When The World Ends

by Skylight Sparkle

Nothing in the world lasts forever. Sometimes the good guys aren't all that good, and the bad guys aren't quite as dark as they seem. Ash and his friends are about to learn that, in a world that's about to end, all actions come with a consequence and all secrets come with a price. Sequel to The Harbinger of Life.

36. Catch and Release

When The World Ends

Chapter 35 – Catch and Release

Iris didn't get much sleep that night. She was completely wound up with anticipation and worry, curling up in the corner with Emolga and her sleeping bag. She was used to sleeping in the most random places, even if that meant twisting in random positions in a tree, so it wasn't that. She just couldn't get her mind to stop screaming at her. The White Forest was very close to them, but there was no telling if Cilan and the others had gotten there or not. If Ash was still the Ash that she remembered he would have urged them on no matter what, but he was broken and needed their help and she wasn't sure he was going to be much help.

She was the first one awake, and that was saying something since she was sure no one else slept well wither. She stretched and prompted Emolga to stay quiet and slowly crept out of the room.

The Black Tower was an eerie structure, looming high above Black City. Iris knew that trainers were supposed to battle their way up the tower but there were rumours that once they got up so high, they never came back. Of course, she also knew that wasn't entirely true, but being inside the building put her on edge and she felt like she was always being watched.

Movement caught her eye and she took a couple steps back to peer into the room that she almost bypassed. A shock of fiery hair caught her attention, and she carefully walked forward, recognizing who it was.

"Hey, Iris," Benga said without turning around. It took her a moment to realize that he could see her reflection in the window. "Can't sleep well? I know your friend, Clementine was up earlier too. Georgia was talking to him."

"Clemont," she corrected, her brow furrowing slightly. She hoped Georgia was nice to him, since Clemont was mostly just a sweet and incredibly intelligent boy. Perhaps a bit on the crazy side but she could deal with Cilan so he was no problem. The thought of Cilan made her stomach twist uncomfortably. "No, I can't sleep. I'm just...worried."

"Feels like it's been forever since we met at Drayden's gym, huh?" Benga asked, actually looking at her.

When they first met, Iris had been recently taken in by Drayden for a bit and Alder had come to visit the gym with his grandson in tow. Instantly Iris felt a form of kinship with Benga - they were very much alike - but it really did feel like that happened in another lifetime at this point. "Yeah. Everything's different now."

"No matter what happens, the world's going to change." He grimaced, looking much more serious than Iris had ever seen him. "Look how quickly and how badly Team Rocket managed to make their move. Maybe they were working in the system for a long time but that's even worse. Public's not going to trust anyone at the top of the food chain in the leagues now, and maybe that's for the best. Out with the old and in with the new, you know?

"I suppose." Her mind flashed to Ash, knowing that his goal was to one day beat Pokémon Master Red but she was unsure if the Master was still alive or not. "Is that why you're so willing to help us? If I was you and someone showed up spouting a story about a boy who could save the world because Arceus wanted him to, I'd laugh and kick them out." Or she would have at one point in time.

"Well, to be fair Cynthia managed to call ahead to my grandfather," Benga admitted. "She wanted you guys to have some support here."

That made a lot of sense to Iris now that she thought about it.

"But," he stressed, "I believe you myself too. I don't have any proof or real reason behind it, I just do." The sudden, wide grin he sent her was almost surprising. "And since I'm the last top dog that's left here, what I say goes."

"Top dog? What is this place?"

"Hmm...oh...it's recruitment for the G-Men." His blunt honesty surprised her. "We start looking at potential recruits when they get to a certain floor of our little battle tournament. If they can get up to me we go out of our way to try and bring people in. It's not widely known, most people just think this is a fun tournament set up by a rich CEO or something - that's what Team Plasma thought when they went through here and that's what they'll keep thinking." He winked. "Hiding in plain sight."

That actually made a ton of sense and Iris was surprised that it never occurred to her before. Hiding in plain sight indeed.

"The trainers that get to me are usually amazing." Benga sat on top of his desk and crossed his legs, motioning to the chairs for Iris to sit, as if he was a teacher about to tell an exciting story to his class. Iris decided to sit to listen. "Maybe that's why I believe so much. I know there are amazing people out there. Fighting for something greater than ourselves will call out our finest heroes. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that when the world's in danger, they start appearing. Some from choice, some from fate, some from a bit of both." He grinned at her. "I think you and your friends are a bit of both, even your friend Ash that you mentioned."

Iris held Emolga close to her as she thought on that. It didn't alleviate her fears at all, but she was actually glad that Benga didn't ask about it. There was really no reason, since everyone was worried about someone or something.

The sound of footsteps in the hall caught her attention and Iris looked around as a girl with bright blue eyes and long, brown hair tied into a ponytail and under a cap, appeared in the doorframe. Her hand was raised to knock, but upon seeing the two people inside staring at her, she simply entered instead.

"You're up early," Benga noted, more amused than anything else.

The girl waved her hand. "I'm just excited to actually get to do something today." Her eyes turned to Iris. "Hi, I'm Hilda LeBlanc and you're Iris Stephens, right? It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand.

At first, Iris was taken aback by how straight-forward she was, but she had to admire that too. Shifting Emolga onto her shoulder, she reached out and clasped the girl's hand - her grip was strong but not intimidating. "Yeah, I'm Iris. It's nice to meet you too."

"Hilda here - and her partner Hilbert - will be getting you a new set of vehicles to use to get to your friends," Benga said.

"Oh? I thought Georgia or Trip..."

"They're doing other things. Can't shake up missions just to accommodate some new people, right?" Benga raised an eyebrow at Iris, who just nodded her head. He then looked at Hilda. "Where is your other half anyway?"

"Stalking the cafeteria, waiting for them to start breakfast," Hilda admitted. She took out her phone and typed something on it quickly before turning it off.

Iris still got the chance to see the screen, and what she saw surprised her. "Was that Cheren and Bianca?"

"Hmm...oh!" Hilda laughed and turned the background of her phone on again. "Yeah. I grew up with them and still see them sometimes. I take it you know them?"

"Yeah. I was friends with Bianca and we met Cheren before too. Do you know if they're...?" Iris was hesitant to ask what she wanted to know.

"Alive?" Hilda supplied bluntly, not flinching from it. "Yeah. They're both fine." Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it. "Hilbert says that they've started serving food. You should get your friends up and meet us down there. We'll explain what's happening today. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Iris answered, and she was gone in a blur of black, white and pink. Iris blinked and looked at Benga curiously.

He laughed. "She and Hilbert were two that we recruited here. He almost got to me. She beat me." Benga smiled. "Mark my words - after this is over - she's going to be the one to bring down my grandfather. We can take bets on it."

"You sound confident that everything will be the same after this is over."

"No, it won't, at all. That's why she'll beat him."

Iris didn't completely understand, but maybe he could see something that she couldn't yet. It was too early and she was far too tired to dwell on it though. Instead, she decided to go and wake up her friends to eat. The sooner they got moving, the sooner they could find the others and that would be one less thing to worry about.

...

Misty always wondered what Gary Oak would have been like if his smugness and his ego had never existed, and she felt like she finally had the answer when she met Hilbert Blake. He had such a similar sense of humour and reacted to many things in a similar way, but there was a lightness to him, a genuine warmth that Gary didn't have. Though not quite as intelligent as Gary, he wasn't as sarcastic or occasionally judgmental as him either.

