What could have been

by thedarkpokemaster

This is a group of one-shorts of what-if's episodes that I think should have gone in the episode of pokemon should have gone. Or you think it should have gone more info inside. So just name an episode of pokemon and what you like to happen, AAML.

9. Chapter 9

A/N Well, I know it's been a long time since I have updated my What Could Have Been Series, thanks to being so busy with other stories and much more. I'm sure you don't want to hear. Now the chapter I have for you is from the Advanced Generation series. The episodes that are happening are Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends, which may indeed include hints of Advanceshipping in it.

Okay so, this chapter got requested by MashupMan2100, so all I can say is sit back and enjoy a new chapter as it could be a while before a new one comes up again. However, if you want a What Could Have Been episode, tell me the episode's name and what you felt should have happened in the episode, so a big thanks to EmperoDraco7 for helping out on the chapter.

PS: This has nothing to do with the Gundam Seed story by Kagami Kyoji called What might have been, a story that I never knew about until recently, and it shows what could've happened if Yzak, Dearka, Nicol, Mu, Murrue, and Natarle became aware of the connection between Athrun and Kira in the early stages of the series. Yes, there was also a sequel to that story under The Three Musketeers, which retells GSD and picks up where what might have gotten left off.

Also, I haven't forgotten about Pokémon Symphony of the Night as I need to get that story back on track with that story. Despite that, I have never even played any of the Castlevania games at least, and they are a lot better than Twilight, that's for sure.

You know I was almost worried I would be in trouble since it's been well.

Misty: Six damn years since you last updated, and now it's time that you pay.

Chapter 9: Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends

Misty Waterflower was busy working in the Cerulean Gym, ensuring that everything was alright and ensuring that her Pokémon were all healthy. Including her female Luvdisc nicknamed Caserin; she had yet to hear from Ash in a while, not since she had to let her Togetic go.

It's something that still upset Misty, but she knew that it was for the best; she was soon cut off from her thoughts as she heard that someone was at the front desk of her Gym and knew that they must want a challenge her for the Cascade Badge.

Once she reached the Gym's front doors, she was a little taken back by who was there since this was not a trainer at all but none other than Lance, one of Kanto's Elite Four. And Misty couldn't help but wonder why he was here in her Gym. After all, she only had seen him the once back in Johto to stop a Team Rocket plot.

However, Lance looked at Misty with a smile on his face, knowing that she was a little confused, not that he honestly blamed her. "Hello Misty, I know that it must be a shock to you seeing me here, but there is something I need to talk to you about," he said with a serious look on his face.

Misty was a little worried when she saw this but nodded, knowing that this must be very important, but one thought was still going through her head why was he here. "Sure thing Lance, have a seat."

Once Lance sat down, he soon told Misty the main reason he was here and just what was going on in the Hoenn region and the two teams causing trouble. Lance began explaining this, Misty wondered what this had to do with her, and she was also worried for her friends that were there; it did make Misty laugh. "Knowing Ash, I bet he has had to battle them a few times, but why is Lance telling me all of this?"

The more she thought about it and the more she heard Lance go on about what they were doing, it began to get her worried about what might happen to Ash and the others. "So why are you tell me this then, Lance?"

Lance once again smiled at her. "Well, you, Brock, and Ash helped me out at the Lake of Rage with what Team Rocket was doing, and I was hoping that you would help me out again. I'm heading to the Hoenn region myself to go undercover in Team Magma."

Misty quickly nodded, knowing where he was going with this and what he wanted to do, and after hearing what this Team Aqua wanted to do, she was none too pleased with all with what they were planning either. "So you want me to go undercover in Team Aqua then?" Misty asked, making sure she was right on what Lance wanted her to do.

Lance nodded at Misty and looked at her. "I know that this is asking a lot, but with what is going on and how they work, they will only let Water Pokémon Trainers join them."

Misty pondered this for a moment and knew if she did this, she wouldn't be able to tell her sisters nor Ash what was going and if Ash saw her and she saw him then. "What happens if I see Ash or my other friends? They are in Hoenn too."

Lance frowned at this, knowing that Misty was right. There could be a time which Ash or she might see one another, and Lance just hoped that this never happened. "Misty, look if this does happen, then you will need to go all out without holding back."

"Okay, let's just hope it won't happen then," Misty said as she knew that she would need to take some of her best Pokémon for this mission. "What about the Gym thou? I can't just leave it. Will someone be here to look after it?"

Lance nodded at her as he told her he had that covered and reassured her that he put in a word with the higher up of the Pokémon League, such as Mr. Goodshow. Misty once again nodded as she got her Pokémon ones she knew help her on this mission. "I hope that nothing goes wrong, is all." Misty thought silently.

Soon both Lance and Misty left, knowing that they needed to get to Hoenn and fast as Lance was worried about what both Team Magma and Aqua were up to; he just hoped that they could stop them; Lance also hoped Misty would also be alright with this mission.

---

Ash and friends were not having a good day; it all started when they were on a ferry bound for Mossdeep City with Ash excited for his seventh Gym battle. However, what the gang doesn't know is that Team Rocket is also on the boat, disguised as sailors. James watches the twerps while Jessie and Meowth complain about their sore muscles.

James says that now that they're stronger from their physical training, this is their chance to steal Pikachu. They approach the twerps and say that they're not allowed to have any Pokémon on board the ferry and that they'll take Pikachu for "safe-keeping." James reaches for Pikachu, but Ash instinctively grabs James's arm, as Pikachu cries out. Ash isn't about to hand Pikachu over to anyone and demands to know who they are, and Jessie and James start their motto. Meowth interrupts them to point out that there's no point in keeping the disguises on if they're going to do the motto.

Jessie agrees and says that they haven't done the motto yet today either, so they remove the disguises and continue. James bragged about their new strength when Jessie and James were at long last done, while Jessie produces a net and snags Pikachu. Ash grabs it, and it turns into an all-out tug-of-war between the two sides, both sides desperately trying to keep hold of Pikachu.

However, Pikachu does not like being pulled from both sides and lets out a massive Thunderbolt out of stress. While Pikachu succeeds in sending Team Rocket blasting off, it also sends Ash and the others blasting off in the opposite direction, far from the ferry, which rapidly moves away, leaving our heroes stranded in the middle of the ocean!

All Ash and his friends could do right now were let out moans of pain from what had happened to them. "Man, that was a big electric attack," Ash said with a painful groan while Pikachu just agreed with Ash and gave a light sorry for shocking them as well.

"Got any idea where we ended up, Brock?" Max Maple asked as he was on the same log that he was on and hoped that he knew what to do.

"I don't have a clue." Brock Harrison said truthfully as he, like the other, could still feel the effects of what Pikachu had done to them.

"Meanwhile, I'm turning into a giant prune." May Maple added, holding onto a log of her own as she hoped help would come soon, or at the very least they had a Water Pokémon with them, at least one they could ride on because Ash's Corphish and Brock's Lombre and Mudkip alone weren't enough. "You know I wish we had Misty with us right now as I'm sure her Gyarados would help us."

Ash nodded at May and knew she had a good point as none of them had one that could help them right now. "Well, hopefully, a ship will come by," Ash said with hope as he looked around to see if he could see if a ship was coming towards them or not.

Just then, the water itself began to shake, which made everyone wonder what was going on as the ocean began to rise as they all wondered what was doing this, and before they knew it, a red submarine had sufficed, shocking Ash and the others.

"Whoa, Ash, it looks like you got your wish," Brock said, happy they were no longer getting soaked, at least.

"Yeah, that's cool. Now all got to do is just let whoever is out there know that we're trapped here," Ash said as he soon began to call out to the people inside the submarine.

---

Meanwhile, back in Kanto, Giovanni and his Persian were in deep thought. He felt as he should never have left those incompetent peons of his in charge of the task of forming a new base of operations in Hoenn. Unfortunately, he did and realized that he might have to take matters into his own hands right here and there. "I wonder what those nitwits are doing in Hoenn…" he asked himself, mentally fuming inside for not disposing of the trio permanently, let alone having rehired them during the events in Johto.

His Persian remained silent, understanding his master's comments regarding the trio, the only thing that they've got going for them at this point was persistence, and that wouldn't be enough to keep them in his organization. "I believe the time has come for us to take matters into our own hands," he began, with the decision of ending this little charade. "009, this is Giovanni!"

The image of Domino appeared on the main screen; Domino was somewhat surprised by the way her leader made contact with her as it's been a while since then. "You called, sir?" she asked out of curiosity, which made Giovanni sit up.

"I think we should prepare all our forces. We are going to Hoenn!"

"To Hoenn?!" asked Domino, blinking a bit like the last time she checked; three of their members were already assigned a particular task there. Not to mention they would have some resistance in the form of Team Magma and Team Aqua, something the man himself grinned at the thought of eliminating three birds with one stone, so to speak. "Isn't that where you said those losers were the three supposedly got stationed at?"

"Precisely, and what better way to deal with the problem than to confront it head-on," answered Giovanni before something else came to mind because two of his more competent members had yet to return by now. "What of Butch and Cassidy?"

"No clue, though they were last said to have gone to the Sevii Islands… well more specifically Mt. Ember because one of the Legendary Birds resided there," explained the Black Tulip with a stern expression on her face. "Hopefully, they can redeem themselves for their previous plans getting ruined in Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto."

"I see…" Giovanni closed his eyes, feeling that he will need all members at his beck and call to take their fight to Team Aqua and Team Magma. It would become one hell of a confrontation, even with everyone from his organization aiding him. "Inform them that they're needed back here for the preparations at hand."

"Okay," said Domino, nodding at the man in charge and felt that this would be one mission that will be successful provided nothing else goes wrong along the way; then, something clicked into the back of her mind. "What about those three…."

"If they get in the crossfire, then it's their problem," responded Giovanni, his expression darkening at the thought of Jessie, James, and even Meowth possibly returning empty-handed again as they always do. In his opinion, enough was enough with Persian hissing in anger himself. "I've grown weary of their incompetence…"

Domino nodded as they needed a base of operation to get set up in Hoenn. "I'll get our forces ready then, sir," she said with a smirk on her face.

---

Meanwhile, back in Hoenn, Ash and the others were still waiting for someone to help them outside of the submarine. "Hello, can someone help us!" he cried out to the ones that were inside.

"Yeah, we're stuck on your submarine!" May called out to them as well, hoping they could drop them off where they needed to go.

Just then, they noticed the hatch to the submarine opened up as they saw a man dressed in red, and all got worried as they recognized the uniform that he was wearing. "Oh great, it's those guys again," Ash said with a frown on his face.

Tabitha looks through his binoculars towards their destination up ahead. From their hiding place out of Tabitha's view, Ash and his friends recognize him and soon realize the sub they were on right now belongs to Team Magma.

Ash frowned at this, not liking that he and his friends had to land on their submarine. "Great, it just had to be Team Magma," he said as he looked up to hear what was going on and knew that they now needed to find a way to get off the submarine.

"Your right; what are the chance we landed on their submarine?" Brock asked, knowing that this was not good for them, more so with the encounters that they have had before with the team.

"Of all the rotten luck, I mean first Team Rocket and now Team Magma," May said as knowing that this was not at all how she wanted her day to start.

'What's that?' Pikachu asked as he pointed something out in the distance while the others watched as the sub's hatch for an opening in a much larger ship ahead.

"Do you think that's Team Magma's secret base?" May asked as she looked at her friends and then towards the base that they were heading towards the large base that belonged to the evil team.

Ash knew that his friends were worried and he couldn't genuinely blame them for this was not like facing the Team Rocket Trio after all, and he, along with the others, all knew that this was going to get a lot harder as well since they were heading to their base of operation.

Before Ash or the others knew it, the submarine made its way into the base while Ash and the others stayed where they were, each one wondering what was going on and what they should do.

"Reporting in as ordered, sir, the third division has completed its patrol," Tabitha said as he gave his leader Maxie.

On the other hand, Maxie has an unimpressed look on his face as he looked over to Tabitha and soon noticed something else, Ash and his friends who were out in the open. "Oh no, we better hide," Max said as he and the others began to look for a place to hide.

"Yeah, no kidding Max but where?" May asked as she too began to look around as well in a panicked tone. After all, right now, they were outnumbered and couldn't take on that many members.

Before they knew it, Ash and the others were blocked and surrounded by ten Mightyena, each growling at Ash and his friends, with Ash and the others having no option to put their hands in their air.

Still, that didn't make Ash or the others happy about the situation they were in right now, yet Maxie just smiled at the youngsters who didn't seem too pleased with him. "Now, calm down. You needn't be so afraid. My name is Maxie. I'm the leader of Team Magma."

"Yeah, so what are you going to do with us?" Ash asked with a little anger in his voice as he was worried for his friends and what could happen to them.

Maxie, on the other hand, hearing this from Ash, couldn't help but lightly laugh at the reaction that Ash had towards him. After all, Ash knew full well who he and his friends were thanks to Tabitha telling him all about the four.

"Seamier down, we're not going to hurt you," Maxie said as Ash and the others all looked on, confused at what he was talking about, still unsure what to do. "It's just we're a little busy right now, so stay in the submarine, and don't give us any trouble until our mission is complete."

"I'm sorry about this, Maxie," Tabitha said as he bowed his head lightly over what had happened that the fact that Ash and his friends had found them.

Despite all this, Maxie was none to faze by all of this as he knew they had other problems they needed to deal with them some kids. "That's alright. We still need to keep an eye on Team Aqua since they got that the member that has been causing more trouble for us."

Ash and the others were shocked by this and wondered what they were talking about looking at each other. "What a new member?" Ash began to wonder as the last thing they needed was more members that were hard to deal with right now.

"And just who is this new member that is causing you so much trouble?" May asked, showing a frown; after all, both groups didn't have the best of Pokémon to deal with the other.

"With have no idea on her name, but my operatives managed to take a photo of her," Maxie said with a frown as he soon showed them the photo, and each one was taken aback by who they saw in the picture. "We've been trying to find a way to beat her powerful Water Pokémon."

Before anyone could speak up, a female member of Team Magma with lovely violet hair entered the room and saluted her leader. "Sorry to disturb you, but we've received word that we have discovered something that should interest you," she informed her superior.

"Admin Courtney, what a pleasant surprise…" began Maxie, recognizing the young woman who approached him and had a feeling she wouldn't be asking to speak with him if it wasn't necessary, whether it concerned either Team Aqua or otherwise. "You wish to speak with me on something?"

"Yes, apparently, there is news that I wish to speak with you about in private…"

"I see…" Maxie replied with a curious expression, then left the office for a brief moment, then turned his attention towards the young trainers brought before him. "We will continue this discussion later. For now, make yourselves at home as some of my men are to ensure you won't escape just to be on the safe side."

With that said, Maxie left the room, and Ash gave a small sigh as he felt that he knew who the new member was, but it's too soon to confirm unless they have proof. "I wonder what's going to happen to us?" asked Max, wishing that his father was here right now as he'd be sure to give these creeps a lesson or two they won't ever forget.

Ash remained utterly silent because there were things that won't add up, and he wished that he had a plan to get them out of this. "You okay, Ash?" asked May immediately with a look of concern on her face, though he didn't say a word yet suspected it had something to do with what Maxie revealed to them.

"Yeah, I'm alright…"

"You're lying…." she replied, showing an expression because it also seemed that he was somewhat distant lately ever since Maxie left the room and that wasn't like him at all. Pikachu sighed as he saw how the human acted just now, sharing these sentiments regarding the events leading to this.

'Ash, you gotta understand that there is a chance Misty may not be our friend anymore…. especially if she has joined Team Aqua…' commented the male Electric Mouse to try and shake Ash out of his funk, then sighed. 'I mean, it is worse than the time you saw May naked when she's changing her clothes and….'

He stopped himself from finishing, and it was too late as May's expression changed from concern to anger at the fact Ash had been peeping on her. "Is this true, Ash Ketchum?!" she asked with a darkened tone, causing the male trainers to be scared… even more so Ash as he'd expected this reaction from Misty, not from her.

"Look, May, it was an accident…" Ash tried to explain, with Pikachu realizing that he got his trainer in trouble. Pikachu needed to do something before May killed him for accidentally seeing her naked body when she was preparing to have a bath back at Lilycove City. "I didn't know you were having a bath when I went to…"

She wouldn't hear any of it as she angrily tightened her hand into a fist, and she punched him so hard that blood spurted from his nose. "You baka!" she screamed, still can't believe he did what he did. "I didn't realize up until now that there's something wrong with your brain… I used to think that you're a good trainer teaching me the ropes, but you're nothing more than a useless good for nothing pervert!"

"Brock…."

"Yes, Max?"

"Tell me when this is over, okay?" suggested Max, both he and Brock held each other for dear life as things were starting to get worse… sure, Ash had it coming, even if it wasn't intentional. However, they needed him alive because it would take all of them to make it out alive, but with May planning to kill the young man from Pallet Town, there's a chance it might not happen at all, which worried them. "And I thought Team Magma was scary… My sister is putting them to shame right now."

On the other hand, Ash held his nose and felt scared of the angry May as he knew that hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. "Just because you can't get girls to like you doesn't mean you can be a peeping tom!" she continued as she got closer towards him and feared for his life.

"May, I honestly wasn't trying to peep!" he explained, wanting to make sure that May would hear him out before she decided to claim his life and how nothing in this world save him from such a fate in store for him. "Besides, I didn't even know you were in the bathroom, and why exactly would I want to see you naked…."

'Ash, you better let me handle it before you make it worse….' commented Pikachu, while Ash silently nodded his head with a still frightened expression as he knew that Misty's mallet was now nothing compared to the punch that May delivered to him. 'May, can we take this to a more private place… you know to help you cool off and keep you from doing something that you may end up living to regret?'

Suddenly, Skitty popped out of her Pokéball though she saw her trainer's furious expression on her face and made her wish that she had stayed inside. 'May, are you okay?' she asked though Pikachu answered her question before May can respond.

'She's not in a good mood right now, and I'm trying to be a peacemaker between her and Ash.' he informed the female Pokémon before shifting his attention back towards May. In all honesty, she was an adorable girl, and he didn't want to battle against her at all, let alone the fact that he refused to face her if a repeat of what happened with Oscar and Andi took place. 'Ash saved your life many times before throughout our journey together, and last I checked, Butler was once a member of Team Magma himself during the events with Jirachi, and so I'm asking you to trust me… Please….'

May remained silent and nodded at the Electric Mouse, then went to another part of the room to discuss the matter of Ash having ended up peeping on her, something he never once did when with any other girl throughout his journey. "That was close…" muttered Ash, glad Pikachu can save him from sudden death.

