Chapter 29: Come and Get It
What am I doing, I can't stop, what's going? Ash found himself sitting on a bed with Misty in front of him. He was leaning closer to the orange-haired teen's lips and every attempt Ash did to pull was futile.
He could feel his hands getting placed on Misty's waist, I can't control it, what's happening to my body, the boy thought in his mind as he tried to fight back, but it was useless. Ash had a look of uncertainty on, but even if he was uncomfortable doing this, his body just kept going closer, Misty closed her eyes and leaned closer as well.
Stop! Ash yelled, but it was pointless, Ash and Misty locked lips and Ash moved his hand up her waist and placed it on her left cheek. He couldn't stop, he couldn't pull away, Misty's lips stuck to his like glue, why am I doing this, why can't I pull away, when May finds out…Ash gritted his teeth in his mind.
All of a sudden, the sound of something metallic dropping was heard and Ash finally pulled away. The boy turned around to see what it was and his face became covered in grief, in front of him was May; tears streaming down her cheek, her legs were trembling.
"May!" Ash called out to her.
May shut her eyes and ran away crying, her weeping echoing through the house. Ash turned to Misty and frowned; the gym leader sighed and lowered her head. Ash darted off after May without a word, running as fast as he could pull off. He saw May rushing out of the house and Ash followed closely behind, when he left the house he looked around and saw May up on a hill, letting the heavy rain drop on her with all its May.
How'd she get there so fast? Ash thought, but quickly ran after her and rushed to the hill, using all his force to run up the grassy lump. The ground was muddy and Ash almost slipped, but managed to keep his balance. The cold rain showered over Ash, but like May, the boy paid no mind to it and finally caught up to the brunette and the top.
"May…" Ash slowly walked over to her with a sad tone. Her back was facing him, when he called out her name, she didn't even move an inch. Ash walked a bit closer and placed his hand on May's shoulder, "May?" the boy said once again.
May began to shake and Ash could hear her weeping once again, "I…thought…you….lo-lo-loved me…everything…we sha-shared…and it ends…like this."
"May, it wasn't my intention. I tried to stop; I don't know what came over me. I lost control, that wasn't me who kissed Misty, I love you May and I would never do anything to hurt you," Ash explained to the girl with a guilty tone.
May's shaking and crying came to a halt when Ash finished his explanation. When she spoke, her tone became more sinister, "Love? You love me? Ash, you can't be stupider than you are right now. After all the experience you've gained about love and romantic feelings during the week I've been here, all you've done is understand the opposite of love. You really are dense; love isn't when you going around kissing someone else then claim you love another. You'll never understand what love is Ash; you'll never get it, now go away!" May turned around with a furious gaze and pushed Ash away from her.
The push caught Ash off guard and the boy felt himself lose balance, he slipped on the wet grass and then fall backwards, down the hill. His hat flew off and Ash rolled down the hill violently, every impact between his bones and the hill made the boy grind his teeth. He could feel himself breaking into pieces. When he reached the base of the hill, Ash's body lied on the wet grass while rain continued to poor down on him. The boy grinded his teeth as he gently got up. His bones ached and he saw various injuries on his arms. The red blood from his elbows and wrists dropped on the grass, his jeans and shirt got ripped, exposing his shoulders and bloody knees.
Ash clenched his fists, as he slowly lifted himself up. He touched his face and then looked at his fingers, he was bleeding near his temples, he saw patches of green form on his arms and legs, bruises were quickly forming. The boy fought back tears, trying the endure the god awful pain he felt, at one point he could've sworn he heard a bone in his leg snap while he got up.
He raised his head and looked up at the top of the hill, preparing to glare at May and yell the truth out to her once again, but when he looked up at the hill, his eyes widened with shock. "You!" Ash shouted with anger, grinding his teeth.
May was no longer on the top of the hill; another figure had replaced her, a far too familiar figure at this point. Omega smirked at him and said, "This is only the beginning of your path to nothingness."
"What do you want? What are you doing here?" Ash glared at Omega, barely able to stand up.
"Ash Ketchum, you are destined to lose everything you have and you'll be sent to oblivion by my hand," Omega reached for Master Ball.
Ash stood still, he kept glaring at Omega and reached for a Pokéball as well, but much to his dismay, he found nothing on his belt. Omega's silver hair began to levitate and his amber eyes turned pitch black, followed by a frightful black aura enveloping the man's body. Suddenly, a black hole opened underneath Ash and ghostly dark hands reached for Ash's legs from the hole.
"What the," Ash tried to pull his legs away, but the hands were too strong and kept slowly pulling Ash into the hole.
"I'm going to send you and everything you've ever loved to obliteration," Omega's voice became a demonic one and he threw the Master Ball into the air.
From it came out a gigantic creature, it was shadowy and the most prominent feature was its ruby-glowing eyes. The only other thing Ash was able to identify from the creature was its lengthy wings that had very spiky ends. Whatever the shadow Pokémon was, it screeched loudly as it flew right at Ash.
Ash's eyes widened, he tried to move away but the hands still held onto his legs, leaving him unable to move. The next thing Ash saw was the monster opening its jaw like a gruesome beast and everything became dark.
"Gah!" Ash sat up, still in his sleeping bag. He was gasping and sweating, his eyes were wide from fear.
"Ash?" Ash heard May's voice and lifted his head. In front of him, he saw Iris, Cilan, May, and the other Pokémon eating breakfast, including Pikachu and Victini.
"May, Iris, Cilan…" Ash let out a sigh of relief.
The Pokémon and the other 3 trainers gave Ash puzzled faces. "Ash, is something wrong?" May tilted her head in confusion.
"No, I'm fine, just a dream," Ash grinned softly.
"It's about time you woke up," Iris told the auburn-eyed boy.
"At least you're just in time for breakfast," Cilan grinned.
Ash put on a weak smile and responded, "Thanks Cilan."
"Ash, come here and eat breakfast," May made space for Ash between her and Iris.
"And here's a towel to wipe away that sweat," Iris handed Ash a towel that just happened to be on the table. The purple-haired girl threw it at Ash and the boy caught it.
"Thanks you two," Ash wiped away the sweat around his neck and face. The boy sat down next to May and Iris, waiting for his breakfast.
"Morning sunshine," May teased Ash and pecked him on the cheek.
"Morning May," Ash smiled sheepishly and held her a hand for a second as sign of affection.
"Pikapi," Pikachu greeted Ash by getting on his shoulder.
"Tini," Victini hovered over to Ash and sat on his shoulder.
"Hey Pikachu and Victini," Ash smiled at the two and scratched the two Pokémon under the chin.
"Here you go," Cilan gave Ash a bowl of fruit with yogurt.
"Thanks Cilan," Ash thanked Cilan and began to eat the bowl of sliced fruit.
As Ash began eating, the dream he had earlier slowly flashed back into his mind, he checked his arms just to see if had actually gotten any injuries. He found nothing; the boy then touched his temple and only felt his skin along with the long raven hair near his temples. That dream happened in real life already, it was when I kissed Misty just a few days before I got with May, Ash recalled in his mind, remembering the event that now felt ages ago.
