I know, sorry for the extremely long wait, but I'm almost finished with this fanfic and I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 21: Prepare to fight

Three days have gone by since that announcement was made and the Poke'mon Lovers were hard at work, trying to figure out anyway they can stop this madman's plan.

But during this time, the five new members were still adjusting to their new living arrangements; never in their entire lives did they ever believe they would be fighting to protect the Poke'mon race.

Also during this time they met a few new people, like Team Rocket's Rogue scientists like Prof. Oak and a new girl named Dawn. She was Captain M2's personal assistant but she was also a bit of a ditz, seeming to be more focus on what to wear today then her duties.

She was able to become fast friends with Ash and friends, showing them around the base and showing how they could help with the preparations. Yet for some reason her attention towards the son of Akio looked to make the two girls a bit jealous.

But now, Ash was taking his break on the roof like he always did, eating a few rice balls he got in a bento box. Yet even with all of the information he got about Team Rocket, how the Poke'mon were not the real enemies, and all of this from his father's lips; its just so hard to throw away what you have believe in being the truth your whole life.

He was then snapped out of his thoughts as he heard two quick taps on the steel roof he sat on, followed by the cheery voice of M2's assistant. "Hey there Ash, thought you would be up here," Dawn then panicked, "unless my present is bothering you and you wanted to be alone, in that case I will just go..."

"No," Ash replied, his attention still focused on the vast wasteland illuminated by the starts in the sky, "you're not bothering me."

She could easily tell he was depressed, so she walked up and sat down next to him; placing her legs to her chest. "So, how are you holding up?"

He swallowed the rice he just bit off. "Everything is so strange," he replied, "my entire life has been flipped upside-down, I'm still not sure if I can trust the Poke'mon."

She giggled a bit. "I know what you mean, I was like that at first. A year ago I was a Team Rocket Agent, my entire life believing my parents were both killed by a wild Poke'mon attack. I used my hatred of them fuel my passion to want to eliminate them," she hugged her legs closer to her chest, her voice starting to tremble, "but the truth was, my parents were killed by the Team Rocket Organization because they stumbled upon the truth and framed the Poke'mon. Team Rocket has been using the Poke'mon as scapegoats for over two hundred years."

Just then, her small blue-bird Poke'mon companion hoped next to her, rubbing its large head against the side of her stomach; so she started to pet Piplup on the head. "But how anyone could see this little cutie as a vicious slaughtering creature I will never know."

"Piplup, Piplup," the little bird chirped, rubbing its head against her bare leg.

She then smiled again. "But after we set everything right, with humans and Poke'mon coexisting once again; I'm going to try and be a Poke'mon Coordinator."

Ash was baffled. "A Poke'mon Coordinator, what's that?"

She giggled, looking up at the starry sky. "It's where you and your Poke'mon train to show that attacks aren't just for battling, but to show their true beauty with power," she looked at the once Team Rocket agent and smiled, "I just can't wait until Piplup and I can show off what we can do."

"Piplup, Piplup," Piplup chirped happily.

He also rubbed the large head of that small bird. "Also," her tone became soft, "I heard you dated the former Private Melody, was that true?"

Ash looked away, remembering the times they spent together from meeting at the shopping district to what he had to do; his hand started to shake from that memory as his eyes seemed to loose any life they had. "Yeah, t-that is true," he looked away, "but now that I found out she was actually an undercover Poke'mon Lover, I think she was only using me..."

"That's not true!" Dawn shouted, causing Ash to nearly fall on the Poke'mon from the shock. But she calmed down. "Well, it's true that she was originally told to seek you out, but her feelings towards you were the truth. I-I just wanted to make sure you knew that, she was a very good friend of mine."

She then stood up and started to walk back to the entrance of the Headquarters with Piplup following. "S-She," Ash stuttered to reply, "was a very good person."

Dawn nodded and walked off, leaving Ash to finish off the rest of his rice balls.

