Hello again, and welcome back! I hope you enjoy this chapter today! Just a heads up, I am gonna be following the storyline of the main Kalos journey, but I'm not gonna do all of the episodes of it; only the ones that i feel are most significant to the plotline of my story. Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon, or the characters from the show, I only own my O.C. Now, let's get right to it!
The following morning, after a night of rest, our heroes were soon back on their journey, with their new friend Lyra in tow.
At the moment, the gang was walking down a forest path that passed by a crystal blue creek. The water was calm and still, and the air was so fresh, that you could breathe it in all day.
Ash took in a huge deep breath, saying, "Man, does that air smell great," with Pikachu chirping in agreement.
Lyra also took a deep breath in and out, saying, "Definitely got to agree with you there, Ash. And you know what this kind of air makes a trainer do"?
Ash, curious, asked, "What does it make us do"?
Lyra smirked and answered, "This! Last one to the next checkpoint is a rotten egg," and ran off, with Silverstream running right alongside her trainer.
Ash, determined not to lose, responded, "Hey, wait up," as he ran off after her, with Pikachu running alongside him.
Serena followed close behind, saying "Ash, Lyra, slow down," while running after them, with Clemont saying, "Guys, do we really have to run," as he helplessly tried to keep up, especially when he saw his sister running after the rest of their friends a lot faster than he was.
Meanwhile, Ash and Lyra were neck and neck in their little race, with their Pokemon happily in a little tie themselves.
However, right above them on a little tree branch, covered in the tree's thick leaves, a pair of Pokemon were watching them, and their eyes looked riddled with mischief.
When Ash and Lyra were approaching the tree branch, Ash suddenly got a shadow ball to the chest and was knocked to the ground, much to Pikachu, Silverstream, and Lyra's concern.
Lyra quickly helped Ash up while saying, "Ash! Are you ok"?
Ash commented, "Yeah, I'm ok, but what was up with that shadow ball"?
Pikachu seemed to sense that there was something nearby, as its ears twitched, and it got down on all four legs, looking around to try and see if it could spot what was around.
Silverstream seemed to pick up on it too, as her ears twitched as well, and she then looked up, pointing her front paw at the tree branch, while she yipped to alert her trainer.
Lyra looked up at the tree branch, and saw the leaves moving around strangely, which made her comment, "Ash, there must be something up there! Maybe it's what caused that shadow ball to come at you"!
Ash adjusted his hat while saying, "Got it; in that case, we need to lure it out. Pikachu, use thunderbolt"!
Lyra added, "Silverstream, use flamethrower"!
Pikachu and Silverstream launched their corresponding moves at the bunch of leaves, hoping to drive out what was in there. to their luck, it did, as two shadows leaped out from behind the leaves and landed right in front of them.
On cue, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie had caught up with them, with Serena saying, "What's going on," while Clemont added, "Is everyone ok"?
Bonnie seemed to notice what was in front of their friends, asking, "Look! Who are those two Pokemon"?
Bonnie was right, as in front of Ash and Lyra were two different Pokemon. The Pokemon on the right was a slate gray, fox-like Pokemon with red and black accents, triangular ears with dark insides, and it also had a large tuft of fur tipped with red on top of its head, with greenish-blue eyes with red eyelids, circular, red markings above the eyes that resemble eyebrows, and its muzzle was short and tapered with two small fangs seen in the upper jaw when its mouth is open. It also possessed a ruff of black fur around its neck and four short limbs tipped with red, and it even had a short, bushy tail.
Meanwhile, the Pokemon on the left was a small bird-like Pokemon with a blue body, a large white plume of feathers covering its head, and three tail feathers extending from its lower back, while the feathery ruff extended down past its neck, covering the upper third of its body. Its face was blue with five-pointed tips, resembling a mask and crown in contrast to the white feathers surrounding it that extended from its forehead is a large feather, which was red on the lower half and white on the upper half. The split between the two colors on the feather resembled a zigzag pattern, and its beak was short and wide, with large eyes on either side, with each eye possessing a thick black iris with a small white pupil while its yellow legs and feet are large in comparison to the body, with each foot having four digits: one backward, and three forward.
Lyra and Ash pulled out their Pokedexes to see what kind of Pokemon they were, with Ash checking the Pokemon on the left, and Lyra checking the one on the right.
On the left: Rufflet, the Eaglet Pokemon. They crush berries with their talons. They bravely stand up to any opponent, no matter how strong it is.
On the right: Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokemon. It changes so it looks like its foe, tricks it, and then uses that opportunity to flee.
Zorua and Rufflet both seemed to be smirking mischievously and were chuckling to their hearts' content.
Ash slipped his Pokedex back into his pocket, saying. "So, it looks like that shadow ball came from one of them."
Zorua responded by shooting another shadow ball at Ash, who quickly dodged it before it hit him again.
Rufflet replied by flying up and starting to peck Ash on the head repeatedly, with Ash trying to cover his head while saying, "Ahh! Hey, cut it out"!