Everything that happened seemed pretty accurate up until catching up with May at the hill, Drew was there with her, I remember that, but in the dream she wasn't. Then everything changed entirely when May pushed me off the hill and Omega appeared. What did Omega have to do with anything in that dream and what was that Pokémon that he used? I could've sworn I've seen it before; the black-haired teen recounted his nightmare.
"You are destined to lose everything you have," Ash mumbled Omega's words.
"Ash!" Iris's voice pierced through the boy's ear and snapped him out of his train of thought.
Ash's eyes widened with alarm and he frowned at Iris, "Why did you yell?"
"Because you wouldn't hear me when I said to please pass me a napkin, so you forced me to yell," Iris frowned at the boy.
"Oh…sorry," Ash replied.
"Here you go Iris," May handed a napkin to Iris.
Ash quickly reverted back to his earlier state and began to think of the dream again. The more he thought of it, the more he became disturbed, the event he recounted in his mind was very twisted compared to the one that occurred in real life. "Why did I dream of that of all things?" Ash murmured.
"Pi?" Pikachu heard his friend and asked if something was wrong.
"No, everything's fine pal, I'm just thinking," Ash answered Pikachu and the mouse let it go.
"So what's the plan for today?" May inquired.
"Well, we're a day away from the town where your contest is being held at. If we walk till nightfall, we'll it there by morning and you'll be able to compete for sure," Cilan informed May.
"Perfect, I can't wait; I'm going to make my big comeback!" May cheered.
Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, and Victini admired May's excitement with a smile, but it was Ash's daydream stare that alerted May. The brunette noticed that Ash had finished his breakfast already and just kept staring down blankly, as if he were thinking about something.
The sapphire-eyed girl frowned, but ignored Ash and continued to talk with Iris and Cilan.
Later that morning…
While Iris and Cilan were finishing packing, May returned from the woods after changing to her white sleeveless jacket and black biker shorts. The girl walked by the campsite, smiling when she saw Pikachu, Axew and Victini playing after all the other Pokémon had been returned. Over the course of their time together, Victini had finally opened up to Axew and the rest of the Pokémon, after the incident with Emolga, Palpitoad, and Stunfisk, the Fire-type wasn't so shy anymore, nevertheless, it still had to work a bit more on its relationship with Iris and Cilan.
The brunette giggled as she walked past the Pokémon trio and frowned when she saw the next thing that caught her attention. She saw Ash leaned against a tree, sitting down with the brim of his hat covering his eyes. May walked over to him and crossed her arms, "Ash, what's up with you this morning. You've been in space since you woke up."
Ash looked up at May and grinned shamefacedly, "Sorry if I've been worrying you that much," the boy answered.
"Is it about that dream you had?" May sat down next to him with a curious look.
"I don't really feel comfortable talking about it," Ash told the brunette with an uneasy attitude.
May frowned at him and spoke, "I'm your girlfriend, and I have the right to know when something is wrong with you and the reason why. You're not only one who has the job of comforting Ash, I want you to know that I'm always here to do the same for you, whenever you're down I'm here for you. You can tell me anything and I'll comfort because I love you."
May's words touched Ash's heart and the boy sighed, finding himself reluctantly telling her what was wrong with him, "The dream I had while I was asleep was more like a flashback of the past. I dreamt that I was kissing Misty and you were there, you saw us, the memories of your broken heart came back to me. I was reliving that whole thing all over again and it felt just as bad as the first, kissing Misty and seeing you like that troubled me more than you can imagine."
The brunette raised her eyebrow, slightly annoyed with the details Ash was given him, although she had forgiven him and Misty, the pain from that event still bothered her from time to time whenever she thought about it. May brushed away the uncomfortable feeling as Ash spoke about the nightmare he relived, but then she interrupted him.
"I dashed after you, remembering how terri-," Ash got cut off.
"Ash," May reached for Ash's hand and held it while smiling. "Don't get so down just because you had a nightmare like that. That was in the past, and we're here together now, in love. The reason why you kissed Misty wasn't because you loved her or had feelings for her, I understand that it was only out of frustration. Love was still something new to you then, you became lost in all those complicated emotions and you lost control of your feelings, you didn't know what to do. You kissed Misty because you were so lost in all those confusing parts of love, but you overcame them and although you're still dense, silly, you've matured and learned a lot. It's strange because you're a more mature Ash who knows more about stuff including love, yet you're still the same Ash that I love and I think that's what is most important, that we love each other." The girl then leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head right on his chest.
Ash smiled and hugged May, "I love you, May." The boy said and then kissed her head, including her hair.
"Are you feeling better now?" May questioned, still cuddling him and grinning happily.
The raven-haired let out a deep breath and spoke sternly, "There was another part in that dream completely different from everything else. It bugs me as much as the rest of the dream."
"What's that?" May became concerned, but still held onto him.
"At one point in the dream, you transformed into Omega. He began to torment me, saying things like taking away everything that I care about and how he'd put an end to me, I felt powerless in that dream to stop him. Then he released a Pokémon I recognized, but sure exactly what Pokémon. The Pokémon attacked me and that's when I woke up," the auburn-eyed teen explained.
May pressed up against him and smiled, "It was just a dream. You shouldn't let it or Omega get to your head like this, if Omega ever tries to hurt you, I'll be there to stop him. I'll protect you like you've always protected me."
The reassuring words coming from May's mouth finally relieved Ash and he felt like he could finally let the nightmare go. As long as the pair was together, nothing could ever overpower them, not even Omega. He hugged her tight and kissed her hair once again.
Ash's girlfriend then backed away from a bit and got out two Oran berries from one of the pockets from her thin white jacket. "Here, I found two Oran berries hanging from a tree while I was changing. I thought we could eat them together, but don't tell the others," the coordinator winked.
Ash chuckled and received an Oran berry from May, "Thank you May."
The two beamed at each other and prepared to take a bite. Suddenly though, a two kunai shot in front of Ash and May, making a whooshing sound in the process, the kunai stabbing through the Oran berries and piercing into the dirt with the Oran berries still through the blades.
Ash and May's eyes widened and their hairs stood up with fear when they realized what just happened. Iris and Cilan noticed thanks to the sound of whoosh. The four saw the shiny, small weapons lunged into the ground, causing Iris to hold onto Cilan's arm while May held onto Ash, but even the boys were in fear since their eyes got wide with fear and their teeth gritted when they saw the kunai.
Victini and Axew also wasted no time in hiding behind Pikachu, while the mouse frantically looked around for the attacker.
"What brings you to the forest here?" a voice asked menacingly.
"Who, who said that?" Ash looked around with a nervous expression.
One of the trees in front of Ash then began to rustle violently, causing the gang to step back in fear. From the tree dropped a bizarre-dressed man. He wore a blue coat with some traces of black; he had blue gloves on, black pants along with black shoes, a black-orange shoulder pad on his left shoulder and another guard from his forearm to the tip of his fingers, the man almost resembled some sort of character from superhero stories. The stranger also had tan skin, whitish-blond hair and amber eyes.