Yet as he reached for another rice ball, he realized one of them was missing and there sitting next to him was a young Pikachu, quickly eating the rice ball it held with its two small arms. "Hey you rodent," Ash yelled, "that's my rice ball."

But all the Pikachu did was turn its head away from him while it still ate the rice ball it took. Ash grinded his teeth at the actions of the yellow ball of fur, slowly sneaking up on the Poke'mon and grabbed it. "Gotcha."

However what the once Team Rocket Agent forgot was that this was an electric type, which shocked him on contact. Soon smoke could easily be seen coming off his closes as he collapsed on the roof.

The Poke'mon didn't realize it shocked him that much as it started to gently shake the young man.

But within the Resistance Headquarters, Captain M2 was looking over the progress of his loyal troops as his second in command Domino walked up to him.

She was a cheerful teenager but knows when to get serious, her long golden hair made her look a bit younger then she was even with her black uniform; but she is better known as Tulip because of the black tulip she always wears right above her heart.

"Status report, Lieutenant Domino," Mewtwo stated.

"Awe come on," she replied childishly, "you can call me Tulip like everyone else."

But he didn't reply, telling her he was in no mood for her usual childish acts. "Alright then," she answered, looking at her laptop clipboard, "Well if there is a silver lining in this storm it will be that we are working ahead of schedule, we will be more then ready when the time comes."

Mewtwo exhaled in relief. "Well, that is some good news, but I was really hoping that this wasn't the only answer left."

"You did all you could, Captain," Tulip replied, "but we all see the only way we can show the people the truth is by toppling over Team Rocket once and for all."

He turned his back to her. "Well I'm going to chat with Professor Oak, continue to overlook the weapons department for now."

She saluted. "Yes, Captain."

From there, Captain M2 floated over to the Poke'mon Research Division, even for a base of that small size they were able to fit in so much. "Hello Professor, any updates on its progress?"

The old professor gave his captain a large grin. "Ah, perfect timing, Mewtwo, I was just about to page you; did you read my mind?"

The Poke'mon shook his head. "I prefer not to read minds anymore, it's just too painful."

"Well then, I will get straight to the point," he brought up the files, "as you can see, if this machine is installed into their Main Generator, it will bring back at least 87 percent of the Poke'mon species through the DNA collected on Team Rocket's computer. Even though they will all be clones of the Original Poke'mon they will still be perfectly normal."

Mewtwo nodded. "That's very good to hear; soon the Poke'mon will be able to repopulate and repair this planet to its once formal glory instead of the horrible dust ball it is now."

"Yes that is true Captain, but even with the Poke'mon back it will be the minds of the people that will be the hardest part to recover. For so long people have believed that the Poke'mon are nothing more but vicious creatures when they were once the best of friends."

"I have no idea Professor Oak; but we will focus on that after the Poke'mon are back. We will just have to hope that overtime everything will be able to return to normal."

Oak then closed the files. "That reminds me," he voice was now dark, looking away from his Captain's eyes, "have you told Ash what he might be up against."

What Oak stated could mean anything, but Mewtwo knew exactly what the Professor meant. "Not yet, he has already been through so much."

"That's true," Oak replied, "but I remember when I was still a family friend of the Ketchums, if he is anything like his father he should be able to handle that information. But right now, I need to chat with Professor Ivy and Birch; I hope you do the right thing."

Slowly, Ash started to wake up. His vision a bit blurry at first, unable to tell where he was until they fully adjusted to the light to see he was back in his sleeping quarters. "Wow, your already awake," a familiar female voice stated, still a bit woozy from that electrical charge, "good to know you can take a hit, I thought you were dead when I found you."

He finally came together to realize it was Misty taking care of him, a bit shocked by this because he never took her to do something like that, actually a bit smitten by this side of her. "W-What happened?" he asked, placing his hand on his aching forehead.

"You were given a pretty nasty shock," she replied as she walked over to him, "but if it wasn't for this little guy you probably would have been left up there," she added, pointing to the Pikachu that just jumped up on the bed next to him.

