A/N: What's up guys?! And welcome back to the next chapter of Serene Phoenix Reborn. I apologize for taking so long to update, but I can't control how much my teachers overwork me. Sorry if it's annoying, but I'm doing what I can. I won't keep you here in the AN though, at least not this time, so just go on and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Chapter Four: The Offspring of Sinnoh's Strongest, Part 1

Serena nervously twisted her hands in her lap as she watched Shauna pace in front of her. Normally, her friend wasn't one to hold a grudge, however she apparently found Serena's behavior in during their discussion with Shauna's mother to be unforgivable. The girl hadn't calmed down over lunchbreak as Serena had hoped she would, and though it seemed that she had let out some of her steam, she still didn't seem too happy.

"I can't believe you of all people would make me out to be a big baby! You know I hate it when people treat me like that!" Shauna growled, getting into Serena's face in a matter of moments, staring down her best friend.

Cringing slightly at Shauna's sudden close proximity, Serena took a hasty few steps back to gain some room to breath. Unfortunately, they were standing in Shauna's room on the second floor, which meant that there wasn't a lot of room to move. As a result, the back of Serena's legs connected with the edge of Shauna's bed, causing the honey blonde girl to fall over and land with her back on the soft bed sheets. And of course, there was nothing that kept Shauna from following her friend's escape and not a second later, Serena found herself looking up at a sour-faced brown haired girl, with her hands on her hips.

"I was only trying to help, you know. You were about to start shouting at her again and that wouldn't have helped us to persuade your mom that you're ready to leave with me on a journey at all!" Serena countered with firm voice. She loved Shauna and her easy-going personality, but at times like this, she could be quite a handful.

"Hmpf! Well, since you regard me like such a baby, I'm not even sure if I want to travel with you anymore." Shauna hissed and turned away, her arms crossed and her face in an angry pout.

Seeing that she had regained some of her space, Serena sat back up and stared at her friend's back. For a moment, she didn't say anything, waiting to see if Shauna would relent and turn around, but the girl stubbornly kept her gaze fixed on the door opposite to the bed. Blinking in surprise that Shauna would actually go that far, even if she knew that there was really nothing to her words, Serena stood up and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Aww, come on. You don't really mean that."

For a moment longer, Shauna refused to acknowledge Serena but soon enough, she sighed and un-crossed her arms, turning back around to face her best friend. To Serena's relief, her pout was gone as quick as if it had never even been there in the first place. Instead, Shauna just gave her a tired glare, as if staying angry for real was being too exhausting, even for someone as hyperactive as her.

"Alright, maybe I don't but I still think you're a traitor." Shauna said, sticking her tongue out at Serena in her trademark, childish show of playful insult.

Serena just sighed and reach out with her hand, grabbing one of her friend's pigtails and pulling at it, causing the other girl to yelp and bend over to try and ease the pain of having her hair pulled at.

"Just don't start an argument with your mom until we can persuade her to let you go, okay?" Serena said, feeling a little more relaxed now that Shauna had calmed down.

"Ow! Ow, let go! That hurts!" Shauna cried and reached out to try and pinch Serena's waist, knowing that her friend was very ticklish around that part.

Unfortunately for her, this was a scenario that Serena had grown used to and before Shauna to pinch her, Serena let go and made a quick twist away from her friend, avoiding the pinch with a grace attained from experience of similar situations that had occured over the last few years. Though slightly annoyed to have her pigtail pulled and itching to repay Serena for doing it, Shauna felt that it wasn't worth it, as Serena would just pull it again if she tried to tickle her again. That however, didn't mean that she was pleased with the pigtail-pulling.

"Why do you always have to do that? I always feel like my hair's about to fall off like some kind of wig when you do it." she complained as she was running a hand through her hair to make sure that it was still in place.

"Well, I wouldn't have to resort to such drastic actions if you would just stop being so stubborn." Serena giggled, feeling the tension leave her body as she dropped back down into Shauna's bed.

The other girl pouted at her friend as she pulled out the chair from her desk and sat down opposite to Serena, gluing her eyes to her friend. For a moment, they just sat there but then, Shauna's face took on a mischievous grin as she came up with a verbal counter to Serena's claim.

"Like you're one to talk about being stubborn! You've lived here for 7 years and you still feel like a town on the other side of the globe is your real home, just because a boy you like live there and not here! If that isn't stubborn, I don't know what is." she said, eyeing Serena for any kind of reaction.

