A/N: Oh my goodness, I am SO SORRY for the long wait. I've been really busy with life and my other stories. Plus, I have been unusually exhausted and lazy in recent days, which has obviously complicated my intentions of writing down new chapters for this story as well as my other ones. I'm guessing that since I am a senior in high school right now, I'm currently afflicted with a rather serious case of the infamous "senior-itis". :P
But I found enough time to work on this chapter, so here it is. Forgive me if it feels lackluster; I'm still feeling exhausted right now as I write this. ENJOY!
P.S.: The third episode for XY comes out tomorrow on Cartoon Network, so don't miss out on the official introduction of the saga to English! :D
P.P.S.: I lied when I said the story will be 5-6 chapters, when it's obvious it'll be more than that. Now, I'm aiming for a total of 11 chapters.
"ADAM!" Serena shouted relentlessly. "I challenge you to a battle between my Fennekin and your Delphox! If I win, you let my friends go, and you put out this fire. If you win, you can take me, but ONLY me, as your hostage." She ignored Ash and Bonnie's gasps. "Do we have a deal?"
Adam blinked, taken aback by Serena's unexpected proposal. But then, his lips curved into a smirk.
"Deal."
"Let go of Ash first," said Serena.
Adam shrugged nonchalantly and glanced at Ash, who was still being held by Delphox's Psychic.
"A deal's a deal," he said. Then, he snapped his fingers, and Delphox stopped its Psychic, causing Ash, Pikachu, and Froakie to collapse hard to the ground. The Trainer then stood up and prepared to charge Adam, but Delphox suddenly stood between him and its Trainer, the other end of its wand lit with a bright flame.
"Serena!" Ash called in outrage. "You can't possibly be serious about this deal!"
"I am serious, Ash," Serena replied. "I'm sorry, Ash. But I can't afford to let you, Bonnie, and Clemont get hurt anymore. I..." She hesitated for a moment as she reminisced about all of the times she relied on someone to make all of her decisions. "I have to make things right. No matter what."
"Well, then," Adam said as his Delphox advanced upon Fennekin, which growled at it, "I'm afraid to inform you that you won't be able to right your wrongs. You are gonna lose, little Serena, and believe me, it'll be the most humiliating experience of your life." His smirk widened. "You're gonna wish you never battled me."
"We'll see about that!" exclaimed Serena angrily.
"No, Serena!" Bonnie shouted as she began to run towards her friend. "Don't do it, please!"
Serena blinked away tears as she said, "I'm sorry, Bonnie. I'm really sorry." She looked at Fennekin. "Fennekin, use Ember! Create a fire around us and Adam!"
Fennekin nodded and fired several Embers, sparking a small but growing fire that encircled it, its Trainer, Adam, and his Delphox. Bonnie stopped just in time for several red-hot flames to appear just a few feet away from her, barring her from Serena. The young girl gasped in shock and horror as she tried to look through the crackling fire, only being able to see Serena's familiar pink hat, as well as a distinct outline of her face.
"SERENA!" she screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks as Ash joined her side.
Hearing Bonnie's voice echo through the air, Serena closed her eyes and sadly muttered, "Don't be sad, Bonnie. It'll be all right." Then, she opened them again and stared directly into Adam's soulless eyes. "Let's make this a fair fight, all right? No cheats, no unfair advantages."
Adam chuckled nastily. "Sure thing, Serena. After all, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you and your weak little fox. Can't be fair to use assert all of your power and effort upon a set of weaklings." He cackled malevolently at the angered expressions of both Serena and Fennekin, while Delphox sneered as well. "Anyway, I'm quite impressed with you, Serena. I didn't think you'd have the gusto in you to come to such great lengths to protect your friends."
"Considering that I've been double-crossed by people that I didn't fully understand in the first place," Serena spat, "it's understandable."
"HA! Such a sassy attitude. You should've shown that more often when I first met you." He shrugged. "Ah well, time to defeat you. Your move, Serena."
Serena pointed at Delphox. "Fennekin, use EMBER!" she commanded. The Fox Pokémon promptly fired an Ember attack at its higher evolution.
His smirk still in place, Adam ordered, in a mock-bored voice, "Reflect the Ember attack back with Psychic, Delphox."
Delphox waved its wand, to which Fennekin's Embers hung in midair, outlined by a pink glow. Then, they flew in the opposite direction, towards Fennekin.
