Ash opened his eyes. Remember when he had the best sleep of his life yesterday? That's a lie. Last night was the best night of his life, and it's still fresh in his memory. The sounds, the feelings, the emotions, all of it still fresh in his mind. He woke up and did his morning routine, soon joined by Serena. "Good morning, Ashy. Had a good night's sleep?"

"Sure did, all thanks to you." They shared a short kiss, which was rudely interrupted by Ash's phone.

"Hello? Wha- already? But it's only been 6 days! *Sigh* Alright, I'll be heading over soon." Ash hung up and sat down with his head buried in his hands.

"What's wrong?"

Ash jumped up and hugged Serena "Your father called, he's back early."

"That means!"

"Yes, I'll have to return you."

"Nooo! Ash, please! Don't leave me again! We were so lucky to reunite!" Serena grabs Ash's shirt and sobs, while Ash does his best to comfort her. "Don't cry, don't cry, Sere. It makes me want to cry, too!"

But the tears didn't stop. "I just don't want you to go!"

"Look at me, Serena. Stop crying and look at me!" Ash places his hands on her shoulders and crouches down to look her in the eyes. "This won't be the last time we see each other, alright? We might bump into each other in the base, in the streets, wherever! Who knows, your father might need you to be escorted again, and I'll be more than happy to do it again. It might be days, weeks, months, but remember what I told you back then?"

"Don't give up till it's over"

Ash smiles and nods. "That's right, don't give up till it's over. Now let's take you home."

Ash once again drove to the headquarters, this time with Serena in tow. He walks through the halls, occasionally saying "Hello" to fellow members before stepping into the elevators. Stopping right outside Lysandre's office, Ash and Serena shared one last hug, and one last tender kiss. Ash opened the door to find his boss sitting at his desk. Lysandre's face brightens upon seeing his daughter. "Serena! You're safe! I missed you so much!"

"Hi, dad. Welcome back." Serena waved half heartedly, still sad about being separated from Ash.

"Thank you for keeping my daughter safe, Ketchum. As promised, your pay." Lysandre took out a briefcase and handed it over to Ash. Ash opened it, and saw it filled with cold, hard, cash. More than an entire month's worth of work. Normally, Ash would be grinning ear to ear, but he isn't focused on the money. "Thank You sir. I'll be going now. Can I say goodbye to Serena?"

Ash walked over to Serena and hugged her. "Till we meet again." he whispered, before leaving the room.

A few minutes after Ash left, Lysandre chuckled. "He sure is a charming man, isn't he Serena? He's strong and reliable. I couldn't have asked for a better enforcer." Serena couldn't answer. Instead she stood there, looking at the ground, sniffling. Tear fell out of her eyes and landed on the ground. Lysandre took notice immediately. "What's wrong? Tell me, Serena. Did he hurt you?"

Serena sat down in front of her father. "No, father. Ash, he-"

Lounge, Team Flare Headquarters

Ash sat around a Poker table with Gary, Goh, and two grunts. Ash is wrapped up in his thoughts. He promised to Serena that they'll meet again, but will that really happen? What if Lysandre picks someone else to escort her? What if he gets arrested? Or worse- "Hey, you want another card or not?" one of the grunts called out.

"Huh? Okay, I'll take three."

Gary deals out three cards and Ash picks each of them up.

"D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!" (realizes Gary is staring at him) "Uh, I mean, hooray!"

Gary tosses a bill on the table. "I'm in. Let's see your cards."

"Aw, I was bluffing." Ash lays down his cards as Gary laughs in triumph, grabbing Ash's bet. "Hahahaha, come to Papa! Wait a minute," Gary examines Ash's hand closely "You have a straight flush Ash! Dammit you do this all the time! Grrk! God I'm choking on my own rage here!" Goh takes a sip of whiskey. "Hey, don't yell at Ash, Gary. He's a little bit down, cuz you know, the boss came back."

"Oh yeah, you had to say bye to your girlfriend eh, Ashy boy?" Gary nudges Ash with his elbow, but gets no response."Wow, I called her your girlfriend and you didn't try to choke me. This is serious." Gary lays his hand down. "Cmon Ash. Let's go catch a game. It'll help you feel better." Ash looks up at Gary. "Alright, I need something to clear my mind anyways. Goh, you coming?" "Sure." Goh downs his drink and gets up from the table, following Ash and Gary outside.

Lumiose City Stadium, Lumiose Luxrays vs Vermillion Voltorbs

"Wooooo! What a performance! Go Home Team!" Gary cried out, with both hands in the air. The trio are watching a baseball match, with the score being 5-3 in favor of the Luxrays.

