopped in an alleyway and pulled out his Pokéballs, "Everyone, come on out."

His team materialized in front of him, with Soot and Pikachu joining them on either side.

Soot spoke first, "I'm guessing there's a little more to your plan that you told the others."

"Yup," Ash responded.

Squirtle raised a paw, "Uh, what plan?"

"The plan that stops that" Pikachu responded, pointing to the Tentacool Army.

Everyone turned to look, eyes wide, "Oh."

Bulbasaur responded next, "Uh, right. So, what do we do?"

Ash frowned, not understanding him, "Uh, Soot?"

"I'll take it from here dad," she responded walking forwards, "All Right, listen up! That giant Tentacruel and its army are on their way here to destroy the city. Right now, our priority is evacu- to get every human and Pokémon out of the city, and to safety. If the Tentacool get to close, we might need to fight, so be ready. If this plans anything like the other one, we'll need to split up to cover more ground." She turned to look at Ash, "And dad, I'm guessing the 'others' will be joining in?"

Ash rolled his eyes, "You don't have refer to my other forms like that Soot. Everyone here already knows how this thing works," he said pointing at his watch. "But you're right, I'll be joining all of you with whatever form is necessary."

Ash continued, "Alright, is everyone clear?" Most of the Pokémon responded with confused stares and started inspecting themselves, trying to see if they were clear.

Ash facepalmed, "Does everyone understand the plan?" This time they responded with a round of nods.

"Good," Ash brought up his watch and pressed the green button on the side, causing the middle to spring up. He twisted the center until it revealed a picture of a large bird. Ash slammed down the center and became engulfed in a green light. When the light faded, a Braviary stood in Ash's place with the same symbol from the watch on its chest.

"I'll try and slow down Tentacruel, see if I can reason with it," Ash said.

"Be careful dad," Soot said worried.

"Don't worry, I will," he lifted off the ground, "Alright everyone. Let's save the day!" And flew off towards Tentacruel.

"I'll never get used seeing that," Butterfree said as their trainer flew off into the distance.

*Giant Tentacruel

Ash flew as fast as could towards the oncoming threat, hoping what he was to do wouldn't get him killed. He slowed down and launched a whirlwind, trying to get giant's attention. Unfortunately, it worked.

"You're rather far away from your home region, aren't you." the Tentacruel stated, glaring at Ash.

Ash responded, "Tentacruel, I know your mad about your home being destroyed, but destroying the city isn't going to fix anything."

Tentacruel's eyes narrowed, "Why would you defend the humans. They are greedy weaklings who only care for themselves."

"That's not true. Yes, there are some bad people, but doesn't mean you should punish the entire species."

"We deserved justice for what has happened!" Cried out one the Tentacool below.

"This isn't justice, its senseless revenge. All this is going to do is ruin more lives and hurt innocent humans and Pokémon alike."

The Tentacruel's expression didn't change, "If that is truly how you feel, then you are our enemy as well."

Tentacruel swung at Ash faster than he could react, sending him hurdling towards the nearest building. Before the impact, Ash manage to hit the symbol on his chest with one of his wings, engulfing him in green light again. The sheer force of the hit caused the entire building to shake, shattering most of the surrounding windows, and knocking Ash out cold.

*later

Ash started to wake up, finding himself buried under a pile of large rocks. He started to panic before noticing his hands.

'Oh, thank Arceus, I managed to switch in time.' Thought human-turned-Braviary-turned-Banette.

He quickly went intangible and started floating in the direction that felt most like up. Luckily, he was right, but what he found instantly made him regret leaving the rubble. He has surrounded by a wasteland of destroyed buildings, with the Tentacool army firing lasers around in the distance.

'What the Yvel?! How long was I out for?!' he thought, his mind in a frenzy.

He suddenly heard a cry in the distance, "HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP!"

Not even needing to think twice, he started flying straight for the source of the screams. To his relief, Misty was already there, trying to help a mother get her daughter out from under an unstable pile of rubble. Acting fast, he slipped by, phased through the pile, turned the girl intangible, and pulled her out. The girl immediately ran to her mother, not questioning how she got out. The mother didn't seem to question it either and was just happy that her daughter was safe. Misty on the other hand.

'What the-. How did she-?' she quickly shook these thoughts away and pointed to the still standing building that Ash pointed out before this whole mess started.

"Head straight to that building on the cliff. My friend is already there, he'll keep you safe."

The mother nodded vigorously, "Thank You." And ran straight to the building with her daughter in her arms.

Misty smiled seeing them run off to safety, before frowning and looking back at the pile of rubble the girl was trapped under. Looking around, she still couldn't find any kind of opening big enough for the girl to squeeze through. 'It's almost like she just walked through it.' She laid a hand on the side of it and the pile collapsed immediately. Backing away, she could only stare at what just happened. 'I barely even touched it. If it was this unstable, there's no way she should have been able to-', Still trying to comprehend the girl's escape, Misty failed to notice crumbling building to her right.