"FENNEKIN, DODGE!"
Fennekin was able to jump away, just seconds before the Embers all struck the ground it was standing on, sparking a small clump of weak flames.
"You amuse me, Serena," jeered Adam. "Is Ember seriously the only attack Fennekin can use? Or are you dim-witted in the fact that it can learn more attacks?"
Serena realized in an instant that he was right in the latter point. She only picked Fennekin as her starter Pokémon because it was extremely adorable. She did not even bother to learn what moves it knew, and she only knew that her Fennekin knew Ember because it used the attack against a hostile Vespiquen.
The only reason she ever went out on her journey was to meet up with Ash again, and she was so blinded with that goal that she failed to even make an effort in learning everyone else she was affiliated with. She barely even knew her own starter Pokémon. But Serena was determined to not let that hinder her chance at victory. She was going to win this battle, for her sake, as well as that of her friends. She had to find a way to defeat Adam...but how?
"Your move, Serena."
Serena looked up at Adam, who was still smirking at her. Dear Arceus, that smirk was so annoying...
"Use Ember again, Fennekin!" she ordered.
"Use Mystical Fire, Delphox!" commanded Adam.
Fennekin's Ember was easily overwhelmed by Delphox's Mystical Fire, and Serena gasped as she watched Fennekin fly across the makeshift battlefield, its body badly scorched, more than it already was. She bit her lip and put a hand to her heart as she watched her starter struggle to stand up, its body issuing smoke.
"FENNEKIN!" Serena screamed.
"What're you gonna do now, Serena?!" Adam shouted before bursting out into a malicious cackle, while Delphox snickered sadistically.
"You shut up! Or-Or else!"
Adam glared at the young Trainer, his eyes alive with a fiery malice. "Or else what? What are you gonna do to solve this little predicament that you wormed your own way into? Your short-mindedness amuses me in more ways than one. You seemed so determined at first, but now that I'm proving to be the dominant one in this little battle, you're starting to crumble away, like a poorly-constructed pillar. Did you honestly think everything through? The deal you gave me?" His sneer suddenly widened alarmingly. "Or did you just challenge me to a battle, just to impress your beloved white knight?"
"Be-Beloved white k-knight?" repeated Serena.
"Oh, believe me, Floyd wasn't the only one who was listening to your rather intriguing stories. You just didn't know that you were talking to me as much as you were talking to him." He giggled. "You probably should have stayed home with your mommy, riding Rhyhorn all day long, instead of running around with a stupid boy, one who previously saved you from the big, bad forest." His giggle evolved into malevolent laughter. "Such childish foolishness! That boy shall never know how you feel about him. Not only because I'm about to kill you in a slow, painful way, but because you were so damn SHY that you couldn't make an attempt..."
As Adam spoke, Serena took a slow step backward in shock and disbelief. When she did so, she felt her foot hit a large rock that she noticed was behind her.
"You're a fool, Serena, to make these foolish choices. And now, you and your Fennekin will DIE because of it-"
"SHUT UP!" interrupted Serena, the fury boiling inside of her. "EMBER AGAIN, FENNEKIN!"
Fennekin fired another Ember attack, but Adam was cackling again. Serena sensed that he was merely toying with her, anticipating her every move.
He was intentionally allowing this situation to pan out for as long as it could.
"DELPHOX, MYSTICAL FIRE!"
The Mystical Fire once again overwhelmed the Ember and prepared to hit Fennekin, but the Fox Pokémon was able to dodge it this time, albeit closely.
"Ember can't save you forever, little wittle Serena..." Adam taunted in a mock-childish voice. "Should we have a little timeout?"
"SHUT UP!" Serena shrieked furiously, a new fire alive in her eyes. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"
As if in response, Fennekin's eyes suddenly became alive with the same fire, and it opened its mouth. With a shriek, the Fox Pokémon fired a stream of flames, which propelled itself directly toward Delphox. However, Adam wasn't daunted; instead, he slashed at the air dramatically with his arm.
"Repel it with Mystical Fire, Delphox!" he commanded.
Delphox effortlessly summoned the attack with its wand; the Mystical Fire engulfed the stream of flames and headed straight towards Fennekin, who was able to quickly dodge it, using a newfound strength. It sprinted up directly in front of Serena, staring daggers at Delphox with its red eyes. Upon realizing what had just happened, Serena looked down at her Fennekin, feeling as if she had channeled her own energy into it in order for the Fox Pokémon to fire that attack.
