Disclaimer: Well, I own a lot of Pokemon cards and some video games and stuff, but do I own Pokemon itself? Let me go check… No, not yet, but I'll let everyone know the moment I do. Just expect a long, long wait!

Note to everyone who read and everyone who reviewed: Thank you! I'm really, really sorry this chapter has been so long in coming. I've got a lot of things going on in my life lately, and I haven't been able to type much these days. I'll post future chapters whenever I get the chance, so I'm not abandoning my readers or my story! Please try to be patient with me and I'll do my best to make it worth your while!

Some people had comments on the time travel/paradox issue, so I thought I'd reply to that for a moment: The fact is, as far as I know, there is no way a story involving time travel could not have some kind of plot hole. There's a reason time travel isn't actually possible! It just wouldn't work! But this is just a story, written for fun. If you must have an explanation for the paradox thing, we can always say this story is like the movie "Frequency", with the past and present occurring simultaneously, I suppose… Really, it's better to forget the paradox and just have fun reading, right? Good.

Also, about Misty and Gary being married…I had no idea anyone would be bothered by it! But I will just say a couple things: First, Ash has been gone for years and as far as Misty knows, she'll never see him again. Should she live the rest of her life alone? Second, as I said before, there are many, many AAML stories out there, but this is not one of them. Possibly toward the end, but we'll see… I do think Misty and Gary are cute together, though!

One last comment and I'll get to the story: If anyone has suggestions about grammar errors my computer somehow didn't catch, please email me with your tips. My email address is on my bio page. I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Chapter Two: Twins

Early the next morning, Lily got up before anyone else and crept silently out of the house. She wished she had her bike. It was not going to be fun walking all day. Even thinking about walking all day was making her tired.

Suddenly she had an idea. She ran to the stable. There was her old friend Ember! She'd know him anywhere, even though here in the past he was still a Ponyta.

"Hello, there," she said softly while she gently stroked his neck. He seemed to trust her, so she led him outside and got onto his back. When he felt the sudden unexpected weight of a person on his back, he took a few steps backward, tossed his head and whinnied, but Lily spoke softly to him while petting him, and he soon calmed down.

Lily had decided to leave Celebi at the house just in case she happened to be captured or something. The last thing she would want would be for Giovanni or Team Rocket to get their hands on the time-traveling Pokemon. Celebi would be safe with Lily's parents for a little while. Lily didn't really expect to be gone long at all. Rescuing Ash would be easy once she was able to find Team Rocket's headquarters.

She gently urged Ember toward Viridian City. She had no idea where the Team Rocket headquarters were, but the gym was a good start.

"Freeze, twerp!"

Lily brought Ember to a halt. Standing in the middle of the road were two teenagers and a Meowth. The girl had really long red hair and the guy had blue hair. They were wearing white uniforms with a big red "R" on each shirt.

"Prepare for trouble," said the girl.

"And make it double," the guy added.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" the Meowth cried.

Normally Lily would have been shocked by a talking Meowth, but something else had surprised her more.

"You belong to Team Rocket?"

"That's right, little twerp, so hand over all your Pokemon," Jessie said.

"I don't have any. But listen, I want to join Team Rocket. Will you take me to your boss?"

Jessie and James looked at each other. "If we did bring her in as a new recruit, the Boss might give us a raise," James said.

"Okay. Let's do it!" Jessie said.

Lily got off of Ember's back and told him to go back home. He nuzzled her, and then trotted back in the direction of the house.

"We've got a hot-air balloon," Jessie told Lily as she led the way to where the Meowth-shaped balloon waited. Lily got in happily. Finally things were going right!

"Sir, we've brought you a new recruit," said Jessie. "She asked us to bring her to you."

Giovanni didn't even look up from the papers he was reading. "Very well. Leave her. You may go."

Jessie, James and Meowth looked disappointed, but they left without saying anything.

Lily stood waiting for what seemed like a very long time before Giovanni finally looked up. When he did, he frowned.

"You're a little young to be in Team Rocket," he said simply. "Those three should have known better than to bring you here."

Lily ignored that. "May I sit down?" she asked. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. She sat down opposite him. She was startled at first when she noticed the Persian sitting beside Giovanni. The big cat Pokemon just stared at her, hardly blinking. It was unsettling to Lily, but she tried to ignore it.

"I didn't tell those three the whole story," she said. "Now, I know Ash is here. And I know that you know he's your son. But what you don't know is that I am Ash's twin sister. So that makes me your daughter, I guess."

Giovanni watched her intently. If he was shocked by what she'd said, he didn't show it. "He never mentioned having a twin."

"Well, has he talked to you much at all? About anything?" Lily asked.

"No. He has not been very talkative, I admit. But if you are his sister, then why did you come here? I find it hard to believe you'd show up here willingly. Does your mother know about this?"