"Too close for comfort, that's for sure," added Max, just as relieved as Ash it was over Pikachu stopping what could've been a murder, and yet he and Brock glared at the raven-haired man. "Still, I can't believe that you pepped on my sister!"

"I'd have to agree with Max on this one," said Brock with a stern expression forming, not too pleased with Ash at this very moment himself over the because while he liked to flirt with pretty girls, he'd never go as far as to spy on them when they're either undressing or having a bath. "You've done stupid things in the past, but this has gone too far."

"I'm telling you that I didn't mean to peep on May!" yelled Ash to try and convince them that it was indeed a minor mistake. Ash was now mentally cursing himself over the incident at Lilycove; for all he knows, this could be the last region he would ever get to travel to because Ash knows May might kill him, now that his friends know about it. "I don't want this to lead to another battle of the sexes…."

"Okay, look, we need to focus on the bigger pitcher right now," Brock said as he didn't trust nor believe that Misty joined Team Aqua.

"Yeah, I mean, do you think that she would have joined them?" Max asked as he looked at Brock and then to Ash since they both knew Misty a lot longer than he or May did after all.

Ash nodded at this as he looked down. "I refuse to believe she would join those guys," he said with a frown.

---

Little did they know that a Team Aqua member called Shelly was also on the base looking for something of her own and had already knocked out two Team Magma guards thanks to wearing one of their uniforms. "Now, where are they keeping you?"

Shelly soon began to look in the rooms before she found what she was looking for and gave a dark and sinister smile on her face. "There you are, Kyogre, don't worry, you'll be free soon enough."

With a smile now on her face, Shelly began to work on freeing Kyogre, but Shelly knew that was not the only mission; she also needed to find the Blue Orb that Team Magma had once she had them before she knew full well that Team Aqua would have everything that they needed.

"Matt, this is Shelly… I found what we've been looking for, which leaves only one more item to acquire."

"Good, I am already doing my part as we speak!" came a male voice on the other end of the speaker that she had in her possession; this was one mission that they will accomplish. They would make sure that Team Magma falls one way or another for their interference back at Dewford Town, Mt. Chimney, and the Weather Institute. "My bro is gonna prepare for the next step once we've succeeded at the task."

"Alright, just be careful. As we don't want our cover to get blown," responded Shelly with a stern expression on her face as both were aware that they only got one shot at making this successful because there's no other alternative should a screw-up occur. "You are getting close to Maxie, right?"

"Of course, besides even those idiots Tabitha and Courtney don't suspect a thing," Matt replied, determined to crush anyone who stands in his way, whether they be from Team Magma or otherwise, then something came to mind. "Then there's those three… the ones from Team Rocket… whoever they are."

The red-haired female Team Aqua Admin remained silent; she remembered seeing the Team Rocket trio at the Weather Institute and suspected there might be other members that they've yet to see. "Let's not worry about them; in all honesty, they aren't a major threat," she commented as if to disregard the Rocket trio just in case they do try to cause problems.

"If you say so, plus I have heard that one of Team Magma's members turned on them," he continued, as he seemed to be overhearing the conversation that Maxie and Courtney were discussing concerning one of their members betraying them. "I believe it's someone named Butler and how he was supposed to get a Pokémon called Jirachi."

"J-Jirachi?" wondered the female Team Aqua member, suspecting there had to have been some event that they never knew of leading to Butler's apparent defection. "Never mind, don't forget what to do should your cover come close to being blown."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard! Just hurry up and free Kyogre, okay? I'll be ready on my end Admin Matt out!"

---

Meanwhile, Ash and the other were now standing in front of Maxie, Courtney, Tabitha, and May had calmed down, knowing that it was just an accident. "Please have a seat. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about this in a friendly way."

"Yeah, well, I'm not talking to you guys!" Ash snapped at Maxie, not liking what they were up to, and he would stop them.

However, Brock just looked over to Ash, knowing that this was not a good thing to do right now, and he knew Ash needed to know this, mainly as they were not safe right now. "Come on, Ash. We better hear what they have to say."

"Yeah, but why Brock, we all know what they have done?" Ash asked as he looked over to Brock, wanting to know this, and just then, they all heard growling coming from Mightyena as one roared at them all.

With that said, the four sat down as Max looked over to Ash while keeping an eye on the Mightyena's looked at the young trainers. "That's why Ash best we do what they want for now," said May as she whispered the last part to Ash.

"Ash, I don't think you should make them angry," Max said with fear at what was going on while May comforted her brother on what was going on.

"All I'm doing is telling the truth! After all, they're no better than Team Rocket!" Ash said, knowing of the trouble that his home region had right now.

Tabitha, hearing this was not pleased with what he had heard from Ash and tightened his fist. "You better watch what you say, kid!" He began looking at Ash and the others. "And we are nothing like the losers of Team Rocket."

Maxie smiled at this as he looked over to Tabitha. "There's no need for that." He said to him in a calm tone as he soon looked over to Ash and smile.

"You and your friends misunderstand us, Ash. We are not the bad guys here. You see, we want to unlock the secrets," Maxie said with a smile still on his face while Ash and the others all looked at him, wondering just what he was talking about by unlocking the secrets.

Ash and his friends didn't like the sound of the look that Maxie had on his face. After all, they had been told by many people just how bad both Aqua and Magma are and didn't play nice. "Hmm, apparently, Courtney has revealed the traitor we've been looking. We've spotted in another part of the Hoenn region," he continued his attention, looking at the trainers.

Maxie knows there should be a chance they'll deal with him for his decision to turn against them slowly and painfully. "Perhaps you're familiar with him…"

"What do you mean him?" asked Ash; Courtney revealed in her hand a photo of a familiar former Team Magma member and his blonde-haired beloved. Seeing the picture caused the group to be utterly shocked at what they witnessed, even more so than when they saw the new member of Team Aqua and the powerful Pokémon with her. "Is that…."

"Yeah, as expected, but in any case, you should be aware that he and Diane were then immediately seen interacting with someone…" explained Courtney, gesturing to the silver-haired man whom Butler is interacting with right now. The trainers could tell that it's none other than Steven, someone they saw back at Dewford Cave not too long ago, and remembered the Aggron he used against the Team Rocket trio. "So, any ideas on whom exactly this silver-haired man is?"

Again, the group remained silent, not wanting to inform the criminal Team of anything they knew about Steven Stone, and Tabitha knew that it wouldn't get them anywhere. "No answer, huh? Perhaps you should have some persuasion, and it may force you to reveal what you know," he said with a scowl, and then Maxie raised his hand to stop his male Admin from resorting to brute force to get answers.

"That's enough, Tabitha," he said to Tabitha and turned his attention towards Ash, knowing that he wasn't going to force him to speak up on Butler or Steven. At least not for now. "Why am I getting a distinct feeling that you don't like us, Ash?"

"Cause I don't, that's why and I know you and Team Aqua aren't friends, but I also know you wanna steal ancient Pokémon and then use it to do bad stuff!"

Tabitha and Courtney remained silent, wanting to take matters into their own hands with these kids but had no choice but to comply with Maxie's orders for now. "If you're planning to do something to try and stop us, then don't even bother or better yet, look to your right shoulder…" informed the female Magma Admin, and Ash did what he was told, only to notice something was missing.

"What the?!" exclaimed Ash, noticing Pikachu was not on his shoulder anymore. "Where's Pikachu?!"

"Lose something?"

Ash and his friends turned around, seeing a trapped Pikachu in a cage. He tried to break himself free with his Thundershock attack but to no avail. "Don't bother wasting your energy because that's one cage that you won't be leaving for a very long time," informed one of the Team Magma Grunts, which only served to make Ash angry at him and his leader for what they've done to his buddy.

"Why you!" began Ash, looking ready to take out one of his other Pokémon, but some of the Team Magma Grunts aimed their guns at him and his friends in a bid to prevent him from doing anything funny. "Let him go now!"

"You're in no position to tell us what to do, kid," remarked Courtney; she and the rest of Team Magma won't hesitate in shooting the trainers where they sat if they ever tried to attack when the odds are against them. "Besides, you'll be dead if you were to try and harm us; we mean it too…. So if I were you, then I'd stand down unless you want one of your friends to get a taste of lethal bullets as a result."

Gritting his teeth, Ash had to sit back down and listen in to what Maxie has to tell him because, at this point, they may not be getting out of this mess. "Smart choice anyway, my friend, you're mistaken about us. Team Magma's sole purpose is to unravel the mysteries of our planet, and in doing so, we will build ourselves a better world for everyone," said Maxie, intrigued that it takes threatening those Ash cared about to get him to do their bidding. "We have absolutely nothing in common with a bunch of crooks like Team Aqua or even this Team Rocket."

"Why should we trust you guys?" wondered Ash, looking away and hating the idea of feeling helpless at a time like this when Team Magma just resorted to threatening to harm an innocent purpose.

"Either way, I'm sure you realize that ancient Pokémon are legendary. So, they are not all that easy to capture, you know," added Brock with just as suspicious an expression as his fellow trainer from Kanto, only for Maxie to have his hands placed together on the table.

"Of course, but we already have one of the two ancient Pokémon…"

The moment the leader of Team Magma said that Ash and his friends were shocked that not only did Team Magma have one of the ancient Pokémon, but they knew that if the remaining ancient Pokémon is acquired, then they dreaded to know what would happen. However, nearby, one of the Team Magma members grinned as he was already aware of which ancient Pokémon Maxie had in his possession. "That's right, not only that, but we also have the ability to control ancient Pokémon," he continued as a strange dark blue orb slowly emerged from within the table. "With this Blue Orb…"

"A Blue Orb?" exclaimed Ash in even more shock, having a feeling that Team Magma couldn't have gotten it by just a mere coincidence.

"To each human sorrow from the floods of long ago, Groudon dispelled storm clouds and caused volcanoes to erupt. Forming more inhabitable land," began Maxie, explaining the story of the Pokémon known as Groudon to Ash and his friends and reflecting on how powerful it was when it clashed with its rival Kyogre. "Our goal is to use Groudon in the very same way and to establish direct contact with its ancient world. You see, the power this world holds is way beyond measure, but even as we speak, Team Aqua works against us as they seek to find Kyogre. Its power opposed Groudon's, yet what they do not know is we already have the ancient Pokémon that they seek as it is in our position."

"The only problem is Team Aqua has managed to get their hands on Groudon," added Courtney.

None of Team Magma was aware that Matt was listening in on everything and that his partner was already at work in releasing Kyogre so they can use the Red Orb in a bid to create more ocean for them. "A pity, if only we could see the look on their faces when they find out we are one step ahead of them."

"While Kyogre is useless to us, we thought it could prove helpful to ruin Team Aqua's plans," Maxie continued, having more than one way to skin a cat Pokémon. "And then we found out some disturbing news… As we said before, we discovered Team Aqua has Groudon, not just the Red Orb!"

Ash was even more horrified than ever at the news. "Then that means that both ancient Pokémon have been caught!" he said in dismay, and Maxie nodded his head to confirm.

"Regrettably, this Blue Orb can only control Groudon, and we have no clue on how to activate its abilities. And Team Aqua is having the same problem with the Red Orb as it can only be used with Kyogre. However, they haven't a clue on how to use its power properly," the leader of Team Magma continued with much-needed regret in his voice as he felt that unless they find out more of the Blue Orb, it is useless to both sides, as was the Red Orb.

"Sometimes I wished I never fired Butler. He was one of my best henchmen, even if his plan went awry as both our groups cannot use these ancient Pokémon unless we can activate the Orbs we possess. Now we're on our way to a small island; there, we can only hope that Butler and Diane haven't already left because he might have some answers to our situation. Unfortunately, we can't have kids getting in our way… Tabitha, Courtney, I want you to lock these children up at once."

"Right," both Tabitha and Courtney complied. However, before they could act, everyone heard a small chuckle that gets their attention.

"I should thank you for making my job easier because now my bro has the means of using Kyogre to complete his dream!" began the disguised Matt, taking his Magma's uniform off and revealing who he was. "Awww… good to be out of that stupid Magma uniform. I was beginning to stink from wearing it."

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Tabitha; none of Team Magma were pleased that someone from Team Aqua has managed to infiltrate their submarine. They soon realized that Matt wasn't the only one onboard as Shelly was already at work freeing Kyogre from its imprisonment.

Surely enough, the alarms went off from all over the submarine and caused everyone in the room to be even more shocked while Matt knew that his cue to take the Blue Orb has come. "What is it?" asked Maxie, having wondered if things could get any worse.

"A malfunction in Kyore's cargo hold, and it seems it's starting to wake up!"

"What?!" he was even more shocked as the reawakened ancient Pokémon broke out of its bonds and prepared to break free from the submarine that had held in for so long. "Damn it, just when we didn't have enough problems to deal with…"

An explosion from Kyogre's escape caused the entire submarine to shake, and the people onboard started losing their balance. However, Matt didn't seem phased by it as the Blue Orb started to glow now that Kyogre was no longer in Team Magma's position. Fortunately for Ash, Pikachu's cage fell onto the ground not too far from where the human trainers were sitting. He ran towards it to get the Electric Mouse out of his trap. "Don't worry, Pikachu. I'll get you out of there!" He informed his starter and threw a Pokéball into the air to send one of his Pokémon out. "Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!"

Being released into action, Grovyle used his attack to cut through the lock that kept Pikachu's cage sealed shut and set his fellow Pokémon free. Matt was using the confusion to his advantage in a bid to get the Blue Orb from under Maxie's nose. "You won't be needing this anymore!" said the male Admin, grabbing the Orb after having his own Mightyena use Tackle on the chair that his bro's enemy was sitting. However, then a familiar pink cat, Pokémon, used a Quick Attack to knock him away and lose his grip on the Blue Orb he was holding. "What the?!"

As the Blue Orb flew into the air. The Mightyena's from Team Magma tried to recover its only to encounter resistance from both Grovyle and Pikachu, using their respective Leaf Blade and Iron Tail attacks to strike them down. May managed to catch the Orb before it could hit the ground. "Hey you, give that back!" yelled the male Team Aqua Admin, only for the Orb to glow an even brighter blue with red marking appearing on it as a result, and it began merging itself into the brown-haired girl's body. "No, no, no! Mightyena, grab the Orb before it's too late!"

'No, you don't!' yelled Skitty, using her Assist. It turned into a Fire Spin attack that stopped not only Matt's Mightyena but also Team Magma's Mightyena's, including Maxie's own, stopping them dead in their tracks. At the same time, May cried in pain as the Blue Orb combined into her body, which made Ash, his friends, and their Pokémon even more worried than ever. 'Oh no, May!'

Outside, Kyogre heard May's cries of pain and broke its mouth free as the markings on its body. Its eyes glowed brightly, beginning to attack the submarine with a powerful Hyper Beam attack, which served to damage the vessel further more than ever before. "Matt, this is Shelly… we need to get out of here!" the dark-skinned male Aqua Admin heard his partner contacting him and at the worse time too. "I don't know what's going on, but Kyogre's on a rampage!"

"You serious, well damn it?!" Matt didn't like the sound of this as he then saw Ash going to May's side, and May gripped onto her shoulders to try to ease herself of the pain though as she opened her eyes, they were now blood-red and the red marks from the Blue Orb were now on her body.

"May what's wrong?" Ash asked, worried for her and what was going on that caused her to cry out like this.

"I don't know, but there's a pattern that keeps showing up on her body," Brock said that he too was worried for May and holding Max back, who wanted to go and help his sister out.

However, Maxie was not happy with this either, as he looked over to May and what had happened and turned his attention towards Tabitha. "Quickly grab that girl!" Maxie yelled at the turn of events that have now happened.

"Yes as you wish, sir!" Tabitha said as he quickly grabbed a Pokéball and looked over to May, who was screaming in pain as she opens her eyes and they were glowing red.

Yet before they could do this from behind them, an explosion stopped both Tabitha and Maxie from attacking them. However, the shock sent May crashing to the ground as Ash ran over to her and looked at her. "May talk to me?"

"Quickly now is our chance to get away," Brock said as Ash looked at his friend and nodded as he recalled Grovyle back into his Pokéball, then helped May to her feet, and they ran off as quickly as they could.

"May…?" Ash asked as he continued to run with him, holding onto her for support, unsure how to help her.

"It has to be something to do with that Blue Orb May touched," Max said as she looked at May as she once again cried in pain from what was going on which they were still not sure what's happening.

---

Outside the submarine, Lance was still looking over to the other blue submarine that had just shown up and knew that things were starting; he quickly took out his radio. "Misty, it looks like Team Aqua sent a spy over here just like you said they would."

"That's not good thought you would have more time, but I have found Groudon at least, but it seems that they are guarding him tightly," Misty said from her head, hoping that this didn't stop them from saving both Pokémon.

Lance nodded, but just before he answered what Misty should do, he spotted two people that he knew, Ash and Brock. "It's Ash…"

On the other hand, the young trainers had reached outside, not knowing that an old friend is watching them as Ash and the others looked at the ocean and knew they needed to jump in so they could get away from Team Magma.

"What are we going to do? We can't jump from here?" Max asked with a worried tone in his voice and then looked over to his sister, who was learning on Ash's shoulder as she moaned in pain once again and knew she wouldn't be able to swim if she was like this.

"I don't think we have any options as we need to get May help before Team Magma can get their hands on her," Ash said with a worried look still on his face at what they would do to get the Blue Orb back.

Pikachu and Skitty were both worried themselves. They were keeping a lookout making sure Team Aqua members, let alone Team Magma, came after them again, and things were about to worsen as a familiar Team Aqua submarine soon surfaced from the ocean depths. "Damn, our ride's here!" cursed Matt, knowing it's about time he and Shelly returned at once, but they couldn't leave empty-handed as they knew Archie wanted results from both his Admins. "Sorry we're running late Bro, we've been busy with some resistance from those Team Magma dingbats, but we've freed Kyogre as planned."

At the top of the submarine, Archie grinned as Kyogre was set free from Team Magma's grasp, and with the Red Orb in his hand, he knew that he would be able to control it create more oceans for water Pokémon. "Not to worry, Matt. You and Shelly have accomplished your mission and have once again proven yourselves worthy of my trust," responded Team Aqua's leader with a grin on his face. Assuming that they've also successfully got their hands on the only means of controlling the powerful ancient Pokémon in question. "So now I can actually get this show on the road, return at once so we'll begin our triumph over our enemies together."

Matt and Shelly remained silent, not knowing how to tell Archie the bad news. Especially as Kyogre looked like it's going berserk and suspected it had something to do with the brown-haired girl the Blue Orb merged with and feared if that were the case, then they'll need to bring the girl with them before they even think about facing Archie. "Guys, we gotta jump for it…" began Ash as another Hyper Beam struck, and from what the group of trainers could tell. Kyogre was going out of control at this very moment; this didn't go unnoticed by the two Admins in question, and saw Ash holding May in his arms as they speak.

