Their friendship solidified and their goals clear, Iris and Serena had officially left Oldale Town and begun their journey through the Hoenn region.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Serena asked Iris.

"Littleroot Town!" Iris responded, showing her companion the map on her Pokédex. "I have to talk to Professor Birch and get signed up for the Hoenn Pokémon League!"

Serena nodded to show her understanding. "Good thing the walk isn't too long. We should be there soon."

"Help! Help!" a voice cried from the nearby forest, drawing the girls' attention.

"Who is that?" Serena asked.

"I don't know but whoever it is, we'd better go help them!" Axew chirped his agreement and before Serena could process this, Iris had shot into the forest.

"Hey, wait for me!" she cried before following, holding onto her hat.

Following the cries of help, Iris and Serena soon found a large man wearing a lab coat backed up against a tree as two Poochyena growled threateningly at him. "Get back!" he shouted, waving a stick at the Bite Pokémon. One of them jumped up and grabbed it, ripping it from the man's grip and snapping it in half. Frightened, the man attempted to move even closer to the tree, to no avail. "Help!" he cried again.

"Don't worry, I'm on it!" Iris announced, reaching for a Poké Ball. Before she could select a Pokémon to use, though, something suddenly landed on her head. She flinched and stumbled back just as the culprit leaped down to the ground: a Treecko. "Where'd that come from?"

Serena's eyes lit up. "Oh, wow, a Treecko! Just like Sawyer's!" She pulled out her PokéDex and examined it. "It's so cute!"

Treecko, meanwhile, had caught the Poochyena's attention and was currently staring them down. "Treecko, what are you doing?" Iris asked, confused. The Wood Gecko Pokémon answered by dashing toward one of the Poochyena and using Quick Attack. However, as the Bite Pokémon was knocked back by the attack, the other jumped at Treecko and latched onto its tail with a powerful Chomp.

"Treecko!" the man shouted worriedly.

Iris grimaced. "Go, Emolga! Give Treecko a hand!" she shouted as she finally grabbed one of her Poké Balls and released the Sky Squirrel Pokémon. "Use Discharge!" Emolga chirped and began to surround herself in yellow sparks. However, before she could finish the attack, Treecko suddenly knocked her out of the air and growled. "Hey! What's your problem? I'm trying to help!" Iris snapped, Emolga repeating the sentiment as she put her paws on her hips. Treecko glared at them but moved back to attack the Poochyena again.

"I think Treecko wants to beat them on its own," Serena remarked as Treecko dodged two attacks from the Poochyena.

"It's two-versus-one! You'll never be able to beat them without help!" Iris yelled, frustrated. Emolga and Axew were now perched on opposite shoulders, watching frustratedly as the fight continued, Treecko clearly overwhelmed.

Serena pointed at the man. "We should help him get to safety while the Poochyena are distracted."

Iris sighed, still staring at the battle between Treecko and the Poochyena. "Yeah, you're right."

"Thank you, girls," the man said once they were a safe distance away from the fight. "I was just doing my regular research when those two jumped me!"

"Regular research…?" Serena questioned thoughtfully. "Of course! Your lab coat! You must work for Professor Birch!"

The man chuckled. "Not exactly. You see, I am Professor Birch!"

Serena gasped. "Wow, really? We were just on our way to see you!"

"Was that Treecko yours?" Iris asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Sort of," the professor answered. "You see, Treecko is one of the three Pokémon I give to new trainers. Unfortunately, a lot of trainers have been choosing Torchic and Mudkip lately, so this Treecko has been in my care for quite some time. It must have followed me out on my expedition… It's become a bit protective of me, I suppose."

"Protective? More like reckless," Iris muttered.

Serena smiled. "That sounds like someone I know."

Ignoring this comment, Iris added, "I hope it's okay. I'm going to go back and check on it." Emolga and Axew nodded in agreement as Emolga took flight off Iris's shoulder and lead the way back to the Wood Gecko Pokémon.

"Hey, wait for me!" Serena cried. "Is this going to be a recurring theme?!"

Sure enough, Treecko was far from okay - the unbalanced battle had clearly taken its toll based on the scratches and bruises scattered over its body while the two Poochyena looked more-or-less unscathed.

"Emolga, use Discharge!" Iris ordered as soon as the Poochyena came into view. This time, Treecko was too damaged to interrupt as the Sky Squirrel Pokémon began to absorb electricity, then released it all in a powerful blast that hit both Bite Pokémon. The damage was minimal but scared them both away. Iris ran to Treecko's side as it collapsed. "I told you that you couldn't handle them on your own," she mumbled, cradling its weak body.