However, Shauna did not get the chance to tease her friend about it, like she had hoped. Instead of blushing or turning away, like she usually did when Shauna brought up Ash, Serena just grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"Haha, well I guess you got me there." was all she said.

Shauna blinked, surprised that Serena hadn't denied that Ash was the reason that Pallet still felt more like home than Vaniville. While it certainly didn't seem too strange considering that Ash was the only person from Kanto Serena had ever mentioned to her, it did seem a little farfetched that one single person was the sole reason while she wanted to go back "home" to Pallet Town.

"Wow, he must have been one heck of a guy if he is the only reason you miss Kanto." Shauna remarked.

This however, drew a reaction from her friend, she Serena's cheeks attained a slight shade of pink at hearing Ash being referred to as "one heck of a guy". The honey blonde lowered her head slithgly to try and hide it, though she knew it was futile since Shauna had already seen it.

"He was... unlike any other person I have ever met." Serena said in a vague confirmation.

Shauna didn't quite understand why, but for some reason Serena reached over with her right hand to clasp at a light blue cloth that was tied around her left wrist when she talked about Ash.

Come to think of it, Serena had always been wearing that cloth, ever since the day Shauna first met her. At first, she had thought it was a bit weird for someone their age to have a baby blanket, but she had dismissed it quickly as normal behavior when she had gotten to know Serena better. However, that didn't mean she wasn't curious as to where Serena's fondness of the cloth came from.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is that cloth so important to you?"

At the mention of her unusual "accessory", Serena looked up in surprise. She hadn't even been aware that she had been clasping at Ash's handkerchief. It had become such a normal thing for her to do when emotionally affected by something that she did it unconsciously, not even registering that fact that her hand moved at all. However, looking down she found that she was indeed clasping at the handkerchief.

"I got it from Ash, the day when I left Kanto. It was the last time I ever saw him, but I've promised myself that one day, I'll give it back to him." Serena said, then made a pause before she continued. "But that's not all. This handkerchief was also what brought us together in the first place. And it's been with us ever since, in one way or another. I guess you could say that it's kind of the symbol of our entire friendship."

As she said this, Serena felt her lips being drawn out into a smile. It really was a little silly, thinking that a piece of cloth had played such a big part in their friendship, but it was true. At least, to a certain extent. It hadn't been what really brought them together or that kept them together, but it had been a symbol of that day when Ash found Serena in the forest during Professor Oak's Pallet Town Pokemon Summer Camp.

Over in her chair, Shauna blinked in surprise. It did make sense that the cloth was somehow connected to Ash, since she knew how attached Serena still was to the boy whom she deemed her best friend, but was a handkerchief really what had brought them together?

"Are you serious? You met your best friend because of a handkerchief? What, did he offer it to you randomly one day when you sneezed at the marketplace or something?"

Hearing her friend say something so... well, stupid or just strange, Serena snorted loudly. "Not really. But there is actually some story behind it. You see, it was when we were 5 years old..."

-X-X-X-

Chaos. That was the best word to describe the state Lumiose City was currently in. People in the streets were starting to panic, some buildings had been set on fire and sirens echoed throughout the city. And the cause of all this was one single Pokemon: Garchomp. While Ash and Professor Sycamore had been busy introducing Charizard to he Charizardite, trying to trigger any kind of reaction from him, Team Rocket had payed the Sycamore Pokemon Lab a visit. Knowing that Garchomp had the potential to Mega Evolve, they had used a strange device on him to try and get him under their control, but the powerful Dragon-type had proven to be too much for them to handle, and instead had simply driven Garchomp into a frenzy.

Atop one of the buildings, completely hidden from the view of the people in the streets, a tall figure was standing, watching the chaos unfold. His humanoid build made him appear like an unusually tall human, but whoever thought that would be wrong. He wasn't human, not by far. But he wasn't even sure if he should count as a Pokemon either. After all, Pokemon were born. They had parents, and he didn't. He hadn't been born, he had been created. He was a synthetic being that shouldn't even have existed in the first place. In the past, this used to bother him, but then something had changed when he met that human.

"Everyone's got a place in our world. It doesn't matter where you came from, what matters is what you do with your life."

