After seperating from the now student of Daniel, the crew sets off to reunite with Serena in Courmaline City. Daniel was very excited to say the least, not only to see his best friend/crush, but to figure out the new power Bisharp displayed in their previous gym battle. To get to Courmaline City, they must pass through the following: Route 14, Lumiose City, then Route 13. And so, they followed that set route. The Holy GAD battled the Lumiose City gym leader which was revealed to be a robot created by the gym leader himself. Daniel, George, and Andres defeated the gym with ease, the power from before making no appearance this time as they continued on. After defeating the Lumiose City Gym and passing through Route 13, they find themselves in the city of Courmaline City. Unbeknownst to them, this would turn out to be a turning point in their journey.

Courmaline City, was something, very different than the other cities and one that is worthy of its title as "city". The City was situated along a massive coastline which lead out to the vast ocean. There was a natural wall formation of rock surrounding the entire city. The city was in more of a "U" shape, curving and surrounding part of the massive body of water. There were plenty of docks, trees, buildings for days. Through the city was a long railway system which took passengers from one side of the city to the next. The railway was elevated above most buildings by massive pillars which lifted it up. But the railway also took passengers out of the city and to another train station. There were paths engraved in the rocky wall and some natural ones outside the wall which led to inside and outside the city so travellers who go on foot or another type of transportation can enter.

Daniel was glued to his pokedex, constantly texting his crush to figure out where she was. Andres made sure they were going the right way and George was in charge of making sure Daniel doesn't bump into anything because he refused to take his eyes off the pokedex. This time around, they decided to give their pokemon some fresh air and relaxation. Lucario, Typhlosion, and Bisharp were released from their pokeballs and they would engage in normal, casual conversations. Mostly Bisharp and Lucario chatting with each other and Typhlosion remaining silent most of the time and giving a remark here and there depending on what was said.

"You know, you should get yourself a mobile device, dude; Like a phone for example." Andres spoke up, turning to Daniel who lifted his head in confusion.

"Why?" The trainer asked, continuing to text.

"Well, you're misusing the Pokedex, you're using it like a phone when you should be… I don't know… recording and keeping track of pokemon you find?"

"Andres is right, you haven't used that pokedex for anything else OTHER than texting your love interest." George added, Him and Daniel looking at each other.

"I've never really been a phone guy… and besides, I need some way to keep in touch with her besides pokemon centers." Daniel explained, trying to defend himself.

George and Andres remained silent, not sure what to think of what this man just spat out besides nonsense.

"Answer me this, how the hell did you keep in touch with your family?" Andres asked, turning back forwards, noticing they were almost there.

Daniel remained silent, looking down at the ground and clearing his throat.

"I… didn't… honestly… I barely used Pokemon Centers…"

"How long have you been away from your house?" George questioned, taking in the fact that the pokemon stopped talking to listen to this conversation.

"Five years…" Daniel mumbled, his head low.

"Wow, do you even care about your family?" Andres mocked, Daniel's head immediately shooting up in rage..

"I do care about my family!"

"Daniel, I understand WHY you left the house. It's to defeat your older brother Samuel. But what's the point in it if you no longer share a bond with your family?"

"Share a bond…" Daniel repeated in his mind, a wave of guilty washing up in his mind. Daniel looked at his hand and opened it, "You know… in hindsight… Serena was right… I haven't changed. Sure, I might've changed as a person… But I'm still haunted by my past and the mistakes from back then… But… What do I do about it?"

Andres, without having to turn around, could tell he got Daniel to think about his decision, and that was good enough for him. Bisharp on the other hand, felt hurt. As for why though, he had no clue but Andres's words to Daniel stung him for some reason.

Andres returned Typhlosion to his pokeball because he was too large of a pokemon to casually walk around. And it would attract too much attention. The Holy GAD walked through the city, enjoying the beautiful view and Daniel returned to his pokedex, but not glued this time. The buildings were covered with decorations with the citizens standing outside and helping set up the decorations. The Holy GAD eventually made it to a sidewalk that was next to the water, elevated several meters above it. Andres and George looked out into the vast body of water, boats of varying sizes moving about and many different rock formations could be seen in the ocean far away from the city.

"Hey, Where are you at?"

-Daniel

Daniel received no answer for a whole minute, the teenager looking around and decided to join his friends as they gazed at the view. Daniel felt himself get poked from behind which caused the trainer to jump in shock. This caught the attention of George and Andres, all three of them immediately turning around. It was Serena, she giggled and waved at all three of them.

"Hi!" Serena greeted, smiling which made Daniel blush and lighten up.

"Serena!" Daniel called to her, Serena putting her hand up for a high five and Daniel bringing his fist for a fist-bump. They noticed they were doing the opposite things so the two of them immediately switched. Andres cringed at how bad they were messing up for a handshake. Daniel brought his hand down and finally shared a fist-bump with Serena.

"So, how are you guys doing?"

"Alright." Andres answered.

"Pretty good." George answered as well.

"I'm doing great! What about you?" Daniel said to her.

"Great! I'm really glad we get to meet up at least before the Pokemon League!" Serena agreed with Daniel's comment.

Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont followed behind, catching up to her with Clemont being out-of-shape.

"Oh, hey! There you are, Daniel. Serena told us we were gonna meet up with you and your friends." Ash commented, waving at Andres and George as well.

And so, after the two groups conversed catching up to speed on what's going on. They all agreed to head to the gym leader and battle him. Ash and his group had apparently already met the gym leader and knew where the gym was but didn't battle because of a very cold incident. All in agreement, they venture through the city to discover the path to the gym was right outside the city. The gym was located inside of a gargantuan tree planted on top the largest hill among a series of smaller hills. There was a dirt path leading towards the gym and nearby the path, in small batches, were several trees.

The journey through the series of hill was quite the exhausting walk, with all its constant ups and downs. The tree itself, as previously stated was gargantuan but to be more precise, the tree was as wide as a building, perhaps a mansion. The tree was taller than any of the buildings in the city. There was a staircase that ascended upwards into the upper part of the tree shrouded in leaves. After the group ascended the long stretch of stairs, they were at the center of the tree up top, where there was an arena engraved in the ground and branches of the tree sticking out in every direction from the base. A small greenhouse at a corner of the area and a small little hut built inside one of the massive branches. Plenty of platforms were established upon the branches, facing the arena as they acted as spectator stands. They were approached by the gym leader, Ramos, shortly after arriving.

Ramos is an old, pale man, with grey beard. He wears a green cap, an orange scarf, a green button shirt, a pair of gardener gloves, some grey pants and green boots. He also has some gardener scissors, keeping them close by. Finally, he had his eyes closed.

Ash and crew were already acquainted with Ramos so they chatted a bit. Ash insisted on battling, but Ramos, being the patient man he is, chose to have tea with everyone and do some garden work specifically with Ash to teach him a lesson on priorities. After that, Daniel requested to battle the gym leader first but Ash refused. Serena, opting to take her friends side, managed to convince Ash to let Daniel battle.

Everyone except Daniel moved to the stands to observe the battle with Daniel and Ramos standing on opposite sides of the battle arena. Bisharp was sent out onto the battlefield and Ramos sending out Jumpluff. The referee that was there declared the battle's beginning, Bisharp getting into a fighting stance, staring down his opponent.

"You good buddy? Looking a bit more serious than usual today." Daniel pointed out, Bisharp brushing it off and claiming it was nothing.

"Let's see if it's going to happen this time…" Andres muttered, catching Serena and Ash's attention.

"What do you mean?" Serena questioned, not sure what Andres's referring to.

"Hell, I can't even explain it even if I wanted to." Andres answers, resorting to his habit of crossing his arms and observing the battle.

"Hey! No bad language around Bonnie!" Clemont argued, Andres turning to Clemont and giving him a 'I don't give a fuck' look.

"Well, the only time it happened, Bisharp went all BWOOSH and was all purple and stuff, then he kicked some butt." George explained, Ash getting all excited and wondering what it could be.

"Did Bisharp evolve or something?!" Ash assumed, everyone besides George and Andres gasped.

"Evolved? Like Mega Evolution?" Clemont asked, Andres throwing his eyebrows up at this.

"Does that mean Daniel has a mega stone?" Bonnie suggested, getting a very strange look from George and Andres.

"No… last time I checked… he didn't have a 'Mega Stone'." Andres informed, furrowing his brows as he has never heard of "Mega Evolution" before. The same went for George.

"Yo, what's Mega Evolution?" George raised the question, Clemont and Ash explaining it as beyond evolution requiring a key stone and a mega stone and it required a strong bond between trainer and pokemon.

"Jumpluff is unable to battle! Bisharp wins!" The referee announced. Everyone looked to the arena to see Jumpluff partly in the ground, Bisharp getting back to position, ready to take on the next opponent.

"Wow! Bisharp has gotten stronger!" Serena complimented, looking at her friend and saw within him, his past self.

Flashback

Daniel had the biggest smile on his face as he lifted a small Pawniard into the air. The Pawniard and its new trainer were very happy. Daniel was but a small child at the time, not at the age to be a trainer so getting a pokemon so young was a big deal to Daniel.

"Are you absolutely sure you want that Pokemon?" Samuel asked, grinning at his little brother.

"Yeah, I like this one!" Daniel stated, lifting Pawniard in the air with a bit of difficulty.

"He looks really cute!" Serena complimented, petting the Pawniard who was very happy with all the love and care.

"Hey, Samuel, I want to challenge you to a pokemon battle right now!" Daniel challenged, putting Pawniard down who turned around to look at Samuel.

"RIght now? You just got your pokemon!" Samuel warned, putting his hands on his side and chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, I know! But I want to battle!" Daniel demanded, Pawniard getting ready to fight.

Samuel pulled out his pokemon and like that, Pawniard jumped at its opponent.

End

Bisharp jumped at Weepinbell and grabbed ahold of it. Bisharp spinning and slamming its opponent toward the ground. Bisharp spun forward and slammed his leg down onto the Weepinbell, effectively knocking it unconscious. Bisharp hopped off the poor grass type, and walked away and spun around.