'Are you crazy?!' exclaimed Pikachu, knowing that there's no way in hell they would be able to swim their way out of here even with just Ash's Corphish and Brock's Mudkip as their only means of transport by sea.

"There's no other choice Pikachu, right now, May needs up help…. we don't know what happened when that Orb entered her body…" informed Ash, knowing that there's a chance May could die if she doesn't get treated as soon as possible and was certain Skitty feared for her trainer's life as much as he did, hoping that Pikachu would understand where he's getting at. "You have to trust me; we can't stay here any longer!"

Pikachu and Skitty remained silent, feeling that perhaps Ash did have a good point but deep down, the Electric Mouse. Despite not wanting to believe he was thinking this, he honestly wished that the Team Rocket Trio would show up the way they already did because of their desire to get their hands on him, as they've always attempted to do in the past, with a few exceptions here and there. "Alright, thanks, buddy, and you too, Skitty," smiled the raven-haired trainer then turned to see something that would make him horrified… Brodie, the familiar Team Magma member with the Ditto from way back at the Weather Institute, had Max in his arms, and to make matters worse, Ditto had morphed into a Machamp and held Brock by his arms. "What the?!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but none of you are leaving here anytime soon!" said the Team Magma member and was determined to see the Blue Orb returned to his leader, one way or another. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd suggest you hand the girl over to me… unless you want your friends to end up sleeping with the fishes!"

"Don't listen to him, Ash!" yelled Max, becoming afraid of what Brodie will do if he captured his older sister. Max is becoming worried about May ending up in the hand's Team Magma's captivity because there's a possibility of Maxie wanting them dead due to him mentioning he can't afford anyone getting in his way, especially not children.

"You shut up, or would you prefer being the first to die?" snapped Brodie; he wasn't lying when he said that he would make sure both of Ash's friends suffer slowly and painfully. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Pikachu looked ready to zap Brodie for that move; however, he couldn't because he may also harm Max and Brock in the process. On the other hand, Ash didn't like the idea of his friends paying the price for the decision he is to make, and he refused to let May get taken back to that damned villainous Team as he's aware of what they'll do to her. "I'm waiting, and the longer you keep me hanging, the closer I am to losing my patience!" continued Brodie, demanding an answer from Ash right now.

Remaining silent, Ash knew that he had to do something; however, a Mightyena came at Ash and May, knocking them to the ground. "What the hell?!" exclaimed Brodie and saw that both Matt and Shelly had decided to step in with their respective Mightyena's. "You again, just when I thought that the Weather Institute wasn't enough!"

"We'll be taking these two kids with us, so think of it as payback for your previous interference back there," responded Shelly, not too thrilled to see Brodie again, but neither she nor Matt had time to deal with him at the moment as they have a ride to meet up with now. "Let's go, Grimer, use Poison Gas!"

A familiar Sludge Pokémon from the Kanto came out of Shelly's Pokéball and unleashed a Poison Gas covering the area moments before Brodie, his Ditto, and even Pikachu and Skitty could try and retaliate. "Hurry Ditto, transform and blow that Poison Gas away!" ordered the Team Magma member; his Ditto immediately let Brock go and turned into a Salamance before using its wings to rid the poisonous gas keeping him from becoming poisoned.

Yet as the gas disappeared, there was no sign of Matt, Shelly, Grimer, Pikachu, Skitty, Ash, or May anywhere, which made Brodie grit his teeth out of anger as his fellow Team Magma members soon arrived at the scene. "What happened, Brodie?" demanded Tabitha, wondering where Ash and May are right now as he saw that only Brock and Max are still on the submarine.

"Team Aqua took the girl and the kid with the Pikachu and Skitty!" Brodie answered with anger present in his voice as he looked around and saw them getting away. "There they are!"

The two Team Magma members just gave evil smiles as they knew they would get the girl in question. "Well, time to get the girl," Tabitha said with a dark smirk as well.

Both Matt and Shelly looked back and were not happy, hoping they would have more time to escape. "Well, that's just great!" she said with a frown on her, knowing they were not going to make it back as they had hoped.

Just as she said, this Matt just smiled at this and laughed lightly. "Oh, they think they have won, but wait to they see what we have brought."

Shelly gave a smile as well, knowing who Matt was talking about as she took out her radio. "Okay, we need you now time to show the Magma fools why we are the best."

Before anyone knew it, a Gyarados emerged from the sea, shocking Ash, Max, and Brock but also the members of Team Magma as well. "Great, they brought her along with them," Tabitha said with a deep scowl on his face.

"That's a Gyarados!" Max said as he screamed in terror at the sight of the large Pokémon that was here now battling.

However, Brock was silent as he looked at the large Pokémon and saw that someone was on Gyarados, but he couldn't get a good look at the trainer. "Please don't let it be who I think it is."

On the other hand, Ash also saw this, but he was still worried for May and what was going on with her right now, but he still saw the Gyarados that had just shown up and the Team Aqua member standing on Gyarados as well.

Both Shelly and Matt smiled at this as they looked at each other and then looked up towards the Team Aqua member that arrived to aid them. "I'm so happy we found her," she said as she smirked at their friend. "Now she can show them."

Matt just nodded at this as this meant that their escape would go that much smoother. "Oh, it does this shall just them stinky Team Magma grunts who is really the best."

"Lance, what should I do you on that sub?" Misty asked, knowing Lance would be in danger heck; she had no clue on Ash, and her friends were here as well.

Lance knew the risk from his end, but Misty's cover needed so to remain a secret. "I understand, Misty, but do it to keep your cover, but you need to know that your friends are here," Lance said as he watched Max and Brock are still held captive by Team Magma.

Misty was shocked at this and knew this was bad as she heard what has happened to them, but Lance told her that he would do what he could to help Brock and Max while she kept an eye on Ash and May.

"Okay, I understand, Lance… Gyarados use Hyper Beam on Team Magma's submarine," Misty ordered, and she knew that Ash heard her, and she knew or had a feeling she may have lost his trust, which hurt her thinking about this.

Ash had heard Misty's voice and frowned that his first-ever friend to travel with him was in Team Aqua, and he just wondered why she did this. "Why did you join them, Mist?"

Ash didn't have time to think as May's condition worsened the longer she didn't get treatment. It made matters worse even more so as Matt and Shelly were making sure neither of them could escape as the Team Aqua Submarine was nearby, plus Kyogre's rampage didn't help Team Magma much at all. "Ditto, transform and use Protect!" ordered Brodie, knowing that he needed to at least protect the Team Magma submarine while Tabitha and Courtney escorted Brock and Max to the big.

The Normal-Type transformed back to normal for a brief moment, then immediately turned into a Gyarados itself, using Protect to keep the Team Magma submarine from suffering any more damage from their enemies and also from Kyogre. "You didn't think that would be easy now, did you?" asked the Team Magma member, however, as he was busy trying to protect the submarine. It allowed Matt and Shelly to bring Ash, May, Pikachu, and Skitty off the opposing Team's vessel towards their escape submarine. "Now take it down with your own Hyper Beam!"

The transformed Pokémon complied with the order and unleashed its Hyper Beam at the opponent in a bid to return the favor. "Dodge it!" ordered Misty, not wanting to take any chances in allowing her Pokémon to get seriously hurt at a time like this. "Use your Headbutt!"

With a roar, Gyarados charged in at Ditto and delivered a blow right in the chest, but it wasn't enough to knock out the Team Magma member's unfortunately, as Brodie intends to prove why he's the best within Maxie's Team. "Don't take me lightly. You're not dealing with a grunt here!" he yelled.

'That's right; I am just as powerful as you are Atrocious Pokémon!' added Ditto, speaking in Gyarados' voice due to being transformed and having its moves to use against him, then proceeded with using a Whirlpool attack that caught him off-guard. 'Let's see how you get out of this one!'

"Good job Ditto," grinned Brodie, knowing that he is going to prove once again that no one can match him except his leader, and to prove it… he will take down Gyarados with his signature Pokémon as the very next command was then given. "Alright then, time to give them a taste of your Dragon Rage!"

'As you wish!' grinned Ditto, letting out a menacing roar, and the Dragon Rage struck at point-blank range, but Misty remained calm despite the direct hit as a wicked smile formed on her face because she had a few hidden surprises that she'll be revealing very soon. 'That should shut you up!'

'Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't go down that easily!'

"Huh?" muttered Brodie as he and his Ditto saw that Gyarados used his own Protect attack to stop the Dragon Rage from doing its damage. However, it only served to get both trainers even angrier at each other, seeing neither getting the upper hand.

Brodie scowled as he looked over to Misty, and then he began smirking. "I should've known you'd resort to that, girly!"

"You're one to talk because your Ditto turned into my Gyarados to give it an edge!" remarked Misty with a scowl on her face, knowing that she shouldn't waste time dealing with someone like him even if it is to keep her cover intact yet was concerned for Ash and May now that Matt and Shelly have captured them as she speaks. "Gyarados, let's show them what we can do!"

"You wanna play rough, huh?" said Brodie, an evil grin forming on his face as he decided it would be best to press on due to knowing that while Protect was an excellent attack, it cannot be used twice in a row because it would increase its chances of failing. "Ditto, use your Tackle attack and show no mercy!"

"Gyarados, use Tackle too!"

Ditto and Gyarados butted heads, determined to take the other down with all of their might. The two Pokemon could see their respective humans were just as determined to win their scuffle no matter what the costs were in terms of the stakes. "I have to admit; she's doing a pretty good job irritating Brodie," began Courtney, watching the battle and scowled to think anyone would hold their own against someone like him. "Still, all the more reason to stop Team Aqua before they destroy everything we have planned up till this point."

Unfortunately, with Kyogre already awakened and going berserker with the Blue Orb being inside of May's body, the only means of stopping this was to acquire the Red Orb and Groudon as well. "To think we failed to realize not one Team Aqua member managed to infiltrate our submarine but two of them…" she continued with a darkened growl, showing how much she despised Team Aqua with a passion. "Now they've taken the girl and that Skitty along with the boy and his Pikachu… No matter, sooner or later, we will get what we want, and Team Aqua will pay."

What caught her attention earlier was how Ash reacted when the Blue Orb merged with May, one that didn't go unnoticed by either Tabitha or Maxie. "Although I have to wonder, does that boy hold feelings towards the girl he was carrying?" she then asked herself, suspecting there might be a bond between Ash and May that they didn't notice until this point. "Tabitha, is our leader okay?"

"He's fine, Courtney. He is sore about what's happening, but he isn't too banged up, " said Tabitha, even he was furious over Team Aqua taking Ash and May, as well as the Blue Orb because now Archie had what he needed to control Kyogre effectively. "As for the remaining two prisoners, we will make sure they don't try and escape again just to be on the safe side."

"Good, so far; Brodie is facing one of the members of Team Aqua right now, but I feel that it could screw him over big time if he doesn't hurry up and finish this soon…"

"Is that?" Tabitha replied with a frown, knowing that they needed to make the necessary repairs as soon as possible before Kyogre or possibly this recruit of Team Aqua's can finish them off, and that was the last thing he wanted on his mind. "I'll inform someone to keep the two prisoners locked up, in case something goes wrong… I'll make contact with you about it."

Nodding her head, Courtney understood what she needed to do and turned her glance back towards the battle as it's clear that her fellow Team Magma members will do whatever it takes to get them out of this mess in some form or another. However, she's still rather curious to know what kind of Team Aqua member they're up against currently.

"Come on, Ditto, show that water freak what you can do!" Brodie said with a smirk on his face knowing that there was no way that he was going to lose to an Aqua member, let alone to a girl either.

Misty heard this and knew that she would not let him win either, as she knew that this Brodie was insulting her and her Pokémon, and being who she was, Misty was not going to let that stand. "Well, if you think that I'll let you beat me, then you have another thing coming, as I'm going to going to take down that fake Gyarados!"

Brodie once again laughed at this as he looked over towards Misty. "Oh, like you and your stupid water Pokémon can beat me," He taunted with a laugh.

With a deep frown, Misty knew that she needed to end this and fast; after all, she had no idea what or even why Team Aqua wanted Ash and May, so that was something she knew that she would need to find out as well. "Best that I end this battle as fast as I can."

Misty looked over to the fake Gyarados and was ready to end this battle. "Okay, Gyarados, it's time we end this. Are you ready?" Misty asked with a smile on her face as she was going to show why she was called the best.

Gyarados nodded at this, not liking that this Pokémon took its form. 'Okay, Misty, let's end this once and for all.'

Misty nodded as she was ready as well as she knew just what to do. "Okay, then Gyarados, time to use Flamethrower!" Misty cried out with a grin watching her Gyarados fired a powerful flamethrower came from its mouth even though it wouldn't do that very effective damage because its type changed, not just its appearance.

Brodie was shocked by this as he didn't see this coming and was not sure what else it was hiding and watched as the attack hit his Ditto, which was more than enough to end this battle as Ditto changes back to its true form.

With a smile on her face, she looked over to Gyarados and knew that it was time to go. "Good work, Gyarados. Let's get back to the sub," Misty said as Gyarados nodded and helped Misty return to the submarine.

Once she was back, Archie looked at Misty with a smile on his face while some grunts were holding onto both Ash and May and their Pokémon to make sure that they didn't get away. "Well done, Misty, you have shown those fools."

Misty nodded as she made sure that she didn't make eye contact with Ash as it was best to keep her cover that she didn't know who Ash was the same as May. "I will just need to work on someway to try and save them when I can," She thought as she looked at Archie. "Thank you, sir. It was my pleasure."

Archie looked over to the now retreating Team Magma and soon let out a laugh with a smile still on his face. "You see, even Team Magma fear the power that we now have." He said with a grin as he looked over to the other members of Team Aqua. "Now it's time we move onto Monsu Island."

Team Rocket had woken up on the island that both teams were now heading towards the island. "I've got to say that hurt more than other times," Jessie said with a light moan over what had happened.

"Yeah, that was not the best plan we have come up with," James said as he and Meowth both agreed that they would not try that again anytime soon.

The three just wondered what's going on as they looked at each other, knowing that they needed to know what's going on. So, Team Rocket decided to see what was going on and what the two teams were doing. After all, this could be their chance to take them down and impress Giovanni.

"Well, I've gotta say this is interesting," James said as he heard what Team Aqua had said and looked at the others.

"Well, I say we grab both Pokémon they have while they are busy dealing with each other," Meowth said as he smirked while Jessie and James nodded at this, knowing that he was right.

The three Team Rocket members soon smiled as they were in luck since no one was there to guard the Pokémon they were after. "That Kyogre sure can fill a tub," said Meowth as they looked at the monitor outside its container.

"I hope we have a good plan," said James.

"Of course we do," said Jessie as she got out her bazooka. "We're going to catch it with a net."

"One net coming up!" said Meowth. He was about to press the buttons on the console before James brought up his idea.

"Or we can contact the Boss and tell him of our discovery," he said as he got out their laptop computer. "Just think of how proud he will feel when he hears about this!"

"Even better idea!" said Jessie as she put down her bazooka. "That way, we have back up to get them both."

"Agreed," said Meowth excitedly.

"Wobbufett!" said Wobbufett.

It took them less than a minute for them to set up their laptop. Once the trio did, all three made contact with Team Rocket Headquarters, and sure enough, Giovanni was at his desk looking directly at them. He was looking more annoyed than pleased. "Meowth, Jessie, James! This better be important!" he said very sternly as he was already making the necessary preparations for his departure.

"Oh, it is, Boss!" said James with a grin on his face knowing that this will be worth it and make him very happy as well.

"You're not going to believe this!" said Jessie.

"We're on Monsu Island!" said Meowth. "And onboard a Team Aqua submarine, too."

"A-Team Aqua submarine?" said a familiar voice, sarcastically. "That's quite interesting."

"How long have you been held prisoner?" teased another voice, one which they all knew and heard many times before as well. The trio was shocked to see who was standing next to Giovanni, hoping that they would not see their rivals anytime soon and like this either.

"Cassidy!" said Jessie.

"And Buff," added James.

"It's Butch," yelled the green-haired field agent. "Why, is it that no one gets my name right!?"

"What are you two doing there?" asked Jessie.

"We've been taking care of business that would have been yours if you had stayed," answered Cassidy.

"Plus," Butch added as he looked up at the three with a smirk of his own, knowing just how to make them more upset right now. "We've also got an advance on our cash reserves."

"No fair!" said James. "How is it you two always have to steal our thunder whenever we're on our most important assignments!?"

"Yeah!" said Jessie. "It's not like we're always failing to impress the Boss! We are just as important as-."

"Enough!" snapped Giovanni. " Anyway, is this all you have to say?"

"Not quite, Boss," said Meowth happily.

"We discovered that Team Aqua has both Kyogre and Groudon held captive," said James.

"What!?" Butch and Cassidy yelled in disbelief.

"Interesting," said Giovanni. "How do you know this?"

"We'll show you," said Jessie. "See?" she said as they showed the monitor.

"Impossible!" said Butch.

"You've got to be joking!" said Cassidy.

"Fascinating," said Giovanni, feeling impressed by the three. "But where is Groudon?"

"It's in the other container next to it," said Meowth, already having a smile on his face.

"They must have Groudon as bait to get Team Magma's attention," Giovanni said. "That means they can't be too far away. Excellent work, you three. You have proven yourselves to be useful after all. Now, do what you can to release those legendary Pokémon. I will be on my way to see you soon."

After saying that, the screen went blank, leaving the trio puzzled by what he meant. "Do you know what this means!?" said Jessie, a smile forming on her face as it could work to their advantage one way or another.

"We are finally getting the reputation we deserve!" said James.

"I can already see that advance in our future," said Meowth.

"We are the best members that Team Rocket could ever ask for!" all three cheered.

"Wobbufett!" said Wobbufett.

"Now, let's go net Kyogre!" said Jessie.

"Right!" said the other two.

Back in his office, Giovanni just came up with a new plan. He then turned his attention towards Butch and Cassidy, who was shocked by what he just said to the trio. "Well, don't just stand there, you two!" he said sternly. "Assemble the Team Rocket Combat Unit! And prepare my helicopter! We shall depart for Monsu Island immediately!"

"Yes, Boss!" said the two field agents.

As Butch and Cassidy left his office, Giovanni turned to face Persian. "Soon, Groudon and Kyogre will be ours for the taking," he said as he petted Pokémon. "And as for Team Aqua and Team Magma, I have something else in store for them."

"Rowr." said Persian as it agreed with its master.