Then again, Misty thought, his friend Hilda reminded her of Leaf too. She had the same intensity and self-assuredness that Leaf did, but she was so much more open and friendly.

Misty wondered if Gary and Leaf would have been like that if their friendship and lives hadn't been twisted and broken apart when they were younger. It would have been interesting to see all four of them interact, not just Gary, Hilbert and Hilda. They needed to find Leaf for that to even be a possibility - though Hilbert and Hilda were only taking them as far as getting them new vehicles to use.

Stomach twisting in knots, Misty walked through the crowded sidewalks of Black City with Hilbert and Gary, knowing that Hilda, Iris, Clemont and May were somewhere nearby as well. They would draw less attention in smaller groups, but she was still nervous and once again tried to tuck her orange hair under the beanie that she had been given. She just wanted to hurry up and get these new cars so that they could find Ash and the others.

The redhead had no doubt that they would have found the shrine and the orb by now. She just knew that they did, but Hilbert already made it clear that getting through the White Forest would have meant ditching their SUV, so they would have been at the mercy of the weather. That was a part of her desperation to find them. Ash's description of the cold and just falling asleep echoed through her mind and tugged at her chest painfully.

They needed to get moving to find them.

Hilbert suddenly stopped, causing Gary to crash into him, and Misty to crash into him in turn. The two Kantonian trainers looked at the other boy with confusion.

"This is bad," Hilbert muttered under his breath, brown eyes darting across the scene before him. Misty and Gary peered around him and saw what the problem was. In front of them, where they planned on getting their new vehicles, Hilda was talking to a group of Team Plasma agents. One woman in front was dressed differently and looked entirely too skeptical. May was standing between Iris and Clemont, holding onto both of their sleeves and biting her lip nervously while Iris looked like she wanted to punch someone and Clemont appeared very nervous.

May glanced their direction, panicked eyes locking onto Misty's. She seemed to realize that she was staring just a bit too long and quickly looked away, but it was enough to prompt one of the Plasma grunts to look around at them. He quickly muttered something to the woman.

"You three! Get over here!" she yelled. People scooted away from them, suddenly appearing nervous.

Hilbert and Gary both hesitated, but Misty just squared her shoulders and stormed towards them while silently grinding her teeth. The two boys protested but then followed her silently.

The woman looked at Misty and said, "I recognize you."

"I doubt that." She crossed her arms in front of her.

"Are you sure?" The woman motioned for one of the men to turn his tablet around, and Misty was fairly certain that her heart stopped. She was staring at a picture of Ash on a wanted memo from Team Rocket. The man swiped his finger across the screen, bypassing pictures of Leaf and Serena before landing on one of Clemont (whose nervousness made sense), then Gary, and then her. Luckily, there didn't seem to be one for May, Dawn, Iris, or Cilan yet.

Hilbert tensed beside Misty, and she saw him learn slightly to catch Hilda's eyes. The girl looked grim, but her hand twitched towards her belt.

Everything felt like it was suddenly moving in slow motion to Misty. These people knew who they were and confirmed that Team Rocket still wanted Ash and those with them that they knew about. These people were going to capture them, probably to use as some form of bait. Normally, that would have been enough to lure Ash into a trap since he would only think about saving his friends and not himself, but at the moment it would just make things so much worse. It could be the final thing that makes him snap.

A sudden fierce wave of anger overcame Misty as time seemed to speed up again and she snatched her own Pokéball before Hilda could. These people thought that they could tear the world apart, they thought that they could control them all just because they could use some fake legendary Pokémon. They were ruining so many innocent lives - both people and Pokémon alike.

Misty and her friends were teenagers. They were supposed to be having fun journeys with the potential for a bit of peril in them, not journeys where they faced death head on with small moments for smiles. She pictured all of her friends and family - those who were alive, those who weren't, and those whose fates were still unknown. She pictured a snotty, 10-year-old boy who loved Pokémon more than anything and whose bright brown eyes were always lit up with adventure and excitement. Then she pictured the broken down teenager she saw last and her wave of anger turned into an explosion as time sped up again.

Gyarados appeared with a mighty roar and maybe Misty yelled something, she couldn't really remember, but the only thing that stopped the torrent of water he unleashed was some Unovian Pokémon that Misty didn't recognize offhand.

"What are you doing?" Gary yelled at her.

"If they want a fight, I'll give them a fight," Misty snarled back. Was she acting irrationally? She pictured her sisters - she pictured Violet who had sent her pictures from Black City once, brimming with smiles over the fact that she managed to capture the heart of a famous Unovian actor. She pictured Violet who had been pregnant with that same man's child. She pictured the nightmarish image that her mind conjured of Violet dead after a tsunami that should have never happened.

A Zebstrika lashed out at Gyarados, only for Iris' Excadrill to launch himself out of the ground at the attacker.

To hell with rationality, Misty fumed, she was ready to fight.

...

May was nervous the entire morning, too many things had gone wrong and with both Dawn and Serena somewhere else, she found it a bit difficult to see the bright side of things. Still, she had to admire Hilda a bit, since the girl was so self-confident as she led them through the streets of Black City with no fear.

She acted sweet and a bit oblivious to the members of Team Plasma when they first approached. They were checking out any groups of young people that they came across apparently.

She thought that they were safe until one of the men told the woman that was clearly in charge something under his breath, showing her his tablet, and then they both looked at Clemont suspiciously.

May had no idea how everything went downhill from there. One minute she had glanced around looking for the quickest escape route and accidentally caught Misty's eyes, and the next there was pure chaos erupting around her.

Her hand hovered over her bag where she had her Pokéballs hidden. For a moment, she saw herself standing in a prison, hovering over someone who was already defeated and demanding more blood.

Then she saw Dawn. Sweet Dawn who had more inner strength than she seemed to think. The girl who had insisted that they have mock battles whenever they stopped. May hadn't hurt her once, because she chose not to and her Pokémon weren't cold-blooded killers.

Her hand grasped one of her Pokéballs and she threw it into the air. "Altaria!" The cloud-like Pokémon appeared and waited for her trainer to call out a command. May looked at the chaos around her. "Use Mist!"

Altaria trilled and flew above all of those who were fighting, unleashing a wave of moisture into the air that made it hard for anyone to see.

"Good thinking!" Hilda trilled at her before turning back to her own Pokémon. May felt a rush of pride go through her.

She was quickly distracted as Clemont's Chesnaught blocked the Garbodor that had been sneaking up on her. The blond hurried to her side, blue eyes peering down at her with obvious worry though he said nothing. May could still see his relief when he realized that she was alright.

Iris' scream startled them all. May and Clemont whipped around, faintly able to see Misty and Gary doing the same through the mist.

There was a flash of red and a loud roar that seemed to echo in three directions at once.

...

When Dragonite hit the ground, surrounded in a thick ice coating thanks to Plasma's stupid Vanilluxe, Iris felt like pummeling that specific Pokémon herself. She hurried to the miserable dragon's side, wincing at the feel of the ice below her fingers. She hated the cold and couldn't imagine being encased in it.

"It's okay," she whispered. "You'll be just fine." She grabbed Dragonite's Pokéball and called him back. Iris sighed and held the Pokéball close to her, but saw a streak of glowing blue head towards her out of the corner of her eye. She gasped and jerked out of the way just in time, the Ice Beam slamming into the ground beneath her.