Lyra tried to shoo off Rufflet, saying while waving her hat at it, "Knock it off! Get away from him"!
Rufflet halted its little mischievous "attack" and looked at Lyra, glaring at her before it started to peck at her head, making Lyra cover her head while saying, "Hey, don't peck at me now! Cut it out"!
Zorua, watching this, was rolling on its back in laughter, thinking that it was a fun game.
Serena, seeing this, shouted, "Zorua, Rufflet, stop it! Attacking them isn't a game"!
Zorua heard Serena's statement and pouted, puffing its cheeks while it frowned, with a small blush on its cheeks, not appreciating being told off just because it wanted to have a little fun. So, how did it decide to retaliate? Shooting a shadow ball at Serena, who scrambled to jump back to avoid getting struck, as the shadow ball hit the ground right near Clemont and Bonnie's feet.
However, when it did, it also splashed a little mud onto Zorua, who noticed its reflection by the creek and was horrified to see mud on its silky black coat of fur. It let out a small shout of shock before sadly sitting, with its head hung low.
Rufflet seemed to notice what was going on and quit pecking at Lyra to fly over to Zorua and comforted it, placing its wing around Zorua and squawking some comforting words.
Serena took notice of this and saw how Zorua reacted when the mud splattered onto it, feeling stunned because Zorua reacted the same way she does when she gets mud on her clothes.
Meanwhile, Lyra saw how Rufflet was a lot calmer and very caring about Zorua, wanting to make sure that its friend was ok. It was just like the same way Lyra cared about her new friends, and her Pokemon, and always wanted to make sure they were ok.
Serena took the first consecutive step, approaching both Pokemon.
Rufflet sensed Serena coming close and quickly stepped forward, spreading its wings out in front of Zorua, as if to protect it.
Zorua, however, didn't seem as scared of seeing Serena coming close, much to Rufflet's confusion, as it stepped to the side and watched Serena come up to it. Serena then picked up Zorua, saying, "Hey, sorry about getting you muddy like that. But I can help you not be muddy anymore if you want."
Zorua, in confusion, raised an eyebrow and tilted its head, to show that it didn't know what Serena was talking about.
Rufflet was also confused as well, but very wary about letting this human help out its friend. however, it saw Lyra approach it, saying, "Don't worry; Serena's really gentle with Pokemon. You can trust her."
Rufflet seemed to remain tough, turning its head away from the human, but keeping its eye on Lyra.
A little while later, after the group made a little rest stop site by a field where the creek resided, the gang decided to stop and take a rest. Ash was talking to Clemont while Bonnie was playing with her Dedenne.
While this went on, Serena was sitting by the edge of the creek, carefully brushing Zorua's fur, working on the large tuft of fur on its head. Thanks to Serena's help, Zorua was no longer covered in mud, and its fur was currently being brushed to silky smoothness.
Zorua remained surprisingly calm while in Serena's lap while letting the human groom it.
Meanwhile, Lyra, who was sitting on a rock nearby where Serena was, was watching her sister, with Silverstream watching while on her trainer's head, and Rufflet, who was standing beside her on the ground, watching Zorua carefully.
Soon, Serena was done, as she placed the brush back in her bag while saying, "There you go, all done."
Zorua leaped out of Serena's lap and looked at its reflection in the creek, smiling happily while its tail wagged. It jumped around while yipping excitedly, thanking Serena continuously.
Serena, sensing the Pokemon's happiness and gratitude, smiled while saying, "You're welcome, Zorua, glad I could help."
Rufflet seemed to sigh in relief, as Lyra commented, "See? What did I tell you, Rufflet"?
Rufflet still remained tough, simply squawking something before flying over to Zorua, making Lyra sweatdrop while saying, "Well, I guess you can't convince all Pokemon."
Rufflet landed by Zorua and squawked something at it, as if to ask if it was ok, while patting its shoulder with its wing.
Zorua nodded while beaming brightly, to show it was happy and ok, grateful for Serena's generous good deed.
Rufflet looked up at Serena, who smiled at Rufflet, as the bird Pokemon bowed its head as its way of saying thank you, while Zorua watched happily.
Serena, thinking Rufflet was saying thank you, giggled and replied, "Well, you're very welcome, Rufflet."
Suddenly, Zorua felt its stomach rumble, indicating it was hungry.
Rufflet, hearing this, immediately flew off somewhere, prompting Lyra to ask, "Hey, where's it going"?
Ash, who came over to see how things were, asked, "You think Rufflet flew off to get something"?
On cue, the trio soon saw Rufflet returning, holding what looked like a small, round blue berry in its beak, before it flew to the ground and landed in front of Zorua, placing the berry in front of it.
Lyra, seeing it, commented, "Hey, it brought back an Oran Berry."
Rufflet chirped something at Zorua, pointing at the berry with its wing while showing what looked like a smile.
Zorua smiled back and happily picked up the berry with its mouth, eating it, while Ash said, "I'll bet when it heard Zorua's stomach rumbled, it wanted to get it that berry so it could eat it. That's pretty cool."