"I asked what you are doing here?" the man asked angrily while holding out a Kunai.
The Kunai provoked Ash, May and the others to walk farther away, with chills crawling down their spines at the sight of the sharp blade of the Kunai. Cilan shook his hands in an attempt to ease the man and said, "We're not looking for any trouble, we were just passing by, so there's no need to throw Kunai at anyone," the gym leader said with a frightened tone while sweating a bit.
The man lowered his Kunai and took a good look at the still scared teens. The man chuckled and out of nowhere, threw the Kunai right at them. The gang's eyes widened with fear, their hairs stood up, and they felt their heartbeats accelerate. Due to the fear, they shut their eyes and waited for the Kunai to strike until they heard a thud; they slowly opened their eyes and found each other all in one piece. Ash looked to his right and saw the Kunai stuck on a tree trunk.
The teens and Pokémon let out a sigh of relief while the stranger smirked, "Your story seems credible. Besides, you kids don't look like you'd provoke any trouble; I apologize for alerting you like that."
The look in the eyes of the gang alleviated when they heard the stranger, all of a sudden, they heard flapping and saw a Honchkrow land on the man's shoulders. "Honchkrow," the bird squawked.
"Good work Honchkrow," the stranger grinned at his partner.
The light-haired man turned back to the gang and smiled, "Let me apologize one more time, I can't feel guilty enough startling you like that."
May and Iris stopped holding onto Ash and Cilan while Axew stopped hiding behind Pikachu, Victini was the only who still seemed a bit distrustful after the show the stranger put on. "No worries, at all, but why did you startle us like?" Ash asked with a rather annoyed look, but forgave the man.
Just when the stranger was about to answer Ash, he spotted Victini peeking from behind Pikachu, but kept his cool, is that Victini? The man wondered, then turned back to Ash and said, "Why don't I explain at my cabin, by the way, my name is Wes."
"Hi, I'm Ash," Ash introduced himself with a grin.
"Hi there, I'm May," May finally managed to speak to the man.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Iris," Iris greeted the stranger.
"And I'm Cilan, it's a pleasure," Cilan saluted Wes.
"The pleasure is all mine," Wes smiled at all of them.
"My Pokémon and I reside on this route because we take it as our responsibility to protect the local Pokémon. Honchkrow is the scout around these parts, he notifies me if there's any trouble brewing, especially if someone is attempting to take some Pokémon around here. That's why I was forced to assault you like that, you never know who's good or bad these days, especially with crime running rampant these days, disturbing the balance of the world and Pokémon," Wes explained to the gang on the table, they all sat down in the circular table and listened intently to Wes.
The gang nodded in agreement when Wes mentioned criminals running all over, thinking of Team Plasma and Team Rocket when the man spoke of crooks. "We understand why you'd attack us like that, it's a very noble responsibility," May said to the man.
"Yeah, who would've thought all you were doing was protecting Pokémon from any cruel people who come around, that's so cool," Ash complimented the man.
"Very dignifying," Cilan nodded with admiration.
"That's nice from your part," Iris told the man.
"Pika," Pikachu smiled at Wes.
"Ax axew," Axew did the same as Pikachu.
Victini, while invisible smiled because of Wes's words, there were other people out in the world besides Iris, Cilan, "mama", "papa", and Roxas who would give their lives to protect its brethren.
"Yeah, I guess it's my way of contributing to Pokémon after everything they've done for me," Wes told them. They all shook their heads in agreement, but then Wes said something else, "Well, now it's my turn to ask, when will you stop trying to hide that Victini from me?"
The gang became alarmed when Wes revealed that he was aware of Victini and weren't sure how to respond, "I spotted it earlier when we met in the forest. That Victini still needs some practicing on blending in if it doesn't want to be found."
All of them sighed, including Victini, but Wes grinned, "Don't worry, I won't hurt it or steal it, after all, that would be contradictory to what I do now would it?"
"I guess," Ash remained uncertain along with May, however, in the end, they nodded with Iris and Cilan.
"Victini, you can stop hiding now, Wes, would like to meet you and I promise I won't let him hurt you if he does anything," May told the Victory Pokémon.
Wes raised an eyebrow when he heard May, not sure if they still actually trusted him or not since May said she wouldn't let him hurt Victini. "Vi," Victini revealed itself to the man with a timid look and quickly dashed behind May, "Tini," the little Pokémon took a peek at Wes.
"It's a shy one, how on earth did you kids end up with such a legendary Pokémon?" Wes asked with a confused tone.
"May and I were protecting it from a gang of crooks back on Liberty Garden a couple of days ago," Ash explained to Wes.
Wes nodded and replied, "Would that incident happen to be the same one is currently reported on television?" The man asked and focused his gaze on the T.V behind him.
"Yeah, when they attacked Castelia City, they were after Victini, but we stopped them and this little guy decided to come along with us," May went into further detail while placing her hand behind her head and scratching Victini's head.
"Yes, the two conflictive Team Plasmas and Team Rocket, along with some other enigmatic crime syndicate. I'm aware of their activities, I've been encountering those thugs for months now and I've driven them away countless times," Wes informed them.
The gang became surprised when Wes said that, realizing that the reputation of these criminal organizations has gained a large notoriety. "It's nice to see a Victini once again after so many years, I hadn't seen one since I traveled to become a Pokémon Master," Wes mentioned.
Everyone immediately became even more surprised when Wes said he traveled to become a Pokémon Master. Ash especially became amazed and his eyes widened, "A Pokémon Master? No way, I wouldn't have expected you to be a Pokémon Master."
Wes chuckled and spoke, "Do you happen to be aiming to become one yourself?"
"Absolutely, I've traveled nonstop and fought many battles to reach that goal, how did you become one?" Ash asked with great curiosity, a curiosity that almost made him seem like a little kid, much to the annoyance of the others.
"Ash, before you aim to be a Pokémon Master, you must realized that the definition for that term varies, you see I never learned what 'Pokémon Master' was until I won my first and last Pokémon League competition," Wes stated.
"What do you mean?" Ash tilted his head in confusion. May and the others also became puzzled by what Wes meant.
"You see, after winning a league championship and successfully defeating the Elite Four and Champion of that region, after traveling and seeing so much, I realized what I wanted to do with my life. For the rest of my life after traveling, I settled down and took it up as my duty to protect Pokémon. After working so hard and ultimately dedicating my complete life to Pokémon, I realized I was a Pokémon Master. A Pokémon Master because I was doing what I loved even though I was no longer out battling. While working hard alongside my Pokémon with every sweat from every battle, I finally aimed for something good and dedicated in life, assuring the protection of Pokémon. So in other words, by working so hard with my Pokémon, doing what I love, and doing something good, I feel like I have achieved the goal of becoming a Pokémon Master," Wes explained to Ash what his meaning for the term "Pokémon Master" was, based on his life experiences.