With that said, he immediately made contact with fellow members of his organization, and an evil grin formed on his face. "Attila, Hun, Wendy, Professor Sebastian… This is Giovanni!" he knew that they deserve the right to hear the intriguing news involving Groudon and Kyogre, which would require an entire army to deal with them as well as with Team Magma and Team Aqua in a bid to eliminate two birds with one stone. "Meet with 009 near the helicopter. We are heading for the Hoenn region!"

There was one female with lovely red-hair tied in a bun and donning regular glasses, instead of the black shade worn by the standard grunts, silently frowning as she stood by Giovanni's side as it's clear that Lance knew about Team Rocket still being a threat. Hence, he wanted a fellow member of the Elite Four to pose as a spy within their ranks for the worst-case scenario, and it seemed that scenario has arrived. "As much as I'd like to send my Lapras or my Cloyster to stop this from happening… there is nothing I can do without exposing my identity." she thought to herself, hoping that Lance is doing well on his end as she is going to be accompanying the Combat Unit to Hoenn. "I pray that Ash and his friends are not dragged into this… otherwise, who knows the consequences that could occur."

In Hoenn, a familiar silver-haired young man looked on from his home at Mossdeep City with a frown on his face. because he had been researching Groudon and Kyogre but never dreamed that one day they would be reawakened by the actions caused by Team Magma and Team Aqua. "I guess this is unavoidable," he said to himself as the skies were starting to turn black, and he could hear the thunder from where he stood with heavy rain falling from the dark clouds. Suddenly he heard a ring, and he answered the PokeNav he had with him. "This is Stone."

"Steven, is that you?"

"Father, it's been a while since I've last heard from you," began Steven Stone, somewhat surprised to hear that the president of the Devon Corporation was finding the time to call him, but he would need to alert the older man on the situation taking place. "I take it you know about what's happening…"

"Indeed I have," Steven's father answered with a concerned tone to his voice as he saw from out one of the windows from the Devon Corporation that the heavy rain was extending to the rest of the world, and it wasn't normal for something like this to happen either. "It looks like a huge flood taking place."

"I was afraid of that…" Steven silently cursed under his breath, fearing that Kyogre awakened finally or something woke him up, then prayed that there would be a means of stopping it before Groudon joined in and make things more hellish than they already were. "In any case, you need to stay indoors and inform everyone at Rustboro City not to leave until we can confirm when the storm will stop; this includes Roxanne. I'll be certain to let everyone, including Tate & Liza, the same thing."

"Okay, but what would you be doing?" wondered Mr. Stone, knowing that his only son will want to find out more on how the storm even started and if anyone can stop it.

"I'm already making the preparations for my departure to Monsu Island," answered Steven, having all six of his Pokémon with him, including his Aggron in case it was Kyogre causing the storm and needing to get prepared for the worst. "The source of the storm seemed to be coming from that direction. Two more people are already either on the Island or are heading there now."

Mr. Stone didn't like the idea of Steven risking his life to stop the horrible weather affecting the world, but if his Pokémon can handle it and keep the younger Stone safe through this whole thing, he had no say against it. "Very well, just be careful, son," he replied, which made Steven give a light smile on his face.

"I will, thank you, father," responded Steven before ending the call.

Steven gave a small sigh as he wondered how Butler and Dianne are doing due to having a head start heading towards Monsu Island but knows there would be a way to find out more on the two ancient Pokémon before wondering if can stop the two. Then another call came on the PokeNav, this time, it was an anonymous caller, and he immediately answered. "Hello?"

"Good to hear from you again, Steven. I know that it's asking much, but how're the preparations coming along?"

"So far, so good, almost done, and I should be there soon… Butler and Dianne might already be on the island looking for clues on the two ancient Pokémon…" Steven answered the caller, knowing that it wouldn't be calling unless it involved something urgent, and then heard everything in secret involving what had transpired so far, including the release of Kyogre and the impending confrontation between Team Aqua and Team Magma. "I see… In this case, I wish all the best for you on your mission, and hopefully, when we meet, it won't be as enemies…"

"Indeed, unfortunately, it won't be easy, seeing as my partners and I are trying our best to keep our respective covers intact, but if we are to succeed, we don't have a choice."

Remaining silent, Steven knew it would be a bit difficult and nodded in understanding. "Very well then, let's hope that I can reach Butler and Dianne before Team Magma, Team Aqua, or possibly Team Rocket do," he said, worried about what all three could do.

Steven remembers the three members he used his Aggron against at the Granite Cave at Dewford Town not too long ago last time he met with Ash and his friends. However, his concern for them increased now that he knew they're involved in the mix. "I will see what I can do to help. However, I can't guarantee that nothing would go wrong."

"Yeah, I know…"

At the Team Magma submarine, Lance sighed as he ended his talk with Steven, and soon enough, Tabitha and Courtney approached the man. "How are the repairs coming along?" the former then asked him and another Grunt that joined him with a stern expression.

"Slow right now, both Kyogre and that Gyarados sure did a number on us big time," answered the nameless Grunt with a darkened scowl on his face that everything was not going as they originally planned. They needed to bring Team Aqua down and take back both Ash and May before using the two as a means for their plans. "Where's Maxie?"

"He's already on his way to Monsu Island," Courtney was the next to speak, rather furious herself, but she and Tabitha knew that they needed to stay calm for the time being. "We better go there immediately and get those two kids back from Team Aqua as soon as possible."

Soon enough, a Team Magma helicopter took off into the skies in a bid to put an end to Team Aqua once and for all. It didn't go unnoticed as Archie felt that Maxie would stop him, especially with the skies providing the rainfall needed to complete his dream for larger oceans though even without Kyogre can still deal damage. "Sharpedo, take these dingbats out once and for all with Hyper Beam!" he sent out his fully-evolved Water/Dark-type. It proceeded with firing a Hyper Beam that managed to obliterate the submarine in one hit, causing Archie to laugh as everything's going just as he planned. Then Kyogre was emerging from the ocean and was glad to see that his ancient Pokémon had reappeared. "So Kyogre, we meet at long last! Together you and I can make quite a team!"

The powerful ancient Pokémon let out a menacing roar as Team Aqua's leader gave another evil grin as he couldn't wait to use Kyogre's power. "Now for your first task, destroy that helicopter!" he commanded, yet there was no response from the Pokémon, which made his grin changed into a scowl at seeing it doing nothing. "Didn't you hear me? I said destroy that submarine!"

Much to his dismay, the result was the same; all it did was quickly return to the ocean depths from whence it came. "What the hell is wrong with it?!" he exclaimed with anger swelling in his body, then decided to have a word with Matt and Shelly over why Kyogre wasn't obeying a single command he's giving it. Even after acquiring it and the Orb, they needed to control the ancient Pokémon as he had no clue that the Orb had merged with May not too long ago, which may further anger him should he find out.

Unfortunately, they were nearing Monsu Island, so if they could not get control of Kyogre soon, they'll have to take the fight against Team Magma the old-fashioned way. Regardless, the outcome will remain the same whether Kyogre aided Team Aqua or not.

In the holds, Ash was growing more concerned, holding May close to him as she was still in pain from what was going on with her. Ash was worried about what the Orb was doing to her. "May it's going to be alright," he said with a frown on his face at what he should do to help her.

Yet as he said this, May began to thrash about in his arms as she cried in pain and the odd symbols began to show up once again even her eyes were red, and she even gave a scowl, but she had no idea on what she was doing, and Ash was doing what he could to calm her down.

"May it's alright!" Ash yelled, holding onto her even more tightly than before, knowing that if he didn't, May would most likely end up hurting herself. "I promise that I will help you, May," Ash said as he gently rubbed her head.

The moment that Ash did this, May started to calm down, as she once again opened her eyes, but unlike before when they were red had gone back to blue. "Ash…." she said with a weak whisper as she looked around, wondering what was going on.

"We got captured by Team Aqua May while Team Magma still has Brock and Max," Ash said, knowing that he needed to tell her what was going on.

"What about our…" May tried to say, and Ash knew what she was trying to say to him.

"Team Aqua has our Pokémon in another room. I think they wanted to make sure that we didn't use them to try and get away from them," Ash told her, frowning once more as he knew that he needed to get her out of here since they most likely put Pikachu into a cage that Pikachu can't zap his way out of, much like the previous one he was put into by Team Magma while Skitty was in a separate cage more or less.

Just as he was about to come up with something that could help both him and May escape, the door opened, and a Team Aqua member walked into the room. Ash didn't know who this member was, but once they were close enough, Ash could see her face. "Ash…" Misty answered with a sigh. Misty was hoping that Ash was alright and May was doing okay despite what was going on with her.

"Misty…" began Ash, the moment he saw the orange-haired girl's face as a lot was ringing on his mind right now, plus May was just as shocked herself despite her pain to see the female whom she met before the events with Colonel Hansen in a Team Aqua uniform. "It is you, still… I can't believe it…"

"Listen, it's not what it looks like… just between the two of you, I'm undercover to find out Team Aqua's plan for the ancient Pokémon," she silently explained to Ash and May, luckily they were alone, so it would be good to fill the two in on why she is even with the crime syndicate and that someone she and Ash knew from the Lake of Rage is doing undercover work within Team Magma to keep them from getting the two Legendary Pokémon. "Lance wanted me to go through with joining Team Aqua because they'd only work with those who have Water Pokémon such as me."

Ash and May remained silent; on the other hand, they knew the orange-haired girl wouldn't try and lie to them, let alone the fact she would never join a crime syndicate of her own free will. "Still, something happened to May when she touched that Orb back at Team Magma's submarine," Ash informed the Tomboyish mermaid with a look of concern, feeling May's condition might worsen if not treated soon. "To make matters worse, Brock and Max are still in Team Magma's captivity."

"I see… unfortunately, I'm not sure what happened, though I'm sure Lance will know when I hear from him," she replied to Ash, not wanting to see May die because of having bonded with the Blue Orb. It could explain why Kyogre went out of control not too long ago and why it tried to destroy the Team Magma submarine without any orders during its rampage. "Hopefully, he'll make sure nothing bad happens to Max or Brock."

Ash silently nodded his head, more since their friends were safe as long as Lance is there to keep an eye on them but he's still concerned for May, Pikachu, and Skitty. Even more so, the human girl resting in his arms right now because he had no clue what could happen if the Blue Orb remained bonded with her. "I just hope you're right since Pikachu and Skitty were locked elsewhere in this submarine right after Team Aqua took us on board," Ash continued; while it wasn't the first time he has ever got captured, it doesn't help matters at all. "Also, Team Magma is looking for Butler, who happened to be once part of their ranks."

"Who's Butler?"

"Long story, but it will have to wait till this is all over," said Ash, not wanting to risk Butler's or Dianne's safety because if Team Magma was after them. Then Team Aqua could use this to their advantage in some form or another and cringed at the thought of the former Team Magma member suffering, let alone his beloved. "Right now, we need to find out what we can do to help May."

"Yeah, I'll do whatever I can to help you two out… in fact, I may have an idea to get you guys out of here," Misty replied, giving a light smile on her face as it seemed she didn't need to worry about facing Ash and May in a battle or showing them no mercy especially as she'd rather not see May die from her current state. "It might come as a shock to you, but I think there is a way you'll help me out with my cover… what better way to do that than to pose as Team Aqua members yourselves."

Ash just looked at May and knew this was their best chance to escape. "Okay then, Misty," he said as Misty placed her hand up. "Hold on; May is a girl after all."

Ash just nodded as he just turned around while Misty helped May into her team Aqua uniform, and Ash got into his own he even hated having to wear one. "I'm just happy you didn't join them, Mist."

"As I would ever really join them or Team Magma, you should have a little more faith in me, Ash," Misty said with a huff in her voice as she smiled. "Let's hurry, not sure how long we've got."

---

Meanwhile, Giovanni was smiling as he and his men were getting closer to Monsu Island, and he knew that he would take away both Pokémon that Team Aqua and Magma had got. "Soon, both Groudon and Kyoga will be mine."

"Sir, we are getting closer and are ready for your orders as well," Domino said, standing next to the leader of Team Rocket as she was still shocked that the three idiots have for once done something right. "I just hope the three do their job."

Giovanni nodded at this, hence why he was not taking any chances with this; with a smile on his face, Giovanni looked out the window as he could already see the Island in view and knew that both Teams Aqua and Magma could see them as well.

The two teams soon confronted each other on the Island as Archie and his forces watched as Maxie's helicopters landed right before them. Exiting was the leader of Team Magma alongside Tabitha, Courtney, and a group of Magma Grunts. "How are you, Maxie?" asked Archie, knowing that things were not looking well for his rival.

"You have insulted the name of Team Magma!"

Archie shrugged at what Maxie just said about him, feeling as if it were nothing more than a compliment to him than an insult. "Nah, but these two might have," he replied to the opposing leader as he revealed that he has two Team Magma Grunts tied up in captivity. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, one of these two men is your commander, correct?"

"Damn you…" thought Maxie, gritting his teeth, and were certainly determined to put Archie down permanently for that act before Archie decided to continue with what he needed to say.

"I would assume his mission was to steal Groudon and the Red Orb… Although he failed quite miserably, didn't he?" he spoke, not realizing that Jessie, James, and Meowth were overhearing the entire conversation. In a way, this would work to their advantage because if they're successful in getting both Legendaries, their boss will give them a promotion.

"They have prisoners!" muttered Jessie in shock, something that Meowth and James silently nodded in agreement though they were ones to talk about because Team Rocket did take prisoners themselves at some point or another.

"This is good. Let's stay and see what happens!" added the purple-haired member, wanting to see how the upcoming confrontation will turn out.

As they watched while hiding within the bushes, Archie and Maxie continued with their conversation. "First you call for a meeting and then try to sabotage us?" he asked the red-haired man in front of him. "It seems to me that the only one truly insulting is you, and that's not exactly the best way to do business."

"Look Archie, you know as well as I do that Groudon and the Red Orb mean absolutely nothing to you or your organization," remarked Maxie, knowing the real reason why Groudon and the Red Orb were in Team Aqua's possession. It was to prevent Team Magma from going through with their plan of increasing the landmass. "So why don't you hand them over?"

Archie found it rather amusing that his main rival is threatening him. "I guess you just don't realize what a predicament you're in!" he replied, seeing this as nothing more than an empty threat to try and intimidate him. "The fact is we got Kyogre and the Blue Orb too!"

"You what?!"

"Here's the deal, Team Magma will be dissolved today!" began Archie, while he has no idea what is causing Kyogre not to obey a single command he's giving it… Archie can at least deal some damage onto Team Magma in a bid to rid himself of one problem, then focus on making Kyogre into his servant to create more ocean as he got Sharpedo's Pokéball out of his black jacket. "While Team Aqua emerges as ruler of the world, or else… If you prefer, I could use my Pokémon to destroy everything while you stand."

Jessie, James, and Meowth saw the darkened expression on Maxie's face, making them even more intrigued to see the ultimate confrontation about to take place. "This is better than my favorite soap opera," said James, still not sure what he and his fellow partners in crime should do at this point.

"Team Aqua managed to capture both Pokémon and now wants Team Magma to break up?" wondered Jessie, just as confused as her male partner was; then Meowth had an idea on how to further please Giovanni for when he arrives.

"Well, I always say, when you got a bunch of crooks trying to out crook each other, that's the time when you swoop in on 'em!" declared the male Scratch Cat with a hint of determination as it would work to their advantage and better aid them in getting Groudon and Kyogre. Simultaneously, Team Aqua and Team Magma are still fully preoccupied with taking each other down.

"Wow, do you think Team Aqua really thinks it can rule the world?" James asked his partners again, causing them to give them a somewhat annoyed expression on their faces for even asking such a ridiculous question.

"They do have two ancient Pokémon on their side…."

Before Jessie could finish her sentence, Meowth silenced his female partner. "No, we're gonna go steal em and give em to the boss as a gift just as we promised we would!" he informed the two humans, knowing that it's only a matter of time before Giovanni and his Team Rocket task force shows up to crash the party. "After all, we know where they are."

"So then, let's go hurry up and get our promotion into motion!"

"Wobbu! Wobbufett!"

Just then, before either Team Aqua or Team Magma could make their first move, they looked up to see the black helicopters all coming towards them. "Oh, trying to call for help, are we, Maxie?"

"What are you talking about?" Maxie asked as he frowned at what Archie said, knowing that they didn't belong to him. "They are not mine."

Both Team Aqua and Magma watched as the black helicopters landed not too far from their own as the doors slowly began to open, and Teams Aqua and Magma were both getting ready for anything that could happen.

"Well, I must say this is an interesting development, wouldn't you say?" Giovanni said with a smirk on his face walking out of his helicopter with his hand in his pockets. Team Rocket's leader was still staring at the two leaders, already showing that he didn't fear either of the two teams.

"Just who are you?" Asked Maxie, thinking that it was bad enough that Team Aqua had both Groudon and Kyogre in their possession, but now a newcomer has just come in and saw that this man wasn't alone. On the other hand, Archie remained perfectly calm, knowing that even though a new foe has joined the fray, it wouldn't be enough to prevent him from putting everything into motion.

"Me, who am I?" Giovanni asked back, giving an evil grin while his Persian hissed upon joining his master's side with the same evil expression that the leader of Team Rocket had. "I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket and the true ruler of this world! I'd suggest you two give me what I want or prepare to experience a world of pain!"

"Don't bother trying to trick us either…" added Domino, holding her black tulip in her hand with a wicked expression of her own. "We know about Groudon and Kyogre, and we won't hesitate in using brute force."

Maxie and Archie remained silent, they had no idea who this guy thinks he is, and from the moment he mentioned the name Team Rocket it caused Shelly to have realization hit her. "I take it you're the one who sent those three associates of yours at the Weather Institute," she remarked with a scowl on her face, memories of when the Rocket trio who had gotten captured easily alongside the scientists who were in charge of the institute.

"And what if I am?" he replied with a shrug as his men all gathered together behind him; among them was Butch, Cassidy, Wendy, Sebastian, Attila, Hun, and four high-ranking members wearing white uniforms. Still, they were of a completely different design than the ones Jessie and James always wore. One of the four high-ranking members had teal hair and teal eyes, one had red hair and red eyes, the other man had purple hair and black eyes, and the last one had green hair and green eyes. "You really think that I don't know what you have been planning for quite some time?"

Seeing this made both Team Magma and Team Aqua glare at their new enemies and would be damned if Team Rocket were to acquire the two ancient Pokémon for themselves.

