Pokextinction

by THE CREATOR and Hydra

The world is on the verge of collapse when a man who despises Pokemon with a burning passion and the ruthless rampaging Necrozma threaten world destruction. With tensions rising between every single Legendary Pokemon, even Arceus and Mew won't be able to stop the coming fire... And when all hope is lost, the world will turn to Ash.

7. Chapter 7: Iron

The room was nearly pitch black, though a large holographic screen behind The Man's desk glowed faintly. The Man himself stared silently at that screen, His large spinning chair facing away from the desk so that The Man could watch the screen and a cigar firmly placed in His mouth as usual. The screen displayed a familiar green titan combatting a giant, red snake coated in crystalline armor with five frills protruding out of its neck below. The green titan rushed straight into the snake's stomach, gradually breaking it apart before finally ripping out the opposite side.

"KALOS! I WILL PROTECT YOU!" The titan roared.

The Man scowled and spat His cigar onto the floor, crushing it underneath His foot and rubbing out the ashes left behind.

"Protect?" The Man spat to nobody in particular, "You're the reason that thing existed in the first place, you damned worm!"

The emerald titan flew high into the sky and gathered energy into its chest. The sky around it turned a similar color until finally, a massive laser erupted out and slammed into the ground nearby the red serpent. It carved a path into the ground, curved back around to tear through the crimson snake, and carved another path after that to create a "Z" embedded into the ground where the serpent stood, only for the titan to turn its back to the scene and the "Z" to violently explode outward, eradicating the serpent along with the red-haired man that stood on top of it.

The Man could have sworn He heard a screaming voice amidst the final explosion, though He couldn't quite make it out. He scrolled His fingers on the screen to make it larger in the area of the explosion and watched it again, yet the voice still could not be heard clearly. He heightened the quality and tried to isolate the sound, and finally He managed to hear the voice.

"AUUUGH! NOT YEEET! MOOOOVE! IT'S NOT OVER YET, NOOOOOOO!"

The Man's frown deepened and He pressed a button on the arm of His chair, turning off the screen and sending the room back to blackness.

"Lysandre, you fool," The Man spat, "You thought yourself better than all the Team Leaders before you, you thought you had everything, and yet in the end, you fell...but at least your death...will serve a purpose."

The Man chuckled darkly, "Through your death and the other Team Leaders' failures, I now know what to watch out for."

The Man frowned once more, deep in thought. Of every single one of those Team Leaders' failure, every single time a Legend has appeared in recent years...there was always one single person there. That boy, Ash Ketchum, was always there to save the day, including...that tree...He would have to keep a close eye on that kid. One so close to the Legends could be dangerous...or perhaps…

The Man grinned, his shining teeth being the only visible part of him.

...useful…

---

Ash and Serena squinted their eyes, barely able to make out the foggy path ahead of them due to the thick layer of fog coating the area.

"See anything, Pikachu?" Ash asked his trusted partner.

Pikachu shook his head and frowned, "Pi, Pi…"

Ash sighed, "Guess we'll be here a while, then."

Serena wordlessly scanned the area around them. A chill constantly ran up and down her spine as she glanced around the foggy forest surrounding them. She jumped back with a yelp as a large shadow came into view. To her, it looked like a large tent with an elevated signpost in front of it.

"Gah!" Ash exclaimed, startled by Serena's yelp, "What is it?!"

Serena shakily pointed a finger in the direction of the shadow.

"Th-there!"

Ash raised an eyebrow and traced her finger to the shadow. Turning to his partner who simply gave him an odd look, Ash shrugged and began to make his way to the shadow, earning a scream from Serena.

"DON'T GO NEAR IIIIT!" Serena screamed.

"C'mon!" Ash called back, "You don't wanna be left behind, do ya?"

"AAAASH!" Serena whined, but complied for fear of being left alone in such a creepy area as this one.

As Ash approached the shadow, he saw the elevated sign had the scratched-out words, "The Path to the Pokemon League" on it along with two black monitors on each side of it that looked as if they hadn't been turned on in years.

"The Path to the Pokemon League…" Ash repeated.

"Pika…"

"W-what is this creepy place?" Serena shakily asked, shuddering and looking around frantically.

"Dunno," Ash replied without taking his glance away from the board, "But it seems...familiar…but I don't remember it being all torn up like this."

"We can a-ask questions l-later, let's just get outta here!"

She gawked when she saw Ash had completely ignored her and began walking towards the tent. With a groan, Serena hesitantly followed suit. As Ash peered inside the tent, he saw what looked like a miniature carnival. In one corner, a pile of scattered dumbbells lied on the ground in front of a toppled stand. In another corner, a crisp-black hoop was strung hanging from a chain. In the middle, the remains of a large diving board lay scattered across the floor and a pool with blackened water, coated in leaves and shreddings of the tent's roof.

"Woah," Ash exclaimed at the sight, "What the heck happened here?"

"W-whatever i-it is," Serena stuttered, "It's c-creeping m-me out!"

Ash shrugged, "Relax, Serena. I've seen plenty haunted places here in Kanto, and this isn't one of them."

"W-wait, so there are haunted places around here?!" Serena shrieked.

Ash let out a long-winded sigh but didn't respond, instead opting to continue investigating the abandoned tent's contents. He hesitantly stuck his index finger into the blackened pool water and hastily shook it off as he saw how it stuck to his finger. He looked back to see Serena still shuddering, but at least getting a bit explorative as well. He gave her a thumbs up and a grin to which she responded with a weak one of her own. Chuckling, Ash went on with his investigation with the dumbbells being his next objective. Ash's eyes widened like dinner plates as he saw the massiveness of even the smallest dumbbells' size. Ash scratched off some rust to see that it read "200 Kilo" on it. Ash sweatdropped. Whatever clowns worked here before must have been jacked.

Ash spotted a small, metal collar in the pile of dumbbells and attempted to lift it, barely getting it off the ground before falling backwards in a heap.

"Pi, Pika?" Ash's partner chirped as he ran over to the dumbbell heap from whatever he was doing elsewhere.

"Chu?" The electric mouse asked his partner.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ash responded, "But I feel bad for whoever had to have that thing around their necks."

Pikachu turned his gaze to the pile of forgotten metal and spotted the collar Ash had spoken about. Eager to prove his strength simply for the fun of it, Pikachu attempted to pick up the metal collar and managed to lift it over his head for all of about three seconds before the weight tilted him over and he fell in a similar heap. Frustrated, Pikachu hopped back onto his feet and powered up an Iron Tail, placing it into the hole in the center of the collar. Like a crowbar, the mouse Pokemon slowly lifted the heavy collar from its placement on the ground until the rest of his body found itself being lifted off the ground by the collar's weight and now Pikachu found his tail firmly pinned into the ground by the collar. The electric mouse yelped as the Iron Tail began to wear off and now he furiously struggled to regain his appendage from the collar's clutches.

"Ash!" Serena called out, scaring Pikachu into ripping his tail free and flying backwards, "I found something!"

"What is it?" Ash called back to her.

"I think it's...an old photo…"

Ash hopped to his feet and jogged over to Serena. In her hands was a cracked and dusty framed photo of a kid with green and black hair smirking while surrounded by Pokemon. The lower half of a Beedrill could be seen amidst the tearing of the photo, along with a Butterfree and what Ash could only assume to be a Sandshrew, though most of its body was covered in dust.

"Weird," Ash commented, "That kid...looks familiar."

"Did you know him?"

Ash shook his head, "If I did, it probably wasn't for very long...but something about that smirk of his just rubs me the wrong way."

Serena sighed tiredly, "Welcome to my world. I've had that feeling ever since we got here…"

Ash turned his gaze towards the exit, "Well, there doesn't appear to be anything left here, so I don't see the problem in leaving."

Ash nearly jumped back when he turned his attention back to Serena to see that she had disappeared.

"Serena?!" Ash yelled.

"Over here!" Serena's muffled voice rang out from outside the tent.

Ash sprinted out of the tent in a panic, only to find Serena waving towards him with a bright smile on her face.

"Better now than never!" Serena called to him with a wave.

Ash sighed hopelessly at Serena's antics, but complied.

"Pikachu!" Ash called, causing the yellow mouse to come sprinting back out of the tent to hop back onto his normal spot on his trainer's shoulder once more.

"All set!" Ash called back to Serena.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Serena said, running over to Ash and pushing him onto and further up the road, kicking up a cloud of dust as she ran, "Let's get outta here!"

"Woah, hey!" Ash protested to no avail.

---

Several minutes of persuading Serena to stop her sprinting later, the trio found themselves back to square one. Once again, they trotted along amidst the blank, foggy forest path with nothing but white and shadows of trees to occupy their thoughts.

"So…" Serena said, trying to spark a conversation, "What's the next Badge we're up for?"

Ash put a hand to his chin, attempting to remember.

"I believe this next one's the Electric Gym-Leader, Lieutenant Surge. You remember him, right, buddy?"

"Pi." Pikachu growled, sparking his cheeks at the memory of that smug Raichu.

"Lieutenant?" Serena asked, "Lieutenant of what?"

Ash shrugged, "I heard rumors of that guy fighting in a war and that he's super old, but you wouldn't ever guess it by looking at the guy."

"Woah, this guy fought in a war?!" Serena yelped, "Just how old is he?"

"Eh," Ash said, "It's just rumors. Personally, I think he just wants to scare kids with that title. There hasn't been a war in ages."

"Well, that's kind of a letdown to be honest," Serena said.

"And a relief," She thought to herself.

"So how strong is this guy?"

"Well, he only used a Raichu back then, so I don't really know how strong he is now. Not to mention, the Gym Leaders so far have been less than merciful with the Pokemon they've been using lately, so I'd say this next matchup is gonna be pretty brutal, honestly."

"Why are you saying that with a grin?" Serena deadpanned.

The two stopped in their tracks as a muffled voice could be heard from amongst the fog, though what it was saying couldn't be made out.

"W-what was that?" Serena shrieked.