"C'mon Voltorbs! Step up your game!" Goh yelled out with equal enthusiasm. The pitcher throws, and the batter swings.

CRACK!

The ball was sent soaring through the air, and out the stadium. The Voltorbs got a home run. The score is now even. "Yeah, I love it when games get this climatic!"

Ash, on the other hand, watches in silence. Normally he'd be cheering as loudly as 10 people combined, but today he just can't. Barely a peep came out of his mouth, the only team spirit he showed as the slight waving of a flag. Gary later came back with snacks. "Pretzels and popcorn lads! Who wants some!" Goh eagerly grabbed a pretzel and ate with gusto. Gary offered some to Ash, who half heartedly grabbed a pretzel and started eating. Gary sat down and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "This isn't like you, Ash. You're not gonna feel better if you keep thinking about it! What's done is done. Just enjoy the game and look forward to the future. You will see her again, so just relax!"

"I guess you're right. Besides, I'm ruining the mood." Ash sat up straight and started waving the team flag with renewed enthusiasm. Gary pats Ash on the back. "That's the spirit. Now lets enjoy watching the Luxray shock the Voltorbs all the way back to Kanto!"

"Yeah right, Oak tree!" Goh cried out "Voltorbs will blow y'all away!"

"We'll see about that!" Ash yelled back.

An hour later, the game ended, with the Luxrays winning in a close match. "You got lucky this time! Next game will be different!"

"We'll see about that, Goh! Ain't that right Ash?"

"Hehe, yeah. Let's go back to base. We still have a poker game to finish."

The trio started driving back and the base came into view, however, they could tell something was wrong. They could hear gunshots and sirens. "Crap, are we under attack?" Gary asked. "We might be!" Goh replied "Ash, park the car, we're advancing on foot!"

"Alright"

The car stops and all three exit, with guns drawn. Upon getting closer, they can see many police cruisers and SWAT vans parked all around. "Crap, it's a raid!"

Gary: "How'd they find out?"

Goh: "I'm not sure, but we need to fight them off. I see three officers right outside the main entrance, I don't think they saw us yet!"

Ash: "Alright, take aim! I'll get the middle one, Goh, get the one on the left and Gary get the one on the left!"

Ash: "Take aim, fire!"

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Three officers drop dead. Ash, Goh, and Gary rush past their bodies and stand in front of the main door. Ash and Gary take aim as Goh kicks the door open, surprising a team of cops and SWAT. The three fires wildly, killing all of them. They rushed down the hallway and reached the lounge, joining two grunts in a defensive hold. "What happened?" Ash asked

"I don't know! We were raided by the Interpol about 30 minutes ago!" one of the grunts replied. Suddenly, more cops enter the room, only to be cut down by gunfire. Ash reloads and calls out "I'll keep going! You guys hold the fort!" "Roger that!" Goh hastily crafts a molotov out of a whiskey bottle and chucks it into the hallway, creating a wall of flames. Ash nods and rushes forwards. As he runs down the halls, Ash passes by various bodies from both sides. 'I hope Serena is okay. I shouldn't have left in the first place!'

Suddenly, Ash runs into a team of 5 SWATS. "Hold it right there, criminal! This is the end of the road for you!" one officer yells out. Ash looks at the lead officer and grins. "You pigs must have been only arresting small time crooks that don't know how to do shit, huh?"

"What are you talking about!"

"Because you will soon realize one of the golden rules professional criminals follow."

One officer taunted. "Oh yeah? What would that be? Not like it would save you!"

Ash: "We always bring backup."

Suddenly, the lead SWAT officer turns around and guns down all of his comrades. He takes off his helmet and mask, revealing a man with purple hair and cold, stern eyes. "Hmph, pathetic. 3 years and they still couldn't figure it out."

Ash snorted. "Told ya Paul, these so-called police spent so much time giving parking tickets and munching donuts they have no idea what a real criminal is like." Ash shook hands with Paul.

"So, what's our current situation?" Paul asked, putting his helmet back on.

"Me, Gary, and Goh came from the main entrance in the north wing, they're holding it right now rather well. I'm not sure of the status of the other ones."

"So what's the plan?"

"I'm going up to see if the others are alright, you go back undercover, try not to get busted."

"Roger that."

East Wing, Team Flare HQ

Chloe rests against a wall. What went wrong? How did the police find them? Could they have a rat? Those were the questions on her mind. She decided to meet up with her friends first. Chloe peeked around the corner and saw 3 officers approaching slowly. An idea grew in her mind.