In the meantime, onboard the Team Magma helicopter, both Max and Brock were held captive within a cell while also concerned for Ash and May due to the two being separated from them and taken by Team Aqua during the previous attack on Team Magma's submarine. "I'm having a terrible feeling about all this…" began the young boy, hating the idea of being helpless and being a prisoner. "First our encounter with those three from Team Rocket causing all of us to be sent blasting off, then we get captured by Team Magma, then learning Misty had joined Team Aqua, then the Blue Orb ended up entering my sister's body, and now she and Ash were taken by Team Aqua?"

"I don't like how things are going either, especially as I'm having mixed feelings about why Misty is with Team Aqua from what we saw," responded Brock with a stern expression. Not realizing that Team Rocket had joined the fray to confront Team Aqua and Team Magma in a bid to get both ancient Pokémon. "She helped us in stopping Team Rocket at Johto during the Whirl Islands as well as the Lake of Rage… though I never expected to see her becoming a member of Team Aqua."

Max let out a small sigh, wishing that Team Magma hadn't taken away his PokeNav as he would've been able to call his father for help. "Can things get any worse?" he asked himself, causing Brock to look at the boy with a somewhat dumbfounded look.

"Don't say that Max, we'll find a way out of this and then rescue Ash and May from Team Aqua," he did his best to reassure the young son of Norman and Caroline because there is always a way they can turn this around and save the world. "Odds are we may end up fighting Misty along the way."

Max didn't say a word, more so as he hoped that Brock would be able to handle himself in a battle against the Cerulean City Gym Leader now that she's a member of Team Aqua, or so they thought she was. Then again, Brock didn't have any of his Rock-Types with him, and none of the three Pokémon in his line-up had any weakness to water attacks. "Okay…" he replied, contemplating on a plan to get them out of there fast.

As they were planning on what to do next, the door to the cell opened as they saw a Team Magma grunt walk in with the hood over his head and covering his face. "Hey, what are you going to do with us now?" Max yelled, still none too pleased with what has been going on.

"I'm not here to hurt you." The voice said one that Brock knew and heard before.

"Wait, hold on a second, I know that voice," Brock said as the moment he said this, Lance took off the hood and revealed who he was to Max. "Lance…?"

Lance looked at Brock with a smile on his face, happy that he was alright and not hurt. "It's good to see you again, Brock," he said to the Pewter Gym Leader with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Brock asked, now wondering why he was here but soon stopped knowing it had to do with Team Aqua and Magma.

"I'm here to stop Team Aqua and Magma." He said as he saw the frown that Max had when he heard their names.

"I hope so as they have Ash and my sister and some Blue Orb bounded to her," Max said with a worried tone in his voice at what happened to her. "To make matters worse, Kyogre suddenly went on a rampage and tried to destroy the Team Magma submarine with us still on board it not long after that."

Lance was still worried at this, knowing Misty had said May was not well. "Not only that, but we think our friend Misty joined them as well," Brock added as he frowned at Misty joining them.

Lance, however, just gave a smile, which Max noticed. "Look, you don't have to worry about Misty. She is working with me, as is Lorelei," he said with a smile while seeing the shocked looked that Brock and Max had. "I'll tell you both later; okay, let's just get you both out of here."

Back in the cell that Ash and May were in, May had changed clothes and now dressed in a female Team Aqua uniform, yet May soon fell to her knees, crying out in pain as the red marks were once again showing up on her body as she screamed in pain. "Argh!"

"Oh no, May hold on!" Both Ash and Misty cried, moving over to her as the girl in question thrashed about hitting Ash to the floor.

"Misty, what has that Orb done to her? I mean, you must have learned something from Lance in all this time, right?" Ash asked as he looked at Misty, and he could see the look that she had on her face as she knew what the Orb was.

"Yeah, Lance told me about the orbs and how deadly they are, Ash," Misty began as she looked at him, remembering what Lance told her. "You see the Orbs that they have were created by evil people long ago to control Pokémon like Groudon and Kyogre and then use them as weapons, but the power they had was greater than the people who made them it just got worse from what Lance said Ash, but with May I'm not sure she has no evil heart."

Hearing this and what the people of the past were trying to do well, hearing it didn't make Ash happy to know this, and right now, he wanted to stop this. "Well, let's stop Team Aqua and Magma then," Ash said with a smile on his face.

"Still the same, huh Ash," Misty said, smiling at her old friend.

On the other hand, Ash nodded, and he too looked at Misty and smiled at her. "You know I was worried at first. I mean, thinking you joined them than seeing you in their uniform, but I'm just happy you're not a member."

"I know I have to say I hated it, but at least I know I can help you two get out of here and the to a safe place before things get a lot worse than they do, Ash," Misty said with a frown feeling that this was going to get a lot worse.

What none of them knew was it had. It had gotten a lot worse as just outside, Giovanni and Team Rocket were looking down at the two Hoenn teams with smiles on their faces. "What is it that you want from us then?" Maxie asked, knowing that it was best to buy as much time as they could right now.

"Unless you two agree to become subsidiaries of Team Rocket," said Giovanni looking at Maxie and Archie. "Both your organizations will cease to exist, and we will set up our Hoenn branch. Now, hand over the orbs and do not try anything foolish."

"Good luck trying to get the Blue Orb!" snapped Tabitha. "It's inside that kid's girlfriend!"

"That won't matter," said Giovanni with a calm tone in his voice. "I'll just have one of my scientists find a way to extract it."

"I just wonder where the three losers are," Cassidy said with a smirk. "I bet they messed up already, huh, Bill."

"Oh, come on, you know full well it's Butch!" He yelled in anger at his name, once again not getting said right.

Domino frowned at this as well, wondering where the three were right now, worried they will mess things up like always. "They better not get in the way," Domino thought, looking for the trio.

However, Domino soon spotted the trio as they showed up running towards their leader. "Hello, boss, we're reporting in just as ordered."

"Good, and where are the Pokémon?" Giovanni said with a smile on his face.

"Both Groudon and Kyogre are locked up on the submarine that was boss. We thought it best that we leave them in there so they can be transported easy," Jessie said with a grin on her face knowing setting them free to get them was a bad idea and best to show Giovanni where they are holding up.

"Perfect, you three have proven yourselves," Giovanni said with a large smile on his face as he looked back over to Maxie and Archie. "Now I think that you should do what we say. I have all the cards as you can see as well as the numbers as well unless you really think that you can win?"

"You think that we are going to let you stop us!" Shelly yelled as she would not let some fools stop what Archie had worked so long and hard for and won't let anything stop them.

"You're right, so show them what Team Aqua is made off," Matt yelled with a large grin on his face, not wanting to be stopped.

"If it's a fight you want, then you'll get it," remarked Attila, the blonde-haired male from Team Rocket, and his partner Hun gave an evil grin, looking forward to eliminating the competition in one single swoop. "What do you say, Hun?"

"I'm ready whenever you are, Attila…" grinned Hun, after having some trouble with three kids back in the Johto region along with Eusine during their attempt to acquire Raikou, he could use a means of venting out some steam. "We'll show these fools what happens when they mess with Team Rocket."

"Is that so?" asked Brodie; he and Courtney were getting ready to retaliate themselves, as did Maxie and Tabitha because their confrontation against Team Aqua was now starting to turn into a three-way battle between the three teams. "If you think that you have what it takes to bring us down, then be our guest!"

"Prepare to give Archie protection!" ordered Shelly, as Team Aqua needed to keep Archie safe from both Maxie and Giovanni. However, it seems Team Magma and Team Rocket have similar ideas in their respective leaders' case. "Everyone, come out!"

"Troops protect our leader as well!" commanded Courtney with a darkened expression on her face as they will make certain that all enemies are dealt with slowly and painfully. "We can't allow them anywhere near him!"

"Alright, if that's the way you want it, then we'll play rough!" yelled Wendy, the Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Rocket Grunts all released their respective Pokémon in an all-out brawl, Team Magma sent out Mightyena's, Houndoom's and Brodie's Ditto. In contrast, Team Aqua sent out Walrein's, Crawduant's, and Shelly's Carvanha and Grimer.

Team Rocket unleashed their respective Taurose's, Yanma's, Butch's Hitmontop, Mightyena, Cloyster, Primeape, and Shuckle. "Go show them what we can do!"

Cassidy sent out her Raticate, Granbull, Tentacruel, Sableye and Houndour, Attila's Skarmory and Muk, and Hun's Steelix as there can only be one winner and one team that can take the ultimate prizes.

Maxie and Archie sent out their Pokémon as it would be fitting that they too take action rather than allow their minions to do all the fighting; the former had released a powerful Camerupt from his Pokéball. Simultaneously, the latter unleashed his Sharpedo, but Giovanni was not intimidated as his Persian faced the two Pokémon. "Archer, Ariana, Petrel, Proton… I have a task for the four of you as I cannot trust those three with acquiring those two ancient Pokémon just in case they mess things up again," he informed the four white-uniformed Team Rocket members.

"Good, remember failure is not an option," remarked Giovanni as the four executives took their leave while taking their Pokémon with them.

Archer had his Houndoom, Ariana, with her Arbok. Proton had his Golbat by his side. Petrel brought out his Weezing while also saving their remaining choices for when they come into resistance from Team Aqua members still stationed at the submarine guarding Groudon and Kyogre.

However, one Grunt didn't take part in the battle at all, and it was the same red-headed Team Rocket Grunt seen with Giovanni before he departed for the Hoenn region. "Lance, we have some trouble…" she made contact with the Kanto Elite 4 member with a frown on her face because it's going to hinder their chances of stopping the criminal teams.

Onboard the Team Aqua Submarine, Ash was now dressed in his own Team Aqua uniform though he was a bit embarrassed that Misty had him wearing a female uniform, which like the one May and Misty were wearing, showed his midriff. "Really, Misty, you couldn't have gotten me a male uniform?" he asked her, causing the orange-haired female to smile wickedly at this.

"Well, it's the only one I could think of, and besides, it's in a way payback for doubting me," responded the Tomboyish mermaid. However, it wasn't the first time Ash had ever cross-dressed because she remembered when he got himself kicked out of the Celadon City Gym for saying bad comments about Erika's perfume. He dressed as a girl to get himself for his Gym battle against the Celadon Gym Leader. "Besides, you do make a pretty girl, all things considered."

"Very funny…"

"Well, it is the truth, plus you do have a Water Pokémon with you, right?" asked Misty, needing to make certain that Ash and May did have at least one Water-Type in their respective teams to pose as Team Aqua Grunts work.

"I do, my Corphish is a Water-Type, so there's no problem for me," answered Ash, though his concern was more focused towards May because the Blue Orb would make her posing as a Team Aqua Grunt a bit difficult along with the lack of a Water-Type on her team. "May unfortunately never caught a Water-Type before this whole mess started…. "

"I see; well, I think I can help her with that… We just gotta find the right one for her," responded Misty; she too was worried for May's condition and hoped they could separate her from the Blue Orb somehow before something else goes wrong. "Hopefully, I can get you guys out before Archie realizes what's happening."

"Okay…"

Then something clicked into her mind as she forgot about one important detail. "Oh yeah, are you two familiar with someone named Steven?" she asked Ash, causing the raven-haired young man's eyes to widen in shock at the moment Steven's name got brought up.

"Yeah, we met him back at the Granite Cave in Dewford Town," said Ash with a nod; he knew how strong Steven was and that Aggron of his was no pushover either since it managed to easily defeat Jessie, James, and Meowth all by itself. However, if Aggron is this strong, he might have five other powerful Pokémon on his team. One he and the others have yet to see. "What about it?"

"Well, Lance mentioned he is on his way to Monsu Island right now, so it shouldn't take him long to get here," explained Misty; her smile faded because she also had some bad news to share with her friends after hearing this bit of information from the Dragon Master. "Unfortunately, it's not just Team Magma and Team Aqua to worry about, but Team Rocket as well since their leader brought a combat squad to go after the two ancient Pokémon."

"Great…." Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that it would make things a lot more difficult than they already were, seeing that Team Rocket is entering the fray themselves. "Just when we thought those three being in Hoenn wasn't enough, but their leader and a combat squad too? This is just like when he came after Mewtwo and his friends in Johto!"

"I know, we'll worry about them later…" responded Misty because they'll need to focus on rescuing Pikachu and Skitty then pose as Team Aqua members under Archie's command until they can save Groudon and Kyogre. Provided that Team Magma or Team Rocket wouldn't try to get both Pokémon for themselves. "I'll help you get May onto her feet."

"Thanks…" Ash was grateful for Misty's aid even while disguised as a member of Team Aqua, though. In a way, he remembered when he, Duplica, Brock, and Misty were all fully dressed in the uniforms that Jessie and James wore to rescue Duplica's Ditto from the trio. They saw the Normal-Type can now change their eyes to match the Pokémon, it turns into instead of just its body, and in a way, Misty did look good in Jessie's Team Rocket uniform. "Alright… One, two, three!"

Ash and Misty got May onto her feet as it seemed the effects of the Blue Orb being inside of her body had worn her out. "Don't worry May, we'll get that Orb out of your body soon," he reassured the brown-haired girl because he refused to allow even one of his friends to die on him during any part of their journey, which still surprised Misty by Ash as he showed care towards someone other than Pokémon for once.

"I know where Pikachu and Skitty are held. So if we're lucky, we should be able to pull this off without too much trouble," explained the orange-haired girl, leading Ash and May out of the cell slowly but surely though she had a bad feeling things will continue to get worse before they eventually get better. "Be ready to do your part, Ashley."

Ash wasn't exactly happy when Misty called him that though at least this wouldn't become a repeat of when he had to sneak into the Celadon City Gym as a girl or when he was dressed as Juliet to help her and Romeo end up together along with their respective Pokémon.

At another part of the submarine, Pikachu tried his best to zap his way out of the cage he was placed inside with a powerful Thundershock, but the outcome remained the same as when Team Magma imprisoned him back on their sub. 'Crap! Nothing's working!' he muttered, cursing that no matter how strong his electricity was, there's always something that's hindering his chances of getting himself out. He then turned his glance towards Skitty with concern forming on his face when he saw how the female Normal-Type was feeling. 'How are you holding up?'

'Not too good…' frowned Skitty, her Tackle wasn't doing any significant damage onto the bars of her cage, and it made them useless if they can't rescue their trainers fast. Skitty found herself mentally cursing both Team Magma and Team Aqua at this very moment. 'My Tackle attack isn't even denting these bars at all!'

'Keep trying, we gotta get out somehow!' yelled Pikachu, then immediately remembered that they also have other attacks, not just ones of their respective types. 'What about your Blizzard attack? We haven't even tried that yet!'

Hear this made Skitty mentally kick herself in the head for forgetting she has the Ice-Type move she learned from the male Delcatty then took a deep breath as she was going to get ready to use it with high hopes that it will weaken the bars enough for her next attack to shatter them. 'Here goes nothing!' she said to herself, preparing a Blizzard attack.

Yet, just as Skitty was about to use her attack and get free, they noticed Misty walking into the room, and Pikachu, as much as he hated it, needed to know what Misty was going to do. "Pikachu, don't worry, I'm going to help."

Pikachu and Skitty were still unsure as they saw Ash walk in with May with him and noticed the uniform he was in and laughed at Ash in the female uniform with a worried frown. "You see Mist, Pikachu, and Skitty are both laughing now."

"As I said, I had no other option," Misty said with a sigh. "Now let's just hurry up before…" she then began to say, but she was then quickly cut off from what she was going to say as an explosion soon went off throughout the entire submarine. "Great, now what's going on!" she yelled with anger in her voice.

"I don't know, but…" Ash said as he got the cages open, freeing both Pikachu and Skitty from them as Ash and a weakened May both smiled that their Pokémon are safe.

"Well, we better hurry!" Misty yelled as she looked over to May, hoping that she was up for this. "May can you do this?" She asked as she knew that May was in pain and looked over to Ash, wondering if he should carry her.

"I'm fine, Ash I…!" May began speaking but didn't get to finish what she was going to say as she screamed in pain once again as the marks showed up on her body and her eyes went red once again.

"Oh no, May hold on!" The two yelled at the young girl as they ran over to her, but she just knocked them away and gave a growl at them before she can off as this time the marks on her body were not leaving.

"May no stop!" Ash yelled as he got up and ran after her with Misty right behind him as well. "May please stop. We want to help you!" Ash called out to her.

However, all May could do was look at them and gave a growl at them, and Misty was worried at this. "This is not good Ash May is losing herself to the Orb since she was not using it to order Kyogre about or evil purpose its made her mind animal-like."

The two soon reached the exit of where they were only recently; he and May were both held captive not long ago, and already they could see that Team Rocket was here as well, and both Ash and Misty gave a frown at this. "This is not good Team Rocket is here, and I'm not talking about the three losers," she said with a worried look on her face while Ash nodded with her.

Up above, Archie only laughed madly at this situation he was in as he looked at both Maxie and Giovanni. "You both think that you have control, don't you?" Archie asked, looking at the two with a smile. Unlike Maxie, who was a little worried about what's happening, Giovanni was calm by what was going on.

"Archie, don't be foolish!" Maxie yelled up to the Team Aqua leader as Archie only laughed even more.

"Oh really, I think it's time you see the true power that I now have in my hands," Archie said as he turned his attention towards Sharpedo and then looked towards the two teams. "Now, my Sharpedo, show these fools your true power!" Archie laughs at this as he also looked at the Blue Orb in his hand as Kyogre burst free from its container.

Once Archie said this and just as Sharpedo was about to deliver an attack, from within his container Groudon, soon burst out from Team Aqua's submarine ready and as before, the powerful Pokémon looked ready to attack everything in its path. "So this is Groudon, then I have to admit this will be interesting," Giovanni said with a smirk on his face.

"What's this?" asked Archie in disbelief, shocked to see Groudon managing to escape on its own due to the power of the Blue Orb that resided inside of May. Watching as goes berserk again while the rest of Team Aqua and Magma watched just as shocked as their leader when heavy rain started to pour down onto the area. "It's raining… wait a minute, it shouldn't be doing so this hard…"

Lightning struck various parts of the ground around them, and both Maxie and Archie were horrified that the power of both Kyogre and Groudon. "What the hell is going on here?!" exclaimed Shelly as she, Matt, and their troops all saw the start of the disastrous effects of Kyogre's ability.

More so now that both Pokémon are free, they looked at each other and ready to face each other, while not caring what was in their way. And all the onlookers could do was get worried at what this could mean to and what would happen to them, yet Giovanni was the only one smiling at this.

"This… This is…" Archie was currently at a loss for words, realizing that his acquired ancient Pokémon was too powerful for him to have under his command, which also explained why he couldn't obey his orders and then clenched his right hand. "…. I… I only wanted… I wanted to make… a world where Pokémon could live on… in peace… Where… that… Pokémon…"

"So that was your real plan all along, was it?" commented Maxie, now understanding the true purpose of wanting Kyogre wasn't for ruling the world but rather to create a better world for Pokémon, something he and his team had planned for Groudon. "Still, is this… is this is the power of the ancient Pokémon? Is this what Kyogre's power truly is? Is this how you return everything to its beginning?"