Ash remained silent, scanning the forestation for the source of the voice. Pikachu sparked his cheeks threateningly. The three of them flinched as the voice spoke out once more, but Ash could definitely pick up that it at least wasn't speaking to them. But if not them, then who?

"Serena, stay close." Ash said simply before taking off, veering to his right before disappearing into the misty forest.

"Wha-" Serena stuttered, "Hey, don't go off without me!"

As Ash ran into the forest, the familiar shadows of trees darted past him. He looked around for anything out of the ordinary that might have been related to the voice, but found nothing amidst the seemingly endless white. He stopped to examine a large tree in particular when the voice spoke out again.

"Aaaaaash, wait uuuuup!"

"Serena?!"

Serena appeared from within the fog, running clumsily and panting heavily. She ran towards Ash and collapsed at his feet in an exhausted mess.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Ash said.

Serena flipped over onto her back and gave Ash a condescending look, "That makes two of us."

Serena eep'd and sprang to her feet as the true voice called out once more from seemingly every angle. Ash gritted his teeth and stood on edge while his ever-faithful partner sparked his cheeks threateningly.

"HEY, OPEN UP!" The voice bellowed, making the three jump.

"What was that?!" Serena screeched.

"Dunno," Replied Ash, "But it...didn't sound like a ghost, or anything.

"That's just what they want you to think!" Serena shrieked.

Serena screamed as a loud bang echoed throughout the white forest, to which Ash quickly cupped a hand over her mouth to listen intently.

"YOU SNOBBY BRATS THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?!" The voice roared, "LEMME AT 'CHA, I COULD TAKE ANYONE YOU GOT!"

Ash loosed his tense form, raising an eyebrow at Pikachu who simply shrugged.

"Well, no use taking guesses as to what it is," Ash said, "Let's go, Serena."

Serena whined nervously, but followed. They heard more continuous ramblings from the aggressive voice, along with more banging noises while they went. Pikachu flicked his ears from time to time and pointed Ash in the direction of the voice every time it spoke. Finally, the loud ramblings were right on top of them and a large shadow came into view.

"Excuse me," A young, accented voice spoke out to the trio, making Serena jump, "But you two were those stand up trainers that defeated Gym Leader Misty stunningly recently, yes? Ash and Serena, was it?"

Out from the fog to their side, a young boy in a sophisticated-looking black suit strutted up to the two trainers with an obviously practiced smile and slick, dark gray hair. He wore a pair of odd glasses with tinted swirls in them.

"Uh, yeah," Ash replied, "We beat Misty, what about it? And how did you know about that? Were you watching it?"

The young boy cleared his throat and shook his head, "The fight was being broadcasted throughout the entire world, my good sir, did you not hear Lady Daisy saying the match was Live?"

"Oh geez," Serena commented, "I thought she meant that it was a live show when she said that; I didn't know it was being broadcasted!"

The young boy simply shrugged, "Well, I guess it cannot be helped then. In any case, you two are in pursuit of that loudmouth, correct?"

"If you mean that voice that's been yelling for the past half-hour, then yeah," Ash said with a nod.

The young boy directed his finger towards the large shadow, "Well, he's right over there at the front door of the school. He's been demanding entry to the school for the past four hours and all the students' attempts to make him leave via Pokemon battles have ended in dramatic failure, so the rest of the students simply holed themselves up and locked the door shut, however, I was off taking a nap underneath a nearby tree and only just woke up recently due to that boy's yelling."

Ash smirked, "I get it. So, you want us to put him in his place, right?"

The sophisticated boy shrugged, "I could just as easily do it myself, but it's just such a hassle, you know?"

"Do it yourself?" Serena asked incredulously, "Didn't you just say this guy took out every other student here?"

"Were I old enough, I'd have long since graduated and abandoned this place. But alas, time is ever cruel to all ages, young and old. Sometimes I feel like the only reason I'm still here is to show off. However, that is another story for another day. Good luck, you two. That kid might be almost as strong as I am when it comes to battling. Ta-ta!"

With that, the young boy waved, stuck his hands in his pockets, and disappeared back into the fog.

"Oh, wait!" Ash called out, "I didn't catch your name!"

But the boy had already vanished, seemingly into midair. An intense shiver ran up Serena's spine.

"Ash, do you think that was a-"

"No," Ash interrupted, "He wasn't a ghost. C'mon, we've seen ghosts before. Get it together, Serena, the fog's messin' with your head."

"Y-yeah, you're right," Serena conceded, "It's...just the fog…"

"HEY!" The voice bellowed once more, causing Serena to jump again, "OPEN UP, OR I'LL BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR MYSELF!"

"Oh geez," Ash sweatdropped, "How'd I manage to forget about that? C'mon, Serena, let's see what's up with this guy."

"R-right!"

The duo walked through the fog until the shadow came into their view, revealing a large building decorated in windows, and of course a figure rapidly banging on the front door and yelling furiously.

"So, this is the school that kid was talking about," Ash stated, looking up at the large building.

Serena held her hands to her ears to avoid another round of the screeching from the boy ahead.

"What did you say?!" She yelled to Ash, "I can't hear you!"

"I saaaaid," Yelled Ash, "So, this is the school that kid was talking about!"

"WHAAAAT?!"

"THIS IS THE-"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Their makeshift yelling competition was interrupted when the Electric Mouse Pokemon grew impatient with his trainers' ramblings that only furthered the noise assaulting his ears and sent out a Thunderbolt to shock the two of them into silence.

"HEY, YOU TWO!" The voice called out specifically to Ash and Serena, "QUIET DOWN OVER THERE! YOU'RE MESSIN' UP MY CONCENTRATION!"

"Uh, sir," Ash said after a small pause, "We've been hearing your...complaints for the past half-hour from the opposite side of the forest."

"What about it?!" The boy yelled from across the gap, "My complaints are perfectly reasonable!"

"So, um," Serena started hesitantly, "How come you're terrorizing this school again?"

"Terrorizin'?!" The boy demanded, "I politely requested entry to this school, but these stuck-up whelps took one look at me and said I didn't have what it took! Can you believe that?! These guys aint even givin' me a chance, so I'm makin' sure they hear my complaints!"

"Oh, that sounds fair." Ash conceded, his signature grin returning.

"Huh?!" Serena screeched, "Ash, you're really gonna just let this guy get away with terrorizing the school?!"

Ash shook his head, "I never said that. Hey, kid, how do you fare in a battle?"

"Battle?" The boy repeated, interest practically oozing from his voice, "Yeah, I battle all right. 'Fact, before I even started Gym-hoppin', I dedicated myself to winnin' a hundred matches straight! I trained my Pokemon and even myself to the point that most would give up within a week, but we prevailed! Soon enough, we ended up beating some kid with a Pikachu and a Pidgeotto and that kid ended up helpin' me get my hundreth win by fightin' some chumps in weird, white suits!"

"A kid with a Pikachu?" Ash asked, staring at his partner on his shoulder.

"Weird, white suits?" Serena muttered to herself.

"Yeah, you know 'em or somethin'?"

"Well, I've got a pretty good idea," Ash said with a smirk, "I think we've fought once before a long time ago."

"Wait a darned minute," The boy said, walking out to the two trainers. Once close enough, the boy was revealed to be wearing a bright orange jacket, brown shorts, and black hair with spiked green hair above his forehead.

"By chance, is your name Ash?"

Ash nodded, "That's me, all right."

"Hah!" The boy laughed, "It's good to see ya, man!"

"You too," Ash said with a bright grin until a realization dawned on him.

"Umm," Ash said with a sweatdrop, "...What was your name again?"

Serena and the boy fell over with a thud.

"What?!" The boy demanded, "You forgot my name?! Did you forget how badly I beat you too?!"

"Seems to be a running occurrence," Serena deadpanned, remembering Samurai.

Ash nervously rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry, I usually have a pretty bad memory."

The boy stamped his foot, "Well, you said somethin' about a battle, right? Then I'll give ya a battle you'll never forget!"

Ash smirked, "Looking forward to it! Serena, mind being the ref?"

Serena nodded, "Just go easy on him."

As Serena made her way in between the two trainers, she raised her arm. The two trainers anxiously held a Pokeball in their hands.

"This match will be a full battle of six! Begin!" Serena declared, running for safety off to the side of the misty battlefield.

"Go, Sandslash!"

"Go, Noivern!"

Onto the battlefield came a brown and yellow bipedal mole-like creature with deep brown spikes running down its back and massive white twin claws on each hand. On the opposing side, a large black and purple bat-like creature with massive ears above its head. It had a tuft of fur on its neck and large, draconic wings along with a snake-like tail.

"Tsk-tsk," The boy chided, shaking his head, "Have you learned nothing, Ash? Don't you remember what happened last time you fought me with a Flying-Type? Sandslash, use Rollout!"

Like a bullet, Sandslash curled into a ball and rocketed towards its opposition, crushing the very earth where it once stood.

"Ah!" Ash cried, not expecting the attack to be so blindingly fast, "Noivern, use Screech!"

Knowing how fast the speed of sound was, Noivern blitzed into the air and let out a deafening screech that was loud enough that everyone nearby could see the sonic waves being created. Unfortunately, this did nothing to deter the rolling Sandslash and it barreled into Noivern's abdomen, cutting off the bat's attack and making him double over in pain before he was carried high into the air above, the two of them disappearing into the fog.

"Noivern, no!" Ash exclaimed as he watched his Pokemon disappear.

"I gotta admit, Ash," Said the boy, "That was a much better strategy than last time. It would've definitely worked on just about any opponent."

The boy's smirk turned sharp, "But I'm not any opponent. My Pokemon and I have trained ourselves for years to handle any situation! Sound is the least of our worries. Sandslash, use Crush Claw Assault!"

High above, the Sandslash heard its trainer's words with its incredibly heightened senses and flipped the two of them over so that Sandslash was now the one on top. It held out its massive claws and let out a bellow, causing its giant claws to glow a menacing black. It bent over and held its claws behind it, preparing a devastating strike.