The officers have just entered the building, and everything seems clear so far. Suddenly, something catches the officers' eyes. A woman, covered in soot with a few small cuts on the body ran towards them, she appears to be a civilian. "Officers, help! I found a man in a room and he seems really hurt!" her eyes were filled with concern. The cops looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, calm down m'am. Take me to him." The woman led the cops to a room and opened it. Inside they saw a man lying against a wall, with blood splattered on his clothes. "Sir, we are the international police, can you tell us what happened to you?" No answer. "Sir, are you alright?" Again no answer. This time one officer walks to the man and nudges him, causing his body to slump to the side. "I think this is a corpse!" Suddenly, they heard a click. The cops whirled around only to see the door close, and a grenade slowly rolling towards them, with its pin missing.

"SON OF A-"

BOOM!

The explosion blew out the glass on the door's window as Chloe covered her ears. 'That's three taken care of, now to find the others.' She stood up and turned around.

"Freeze!" another officer called out, a gun aimed at Chloe. "Don't try to play innocent with me, I saw you lead my comrades into that room and blew them up! So get on your knees!"

Chloe put her hands in the air and knelt down… then suddenly grabbed the hidden knife in her boot and threw it at the officer's neck. He gawked in surprise at his new throat decoration before falling over. Chloe retrieves her knife and draws her gun. "Quite surprising you officers don't try to check me for weapons. Oh well." she says as she wipes the blood off the knife. "Now, where was I?"

West Wing, Team Flare HQ

Paul walked down the hallway. He was told to stay undercover, but he's itching to shoot something, preferably enemy officers. Suddenly, he bumped into a pair of SWATs, with two Flare grunts in handcuffs. "What's going on here?"

"We managed to arrest two of these guys." one officer replied "Where's your team?"

"They were killed in an ambush, I'm the only survivor." Paul replied. He certainly wasn't lying, his old team did die in an ambush, by him. "I'm looking to join with other officers."

"Very well, sir. You mind helping us deal with these crooks?"

"Very well, actually, set them down. I say we can interrogate them for intel."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to ask for info back in base?"

'Tch, these guys are making this difficult without even trying!' Paul thought "They might have info on the location of their leader, we can use that right about now."

"Fine then." the operatives set down the grunts. "Now spill it. Where's your boss?"

"We ain't telling you that."

"If you don't start speaking, you'll serve anywhere from 2-25 years!"

"You think that scares me? Well we'll tell you one thing. Team Flare has strings all over the civilized world."

"What are you talking about?" one officer inquired.

"That means we have contacts and spies everywhere! Grocery stores, ordinary civilians, police officers, even government officials! You arrest the boss, his friends will get him out in 2 weeks!"

"Sir, this is bad, we must contact HQ! They need to know this."

"You two keep interrogating! There's no need to worry about spies right now!"

"Wha- why is that sir?"

"Because, the spy is here all along!"

Before the two SWATs realized what was just said, Paul fired two shots from his rifle, dropping the officers instantly before freeing the grunts. "You were a rat?! I know we have a few, but I didn't know one of them would show up now!"

Paul picks up the fallen officers' guns and hands them to the grunts. "I suppose that since my cover's blown, I'll now fight normally. Cmon, let's show these coppers the fury of Team Flare!"

"You got it boss!" The grunts followed Paul to rejoin the fight.

South Wing, Team Flare HQ

Mairin slowly walks backwards, while in front of her a team of 10 officers have their weapons trained on her. "Hey, hey, there officers, no need to go this extreme right?" she asked nervously. It was just her luck. Her weapon was still in the armory on the second floor, and there were no guns within reach of her. "Drop it with the small talk lady, we know you're part of Team Flare, and you're coming with us, dead or alive."

Mairin continued to back away, until she noticed some beams of sunlight coming in from the roof. 'Heh, they fell for it' "Alright, you got me, officers. Guess there's no place for me except the slammer." she shrugged, seemingly accepting her defeat. The officers then lowered their guns in confusion. 'Huh? This isn't how it's supposed to go! You're supposed to yell 'You'll never take me alive!' and try to shoot us, then die immediately!"

"Do I look that stupid to you? Besides, we're not in a movie! And why have me pull a heroic last stand when salvation is coming from above?" Mairin replied, pointing to the air. Suddenly, the skylight above shattered and an object about twice the size of an egg landed on the floor, followed by the sound of a pin. Mairin immediately hit the deck, while the officers appeared more keen on pointing out the obvious. "Oh shit! Grena-"

BOOM!

About half the officers were killed instantly by the blast. Suddenly, Alain rappled down with an SMG in one hand, firing at the officers as he lowered.

RATATATATATA!

