Two days after he and his friends had left Shalour City, Ash was sitting in the empty lobby of the Geosenge Town Pokémon Center, looking through his Pokédex and focusing intensely. The previous day's travels were quiet and awkward, as all of them were still processing what had happened to them in the Reflection Cave, but nobody wanted to be the one to talk about it and expose themselves in the process. Their arrival in Geosenge Town had served as a good distraction, and by the time they went to bed, they were able to put the episode behind them for the most part.

Ash had eaten his breakfast more quickly than the others that morning, before walking into the lobby and sitting in the first chair he saw, pulling out his Pokédex. He started flipping through it, looking at what species of Pokémon could be found nearby, trying to build his team in his mind. His concentration was only broken when felt a pair of hands come to rest on his shoulders; he tilted his head back, glancing upward, and found himself looking into the upside-down face of Serena.

"What are you doing out here, Ash?" she asked curiously.

"Hey, Serena." Ash smiled back up at her. "I'm just looking through my Pokédex for a minute."

"I can see that," she replied. "Why are you looking through it? And why do you look like you're cramming for a test?"

"I'm trying to figure out what Pokémon I should add to my team next." He glanced back down at the device in his hand. "I need to make sure I catch the right Pokémon. There's a lot I need to consider."

"Yeah? Like what?" She smiled and leaned in closer, letting her arms slide around his shoulders gently, looking over his right shoulder at his Pokédex. "Tell me more."

"Ah… well…" Ash took a second to compose himself, grinning involuntarily, tilting the screen to face Serena a bit more. "Right now I'm thinking of how I'm going to beat Grant and his Rock-type Pokémon, but I need to think about the Pokémon League at the same time. If I start tailoring my team for type advantages for every Gym Leader, it'll be completely unbalanced. Plus, I'd have to spend ages building them up before each Gym Battle."

"Huh. Didn't you catch Skorupi for your battle in Laverre City, though? That's what you told me."

"I did, but that only really works for the first few battles," he explained. "The fewer Pokémon that are in the battle, the more a single type-advantage Pokémon benefits you. That advantage starts weakening right around now." He turned his head to face her a bit more, feeling her hair brushing against his cheek as he did so. "I think this time, I'm just going to have to accept the disadvantage and work to overcome it."

"I see…" Serena nodded thoughtfully, trying to file this information away, hoping that knowing more about battling might make her feel closer to him. "So what are you thinking, then? You're just going to build out your team for the Kalos League?"

"That's what I'm thinking, yeah." Ash pressed a few buttons on the Pokédex, showing a view of the Pokémon they were likely to see on Route 10. "Golett could work, Houndour could work, Eevee could work great with the right Evolution Stone… I usually have a Flying-type Pokémon on hand by now, too. They come in handy a lot, and the people I face in the League are definitely going to have some of their own. I'd love to get one of those next, if I can." He started scrolling through the Pokémon, seeing a Snubbull, a Houndour, a Nosepass, and more. "If worst comes to worst and I don't catch one, I could always call up Hawlucha. He was a great fighter last time."

"I remember him," she responded, thinking back on how well the Fighting/Flying-type Pokémon had done in many of Ash's previous battles with him. "He'd be great, I bet."

"We'll see." Ash lowered his Pokédex a bit. "It all depends on what we come across. You sort of have to take what comes to you and hope for the best."

Serena smiled warmly, her arms holding him a bit closer. "I'm sure whatever you end up doing will work out, Ash. You're a fantastic trainer. You'll do great no matter what happens."

Ash grinned wide and nodded as her arms pulled him back into her a bit, closing his eyes as he felt her cheek lightly brushing against his. He took in a deep breath, focusing on the warmth he felt from her, the softness of her skin, the gentleness of her arms as she held him. He didn't dare say another word, nor move a muscle, not wanting to interrupt the moment and cause her to step away. The two of them were mostly too antsy and nervous for public displays of affection, but sometimes when they were alone, there would be moments like this, and Ash relished every second of them. The sensation of being close to her, of her gentle and affectionate touches, brought out feelings in him that he didn't have the words to describe.