"Oh no, Treecko!" Serena gasped as she finally caught up with her companion. Birch was close behind.

Iris turned to her. "We have to get it to a Pokémon Center."

"The nearest one is back in Oldale Town," Birch replied, shaking his head. "And my lab is too far away, too. We'll never make it in time."

"Wait! I have some potions in my bag," Serena said, grabbing the bag off of her back. Once she found a Super Potion, she kneeled next to Iris and began to spray the concoction on Treecko's wounds. "We'll still have to hurry to the lab to give the poor thing a proper check-up. But this will help for now." Once she was finished and was tucking the Super Potion back in her bag, Treecko's eyes opened and it tried to lift its head.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Iris remarked. "Don't strain yourself too much, though. We still have to get you back to the lab in one piece." Treecko nodded slightly and laid its head back down in Iris's arms.

"Serena, you said earlier that you two were on your way to see me," Birch said. "What did you need?"

"Oh, that's right!" Serena said. "Iris wants to sign up for the Hoenn Pokémon League."

Iris nodded as she rose to her feet, still cradling Treecko. "That's right!"

"Well, then you'd better come back to the lab, too," Birch said. "I'll go on ahead and make sure everything is prepared for Treecko. You two keep him safe, alright?" With that, Birch ran off into the forest.

"Stay safe, Professor!" Serena called. She then turned back to Iris. "Are you going to be okay carrying Treecko the whole way?"

"Sure thing," Iris replied. "And Emolga and Axew can scare away any other Poochyena that might attack. Right, guys?" Emolga and Axew chirped their proud agreement.

"I think I see it over that hill!" Iris announced, pointing in the direction of the town. Axew jumped out of her hair to take a look while Serena blocked the sun with her hands and squinted.

"Um… I don't think that's a building…" she remarked. "I think that's smoke!"

"Smoke?" Iris was suddenly concerned. "Why would there be smoke?"

"I don't know, but we'd better find out. The professor might be in trouble!"

Sure enough, as the two girls hurried down the path in the direction of the smoke, the professor was in trouble: his lab was under attack!

"Stop it, you fiends!" Birch shouted as the gigantic Charizard mecha's Flamethrower attack subsided.

The culprits, a green-haired man and a blonde woman, both wearing matching uniforms, just scoffed. "As if!" the man replied.

"We won't stop until you give up all of your rare Pokémon!" the woman chimed in.

The professor scowled. "You'll never get your hands on those Pokémon!"

"Then I guess it's time for some barbecue!" the woman replied, grinning madly as she activated the Charizard mecha's Flamethrower attack once again.

"Look, Serena!" Iris called as the two girls came into view. "It's the lab!"

"Is that a giant Charizard attacking?" Serena questioned, though as soon as she said this her eyes were drawn to a defining feature of the mecha… "Oh, no. You've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Iris asked. Serena pointed at the mecha's stomach, where a large, red R could be read. "Team Rocket?!"

"You know them?" the Kalosian girl asked.

Iris nodded. "They were a major pain when I was traveling through Unova. How do you know them?"

"Same story but in Kalos."

"Weird."

"Well, we'd better stop them! Go, Pancham!" Serena hurled her Poké Ball in the direction of the mecha, releasing Pancham. "Use Sky Uppercut and get their attention!"

"Emolga! Take to the skies and use Hidden Power!"

Pancham and Emolga quickly complied, the former running up to the giant Charizard and leaping into the air as its fist glowed, landing a hit on its left leg while the latter released several green orbs from her hands and into its stomach.

"Looks like we've got some damage from below," the man reported to his partner.

She grimaced. "Which lousy assistant is it this time?" As they angled the mecha to give them a better view of the attacker, Iris and Serena were both surprised to see that it was not the two Team Rocket members they had become acquainted with.

"You're not Team Rocket!" Serena shouted in surprise.

"Who are you two?"

The villains smirked as the woman began their answer, "We're the original Team Rocket, so prepare for trouble!"
"And you'll never forget it, so make it double!" the man continued.
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all peoples in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"It's Cassidy!"
"And Butch!"

"Cassidy and Butch…?" Iris questioned.

"Their motto sure is similar," Serena remarked.

"Hey! We didn't even get to finish!" Cassidy complained.

Iris shook her fist. "Forget it, Cassidy and Biff! We're not letting you get away with this!"

Butch scowled. "Great. Another twerp who can't remember my name."

"Calm down, Botch," Cassidy muttered. "And give them a Whirlwind they'll never forget!"