Adam snickered sadistically, relishing in the newest development of the situation, and said, "Do you not know what your Fennekin just did, Serena? It had just demonstrated its capability to know a new attack. Quite an impressive Flamethrower it was able to pull off!"
"F-Flamethrower?" stuttered Serena, still looking at Fennekin, which looked back at her.
"And it fired it without needing a command! I wonder what that says about your training skills... That is, if you have any."
Serena's eyes widened in fury. "WHAT?!"
"Oh, please don't tell me your Fennekin was trained to fire a Flamethrower without having to hear a verbal command from you! I have this gut feeling that you never bothered to make a single attempt at training Fennekin. I feel bad for it; its Trainer doesn't give a crap about it..."
"I CARE FOR FENNEKIN A LOT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"
"Oh, but I am. Why select Fennekin as your starter Pokémon when it's obvious you have no use for it? Oh, wait. To ensure that you impress your beloved white knight with that cute little fox. Melt his heart. I can tell you for a fact that your Fennekin's certainly melted mine. You can ask me out anytime, and I'll fall for it-"
"MY LOVE FOR ASH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY CHOOSING OF FENNEKIN! I LOVE IT!"
"I doubt it-"
"I LOVE IT, AND I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU! FENNEKIN, USE FLAMETHROWER!"
Fennekin opened its mouth and tried to fire another Flamethrower, but only a single, weak flame ejected itself from its mouth and then landed carelessly on the ground, writhing and burning for only several seconds before extinguishing itself. Serena and Fennekin both sweat-dropped nervously (even though the two of them were already sweating badly) while Adam cackled loudly and emphatically, as if he had been told a rather funny joke.
"That's certainly such heartwarming love, I'll tell ya that!" Adam screamed insanely.
"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP! FENNEKIN, USE EMBER!"
"DELPHOX, MYSTICAL FIRE!"
Again, the Ember was extinguished by the stronger Mystical Fire, which then headed straight for Fennekin. Serena gasped as she watched the incoming attack bear down upon her Fox Pokémon, the crackling trail of flames and sparks it left behind giving it a sound, as if it were some sort of nightmarish creature.
Within the seconds that lapsed as the Mystical Fire attack closed in on Fennekin, Serena sensed that the Fox Pokémon seemed to be directly coming up against its greatest fear, as evidenced by its paralyzed pose and its tail, which was quickly tucked between its hind legs.
"FENNEKIN, DODGE!" Serena screeched.
However, it was too late: Fennekin was once again scorched by Delphox's attack, and it landed at its Trainer's feet, badly burned. Serena's blue eyes widened in complete, absolute horror. She was losing the battle...and Adam was going to win. And she had doubts that he would live up to his end of the deal if she lost.
She was letting everyone down again...
At the corner of her eye, Serena could see the pair of familiar X-shaped markings...accompanied by a toothy, hungry grin...
She closed her eyes.
"What am I gonna do?" Serena thought desperately. "I'm gonna lose my first official battle...all because I trusted someone I should never have trusted..."
"You tell me."
"Please tell me what I can do..."
"Remember what I said-"
"It's not helping, Jake. It's not helping... Nothing's helping. Nothing ever will happen to help me... I guess I'm resigned to deal with the outcome, the consequences..."
"No, you are NOT. You are in charge of your life. Not Adam, not your mom, not Ash. You are."
"But how can I be in control when I'm losing my grip on it? I can't seem to handle well on my own, especially when I didn't make my own choices in the first place..."
"Just think, Serena. Think, and you will do."
Serena opened her eyes immediately and observed her surroundings. She noticed that the middle of the battlefield was ablaze due to Delphox's attacks...and all of the fire was mostly cutting across it horizontally, like a line... A small smile formed on her face, and she looked down at Fennekin, who was still conscious.
"D'you have enough in you for one more round?" she asked.
Fennekin nodded, smiling.
Serena smiled back. "Good. Then let's give it our all. After all..." She looked up at Adam and Delphox. "We're in charge."
"What was that you said, Serena?" asked Adam, still smiling.
"We're in charge, Adam," the Trainer replied determinedly as Fennekin stood up, growling. "Us, not you two. And we will assert our control over you."
"I'd love to see you try. Delphox, use Mystical Fire."
