"Statements"

'Thoughts'

Side Notes

Ash and Serena rattled their brains trying to figure out a way to repair the piece of damage Darkrai created.

"Gahhhhhh," Ash groaned as he incessantly scratched his head.

Serena sighed. "I really wish Darkrai left us with something to fix this."

"Welp, I guess there's nothing we can do about it." Ash casually responded before walking up to the open wall and gazing at the rest of the city outside. "You know, Jubilife's a real nice place to see from up here."

Serena followed shortly after and peered at the midnight view. "It really is. It kinda makes everything feel nicer."

Ash felt a pleasant smile come over his face. Her presence throughout this entire fiasco gave him a newfound sense of brewing comfort.

"Hey Serena?" He spoke up.

"Yes Ash?" She answered, still gazing at the city.

"Thanks."

"Huh?" She turned her head, puzzled. She hadn't really done much of anything to warrant his gratitude.

"For being here. I know meeting me in Sinnoh wasn't really your original plan, but you being here really helps me with all the pressure from Goh and Tobias, so thanks!"

A red blush ran across her face. Luckily for her, Ash had turned his head back before he could notice. A thought entered her mind, and it was a risky one indeed. Serena slowly began to inch her hand towards Ash's, becoming less and less bashful as they got closer. 'Come on, Serena. It's now or never' She bashfully said to herself.

Eventually, she got to the point where their hands were only about a centimeter away from contact. Her elevated excitement was cut off when an extendable claw grabbed Pikachu by its body and pulled it into a transparent sphere container. Ash and Serena turned their heads back in bafflement and saw three smug-faced figures in ridiculous white attires.

"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted.

"In the flesh, twerp, and-" James stopped when he noticed Goh on the hospital bed, "Hey, why's the other one snoozing in a hospital bed?"

"He's in a coma," Ash sternly responded. The trio looked at each other in confusion, quickly realizing that Ash and Serena were dealing with a problem that actually mattered.

"Well, whatever the case is. We still want this Pikachu and we're gonna have it," Jessie said.

"You guys are still doing this?" Serena remarked, hinting a bit of condescension at the group.

"Bingo! Our mission will never end so long as we've got this Pikachu to bag and a boss to give it to. And as an added bonus, we caught your grubby little mouths talkin' up to Darkrai." Meowth responded.

"Luckily for us, it left the perfect escape route," James said, pointing at the hole Darkrai created.

"You do realize you'd have to get past us first?" Serena retorted.

"Silly twerps. We have a counterplan, isn't that right James?" said Jessie. James, however, stared blankly.

It took a few seconds of utter silence before any of them could grasp the predicament. "Hold on, Jimmy. You tellin' me we went to scrap with the twerps without a plan?!" Meowth yelled. James could only smile sheepishly as he waved his hands in defense.

The three huddled around and began to mutter, Pikachu still in tow. Ash and Serena looked dumbfounded at the interaction as the Rocket trio stood back up, this time with more confidence.

"We decided that we'll just have to battle you chumps," Meowth stated.

"Go, Morpeko!"

"Now, Wobbuffet!"

"Pikachu, break out with Iron Tail then use Electroweb!" Ash shouted.

Before Team Rocket could counterattack, Pikachu's tail dazzled white before it broke out of the container trap and swiftly trapped its assailants under a yellow web of electricity. Each time any of them would try to break loose, they'd all get electrocuted.

"Well that takes care of that." Ash said, putting his hands on his hips. "I guess that means we should blast you guys off again."

"Wait, Ash. I have a better idea." Serena smugly said. Team Rocket shivered at the girl's evil grin.

On the plane, Chloe's growing concerns were evident by the silent grimace she held as her stare focused to the plane's window. The professor was well aware of his daughter's gloominess and decided to remain quiet out of respect. His attention was caught when she spoke up.

"Hey dad, how do you think everyone else is taking the news?" Chloe asked in a melancholy tone.

