Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry about that, but I had serious computer problems. I managed to fix it, so everything's fine now. Time to see if I can get back on schedule. There are about 2 chapters left, if you include this one. Ash's life just seems to get lower and lower, but things are starting to look a little up for him lately. But will he ever find true happiness? By the way, check out the forums for this series if you can.

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Ash stood on a cliff on Quest Island, the place that everyone had migrated to after both Team Magma and Team Aqua's attacks. The breeze swept across him, giving him a sense of comfort. His old electric friend stood by his feet, a serious look on it's face. "I'm sick and tired of it all, Pikachu…"

"Pika?" a confused Pikachu asked, tilting his head. It frowned sadly. "Pikapi…"

"No, I'm not going to kill myself…" Ash assured the yellow rodent. "Although sometimes, I wish I was dead…" Growling, Ash clenching his fist. "They kidnapped Misty, turned her against us, attacked us several times, and now they've even hurt one of our friends." He then took one if his fists and caught it with his other hand in a punching motion. "Both Team Aqua and Magma have gotta be stopped! They want a war, they've got it!"

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A Series of Events

Episode 12: The War Begins

Gary, Taylor, Lostelle, and Omi panted as they ran up to the group involving May, Brendan, and Tracey. "We managed to tell most of the people on islands 1-4 about the plans of Team Aqua and Team Magma." Gary replied, wiping his brow. "They've all started to evacuate and have assured us that they'll inform anyone they know."

"And we've done the same on the other 3 islands." Brendan said in turn.

"Where the hell is Ash?" Gary asked, looking around. "He hasn't done anything to help!"

"Actually, I have…" The aforementioned replied, seemingly appearing behind Gary with his arms crossed.

"Where the hell did you come from!" The younger Oak screamed, jumping into the air with his hands raised.

"I've been standing in the shadows, listening to you. It just so happens that I've been calling a few people. We won't be able to take them out all on our own, you know…"

"Hey, Ash!" a familiar voice called out. "Are we too late?" Everyone looked towards the shore to see some people that they hadn't seen in quite a while. Duplica waved as she arrived on a boat. On that boat with were Richie, Todd, the Fighting Eevee Brothers (Mikey included), the Sensational Sisters, and all the remaining Gym Leaders and Elite 4 members. Trailing behind them was a boat with the Orange Crew, Molly, and the master trainers of Johto. And in the distance, there was a boat with Butler, Diane, Tory, Wally, Steven, and the Leaders and Elite from Hoenn. On several other boats came the Frontier Brains and many other people that our heroes had met in their journeys.

Chuckling, Ash gave Gary a cocky grin. "I'd just like to see you try and contact that many people in such a short time."

"Wow, it's like a weird extended family reunion…" Brock joked, walking outside with support from Daisy. "Must have taken some work to get them all down here."

"Brock!" May shouted in a worried tone. "Should you really be up and about like that?"

"Don't worry…" Brock replied with a thumbs up. "I'm feeling much better… Thanks to Daisy's love!"

Taylor's jaw dropped. "He certainly has mellowed out since I first battled him at Pewter City Gym…"

Omi nodded slowly. "He was a lot more cold and serious back then…"

Ash laughed out. "Yeah, he was like that when I met him, too. But once you get to know him, he's actually a really nice guy!"

"Wow, that's a lotta people…" Gary muttered to himself. "But will they really be enough to battle all the members of Teams Aqua and Magma?" He rubbed his chin in deep thought. "These aren't the small armies that we're used to fighting… We're talking about 2 entire organizations here!"

"Ah, buck up, Gary!" Ash shouted, slapping him on the back. "We can do this!"

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Meanwhile, Maxie was sitting at the back of the temporary Team Magma Base, which was in an abandoned Team Rocket Warehouse on Chrono Island. Rubbing his temples, he sighed. "…Am I really doing the right thing? After the different plans of us and Team Aqua almost destroyed the world, both me and Archie disbanded our groups. But then that Kaine fellow came along, and started up a new Team Aqua. I couldn't stand for that, so I brought back Team Magma… But I don't think that doing so was such a wise choice…"

"Hey, boss!" Melissa shouted, walking in with Cip. They had Archie, the former Team Aqua leader in handcuffs. "We found him hanging around outside! Should we lock him up?"

"Or maybe we can interrogate him and torture him for information!" Cip suggested, grinning a little to eagerly.

Melissa have him a disturbed look, smacking him in the back of the head. "What'd I tell ya about getting too carried away, huh?"