Iris screamed louder than she meant to as her feet slid on the surface and she fell to the ground.

"Grab her Pokéballs and check them. We don't have a jammer but make sure they're locked," Iris heard the woman say and someone was at her side in an instant. She twisted around and kicked the man, but he already had one of her Pokéballs in his hand.

Iris' eyes went wide in terror as he thought he was locking it, but that specific one was already programmed to stop the Pokémon from escaping, so instead, he undid it.

She tried to warn him, it was on the edge of her lips when the Pokéball opened and Hydreigon exploded out of it in a wave of bright energy.

Iris rolled out of the way as quickly as she could, scrambling to her feet and backing away. Hydreigon roared angrily, narrow eyes becoming slits when he realized who he was surrounded by. Iris knew what he was thinking. Those were the emblems of the people his original trainer abandoned him for. They were the enemy.

He roared again and this time blue fire escaped his mouth. The man yelled and just barely managed to get away, dropping the Pokéball in the process. Iris' stomach dropped in fear when Hydreigon stepped on the sphere, crushing it beneath his feet.

There was no way for her to call the poor dragon back. There was no way for her to protect him anymore.

He snarled, heads snapping at anything that dared get close to him. Iris took a couple steps back as he turned towards her and advanced. She had never really felt nervous being face to face with a dragon Pokémon before, but she couldn't help it this time. She could feel his rage and anger that stemmed from abandonment and betrayal.

Hydreigon opened his mouth, but then a blazing blue beam like the one that the Vanilluxe used earlier slammed into the dragon. He hit the ground and rolled a bit, snarling in the process. Iris' head snapped up as a Mamoswine burst through the mist, and her heart leapt into her throat when she recognized Dawn, Serena and Cilan on the Pokémon's back.

Cilan slid off of Mamoswine and ran over to her. "Are you alright?" His green eyes darted across her face, no doubt looking for injuries. "What's going on?"

"Plasma found us," Iris said, choosing not to go into a big explanation. She also chose not to ask how they got there and how the heck their timing was so good. Belaying the questions proved to be a good choice, since Hydreigon was getting up on one side of her and a Team Plasma grunt dressed as a knight was coming from the other direction. Apparently backup was here.

Then her mental process stopped. The Team Plasma that they were dealing with had the pirate-like costumes.

A Purrloin rushed by them, launching itself at a Watchog that the other faction of Team Plasma released. Cilan was so distracted that he didn't even cringe at the evolution of the Pokémon that he was sure Arceus created just to spite him.

"We need to get out of here!" Serena called out as she slid off of Mamoswine's back. She waved at Dawn, who gave her a thumbs up and took off on her Pokémon, breaking through a crowd of fighting Plasmas.

Hydreigon, with nothing else to distract him, turned towards them and hissed. They all backed up a bit, flinching as blue fire suddenly rained down upon the Pokémon. It roared in frustration and looked up just in time to see an odd Charizard swoop down. It took Iris a moment to realize she was looking at a Mega Charizard Y rather than just a normal one. It took her another moment after that to realize that Ash and Leaf were on the Pokémon's back.

Charizard landed between them and Hydreigon, and the two trainers slid off of him easily. Ash stared at the dragon-type, concern etched across his features.

"What the hell is going on?" Leaf called out, brown eyes trying to take in everything unsuccessfully.

"We were-" An SUV suddenly streaked to a stop beside them, and the driver, Hilda, laid her hand on the horn. "Okay, I guess we did get a ride," Iris corrected herself.

"Then let's go!" Leaf urged them as she hurried towards it. She glanced at Hilda. "Uh...hi."

"Introductions later, running now," Hilda insisted. Leaf was not one to argue with that, Serena hurrying in behind her.

Cilan was about to follow them but noticed that Ash and Iris hadn't moved. "Guys, come on!"

"Pikapi," Pikachu said sadly, his ears flattening against his head.

"He's so angry and sad," Ash muttered, brown eyes staring at Hydreigon while holding Charizard's Pokéball. "Call him back."

"I can't, his ball was destroyed!" Iris cried out. Hydreigon lashed out at Charizard, who seemed to be simply avoiding the attacks while also distracting it.

A heavy weight settled on Iris' chest. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't like it at all. "Call Charizard back and wait in the SUV. Just for a minute."

"Iris..."

"Ash. Please."

He hesitated before returning Charizard to his Pokéball, his faintly glowing mega stone becoming dim. He walked backwards, watching Iris as Hydreigon looked around in confusion.

"Hydreigon!" Iris called out to him. She could see Plasma grunts starting to edge close to them again. "You have to run! You have to fly away!" She could feel how the Pokémon was honestly startled by her words. "Your trainer was wrong to do what she did and I had hoped I'd be enough to save you, but I wasn't. I'm not. And I'm sorry. I didn't want you to end up with them, but it was selfish of me to take you. I should have set you free a while ago. I'm sorry!" Tears slowly fell from her eyes and it was like nothing else was happening around her. "Please. I just want you to be happy again. Please fly away so they don't hurt you." She sniffed. "You're free now."

The more she spoke, the calmer the Pokémon seemed to be. All three heads regarded her, but Iris wasn't afraid, not even when he took a step closer to her.

The middle head huffed and then the Pokémon launched himself into the air. Iris watched him go until she knew he was out of range of either faction of Team Plasma.

"Iris," Cilan called out softly to her. She looked over her shoulder, seeing that he was still waiting outside of the vehicle for her. She took one last look at the sky before scurrying over to them and getting in the SUV, a small piece of her heart cracking with every step that she took.

...

Gary's hands were shaking as they approached the Black Tower, Hilbert driving carefully through the streets. Gary wasn't sure if he was anxious, angry or something else entirely, but he felt like he was about to burst.

A flash of orange in the side mirror caused the rage he was trying to keep in to bubble up more. He just kept telling himself that now was not the time. Instead, he looked the other way, towards a flash of blue instead. "You sure everyone's okay, Dawn?"

"Last I saw them, yeah." The young teenager nodded her head from where she and May were sharing a single seat. "No frostbite or anything either. Luckily."

"Yeah..." Gary trailed off when he realized that Hilbert was going around to a back alley, and instantly was suspicious. "What are you doing?"

"You can't jump out of here in public," he explained. "Hilda's going to meet us back here and you guys can take off to wherever you need to go next. We'll head back to the Tower."

"Thank you," May spoke up, leaning forward a bit. "I mean it. That could have gone really wrong, so thank you for helping us." Clemont nodded his head in agreement.

Hilbert smiled slightly. "Hey, if we can save the world, it's worth putting ourselves at risk."

Gary felt the rage starting to come back again. The SUV slowed, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the one that was already at their meeting place. A bit of relief rushed through him when he saw Iris climb out, a feeling that only intensified when he saw Cilan, Serena, Ash and Leaf with her.

Hilbert came to a stop and turned off the vehicle before he climbed out, meeting Hilda halfway between the two. Gary watched them talk to one another briefly before he felt someone brush by him. He caught sight of orange again, and this time he acted.

Misty yelped with surprise when Gary grabbed her arm, squeezing it tightly. She narrowed her green eyes at him. "Let go."