As he slowly exhaled, his eyes opened again, as he suddenly remembered something he had thought of weeks ago when he had first arrived. He spoke up again just as he felt her start to pull away. "Hey, Serena, I was wondering something…"

"Hm? What is it?" She leaned back in close to him.

"Have you noticed… it might just be in my head, but have you noticed the air in Kalos is just… nicer then the air anywhere else?" he asked, thinking back to his arrival at the Lumiose City airport. "It's cleaner, it's fresher, it smells nicer, like flowers or something…"

"Oh, yes, of course." Serena nodded, understanding immediately. "It's not just you. That's absolutely a real thing. Kalos cultivates that on purpose."

"Really?" He glanced back at her, eyebrows raising. "How do they do that?"

"A few things… let's see…" Her eyes flicked upward as she thought to herself. "There's very little heavy manufacturing in Kalos; it's mostly just the Poké Ball factory and that's it. We also make a lot of perfumes here, and we plant lots of flowers, too. It all adds up. There might be other regulations, too. I don't remember all of it."

"I see… I had no idea it was on purpose. It makes sense, though."

"Mhmm." She glanced back at him. "Why do you ask?"

"No real reason," he replied. "It was just something I was thinking about."

"Hm…" She smirked a bit. "And why were you thinking about that just now?"

"Ah…" He glanced downward, suddenly sheepish. "Like I said… no real reason."

"Uh huh." She stood up fully behind him, letting her hands slowly slide off his shoulders. "Well, now you know." She turned and walked away to go and gather her things, grinning wide, her cheeks flushed. Ash was blushing as well, a bit embarrassed, trying to regain his composure as he continued studying his Pokédex.


Ninety minutes later, the foursome were eating lunch at a picnic table not far outside of Geosenge Town. They had meant to travel farther before stopping, but they had been delayed for a handful of reasons; Ash had forgotten one of his belongings in the Pokémon Center, and Serena had been stopped by a small group of fans who wanted to talk with her. As a result, they ended up taking a break with Geosenge City still in sight, their growling stomachs forcing their hand.

After enjoying a delicious lunch cooked by Brock, Serena had brought out a container of cream puffs she had baked recently, for everyone to enjoy. They had intended to save most of them for later, but as soon as each of them tasted one, all restraint was gone. They quickly went through the entire collection, complimenting Serena on the taste whenever their mouths weren't full. Before long, Brock and Serena were sitting back, full and happy, while Ash reached out to snag the last remaining cream puff.

As he started to grasp it, he felt another set of fingers touching his, trying to do the same thing. He looked upward to see Iris reaching out for it as well, their eyes meeting. They both smirked at each other, eyes flaring, and an instant later they had both slammed their elbows down on the table, clasping hands and engaging in an impromptu arm wrestling match. They both strained against the other for several long seconds, exerting every ounce of strength they had, fighting for pride and pastry alike. Eventually, Iris slammed Ash's arm down against the table, letting out a triumphant cheer as she let go.

"Geez…" Ash rubbed his now-sore arm as he looked back at her.

"Let the record show," Iris spoke, reaching out for her prize, "that the score is now six for me, and three for you." She took a bite out of the cream puff, the taste even sweeter after having earned it.

"You need to build up those muscles, Ash," Serena added teasingly, standing up and grabbing the empty container, as Iris popped the rest of the pastry into her mouth. "You need to do some weight training. You can't keep letting Iris show you up."

"Yeah?" He glanced back at her, a defeated tone evident in his voice, as she kneeled down next to her backpack. "You know a lot about weight training, Serena?"

"Of course," she replied, putting the empty container away. "I do plenty of working out when I have the time. You can't be a great dancer with flabby muscles."

"Oh, really?" Iris grinned, placing her elbow back on the table and aiming her arm in Serena's direction. "You think you can do better?"

Serena laughed as she stood back up. "No way, I'd get creamed. All my strength is in my legs and my core. We'd have to do something like leg wrestling if we wanted it to be fair."

The two girls looked toward each other for a moment, grins spreading wide across their faces as they both got the same idea at the same time. Iris jumped up, and the two of them quickly moved toward the end of the picnic table, toward more open grass. Serena was blocked by Ash, however, as he stretched out his arm in front of her.