Those were the words that his friend had spoken, the words that had changed his views on his own existance. He stopped regarding himself as a violation of nature, and resolved to find a way to help the world by using the incredible powers he had been granted. He might have been created as a weapon, but a weapon didn't have feelings or a mind of its own and that's where they were different. He could think and he could feel. He wanted to use his powers for good, and so he had began travelling the world, searching for his purpose in life and eventually, he had ended up here.

When he noticed the chaos that was unfolding, he had naturally come to investigate, wanting to find out if there was something he could do. But whatever he had expected to find, it certainly wasn't to find him and some friends hunting down a Garchomp.

'So, your journey have taken you even this far from Kanto now, Ash.' he thought as he watched the boy in question call out his Charizard to confront the Garchomp, who had come to a stop in the middle of the street, tearing at something strapped around his neck. Maybe, just this once, he would let the events unfold and see how much his friend had grown since the last time they met.

Down in the street below, Ash watched Garchomp try and get rid off the device that Team Rocket had used on him. The mere thought that those three clowns had done this to such a sweet creature made Ash sick to his stomach. Sure, a Garchomp wasn't as cuddly as some other Pokemon, but that didn't mean that it couldn't be sweet. As he watched the frenzied Pokemon in front of him, Ash could hardly believe that it was the same Garchomp that had rolled up at Professor Sycamore's feet during their conversation and taken a nap. The 2 images were just so different that it was bizzarre.

"Gar!" the dragon called out as he lifted his leg and brought it down hard into the ground, sending a shockwave through the ground they were standing on that threw Ash, Brock and Sycamore off their feet, as well as evened one building behind them with the ground.

Cursing as he recovered from the Earthquake, Ash took a step forward and looked up at Charizard, who was hovering just above the ground, having beat his wings to get off the ground to avoid the Earthquake. This looked like to could be a tough battle, even for Charizard, who was one of his strongest Pokemon. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to actually defeat Garchomp, just get rid of that device.

"Alright Charizard, let's go! Take to the skies and use Aerial Ace to get up close!" Ash called while looking back towards Garchomp. If he could just get in close to Garchomp, then Charizard should be able to easily destroy that thing around his neck with a Slash.

With a roar, Charizard complied and shot up towards the clouds, changing his weight just as he was about to pass through them, then dove towards the struggling dragon in the streets below. Unfortunately for him, Garchomp noticed the approaching attack and to Ash's horror, he took on a very familiar stance that Ash recognized all too well from Cynthia's own Garchomp, with its legs spread out underneath him and his jaws open upwards. 'Oh crap!'

"Charizard! Get out of the way!" was all Ash could shout to warn his Pokemon before Garchomp released its Draco Meteor Attack.

The unified orb of draconic energy travelled straight up into the skies towards Charizard at an alarming rate. The Flame Pokemon's eyes widened as he noticed the sphere that was rapidly approaching him. Reacting fast and using the speed of his Aerial Ace move, Charizard was able to avoid a direct hit by flying slightly to the right, but unfortunately the sphere exploded just a second later, scattering into multiple spheres that rained down towards the ground like a meteor shower. Charizard's left wing, the one that was closest to the orb when it exploded, got caught up into the explosion and became badly bruised.

With a roar of pain, Charizard fell down towards the earth, falling faster than the raining spheres due to his weight. He crashed into the ground a few feet in front of Ash, unable to cushon his landing in any way due to his injured wing.

"Charizard!" Ash called out in worry and began running towards his partner.

Behind him, Professor Sycamore and Brock had gotten back onto their feet and was looking over at Garchomp. The Land Shark Pokemon had gotten back to scratching at his neck, trying to get rid of Team Rocket's device. Something... didn't add up with this.

"Why would Garchomp attack Charizard like that, even in the state he is in right now? I can see that he's in pain and all, but that attack was purely aimed at Charizard, not just randomly released." Brock asked to no one in particular.

"My guess," Professor Sycamore said, "is that the device they used on Garchomp was meant to somehow bend his senses to their liking, but that the device was too weak to completely do the job, instead causing Garchomp to revert to his beastial, basic instincts. Because Charizard attacked him, Garchomp regarded Charizard as a threat and acted instinctively by eliminating the threat."

Overhearing his friend's conversation, Ash grit his teeth. Now that was seriously messed up. Whot gave Team Rocket the right to mess with someone's head like that? He knew that most of Team Rocket had been doing stuff like this and worse for quite some time now, but he had thought that the three clowns were above that.