"Noivern, quick!" Ash pleaded, "Use Dragon Pulse to push it off of you!"

Noivern's incredible hearing by birth allowed him to clearly hear his trainer's own words and in response, he blew an intense stream of purple fire into Sandslash's face in an attempt to stop its next attack. Though, it seemed to serve no purpose as Sandslash burst through the flames as though they were but ordinary air. The bat-wyvern couldn't even manage to let out a surprised shriek before he found himself assaulted by a flurry of devastating strikes from the Ground-Type. Each individual strike alone felt as if Noivern were being struck by a Blizzard, and he was getting struck by the thousands. The visible area around them became nothing but a mass of brown and black as Noivern was metaphorically torn to pieces.

"Like that attack, Ash?" The boy mocked, "It's a combination of Crush Claw and Fury Swipes. Took a good three months to master that one."

The boy's smirk grew further as he saw the look of questioning Ash gave him.

"Oh right," He said, "You can't see what's happening. How have you gone this long as a Pokemon Trainer without knowing how your Pokemon feel at all times?"

The boy shook his head and frowned, "There's a principle I've held deeply since the day I've become a Pokemon Trainer, Ash."

"Wha...what is it?" Ash asked, stunned.

The green and black-haired boy sent a look Ash couldn't even begin to describe directly into his eyes. It made him feel...well again, he couldn't describe it, other than the fact that it made him feel horrible, to say the least.

"A Pokemon Trainer doesn't deserve to call themselves a Pokemon Trainer if they aren't willing to feel the pain their Pokemon do on a daily basis...but I can see you have felt that pain before."

"W-what?" Ash stammered.

"You'd be surprised what someone can see when they look hard enough. Besides, I'm not wrong, right? You have one Pokemon who you bond with more than the others...far more. So much more, that there are times where you can practically see through their eyes, right?"

"How did you-"

"I know because that's how I feel all the time when I battle. To be honest, there are times where I forget who's who because I'm so caught up in the thrill of the fight. You've felt that too, right? Looking into your eyes, I can see it. You've felt it on a whole other level than I could imagine...but only with that Pokemon, right? And that one isn't even with you, are they?"

"I…"

The boy shook his head, "It doesn't matter. I can see you love your Pokemon, and that's all that I can ask for."

The boy turned his back to Ash, "But there may come a time that you will need that bond...a time where your life and the life of others might depend on it. Though you've managed to get through many of those scenarios without that bond, one's luck can only run so much before it's dry...this battle is over. I have seen all I needed. Sandslash, finish it."

"Wha-?!"

Ash's cry was cut short as Noivern rocketed down from the fog into the ground below. A mountain of dirt rocketed from his crash course, forcing Ash and Serena to look away for fear of being blinded. When the dust cleared, Ash saw with widened eyes his Noivern flat on his back, knocked out completely with Sandslash standing triumphantly on his chest, a claw embedded in the crater they were in inches away from the bat-wyvern's neck. With a grunt, Sandslash ripped its claw out from the dirt and leaped upwards, landing in front of its trainer.

"Amazing job as always," The boy complimented, "You deserve a good rest."

With that, Sandslash was returned to its Pokeball in a familiar flash of red.

"...Oh, right!" The boy shouted in realization, "I almost forgot the whole reason I was here! HEY, OPEN UP! I AIN'T DONE WITH YA JUST YET!"

Ash watched in stunned silence as his opponent completely reverted back into that aggressive loudmouth, replacing the sage that once stood in his place.

Serena ran up to him, "Ash...are you okay?"

"Never better!" Ash shouted heartily, nearly making Serena trip.

"Wha?! B-bu-"

"I lost badly, I know. But that kid's right, ya know? It just goes to show ya there's always a bigger fish, so to speak."

Serena's jaw dropped at Ash's resolution. He just got decimated in battle both verbally and physically, yet here he was with a bright smile acting as if he had just won the lottery and was wracking his brain as to everything he could use his money on. A smile managed to creep up her face despite this. Yep. This was her Ash, all right.

"Oh, hey!" Ash called, "You forgot to tell me your name!"

"Oh," The boy said in realization. He chuckled, "Heh, guess we're both guilty then in a way. "Name's AJ."

"AJ," Ash repeated, "...Yeah, I won't be forgetting that name anytime soon."

"You'd better not, 'less you want another beatdown!" AJ stated with a laugh.

As Ash waved and turned to leave, he was stopped in his tracks as Serena grabbed the arm of his shirt to pull him back.

"Huh?" Ash asked, "What's up?"

"Weren't we supposed to be getting him to stop harassing the school?"

Ash blinked, "Oh yeah, I'd completely forgotten!"

"Hey AJ!" Ash called back, running towards the school's front door, "Why do you even want to get into this school anyways? You're clearly beyond anything a school could teach you."

AJ shook his head, "Now that's where you're wrong. Not too long ago, a trainer beat me soundly. He only used two of his Pokémon to wipe out my entire team."

Ash and Serena's jaws dropped.

"Wow," Serena exclaimed.

"No way…" Ash said in awe.

AJ nodded solemnly, "It was years ago, but ever since that day I've felt I was...missing something. I've trained my body and mind to their extremes with my team right beside me, and yet still I felt something wasn't where it should be."

"Well, nobody's perfect," Offered Serena.

"You really think a school like this will even help?" Ash asked.

AJ shook his head and shrugged, "After that experience, I'm willing to try just about anything."

"Jeez, he sounds absurdly strong!" Ash commented. "What's this guy's name?"

AJ clenched his fists, letting out a long-winded sigh, "...His name...was Tobias. He used Pokémon I've never even dreamed of...I never stood a chance against him back then. Even now, I couldn't imagine beating him."

"Oh," Ash exclaimed, "You've met Tobias too?"

"YOU MET HIM?!"

Serena put a hand to her chin in thought, "Hey, Ash, didn't you mention this Tobias guy before we fought the Pewter City Gym?"

Ash nodded with a grin, "Yeah, Tobias was the strongest guy I've ever faced. I barely managed to beat his Darkrai, and Pikachu here had to use everything he had in order to beat his Latios."

"Chu, Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed proudly.

"YOU BEAT TWO OF HIS POKÉMON?!" AJ bellowed, mouth agape.

Ash nodded, "Yeah, but it was all the way in the Sinnoh Region. I dunno what he was doing out here, but to be honest, my team wasn't exactly suited to battle him either. My Torkoal and Swellow went down pretty much immediately. Though, I'm still far from facing him even at my best."

"Then...what was his third?"

Ash shrugged, "Dunno. Pikachu and Latios ended up in a tie, so I never got to find out?"

"You didn't ask?!"

"Did you?"

Serena made a small "o" with her mouth at Ash's unintentional jibe, but didn't dare to actually make the sound.

"...Fair point," AJ conceded, "But back to the matter at hand. I ain't moving 'till that school lets me in!"

He turned back to the door, "ALRIGHT, YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS BEFORE I-"

"Woah woah woah woah woaaaah," Serena interrupted, nonagressively waving her hands and putting herself between AJ and the door, "How about we solve this...peacefully?"

Serena did her best to maintain a grin amidst her nervousness, sweating profusely all the while AJ gave her an unamused look and Ash just chuckled nervously from behind them.

"...Fine," AJ conceded, "But if they turn ya down, then Arceus 'imself is the only thing keepin' these doors in one piece!"

"Wait," Ash said, "Since there are two doors, wouldn't they already be considered more than o-"

"SHADDAP!"

Back to the matter at hand, Serena politely gave the door a light knock. Stepping back, she looked up at the large doors, but of course they remained silent and unmoving. She could practically feel AJ judging her from behind.

"Okaaaay," Serena chimed, "Anybody in theeere?"

The massive metal doors continued to stand, unmoving and silent in their blockade.

"C'mon, we just wanna talk to you!"

"Speak for yourself," AJ muttered, to which Serena shot a glare back at him.

Serena tried knocking once more, "We don't mean any harm! We just want to talk to your…"

She turned to AJ.

"Principal?"

AJ simply shrugged.

"Whoever's in charge!"

Once again, the massive metal doors remained stalwart in their silence. That is, until a meek voice spoke out.

"Get outta here!" The small-sounding voice cried, "You can't get into our school, so just butt out!"

This notion was met with a mass of whispered hushing.

"Be quiet!" A voice not-so discreetly whisper-yelled, "You want 'em to know we're still here?!"

"Yeah!" Another one followed suit, "Did you see that fight they had! If they know we're here, we'll get crushed!"

"Both of you, shut up!" A female voice spat, "They've definitely heard you by now, idiot!"

"Oh, so you were listening this whole time!" AJ growled, pushing past Serena to get to the doors, "You heard the lady; I just wanna talk to ya, so open up!"

"Get outta here, you fat gorilla!" The small voice cried out, only to be met with a storm of furious hushing once more.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, YOU LITTLE PUNK?!" AJ roared, "THAT'S IT! SANDSLASH, RIP THOSE DOORS A NEW ONE!"

Amidst the terrified screams emanating from behind the school doors, AJ tossed down the Pokeball containing his trusted partner. In a flash of white, the Sandslash appeared with death in its eyes. Serena tried to stop the two of them, but Ash pulled her back. When she looked back at him, Ash simply closed his eyes and shook his head. Sandslash marched up the doors, making everyone on the other side bellow screams in horror. The immensely powerful Ground-Type sliced into each door like paper with each claw and ripped them straight out of their hinges, sending them flying to the wind and exposing the terrified pile of children huddled against the wall inside.

"Now we're gettin' somewhere!" AJ said with a threatening smirk, cracking his knuckles, "Nice job, Sandslash!"

"We're all gonna die!" One of the children cried.

"You killed us!" Another screamed.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" The small voice from earlier stuttered out, clearly crying.

Their screaming was cut short when AJ stamped his foot on the wooden floor of the school. Immediately, the children all silenced themselves and hunched themselves together for fear of their lives.

