Hey everyone! Sorry for the longer than usual wait, but the video game Destiny released some more stuff and that's had most of my attention :P

Anyway here is the next chapter! Enjoy!


8 Months Ago

Giovanni marched down the brightly lit hall, a fresh bandage wrapped around the side of his head. The one visibile eye glared straight forward intensely. He passed by multiple members of Team Rocket, but they ducked their heads, avoiding his angry eye. Giovanni rounded a corner, and stood outside a large wooden door. He flung the heavy piece of wood open, proceeded inside, and slammed it behind him. He was now standing in a room full of people working at computer monitors. A large overhead screen was displaying many of their actions. A burly woman, with long black hair stood in the center of the room, where she could see the overhead screen best. Giovanni marched right up alongside her, his eye on the screen now.

"This better be good Matilda" Giovanni spat, "you better have found those kids".

Matilda turned her silver eyes on her boss. She let out a thin smile, and said, "I have sir".

Giovanni grinned widely, as Matilda turned to a worker.

"You there" she spat, "pull up Ketchum and Oak".

The small man squeaked at being addressed suddenly, but pulled up two photo's on the overhead screen. One was of Ash, walking through town holding Misty's hand. The other was of Gary, standing outside Professor Oak's lab talking with the Professor.

"Where are they" Giovanni asked, rage shaking behind his voice.

"Pallet Town sir" Matilda answered.

"Then we march" Giovanni nearly shouted, "prepare the troops"!

He started to walk away, but Matilda said, "Sir, there is more".

Giovanni stopped, and slowly turned back to her.

"Our scouts have reported that Gary Oak is no longer in Pallet" Matilda began, "he has begun searching for Mewtwo".

Giovanni's brow went up, and Matilda continued, "also, our scouts have overheard the Ketchum boy speaking with the Professor about something we haven't heard of".

This piqued Giovanni's interest even more, he took a step forward. Matilda took his silence as a sign to continue.

"They were speaking of something called a Dominion".

"A Dominion" Giovanni mused.

He was silent for a while, processing what Matilda had just told him. In a snap his eye flashed back to Matilda.

"Alright, hold off the assault" Giovanni told her, "track Gary Oak. Let him lead us to Mewtwo. As for Ketchum, pull up his records. Now"!

Giovanni snapped to the small man, and he squeaked yet again. Within a minute, Ash's Pokemon profile was pulled up on screen. Every Pokemon he had every caught, every region he had been to, every badge he had earned, his rankings in the Leagues, everyone he had ever known, and even every Legendary Pokemon he had come across were pulled up before Giovanni's eyes. He awed over Ash's achievements, his jaw dropping slightly.

"This kid is something else, I'll give him that" Giovanni stated.

His eyes scanned over the Legendary Pokemon list...wait a minute...this kid has seen almost ALL of them! Impossible! If it is true, then this kid has made some powerful friends. And what was this Dominion? A new Pokemon Giovanni hadn't heard of? Was it more powerful than these Legendary Pokemon on his screen.

"Matilda" Giovanni began slowly, "keep an eye on Ketchum. Make sure he won't be informed about his Legendary friends".

"Sir"?

"We're going to capture them".

"All of them"?

Giovanni grinned maliciously wide, baring his teeth, "all of them".


Present Day

"ASH"!

Misty's voice was still ringing in his ears, like a distant echo. Bouncing farther away by the second. His muscles ached, and his head was spinning out of control. Or was he actually spinning? He couldn't tell. Something was swirling. Where was he? Somewhere cold. A feint shiver tried to run through his body, but his muscles wouldn't respond. He tried to open his eyes, but only saw darkness, and a bubble? Huh...oh how his body ached. Wait! Floating in darkness, surrounded by cold. Was he dead? Somehow...the thought was, peaceful. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be dead. He wouldn't have to worry about the stress. An image of the mother holding her dead child flashed through his mind...he wouldn't have to watch any more people die. No more chasing down Mewtwo, or worrying about the Dominion. He could have peace...sweet, sweet peace. The aching in his muscles started to fade.

A dim light appeared in front of him, slowly growing closer. A light at the end of the tunnel? So this was death...darkness and light. His friends would be ok without him...they would...right? His friends...He could see Brock's smiling face, and Gary enlarging a PokeBall, ready for a battle. May beaming at him with her hands on her chest. Professor Oak and his mother, waving goodbye as he started another adventure. Pikachu running to him, and lunging into the air with a cheerful squeak, expecting his trainer to catch him. Then...Misty...she slowly turned to him, her red-orange hair blowing across her face. She smiled sweetly at him, her cheeks turning a simple shade of red. Her light blue eyes sparkled as she said "I love you Ash Ketchum".