The two Pokémon just roared at each other as they wondered how this happened, and Maxie knew it had to do with the girl who touched the Orb.

"Damn, if this keeps up, then the world is gonna be flooded…" muttered Courtney, then immediately realization came into her mind as she turned her attention towards Team Magma's leader and over to the Groudon that just only now woken up. "If Kyogre can do this… then what would happen if Groudon was to be awakened to?"

"Wait a minute, Groudon? That's right!" began Maxie, having almost nearly forgotten that Kyogre would not rest until it faces Groudon and defeated it in a battle, then turned his attention towards Archie. "Archie, we need to stop this. You're seeing what is going on, and with Groudon now awake, we need all work together to stop them before it's too late."

"It seems that we may need to call a truce and use and stop both Kyogre and Groudon," suggested Archie, as much as he hated to admit it… there was a chance that both teams will need to put aside their current differences to stop the two ancient Pokémon from becoming a threat to everyone on the planet. "The ruins here might also have a clue should both ancient Pokémon become a threat."

Archie growled, not liking the idea of joining forces with Team Magma; however, he sighed defeat. "Fine, you better not make me regret this…" said the leader of Team Aqua, reaching into his jacket and brought out the Red Orb. Then all of a sudden, a Murkrow appeared, snatching the Orb away much to the dismay of both leaders, then it took to the skies again before dropping the item right into the hands of Team Rocket's boss. "What the?!"

"Thank you so much!" grinned Giovanni as the Murkrow soon returned to its master Ariana, now in possession of the Red Orb, which started to glow bright red and intended to use its power for himself, within another carrier... Kyogre slowly began to reawaken the moment when it suddenly activated the Red Orb. "With this, Kyogre will be under my control, and I will use it to not only defeat you but get Groudon, and once I have both ancient Pokémon… I'll truly be unstoppable!"

"Why you!" yelled Archie, refusing to let Giovanni remain in possession of the Red Orb or even allow him to use Groudon for his conquest of world domination and had to retaliate. "Sharpedo, use Hyper Beam!"

'Yes, my master!' yelled the powerful Water/Dark-Type, firing an orange beam from his mouth in the direction of Team Rocket's leader though Butch and Cassidy were quick to counter.

"Oh no, you don't, Shuckle use Protect!" Butch commanded his Pokémon as a barrier formed around Shuckle. It stood in front of Giovanni, taking the Hyper Beam's hit without any damage taken from the attack. Giovanni then proceeded to head for the ruins accompanied by his Normal-Type classy Pokémon. "You didn't think we would allow you to hurt our boss, would we?"

"Walrein, use Water Gun!" commanded Shelly, knowing that Protect wouldn't be able to save Shuckle from this Super Effective attack due to the downside to using the move to avoid damage during battle. "Sir, you must go after him."

"You too, sir, we need to stop him from getting Groudon as well," Tabitha said as he looked over to Maxie. "We'll take it from here," Maxie nodded as the two leaders ran after the leader of Team Rocket.

As he reached the top, Giovanni started to grin as the Red Orb in his possession started to glow, and soon from within its chamber, Groudon's eyes opened wide before letting out a menacing roar. An explosion suddenly engulfed the area where the ancient Pokémon that Team Aqua previously imprisoned in, much to the shock of every member of Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Rocket. "What the?!" exclaimed Courtney as she saw from the remains of the chamber. Groudon emerged completely unharmed with its ability causing the Thunder Storm to come to a halt briefly and a bright sunny day came in its place though it shined brighter than normal. "So that's Groudon, this is perfect now we have our own super-ancient Pokémon at our beck and call," grinned Archer as Groudon's presence had not gone unnoticed from Kyogre as the Thunder Storm suddenly started again. Kyogre unleashed a devastating tidal wave towards the opposing ancient Pokémon.

Groudon didn't budge an inch and delivered a Solarbeam, which caused the tidal wave to dissipate. However, it failed to score a direct hit on Kyogre with all three teams watching as the clash between the two ancient Pokémon began anew.

"May please, you need to stop!" Ash and Misty yelled at the girl, but all May did was look at them and soon gave them a growl.

"Ash, Misty!" the two soon looked over as they both saw Lance coming to them and noticed the large battle that the two ancient Pokémon were doing battle with each other.

"Lance, so it is you," Ash said, shocked that Lance was here but was thankful as well as he might be able to help May. "Lance, look, something's…"

"I know your friends told me," Lance said with a smile as Ash looked over to see both Brock and Max were both not only safe but now free Team Magma. "Look, you and the others go and help your friend. I'll try to stop what's going on."

The group nodded at this as they ran after May. "Ash, why are you in a female member uniform?" Max asked as he looked at Ash while Misty laughed a little.

"Sorry was the only thing I could think of at the time that could get him and May off the ship that Team Aqua had them in," Misty said as she looked at Ash with a grin but was thankful he took his hate with him at least.

Soon the three reached where May was and saw she was still growling, and her eyes were looking at Kyogre. "No, May stop, don't go near them!" Max yelled at his sister.

On the other hand, Ash didn't even think twice as he ran towards her and tackled her to the ground, making sure that she didn't get closer to the two Pokémon fighting each other right now. "May you need to stop? It's me, Ash!"

However, May continued thrashing around, even bitting Ash on the arm with their friends noticed what's happening with May. Everyone saw the red markings on May's body along with her red eyes that's looking back at them with rage.

Ash and co were then all soon brought out of it, looking back to see the battle that's happening before their eyes, and knew it's getting out of hand.

"Why is May trying to get to Groudon anyway?" Max asked as he looked at the older trainers to answer why his sister was doing this.

"Who knows, Max, but we have to make sure she doesn't get hurt or worse," Misty said as she was making sure Team Rocket didn't attack them.

"I believe I know why…."

A familiar voice got Ash and the others' attention as they turned to see a certain silver-haired young man they've encountered back at the Granite Cave, though to Misty, it was her first time meeting him face to face. "Steven?" asked Ash in slight surprise at seeing the son of Mr. Stone having arrived at the area. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw what was happening to the weather from my home at Mossdeep City, knowing it wasn't normal for it to change all of a sudden without any explanation," Steven replied to the younger man with a stern expression on his face. Steven glanced at the sudden changes between heavy rain and harsh sunny conditions as Groudon and Kyogre clashed against each other. "I must apologize for not arriving sooner. Terrible… So this is what was being depicted in those paintings in Granite Cave."

"Wait, painting?" wondered Max in complete disbelief, however that could explain why Steven was at the Granite Cave the first time Ash and his friends met him as initially they thought he was looking out for Wild Pokémon that resided there. "If this doesn't stop, all Hoenn- no, the entire world will be destroyed. Nothing could live in such a world- neither humans nor Pokémon!"

"You know this is starting to feel like Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres at the Orange Islands all over again…" remarked Misty, getting the attention of her friends.

Steven and Lance knew Ash and Pikachu remembered what Lawrence did in his bid to get all three Kanto legendary Birds all to acquire his real prize Lugia. "Hopefully, we can stop Groudon and Kyogre fast. Isn't that right, Mr. Chosen One!"

"Huh?!" Brock and Max glanced at Ash the moment Misty referred to him by that title since it was a long time following the events with Lawrence and both Lance and Steven silently found themselves a bit intrigued by the title, the raven-haired male from Pallet Town had.

"Long story, but we will explain when we stop the two ancient Pokémon."

Brock and Max didn't know what to say though they just nodded, understanding they got bigger problems to deal with right now. Soon there was a call coming from Lance's jacket, and he pulled out his communicator to answer it. "Hello," he spoke, hoping that there was some good news coming to them.

"Sir, it's Lorelei. It seems that there is someone who would like to have a word with you concerning something he saw along the way here."

"Oh?" began Lance while Ash and Pikachu couldn't believe Lorelei was on the island as they haven't seen her since the Orange Islands. Now hoping that whoever this person was, they could help save their planet from destruction at the hands of the chaos caused by Groudon and Kyogre having their clash against one another. "Very well, put him on quickly!"

The group remained silent, and they prayed that the person Lorelei encounter can assist them in some way or another before everything certainly went to hell. "Hello, this is Butler… Are you the Dragon Master known as Lance?" came a male voice that Ash, Brock, and Max were immediately familiar with, which caused the Dragon Master to nod his head slowly.

"Yes, this is Lance… you were once part of Team Magma long ago from what I heard," he replied, not wanting to take any chances just in case it was Brodie disguising himself as a means of luring them into a trap though he doesn't seem to know his identity at this point. "Lorelei mentioned you have some news regarding when your arrival."

"I see… you don't trust me; however, it is more important than you realize as to when Dianne and I were about ready to leave Pacifidlog not too long ago, we saw a giant green Pokémon flying high in the sky," explained Butler slowly but surely, hoping it would pipe the interest of the group even if it were possibly him seeing things though, on the other hand, it might not be. "I've never seen anything like it, but I assume you would have a clue on its identity."

"A green Pokémon flying in the sky… What does that mean…" said Steven, having a feeling he might have an idea on the Pokémon's identity though it was too soon to tell, especially as his glance returned to the battle between Groudon and Kyogre with a frown forming on his face. "Those two Pokémon fighting… Groudon and Kyogre… The two super-ancient Pokémon were awakened from a long sleep… And now they are smashing each other with their uncontrollable power."

"All the more to stop them before things get worse," added Lance, his attention being towards Ash and his friends again. "You've helped me stop Team Rocket at the Lake of Rage. It seems that your assistance is needed once more if we are to save our world. Groudon and Kyogre, the two Pokémon wreaking havoc here, are considered to be super-ancient Pokémon. Wait a minute, but there aren't just two super-ancient Pokémon were there… There is one more somewhere."

"You mean…" Steven didn't finish his sentence as something suddenly clicked into his mind and recalled Butler mentioning a green Pokémon flying in the sky before he and Dianne left Pacifidlog earlier. "Yes, that's it! Somewhere, there is a super-ancient Pokémon named Rayquaza. It's said that it was Rayquaza that becalmed the two combatants in the distant past. But even I have no clue as to Rayquaza's whereabouts…"

Ash, Brock, and Max were completely shocked that Rayquaza's name was now getting revealed as the third ancient Pokémon. It felt familiar made the three remember that the Pokémon mentioned had been involved back in the events concerning another powerful Legendary Pokémon, the one known as Deoxys. "Well, maybe we can get the Orb away from Giovanni," Max said after shaking off the shock he had on his face; he knew that could work, but Misty knew that it would be deadly to do this.

"The problem is we could end up like May is right now or power crazy," Misty pointed out, knowing that they had to be careful with the Orb that Giovanni had right now.

Ash nodded as well as he quickly looked where the leader of Team Rocket could be. "All we need to do is find him and stop him," he said as they all looked around and saw the large Pokémon battle that was going on.

"I think I know where he is," Brock said as he looked at the temple in front of them, and the large battle took place.

"Well, then we better get there," Ash said as he looked at his friends with a smile, and they too headed towards the temple. "Okay, I'm going to help Lance in stopping Groudon and Kyogre," he then continued as he looked to where Lance was and saw he was not doing well with both ancient Pokémon trying to get him out of the way. "In the worse case, we'll find out if Butler knows where Rayquaza's whereabouts are."

"Okay, we need to be careful. Since I'm still in their uniform, they might not attack me, and well, Ashley here," Misty added as she looked at Ash and laughed a little, while Ash just turned red at her, calling him Ashley again.

"Well, we'll try and get May then," Brock said as he looked over to Max as they headed off to stop May.

"Well, ready to save the world once again, Ash?" Misty asked with a smile on her face.

Ash nodded at her as the two ran where Giovanni was with the full intent of stopping the leader of Team Rocket even if they knew he would runoff. "You know that I am Misty."

The two had managed to get past the three teams but not by all means easy with them attacking each other, and they were just at least thankful both Team Aqua and Magma were at least for now working as one.

As they continued to run, they noticed the battle with said three leaders and knew that they needed to stop Giovanni and fast. "Well, you ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked his friend.

Pikachu only nodded at this and knew that he needed to be careful not to touch the Orb that Giovanni now had in his hands, or he would end up like May. 'Yeah, I'm ready, Ash.' he answered with a smile and looked at Misty, who was also ready.

"Well, it seems that you joined us Misty, we have had a change of plans," Archie said, shocked that Misty had shown up. "Now we need to stop Kyogre and Groudon as it seems that because of my actions as well as Giovanni's interference, their clash may end up destroying the world. Meaning as of now, Team Magma and Team Aqua are now allying to help us, but it won't be easy since Team Rocket will do anything to protect their leader."

Misty remained silent and knew that there had to be a way to stop both ancient Pokémon and Giovanni, then saw to her shock that May was now on Groudon's head, still donning the female Team Aqua uniform that the red-haired girl got her to dress up in earlier. "Sir, look at that!" she yelled, getting Archie's attention, and he was in complete disbelief at seeing a member of his team riding on Groudon.

"Is that one of my own troops with Kyogre? Wait a minute; I don't recognize her at all…"

"That's because she is one of two recruits to Team Aqua, and I apologize for their being late; it turns out one of them got merged with the Blue Orb, unfortunately, which is why she is with Kyogre right now," explained Misty, hiding the fact that the recruits are Ash and May disguised as Team Aqua members. "The other recruit Ashley, is already at work trying to get the Red Orb away from Giovanni so we can use Groudon to stop Kyogre's rampage."

"I see…" began Archie, somewhat intrigued that Misty had managed to get two more recruits to assist his team. In a way, it made him suspect something as May looked like one of the children that Matt and Shelly captured during the attack on the Team Magma submarine because if she was then, he might make it work to his advantage. "In that case, be ready for anything that Team Rocket might throw at us."

"Understood, I will do my best," saluted Misty; however, she knew that Ash will need the right moment to strike at Giovanni and will also require enough time to get the Red Orb from Giovanni…. provided that those three from Team Rocket don't show up and make things more difficult. "You better hurry up. The longer we wait…, the worse our chances are."

Speaking of the Team Rocket trio, they were scared out of their wits at the clash between the three teams and Groudon and Kyogre. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Jessie; although Team Rocket had succeeded in acquiring Groudon… they were determined to capture Kyogre and use their combined power to rule the world without any opposition getting in their way again. "At least we get a front-row seat."

"You said it, Jess," responded James, referring to Jessie by her nickname as they were terrified by how strong Groudon and Kyogre were at this very moment, then something immediately caught their eye. "Say… Isn't that the brown-haired twerp?"

"Huh?" wondered Jessie as she and Meowth both bore witness to May being on Kyogre's back and under the influence of the Blue Orb no less… however, they also saw that she's wearing a Team Aqua uniform, much to their surprise. "Did she just join Team Aqua?"

"Well, if she did, then she makes the uniform look good, though I still like the Team Rocket uniform better in my opinion," answered Meowth, yet something was off about May as her eyes were glowing bright red. There were similarly glowing red markings on her body, which resembled the marks on Kyogre. "I wonder how Team Aqua got her on their side."

"I don't know, and I don't care, just as long as we survive the entire conflict," said James before Wobbufett immediately came out of his Pokéball and calling out his name.

The good news was Lance is already at work doing his part in keeping Maxie safe, especially as Butch and Cassidy decided to try and gang up on Team Magma's leader. "So, you decided to back your leader up, huh?" mocked Butch, finding it amusing that Team Magma and Team Aqua were continuing to resist them even as Groudon was now Team Rocket's property. "No matter, the outcome will remain the same as our boss is one step closer to achieving our goal."

"That's right so do us both a favor and butt out!" added Cassidy; her Tentacruel and Butch's Cloyster were more than ready to deal with any Pokémon the Dragon Master had in his possession as they think it would be a Fire-Type like Maxie's Camerupt.

On the other hand, Lance remained completely silent and not intimidated by Butch and Cassidy's threat. He knew that Steven would do whatever he can to help Max and Brock stop May, or at least stalling her for a while though they needed to steer clear of Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Rocket Grunts along the way should be spotted.

Unfortunately, he noticed the glance that Giovanni was giving to the Red Orb and realized that if Ash could even get it out of the Kanto-born Crime Lord's hand. Then there is a chance the world can be said, immediately taking his hood off because he knew he needed to warn the Rocket Boss. "Listen, you must release the Red Orb, or you will become obsessed by it!" he yelled, getting the attention of all three teams. "Giovanni!"

The Rocket Boss and his Persian turned their attention towards Lance, each showing an evil grin on their faces at the remark. "Oh really, who do you think you are giving me orders anyway?" Giovanni mocked, unfazed by the remark as it's clear that he believed that Lance was trying to trick him into giving up his prize.

"He's right!" came a female voice, causing Giovanni and Persian to turn their attention towards the female Team Rocket Grunt, who decided that enough was enough, taking off her hat and revealing her true identity to everyone, much to their shock. However, Ash, Lance, and Misty always knew that Lorelei would help stop the rampage. "You see what is happening just from Groudon and Kyogre clashing with each other, don't you? Their power is unbelievable, and they've already upset the balance of nature… "

"That Red and Blue Orb were created by evil people long ago to control ancient Pokémon and then use them as weapons!" Lance continued to get Giovanni to listen to reason no matter how crazy it might sound; it had to be said to stop hell from spreading to the entire planet, which got Archie and Maxie to wonder what the Dragon Master was talking about right now.

"But the power of those ancient Pokémon was much, greater than ancient people's wisdom was… and by their actions, the natural order of things began to erode. As the ancient Pokémon grew more evil, and their behavior began out of hand, the people who controlled them also became eviler! This is why the two Orbs were placed at the top of Mt. Pyre and sealed away, to prevent humanity from repeating the same mistakes!"

"You might not want to believe it but trust me… it is almost like when I used Jirachi to try and revive a Groudon that we could control," came another voice that got their attention as Butler and his beloved Dianne had come to great the three teams. Especially his former leader with stern expressions forming. "Needless to say, it didn't work because that fake Groudon nearly destroyed everything in its path, and I fear that unless the two ancient Pokémon are stopped… There won't be a world to save anymore."

After hearing the warnings from Lance, it didn't put a dent within Giovanni, who began laughing at hearing Lance. Giovanni didn't care much for what would happen to anyone that gets in his way. Giovanni glanced at them all and laugh. "Like I care what you and the fools from below think," He said, looking down at Team Aqua and Magma.