Pikachu chirped in agreement while leaping down from Ash's shoulder and approaching Zorua and Rufflet.
However, when Pikachu got close, Rufflet quickly stepped in front of Zorua, spreading out its wings again in front of Pikachu, as if to protect Zorua, and squawked something very fierce at the electric mouse, prompting Pikachu to step back while trying to voice that it wasn't gonna hurt anyone.
When the trainers saw this, Bonnie, who came over with Clemont, questioned, "I wonder why Rufflet's so protective about Zorua."
Serena commented, "Maybe it just doesn't want its friend to get hurt."
Ash added, "Or maybe it might think we want to take Zorua away, like if we were poachers."
Silverstream, hearing the term "poachers" flinched, and immediately shot a flamethrower at Ash in defense, frying him into a sooty crisp.
Serena, Pikachu, Clemont, Bonnie, Lyra, and Zorua gasped in shock when they saw what had happened, as Ash coughed out a puff of smoke while asking, "What was that for"?
Lyra picked up Silverstream and soothingly petted her to help the silver firefox calm down while answering, "Sorry about that. When it comes to that term, p-o-a-c-h-e-r-s, Silverstream's very sensitive about it. So, I wouldn't go openly answering it if I were you.
Rufflet, seeing how Ash got attacked, couldn't help but break into laughter, thinking he looked funny, while Zorua tilted its head, unsure of what had just happened.
As Ash got up, he then faced Rufflet and Zorua, asking, "That flamethrower reminded me; why did you both attack us earlier"?
Zorua answered by yipping around excitedly while laughing, showing a mischievous smile, as Rufflet also had a mischievous smile and squawked something in its Pokemon language.
Lyra tried to get an understanding of what the Pokemon were referring to and soon got it, saying, "Oh, I get it; those two just wanted to have some fun and cause a little mischief. So, thinking we were complete strangers, they attacked us for fun. Am I right"?
Zorua and Rufflet both nodded in unison.
Ash then replied, "Well, see, it's not really nice to just go and attack random strangers; you could really hurt them."
Rufflet didn't seem to really care, as it crossed its wings and turned its head away, while Zorua hung its head low, chirping something sadly as if to say "We're sorry."
Lyra then commented, "you know, if you both just wanted to have a little fun, there are other ways to do so that doesn't involve attacking someone on purpose. Like...battling."
At the sound of the word "Battle," that perked Rufflet up, making it flap its wings and squawk loudly, before pointing its foot at Ash, wanting to challenge it to a battle.
Ash, seeing this, asked, "You want to battle us"?
Rufflet nodded in reply, making Ash smile and answer, "Ok, you're on, Rufflet! Pikachu, you ready"?
Pikachu nodded while chirping in agreement with Ash as it got down on all four feet and crouched into a battle position, watching as Rufflet landed a few feet away from it, set to battle as well.
Clemont stood by the sidelines in the middle, raising his arm up while saying, "I'll referee this match. This is a one on one battle, where one Pokemon will be used on each side. Alright, battle begin"!
Serena, Lyra, and Bonnie cheered for Ash on the sidelines, while Silverstream and Bonnie's Dedenne joined in on the cheering.
Zorua climbed up onto Serena's lap, wanting to watch the match from a high view.
Serena, seeing the Pokemon on her lap, asked, "Zorua? You want to watch it with us"?
The Tricky Fox Pokemon turned its head, smiled at Serena, and nodded, before turning its head back around to watch the match.
Back at the battle, Rufflet took initiative and made the first move, charging at Pikachu by flying up to it while its feet were cloaked in a red light.
Ash, seeing this, commented, "That's crush claw! Pikachu, counter it with iron tail"!
Pikachu nodded and made its tail turn metallic before swinging it around and intercepting it with one of Rufflet's glowing feet, creating a stalemate.
Both Pokemon pushed for a bit before jumping back, where Rufflet took to the skies and flapped its wings in an X pattern, making an x-shaped, light blue streak of light come at Pikachu.
Ash, seeing this, commented, "Now, it's using air slash! Pikachu, intercept it with electro ball"!
Pikachu nodded and formed an electric ball with its tail before firing it at the air slash, neutralizing it, while making smoke appear around the battlefield.
In the smoke, Pikachu couldn't see a thing and got struck down by a harsh steel wing attack via Rufflet, who used the smoke to mask its attack.
Once the smoke cloud went away, Ash saw that Pikachu got hit, but the electric mouse wasn't gonna go down that easily, as Ash tipped his hat, saying, "You can still battle, right, buddy," while Pikachu chirped in determination.
Rufflet growled a bit in frustration before it flew up and nose-dived at Pikachu, set to strike with crush claw again.
However, Ash shouted, "Use quick attack to dodge and leap up"!
Pikachu started to move around quickly, running around and using the move to dodge Rufflet's attack before leaping high into the air, startling the little avian Pokemon.
