It was still raining when they reappeared in the forest. Ahead of them they saw a Team Rocket grunt grumbling under his breath. He met up with another grunt who took out a device and they vanished. The younger Ash breathed a sigh of relief. The group started to walk through the forest, a little unsure exactly what they should do. Serena was just about to ask the older Ash what had happened before when Ash stiffened. He had heard something. He was certain of it. "What's wrong Ash?" Brock asked softly. "I heard something," Ash murmured back and started to look around him. Suddenly a shadow ball appeared out of nowhere heading right for the younger Ash. The older Ash sprang into action and pushed his younger self out of the line of fire and turned his back to absorb the attack protectively clutching Pikachu to his chest. Serena scrambled to protect the younger Ash and Brock rushed to check on the older Ash and Pikachu. Brad ran in front of the group and scanned the forest, looking for the Pokémon responsible for the shadow ball. He saw none. "I'm fine Brock," Ash assured Brock softly and then concentrated hard on what he could hear. He couldn't hear anything above the rain anymore. Ash, the older, bit his lip and knew they wouldn't be able to find the attacker unless they made themselves bait.
"Brock, you and Brad go that way. I'll go this way with Serena and… me," Ash decided pointing in two directions. It was still a little weird referring to his younger self. Brock narrowed his eyes at Ash but understood his friend's reasons. He nodded and dragged Brad in the direction Ash had suggested and Ash led Serena and the younger Ash in the other direction. Ash walked in silence, listening carefully. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder also listening intently to their surroundings. The younger Ash clung to Serena fearfully and Serena tried to reassure the boy. Suddenly Ash spun around and put his arm protectively in front of Serena and the younger Ash. Pikachu's cheeks were sparking threateningly. Then they heard a woman's laugh from the trees.
"You are surprisingly difficult to sneak up on," the woman conceded as she walked into view. She wore a black Team Rocket uniform complete with the red "R". She had dark eyes and long dark hair tied back into a long plait. She placed her hand on her hip and smiled sickeningly sweetly at both Ash's and Serena. Pikachu gave off another warning spark and growled at the woman. "I wouldn't do that Pikachu. It is raining and that means that everyone is quite wet. If you send an electrical attack towards me, it could and probably will be conducted to your trainer and his friend," the woman warned conversationally as she walked closer. Pikachu and the older Ash frowned in annoyance, the woman was right. They hated to admit it but she was right.
"What do you want?" Ash spat at her. The woman shook her head. "Not too bright are you? You know what I want. I want you, either you or… younger you," the woman replied turning her gaze towards the younger Ash. He shrank away from her gaze. The older Ash took a step to place himself in front of his younger self. "Not going to happen," Ash retorted angrily. "Ash, have you ever met Giovanni? He is a very driven man. He has to be if he wants to stay the head of Team Rocket. And if there's anything I've learned while working for him, is that he doesn't take kindly to failure. Something you have caused far too often. You stopped him using Meloetta, stopped the experiments at the lake of rage with Lance, foiled too many plots by Cassidy and Hutch or Jessie and James than I care to mention. You are a thorn in his side, Ash Ketchum. That cannot be allowed. So he devised this plan to get rid of you," the woman explained in the same conversational tone. "It isn't going to work," Ash promised her. The woman laughed.
"Ash, do you realise how many chances we have to kill you? You can die by a stray Pokémon attack, drown, freeze, or die in a forest fire and so on without even taking into account all the reckless stunts you've pulled over the years. For instance, the time you, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie and Trevor met Moltres. You jumped into a volcano to protect your Talonflame. A stupid stunt if you ask me. All we have to do is make sure Frogadier wasn't there to save you… Ash, this isn't a case of when we'll get rid of you, it's a case of how," the woman corrected Ash and gave him a smile like she had told him that she had a pleasant surprise waiting for him. Ash narrowed his eyes at her. "By the way, how is your chest? I did kick you very hard," the woman asked with a brief look of concern. Ash scowled at her. She only said that to confirm his suspicions that she had been the diver and he knew it.
She was almost directly in front of him now. He had to get his younger self and Serena to safety and he also had to stop this woman. But how? Than he remembered… Charizard! He grabbed Charizard's pokéball and threw it up. Charizard appeared in a flash of light and gave his usual battle cry and flamethrower into the sky. Ash could tell Charizard wasn't happy to be in the rain but Ash needed the fire type more than ever at this moment. He used the time that Charizard bought to pull Serena and his younger self over to the Pokémon and lifted his younger self on and got up himself. He helped pull Serena on after him. Once he was sure that everyone had a firm grip on Charizard's back and Pikachu was safely nestled on his lap, he gently nudged Charizard's flank. Charizard understood the motion and lifted up from the ground at breakneck speed with a flap of his immense wings. The woman was left on the ground scowling with mild annoyance and started to follow.
She threw a pokéball and a Houndoom appeared and fired a barrage of shadow ball attacks at Charizard. Charizard dodged the attacks clumsily. He wasn't used to having three passengers and Ash knew that Charizard couldn't keep dodging forever. "Serena, listen carefully. If you want Charizard to turn left, lean left. If you want Charizard to turn right, lean right. The harder you lean, the sharper the turn. He should listen to vocal queues if you tell him to speed up, slow down or to land. Understand?" Ash called back to Serena. Serena frowned in confusion. "Yeah, but why are you telling me this?" Serena shouted to Ash. Ash turned to see her. "Charizard can't keep this up. I'll distract her but I need you to take over Charizard for me. Don't come back for me alright," Ash explained loudly. He then leaned forward and put a hand on Charizard's side. Charizard understood that Ash wanted him to listen to what he had to say. "Charizard, you listen to Serena alright. I want you to swoop down low to the ground and slow down a bit for me to jump off and then I want you to climb back up to this height," Ash explained to Charizard from behind his younger self. Charizard nodded and prepared to dive down while dodging a shadow ball.
So, what do you think of my villain. I wanted for her to be little too comfortable in the situation so that she's almost unnerving.
Until the next chapter.