He remembered back in the day, when Jessie, James and Meowth had come to his aid at certain points. There had been several times when he could've gotten them arrested or subdued, but he had refrained from it, knowing that somewhere deep down they had some good in them. But now, he was seriously starting to doubt his own judgement and his descision to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Well if that's the case ,then we'll need to at least subdue Garchomp before we'll be able to save him. But I'm not exactly fully loaded with Pokemon ready for battle, and I don't think Ash is either." Brock said, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

In response to Brock's statement, Charizard slowly got to his feet and glared at Garchomp, growling theateningly under his breath. However, barely had he rosen in his full height before a jolt of pain from his wing caused him to twitch and fall back onto one knee. Ash felt torn, seeing Charizard stubbornly try to brush off the pain in his wing. Normally, a little bruise like that wouldn't have bothered Charizard but from what he could see, the explosion had somehow touched the joint where his wing usually bent, so just moving the wing slightly brough the pain back to the surface. Charizard was strong and very resistant to pain, but he wouldn't be flying anymore in this battle.

"Right, if we exclude Charizard I only got Pikachu, and he wouldn't be able to do much as long as Garchomp keeps us at a distance." Ash called to Brock, who sighed in defeat when he heard that. "Who do you got, Brock?"

At this point, Brock and Sycamore had walked up to where Ash was kneeling by Charizard. They both cast a guarded look in Garchomp's direction, but the Land Shark Pokemon didn't seem to pay them any attention at the moment.

"I got Chansey, Forteress and the Elekid that Nurse Joy gave me as a parting gift, but none of those will be of much use here as we too need to get in close to even be able to land a hit." Brock swore under his breath as he said this. This was not good. Taking on Garchomp would have been hard for him, even if he had his full team. Ash might have had a better chance if he had brought some more Pokemon, but with Charizard down he was in as much a pinch as Brock was. Not that Pikachu was weak or anything, just that his typing wasn't exactly ideal to take on a Pokemon like Garchomp.

Just as he said this, Garchomp gave off a pained roar and spread his wings to fly off. Charizard was quickly on his feet and tried to take up the pursuit, but his injured wing made him lose his opponent as soon as the Land Shark Pokemon was in the air. Frustrated at his own inability to fly at this moment, the orange dragon fired a Flamethrower in the direction of the flying dragon, but missed by an inch. Ash clenched his fists, just as frustrated as his Pokemon was feeling.

"Well, I don't care if we can't pursue him in the air or if we can't beat him in a downright fight. Garchomp's sure to run out of gas somewhere down the line and when he does, I'll be there." Ash said as he followed Garchomp as the tormented Pokemon flew in the direction of Prism Tower. "Let's split up. I'll go after Garchomp, while you guys go and try to find someone to help us. It looks like he's headed for Prism Tower, so come there as soon as you find some help, okay?"

Hearing Ash's plan, both his comrades nodded, impressed by the boy's quick thinking. Brock had to admit that it was actually a good plan. Ash had always been pretty quick to come up with plans or counter-strategies, however the quality of the ones he just came up with on a whim, like this one, usually left a lot to desire. All in all, this one probably counted to the better half of his long list of whim-plans.

"Sounds good. I'll see ya there." Brock said as Ash took off after Garchomp, returning the still pissed off Charizard in the process. As soon as he was out of sight, Brock turned towards Professor Sycamore. "I'll go get Officer Jenny. If Garchomp is indeed headed for Prism Tower, we will need to secure that area to keep casualties as few as possible."

"Good, I'll try to contact Garchomp's trainer. He was on his way back to Lumiose City when he called me this morning. No one knows Garchomp as well as he do, so maybe he can find a way to get Garchomp to calm down." Professor Sycamore nodded towards Brock.

With their course of action set, the remaining two of their group ran off in their separate directions. They would need to act quickly. Even if Garchomp indeed landed on Prism Tower, there was no guarantee that he would stay there for long.

-X-X-X-

"Wow! And you mean that it's really the very same handkerchief?!" Shauna exclaimed as Serena finished her story of why this specific handkerchief meant so much to her.

The honey blonde in question just smiled as she reattached the handkerchief to her left wrist. It was strange, but for some reason it felt good to be able to talk about those times again with someone. She hadn't even spoken about that time for so many years now because... well, she hadn't really had anyone to talk about it with. Well, except her mother but she didn't understand the least of how Serena felt about that. If she had, she wouldn't have just forced her to pack up and leave everything behind.

