I apologize in advance for the brevity of this chapter. I just can't find any time at all to write these days. Anyways, enjoy and leave a review if you have any thoughts whatsoever. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5: Deceived

~ Sea Spirit's Den ~

"Sir, there is a strange-looking man waiting outside. He claims he has an appointment with you."

Aqua Admin Matt smiled and nodded his head. "Ah, yes, let him in, he will be able to provide valuable assistance to help with our plan," he said. The grunt nodded and immediately left, opening the main entrance.

A man with long, shaggy black hair entered Matt's office with a smile on his face. "Hello, I am Professor Sycamore, it's a pleasure to be here with you fine folks," he said.

Matt rolled his eyes. "For Arceus' sake, you're so fucking immature. I know it's you," he said.

The man who claimed to be Professor Sycamore laughed. "Ah, I see the great Aqua Admin is sharp as his Sharpedo," he said as he quickly removed his disguise. Underneath a black wig and a white lab coat was a man with purple hair in a black suit. A large red 'R' was printed in the center of his uniform.

Matt was not amused. "I have no time for games, Petrel. You have something that we need," he said.

Petrel nodded his head proudly. "Indeed I do, Admin. It is my most prized possession, and I've treasured it since I was just a young boy."

"Whatever, let's just see it then," Matt said, growing impatient with Petrel's relatively laid-back attitude.

Petrel chuckled. "You need to lighten up," he said as he brought out one of his Pokeballs.

– –

~ Terminus Cave ~

"Admin Courtney, Zygarde has fled and the chamber is secured."

"Hm. I would have preferred if you had captured Zygarde, but no matter...as long as Matt and Shelly do their part, we will have everything at our disposal," Magma Admin Courtney said.

Team Magma had done a lot of work over the past recent months. Groudon had been difficult to contain, but the sedatives seemed to be working fine to keep it from breaking out, for now. Now all they had to do was force it to undergo Primal Reversion, something their slightly more scientifically-oriented allies have been nearing completion with.

Behind a rock, a woman with bright pink hair eavesdropped on the conversation. She was listening so intently that she failed to notice the Houndoom who stood three feet away from her, baring its fangs and growling menacingly.

"Well, this is a surprise," Magma Admin Tabitha said, chuckling as he and a few other Team Magma members gathered and surrounded Malva completely.

– –

~ Lumiose City ~

Everyone immediately gathered around as Ash, May, Max, Brock, and Diantha stood together on the Gym floor.

Ash tried his very best to avoid looking at Serena forcing his eyes to look at other people. He glanced at Misty, who smiled at him warmly. Iris and Cilan both nodded at him encouragingly.

May was staring into Drew's eyes, each of them entranced simply by the other's presence.

Max couldn't describe what he was currently feeling. The girl he was looking at just seemed to capture his attention without even doing anything in particular. She was holding a small, orange Pokemon that looked a lot like Pikachu.

Dawn felt slightly anxious as she firmly held Kenny's hand, who held her close reassuringly.

Tierno leaned in closer to Trevor. "Dude...that girl in the green is hot," he said. Trevor nodded, then pointed at Drew and whispered back, "But I think she's with that guy over there."

Shauna tried her best to get Ash's attention as everyone waited for them to begin speaking. She played with her hair and kept shifting her feet around in an attempt to show off her legs.

Diantha raised her hand up high, which immediately quieted everyone else in the room. She maintained a serious expression as she said, "Thank you all for being so patient. I have discussed the situation in great detail with Ash and his companions. Ash, you may take it from here."

Ash nodded and took a step forward. He looked around the room and saw at least a dozen faces looking up at him expectantly, as if he was their savior or something. As if he had all the answers...

Public speaking wasn't something Ash was exactly good at, but he wouldn't say it was a weakness either. He supposed that more often than not, he knew what to say and it was all purely derived from instinct. He began with, "As you all know, Siebold and Malva went searching for Korrina's and Wulfric's kidnappers. We're still waiting on their reports, but we know for sure that one team should be somewhere around Shalour City, and the other around Snowbelle City."

He cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm just gonna get straight to the point here. Team Magma and Team Aqua are both on opposite sides of the entire Kalos region, doing who knows what over there. Our plan is to split up and take 'em out before they can even make a move."

Nods and whispers scattered among the crowd, excitement in the air.

Ash cleared his throat again to get everyone's undivided attention. "Okay. So...Team Magma. Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? Fire-types. They like fire-types a lot. I want Misty, Brock, Dawn, Kenny, and Tierno to take them on. And we'll let you guys come up with a team name, for ease of reference."

The aforementioned trainers all nodded their heads. Then they spent about a minute of debating and arguing (mostly between Dawn and Kenny). After Piplup insisted that the team be named after him, they decided to be, 'Team Piplup'.