Ash was left speechless, he didn't know what to say, and Wes's words only left him thinking very heavily about what he was currently doing to become a "Pokémon Master". His thoughts got halted by something else Wes said though, "Of course, I didn't realize anything of this, about working with Pokémon and caring for them, until I abandoned a criminal organization I once belonged to."
Once again, Wes surprised the gang by mentioning that he was part of criminal group. "What criminal group?" Iris inquired.
Wes smirked and continued to talk, "The surprise expressions on the seven of you is humoring, but if you really want to know. I was part of criminal group that is long gone, headquartered once in the faraway Orre region. After years of service though, I became disgusted with the cruelty they inflicted upon Pokémon and took it upon myself to eradicate them. It was a long journey, but in the end, that gang of thugs was gone, and after that I set out on my journey to find a purpose. Seeing my former comrades mistreat Pokémon made me realize I wanted to do the opposite, with dark forces like that in the world, good forces have to exist as well, and I decided to raise and care for my Pokémon while making them strong at the same time. It was around the time I began to travel around the world that I wanted to become a Pokémon Master and after a few years of hard training, I became a Pokémon Champion. During my travels though, I came across more people like the organization I worked for and became even more aware of how bad Pokémon need good people to care for them rather than bad people who intend to abuse them for power."
The teens and Pokémon were all mesmerized by the story Wes told, amusing the man in the process as he continued to tell them his story, "This made me become stronger and after becoming champ, like I said earlier, I finally realized my true goal and what I wanted to do. Become a protector for Pokémon. Around the time after winning the Pokémon League, I came to Unova and settled here because it was known to everyone that his region had been plagued by crime several years around that time. It decreased dramatically after the years I decided to live here, thanks to people with the same desire as me, to do good, especially for Pokémon. However, it seems to be increasing once again with the rise of groups like Team Plasma." Wes frowned when he thought of criminals like Team Plasma.
Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan nodded at Wes. "Wes, what you're doing has to be one of the noblest things I've ever heard," May told the light-haired man.
"You're an inspiration to people, including me, what you're doing is so dignified," Ash made a fist and smiled at Wes, admiring the hero.
"You almost left me speechless, I've met very few people with the mentality you have," Iris said to Wes.
"A very heroic and gracious life indeed, with a delightful taste of adventure," Cilan praised the veteran trainer and hermit.
Pikachu and Axew also praised Wes, smiling at the man for doing so much, especially good, in his life. Victini found great admiration for Wes and its eyes glistened as it looked at the hero who dedicated to his life to protecting all Pokémon. The Fire-type stopped hiding behind May's head and sat down on May's shoulder.
Wes took note of Victini's presence when it came out of hiding and understood that Victini, Pikachu, and Axew had taken a great liking him simply because of what he's done for Pokémon, but he only smiled. "Enough about me though, tell me more about the four of you, what your goals are, how far you've come so far."
Before any of them could talk though, they heard a tapping on the glass window. Wes became alarmed and turned to the window, the light-haired man saw Honchkrow flying there, squawking "Honchkrow!"
"What's going on?" Ash became baffled along with the others.
Wes frowned and only said, "Let's go find out." With that said, Wes dashed out of the house while the others followed close behind him.
"Honchkrow, what is it?" Wes asked anxiously.
"Krow, honchkrow krow," Honchkrow said to Wes while flapping its wings.
Wes frowned and grinded his teeth after Honchkrow explained the situation. "What's the matter?" May inquired.
"Team Neo Plasma is trying to take a group of large Pokémon near here," Wes spoke sternly.
Ash and the teens frowned when they heard the news, "It's best if you stay here, who knows what those plasma goons will do," Wes ordered them.
Ash stepped up and disobeyed Wes, "No Wes, we're going with you." The raven-haired teen frowned and made a fist.
"We've faced those people dozens of times already, we even saved a legendary Pokémon from them," May added and mimicked Ash's pose.
"We'll be a great help to you," Iris smiled confidently.
"You won't regret it," Cilan stated.
Wes sighed, he smirked at them and replied, "Very well, but Victini has to stay."
The teens all realized the one issue that might not allow them to go with Wes and turned to Victini, who just returned a confused gaze. "You already stopped them from taking Victini once before. I'm sure they're still after it, if you go with Victini you'll be handing it over to them," Wes explained to them.
"Now, how are we going to leave you here by yourself?" May kneeled down and gave the hovering Victini a sad look.
"Victini," Victini understood what was going on and gave May the same sad look. "Vi v," Victini hugged May and held on tight to her, as if that would keep her from going.
"I wish Victini, could come with us. He'd be a great deal of help to Wes and us, but it's better if he stays here," Ash kneeled down next to May and placed his hand on the Fire-type's head while it kept holding onto May.
"Pikapi pika pikachu," Pikachu told Ash, who still stood on his shoulder.
Ash looked at Pikachu and spoke, "Pikachu, do you really want to do that?" Ash asked Pikachu.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded and grinned happily.
"What's Pikachu saying Ash?" Iris inquired.
"It says it's willing to stay here at the cabin and look after Victini," Ash told the girl with a satisfied grin.
May separated from Victini and smiled at it, Victini seemed uncertain about leaving its parents, but May nodded at it. The Victory Pokémon turned to Ash and Pikachu, Ash nodded as well while Pikachu smiled at the Psychic-type. Victini understood it was for its own safety and "mama" and "papa" were going to go protect Pokémon. In the end, Victini nodded and smiled, "Tini."
"If Pikachu is staying, then so is Blaziken," May said and threw her Pokéball into the air.
From it emerged Blaziken, the fiery fighter towered above the humans and proudly said, "Blaziken!"
May stood up and looked at her faithful partner, "Blaziken I need you to stay here with Pikachu and help it protect Victini, ok?"
"Blaze," Blaziken nodded obediently.
Victini smiled at Pikachu and Blaziken, what better Pokémon to it feel safe than Ash and May's most loyal companions. Wes crossed his arms and grinned at the little Fire-type, "Just for precaution, Honchkrow, you fly over the house and guard it."
"Honchkrow krow," Honchkrow nodded and fly into the air; it began to fly around the house in circles while the gang looked up.
"Honchkrow will keep a watchful eye and notify your Blaziken and Pikachu if anyone comes around here," Wes informed the teens.
"Sounds good to me," Cilan said.
Iris looked at Axew, who had its head sticking out her hair like usual, "Axew, why don't you stay with them too. It'll be much safer for you here, we'll be back soon."
Axew seemed uncertain at first, but then realized it'd be staying with Blaziken, Pikachu, and Victini, so it gladly accepted. "Ax axew ax," Axew bobbed its head.
Axew jumped out Iris's and stood next to Pikachu. "The same goes for you Victini, Axew, Blaziken, and Pikachu will take good care of you. We won't be gone for too long, just stay put, don't go anywhere," Ash said to Victini while still kneeling down.
"Pikachu, Axew, if Victini wants, play with it to distract ok?" Ash winked at the pair.
The small duo nodded at Ash, not planning on letting their friend down. "I'll be back for you quickly, behave ok Victini?" May spoke softly to it.