"What the fuck was that?" he growled at her.

"Gary, I'm warning you-"

"No! I mean it! What the fuck was that?" He didn't mean to yell, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Gary, what...?" Leaf trailed off as she looked at him with wide eyes.

His relief at seeing her again was overshadowed by his anger at Misty, and that fact just made it worse. "I'll tell you what! She started that entire mess!"

"I did not!" Misty hissed angrily.

"You attacked first! You didn't even give us a chance to try and figure out something else!" Misty's glare wavered slightly and she opened her mouth to speak but he didn't let her. "No! I don't want to hear it! People probably died back there because of you!" He was about to go off on a tirade when a snowball created from the very dirty snow that was around them hit the side of his face.

"Stop it!" Serena yelled, already creating another one in her hand. "Screaming won't help!"

"He's...not entirely wrong," Hilbert spoke up, startling everyone. He looked a bit embarrassed as they looked at him. "Sorry to just break in on a conversation, but yeah, she did attack first. There probably wouldn't have been another way out of that situation, but still."

Leaf had no idea who this boy was, but he and the girl that introduced herself as Hilda had helped them, so she decided to take his words as an objective third party. Her brow furrowed slightly, and she was about to question Misty, but stopped before any words could get out. The former gym leader's lip was quivering, and she was shaking lightly, desperately trying to keep her composure. Her eyes were watery and rimmed with red, her cheeks turning a blotchy shade of pink already.

For a moment, Leaf saw herself pulling a trigger to save Clemont's life. A quick glance towards May was enough to tell her that the younger girl was having a similar realization.

Misty knew what it felt like to drown - and this was similar to that. She felt like her throat was closing in, like she couldn't breathe under everyone's stares. Movement caught her attention and she looked over, eyes meeting a worried bright brown. It wasn't just worry though, it was understanding too. There was absolutely no judgment on Ash's face, and that was what broke her.

She collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her hands as loud sobs wracked her entire body. Someone knelt in front of her on the cold, hard ground, and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind who it was. She lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Ash's torso as she buried her face into his jacket and cried.

Misty cried for her actions and the people that may have been hurt. She cried for her friends and how they were pulled into this awful adventure. She cried for the people whose lives everywhere were ruined. She cried for the Pokémon that were lost to human selfishness. She cried for Leaf who had to take another person's life. She cried for May who lost someone she loved before she even knew she loved him. She cried for Ash. She cried for her nephew that would never be born. She cried for her sisters. Most of all, she cried for herself.

She was aware of Ash holding her close, and of Pikachu nuzzling her cheek. He helped her stand up and soon they were walking. It was a bit awkward, since she didn't want to let him go, but he managed to move her to his side, letting her lean on him heavily. Misty had no idea how Ash managed it, probably with help, but soon she found herself in the very back of one of the SUVs with him.

Her loud sobs turned into wet hiccups and gasps, her head pounding loudly. She was vaguely aware of Serena leaning back to help buckle her in before Ash tugged her close to his side, letting her lean her head on his shoulder. Pikachu moved onto her lap, nuzzling his face to her stomach.

The arm that Ash had wrapped around Misty rose up, his hand resting gently on her head. He didn't play with her hair or force her to look at him, he just held her. He didn't try to shush her, or give any types of reassurances that everything would be okay. He just let her lean on him and silently sob.

She managed to look up at him once, and he glanced down at her. Even now, she could see that he wasn't okay either, but her finally cracking did not make it worse like she feared. A part of her felt a bit stupid for thinking that she had to be strong because of course she didn't have to. She closed her eyes and leaned on him again, hugging Pikachu close to her.

That was really all she needed for now.

...

"So, Ash lied to us and now we have to backtrack?" Gary sounded exhausted to Dawn from his spot in the back of the SUV.

"It won't be too bad," Cilan assured him from the driver's seat. "There are back roads and everything to get there from here. We don't have to go through any bridges or checks, and we have these cars legally. Right, Iris?"

"Hmm?" She looked up from the passenger seat. He repeated his statement. "Oh. Yeah. It'll be fine."

May huffed slightly and glanced back at Gary. "Don't flip out at Ash when we stop."

"May!" Dawn nudged her sharply. The brunette just made a face.

Gary groaned and flopped down onto his side. "I know, I know. I'll apologize to her."

"You know..." Cilan trailed off, sounding almost reluctant. "I don't really think you need to." That made all three girls stare at him with skeptical expressions. "Well, maybe for yelling at her, but I think that she needed that. She needed to let it all out."

Dawn thought back to her feeling of panic when Misty, always strong and furious Misty, broke into some of the most heart-wrenching sobs that she had ever heard. A bit of shame hit her at her own thoughts. Misty was more than just an unwavering force of nature. She was a person and there was no doubt that everything was hard on her too. Cilan was probably right.

"Will she be okay?" May asked, her voice much softer now.

"That's hard to answer," Cilan responded. "I guess we'll have to see. A long drive, some sleep, some food, and just having everyone with her may help. It might help everyone." He thought back to his own brothers, knowing that he was a bit of a hypocrite for insisting that Misty needed to break down over her sisters when he pushed away the thought of his.

Everything would come in time.

...

Georgia tapped her fingers impatiently, wondering what kind of call was coming through for her at a Pokémon Center now. Surely it wasn't her parents, and she couldn't think of anyone else who may have been calling different ones looking for her. At least, no one that she would dare hope to believe was searching for her at this point. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Trip, who was patiently waiting for her but staying far enough away to give her privacy.

The call connected, and when the screen came to life, she felt her breath catch in her throat. She knew those violet eyes anywhere. "Burgundy."

Relief shone on the other girl's face. "Georgia. You're okay."

Georgia's eyes locked onto the two boys farther back on the screen, one with red hair and one with blue, but then focused on her friend again. No one else there mattered right now.

...

It wasn't exactly legal, but Leaf let Clemont drive the SUV. Sure, there were two other licensed drivers in the vehicle aside from her, but Misty and Ash weren't the best candidates for that at the moment. Leaf herself was far too tired and had fallen asleep across the middle seats fairly quickly.

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were all asleep curled up in the very back, while Serena sat up front with him.

Clemont glanced out of the corner of his eye at her. "You can get some sleep too." It was clear after exchanging stories that while his group got very little sleep the night before, it was better than them.

Serena smiled at him and shook her head. "I'd rather stay awake with you."

His cheeks turned pink and he carefully made sure to follow the other SUV in front of them.

"Clemont?" Serena spoke up a moment later. He hummed a bit in response, though he didn't look at her. "After this orb...we'll probably be going home, won't we?"

Home. That was certainly an odd thought, but she was probably right. They'd probably be asking Giratina to take them to Kalos very soon. For a moment, he worried about what could have happened there, but surely Team Flare couldn't have caused many problems, since Champion Diantha had taken them down very recently. Just before the tournament when Ash had gone on his own for a little while to do some training. At the time, Clemont hadn't understood why, but in retrospect he realized that Ash was probably actively using his Aura during training and didn't want them to see. It was strange to think that there was a time he didn't know what his friend could do.

Actually, in retrospect, Ash was probably involved with the whole Team Flare fiasco and just hadn't told them.

"We're almost there," Clemont spoke up after sorting his thoughts. "We have almost all of the orbs."

"Then what?"