Ash then shouted, "Now, thunderbolt"!
Pikachu let loose its signature streak of electricity at Rufflet, who got hit hard. With the electricity coursing through its body, Rufflet felt weakened, falling to the ground. It struggled to push its body up so it could return to its feet, but the exhaustion got to it, making Rufflet fall forward and faint, swirls appearing around its eyes.
Clemont then raised its hand up, saying, "Rufflet is unable to battle, so the winner is Ash"!
Ash cheered, saying, "We did it, Pikachu," as he caught Pikachu, who ran into his arms, while he hugged Pikachu, praising it for a splendid battle.
Rufflet struggled to get up as it saw Lyra, who had approached it, offer it a Sitrus Berry while saying, "Here, eat this, Rufflet. It'll help regain your strength."
Rufflet looked at the berry and used its wings to grab it before pecking at the fruit, taking small bites so it could eat it. Soon, Rufflet had regained its strength and was happily back on its feet.
It squawked happily, feeling a lot better to be energized and full of strength again, as it looked up at Lyra and nodded its head in thanks while smiling at her for possibly the first time.
Meanwhile, Zorua couldn't help but feel sad that Rufflet had lost the battle, as Serena gently petted it, saying, "It's ok, Zorua. I'm sure your friend Rufflet will use this battle to train and get stronger from it."
Zorua, looking up at Serena, couldn't help but smile from hearing it, finding the human's advice comforting, and motivational in a sense. Then, it noticed something in Serena's pocket, and sniffed it, trying to see if it could find it.
Serena, noticing Zorua sniffing around her pockets, asked, "Zorua, what are you doing? Or rather yet, what are you looking for"?
Zorua kept sniffing around until it seemed to find what it was looking for, sticking its muzzle into Serena's pocket and pulling out a silver ring, holding it in its mouth and showing it to Serena.
Serena knew what that ring was and explained as Zorua placed it in Serena's hand, "Oh, you smelled this? Well, this is just my key ring."
Zorua raised an eyebrow in confusion, unsure of what the human meant.
Serena explained, "See, this keyring was given me to hold special keys called Princess Keys. You get them by winning events called the Pokemon Showcase, a huge contest where you put on hand-coordinated performances in front of a large crowd and demonstrate the strong bond between trainer and Pokemon."
Hearing this, Zorua seemed to become interested, as it hopped down from her lap and sat in front of Serena, wagging its tail and yipping curiously, wanting to see what a performance looked like.
Lyra, seeing this, came over, with Rufflet flying beside her, while saying, "Looks like Zorua wants to see a performance from you, Serena."
Serena was a bit surprised, asking Zorua, "Zorua, is that true"?
Zorua nodded its head, jumping up and down excitedly in reply.
Serena couldn't help but giggle, saying, "Ok, sure; I'd be happy to show you."
Lyra cheered, saying, "Awesome! I'm gonna get to see my first taste of your performance skills"!
Serena couldn't help but blush a bit in embarrassment from seeing her sister's enthusiasm, but happily replied, "Well, I'm still new at it, but I'll give it my all."
She fished through her pockets and pulled out her Pokeballs, saying while tossing them in the air, "Now, Braixen, Pancham, let's go"!
The Pokeballs opened up, as Serena's Braixen and Pancham appeared, flipping through the air before landing on their feet gracefully, bowing at Lyra, Zorua, Silverstream, and Rufflet.
Silverstream climbed into Lyra's arms to watch as Lyra then felt one of her own Pokeballs open up, revealing her Riolu, who wanted to come out and watch, standing by his trainer's left leg.
Rufflet didn't seem to mind Lyr'a Riolu coming out as it landed beside Zorua, both Pokemon watching, but was more serious about witnessing the performance than Zorua was, as the dark type was more excited about seeing it.
Lyra commented to Silverstream and Riolu, "Now, pay attention, you two. Maybe we can learn from Serena's performance and see how we can get some ideas for our own performance routine."
Silverstream and Riolu nodded, paying close attention.
Meanwhile, while Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie gathered around to watch as well, Serena started the performance by saying, "Braixen, flamethrower"!
Her Braixen nodded and spun around while using flamethrower up into the sky, making it swirl around in the air.
While it did that, Pancham breakdanced by the tall firefox's feet, spinning around and doing some fun dance moves.
Then, Serena shouted, "Pancham, use dark pulse"!
Pancham unleashed a dark pulse straight up into the swirling fire, making the moves collide into sparkly fireworks that emitted some shiny lights.
Zorua seemed to feel really inspired from seeing that move, as was Lyra, Silverstream, and Riolu, who all oohed and aahed in excitement.
Zorua suddenly ran up towards the performing trio, much to Rufflet's protest, as it tried to call Zorua back to it.
Serena saw Zorua run up to them and then, she noticed the dark type doing something that surprised her and her Pokemon.
Zorua started to jump around, mimicking their dancing, before it launched a shadow ball up into the air that broke into falling glitter stars that looked really beautiful.