"V," Victini nodded blankly, starting to feel uncomfortable about seeing Ash and May leave. It dashed at May and Ash and rubbed its cheek against theirs, smiling happily while letting a few small tears wet their cheeks, "Tini vi, mama, papa."
Victini's comment caused Wes to raise an eyebrow; it believes they're its parents. That tell me a lot about how these two must be with their Pokémon, the light-haired man smirked. Cilan and Iris had already heard Victini say "papa" and "mama" to Ash and May a few times before, but they found it just as adorable as the last.
"We have to hurry, there's no time to waste," Wes realized how quickly they were running out of time and spoke very demandingly.
The teens all nodded and May and Ash took one more look at Victini, nodding at it. "Let's go quick," Cilan said and the gang ran off into the woods while Victini watched them go.
"Viiii," Victini said with a sad tone, but felt Axew, Pikachu, and Blaziken's hands on it. Victini looked at them and saw their smiles, making the Victory Pokémon smile as well, "Tini," it responded.
"This is it," Wes saw ahead and ran.
Ash and the others frowned and ran behind him. When they came into a clearing, much to their horror, they saw about a dozen Neo Plasma members gathering Pokémon of all types with a cruelty Arceus would damn.
Wes, Ash, May, Iris, Cilan saw the Water-type Pokémon being dragged with a net on the grass while the Grass-type Pokémon and other land Pokémon were being brutally beaten by Pokémon like Seviper, Zangoose, Sneasel, and Skorupi.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Wes yelled at the Plasma Grunts.
The criminals and their Pokémon stopped their activities and turned to the gang. "We have trouble," a male grunt said.
"Aldith, what do we do?" another male grunt asked to the only female grunt in the squad.
"Take them down, what does it look like?" Aldith glared at the gang.
"You're going to pay for your crimes," Ash glared back and threw a Pokéball, "Go Snivy!"
"Tepig, you're up!" May called out her Tepig.
"Stunfisk, let's go!" Cilan summoned his recently caught Pokémon.
"Emolga, help us out!" Iris released Emolga.
"Umbreon, I need your assistance!" Wes called out the Johto Pokémon.
"You know, I could've sworn our leader declared you two dead," Aldith focused her eyes on Ash and May.
"Guess they recognized us," May smirked at Ash.
"Well, maybe after their last defeat, they'll understand exactly who they are dealing with," Ash smirked back at May.
"You can get rid of all of them except for the brunette and her boyfriend, the boss will want to see them in person," Aldith crossed her arms, chuckling while standing in front of a net containing a bunch of Water-type Pokémon.
"Cilan, Iris, and I will take care of half of them, Ash, May, you can split the rest among you," Wes told them, the teens nodded and prepared to battle.
The Neo Plasma Grunts charged at the gang with their fierce Pokémon, but the teens and Wes didn't seem fazed at all by their intimidation. "May, I'll take care of three, and you go after the one in charge," Ash told the sapphire-eyed girl.
May nodded and moved away from the gang with her Tepig after dodging a Seviper's Poison Tail. Ash and the others were also forced to split when the grunt's Pokémon tried to attack them. Wes proceeded to battling against half a dozen grunts with Iris and Cilan aiding him while Ash confronted three others. May found herself facing against Aldith and two male grunts standing next to her, the trio was clearly protecting one of three nets that held the captured Pokémon.
Aldith glared at her and said, "Little girl, I suggest you surrender or you'll be dealing with us."
"I'm not intimidated, come and get it," May gave her a sly smile while Tepig smirked at them as well.
Aldith frowned and growled, "Take care of her!"
The male grunts obeyed without a word and called out a pair of Venipede. "Venipede, use Poison Sting," the male duo said at the same time.
The Venipede aimed carefully at Tepig and unleashed a volley of glowing needles at the fire pig. May smiled and spoke, "Tepig, counter that with Flamethrower."
Tepig leaped into the air and yelled, "Teeeepiiiig!" breathing out the powerful Fire-type attack.
The heat from Flamethrower easily extinguished Poison Sting and hit the pair of Venipede. Its intense flames scorched the Bug-type Pokémon, causing them to screech in pain. When Tepig stopped Flamethrower and landed on the ground, the two Venipede dropped to the ground with swirl eyes.
"Well, that was easy," May put her hand behind her head, not expecting it end so quick.
"Useless imbeciles," Aldith spat, causing the two men lower their heads.
May grinned arrogantly and pointed at Aldith, "Now Tepig, use Smog!"
"What?" Aldith took a step back while Tepig snorted out a dark, filthy gas at her and the two grunts next to her.
The gas covered up the whole area between May and the grunts. "I can't see, blast it," Aldith coughed along with the other grunts.
"This is our chance Tepig," May told the pig and they ran off to the next of Pokémon just a few feet behind them, luckily the smoke hadn't reached them.
May kneeled down and looked at the saddened Pokémon. They all sad looks on their faces, especially the Alomomola that faced her, "Alo," it cried out.
"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out," May assured the Water-type.
The other Water-type Pokémon like Frillish and Ducklett also begged May to please set them free, but the brunette gritted her teeth in frustration, "I wish I had a knife or scissor. It'd be much easier to break this net," May said.
"Mola," Alomomola cried.
"Don't cry Alomomola, I'll set you free right now, trust me," May looked at the Water-type with tender eyes,
Alomomola looked at May and fell for the beautiful girl's sweet gaze, finally easing up a bit why May tried to bite the rope in hopes of breaking it. "I hate doing this type of stuff," May complained as she chewed on the rope, slowly breaking it with her teeth.
"Energy Ball!" a voice ordered and sound of an attack being blasted was heard.
May and Tepig quickly turned to the direction of the sound, spotting the Energy Ball just in time, May made a command, "Tepig, stop it with Flamethrower!"
"Teeeepiiiiig!" Tepig blew out the stream of fire and caused an explosion between the attacker and May.
"I told you to surrender, now suffer the consequences," Aldith revealed herself as she walked out of the cloud of smoke from the explosion. Next to her was an Amoonguss, the evolved form of Foongus.
May glared at Aldith and spoke, "If that Energy Ball hit the water Pokémon, you could've severely hurt them."
"That isn't my problem, now I'll give you one last chance to surrender," Aldith crossed her arms.
"No way, Tepig use Ember!" May commanded.
May's bravery impressed the Pokémon capture in the net behind her, especially Alomomola and they watched with interest as their rescuer prepared to take down the enemy. "Amoonguss, Double Team," Aldith ordered and the Amoonguss multiplied into six copies.
"Enlarge the Ember!" May pointed at the group of Amoonguss.
"Teeeepiiiiig!" Tepig snorted out a more powerful Ember to take them all down.
The small flames hit the Amoonguss like rain and with rather ease, they hit the correct Amoonguss, making it squeal in pain from the fire. "Amoonguss suck it up and use Spore!"
