Hey Everybody! Ugh, well I officially suck at updating on a regular schedule, but as we prepare to close 2018 down we can at least be grateful I update four times this year, right?

…right?

Believe it or not, this is the most I've updated since 2014, so that's something. The last time I posted more than four updates in a year was 2011! Scary to think about how much this story's updating has slowed over the years, but I guess that's life. As I've stated, I'm never abandoning this fic, and that's a promise. It may take a while to get out updates, but this story will be completed.

Anyway, enough babbling. Go ahead and read and REVIEW PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokémon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this story are solely based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive and monetary funding.

Characters' Ages:

Ash: 18

Brock: 23

Misty: 18

The din of battle filled the air as Ash walked down the line; a general examining his troops in review. Every ten or fifteen steps he would pause for a moment to observe, take notes, then continue. It had been a tiring, yet productive, two weeks.

When he first arrived in Pallet his mission was clear – find a team. There were certainly more than enough volunteers for his upcoming match, but he had to whittle a roster of over three hundred down to five. He then had to train those five for the fight of their lives.

Fortunately, he had no lack of motivation. He shuddered thinking back to that battle atop Mount Silver. True, both he and his Pokémon were exhausted from the climb, but the fact remained that all six he had brought with him couldn't manage to take out even one of Red's. That couldn't happen again.

Thankfully, he had made progress. He was officially down to sixteen candidates. Rather than wait to figure out which would make the cut, he had begun practice sessions the previous day. These sessions consisted of observed battling in the morning, and individualized workouts using Professor Oak's equipment in the afternoons. He decided to match each Pokémon against the other in a rotating format, so he could see their skills and determine who was making the most progress towards being ready.

Sceptile is definitely warming back up to battle, he noted on his pad as he watched the grass type slice savagely through Gengar. Though he was loathe to speak of it, his memories of the Rocket hideout still loomed largely in his mind; significantly more so than the loss to Red. He often dreamt of that day and found himself screaming upon waking. In particular, the memory of Sceptile lying on the floor, limbs completely disjointed and a leaf on the right arm torn off, haunted him.

Apparently, Sceptile was less haunted by the experience. Since he had returned to Oak's ranch from Cerulean's Pokémon Center, the grass type had done nothing but train. According to Oak, even before Ash's arrival he had been training himself against the other Pokémon of the ranch.

"It's rare for a Pokémon to initiate battle outside of a trainer's orders, but he seems determined to get back to what he was before his injuries."

"He's ready, Ash," Oak surmised. "I've never seen a Pokémon so strong-willed."

"I-I don't know, Professor…"

A reassuring hand clasped his shoulder. "It's good you care about your Pokémon, but care comes in different forms. You think you're protecting him from getting hurt, but his physical injuries are healed. What isn't better is the image he has of himself."

"Hm?"

"Sceptile has always been proud of his strength. Like I said, Pokémon don't initiate battles often without a trainer's command. He's doing this to prove something to himself. And, even if he doesn't know it, he's doing it to prove something to you, as well. If he competes for a spot on your team and loses, fine. But if he doesn't even get a chance, Ash, that will break his heart. He'll think you've given up on him, and he'll give up on himself."

"…"

"A chance, Ash. That's all you have to give him."

And so, against his better judgement, Ash had. And over the last two weeks, Sceptile had proven Oak correct. He was now faster and more physically imposing than ever before. After delivering Gengar a final blow, he turned to give Ash a quick nod. Ash smiled in return and continued walking.

Further down, Milotic had trapped Tyranitar in a chokehold and had him forced to his knees as the rock Pokémon struggled to break free with a Hyper Beam. As the explosion rocked the ground beneath him, Ash admired the serpent's strength.

As the morning came to a close, the group broke for lunch. Professor Oak had been kind enough to not only lend Ash his equipment, but his land as well, and the Pokémon wandered off to find some quiet, empty grass to lie in while awaiting their meal.

"Try not to set everything on fire," had been his one request. "And remember me when you're a famous Pokémon Master!"

Ash grabbed a shovel and filled dozens of dishes with nutrient-rich food, crafted by and sent from Brock himself. There will be a lot of people to thank if I win this thing, he mused as sweat beaded on his forehead from the labor.

With one week left until Misty's competition, he knew that despite the help of his friends, the actual task of winning this battle was up to him, and it started by making some tough decisions. He loved all of his Pokémon, and the ones he was now testing were the elite of the elite. Each had proven themselves more than worthy in prior adventures, and he knew that those who were not selected would be crushed.

With a sigh, he looked back at his pad and planned the afternoon's work.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The late afternoon sun had dipped well below the mountainous horizon before he decided to call it a day. Charizard remained the most impressive member of his roster, and was the only choice Ash felt certain about.

"Go rest, buddy. You deserve it." With a pat on the head, he sent the fire type flying off for the night. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and gave a quick wave before following after his friend.

He dreaded going home. Other than dinner, all he had to look forward to tonight was uploading all of the day's findings to his laptop, and then staring at the screen hoping for answers. Then he'd fall asleep on the couch watching the Master's old battles – a habit that had quickly become tradition over the previous weeks.

"No use resisting," he muttered, picking up his pack and preparing for the trudge home. He stopped by the lab to say goodbye to Oak and Tracey, but found the place empty. "Must have gone home."