"I guess we wait and see what Arceus says." Clemont didn't really enjoy this thought but it was all that they could go on. "We're so close, Serena."

"Will you go home after?" she asked him, leaning against her window a bit.

"It depends. If home is okay, I might go and help somewhere else however I can." He glanced in the rear view mirror at their sleeping friends. "Maybe just be there with them for a little while longer to support them. What about you?"

She could go back and take up the offer to train for the Performances, but that seemed a bit selfish to her. Eventually, Serena would get back to that, but maybe Clemont had the right idea. "I guess we'll see."

...

It was decided that everyone needed to stop and get some rest. So once they were positive that they were out of the ice and cold and into the slightly milder climate of Unova, they pulled the vehicles off the road and everyone gathered outside in a clearing. They didn't make a fire, not wanting to attract any attention, instead using each other as a form of warmth.

Gary felt a bit awkward. He was between Leaf and Ash, but the latter was curled up with Misty and Pikachu, though none of them were asleep yet. He glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, wondering why it was so embarrassing just to see two people lay on one another without doing anything else. Friends could have done it too to keep warm.

Maybe the problem wasn't them. Maybe it was him.

He sighed and shifted onto his side. "Misty?" There was a pause before the girl glanced up at him. He felt Leaf shift behind him, no doubt paying attention, and though Ash kept his eyes locked onto the starry sky, Gary knew he was listening. "I wanted to apologize. I don't always handle stress well. I shouldn't have flipped out at you."

Misty nodded her head. "I acted selfishly. It's okay."

"It's not. I mean, maybe you did, but hell maybe we all need to be a little more selfish. I should have handled it better." He frowned. "It's not the first time. I became I complete asshole when my parents died. Everyone deals with things different and this...I guess this is just me." He huffed. "Hell, someone once said to me, 'Gary, I know you're sad but you can't let that win because if it does you'll always be sad, so just talk to me'. I didn't listen and I regret that." Ash twitched at those words and glanced at him. "You remember, right, Ash?"

"Yes." Ash frowned. "But I was stupid. We can't help what we feel."

"Yeah, but we can't let it overcome us like I let it. It's easy. Fighting is harder."

There was a long pause before Misty said, "I forgive you."

Gary smiled at her, but was startled as someone spoke up from behind him. "I forgive you too."

"Leaf?" He rolled on his back, and Ash pushed himself (and Misty) up onto his forearms so he could see the girl.

Leaf stared up at the sky, not looking at them. "It's not a coincidence that you, Ash and I became friends again. Maybe it was because of our parents at first, but maybe the three of us were always meant to be in each other's lives. Hell, we're all even exactly a month apart - all born on the 22nd of consecutive months. You're right Gary, you and I weren't strong enough. We gave in to sadness and fear, but here we all are years later and I'm done believing in coincidence. I forgave Ash. He forgave both of us. I never actually forgave you...so now I am."

"Thank you," Gary breathed out, reaching a hand to hers and gripping it tightly.

Ash listened to them until their breathing turned heavy, letting him know that they were asleep. He sighed deeply, and Misty shifted a bit to look up at him. He glanced at her before looking back to the sky. "Can everyone forgive me though?"

"Forgive you? For what?"

"Being a weak hypocrite." His felt his stomach twist. "Another legendary Pokémon could be dead because I didn't want to finish what we started."

"Maybe she is," Misty agreed, "but you have nothing to apologize for. It's okay to not be okay...isn't it?" The last part came out as an almost desperate squeak.

Ash blinked and looked down at her again. He nodded his head. "Of course it's okay for you to cry and to not be okay, Mist. It's better than..." Ash trailed off, his breath hitching. It was okay. It was okay for her to feel despair and pain. It was better than keeping it locked away. She was able to accept this so easily, because she saw it in him. She knew it was okay for him to not be okay.

It was alright.

Ash shifted, careful not to roll on Pikachu who was resting above his head on the grass. He moved onto his side and tugged Misty close, burying his face in her hair as she hugged him tightly. Maybe they both cried a bit silently, Ash didn't know. It didn't matter if they did though, because it was okay to not be okay.

...

It had been a long time since Misty had driven, but she insisted on it, feeling much better after her breakdown yesterday. Dawn and May were sitting in the back, reminiscing about contests that they had participated in, while Cilan and Iris sat in the middle seats, both quietly watching out the windows. Out of the corner of her eye, Misty glanced at Ash and Pikachu, the latter sleeping peacefully on his trainer's lap.

Misty wondered how Gary, Leaf, Clemont and Serena were doing in the other vehicle but decided not to think on it too much. They'd be fine.

"I hope Hydreigon's okay," Iris said suddenly. May and Dawn immediately stopped talking, Cilan looked over at her and Ash twisted around slightly. Iris didn't even bother looking at them, but Ash could see just how sad she looked.

"He will be," Ash said, startling everyone. "It's always good to put your Pokémon before yourself, and sometimes that means letting them go. It's hard, but it's for the best." He looked down. "He felt so confused, angry, and betrayed to me."

"Me too," Iris agreed. "I wanted to help him but..." She shook her head.

"Who knows, he might come back." She looked up at him skeptically. "You never know."

"I guess," she reluctantly agreed, hands fiddling with her flowing sleeves. Iris felt a bit silly being so sad about a Pokémon that she couldn't help when her friends had greater problems, but the feeling wouldn't go away.

Ash's brow furrowed and he bit his lip. Finally, he said, "Tell us about him. Hydreigon. There must be more than a temper."

Iris thought about Hydreigon's good moments, which were pretty far in between but were still there. She hadn't realized that her face lit up, but everyone else could see it. She leaned forward a bit and started eagerly talking to Ash about the Pokémon.

Dawn smiled as she watched them and caught Cilan's eye. He grinned back at her and turned his attention towards the front again. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at May, who had a soft smile on her face.

It was good to see her friends as more like the people that she remembered from before.

A sudden burst of static made them all jump, and May rapidly scrambled to grab the walkie-talkie that Clemont managed to get working again. There were only two, but it was good enough to keep the two cars connected. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Yes," Leaf's voice came through after a moment. "Can we switch? Gary won't stop singing." Said singing could be faintly heard in the background.

Ash snorted so loudly that it woke Pikachu up and sounded like it hurt. Soon, everyone else, even Misty was laughing.

"Negative, Leaf," May replied into it, her voice brimming with mirth. "We're good."

"I hate you all." She must have put the walkie-talkie away since nothing else came through. Despite her words, they all knew that she was joking, and as they made their way through the tiny, winding roads through the woods, everything felt a little bit lighter.

...

Clemont was very good at tuning people out when he wanted to. It helped sometimes when his father or Bonnie were being a bit too overwhelming, and it also helped with Gary's obnoxious caterwauling and Leaf's loud protests. He appreciated hearing Serena laugh at them, but he was trying to stay on task since he finally had a fully working laptop.

"What are you doing?" He jumped slightly at Serena's curious voice, blushing a bit as she quietly laughed. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said and cleared his throat. Clemont's brow furrowed slightly. "I've just been trying to keep track of Team Plasma. Benga showed me a few things before we left since we are all on the same side. There's been a lot of chatter lately around them. Ever since they found us."

Serena frowned at that. "What kind of chatter?"