"Alright," AJ announced, "Who's the brat that insinuated that my visible features were akin to that of a primitive mammal who's stomach area was more obviously obese than the average individual?"

Nobody in the room dared to answer, both for fear of the green-haired man before them and for lack of understanding of what exactly he was talking about.

"Geez, and you people are supposed to be smart," AJ deadpanned, "Okay, lemme put this in terms the likes of you would understand."

AJ cleared his throat and paused, scanning the room completely and making any his vision fell upon flinch. Smirking, he finally spoke once more.

"NOW IF YA'LL INTEND TO SURVIVE THIS HERE INCIDENT, I EXPECT THE LITTLE PUNK WHO CALLED ME A FAT GORILLA AT MY FEET WITHIN THE NEXT TEN SECONDS!"

The children huddled against the walls began panicking, unsure of whether or not to give the kid up to this terror before them.

"TEN, NINE,"

"Ash, we have to do something!" Cried Serena.

Ash stared blankly at AJ from behind, unsure of what to do.

"I get you," Ash started, "But...I have this weird feeling. I don't think he's actually gonna do anything."

"That's just a feeling, though!"

"And how far have we gotten on those?"

"EIGHT, SEVEN,"

The children in the room were furiously screaming their lungs out, eager to urge one another towards the monster in their midst simply to end the madness. Some were wailing with tears falling from their eyes in desperate fear.

"SIX, FIVE,"

"That might be true," Serena admitted, "But what do you think will happen when he reaches zero?!"

Ash shrugged, "If he wanted someone dead, those claws would have made contact with Noivern's head earlier."

"FOUR, THREE,"

"Just push someone out!" One of the children cried.

"No," The maturish female voice ordered, "Throw him out! He's the reason this is happening!"

"No, please, I'm sorry!"

"TWO, ONE,"

"Ash, are you sure about this?" Serena asked nervously.

"Trust me, Serena, the things you learn about someone through battle are vast. He's not gonna hurt those kids. You know me, Serena, if AJ was actually going to hurt them, we'd already be fighting again."

"I suppose so…"

"ZERO! ALRIGHT, TIME'S U-"

Suddenly, a small boy was ejected forcefully from the crowd of huddling kids. He fell unto his hands and knees, tripping from the forcefulness of the push from behind. Shakily, he tried to regain his composure and stand up, only to be greeted by the sight of the green-haired monster threatening their lives. Eyes dilating with dread, he shakily tried to crawl backwards only to bump into something. The young boy turned his head and let out a fearful cry that tore up the other students on the inside. Blocking his path was Sandslash who pointed his claws menacingly at him.

"Stand up," AJ ordered, making the boy jump.

"W-w-wha-"

"You heard me!" AJ roared, stamping his foot, "Stand up!"

With trembling knees, the small boy struggled to get onto his feet. Sandslash made poking motions at him as to urge him to speed up. Finally, the violently shaking boy managed to struggle onto his feet. He faced downwards, ashamed and afraid. AJ sneered down at the young bow, a scowl firmly placed upon his lip. The pressure finally overtook the child and tears fell from his face like a broken floodgate. AJ bent his legs so that his vision and the child's were on par. AJ sent a piercing glare at the child that nearly made him faint on the spot. The kid let out a fearful yelp as the green demon began outstretching his arm towards him. Closing his eyes and preparing for the worst, the boy gritted his teeth and awaited the end.

Flick!

"Ow!" Cried the boy in surprise, rubbing his nose. Finally, it dawned on him. He was...alive? He looked up amidst his foggy eyes to see AJ still giving him a dirty look, though it had softened some.

"See?" Ash said, "What'd I tell you?"

"You the kid that insulted me back there?" AJ asked as he were in a completely normal scenario.

The kid simply stared at him, shell shocked and unsure of what to do.

"'Ey, wake up!" AJ shouted, snapping his fingers in the boy's face, "You the brat that called me a fat gorilla, or what?!"

Hesitantly, the child nodded. He was flicked in the forehead.

"Don't go insultin' people you don't even know, kid. Alright, git outta here."

With that, AJ ruffled the kid's hair and shoved him off to the side.

"Now, the rest of ya!" AJ roared, jabbing a finger in the rest of the kids' direction, making them flinch, "Did I hear you right back there?!"

"Just push someone out? He's the reason this is happening?!"

AJ stamped his foot furiously, his Sandslash following suit and growling menacingly at them.

"Insultin' someone is one thing, but you? You were willin' to let one of your own die for your own sake?! DISGUSTING!"

One of the huddling kids dared to speak up, "W-we were just-"

"SHADDAP!"

The kid immediately bit back whatever his excuse would have been and stepped backwards further into the crowd. AJ scanned the crowd of kids with burning eyes. Not one of them was spared his gut-wrenching, fiery glare. Finally, his eyes landed on a rather mature-looking girl dressed in a frilly white skirt and matching white high heels.

"You!" AJ bellowed, making the girl jump.

"M-me?"

"Yeah, that's right! Don't think I didn't hear what you said back there! You were willin' to kill a kid just to scurry off with your own life?! What kinda teacher are you?!"

"T-teacher?"

Ash and Serena, meanwhile, were simply watching the whole ordeal go down either boredly or with baited breath. Ash's partner's ear twitched suddenly when he picked up an odd noise from the side. Turning his vision to investigate, he found that the noise was from a rustling bush. Hopping from his partner's shoulder, unbeknownst to Ash, Pikachu made his way over to the rustling bush only for it to immediately freeze once more. In confusion, Pikachu prodded the bush. No response. Pikachu opted to pry some of the branches on the inside of it, and yet still the bush failed to behave as it did previously. Finally, Pikachu simply opted to pry open the bush and found, to his disappointment, nothing. Sighing, the yellow mouse gave up on his efforts and hopped back onto his shoulders.

"Hmm?" Ash questioned, "You find something over there?"

---

Behind the trees, three familiar figures panted heavily at what could have almost happened. Team Rocket hid from their lifelong enemy in terror. Finally, one of them snapped.

"Meowth!" Jessie screeched, "Why did you have to go and nearly get us caught?!"

"ME?!" Meowth demanded, "If it weren't for your kicking, I wouldn't have been movin' in the 'foist place!"

"Well, if it wasn't for your scratching, I wouldn't have had to kick you!"

"Well if you didn't-"

"CAN YOU TWO BE QUIET?!" James roared, finally losing his patience. All three of them covered James's mouth in a desperate attempt of averting any attention drawn to them from the twerps. The three stooges shakily glanced over at the twerp and twerpette and to their relief, they hadn't noticed a thing. Letting out a sigh, the three relaxed themselves.

"That was a close one," James sighed.

"No thanks to you!" Hissed Jessie.

"Shaddap for a sec, you two," Meowth said, "We gotta come up wit' an idea to get the drop on the twerps."

"For, Pikachu!" Jessie cried.

"No, ya dolt!" Meowth bellowed, blowing Jessie out of her stupor, "Today, we've got a different goal in mind!"

"No Pikachu?" James asked, "Meowth, what strange language are you speaking?"

James's question was met with a Scratch to the face, making him cry out and hold the wound.

"It's only for today, you idiot, I know we can't give up on our life's work!"

"Alright, here's the plan," Meowth started, bringing in his comrades closer, "Our objective for today aint the Twerp's Pikachu. At least not until we blast off again."

The feline shook his head and grinned mischievously, "No, today's objective is that Sandslash!"

"The Sandslash?" James asked incredulously, "I think that one's out of our le-"

"That's brilliant, Meowth!" Jessie cried, shoving James aside, "If we steal something like that, catching Pikachu will be a snap!"

"Don't you two dunderheads get it?!" Meowth bellowed, giving Jessie a Scratch to match James, "Look at how powahful that Sandslash is! If we catch that Pokemon, we won't even need Pikachu!"

"Not stealing Pikachu?!" James demanded, "We can't leave behind our life's work, Meowth, what are you thinking?!"

"James is right!" Agreed Jessie, "What's gotten into you?!"

"You still don't get it…" Meowth said, turning his back on his partners, "...We used to be executives amongst Team Rocket, remember? Our white uniforms used to represent power, but now we're considered jokes amongst the rest of Team Rocket! I used to be The Boss's right-hand mon, but now he's replaced me with that infuriatin' Persian! It's all because we got caught up with that Pikachu!"

"Meowth…"

"Sorry, Jess, but I can't continue like this. I wanna be...important again, you know! Not some loser missin' eight of his nine lives gettin' electrocuted from tryin' to get a Pikachu…"

"I'm ashamed of you, Meowth!" James snarled, "We've only gotten this far because we're losers!"

"James is right for once!" Jessie hissed, "Meowth, this life is the only one we know! Without Pikachu, what purpose do we have? So what if we catch some strong Sandslash? I mean, we can still catch it if you want, but the Twerp's Pikachu is the only reason any of us have had a real purpose!"

Meowth hung his head, thinking deeply, "...Yeah...yeah, you're right…"

The former feline crime lord turned back to his friends, "I wouldn't trade this life for all the Sandslash's in the world!"

"That's the Meowth we know and love!" James cheered.

"Yeah!" Meowth cheered along, "Now let's get dat Pikachu!"

"And we can get that Sandslash as a bonus!" Jessie joined in.

"Team Rocket, back in action! Losers till the end!" The three of them cheered loudly, only to realize their mistake and cover each other's mouths.

---

"So, this school is run by students?" AJ demanded from the girl.

"Erm, yes…"

"And you're…"

"Giselle. I...never graduated because of the Final Exam."

"But this school is run by students, right? Who even passes out work?"

"This place is called the Pokemon Tech School, you know," Giselle explained, "Everything that isn't run by students is run by machinery. It's up to students to teach and test each other before each exam."

"That's downright stupid!" AJ roared, making everyone in the room flinch, "What if none of the students know one particular thing, huh? Then everyone fails!"

"You tell 'em, AJ!" Ash cheered. He wasn't exactly too pleased with the school's formatting either.

