Author's Note (please read):

Ok, this is an important author's note. When I started this story, I didn't care about having a huge following. I was going to be happy if only a couple of people started reading and enjoying this. Now it's insane how many people are reading this. And I enjoy getting input from all of you. I like trying to give you a say in what should happen. I like learning from you when you point out various mistakes as it helps me improve.

There are some things that I need to address, though. A few people have fairly said that the breakup with Ash and Serena seemed kind of rushed and that it appeared like I put Palermo in just to have drama. In a way, I guess I did. That wasn't to be unfair to the readers, though. I have a lot of fun writing drama. And now, people think the love triangle idea is another thing like that. Now, I understand if you don't like drama, or even if you do, you feel like I'm adding too much. But I've realized that I'm hesitating with a lot of things because I'm too worried about what people don't like, rather than writing what I enjoy. I'm sorry if you end up not liking it, but I'm writing this for fun. I want to go in my own direction. I can't keep worrying about making people angry. I need to just write this to have fun, like I did in the beginning. That is, after all, how I got a lot of readers.

I know this isn't a perfect story. It's my first one. I want it to be a success, but more importantly I want it to be something I look at and am happy with. Some of the things I've written, I'm not happy with, because I write it to avoid getting hate. It's stupid to do that. Really stupid. And to those of you who like to write hate comments (it's only a few idiots using guest reviews), you're wasting your time. I find it hard to believe you can't find a story you like on this site. Your time is better spent reading something you enjoy rather than complaining about one you don't.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Here it is.

Chapter 36: Giovanni's Twisted Plan

It had been a week since Ash and Dawn had started travelling together. They'd made fairly good progress and hadn't had many slowdowns, with the exception of earlier this morning. Ash had made a transfer with Professor Oak and had brought back Noctowl, Quilava, Bayleaf, Totodile and Snorlax. Snorlax ended up wandering off and had started eating another trainer's food at his campsite.

Ash ended up having a battle with this trainer, who promised to forgive the incident if Ash beat him. It was fairly quick, with Quilava, Totodile and Bayleaf easily sweeping the three on three battle. Ash and Snorlax were forgiven and they were able to leave. Although, Ash had to unfortunately keep Snorlax in his pokeball, as the massive Pokemon started to immediately sleep.

"What's up with you and your Pokemon?" Dawn asked, as Pikachu and Piplup ran ahead to join Ash's other Pokemon up ahead. "You were so strong against that guy."

Ash shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it. Ever since Anistar City, I've felt different in my battles. It's kind of like a peaceful feeling when I'm battling."

Dawn thought for a moment and then smiled. "Kind of like when you faced Paul in the Sinnoh League, right?"

"What?" Ash asked. He hadn't really thought of it as something he'd felt before. However, as he did think of it...his battle with Paul...

"You were so calm before that battle. Even during that battle." Dawn said. Ash noticed she was talking like she was impressed. "Brock and I had been so worried about you, because of how much trouble Paul had given you. And honestly, we thought he would be able to get in your head. But, I guess like you say you feel now, you were at peace."

Ash nodded, starting to remember what that battle was like. How he'd felt. He really had managed to calm himself down for that battle. And his own calm demeanour had seemed to calm his Pokemon. He'd had a clear strategy and knew that he and his Pokemon had a pure desire to win that battle. There was really no way they were losing that battle. As he thought about it, he'd felt like that in other key battles as well. Against Gary in the Johto League, against various gym leaders, against Alain with Charizard and against Malva. Even in a battle he'd lost, like in Serena's showcase. He didn't think he'd have lost that, though, if he'd been able to fully control his connection with Greninja.

Dawn was looking at Ash curiously, and he realized he'd been silent for a few minutes. "You're right." He finally said. "It's not a totally new feeling." He paused, trying to find the right words. "It's weird, though. When I've felt like this before, it's only been in key battles. It's sort of when my Pokemon and I have are really connected in what we want." He stopped and looked at Dawn, but she just looked back with interest, like she wanted to hear more, so he continued. "I kind of feels like I can really understand what my Pokemon are capable of and they can understand that they can really trust me. It's just weird that it's happening so much lately.