"Not sure on specifics, but considering they seem to be communicating with Kanto, I'm betting one side is trying to gain favour with Giovanni to get another mirage Pokémon to defeat the other faction with." It wasn't just a pure guess, he had been able to decode some things to be able to piece together the theory.

"What better way to do that then to give him a bunch of fugatives, right?" Leaf asked, leaning back in her seat to look at him.

"Pretty much," he agreed. Guilt rushed through Clemont when he realized that he had effectively destroyed the light air around them. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Serena said sternly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's good for someone to keep track of things." Her expression shifted. "Hey, do you think that they could have found a way to track us too?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure," Clemont admitted. They had absolutely no time to check the cars over for trackers or anything else, so there was a possibility that someone could find them sooner rather than later.

"So we just gotta get to the Pinwheel forest, find Virizion and the orb, and high-tail it out of here as quickly as possible," Gary spoke up. He glanced over at Leaf. "How close are we?"

She shrugged and grabbed the walkie-talkie again. "Hey guys?"

"What's up?" Dawn's voice came back a moment later.

"How close to the Pinwheel Forest are we?"

There was a pause before she said, "Less than an hour according to Cilan. We're close!"

"Alright." Leaf set the walkie-talkie down and looked at the others in the vehicle. "No point making everyone worried."

Serena frowned a bit at that. Not necessarily because of Leaf's words, but because of the fact that the others may have been doing the same thing to them. No one else seemed to notice, but Dawn sounded awful nervous when she spoke the second time.

...

Dawn was nervous, incredibly so. She kept looking out the back window and the side ones to the point where May had to ask her to stop fidgeting so much, though she was doing the same.

Cilan was able to tell them that they were close to the Pinwheel Forest based on GPS, and Iris recognized the area around them. On top of that, Ash was able to confirm that he could feel the presence of the orb growing stronger.

His eyes snapped open as he stopped concentrating, a shiver of dread running up his spin. "There's someone following us."

"What?" May asked, her fingers gripping at the edge of the seat in front of her. "Who?"

"I don't know, but there's enough of them for me to feel them when I try. They're just beyond the trees." A part of Ash was cursing, because he should have realized it sooner. It was hard to sense things in moving vehicles to begin with, but the orbs truly overwhelmed his senses in general and made it hard to concentrate on anything.

"Maybe they're people traveling like us?" Dawn said hopefully, but it was clear that she didn't believe her own words. No one had to answer that.

"Just tell the others that we're close while we figure something out. Tell them we're less than an hour," Cilan told Dawn. "Just in case these other people are tapping into our frequency."

Dawn took a deep breath and composed herself before activating the walkie-talkie again. "Less than an hour according to Cilan. We're close." She sounded nervous even to herself.

"How many do you think there are, Ash?" Misty asked him, keeping her eyes focused on the road in front of them.

"I don't know." He held Pikachu to his chest anxiously. "More cars than us I think. They're in large groups so it's hard to see how many there are." He could recognize individual auras easily when he knew who he was looking for or there were only a couple people, but nothing like this.

"So more people than we have, and we can assume that they have six Pokémon each," Iris spoke up.

"They've got to be tracking us somehow," Cilan added. "Maybe all the cars were bugged. You said that the Plasma grunts were already at the car lot when you got there, right? That could have been what they were doing, just in case." He paused. "Or those two that got these for us, Hilbert and Hilda, set us up."

"No way," Iris argued while shaking her head. "I don't know them, but I know Benga and I trust him."

"It wasn't her," Ash spoke up almost reluctantly. "She was telling the truth when she spoke."

"Does it matter how they're following us?" May asked, leaning forward a little more. "We know that they are."

"May's right," Misty agreed, her face grim as her fingers gripped the steering wheel painfully tight. "What matters is that we're leading them directly to the shrine."

Silence weighed down on them all at this simple fact that everyone else overlooked.

"We can't let them get to Virizion," Ash choked out, his hands clenched into fists that started to shake. "We can't."

Misty looked in the rearview mirror at the other SUV, her lips pressing into a straight line. Without warning, she suddenly jerked the vehicle towards the edge of the dirt road and stopped. Gary slammed his hand on the horn of the other vehicle while also slamming on the breaks and stopping. Misty ignored him, unbuckling her seatbelt so she could completely turn around to face Ash. "You need to run."

"Huh?" Ash stared at her blankly and Pikachu seemed just as confused.

"They're following us somehow. Maybe someone put something on our clothes earlier, maybe it's in the car. I don't know. What I do know is that if they did, you'd be clean. You got there and got out of the way quickly enough. You have to get the orb," Misty said while grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"Alone?" Cilan asked, trying not to sound a bit skeptical but was unable to hide it entirely. He knew that almost anyone could have a tracker on them and not realize it, but the thought of Ash going to a shrine alone didn't sit well with him. Not after last time.

"Most of us could be bugged somehow," Iris agreed with Cilan's internal thoughts.

"We can hold them off though," Dawn said, realizing where Misty's idea was going. "We hold them off, Ash gets to the shrine. He gets the orb, asks Giratina for help, comes and gets us, and bam! We're out and Virizion is safe!" Misty pointed at her and nodded.

"I don't..." Ash faltered a bit.

"Come on, let's go tell everyone else what's up," Iris spoke up nudging Cilan and climbing out of the SUV with May and Dawn following behind them, leaving Ash, Misty, and Pikachu. Even Pikachu decided to scamper just outside the open door.

"You need to go, and the more of us that stay here, the better." Misty's voice wavered as she spoke, making Ash realize that she desperately didn't want to send him on his own. Misty had been shielding him, protecting him for so long that it actually made his inner conflict a bit worse, just like how her thinking that she needed to always be strong for him tore her inside until she finally cracked. "You need to do this."

Ash squeezed her hand. He understood, he really did, but he could also feel the weight and pressure crawling back into him. He knew she was right, but he was terrified. He forced himself to look at her, and saw his own fear reflected back at him. She was just as scared as he was, but she was willing to face it.

Even in her weakness, she was so much stronger than him.

"Okay," he choked out.

"You can do it," she reassured him, squeezing his hand again.

"Yeah." Ash took a deep breath. "I can do it. I can." His hand reached to open the door and then looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something else but then turned around and climbed out to join everyone else, Misty following him a moment later.

"So, we're going to take on these stalkers while Ash goes ahead to get the orb?" Leaf asked, resting her hands on her hips.

"Yes," Misty said sternly, not giving anyone any opportunity to argue. She didn't have any form of Aura or psychic abilities, but she just knew that everyone was skeptical about letting Ash go on his own.

"Right," Gary spoke up and took a step forward, clapping his hand onto Ash's shoulder. "You go ahead, we'll be alright. Get the orb, get Giratina, come get us. Got it?"

Ash started to nod but then his face faltered a bit. "I—yeah—I just…"

Before anyone could suggest that someone go with Ash, Pikachu spurred into action. He jumped up at his trainer, hitting two of the Pokéballs on his belt. A burst of light revealed Charizard and Ria, who looked at Ash expectantly before Pikachu caught their attention.

"Pikapi pika chu! Pika cha pika pi pika chu chu pikachu pi pikachu!" Ria shrugged her shoulders and Charizard pondered this for a moment before looking at Ash and nodding.