I love you...

I love you...

I love you...

Those words echoed in his head. Only this time, Misty's voice was bouncing closer, getting louder. Misty...Misty moved to the side, allowing him to see behind her. In front of Ash were two teenage versions of him and her, sitting in a patch of yellow flowers by a lake as the sun was setting. Misty was swirling her feet in the water, and Ash was eyeballing a flower close to him. The teenage Ash reached out and plucked it.

"Misty" he said, his voice sounding as if it was in a tunnel.

"Hm" the teenage Misty responded, turning to the teenage Ash.

"Here".

The younger Ash reached out to Misty, pushing some of her hair back behind her ear. With his other hand, he struggled to place the yellow flower in her hair. Teenage Misty giggled at teenage Ash's intense focused expression. Teenage Ash pulled his hands back to himself as he succeeded, and the two locked eyes. The sun was nearly set by this time, and both were slowly inching closer, their eyes fluttering shut, and huge blushes spreading across their cheeks. The two jumped back in surprise as a Magikarp splashed out of the water and landed in their laps. The older Misty turned to look back at Ash as the scene shifted, and once again they were on a lake, only this time at night. Ash spotted himself and Misty once again, sitting by the water where they had their very first kiss. Ash watched himself pluck a white flower this time, and place it in Misty's hair. A few moments later, the slightly younger Ash was planting a slow kiss on Misty. The older Misty blocked Ash's view, and his heart froze. She was crying, looking at him with deep sadness.

"Don't leave me again" the Misty said.

'I'm not...I'm not...' Ash tried to convince himself.

The light in front of Ash, behind Misty, was still gradually growing brighter. Misty's features began to fade in color, her figure turning into a black silhouette. Ash tried to reach out to her, but she was too far from his reach. The light behind her was growing even brighter. The silhouette of Misty tried to reach out to him as well, but she was too far also. Their fingertips were mere centimeters apart. Ash tried to extend his fingers as far as he could, he needed to touch her. The light continued to grow. No matter his effort, Misty's silhouette was too far from his reach. If dying ment he would never be able to touch her again then he had made his decision...

"I won't die" Ash tried to say aloud, but only bubbles came out of his mouth, "I WON'T"!

The light was right in front of him now. His head burst out of the ocean into the air, saltwater burning his eyes. He gasped for breath, inhaling deeply.

"Pikachupi"!

Ash's head was still spinning, but he was able to finally get his bearings. A wave crashed into the back of his head, and he felt the rodent Pokemon latch onto his hair. The boat was sailing away in front of him, peppered with holes along the hull. Dozens of helicopters still circled the boat, but many of them were flying alongside the holes, allowing members of Team Rocket to jump aboard. Of course, Ash didn't have any of his water Pokemon with him. As fast as his aching muscles would allow, he started to swim after the boat.

"Pipipi"!

His Pokemon clung to his soaking head, urging his trainer to go faster. But it was no use, the boat was sailing along too fast. A flash of red light lit up at one of the holes, and an awed Ash watched as a Gyarados splashed into the water in front of him.


Gary slid to a stop at the back of the boat. The crashed helicopter was smoking before him. Bits of metal and wood littered the deck of the boat. Deep scratches were embedded in the wood where the helicopter had slid. Gary's Alakazam marched in front of him, ready to defend its trainer. A thud slammed into the helicopter door from the inside, followed by another, and then another.

"Get ready Alakazam" Gary told his Pokemon.

"Kazam"!

The helicopter door burst off its hinges, crashing to the floor. Giovanni stumbled out of the wreckage, blood running down the side of his face along his scar. He spotted Gary waiting, and licked his lip where the blood was trailing down it.

"Call off your attack" Gary demanded, making Giovanni sneer.

"Give me the Mew's location and it's a done deal".

"Call off your attack" Gary repeated.

Giovanni's sneer faded, and he looked at the floor. The helicopter behind him burst into flames, making Giovanni look like a silhouette.

"No more games" Giovanni growled, looking back up at Gary.

"Reflect" Gary shouted as Giovanni pulled out a pistol and fired thrice.

Alakazam wasn't fast enough, one bullet whizzed by and pierced into Alakazam's chest.

"Ala...".

The Psychic Pokemon's face was in shock, and the reflect flickered.

"NO" Gary shouted.

His Alakazam collapsed backwards, breathing in wheezes. Gary tried to reach for his Alakazam's PokeBall, but Giovanni fired a warning shot at his feet. Gary glared with pure hatred at the Team Rocket leader, who was looking insane.