"It's a good thing, though, isn't it?" Dawn asked. "If you fight like this for the Kalos League, how could you lose?"

Ash smiled, knowing that, in a way, it was true. "I really hope so. I feel like, beyond any other Pokemon League I've challenged, this is my best chance." He watched the Pokemon up ahead. Totodile had begun to do a little dance and Piplup had started attempting to mimic him. He then turned his attention back to Dawn, who was still watching him. "Something wrong?"

Dawn shook her head and then smiled. "I was just thinking I'd really like to come and watch you in the Kalos League. Would that be alright?"

Ash laughed at what he considered a ridiculous question. "Of course, Dawn. That would be awesome."

Dawn smiled and then she got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So...wanna tell me about the Unova League? Did you actually lose to that Cameron guy?"

Ash gave an exasperated sigh. "I definitely was not on top of my game there. But hey, he was still a pretty good trainer. Anyone with a Lucario and a Hydreigon is pretty tough."

Dawn shook her head, disbelievingly. "Anyone with an Infernape or even a Sceptile that has beaten a Darkrai is tough to beat as well. What were you thinking not using some of your older Pokemon?"

Ash looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. "I...um...well I felt like I should give the Unova Pokemon a chance. They did well, though. I think it was more about me. I wasn't as sharp as I was back in Sinnoh."

Dawn nodded. "Just don't lose this time. It really is about time you won. Cynthia said she expects you to be in the Champions League one day."

"I don't plan on going quietly." Ash said, narrowing his eyes in determination.

XXXXX

Serena had spent the last week working with Professor Sycamore at the lab. She did various chores for him, like feeding the Pokemon, cleaning and also assisting with organizing the equipment needed for mega evolution research experiments. She quite enjoyed the work, and she was able to read through a lot of Sycamore's research and also observe his experiments.

She'd also been able to get some time in to practice her routines with her Pokemon. She'd gotten an idea from her battle with Calem, and she'd been working with Pancham on using stone edge and then breaking through the stones using arm thrust in a straight line. After that, Sylveon would use fairy wind to lift the pieces of stone into the air and then Delphox would hit it with flamethrower, creating a shiny cloud of pink wind, red and orange flames and blue sparkles. It wasn't perfect, and needed work, but she liked the progress they were making.

Serena had just finished her morning's work and headed outside with her Pokemon to do some extra practice. She had Pancham do his part of the performance, having him do stone edge and then smash through it with arm thrust. Just when she was about to have Sylveon use fairy wind, a voice interrupted.

"Learned something from me, huh?" Serena turned around and saw Calem approaching her. He smiled. "Pancham's doing pretty well."

"What do you want?" Serena asked. "I thought you said you were going to Vaniville Town. Does it take a whole week to do that?"

Calem frowned, apparently surprised at the hint of hostility. "No...well yes I suppose. I went back, but I wanted to come back here. I actually wanted to ask you about Ash. Do you know where he is? I was hoping to battle him."

Serena bit her lip to stop it from quivering. She glanced down. "He's not here. Last I heard, he was in Anistar City, but knowing him he won't be staying there long if he did at all."

Calem, apparently not having noticing the sadness in Serena's voice, laughed. "So he doesn't like to stay in one place, huh? Cool. Anyways, is it true he beat Malva? I'd heard she was beaten by someone, I just didn't know it was him."

Serena nodded, feeling a little proud. She especially liked that beating an Elite Four member was probably something that Calem couldn't say he'd done. "He beat her, that's for sure. Pikachu beat her Mega Houndoom and then when she abandoned Houndoom, he joined up with Ash."

Calem did look impressed. "That's awesome. So he's probably a really good challenge for me. Things have been a little too easy lately."