"Yup, it's still the same. He always kept it with him when he was young, so when I was just about to leave, he stopped me and gave it to me to remember him by." Serena said as she finished her knot on the cloth to keep it in place. "Not that I really needed anything to remember him by. The memories that we share will always be enough to keep us together. I could never forget him."

At this, Shauna squeled soundly, causing Serena to flinch at the unexpected and high pitched sound.

"Aww, you two must have been soooooooooo cute together!" she squeled happily.

Then, she looked over at Serena with an excited look in her eyes, one of extreme curiosity. Inwardly, Serena groaned. She knew that look all too well. When Shauna gave off that look, it meant that she was about to enter "Rant Mode" or throw a "Rantrum", as Serena had dubbed them. Which technically just meant...

"Did-he-ever-tell-you-that-you-were-special? I-read-in-a-magazine-the-other-week-that-if-a-boy-in-your-childhood-tells-you-that-you're-special, there-is-a-70%-chance-that-you-will-end-up-dating-that-same-boy-after-you-turn-20-years-of-age." she said all this in one breath, speaking too fast for Serena's poor mind to completely register what it was she was saying. And she wasn't even done yet.

"Oh,-and-what-hair-color-did-he-have? I've-heard-that-52.7%-of-all-black-haired-boys-ends-up-marrying-blonde-girls-so-if-he-was-black-haired-you-got-a-good-chance-of-marrying-him-in-the-future."

"Shauna..." Serena desperately tried to break her friend out of her rant, but the brown haired girl didn't even seem to register that she was talking to her.

"But-Popular-PokeGirl's-also-mentions-that-girls-with-blonde-hair-tend-to-end-up-with-guys-with-blue-eyes. Hmmmm, that's-not-good, especially-not-if-you-yourself-got-a-mother-with-blue-eyes-because-that-means-there-is-a-30%-chance-that-your-relationship-will-fall-apart-before-you-turn-27-years-of-age-even-if-you-do-end-up-together..."

As Shauna ranted on about things that she had read in her teenage girl magazines and other less than reliable scources, Serena just sighed and fell back against the bed covers again. Did Shauna really actually believe all that she was saying? Actually, scratch that. Did she even understand all that she was saying? Because Serena sure didn't.

"...so-if-he-really-loves-you-but-won-a-baseball-cap-in-an-event-when-he-was-a-kid, that-means-that-you'll-grow-tired-off-him-when-he-turns-23-and-a-half. Luck-in-gambling-but-unlucky-in-love, y'know..."

Serena rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance. This was another one of those times when Shauna could be just a little too much. Though she had to hand it to the girl, she definetely had to be the world record holder for most words said within a minute. Just imagining herself talking at that speed and still manage to pronounce the words made Serena's mouth feel all dry.

"...on-the-other-hand, if-you-love-him-back-and..."

"SHAUNA!" Serena decided to bring a definite end to her friend's rambling, once more resorting to pulling at her friend's pigtail to underline what it was she wanted.

"Yaaowgh!" Shauna yelped as she had her right pigtail pulled for the second time in less than a day.

Still a little bit sore from the last time Serena pulled at her hair, Shauna turned around with an angry pout on her face, trying to look both angry, hurt, shocked, threatening and insulted that Serena would resort to such... desperate meassures 2 times in a row at the same time. The result was... not quite what she had hoped, if the look on Serena's face was any indication. She decided to just settle for a pout.

"You pulled it AGAIN!" Shauna whined as she rubbed the sore spot on her head.

Trying to stiffle her giggles from looking at Shauna's hilarious face, Serena sat back up and looked Shauna straight in the eye, having to swallow harshly to keep herself from burst out laughing.

"Well, you didn't give me much of a choice. I was trying to say something, but you just kept on rambling."

The look on Shauna's face once again said it all. She was not pleased with being pulled by the pigtail, but she didn't say anything. Well, at least she was aware that she had been rambling at a speed faster than a Latios could fly. However, despite her dissatisfaction, Serena had managed to pick her curiosity.

"Soo, what were you trying to say?"

Serena crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, pretending that she didn't want to tell Shauna because she had been ignored earlier. In truth, she hadn't really had anything of importance to say, she just wanted to get Shauna out of Rant Mode.

"I'm not telling, since you obviously didn't care about it." she said with a huff.