"It's Butch!" he screeched, though he complied with her direction. The Charizard mecha began rapidly flapping its wings, creating a gust of wind so strong that it blew Serena, Iris, Pancham, Emolga, the professor, and his assistants back several feet.

"That hurts," Iris muttered once she landed, slowly climbing to her feet. "Oh no, Treecko!" The Wood Gecko Pokémon had been blown out of Iris's arms, tumbling across the ground before landing not far from her. "Are you okay?" The crash had woken Treecko up and it now surveyed its surroundings, quickly realizing that the lab was under attack. It immediately began running in the direction of the Charizard mecha.

"Treecko, what are you doing?" Serena shouted after it.

"Looks like that Treecko wants to stop us," Cassidy remarked.

Butch grinned. "Let's give it a roasting it'll never forget!" He slammed his fist onto a button, triggering Charizard to release another blast of flames in Treecko's direction. Treecko skidded to a halt and braced itself as the flames drew nearer, only for them to be suddenly stopped. When Treecko opened its eyes again, it saw that Iris had jumped in the way and taken the full blast. She now collapsed to the ground.

"Iris!" Serena cried.

"I'm okay," the Dragon trainer muttered, shaking it off, though she then added, "That hurt more than I thought it would…" She turned back to Treecko. "What are you thinking? You're still injured! You can't run into every fight headfirst without thinking like that!"

Treecko snarled back at her. Though its language was strange, its point was clear as it gestured towards the lab, the professor, the Charizard mecha, and then Iris. Once it finished its miniature rant, it put its claw on its hips and waited for Iris to react.

"…You really care about the professor a lot, don't you?" Iris asked. Treecko nodded. "Well, we all care a lot about you, too. The professor would be really sad if you got badly injured. And… so would I." The Wood Gecko Pokémon looked a little embarrassed. "So let's work together to take down that mecha. What do you say?" She held out her hand. Treecko considered her offer for a moment, then accepted it by shaking her hand. "Great! Serena, Pancham, you ready?"

Serena's eyes lit up. "Right! Yes!" Pancham gave an affirmative cry and a thumbs up.

"Okay, Emolga! Fly around and distract them!" Iris ordered. Emolga took flight.

Cassidy scowled as the Sky Squirrel Pokémon flipped and looped around the head of the Charizard mecha. "Knock that flying rat out of the sky, Batch!"

Butch grimaced at the incorrect name but otherwise didn't react as he began pushing buttons and moving levers, causing the mecha to flail its arms in Emolga's direction, trying to knock her out of the sky as she skillfully dodged every attack. "Don't you have any aim?!" Cassidy screeched angrily.

Iris grinned. "While they're distracted, Serena!"

"Okay! Pancham, Sky Uppercut! Then Dark Pulse!" The Playful Pokémon jumped up and landed another uppercut on the mecha's left leg, then while still in the air blasted it in the chest with dark energy.

"Augh! They're double teaming us!" Cassidy whined. "Raticate, go! Handle this!"

"You too, Shuckle!" Butch ordered before returning to the controls, still trying to no avail to knock Emolga out of the sky.

"Pancham, Arm Thrust on Raticate!" Serena ordered as the Mouse Pokémon charged with a Super Fang attack.

"Axew, use Dragon Rage on Shuckle!" While Axew charged up a blue energy sphere in its stomach, Pancham dodged Raticate's bite and struck it in the back with a super effective Fighting-type move. Shuckle used Withdraw to pull itself into its shell as Axew's attack flew through the air at it, futilely attempting to raise its defense. As Shuckle emerged from its shell looking dizzy, Raticate stumbled back to its feet and attempted another Super Fang on Pancham, this one chomping down on the Playful Pokémon's arm.

"Pancham!" Serena cried.

Iris took her eyes off the battlefield briefly as Axew and Pancham struggled to free the latter from Raticate's strong grip, seeing that Emolga was becoming tired. "If only we could knock the mecha out of the sky… It might send them blasting off." She looked down at Treecko and suddenly got an idea. "Serena, Pancham try to push Raticate and Shuckle towards their mecha! Axew, Treecko, help out!"

"Um, okay!" Serena said, not quite getting the plan. "Pancham, Arm Thrust on Shuckle!" Just as before, Shuckle used Withdraw as Pancham ran towards it but slid backward upon collision.

"Axew! Use Scratch over and over again on Raticate! And Treecko, do the same with Pound!" Iris ordered. The two Pokémon quickly complied. Raticate's high speed allowed it to dodge most of the attacks but, as Iris planned, it was moving closer and closer to the mecha. "Keep it up, Axew! Treecko, use Absorb on the mecha!"