Amoonguss obeyed Aldith and glared at Tepig, releasing powerful spore aiming at Tepig. May smirked and spoke, "Those cheap tricks won't work. Tepig, stop it with Flamethrower!"
Tepig once again let out the powerful Fire-type attack and easily burned away Spore. Aldith groaned in annoyance and spoke, "I'm tired of games; I'm not here to battle. I'm here to do a mission, now get out of my way. Amoonguss, use Hyper Beam now!" Aldith pointed at Tepig.
"Amooooon!" Amoonguss yelled with anger and released the mighty red beam.
The captured Pokémon swore it was the end for their rescuer, but May didn't seem too concerned. May smiled confidently and said, "Tepig, dodge Hyper Beam and deliver a Flamethrower!" the girl extended her arm forward.
Tepig smirked and easily swerved away from the Hyper Beam, shocking Amoonguss and Aldith. Hyper Beam caused an explosion behind May, but everything remained unharmed while Tepig charged at Amoonguss, the pig then leaped into the air and released an impressive Flamethrower, "Teeeeepiiiiiig!" the pig cried out.
Flamethrower blasted Amoonguss with full force, making it squeal in pain while Aldith's eyes widened with horror. Tepig dropped to the ground while Amoonguss fell back unconscious. "Tepig," Tepig smirked when it landed.
"Looks like we won," May flashed a sly grin at Aldith.
Aldith groaned and returned her Pokémon, "I'm in need of back up stat!" Aldith turned around, but her eyes widened when she saw the other grunts with their defeated Pokémon and the nets secured by Ash and the rest.
"You won't be getting any back up," Wes smirked at the woman.
"You should probably give up at this point," Ash gave Aldith a sly grin.
Aldith stood frozen in fear until several voices echoed through the forest, "How pitiful."
"That certainly was a weak display of power," another voice said.
"Now looks like we'll have to take charge, sad," a third voice stated and sighed.
"Who's that?" Iris looked around.
"Whoever they are, they don't sound friendly," Cilan also searched frantically for the people speaking.
Wes, May, and Ash frowned and looked around as well while Aldith chuckled, "You punks are about to see who you're messing with."
The gang glared at her until they heard the sound of leaves rustling and three figures dropped from three different sides. They cornered the gang and the nets of Pokémon in a triangle, they had strange attire. They all wore the same uniform; their clothes were primarily black and gray, and the trio resembled ninjas. The three newcomers had cold, dark eyes and long white hair. All three stood up from their crouched position and eyed the gang.
Ash, May, and the gang became alarmed by their presence, not sure what to expect against the shadowy figures. "Who are you guys?" Ash hid May behind him, sensing danger and asked the trio sternly, but not sure which one to look out.
"I'm assuming you're allied with Team Neo Plasma," Wes glared at the one in front of him.
The trio chuckled until the one in front of Wes spoke, "We are…" and before finishing the other two ninjas got to his side with swift movements, "the Shadow Triad."
"Servants of Ghetsis and members of Team Neo Plasma," one of the other ninjas said.
Their voices were menacing and they slightly startled Iris and May. Wes glared at them while Cilan Ash prepared to any battle between them. "You must be the guardian of the forest, it is an honor to finally meet you," the middle ninja lowered his head and chuckled.
"If you find that an honor, then do yourself the honor of leaving this forest and the Pokémon in peace," Wes clenched his fists.
"We hate to break it to you, but we can't," one of the other ninjas replied.
"You see, we are scarce on Pokémon, and well, today is our hunting day. These Pokémon will make lovely additions to Team Neo Plasma," the middle ninja said once again with a sinister tone.
"No, do not get in our way, or you are bound to get hurt," the other ninja added.
"I refuse to let you do that," Wes glared at them.
"Your word means nothing; we rather listen to the couple behind you, who has apparently survived the chaos on Liberty Garden," the middle ninja eyed Ash and May.
May and Ash glared at the member of the Shadow Triad, not saying a word when the ninja referred to them. "We were informed by Colress and Ghetsis that you two had moved on to the other world. You were supposedly killed in the explosion at the lighthouse," the ninja to the middle one's right said.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Ash frowned at them.
The Shadow Triad closed their eyes and chuckled. The middle one opened his eyes and asked, "Well then, if you survived. You must know what happened to Victini, correct?"
"We don't know anything!" May spat at the middle one, protecting knowledge of her little one from the ninja.
"I don't believe her," the ninja to the middle one's left said.
"Neither do I, I can smell the lie coming from her breath," the right ninja stated.
"We'll ask politely one more time, where's Victini?" the middle ninja questioned, knowing very well that Ash and May knew of Victini's whereabouts.
"You heard what May said, we don't know anything," Ash frowned at the middle one.
The Shadow Triad sighed and their eyes flashed intense glares. The middle one then spoke again, "Well then, we'll have to do what our miserable squad failed to do," the ninja eyed the squad behind the gang, and they all had their heads lowered because they had failed their superiors.
"Aldith, Colress will like a word from you after this. For now though, step aside and we'll torture everything we need to know out of the brats," the left ninja said.
"Yes sir," Aldith bowed obediently and moved away from the gang and the nets with her squad.
"Banette, use Will-O-Wisp," the right ninja called out Banette.
Banette came out and grinned evilly, "Bane!" Banette summoned blue flames and shot them all over the place in a circle. A blue circle of fire enveloped the gang, the captured Pokémon, and the Shadow Triad, with Aldith's squad being excluded. Its raging blue flames were about six feet high and the gang and Pokémon became highly alerted by the menace the Shadow Triad posed.
Wes gritted his teeth and spat, "I'm going to leave you scarred!"
The Shadow Triad ignored Wes and the middle one said to the other two, "Take care of the guardian and the weird colored hair ones. I'll handle the other two," the middle ninja clearly referred to Iris and Cilan when he said "weird colored hair ones".
"Hey, my hair is not weird!" Iris yelled at the middle ninja.
"Who is he to criticize with such strange hair?" Cilan raised an eyebrow, commenting on the ninja's strange appearance.
Wes turned to Iris and Cilan, "I'll need the help from both of you. I can't handle the two of them."
Iris and Cilan nodded and got next to Wes. "Emolga, use Discharge!" Iris commanded, pointing at Banette.
"Eeeeemoooooo!" Emolga flew into the air released powerful volts of electricity.
"Stunfisk, use Thundershock!" Cilan also pointed at Banette.
"Stuuuuun!" Stunfisk obeyed and released a shock of electricity.
"Umbreon, use Shadow Ball," Wes also aimed at Banette.
"Acceglor, stop the Shadow Ball with Sludge Bomb!" the other ninja called out his Pokémon.
"Banette, redirect those electric attacks with Psychic," Banette's trainer ordered.
"Banette," Banette's eyes began to glow blue and so did Discharge and Thundershock.
Acceglor flew out of its Pokéball and shot a large ball of sludge just in time to cover Banette from Shadow Ball. The two attacks caused a midair explosion and Acceglor dropped to the ground as it prepared to face off against Umbreon.