This made Serena give him a dark look. "I thought we had a draw." She muttered, putting as much anger into her voice as possible.

Calem nodded. "Yeah...I didn't mean you. That was a pretty good battle." He paused. "So...you think he's around Anistar City?" Serena nodded. "Ok...I guess I'll head that way. It'll be good training going up against Ash."

Serena clenched her fists. "Don't expect to win. Ash is the best."

"Why aren't you with him? Clearly you care about him a lot." Calem asked, his question making Serena feel more irritated by him.

"It's a long story. None of your business." Serena muttered.

"So you broke up?" Calem asked.

"I said it's none of your business." Serena felt her nails digging into her palms from her fist clenching.

"Right...sorry." Calem sighed. "Want me to say hi to him for you?" Serena noticed he actually did seem to be sorry. She nodded. Calem smiled. "Alright. Well thanks for letting me know where he is. See you around." He turned and left with a wave.

Serena watched as Calem walked down the street and rounded a corner out of sight. She suddenly felt a little worried about Ash. She had been telling herself that Calem wasn't capable of beating him. That Calem was, in a way, a cheap copy of Ash. But...he did seem similar in some ways. Maybe Sycamore was right...maybe he was a very real threat to Ash winning the Kalos League.

XXXXX

Giovanni looked out the window to the coast of Kalos. He could just barely see the set up that some of his Team Rocket subordinates had set up. They'd put up a fairly decent camp along the coast, well hidden by the forests near Geosenge Town. Giovanni had decided that hiding out near Geosenge Town at this point was a perfect plan, as nobody would expect anyone to operate near Team Flare's now useless hideout.

In a few minutes, his private jet landed, and he was able to step out and see the camp up close. It was almost like a military set up, with large tents up everywhere and people in uniforms running around busily. There was an especially large tent at the centre of the camp, which Giovanni headed towards. As he walked, various Team Rocket members nodded to him, acknowledging their boss. Persian, waling alongside him, would growl if anyone didn't notice Giovanni.

When Giovanni entered his tent, he could see a table had been set up and a chair was behind it, along with three in front of it. He took his place in the single chair and looked at the three people in the chairs in front of him. Well...not three people. Two people and one cat-like Pokemon.

"You three." Giovanni muttered. He'd never been impressed by these three. They'd set their minds on capturing a boy's Pikachu, which seemed to possess particularly strong power. However, they had failed on this task for years. Not to mention their inadequacy at accomplishing any other tasks Giovanni set for them. Giovanni really only kept them in Team Rocket, because he enjoyed having members that truly feared him. He also knew that it was probably a good idea to keep tabs on that boy's Pikachu. At some point, perhaps even on this mission, it would be prudent for Giovanni himself to do the task of capturing that Pikachu.

Meowth spoke up, as obviously the other two weren't capable as they were too fearful. "Boss, I hope you are pleased with the camp we've set up. We've done everything you asked."

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "You three were not in charge of setting this up. Butch and Cassidy were in charge here." There was clearly a hint of irritation on the faces of Jessie and James, but the Team Rocket boss ignored it. "You're only here because you've done a somewhat decent job of finding an important mission."

"Yes, boss...we understand." Meowth said, glancing at Persian who was glaring at him. "Um...so...boss, we were wondering what task you had for us?"

"Task?" Giovanni asked, irritation clear in his voice. "Are you worthy of a task?"

Jessie spoke up here, apparently pride overcoming her fear. "Boss, didn't you say we did a decent job of finding an important mission? Don't we deserve a task?"

Giovanni glared at her until she looked away in fear. He then turned his attention back to Meowth. "I suppose I can...reward you with another mission."

"Thank you, boss." All three Team Rocket members squeaked out. They all then started speaking at once, asking what they could do.