"I'm sure Ash is certainly worried; we'll probably meet him in the hospital. And his parents-" Professor Cerise hesitated, "Well, I heard they couldn't book tickets on time, so they'll be arriving a day after us."

"I see."

The Cerise pair were met with the bright morning sun of Jubilife upon their arrival. Once they'd finished with the airport procedures, Professor checked the town map and confirmed the hospital's location.

"Alright, there's a cab over there, let's hurr-" Chloe nearly slipped when her father grabbed her arm. "Hey dad, what's wrong?"

"There's gonna be a whole lot of traffic at this time of day, we'd get there faster if we walked," her father stated.

"Um, okay," Chloe dubiously replied.

"Okay, so it seems like we should take a right turn down this street." Professor Cerise said.

"Are you sure that's the right way? We've been walking for nearly an hour already. We should've run into something as major as a hospital by now." Chloe groaned. The dampening of her grief should've been a good thing, but being riddled with fatigue wasn't exactly a fond replacement.

"Don't worry. From the street we're on, we should get to the hospital in only a few minutes or so." the Professor said, "See this red 'h' over here? That stands for hospital."

Chloe glanced at the spot on the map where her father was pointing, but quickly noticed a slight distinction. She squinted for a few seconds, before proceeding to shred the eardrums of everyone in the vicinity.

"Dad! That isn't an 'h', that's an upside down 'Y'! You've been holding the map wrong this entire time!" Chloe shouted, scaring the other people on the sidewalk.

Professor Cerise readjusted his glasses, checked the map, and confirmed his daughter's observation. All he could do in response was laugh nervously as she glared daggers at him.

"Oh well, at least we got the extra exercise?" He said sheepishly.

Chloe pouted before saying, "Well I'm too tired to walk, so we're getting a cab."

Her father just nodded, still embarrassed that someone of his intellect could mess up such an elementary detail. They found one and immediately gave out the directions to the hospital.

"See dad? Only a half hour and we're almost there. So much for that 'traffic' you were talking about," Chloe sardonically stated.

"Hehe, well alright. That's true," Professor Cerise bashfully said, "But I've still gotta say, cardiovascular exercise is a key factor in any individual's physical growt-"

"Dad? What's wrong?" Chloe asked as her father cut off.

He responded with a single, "Over there," as he pointed in the direction behind her, outside to where the hospital was clearly in view.

An unexpected surprise came when multiple construction Gurdurrs were found. They seemed to be leaving, but the sheer amount of them and the fact that they were there in the first place raised some concern for the two. Officer Jenny was also found at the site, which piqued the pair's interests even more.

In the hopes that they'd receive answers, the professor approached Jenny and began an introduction. "Hello Officer Jenny, I'm Professor Cerise. It seems like some commotion has gone down. Mind if I ask what happened?".

They exchanged a courteous handshake before she responded. "From what we've heard. A group called Team Rocket trespassed into the hospital and attempted to steal a boy's Pikachu. Luckily, they were apprehended before any serious harm could be done to the three kids that were in the area. They'd apparently broken in through a wall, which leaves them charged with property damage. Fortunately, the construction Pokemon had just finished repairing the destruction, so we're not left with too much of a hassle."

'Team Rocket and Pikachu? It's gotta be them,' Chloe thought. She wondered curiously about the three kids that the officer mentioned, since she only knew of Ash and Goh, but she figured it was something to dwell upon later.

"Officer Jenny, were two boys named Ash and Goh there?" Chloe asked.

"Why yes, they were. In fact, Goh's actually a pretty well known figure around here. He was brought in by a girl's Delphox from Route 203, and speculations were thrown around from what left him and the Pokemon in the injured state they ended up in." The officer replied.

Neither Chloe nor Professor Cerise knew how to process this new brush of enlightenment. Officer Jenny took her time to let the two properly wrap their heads around this. The father-daughter pair looked at each other and made a mental agreement to discuss the matter later. A brief explanation of their backgrounds let Officer Jenny know why the Cerise pair were currently in the area. They were allowed into the building where the receptionist was able to inform them of where Goh was currently held.