"Woah, wait, no!" Ash tried to back off but the Pokémon grabbed him around his middle. Pikachu climbed up onto Charizard's back, saluted everyone else, and the Pokémon took off into the sky. Ria ran along the ground, quickly jumping up into the trees to dart from branch to branch, and Charizard followed her, no doubt leading them towards the orb.

"...That's one way to do it," Dawn said, staring up at the Pokémon as it flew away. They all looked around, hearing shouts of approaching people. "Maybe we could just hide?"

"They probably have something up in the air watching for us," Clemont noted, jerking a finger towards the sky. "That's what I'd do at least."

"Maybe we can talk to them," Serena suggested. "I mean, if they value Pokémon as much as they say they do, maybe they won't want to fight?"

"Serena, you're awesome, you really are," Gary said, sounding exhausted, "and your optimism and enthusiasm is really helpful, but why would anything like that go our way?"

She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance but said nothing in response, knowing that he was probably right. She looked behind her at a sudden flash of light, blinking when she saw Leaf surrounded by Venusaur, Espeon, and Spiritomb, all mimicking her serious expression.

"What are you…" Clemont was about to ask but trailed off. He quickly tossed his Pokéballs into the air, releasing Luxray, Chesnaught, and Heliolisk. "Right. They'll probably have jammers."

Everyone else followed suit, though no one released every Pokémon that they had since the clearing they were in wasn't that big. Still, they were a rather intimidating bunch with Misty's Milotic, Corsola and Starmie, May's Blaziken, Altaria, and Glaceon, Dawn's Piplup, Lopunny, and Mamoswine, Gary's Blastoise, Arcanine, and Umbreon, Iris' Fraxure and Emolga, and Cilan's Simisage, Crustle and Stunfisk. Serena's fingers danced over her own Pokéballs before she released Delphox, Sylveon, and Pancham. Though she did have her Vivillon, Florges, and female Meowstic with her, the ones she released were definitely stronger.

Serena had no idea why she felt so nervous. They had been in their fair share of battles so far, but something wasn't sitting right this time around.

Delphox tensed up beside her and turned around in the same moment that Serena heard a clicking behind her. She looked over her shoulder and flinched as she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. Around them, other Team Plasma grunts also had guns out, trained on both trainers and their Pokémon. A couple of them had jammers with them, preventing them from both releasing their other Pokémon and calling back the ones that were out.

"Nobody move," one of them said sternly, "and nobody gets hurt."

"Do we take everyone, or just the ones that Team Rocket wants?" someone muttered from the crowd.

"We're not taking anyone to Team Rocket, you idiot," the man in the front of the group said.

"They have Pokémon out too," Iris hissed, noticing some movement in the trees.

"So let's get those guns out of here," Leaf whispered, brown eyes darting from one gun to the next. "Spiritomb, make yourself invisible and start freaking them out. Stay away from the guns." Her Pokémon vanished. "Espeon, Starmie and Delphox are all psychic. We may be able to get them to move the guns out of reach."

"We'll go after the jammers. Not many things can outrun Arcanine."

While they were whispering as subtly as they could, the grunts were arguing with one another. Finally, a short man groaned and said, "A team already went after the one that flew off. Stop worrying about it."

"Ash," Misty muttered, eyes narrowing.

Dawn and May grabbed her arms subtly, so that they wouldn't draw attention towards themselves.

"What the hell?" One of the grunt looked around with alarm. "The hell did you just do that for?" He was glaring at the woman beside him.

"I didn't do anything." She rolled her eyes and looked away, only to jerk back around and yell at him for touching her.

Leaf saw her shirt move, and a smirk rose up on her lips. "Get ready." Espeon tensed up. Serena and Misty both nodded at their Pokémon, who focused on the guns around them.

One of the grunts screamed as they were lifted off of the ground. Everyone whipped around, and that was when the three psychic-types made their move. Pink light surrounded the weapons and they were launched into the air.

"Chesnaught!" Clemont yelled. The large Pokémon shot forward, running towards the grunt that was holder the jammer. A Gurdurr rushed from the shadows, slamming its large block of metal into Chesnaught.

The trees erupted as Pokémon shot out of them, but not a single one of the trainers or their Pokémon were willing to back down.

…

"Ow, Charizard! Okay, I get it! You can stop digging your nails into me!" Ash cried out at his rather annoyed Pokémon. Charizard ignored him, instead focusing his attention on making sure that he was following Ria while Pikachu acted as a lookout on his back.

A small Aura Sphere flew into the air in front of them, a signal from the Lucario that she found the shrine within the thick trees. It took Ash a moment to realize that it was actually a clearing in the middle of the woods, but that made it easier for Charizard to land.

Despite the fact that the fire-type Pokémon was clearly annoyed with his trainer, Charizard still set him down gently. Ash rubbed his side from where the claws had pinched him.

He looked up when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Virizion came out of the trees, and Ash winced as she limped towards them. He moved to meet her half way, not worried at all about her lashing out at him. Instead, he knelt on the ground and pressed his hand to her wounded leg, healing it.

"You have as kind a heart as I remember," Virizion noted. She moved so that she was sitting before him, still looking like the elegant Sword of Justice that she was. "But there is so much pain and despair inside of you."

"I'm sorry," Ash said, looking at the ground in shame. "I ran away from this orb and Cobalion's dead and I just…how can I be the Chosen One? How can I protect you when I can't even protect myself and those closest to me?"

"No one said it would be easy, Ash Ketchum," she responded and nodded at the shrine. "Get the orb."

He hesitated, but then stood up, walking up to the moss-covered shrine and carefully reaching inside of it, pulling out a bright green orb that immediately began glowing when he touched it, just like the others.

Ash was about to say something to Virizion, to apologize again or to remind her that they should have got someone else for the job, but his words didn't make it out of his lips as he froze. Slowly, he put the orb in his pocket, grabbing Greninja, Sceptile, and Garchomp's Pokéballs instead. He didn't even turn around as he released them.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu called out, confused by their trainer's actions.

Ash looked towards the forest, and a moment later, Ria did the same, her fur rising up as she growled.

He moved off of the steps and walked forward, shoulders tense as he waited. A moment later, a group of people burst into the clearing. Ash felt his hair rise at the sight of their guns. Were those the weapons that had killed Cobalion? Or had more specialized ones done that?

"You! Put your—holy shit that's a Virizion!" one of the grunts called out in shock. "Tell the boss we got us a real legendary here!"

The images of the people and Pokémon he couldn't save rushed through Ash's mind, and he found himself moving forward without thinking about it. "You're not touching her!"

Someone laughed. "Even with that group of monsters, you're outnumbered here, kid." The person who spoke took a step back as Garchomp snarled at them.

Ash knew that they were right though. Their Pokémon were already out and they were vastly outnumbered.

A large Bisharp took a step towards them, and Ash yelled, "Sky! Ground!" That was the only prompting Charizard needed to launch into the air and for Garchomp to burrow under the ground.

Ria, Greninja, and Sceptile both launched forward, towards the Pokémon that advanced towards them, while Pikachu moved around their feet, quick to dodge and attack when it was most unexpected.

Ash stayed between the battle and Virizion, desperate not to let another Pokémon die on his watch.

….

"Haxorus!" Iris screamed as her dragon Pokémon was slammed into the ground again. Though they were able to destroy the jammer, they were still vastly outnumbered by the Pokémon around them and it was taking a toll on their own friends.