"Silence." Giovanni said quickly, with a glare. He thought for a moment, almost enjoying the fear that the three of them watched him with. No...not almost...fully enjoying it. "Before I give you your task, I need to know about the Sundial. It was stolen from Anistar City and two Team Flare members were on guard to distract the police, correct?"

Meowth nodded. "And then the twerp with the Pikachu beat them. And like we told you...it looked like they had extra power from when they were hanging around the Sundial."

Giovanni considered this a moment. "Obviously that Sundial has some kind of power...but I wonder, how could it not give those Team Flare members power as well?"

Meowth nodded again, apparently having thought about this. "Well boss, I was actually thinking about that. The twerp seems to be kind of special...otherwise he wouldn't have been able to beat us so much."

"That's one opinion." Giovanni spat. "Your incapability is another possibility." He sighed. "Never mind that, though. I suppose the boy is special. I could sense something about him back in Unova." He paused and then a plan became clear in his mind. "We'll need the boy in our control."

"Um...why do we need him?" Meowth asked nervously.

Giovanni shook his head exasperatedly. "You three really are imbeciles aren't you? He's a unique trainer and he's our best shot at understanding the Sundial right now." When the three of them nodded, Giovanni continued. "I already suspect that Team Flare will be performing some kind of operation in Lumiose City."

"Why is that?" Meowth asked.

"If you want to send a message to the world and show your power, where would you want centre stage to be?" Giovanni asked, as if the answer was obvious. The three of them didn't need to answer, so he continued. "We'll need to move our operation near Lumiose City. If we want to get control of that Sundial, taking it when Team Flare begins their operation is our best chance."

"So why do we need the twerp?" James, who had been almost completely silent up until now, asked.

Giovanni smirked. "We will need to attempt to control that Sundial quickly. If we have him, we have our best chance of understanding what we'll have." He thought for a moment. "I suppose taking him by force isn't a wise option as he seems to have become a little bit of a celebrity. Not to mention, he admittedly seems to be quite strong and we can't afford wasting time." He sighed, hating what he was about to admit. "This is something you three may know about. You may not have noticed it outright, but think. He will have a weakness that we can exploit. You will have the most knowledge of what it could be."

The time it took for the three Rocket members to think would have been comical to others, but it only irritated Giovanni. These three really were quite moronic. Finally, Meowth spoke up, realization coming to his eyes. "The twerpette..."

"Go on..." Giovanni said, interest controlling his irritation.

Meowth looked at Jessie. "You said you thought he was getting closer with her remember?"

Jessie nodded, apparently now understanding. "Yes..." She looked at Giovanni. "The twerp and twerpette...they seemed to be getting quite...um...friendly with each other."

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "You mean...the boy is..." He smiled. "Very interesting." He stroked Persian's head next to him. "Excellent...this is very good." He enjoyed how the three fools in front of him looked at him nervously, as if worried about the boy. "A hero's greatest weakness is almost always his heart. This is excellent news." He drummed his fingers along the table in front of him. "I need a name."

"Serena." Meowth said. "Her name is Serena."

"Is she with him?" Giovanni asked.

Meowth shook his head. "For some reason, no. She wasn't there when he was at the Sundial and he was alone when we tried to get Pikachu the last time."

Giovanni thought for a moment. If they didn't know where she was, how would they use this girl to their advantage. He then looked at Meowth. "Did you not mention he was travelling with others before?"

Meowth nodded. "Yes...um..." His eyes widened. "Clemont...the Lumiose City gym leader and his little sister."

Giovanni waved his hand to dismiss what he felt was the useless information of the little sister. However, he was interested in the fact that this Clemont was the Lumiose City gym leader. "So he may be in Lumiose City. It is very possible that this Serena girl is also there."

Meowth nodded excitedly. "Yeah...do you need us to go and get her. We can bring her to you immediately."

Giovanni shook his head. "We don't know for sure if she is there." He paused and looked to his right and saw a phone. "We need to ensure she is there before we put our plan in place. We need the number for the Lumiose City gym."