Ash commented, "Wow! That looked really cool," while Clemont mentioned, "Yes; a very creative way to use shadow ball," while Bonnie mentioned, "Zorua looks really cute performing with Seren," while her Dedenne chirped in agreement.
Hearing Bonnie's statement, Serena bent down towards Zorua and asked, "Zorua, do you want to try performing with us"?
Zorua excitedly nodded in reply, looking to see if Serena would say yes.
Serena gently petted Zorua while smiling, saying, "Well, if you really want to try it, sure! you're more than welcome to join in"!
Braixen and Pancham both chattered their agreements as well, making Zorua very happy, as it jumped around, excited to try performing with them.
Up in the trees, far away from where our heroes were, Team Rocket was spying on them through their binoculars, with Jessie saying, "Lookie over there; that twerpette's got a Zorua with her"!
James mentioned, "Imagine how the boss would react for us to bring a Zorua from Kalos to him."
Meowth added, "That, and along with that pesky Pikachu, we'd be praised to the ends of time! We'd be seen as Team Rocket legends"!
Jessie then turned her head and commented, "So, our new plan: catching Pikachu and that little Zorua, should be simple as taking candy from a bunch of twerps."
All three main Team Rocket members cackled, set to put their plan into motion.
Meanwhile, Rufflet was sitting on a rock, watching its buddy Zorua performing with Serena, having so much fun. While it still remained wary of the human, it also felt...sad, for some reason, but it didn't know what was causing it...or why.
Lyra sat beside Rufflet, with Silverstream in her lap after returning Riolu to its Pokeball, and commented, "Feeling worried about your friend again"?
Rufflet didn't look at Lyra, or squawk to say anything, but it gave a simple head nod in reply.
Lyra then asked, "You know, I don't know if you and Zorua had a bad experience with humans, but what I can tell you is that not all humans are bad. In fact, a lot of them are good; you just need to know which ones are the good ones."
Lyra saw that Rufflet didn't seem to be listening fully to her, which made her then ask, "So...why do you care so much about Zorua anyway"?
Rufflet looked at Lyra in response to this question before it then flew off to get something. Lyra then saw it return, holding something in its beak, as it then landed back on the rock and dropped what it had in its beak onto the ground in front of her, as it revealed to be a piece of an old Pokemon eggshell.
Lyra looked at the eggshell, asking, "Is it your eggshell"?
Rufflet shook its head no and then pointed its left wing over to Zorua, who was currently leaping off of Serena's shoulder and perfectly/happily leaped through a ring of fire, shooting a shadow ball through it and making sparkles appear.
Lyra gasped in surprise, saying, "It's...Zorua's eggshell"?
Rufflet nodded, squawking something to itself, remembering when it first met Zorua.
Flashback to many months ago
Rufflet was flying through the forest when something caught its eye and made it dive down to look.
It noticed a glow emerging out from behind a bush, and landed in front of the bush, using its wings to push the branches aside to get a better look.
It turned out to be an egg that was currently moving around and about to hatch.
The egg wiggled and cracked before it finally broke, allowing the Pokemon inside to hatch, which turned out to be Zorua, who let out a yawn before it opened its eyes and saw Rufflet in front of it.
Rufflet was surprised to see the new Pokemon at first, unsure of what to say or what to do, especially seeing it excitedly run around it, chattering happily while wagging its tail, wanting to play with Rufflet.
Rufflet was hesitant, but loosened up a bit to pat the newly hatched Zorua on the head and squawk a "hello" at it, conversation with it.
Soon, the Rufflet decided that he oughta have this Pokemon stick by its side, so he could teach it some things and protect it from danger.
End of flashback
Lyra seemed to finally understand, saying, "so...you've been like a parent to Zorua ever since it hatched"?
Rufflet nodded its head, squawking yes in reply to the question.
Lyra then said, "I feel you, you know? I understand that you just want to make sure Zorua's safe, and doesn't get hurt. That's why you're so protective of it, am I right"?
After seeing the avian Pokemon nod again, Lyra then commented, "My dad was just like you when I was young; he always made sure I was safe and kept things away that could hurt me, even other Pokemon at times. But then, as I got older, my dad learned that sometimes, there had to be moments where he needed to let me be independent, and have my own experiences. Whether the experience was good or bad, whether I ended up getting hurt or not, he had to let me go through it firsthand, and learn from it, and that's how people, and Pokemon, really grow. It's normal to worry about someone, but if you constantly worry and try to protect them from everything, you won't be able to let them grow strong on their own."
Rufflet took this advice to heart, as it watched Zorua having fun with Serena, and lessened its guard a bit, feeling that after seeing Serena being so kind to it earlier, that perhaps this human could be sort of trustworthy.
Meanwhile, Serena soon stopped dancing with Zorua, and took a minute to catch her breath, saying while returning Braixen and Pancham, "Wow, you're a natural, Zorua"!
The Tricky Fox Pokemon panted, trying to catch its breath as well, while smiling, yipping happily and proudly.