May smiled and stepped up next to Ash. "Team Aqua uses primarily water-types, so we decided that Drew, Cilan, Clemont, and Bonnie should be our best bet against them," she said.

Bonnie jumped for joy. "Yay! I say we call our team, 'Team Dedenne'!"

Those who didn't have their name called started looking around in confusion. "Uh...is there another team or something?" Gary asked.

Ash chuckled a little. "Nah, don't worry, if we didn't call your name that means we think you're versatile enough to go either way. So that includes Gary, Max, Iris, Paul, Alain, Mairin, Shauna, Trevor, Serena, Calem, May, and myself," he announced. "I know you're all strong and capable of great things, and I can depend on you."

Serena was a little surprised. He knows I'm a performer, right? But...he still thinks I'm strong, she thought to herself.

Gary stepped up first. "Blastoise is my main partner, so I think I'll go with Team Piplup," he said.

"I'm going with Team Dedenne," Paul said. Electivire, who was still out of its Pokeball, nodded and followed its trainer.

Everyone else made their decision shortly afterward. May decided to go with Team Piplup, and Max joined Team Dedenne so that he could be closer to Bonnie. I'm going to talk to her, if it's the last thing I do, he thought.

Alain, Iris, and Trevor all decided to go with Team Piplup. Mairin, Shauna, and Calem decided to join Team Dedenne.

Serena stepped up next to Calem. "I'll go with Team Dedenne!" she said enthusiastically.

Calem looked skeptical, then chuckled a little. "Whoa, wait, Serena. This is kind of a thing for battle-oriented people. A performer like you should stay behind; it's too dangerous," he said.

Serena looked shocked. "Excuse me? Are you calling me weak?" she angrily exclaimed.

Ash didn't know why, but he stepped in immediately. "Calm down, everyone. No reason to argue here," he said, but the couple wasn't willing to calm down.

Calem sighed. "Serena...you don't battle very often. Who knows what could go wrong? I can't be there to protect you all the time, I have to focus on the battle myself," he said.

"I'm sorry, did I ask for your protection?" Serena challenged. Someone in the crowd said, "Oh shit!" relatively quietly. Gary shouted, "I've got a Rawst Berry if you need one, Calem!" This received laughs from around the room.

"Serena, you can come, don't worry. It's not up to him," Ash said in an attempt to quell her rage.

"Hey, you stay outta this, Ketchum," Calem said, stepping between Ash and Serena.

"No, you stay out of this," Serena retorted, pushing Calem aside as she walked over and stood next to Bonnie. "As I said before, I'm with Team Dedenne, Ash," Serena said.

Ash nodded, trying his best to not punch Calem in the face. "Then that's settled. Now we just have to wait for a report from Siebold or Mal-"

As if on cue, he was interrupted by Diantha's Holo Caster. "Ash, I'm receiving an audio recording from Siebold! That means he's found them," Diantha said. She initiated the message, and Siebold's voice began speaking.

"Diantha, I've located Team Magma. They are hiding in the Sea Spirit's Den, and they have Groudon with them. Malva has just reported to me that she has found Team Aqua, who is currently containing Kyogre within the deepest chamber of Terminus Cave. We will await your arrival; please hurry."

And with that, the audio recording ended. No one in the room spoke; the mention of Groudon and Kyogre seemed to have an intimidating effect on them.

Ash was the first to break the silence. "Well then that's it. Team Piplup, you guys head to the Sea Spirit's Den. Team Dedenne, you go to Terminus Cave. Alain, Diantha is going with you...make sure you keep her safe. I'm counting on you," Ash said. Alain nodded in response.

"Make sure Mairin stays out of trouble," he replied with a smile. Mairin laughed and embraced him, the boy she had gone through so much with. They were about to relive their experience with the Primal Reverted Legendaries.

Ash laughed and nodded, then turned to the rest of the group. "I'm going with Team Dedenne. Everyone...thank you for being brave enough to fight with us. It's great to see all of you again, and I wish we could stick together and catch up, but...saving the Kalos Region and rescuing our friends comes first."

– –

~ Sea Spirit's Den ~

Laughter echoed through the dim hallways as Siebold lay in the corner of his cell. He cursed under his breath, praying to Arceus that Diantha and her team of youths would be okay.

In his office, Aqua Admin Matt was still speaking with Rocket Executive Petrel.

"So, did I do the job well enough for ya, or what?" Petrel asked with a smirk.

Matt nodded with a smile as he held Siebold's Holo Caster in his hand. "Yes, I'm very pleased. I must say, this Pokemon is an exceptional specimen," he complimented.

Petrel's Murkrow replied, "Yes, I'm very pleased. I must say, this Pokemon is an exceptional specimen!"

– – – –