"Hey, is it me or is Bisharp fighting a bit… I don't know… differently?" George pointed out, Andres definitely knowing what George is referring too. Bisharp was acting a bit more ruthless with his opponents this time around.

Weepinbell was returned to its pokeball as Ramos threw out his final pokemon, Gogoat. Gogoat used Razor Leaf, firing off a volley of razor-sharp leaves directly at Bisharp. Bisharp rolled out of the way but the attack moved and hit Bisharp. The Dark Steel pokemon raised his arms in a defensive way to protect himself from the attack. The leaves cutting up Bisharp, after the attack finished, Bisharp continued to charge at his opponent to get close. Gogoat attempted to attack Bisharp with long-range attacks but Bisharp dodged them all.

Bisharp kicked at Gogoat but the pokemon jumped out of the way to dodge the kick. Bisharp landed on the floor and immediately whipped around to face his opponent. Gogoat used vine whip causing two vines to emerge from the pokemon and launched towards Bisharp. Bisharp remembered his maneuver from before and grabbed onto the vines just as they tried wrapping around him.

Ramos smiled, which caught Daniel off-guard as Gogoat, using the vines, yanked Bisharp towards it. Ramos's pokemon charged at bisharp, horn first and rammed right into Bisharp, knocking him away. Daniel's body ached just from watching that, it certainly looked painful, he grew worried for his partner as he struggled to get up from that. A leech seed was planted in front of Bisharp, the seed rapidly growing and constricting Bisharp. The new plant sapped energy from Bisharp and fed it to Gogoat. Daniel stood there, feeling a bit of pressure on his arms and legs, and grew more worried for Bisharp.

"Dammit!" Both Daniel and Bisharp cursed in their minds, Bisharp eyes turning from black to red quickly. Ramos was shocked with what he saw. Bisharp effortlessly pushed apart the constricting plant and jumping out. Everyone was surprised by Bisharps sudden strength boost as getting out of Leech Seed tended to be a difficult task. Bisharp kicked his foot into the ground, using that to launch himself at the Gogoat. Daniel's pokemon glided over to Gogoat quickly before it even had time to blink. Bisharp, using his momentum, pulled his fist back and threw a punch at Gogoat.

Gogoat was hit so hard, it rolled continously until it crashed into one of the sloped branches. Then...

Drip

Drip

Drip

Ramos was even more shock to see what was dripping from Bisharp's fist. Blood, from his pokemon. The small droplets splashed on the floor, creating a small puddle next to the pokemon. The referee announced the winner and Daniel celebrated, not seeing what Ramos did. Daniel returned Bisharp who crossed his arms before being brought back. Everyone came down to celebrate the victory, Daniel and Ramos meeting in the center of the arena after Ramos returned his beaten pokemon

Daniel expected Ramos to congratulate him but was greeted to something else.

"Young man, I'm concerned, for you and your pokemon." Ramos started, surprising Daniel.

"What's wrong, sir?" Daniel quired, Ramos furrowing his brows and looking back to the very small puddle of blood behind him.

"What is your pokemon to you?"

"Bisharp? He's my best friend of course!"

"I see, tell me… did you know what he was feeling just now?"

"Ah… uh… no…?"

"What I saw was an upset pokemon, from what, I do not know. But I can see that bisharp appeared to be stressed. It appeared as though he put no care in what he did."

Daniel didn't think Bisharp was upset at all, he couldn't even wonder why Bisharp was upset.

"If you truly are his trainer and his 'best friend' like you claim, you should talk to your pokemon. I can tell you are proud of that Bisharp but I felt as though there was a strange imbalance between you two. It's up to you and your Bisharp to sort this out on your own."

"I understand.." Daniel mumbled, looking at the floor in shame.

"The important thing is that you understand. With that out of the way, I now present to you… the Plant badge." Ramos finished, handing Daniel the gym badge. Daniel took the badge and thanked Ramos.

Everyone came down to congratulate Daniel for his victory. As everyone congratulated Daniel, Ramos interrupted asking everyone if they're going to participate in the upcoming festival. Everyone was initially confused so Ramos elaborated.

Ramos explained the festival's history as a celebration of trainer and pokemon and how it started off with a trainer and his pokemon going on a long journey and settling down. The place in which they settled down eventually came to be Courmaline City. The trainer would give his pokemon presents to celebrate their friendship and one time, the trainer gave his pokemon a seed as a present. The seed grew and grew and became the very tree in which they were standing on. The tree was referred to as the "Vow Tree". The tradition eventually spread further out and became a festival where trainers would strengthen their bond with their pokemon by giving them presents to celebrate their relationship.

Ramos told them that the festival took place at the tree and started at sunset and the presents would be opened by the pokemon by nightfall. Everyone agreed to participate in the festival, Ramos telling them that he'll see them there. The group left, heading back to the city, while everyone chatted, Daniel remained silent as he held Bisharp's pokeball within his grasp and merely stared at it.

"Hey Daniel, you okay?" Serena asked, Daniel snapping out of it and looking up to see everyone looking at him worried.