"Where, is, the, Mew" Giovanni demanded, his voice dangerously low.

Gary put all of his training to use. All those years of Pokemon training, all those years of traveling around, he had the speed advantage. He sprinted at Giovanni, hitting the deck and sliding under the first fire of bullets. Jumping up, and dodging to the side, Gary avoided the second round of fire. And before Giovanni could fire off the third round, Gary had tackled directly into him. The two tumbled back, too close to the flames for comfort. Sweat poured of off Gary from the heat, but he ignored it. Slamming his fists into Giovanni's skull. Gary may have the speed advantage, but he miscalculated Giovanni's strength. In a surprising force, Giovanni grabbed Gary, and flipped him on his back. Before Gary could retaliate, he was staring down the barrel of the pistol inches from his face. Giovanni's crushing weight sitting on his chest.

"Last chance boy" Giovanni growled.

Gary, luckily, didn't have to respond.

"Salamence, Dragon Rage"!

The shout made Giovanni turn to inspect, and Gary took his chance to cock his head to the side. The Dragon Rage slammed into Giovanni, flipping him through the air, but not before the pistol went off. The gunshot was deafening in Gary's ear, and he felt the wood from where the bullet hit cut his face. His left ear was ringing loudly as he sat up to see his savior. The Salamence snorted smoke, and its trainer stepped out from behind. Cameron!

"You alright" Cameron shouted in concern.

"Fine" Gary shouted back, jumping to his feet and running to his Alakazam.

Gary slid next to it, fighting back the tears at seeing the blood pooling around his Pokemon. His Alakazam was gone...No...

"Heads up" Cameron said, turning his eyes to Giovanni.

The Team Rocket leader was returning to his feet, covered in burns.

"So..." Giovanni's voice was almost distorted in rage, "you wan't to fight with Pokemon then"?

The grin spreading across Giovanni's face couldn't even be described as a grin. It was pure evil, and twisted with rage. He unclipped two PokeBall's and raised them in front of him.

"Death...will not be swift" Giovanni threatened.

He raised his hand to throw the PokeBall's. Gary instinctively reached back for one of his. With a deafening roar, a Gyarados burst over the side of the boat, rising high above them, and raining droplets of water across the deck. It glared down at the scene before it. Gary's jaw dropped upon seeing the person riding on the back of the Gyarados.


Misty turned from the hole in the side of the ship. The wind whipped into the hall, pushing her hair sticking out from under Ash's hat into her face. The three Team Rocket members and their Pokemon were advancing. Misty put away the empty PokeBall in her hand, and grabbed another. She released Politoed alongside Golduck. It must of sensed the danger, because it was not clapping as usual.

"Politoed, Hydro Pump. Golduck, Aurora Beam"!

The two Pokemon shot their attacks together, combining them into one massive blast. Hydro Beam? Or Aurora Pump? The three Team Rocket members shouted in fear as they were blasted down the hallway with their Pokemon.

"Nice one".

Ash's voice made her spin on her heels. She was greeted by her Gyarados' face outside the hole, and Ash and Pikachu sitting on top of it. They were covered in burns and scratches from the Hyber Beam.

"Oh thank God" Misty relieved upon seeing Ash.

A feint pop made Ash look to the back of the boat.

"That was a gunshot...Gary" Ash realized, looking at Misty with concern.

"Gyarados" Misty began, "drop Ash off at the back of the boat, then stop any helicopters from getting near the boat"!

Gyarados roared in confirmation and began to swim away. Ash turned to Misty with a 'what are you doing' expression.

"Help Gary and then meet me outside the dining room" Misty shouted after him, leaning out the hole, "I love you"!

Ash nodded back at her and shouted, "I love you too"!

Ash gripped on tight as Gyarados rose up out of the water swiftly. It roared loudly as the deck appeared in view. Ash surveyed the scene down below. Giovanni had two PokeBall's raised high.

"Gyarados! Hydro Pump" Ash shouted.

Gyarados reared back and blasted a high speed pulse of water. It slammed into the burning wreckage of the helicopter, and washed over Giovanni. He screeched as the metal debris crashed into him, and slid across the deck. The helicopter crashed into the railing, and toppled over the side, falling down into the ocean. Giovanni screamed as he tumbled with it, his screams cutting off as he hit the water. Satisfied, Gyarados lowered down to deck, allowing Ash and Pikachu to hop off.

"Thanks Gyarados" Ash stated, "now stop those helicopters"!