"Dodge, Fennekin!"
The Fox Pokémon moved out of the way, just seconds before the Mystical Fire struck the spot it was previously standing on.
Adam yawned and waved his hand fleetingly. "Mystical Fire again, Delphox."
"Dodge, Fennekin!"
Once again, Delphox fired Mystical Fire, but Fennekin dodged it. This process repeated itself several times, until finally, it resulted in a line of fire being drawn in-between Serena and Adam, Fennekin and Delphox. Realizing what Serena had done, Adam growled in frustration and tried to see through the fiery line, but the intense heat and brightness it was emanating, which were already combining with those from the ring of fire encircling them, hindered his sights.
"Can't see them..." he snarled as he wiped his brow of the forming sweat. "Where'd they go?..."
Just then, he heard a voice vaguely shout out something over the crackling fire, and seconds later, an Ember attack appeared through the line, striking Delphox in the chest and knocking it backward. Adam growled, realizing what Serena's strategy was, and pointed at the direction where the Ember came from.
"DELPHOX, USE MYSTICAL FIRE!" he ordered furiously.
Delphox fired the attack, but to his surprise, the moment the Mystical Fire went into the line of fire, it immediately mixed with the flames, which overwhelmed it.
"What the?!"
Another Ember appeared from a different direction and hit Delphox again. Adam looked around frantically to see where the new Ember attack came from. As he did, he heard the same vague voice shout again. Seconds later, this was followed by another Ember that barely missed his head and hit Delphox again.
"Arceus-damn it..." he snarled. "Arceus-damn it!" He began looking around furiously through the line. "Where ARE you, Serena?! Come and face me head-on!"
He heard the voice shout out again, and he glared at his left, where he thought he heard it come from. He and Delphox anticipated another Ember attack...
An Ember appeared at their right and hit Delphox again, causing it to cry out in pain as it collapsed to the ground.
"DAMN IT, DELPHOX!" Adam glared to his right, his right eye twitching menacingly. "YOU COWARD, SERENA! YOU CAN'T EVEN FACE ME!" With a yowl of anger, he pointed towards the direction from which the latest Ember originated from. "DELPHOX, MYSTICAL FIRE!"
With all of the strength it could muster, Delphox fired another Mystical Fire, but it was merely mixed into and overwhelmed by the uprising flames in front of it.
Seconds later, multiple Embers appeared, one after another, piercing through the wall of fire at different directions, successfully striking Delphox each and every time, dealing a great amount of damage to the Fox Pokémon. After about a dozen Embers were fired, wounding Delphox, while its retaliatory attacks wound up being only consumed by the line of flames, Adam clenched his fist. He couldn't tolerate this sudden advantage the Trainer was asserting over him any longer.
"FACE ME, ARCEUS-DAMN IT!" he screamed.
"I AM!" Serena's voice screeched.
Adam glanced to his left and spotted Serena's face, its features slightly distorted by the flames, but easily identifiable from the pink hat and honey-blonde hair, which he noticed also contributed to the fact that her face seemed to be blending into the blazing fire. She also seemed taller, even from a slight distance, and he theorized that she had to be standing on some sort of higher ground in order to see him and Delphox clearly.
However...Adam realized that he couldn't see her Fennekin...
"But not for long..." he thought, sneering. Then, he pointed at Serena and ordered, "DELPHOX, USE PSYCHIC ON HER!"
Adam saw Serena's lips move quickly, and seconds later, another Ember appeared, hitting Delphox squarely in the head and knocking it to the ground, knocking it out instantly. Her lips moved once again, and a second Ember appeared from another direction, abruptly striking Adam in the right side of his face, burning it.
Ash, Bonnie, Floyd, Lloyd, Nick, and the remaining Pokémon couldn't see what was happening across the strong blaze that was barring them from being able to reaching Serena and Adam, so they all just stared silently at the fire, waiting anxiously for a victor to emerge. Lloyd and Nick looked apprehensive for the return of their leader, Floyd looked worried, and Ash and Bonnie were wearing determined expressions as they sat beside Clemont's unconscious form.
Just then, a howl of pain and agony, nothing like anyone had ever heard before, pierced the air, over the crackling of the smoky flames.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Nick worriedly.
The howl came again, and Floyd, Lloyd, and Nick were quick to recognize it.
"B-Boss?..." Lloyd asked, his eye twitching.