"Oh! Uh, yeah! I'm alright! Just zoning out." Daniel informed everyone, relieving them.

"Well guys, we need to do something for our pokemon for this festival!" Ash informed everyone energetically.

"Oh, I know! There's a shopping street by the port, we should do some shopping there." Serena suggested, everyone in agreement. Clemont stated that he would stay behind at the Pokemon Center as he would be creating his own present for his pokemon. If Clemont was staying, that meant Bonnie had to as well. Following this, Andres chose to stay behind because he wasn't a present type of guy and didn't like shopping either. So it was down to Ash, Serena, Daniel, and George. They decided that they would go in pairs of two, Serena going with her crush and Daniel, disappointedly, chose to go with George (or rather was left no choice)

They got on the train to make it to the other side of the city where the shopping street was. The four of them sat together on the train, Ash enjoying the view of the city and Serena adoring Ash. Daniel sat with one leg over the other and his arms crossed as he stared at the ground. George saw how Daniel was and just knew something was wrong. So, George poked his friend to bring him back to the world. Daniel looked up and looked at George who looked slightly concerned.

"Hey man, what's wrong?" George asked, receiving a confused look from Daniel.

"Dude, I said I'm all good." Daniel answered.

"Bull, I know when you're upset. Come on man, you can talk to me. What's on your mind?" George comforted, Daniel looking back at Serena and feeling a bit of a heartache just from seeing her look at Ash so adoringly. Then he looked back at the ground remembering what Ramos said to him prior.

"I've got a bit on my mind."

"Want to tell me?"

"I guess, well… Ramos told me that he felt some sort of imbalance between Bisharp and I and that he saw Bisharp was upset. I didn't even see that but he did."

"Oh? I guess that explains why he fought the way he did earlier."

"I suppose… but I don't know why Bisharp would be angry… I'm worried that it might be my fault and even if it isn't, I still feel bad that I couldn't pick up on that…"

"Well, you're his best friend so you should talk to him about it. Trust me, talking about a problem helps! Arceus knows it helps when Andres always complains about something."

"Andres complains? Since when?"

"I mean, he hasn't recently but oh boy, when we were travelling together in Unova, it was almost hell man. He would be rambling on about how retarded our society is and so much stuff and I just kind of listened. Personally, I think the guy needs to chill about that stuff but luckily, he's calmed down about it." George chuckled, Daniel slightly smiling but it faded as quickly as it came, "Anything else?"

"Yeah… but, not really sure if I want to talk about that."

George looked at Serena and saw how she was looking at Ash and pieced it together. George leaned in and whispered to Daniel, "Is it about Serena?"

Serena turned around, thinking she heard her name mentioned but only saw George smiling and waving at Serena with Daniel blushing. Serena waved back and turned back to Ash and the view.

"Dude! Shut up!" Daniel whispered angrily, George chuckling and getting out of his seat. Daniel looked at George confused but his friend motioned for Daniel to follow him. Daniel followed George to the seats across from where they were sitting.

"Dude, if you like her, why don't you ask her out?" George suggested, Daniel looking away in embarrassment.

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Cuz of… reasons…"

"You scared or something?"

"No!"

"Then what's stopping you?"

"It's…It's just that I don't think she'll like me back. Not that she will..."

"What? So you are scared of rejection."

"I guess, but I know, and I mean I know she won't like me back."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Ugh, because she likes someone else already."

"Oh? Who?"

"I can't tell you."

George got suspicious and looked at Serena, then remembered how she was looking at Ash.

"Well, you'll never know unless you try. Here, ima try to give you and her some time and you just go for it, okay?" George suggested, feeling confident.

"What? No!"

The train slowed down and everyone got off. Serena led the way towards the street and everyone was silent for the most part. It was a very busy street, plenty of noise and people, especially shops. Daniel would occasionally turn to George only to see him with a sheepish smile which did not help. They started to search shops now, the two groups stayed within close proximity of each other. But, the cracks started to form, Serena would be looking into one shop while Ash would be looking at a completely different one because of their difference in interests. George saw this as the chance Daniel needed and informed him of it. Daniel, still being hesitant, declined but George wasn't going to take any of that and put his arm around Daniel and forcibly brought him close to Serena.

"I'll be close by bro if you need me." George informed, quickly leaving Daniel's side to check out his own thing.

"George!" Daniel called out, Serena turning around and was shocked to see her friend.

"Oh, hey Daniel, I thought you were with George." Serena questioned, her friend's face blowing up in red as Daniel pretended to look for him.

"Oh, uh.. It looks like I lost him! Damn! Where could he have gone?" Daniel said forcibly with sarcasm and nervousness.

"I'm sure you'll find him, if you want, you can check some stores with me if you'd like."

"Oh, umm, Sure!" Daniel agreed, still looking away and avoiding Serena seeing his embarrassed face. Serena had a weird look on her face as she was wondering why Daniel was acting so strange all of a sudden.

The two of them walked side by side as Serena would get excited seeing a new shop and Daniel would follow behind Serena as she ran towards it. Daniel was taking deep breaths to calm down and cool down.