"Oh, no! She doesn't know a thing! Listen." Lily leaned forward and spoke quietly, as if she were divulging a big secret. "All my life I've wondered about my father, but Mom wouldn't tell me anything. Then Ash got kidnapped, and Mom finally told me who our father was. I thought, 'Now's my chance to meet my dad!' So I…ran away, and came here." She hung her head as if she was ashamed of herself for running away, and then looked at Giovanni. "Please don't send me back. Give me a chance to get to know you, please?"

"You look just like your mother," Giovanni said. "There's no mistaking that you're Delia's daughter. And you appear to be the same age as Ash, so you could be telling the truth, I suppose, but…" He stopped, suddenly aware that he didn't know her name.

Lily sensed his hesitation. "Lillian," she offered.

"Lillian," he repeated. "I'm afraid I may not be the kind of father you're looking for. And training to be a Rocket is not fun and games. I would expect complete obedience from you."

"Of course," Lily replied. "I promise to obey you. Will you let me stay?"

"Very well. But you must work hard."

"I will! Thank you!"

"I do have a question, Lillian. Why do you have a bandage on your face? Are you hurt?"

"Oh, that. I fell down. It's not a big deal," she said quickly.

Giovanni nodded. "All right. I'll show you where you will be staying. If you will behave yourself, you may share your brother's room."

"I'll be good…Father," Lily said, almost choking on the words. But she'd do anything to save Ash.

They walked down corridors and made a few turns, with Persian following behind. Finally Giovanni stopped at a door and unlocked it. But before he opened it, he turned to face Lily. "I hope having you here will help improve your brother's behavior. From what I've seen so far, you seem much more obedient than Ash."

"Well, he's kind of always been that way. But I'll straighten him out, sir. You can count on me."

"Good." He opened the door. Ash was on his bed. He looked just like his picture. He sat up quickly when he saw Lily.

"Who is she?"

Lily knew she had to act fast. She ran to Ash. "Oh, Ash, are you okay? Are you still half-asleep? It's me, Lillian! Don't tell me you forgot your twin sister already!" she said, sounding like she was teasing. Then she made herself look at Giovanni worriedly. "He didn't get hurt, did he?" She turned back to Ash. "Ash, tell me you're all right! I came to live here with you! Now we can be together again! I missed you so much!" Since her back was to Giovanni, she mouthed the words play along to Ash. For once in his life, he understood what was expected of him.

"Oh, Lillian! I thought I'd never see you again!" He hugged Lily, and she hugged him back, relieved that he hadn't blown her cover.

Giovanni started going out the door. "I'll be back in ten minutes, and then we will start training, so be ready." He left the room.

Lily waited a minute before she tried the doorknob. "He left it unlocked! Well, ten minutes is cutting it close, but beggars can't be choosers. Actually, now we only have about eight minutes, so we'd better get moving." She looked at Ash. He just sat on his bed, staring at her. "Well, come on!" she cried.

"Who are you?"

"No time to explain. Hurry up or we'll miss our chance!"

"I'm not going anywhere with someone I don't even know!"

Lily grabbed Ash's arm and tried to pull him out the door. He resisted at first, but finally the need to be free won over. They ran down the halls, Lily in the lead.

"Wait! We're going the wrong way!" Ash cried.

But Lily couldn't stop. She kept running until she crashed right into Giovanni, who had been on his way back.

"Oh, shit!" Lily cried, unable to help herself.

Giovanni's eyes widened for a moment, but he didn't say a word. He just grabbed Lily with one arm and Ash with the other and dragged them back to their room. Lily had no idea what was coming next, but by the look of terror on Ash's face, it was nothing good.

Giovanni let go of Ash and Lily just long enough to take off his belt. Then he whipped them both, first Lily, then Ash. Lily started crying, even though she tried to hold back the tears, but Ash didn't cry at all. He refused to let himself cry in front of Giovanni. It wasn't easy, but he was determined not to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

Giovanni turned back to Lily once he was finished with Ash. "You promised you would behave," he said as he put his belt back on. "Since you didn't, you and Ash will stay in separate rooms."

"No! Please," Lily sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'll be good from now on, I promise!" If she was in a different room, she'd never be able to help Ash escape.

Giovanni wouldn't listen to her pleas. As he pulled her out of the room, she looked back at Ash desperately. He just glared at her. Not that she blamed him for hating her. She'd caused him to be punished as soon as he met her. She just hoped he'd come to forgive and trust her.

Okay, that's all for now. Sorry for the crappy chapter. Even I don't like it, and I'm the one who wrote it! I especially think Giovanni is way too stupid in this chapter, but I had to make him believe Lily for my plot to work. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone. But please, no flames, okay? Please? Thanks again, everyone! Keep reviewing if you want me to keep writing! Heh heh, that's pretty shameless of me, but I don't care! Or do I? Hmm….