Ash was heading off to find someone else in need of help, when he heard the crumbling building from where Misty was. Turning around, he saw the building already starting to fall "NO!" he started flying straight towards Misty but, 'I'm not fast enough!' he glanced at the symbol on his stomach, 'But I know who is.' He hit the symbol and became engulfed in green light, yet again.

While still inspecting the collapsed pile, Misty felt a small pebble hit her in the head, causing her to look up. To her horror, an entire building was falling, aiming straight for her. Frozen in fear, Misty could only watch as the building quickly started falling. Tearing up, she closed her eyes, and crouched down, bracing herself. When she heard the crash, she … felt fine? She opened her eyes in shock and saw the fallen building laying right in front of her. She immediately heard what sounded like someone trying to catch their breath and turned to see a … what the heck was she looking at?! It was some kind of blue and black lizard, with a stripped tail, pointed head and … roller skates? If that wasn't weird enough, it started TALKING.

"Are you *huff* alright?" It asked.

"Y-yeah… Were YOU the one who saved me?" Misty asked, still unsure what to think.

The creature seemed to have caught its breath, "Yeah, glad to see you're not hurt."

"Right… um, what are you?"

He looked down at his claws, "Uh … yeah good question, just call me Quick Attack."

"Quick Attack? Like the move?

"Bingo." Quick Attack looked around at the surrounding wasteland, frowning "Come on, we need to get you to- ", suddenly, the once green symbol on his chest started beeping and flashing red.

Misty grew concerned, "What is that? What's happening?"

Quick Attack's mind started racing, 'No! Not now! Not in front of Misty!' He looked towards the rampaging army, 'They're not letting up at all. If I'm stuck as me for even a minute, dozens could be-. I-I don't have a choice!'

Quick Attack immediately started messing with the symbol on his chest. He went through a series of clicks, twists, and the word 'engage' all while the symbol was still beeping. Finally, after hitting the now rotated symbol, it turned blue and an electronic voice sounds: Lockdown Mode Engaged, Approximate time until release: 60 hours. Silence overtook as Quick Attack glared at the symbol angrily. He calmed down and turned around to see Misty staring at him, seeming even more confused.

She quickly asked, "What just- ", but was cutoff, "Come on, I still need to get you to safety." He reached out a claw to help her up, which she accepted.

Quick Attack then picked her up "What? Hey, let me down! I can walk on my own!" she demanded. "Calm down I'll get us there faster, just hang on." "What do you mean hang OOOONN?"

Misty had to close her eyes to keep out the wind. When they stopped, not even two minutes later, she opened her eyes to an entire crowd staring at them. Seeing Brock, she realized that they were at the top of the building on the cliff. She even saw Soot running over.

"Misty, you're okay! And –" Soot's eyes widened as she noticed Quick Attack.

Misty responded, "Soot, this is Quick Attack, he saved me from a falling building. You can trust him."

Soot was still staring a him, "Uh huh. Da- uh Quick Attack, can I talk to you for a bit? Over there."

"Uh, well. I mean, I should probably check to make sure everyone's-" "NOW" "Alright, alright."

Misty, watching them walk away, said, "Uh, right. I'll just go help Brock then?"

She didn't receive an answer.

*Soot and Quick Attack

Quick Attack spoke first, "So, uh, Soot, what did want to-"

"Lockdown mode?! Really, dad?! You know well enough how long that can last. And I thought we agreed that you did use lockdown, it wouldn't be for one of these things."

Ash started waving his claws in front of himself defensively, "Alright, I'm sorry, I know it was dumb but hear me out." Soot raised a brow, "Look, Misty was in trouble, I was about to time out, and I seriously doubt all this is going to blow over anytime soon. I couldn't afford to be me for that long."

Soot sighed, "how long this time?"

"Uh, 60 hours", Ash replied sheepishly.

Soot groaned, "of course."

During their talk, Pikachu bound over "Soot, we just got back. We managed to- WOAH!", he called out noticing Ash. "w-what is that."

Ash grew sheepish, "heh heh, hey buddy."

Pikachu did a double take, noticing the symbol on his chest, "ASH?!" Ash nodded "what the-? What kind of Pokémon is that?!"

Soot whispered, "It's not. Honestly, we don't know what this is. That's not important right now. What were you saying?"

Pikachu composed himself, "Right. We did what you said and managed to save a bunch of people. We were heading back when Pidgeotto noticed something."

Soot grew concerned, "Pidgeotto?", she asked the bird.

"It's that woman you warned us about, Nastina." Pidgeotto responded, "I spotted her heading towards the giant Tentacruel with a- well I don't what it's called. It was like a big metal box on wheels, with a giant cylinder poking out near the top-"

"SHE HAS A TANK!?" Soot cried out in alarm.