With an agreeing roar, Gyarados dove away. Ash spun on deck, quickly scanning for Gary. He spotted him, and Cameron, standing over a body. Ash bolted towards them, sliding to a stop behind Gary. Upon seeing Gary's Alakazam lying in a pool of blood, for the first time, Ash didn't know what to say to Gary. Ash looked up at Cameron, who's face was hard as stone, not looking down at the Alakazam. His Salamence stood behind him, its eyes scanning for more danger. The helicopter's thundering seemed distant at that moment, until one swooped over the edge, aiming its guns straight at the small group. Before it could fire, a Hyperbeam blasted into its side and exploded out the other. The chopper faltered, and crashed back down over the edge. Gyarados roared from down below.

Ash quickly realized they needed to get downstairs, away from the helicopter's, and to help eradicate Team Rocket from the boat. He was just about to say something to Gary when another roar sounded from below the boat. It wasn't Gyarados...it was much higher pitch, and almost sounded like a song. A very familiar song...in surprising speed a white, flying Pokemon zoomed past the edge of the boat high into the air. It expanded its wings and glared down at the boat. A Lugia! What the hell!? Oh who cares, they had more help!...wait...a small device with a red light was attached to Lugia's head, thin wires protruded from the device, and ran along Lugia's body, and on its back sat Giovanni. Grinning wildly!

"Attack Lugia" Giovanni's voice rang down.

An orange beam shot down from the sky, straight to the small group.

Cameron was the first to react, "MOVE"!

He crashed himself into Ash, Pikachu, and Gary, tackling them out of the initial blast. The force of the explosion was still enough to send them into the wall. Salamence was the fastest, it flew high into the air, straight at Lugia. It bobbed and weaved past the orange beams, and tried to tackled Giovanni off. Lugia rolled in the air, avoiding the Salamence. Giovanni gripped on tight. Ash sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Pikachu was already on his feet, watching the battle overhead. Gary sat up against the wall, and quickly scanned over the deck. His Alakazam's body was gone...probably blasted over the edge. The thought made him sick, and he quickly shot to his feet. Cameron was getting up now, using the wall as leverage. Gary grabbed a PokeBall and threw it high into the air.

"Go Scizor! Help that Salamence"!

The Steel Pincer Pokemon exploded from the flash of red light, and immediately took off after Lugia. Ash head was spinning, not from hitting the wall, but from over thinking. How the holy hell did Giovanni capture a Lugia?! Ash finished getting to his feet. Here's to hoping that's not the same one from the Orange Islands. The Lugia dodged an attack by Scizor, and locked eyes with Ash. His stomach hardened as a voice shot through his head.

"Help me Chosen One".

Lugia rolled out of the way of another one of Salamence's attacks. Ash's heartbeat exploded into his head, drowning out the other sounds. Acting more on instinct than rational thought, Ash called forth Charizard.

"Let's go Pikachu" Ash called, hopping on Charizard's back.

Pikachu bounded up, nestling himself in front of Ash.

"Fly Charizard"!

With a roar, Charizard sped high into the air. Ash could hear Gary shouting to him, but his voice was lost in the wind.

"We have to free Lugia from Giovanni's control" Ash shouted over the wind to his Pokemon.

Charizard suddenly veered left as a helicopter tried to ram them. A Hyberbeam blasted the helicopter to pieces, and Ash looked down to see Gyarados roar in victory. Giovanni had Lugia dodge another attack, and fire back at Scizor. Scizor dodged the orange beam, but Salamance wasn't as lucky. It knocked the dragon out of the sky, and it plummeted to the water.

"Help it Scizor" Gary shouted.

Scizor veered off its attack course, and dove swiftly down. It caught the Salamance, and slowed its fall just enough for Cameron to recall it.

"Flamethrower at Giovanni" Ash told Charizard.

With a roar, a stream of flames exploded from Charizard's mouth. Giovanni narrowly avoided them by having Lugia dive straight down.

"After him" Ash shouted.

Charizard dove as well. They blew past Gary and Cameron with amazing speed, the wind pushing them back. Scizor wouldn't be able to keep up with that, so Gary recalled his Pokemon.

"Cameron" Gary turned to him, "go back down into the boat and help remove Team Rocket. Ash and I got this".

Cameron seemed on the verge of arguing the point, but Gary's face was confident. With a quick nod, Cameron bolted across deck. Gary thumbed his fingers over his PokeBalls until he found the one he was after.

"Go Pidgeot"!

The bird Pokemon appeared before him and Gary mounted himself on its back.

"Let's go" Gary told it, "we have to help Ash"!