"Aww, c'mon!" Shauna whined, not realizing that Serena was bluffing.

The afternoon went on in a similar manner. Just a normal afternoon with some talk, laughs and time spent between two good friends. In Serena's opinion, it was time well spent. Considering she was leaving for a journey in just a few days, with or without Shauna, she felt that she treassured the time they could spend together like she had known for the past few years all the more. Things that used to feel mundande and even boring were suddenly a lot more interesting and funny. She figured that this was because she knew that it wouldn't be long now before her life changed forever, for good or bad.

-X-X-X-

After having struggled for the entire afternoon, Garchomp had finally settled down somewhat on top of Prism Tower. The tower had been evacuated and the roads leading to it had been blocked off. A large crowd of people had gathered at the blocks and was watching the police work with securing the area. In the middle of those people, were Ash and Brock. Ash, Brock and Pikachu were all staring up to where Garchomp was standing. Garchomp had proven to be too powerful to be able to subdue with only Charizard hunting him, mainly because Charizard quickly tired from taking hits while he himself couldn't throw too much back at him. Not to mention his inability to fly due to the injury he had sustained during his first confrontation with Garchomp.

"Ash!"

The trio turned around to find Professor Sycamore running their way. In his wake, a blonde boy with a large backpack, dressed in a light blue jumpsuit followed.

"Professor Sycamore!" Ash replied as the pokemon professor and the unknown boy came to a stop in front of him. They were both panting slightly and the boy even bent over, obviously not very used to running. Either that or the backpack was as heavy as it looked.

"This is Clemont. He is the Gym Leader here in Lumiose City. He offered to help us subdue Garchomp."

Ash thought about it for a second. While in the past, he would just have charged straight ahead into the situation, believing that they would have more success now that they had more help, but this time he felt like maybe that was not the best option. Charizard was already tired from having hunted Garchomp the entire afternoon and he mere fact that Garchomp still had energy left at all after the amount it had already let out during the rampage suggested that it was well trained. No matter what Pokemon the Gym Leader might have, Garchomp would still be a challenge to try and control by force and with Charizard out of the picture, Ash didn't really stand a fighting chance with only Pikachu against a ground type.

He felt slightly ashamed for not believing in his Pokemon, but at the same time, this really was a very bad situation. In all honesty, if this had been any less serious he would've been impressed by Garchomp's stamina.

"I think we might need a different approach. We've struggled against Garchomp for the entire afternoon and he hasn't even slowed down one bit from our efforts. If we keep battling Garchomp, he might burn himself out. I'm not sure if this is his actual stamina, that device might be pushing him beyond his limits." Ash said as he cast a look in Garchomp's direction. The dragon was barely visible from this angle.

Professor Sycamore put a hand to his chin in thought. That certainly didn't sound impossible to believe. In fact, it sounded very possible. Even considering the power that Garchomp held, it sounded strange that he wouldn't tire in the slighest even after all this time. While he probably could have gone on this long, he should be tired from an entire afternoon of fighting.

"That sounds reasonable. So what do you suggest then?" he asked the boy.

Ash didn't answer immediately. He had originally wanted to just try and talk to Garchomp, but he knew what the answer to that suggestion would be and honestly, he didn't really blame them. Getting close to a pokemon that could cause chaos of this magnitude when he was unstable would be reckless if he didn't have any way of keeping himself safe. However, there was something else that was nagging in the back of his head, it just didn't quite manage to make its way to the forefront of his mind.

But he knew it was there. Somewhere deep inside his mind, he knew the answer to what he could do lingered. It had something to do with connecting to the Pokemon he wanted to reach, but what did he know about that? He wasn't a mind reader and he doubted that Garchomp could use telepathy. The only non-legendary Pokemon he had met that could use telepathy was... Lucario!

"I could use my aura to try and reach him!" he said out loud as the realization hit him. That was what had been lingering at the back of his mind! He might not have trained in the use of aura, but he had been able to use it at certain points. If he could just establish a connection with Garchomp, maybe he could better understand exactly what was going through his mind at this moment?

Professor Sycamore blinked in surprise. Of all the things Ash could've said, that was probably the least expected answer. Ash could use aura? He didn't know a lot about aura since he had never had an actual reason to study it, but he knew that it was a very unique ability that few was aware of, and even fewer had the ability to actually use. Was Ash one of those select few?