"Huh?" She stopped and looked toward him, curious; he looked back at her and put his finger to his lips, before pointing up at the bough of a nearby tree. Sitting high up on one of the branches, she could see a Pokémon that looked like a cross between a bird and a hieroglyph. Its body was mostly round, with colorful zigzagging stripes adorning it, and it had colorful but minimal wings coming out of its shoulders. Serena didn't recognize it, but Ash clearly did, and he wasn't about to let this chance pass him by.

Everyone followed Ash's lead, staying quiet and still, as he motioned for Pikachu to come closer. He closed his hand into a fist, then opened it back up as he thrust it in the direction of the resting Pokémon. Pikachu nodded, understanding the command perfectly, charging up a ball of electricity on his tail. Just as he started whirling around, but before he could aim the attack, he cried out as he found himself suddenly frozen in place, the telltale aura of a Psychic attack surrounding him. The ball of electricity flew off into the sky, stretching out into a wide Electroweb before dissipating.

Ash's eyes widened, and he looked back toward the bird Pokémon, who was staring down at the group with three eyes, one on its head and two on its stomach. It started flapping its meager wings, taking off and flying back in the direction of Geosenge Town.

"Darn it!" Ash exclaimed, running over to his backpack. "I thought I had it!"

"What is that, Ash?" Brock asked, eyes following the mysterious Pokémon as it flew away.

"It's a Sigilyph!" Ash answered, quickly slipping his backpack on. "It's both a Flying-type and a Psychic-type! I almost never get my hands on Psychic-type Pokémon!" He started running after it, Pikachu following behind him.

"You can get it, Ash!" Serena called out encouragingly, as she slipped on her own backpack. Iris and Brock did the same, as they all followed him from a bit of a distance, hoping that Ash would be able to catch the Pokémon before they ran all the way back to town.


Several minutes later, Ash slowed to a stop as he took his first steps back into Geosenge Town. He had managed to keep pace with the Sigilyph, and Pikachu had fired off a couple of Thunder Bolts, but the Pokémon remained stubbornly un-caught. He groaned as he watched the Sigilyph fly up and over one of the buildings, vanishing from his sight.

"Ugh…" He took a second to catch his breath, hands on his knees, as the others came up behind him. "I was so close… I could have gotten it right when we first saw it…"

"I'm sorry, Ash." Serena stepped up behind him. "Maybe you'll see another one on the way to Brackish Town. That can't have been the only one."

"No way," he replied, shaking his head as he stood up fully. "I'm not giving up that easily. There's only so far that thing can fly."

"Ash, you're not going to keep chasing it, are you?" Iris asked, surprised. "Do you even know where it went?"

"It's a small town. It can't have gotten that far." He started running toward where he last saw the Sigilyph, looking back. "I won't be long, I promise!"

"Wait! Ash!" Serena called out, to no avail; he quickly rounded one corner, then another, disappearing behind a building. She sighed and slumped a bit, less than thrilled at this turn of events. Iris and Brock weren't any happier.

"Well, girls…" Brock spread his arms wide, gesturing mockingly toward the town in front of them. "Welcome to Geosenge Town… again."

"Does he seriously expect us to wait here for him while he chases a bird all over town?" Iris groused, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm giving him one hour, then I'm calling him and telling him we're leaving."

"Iris, this is important," Serena responded gently but firmly. "This Pokémon could help him a lot if he catches it. Give him a chance."

Iris looked back at her. "How long do you think we should wait, then?"

Serena spent a moment struggling with her answer. As quick as she had been to leap to Ash's defense, she knew that she had a showcase she needed to get to in Brackish Town, and they didn't have a lot of time for dawdling. On top of that, she had to admit she didn't really want to sit around and wait for him all day, either.

"…Two hours," she eventually responded.

"Fine." Iris started walking forward into town. "Let's go find something to do, then."

Serena and Brock followed her in, and the three of them started discussing how they could kill time. As they were coming to a decision, they paused as they heard a distressed female voice calling out from a few blocks away.

"Hydreigon! Where did you go?! Come back, Hydreigon!"

"Huh?" Brock looked around, a bit curious as to where the voice was coming from. "Did someone lose their Pokémon?"

