Last Time, Derik had a little talk with his pokemon, and discuss the situation of Servine with Bisharp, they reconcile and Derik sets to talk to Volcarona some time later, meanwhile Ash and the gang think about why Derik would want to be a traveling companion to them, Ash decides to talk to Servine as he believes she might know, however that had to wait as Ash had a gym challenge at the Icirrus City Gym, he wins as always, and gets his seventh gym badge, only one more to go, and it's at Opelucid, which Iris isn't so keen on, I wonder why.

Ash and the gang were traveling again, although Ash was clearly thinking about something along the way.

"Ash, something the matter?" Cilan asked. "You've had that look on your face for the past three hours"

"It's felt like six hours to me" Iris said, tired.

"I'm just thinking about how to talk to Servine" Ash replied. "I can't really understand her, not to mention I don't think she'd want to talk to me about this particular topic"

"What makes you say that?" Cilan asked.

"I've had a couple of pokemon with previous trainers, and Servine just reeks of being abandoned" Ash said. "There's something different about it though"

"Well you could always try asking her, that would clear things up" Iris suggested.

"Yeah, but I can't think of any conversation starters, or anyway to communicate two ways!" Ash shouted.

*sigh* 'I got this' Pikachu said, quickly he jumped down and began imitating, he slimmed his body and made a snake like head, and started drawing in the dirt.

"What's Pikachu doing?" Iris asked.

"He's trying to tell me something" Ash said.

"I think he's pretending to be Servine" Cilan said.

"And he's drawing stuff in the dirt" Iris said.

"Oh I see, you want me to communicate with Servine using pictures" Ash said.

'Yeah that's right!' Pikachu said, putting a thumbs up.

"That's pretty smart Pikachu" Ash complimented. "Well then, let's do this" Ash threw up Servine's pokeball, the serpent looked around slightly confused.

'Why am I here right now?' Servine asked Pikachu.

'I'll let Ash explain' Said the mouse.

"So Servine, you know when Cody left?" Ash started.

When Servine heard Cody she immediately tensed up.

"Well, I kinda want to ask you some things about him" Ash continued.

'How will I answer? You don't understand pokespeech' Servine asked.

'You can draw pictures Servine' Pikachu said, handing her a stick.

'Thanks I guess?' Servine thanked? 'Alright what do you want to ask?'

"Do you know him from somewhere?" Ash asked, but was interrupted by one of Iris' pokeballs opening.

"Huh? Emolga!?" Iris said surprised.

'That's personal business you don't need to know that!' The flying squirrel said defensively.

'Emolga calm down, besides enough time has passed, and I think you all deserve to know' Servine said.

'But, only our trainers right?'

'I mean all of you, trainers and pokemon' Servine said, she drew a crude picture of everyone around a crude picture of her.

"Wait, Servine wants everyone to know?!" Cilan said.

"I guess so" Ash said.

"Well, it is her secret, she can share with whoever she likes" Iris said.

The gang released all their pokemon, explained the current situation and then they and their pokemon looked intensely at Servine's drawings.

They seemed to depict Servine's whole life from when she was born to before she met Ash, the first was of a professor or scientist taking a little snake from a big one.

The second was of that same snake watching as trainers came by and getting their starters, a glimmer in her eyes.

The third was of two balls on a counter, and one in a boy's hand, she pointed at that ball and then to herself.

Forth she drew a crude picture of a team similar to the one led by Cody, although some of the pokemon looked different, and Druddigon was nowhere to be found, they all looked pretty happy.

The fifth picture was a dark one, one that brought tears to Servine's eyes, and where some of the gang's mons had to look away, Servine could barely finish it, and she quickly erased it.

Sixth a picture of the snake smashing a ball, the boy from earlier was looking around frantically, and so were the team from earlier.

The final picture depicted the snake living alone cold, hungry, and full of regret.

All the pictures, except the fifth, were laid out for everyone to see.

"Man, that's a lot to take in" Cilan said.

"Servine's been through a lot" Iris said.

Servine silent, drew one more picture, one of the team she currently was in, and the teams nearby, with their trainers too.

"So let me get this straight" Ash said. "Originally you were taken from your parents when you were very young, grew up in a lab waiting to get picked as a starter, got picked as a starter, formed a bond with them and built up a team with them too, and then they did that, you ran away, and you lived by yourself for all that time, until you met us?"

Servine simply nodded, before drawing one last picture, the boy from earlier, but this time with a massive R behind him.

"And you're saying that your old trainer, has become part of Team Rocket?" Ash asked.

Servine nodded, Emolga coming up to comfort her.

"That's terrible" Iris said.

"I can't believe that guy" Ash said, suddenly angry. "Doing something like that, and then joining an evil team! And then all those times he fooled us, why I oughta"

Servine tugged at Ash's sweater, shaking her head.