With a squawk the bird Pokemon soared into the air, chasing after Ash and Giovanni. Lugia sped around the front end of the boat, bobbing in between the multiple helicopters. Gyarados had noticed Ash's Charizard chasing Lugia, and tried to help by firing multiple Hyber Beams at the Legendary. Lugia was too fast, and dodged them all. Charizard bellowed as it zoomed after Lugia, flapping his wings fiercely. Ash instinctively kept reaching up to hold onto his hat, but forgot it was on Misty every time. Pikachu fired a thunderbolt at Giovanni, trying to dislodge him from Lugia's back. Lugia saw it coming, and dove straight down.

"ASH"!

Ash turned his head to see Gary speeding towards him on his Pidgeot.

"Gary, we have to remove that device on Lugia's head" Ash shouted back to his friend.

At seeing Gary's perplexed expression, Ash continued, "I know that Lugia! It's being mind controlled, or something of the sort. We have to remove that device"!

Gary nodded in confirmation, and tapped his Pidgeot's head. It received the signal, and spun straight down to try and head Lugia off. Lugia saw the Pidgeot, and folding its wings in tight. It slammed into the water like a torpedo, disappearing under the waves. Was Giovanni absolutely crazy?! Ash didn't get to debate on it, another helicopter tried to slam into Charizard. Charizard rolled out of the way to avoid it. Ash slipped. He plummeted towards the water, wind slapping his face.

"PIPIPI" he heard above him.

Ash tried to turn himself to see above him, but he was falling uncontrollably. Charizard's roar sounded in his ear, and Ash slammed onto the Fire Pokemon's back.

"Thank's buddy" Ash sighed in relief.

BOOM! A twister of water exploded high into the air. Gary was launched from his Pidgeot, and dropped to the water. Pidgeot wasn't able to recover in time, and Gary crashed underneath the waves. The water twister swayed violently, and Ash caught a glimpse of Lugia's form inside of it. Pidgeot flew furiously over the water, frantically searching for its trainer.

"Attack that twister together" Ash told his Pokemon. He wanted to help Gary, but if that twister hit the boat, a lot more people could get hurt.

Charizard and Pikachu blasted fire and electricity towards the water twister. An orange beam blasted out of the side, knocking the two attacks away. Charizard spun away to avoid the orange beam. Another helicopter spun around, aiming its guns at Ash.

"GO"!

Charizard did, speeding away as the mini guns fired. The helicopter chased them, turning to try and hit Charizard with its barrage of bullets. A deafening roar came from below, and Gyarados exploded out of the surface of the ocean. Gary was on his back, hanging onto one of the huge spikes.

"Hit the chopper" Gary shouted.

Gyarados blasted another Hyper Beam, and the helicopter after Ash exploded into pieces. Pidgeot flew fast to Gary, cawing happily that its trainer was alive. Gary mounted his Pokemon, and Gyarados resumed its blasting at the rest of the helicopters. Gary flew up next to Ash.

"What now" he asked loudly, staring at the water twister.

"We have to stop it" Ash replied.

"No shit" Gary remarked back.

The boat sailed closer to the twister as Ash and Gary watched.

"Pipipi Pikachupi"!

Pikachu tugged at Ash's shirt and was pointing to the twister. He started making hand gestures that symbolized Ash dropping Pikachu off into the twister.

"Only if you think it will work buddy" Ash warned, "I won't let you get hurt".

"Pikachu"!

Pikachu clenched his fist to show that he could handle it. Ash gave his little yellow Pokemon a long hard look.

"Pika"!

Pikachu closed his other fist. Ash nodded, and tapped Charizard, "get as close to the top of that thing as you can"!

Charizard bellowed, and off they went. The closer they got Ash could hear the water droplets from the twister sizzling against Charizard. Charizard grunted, but continued on.

"Pikapi" he shouted to indicate this was high enough, and with a huge leap, Pikachu dove off of Charizard. He splashed into the side of the water twister, and immediately was sucked around. Pikachu held his breath and swam through it, heading towards the center. Lugia was spinning in the middle, flapping its wings to keep the current strong. Pikachu used the current to his advantage, and let it carry him along. The little Pokemon exploded out of the water into the small air pocket around Lugia.

"Pika" he cried as he slapped into Giovanni's face, "CHUUUUUUUUU"!

From outside the twister, Ash watched silently, praying his Pokemon was alright. Gary flew up next to him, his expression hard. Suddenly the twister lit up bright yellow, cracking electricity. The electric arcs shot through the twister, creating swirling lightning. The lightning stopped, and the twister faded. The boat reached what was left of the twister as the water began to fall. It rained over the boat, soaking everything left on deck. Lugia remained suspended in midair for a moment, and then collapsed, crashing onto the front of the boat. Charizard sped forward, eager to see if his buddy was alright. Ash gripped on tight, praying that Pikachu was ok.