"Sounds like it," Serena responded, also looking for the source of the voice. "I hope she find them." She turned her gaze forward again, stopping short in surprise when she saw that Iris had stopped dead in front of them, barely breathing, her eyes wide as saucers.

"That… it can't be…" She looked around for a moment, her heart suddenly pounding, hoping that the owner of the voice spoke up again.

"Whatever it is I did, I'm sorry, Hydreigon! Please come back!"

Iris took off like a rocket, running in the direction of the voice as it started to grow clearer, cupping her hands to her mouth and calling out. "Shannon! Shannon, is that you?!"

"What?! Who said that?! Who's there?!"

"Shannon, it's me!" She turned a corner and looked down the sidewalk, gasping and covering her mouth when she saw who was there. At the other end of the block was a young girl of Iris's age and stature, with long maroon hair that fell partway down her back. As their eyes met, the other girl gasped as well.

"Oh my gosh…" The girl stood still for a moment, in shock and disbelief, a bit overcome. As Iris started running excitedly toward her, she managed to come back down to Earth and raced back in Iris's direction, practically leaping into her arms as they embraced each other.

"I don't believe it!" Iris exclaimed, holding the girl tightly. "Shannon, what are you doing here?!"

"I'm going on a Pokémon journey, same as you!" Shannon answered, her shock and bewilderment quickly giving way to excitement and elation. "I didn't think I would actually run into you here!"

"You should have called me! We could have been journeying together all this time!" The two girls finally let each other go, standing back and clasping hands as they beamed at each other.

"Iris?" Both of them looked over to see Serena approaching, with Brock right behind her. "You know this girl? Who is she?"

"Yes!" Iris let go of Shannon's hands, gesturing toward her. "This is Shannon! She's my best friend. We grew up together in Unova, in the Village of Dragons." She glanced back at her friend. "This is Serena and Brock. I've been traveling with them for the past month or so."

"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you, Shannon." Serena smiled and stepped forward, shaking Shannon's hand.

"You too, Serena." Shannon studied Serena's face curiously. "You look familiar… have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Serena's a top-tier performer here in Kalos," Iris answered, knowing Serena was too modest to answer directly. "You probably saw her on TV a few weeks back."

Recognition quickly flashed across Shannon's eyes. "It was on TV! I remember now!" She grinned as she saw Serena look down sheepishly, turning pink. "You have the coolest friends, Iris!"

She turned her attention toward Brock, who smiled and stepped forward, extending his hand. "My name's Brock. I'm from Pewter City, in the Kanto region. I haven't been on TV, but I hope I'm still cool." The two shook hands for a moment before he continued. "So why were you yelling for your Hydreigon a moment ago?"

"Ah! That's right!" Shannon was quickly jolted back to reality, after being swept up in the excitement of seeing Iris again. "Hydreigon… I've been letting him out every day so he could fly around and stretch his wings. But today, he just didn't come back…"

"Oh no…" Serena brought up her hand to cover her mouth, immediately concerned at the crestfallen expression on Shannon's face. "Was he acting strange at all?"

"No, he wasn't. I don't know why he would have left."

"Don't worry, Shannon," Iris spoke up confidently. "We'll all help you find him, won't we?" She looked back at Serena and Brock, who both nodded affirmatively, happy to help.

Shannon smiled, looking around at all of them, feeling a little more optimistic. "Thank you, everyone. I hope he didn't get too far…" The four of them started walking down Geosenge Town's main street, calling out for Shannon's lost Pokémon.


At that very moment, Hydreigon was on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in town, though not by choice. He was struggling against a surprisingly strong tube made of thick rubber, one that was encasing him completely. He tried to claw at it, bash his head against it, desperate to get out, but to no avail. Standing off to the side, watching the Pokémon struggle against his constraints, stood two criminals and their Pokémon.

"Well, at least we know it works," Jessie commented. "If it was possible for that thing to break out, it would have done it by now. There's no way that Pikachu can escape from this." She turned to look at her partner. "That's some pretty impressive engineering, James."

"Thanks, Jessie… only now it's going to take me thirty minutes to set it back up," James lamented, glaring down at Meowth, annoyance all over his face. "You just had to press the button when that Pokémon landed on the trap, didn't you?"