"What? You don't think he's that bad" Ash asked, Servine nodded. "But those things he did, he hurt you"

Servine drew another picture, it depicted her old trainer saving a weakened pokemon, she drew five of these, each of which seemed to correlate with one of her old teammates.

"It seems he was good once" Iris said.

Servine pointed to the forest.

"You want to go to the forest?" Ash asked.

Servine nodded, Ash stood up, but Servine stopped him.

"You want to go alone?" Ash asked.

Servine nodded.

"Oh, well if you say so" Ash said, Servine walked into the forest alone.

"Poor Servine, having to carry all that emotional baggage around" Cilan said.

'Should we do something?' Crustle asked.

'No, Servine needs time by herself' Whirlipede said.

'I gotta give that trainer a piece of my mind and my Air Slash!' Braviary said, furiously.

'Ruffie, I don't think that would help' Axew said.

'Where are you going?' Krokorok asked Emolga.

'It's none of your business' Emolga replied.

'Alright then' Krokorok said, watching the electric type fly off towards the forest.

Servine had found a small river, and sat next to it; she thought for a bit, and then started tearing up.

'Hey Servine' Emolga said, startling said pokemon a bit, causing her to quickly wipe away her tears.

'Emolga what are you doing here?' Servine asked, a bit annoyed that the squirrel didn't heed to her request.

'I came to talk to you, you showed you had a problem, but you didn't do anything about it' Emolga said, coming to sit next to Servine.

'What do you mean? I got it out, what's there left to do?' Servine said, confused and a bit irritated.

'Lots, you're still hurting even after all those years'

'Yeah, I guess I haven't really let go yet, but I don't know how to feel better, I feel just the same four years ago to now!'

'I think I know why nothing's really changed'

'Why?'

'You haven't gotten a chance to end it, with your old trainer' Emolga said, rather vaguely.

'Derik? But what do you mean end it?' Servine asked.

'Well, you haven't gotten closure yet, you haven't finished the conversation, gotten across the finish line, I'm not great at analogies, basically it still ongoing, it hasn't really ended'

'Then how do I end it?'

'Punishment'

'Punishment?'

'Yeah, Derik hasn't been punished for his actions yet, he's still out there you know'

'But I don't think he really deserves punishment, he's done some good stuff in the past, I know him'

'Servine, you can't just look at the good stuff, you gotta balance it with the bad' 'Emolga reasoned.

'But the bad it's not-'

'It is Servine, it far out weighs the good' Emolga said, bluntly.

Servine, as much as she hated what Emolga was saying, couldn't come up with a rebuttal, for it was true.

'Servine, I just want to know one thing, why do you feel so attached to Derik anyway, even after all he did?'

'Back when I was still in Professor Juniper's lab, I was so excited to go out on a journey, when Derik picked me, I was ecstatic, but also a little worried' Servine said, remembering a fonder time.

'How come?'

'Well, he was kind of a strange kid, he had red eyes, and white hair, he didn't talk very much, and wore ragged clothes, I remember even Juniper was a little scared of him, as well as the other two starters with me, but I was a little scared too, but I saw more, I saw a lonely child in him, one who nobody loved or cared about, all alone with no one to help him, he picked me of course, and I took to make it so he would never feel that way again'

'But then'

'I ran on him, I failed him, I left him in the dust, I betrayed my trainer' Servine went on.

'But he had others right? Surely they helped them through that time' Emolga reasoned.

'Then why would he join Team Rocket? If I stayed none of this would've happened, he'd still be happy, countless others be happy, Team Rocket wouldn't have a really powerful agent'

'But you wouldn't be happy, would you?' Said Emolga, putting out the truth.

'I guess not' Servine admitted, crossing her arms.

'It's your life after all, if you wanted to leave then you should just leave'

'Thanks for talking with me Emolga, I guess I shouldn't do nothing about it, but then what can I do?'

'Well, we could Derik convicted, his pokemon have attacked us outside of battle, which makes him liable for assault and battery, not to mention he's working for Team Rocket, which counts as conspiracy'

'Yeah but both of those solutions would also get his pokemon under fire, and plus I don't want him punished that badly'

'But just think of all the stuff he did, he didn't just hurt you, he hurt all of us, put the entirety of Unova in danger, and maybe even more!'

'If we do get him convicted then maybe if he was released after some time I'll be fine, but the way it's looking right now, he and his pokemon, all have the death sentence looming over their heads'

Emolga frowned. You're biting the bullet for them again, you need to stop doing that, you can't help others if you can't help yourself'

'But I can't help them if I do! The only way for me to feel better is to destroy them, do you know how wrong that feels?!'

'Well when you put it like that I guess that would be kind of hard to do, maybe you could find a compromise?'

Servine thought for a bit, then an idea popped up. 'I got it, maybe if I can reform Derik, people won't see him in as bad a light?'

'I'm not sure that everyone would accept that outcome, he's bound to have made plenty of enemies'

'Well the law might, and it's worth a shot'

'But isn't there another easier way?'