Maxie and Archie sweat dropped, the former clearing his throat. "Let him go. He is no longer part of Team Aqua, therefore, he is no longer my enemy." Smiling at his former rival as he was un-cuffed, he motioned to another chair next to him. "Please, have a seat." Looking to Cip, he glared. "Please, bring us some tea, if it isn't too much trouble…"

Giving a deep gulp, he nodded shakily. "Y-yes, sir!" He quickly ran off, almost tripping himself up in his haste.

Scratching her head, Melissa sighed. "That boy… I don't know what I'll do with him…"

Chuckling, Maxie shook his head. "He'll learn… Administrator Melissa, you're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir!" She shouted, saluting her boss and standing tall. With a quick turn, she left the room.

A few moments later, past enemies were now talking over tea as if they were the best of friends. "So…" Maxie began, taking a sip of his tea. "What brings you here?"

"I don't like that Kaine fellow…" Archie replied, crossing his arms. "I've met him, and he reeks of smarminess. I don't doubt that his intentions are noble, but he's going about it in the wrong way." Settling down, he picked up his tea cup and drank it all down. "And you." He continued, getting worked up again. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing? After you chewed me out for continuing my plans for sea mass increasing when you were beaten by Brendan at the Space Center, why did you restart Team Magma?"

Maxie stared at Archie once before taking another quick sip. "…To try and stop Kaine, that's why… But after I had recruited the new group, quite a few of them wanted to continue with our original goal." He leaned in and whispered into the former Aqua leader's ear. "So I came up with a fake plan and a non-functioning machine to sort of… lead them along… I hate to do it, but I had no choice."

"So you lied to us, manipulated us, and basically used us?" Melissa asked, pushing the ajar door all the way open, and crossing her arms as she walked in. "Do you really distrust us that much?"

"Melissa…" Maxie said sadly, bowing his head. "I'm sorry…" As he looked up, he was suddenly slapped. Wide eyed from shock, he touch his stinging cheek.

Melissa glared angrily at him. "Seriously…" Her expression softened as she smiled sadly. "If you had just told us from the beginning, we would have joined up with you all the same…" Sighing, she walked out of the room. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone…"

Archie raised an eyebrow as Maxie looked to the floor. "Are you just going to let her get off without a punishment of some sort?"

"No…" Maxie replied, shaking his head. "In fact, I'm going to tell them…"

"Even thought you risk them all leaving you?" Archie asked. "That's a really risky move."

Maxie nodded. "Yeah… Besides, if anyone can beat Team Aqua, Brendan and Ash can…"

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"So, is everyone ready?" Ash asked the rather humongous group of trainers as they all stood on the shore.

"YEAH!" they all shouted in unison, their combined voices booming.

"Hey wait, I see someone in the distance!" Max shouted, looking through a pair of binoculars. "It's Team Magma!"

"Oh great, not them again…" Ash muttered. "Oh well, get ready to commence ass kicking."

"Hey, wait! They're waving a white flag!" May shouted, having snatching the binoculars from her brother. "And Archie is with them, too!"

"I dunno…" Ash began, glaring with suspicion. "Can we really trust them?"

"Unlike you, Ash, I'm willing to trust them." Brendan said, smirking. "I was the one who took down Team Aqua and Magma with Steven's help, and both Maxie and Archie seemed like they were simply misguided by their own ideals. Let's at least hear them out."

Growling, Ash turned his head away. "Fine." he said reluctantly. "But one wrong move and they're dead."

A few minutes later, Maxie, Archie, and Team Aqua arrived on the island. Still untrusting of them, Ash stepped forward. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ash!" May shouted, shocked by his rudeness.

"It's quite alright." Maxie assured her. "He has every right to not trust us, especially after that attack we made." To the surprise of everyone, Maxie got on his knees. "Please, allow us to assist you… If Kaine is taken out, you'll never hear from us again. The whole reason I restarted Team Aqua was to get rid of him. I bet Archie here could persuade Team Aqua to turn against him."

"Well it does seem pretty odd that the leader of Team Aqua and the leader of Team Magma would team up simply to trick us." Brock replied. "I'd say it'd be okay to trust them."

"If you say so…" Ash said unsurely. "Well then, shall we go?"

Brock, Delia, Mimey, Professor Oak, Celio, Lostelle, and all the other non-trainers waved goodbye to their trainer friends and allies as they left for the battle that would quite literally decide the fate of the world.