"So…" Daniel muttered, Serena looking behind her to see Daniel's eyes looking around nervously, "How's your journey with Ash so far?"

"It's been lots of fun! I've met a lot of people and I've started catching pokemon and it's all just been a lot of fun! What about you?"

"Us? We've just been going through and battle gyms. Not much honestly."

"Andres told us about Bisharp having this special thing or whatever it was."

"Oh, that… I don't know what it is either. I'm trying to figure it out."

"I see, how's George and Andres? Have they been good friends?"

"Oh, of course, they're awesome! They've helped me grow and get stronger along with Bisharp. We're gonna make it to the top in the Pokemon League!"

Serena giggled, catching Daniel's attention.

"That's one thing I've always liked about you: Your loyalty towards your friends. Even though we've been separated for a good six years, maybe a bit longer… You still considered me your friend, even when I got angry at you." Serena complimented, her compliment appearing slightly confusing. Serena looked behind her and saw Daniel slightly confused, leading her to the conclusion that she should probably reword what she said, "In short, you're one of my good friends, I want you to know that. That won't ever change, right?"

"Right." Daniel agreed, smiling, it was reassuring hearing from her that they were on good terms.

Eventually, Serena looked through the glass in one of the shops to find a flower petal dress on a mannequin behind the glass.

"Whoa, so cute!" Serena reacted, looking up at the dress.

"Yeah."

"I wonder how much it costs." Serena looked through and found the pricetag. The price was way beyond what she had at the moment and this disappointed her, "aww, it's really expensive."

"Do you need it or something?"

"Not exactly, but I figured it would look good for the Pokemon Performance I'm doing tomorrow!"

"Oh yeah…"

"Oh well, like I said, I don't NEED it, so I'll be okay."

Serena started to walk off, Daniel looking at her and then back at the dress. Several seconds passed and a voice sounded behind Daniel, terrifying him.

"Bro, yo girl THICK." was what Daniel heard

"What?" Daniel looked behind him to see a person around his age standing near him.

The guy was tall and slim with black, curly hair that slightly protruded upwards in front of his head. He wore a light grey hoodie and some black sweats.

"The hell?!" Daniel cursed, the guy eyeballing Serena.

"Bro, I would low-key tap that." He said, doing some strange movements with his eyebrows as he stared at Serena.

"What in the fuck… Who are you?!"

"I'm Zach ma boy." Zach put his hand out for a handshake, Daniel hesitantly returned the handshake awkwardly.

"I'm… Daniel…" Daniel said, his face contorting from how uncomfortable he was at the moment.

"I see you're… LOOKING at that dress."

"Uhh… yeah… and?"

"You know the festival's about pokemon and shit, right?"

"Y-yeah, I know that."

"Ight, unless you hoping to get that for your pokemon in which case bruh, you hella weird."

"No, it's not for my pokemon…"

"Just checkin'... just checkin'... Bro, no lie, I'd smash, no question, but maybe if she was a bit more like this." Zach put his hands out in front of him, curled, and pushed them forward. Zach turned to Daniel with a very strange look, "Know what I'm sayin'?"

"No… I don't know what you're sayin'..."

"Brah." Zach proceeded to do a very slow dab that sped up at the end, "Ya boy OUT!" Zach started to walk away, putting his hands in his hoodie pocket and started walking away.

"What the hell was tha-"

"ALSO!" Zach whipped around, turning to Daniel again, "You going to the tree later?"

"Yeah, of course… Isn't that a part of the festival?"

"Coolios, see you there Dani boyyy." Zach continuing to walk away.

"What in the fuck." Daniel cursed in his head, Daniel looking back to the dress.

"if you really want to get it… it shouldn't matter what the price is." Daniel remembered what he told Lucas, he looked at the dress, then pulled up Bisharp's pokeball and felt guilty as he looked at the pokeball.

"Daniel!" Serena yelled, Daniel looked to see Serena waving in the distance, "I found George!"

"Coming!" Daniel yelled back, he looked back at the dress, "Later…" he shoved Bisharp's pokeball back and ran to catch up with Serena.

Daniel, George, and Serena did some shopping, George and Serena actually got stuff and carried around bags with stuff for their pokemon. Daniel followed behind, thinking of what to get for Bisharp but he saw nothing that he thought would be of interest to him. Everyone eventually regrouped back at the station and went into the station to get back. After passing through the terminal, the people at the station celebrated because Ash, who was the first person to step through, was their 1,000,000th passenger. Everyone clapped, a worker handing Ash a small yellow box wrapped with a red ribbon which had a souvenir.

After getting on the train, Ash opened up the box to reveal a blue ribbon. Ash was bummed out because it's something his pokemon wouldn't take either. Ash then worries what he should get for his pokemon but Serena tells Ash that his pokemon would be happy if Ash made a present for them. this gives Ash an idea for what he should get for his pokemon. On the other hand, Daniel told George about what happened to him, about his interaction with Zach specifically.

Once the train reached its destination, Ash bolted off, ready to get what he wanted to get. That left Serena, Daniel, and George to walk back to the Pokemon Center. When they got close, Daniel stopped suddenly which caused the other two to stop and look.