'Emolga if I get Derik and the rest convicted, then that'll still leave a massive hole in my heart, the only way is to get closure, and help them too'

'Well it is your life after all, alright then you can do that, but I might not help you' Emolga said, the last part was mumbled.

'It's alright, this is a mission for me and me alone, I don't really have a plan just yet, but I can still try' Servine said.

She and Emolga hugged it out and headed back to their trainers.

With Derik…

"That rescue team should come by soon" Derik said, he was outside in the cold, alone. "Well I guess now's a good time to talk with you" Derik said, he released Volcarona, who started shivering.

'Did y-you have to s-s-send me out n-n-now?!' The fire moth said, angry but more so cold.

"I sent you out to talk, I did so in the cold as punishment for attacking Ash and the others"

'You're punishing me for that? Come on those twerps deserved it' Volcarona said.

"You attacked outside of my command, you didn't stop when I told you to, and worse of all you even attacked your own team!" Derik said, assertively. "You went way too far"

'But those twerps they knew you were Missile, they knew everything, they could've made everything worse, spilled the beans for the world to know'

"Even if you were trying to protect my identity, you still ended up making things worse, if they didn't know, they know now! If they did, then they have a reason to rat us out! You put us all in danger for no reason Volcarona" Derik said, sternly but not aggressively.

'You're one to talk, you had no reason to join those guys in the first place, yet you did, what do you have to say to that!' Volcarona argued back, her face flushed with anger.

Derik could tell from the massive scowl on Volcarona's face that she was accusing him of something too. "Look, I know me joining Ash for a bit, wasn't the smartest decision, but that gave you no right to do what you did!" Derik said, raising his voice.

'Well at least I had a reason, where's yours?' Volcarona replied, raising a brow

"You want a reason don't you?" Derik said.

'Then say it already! Why did you join those twerps!?'

There was a long period of silence.

'Tell me Derik! Why!?'

"I can't say right now" Derik said.

'So you don't have one then' Volcarona said.

Derik scowled, he knew Volcarona well, and he knew that she would assume he had no reason if he didn't give one, but obviously he couldn't give his real reason, that would just make things a hundred times worst. "You don't know everything Volcarona"

'Well I do know one thing, you're still weak, you know all those years ago, when you saved me I thought I saw something in you, but obviously that's changed, you were once level headed, knew what you were doing, at least, until that stupid traitor left you, ever since then you've been a crippled mess' Volcarona went on and on.

Derik couldn't understand what she was saying, but he could tell it wasn't flattering. "You're not talking about Snivy are you?"

'Hmm you're smarter than you've been acting these past few weeks, but yes!' Volcarona said, getting up close and personal with Derik. 'I am talking about that little weakling skink'

"I don't like your tone" Derik said, inching backwards.

'Why when I see that little brat again, I'll make her into a charred salad, and I'll crush her remains between my mandibles! She won't stand a chance!'

"Stop that! Right now!" Derik said, Volcarona was mere inches from his face, her voice getting louder and louder, more and more agressive.

'And there's nothing you can do to stop it! I'LL MAKE YOU WATCH HER RIGHT DIE IN FRONT OF YOU!'

"I SAID STOP!" Derik punched Volcarona, sending her stumbling back, he immediately regretted this action though, but Volcarona did not retaliate.

'Heh heh, I knew there was still some of that energy inside there, you're lucky you're my trainer'

"Volcarona, a-are you okay? I didn't mean to"

'Oh no, I'm more than okay, in fact I'm rather glad, the way you struck down that disobedience as soon as it showed, it's just what I've always desired in a leader'

Derik was appalled at this, his pokemon were turning into cold blooded killers, Volcarona didn't even care that he had abused her, in fact she seemed glad, what had changed? Derik couldn't help but think that it was all his fault, sure he felt heart broken when Snivy left, but that was no excuse to join Team Rocket, or start treating his other pokemon harshly.

'Well you still haven't given me a reason why you did all that, but that beating you gave me, I think it restored a bit of faith in me' Volcarona said.

"I didn't like punching you like that" Derik said, nervous at his pokemon's strange behavior.

'Come on, let's get into a cave or something, this freezing cold stinks' Volcarona said, going off to find shelter.

How can you just shrug that off? Derik thought, as he began to lead Volcarona back to the cave, he had an ample amount of time to think about what had just happened, it was eerily similar to a past event, of course in that one, not only had it happened more than once, the victim had a completely different reaction.

*flashback*

Four years ago, Straighton City…

'Derik you have to stop this!' A Snivy said, she backed up to a wall, a pale white haired boy was stalking up to her.

"Come Snivy, just a little more please?" The boy said, a crazed look on his face.

'No stop it!' Snivy yelled, she held him back with her vines.

The boy broke from the vines and lunged forwards.

*THWAP*