Banette motioned its head downwards and the two glowing attacks then plunged into the ground, causing an explosion. Emolga and Stunfisk could only glare at Banette for easily countering their attacks while Banette chuckled.
The other ninja swiftly moved to Ash and May's position and proved taller up closer, the man was at least six feet. He looked at Ash and May with stern eyes, "You will regret having crossed Ghetsis," the ninja said.
Ash and May backed away with their Pokémon and glared at him. "We stopped his plans we'll stop yours," Ash frowned at him.
"We're going to put you down," May glared at their opponent.
"That's what you think, go Absol!" the ninja swiftly threw his Pokéball and the Disaster Pokémon came out, landing on the ground.
Ash focused his eyes on Absol and spoke, "Snivy, use Vine Whip on Absol!"
"Tepig, you use Take Down!" May ordered.
"Sni," Snivy released its long vines and charged them at Absol while Tepig rushed at Absol.
"Counter that Vine Whip with X-Scissor and then Psycho Cut on Tepig," the ninja calmly commanded.
"Ab…sol!" Absol pulled its head back and then swing it forward, releasing X-Scissor from its horn.
Snivy's Vine Whip was easily defeated by X-Scissor. The X-shaped attack exploded on contact, but Snivy was forced to retreat its vines, suffering great pain from the super-effective attack.
"Sniiii," Snivy groaned as it pulled its vines back.
"Absol!" Absol swing its head again, but this time released a Psycho Cut. The sickle-shaped energy attack charged at full force towards Tepig, but May acted fast.
"Tepig, dodge!" May ordered.
Tepig moved away just in time, much to May's relief, but suddenly, the Psycho Cut made a u-turn and hit Tepig. The energy attack bashed against Tepig and sent it crashing against the ground, "Tepiiiig!" the pig cried out.
"How weak, with my abilities I still can't understand why I don't belong to the Majestic 12," the ninja joked as Snivy and Tepig struggled against Absol.
The same went for Iris and Cilan, Banette easily overpowered Emolga and Stunfisk with Psychic, sending them crashing to the ground and then used Double Team to multiply into six, following it up with all of them using Shadow Claw against the electric pair.
Wes was the only who seemed to hold his own, but for how long? That remained uncertain. "Umbreon, go in for a Quick Attack!" Wes shouted.
"Um," Umbreon braced itself and charged at great speed towards Acceglor.
"Stop it with Focus Blast," the ninja commanded.
Acceglor formed the blue sphere in front of itself and launched it at Umbreon with full power. "Back flip it Umbreon!" Wes instructed.
As Focus Blast came its way, Umbreon stopped its Quick Attack and pushed itself into the air, flipping backward while narrowly dodging Focus Blast. The dodge movement was quick thinking and Wes wasted no time in making his next move, "Umbreon, use Shadow Ball Barrage!"
While Umbreon flew in the air, it turned back to Acceglor and quickly shot out the Ghost-type attack multiple times. It was like a shower of Shadow Balls coming Acceglor's way, but the ninja remained tranquil. "Go with a Bug Buzz," the member of the Shadow Triad instructed.
"Acce," Acceglor nodded and all of a sudden, let out a powerful screech, emitting strong waves all over the battlefield. Bug Buzz was so powerful it destroyed several of the Shadow Balls and sent Umbreon flying.
"Umbreon!" Umbreon cried out as he hit the ground, groaning in pain.
The remaining Shadow Balls also hit Acceglor and although it took heavy damage, the Bug-type endured the blows.
The Plasma squad watched in enjoyment as the Shadow Triad began to dominate the battle. The captured Pokémon became worried for their rescuers and felt like they had to do something, that's when an idea stuck all of them and they began to gnaw on the rope like they saw May do earlier.
The Karrablast, Deerling, Sawsbuck, Minccino, Darumaka, Alomomola, Rufflet, Braviary, Ducklett and many of the other captured Pokémon began to chew on the rope rapidly, in hopes of breaking free.
"Snivy, use Attract and then go for a Leaf Blade!" Ash instructed.
"Sniiiiivvvyyy!" Snivy leaped into the air and winked out pink-colored hearts at Absol.
"Tepig, go for a Flamethrower after Absol gets struck by Leaf Blade!" May screamed.
"Tepig," Tepig nodded.
"Counter Attract with Psycho Cut and then go in for the kill," the member of the Shadow Triad chuckled.
"Aaaaaabsoooool!" Absol swung its head and released Psycho Cut. The Psychic-type attack clashed with Attract and caused an explosion, but Ash and Snivy's failed strategy alarmed them. Suddenly, Absol jumped out of the cloud of smoke and swung its head one more time, releasing X-Scissor upon Snivy.
"Tepig, change of plans, stop X-Scissor with Flamethrower!" May ordered.
"Absol, stop Tepig with Aerial Ace," the ninja commanded.
When Tepig prepared to use Flamethrower, Absol eyed the pig and darted off at it. With amazing speed, Absol quickly struck down Tepig with a swing of its blade, causing the pig to go flying into the air and then dropping harshly on the ground. May gasped at her failed counter attack while Ash and Snivy failed to stop X-Scissor, the Bug-type move hit Snivy head on and sent it crashing into the ground.
Snivy and Tepig groaned in pain as they struggled to get it up, but Absol's trainer intended on ending this now, "Absol, deliver the final blow with a powered up Psycho Cut."
Absol swung its head back and its blade began to glow light blue. The Dark-type then swung forward yelling, "Aaaaabsooool!" unleashing Psycho Cut once more to strike down Ash and May's Pokémon.
Suddenly, a blue sphere of water shot out of nowhere and exploded on contact with Psycho Cut, the two attacks cancelling each other out. "What the," the ninja turned around and the captured Pokémon free, they were putting out the blue fires and assisting Iris, Cilan, and Wes in defeating his comrades. The Sawsbuck, Braviary, Escavalier, and many of the other Pokémon were bashing against Banette and Acceglor while a wild Alomomola and more Sawsbuck, Deerling, Karrablast, Rufflet, Braviary stood in front of him.
"The Pokémon set themselves free!" Ash realized in surprise.
"And they're helping us win!" May cheered.
"Impossible, Absol, stop them with Psycho Cut!" the ninja commanded.
Absol released the attack, but an Escavalier easily countered it with an X-Scissor. The Pokémon then threatened to pummel Absol and the ninja.
The copies of Banette tried to stop the stampede of Sawsbuck, but the Pokémon easily eradicated them with Grass-type attacks while the Braviary struck Acceglor down with Aerial Ace.
"This is great; I can't believe they are helping us like this!" Iris clasped her hands with joy.
"A truly sweet taste," Cilan let out a sigh of relief since he and Iris were driven to a corner by Banette.
"You can always trust Pokémon," Wes smiled, admiring the powerful residents of the forest.
The Plasma squad became horrified by the outcome and retreated into the forest by Aldith's commands. Absol's trainer groaned and returned Absol before they could harm his Pokémon, "Retreat!" the man yelled and swiftly dashed through the blue flames.