"Hey, give me a break!" Meowth shot back. "I panicked! Pokémon like me are like hors d'oeuvres to Hydreigons!" He gestured toward a circular contraption on the ground behind James, identical to the one underneath the now-captive Hydreigon. "What's the big deal? We've got another one, and it's not like we need two to capture Pikachu."

"The more we have, the better our chances!" James responded angrily.

"I suppose you'll just have to set it up again," Jessie chimed in, causing James to groan and slump forward. "In the meantime, how are we going to get rid of this thing? We can't just let it go. It'll tear us to shreds."

Both of them turned and glared at Meowth again, who raised his paws in defense. "Hey, don't look at me! I'm gonna be as far away as possible when we let that thing go!"

Jessie grumbled and looked away, glancing over the streets of Geosenge Town, as James sighed. "Unless we want to fight this thing off, we'll all have to be far away when we let it go. I guess we'll find out the range on that button."

"Hold on…" Jessie walked over to the edge of the building they were standing on, kneeling down and looking at the streets below. James and Meowth followed her lead, trying to find what she was looking at, quickly spotting Iris and the others. All of them were looking around, calling out for Hydreigon, hoping that he might come out from wherever he was hiding.

"It's the twerps!" Meowth exclaimed, before quickly hushing himself. "Does that mean this thing belongs to one of them?"

"It sure seems like it," Jessie answered, smirking. "Looks to me like opportunity is knocking." The three of them retreated from the rooftop, planning out how to best approach this situation.


Some time later, the four trainers were walking down one of the last unexplored streets in town. Coming to the end of it, they found themselves back in a familiar location, and as they looked around for other paths to take, they collectively realized they had explored every street in the downtown area.

"He's not anywhere around here… he must have really flown far away…" Shannon's face fell, her stomach in knots. Iris felt her stomach twisting up as well, seeing the pain on her friend's face. She turned to face forward, calling out one last time.

"Hydreigon! Where are you?!"

"Gah!" Everyone turned in surprise as the tree next to them yelped. "Who's shouting?!" They watched the branches rustle for a minute, before Ash's head poked out amongst the leaves, followed by Pikachu's.

"Ash!" Serena stepped forward. "What are you doing up there?"

"I'm trying to find Sigilyph! I'm scoping out the town!" He looked back down at them, his eyes quickly homing in on the new addition to their group. "Who's this?"

"Ash, you remember Shannon, don't you?" Iris asked. "From the Village of Dragons, back home?"

His eyes lit up with recognition after a second. "Yeah, I do remember!" He started climbing down the tree. "What are you doing here, Shannon? Why are you shouting?"

"We're trying to find my Hydreigon… he flew off, and didn't come back…"

"Oh no, really?" He hopped down to the ground, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder. "Well, I can help you find him, no problem. Where should we start?"

"What about that Sigilyph?" Serena asked.

"It's fine. This is more important. I can always catch something else." Ash gave Shannon an encouraging smile, which she didn't return.

"Thank you, Ash, but… don't worry about it…" She looked down at her feet. "If he hasn't come back by now… maybe he doesn't want to come back." Her voice trembled a bit, and she looked to be on the verge of tears. "This is all my fault… I wasn't a good enough breeder…"

"Shannon! That's not true!" Iris exclaimed, shocked. "Both of your Hydreigons love you, and you know it! I don't know where he is, but I know he didn't run away on purpose!"

Shannon seemed a little boosted by Iris's words, but not much. The five of them stood around for a few moments, having no idea how to proceed from here; they had already scoured the whole of the downtown, and none of them were certain that expanding the search would do much good. Before they could come to a decision, they were distracted by a voice calling out to them.

"Yoohoo! Looking for something?" All five of them quickly turned around, looking upward at the source of the noise, gasping as they saw Hydreigon at the edge of the roof of one building, struggling to break free of the transparent prison that he had been trapped within. On either side of him were Jessie and James, with Meowth at James's feet, all of them holding onto the rubber container, trying to keep the captive Pokémon from inching his way off the roof.

"Oh no! Hydreigon!" Shannon shouted, running toward him, with the others following behind her.