"What is it Daniel?" Serena asked, noticing Daniel's eyes just staring at the floor still.

"I need to go back…"

"WHY?" George questioned Daniel, his friend letting out a sigh.

"Just something I need to get."

"Not you too Daniel, you and Ash are going to be late." Serena worried, Daniel turning his back to them.

"I won't be late, trust me, I'll make it snappy."

Daniel started to jog off back to the train station, leaving behind two confused friends. George and Serena returned with everyone else. Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie worked on their presents for their pokemon for an hour. After everyone was ready to go, they set off, Ash made it back in the nick of time to catch up with the rest of the group and everyone headed of to the tree.

Meanwhile with Daniel…

Daniel walked through the street, relatively few people here and there but everyone's at the festival now so it was pretty quiet. Daniel didn't remember where the shop was so he was looking around. The trainer noticed a man sleeping against the walls of one of the buildings and covered with a torn blanket. The man was homeless from what Daniel could tell. Daniel felt an empty feeling in his stomach as he remembered his past.

Flashback

Daniel and Samuel huddled with their mother as they lay against the cold wall of the building. They shivered, their clothes torn and burnt, and had nothing else. People just casually passing by, not even batting an eye towards them and just let them suffer. It went on like this for hours on end, nothing to do, nothing they can do. But, that changed…

A family, out of the kindness in their heart reached out to the Barsony family. The family consisting of the two parents and two small girls around Daniel's age. What they said that day, "Do you need help?" was the most reassuring thing they've heard in ages.

It sounds dumb, but it was because of this family they could get back on their feet. The family took the Barsoney's in, fed them, gave them comfortable and warm clothes, and a place to live. For Daniel, and for the rest of his family, they are forever in debt to this family. Who was this family? They were none other than the Ferris Family. All hope seemed lost but was regained because of the Ferris Family and the first of the Ferris's to reach out to Daniel was the oldest daughter, Serena.

End

Daniel winced, he would like very much to help but there is nothing he can do at the moment. The man's asleep so Daniel doesn't want to disturb him, he can't leave anything there because some scum would just take it. Daniel felt guilty as he merely walked away and eventually found the store he was looking for.

With Everyone else…

The entire group waited at the Vow Tree, there were hundreds of people and pokemon by the tree, Everyone had to put their gifts in the same place in front of the tree. The crew had all their pokemon out, Typhlosion, ofcourse, attracted plenty of attention from everyone but Andres and him brushed it off. After everything was set, it was time to move onto the event. Ramos, who was there stood behind a podium, with everyone else surrounding him and listening.

"Now then, let's begin-" Ramos said, almost immediately after he said that, all the presents began to get sucked up into something within the tree. Ash's Frogadier immediately saw the target and scaled the tree and fire a projectile at the target. From the tree, fell a Wobbuffet along with two other adults.

"If you ask us 'What on Earth is this?!'", one of the adults said.

She is a woman with has fuschia pink hair that she wears curled in a comet-tail behind her head. She wears a pair of green pearl earrings that complement her sapphire-blue eyes. Her attire consisted of a short black shirt that exposes her midriff under a white high collared sleeved shirt emblazoned with a large red R, a white mini skirt, black leg-length boots, and long black arm-sleeves.

"It's the world's mercy that makes us answer!" the other adult said.

He is a man that has shoulder length periwinkle hair with a single fringe sprouting from the center and green eyes. His attire, which consists of a white long sleeve shirt with a large red R on it and a black short sleeve undershirt, with white pants with a purple belt on his waist and black boots and matching gloves.

"To prevent the world's destruction!" the Woman said

"To protect the world's peace!" the man followed

"Carrying out the evil of truth and love,"

"We're lovely, charmy villains!"

"Jessie!" The woman posed.

"James!" The man posed along with her

"For the Team Rocket duo dashing across the galaxy,"

"A white hole, a white tomorrow is waiting ahead!"

"Just kidding!" a mechanized voice sounded behind the tree as a large, mechanized Meowth styled Mech emerged.

"Team Rocket! It's you guys again!" Ash called.

Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, who seem to be very acquainted with Team Rocket, started to argue with them and in the meantime, Andres and George sit there, not sure what the hell is going on. James activated the vacuum device they had and began to suck in all the presents again. The vacuum itself was powerful, it was tugging at every person there but it didn't move them. Small pokemon however were knocked off balance and was sucked towards the vacuum. Serena's Fennekin got lifted off the ground as it was brought closer to the Vacuum. Serena panicked, calling out Fennekin's name and chasing after it.

Everyone was shocked, the group calling out to Serena. The machine was turned off and the sudden stop of airflow caused Serena to trip and fall. James got close to Serena and forced her up, holding her by her arms. Serena panicked, trying to break free from James, Ash tried running for her but was stopped by a Shadow Ball exploding in front of Ash. The shadow ball was fired by a Pumpkaboo who belonged to Jessie. James handed Serena to the Meowth Mech which grabbed her and constricted her.

"Don't move, or this girl is going to get hurt!" Said the mechanized voice from the Meowth mech, everyone backing of and standing there.