Ash growled at this, knowing that he and the others needed to act fast before this got worse, and Ash quickly looked over to Pikachu and nodded at his friend and then over to Misty, who was also ready for what Ash was about to do. "Okay, then Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu only nodded at this as he fired the powerful attack on Giovanni, and it was a good thing too since the Team Rocket leader was caught off guard, thanks mainly to him keeping an eye on both leaders. With a cry of pain, Giovanni dropped the Orb as the others noticed it and knew that they all needed to get it. "Quickly get that Orb!" he yelled as Ash made sure that Giovanni didn't get close to it.

"I don't think so!" Ash yelled as he looked down at Pikachu, who nodded at his trainer.

"Don't think that you can beat me, child," Giovanni said with a grin forming on his face as he looked at Ash and Pikachu while the Rocket Boss' Persian looked ready to attack as well.

However, Misty was running to the Orb and saw a few grunts trying to get it but were having a hard time with Team Aqua and Magma getting in their way. One member of Team Rocket even grabbed hold of her hand as the clove she had on came off. "I need to make sure that they don't get that Orb," she thought as she ran towards it, but soon another Team Rocket agent tripped her over.

And this was not good as the hand she touched it with was the one in which she didn't have any gloves. "Oh no!" Misty cried out as she soon felt the Orb enter her body, which caused her to cry out in pain.

Ash heard this as he looked over to see what was going on, and his face went white as he saw what was going on. "Oh no, please not you too, Misty!"

Misty just continued to scream in pain at this, knowing she had to fight it, but the Orb was a lot more powerful, and soon like with May, her eyes changed there were not Red but Blue. It didn't go unnoticed by the two ancient Pokémon as both felt the presence of the Red Orb being absorbed into Misty's body as did May, causing her to darken as she saw the Tomboyish Mermaid.

Lance and Lorelei met with one another, realizing they needed to act now before the two ancient Pokémon turned their attention towards everyone else, unfortunate enough to interrupt their confrontation. "Guess we don't have a choice," responded the Dragon Master just as they took off their disguises since it's clear they had only one alternative left. "Gyarados and Dragonite, let's go!"

He unleashed his two most powerful Pokémon to fight their way to the others, and Lorelei decided to join in after staying on the sidelines for too long, much to the shock of all three teams to find out the true identities of the two trainers. "Cloyster, Jynx, come on out!" she yelled, bringing into action both of her Ice-Types.

However, Sebastian had seen the Red Gyarados being released and gave a smile while his leader may have lost the Orb that he had been holding, and it was hard for them to get the two ancient Pokémon; this would be a bonus to them.

"Sir," Sebastian said as he looked over to Giovanni. "With your permission, I would like to capture that Red Gyarados. That way, we can resume Project R."

"Very well, Professor," said Giovanni. "But make sure that it doesn't interfere with our main mission."

"Good," said Sebastian as he looked over to some nameless grunts. "Well, you hear d him, men."

Butch and Cassidy heard the orders themselves, realizing this can help make up for Sebastian's previous failure at the Lake of Rage, and suspected Professor Namba would need to bring his plan back into fruition once their enemies were dealt with and out the way. "Let's see whose Cloyster is stronger, yours or mine?" he asked the female Elite 4 member as he glanced at his Pokémon. "Cloyster, use your Ice Beam!"

"Use Ice Beam too!"

Both Cloyster's complied with the command and used their respective Ice Beam attacks; however, it's clear that Lorelei's Ice-Type proved to be the superior of the two and managed to overpower Butch's Ice Beam. "What the?!" exclaimed the green-haired Rocket member.

"Sableye, use Shadow Ball!" commanded Cassidy; her Pokémon made use of the powerful attack, and yet Lance knew what to do against the female Rocket member and the grunts that tried to surround the two Elite 4 members.

"Dragonite, use Twister!" Lance had his Dragon-Type unleash a twister combined with Jynx's Psychic attack in a bid to get the Team Rocket Grunts off their backs, then saw Lorelei's Cloyster close itself up to protect itself from the damaging Ghost-Type attack. "Now take that Sableye down with Dragon Claw!"

Dragonite let out a roar and used the Dragon Claw to slash Sableye before it could react, knocking the opposing Pokémon out in one hit. "Damn it!" yelled Cassidy, gritting her teeth out of anger and turned her attention towards one of her remaining four Pokémon, which happened to be her Tentacruel looking ready to strike. "Tentacruel, use your Constrict attack!"

"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!" counter Lance; his Red Gyarados delivered a powerful beam of orange energy in the direction of Tentacruel to knock it out in one move like with Sableye.

"Don't forget about me!" yelled Butch; his attention was towards his Shuckle. "Shuckle, protect Cassidy's Tentacruel with your Protect attack!"

The Johto-born Pokémon complied and jumped in front of Tentacruel, protecting them both from the Hyper Beam. While normally Normal-Type moves weren't very effective towards Rock-Types, neither Team Rocket member wanted to take any chances. "Hydro Pump," came Lorelei's voice. Cloyster fired off a powerful stream of water that struck Shuckle and knocked it out quickly. "You should know better than to take your eyes off one of your opponents."

Butch growled, gritting his teeth out of anger at the moment, and called his fallen Shuckle back into its Pokéball as he too now had only four Pokémon remaining. "You wanna play, let's teach them a lesson, Hitmontop!" he commanded the male Fighting-Type. "We're not going to make the same mistake those three losers made… a pity. I wish they were here to see this moment of truth right now."

"We heard that!" Butch and Cassidy heard Jessie, James, and Meowth yelling at them out of anger for the remark, which made it clear that the trio was at the area and that their aid would be much appreciated if possible.

"About time we heard from you three!" Domino immediately contacted the three members of Team Rocket with a stern expression on her face. "You losers managed to botch things up again like always. However, we need every man and woman we can get to acquire the two ancient Pokémon."

"Wait, you mean…" muttered Meowth, realizing that there are getting asked to take part as well and glanced towards his human partners along with Wobbufett since they're still nervous about the power that Groudon and Kyogre were currently displaying as they speak.

"You know what I mean!" yelled Domino, not in the mood to argue because it's more than important that the Team Rocket Combat force emerges victorious in this three-way confrontation. Because they had not only Team Aqua and Team Magma getting in their way but also Lance and Lorelei of the Elite 4. "Just get your butts here and send out your Pokémon against our enemies!"

Upon ending communication, Ash saw Shelly approaching Ash and Pikachu with a stern expression on her face as the female Team Aqua admin had some curiosity. "You there!" Shelly called out to who Shelly thought was a female Team Aqua grunt that she never saw before. The fact Shelly wondered where she had seen "her" before made her even more suspicious, along with how she heard from Archie that Misty recruited two new members to Team Aqua. "Hey, you girl, we need all the help we need!" Shelly yelled at Ash.

Hearing this, Ash gave a sigh, but he needed to keep up the act and used the girl voice from long ago when he dressed up as a girl at the Celadon City Gym. "Misty, once we're done, you better you owe me big time."

"Sorry, Miss Shelly, but I was ordered to stop Team Rocket," Ash said, using his girl's voice, and saw Misty heading towards May and looked up and saw the storm was getting worse. That was not all Ash knew that Giovanni would want to get Misty and May to get both Orbs inside them.

Ash looked for where both girls were, but he only saw Giovanni and knew that he had to deal with him to keep the two girls safe from his hands. "Pikachu, let's stop him," Ash said to his yellow friend.

Above all of them, the thunder still went on as everyone soon heard a roar, which caused them to look up to see what it was, and much to their shock, they saw another Pokémon had arrived was none other than Rayquaza.

Everyone involved was shocked by this that another ancient Pokémon has now shown up wondering what it was going to do. However, seeing the new Pokemonn only made Giovanni and Team Rocket smile. They all smiled at this luck that has come to them. "Well, it looks like we shall be getting three Pokémon today then."

"I don't think so!" Ash yelled as he looked at the Team Rocket Leader, knowing what he needed to do, and hoped that he could do this and save the world and his two female friends as well.

Giovanni looked at Ash and smiled at the trainer before him, "So it seems that you've come to try and stop me, but I will not allow you to get in my way." Giovanni said with a calm smile on his face as he looked at Ash before grabbing one of his Pokéballs.

"This is not going to be easy, but I need to do this," Ash thought as he looked a little to see where Misty and May were and hoped that both girls would be alright.

However, Rayquaza was still at Kyogre and Groudon, and he wasn't happy with what both Pokemon are doing to the planet. But Rayquaza knew this was also thanks to Team Aqua and Magma. Yet the other to angered Pokémon roared back to Rayquaza.

Ash heard this and knew that he had to let Lance, Steven, and the others deal with that as he couldn't be everywhere after all. "Pikachu, you ready, pal?"

'You better believe it!' responded Pikachu; seeing Giovanni's Persian was going to be his opponent. Pikachu had a feeling he won't be like Meowth of the Team Rocket trio since he was given a menacing hiss from the Classy Cat Normal-Type Pokémon in front of him. Just make sure you know what you're doing.

"Yeah, I know."

Giovanni found it rather amusing to see the young man or, in his view, a "young woman from Team Aqua" due to the raven-haired male's current disguise, challenging him to this confrontation. "I don't know who you are, but anyone who stands in my way will receive no mercy!" he responded as he decided to make good on his word. "Persian, use Fury Swipes!"

"Dodge it with Agility, Pikachu!" yelled Ash, having his buddy use his speed in a bid to evade the Normal-Type slashes because if he was to do his best to stop Team Rocket… he had to emerge victorious as a result. "Now use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu charged up a Thunderbolt in Persian's direction. "Is that the best you can do? Persian, use Double Team!" countered Giovanni as his Normal-Type created illusionary copies of itself to avoid being struck by the attack. Ash mentally cursed as he often hated that move because some of his other opponents, such as Gary's Eevee, Jackson's shiny Magneton, Bugsy's Scyther, and Jeanette's Scyther, used it when he faced them before this. "You better not take me likely; I'm not like my peons!"

Ash and Pikachu bit their lower lips, having always known Giovanni would be a whole lot stronger than his henchmen, hence why he is their leader in the first place, but he wanted to prove that he can handle himself regardless of how strong their opponents were. "Use Pay Day!" continued the Rocket Boss as Persian let out a hiss while jumping up and crossed its front legs, then opened them quickly, and multiple glowing white balls came out of the gem on its head.

However, this, in turn, struck Pikachu, causing him to land on his back, but despite the direct hit, he seemed to be still able to fight since it wasn't a critical hit. "You okay, Pikachu?" asked Ash, hoping the male Electric Mouse wasn't too banged up, then saw him nod his head quickly. "Alright, that's good. Let's give him a taste of your Agility and Quick Attack combination!"

Giving another confident expression, Pikachu charged in at Persian and managed to strike him thanks to his priority attack, getting a boost in speed due to Agility. "What the?!" exclaimed Giovanni, having never realized that an un-evolved Pokémon like Pikachu managed actually to hit Persian… something no other Pokémon before him was able to accomplish,

"We got it! Though it's not enough to take it down…." frowned Ash, knowing that they needed to step up their game a bit if they were to do any significant damage. Because the fate of the entire world rested on not only their victory but also on Lance, Steven, and the others helping Rayquaza stop both Groudon and Kyogre while at the same time doing what they can to save May and Misty from the control of those damned Orbs. "Still, we can't give up… there has to be something we can do."

A female Team Aqua Grunt was taking notice of the battle between Ash and Giovanni, and she found herself to be pretty impressed in a way. "That new girl is doing pretty good against Team Rocket's boss. Even though she's just a grunt like us, and she does look quite cute. Still, that Pikachu she's using looks familiar somehow," the female Team Aqua Grunt commented. Yet, she reminded herself that Team Aqua and Team Magma were on a joint mission right now, turning her attention to her fellow Team Aqua Grunts. "Maybe we should help her out and keep these guys off her back."

The other grunts smiled as they nodded, showing the smirks on their faces. They will show Team Rocket a few things but knew that they also needed to watch their backs. "I'll deal with the ones that brought them here," A male grunt said, looking over to Jessie, James, and Meowth.

"Oh no, things don't look good," James said as he noticed that both teams Aqua and Magma and had a feeling that they were going to be blasting off very soon as well.

On the other hand, Jessie just gave a scoff at this as she didn't care that they were slowly getting outnumbered; after all, she would not get shown up by Cassidy. "Well, we're not going to run away, that's for sure."

Meowth nodded, hoping that they could win. "Your right, and when we do, just think how happy the boss will be with us."

All three just smiled at each other, already thinking about what Giovanni will give them for bringing him here and helping him get the two now, maybe even three ancient Pokémon. Yet all three were so distracted from thinking they would be getting a big promotion that they thought they would all be getting.

Yet this was all that the Team Aqua members needed as they called out their Pokémon and smiled at the three distracted members. "Okay, let's send these fools flying!" The female grunt said with a smile. "Crawdaunt, send them blasting with a Water Pulse!"

Jessie, James, and Meowth looked over towards the grunts in question as they heard this and all gulped at this, knowing what would happen. "Oh, this is…" James began but was unable to finish what he was going to say.

As the three Crawdaunt's attack sent Jessie James and Meowth blasting off into the sky. "Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" the three cried out.

"Well, I'm happy we got rid of them at least." The female Aqua grunt said with a grin on her face as she saw the three ancient Pokémon were still fighting each other.

---

Meanwhile, Ash held his own very well on the Team Rocket leader, hoping that he could keep this up. "I can do this. I know I can. I have to stop him from getting May and Misty."

Giovanni was also looking at Ash; he was not happy that his plans were getting all messed up, but he still wouldn't let this opportunity pass by; he would get what he wanted. "I will admit you're good. I think that you should join Team Rocket."

Ash merely scoffed at hearing this as he was never going to join the likes of Team Rocket, not now, not ever. "Sorry, but the answer is no!"

However, Giovanni just shook his head at this and was a little disappointed at hearing this. "That's such a shame you would have been a powerful member and got whatever you wanted."

"Here's my response to the offer…" began Ash, turning his attention towards his buddy. They were more than determined to win this battle, remembering that he was the Chosen One from when he risked his life to save the world from the powers of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres at the Orange Islands then remembered that water conducts electricity. "Pikachu, let him have a taste of Thunderbolt! "

Charging up his electricity, Pikachu let loose his Thunderbolt attack. Still, Persian countered with that Double Team attack again, much to their annoyance, and he tried to zap each of the copies, hoping to get the real Persian. "Pikachu, stop!" yelled Ash, realizing that it was the same mistake they made against Gary's Eevee before. "Try not to use up your Electricity."

Complying with his partner's orders, he had to stop wildly attacking the Persians. "My turn…" began Giovanni as an evil grin formed on his face as he was not going to allow anyone to get in his way of acquiring his ultimate prizes. "Persian, use Slash!"

Letting out an angry hiss coming from the cat Pokemon, Persian's claws extended, and it let out a powerful swipe that Pikachu barely evaded. However, to his and Ash's shock, there was a slash mark on the Electric Mouse's left shin, which proved to be another sign that they were meeting their match. "Now, do you see that you're out of your league?" asked the leader of Team Rocket. "You should have accepted my gracious offer, but it seemed to me that you'd be meeting an untimely end soon."

Gritting his teeth, Ash wasn't going to let Giovanni have this win. "Think you can still battle?" he asked the male Electric-Type with a hint of concern. Ash didn't want to put his starter into any unnecessary danger and that things would become much more difficult the longer they wait without making any counterattacks.

'Yeah, I'm fine…' answered Pikachu, having a feeling that Ash might try and call him back into his Pokéball in the worst-case scenario. Because the last time he saw it was when Ash tried to recall him back inside during their first battle against Brock and his Onix, although it resulted in their defeat, the Breeder's father, Flint Harrison, did offer to help the two become stronger for the rematch. We've been through more dangerous situations than this, and if we can get that cat at the right position, then maybe we can take it down in one swift move.

"I know…"

On the other hand, Giovanni and Persian waited to see what Ash and Pikachu were going to do next as it seemed they were delaying the inevitable. "Are you going to make your next move or what?" he asked the two, wanting a response so he can finish things off soon, but his answer was a scowl from them.

"We're not giving up!" responded Ash, glaring at Team Rocket's leader and hoped that his defeat could put a huge dent into Team Rocket itself. Because Ash knew if his friends aren't able to stop Groudon and Kyogre on their own, then he'll have to help them in any way he can since his other Pokémon were more than willing to come to their aid if needed. "Pikachu, use Agility and Iron Tail!"

"You really think that attack will save you?" mocked Giovanni, figuring he should use this as his chance to defeat Pikachu and win the match in one swoop. "Persian, take it out with your Slash attack and show no mercy!"

Persian charged with its claws extended again. Pikachu jumped towards the Normal-Type Classy Cat Pokémon, his tail glowing bright white moments before the two attacks collided as they intended to give it everything they've got to defeat the other. "Pikachu, use Mega Punch!" Ash soon ordered, and Pikachu tightened his right fist then delivered a punch that struck Persian across the face.

'That is not enough to defeat me, rodent!' lashed Persian, starting to wonder why Pikachu won't fall as its previous opponents did. So smiling and all the Electric Mouse did was give a confident expression, it's one that mirrored the one his trainer had. 'Just give up. You can barely move with that injury I inflicted onto you with my previous blow.'

'You don't get it, my trainer and I are well aware that you're strong, but if we put our minds into it, then there's nothing can't accomplish!' said Pikachu; it was true that he had gotten injured, but it wasn't too serious since he knew that May and Misty needed saving right now. 'Sure, we had to a lot to learn when we started, and we made mistakes along the way, but we've also learned from them to become stronger together. Which makes me wonder, what are you fighting for and what do you hope to gain from this.'

Persian only ignored this, ready to attack Pikachu again as he got his claws ready to attack the yellow rodent that's standing in front of him.

Meanwhile, Max saw both May and Misty were attacking each other just like Kyogre and Groudon were as Lance frowned. "This is bad the Orbs are making them worse," Lance said, knowing that both Pokémon needed stopping right now.

Lance just looked up as he saw Rayquaza firing a power Dragon rage attack at Groudon, which sent the ground-type Pokémon crashing into the sea. Kyogre, however, took this moment to fire a Hyper Bean at Rayquaza. Still, the serpent Dragon quickly and swiftly moved away from this attack and looked at the other Pokémon with anger, and was ready to fire another attack of his own.

Kyogre was getting ready to attack as well, and Lance knew he needed to help Rayquaza out. "This is not good," Lance said as he looked at what Kyogre was going to do. "Dragonite, quickly use Hyper Beam on Kyogre!"

Dragonite nodded at this and fired the power bean towards Kyogre and, thanks to Rayquaza, who fired a powerful attack of his own, sent Kyogre crashing into the sea as well. And Lance hoped that this was over.