Suddenly, its ears twitched as it heard something from the trees.
Out of the leaves and branches, a glowing net was fired, heading straight for Zorua.
Serena, seeing this, panicked and quickly ran in front of Zorua, taking the hit of the net for it, and getting trapped inside, much to the Pokemon's shock.
Everyone else saw what had happened too, with Ash shouting, feeling most concerned out of everyone, "Serena," while Lyra shouted, "Who did this to her"?!
On cue, Team Rocket jumped out of the trees and onto the ground, revealing themselves.
(Team Rocket motto sequence: XY edition)
The female was seen under a spotlight, set to speak first.
Jessie: Prepare for trouble, little twerps at play.
Then, the spotlight shined on the male, who spoke next.
James: And make it double, to last the day.
Then, the spotlight shined on the female again but lit up only the left half of her face.
Jessie: To protect the world from devastation.
Then, the spotlight shined on the male again but lit up only the right half of his face.
James: To unite all people within our nation.
Then, it shined on the female again, who seemed to offer her hand out to the fourth wall
Jessie: To denounce the evil of truth and love.
Then, it shined on the male again, who had a rose in his hand.
James: To extend our reach to the stars above.
Then, both people appeared one at a time, with the female first, followed by the male, and they introduced their names while posing.
Jessie: Jessie!
James: And James!
Then, both people stood together side by side, with a huge purple R laying right behind them.
Jessie: Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
James: Surrender now, or be prepared for a twerp-fueled fight!
Then, Meowth leaped up and landed right in between the two people, and spoke.
Meowth: Meowth! That's right!
Finally, Wobbuffet landed behind all three of them, saluting, in a sense, as the R glowed, while it chirped something.
(End of sequence)
Lyra grimaced, saying, "Team Rocket! You no good crooks"!
Jessie cackled, saying, "We may not have gotten what we wanted," while James added, "but we can use our new capture to negotiate a bargain, perhaps"?
Meowth then stated, "Hand over Pikachu, and that pesky Zorua too, or else we're sending this twerpette over to be our newest Team Rock employee"!
Ash gritted his teeth, saying, "Not a chance," while Pikachu leaped down from Ash's shoulder and prepared to battle.
Rufflet flew forward, landing next to Pikachu, set to battle Team Rocket too, which Ash saw and asked, "You want to help us out, Rufflet"?
Rufflet nodded, squawking in determination, as it readied to fight.
Jessie pulled out her Pokeball, saying, "Pumpkaboo, you know what to do," while tossing it up into the air.
James added while he tossed his Pokeball up into the air, "Take it away, Inkay"!
Pumpkaboo and Inkay were released from their Pokeballs, prepared to battle.
Ash then shouted, "Pikachu, use quick attack"!
Pikachu blasted off with a fast quick attack, as Rufflet followed it with its own quick attack, both Pokemon heading towards their opponents. Pikachu got close to Pumpkaboo and then used iron tail, knocking the pumpkin-like Pokemon down, but not out, while Rufflet slammed its quick attack into Inkay, knocking it back, but not down.
James then shouted, "Inkay, use psybeam"!
Inkay launched a psychic beam towards Rufflet, who flew up to dodge it before developing crush claw and was getting set to use the move on Inkay.
However, James was prepared, saying, "Counter it with foul play"!
Inkay used its two tentacles to catch Rufflet and slammed it into the ground, damaging the avian Pokemon a bit.
While the battle went on, Serena, Silverstream, and Zorua ran to Serena, who struggled in the net, and they did their best to try and help untangle her, with Lyra saying, "Don't worry, sis; we're gonna get you out of here"!
However, trying to get the net off of Serena proved to be really difficult, especially because the net itself was electrified, so one wrong move gave Lyra and Silverstream a painful shock.
Serena, not wanting to see her sister and ger Pokemon get hurt, commented, "It's no use; we need to find another way, Lyra"!
Zorua, however, was not gonna give up so easily, as it then saw the small electric box the net was coming from. It growled at the box and then used crunch to destroy it, making the net go away.
When the girls saw that the net disappeared, Serena stood up on her feet and saw that Zorua had gotten it to disappear, as she picked it up, saying, "Great job, Zorua"!
LYra added, "Zorua, you did it! You saved Serena," while Silverstream chattered its praise for Zorua.
The Tricky Fox Pokemon smiled, feeling happy that it got to help and that Serena was safe before it heard the sound of the battle going on, and heard moves colliding.
At the battle, Pikachu and Inkay had a stalemate between thunderbolt and psybeam while Rufflet dodged a dark pulse from Pumpkaboo.
Jessie gritted her teeth, saying in frustration, "Pumpkaboo, use leech seed"!
Pumpkaboo launched some seeds into the ground that grew into thick plants, which ensnared Rufflet while draining its energy at the same time.
James then shouted, "Follow it up with psybeam"!
Inkay launched the move at Rufflet, pummeling it to the ground.
Rufflet felt very weak, as it struggled to get back up again, while James shouted, "Again, Inkay! Psybeam"!