He quickly backed away from the yellow Poke'mon. "What are you talking about? I wouldn't have been in that condition if it wasn't for that rodent!"

The Pikachu became depressed from hearing that, until Misty picked up the small Poke'mon and held it in her arms. "Ah come on, Ash, I bet it was an accident; right Pikachu?"

"Pika Pi, Pi-ka-chu," Pikachu replied cheerfully.

"Now come on, just make up with the little guy," Misty encouraged, holding out the Poke'mon just far enough so he could pet its head.

Ash crossed his arms and groaned, not wanting to admit defeat, but as he turned back to look he could see Misty glaring at him, knowing that she wasn't going to let up. "Oh all right."

Slowly he extended his hand to that vicious creature he believed to be behind that innocent fur; then as he placed his hand on its head a surge of electricity once again was sent through his body; collapsing back onto the bed.

"Ah come on, Pikachu," Misty said calmly with a small smile, "you didn't need to do that."

"Pi-Ka-Chu," it replied excitedly just as Ash got out of his recent shock.

"See, I told you!"

She giggled a bit, gently placing the Poke'mon back on the ground. "Alright then, go off and play for now."

The Poke'mon nodded as it dashed out of the room. "Once you get to know these Poke'mon they are quite adorable."

"I still don't trust them," he shot back, obviously still a bit annoyed from being shocked twice in the same hour.

But he was set a bit off balance as Misty sat down next to him, looking him right in the face which caused the teen to slightly blush. There she took a small tissue from her pocket and wiped a smug she saw on his cheek. "Come on, Ash, just because you haven't had the best experience with that Pikachu doesn't mean all Poke'mon are like that."

But after she said that, what happened to Melody flashed into his mind; how he watched seeing her ripped apart by three Ivysaurs. "I-It's not just because of that Pikachu."

She moved away from him, realizing what she just said as she looked down at her bare feet. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that back up."

A silence filled that empty room, until Misty broke the silence. "You really did care about her, didn't you?" her voice trembled when she asked, feeling her heart starting to ache.

However he didn't give her an answer, now looking away from the tomboy.

She looked back him; she would notice every time she was either mentioned or date was said around him he would become this lifeless teenager. Her hands curled tightly into a fist, hating seeing him in this condition as she stated to him. "Y-You know, I understand how you're feeling too; she was a good friend of ours as well."

But he still didn't move, his head still looking down at the ground with those lifeless eyes of his. "But it can't be helped, she's not coming back and never will; you need to stop focusing on the past. She's not coming back no matter how much you think about her, it can't be helped. That's why... that's why, Ash..."

He still wasn't saying anything; the expression of no hope was still clearly expressed on his face. She couldn't stand it and more as she grabbed him tightly by the collar and yelled. "Say something! You're alive aren't you?" she shook him harder as her tone became more hysterical, "Answer me! Please answer me!"

Yet no matter how much Misty shook him the teen wouldn't reply or snap out of that lifeless daze. Even slapping the boy across his face didn't accomplish anything. "Idiot!" she yelled.

However nothing seemed to work, her body started to shake as she broke down, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull herself closer to his chest. She was crying, something she hated doing since she was a kid but she couldn't hold back now; placing her hands on the side of his face and pressing her lips against his. His eyes widen from shock.

She slowly opened her ocean blue eyes to meet his brown eyes; slowly she pulled away from him, still shocked from this sudden action. "I love you... all this time... I've loved you all this time," her tear filled words stated, looking down to look away from his eyes, "I can't stand it anymore."

She looked back up at him, to see he was looking away from her. "Am I not enough?" she asked with eyes full of tears.

He looked back at her with those shocked lifeless eyes, but then turned away once again. She couldn't hold back any longer as she wrapped her arms tightly around him and kissed him on the lips, feeling her warm tears streaming down her.

But she felt her feelings reassured as he wrapped his arms around her.

To Be Continued

I kind of ripped off a scene from Rumbling Hearts for that last piece, but besides that soon I will have heartbreak, betrayal and pain will come before this story ends.