Both Cerise's considered the stairs, but agreed that they'd done enough walking for the day, so they simply took the elevator. Once they reached their floor, they turned a few corners until they came across the door to a hallway. Past it? Goh's ER. The Pokemon Professor observed the look of anxiety plastered on his daughter's face. As her father it was his responsibility to ensure her security in certain situations such as this one.

"It's alright, Chloe, those boys are tough as nails," He spoke, "With you by their side, there's no doubt they'll feel better."

The young lass silently responded with a fervor smile and nodded at her father. Her blood was still racing, but she was ready. She opened the door to reveal a virtually empty hallway. In it, a sole girl with honey blond hair sat startled as they made eye contact.

"Oh sorry, we must be in the wrong place," Chloe began to close the door back only to be cut off by the stranger.

"W-wait, are you here for Goh?" The mystery girl asked.

Chloe and her father stood disoriented, before simultaneously responding with, "Yes."

"Phew, Ash told me you two would arrive. If I'm not mistaken, you're Professor Cerise, while you're Chloe." Serena said, pointing to the respective individual as she said their names.

"That's correct, but would you mind informing us of your name? And how are you aware of ours?" Professor Cerise politely asked.

Serena introduced herself and relayed all her knowledge of the events that transpired in vivid detail, barring her awkwardness with Ash. The mystery Delphox matter was quickly cleared up, but more confusion began to arise as she intricately described their encounter with Darkrai, and the heated tensions between Ash and Tobias that caught Goh in the crosshairs. She observed the pair's faces go from curiosity, to shock, to distress. She hated having to be the bearer of bad news, but Ash's absence was simply a product of bad timing.

"That was...certainly a lot to take in." The professor stated.

"Yeah, that-" Chloe gulped, "That was horrible."

"It's best that I handle letting Goh's parents hear of this. I can't burden you kids with such an endeavor," Professor Cerise said.

Chloe wanted to disagree, but guiltily held her tongue. She didn't want to admit that was a task she'd hoped to avoid.

"Hey, Serena. You never told us what happened to Ash. Why isn't he here?" Chloe asked.

"He went off about an hour ago to train with his Pokemon. I guess he needed something to get his mind off all the ruckus," Serena responded.

"Sounds like him. I suppose we'll just have to wait till later to meet up," The professor expressed.

"Sirfetch'd, use Night Slash! Pikachu, catch it with Electroweb!" Ash yelled from the battlefield.

The two attacks crashed and burst as they made contact. The resulting shockwaves caused even Ash himself to be thrown back. In response to their trainer's predicament, both Pokemon quickly scrambled to ensure his safety.

"It's alright, I was just knocked back a bit. Let's keep going!" Ash said, taking a sprightly posture to reinforce the fake cheerfulness.

"Pika!" Pikachu said in an annoyed tone. Sirfetch'd concurred by nodding. Ash looked to his two Pokemon and sighed.

"Guess I'm not fooling either of you, huh?"

His Pokemon shook their heads. He laid himself back and gave a long winding gaze to the sky.

"I feel bad for just leaving Goh and Serena behind like that," He started, sitting himself up to pet Pikachu on the head, "but my head's feeling really messed up right now. All I can think of is training for that battle ticket. And when we win that, we're going for the Ultra Class Tournament."

As Ash brought himself to stand, a smile began to noticeably form around Ash's face; a sincere one this time. Pikachu and Sirfetch'd beamed up at their trainer's self-rallying.

"In that case, you mind if I join you?"

The three that were currently in the battlefield turned their heads to the unknown speaker. They were initially stumped, but only a few seconds later, Ash grinned.

"I knew I'd run into you again sooner or later," Ash confidently spoke.

"If I heard correctly, you're taking part in the World Coronation Series. In which case, I'd like a little warm up battle, assuming you're up for it," The other trainer proposed.

"Of course," Ash replied, "I can't have you making me look pathetic."