"S-sorry, sir, but that's just the way the school is. No changing it, I'm afraid."

"LIKE HELL THERE IS!"

Everyone in the room, save Ash and Serena, either jumped at AJ's sudden change in voice tone or scrambled into one another, bumping their heads due to being startled.

AJ gave Giselle a toothy grin, "While I'm here, I'm gonna make sure there are many changes 'round here."

"Y-you can't just barge your way into the school and be a student!" One of the kids bravely yelled.

"That right?" AJ challenged, turning to the voice, "Who's gonna stop me?! One of you?"

"I'll have you know," Giselle hissed, gaining back AJ's attention, "This esteemed school is run and funded by the Official Pokemon League of Kanto! Eventually, someone will-"

"Challenge me?" AJ interrupted with a sneer, "Please. I can take anyone you got! For instance…"

AJ pointed a finger at Ash, "This trainer right here is the second strongest trainer I've ever faced, and he has...um...how many badges do you have?"

Ash put a hand to his chin in thought and began attempting to count the amount of Badges he'd collected over the years.

"Hey, Serena?" Ash asked, "What's eight times six?"

"Forty-eight."

I have forty-eight badges. Plus, the two I've recently recollected, so fifty badges."

"Fifty badges from his travels!" AJ finished, "And you saw how our fight went earlier, didn't you? No offense, Ash."

"None taken."

Giselle began sweating bullets, frantically attempting to ravage her mind for anything to protect her autho- to protect the children from this monster's wrath. Taking notice of this AJ smirked smugly.

"Can't think of anything, can ya?"

"Why do you even want to get into this school?!" Giselle demanded, "Street thugs like you are better suited for spending their time in an alley!"

"Street thug?!" AJ demanded. His Sandslash turned his claws in Giselle's direction threateningly, "This coming from someone who'd willingly throw a kid to the wolves?! The only thug here is you."

Giselle was about to hiss a retort when the entire building shook from a sudden shockwave. The kids all stumbled and fell over each other as if they were dominos. The particularly small child from earlier struggled to keep his balance, but finally succumbed to the effects of the shockwave. He was inches away from falling headfirst into a corner when AJ, thinking quickly, made a mad dive for the young boy, barely knocking them both away before any damage could be done.

"You okay kid?" Asked AJ, standing back up with the boy in his arms, the shockwave dissipating.

"Y-yeah. My name's Joah, by the way."

"By the way, Joah," AJ said, letting the boy down, "You're a bit young for a school like this aren't you?"

Joah looked down, "...My brother, Joe, graduated from this school in minimum time and used the money he got as a graduation reward by the school to send me here…"

AJ gave the kid a toothy grin, "This Joe guy sounds pretty interesting. You'll have to introduce me sometime."

Joah stared up at AJ with his mouth agape. To think minutes ago, this guy was terrorizing his school and bellowing like a madman. The young student couldn't help mimicking the grin thrown his way.

"Heh," AJ chuckled, ruffling the kid's hair, "I'll be right back, kid. Ash, and um...girl that's following him, come with me! I'm gonna find out what that shockwave was! The rest of you, stay here! Don't you dare move a muscle until I get back!"

"Yeah, sure thing!"

"My name's Serena," Serena huffed, but followed anyways.

The trio raced to the back exit of the school, blasting past a protesting Giselle who still had fuel for their argument. Upon bursting out the back door, they came across a large pool. The exposed pool had a large, gated fence coated in barbs surrounding the perimeter. The trio noticed nothing out of the ordinary until AJ noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Looking upwards, Ash and Serena followed his gaze to find a massive indent on the wall of the school with smoke emanating from it. AJ scowled at the sight while his two followers simply gaped at it.

"WHOEVER DID THIS BETTER FESS UP BEFORE I FIND YOU MYSELF!" Bellowed AJ.

"Whoever did this? Who could that be?" A masculine voice said.

"Find us? Why, there's no need!" A feminine voice called out

"You know us well and good, we're the familiar three!" A heavily accented voice followed.

Serena sighed, "Of course it's them."

"What, you know them?!" AJ demanded.

"Unfortunately," Ash answered with a sigh.

Three figures darted out of the smoke, landing in the pool with a large splash. Frantically, they scrambled to get themselves back onto dry land and hopped out of the pool to regain their composure.

"Prepare for trouble!" The feminine voice announced.

"And make it double!" The masculine voice followed suit.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to-"

"SAVE IT, YOU OXYGEN-WASTING CLOWNS!"

The opposing trio nearly tripped on themselves as their signature motto was torn to pieces in an instant.

"Hey, didn't your mother ever tell you that interrupting somebody else's motto was rude?!" James demanded.

"Yeah, and I didn't git ta introduce myself!" Meowth complained.

"More rude than attempting to blow up a school?!"

"You were on the verge of doing that too," Serena deadpanned.

"What kind of a psychopath do you take me for?!"

"No matter!" Cried Meowth, "Anyways, we're here for dat Sandslash of yours, greenie!"

"You'll never get Pika- ...wait, what?"

"That's right twerp," Jessie said with a malicious grin, "For now, we've got a different objective in mind, so don't you worry your pretty little head."

"That is, until we get our hands on dat Sandslash!" Meowth chimed in, "Don't worry, we'll be back for your Pikachu soon enough!"

The trio began laughing maliciously until they were snapped out of their stupor by a familiar quote.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"NO, WAIT!" James cried, waving his arms furiously in an attempt to stop Pikachu's attack from firing, "We're not here for you today, you know! Why are you butting in?!"

"You're attacking a school?" Ash deadpanned.

"But we're not attacking you!"

"Pikachu, use-"

"Would you stop that?!"

AJ stamped his foot, "I don't know who the heck you people think you are, but you think you can just barge into a school, terrorize a bunch of kids, and more importantly, STEAL MY PARTNER?!"

"That's what we do, yup!" Jessie replied with a bright smile.

"ASH, OTHER GIRL, STAND BACK, THEY'RE MINE!" Bellowed, AJ, deafening everyone in the vicinity.

"My name is Serena!" Serena roared back, covering her ears.

"Sandslash, tear 'em up!"

"Slaaaash!" Sandslash roared, sharpening its claws.

"Alright then, go Inkay and Carnivine!"

"Go, Gourgeist and Yanmega!"

Surrounding Sandslash, four Pokemon appeared in brilliant flashes of white from their Pokeballs. In one corner, the familiar venus fly trap Pokemon appeared once more. To Sandslash's left, a small squid-like Pokemon with a pink, ethereal top on its head appeared. To it's right, a massive, green dragonfly appeared. Finally, a slender, brown Pokemon with orange, glowing eyes and a mouth with long, pink hair draped over its face appeared behind it. Even odder, it appeared to be sitting inside a large, smiling jack-o-lantern. The pumpkin Pokemon chuckled darkly in a shrill, high-pitched voice and gave Sandslash a menacing look, to which Sandslash simply gave it a gleaming glare back.

"Oh," AJ snarled, "So you cowards can't even fight me in a one on one, huh?!"

"Um," Jessie deadpanned, "If you haven't realised now, we're not exactly good guys. We don't play by the rules."

AJ scoffed, "Figures, not that it matters anyways. Sandslash, let's

show these cretins who's boss!"

"Gourgeist, Yanmega, capture this thing at all costs! Use Shadow Ball and Air Slash!"

"You too, Inkay and Carnivine! Use Psybeam and Energy Ball!"

"Sandslash, you know what to do." AJ stated with a grin, to which Sandslash followed suit.

Yanmega flapped its wings intensely, creating an intense wave of air. Gourgeist's hair separated and turned into two arms with hands that formed a black ball of energy in its hands and fired it. Carnivine raised its head, its large mouth glowing a bright emerald green before spitting a ball of green energy at it's opposition. Finally, Inkay's pink head glowed brightly and it shot out a thin beam of dark pink energy at Sandslash. Sandslash and AJ simply smirked and and soon enough, the Ground-Type disappeared from sight in a blur and all the attacks stopped in place.

"U-um," James stuttered, "Wha-"

"No, wait, give it a second." AJ interrupted, his smirk ever-present on his face.

Suddenly, cross-marks appeared like webs all over each attack and they dissipated, exploding into fragments that were sent directly back into the attacker's faces. The four cried out and scrambled backwards as their own energy was scattered back into their eyes. Yanmega in particular flailed wildly and scrambled into a wall, frenzied by its blindness and nearly lost its flight.

Sandslash appeared once more with its back turned underneath the flailing dragonfly in a blur. It turned its glance behind it, its eyes gleaming for a moment before it sprung upwards and jabbed its claw directly into the Pokemon's chest, making it hunch over from the force of the strike. The two rocketed into the foggy skies, splitting the very clouds as they went.

"Yanmega!" Jessie cried as she watched her Pokemon rocket off. Her eyes snapped angrily to AJ who was still smirking cockily at her.

"Why you-!"

James, on instinct, quickly lept forward to latch hold onto Jessie, dragging her backwards as to not straddle their opponent to death. Heck, even she might end up being the one getting straddled, he honestly didn't know at this point.

"Cool it, Jess!" James shouted, "Focus on the Sandslash!"

Though, his words fell on deaf ears and Jessie soon broke from her partner in crime's grasp, shoving him backwards as she did. James stumbled backwards from the push and slipped on the water nearby that had resulted from their earlier breaching of the pool. Speaking of the pool, it was just that that James's apparent destination would become, resulting in a large splash as he fell in. Soon enough, James resurfaced with an unamused look on his face, spitting out a small stream of the pool water that had entered his mouth.

"Well, a least Carnivine is no longer trying to eat me," James stated with a sigh.

"Alright, you," Jessie hissed, pointing a finger at AJ, "You are officially on our Twerp List!"

"Wait, you was keepin' track?" Meowth asked, honestly a little impressed.

"What?!" Jessie demanded, "You mean you weren't?!"