Jessie laughed tauntingly. "Prepare for-" she began, before Hydreigon roared and slammed its head against its bindings, nearly throwing itself off the ledge. All three of its captors gasped and grabbed it tightly, pulling it back onto solid ground with all their strength. They quickly decided that their motto could wait for another time.

"You three again?!" Ash exclaimed, instantly angry. "What are you even doing with him?!"

"You want him back, hm? Well then, how about a trade?" Jessie smirked. "Come on up here and let's talk turkey." The three of them grabbed Hydreigon's container and started dragging him back toward the center of the roof, having to struggle against his powerful thrashing, much less dignified than they were hoping to look.

Ash growled, starting to run toward the building, causing Serena to call out to him. "Ash! You're not actually going to try trading with them, are you?"

"What choice do we have?" He turned around and looked back at the others. "We have to get that Hydreigon back! Come on, guys!"

All five of them started making their way to the building, running toward the front door, wondering how to get on the roof. High above them, hovering in the air as it flapped its wings, Sigilyph watched the group as they entered the building and started making their way up.


Minutes later, Ash stepped out of a stairwell and onto the roof of the building they had entered, seeing Hydreigon and his captors several yards away. Jessie smirked, pleased, as the others filtered in behind him.

"Glad you all decided to show up," she spoke smugly. "Now let's talk business."

"What do you jerks want?!" Iris demanded. "If you hurt that Hydreigon at all, I'll…" She started marching toward them, causing James to hold up a small remote threateningly.

"Hold it right there!" he warned, clutching the remote in his fist. "All of you, stay right there. Get too close and I'll destroy the release mechanism. He'll be trapped, with no way of getting out!"

"What?!" Iris froze in place. "You… no way! You're bluffing!"

"You want to find out?" Meowth taunted. Iris glared back at them, but didn't take another step. She wasn't sure she believed them, but she wasn't willing to risk Shannon's Pokémon over it.

"Much better." James stood up straight, feeling good about the situation and hoping his confidence wasn't misplaced. "Now then, let's talk about that trade. I think you know who we want in exchange for Hydreigon." He immediately focused on Pikachu; Jessie and Meowth did the same.

Ash gritted his teeth, infuriated and torn. Normally he would be confident in his ability to get either Pikachu or Hydreigon back, but the criminal trio had come far too close to escaping with Pikachu just weeks before. He had no desire to give Pikachu up, but even the thought of giving up Hydreigon made him feel sick with guilt.

"Why are you three even doing this?!" Iris shouted at them, startling Ash a bit and breaking his train of thought. "You're not even with Team Rocket anymore! Why do you care about Pikachu now?!"

"W… what?!" Jessie stammered a bit in surprise, all of them caught off guard. "We're… who told you that?!"

"We heard everything from Bill and Cassidy back in Shalour City," Iris responded. "They told us you got the boot years ago!"

"Urgh… those two…" James gritted his teeth, trying to remain intimidating despite his obvious embarrassment. "Even after we're gone, they still have to ruin our careers, don't they?"

"What do you need Pikachu for anymore?" Ash called out. "Why don't you just go away and leave us alone?!"

Jessie growled. "Why don't you just go back to Pallet Town and bag groceries or whatever?"

"No way! I'm not giving up on my dream just because of you three!"

"Well, we're not giving up on our dream, either!" James shot back. "Our dream is to rejoin Team Rocket, and nothing's going to stop us from achieving it!"

"That's right!" Meowth chimed in.

Jessie kept quiet, her eyes fixed on Pikachu, a noncommittal expression on her face. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that the other two were looking her way, waiting for her to chime in and fill the silence. She quickly spoke up, tripping over her words a bit. "Right… that's right."

James ignored the odd response, looking back at Ash and his friends. "That's enough talk. If you want this Hydreigon back, you'll set your Pikachu down right here." He tapped his foot on a small circular device on the ground, identical to the one that was underneath Hydreigon. "Once we've gotten far away, then you'll get your other Pokémon back."

"Why should we trust you?" Serena demanded, stepping up beside Ash.

"What choice do you think you have?" Jessie shot back.

All of them stood quietly for a moment, the two groups glaring at each other, as Ash tried to figure out what to do. After several tense seconds, Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and started walking toward the trap, looking simultaneously angry and resigned.