"We'll let the girl go once you give us all your pokemon and presents. Simple as that." Jessie bargained, her hands on her hips, her partner taking out his Inkay.

"Should I?" Typhlosion whispered to Andres, but his voice was still loud enough that some people around him heard.

"No, you're gonna end up burning the tree and in some way shape or form, you'll end up hurting her." Andres denied, looking at the situation and thinking of the best plan of action. George's Lucario emerged from the crowd and immediately darted towards Team Rocket. The Meowth mech tightened its grip, causing Serena to scream in pain. Lucario stopped dead in its tracks, James's Inkay firing a Psybeam at Lucario who didn't notice the attack. Lucario was knocked back, a small bruise where the beam hit.

"You fiends! Let her go!" Ramos yelled, Jessie and James laughing simultaneously.

"Like we said, only when you hand us what we asked for. It can't get simpler than that." James mocked, crossing his arms. The crowd stood there, speechless and very unsure of what to do. Zach, who was within the crowd, only watched.

"Bro, I would like, do something right now, but I don't feel like it. Not that I could do anything in the first place." Zach thought to himself, looking at the damsel in distress and recognizing it was the "thick" girl from earlier.

Daniel was walking back, a present inside of a bag and next to him was Bisharp.

"Hey, Bisharp." Daniel spoke, his pokemon not even turning around.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"Were… were you angry earlier?"

"... kind of…"

"Why?"

"If i'm being honest, it has to do with you."

"What did I do?"

"Andres pointed out something that I didn't even notice. I always knew about it but your friend put it into perspective for me. Your complete disregard for your family, your unwavering focus on defeating your brother. I'm honestly starting to feel like a tool you're using just to beat your brother and win."

"Bisharp, you aren't a tool!"

"Then what am I outside of just battling pokemon battles for you?"

"You're my friend."

"Yeah? What about your priorities? You're so dead-focused on your goal everything it just a stepping stool for you to achieve it. What about the others, what about my goal? Andres's? George? Hell, Serena!"

"Bisharp, I care about you and my friends more than anything else!"

"So in the end, what turns out to be more important, your friends or your damn goal?"

"Bisharp, I-" Daniel didn't finish as he saw a massive crowd in front of the Vow Tree. He saw a large, meowth styled mech further away which caught his attention. "What the hell?"

Bisharp looked, also confused by what he was seeing as well. They dropped the conversation for now to check it out and they were behind the crowd now. Daniel was trying his best to look past everyone; eventually, when he managed to get a good view, that's when he saw it. Serena being held hostage by the mech and two adults with their pokemon out. The mech tightened its grip a little more, causing Serena to whimper. Daniel was immediately concerned, looking around the crowd for his friends and noticed them. The boy forced himself through the crowd, Bisharp trying to follow his trainer but took longer because of his body blades.

"Andres!" Daniel called, putting his hand on Andres's shoulder, his friend turning around and almost jumping at seeing Daniel so close.

"Daniel? What took you so long?" Andres asked, almost irritated.

"No time for that, what the hell's happening?"

"To put it simply, Team Rocket, yada yada yada, stealing, yada yada yada now Serena's hostage."

"And you let this happen?!"

"We honestly tried to stop it but they won't let us."

The two of them looking back, Daniel gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. George was getting ready to say something to Andres, seeing Daniel so he was going to ask them both.

"Yo, guys, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know… no matter what we do she's going to-"

Serena screamed, everyone looked back, the mech tightening it's grasp on the damsel. Daniel's knees grew weak hearing that, an empty, unpleasant feeling in his stomach.

"It's now or never, brats, we don't have all day!" Jessie demanded, getting impatient.

"If she keeps getting squished like this, she might end up dying…" Andres continued, daniel's eyes dilating and his heart sinking from hearing that. Daniel began to sweat, every sound becoming muffled and his ears ringing, the only other sound he could hear was his heartbeat. Daniel's breathing became a little difficult and after several seconds, he can hear clearly.

"Well, we can't just stand here like this! We gotta do something!" George argued to Andres, noticing Daniel trembling from fear, "Daniel?"

"They're right… it's now or never…" Daniel spoke quietly, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes.

"Daniel?"

"I'll go on ahead… you guys take that chance to save her… alright?"

"Daniel, what are you going to do?" Andres questioned concerningly, the trainer taking a step forward and slowly walked forward. "Daniel…. Daniel!" He called.

"I'm not going to let her… get hurt like this!" Daniel transitioning from walking to a full sprint towards Team Rocket and the mech. Andres and George's eyes grew wide in shock, everyone in the crowd baffled by this.

Daniel was running as fast as possible, his eyes focused on Team Rocket.

"Stop you idiot, you're going to get hurt!" Ramos yelled, Daniel didn't hear a thing and continuing his charge.

"Alright Daniel, you got everyone's attention! what the hell's next?!" Daniel yelled internally, James's Inkay firing a Psybeam towards Daniel. "Dodge!" He told himself, attempting to sidestep the beam. He dodged it but the Beam barely hit, going through Daniel's side and grazing Daniel's skin deeply, shedding blood from his side. Daniel gasped for air because of the attack, he took a quick breath of air as his pupils shrunk to mere dots and his whole body was filled with adrenaline.