The other two ninjas quickly dodged the wild Pokémon's attacks and returned their Pokémon. The pair also swiftly dashed through the now weak fires and escaped into the forest. "They're getting away!" May yelled.
"Don't worry, they won't be back for a while now that they've witnessed the power of this forest," Wes told May, calming her down.
As the water Pokémon extinguished the fires from Will-O-Wisp, the Pokémon cheered for their victory over the invaders. When they put out the last of the fire, Wes and the wild Pokémon smiled at the teens, "The Pokémon and I would like to thank you for helping us today," Wes said.
Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan smiled at Wes and the Pokémon along with their Pokémon. "No problem," Ash placed his hands behind his head.
"We're glad that we helped," May smiled.
"Even though the enemy did prove stronger, you put a great fight, all of you and your Pokémon," Wes complimented.
The gang smiled at Wes, but May became surprised when she heard a familiar Pokémon call her out, "Alo!"
"Huh?" May looked down and saw Alomomola, smiling at her.
"Alomomola," Alomomola grinned happily.
"Hey there," May kneeled down to greet the 3 foot Pokémon.
"Alo," Alomomola repeated happily.
"Alomomola wants to thank you personally for protecting her and her friends today May," Wes informed the brunette.
"Really?" May looked at Wes and then at Alomomola, "Well you're welcome," the coordinator giggled.
"Mola," Alomomola said.
"It would also like you to catch it," Wes added.
"Catch it?" Ash asked Wes.
"Why?" Iris asked with a baffled expression.
"The answer is quite simple," Cilan said since he was the only who seemed to know why.
However, Wes was the one who explained it, "May, that Alomomola saw how hard you were trying to protect it. It saw the dedication in you, and it admired the strength and bravery you showed off against Team Neo Plasma. Alomomola sees you as someone it'd like to be raised under.
May looked at Alomomola and asked, "Is that true?"
"Alo," Alomomola nodded joyfully.
The brunette grinned and brought out a Pokéball, "If that's the case, welcome to the team Alomomola."
"Mola!" Alomomola cheered and the red beam from the ball enveloped Alomomola. Alomomola went inside and the ball didn't even have to shake before sealing, it instantly shut after May caught Alomomola.
May got up and smiled, "Alright, I got an Alomomola!" The brunette struck the same pose Ash normally did after catching a Pokémon and Iris and Cilan laughed while Ash raised an eyebrow.
The brunette winked at Ash and said, "What? Can't I be like you sometimes?" The girl giggled after saying that.
Ash smiled sweetly at her and said, "Congratulations on your new Pokémon, May."
"Victini, Blaziken!" May greeted the two Fire-types and hugged Victini the moment the gang entered Wes's wooden cabin.
"Blaziken," Blaziken greeted May with a cool smile.
"Victini vi!" Victini cheered and returned the hug.
"Axew ax!" Axew leaped into Iris's arms.
"Hey Axew," Iris embraced Axew happily.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms.
"Hey there pal," Ash smiled when he held Pikachu in his arms.
"Tini!" Victini called Ash from May's arms and the boy walked over to it once Pikachu got on his shoulders.
"Hey Victini, glad you're alright," Ash placed his hand on the little one's head and petted it.
"Thank goodness, I was worried about you," May continued to hug Victini and cradle it in her arms while Ash continued to pet it.
Blaziken and Pikachu watched their masters treat Victini like if it were their child and the two Pokémon smirked at each other, teasing the two trainers in their own language.
"Good job Honchkrow," Wes smiled at the bird that stood on his shoulders.
"Honch," Honchkrow nodded and grinned.
"Yet another hard fought battle and we come out victorious," Iris said happily, still holding Axew in her arms.
"All's well that ends well," Cilan stated.
With that the group stood there with their respective Pokémon, happy about the outcome of yet another difficult day.
"Alive!" Ghetsis yelled, slamming his fist on the table while the Shadow Triad stood in front of him.
"How can this be?" Colress became shocked by the news and placed his hand on his chin.
"Phantom told us he left a bomb ticking for them back in Castelia City," Giovanni stated.
"They're alive and well, they defeated an entire squad with their friends, foiled our plans. We were unable to defeat them after the wild Pokémon ganged up on us," the middle ninja said.
"We believe they are also in possession of Victini," Acceglor's trainer said.
"It couldn't have been more blatant in their faces," Banette's trainer said.
"Shadow, Shade, Ghost, did you learn anything else?" Ghetsis sighed and inquired.
"No sir," Shadow, Absol's trainer answered.
"What shall we do now master?" Ghost, Acceglor's trainer, questioned.
"There must be a way to make up for this failed mission," Shade, Banette's trainer, said.
"You could go after Victini," Colress smirked at the idea of taking what they lost at Liberty Garden.
"Forget Victini that is no longer our objective. If there comes a time when we will retrieve it, then we shall. Right now, we have another task at hand," Omega came out of the shadows, speaking with his normal, but deep and intimidating voice.
"Didn't you hear what they said though, Ash and May are alive, and it is most likely that they have Victini with them," Giovanni told Omega.
"Yes, but knowing the good nature those two have. They wouldn't dare harness the power of Victini, and it comes no surprise to me that they are alive. I never believed Phantom the moment the words came out of his mouth. It'll take more than a bomb to rid us of those two," Omega informed them.
"Then what will exterminate those brats once and for all?!" Ghetsis asked angrily, wishing Ash and May gone once and for all.
"Leave that business to me, I have just the plan to break them once and for all," Omega smirked sinisterly, leaving the other leaders and Shadow Triad perplexed about what the Majestic 12 leader has in store.
Any of you guys familiar with Wes from the Gamecube game? The character that debuted in this chapter is largely based off that guy. I don't know why I decided to include him, but even though I never played Pokemon Colosseum, he seemed like a pretty cool character. As to whether he'll appear again, I still don't know, it's a possibility sinceI believe he played his part perfectly in this chapter. Plus, the story about Wes will have a great impact on Ash later on and his story will help Ash mature greatly and help us understand a bit more about Ash means by becoming a "Pokemon Master" since that's always been a mystery in the anime. I think that's what I enjoyed most about this chapter, because much of it, especially the first half will have a deep impact on Ash's as a trainer and the level of maturity he has. The Shadow Triad also finally appeared, they'll become just as troublesome as Team Rocket, I can guarantee you that. I know the Shadow Triad pummeled the gang in this chapter, but in their next appearance, they won't be so frighteningly imposing, it's not like they're those guys from the Majestic 12 right? The second half went at a faster pace because I didn't want this chapter to end up being 100,000 words or so, but I hoped you liked it. May caught a new Pokemon, Ash and May's relationship with Victini developed a bit more and so did their own with that flashback. The dream just had the purpose of exploring our favorite couple a bit more and to alarm Ash a bit about the threat Omega can pose if this goes on. Btw sorry for the late update, I'll try to update sooner next time and hopefully its a (though it ends up being the opposite) shorter chapter. K, hope you enjoyed it, remember to REVIEW PM OR WHATEVER LOL and I'll see you guys next time!