Chapter 28

*Airship*

The trio hurried through the airship, with Pikachu and Piplup leading, to find a way out. However they didn't have to, since they bumped into Officer Jenny along the walkway.

"Officer Jenny?!"

"You kids? Come on, follow my colleagues and they'll take you out of here." Officer Jenny signaled them to the other officers.

"Wait, Officer Jenny! There are tons of pokémon inside!"

"There are? Don't worry, we'll get them out!"

Two officers brought Ash and co. down towards a huge hall way, where a few helicopters have landed. The trio noticed the biggest door, that allowed vehicles to come in, is wide open.

"Climb on board, we'll take you down!" an officer shouted, due to the noise made by the helicopters and the strong wind blowing outwards. The airship isn't flying at a very fast speed, but the trio is still careful not to get blown away. They quickly got on the helicopter, and soon it was heading down, back to ground.

Ash looked out the window, "Can't believe we made it out…"

May joined him, seeing green patches below them. "Yeah…"

"Can't believe Team Rocket helped us…"

"What? Brock, what do you mean?" Ash asked.

"When Pikachu used Iron Tail to smash the machine, and all the pokémon started running in to help us, I remembered Team Rocket were the one opening the door for us." Brock explained.

"Oh yeah! I remember that too! That was unusually nice of them." Max commented.

"Pi! Pikachu pika!"

"Wow, it's somehow thanks to Team Rocket too that Pikachu managed to get out!" Ash translated.

"Maybe they aren't that bad after all." May said.

"Yeah, or they may be bad, but they aren't too evil like Giovanni or Hunter J." Dawn said, to which the others nodded in agreement.

*Undella Town*

"Look, a helicopter's coming down! Hopefully Ash and his friends are inside." Professor Oak said. Delia closed her eyes and prayed hard for Ash's safety.

'Ash, please be okay. I love you…'

"MOM!"

'Is that…?'

Delia looked up to find her beloved boy running towards her, with the same smile that always warms her heart.

"Ash!" Delia held her son closely. Ash heard her sniffing as he let go of her and found her crying.

"Mom…"

"Oh Ash…" Delia wiped her tears away, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm sorry, Mom. You must have been so worried…"

"It's alright, at least everything's fine now."

Ash smiled and hugged her once again.

"Well well, I told you Ash is a big boy now, he knows how to defend himself!"

Ash turned to the sound of the voice and found Professor Oak standing just beside them.

"Professor Oak! Did you…?"

"Yes Ash, I told your Mom everything." Ash looked back at his mom upsettingly. He was worried how she might react if she knew he could use aura so easily. But to his surprise, Delia is still smiling.

"It's okay, Ash. There's nothing wrong for being special, as long as you're my son."

"Thanks Mom." Ash said, his eyes getting teary.

"Pikachu!"

"Oh Pikachu~ Thanks for taking care of Ash for me!" Delia cooed, holding the pokémon up for a hug, who gladly accepted it.

"And thank you so much to you guys too!" Delia said to Brock and the others.

"Nahh, we didn't really do much, Mrs Ketchum."

"Oh of course you did! So how about some lunch? Though I won't be the one cooking~"

"No problem!" Ash and May exclaimed in unison. They glanced towards each other and blushed.

"Such a cute couple!" Professor Oak and Delia said at the same time. They started laughing, along with Brock, Max, Dawn, Pikachu and Piplup, who are laughing even harder than them. Ash and May are left blushing and staring at their friends.

*Airship*

"Thank you! Return!"

Officer Jenny returned the last pokémon and handed it to another officer. The officer place the pokeball into a box, along with other pokeballs, and rushed off.

"Alright, all of you are under arrest!" Officer Jenny said to Giovanni, the grunts and henchmen, who are all handcuffed and brought to the helicopters.

Hunter J peeked out from her hiding place. She was about to run off, but her leg was injured while battling the pokémon.

"Darn it… Salamence!" once Salamence appeared, Officer Jenny spotted them immediately.

"Hey! Hunter J! Stop!"

Ignoring the pain in her leg, Hunter J climbed onto Salamence, who flew upwards quickly.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" Officer Jenny ordered.

"Salamence! Hyperbeam!"

Before Salamence could prepare its attack, Ariados popped out of its pokeball and landed directly in the way of Salamence.

"What are you doing Ariados?! Well, seems like you're pretty useless now. Salamence, hyper-" Hunter J was cut off when a shot of string tied her up, and shut her mouth as well. She fell off Salamence and landed harshly onto the ground. Salamence was also tied up as Officer Jenny quickly returned it.

"Thanks, Ariados! That was great!" Ariados' eyes lit up. It was the first time ever, that someone complimented it.

'The humiliation! The humiliation! GRRRRRRR!' Hunter J thrashed about, trying to get rid of the string.

"Stop struggling, let's go!" Officer Jenny picked her up, and marched her back to the helicopter.