The two Team Rocket members were snapped out of their conversation by an eerie, high-pitched noise. The two of them and James, who was still struggling to get out of the pool due to his soaked clothing weighing him down, stopped in their tracks to look around for the annoying noise when something rocketed downward from the foggy heavens above directly into the pool, making the water shoot upwards like a geyser. James let out an oddly high-pitched scream as he was ejected from the pool high above, only to come crashing down onto his face with a loud thud that made Ash and Serena cringe. James slowly picked himself up with a defeated moan, showing his flattened, reddened face, though his tired look turned to fear as he let out a girlish screech when Sandslash appeared before him with his back turned away from him, facing towards Jessie and Meowth.

Meowth followed James's lead, letting out a terrified scream of his own and backing away, whereas Jessie glanced in the pool to see her fallen Yanmega lying unconscious at the empty pool's bottom. Scowling, she returned her Pokemon to its Pokeball and growled at Sandslash who simply baited Jessie by curling its claw towards itself tauntingly.

"Why you-!" Jessie grated, her eyes twitching. The female Team Rocket member bolted at the Ground-Type, attempting to grab it but Sandslash simply blurred out of harm's way once more. An enraged Jessie frantically looked for her prey, only for it to zip away every time she managed to lay her eyes on it.

"That's it!" Jessie screamed, "Gourgeist, use Phantom Force! Carnivine, use Vine Whip! Inkay, use Dark Pulse!"

"Wait, you're using my Pokemon?!" James protested, but once again, his voice fell on deaf ears.

The eerie Pumpkin Pokemon giggled maniacally, covering its glowing mouth with its hair and seemingly phased into the ground, disappearing from sight. Carnivine lashed out with an elongated vine that appeared from the large mess of bramble on its underside in an attempt to string Sandslash into a hold. Sandslash simply crossed its arms as the vine grabbed hold of it around its waist and Inkay opened its beak to charge a pulsating mess of violently swirling, dark energy before spitting it out as a beam. Sandslash held up its clawed hand and flicked the Dark Pulse back at its unleasher, knocking the small squid-like Pokemon into a gated fence that bounced it back into the empty pool.

The dragonfly Pokemon Yanmega blinked its compound eyes as it regained consciousness. What the heck just happened? Its mind felt incredibly woozy as it attempted to regain flight. Yanmega lurched back down as a sudden pain in its chest flashed out of nowhere, making it hunch over. Though, this pain did not last long as an unconscious Inkay slammed itself into Yanmega's head, making the dragonfly topple once more.

"Two for two," AJ cheered. Jessie, infuriated, pulled down on her incredibly long hair in an attempt to alleviate her frustration.

"That's it, Twerp!" She bellowed, "Carnivine, send this little brown rat skyward!"

"Vine!" Carnivine replied with a nod. Readying itself, the fly trap Pokemon attempted to fling its opposition into the foggy clouds above just as the Ground-Type did to its comrade earlier, only to find that his victim wasn't budging. Raising a grassy eyebrow, Carnivine gazed upwards from its focus on its Vine Whip to Sandslash to see that it was giving him an...odd look to say the least. It was just an empty stare, as if the Ground-Type was staring right through Carnivine. Without warning, Sandslash shot its arms downward, slicing off the Vine Whip.

"VIIIIINE!" Carnivine cried out in pain as its appendage was cut off. Though, the vine would regenerate back on its own, that still didn't mean it didn't hurt incredibly. Carnivine attempted to retract the remainder of its vine on instinct, only for Sandslash to snap its arm down and pinch the vine between its two claws, acting as if they were pincers. In a panic, Carnivine attempted to lurch its vine back, only for Sandslash to do the same. Carnivine was flung upwards, only being kept from disappearing into the fog by its own severed appendage.

"Time to take 'em for a ballroom blitz!" AJ ordered from the sidelines.

Nodding, Sandslash began twirling its wrist around and the poor Carnivine found itself spinning in a large circle high above the ground, helpless as it dangled from the ground by its own vine. Sandslash sped up, and Carnivine cried out as it was hurtled back and forth across the grey skies. Finally, Sandslash turned around and slammed its arm downward, sending the Grass-Type hurtling downwards, smashing into the empty pool with its comrades.

"Carnivine, Inkay, NO!" James cried for his fallen comrades, diving into the empty pool after his Pokemon.

"And then there was one," Stated AJ.

As if on cue, Gourgeist appeared once more out from underneath the ground with a twisted smile plastered on its face, its eyes gleaming dangerously as it readied a Shadow Ball, pointing it at Sandslash's back. Though, before the geist Pokemon could react, Sandslash whirled around in a blur, its claws drenched in a purplish-black energy as it readied to strike. Gourgest's smile practically ripped itself from the Pokemon's face, replacing it with a black, almost dumbfounded-looking frown as Sandslash's attack stopped itself mere inches away from Gourgeist's face. Taking the hint, the Pumpkin Pokemon dissipated its attack, turned away from the Sandslash, and floated over to Jessie, tapping its Pokeball to return itself.

"Looks like we're fresh out of challengers," AJ stated confidently, "That is, unless that talking Meowth of yours is willing."

Meowth's fur stood on end as he was called out, "I'm good, 'tanks."

"Thought so. Would ya mind jumping in that pool for me?"

Meowth paused, looking over his options and glancing back and forth between Jessie and AJ before finally sighing.

"Jess, sometimes ya just gotta know when to quit, ya know?"

With that, Meowth casually turned around and hopped into the empty pool to join the rest of his friends.

"You too, pinkie." AJ ordered.

"Got it…" Jessie said, admitting defeat and walking over to the edge of the pool and dropping down.

"Alright, Sandslash, use Rock Climb!"

Sandslash nodded back to his friend and leaped into the air before bolting back down at the edge of the pool, causing a pillar of stone to jolt upwards before setting back down into place, sending Team Rocket flying.

"Hey, Jess, you gonna add this to our list of failures?" Meowth asked as he and the others hurtled through the skies.

"Meowth, nobody could keep track of that," James piped in, "How many people do you know that keep a journal of their life story again?"

"Well, we're back up against Pikachu next time, so there's at least a chance to win," Jessie stated.

"And remember," Meowth said, "We're Team Rocket: Losers till the end!"

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

Ding!

"AND STAY OUT!" AJ roared, a grin plastered on his face.

"Uh, AJ?" Ash inquired.

Serena finished Ash's thought for him, "I think you've got another problem on your hands."

AJ raised an eyebrow, not seeing how anything could outdo the three clowns in white until he saw the large hoard of kids with eyes as wide as dinner plates staring at him in either awe or horror.

"Oh geez," AJ complained, pinching his temple, "What are you kids doing out here?! Didn't I say to stay inside?!"

The awe turned to horror. Some of the kids began attempting to inch their way back inside, only to find that Sandslash was now blocking their way.

"Listen here, buster," Giselle spat, summoning the courage, "You aren't the boss of these kids around here! I am. You think you can just wedge your way in here and-"

"Shut up."

Giselle was shoved aside by AJ with those infuriating words ringing in her ears. In awe of her dismissal, all she could do was look at AJ with an appalled look on her face.

"Alright, kids," AJ bellowed, making his audience flinch, "Why'd you all come out here when I specifically told you lot to stay inside?!"

"W-well we-" One of the kids tried to say, only to be silenced by AJ stamping his foot down.

"Well NOTHIN'! Do you kids even know how badly you coulda been hurt out here?! WELL, DO YA?!"

"S-sorry, sir!" All the students cried out simultaneously, bowing their heads.

AJ shook his head, "Sorry ain't cuttin' it this time! When I take over, I'm gonna be makin' some big changes around here!"

Everyone else, Ash and Serena included, did a double take.

"Umm," Serena said, "What do you mean by take over?"

"Exactly that!" AJ answered matter-of-factly, "To be honest, I probably wouldn't get very far as a student."

"Then leave!" Giselle bellowed.

"...Which is why I will be taking control over all teaching's in this district."

"WHAT?!" Giselle demanded, pushing past one of the children in order to get to AJ, "You have no authority here! you're just some kid that came out of nowhere and demanded entry! You can't just-"

"Watch me." AJ hissed.

Giselle stepped back, fear evident in her eyes, but still she continued, "When the Indigo League hears about this, they'll-"

"Fail to do anything to get me to leave. If you want to leave and go tattletail on me like some kind of child, be my guest. If you want to be known as the girl that continuously failed her exams and flunked out, be my guest. If you want to bring over some League official or something, be my guest, because you and I both know there is nothing you or they can do."

Some of the children made little "oooooh" noises and, to be honest, Serena found herself hard-pressed not to do the same. Giselle was absolutely dumbfounded. She was infuriated at this...this nobody's sheer nerve, and yet even she knew she could do absolutely nothing to stop him. She growled, clenching her fists tightly to the point that her nails dug into the palms of her hands and let out an exasperated huff before stomping off.

"Think she'll be alright?" Ash asked, to which AJ simply shrugged uncaringly.

"She'll have to. She can't exactly leave, so she doesn't have any choice but to warm up to me eventually."

Ash let out a light chuckle, "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just surprised that you're actually gonna teach these kids."

"What, do you not think I can do it?!" AJ bellowed.

Ash shook his head frantically, a sweatdrop dripping down his head.

"No, no. You already managed to teach me something in the span of a single battle, and I'm already a pretty seasoned trainer. Teaching a bunch of kids probably wouldn't be too hard, it's just that I wouldn't think you'd want to."

"Well the thing is," Said AJ, pointing to the kids behind him with his thumb, "You were right about earlier. After seeing what these kids do at this school on a daily basis, I wouldn't learn a thing here. However, I was thinking… Maybe a teacher could learn from their students."

"Wow," Exclaimed Serena, "I'm impressed. I thought you would have up and left by now, but you're actually a lot more mature than I thought."

"What, are you saying I wasn't mature before?!"

"I retract my statement."

As the two trainers heatedly began arguing their lungs away, Ash could only hopelessly laugh at their expense. The children only looked on, unsure of how to react to the situation. They dared not laugh for fear that AJ's wrath would be turned on them, so they simply stood still awaiting whatever hells their new teacher had in store.