The remaining officers drop dead just as Alain landed and released the harness and quickly reloaded and aimed down the hallway as Clemont rappelled down as well, pistol in hand. Clemont looks around at the group of dead bodies in front of him "Goddammit, Alain! Stealing my spotlight again!"

"That's what you get for being slow. Maybe if you weren't so scared to use your own grapple you may have gotten to see some action! Considering the shit you put me through with the whole Marvin incident, consider us even."

"Why you-"

"At least take pride that one of your inventions worked for once. Maybe you can make sure they work all the time?"

"Hey, I'm getting better at it!"

"Ahem." Mairin cleared her throat. "As much as I loved to see you idiots argue all day, we got some cops to fight, so I'd appreciate it if you give me a weapon."

Alain sighed and grabbed a shotgun off a dead cop and tossed it to Mairin, who catches it and racks the slide. "Alright, get into a room and we'll defend this hallway. Clemont, you go in one, me and Mairin will be in another." They all nod and they head into rooms on opposite sides of the hallway and peeked out with only their heads and guns showing.

Team Flare Headquarters, 3rd floor

Ash hid behind a wall to catch his breath. He managed to reach the top floor, after fighting through various groups of regular cops and SWAT officers. His ammo is running low, and now he only has one full magazine left. He stopped at the 3rd floor instead of riding the elevator all the way up. He figured that if there are officers on the final floor, they'll likely have their guns aimed at it ready to gun down anyone who comes through the metal doors. He instead ran towards the emergency exit staircase. He climbed the stairs, being sure to make as little noise as possible before arriving in front of a closed door. He closed his eyes. 'If I remember correctly, this door is to the left of the elevator entrance, so there will be enemies waiting for me on my left.' He kicks the door open and dived out of it and instinctively fired two shots.

BLAM! BLAM!

Two officers drop dead. They were guarding the door of Lysandre's office. '5 rounds left.' Ash walked towards the door and was about to open it until he heard voices.

"This is the end of the line for you, Lysandre. After all these years, we finally have you cornered."

Ash peeks into a hole in the window and spots Lysandre, beaten and injured, on the ground. Standing in front of him were 2 people. A black haired man with a brown trenchcoat, and a lavender haired woman wearing a black suit. Ash recognized them as Interpol Agents Looker and Anabel, the best they have to offer. He met them a decade ago when he was still a world traveler. 'Those two?! No wonder why they were able to track us down! This isn't the first criminal organization they tried to take down, and if I don't stop them this won't be the last!' Ash readied his gun and placed his hand on the door knob.

The door swung open and rushed in, shooting Anabel in the stomach. She let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor. '4 bullets left' "Ketchum!" Lysandre called out. Looker turns around and draws his gun and fires, but Ash rolls out of the way just in time and shoots Looker in the knee. '3 bullets left' Looker collapsed to the ground and grabs his injured leg. "Ahhh! Dammit! You bastard!" Looker stares at Ash and a look of horror dawns on his face "You? You helped us bring down Team Rocket! I thought you were on our side."

Ash grins "The years certainly change a man, doesn't it?"

"You traitorous rat! What would your mother think!"

"My mother? Thats for me to think about, and for you to fuck off!" Ash aimed his gun at Looker's forehead and fired. The agent died instantly. '2 bullets left.' Ash walked over and helped Lysandre up. "Thank you, Ash. I owe you my life."

"You're welcome. What now?"

"This base is compromised, but not to worry. I have various backup bases all over Kalos. And with their top agents dead, the Interpol won't find us again."

"Sounds like a plan boss."

Suddenly, Ash felt lava-like pain in his torso. He looked down and sees blood soaking his shirt. His gun dropped on the floor "ASH!" Lysandre cried out. Ash fell to one knee and turned around. There stood Anabel, clutching her wound, with a suppressed pistol in her hand. Lysandre glared at her. "You dishonorable witch! He spared your life and you shot him in the back!"

"All is fair in love and war." she says. She walks over and kicks Ash's gun away. "And now, Team Flare will go out." Anabel aims at Ash and he closes his eyes.

BLAM!

Ash waited and counted to two. He opened his eyes. Anabel appeared frozen mid-trigger pull. Suddenly, blood poured out of her forehead, and she fell back, dead, revealing her killer. Both Ash and Lysandre's eyes brighten. "SERENA!" Standing at the doorway, stood Serena, with Ash's gun in her hand, her arms trembling, not from fear or shock from killing someone, but from the recoil of the weapon. She breathed heavily. "No one threatens my family."

Ash grins 'I'm so proud of her!'