Treecko's eyes lit up as it suddenly understood what Iris was trying to do. It jumped up towards the Charizard mecha and stretched its arms out, releasing red beams from its hands that collided with the mecha, draining its power and restoring Treecko's. Team Rocket's attempts to hit Emolga quickly became sluggish.

"What's going on?" Cassidy asked. "Why are we slowing down?"

"We're running low on power," Butch remarked. "If we lose much more, we'll-" Before he could finish, the mecha's wings suddenly stopped flapping.

"…We'll what?" Cassidy prodded anxiously.

"Crash." As soon as he said this word, the mecha plummeted to the ground, landing in a smoking pile on top of Raticate and Shuckle. Pancham and Axew, fortunately, dodged out of the way. As Butch, Cassidy, Raticate, and Shuckle's heads emerged from the rubble, Iris smirked.

"See ya later, Bust and Cassidy!" she said. "Emolga, use Discharge!"

"No!" Cassidy shrieked as the electricity collided with the already-damaged mecha, causing it to explode and send the four criminals flying.

"MY NAME IS BUTCH!" Butch called angrily as began to disappear from view.

Cassidy groaned. "Oh, what does it matter now, Bunny? It looks like we're…"

"BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" they both said in sync before vanishing in a flash of light.

"Let's hope we never have to deal with them again," Iris remarked.

"Excellent work, all of you!" Professor Birch said as he stepped towards Serena, Iris, and their Pokémon. "You saved my lab! I can never thank you enough."

"No problem, professor!" Serena replied. "I'm glad we could help!"

Treecko smiled proudly. "Looks like you're feeling better after absorbing all that energy," Iris remarked to the Wood Gecko Pokémon.

"We should still let my assistants take a look at it," Birch said. "Iris, why don't you come with me and we can get you signed up for the Pokémon League?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"And here's your badge case," Birch said, handing the small container to Iris as Serena watched. "Congratulations! You're now officially entered in the Hoenn Pokémon League!"

Iris grinned happily. "So what gym are we going to first?" Serena asked.

"Let's see…" Iris said, pulling out her PokéDex and looking at its map. "Rustboro City isn't far from here. And there's a contest happening there, too!"

Serena's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's great! Let's definitely go there!"

"Sounds like you have a plan," the professor said. "You should rest up before you leave. Feel free to stay the night at my lab. My assistants can heal your Pokémon."

"Thanks, professor!" Iris replied. As she and Serena turned to leave and go to the guest room, they were stopped by one of Birch's assistants, who was holding Treecko.

"It seems this little guy wanted to see you again, Iris," the assistant said.

Iris smiled. "Hi, Treecko! It looks like you're all healed up."

Treecko grinned and chirped, jumping out of the assistant's arms and onto Iris's shoulder. "You know, Iris, part of the reason Treecko has never been chosen by a trainer is that it has never found a trainer it likes," Birch explained. "But I think that changed today."

"Wait… are you saying…?" Iris questioned, surprised. She turned to the Wood Gecko Pokémon. "Treecko, do you want to travel with me?" Treecko nodded eagerly.

"Aw, how sweet!" Serena remarked as Iris set Treecko down and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Okay, here goes!" she said, throwing the Poké Ball. Treecko jumped into it, allowing itself to be pulled in. The Poké Ball shook a few times before locking. Iris grinned.

"Yeah! I caught a Treecko for my new friend!" the Unovan Dragon trainer cheered, holding up the Poké Ball.

"I know you two will be a great team," Birch said.

Iris nodded. "Me too! But we'll be sure to visit so that Treecko doesn't miss you too much."

The professor smiled. "I look forward to it!"

Elsewhere, Butch and Cassidy finally land… in a giant lake.

"Ugh! Those twerps have made me so angry!" Cassidy screamed to no one in particular. "Let's go, Bicker!"

Butch scrambled after her. "It's Butch. Wait, where are we going?"

"We have to find those girls and teach them a lesson!" Cassidy replied, waving her fist. "They humiliated us in our moment of triumph!"

"Ah, but Cassidy, what about the boss's mission?"

"That'll just have to wait!"

With their destination set, a new ally in Treecko, and a new threat in Cassidy and Biff-

"IT'S BUTCH!"

-Iris and Serena's adventure is just getting started! Join us next time as the journey continues!

Sorry, I wanted to do that at least once, lol. Leave a review and let me know what you think!