XXXXX

Bonnie was in the middle of having a mock battle with Mairin when they heard the phone ring. Clemont had been hesitant about letting Bonnie battle with Mairin, but when she pointed out how well she'd done in Geosenge Town with Ash's Hawlucha, he reluctantly agreed. Dedenne was just about to attack Chespie with nuzzle before the noise distracted them all.

Clemont was busy up at the top of Prism Tower, so Bonnie ran to the phone that was just outside the gym. She whipped through the doors of the gym and grabbed the phone at the side of the hallway.

"Hello, this is the Lumiose City gym. This is Bonnie." Bonnie said, trying to make herself sound older, but knowing she was failing.

A female voice answered. "Hello...tw – I mean Bonnie. I am Jessaline. I am a reporter that works with the Kalos Today newspaper."

"Kalos Today...I don't think I've heard of that." Bonnie said.

"Oh yes...well we are new. An up and coming newspaper." Jessaline responded quickly. "Um...we were actually hoping for a special story that could really help our newspaper get some more popularity. We were hoping for some help from your brother."

Bonnie squinted, hearing Jessaline say that. "Wait...I never said anything about a brother."

Jessaline squeaked. "Oh yes...um well...we just assumed. We knew that Clemont was the leader...so...um when you answered we understood you to be his sister."

"Who's we?" Bonnie asked.

Jessaline seemed to growl for a brief moment, but then laughed sweetly. "Oh nothing, Bonnie. I talk about the Kalos Today newspaper as we all the time."

"That's weird." Bonnie said.

"It's rude to make comments like that." Jessaline said angrily. "Anyways," she said quickly, "could we please speak to Clemont."

"He's busy working on an invention." Bonnie said. "Can I take a message?"

"Of course he's working on an invention." Jessaline muttered.

"How do you know my brother makes inventions?" Bonnie asked.

"You're an irritating twerpette aren't you?" Jessaline yelled suddenly.

"Now who's the rude one?" Bonnie quipped back.

Bonnie heard Jessaline sigh exasperatedly. "Oh...ha ha. You're so sweet little Bonnie. I'm just joking."

It hadn't seemed like she was joking. "I don't know...you sounded pretty angry. You still sound pretty angry." Bonnie noted.

"It doesn't matter!" Jessaline yelled. She sighed. "Maybe you can help us. We were hoping to Clemont knew where Serena, the performer who almost defeated Aria, is. We wanted to do a story on her for our newspaper."

"Oh..." Bonnie said. She smiled. It was good that Serena was getting some attention. She deserved it. "Ok, well she's not here. She's in Lumiose City, though. She's been training with a woman named Palermo." She gave Jessaline the information regarding the address and the building. "I don't know if Palermo will really want reporters showing up, but maybe you can call Serena and let her know."

"Yes...I think we can work something out." Jessaline said, now sounding much more friendly. "Thank you, Bonnie. You've helped us out quite a bit."

"You're welcome." Bonnie said and the call ended.

XXXXX

"Excellent." Giovanni said, when Jessie finished the call. "So the girl is in Lumiose City?" Jessie nodded. "Very good. This makes the plan much easier." He thought for a moment. "I suppose you don't know where the boy is now?"

Meowth looked embarrassed. "Um...no boss." He then smiled. "But we should be able to find him easily enough."

Giovanni shook his head. "You're incapable." He absentmindedly stroked Persian as he thought. "I suppose it doesn't matter. He will come to us."

James looked nervously at Giovanni. "Um...boss...what do you plan on doing to the twerpette. We aren't going to...hurt her are we?"

"I will do what is necessary to get what we want." Giovanni growled. "If you don't have the stomach for Team Rocket tactics, I don't need you."

James shook his head quickly. "No boss. I...I support Team Rocket tactics."

Giovanni nodded. "The girl is necessary to get the boy to comply. That may very well result in us having to do her harm."

James swallowed. "Yes...sir."

