After a long run, Lenny sat down on the floor, almost panting.
"I can't believe those idiots actually managed to defeat me!" exclaimed Lenny, changing from a nervous tone to a neutral one. "The moment I get a new Pokémon control gear, I will have my revenge!"
At that moment, the sound of bushes being stirred was heard. Lenny soon realized that the crowd from before was looking for him.
"How…" said Lenny in disbelief. "It doesn't matter; I need to hide!"
After speaking, he got up and ran to the nearest bush.
After several seconds, Lenny could see the crowd running through the woods.
"We can't let Lenny get away!" shouted one of the people in the crowd. Lenny soon recognized the person's voice as Officer Jenny's voice. "Look for him! Shout out in case you find him! Understood?"
"Understood!" He shouted back at the crowd, which was already splitting into small search parties.
Lenny's tension caused him to move nervously, making the bush he was standing on sway and produce a noise.
One of the search parties noticed the noise the bush was making and headed to the site to investigate.
"What was that?" He questioned someone, pointing to the bush.
"I don't know." Another person in the group said. "Let's investigate."
The tension in Lenny was such that he soon left the bush, fleeing in the opposite direction.
However, the group spotted him, starting to scream repeatedly after a few seconds:
"On here! We found the bad man!"
After several seconds, the entire crowd was back together.
"He fled that way!" said the people who had seen Lenny run away, all pointing in the direction in which he ran.
Upon analyzing the pointed direction, Officer Jenny soon said:
"Fortunately, as he fled, Lenny's footprints remained on the ground. Let's follow them!"
The crowd began to run in Lenny's footsteps.
Nobody noticed that they were being followed by Binastry, who was following them at a considerable distance. Furthermore, both the artifact and the mystery box were being carried by the Pokémon due to its psychic attack.
••••••••••
Ash, his friends, and the Trio were running through the forest, all with the same goal, which was to find Binastry and stop him from doing more damage.
Even though Jessie, James, and Meowth had said that they would help the young people, it was possible to see that the three of them were still pondering whether that was the best choice.
At that moment, Pikachu found several footprints on the ground.
"Pika-pika!" said Pikachu, trying to get the group's attention.
"Pikachu found something!" Said Meowth.
The entire group headed towards the place indicated by Pikachu, analyzing the footprints.
"These are recent footprints." He watched Brock. "Probably the people who fled through the forest earlier passed this way."
"What about Binastry?" questioned Ash.
"Right now, that Pokemon is likely following the crowd in search of Lenny." Brock replied.
"Come on, guys! We need to follow the footprints as soon as possible!" Ash said.
Meanwhile, Jessie, James, and Meowth stared at the horizon, motionless.
••••• In the thoughts of TRio•••••
They were on the stage of the Tiloshi City Amphitheater. However, they hadn't noticed that there were two Pokémon floating on the ceiling, both watching.
Ahead of them, a presenter, followed by several important people, was holding a gold medal.
"These three protected the world from devastation, thus proving themselves worthy of this award!" exclaimed the presenter, extending the medal to TRio.
The entire audience started clapping.
Jessie, James, and Meowth were about to grab the medal held out before them, but…
"Don't trust them!" Ash shouted, approaching the presenter. "These three are with Team Rocket, a criminal organization whose goal is to capture other people's Pokémon!"
Everyone in the amphitheater looked at Ash in confusion.
"Look here, twerp, we stopped the world from being destroyed, so there's no reason for you to treat us like villains!" retorted Jessie.
"Of course there is!" shouted Misty, who was behind the TRio. Beside her was Brock. "First of all, you were the ones who unleashed the Pokémon that threatened to destroy the world! Also, on several occasions, you tried to steal one or more of our Pokémon!"
"Even though we acted like villains on several occasions, we also did nice and honest things on several occasions!" James said.
"It doesn't change the fact that you are criminals who don't deserve happiness!" Brock retorted.
At that moment, Jessie, James, and Meowth received an electric shock so strong that it threw them to the roof, which soon moved away on its own, revealing an entirely white sky.
"What is happening?" The three shouted in unison as they took off on the world, which soon turned entirely white.
A few seconds later, they landed on what looked like a floor with several half-white, half-black squares. However, an unknown force stopped their fall just a few centimeters above the ground. Moments later, that force dissipated, causing Jessie, James, and Meowth to touch the ground.
"All creatures that inhabit this world are cruel and have no compassion for others." Binastry affirmed, floating into the TRio's field of vision. "Even when we show compassion to others, they repay us negatively, as if we are worse than nothing."
Jessie, James, and Meowth were confused by what was happening. Before they spoke back...
"These same creatures have demonstrated that they are capable of doing good again and again." A voice echoed through the region. Suddenly, a Celebi entered everyone's field of vision, flying until it was between Binastry and the Trio. "You don't have to destroy everyone because of past mistakes!"
Binastry's irritated expression visibly intensified.
"Because of these mistakes that were made, I was forced to be trapped in a box for many months, and no one cared about me or my mistakes!" retorted Binastry. "How do you expect me to look favorably on this?!"
Binastry's speech was followed by several moments of deep silence.
"Even though you were… we were unfairly mistreated, that doesn't mean we have the right to mistreat others!" James said as Celebi started to float up.
"No, James; Binastry is right." Jessie spoke in a tone that was both serious and resigned.
"Jessie?!" James said that upon hearing his partner speak, he was both distressed and desperate.
Though for a few moments Jessie had a hesitant expression on her face, she began to speak again.
"Do you remember what I went through when I was still young? Back then, I wanted to be a licensed nurse." At that moment, tears started streaming down Jessie's face. "I couldn't fulfill my dream, and it's all because of that stupid teacher who failed me for something I hadn't even done!" Her voice was full of anger and sadness.
"Calm down, Jess." Said Meowth. "We are with you on this one."
Suddenly, everyone who was there, including Celebi and Binastry, was sucked into the white sky.
•••••End of TRio thoughts•••••
"Can you hear us?" A voice was heard by each of the three. It took a few moments for them to understand that they had come back to reality and that the voice they had just heard was Misty's.
"Y-Yes…" Jessie, James, and Meowth spoke in unison.
"Are you okay?" questioned Ash. "We've been trying to call you for several seconds without you responding."
"Yes, we-" James was about to say, however, at that moment, the Celebi they had seen earlier floated into the group's field of vision.
"Beeeee!" Celebi said.
Suddenly, Jessie, James, and Meowth began to float due to Celebi's psychic attack, which soon began to fly towards the interior of the forest, taking the TRio with it.
"Where are we going?" James questioned the Celebi, who continued to lead them.
"Wait!" Ash shouted, getting ready to run towards the four, with Pikachu doing the same. However, Misty soon grabbed him by the forearm.
"We don't have time to follow them now!" She said. "We need to stop Binastry from hurting anyone else!"
Both Ash and Pikachu displayed partially confused expressions on their faces.
"Right now, Binastry must be following that crowd that entered the forest." Brock stated. "We probably won't have time to follow those four."
"Right..." Ash said in a resigned tone, quickly transitioning to a determined tone. "Let's go then, people! There is no time to lose!" Saying that, Ash prepared to run towards the crowd's footprints.
"Pika!" said Pikachu at the same time as the group started running towards the crowd's footprints.