A/N: So in the last chapter, we added Cynthia, Steven, and Diantha to our group and had Lysandre unlocking the power source he needed by threatening Goh's parents, and here we have more plot, I'm not rolling out many filler chapters because like you, I'm anxious to finish this story.
Also, who's hyped for the Iris and Gary returns? I know I am. Let me know how you think they'll return in the reviews
And for those of you who play Pokemon Masters, who else is feeling trolled by Serena being one of the special Valentines Sync Pairs (And the fact that she has one of her anime hairstyles is just *screams in amourshipper*)
*Flashback*
"I've never seen a Pokemon like that!" A little girl cried.
A man, her father, smiled, "That's because it's an evolution of Rhyhorn, and your mother will never let hers evolve."
The little girl turned to her mother and frowned, "Why won't you let Rhyhorn evolve, its evolution looks so cool."
Her mother shook her head at her husband, "Do you have to give her ideas?"
"She just asked a question Grace, don't go blaming me."
"I haven't evolved Rhyhorn because it's called Rhyhorn Racing, not Rhydon racing, Serena," Grace chided.
"I still think a Rhydon is cooler than a Rhyhorn," Serena pouted.
Grace opened her mouth but was stopped by her husband. "Grace, she just turned five, cut her some slack."
"I guess you're right."
*Flashback Ends*
"Serena? Earth to Serena?"
The honey-blonde performer blinked a few times, meeting Ash's eyes.
"Are you okay? You zoned out for a bit."
She shook her head, "It was what that grunt said, about my dad; what if he wasn't as good a person as I thought?"
"I doubt it," Ash said.
"How are you so sure?"
"I don't think you'd be you if your dad was working for an evil organization."
"I'm not exactly sure how to interpret that."
"Does the person you remember as your dad seem like the kind of person that'd be working for someone like Lysandre?"
"I guess you're right," Serena murmured.
Ash grinned, "I try to be," he said, earning a jab in the stomach from Serena.
"C'mon, ya goof, we need to save the world."
"Nothing I haven't done like ten times."
"But this time, you better not almost die or temporarily die in the process."
"Wait, who told you about the Mew and Mewtwo thing?"
"Brock."
"Of course he did," Ash sighed, shaking his head.
The Alolan Champion interlaced his fingers with Serena, pulling her along so the two of them could catch back up.
"How much closer can you get?"
"Not much, sir. And as your secretary, I advise that we return to headquarters immediately."
"And leave Lysandre to destroy the world we want to control? Not a chance," Giovanni said.
Matori groaned internally, "Sir, with four Champions active in the vicinity, there is a huge risk to-"
"I know, Matori. And I was a gym leader for years as well as the Boss of Team Rocket, and Lance, the head of the G-Men still couldn't find me, I can evade a few Champions."
Matori rubbed the bridge of her nose, starting to feel the familiar throbbing of an oncoming migraine.
"We're approaching the drop point, sir," the gruff voice of the pilot said.
"Good, I'll signal you when I reach the rendezvous point," Giovanni said, sliding the helicopter door open.
"You got it, boss."
Giovanni unclipped a Pokeball on his belt.
"Rhyperior," he yelled, throwing the Pokeball with a great deal of force.
The Drill Pokemon appeared on the ground, staring back up at its trainer.
"Create a staircase with Stone Edge," the Team Rocket Boss commanded.
Rhyperior nodded and slammed its foot on the ground, causing blue stalagmites to burst out of the ground, forming somewhat of a staircase.
Giovanni smiled, I'm impressed how many uses Serena found for this move, if she still believed that I was alive I would be thanking her.
Once he reached the bottom of the Stone Edge staircase, he gave a nod to the pilot of the circling helicopter, prompting it to finally turn away.
Giovanni looked at the new Power Plant, watching a set of Team Flare grunts start running towards them.
"Lysandre, for your insolence, you will feel a world of pain."
"So we'll split up, we can search faster that way," Dawn said.
"I'm going with Max and Drew," May said, leaving nothing up for debate.
"Serena and I will go together," Ash said, squeezing the performer's hand.
"Dawn and Brock can pair off, same as Goh and Chloe and Korrina and Alain," Steven added.
Goh winced, "You see, I only have Raboot and Chloe only has Yamper and neither of them are trained for battle," he pointed out meekly.
"Then I'll go with you," Cynthia announced, "And Steven and Diantha will be the final pair."
The Kalosian and Hoennian Champions nodded.
"Alright, then let's go!"
"You're going straight for Lysandre, aren't you?"
Ash nodded, "He's put you in danger more times than I can count and even has a kill order out for you, of course, I'm going for him first."