Ash was ready to respond, saying, "Oh no you don't! Pikachu, use electro ball"!
However, Jessie responded, "not today, twerp! Pumpkaboo, shadow ball"!
Pikachu and Pumpkaboo ended up intercepting each other's moves with shadow ball and electro ball, while Inkay launched a fresh psybeam heading straight for Rufflet, who panicked and braced for impact.
However, the move did hit something, stirring up a dust cloud in front of Rufflet, but it wasn't Rufflet that got hit.
Everyone gasped in shock to see that it was Zorua who had gotten hit with psybeam and didn't seem to have taken damage from it, or got affected by it at all.
Rufflet was stunned to see Zorua protecting it, as it was used to protecting Zorua, but seeing Zorua turn its head and smile at it, made Rufflet smile, feeling very proud of it.
James was stunned, saying, "But how?! Psybeam made a direct hit"!
Clemont then spoke up, saying, "It's because Zorua's a dark type, and psychic type moves like psybeam have no effect on dark type Pokemon"!
Lyra commented, "Zorua must've wanted to protect Rufflet and took the hit, knowing it wasn't gonna do any damage"!
Zorua then let out a mighty shout as it was enveloped in a strange blue glow.
Everyone, especially Rufflet, was stunned to see Zorua glowing like this, with Bonnie asking, "What's going on," as Ash commented, "That light"!
Seena, however, was the most stunned, saying, "I think it's evolving"!
Zorua grew from being on four feet to two, with its two front legs becoming arms and hands, the tuft of fur on its head growing thicker, and down its back into a full mane, with a low ponytail, and its feet grew longer, with pointed toes.
Soon, when the transformation was complete, what stood in place of where Zorua used to be was a new Pokemon that was, like Zorua was, slate gray, with crimson and black accents, a pointed snout and ears with red insides, along with some red rimming its eyes and mouth. It also had a large, red, voluminous mane with black tips, tied into a ponytail, as a teal bangle down its length separates a mass of the mane from the lower portion, with a black ruff on its upper body, pointed at the shoulders from which its arms extend. Its upper arms were thin, whereas its lower arms, while still slim, are now bulkier, and the arms also had spiky extensions of fur at the elbows, and it has red claws on its hands and feet, with its eyes now red-rimmed with light blue irises.
It raised its arms up while shouting, "Zoroark"!
Lyra commented, "Wow! Zorua just evolved," while Silverstream chirped in amazement.
Serena quickly fished through her pocket and pulled out her Pokedex to see what kind of Pokemon Zorua had just evolved into.
Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokemon, and the evolved form of Zorua. Bonds between these Pokémon are very strong. It protects the safety of its pack by tricking its opponents.
Amazed, Serena said, "Wow, it evolved into Zoroark"!
Zoroark looked back at Rufflet, wanting to make sure it was ok, as Rufflet weakly nodded, smiling and feeling proud for its buddy.
Rufflet then felt Clemont pick it up, saying, "don't worry, Bonnie and I will help you feel better. you let Zoroark handle the battling."
Rufflet felt hesitant at first, but seeing how determined and brave Zoroark looked, and how it seemed ready to fight, rufflet decided to trust Clemont's word and let him help heal it.
Meanwhile, Zoroark saw this and smiled in relief for Rufflet, before turning back to Team Rocket and crouching into a battle position, set to attack.
Jessie commented, "Pretty cool that it evolved," while James added, "which makes it now more valuable for us"!
Jessie then shouted, "Now, Pumpkaboo, use shadow ball," while James added, "Inkay, prepare with a tackle attack"!
While both Pokemon got ready to use their moves, Zoroark raised its arms up and unleashed a new move: Night Daze, as the move struck both Pumpkaboo and Inkay head-on, landing a clean super-effective hit on them.
When Pumpkaboo and Inkay hit the ground, Zoroark then launched a shadow ball, striking them again and knocking both Pokemon out, much to Team Rocket's horror.
Ash commented, "Wow, check out Zoroark," while Lyra commented, "It's really strong now"!
Zoroark let out a mighty battle cry, before it saw Serena approach it, asking, "Zoroark, will you let me battle alongside you"?
Zoroark looked at Serena and smiled, nodding in reply, as Ash mentioned, "Pikachu and I will help too"!
Lyra added, "So will Silverstream and me"!
Zoroark nodded, with all three trainers, Pikachu, Silverstream, and Zoroark facing the "close to being beaten" Team Rocket.
Ash shouted, "'Kay, Pikachu, use thunderbolt"!
Serena shouted, "Zoroark, use shadow ball"!
Lyra shouted, "Silverstream, use flamethrower"!
Pikachu, Zoroark, and Silverstream all launched their moves consecutively, which combined together and struck Team Rocket, sending them up, up, up, and far away, with Meowth, Jessie, and James shouting in unison, "We're blasting off again"!
Once Team Rocket was sent away, everyone cheered victoriously, with Lyra shouting, "Oh yeah, we sure showed them again"!