Iris called her Pokémon back and looked around, wincing as all the eeveelutions were knocked unconscious, along with Starmie, Delphox, and Chesnaught. Little Pancham didn't stand much of a change, forcing Serena to retreat to the back of the group.

They had to find a way to end this before someone else got hurt. Desperation flooded her as she thought about her own Pokémon, but she had already sent out and recalled her Druddigon as well. All of hers were injured or spent.

She had no idea how it was possible that they were losing so badly. Surely they were better trainers? Though Leaf, Gary, Misty, and Clemont seemed to be holding their own fairly well. It wasn't that they were losing, no, they were taking down many of the enemy Pokémon, but they weren't exactly winning either.

Iris screamed as the ground erupted beneath her feet. Fear rushed through her at the Garchomp – definitely not Ash's – that loomed over her with crazed eyes and a vicious snarl. She wasn't normally afraid of Pokémon, but never before had she stared at something that clearly wanted to kill her, in the face.

A roar echoed through the air that made her eyes widen in disbelief. She knew that roar. It was like time stopped as she and several others looked up at the sky.

A couple people screamed when Hydreigon soared over the trees, launching itself at the Garchomp that hovered over Iris. It was quick to use its Dragon Breath on the next Pokémon that came close before rushing at the Plasma Grunts themselves.

It was carnage.

"Shoot it!" Someone yelled in panic. "Kill it before it kills us!"

Once again, time slowed as someone held up the gun. Iris screamed, though she didn't know if it was an actual word or just a nonsensical sound. She practically threw herself at the man holding the gun, and shoved his hand so that the bullet didn't hit the dragon-type, but rather the arm of a nearby Grunt. She struggled with the man over the weapon, until Hydreigon beat him away with his tail.

"You came back," Iris breathed out as she stared at the Pokémon. "You followed us all the way here. I don't…how…no, it doesn't matter. You have to fly away before they hurt you too. Please."

"Iris!" Cilan yelled in alarm. "Get out of there!"

She looked around to realize that she was being surrounded, and looked at the Pokémon again. "Please, you need to fly so that they don't kill you. Please."

Hydreigon stared at her before growling negatively, all three heads shaking.

Iris looked around her desperately before an idea popped into her mind. It was risky, but it really didn't seem like the dragon-type was about to move willingly.

Hesitantly, she placed a hand on the Pokémon's smooth scales, trailing her hand along as she carefully approached it's back. Hydreigon looked around at her, but didn't stop her, so she reached out and pulled herself up onto the Pokémon's back.

"Fly," Iris said to him, and the Pokémon roared again. She braced herself as he launched himself up into the sky. The chilled wind rushed by her, but she couldn't feel the cold. Instead, she felt elation, like her heart was pounding in her throat.

She had never flown on one of her dragons like this before.

With her hair trailing behind her, Iris looked out over the treetops and spotted a twister of fire fly through the air. She narrowed her eyes and said, "We need to help Ash."

Hydreigon roared in response and starting heading towards where they had seen the fire.

…

"Charizard!" Ash cried out in alarm as the Pokémon slammed into the ground. Ash practically launched himself towards his friend, wincing at the sight of his clearly broken wing that also had a gunshot wound in it. "Look at me, buddy."

Charizard grimaced but looked at his trainer and nodded his head. He wasn't in immediate danger of dying.

Ash recalled him, and seeing his other Pokémon being pushed to their limits, he panicked, recalling them as well.

"Giving up?" One of the men said, smirking. "It's best to leave Virizion with us. Lord Ghetsis will be quite pleased."

"No," Ria snarled, startling them as she pushed herself up, having avoided going back into her Pokéball. Her hand reached up to the sparkly bow that she wore by her ear, brushing against the stone as she looked at Ash.

He stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding, and running his fingers against his keystone as it started to glow.

Light surrounded Ria as she shifted and changed into her Mega form. She opened her eyes and stared at their attackers before throwing herself at them. In that form, she was fast. She was strong. She felt like she could do anything.

Though, as an attack cut her arm, she reminded herself that she couldn't as she watched Ash wince and grab his arm in the same spot.

Ash was proud of the fact that he could prompt his Pokémon to use Mega Evolution, but Ria's was something else all together. What happened to her in that form sort of happened to him too.

Ria came face to face with a Glalie, that quickly transformed into its Mega Evolution. She didn't care who the trainer was, it didn't matter as she fought back.

Wincing as she was slammed into the ground, Ria looked over at Ash as he grasped his middle and fell to his knees. She had to stay focused so that he wouldn't get hurt like that.

An Aura Sphere appeared in her hand, brighter and larger than any she could normally make, and she slammed it into the Glalie before twisting in the air and kicking the Heatmor that rushed at her.

She flipped and landed on the ground neatly, ready to lunge forward again, when a roar echoed through the air.

Ash looked up and barely had time to flinch back as Hydreigon shot down to them tossing aside one of the Sawk that had been inching forward.

"Ash!" Iris called out from Hydreigon's back. "Are you okay?"

He blinked up at her, definitely confused. "I think so?"

She turned her attention to the grunts. "Let's wreck them, Hydreigon! We need to protect Virizion!"

Ria was quick to go on the offensive again, Pikachu following suit and electrocuting anything that came towards them.

Ash winced as he felt a powerful pain in his sternum as Ria was hit. He looked up at his Pokémon, relieved when she got back to her feet at first, but grimacing again as she was thrown backwards, her head hitting the ground roughly.

Pain ripped through Ash's head, and everything began to feel dizzy. He heard Iris calling his name, but that was the last thing he remembered as he lost consciousness.

…

Doctor Yung stared at the screens before him, excitement crossing his features. He looked up from the monitors to the massive room beyond a protective window.

Below, a giant Pokémon with long, white fur and a golden wheel laid peacefully, an odd glow surrounding it.

"It's almost time," Yung said to no one in particular, though his glee couldn't be contained.

In the room, Arceus opened its eyes.

…

Note

For those who check out my tumblr, I did promise that I'd post this before the end of August. I kept my promise!

One thing that my beta asked about – the concept of Ash feeling Ria's pain in mega form was something that I devised from the very beginning, as in prior to any mention of Ash-Greninja. I thought it was absolutely hilarious when I realized that the anime was doing the same thing in a different way. No, Ash-Greninja himself, while badass, isn't a thing here. Mega stones, plus Aura, plus that seems like an awful lot to me. That being said, due to his Aura, Ash has a very strong bond with his pokemon (something that's been established in this already). Mind you, a couple things are getting retconned in about Kalos but that's okay because it left it very vague for this purpose. Gonna throw it out there though: Ash vs. Alain in the finals and something big going down around that is something I did first in your face anime (I'm kidding…mostly).

A couple people have commented that Ash's depression is surprising in the last chapter. I know it's been a long time between updates but the depression that he's currently feeling has been established, and it's not like it's always super bad all the time. That's not how it works. Certain feelings can come in waves and without warning.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, including Walelu, dawny1999, GuitarRocker18, UGX7, PokeshipperByHeart, Kasumi96, Tropicallight, thor94, JediMasterDraco, Ysukiyomi Sora, Hinata001, amandaalb4, and ultimateCCC. You guys are awesome for sticking around between the long waits!

Remember, any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask.

Til next time,

Written by: Skylight Sparkle
Edited by: EchidnaPower