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On Knot Island, Team Aqua was just about finished with the installation of their machine on Mt. Ember. Running a hand through his hair, Kaine closed his eyes as he stood on a small cliff, enjoying the breeze that passing through. "What a wonderful day for changing the world for the better…" He looked over to Misty and continued. "Wouldn't you say, my dear?"

Misty looked out to the ocean, sighing to herself and holding her arm. "I suppose…"

Kaine gritted his teeth angrily, quickly grabbing her wrist. "Are you thinking about that damn Ash again? You have no idea how much that pisses me off!"

Wincing in pain, Misty looked up at him pleadingly. "Please Kaine…. You're hurting me…"

"Shut up!" the current leader of Team Aqua screamed. "I ignored past instances of defying me, but you've gone way too far! WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO?"

"What's wrong, Kaine?" Misty asked, eyes widening in fear. "You're scaring me, please let go!" She tried to get away from him, but he held her arm tighter and pulled her close to him. "Kaine…"

"I'd like to thank you for helping me mentally destroy Ash Ketchum. But now, your usefulness is almost expired."

The red head began to shake as a feeling of dread came over her. "What are you?…"

"A little bird told me that Ash was coming to stop me…" Kaine said with a chuckle. "The final nail in the coffin of Ash's sanity will be…" Kaine grin, his expression bordering on sanity. "Seeing his precious Misty broken, limp, and dead on the ground. He'll be too heartbroken to do anything." With that, he pushed her off of the cliff, watching her fall to the ground.

As her body quickly fell down the cliff, Misty closed her eyes and silently cried to herself. "Ash… I was so stupid… I'm so sorry…" Bracing herself for impact, Misty was surprised to find herself suddenly landing in someone's arms. Slowly opening her eyes, a misty eyed Misty (no pun intended) looked up to see Ash. They were currently on Charizard's back. "Ash!" she shouted, blushing.

"Hey there, Mist." He replied with a smirk "How's it hanging?"

Misty whimpered momentarily before crying out in shock from what had happened and in happiness that Ash had saved her, hugging him tightly as she cried on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ash! You were right all along!" She began to get delirious as she continued. "Kaine's no good at all! He's crazy!"

Ash sighed, holding her and running a hand through her hair comfortingly. "It's… okay. It's just as much my fault as yours." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "I know I've been an idiot, ignoring all the signals you gave me when we were kids, being insensitive to your feelings, and generally being a jackass." Holding her tighter, he cried as well. "But these last few weeks have changed me, Misty… Do you have any idea how scared I was when I thought I was going to lose you just now?"

"Ash…" Misty began, looking up at him.

"Yeah, Mist?" Ash asked, looking down with a smile. His eyes widened as she leaned up and kissed him on the lips. He closed his eyes and kissed her back, deeply.

As they broke he kiss, Misty smiled brightly. "Oh, Ash! I love you so much!"

"I know, Misty…" Ash said in relief. "Me too…"

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"It's over, Kaine…" Ash glared, walking up the mountain with all of his reinforcements. "As you can see, you're completely outnumbered and outwitted." Laughing quite maniacally, Ash put his hands at his sides. "On my side, I have the most powerful trainers in the world!"

Everyone, Team Aqua members included, gave him an odd look. "And I tought yous guys were nuts…" Meowth muttered, referring to Jessie and James, shaking his head.

"Oh, god…" Misty groaned, smacking her head.

"So it would seem…" Kaine said with a smirk. He chuckled, and his chuckles quickly turned into insane laughing. "But it is all for naught! You're too late!" Holding up a cylindrical object with a red button on it, his grin became wider. "There is a hot spring heated up by Mt. Ember… We have planted explosives hear a source we found! The world shall be flooded, and water will reign supreme!"

"You idiot!" Archie screamed, stepping forward. "That plan will never work! You'll just blow up the mountain and kill us all!"

"SHUT UP, TRAITOR!" Kaine screamed hysterically. "YOU SEE?" he shouted to his followers. "THEY'VE EVEN CORRUPTED YOUR FORMER LEADER!"

"He's gone completely mad!" Gary shouted, taking a Pokéball from his belt. "He has got to be stopped!"

"I agree!" Ash shouted, grabbing his own. "Anyone else with us?"

"YEAH!" the trainers all screamed, rushing Team Aqua.

"DON'T LET THEM PASS!" Kaine screamed, sending his minions out. And so, it began.

To Be Concluded…