"Here we are Violet City, home of…". Ash paused, not having anything other than the gym to finish that sentence.
"A giant tower?" Cassie commented floating next to him.
"Woah, no kidding on it being giant." Ash said, seeing the tower in the distance.
"Hmm, I see you're still around." Xia said, in disguise.
"Xia!" Ash exclaimed, seeing the second in command of Team Rocket.
"Relax, I'm on break." Xia commented. "Besides Kazor isn't even telling me what his current plan is."
"And why should we believe you?" Cassie asked.
"Are we going to do this every time we cross paths?" Xia asked. "The ability to harness one's aura is a rare ability nowadays, and I'm not keen on taking out someone with the gift, even if we are on opposite sides."
"It's not as rare as you'd think," Ash commented, "and what did you mean by still being around?"
"Her, eventually spirits move onto the afterlife, so why is she still around?" Xia asked.
"Maybe I just enjoy being here." Cassie said snarkily.
"No, there is always something, trust me I've been seeing the departed plenty of times before this and they always have a reason that they're sticking around, so why is it you're still here, you're just a kid it can't be any hang ups." Xia said sternly.
"I have things I want to see, and promises I need to keep still." Cassie said, much to the surprise of Ash and Xia.
"No matter what the issues are, I simply wanted to know since I caught you here." Xia said.
"Look I'm not falling for the same tricks that Kazor tried pulling on me." Ash countered.
"No tricks." Xia said. "Kazor never intentionally tricked you, he always spoke highly of you as a potential apprentice."
"And is that what Ash is to you?" Cassie asked.
"Hardly, to me he is more like a kin to me. As rare or uncommon as you might believe our powers are, they are rare, even more rare that both of them have manifested in the same way." Xia commented. "I'm not looking to make you an ally, nor a permanent enemy."
"But we are on opposing sides, aren't we enemies?" Ash asked.
"Not right now. Right now I'm simply enjoying my coffee while talking with a traveling trainer." Xia said, taking a sip. "My plans are to enjoy this and wait for my next orders and if you truly plan on trying to interfere with it, I will ask what it is that I'm doing wrong."
"Fine, consider us gone." Ash said. "Enjoy your coffee."
"You will lose the fight with your current plan." Xia said.
"That's what you think." Ash said. "I won't stop until Team Rocket is gone."
"Not that fight, the gym leader he's new but he fights hard and in the air, none of your Pokemon will be able to keep up." Xia said.
"Noted." Ash commented. "Wait one more thing, something new happened with my powers, I was able to chain them to someone else."
"What do you mean, chain them?" Xia asked.
"I was touching someone else and they were able to see a spirit, but they didn't have our gift, not the same as we have at least." Ash said.
"Were they family?" Xia asked.
"I, no they weren't family, not exactly at least." Ash said, thinking back to the other Ashs.
"Then it shouldn't have been possible, the idea of chaining powers like ours, you would needed to have a strong almost identical bond to aura, and that needs to happen through siblings for the most part." Xia said. "The chances of that happening with a random stranger are nearly impossible."
"They weren't exactly a random stranger though." Ash commented.
"Not the point, you would need to be a perfect match if you weren't related. Either you're closer than you thought or luckier than we thought." Xia commented.
"Yeah, probably." Ash said, not wanting to divulge anymore than he already had.
"Come on Ash, she's not going to help us any further." Cassie said.
"It was nice seeing you, bet you don't hear that much though." Xia commented with a laugh as they left.