Ash and Bonnie looked at each other in excitement. It sounded like Serena was winning the battle.
Serena knew that her strategy was working. All she had to do was create a wall of flames between her and Adam to obscure his and Delphox's visions. The fire would easily absorb all of Delphox's Fire attacks, which it was extremely likely to use in such a situation, but it would allow Fennekin's Ember to pass through it because the embers were solid enough to penetrate the fire without being absorbed. All the while, she would see which position Adam and Delphox were in at the moment, by standing on the very rock that she nearly tripped on earlier. This would help her point the direction where Fennekin would fire its Ember.
She had no idea if that strategy would work, since she quickly formulated it after noticing the small flames lying between her and Adam. However, it turned out that it was working better than she had originally imagined it. And now, Serena was taking full advantage of it.
She was having the upper hand.
"DELPHOX, USE PSYCHIC!"
"Oh, no you don't!" Serena thought. Then, she pointed at Adam and Delphox's direction. "FENNEKIN, USE EMBER!"
The Fox Pokémon fired an Ember, which pierced through the wall of flames and hit Delphox squarely in the head. She pointed at the same direction again.
"USE EMBER AGAIN!"
Fennekin fired another Ember.
Serena watched as the Ember, in a rather unexpected move, struck Adam in the head as well, having missed its intended target.
Adam howled out in pain as he clutched the right side of his face, which seemed to be alight, smoke issuing from it. Serena gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in horror as she watched the man who menaced her and her friends collapse to the ground, still clutching the badly-scorched side of his face, moaning in pain, writhing like a pained animal. She never intended to hit Adam with the Ember, as much as he deserved it. She just wanted to defeat Delphox and give him the comeuppance he deserved for insulting her relationship with Fennekin, her relationship with Ash...herself...
For a moment, Serena seemed to enjoy seeing Adam in pain...
Just then, a Tyrantrum burst through the ring of fire, putting out the flames in its path. Serena watched as Floyd, Lloyd, and Nick dashed into the battlefield, and she noticed that their Pokémon were all conscious again despite being defeated by Ash minutes ago, for some strange reason.
"BOSS!" shrieked Lloyd as he ran up to Adam's side. "WHAT IN ARCEUS'S NAME?!"
Knowing that there was only one person who could've hurt his boss, Nick glared at Serena and pointed at her.
"HAWLUCHA, USE SKY ATTACK ON HER!" he ordered.
"FLETCHLING, USE STEEL WING!" another voice commanded.
Serena could see Ash and his Pokémon run into the battlefield as well; his Fletchling struck Hawlucha with its Steel Wing and sent it flying through the air.
Growling in frustration, Lloyd pointed at Ash, ordering, "TYRANTRUM, USE CRUNCH!"
Serena narrowed her eyes and pointed at Tyrantrum's direction. "FENNEKIN, STOP TYRANTRUM WITH EMBER!"
Fennekin fired an Ember through the fiery wall, and the attack hit Tyrantrum in the leg. However, Serena gasped immediately upon seeing that the attack didn't affect the Despot Pokémon, and she realized that it was a Rock-type Pokémon due to the rock-like nature of its physicality.
Then, she noticed that Nick was pointing at her again as his Hawlucha recovered quickly from Fletchling's Steel Wing. Floyd was now attending to Adam.
"USE AERIAL ACE, HAWLUCHA!" Nick commanded.
Regaining her senses, Serena ordered, "FENNEKIN, USE EMBER!"
Hawlucha flew towards Serena, being engulfed by light. However, Fennekin was quick, firing another Ember that hit the Wrestling Pokémon as it flew by. With a drawn-out squawk of pain, Hawlucha crash-landed at the base of the rock Serena was standing on, once again unconscious.
"ARCEUS-DAMN IT!" she heard Nick scream. However, she wasn't concerned about his defeat.
Instead, she was watching as Ash commanded his Froakie against Lloyd's Tyrantrum.
"USE WATER PULSE!" the black-haired Trainer shouted.
"COUNTER WITH A CRUNCH!" Lloyd snarled angrily.
Tyrantrum stampeded past Froakie's Water Pulse and prepared to bite down on the Bubble Frog Pokémon...
An Ember appeared through the wall of fire and hit Tyrantrum directly in the head, not affecting it, but causing it to stop in its tracks as it looked around for the source of the newest attack. This gave Froakie the opportunity to fire another Water Pulse, which hit Tyrantrum and severely damaged it.