He turned off the lights and headed out the front door. As he locked up, he felt a sudden chill run up his spine.

He was being watched.

Breathlessly, and without turning around, he reached for a single pokéball on his hip.

Team Rocket.

"Barrier!" With a flash, Alakazam leapt forward and created a powerful psychic shield between the threat and his master. Ash turned to confront whoever it was, only to be shocked to see he was right.

It was Team Rocket…or at least, they used to be.

"Jessie? James?"

"Twerp."

He returned Alakazam. "What're you doing here? Why are you dressed like that?" The three were wearing hooded cloaks, and were only recognizable by the silhouettes of their faces in the starlight.

"We're going on a trip," Jessie answered.

"Not that it's any of your business," finished James.

"A trip?"

"Yeah, we're startin' over. Boardin' a ship for Hoenn in the morning, and figured we should see if you were around to say goodbye," Meowth explained.

"This has gotta be a trick," he realized, suddenly. "There's no way you guys would give up trying to steal Pikachu!"

In spite of the darkness, Ash could swear he saw a small smile on their lips. "Actually, I think we finally learned crime doesn't pay."

"At least, not well enough." With a shrug, James removed his cloak, and Ash gasped. His left arm was missing. "It's not polite to stare, twerp."

"James…I-I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I. I was a lefty, after all. As if I didn't have it bad enough trying to find a can opener."

"Was that because of Mallory?"

"Of course it was because of that witch," Jessie answered poisonously. "I hate her and everything she stands for."

"We all do," Meowth continued, "which is why we're leavin' Team Rocket and Kanto for good!"

To his surprise, a rush of tears blurred Ash's vision. All the pain from seven months ago rushed back at once.

"I'm sorry, you guys. I-I should've been there. I-"

"What?" Jessie hissed. "You're apologizing to us?"

"We're the bad guys, remember?"

Ash looked away. "No…I thought you were the bad guys. Turns out, you weren't even close."

"Growing up, when I thought of Team Rocket, your faces were always the ones that appeared in my mind. Goofy costumes and silly hair-"

"Watch it," Jessie interrupted.

"But that's just it. It was my all in my mind. As a kid I couldn't imagine anything worse than people who wanted to steal someone's Pokémon for their own selfish reasons. I assumed that was the worst thing anyone could be. It turns out, I was wrong."

To his surprise, James answered in a hushed whisper, "If it makes you feel better, we didn't realize how bad the world was, either." As Ash looked up, he was further surprised to see a look that almost resembled sobriety and wisdom on the young man's face.

"I joined Team Rocket because I was poor and had nowhere else to go."

"I joined because I'd lost the love of my life and had nowhere else to go."

"And I was spoiled my whole life, but didn't have a single friend. We joined Team Rocket because we thought it would give us a place to belong."

"But we never signed up for all dis."

Jessie snarled. "You may have thought of us as the bad guys, but we'd never wanna take out the twerpette. Stealing Pikachu? No problem. Murder? Only songs that James sings for karaoke night."

"I will miss saying the motto, though," James sighed. They all stood in silence for a moment, and for a split-second Ash wondered if they were about to break out into recitation.

"Anyway," James continued instead, "we wanted to say goodbye, and saw you training earlier."

"We figured you'd wanna say goodbye to your archnemesises and whatnot."

Ash smiled. "Well, it was interesting…even if it wasn't always fun. Like I said, I thought of you as the bad guys for so long that it never struck me that there were really bad people out there. In a way, I'm thankful. If it hadn't been for you three, I may have realized that much sooner, and the world would've been a much darker place."

"Yeah, wudever," Meowth quipped, feeling himself blush. "Just rememba', if we ever see dat Pikachu again, we're not gonna go easy on ya!"

"That's right!" Jessie pointed an accusing finger at Ash. "Don't think we've forgotten all the times you electrocuted us! We will have our revenge!"

"Until then, though," James continued, smirking, "it looks like Team Rocket is…"

With a quickness that took Ash by surprise, the trio turned and sprinted off into the night, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in their wake.

"Blasting off again," he whispered under his breath with a smile. One last tear fell from his cheek as he walked back home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ash awoke with a jerk. Rubbing his eyes, he realized he had indeed fallen asleep in front of the television once again. Stretching, he decided to call it a night.

He went upstairs and began to undress, his mind fuzzy from the strange dream he had just experienced; a dream of fire.

Clothes off, he was pulling down the bed's sheets when a golden hue caught the corner of his eye. Curious, he ran to the window.

That's where the dream came from, he realized, suddenly – and completely - awake. It didn't make sense, but somehow he knew it was true.

In a flash, he picked back up his clothes and ran for the door, stopping only for a second to grab something from the top drawer of his dresser.

The Masterball.

Author's Notes: Not too much to say here. A little more character development for Ash, and another loose thread tied off with the Team Rocket saga. When I came back to this story after four years, my goal was to end it, but in a satisfying way. It was also important that I not leave any plot holes open, which is difficult when you think about how long four years is and how many chapters were written already. Every chapter I write, I now have to read about ten prior chapters to ensure I'm not contradicting myself or the timeline. At the same time, I have to remember to bring B- and C-plots I began to a close. This chapter is an attempt to do just that.

By the way, what did y'all think of the conclusion? What do you think Ash saw outside his window? Let me know by REVIEWING PLEASE!