"WHAT!?" Ash cried in response, "IS SHE INSANE!?"

All the screaming caught Brock and Misty's attention.

Brock spoke first, "Soot, what's-" he noticed Ash, "What is-"

Soot interrupted, "Not important. Right now, we need to stop Nastina. That idiot is going at that behemoth with a freaking TANK!"

"WHAT?!" They shouted. Misty followed, "How could she do something like that? Tentacruel will be-", she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Actually, he won't." Ash stated, "Don't forget, Tentacruel's basically the size of an over-inflated blimp. I don't think any kind of firearm is even going scratch him. Even a tank."

Misty sighed in relief, "However", Ash continued, "the attempt'll probably just make him angrier and we can't let things escalate."

Misty put a hand to her chin, "Maybe we can reason with him."

"I already tried.", Ash responded, "Big lug launched me into a building. Don't ask."

"Well", Misty argued, "At least let me try. I'm training to become a Water Pokémon Master, so I might stand a better chance. Please, we can't just give up!"

Ash's eyes widened at the familiar phrase. He took a breath before responding, "alright. I'll get you in close enough to talk to him. But I'm getting you out of there at the first sign of danger."

Misty nodded, "deal."

"Misty, wait", whispered Brock, "Are you sure you can trust him."

"Well, he saved me earlier, so he can't be that bad."

Brock still looked uneasy. Thankfully Soot noticed, "Don't worry Brock, we can trust him. He won't let anything happen to Misty."

"Fine, but I'm coming too."

"No way", Misty argued, "Brock, everyone here is scared. They need someone to look up to and keep them safe. And right now, I can't think of anyone better for the job."

Brock glanced around the room. Children crying, families huddled together, Pokémon surrounding their trainers, shaking in fear. He turned back and nodded, "alright, just hurry back."

Before they could leave, Brock grabbed Ash's arm and pulled him around, so that they faced each other, "If anything happens to her, it's on you. Got it?!"

"Got it" Ash said with a serious expression. He crouched down to let Misty climb on his back and sped off towards Tentacruel.

**Time skip**

Misty plan actually worked. She managed to get up to Tentacruel's level and convinced him to stop his attack. And then Nastina started shooting him.

"I'LL BLOW YOU TO KINGDOM COME YOU OVERGROWN WATERBAG!"

Tentacruel just stood there as the bullets bounced off him. Using his Meowth translator, he said, "Any objection in me throwing her?"

"None." Responded Ash and Misty together.

Tentacruel promptly picked up Nastina and threw her out of sight.

Misty put a hand over her eyes as Nastina disappeared, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Team Rocket always is. Somehow."

"Yeah", Misty responded before realizing, "Wait, how do you know about that?"

"Uhhhhhh, hey look, it's your friend", he called out, pointing at an approaching Brock.

"Misty! You're okay!", he called out.

"Of course, did ever doubt me?", she replied smugly.

Brock chuckled nervously before noticing something, "Hey where did that blue thing go?"

Misty looked confused, "Quick Attack? He's right-.", Misty paused as she gestured to the empty space next to her. "where did he go?"

"Wherever he is, I'm pretty sure I owe him an apology", Brock responded, "Come on, Officer Jenny showed up and is escorting everyone to the nearest Pokémon center. Odds are, Ash is already there."

"Right", Misty nodded.

As the two friends made there way out of the destroyed city, they failed to notice Ash looking at them from the other side of a half-broken wall. Trying to think of a way out of this mess.

*Pokémon center

When Brock and Misty arrived at the Pokémon center, it was like a madhouse. Doctors were running around attending to the injured, while Nurse Joy and her assistants were tending to the Pokémon and their trainers.

Nurse Joy noticed them and walked over, which Brock Instantly noticed.

"Nurse Joy!" Brock cried out, with hearts in his eyes.

Misty responded by pulling on his ear, "Really not the time Brock. We came to find Ash, remember?"

Brock shrank at the comment, "Right, sorry Misty."

Nurse Joy looked surprised at their words, "Wait. Brock and Misty? You two are the heroes that everyone's been talking about." She called out with a bright smile on her face.

"Well, I wouldn't really say heroes", Brock replied, scratching the back of his head.

Nurse Joy shook her head, still smiling, "Don't be ridiculous. You took charge during the attack and helped so many people. Everyone here owes the two of you their lives."

Misty frowned at her choice of words, "What do you mean the two of us? Our friend, Ash, came up with the plan. He found out how long it would be until the Tentacool reached the city and where it would be safe to lead everyone."

Nurse Joy looked shocked, "What?! I-I haven't heard of anyone by that name."

Brock got worried, "Well maybe you've seen him, then? He's around ten years old with black hair and brown eyes. He might've had a Pikachu or Mightyena with him."