"AGH, TYRANTRUM!" shrieked Lloyd.
Ash looked across the wall of fire and saw Serena, giving her a wide smile and a thumbs-up. Serena blushed and returned the thumbs-up with one of her own.
Then, Ash looked back at Tyrantrum and shouted, "AGAIN, FROAKIE! USE WATER PULSE!"
Froakie fired another sphere of water that hit Tyrantrum, knocking it out this time. Lloyd screamed in frustration as the Despot Pokémon collapsed at his feet.
"TYRANTRUM, NO, ARCEUS-DAMN IT!"
"Good job, Froakie!" Ash exclaimed, looking at Froakie. "Now, use Bubble on this fire!"
Froakie nodded and immediately began firing Bubbles at the ring of fire and also the wall of fire that divided it into two semicircles, putting it out within minutes, allowing Serena to run up to Ash, Fennekin by her side. Ash prepared to say something, but was interrupted when Serena abruptly hugged him tightly.
"Whoa, Serena!" cried Ash in surprise.
"You saved me again, Ash..." Serena whispered softly into his ear.
Ash chuckled and shook his head as Serena broke the hug and looked into his eyes.
"No, not really," he said. "Judging by the looks of things, you handled yourself pretty well back there. I just came in to clean up what remained of the trash."
The Trainer glanced over her shoulder, and Serena followed his eyes to see what he was looking at: the fallen Delphox and the badly wounded Adam, who was still being attended to by Floyd, who seemed to be treating his facial burns with some sort of spray. Serena found herself fortunate that she couldn't be able to look upon the full extent of the physical damage she inflicted on Adam... As long as it was bad, it didn't matter, since he deserved it...
"You...cheated..."
Adam's voice was an almost intelligible croak as his good eye stared at Serena and Ash. Both could recognize the loathing that was burning in his pupil.
"I didn't cheat," Serena snapped. "I showed you the true power that is the relationship between me and my Fennekin! Face it, Adam! I won this battle, and you lost, fair and square! Now you must hold up your end of the deal and put out the rest of this fire, or else I'll finish the job with your face!"
Indeed, the rest of the fire that Adam started was still raging; it was beginning to engulf many of the forest that survived the first fire.
"Damn you, girl..." snarled Adam.
"DO IT!"
Even Ash was taken aback by Serena's outburst; the same fire was alive in her blue eyes again. Fennekin growled menacingly at a surprised Adam.
The villain sighed in defeat and growled, "Fine. Where's Aggron?..."
The Iron Armor Pokémon, one of the two Pokémon remaining in its group that remained conscious, stalked towards Adam, awaiting its Trainer's next order.
"Use Mud-Slap on the fire, all of it..."
Reluctantly, Aggron grunted and nodded before digging its sharp claws into the ground. It then began rapidly flinging multiple huge clumps of dirt and earth at the crackling flames, gradually putting all of them out. Several minutes passed, and the fire was finally put out. Serena smiled with pride and happiness as she watched several forest Pokémon gather around, all in relief that the fire that had menaced them was now gone.
Then, she heard a voice that she wanted to hear the most, even more so than Ash's.
"SERENA, SERENA!"
Serena laughed in relief as Bonnie ran up to her and hugged her leg tightly, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"Oh, Serena!" Bonnie cried, exasperated. "I thought you were gonna...gonna...gonna..." She hiccuped.
"It's okay, Bonnie," replied Serena as she knelt down and hugged the younger girl. "I'm okay..."
Suddenly, the air was pierced with the roaring of engines, and Serena, Ash, Bonnie, and the Pokémon all watched as several police cruisers and ambulances, all led by a motorcycle with a sidecar that was manned by a woman with turquoise hair and amber eyes, who was wearing a police uniform and cap.
"OFFICER JENNY!" Ash and Serena shouted simultaneously.
Jenny skidded her motorcycle to a stop and hopped out, running up to the group.
"Are you children okay?!" exclaimed the officer.
"My brother's hurt!" Bonnie cried, pointing at Clemont's unconscious form. Jenny immediately towards him, to which several paramedics and a Wigglytuff carried him onto a stretcher. The officer then looked at Serena, Ash, and Bonnie. "We need to get you three examined also; who knows how much smoke you inhaled?"