---

"By the way," Serena piped up to one of the students as she and Ash made their way to the destroyed entrance of the school, "We met another student out in the woods shortly before we came here. He looked a bit older than the rest of you, save that Giselle girl, and had matted-down, grey hair. You see him?"

"Huh?" The student asked, "We don't have anyone like that at our school."

"Yeah you do!" Ash protested, "We saw him outside before we came here! He specifically said he went to this school."

"That's weird," The student commented, "Did you get his name?"

Serena shook her head, "No, but he had these weird, swirly glasses."

The student's eyes widened and she froze in place, "D-did you say swirly glasses?!"

Serena sweatdropped, "U-um, yeah, what's the problem?"

The young girl bit her lip and looked around nervously, "That "kid" was a student who never made it past the bottom class of this school. I'm new here, so I don't know much about the details of the story, but-"

"That guy's name was Jeremy Armstrong." Came a familiar voice from behind the group.

Marching up the halls with her hands on her hips came Giselle with an irritated look on her face. She gave the student a look and ushered her off with the nodding of her head, indicating the student to leave.

"I'll take care of the storytelling from here, if you two don't mind."

"Uhh, sure, but," Ash said, "Did you really need to brush off that kid?"

Ignoring the question, Giselle scrunched up her face and leaned over into Ash's uncomfortably closely. Ash was forced to lean backwards to stop Giselle's advance and Serena gaped at the women's audacity. Giselle blinked a few times before directing her glance on Pikachu, who was happily sitting on Ash's shoulders until now. Finally, Giselle stopped leaning over the two and crossed her arms.

"I'm only telling you this because you beat me before."

"I beat you?" Ash asked, attempting to remember the event.

Giselle sighed, "Yes. I'd recognize that Pikachu of yours that beat my Cubone anywhere, but I'm sure you've beaten many trainers, so I would only be a name on the pile to you, but it did happen and I'm going to get even with you for it by telling you this, got it?"

Ash sweatdropped, "S-sure."

Giselle huffed and continued her story, "Like I said, his name was Jeremy Armstrong. He was a student here long before I was. He was considered a prodigy despite being a bottom-class...but one day, he got in a terrible accident that nearly killed him. But even then, he came back. He tried his hardest until the day he died, spending every hour of every day studying, testing, failing, ...and repeating. Eventually, we found him dead underneath the same tree he was always studying underneath. We guessed the stress finally snapped his already broken brain."

"Wow," Ash said in awe, "This guy really fought to the end, didn't he?"

"Well, yes, that is what I said."

"But wait a minute," Serena interjected, "Again, we met that guy in the middle of the woods, and he looked like a kid!"

Giselle simply shrugged it off, "It's probably the fog just playing tricks on you. Don't let that stuff get to your head. Anyways, later."

With a lazy wave, Giselle dismissed the two of them and disappeared into a crowd of students.

As Ash and Serena stepped outside, they noticed the fog had finally disappeared. Ash squinted and shaded his eyes with his hand in order to look up amidst the harsh sunlight that had now taken place in the fog's stead.

"H-hey, Ash?" Serena stuttered shakily.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Serena twiddled her fingers nervously, "A-about that boy we met earlier...d-do you think that was a g-ghost?"

Wordlessly, Ash chuckled and let out a bright grin before beginning his trek back into the forest in order to get to their next goal of Viridian City.

"Ash?!" Serena screeched, "Hey, don't leave without me! And you didn't answer my question! Was that a ghost or not?! Ash?! Hey, Ash! AAAAAAAASH!"

---

Iron Island, Sinnoh. A few hours after Necrozma's assault on the Orange Islands.

A man dressed from head to toe in blue was rocked out of his meditation, furiously gasping for air. He shot a look towards his partner Lucario, a blue and black humanoid jackal with four short dreadlocks behind his ears and spikes on his chest and wrists, who gave him a similar look of extreme worry. This man was Riley, the last remaining Aura Guardian, and with that aura he felt thousands perish in an instant. He could vaguely feel the struggle of some fight afterward, but the power of one of the fighters was shrouded in such malice that Riley was immediately blown from his concentration from merely attempting to peer into that power.

Suddenly, the entire island they were on began rocking furiously, nearly making the two partners collapse on the spot had they not trained themselves diligently as to be able to withstand such things. Though, withstanding something of this magnitude would prove immensely difficult if they did not evacuate the premises with all due haste. The two winced in agony as the vigorously shaking walls began secreting a high-pitched, ringing noise. Thinking quickly, the two of them managed to completely calm their minds and summon a light blue barrier around their shapes that prevented the Areus-awful noise from reaching their ears.

"Urgh!" Riley growled, "Whatever just happened to the Orange Islands must be affecting Iron Island! Lucario, is this happening to the rest of the world?!"

Lucario shook his head and replied using the bond of aura the two had accumulated over decades of training and partnership, "Negative. Outside of the Orange Islands and whatever satellite islands were nearby, Iron Island is the only other place being affected by it due to the island being almost entirely made up of Iron. The shockwave must be ricocheting throughout the island due to its metal structure."

Riley scowled, "We must see how the Steel-Type Pokemon are. No doubt they're in agony right now…"

The two partners nodded in agreement and bolted on unsteady feet for the exit of the cave they resided in, jumping from wall to wall in order to make it out through the vent above them. Once they'd landed beside the hole, they were greeted to a sight from a horror story. Amidst the quakes, Steel-Type Pokemon all over the island were flailing furiously, ramming themselves into walls, rocks, each other, and any unfortunate non Steel-Type that found themselves in their paths. Already, massive hordes of Zubat and Golbat fled the islands throughout various protrusions of the island, not unlike the one Riley and his Lucario were just meditating in.

"By the Legends, it's even worse than Team Galactic!" Riley cried.

Suddenly, their attention snapped above them where only a few meters away from the top of the island, a wall suddenly exploded outwards, showing what was below with boulders. Thinking quickly, the two of them clasped each other's palms and closed their eyes in focus. A cyan barrier soon erupted from the two of them like a protective, ethereal dome, protecting them from the falling rocks. They winced each time one of the boulders impacted their shield, but what really perturbed them was when one of the rocks they deflected ended up rolling further down and crushing one of the crazed Pokemon below. Though, as much as Riley and his partner wished to assist the Steel-Types, they knew there was nothing they could do for them now. They were surrounded by ocean and the very island itself was responsible for their suffering.

"We must head to the boat!" Lucario exclaimed once the boulders stopped falling, "This island is on the verge of exploding any moment now!"

"I know,my friend," Riley said, regret panging in his voice, "But I cannot help but grieve for the Pokemon that will not make it out with us."

"Riley...I feel the same, but we both know there is no way to save them now."

"Even still, ...I can't help but feel that this will haunt me for the rest of my days."

"It will haunt us both. You will not have to face this burden alone."

"...Thank you, my friend. Thank you…"

The two partners nodded to each other and leapt from their perch over the base of the island, diving through a sea of black made by the swarm of fleeing Golbats. The sea of black opened and the two fell from the sky, impacting the ground with a loud thud and kicking up a large mound of metallic dust. A small wave of cyan rushed across the quaking ground to disperse the force of their impact.

Though, their impact dispersion seemed to have attracted some unwanted attention as many crazed Steel-Types turned their glares at the aura users. An Aggron in particular bellowed loudly at them in such a way that the pair could visibly see the sound waves rocketing past them. Luckily, their aura blocked almost all of the sound, but the others were not as fortunate. Now, even the Rock-Types scrambling around were forced to huddle up in balls, clenching their ears in order to lessen the agony this sound was causing them. Some of the Golbat and Zubat that were flying low began spasming horribly as their echolocation was interrupted by the Aggron's screech and began falling down into the ocean en masse.

"Metal Sound," Riley cursed, "Lucario, I will take care of this. You prepare the boat. I will not let anymore Pokémon die than I have to."

Riley's ever-faithful partner nodded in agreement and took off. He knew Riley was entirely capable of doing this himself. Riley turned his gaze back from where his partner once stood to face the raging Aggron with a pained scowl on his face.

"I know that you are suffering," Riley said with a shaking voice, "But I cannot allow you to inflict that suffering onto others!"

Riley shot an arm out to his side. A blue energy began crackling from his fingertips and shot forward into the palm of his hand, creating a large ball of auric energy. Riley lunged forward, kicking up stone from where he was once standing, and planted the blue ball into the Aggron's chest. The metal behemoth silenced its cry and hunched over in agony. Finally, Riley managed to push his arm forward and shot the sphere outward, taking the Aggron with it into a wall where the ball of energy exploded violently. Aggron's body could be seen collapsing, unconscious. Despite this, the Aura Guardian made his way over to the collapsed beast and gently put a hand on its head.

"I'm sorry," Riley said simply before turning around to catch up to his partner.

As the Aura Guardian ran, another part of the quaking island exploded outwards once more. Riley soon found himself jumping amidst a hail of metal and stone. Taking the knee, Riley launched himself upward, bouncing off rock after rock in order to keep himself from being crushed by them. One of the metallic meteorites sped at Riley at an incredible pace, but Riley was faster. Whipping around, Riley summoned a shield of blue around his fist and shattered the incoming stone. He launched himself from the airborne boulder he was currently standing on and touched ground once more. The Guardian clenched his fist and gritted his eyes shut as he felt the life force of hundreds disappear amidst the hailstorm of iron. There was nothing he could do for them either way, Riley kept saying to himself in his mind, for they would perish either way once the island finally gave way and exploded.

There he was. Lucario stood in front of a small speedboat that they would use to escape. Though tiny, so much so that Lucario usually had to stand on the helm of the boat, it had assisted them many times before in getting to and from the island to bring back supplies, as no plantation grew on the metal island they lived on, and it would assist them once more. Though before Riley could meet with his partner and escape the inevitable destruction of Iron Island, a colossal metal serpent burst from the horrifically-quaking ground with the familiar agonized, yet crazed look on its face.