Suddenly, Serena felt something grab her. Ash's gun flew out of her hand, as a cop holds her in a chokehold. The same cop as the one Ash shot in the hallway. He must have survived the attack. He draws a gun and points it at Ash and Lysandre, while Ash picks up his weapon and aims. 'One round left.'

"Ash, help!"

"You bastard!" Lysandre roars "you are holding a woman, much less my daughter, hostage?! You so-called upholders of the law are just as bad as us criminals!"

The officer smirks "All is fair in love and war, eh? Now drop your weapon and surrender! Or this girl dies!"

Ash huffs. His vision is getting fuzzy and his arms tired. He only has one shot left in his magazine. He can't screw this up. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. "Boss, do you trust me?"

Lysandre nods. "After all this, yes. One hundred percent."

"Serena, do you trust me?"

"With my life Ash, yes!"

"Alright, this will hurt a bit then!"

Ash takes aim and fires.

BLAM!

Time slows down. The bullet exits Ash's gun and whizzes towards it's target. It hits Serena on the top of her shoulder, easily passing through, hitting the officer in his shoulder.

"AARRGGHH!" The officer cries out in pain and weakens his chokehold on Serena. Ignoring the pain, she elbows him in the stomach and dives out of the way. His gun out of ammo, Ash grabs Anabel's dropped pistol and fires.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Three bullets strike the officer in the chest, killing him. Ash empties the clip to ensure that he's dead. His adrenaline spent, Ash collapses on the floor and starts losing consciousness. In his daze, he hears voices.

"Serena, you're alive! Are you hurt?"

"Forget me, dad! Ash is really injured! Get him first aid! Ash! Ash! Don't die on me! Don't give up till..."

3 Days Later, New Team Flare Headquarters

"... and with the Interpol assault on Team Flare ending in complete disaster, with all major members escaping to an unknown location. Police suffered heavy casualties, with a confirmed 96 officers dead including Interpol Agents Looker and Anabel, with many more wounded. More about this at 12. Now onto…"

Ash turned the TV off. After blacking out, Serena and Lysandre carried Ash out of the building and into a medical vehicle. By that time, the police had retreated and all surviving members fled to the new headquarters. Ash has lost large amounts of blood, but fortunately Serena has the same blood type, so an emergency blood transfusion was set up, saving Ash's life. After arriving at the new headquarters, Ash was fully examined by a team doctor, who declares that the bullet has completely passed through his body, so there is no risk of lead poisoning, and that it had missed his vital organs. Ash should be able to walk around within a week.

Back to the present, Ash is still lying on the bed, though he is soon joined by Lysandre. "Once again, Ash, I express my heartfelt gratitude for saving myself and my daughter. If it weren't for you, Team Flare would have been no more."

"Pleasure's all mine, sir."

"Now, such actions shall not go unrewarded. Is there anything you want? Money, a promotion. Ask and you shall receive."

Ash didn't hesitate to reply. "I would like Serena's hand in marriage."

Lysandre stops. Ash suddenly started having a cold sweat, he feared he said something wrong. Suddenly, Lysandre started laughing. "Well, I was gonna give you my blessing no matter what, but I guess that means I won't need to give you a bonus this month then!"

"Wait, what?"

"You see, after you returned Serena to me, she poured out her story of her week with you. I must really say she enjoyed her time. You took care of her better than I ever had. To be truthful, I wanted my daughter to marry a strong man who will protect her and keep her happy. Looks like she found one herself. So long story short, Ash Ketchum, you have my blessing!"

Ash's face lit up, he couldn't believe it. Suddenly, Serena ran into the room and hugged Ash tightly. Turns out she'd been listening through the door the whole time. "So we're finally going to be together then?" she asked.

"Of course, now and always, we'll be together forever." Ash grinned, causing Serena to nuzzle her face in his torso. "AAAAGHH! THE WOUND! THE WOUND! I'M STILL INJURED THERE!"

"Oh my god Ash I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok, just keep the hugs around the neck and shoulders for the next week, please?"

Serena and Ash hug again, and this time, they share a kiss and touch each others' foreheads. 'I love you, Ash/Serena' they both thought. Who knew just one week could change so much?

The End

Author's note:

Thank You so much for reading this story! I really appreciate it. This is my first time writing a multi chapter story with an actual plot, and I didn't expect it to get as popular as it did! Not to worry, I will post a few more chapters to tie up loose ends and whatnot, and if I feel like it, I will accept reader requests for side chapters if I feel like it. Until then, I thank you all for reading, Poke Fiction. (Also, top 50 in parody? I love you guys, you're the best! (For Wattpad) )