Meowth glanced at James who was now looking down and then back at Giovanni. "How do you plan on getting the twerp's attention?"

Giovanni shrugged. "We just need to get the girl. His friends at the Lumiose gym will let him know."

Meowth nodded. "So...when the twerp does what we need him to..." He looked as nervous as James. "What...does that mean with the twerpette?"

"If he fully complies...I may be in a good mood. If he struggles against us even one bit...I will need to punish him." Giovanni inhaled deeply, enjoying how his plan seemed to be very clear ahead of him. "Young love makes me sick. The girl is expendable once our plan is complete."

XXXXX

Ash felt a shiver go up and down his spine and he immediately stopped walking. For some reason, he was feeling some kind of irrational fear overcome him. He had no idea why, but something was making him feel panicky.

Dawn walked a few steps ahead, before noticing Ash was stopped, frozen in fear. "Ash?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

Ash stared at her blankly. He had no idea how to explain it. He shook his head, but he couldn't shake the fear that was overcoming him. What was it? It wasn't from Greninja was it? No...when he felt Greninja's fear, he could still feel the difference. This was definitely his own fear. He opened his eyes and saw Dawn in front of him. His Pokemon were also there, behind her.

"Ash? Are you there?" Dawn waved her hand in front of his face. "Come on...you're freaking me out."

Ash swallowed and then took a deep breath. "I don't know...I...it's hard to explain."

"Well...give it a try." Dawn smiled. "I'm not as stupid as you might think I am."

Ash laughed weakly. "Um...well...I just felt this really weird feeling. It was like pure fear running through me."

Dawn narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Ok..." She looked around at the quite peaceful looking surroundings. "I don't see anything threatening."

Bayleaf suddenly ran up to Ash and jumped up on her hind legs and put her front paws on his chest. "Bay! Bayleaf!" She yelled, looking at him with concern.

Ash smiled. "It's ok Bayleaf...probably nothing."

"Toto-toto-toto-toto-toto-toto-DILE!" Totodile yelled, dancing in front of Ash, before jumping up and clamping onto his head with his jaws. Luckily, he did it gently so it didn't really hurt.

Ash looked at his Pokemon and then at Dawn. "That's never really happened before. I don't know what happened." He thought for a moment. Wait...it had sort of happened before. "Serena..."

"Serena?" Dawn asked. "What could this have to do with her?"

"I had this feeling when Lysandre threatened to hurt her. When he showed me that he was spying on her in Geosenge Town." Ash took a deep breath. "Do you think she could be in danger now?"

Dawn shook her head. "No...no she can't be." She bit her lip nervously. "I mean...how could she be? You're just worried about going near Lumiose City."

"Maybe..." Ash said.

Dawn thought for a moment. "Well...maybe you should come with me to Lumiose City, then. It might be a good idea. We'd keep our distance from Serena, but you could still check to make sure she's ok."

Ash was hesitant. It was both tempting and terrifying to think of doing that. "I don't know..."

Dawn sighed. "Come on, Ash. Either be terrified about whether she's safe or be terrified about seeing her again. Pick one."

"I guess...I guess I should go to Lumiose City, then." Ash said, after a moment.

Dawn smiled. "Perfect. And you know what, maybe I'll come with you to Shalour City afterwards. Kalos is more fun with you anyways. So a quick stop in Lumiose City. You can check on Serena and then we can go."

"I thought you wanted to look around Lumiose City." Ash said.

Dawn shrugged. "I can properly look later. If Serena's ok, you'll want to avoid some kind of awkward meet up with her, right? We'll just get in and out of there quick. Make sure Serena's ok and then we get to Shalour City."

"Thanks Dawn." Ash felt really grateful. He knew Dawn was giving up on something she had really wanted to do. "I promise, when all this is over, we can properly look around Lumiose City together."

"Sounds good." Dawn said, smiling. "Now let's hurry up. If anyone is messing with Serena, we should be going to mess them up."