"As endearing as your stubbornness is, it can get annoying really fast," Serena sighed, shaking her head.
"And before you start making an argument about how Goh is my friend and I should be helping him, he's even got Champions looking for his parents."
"That's because Cynthia, Diantha, and Steven all think that we're looking for his parents too, and not running off to track down Lysandre."
"Hey! Stop twisting this to make me sound like a horrible person!" Ash protested, stopping abruptly.
Serena giggled, "I'm not, Ash. I've dealt with enough horrible people to know that you definitely aren't one."
"Great, I was worried for a second."
"You're worried about what I think about you as you run towards a fight with someone who plans to destroy the world and kill everyone but him and his followers?"
"Yes?"
Serena smiled, "Classic Ash."
The moment between the trainers was interrupted by an ominous rumbling. Serena reacted first, seeing that the support beams overhead were cracking, she shoved Ash out of the way and stepped back a bit, staying clear of the debris.
"Serena!"
"I'm fine, Ash, don't worry about me!" The honey-blonde yelled back. "Go find and beat Lysandre, I'll find a way out of here and meet you afterward."
There was a pause.
"Alright, I will. Promise me you won't get hurt?" Ash asked; Serena picked up on the desperation in his voice.
"Only if you do the same!"
"Alright, I promise."
Serena smiled, "Then so do I, I'll see you soon. And Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't give up until it's over, okay?"
She heard Ash sigh before he responded, "Of course, I'll see you in a bit, Serena; and I'll take Lysandre down, I promise."
She heard faint footsteps moving away from the wall of debris. She craned her neck to check the integrity of the ceiling above her and started backing away from the collapsed part of the ceiling.
"Houndoom!"
"Manectric!"
"Liepard!"
"Toxicroak!"
Four grunts rushed towards Serena and Delphox.
"Fire Blast!" Serena shouted.
The fire type attack pushed Liepard and Toxicroak back, knocking them out.
"Fire Fang!"
"Thunder Fang!"
"Hidden Power!" Serena commanded.
Delphox sent two green orbs flying towards Manectric and Houndoom, knocking them out too.
"Mom? Dad?" Goh cried.
"Wonder why we haven't had to deal with many grunts?" Chloe said, thinking aloud.
"Probably because of Garchomp," Cynthia answered.
"Garchomp is really strong, then."
"He took me to my Champion Title and he's my ace; I can count the people who can stand up to him on two hands," the Sinnohan Champion said, smiling down at Chloe.
"Who are those people?"
"Diantha, Steven, Leon, Lance, Ash, and two trainers from my own region: Tobias and one of Ash's old rivals named Paul."
"Only seven?" Chloe asked in astonishment.
"Yes, but I'm more worried about Tobias and Paul, they're both coming for my throne and I've got to keep them away."
"Did you hear that?" Goh asked frantically.
"What?"
"Shush, listen."
Muffled conversation could be heard, ranging from desperate sobbing to frantic arguing.
"Where is that coming from?" Chloe asked.
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, appearing to be deep in thought as the conversations continued, scanning the hallway before stopping and craning her neck to see the ceiling.
"There's a vent up there, it must be connected to where they're keeping the personnel," she said, pointing above her head.
"So if we follow it, we'll find my parents!" Goh shouted.
"Not so loud," Chloe hissed.
"That's the theory."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Cynthia turned to Chloe, "Is he normally like that?"
She shrugged, "It's a recent change."
"I can take care of myself, May!" Max protested.
"Max, a psychopath is trying to blow up the planet, what kind of sister would I be if I let you go off on your own in the same area," May retorted.
Max opened his mouth to protest before Drew cut him off.
"Your sister is right, Max. It's already incredibly dangerous, if she let you go off on your own, you'd be put in real danger."
"Of course you'd agree with your girlfriend," Max grumbled.
"FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, MAX, I AM TRYING TO BE A GOOD BIG SISTER AND PROTECT YOU!"
"I'M NOT A LITTLE KID, MAY! I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION!"
Drew winced at the volume of the siblings.
"Shadow Claw, Liepard!"
The green-haired coordinator turned around, unclipping a Pokeball and throwing it forward as he turned to face their attacker. "Roserade! Magical Leaf!"
The two flowers began glowing green as Roserade twirled in the air and released glowing leaves that collided with Liepard, forcing the Cruel Pokemon back.
"So, coordinators can put up a fight," Bryony sneered.
"Yeah, we can. Glaceon, Ice Shard!"
"Dark Pulse."
"Protect Glaceon with Petal Dance!" Drew commanded.
May looked at him in disbelief, "Drew?"