Riley scowled and got into a battle position, summoning a swirl of blue around himself. Lucario was about to jump in until Riley spoke to him through their auric bond. The Aura Master told his partner to stay by the boat so they could make a quick getaway. Lucario sighed but obliged, hopping onto the helm of the boat and gripping the pull-mechanism so that once Riley had won, their escape would immediately follow. The metallic serpent, Steelix ripped open its jaws and began to let out a bellow, though Riley wasn't having it. He would not let more Pokemon needlessly die.

"Not this time!" Riley cried, launching himself skyward. The Aura guardian surrounded his fist in an intense, almost whirlpool-like swirl of glowing cyan and slammed it into the Steelix's chin. The metal serpent was sent flying, but it was far from done. While amidst the stormy night sky, Steelix opened its jaws and shot a glowing gray beam from its mouth directly beneath it.

"Flash Cannon," Riley noted. The Aura Master, in response, opened his hand and shot out an Aura Sphere from his palm, creating an explosion from the impact of the two attacks and coating the sky above him with smoke. This was, apparently, all according to the Steelix's plan as the serpentine Pokemon rushed down from amidst the smoke, aiming to catch Riley in a devastating Dig attack, but Riley was well prepared. Riley sensed the creature's intentions long before it could carry them out and once the Steelix burst from the smoke, it found Riley waiting for it with another Aura Sphere readied from the side of the impact site. Just before the crazed Steel-Type could crash into the ground, Riley fired the Aura Sphere into the side of its head and sent it sprawling across the iron-laced sand. Riley's attention was caught by another explosion. Looking up to the head of the island, he witnessed as a massive chunk exploded outwards, coating the seas below along with any Pokemon unfortunate enough to be in the storm of metal's path.

Riley's gaze snapped back as Steelix ripped itself from the ground beneath him with a bright light glowing from the serpent's gaping jaws. The Aura Master mentally berated himself for daring to look away from the fight before raising an arm to create a barrier with his aura to block the incoming fire. Steelix released another devastatingly powerful Flash Cannon from his jaws, impacting the barrier with enough force to push Riley drastically backwards, but Riley had yet another trick up his sleeve. With his free hand, Riley threw another Aura Sphere into Steelix, making it flinch and stop its assault. Riley used his free hand to mimic the motion of something opening outward, making the barrier spread outwards into a large, hollow orb. But it seemed this orb wasn't hollow at all, and soon, the entire orb began glowing a deep, grey color and beams that looked identical to Steelix's Flash Cannon began secreting from the inner walls of the orb until the orb regained its blue, auric hue and contained a massive ball of glowing gray within it. Steelix snapped itself out from its daze and glared at Riley, only to pale when it saw what had become of its attack. Riley let out an echoing battle cry as he threw the orb with enough force that tunnels of wind could be seen spreading from the orb's edges. The orb impacted the crazed Pokemon, ripping it from the ground and crashing the both of them into a wall, digging into it and letting out bright flashes of cyan before exploding violently in a dazzling, azure hue.

Riley had no time to gaze upon his...handiwork due to the ground's violent shaking picking up to the point where Riley's auric barrier around himself was having trouble protecting him. Riley turned towards the direction his Lucario was waiting for him and launched himself into a furious sprint, telling Lucario to start the engine. Lucario eagerly obliged and ripped the engine's pulling mechanism backward, initiating the boat to bolt off. Riley made a mad leap for the small boat and managed to land directly into the driver's seat; the only seat it had, really.

Finally, the dynamic duo had escaped the Island's demise. Yet, guilt panged throughout their consciences as they continuously felt demise after demise of the Pokemon inhabiting Iron Island. The Pokemon they failed to save...the Pokemon they couldn't have saved, they told themselves, no matter what. And they hated themselves for it. Their lack of preparation for such an event led to thousands of Pokemon being trapped on a dying island with no way out. Lucario placed a palm on his friend's shoulder, attempting to comfort Riley.

"There was nothing we could do," Lucario reminded his master, though Riley could hear the sorrow evident in his voice.

"I know…" Riley said, clenching his gloved hand, "But still-! I...I cannot help but grieve for them...their terror, their pain, their death-! ...I felt them all...and yet I could do nothing!"

"There is nothing wrong with grieving," Lucario soothed, "But I cannot allow you to live the rest of your life thinking this was your fault. Yes, we could do nothing. We are either both to blame for our weakness and both responsible for their avenging."

"A...Avenging?"

Lucario nodded, "Yes. You felt it too, right before our meditating was interrupted, right? A massive power struck the earth, resulting in that shockwave making Iron Island tear itself apart. We must find that power and destroy it. We cannot allow such a calamity like THIS to ever happen again."

Lucario motioned for Riley to look up. From their safe perch far away from the island, Riley and Lucario witnessed as their home crumbled slowly to nothing. They could hear the panicked and agonized screams of those still remaining on Iron Island slowly being silenced one by one. Finally, the island exploded. Violently. The Island in its entirety blew outwards, sending rock, metal, and Pokemon scattering across the skies and into the black depths below.

"We cannot let this happen again, Riley!" Lucario screamed, almost pleadingly, "I will not watch innocents die by our failure again!"

"I could not agree more," Riley replied, darkening his face with his hat, "We must go...we must go to the source of all aura. We must go to the Tree of Life in Kanto."

---

Creator- Sweet mother of Arceus, that took forever! I don't know whether or not to hate this chapter because of all the dialogue or to not hate it because of that save at the end with Riley! Nevertheless, ...fifteen-THOUSAND glorious words made up this chapter, and that, I can be proud of.

Hydra- sorry that this chapter took longer to release it's just that we've been dealing with school, but we have still been making good progress and will continue.

Creator- With that, let's get rooooooight into the Revieeeews!

Armorshippingfan

"Yeah Ash and Serena got their second badges and those two work really well together and I wonder where Misty went after their battle and I wonder what's gotten the leaguers all worked up about and I wonder who the big bad is."

Creator-I actually really like how the Misty VS Ash and Serena fight worked out. One of the better fights in the series so far, I'd say, though Necrozma VS Elemental Birds will keep that title for a while. As for Misty, she'll be back.

Hydra- you are gonna be amazed for what's coming.

TeamPiperM

"Wait a minute...Lugia's right! Why hasn't Arceus tried to shut down Necrozma himself?!"

Creator- Well, Arceus doesn't know where he is, first of all, and stepping down from his perch would make it so if one of the Legends reported back to him, he wouldn't know...that, and plot convenience.

Hydra- I think he pretty much summed it up.

Bronysonicfan0000

"I feel the news reporters should have been Jessie and James in disguise."

Creator- The man, the myth, the legend, MY BOOOOIIII! Well, I'm planning on using that camerawoman many times later on. (To make up for the fact that she was a giant deus-ex-machina because I was lazy) Also, Jessie and James might just make it worse for Ash even if they did try to help.

Hydra- I originally was gonna have it be Jessie and James, but then the Creator suggested we do the other lady instead, so I was like what the heck why not

TheOGPokemonMaster

"What's the weather looking like, Ollie?

IT GON RAIN.

Well, I'm back - finally - and I've read the three chapters I've missed. And there is no doubt in my mind that this story is gonna be a great one.

1) Xerneas may not be able to heal limbs, but certainly other legendaries can? Ho-Oh, with Sacred Ash (though I suppose that the Ash is used more for reviving the dead...), or Mew, or Jirachi (though that may be cheating - "I wish Necrozma never existed!") or hell, even one of the Time Duo? Oh, Necrozma is going to attack the Orange Islands? Well, it would sure be a shame if... EVERY FUCKING LEGENDARY WAS THERE WAITING FOR HIM!

2) I understand why the gym leaders are going full try-hard against Ash, but why Serena? She's been a real trainer for, what, three/four chapters now? Her Pokemon certainly shouldn't be able to compete at the level that powerhouses like Infernape or Sceptile can. At least, not yet ;)

3) I want to see a legendary Civil War. Like, badly. And I can see it shaping up, too! Like Lugia is trying to rally legendaries behind her in order to force Arceus to act while Rayquaza is trying to gain support to crush Lugia.

4) I picture Necrozma like the Terminator.

"Lugia, you have been targeted for termination. Resistance is futile."

5) I am genuinely interested in seeing who the "most powerful man in the universe" is.

Keep up the good work, mates!

Creator- THE OTHER MAN, THE OTHER MYTH, THE OTHER LEGEND, MY OTHER BOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIII! ...ehem, It's great to have ya back, bud!

P-L-O-T-C-O-N-V-E-N-I-E-N-C-E XD. Also, Necrozma was holding back against the three birds. Like, a lot. Like, a loooot.

Flint saw Ash's full team, as they were out of their Pokeballs when they all marched in, and assumed Serena was the same. And Flint's a douche XD. As for Misty, she wanted to "test" Serena, if you catch my drift. As you saw, Pancham got DEMOLISHED in the first Gym, but Sylveon is not only supereffective against Mega Gyarados, but Corsola was only stronger by a small margine, so Misty was giving Serena at least a little leeway. Also, Sylveon had Sceptile by her side. Aint no way she's losing with that teammate.

That's actually an idea we've been throwing around for a while.

Neccy's more like bits and pieces of Frieza from DBZ, Turbo Mecha Sonic from SMBZ, and Oni from Street Fighter.

Here's a hint: Power comes from the mind. And thanks! We're brimming with ideas from this point forward...for the most part…we've got a certain character I'm sure you in particular know much about coming up pretty soon.

Hydra- My comment is so smaaeell. Anyways, glad to have you back. You are going to absolutely love how this story turns out we have so many awesome things planned your head is gonna POP from the sheer awesomeness.

Creator- Well, that's all, folks! Remember to leave Reviews, and the more reviews we get, the faster each chapter comes out!

Hydra- Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the chapters will most likely get longer at this point because I'm too impatient to save certain things for the next chapter. Stay tuned because the next chapter is gonna be a doozy.