"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as his Pokémon moved closer and closer to the trap, keeping his eyes suspiciously on the trio in front of him. He eventually set foot on the device, sitting on it and looking up, waiting for them to get on with whatever it was they planned to do.

"Well, I'm glad one of you is seeing sense." James grinned, turning toward Meowth. "Alright, activate the trap!"

"With pleasure!" The small cat Pokémon held out a remote very similar to the one in James's hand, his other paw hovering above it, ready to press the button and activate the mechanism. He held that pose for several long seconds, not moving a muscle, as everyone else watched, the moment starting to change from tense to awkward.

"Any day now, Meowth…" Jessie suggested.

"I'm… trying!" Meowth answered, his voice oddly strained, his jaw barely moving. "Can't… move…!"

James blinked in surprise, wondering what he was talking about, when he managed to notice the strange aura that was surrounding Meowth at that moment. His eyes widened in shock, and he tried to step forward to help, only to find that he, too, was frozen in place. Jessie was similarly stuck, and she started straining against her invisible restraints, to no effect.

"Huh?" Ash took a closer look at them, recognizing the telltale aura of a Psychic attack. He quickly looked around, trying to find the source of it. After a moment, he looked upward and gasped again, his face breaking into a wide smile. "Ah! Look!" Everyone else followed his lead, finding the Sigilyph from before flying above them, focusing hard on keeping the former Team Rocket members frozen in place.

"No way!" Brock exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. "I can't believe it actually came back!"

"Now's our chance!" Ash took a step forward. "Pikachu, hit the button on James's remote!"

"No! Don't!" James pleaded helplessly, redoubling his futile efforts to get free. Pikachu ignored him, climbing up his body and onto his arm, slamming his paw against the button. In an instant, the rubber casing surrounding Hydreigon split into two halves and fell away, freeing the Pokémon from his prison.

"Yes!" Iris clenched both fists in front of her excitedly. "Great work, Pikachu!"

"Thank goodness!" Relief spread quickly throughout Shannon's body, before she stood back up fully. "Alright, Hydreigon, teach these three a lesson they won't forget!"

The trio could do nothing but watch helplessly as the enraged Hydreigon stretched his wings and advanced toward them. Each of his heads shot forward and grabbed one of them in its jaw; two of them grabbed Jessie and James by their collars, while the third snatched up Meowth by the tail. The dragon Pokémon started to spin around rapidly, faster and faster, before eventually letting go with all three of its mouths. Jessie, James and Meowth all screamed as they were flung far outside the edges of Geosenge Town, too far to even see where they eventually landed.

"Hmph! Good riddance." Serena un-tensed and relaxed, watching with the others as Shannon ran up to her Pokémon, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Hydreigon! I was so worried about you!" Her Hydreigon returned the affection happily, making a mewling sound as he wrapped an arm around her in response.

Iris was smiling from ear to ear, relieved and thrilled. "See, Shannon? I told you that Pokémon loved you. There aren't many people that can make a Hydreigon act like that."

"There sure aren't," Brock chimed in. "You must really be a talented breeder."

Shannon smiled as she turned back to them, flushing a bit. "Thank you for saying that, both of you. I guess I just need some more confidence in myself."

Ash nodded, looking back up at the Pokémon flying overhead. "Thanks to you, too, Sigilyph. Without your help, I don't know where we'd be right now."

Sigilyph cawed from some unknown orifice, swooping down closer to the rooftop and hovering just over it, looking Ash straight in the eyes with as piercing of a look as it could manage. Ash's eyebrows raised in surprise; he had expected the Pokémon to fly away again, after the chase they had gone through earlier in the day.

"Huh? What's it doing?" Serena wondered aloud.

"I think it wants to battle you, Ash," Iris chimed in. Sigilyph nodded, spreading its wings, trying to appear as intimidating as possible.

Ash grinned wide, excited. "Sure looks like it to me." He looked down at Pikachu, who had settled at its feet. "You ready, Pikachu?"

Pikachu cheered affirmatively, running forward on all fours and taking up an offensive position. The others moved away, standing behind Ash and watching curiously, as he issued his first command and the two Pokémon began to battle.