"You and Max should get out of here and try to find Dawn and Brock."
"But what about you?"
Drew smirked, reaching into a pocket on the inside of his purple jacket, "Serena's not the only one with a Mega," he said, swinging a Key Stone on a chain like a pendulum. "Now, go. I'll find you later, I promise."
"You better, Drew!" May shouted over her shoulder, grabbing Max by the shirt collar and dragging him along.
Drew narrowed his eyes at the Team Flare Admin.
"Roserade, return. You've done enough."
"Is that all ya got?" Bryony sneered. "Maybe that's why you sent your girlfriend away, so she wouldn't be embarrassed by her pathetic boyfriend."
"Not exactly, I've got something else up my sleeve. Absol, take the stage!" He shouted, loud enough for May, who was just about to turn a corner, to hear him.
"HEY! THAT'S MY LINE, YOU SON OF A-"
"C'mon!" Max shouted, dragging his sister away.
"So what, you've got a mutt like that performer brat. Nothing that won't be easy."
"What you don't notice is that Serena's style was adapted from Ash's, while mine is my own signature style, which is something you've never faced. Absol, it's time to increase our appeal, Mega Evolve!"
"I can imagine that Mairin is pretty panicked about this whole thing."
Alain nodded, "But can you blame her? She's still pretty scarred by everything that happened the first time, and to see it happen again is probably worse than the first time."
Korrina opened her mouth but shut it when she saw Lucario staring intently down a hallway. The Shalour City Gym Leader followed her partner's gaze, narrowing her eyes.
"What is it?"
Korrina held up a hand to shush him, still focusing her attention on trying to find what Lucario had locked onto. She closed her eyes, taking slow breaths, and reaching out to Lucario mentally.
Come on, Lucario. Show me what you see, show me what you see.
Two blue smokey figures appeared in her vision, and they were coming towards them. Korrina's eyes shoot open.
"Were you just glowing?"
"Not important, we've got company!" She shouted.
Footsteps rang out through the halls, growing louder every second.
"Prepare an Aura Sphere," Korrina uttered.
Lucario nodded, forming a glowing blue sphere between his paws.
"Wait! It's just us!"
"May and Max?"
Alain narrowed his eyes, "Where's Drew?"
"He got caught in a battle against a Team Flare member and told us to leave," May answered.
"We're looking for Brock and Dawn."
"You found us!" Dawn called.
"So much for splitting up," Alain muttered.
"Del," Delphox cried.
Serena frowned, "You're exhausted, aren't you?"
The Fox Pokemon nodded, scrunching its face in pain.
She returned her starter Pokemon to her Pokeball, "Take a good rest Delphox, you've more than earned one."
There was an eerie silence that hung in the air, causing shivers to run down Serena's spine.
An explosion forced the Kalosian Performer against a wall, one of her hands was behind her back and she thought she heard a crack. Serena grabbed her left wrist, squeezing it gently and scrunching her face in pain; definitely broken.
A troop of grunts surrounded her, their Pokemon were all ready to attack.
"You know the boss's orders, let's finish this brat off."
"Not so fast! Rhyperior, Stone Edge!"
The Drill Pokemon forced the grunts out of the way standing between their Pokemon and Serena. A wall of blue stalagmites burst out of the ground.
Serena unclipped Sylveon's Pokeball, preparing to at least try to battle Rhyperior should it turn on her.
"Retreat!" One of the grunts screeched.
The Stone Edge dissipated and Rhyperior turned to Serena, looming over her. She locked eyes with the Pokemon and saw a look in its eyes that she hadn't seen in a Pokemon's eyes since she was a child.
"There's no way," she whispered.
She rose to her feet, holding her wrist to give it some support, and watched a figure approach. The dust cleared, allowing for her to see Rhyperior's trainer clearly.
Her eyes widened and her voice cracked as she spoke.
"Dad?"
Giovanni's expression softened, "It's good to see you again, Princess."
A/N: Dun dun dunnnnnnnn.
Amourshipper35 - Thanks for the review :)
ValorFennekin - Currently brainstorming that atm lol
IAmDomeAceTucker - That can go right next to your platonic coffee shop AU that was inspired by Ilima from a fic I have yet to release
Reader - I'll probably write it in the epilogue
Shadow wolf42 - Thanks
UnKnownGuy2006 - If Pokemon wasn't a kids show and if Ash could stop being an amnesiac, I bet they would. Rose is probably sitting at his desk in Galar taking notes. And about that, I am not a DarkSteelShipper, I don't anti-ship it, I just don't ship it because I prefer RoseQuartzShipping. And no, I have not watched that.
Robins in the Ashes - Goh's parents