Daniel pressed on, coming face to face with the Inkay as he ran, he forcibly pushed the pokemon aside and saw one of the adults, a male standing in his way. The man threw a right hook at Daniel, time slowing down for the trainer as he remembered Bisharp's maneuver against Lucario: Daniel, using his left hand to push away the hit and with his right, threw a punch at the adult, knocking him down.

"You brat!" the man cried, Daniel running for the mech now.

"Not so fast!" the woman warned, preparing to tell her pokemon what to do. An Aura Sphere came out of nowhere and hit the woman's Pumpkaboo, knocking it away. The woman looked to see it was from George and his Lucario. The mech reached for Daniel with it's free hand, the teenager noticed this and ducked out of the way to avoid being grabbed. Daniel began to climb the mech, not feeling the pain of the previous attack but felt the struggle of climbing so fast forcibly. Serena watched, completely and utterly shocked at what she was witnessing from her friend.

When Daniel was high enough, he jumped towards the hand that had Serena in it, jumping in the nick of time to avoid being grabbed. Daniel caught on with one arm, the pain making his heart skip a beat as he felt his arm muscles getting strained and pulled as well as his shoulder experiencing a sharp pain. Daniel screamed in pain, almost wanting to cry from it but he soldiered through, prioritizing his friend over himself. he hurled his other arm up and attempted to pull up, feeling excruciating pain as he pulled himself up. Daniel was breathing heavily and at the brink of passing out once he made it up.

"DANIEL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Serena yelled, almost wanting to cry watching her friend get hurt so much.

"I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU, WHAT THE HELL DOES IT LOOK LIKE?!" Daniel shouted back, and trying his best to pry the hand open to free his friend. Daniel was giving it his all to open the hand but to no avail. Daniel tried even harder, past what his body could normally handle, causing blood to start leaking from Daniel's nose. Daniel screamed in pain and anger as he continuously tried to open the hand. Serena was at the very brink of crying herself, this was too much for her to handle and screamed at Daniel to stop.

"Typhlosion, help him out!" Andres ordered, Typhlosion getting in front and charging at the Mech like a gigantic Bear.. Jessie and James jumping out of the way as the large pokemon slammed itself into the mech. The blow knocking the mech backwards, opening up the its hands; freeing Serena and knocking Daniel off. The boy landed on the floor, hitting his head against it and losing consciousness. Serena landing on her shoulder but only left a bruise.

"Oh gosh, Daniel! DANIEL!" Serena noticed, crawling over to check her friend. Typhlosion spun around, going to grab Daniel and Serena.

"Come on!" The mech sounded, reaching for Daniel and Serena as well. Serena winced and held Daniel close to her to protect him. Everyone in the crowd started to take action but something moved past everyone in front of Daniel and Serena like a blur. Serena heard the arm stop and opened her eyes to see Bisharp standing there, holding back the arm, his arms wobbly from the difficulty of holding it back. Typhlosion surprised by Bisharp's sudden appearance.

"Bisharp?!" Serena called, Andres and George surprised at how fast Bisharp closed that distance gap.

"What the hell do you think you're doing…" Bisharp uttered, pushing the arm back. Serena stood there, amazed at the pokemon's strength. "TO MY FRIENDS?!" A purple aura exploded from Bisharp's body, creating a blast of air blowing against everyone.

Bisharp pulled his fist back, and instantly hit the arm of the mech. The entire mech shook from the hit, the arm cracking and shattering. The voice of the mech screamed in fear, James and Jessie looking in absolute shock that the mech was damaged. The mech started to back up, trying to get away from the pokemon.

"Holy GAD, Let's do this!" George called, Andres nodding. Typhlosion who didn't grab Serena and Daniel yet, grouped together with George's Lucario as well as Bisharp. Lucario's arm covered in orange, Typhlosion cloaking itself in blue flames, and Bisharp's aura growing larger. The trio bent their knees and rushing towards the mech simultaneously. Jessie and James cowering behind the mech for protection. "Holy GAD Power Charge!" George yelled, Bisharp, Typhlosion, and Lucario punching and making contact with the mech at the same time. The mech shattered into pieces, the united blow creating enough force to send the entirety of Team Rocket blasting off into the distance until they couldn't be seen.

The Holy GAD pokemon stood there, looking up into the sky as they marvelled at their strength. Lucario and Tyhplosion turning around to take a good look at Bisharp. It was the first time they saw him like this. The aura slowly faded, revealing a different looking Bisharp.

"Is that what he looks like under the aura…?" Andres asked, Daniel's pokemon glowing white as cracks appeared, the light breaking off Bisharps body like a shell to reveal his normal self. Everyone stood there, speechless at the whole ordeal, no one had anything to say. Serena, still holding onto Daniel looked at him, blood covering his mouth, blood leaking from his side and staining his clothes. And his face pale, Serena started to cry, pulling Daniel closer as she whimpered for her friend.