Nurse Joy thought hard, before responding, "There have been a lot of people coming in. A few of them kind of match that description. But, a hand full of Pokémon, including a Pikachu and Mightyena, did show up earlier. They're in the back right now, room A-15."

They nodded, "Thank you" before hurrying to the back.

When they arrived, they were immediately noticed, "Pikachu-Pi! Pika-Chu!", Pikachu bound over and jumped into Misty's arms.

They were relieved to see all the Pokémon were okay, but, "Where's Ash?", Misty asked.

Everyone eyes widened. They started looking at each other, unsure of what to say.

Soot spoke up, "You guys haven't … seen him?", her voice higher than normal. She glanced at the door nervously.

Brock noticed and moved the door. He immediately came face-to-face with a familiar blue and black lizard.

"Heyyyyy", Ash responded, his hiding spot ruined.

"Quick Attack?", Misty said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, uh. I thought I should make sure that everyone got to the Pokémon center safely and-"

Misty interrupted, "No. Here. In this room. With Ash's Pokémon."

"O-oh, I, uh, y'know … Us Pokémon have to stick together right? I came to make sure they weren't hurt and, uh-"

Soot sighed, catching everyone's attention, "Just stop, dad."

Brock and Misty were shocked, 'DAD?!'

Quick Attack flinched, "D-dad?! I-I think your mistaken miss, I'm-"

Soot cut him off, "Give it a rest. No matter what you say, you're still stuck like that for the next two days. It's not like we have a lot of options. Besides, you were planning to tell them eventually, right?"

Silence overtook the room. Nobody knowing how to respond to what the canine just said.

Brock stared at the lizard with a shocked expression, "A-Ash?"

He flinched again and chuckled nervously, "Hey guys."

*one long story later

Brock and Misty were sitting down in some nearby chairs, Ash and Soot sitting across from them, trying to wrap their heads around everything they just heard.

"So, for the past FIVE years, you've been the alleged Phantom Pokémon, that you claimed gave you Soot as a child." Brock stated.

The pair nodded.

"And that weird watch you're always wearing … That's what lets you transform into all of those Pokémon that helped us and this.", Misty said, gesturing to Ash's strange form.

More nods.

Misty continued, "And Soot calling you 'dad' all the time. She's actually your-"

"Yup", Soot interrupted, "Biological and everything. He's got the Mightyena and Banette forms to prove it."

More silence.

Brock realized something, "Wait. Does anyone else know about this?!"

Ash responded, "Just my mom and Professor Oak.", then grew concerned, "So, what now?"

"Huh?", Misty asked, confused.

"I mean, I lied to you guys for months. If you think we should go our separate ways from here on, I'd understand.", Ash responded somberly.

He expected them to be furious. He expected them to shout, call him a freak, and leave stomping. What he didn't expect, was Misty to start laughing like he just slipped on a banana peel.

"Really? After everything we've been through, you think you can get rid of us that easily, Ketchum?"

Ash was shocked at her words.

Brock followed, "Misty's right, Ash. We've stuck with you after a sinking ship and an island of giant robot Pokémon. And that was less than a week ago."

The two friends pulled their chairs around to sit next to him and slung their arms across his back.

Misty said, "Besides, you're still you on the inside, right?"

Ash started to tear up at their words, "You guys…" He pulled them into a group hug and chuckled, "What did I do to deserve you two?"

The surrounding Pokémon couldn't help but smile at the display, not wanting to say something and ruin the moment. Well … most of them.

"WOO-HOO! The gangs stickin' together!" Squirtle shouted as loud as he could. His shouts of joy were interrupted by a dismembered limb flying across the room, punching him in the face.

"YOU RUINED THE MOMENT YOU IDIOT!", Soot shouted as she walked over to retrieve her front leg, re-attaching it.

The three friends chuckled at the Pokémon's antics. Brock stopped when he remembered something from earlier, "Wait. What did Soot mean, when she said you were stuck like that for two days?"

Ash laughed nervously again, "Oh, right. We call it lockdown mode, it's also the reason the symbol on my chest looks different. It locks me into whatever form I'm in for a certain amount of time. The worst part is that I can't pick the time limit. The shortest it's ever been was 24 hours and the longest, so far, has been 84. It always seems to pick the time limit in 12-hour intervals."

Misty responded, "Ohhhh, that's what that was earlier. Ouch.", she considered something, "how do you find out how much time is left?"

"Like this", Ash responded before hitting the symbol on his chest.

It responded: Lockdown Mode in-effect, Approximate time until release: 57 hours and 18 minutes

Ash became annoyed, "What!? Come on! I could have sworn it had been longer than that."

The room couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune.

"It's not funny", Ash pouted, or tried to. Quick Attack was a bit limited in terms of facial expressions.