"Officer Jenny, you have to arrest these guys too!" Ash said.
"Who?"
"Those four! They confessed to starting these fires!"
"I don't see anyone there, kid."
Serena, Ash, and Bonnie all looked at the spot where Adam, Floyd, Lloyd, and Nick were previously at, only to find that space empty.
"They got away!" Serena cried, shocked.
"Wait a minute," said Jenny, "you kids are saying that these fires were arson?"
"That's right, Officer Jenny," replied Ash, nodding gravely.
"Well...investigators examining the first fire said that the cause of it was extremely suspicious... Arson had been their primary suspicion..." Jenny's eyes glinted. "If you kids can provide us with explanations on what the four of them looked like, we could run them through the Pokémon Criminal Registry. But for now, all of you get into an ambulance, quickly! We have to get you all to a Pokémon Center where you can get examined."
"Alright," the three children chorused, but as they recalled their Pokémon and headed towards the nearest ambulance, Jenny spoke again.
"By the way, which one of you called us in?"
"Huh?" Serena stopped running and looked at the officer, as did Ash.
"We received an anonymous tip that there was a second fire going on in the forest, and that children were caught up in its midst."
The four villains laid low in the dense cover of bushes located in a part of the forest that was unaffected by the fires.
"That accursed girl!" snarled Adam as Floyd began placing a surgical fabric over the burned side of his face. "She will pay for this dearly- OW!"
"Hold still, boss!" Floyd exclaimed. "I'm trying to put this thing on as best as I can!"
"It's a good thing we managed to hightail it as soon as the cops came in!" exclaimed Nick, sighing in relief. "How in the world did they find us anyway?"
"I do not give a Rattata's ASS about how the cops found us," Lloyd growled menacingly. "What matters now is where we go from here! We've got no jeep, we have no way of getting out of this forest unless we just come to the cops for help, we're VERY low on supplies, and all of our Pokémon are out for the count!"
"Not all of them..." said Adam. He pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it, summoning Aggron. "Aggron, use Dig to find us a way out of this forest!"
The Iron Armor Pokémon growled and began digging into the ground furiously. Nick glared at Adam, agitated.
"How come you didn't think of this at first?!" he snapped.
"It just came to me in the moment! And besides, I had other things to worry about. Like how I ended up with you three as my accomplices!"
"HEY!"
However, Adam ignored his accomplice and was now staring into the sky. The vision of his right eye was now being slowly obscured by the surgical fabric Floyd was placing over the burned half of his face. The only thing he could think about was the miserable girl who defeated him and now made his life more of a pain than before. The last time he felt this humiliated, this dominated was when he had to deal with the likes of Jake...
And he knew the only way he was able to solve that problem last time. His lips curved into a horrifying grin.
"I'll get that girl..." he thought. "Oh, I'll get her. I'll make sure she pays dearly. This is not over yet, little Serena. Oh, no. In fact, this has just begun!"
A/N: And here's the chapter, which seems to be the longest yet to be written for this story! I apologize if the pacing seemed a bit too fast at the end, but don't worry, for all shall be revealed in the chapters that are ahead! It especially looks like Adam's got a grudge against Serena now...
I'd like to thank those who reviewed:
BlueLightningXD: TR won't be in this story. I think the gang has enough on their plates to deal with the likes of Adam and his accomplices.
Rewile: Yep, Adam and the others killed Jake. And you'll learn the circumstances of his death later on...
Guest reviewer: You'll see why Jake was in Serena's vision and not Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie.
Guest reviewer #2: I got the pun. XD
Jesus (guest reviewer): Sorry if this update took a while once again. And you're welcome for replying to your review; I do that a lot, but I sometimes cannot due to scheduling conflicts.
Glaceon1362: Hopefully this wait was worth it too...
JZuCuadra: You'll learn the circumstances of Jake's death later on...
chuzzelpuff: I shall, and you keep up the reviews! :D
EchoNight99: Yeah, Adam has a Shiny Aggron. And, if you've played the XY games or at least have a knowledge of their features, you'll know that Adam has a little special something that comes along with Aggron...
taeuknam: What do you think?
Fireminer: What do you mean a bit more refining would better? Is there something wrong? If so, what is it?
bebop (guest reviewer): Sorry if this update wasn't as soon as you hoped for it to be. Hope you enjoyed!
reihteah: Here's the next update! Sorry if it took awhile.
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!