Serena hugged Zoroark, saying, "You were amazing, Zoroark," as Zoroark smiled, chattering happily and reciprocating the hug.
Clemont then came forward, saying while holding Rufflet in his arms, "And Rufflet's all healed up," while Bonnie mentioned, "He was really brave"!
Rufflet, in Clemont's arms, seemed to look all better, and it even had a bandage on its right wing.
Zoroark walked up to Rufflet, chattering in concern of Rufflet being ok.
Rufflet smiled and squawked in determination, showing that he was doing just fine, making Zoroark sigh happily in concern.
Later on, when it came close to sunset, our heroes were preparing to continue on the way to Laverre City. Zoroark was standing by a tree, whereas Rufflet was on the tree, standing on a tree branch, as both Pokemon face dour heroes.
Ash commented, "Well, we better be on our way now," while Clemont mentioned, "Take care, both of you."
Lyra added, "We'll come visit you guys again soon, and who knows? Mayhbe you might come visit us."
Bonnie added, "Stay safe, and don't get into too much mischief," with Dedenne chattering its goodbye.
Serena then said, "Zoroark, Rufflet, I hope you both continue to look out for each other. and Zoroark, keep up your performing skills,; I know you're destined to do great on stage someday."
Zoroark nodded happily as it watched the group of trainers soon leave, continuing to walk down the forest path. However, after they were gone, Zoroark couldn't help but feel a little sad. As much as it felt happy to have made new friends, it missed them, especially Serena.
Rufflet, seeing this, remembered what Lyra said earlier "But then, as I got older, my dad learned that sometimes, there had to be moments where he needed to let me be independent, and have my own experiences. whether the experience was good or bad, whether I ended up getting hurt or not, he had to let me go through it firsthand, and learn from it, and that's how people, and Pokemon, really grow."
Rufflet let his thoughts roam for a bit before he turned his head and squawked something at Zoroark, getting Zoroark's attention.
Rufflet then began to chatter about something before it pointed its non-injured wing at the forest path, telling Zoroark to follow it, find those humans, and travel with them.
Zoroark, surprised, chattered if it was really ok to do and if Rufflet would be alright without it.
Rufflet smiled, squawking that it'd be ok and that he knew that Zoroark was not a small, little Zorua anymore. That now, it was ready to make its own decisions and do what it wanted to do.
Rufflet flew down to Zoroark, landing in its paws, and patted Zoroark on the shoulder, letting the dark type know that it was gonna be ok.
Zoroark felt tears build up around its eyes as he gave the small avian Pokemon a gentle hug before placing it back on the tree branch. then, it gave a small wave to Rufflet, chattered a goodbye, and started to walk down the forest path, looking back once more at Rufflet, who smiled and nodded, reassuring Zoroark, before the dark type continued down the path.
Back with our heroes, Bonnie asked, "do you think we'll ever see them again"?
Ash commented, "I'm sure we will, Bonnie. After all, Rufflet and Zoroark both really care about each other," with Pikachu chirping in agreement.
Serena added, while her Braixen was walking beside her, "Plus, I know for a fact that Zoroark is gonna definitely get a lot stronger with Rufflet by its side."
Suddenly, our heroes heard something chattering behind them, and turned their heads to see. As it turned out, it was Zoroark, who was running up to them while trying to call out to the humans.
Serena took the initiative, running up to Zoroark while saying, "Zoroark"?
As both trainer and Pokemon got close, Serena asked while her friends caught up to her, "Zoroark, what are you doing here? Is everything ok"?
Zoroark nodded before it knelt down in front of Serena as if it was pledging its loyalty to her, much to Serena's confusion.
However, Ash seemed to catch what it was doing, saying, "Serena, I think Zoroark wants to travel with you"!
Clemont added, "It definitely seems like it," while Lyra added, "Plus, it's definitely grown attached to you; you should catch it"!
Serena felt emotionally touched, asking, "Zoroark, is this true? You want to travel with me"?
Zoroark smiled, nodding in reply, chattering happily.
Serena pulled out a Pokeball and enlarged it, before giving it a toss and catching Zoroark inside it. The Pokeball shook three times before stars sparkled around it, signifying that Zorark was successfully caught.
Serena picked up the Pokeball, saying, "Tada! Ahh, I've just reached a brand new checkpoint in my journey, because I caught a Zorarok," while Braixen cheered alongside her trainer.
Serena then tossed her Pokeball up in the air, saying, "Zoroark, come on out"!
Zoroark appeared in a streak of light, letting out a happy cry.
Serena patted it on the head,d saying, "Zoroark, welcome to the team. i hope you and I become great friends."
Zoroark smiled and chirped in agreement, looking up at the sunset sky.
And so, our heroes have made a brand new friend in Zoroark, whos' ready to help Serena achieve her goal! Just what will it bring to the group, and what does Zoroark have ins tore for them? With futures looking bright, our heroes are set to continue their way to Laverre City, as the journey continues!