"But Ash, you've never done something like that with you aura before, have you? If you don't know how to control it, it could be dangerous! Remember what happened at the Tree of Beginnings?" Brock interjected, shocked that Ash would even suggest such a thing.

"Well, until Axel gets here we really don't have any better idea." Professor Sycamore said, thinking it over. While he didn't like sending Ash in against Garchomp considering that he couldn't really fight it with Charizard down and the majority of Pikachu's moves ineffective, but they honestly didn't have any better choices.

Ash nodded and turned towards Clemont, who was eyeing the three conversators with interest. He had no idea what aura was but from what he could make out, it had to be some kind of special ability unique to a few humans, kind of like psychic abilities.

"Clemont, do you know of a way to get into Prism Tower? My Charizard's wing is hurt so I can't fly up." Ash asked as he bent down slightly to allow Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder.

The blonde boy frowned a little, still not quite catching on to what they were going to do, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he lead the three companions and Pikachu to one of the doors on the side of the tower. When Ash interjected that they needed a key to open the door, Clemont gave off a huff and pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose, causing them to reflect the light from the lampposts and glow white.

"Hm, the future is now, thanks to science." he said with a slightly cocky tone in his voice, before he pressed a button on the straps to his backpack. "Clemontic Gear: on. Aipom Arm go!"

On his command, the backpack activated and released a long arm-like mechanism that had something remiscent of a hand on its tip, kind of similar to an Aipom's tail, which was probably why it was called the Aipom Arm, Ash figured. The hand linked together with the password-shielded lock-panel and began to spin around, as if it was trying to drill its way into the panel. After a few seconds, the red light that signified that the door was locked turned green and Clemont withdrew his Aipom Arm.

Had the situation not been so dire, Ash once again remarked in his head, he might have been impressed. But there were more pressing matters at hand right now. Thanking Clemont for his help, Ash was just about to make his way up the stairs inside Prism Tower when a rumble caught their attention. Looking up towards the rumble, they found a beam of concentrated energy heading straight for them.

"Look out!" Ash shouted and pushed Clemont out of the way before jumping backwards to avoid being hit by Garchomp's Hyper Beam.

Brock acted instinctively and pulled Professor Sycamore out of the way as well, barely avoiding the attack himself. The Hyper Beam struck the ground and exploded, causing the entire part of the building they were standing by to collapse in on itself and cover the opening with rubble.

Inside the building, Ash coughed from the smoke and dust that had rose from the ground when the opening collapsed. On his shoulder, Pikachu was doing the same. How the little rodent had managed to hang on to him during that jump, Ash had no idea but he didn't think much of it. Stranger things had happened before.

"Ash! Are you okay?!" he heard Brock call from the other side of the rubble.

Getting to his feet, Ash quickly made his way back to the blocked exit. Just looking at the pile of broken metal, asphalt and rock that covered the exit, he could tell that it would be futile to try and move it.

"I'm fine!" he called back. "What about you guys? Are Clemont and the Professor alright?"

The joined calls from said persons put Ash at ease. They were alright. He took a deep breath and then let it out to calm his nerves. That had been way too close for comfort. This entire afternoon had been taking its toll on both Ash and his Pokemon. That Garchomp had been a handful to just keep track off. Well, maybe that wasn't really a surprise. After all, Ash himself had witnessed Cynthia's Garchomp sweep Paul's entire team once and this Garchomp was the offspring of that Garchomp.

Judging by what had transpired this afternoon, that enourmous potential seemed to run in that line. Seeing Garchomp's behavior this morning hadn't given off that impression, but right now there was no doubt in Ash's mind. He truly was going up against the offspring of Sinnoh's Strongest Pokemon.

"I'll go try and calm Garchomp down! You guys try to move the rubble!" Ash called through the blocked entrance, before he ran for the stairs. He needed to get to Garchomp before it could cause any more chaos like this.

-X-X-X-

Back in Vaniville Town, Serena had left Shauna's house and made her way back home. Since it was still some time before dinnertime, she had decided to just stay outside and relax a little in the late afternoon breezes. She was currently sitting outside her house, patting Rhyhorn. In just a few days, she would be far away from here. This might be the last time she had time to do this with Rhyhorn, just sit here and pat him. She didn't care that it was dark outside or that she was starting to freeze. Rhyhorn had fallen asleep under her gentle touch, but she didn't let up. She remembered that when she had been a small girl, she had been a little scared of Rhyhorn. He had been so big compared to her back then and had felt so intimidating to her. Now, she wondered how it would be to not wake up every morning and greet him through the window.