"Misty, May you need to stop!" Max yelled at the two girls who looked at Max and Brock with them both growling at the two males.

Yet just as Misty was about to attack, she let out screaming as the Red Orb that had gone in her soon left her body, and she soon fell to the ground. "Misty!" Brock yelled at her as he saw Misty closed her eyes, knowing that what happened to her must have hurt.

Steven checked up on Misty and then nodded with a light smile on his face. "She'll be fine, all she needs is some rest, and she should be able to make a full recovery," explained the silver-haired Mossdeep born Pokémon Trainer.

"That's a relief," said Brock, knowing that they still got one more problem to take out. Fortunately, Steven's Aggron proved itself capable of fighting against the Team Rocket grunts, defeating them with relative ease as it made the former Pewter City Gym Leader curious.

Max saw Kyogre's as a bad thing, however, as May was getting ready to attack. "Not good, May please stop!"

"Flygon, protect Max!" came Butler's voice; he has noticed the danger that the young boy was in and wanted to help save him.

So, managing to use his Flygon to grab hold of Max and immediately took to the skies once more before Groudon could even unleash its Solarbeam at the young man as the Mystic Pokémon joined with its trainer and fellow Dragon-Type Salamence. "This is worse than we thought… While we can stop Kyogre, we still have Groudon to worry about."

"What can we do?" asked Max with a hint of concern because if they can't stop Groudon, then they won't be able to save May, and from the looks of it… it'll take some additional assistance to defeat Groudon. "Huh? Is that my sister's Skitty?"

"What?!" wondered Butler, with Dianne stayed close to her beloved on Salamence's back. However, both didn't like the idea of Skitty wanting to help because this was a situation where one wrong move could do more harm than good, and she might get killed due to her decision to get involved. "What is she doing?"

"No clue, May never really called her back into her Pokéball before the Blue Orb entered her body back on the Team Magma submarine!" Explained Max with a frown; aside from Blizzard, none of Skitty's attacks would even do any significant damage. "Still, we can't just stand by and let her get hurt, can we?"

Nodding, Butler had a feeling he knew where Max was getting at though part of him suspected there was an idea Skitty had in mind. "Of course not; however, let's see if Skitty knows what she's doing as it seems to me she doesn't want to hurt her trainer," he informed the younger man, much to his complete dismay.

"Wait, you mean we're gonna stand by and…"

"He means we're going to step in and help should her plan to stop May by herself isn't enough!" said Dianne before Max can finish his sentence; the blonde-haired woman gave him a light smile and a reassuring look on her face. "She understands the risks, but she should be okay."

Max didn't say a word; all he knew was he doesn't like the fact that Skitty would be facing Groudon by herself, let alone Ash and May having donned Team Aqua uniforms as Misty did, but at least he now knew all the fact same with Brock. 'May, can you hear me?' the female Normal-Type called out, praying that she can stop her, and if Ash can't help her do so, then it seemed the two of them might be the only ones capable of doing so. 'You need to stop this now. Look what's happening to the world!'

On the other hand, May only growled at her Pokémon as she didn't hear what she was saying as the Blue Orb inside her and the others knew they needed to do something fast. "Skitty, you're going to need to knock her out or at the very least keep her back!"

Skitty looked over at Max as she heard this, and she didn't want to hurt May as her trainer had been through a lot already but knew that Max was right and she needed to help May no matter what.

With another growl from May, Skitty knew she needed to be ready since Rayquaza was in the middle of battling Groudon as they all heard its cry as it was attacked by Rayquaza once again; the others just hopped that this would be enough to get the Blue Orb out of May.

"Please come on leave May like you left Misty, you stupid Orb," Max said as he was keeping an eye on his sister and even looked at the two Pokémon fighting each other.

Brock nodded at this as he knew that this was not May, and as a friend, he wanted to help her, as he knew that Team Rocket wouldn't be too kind with her if they got their hands on her. His gaze went over to the girl they were trying to help as he saw the markings and still red eyes and knew that they needed to end this now.

Skitty knew this to be true as well as she looked at May again and knew she had to help her before Team Rocket got their hands on her. 'Okay, then I'll do my best to help you, May.'

May soon began to rush at her friends, and they knew this was not her fault as she had no idea what was going on, and it was also thanks to what the Orb was doing to her. Yet Skitty dodged May and hopped onto May's head as May tried her best to get Skitty off with only growls coming out from her.

However, with a large explosion, May stopped what she was doing as the others looked at May, wondering what's happening. May looked back at the battle that was going on with Rayquaza and Groudon and saw he had taken out. "Wait, so does that mean?" Max asked as he looked at May and saw the Blue Orb slowly leave her body, May, however, soon fell to the ground with her eyes closed.

Fortunately, a familiar Swellow managed to catch her before she could hit the ground and let out a familiar cry. Before confronting Giovanni, Ash had at least let one of his Pokémon out; it was just when one of the girls fell and didn't want them to get hurt. "Guess Ash knows when to be prepared." began Butler, he was about ready to step in, but Swellow beat him to it.

"Will she be okay?"

Hearing Max's question, Dianne smiled brightly. "Of course, the Orb isn't inside her anymore, so she'll be fine now," she reassured the young boy, though she wondered how Ash and his Pikachu were doing due to them facing Team Rocket's leader as they speak.

"I just hope Ash is alright," commented Max, deciding to speak up again because it's clear that Ash and Pikachu haven't rejoined them yet, which looked like a bad sign should the Rockets come after the others and then saw Attila and Hun approaching Brock and Misty. "Oh man, now we've got trouble!"

"You're not going anywhere!" began Attila; he and Hun were determined not to leave empty-handed as at least they would have prisoners to use against their enemies. "Hand over the girl, unless, of course, you want to perish one by one?"

"Not gonna happen, Forretress; use Rapid Spin!" Brock yelled, sending his Bug/Steel-type into action and had it spin around at top speed towards the two high-ranking members of Team Rocket, which made the blue-haired male scowl.

"Iron Tail!" commanded Hun, his Steelix roar and used a powerful Iron Tail that struck Forretress, unfortunately knocking it out in one powerful hit in the process as a result. "You think that a Bug/Steel-Type would stand a chance against us? I'm not impressed."

"Forretress, return!" Brock called his fallen Pokémon back into its Pokéball, and before the former Pewter City Gym Leader could send out his Lombre or his Mudkip, an Ice Beam came their way, striking Steelix. Still, it being part Steel-type resulted in normal damage happening. It wasn't for long before Brock, Attila, and Hun saw where the Ice Beam came from with the Breeder quick to recognize the one who came to his and Misty's aid. "Lorelei!"

"I think that you should give up," Lorelei said with a smile on her face as Lance nodded at what she was saying.

Even the other Team Rocket members saw this and knew that they were getting outnumbered as many lower grunts had gotten tied up by the untied Team Aqua and Team Magma. "This doesn't look good for us, Hun."

"I know, I Attila. I think we know when we're beaten, but we are not going to let them simply beat us like this," Hun said with a frown, already looking that they were getting surrounded.

Other high-ranking members were also having a hard time as well as the three ancient Pokémon had stopped fighting each other, and all eyes were now on them. Giovanni frowned at this, knowing that the children and Lance had beaten them, and he was not happy with this. "And I was close as well," he said as he noticed the trainer with the Pikachu was smiling at him. "You may have won this battle, but you have not seen the last of us."

"Yeah, but I'll make sure that I stop you," Ash said firmly, while all Giovanni did once he heard this was smile at Ash.

All the leader of Team Rocket did was place his hands in his pockets. "Well, only time will tell, won't it." He said and looked over as he noticed Domino coming over to him. "Agent 009, I think it's time we leave this island pull all our forces back right away."

Domino nodded at this as she looked at the other members who were still battling Team Aqua and Magma. "Alright, everyone, we're pulling out, so everyone calls back your Pokémon!"

The other Team Rocket members all nodded at this and quickly called back their Pokémon and ran to the helicopters, many of which were taking off, and Ash was watching Giovanni walking off. "I know I should stop him, but…" Ash thought as he looked over to Misty and May and decided to run over to them.

"Ash!" Max called to the raven-haired male trainer, joining with the older boy after Butler's Flygon and Salamence landed on the ground nearby; plus. He also never would've guessed Hun's Steelix would be powerful enough to defeat Brock's Forretress in one hit, but it made sense that Team Rocket would have more powerful members than the infamous Team Rocket trio. "Why would you…"

"We have more important things to worry about right now!" informed Ash with a concerned expression on his face over the two. It's now clear that his fearing for the two girls' lives overshadowed his wanting to defeat Giovanni and possibly shutting Team Rocket down for good. "I just hope that those Orbs didn't do what I think they did."

"Well, they left their bodies, so we need to find out when we meet with Brock," suggested Max as Ash silently nodded his head while making their way towards where Brock, Misty, May, Skitty, Swellow, Lance, and Lorelei stood which they could tell the two younger girls had not yet awakened. "Are they okay?"

"So far, they've not opened their eyes," explained Brock, shaking his head though he refused to say that the two girls weren't going to make it unless he had all the facts. "I'm doing what I can to help them; the good news is they still have a pulse."

Steven, Butler, and Dianne also joined with the rest of the group, as did Team Magma and Team Aqua; both teams realized that their actions had consequences after seeing the dangerous powers Groudon and Kyogre displayed. "They will be okay right?" asked Ash, not wanting to let the two girls remain like this, and Brock smiled.

"Yeah, they will be… but we don't know how long it will be before they wake up," he answered the younger man's question as May and Misty were his friends as well. He knows that Misty's sisters and Max, Norman, and Caroline, would never forgive themselves if both girls did perish due to the actions caused by Maxie and Archie. "For now, we just need to let them rest."

'Well, that's a relief…' muttered Pikachu, then turned his attention towards Skitty because she did risk her life to try and stop May, even if it was a crazy move on her part. He, too, did something crazy trying to talk a giant Tentacruel from harming innocent people when Ash, Brock, and Misty headed for Saffron City. It took Misty convincing the Water/Poison-type and his fellow Tentacool that the humans they've previously attacked realized what they've done was wrong. 'How are you feeling?'

'A lot better now that we've managed to save May and Misty…' said Skitty out of relief, seeing that both girls are okay.

Knowing that she wanted to do something rather than sit by and watch, then saw that Ash wasn't exactly happy himself because he thought May and Misty were going to be lost to the Orbs forever the moment they've become controlled by those damned items. It would've been the case had Rayquaza not arrived to aid in stopping the two other ancient Pokémon. 'Ash, are you alright?'

Ash only gave a small nod at this as he just looked at the two girls, happy that they were alright and that this was all over.

Later that very same say the sun was already setting, and Ash was still sitting next to May and Misty, still waiting for them to wake up; he had already changed back into his normal clothes as well. "Man, today was just too close," Ash said with a sigh as he saw Lance walk into the room.

"Hey, Ash, are you doing okay?" Lance asked as he looked at Ash, seeing that he was still with Misty and May and waiting for them to wake up as well.

"Just waiting for them to wake up is all, Lance. I want to ask something Misty won't get in trouble for helping you. I mean, some might think she is a member of Team Aqua," Ash said he worried Misty would get sent to jail.

"Don't worry, Ash; she won't. I can make sure of that. After all, I was the one that asked for help in the first place," Ash gave a simple but sigh when hearing this as he just nodded his head in thanks.

"I hope your right that the Orbs didn't do that much damage to either of them is all, Lance," Ash said as he soon saw that both Misty and May were moving light slowly and saw their eyes begin to open as well.

"Ow, my head, what the heck happened?" Misty asked as she rubbed her head.

May had to agree with her as she didn't remember much of what had happened, but she knew that this had something to do with Team Aqua and Magma. "That's what I want to know. The last thing I remember was you helping Ash and Me getting out of Team Aqua submarine."

Ash, however, just smiled as he saw that they were both oaky and just did the only thing that he could at that moment and that hugged the two girls, something that shocked May and Misty as they looked at each other when Ash had done this but neither cared right now.

Yet both girls just blushed ever so lightly caused by the fact that Ash was hugging them since the two girls cared for Ash in such a big way that they didn't want to say to him, mainly as they felt that the time was not right.

"Well, Ash, all we can say is thanks for saving us. I mean, I have a feeling that you stopped all this or helped out, plus you were there for me," said May with a smile on her face. "And I want to give you something as thanks."

Ash looked as May said this as he began to wonder what she was saying as he didn't want anything from her just as long as she was okay. "May you don't have to. I mean, you and Misty are my friends after all."

May giggled at this as she shook her head at him. "No, really, I want to say thanks. Who knows what would have happened to me or if I was taken by Team Rocket," she said with another smile on her face as she moved her face closer to his. "Besides, best to do this now while I still have the courage to do so."

It wasn't for long before Ash saw something coming at them fast. "Oh crap! Look out!" he yelled, pushing the girls out of his arms. Much to everyone's horror, a Hyper Beam came crashing down near where they stood with Attila and Hun finding it rather intriguing that the boy seemed to care for the two girls and felt that they should eliminate all their enemies in one swoop before retreating.

"What a pity, they had potential in becoming part of Team Rocket…" muttered Hun, somewhat ticked off that have not only Team Magma and Team Aqua got in their way but also Ash and his friends doing so as well. "Sir, my Steelix has managed to eliminate at least a few of the problems as I doubt normal human beings would survive a Hyper Beam like that."

"Excellent, let us head out!"

Attila and Hun nodded as they took their leave, not realizing that the group managed to survive the point-blank range blast from the latter's Steelix, with the smoke slowly clearing up to show that the group had gotten somewhat banged up. "I should have known that Team Rocket wouldn't take this defeat lightly!" muttered Lance, wanting to make sure that nobody got injured or worse. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah... I believe so…" frowned Lorelei, checking to see if the others managed to survive without too much trouble, more so as this made her and Lance concerned should there be any unnecessary deaths caused because of them?

"Nothing is broken at least," added Dianne as this wasn't like when the fake Groudon was born from Jirachi's power and glanced towards Butler, who managed to use his body to protect Max from the blast because the boy was still young. "Butler, are you alright!"

"I'm fine… and hopefully Max is okay himself..." said Butler, checking Max, and there was a minor head injury, but other than that, he is safe due to the purple-haired former male Team Magma member's quick thinking. "Good, he's fine too."

Dianne was relieved then saw Steven, Brock, Misty, and May nearby as she saw they managed to survive though there seemed to be someone missing. "Brock, Misty, and May are okay too… however. I don't see Ash anywhere," she spoke, becoming genuinely worried as she saw Pikachu, Swellow, Dragonite, the red Gyarados, Jynx, Cloyster, Flygon, Salamence, Aggron, and Skitty but the raven-haired young man going missing.

"Crap, this isn't good!" Steven bit his lower lip as they needed to find him and knew he would never abandon his friends because his heroic act showed he was willing to die, saving those he cared about no matter what. "He can't be far… there's no sign of any remains, but in all honesty, I prefer to find Ash injured than him possibly…"

The others nodded; they still couldn't believe that Team Rocket would resort to trying to kill them due to failing to get what they've wanted. Stealing Pokémon was one thing, but attempted murder was where the group of trainers drew the line. "Ash… Please, you can't be…" Misty tried to speak; even May was just as fearful as the red-haired female Gym Leader because they'd never forgive themselves should Ash have perished.

It wasn't for long before Pikachu's ears wiggled a bit, then his expression changed to shock. "What's wrong, Pikachu?" wondered May.

'I found Ash but take a look at where he's positioned!' informed the male Electric Mouse, feeling it wasn't a good place for Ash to end up because everyone saw he wasn't just unconscious but was positioned right in the water near a large cliff. He's about to slip into the ocean. 'We gotta get him out of there now!'

"Oh no!" muttered Misty; both she and May realized they needed to do something fast, then started to get back up despite still feeling a bit weak. The two girls hoping it won't hinder their ability to get to him should he go into the ocean because he wouldn't save himself due to being banged up and out cold. "Starmie, Gyarados… you gotta help us now!"

With a flash of white light, the two Pokémon came out from their Pokéballs to help Ash out, but before they could, he fell into the ocean, and the others were getting worried more and more for his safety. "No, Ash!"

"Oh, no, Gyarados, quickly get him!" Misty cried out as Gyarados nodded at this and dived into the sea after Ash and knew what to do as both Misty and May were hoping that Ash will be alright.

As they waited and hoped for the best, they were getting worried that Gyarados was having a hard time finding Ash. But they soon saw that Gyarados had found Ash and quickly made their way over to him, and as they got closer, they all saw that he was not moving, which just got them more worried that something went wrong.

"No, Ash!" May cried out as she ran over to him and saw he was not moving while Misty knew what had happened to him.

"This isn't good, May; he needs CPR," Misty said as May nodded as she was now blushing at what she had to do.

"I'll do it, Misty. I owe him for saving me," May said as he took a deep breath and soon did what was needed to save Ash's life. "Come on, Ash, you can't die on us. You hear me you still have a lot to do like your dream."

May soon had her lips meet Ash's as she breathed into him, trying to get some air into his lungs as May kept doing what she knew she had to do in a situation like this. "Come on, Ash, you're not going to die like this!" Misty yelled as she hoped they were not too late in saving him.

With a few more chest pumps, Ash coughed up the water as both girls looked at him with tears in their eyes. "Ash…" The two said as they both smiled and wiped away the tears that they had in their eyes, as neither liked the thought that they could have lost him like this.

"Ash, we were so worried that we had lost you," Said May as she hugged him once again.

Ash coughing a little more, just looked at both Misty and May and smiled at the two girls that had now saved his life as he has saved them. "Hey, I'm alright, you two…" Ash said with a light smiled on his face and looked at both Misty and May.

The two girls just looked at him with a smile of their own. "Ash, I need to tell you something," said May as she looked at Ash as her check went red, and she looked at Misty holding onto her hand. "No, we need to tell you something."

With a small nod of his head, Ash looked at the two girls he had grown to know, and before he knew it, May and Misty were both kissing him. Ash, on the other hand, Ash was too shocked by all this and knew that the two girls did massively care for him, but Ash would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the kiss that he was having right now from the two.

A/N well, at long last, I have got this done, and this may have been one of the hardest I have ever done but fun to do as well. I know it shall be a long time before I also try it again, lol, but I still hope you all like this.

Now with the ending, well thought I would end it with May and Misty kissing Ash. After all, he needs something. After all, he went through, and yes, I know I let Team Rocket getaway, but hey, they are smart after all, but some grunts were taking in just not the major ones, is all.

As for what next well I am hoping that I get a chance to update Pokémon Symphony of the Night, so for anyone who has read that have no fear that shall be getting an update as well; all I ask until then is you keep an eye out and leave a review of this story as well.