Just as she was contemplating to get back inside, she heard hurried footsteps from inside and a second later, the front door flew open and her mother's silhouette appeared from inside the hall.

"Serena! Come quick! You won't believe what's being shown at the television!" she said hurriedly.

Seeing that her mother was serious, Serena quickly bent forward to give Rhyhorn a good night kiss on the horn before she got up and hurried over to the door, curious to see what her mother was talking about.

"It's about an incident in Lumiose City! A Garchomp has run loose and gone berserk in the city! Now, they just reported that a trainer have approached Garchomp on top of Prism Tower!" her mother explained as they sat down in the living room where the TV-screen was flashing.

Hearing what her mother said, Serena felt like her heart skipped a beat in shock. It wasn't really the fact that there was something less than pleassurable going on, that happened all the time, but Lumiose City wasn't far from here!

She tried to scatter her mind for a picture of the pokemon that was apparently loose in Lumiose City, only about a day's march from where she lived. If she remembered correctly, Garchomp was a Dragon-type pokemon that lived in caves and desert areas. And if she had done her homework correctly during Professor Oak's Pokemon Summer Camp all those years ago, Dragon-types were the one type that was almost solely adapted to battle. Also, Dragon-types were among the most ferocious of battlers and was never easy to take down.

Just as Serena sat down in the sofa to watch what was happening, the camera man zoomed in on the boy who had approached Garchomp atop of Prism Tower. The boy's raven black hair was flying wildly around his head and on his shoulder, a yellow mouse-like Pokemon was perched. There was something... familiar about him...

"Wait, isn't that...?" Serena whispered as she felt her heart beat faster in her chest. No! It couldn't be, could it?

Serena bit her lips tightly together to keep from calling out to the boy on the screen and her hands gripped hardly at whatever was closest, the armrest for her right and a pillow for her left.

Her mother looked questioning at her daughter for a moment, but Serena didn't say anything else. Frowning at her daughter's strange behavior, Grace leaned forward to study the boy that had gotten Serena so shaken up. He seemed slightly familiar...

"Are you Serena's mom?"

The question echoed through her head as the picture of a young, raven haired boy flashed through her mind. He was about 5 years old, dressed in a red shirt and blue shorts, starting up at Grace with a questioning look that turned into a sheepish grin as she answered his question.

"You are? Good! Serena have been asking for you over at the camp! She have hurt her leg."

The boy in her mind flashed her a worried glance and tried to drag her along towards the forest of Pallet Town. Now, as the camera zoomed in on the trainer who climbed Prism Tower's face again, Grace finally recognized him and gasped. That was Ash! It had to be! She looked over towards Serena, who was just staring at the screen in shock. No wonder. Even though she hadn't thought much about it back then, Grace had come to realize how much Ash had meant to Serena. The period after they had moved away from Pallet Town had been a nightmare. It had pained her to see how much her daughter missed her best friend. It had taken almost 3 years before Serena had recovered, but Grace had noticed that she still wore the handkerchief Ash had given her wherever she went, even to this day. It was not normal for someone her age to go around with a handkerchief strapped around her wrist, but Grace hadn't had the heart to take it from her.

Serena didn't know what to think. It couldn't really be her Ash, could it? But that untidy raven-black hair, those brown eyes and those weird markings on his cheeks (what were those anyway?)... it couldn't be anyone else! It had to be him! Ash was here in Kalos! As she thought about it, Serena felt her heart jump in her chest. She and Ash were closer to each other than they had been for 8 years! The thought made her all giddy inside.

"I have just been told that Garchomp's trainer has arrived at the scene! Let's hope he can calm down the situation!" the reporter said to the watchers.

A/N: Aaaaaaand... cut! Yup, that's right I'll cut it there. I know that the original Chapter 4 was longer and that it stretched farther, but I felt that I honestly wanted to do a better job at this event. I rushed it the last time just because I wanted to get a chapter up and that's not a mistake I want to do again.

So, I'll cut it into 2 different chapters. Hopefully, that'll be alright with you guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it won't take me too long to get the next chapter up. I won't make any promises because I'm in the final stages of my education so I got like a mountain of work, but I swear to Arceus that I'm trying! Until next time!